Colorful

Chapter 2 Living in the Shen Mansion (2)
Speaking of this, Ji Cheng paused, his nails had already dug into his palms, there was actually another reason why Zhu Jijun wanted to rape her, he didn't know how many young girls he had ruined in Jincheng.Ji Cheng had a childhood friend who fell into the hands of Zhu Jijun, and it is said that he died a horrible death.Although she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, but the person who said it was about to come out, plus her own imagination, already frightened Ji Cheng so much that he couldn't sleep at night.

It's just that Ji Cheng doesn't want to talk about such dirty things, nor does he want to dirty other people's ears.

In fact, Ji Lan already knew about Zhu Jijun's virtues. If he hadn't acted too violently and provoked anger and resentment, it might still be a question of whether she could help the Ji family deal with Zhu Jijun.With this relationship in the officialdom, a melon can lead to a vine, Zhu Jijun's son-in-law's background is not small.

After saying a few more words, Ji Lan sent Ji Cheng to settle down, and after Ji Cheng left, a person turned out from the screen in the inner room, but he was a man in his thirties with a neat comb. woman.

"What does Aunt Chang think?" Ji Lan raised the corner of her eyes and asked.

"It's really a natural beauty, whether it's appearance, figure, or a voice like a yellow warbler, it's even better than Concubine Xue Gui back then." Aunt Chang said.

The corners of Ji Lan's mouth curled up, but Aunt Chang said again: "I see that this cousin has a straight nose and clear eyes. She is a very assertive person. I heard her words just now, and she didn't just blindly pretend to be low. People who are greedy for vanity. I'm afraid that the twisted melon will not be sweet. If she has resentment in her heart, even if she serves by the nobleman's side, she may not necessarily help Madam, maybe she will bite back. "

Ji Lan disagreed with Aunt Chang's opinion: "This capital city is just a big dye vat. When she was in Jindi, everything she saw was normal. If she stays here for a few more days, she might be dazzled by random flowers. You can see. Of course, if she can control herself, if she doesn't envy the glory, if she doesn't cling to the high branches, I won't force her, after all, she is my niece. But if she has the ambition to rise to the clouds, as an aunt I have to help her too." Ji Lan smiled.

Aunt Chang lowered her eyelids and said: "Since Madam has such a plan, why did she treat her cousin like that before? It's time to win her over and give priority to hospitality."

Aunt Chang used to serve in the palace, but she was released from the palace when she was 25 years old, she didn't know that the family suffered a disaster long ago, and now the whole family is unknown, probably dead long ago.

Aunt Chang was a single woman with some money, so she was spotted by the local ruffian. Naturally, she refused, and fled back to the capital after many twists and turns. She was rescued by Ji Lan, so she stayed by her side to serve, and taught the fifth girl to Shen Cui. some etiquette.Now she is increasingly valued by Ji Lan, and she often advises her.

"Well, after all, the emperor is old there. Ji Cheng is young, so he definitely doesn't want to enter the palace now. After she has suffered all the cold reception, she will naturally turn back when she hits the south wall. I keep her cold to let her Get a clear picture of the situation as soon as possible. When she gets up her mind, we will guide her carefully, and don't worry about her not relying on us. After all, women are in the palace, and some things still need help from outsiders." Ji Lan said confidently.

Aunt Chang remained silent, it was a bit of a success for the Third Mrs. Shen to be able to marry into the Shen family as the daughter of an unobtrusive merchant.But her horizons don't seem to be wide open, some things are not as simple as she imagined, and this kind of people's hearts are the most unpredictable.

After Aunt Chang withdrew, Ji Lan twirled the green jade ring on her finger, and asked loudly outside the curtain, "Has Cousin settled down?"

Linglong opened the curtain from the outside and came in and said, "My cousin has already settled down."

Ji Lan said: "Go and open the warehouse in the back room, pick up a few things that the old lady gave to the third master and A Cui, and send them to the cousin girl's house."

Linglong was a little hesitant, Mrs. Shen came from a prominent background, and she had been the wife of the Duke of Qi for so many years. She didn't know how many good things she had in her hand, and she picked out a few random ones with extraordinary backgrounds, and now she actually wanted to give them to that cousin girl. It's a pity, and I don't know if she can appreciate it or not.

"What are you doing in a daze, go quickly." Ji Lan said impatiently, "Don't be like sending a beggar, just pick the best one and take it."

"Yes." Linglong thought to herself, it seems that this cousin girl has caught the eyes of the third lady, and she will have to raise her spirits to deal with it in the future.

Let's say that when Ji Cheng led Yuqian'er and Liu Ye'er into the room her aunt had prepared for her in the west courtyard of the main house, he was a little surprised. This room was much more luxurious and rich than the main house.

The half-new rosewood furniture in the whole hall is elegant without the temperament of nouveau riche, and the furnishings are also very elegant, especially the three rosewood screens depicting the three friends of Suihan and Sanyou, both in terms of carving and style.

Lingzhen, the eldest girl next to Ji Lan who followed in, said: "This screen was given by the old lady when the third lady gave birth to the fifth lady. She said it was given by the former empress."

So there is such an extraordinary background, Ji Cheng nodded.

At the back, Linglong got Ji Lan's words and opened the storeroom, and brought a group of girls and women over, the one holding the screen, the one carrying the kang table, and the one holding the jade phoenix on the bamboo waist. Yes, there are also those who take the official kiln double-ring sunflower vase.

The ancient and elegant utensils seen in this room are all valuables that cannot be bought with silver, and only those noble families who have gone through a hundred years can accumulate them.

After resting, Yu Qian'er couldn't help but said: "When I first entered the door, I thought my aunt didn't like the girl, but now it doesn't look like it. Why did you send all these valuables?"

It's really hard to guess why the former is arrogant and the latter is respectful.It's as if he wants to dazzle her with wealth that cannot be bought with a house full of gold and silver.Otherwise, the house should have been furnished long ago, why did it suddenly bring in so many ancient treasures?

Did he want to scare himself so that he retreated, or did he want to arouse her self-motivation?Ji Cheng still can't figure out what this aunt is thinking for the time being, but the future is long, if she really has any plans, she will see her one day.

During dinner, Ji Cheng's uncle, that is, Third Master Shen, came down from the Yamen and arrived home, and Ji Cheng and Ji Yuan went to the main room to pay a visit.

Shen Ying is a very gentle person. Seeing Ji Yuan and Ji Cheng, she asked a lot of questions with concern, and said that Ji Yuan's desire to study at Dongshan Academy has basically been settled, but the head of the academy has to take the exam himself. Only after taking an examination of Ji Yuan can he decide whether to admit him or not.

Ji Yuan was very grateful, and Shen Ying said that she would personally take him to visit the mountain chief when he was on holiday.

As for Ji Cheng, Shen Ying was an uncle after all, so she needed to avoid suspicion, so she simply asked her if she ever studied at home.

When Ji Cheng was at home, her father once hired a female teacher to teach her to read and write.

Shen Ying was very happy, she didn't expect her brother-in-law to have such a heart: "Okay, this daughter's family should be able to read and write, one can understand many truths from the book, which will be beneficial to future generations; Fragrance is also a pleasure."

"What did the master say?" Ji Lan said angrily.

Shen Ying suddenly realized that she had made a slip of the tongue, how could she make such a joke with her niece, he is usually a romantic and suave person, otherwise he would not have passed down a good story with Ji Lan, so it is inevitable that his words were a bit casual, and at this moment, he was a little bit more casual with his niece. A slip of the tongue is also inevitable.

Ji Cheng's ears turned red, he just lowered his head and didn't speak.

In order to cover up her mistake, Shen Ying turned around and said: "Our Shen family has a study hall specially set up for girls, and your cousins ​​are all studying and practicing calligraphy in it. If Ah Cheng stays in the capital for a long time, it will be fine. Go and be a companion to them. Anyway, teaching one is teaching, and teaching a few is also teaching."

After hearing this, Ji Cheng raised his head to look at Ji Lan, but whether she could stay in the capital depended on what the aunt wanted.

Ji Lan originally planned to observe Ji Cheng for two days, and then see if she would be sent to the school, but now that Shen Ying said so, she couldn't save Shen Ying's face, so she said with a smile: "I'm afraid Ah Cheng will After staying in Beijing for a while, I also intended to send her to the school to accompany A Cui and the other little sisters, but the master said it beforehand, and the favor fell on the master."

Shen Ying smiled: "Oh, if I had known, I wouldn't talk too much, Madam's niece, you are naturally more caring than me, and you will definitely arrange everything properly."

After talking for a while, the woman at the concierge said that Miss Wu and her two elder brothers were left in the old lady's Ruiyingtang for dinner, and Ji Lan said: "Then we will set the meal here, all of them There is no need for a close relative to avoid it, only eating at a table is lively."

Shen Ying nodded, but the big family pays attention to not talking when eating and sleeping, so this meal was not lively, after dinner, Ji Cheng and Ji Yuan went back to their houses.

In the evening, Ji Cheng walked back and forth in the house to digest food, and Yu Qian'er came back from a wild tour outside, and basically got a general idea of ​​the situation of the third room of the Shen family: "After dinner, my aunt went to Aunt Fang's house .”

Ji Cheng was not surprised. No matter how beautiful her aunt was, she was still in her thirties. Naturally, she couldn't compare to those aunts. Even her father hadn't entered her mother's house very much these few years. Her aunt was miles ahead.

"I asked you to inquire about the affairs of the mansion, why do you only inquire about the affairs of my aunt's private house?" Liu Ye'er stretched out her index finger and poked Yu Qian'er's forehead.

Yu Qian'er is 14 years old this year. She has a small frame. She looks only twelve or thirteen years old, and she is cute. Few people will be wary of her, so she can usually inquire about things that others cannot.

"Oh, I just listened to it by the way." Yu Qian'er pouted.The servants of the family like to talk about the private affairs of the master's house. Knowing which aunt the master favors, it is good to be ingratiated.

"Let her talk, it won't hurt if we listen." Ji Cheng said.

Yu Qian'er smiled triumphantly at Liu Ye'er when she heard the words: "My aunt likes the new Aunt Mei the most. Both Aunt Mei and Aunt Fang live in the small courtyard behind the main house. Aunt Fang gave birth The first daughter is the eighth girl today."

Yu Qian'er talked a lot more, seeing her girl just walking around the house and not talking, she knew she was not interested, and blamed herself for not getting any useful news.But it's no wonder Yu Qian'er, after all, she's only been here for one day.

"I'm going to fetch water for the girl to take a bath." Yu Qian'er trotted out the door, and after a while, she brought over two rough women carrying hot buckets.

The two women were very enthusiastic: "If Cousin wants to use hot water in the future, just tell us. There is boiling water in the kitchen."

Ji Cheng smiled, and asked Liu Ye'er to grab two handfuls of candies they brought from Jin to the mother-in-law, and take them back for the little grandson to eat.

The two women thanked them and withdrew.

When Yu Qian'er wiped Ji Cheng's back, Ji Cheng asked, "How much money did you spend to make these two women rush to carry hot water for us?"

"It's not much, and each person gave two taels of silver." After Yu Qian'er finished speaking, she obviously felt that her girl straightened her back, and the flesh on the butterfly bone was tight, and said quickly, "Girl, you didn't see it, I just Their faces when they asked for hot water, saying that the serious master of the family hasn’t asked for hot water yet, so I have to keep it for them. After I gave the money, my face immediately changed, as if I had never seen money in eight lifetimes of."

"Then do you know how much their monthly salary is?" Ji Cheng asked in a deep voice.

Uh, I really don't know about this.After Yu Qian'er followed Ji Cheng, she was never short of money, and she never thought of asking about the monthly money of the servants of Shen's residence.

"Then do you know what my aunt usually uses to reward her servants?" Ji Cheng sighed, "I'm afraid you'll break my aunt's rules by doing this. so easy."

Yu Qian'er said aggrievedly: "But we are newcomers, people in the house look down on us from the west, and the master has no official status, so it is difficult to move a single step without money."

Ji Cheng said: "I know all of this. It's just that we are guests in someone else's house, and my aunt is busy with things, so it's impossible to be considerate in everything. Besides, even if we are wronged, she can arrange it with her, but you spend money like this. , like hitting my aunt in the face with money."

Yu Qian'er was so angry that she didn't even take a bath: "But the girl has to take a bath every day when she is at home. I won't say anything about the special situation on the way here. Could it be that she didn't take a bath on the first day today? She can't sleep if she doesn't take a bath." Yes. If I don’t spend money, where can I change this bucket of hot water?”

Ji Cheng was annoyed and funny: "Oh, my little aunt, you are too hot-tempered, aren't you? I'm just trying to reason with you, but I also know that our money is for my own good. It’s worth it. It’s just that we can’t do this anymore in the future. Although money can turn ghosts around, it can’t buy the respect of others. Does the method work?"

Yu Qian'er pouted, picked up the handkerchief and wiped Ji Cheng's back again: "Understood." Then he asked worriedly, "Did I cause trouble for the girl today?"

Ji Cheng sighed: "It's okay, at most I will be scolded by my aunt tomorrow."

After taking a bath, Liu Ye'er has prepared Ji Cheng's usual toilet water and balm. When Ji Cheng wipes her face, Liu Ye'er wipes her feet with balm, and then puts on cotton gloves for her. and socks, wait her to bed and lie down.

"Liu Ye'er, can you just sleep in my room today?" Ji Cheng asked.

Liu Ye'er is one year older than Ji Cheng, and has been serving her for longer. She knows that although her young girl is thoughtful, she must be terrified when she arrives in this strange mansion alone. The eldest young master also came, but even if he wanted to take care of his younger sister in the inner courtyard, it would be very inconvenient.

"The maidservant will come after washing her face and feet." Liu Ye'er turned around and carried her quilt to the footrest beside Ji Cheng's bed to spread it on, and went into the room after washing quickly.

Ji Cheng couldn't sleep on the bed, her sleep had always been bad, and it was even more difficult to fall asleep if she changed the place.Thoughts were mixed, and I jumped back to Jindi, thinking of Ling Ziyun, maybe I can’t marry him. Although the two families are well-matched, once they encounter foreign humiliation, they may fall apart. It’s better to forget each other and find their own way .

She sighed and thought of her aunt Ji Lanlai again.When I was young, how could I have expected that Zhu Jijun would happen?Even if it happened, Ji Cheng thought at the time that his aunt married into such a family, and it must be a piece of cake to solve the surname Zhu.

Unfortunately, what Ji Cheng doesn't know is that the old family is deeply intertwined, and there is a large group of forces behind the surname Zhu, and Ji Lan is obviously the water thrown by her married daughter. She doesn't want to get involved in the muddy water at all. Dad took half of the family property to ask Ji Lan for management, and the disaster was put to rest.

Ji Cheng turned over on her back, she didn't blame Ji Lan, everyone has their own family and position, didn't her aunt still help them in the end?Although the lion opened his mouth wide.

Even Ji Cheng himself can't guarantee whether he will devote himself to helping his natal family after marriage.

Although what he said to Ji Lan was very beautiful, Ji Cheng knew that he had selfish intentions.She really doesn't want to drag her parents down anymore, but she also doesn't want to live a life like an ant that can be crushed casually with two fingers.A person must first make himself stronger in life, even if it is a fox pretending to be a tiger, and then he can talk about the future.

But can I get what I want?Ji Cheng didn't know, he wasn't even half sure, so he could only take one step at a time.Although she came here with a very utilitarian heart, she also carefully hoped that the person she met would be ugly, as long as she had a gentle temperament and was easy to get along with.

It's just that I heard that the noble ladies in the capital are not easy to get along with.Ji Cheng sighed, she didn't expect to marry a nobleman, life in the mansion was actually not easy, it would be better to marry a man with a simple family and a husband with great ability and future, even a widower would be fine.

Ji Cheng thought over and over again, there are countless officials, large and small, in the capital, there must be someone who she likes, and also likes her, right?
(End of this chapter)