Colorful

Chapter 3 Living in the Shen Mansion (3)
Liu Ye'er heard the rustling sound when she turned over on the bed after a while, and couldn't help saying: "Girl, I'll find some women to move the furniture in the west room tomorrow, You can also practice like at home, so you won’t be unable to fall asleep.”

"En." Ji Cheng responded.In fact, the so-called exercise is the way of health and fitness that the lady teacher taught her. After the practice, she is tired all over, but it is really easy to sleep.Ever since she came to Beijing from Jindi, there were no conditions along the way, and she hadn't practiced for a long time.

It wasn't until midnight that Ji Cheng fell asleep drowsily, but soon it was time to get up again to say hello to Ji Lan.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Ji Lan asked while letting Linglong comb her hair.

"Very well, aunt."

Ji Lan chuckled lightly and said, "You just arrived yesterday, you were supposed to take a bath and clean up, but I was negligent.

Having said that, if Ji Lan returned to Jin, I am afraid that Ji Cheng and his family would never dare to be so negligent, there is no other, it is just a status of high status or low status.

"It's just that although the Ji family has a lot of money, it's not worth coming to my aunt to beat people, right?" Ji Lan changed her voice and reprimanded her face to face.

Ji Cheng immediately lowered his head and said in trepidation: "Yu Qian'er grew up in Jindi. She has never seen much of the world, and she doesn't know the rules of the family. I told them yesterday, and I will never do it again. My aunt manages the big mansion by herself. To raise the child, Ah Cheng's arrival has caused a lot of trouble for my aunt..."

"What trouble is it? It's too late for you to be welcomed by such a well-behaved aunt." Ji Lan took Ji Cheng's hand and said, "Auntie said that just now, and it was for your own good. Our background is not good, everyone is staring at you Look, if you make a mistake, I can tell you to the sky, and you will understand after staying for a few more days. The rules of the family were established with great difficulty. Speaking of it, I also felt a lot of sadness back then. Some slaves have been with the Duke for several generations, and their style is more powerful than that of the master. It took me more than ten years to get them together. To deal with these people, the more you spend money, the more they will look down on you."

Ji Cheng listened carefully, nodding his head from time to time, holding Ji Lan's hand back and saying, "Thank you aunt for telling me these heartfelt words. Ah Cheng understands in his heart that aunt has had a hard time these years." .”

"Who says it's not?" Ji Lan smiled wryly, and the girl who was serving beside her got her wink and retreated quietly, "I know you all envy me, but who can understand the difficulty of me marrying into Duke Qi's mansion?" Understood?" Ji Lan seemed to be emotional when she spoke, "One of the sisters-in-law in my family is a princess, and the other is a daughter of the Hou family, with eyes on the top of their heads. No respect at all. When I was pregnant with my first brother, just after I was pregnant, the old lady let someone into my room. I was young and energetic at the time, and a good brother would just flow like that." Ji Lan said while searching tears.

This is the second time that Ji Lan has poured bitter water on Ji Cheng, as if she must let her know that marrying into a wealthy family is not as good as she imagined, it is more suffering.

But in fact, Ji Cheng has never thought that life after marrying into a rich family is easy. If you want something, you will lose something. She has long been mentally prepared.

And Ji Lan was still whispering in his ear: "At that time, I thought, with my talent and appearance, I knew that it would be better to enter the palace to serve the emperor, so as to save myself from this crime. In the Crown Harem, even the princess has to be courteous when she sees her, and she dares not fart in front of her. Even the family with Concubine Xue has made a fortune, and her brother is still holding the power of the bureaucracy."

Ji Cheng had nothing to say, so he could only keep nodding his head to show that he had listened.

"Back then, about your second brother, your father blamed me a lot at home, right?" Ji Lan asked again, wiping away tears.

"No, my father and our whole family don't know how much we are grateful to my aunt, especially the second brother, who has long been clamoring to kowtow to my aunt, but this time the eldest brother is going to Beijing to study, and there must be no one in the family to perform filial piety in front of his parents. That's why they didn't come." Ji Cheng said.

"Don't bluff me. I can understand that you have resentment against me. It's my natal family. Am I willing to just watch and ignore it? It's like stabbing me in the heart with a knife. But your uncle doesn't live up to it. I can't help at all." Ji Lan seemed to have finally found an audience, and spoke out all her grievances in one go.

"The three sons of the Shen family, the first master inherited the title, and the second master also made meritorious service and became the earl. As long as your uncle is high or low, his current job is also donated with money, and he has gone out of his way to make up for it. The old lady is partial to the eldest and second child, and the two elder brothers look down on the younger brother who is not up to date. The faces of the sisters-in-law and sister-in-law are so ugly. Every time I go to ask them, I spend the whole night You can't sleep all night, you have never begged anyone, and you don't know the hardship and heartache." Ji Lan grabbed the front of her chest, looking at it as if her heart was twisted with pain.

Of course Ji Cheng knew that when her father came to beg her aunt back then, it was probably the same embarrassment.

For Ji Cheng, that period of time completely overturned her life, and the fear and panic in it could not be expressed in words, so it was impossible for her not to have no resentment towards Ji Lan who had never offered a helping hand. He hung it up and sold it for a very high price, and finally he pretended to be reluctant to help.She does have complaints.

But afterward, when Ji Cheng grew up, he realized how naive and ridiculous his original thoughts were, and Ji Lan had no obligation to help them at all.So now Ji Cheng is grateful to Ji Lan, without her, the Ji family might not even be able to find a way out.

Ji Cheng wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes: "Our family is very grateful to my aunt and uncle. If there is no aunt, I'm afraid we won't even be able to find a way to ask for help." Ji Cheng said what was in his heart.

Ji Lan paused for a moment, and then she realized that her niece is really a wonderful person, but no matter how smart Ji Cheng is, Ji Lan is not afraid, smart people are sometimes better at talking, they always know what is most beneficial to them .

"Let's stop talking about this, it's sad to say it. You just need to know my difficulties. When you come to the capital this time, my aunt will definitely try her best to help you. If it really works, our aunt and nephew will be considered friends in the capital." Take care. It’s just that the water depth in this capital city is tight, and the eyes of the rich and powerful people are all on the top of their heads, and the upstart style is really despised. In fact, with your talent and appearance, if you can enter the palace to serve Emperor, do you still have to worry about other people daring to trouble your uncle? There is no empress dowager in the palace. If you serve the emperor well and live a comfortable and comfortable life, all the noble ladies in the capital will kneel down in front of you, don't worry about venting your anger. "

Ji Cheng's expression didn't change, but his heart tightened. She didn't expect Ji Lan to have such an idea.The emperor is an old man in his 50s and almost [-] years old. He has been obsessed with women since he was young, and he has emptied his body. He did not ascend the throne until he was in his thirties. Just gave birth to a big prince.

Ji Lan thought that the land of Jin was high and the emperor was far away, and Ji Cheng, a boudoir daughter, would definitely not know about the affairs of the court, but how could she know, since Ji Cheng made up his mind to come to the capital, why would he not inquire about the affairs of the imperial city.

"Auntie, I heard that the emperor is close to half a hundred people. Ah Cheng doesn't have that kind of ambition, and he doesn't dare to compare with the empresses in the palace. I'm clumsy and clumsy. I'm afraid I don't have that kind of luck." Ji Cheng lowered his head and said.

Ji Lan didn't expect Ji Cheng to agree immediately. When she hits a wall in the capital, she will naturally know what to choose.

The two were talking, when Shen Cui, Ji Cheng's cousin, walked in, and coquettishly called, "Mother."

"What a girl, you're still acting like a baby, come and meet your cousin Cheng, you came back too late yesterday, so I didn't see you." Ji Lan pulled Shen Cui off her body.

Only then did Shen Cui's eyes turn to Ji Cheng. In fact, she saw Ji Cheng as soon as she entered the door, but she just didn't want to talk to her.When Ji Cheng came back last time, they only stayed for a few days, and the two of them didn't talk much. Shen Cui only remembered that Ji Cheng was a pretty girl, but when he saw Ji Cheng suddenly today, he realized that this cousin Ji Cheng was actually a beautiful girl. He has grown into a person of heavenly fragrance and national beauty.

Shen Cui has always considered herself to be the most beautiful among her family and even her relatives, but now that Ji Cheng stands in front of her and compares her, she becomes that green leaf.

"Fifth Sister." Ji Cheng called Shen Cui after the Shen family.

"Cousin Cheng." Shen Cui responded lukewarmly.

After that, there was no more conversation between the two of them. Shen Cui didn't want to talk to Ji Cheng, and Ji Cheng didn't want to rush to make a cold face.Shen Cui is used to arrogance, if you rush to curry favor with her, she will look down on you instead, Ji Cheng had already discovered Shen Cui's temperament when he came back last time.There are still many opportunities to gain favor, don't be in a hurry at this moment, if you are too eager, it will be easy for people to control their weaknesses and take advantage of them.

"Your cousin will stay at our house for a longer time this time. You two sisters haven't seen each other for many years, just to get closer. After the old lady's birthday, the school starts, and your cousin will go to school with you." Ji Lan road.

Shen Cui felt even more upset after hearing this.The cousin who ran out of nowhere is going to go to school with her, she has cousins ​​to get close to, who cares about a cousin from some merchant?
Ji Lan had nothing to do with her daughter whose temper was written all over her face, so she could only smile apologetically at Ji Cheng.

The three of them had dinner at the same table, Ji Lan got up and said, "Yesterday, because your brothers and sisters were coming, I specially asked for leave in front of the old lady, and today I have to serve the old lady in the East Mansion, and help her entertain Ladies."

The East Mansion in Ji Lan's mouth is the Duke's Mansion of Qi. Because the mansion is on the east side of Tongque Street, it is called the East Mansion, and the Zhongyibo Mansion is called the West Mansion.As for the side of Master Shen San, it is called "the side of Iron Hat Alley".

"You also go with me, kowtow to the old lady." Ji Lan said to Ji Cheng.

Ji Cheng came with his elder brother Ji Yuan this time in the name of celebrating the old lady's birthday, so naturally he should kowtow to the old lady.

Ji Cheng nodded and said yes, went back to the room and changed clothes, the upper body was a short skirt with dark rose flowers on the pink ground, paired with a long skirt with light purple butterfly opera roses, it looked a little festive and unassuming, and the hair was also combed in a simple way. In the bun, simply inserted a hair comb carved with white jade and butterfly flowers, which highlighted the girl's unique beauty to the extreme.

Compared with the person in front of her, Shen Cui's body next to her was simply a vulgar fool.Ji Lan sighed secretly, and thought that Shen Cui is also fourteen this year, and she should have said goodbye long ago, and there was no one suitable to pick and choose. Now that Ji Cheng is standing by her side, this comparison is only in terms of marriage. unfavorable.Because she was thinking about the companies she had set her eyes on for Shen Cui, it was imperative that Ji Cheng should have as little contact as possible.

Ruiyingtang is the residence of the old lady of the Shen family. This is the upper house where the Dukes of Qi lived in the past. It is also the largest building in the entire East Mansion. It has three bright rooms, two dark rooms and five bays.

Originally, after Mr. Shen inherited the title, the old lady should move to another place to take care of her, but because Mr. Shen and Princess An are very filial, they insisted not to let Mrs. Shen move away from the place she is used to living in. .

As for the current residence of Duke Qi, it is on the west side of Ruiying Hall.When Princess Anhe got married, the emperor did not grant the princess mansion to be built. This meant that the princess would marry into the mansion of the Duke of Qi as a wife and daughter-in-law. However, the emperor did not treat Princess Anhe badly. It was given to Princess Anhe as a garden.After more than [-] years of continuous construction, the garden has been integrated with the garden of the original Duke of Qi's mansion. Therefore, the garden of the Duke of Qi's mansion has become one of the four most famous gardens in the capital, and it is the largest among them. .

When Ji Lan led Shen Cui and Ji Cheng to Ruiyingtang, the girl who opened the curtain standing on the stone steps opened the curtain with sharp eyes and called inside, and a moment later, the older girl beside the old lady came out to welcome her.

"I'll bring my niece and daughter to kowtow to the old lady." Ji Lan said to Chun Chan who came out to welcome her.

Chunchan glanced at Ji Cheng, marveling at the beauty of this cousin girl, but there was no change on her face: "There is another guest in the old lady's room right now, who came from Suzhou in the south. The third lady knows Our old lady grew up in the south, and this lady who came here is her cousin in the south of the Yangtze River, and this time she came to Beijing specially to celebrate her birthday."

"Oh, this is really rare. I'm afraid that Mrs. Tai is not too young, and she has to come here after a long journey, so she must be very different from our old lady." Ji Lan laughed.

(End of this chapter)