The little lady in the palace

Chapter 168 Xi Yao
Xie Manor, Xie Jiqing has been so busy lately that he has a headache.

As soon as Prince Yi avoided going out, many things about Jin Yiwei were naturally left on his head.Recently, there have been so many disputes in Beijing, and none of these errands would make people dare to be careless. He was so busy that he couldn't even sleep for three hours a day.

It's not just that he doesn't have time to sleep, what Xie Jiqing is more concerned about is that his precious daughter rarely comes back, but he is too busy to have time to talk to her properly.

Fortunately, Xi Yao is sensible, she doesn't get angry or complain, when he is busy in the study, she sits quietly beside him and reads by herself, and occasionally gets up to help him change tea and ink, very well-behaved.

But Xie Jiqing felt sorry for himself.When Xi Yao got up to change tea again, her father blocked her: "You sit, and the servants can do all these things."

"It's rare for me to come back. How often can I serve you tea in a year?" Xi Yao said while carrying a porcelain cup to the side to make new tea. Xie Jiqing said: "I have never had time to ask carefully , which sons did your grandparents mention to you that day?"

When Xi Yao heard this, she curled her lips: "What else can I have? All of them are not low-profile and very good at enjoying themselves."

When she said this, Xie Jiqing knew why she was so unwilling to go to her grandparents to talk more these days, and it must be tied to him.

Since two years ago, the married daughters of the Xie family have chosen people who have no real power at all.Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, all of them have high lintels and are rightly related to Xie's family, but of course the family is clearly aware of the difference.

This is also no way.According to the family precepts, the Xie family had to recuperate after a few years of prosperity.Now is the time to recuperate, but the news of the establishment of a reserve from the top has hit, making the whole capital uneasy.

At this juncture, it is strange that no one wants to force the Xie family to stand in line.One of the most simple and direct ways is marriage. Once a daughter goes to her husband's house, there will always be some things that depend on affection.

Of course, it’s okay if you really insist on not looking at people’s feelings.But no matter how powerful their Xie family is, they can't take care of everything when they have to wear shoes to show their daughter-in-law's face when the door is closed.Then let the daughter be wronged at her husband's house?They can't do such a wicked thing.

Therefore, since two years ago, the elders in charge have temporarily "one size fits all" on the issue of choosing a son-in-law, pushing all those with official positions and real power, and picking a wealthy family to watch the young couple enjoy themselves together. From the perspective of the overall situation, it is better than leaving future troubles!

Xie Jiqing waited for Xi Yao to return to the table with tea, then pulled the chair closer, motioned her to sit beside him, and gently persuaded: "Your grandparents are doing it for your own good. Besides, the person they picked for you has no real power but loves you." Enjoyment, but definitely not a dandy who can't support the wall."

Most of them are educated and talented, the kind who have no intention of being an official but are of good character and brilliant talent.

"But I don't like it." Xi Yao frowned, her eyebrows were almost knotted, "Look, I'm usually in the palace, and the uncle I meet every day is a capable person; when you get home, you He also rushes about state affairs every day... How can I bear to marry a husband who spends time in leisure time? Just looking at him every day makes me bored to death."

Xi Yao felt that if the purpose of marrying was to enjoy herself, then her own wealth would be enough for her to enjoy herself for the rest of her life, so it would be better to come here by herself!
Xie Jiqing pressed his finger on the center of his daughter's frowning eyebrows: "If you don't like it, don't marry. Let's take a look at it for you. Dad also wants to keep you for a few more years."

"I have to pick these people!" Xi Yao's full of complaints were suddenly pushed out, and she complained, "Cousin Xizhen married You Zexu, didn't my family object? Why don't you pick me too?" A brocade guard, I don't care if their lintels are slightly lower, it's better than those who live on a salary!"

Xie Jiqing smiled and sighed: "Don't mention Jin Yiwei. Now that You Zexu is out on errands, I'm going to sweat for your cousin. If something happens to him, your cousin will have to be a widow. This is not acceptable."

"Hmph." Xi Yao turned her head away, Xie Jiqing looked at it, and handed her the fruit plate at hand: "Don't be angry. Otherwise, Princess Duanrou will get married in two days, and you and Dad will go to the concubine's mansion together." Congratulations to her, maybe which of the clansmen present can catch your eye?"

"I'm not going..." Xi Yao said in her heart, Dad, don't be fooled by me, the male and female guests are used to sitting separately at such banquets, not only are they not at the same table but they are not in the same room, it will be strange to see anyone!

"Hey." Xie Jiqing looked at his daughter, thought for a while and said, "Father has several officials from Jinyiwei accompanying him."

"Huh?!" Xi Yao really became excited when she heard this, and immediately agreed readily.

In Qingyuan, several children followed the invitations, and then got together to discuss what gifts to prepare.

While chatting, the topic went off track, and the first one to get the topic off track was Ayou.

He said abruptly: "Ah! You said that Cousin Xizhen and Brother You will also follow up with invitations?"

The children were dumbfounded for a moment, Ah Li said probably yes, Ah Qi said probably not?Ah Zuo said how embarrassing it was when we met, Ah You said to himself, wouldn't it be mean if you don't invite me?

They were chatting at one another, and within a short time, the conversation was so crooked that eight horses couldn't get it back.After turning a few corners, they talked about where the son-in-law's mansion was given, how far it was from the original princess mansion, and also talked about the houses that Princess Duanrou bought herself in Beijing.

Some of them couldn’t stop chatting, but Ah Qi was stunned suddenly: “That is to say, among the several houses of Princess Duanrou, the cheapest one only cost 300 taels?”

"Yes, the place is a bit out of the way, but I heard it's quite big. It's just that it costs a lot of money to repair it. I heard that many things in it were arranged by the uncle himself." There are many things, and there are many things to inquire about.

Ah Qi listened absent-mindedly, and after listening, he asked again: "A house is only 300 taels, so tell me... how much does it cost to buy a maid from a brothel?"

The three brothers who had been chatting well suddenly looked up: "?!?!"

Ah Li rolled up his sleeves and tugged at his ears again: "What are you thinking about?! Going back to Bada Hutong was not enough, and now I plan to buy one from Bada Hutong...then why come back?!"

"Let go!!!" Ah Qi was so painfully pulled by him, "Who said you want to buy a brothel girl! I'm talking about maids! Maids!!! Aren't brothels full of prostitutes?! They also have ordinary maids How about a cook?!"

"You don't make too much sense! You make it clear to me!" Ah Li grabbed him, and A Zuo saw that the ears of the second brother were reddened by the elder brother, so he quickly patted the elder brother: "Brother, don't be angry, let me go first!" Brother, tell me!"

Ah Li stared at Ah Qi for a long time before letting him go, Ah Qi rubbed his ears while staring back, Ah Zuo looked at him: "Second brother, what are you thinking...?"

"I didn't think about anything!" Aqi said.

A Zuo thought for a while: "You don't have enough people under your command?"

Aqi was silent for a while, afraid of being asked anything else, he could only respond with "um".

"There are not enough people, so you want to buy from the brothel?!" Ah Li didn't get enough fire, and rolled up his sleeves again, and Ah Zuo rushed over to smooth things over: "Brother, don't be angry, don't be angry! I'll go back to my mother and concubine in a while. Second brother buys someone from a brothel! Certainly not!"

But it wasn't A Zuo's turn to tell Yuyin about this—at that time Meng Junhuai was walking outside their house, and he wanted to call the children out to go out and ride horses together. After hearing this, he went directly to Yuyin in silence up.

In the room, Yu Yin was taking Lan Jing and Ming Jing to pack wontons together to relieve boredom. After Meng Junhuai came, he thought about it and asked someone to take Ming Jing out, not hiding the truth from Lan Jing who was already sensible.

So after he finished speaking, one big and one small were all dumbfounded, Yu Yin exclaimed: "What did you say?!"

Ah Qi is thinking about buying a girl from a brothel? !

"He's also eleven this year, maybe...would think about this kind of thing?" Meng Junhuai frowned thoughtfully.

Yu Yin was stunned: "No...he thinks about this on eleventh, isn't it a bit earlier?"

He also nodded: "It's a little early."

But if he wasn't thinking about this, why would he be thinking about buying a maid or buying a maid from a brothel?
Meng Junhuai weighed it in for a while, and then made a suggestion: "Otherwise, I'll call back to my concubine and ask the Shang Bedroom Bureau to choose one for him?"

Pick a court lady who teaches personnel?

Yu Yin immediately shook her head: "No."

She doesn't agree with this kind of thing, especially now that Ah Qi is still young, and he still doesn't know his temper.

Seriously speaking, on this kind of issue, she is not afraid that he will become a romantic in the future. There are many dudes with wives and concubines in the clan, and there is no shortage of money in any government. If he can take care of them all? Also into.

What she was afraid of was his devotion.Take the example of her and Meng Junhuai, they are living a good life now, but think about Mrs You, Mrs He, and those concubines in the north... Does anyone deserve to be a widow with the mansion?
No one deserves this.But if she, the legitimate wife, were to push him away, she really couldn't do it.It's fine if they just "respect each other as guests" but don't have a deep relationship, but now he only likes her, and she also likes him, there is really no room for a third person between them.

So this matter is very helpless now, no one wants to do this, but there is no solution.

In this regard, Yuyin complained more or less to the Empress Dowager and Concubine Ding, after all, one of these people was all given to the mansion by them.She can also understand that they were doing it for the sake of the younger generation back then, but now that she is in this "elderly" role, she is unwilling to do the same thing.

"Why don't you just tell him a close relative, a little older than him, it doesn't matter. Don't get married too late. In two years, when they are thirteen or fourteen... get married directly?" She made such a suggestion.

Meng Junhuai thought for a while, but still frowned: "This idea is fine, but if you want to get married so early, the 'right family' is not very satisfying."

The family of the "well-matched" clan and aristocrats are neither short of money nor lack of status, who doesn't want to keep their daughter for two more years?Why did I send it to your family as a daughter-in-law on the [-]th and [-]th?
Hejing's 16-year-old marriage seems too early in the clan, but she is an exception, she is anxious to be with Xie Cheng.

Hearing what he said, Yuyin couldn't think of any way to get the best of both worlds.The two were pondering over each other, and Lan Jing who was next to her suddenly opened her mouth quietly: "Mother Concubine..."

Yu Yin looked over: "Huh? What's the matter?"

"Do you have to... find a suitable person for Ah Qi to marry?" Lan Jing asked her softly.

Yu Yin was startled, and immediately said: "Naturally. Not only him, but you too. Why do fathers, queens, mothers and concubines help you choose a husband and son-in-law, but don't urge you to settle it quickly? First of all, if you like it, Secondly, it can't make you feel wronged by marrying, the three of you sisters are all the same."

She only thought that Lan Jing was still worried that she was not inferior to them and that Jing Mingjing was important, but after saying this, she still saw Lan Jing's eyes tremble slightly.

In fact, Lan Jing herself knew it well.For more than three years, her father, queen, mother and concubine have helped her see so many sons, the one with the worst family background is probably several times stronger than the one she pretends in her heart.

But he... is good to her.

(End of this chapter)