Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 199

Although Chu Yu has been a bride for nearly a year, she didn't feel like a daughter-in-law until Jiang Ning. After the sweetness, she began to have the sensitivity and anxiety unique to a bride.That night, a family banquet was going to be held at Zhizao Mansion to welcome Cao Yong and his wife and Cao Song, but Chu Yu was worried about wearing clothes.

She and Cao Yong went to greet Gao Taijun first, and then went back to the front yard to change clothes and prepare to attend the dinner.At first Chuyu saw that her mother-in-law was not wearing a flag dress, so she didn't feel much, but when she saw that her grandmother was not wearing a flag dress, she felt a little uncomfortable in this flag dress.

Although she intends to change, the current clothes are all dowry when she gets married. Apart from the flag dress or the flag dress, where are the others?She couldn't help being a little annoyed that she didn't think carefully and didn't make more clothes. She really couldn't do it. She asked Cao Yong anxiously: "My son-in-law, Chu Yu is wearing a flag...what should I do?"

Cao Yong looked at her wrinkled nose, pouting her mouth, looking very worried, and couldn't help laughing: "What's wrong with the flag dress? Don't you usually wear these?"

Chu Yu shook her head, and said, "My mother-in-law doesn't wear this. Just now..." She paused for a moment, with a little frustration, and said, "I just went to pay my respects to my grandmother, and my grandmother didn't wear a flag dress either!"

Cao Yong was afraid that she would think too much, so he hurriedly persuaded her: "This is the reason why my grandmother and mother lived in the south since childhood. Even the banner people here can wear everything, and there is nothing to say. Look at the second aunt. Are you wearing a flag?"

Chu Yu still couldn't let it go, hesitated for a moment, and then said cautiously: "Just now, my grandmother looked at Chu Yu's outfit, and she seemed a little displeased...so...you better think of a way!"

Cao Yong was taken aback for a moment, and after thinking about it, when he just went to greet Gao Taijun, Gao Taijun's attitude was indeed a little rusty.Even for Cao Yong, she was not as enthusiastic as when she left last year; for Chu Yu, I don't know if it was because it was the first time we met, after a few glances, she became a little lukewarm, just a little Said a few ordinary words.

Because Gao Taijun has always been a taciturn person, Cao Yong was immersed in the joy of just returning home at that time, and didn't think much about it. Hearing what Chu Yu said now, after careful consideration, he felt that something was wrong.But he still smiled on his face, and comforted Chuyu: "Grandmother only came to our house last year, maybe it's not because she looked down on us since she was a child, and it's the same with Yi'er and me. She's not particularly warm. Besides, she has always been quiet. , I usually don’t talk too much with anyone. Just relax and don’t think too much about it!”

*
Gao Taijun's courtyard, the upper room.

On the vermilion lacquer table is a blue and white glazed statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Three pillars of sandalwood have just been lit in the small white jade cauldron in front of it.

Gao Taijun sat on the kang, facing the altar, slowly counting the beads, but did not read the scriptures, but fell into deep thought.It wasn't until the cry of a child was heard from the Nuan Pavilion next door that she woke up and closed her eyes slightly.

After a while, ** came over with a baby girl in her arms.This baby girl is Lu Mei's daughter, now she is eleven months old, her body is much stronger, white and fat, completely different from when she was just born.

Although she can't speak yet, she already knows how to recognize people. The moment she saw Mrs. Gao, a cheerful smile appeared on her small face, she waved her little arms, babbling, and went straight to the old lady. Jun is enough here, indicating that he wants to hug.

When Gao Taijun saw her, he couldn't help but smile sincerely. He opened his arms and took the baby girl over. While swaying, he coaxed her and said, "Wu'er is good, do you miss grandma? Grandma's sweetheart, Look at you sleeping, your little face is flushed! Your brother and sister-in-law are back, and you didn’t even see them!”

Wu'er is the baby girl's nickname, and her first name is Cao Di. The word "頔" is pronounced "Di" and its meaning is "beautiful".Because she was ranked fifth among uncles and sisters, Mr. Gao gave her the nickname "Wu'er".

If Wu'er hadn't been there, Gao Taijun would have gone back to Suzhou long ago, but stayed in Jiangning because he was worried about this motherless child.

Gao Taijun is coaxing Wu'er here, and Mrs. Li comes in from outside.Seeing that the old matriarch looked normal, she put it down, and waved her hand to send the servant girls to leave temporarily with Wu'er in their arms.

The smile on Gao Taijun's face faded, and without looking at Li Shi, he said coldly: "I'm fine here. The new daughter-in-law comes home for the first time, and you, a mother-in-law, are also busy. What are you doing here?"

Mrs. Li came here to invite her mother to the banquet. Seeing her mother's attitude, remembering how Chu Yu was treated when she came to pay her respects, she asked in embarrassment, "Mother doesn't like your daughter-in-law?"

Gao didn't respond, but turned sideways, looking at the Guanyin statue, his expression became more and more dull, and he was completely different from his usual kindness.

"Mother..." Mrs. Li sighed, and persuaded softly: "It's been so many years, why should mother worry about it? Besides, the old things can't be blamed on Yong's daughter-in-law."

Gao Taijun couldn't help being a little annoyed when he heard the words, pointed at Mrs. Li, and complained: "Even if you are not a son, you are still a daughter. How can you say that? Could it be that the emperor gave your family a small favor and asked you to take the previous Have you forgotten all the grudges?"

Seeing that the old matriarch was angry, Mrs. Li hurried over to help her pat her on the back, and said more cautiously: "Mother, don't be upset, my daughter said this, but I just can't bear to make things difficult for my son! My daughter is only this son, this time When I came back, I heard that at most, I would stay at home for ten days and a half months, and then go to the north to work as an errand, and I don’t know when I will come back again! Mother... just look at the faces of her daughter and grandson..." She just said With that said, his eyes turned red.

Gao Taijun looked at her for a long while, and finally sighed: "I said before, I have to go back to Suzhou first, but you and Cao son-in-law stopped me, saying that it is the end of the year, so it is not good to go back like this! Right now ..., oh, that's all, don't make things difficult for you mother. Just say that I'm tired, so I don't need to ask them to come over to say hello these days!"

"Mother..." Mrs. Li tried to persuade her again, but she was frozen back by Gao Taijun's eyes full of frost.

Gao Taijun also stopped looking at her, stared at the Guanyin statue, and said solemnly: "Shuqing, you have to remember that even if you marry into the Cao family, you are still the daughter of the Li family! What the Li family gave you is more than you can think of." Even more, no matter how long it takes, you must not forget this, otherwise even if my old woman goes underground, it will be difficult for me to rest in peace!"

Seeing that Mrs. Gao spoke so seriously, Mrs. Li was anxious, and hurriedly said: "Mother, my daughter has no other intentions, but this daughter-in-law is indeed a good child. I thought that if you let go of your worries and let them marry each other in the future." I respect you very much!"

Gao Taijun turned his head when he heard the words, stared into Li Shi's eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Shuqing, I'm not old-fashioned. In the past few years, your mansion has less contact with your brother. Last year, you specially picked me up. It doesn't seem like it's just because you miss me, right?" While speaking, she changed her usual warm and loving appearance, and besides being solemn, there was even a layer of chill on her face.

Mrs. Li felt a little guilty when she heard Gao Taijun mentioning this, and hesitated about what kind of excuse she should find.

Mrs. Gao saw it and shook her head: "Silly boy, when have you lied to me since you were young?! What are the two of you husband and wife planning, and what is the reason for stopping me from going back? It's not because you are afraid of worrying. Get in touch and pick up my old lady, so as not to be implicated by the Li family, right?"

In fact, Gao Taijun was just guessing casually, but he did not expect to be right.Li's face froze, hey, he couldn't find anything to justify.

Mrs. Gao was unintentional. Seeing her reaction, this party felt that something was wrong, hurriedly took Li's hand, and said anxiously: "It seems that this is what the old lady is talking about? What is wrong with your brother and his family? Do you even have to avoid suspicion like this?" At this point, her face grew angry, and she shook Li Shi's hand fiercely, pointing at Li Shi and said, "What did I just say? Forget it, the Li family treats you...the Li family treats you..."

Gao Taijun was so angry that he couldn't speak, and Li was so wronged that he choked up and said: "Mother! Then what do you ask your daughter to do? Brother, have we never helped or persuaded? Yonger's father How many times in these years have you not persuaded him? Advised him to restrain himself and pay back the shortfall as soon as possible; advised him not to leave too many mistakes, so as not to offend the emperor and cause unexpected disasters. However, the mother is not ignorant of the eldest brother's temper, and finally You are so strong, how can you listen to advice?"

Gao Taijun heard that Li Shi was worried about the shortfall, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "What else should I be? You and your husband are just like frightened birds, and the grass and trees are all soldiers! This was mentioned by your aunt and your elder brother before. It’s not all the cost of picking up the driver in the past few years, and it’s not our own expenses! Your elder brother is not a high-ranking official, his salary is not much, and there are many people in his family. How can he have any savings? Save some money for your children and grandchildren. Use your own money to block the royal family's deficit, so why not let the children drink the northwest wind in the future?"

"Mother, after all, the shortfall is owed in the name of the eldest brother! In addition, I heard from Yong'er's father that the eldest brother moved another tael in the salt administration to make up for the previous shortfall! In case the emperor pursues it one day, if he wants to It will be too late to make up for it! Besides, this shortfall is not a small amount, if you don’t start as soon as possible, you may not be able to make up for it in a while.” Li Shi persuaded her earnestly, and she still had a faint expectation in her heart. Being able to persuade my mother, and asking my mother to write a letter to persuade my elder brother, might have miraculous effects.

Gao Taijun shook his head disapprovingly, and snorted: "This deficit is the royal family's deficit, and the emperor should know about it. What's the use of being so careful?" Wang Chen', if the emperor wants to praise someone, he won't pick on you; if the emperor wants to punish someone, even if you don't have one, you won't!"

Mrs. Li couldn't help being suspicious when she heard this, her mother was just a widowed housewife for many years, how could she be so emotional?Even if his father's death had something to do with the court, he wouldn't be so angry.She stared blankly at her mother, not knowing what to say in response.

Gao Taijun seemed to be aware of his loss of composure, and immediately stopped talking, lowered his head and twirled the rosary, and after a while, as if he had made up his mind, he said firmly: "Since your husband and wife are worried about being troubled by the Li family, then my old lady can't stay with you even more. Stay away! I can’t be more cruel than you, even if the Li family is really in trouble, I will go back to accompany you! How your aunt treats me and how she treats you, you don’t need to tell me this, you know! If it’s true One, when I go back at that time, I still embarrass you, why bother? Why don’t you take advantage of the peace now, and the two families will have less fighting, then you will live your peaceful life, and we will guard our calamity!”

When Mrs. Li heard this, she couldn't bear it anymore. She knelt in front of the kang and said, "Mother, how could my daughter mean this? Even Yong'er's father never thought of saving his own stature alone! He had already thought about it. As long as the two families don’t fall into trouble at the same time, it’s always good to support each other, just in case! Mother said so, how can she ask her daughter to defend herself!”

Gao Taijun moved away, he didn't accept Li Shi's kneeling, but he also knew that what he just said was serious, just when he wanted to persuade him politely, he heard someone outside the door saying: "Mother, grandmother!"

Hearing it was Cao Yong's voice, Gao Taijun hurriedly called Li Shi to get up in a low voice.When Mrs. Li wiped her tears and cleaned up properly, Mr. Gao asked Cao Yong to come in.

It turned out that in Kaiyang courtyard, Cao Quan and Zhao Jia had already brought a few children over.Cao Yong and Chu Yu also went, and the whole family was waiting for Mrs. Li to invite Mrs. Gao to come over.But Mrs. Li went there for a long time and didn't come back, so Cao Yong volunteered to come over. By the way, he also wanted to see what was wrong with his grandmother, thinking of prescribing the right medicine to make the old man happy.

As soon as he entered the room, Cao Yong felt something was wrong with the atmosphere.Although Gao Taijun's face is still loving, and Li Shi is also smiling, but it always makes people feel a little stiff.Take a closer look at my mother's eyes. Although the tears seem to have been wiped away, the slightly red eye circles cannot be concealed.

Cao Yong was a little sad, worried that his mother would be reprimanded by his grandmother because of Chu Yu.Although he was puzzled, because he was a junior and his wife was involved, it was not easy to ask him face to face, so he looked normal and smiled and invited his grandmother and mother to the banquet.

Gao Taijun wanted to refuse, but seeing Li's eyes full of pleading, he sighed in his heart and nodded.
-
(End of this chapter)