Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 260 Kindness
Yizhou, Daotai Mansion, is diagonally across.

This place was originally an open space, and because few people stayed here on the first day near the Daotai Yamen.However, now there is very little smoke from the kitchen, and the figures are shaking.

On the sixth day of November, there was an additional porridge shed, with two pots set up inside, and the porridge was served every day at Sichu ([-]:[-] am) and Shenchu ​​([-]:[-] pm).

After all, it was Mr. Zhuang's idea.The sixth day of November is Niu Niu's first birthday, according to Chu Yu and Zi Jing's intentions, it is necessary to take care of it, and Tian's family is happy to give birth safely.

Mr. Zhuang is not a person who talks about these empty etiquettes. Because of the bad weather, poor people are lonely and cold, and people freeze to death every year. After discussing with Lianqiu and Xiqiu, he thought about giving porridge for a few days. To accumulate blessings for my daughter.

Both Chuyu and Zijing are people who worship the Buddha, so they naturally agree with each other, and they even want to get involved with Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Han.After discussion, everyone decided to join forces and build a porridge shed.

Now is not a year of famine, even if it is a porridge shed, it is just a homeless beggar in the city, so even if it is in the name of Daotai Mansion, it is not considered a violation of the taboo of the court.

Because it was mainly for Niuniu's first birthday, Mr. Zhuang asked Lianqiu to take 40 taels of silver and hand it over to the housekeeper Cao Fang, asking him to arrange the porridge.Chu Yu reduced the class and gave 30 taels, and Tian, ​​who had finished giving birth to sister-in-law Wu'er and Fang, each gave 16 taels; Zijing was next, 12 taels; Mrs. Han and Mrs. Lu each gave six taels ; The jade dragon and the jade spider are two taels each.

The total is 130 taels of silver, and it is expected to be applied until the fifteenth or seventy days of the first lunar month.Nearly two taels of silver per day, which is still quite a surplus.

On this day, after the end of the day, the rice was put into the pot, and the porridge in the afternoon began to simmer again, and after a while, the rice fragrance overflowed.

The porridge shed is originally an open space, and the location is even spacious.Except for the two temporary cauldrons in the middle, the east and west sides are places where people line up to receive porridge.For the sake of etiquette, the men are in the east and the women are in the west, and they receive porridge separately.

In the shed on the east side, Wu Mao led a few servants to look after them; in the shed on the west side, there were two mothers and a few maidservants.In addition to these, Ren Shuyong and Ren Jiyong brought a few Daotai family servants to maintain order.

In the corner of the shed on the west side, there was a young woman, only eighteen or nineteen years old, with a withered face, wearing patched clothes, holding a few-month-old baby in her arms, looking eagerly at the side of the porridge pot.

On the other side, Little Walnut looked at him and felt that this person was very pitiful, and said to an older girl next to him: "Sister Wu En, that sister-in-law is so pitiful, that child is not much older than the young master!"

The girl next to her was thirteen or fourteen years old, with a slightly tall figure, a small round face, crooked eyes with a smile on her face, and looked a little charming.She was wearing cotton clothes that were probably new, and she was dressed differently from other maids.

She is Wu En, the little slave girl Cao Yong brought back from the prairie in the early years. She is 13 years old this year, and she has been with Zijing all the time without any serious errands.

These days, there is no such thing as Wu En and Little Walnut serving porridge.It's just that the two of them are the youngest in the mansion and the most irritable. It's really uncomfortable to be confined in the inner house, so they wander around Zijing's side, grinding out the errand of serving porridge.

Little Walnut came from a tenant farmer's family. He lost his father a few years ago and lived with the widow's mother. In the past few years, he has been hungry and full. It is better after meeting Tian's.After entering Daotai Mansion for two months, he was nourished by good food and good food, and his body became much stronger.

However, after all, she is ten years old, and she has remembered things for several years. Seeing this woman holding the child, and thinking of the days when she and her mother didn't have enough meals in the past, the little girl's eyes became a little sour.

Wu En is a female slave, and she has been doing odd jobs for as long as she can remember, and she also came here from a small hardship.She couldn't bear to see the woman in thin clothes, shivering in the cold wind.

This young woman started to get the porridge three days ago. She came every morning and afternoon, holding a sea bowl in her hand. Every time she got the porridge, she didn't drink it, but took it home. It should be from someone else at home. reason.

After all, Wu En was older and more sensible than Little Walnut, and looked at the child in the young woman's arms with a little worry.It's so big, it's not much better than a cat, and it's freezing cold weather.In case of freezing and sickness, it is a life.

Thinking of this, Wu En looked up at the gloomy sky, fearing that it was going to snow again.She frowned slightly, and said to Little Walnut: "It won't work like this, let's talk to Sister Zijing to see if we can directly give this sister-in-law some rice, or see her tossing around with the baby all day long. It is uncomfortable!"

Little Walnut nodded hurriedly, and said with a smile: "Yes, yes! Sister Zijing is the most kind-hearted, we can't see it anymore, and Sister Zijing will naturally show kindness!"

While talking, the two little girls greeted the nanny in charge of the porridge shed, and went back to Daotai mansion.

*
Daotai mansion, inner house, upper room.

Zijing sighed, looked at Chuyu worriedly, and asked: "Princess, this uncle hasn't come back yet, Grandma Tian's side is not looking good! The big one is better, and the small one is better these days. But it's getting weaker! Even though all kinds of good medicines are staring at it, I'm afraid it won't make up for it!"

Chu Yu sat on the edge of the kang with the stove in his hand, frowned, and said, "We can't go on with our hands now that the Lord is not here, otherwise, if this child makes a mistake, we will be sinners! Before Tian's sister enters our house , Master has explained carefully, you must take care of it with all your heart. There is no other way, I will send someone to the capital tomorrow to see if I can find a good doctor!" Speaking of this, he looked out the window and said: "It will snow again, If there are no accidents, the master is already on his way back, and he doesn't know how much he will suffer!"

Zijing comforted: "Princess, don't worry, even if the uncle is careless, there are two aunts in the capital who are appointed to arrange for the uncle to leave!" Having said this, she couldn't help but fell silent.

Both Chuyu and Zijing knew the reason why Cao Yong went to Beijing.Back then, Chu Yu and Cao Yong only found out about the rumors about Cao Yi in the mansion after they reached Zijing's ears.

It's just that Cao Yi is an aunt who has left the court, and Chu Yu, as a sister-in-law, can't say anything.Because this is not a good thing, Zijing, as a servant, has no room to speak.

It's just that I didn't intend to mention it today, Zijing remembered the inexplicable rumors that spread last month.Because the Cao family has more rules, it has always been the most taboo for subordinates to make up this, and it is also a gossip about an aunt who has left the cabinet, so naturally there is no need to investigate it.

After checking and checking, I found Yuchan in the West Courtyard, and finally fell on Yulong.Both Chuyu and Zijing felt that Yuqin was always honest and not such a person who couldn't tell the difference, so they sent someone to invite her over and asked her carefully.

Yulong was very disturbed, but she didn't speak eloquently, and admitted hesitantly that she did not mean to say it, and Yuchan somehow heard it.

Yuchan is okay, even if she is a second-bedroom person, since she is in the mansion here, with the monthly money here, she can't be disciplined. The monthly money will be stopped for half a year, and she will be paid [-] boards. The treatment from the second-class maid to the third-class .The other wives and servants who spread gossip were also severely punished.

Only Yulong, after all, is Cao Song's roommate, even if she has not officially become an aunt, she can't be regarded as the same as other servants.Both Chuyu and Zijing are not easy to discipline.

Besides, after listening to Yulong's story, the two felt that something was wrong, as if Yuspider was deliberately trying to get her to talk.However, the identities of the jade spider and the jade dragon are generally the same, so this matter was put aside for the time being.

Chuyu heard that Zijing stopped, and also remembered the matter of the jade spider and the jade dragon, and said to Zijing: "The matter between the two of them is not easy to deal with even if the master comes back! It seems that we can only wait for the master to come back. , please ask him to write to the second master to find out how to arrange it! If this is not really caused by them, it’s not good to just leave it like this! Master is the most impatient about housework. It's too much to make a mess!" Having said this, she couldn't help but shook her head, and looked at Zijing with a little questioning: "Sister Zijing, Yulong... Yuspider... This, hey! She Fool, I still think it's my fault!"

Hearing Chuyu's opinion, Zijing seemed to be worried for Yulong, remembering Yuzhu's usual pretentiousness, she also sighed for Yulong, but persuaded: "The princess has worried about it, what are they now, second master There are still more than two years of filial piety, if she is really a smart person, she should treat Yulong well, and the two of them will be regarded as a companion in the future!"

Hearing "companion", Chuyu was touched, put down the hand stove, hesitated a little, fell silent for a while, Fang asked Zijing: "Sister Zijing, our house is shared by Shan Ye and brother, master and wife How would it look over there..."

Zijing saw that Chuyu's eyes were a little uneasy, and she thought about Zhu'er and Cui'er who were getting older, they were only nineteen during the Chinese New Year, but their thoughts were still on the uncle, and they didn't know what to do in the future.The uncle seemed to be aware of it, and he no longer let the two of them stay close to him, and he rarely even joked with Xiyun and Xicai.

When Mrs. Li came here in September, she didn't see Zhu'er and Cui'er waiting in front of her. She thought it was because her daughter-in-law couldn't tolerate her, so she asked Zijing carefully.When he knew it was his son's idea, he didn't say anything more.

After Chu Yu asked, Fang Fang saved himself from slipping, and smiled and said, "Maybe it's because of the cloudy sky, I just feel heavy in my heart and can't breathe!"

Zijing was touching her right eyelid, feeling that the jumper was uncomfortable, and when she heard Chuyu's words, she couldn't help but feel worried.

Xiyun lifted the curtain, came in and said, "Sister Zijing, those two girls, Wu En and Walnut, are looking for her sister. They seem to be looking for her if they have something to do. They are waiting outside the yard!"

Zijing smiled and said: "They two are naughty, how can they have serious business? I'm afraid it's cold outside, I'm tired after working in the porridge shed for two days!" Saying this, she got up and said goodbye to Chuyu.

On Chuyu's side, when it was time to breastfeed Tianyou, she got up to deliver the purple crystal.

Xi Yun bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and whispered to Chu Yu, "Ge Ge, this servant also wants to stay in the porridge shed for two days! It's good to be bored in this house all day, just to get some fresh air and look at the street view." !"

When Chu Yu heard this, she couldn't help but cast a reproachful glance at her, and said, "Listen, it's obviously about helping the poor and orphans, but if you talk about it, it's a joke!"

"Gege!" Xi Yun begged Chu Yu with a pitiful expression.

Chuyu couldn't laugh or cry because of the trouble, so she had to say to Zijing: "Sister Zijing, I can't do anything with her, when my sister sends someone tomorrow, count her in!"

Zijing responded with a smile, and then left the room.

*
At noon on November [-]th, Cao Yong and his party arrived in Mengyin County.Looking at Yimeng Mountain in the distance, Cao Yong thought of the unsolved old man Qiu's drumming case, and his heart felt a little heavy.Whether it was the work of the "Bandit" or an outsider pretending to be a "Bandit", if you want to find out the answer, you may have to go to the mountains first to find out.

However, isn't it child's play to find the legendary "Bandit" in the mountains that stretch for hundreds of miles?If there is no one who knows the basics to lead the way, even if he asks for an order to dispatch the Green Battalion, there may not be any gains.

If you want to investigate this, I'm afraid you have to find the local snake first, figure out the relationship before making a plan, and you can't be in a hurry.

Because there are more than a hundred miles away, it is Yizhou, so after the tip in the restaurant, everyone got on their horses again and rushed to Yizhou.

Although the sky was getting cloudier and the north wind was blowing up, Cao Yong only felt that the chill on his body was lessened when he thought about warming his wife and children on the kang at night.

After more than ten miles out of Mengyin County, I met a group of funeral procession, the gongs and suonas, it was really lively, a hundred or so monks and Taoists followed behind the coffin, and then all kinds of gold mountains, silver mountains, pavilions and pavilions, It is mighty and mighty, covering a mile.

Cao Yong was slightly surprised, he did not expect such a rich man and such a grand funeral in the countryside.After thinking about it, I am a little shallow, and there are too many landlords in the countryside, so it is not a big deal to pay attention to ostentation.

(End of this chapter)