Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 3 Relatives
There are five main rooms in Xuanrui Hall, facing south and north, and it was built according to the identity of the first-rank wife of the old lady.In the middle is the hall, and under the wall facing the door is a four-panel black lacquered sitting screen with a height of four feet, on which is painted "Lao Tzu's Teaching the Sutras". The wide chair carved with the pattern of plum bird is regarded as the main seat.In contrast, there are eight chairs arranged with goose wings on the left and right sides, which are also made of ebony wood, which can be regarded as guest seats.

The two rooms on the west side are the living room of Sun's old lady, separated by a screen in the middle. According to the northern custom, a row of two-foot-high low kang was built in the outer room on the north side of the house. The top of the kang is a lattice cabinet as high as the room. , There is a soft couch on the kang, and a small table with two ruyi handles on it.There are two rows of chairs on the floor, covered with half-new bamboo cushions. It seems that family members or regular customers are entertaining here.

In the inner room is a big bed carved with ebony wood, and the matching dressing table is the dowry of the old lady.Back then, the Sun family married the Cao family, but it was the Cao family who had the upper hand, so the old matriarch's dowry was extremely extravagant, and even now, even if she is a first-rank imperial order, it is still not a status to use.Behind the big bed, Baibao is especially a dark cabinet. It was originally a warm cabinet built behind the bedroom by the old lady who couldn't bear the cold and damp in the southern winter after she got old, using geothermal heat.Because of the green window screens used in the back windows, it is also called Longcui Pavilion.Later, when Cao Yong was born, the old lady took him to his side to raise him personally, and Yuancui Pavilion became Cao Yong's bedroom.Because there is no sun, it is cool in summer, and it is very comfortable to live there.

The structure of the two rooms in the east room is similar to that in the west room, except that there is no hidden pavilion, and the inner room is a bed, and the outer room is a kang room, and sometimes women from relatives live in it, which can be regarded as half a guest room.

When Cao Yong returned to the main room, the old lady was leaning on the soft couch outside the west room, and two maids knelt on the kang to squeeze her shoulders.

Seeing Cao Yong coming in, the old matriarch's face became more joyful, and he sat up.For this grandmother who is extremely loving to him, Cao Yong is close to him from the bottom of his heart. When he was born in his previous life, the elders on the patrilineal and matrilineal sides had passed away. The doting of older generations is still different.

When Cao Yong first arrived in another world, he was worried about the ups and downs of the Cao family in the future, and also missed his family members in his previous life. The loneliness in his heart cannot be expressed in words.And this grandmother who doted on her grandson unconditionally just aroused his admiration, and was a little more sincere than others.Therefore, I entered the house, walked a few steps quickly, and reached the side of the kang, according to the old address, said: "The old ancestor got up, the summer is long, and it is boring. How about grandson playing leaf cards with you?"

The old lady saw her grandson's little face upturned, so well-behaved, she felt like eating honey in her heart, and held Cao Yong's hand, nodding her head and saying hello.Amethyst and Chrysanthemum who followed Cao Yong into the house were both smart people. They heard the words and did not wait for Sun's order, they took the card and the money box.

Leaf tiles are the ancient paper mahjong. There is no white in the middle and wind in the southeast and northwest. Four flower cards of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum.Flower cards can be used as empty cards, and sometimes represent the God of Wealth. If you catch one, you will double your winnings, if you catch two, you will double it, and so on.The gameplay is similar to that of modern society, with clips or single hangs, and some guns are also used.

Although Cao Yong is only seven years old, he has played leaf cards with Sun for several years. Of course, it is not as complicated as adults play. It is just a matter of drawing a few cards to compare the points. pastime.

The two maids on the kang, one named Shanhu, one named Tortoise, one named Fourteen Five, and the other Twelve Three, were also discerning. Seeing that the old lady was rising, she hurriedly got up and moved the table to the two masters.

Seeing that there are few people and boring, the old lady asks Citrine and Coral to join hands, Amethyst helps her read the cards, and Tortoisebill pours tea.After serving the tea, the tortoise shell thought that Cao Yong didn't have enough rice in the morning, and that dinner would take an hour or two, so he withdrew, went to the small kitchen to make two portions of lotus root starch, and took a plate of mung bean cake that the old lady liked. The meat floss cake Cao Yong likes is put on a small plate and brought to the upper room.

Everyone has played several games. The old lady and Cha Jing won, while Cao Yong and Shan Shan lost.Cao Yong was starving, and when he saw the tortoise came in with something to eat, he couldn't help rubbing his stomach, and his face became a little more happy.In the past few days in the Qing Dynasty, apart from being frightened, he was not used to eating. If a person who is used to eating three meals is asked to eat two, how can he not be hungry and panic.

Seeing Cao Yong looking at the food, the old lady put down the cards in her hand, and sent a coral handkerchief to wipe Cao Yong's hands, then smiled and nodded to the tortoise shell: "Good boy, it's hard for you to be careful!" She blamed Cao Yong again : "I'm hungry, why don't you open your mouth, the snacks in the kitchen are always prepared, it's not wrong to be hungry!"

Cao Yong just laughed, for such a big man, it is understandable to pretend to be a child to coax the old man, after all, he is doing his filial piety for this body, and it would be embarrassing if he asked for food.Although I was hungry, I was still a child with a small appetite. I drank half a bowl of lotus root powder and ate two pieces of meat muffins, and I was full.

Zijing went to wash the handkerchief, and handed it to the old lady with both hands.The old lady wiped her hands and saw that Cao Yong was eating deliciously. She also drank two spoons of lotus root powder and half a piece of mung bean cake.Although it looks like there are two plates of dim sum, each plate is only four yuan, so one piece for each of the coral tortoise shells is almost empty.

While talking, after eating snacks, Zijing and Shanshan asked the little girls outside to pour new water, washed two handkerchiefs, wiped the hands of the grandparents and grandchildren, and the maids also tidied up.Afterwards, everyone picked up the cards again and started playing.

Cao Yong just wanted to make the old man happy, and he didn't care about winning or losing, but seeing the old matriarch's winning cards one after another, he couldn't help paying attention, only to find that Zijing used gestures to play points behind the old matriarch.Coral is honest, every time the points are higher than the old lady, he folds the cards and admits defeat, only saying that the points are small; Citrine is naughty, seeing that the points are higher than himself, folds the cards and admits defeat, and the point is small, he triumphantly wins the cards.

The old lady doesn't care about these few small money, she can have a good time with her precious grandson, whether she wins or loses.Cao Yong saw through Amethyst's gestures, so he also followed Shanhu's example. When the points were higher than the old lady, he folded the cards and gave up, telling the old lady to win a few more hands.However, Citrine's luck became unlucky, and she lost several times in a row. As a result, more than half of the strings of copper coins distributed under the four people's names were piled up on the old lady's side.The old lady wins and smiles, she just said that she is lucky today.Cao Yong and several servant girls were also smiling, and the room was full of joy and harmony.

After playing a few more games, seeing that the copper coins in front of Shan Huan were all gone, and there were only a few big coins left on Cao Yong's side, the old matriarch was afraid that his child's family would be unhappy if he lost, so he refused to win again.When encountering a small dot, the face of the card is revealed and compared to the size, and when a large dot is encountered, the card is also deducted.

Zijing stood behind the old lady, her face changed again and again, and she didn't gesture for a long time.Cao Yong guessed the reason, and was quite moved in his heart. He won a few hands in a row, and his face was full of joy of winning money.

Seeing that her grandson was happy, the old lady was happier than she was winning, and started to lose cheerfully.Coral is old, and she also sees the old lady's intentions, so she loses more and wins less, coaxing the two masters to be happy; Cha Jing is heartless, how can she think so much, and take advantage of everyone's bad luck, He won a few hands hard, but he also returned a lot of capital.

There was constant laughter in the room, and the little maid outside had already raised her voice: "To the old matriarch, the second wife is here!"

When the old lady put down the cards, the smile on her face faded a lot.

The second wife is the wife of Cao Quan, Cao Yin's younger brother. She is from Manchuria, her maiden name is Zhaojia, and her father, Cheng Lin, is the prefect of Shandong.A few years ago, when Cheng Lin was the magistrate in the south of the Yangtze River, he was married to the Cao family. He originally wanted to marry his daughter to Cao Yin as his successor. Later, because Cao Yin married the Li family, he married his daughter to Cao Yin's younger brother. Cao Quan.

At that time, Cao Quan served as a county magistrate in a county under the Hangzhou government, and he was the seventh rank.Although Zhaojia's father was only from the fifth grade, Zhaojia was a common surname in Manchuria, and her uncle Ma Erhan was a high-ranking official in Beijing.After Zhao Jia married into the Cao family, she brought a few petty traits. She always felt that the Cao family was just a coat for Zhengbaiqi, and her background was too humble.Although Cao Xi and Cao Yin and his son successively served as Jiangning weaving, they were just fifth-rank officials.Because she did not live in Jiangning at that time, and was not suppressed by her elders, the Zhaojia family became domineering, and put on the spectrum of a Manchu aunt to subdue her husband Cao Quan.

A few years ago, Cao Quan was promoted to the general judge of Jiangning Prefecture, and the Erfang branch moved to Jiangning.Cao Yin had a preference for this younger brother, so he built a house for him on the west side of Zhizao Mansion, and tidied it up properly.Mrs. Pian Zhaojia is a restless person, because her sister-in-law Mrs. Li is filling the house and she is a few months younger than herself, so she becomes insolent and arrogant, and she also copes with Mrs. Sun.

The old lady has been a "Jingqi Nanny" for more than ten years, and she is the one who pays attention to everyone's rules. There is no room for Zhao Jia's rudeness. She doesn't talk about the family law, and even asks Cao Quan to write a divorce letter.

Zhao Jia went back to her mother's house crying, wanting her father to be the master for herself, so she only changed two big ear scrapers.Cheng Lin carefully told his daughter about the connection between the Cao family and the royal family, and also about Sun's status as a first-rank imperial order.Because the Cao family has always acted in a low-key manner, these things were not known to outsiders.Cheng Lin only found out about it after he got married to the Cao family and heard the news from the capital.Cheng Lin and his wife came to the door to apologize, and Zhao Jia's company was careful, which made the old lady calm down.From now on, Zhao Jia's family will behave themselves and dare not take big things anymore.

Until two years ago, after Cao Yong was awarded the title of "First Class Captain of Light Vehicles", Mrs. Zhao Jia became active and wanted to benefit his son Cao Song, knowing that the future of the younger generation of the Cao family rests with the old lady. On the gentleman, he thought of ways to show courtesy.The old matriarch was too noisy, so she ordered her daily rules to be waived, and she was only allowed to come and serve on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year.Even so, it didn't stop Zhao Jia's thoughts, and he still came every few days.Mrs. Zhao Jia is also smart, every time she comes here she is either holding her daughter or hugging her son, the old matriarch is not easy to blame for his grandchildren.

On this day, besides Mrs. Zhao Jia and the accompanying maid, Cao Ying, the eldest daughter of the second room, Cao Song, the eldest son, and Cao Shuo, the second son, followed her.Cao Ying is 12 years old, two years older than Cao Yan in the big house, and ranks higher, so both houses call her Miss; Learning to speak.

Several granddaughters and grandsons greeted the old lady first, and then greeted each other with Cao Yong.Although the old lady didn't like Zhaojia, she couldn't shame her in front of her children, and asked someone to carry Cao Shuo to the kang, coaxing her little grandson to talk.Cao Ying took two little maids to find Cao Yan.

Cao Song has always been naughty and active, and couldn't sit still in the room, so he dragged Cao Yong out of the corridor.Different from Cao Yong's elegance and elegance, Cao Song has a tiger head and a tiger brain, a small body with strong bones, and is half a head taller than Cao Yong.

"Why did you go to school and stop going for a few days? Are you afraid that people will bully you? Don't be afraid, there is me!" Cao Song waved his little arm and said very righteously.

Cao Yong just thought it was funny, obviously he was older, okay? Seeing Cao Song's cute appearance, he couldn't help but want to tease him, so he pretended to be old-fashioned: "Second brother, I am the elder brother, and it is the elder brother who protects the younger brother. How can there be any reason for a younger brother to protect an older brother?"

Cao Song rolled his eyes, showing a "you are stupid" expression, and said solemnly: "I am the elder brother! Didn't you say that the older month is one week old, and the younger month is two years old!" With a few fingers in his little hand, he said: "You are eight years old, two years old is six years old; I am seven years old, and one year old is five years old. I was born in the first month, and you were born in early July. I have been with you for half a year? But those adults are so confused that they still want me to call you brother!"

Where has Cao Yong heard of such an algorithm, and he couldn't help but smile a little more on his face.Cao Song only thought that his words moved him, looked around, and saw that the maids were far away, so he took out a grasshopper cage made of reeds the size of a plum from his arms, and stuffed it into Cao Yong's hand: "here Just kidding, the ancestors raised you like a girl, and didn’t allow you to go out, how boring!” Although he gave it out, he kept his eyes on the small cage, which seemed to be a beloved thing.

Cao Yong couldn't bear to see it, and put the grasshopper cage into Cao Song's hands again: "I'll just have a look, you should play with it!"

Cao Song refused to accept it, patted his chest and said: "How can you take back what you sent out? What happened? It was specially bought for you. You are not in good health. What should you do if you get sick again?" !” While speaking, he no longer looked at the small cage.It seems that it was given sincerely.

Cao Yong looked at the appearance of the little adult Cao Song, and was moved a little more in his heart.Although he is a little small, he is also his little brother.I had an older brother in my previous life, but because of the big age gap, I have always respected him as my father, so the brotherhood is not as straightforward as the villain in front of me.Thinking of this, he reached out and touched the little bald head in front of Cao Song.Cao Song followed suit and touched Cao Yong's forehead.The two brothers, both laughed "haha", with a bit of stupidity, but also with a bit of warmth.

(End of this chapter)