Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 919
Mrs. Li fell ill, and his condition was severe. After two or three days, his face became clear and he was bedridden.

In Cao Yong's heart, he regretted endlessly.He only wanted to tell his mother the truth, so that she would be prepared in advance, so as not to be caught off guard by hearing these things from outsiders, but he forgot that his mother was over fifty years old, and she was not a tough-minded person.

Chu Yu had already learned about her mother-in-law's background from her husband. Although she was a little surprised that her cousin and grandmother had become her own aunt, she still respected her mother-in-law.

The husband and wife waited on the sick in the orchid courtyard with their clothes in their clothes, and Changsheng and Tianyou were also much more well-behaved.

Mrs. Li was afraid that the children would get sick, so she didn't let them come over, but they still greeted Mrs. Li through the curtain every day.

Seeing the well-behaved children and the filial piety of Cao Yong and his wife, Mrs. Li felt that her chest was congested and her nose was sore.

Drowsy, Li thought of many things.

Thinking of Li Xu's concubine daughter whom I admired since I was a child, thinking of Concubine Wang who lived in Li's mansion like myself, it seemed to be back when everyone was still a child.

She knew Gao Taijun was cold towards her, but she didn't dare to complain.As a concubine, she was raised under the name of her aunt. She was not short of food and clothing, and was not beaten or scolded. This was already her blessing.

The more she thought about it, the sadder she became.

When I was young, I was ignorant and mischievous. I learned the tongue from my niece who was three years older than me. I called my cousin Li Xu my father and my cousin Han Shi my mother. I didn't change my tongue until I was five or six years old.At that time, what she envied most was not other people, but her niece Li Fei.

She often thought that it would be great if she was Li Fei, the daughter of her sister-in-law.

When Li Fei entered the palace, Li Shi was secretly happy because no one would compete with her for his sister-in-law in the future.However, the cousin's concubine gave birth to a son and brought her to be raised by her sister-in-law. Li Nai, the sister-in-law, had to stand aside. Even her favorite sweet-scented osmanthus soup, the sister-in-law couldn't remember asking someone to make it.

In order to please her sister-in-law, Mrs. Li saw the world circle around Li Nai's cradle and refused to leave her sister-in-law's house.

Later, I don't know whether it was my cousin who felt sorry for my sister-in-law, or my sister-in-law hated me, and said something to Gao Taijun, which made Gao Taijun reprimand her with a straight face and forbid her to go to sister-in-law's room again.

She didn't show anything in front of her, and she cried half the night under the covers, she really didn't want to be alone.

Fortunately, Wang Pin's mother and daughter came here, they were orphans who had lost their fathers, they were sick and sympathetic, so she and Wang Pin became little friends.

After that, Mrs. Li was no longer "naughty". Together with Wang Bin, she honestly followed the nuns to learn needlework and became a "gentle and virtuous" girl...

Chu Yu knew that her mother-in-law was sad, but as a daughter-in-law, she had no choice but to serve her wholeheartedly.Fearing that she would be tired, Mrs. Li told her to rest, but she didn't listen.

When Cao Yong was alone, he had to say a few words to his mother.

The past is over, and now the family lives in peace and stability, why bother to be sad for others.

Every time Li heard the words, she only shed tears and said nothing.

She has been ill for several days, and even Gao Taijun of the Shaoyuan is not safe.

On this day, Gao Taijun came to visit and sent Cao Yong and his wife to rest. She stayed in Lanyuan to talk with Li Shi.

"Shuqing, what's the matter with you? Why did you get sick just fine, but Brother Yong made you angry? I heard that he came back from Rehe with a lot of luggage. Did he bring someone home?" Gao Taijun looked at Li Shi, who was on the sickbed, took her hand and said with a bit of worry.

Her eyes were full of kindness, even though her tone was not gentle, it was rare for her to be able to speak so softly with her usual hard temper.

"Mother...Mother..." Li said with mixed feelings in her heart, choked up.

Mrs. Gao patted her hand, and said: "You were quiet when you were young, and your temper looks gentle, but you have a good temper. When Li Fei snatched your fruit when you were young, you could cry until you died Go, and then throw Li Fei's purse into the fish tank; Li Nai was sick, and he was afraid that he would get angry with you, so he wouldn't let you go to your sister-in-law's house, so you didn't go to your sister-in-law's house for a whole year. Your sister-in-law. What a little white-eyed wolf, I completely forgot that your sister-in-law treats you like a daughter, and makes her sad. It’s really worrying. Now that you have grandchildren, do you still have the heart to let my old lady worry about you?"

Listening to Gao's rambling about his childhood, Li only felt that his old face was flushed, and the previous sentimentality was inexplicably less.

Mrs. Li shook Taijun Gao's hand back, looked at her gray-haired appearance, thought that she would be a widow before her twenties, it was really pitiful.

"Mother, Dad... When Dad left, you were still young, and you didn't have... no sons under your knees, why didn't you remarry?" After pondering for a while, Li Shi finally asked the question he wanted to say a long time ago.

Hearing Mrs. Li mention widowhood, Mrs. Gao thought she fell ill because she missed her late husband, after all, it was almost the third anniversary of Cao Yin.

"Remarry? Your aunt persuaded me for 20 years. Until you came out of the cabinet, she still said it." Gao Taijun talked about the past, falling into memories: "Your father was dead, it was the first year of our marriage, and I was only sixteen... ...He participated in the provincial examination with great enthusiasm, but he didn't want to fail because he wrote forbidden words. Your grandfather and grandmother were not as early as you, and your father was raised by your uncle and aunt. Your uncle was serving as an inspector in Henan at that time. Hearing the news of your father's failure, I was afraid that he would feel depressed, so I wrote a letter and asked him to go to Henan Province for a study tour. Your father failed the exam and felt that he had lost face. He was about to go for a walk, so he listened to your uncle's arrangement , out of Beijing... After this trip, I never came back..."

In the end, she didn't know whether to cry or laugh, and she looked terrified.

Not only did he not come back, but he also left his wife a "concubine daughter"?

Mrs. Li still had a lot of questions in her mind, such as how did she get to the Li family?Why would she be regarded as a concubine of the Li family?

But seeing Gao Taijun like this, she couldn't ask anything.

If she is said to be in a bit of pain, then Gao Taijun is in great pain.

Comparing her heart to her heart, if she was in Gao Taijun's position, her husband would be gone, and she would have a concubine daughter, and her heart would be ashamed.Not to mention raising that child under his own name, it would be nice not to vent his anger.

Although Gao Taijun was not close to her, he treated her as his own daughter. Otherwise, with her temperament, she would not have lived in Cao's house after Wen Taijun passed away.

The husband died early, and the mother-daughter relationship of more than 50 years was divided into emptiness, which hit the old lady even more.

Thinking of this, Li's mind cleared up a bit.

She knows Gao Taijun's temperament, she has a strong character, and she is most afraid of taking advantage of others.If she knew that she and Li Shi were not mother and daughter, she might have to pack up and salute and return to the south immediately.

In the early years, when the old man of the Li family divided up the family for his sons, he took pity on this sister-in-law, who was orphaned and widowed, and lived with the Li family. He wanted to share a piece of land with them, but was resigned by Gao Taijun.

She sold her dowry, and gave half of the silver to Wen Taijun for the living expenses of the mother and daughter, and left the remaining half to Li's dowry.

It wasn't until Mrs. Li got married that she heard Mr. Wen talk about it, and then she knew about it.Naturally, Taijun Wen refused to take Taijun Gao's money, but because of her stubborn temper, she kept it in her hand and used it to add makeup to Mrs. Li.

Thinking of this, Li Shi looked at Gao Taijun's pity, and turned into shame again.

At first, I only thought that the old lady had a bad temper and didn't treat her well, but it was blinded by lard, so she couldn't see how kind Gao Taijun was to her.

No matter who gave birth to her, it was Gao Taijun and the Li family who raised her.

She is the daughter of the Li family and the daughter-in-law of the Cao family.

All the golden branches and jade leaves, dragon sons and phoenix daughters, all go aside.

Mrs. Li felt as if she was enlightened, she let out a long breath, and said: "Mother, from now on, my daughter will be filial to my mother, and repay my mother's kindness in nurturing."

Gao Taijun shook his head and said: "They are all of my own flesh and blood, why don't you reciprocate? Brother Yong, the second girl, and the third girl are all filial. You are blessed with children, but I don't worry about you. It's your elder brother. By the way, the nonsense these years has been so bad that it is worrying for nothing. I know that Brother Yong doesn't like to get close to his uncle's family. But as the old lady told you in the early years, our mother owes your uncle's family too much. After two generations of upbringing Well, if it wasn't for your aunt's tolerance, how could I, a widow, bring you up peacefully? This old woman owes nothing to anyone in this life, but she owes your aunt. In the future, help as much as you can, after all Flesh and blood relatives."

Mrs. Li nodded, and said: "Mother, don't worry. Yong'er just doesn't like to socialize and liveliness, and he is not a deserted person. He will not ignore what should be helped."

After saying these words, Gao Taijun felt much happier.

Seeing Li's head looking kindly, she persuaded: "You have to be more open, don't let the people who have left feel uneasy, and cherish the living. If your illness gets better, the children will fall down. .Brother Yong came back from other places and never rested for a day; his daughter-in-law also took her body with her. If something happened, there would be no place to cry!"

Mrs. Li nodded, and Mrs. Gao chatted with her for a while, until she saw that she had taken the medicine, and then let her settle down. He went back to the Shaoyuan with a cane.

After she left, Mrs. Li struggled to sit up and asked someone to invite Wutong Garden to invite her son over.

At this time, Cao Yong was rubbing Chu Yu's calf.

In the past two days, perhaps because of the tiredness of the sickness, her calves have been cramping.

"Mother's side, I'll take care of it. You can't get sick anymore, or the family will be in a mess." Cao Yong said.

"Heart disease has to be healed by heart medicine, and the mother-in-law has to be carefully persuaded by the forehead, and the mother-in-law has to think about it." Chu Yu said.

Cao Yong rubbed his forehead, and said: "It's all my fault, I shouldn't take the medicine directly, it's right to take it slowly."

The husband and wife were saying this when they heard the girl from Lanyuan come to invite Cao Yong.

Cao Yong then stood up, ordered Le Chun to continue rubbing for Chu Yu, and then said to Chu Yu: "Ask the kitchen to boil some big bone soup, you can use a bowl for every meal, this is a folk remedy for leg cramps. "

In fact, this is a prescription for calcium supplementation.Cao Yong remembers that in his previous life, he heard that if he lacked calcium, he would be prone to leg cramps.

Chu Yu believed her husband, so she immediately ordered Le Xia to go to the kitchen to deliver the message.

When Cao Yong arrived at Lanyuan, there was silence here.

Mrs. Li sat on the kang, leaning against the kang cabinet, staring at the several sandalwood boxes on the kang table in a daze, not knowing what to think.

Cao Yong looked at those boxes but felt familiar. They were the boxes containing Concubine Hui's "dowry" booklet.

After only seeing each other for half an hour, Mrs. Li felt a little different. The sadness that had shrouded her body faded a lot, and her expression calmed down.

"Mother..." Cao Yong took two steps forward, took off a cloak from the clothes rack and put it on for Mrs. Li: "Seeing that it's September, it's getting cold in the house."

"Yong'er... I am the daughter of Li's family. I grew up eating rice from Li's family, and got married with Li's dowry..." Li Shi turned her head and looked at Cao Yong.

When Cao Yong heard the words, he didn't know what she meant. Could it be what Gao Taijun said?

Then I heard Mrs. Li go on to say: "God treats me well. I have a good mother, married a good husband, and have a good son. It should be a blessing."

Having said that, she paused for a moment, and said: "The only thing to ask for is greed, God will be jealous."

While speaking, she turned her head, and her eyes fell on the sandalwood box on the kang table again: "Although these things are valuable, they are not what I deserve. These things will only remind others that I am not the daughter of the Li family, but something Lao Shizi, golden branches and jade leaves. Isn’t this a joke? The ‘golden branches and jade leaves’ who are secretive and cannot recognize their ancestors are ‘illegitimate daughters’? This teahouse can add new talking points. Even... even those who have disappeared, Maybe I have to dig it out and talk about it..."

Mrs. Li's voice was not loud, but her expression was firm, and she seemed to have made up her mind: "Tell your wife, I don't care what outsiders say, we can't spread gossip around in our house, and don't let it reach the old lady's ears. The old lady Now that I'm seventy, I'm afraid I won't be able to bear it after hearing all this nonsense."

Cao Yong nodded, turning back and forth in his heart, directly rejecting the "reward" from the Queen Mother. This is the crime of "disrespect". It seems that he must help his mother think of a proper excuse.

To be honest, he was a little bit reluctant about those things.Gold is still secondary, but those antique calligraphy and paintings are hard to come by.

Leaving nothing else aside, let's just talk about Qiu Ying's paintings, and later generations will see the auctions with starting prices of tens of millions.Even if it is on the market now, it can be worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Whether it is valuable or not is of secondary importance. The Go pieces with Hetian jade and the Xiangqi pieces with ivory are all rare treasures in the world.

Cao Yong likes to play two sets to pass the time when he has nothing to do. Earlier, he planned to talk to his mother and take them out and put them in the study.

However, no matter how good things are, they are not as important as mother's safety.

Cao Yong just wanted to let his mother go well, but he didn't want to make her feel sick because of this. Naturally, he obediently followed her mother's wishes.

As for Kangxi, because he knew this level of relatives, the fear in Cao Yong's heart was reduced a bit.

He couldn't admit his daughter back to the clan, so he felt guilty towards Li Shi, so he wouldn't embarrass Li Shi too much.

It's just that things are optional, can this "Emperor Daddy" deny it?
Even the servants are sent here, and they want to chase after Concubine Hui. Even if Kangxi can't canonize his daughter as a princess, he still wants father and daughter to recognize each other before they die, right?
"Mother, according to the rules, since I have arrived in Beijing and sent these things to my mother, I am going to write a thank you book on behalf of my mother. How should I write this book?" Cao Yong asked after thinking about it for a while.

Mrs. Li sighed, and said: "Just write me to thank the Empress Dowager for her kindness, I am very grateful. It's just that I don't get paid for nothing, and I dare not ask for God's grace. I will take good care of the people around the Empress Dowager. These things are not blessed by ordinary people If you enjoy it, please be sympathetic to the emperor..."

(End of this chapter)