The ultimate rebirth of the abandoned woman

Chapter 130 The Family Has Bad Neighbors ([-])

It was snowing and sunny.

As the new year approaches, people who have been silent for a whole winter leave their homes one after another to buy new year's goods in the eastern and western cities.

There are more people traveling, and there are more ox carts and horse-drawn carts on the road.The street, which looked fairly spacious at first, gradually became congested.

A half-old bullock cart finally squeezed out of the "convoy" and slowly drove into Chongrenfang.

"Here we are, Mommy Zhou, get out of the car!"

Yu Zhu quickly jumped off the bullock cart, looked up at the familiar vermilion lacquered gate, and shouted to the people in the carriage with a smile.

"……Um!"

A female voice as thin as a mosquito came from inside the car, followed by a rustle of skirts rubbing against each other. After a while, a middle-aged woman in her 40s came out of the car.

I saw the woman wearing a brand-new short brown mattress, seven white and yellow ragged skirts, a high bun on her head, and a gilded hollow plum hairpin on her temples. Her slightly plump lips were painted The lip balm, it can be seen that it has been well-groomed.

However, what didn't match the exquisite makeup was the decadence on the woman's face and the sadness in her eyes. She stood on the footstool in front of the car, her gaze fell directly on the newly painted door, the corners of her mouth twitched, There was an expression of joy or sadness that could not be told.

Yuzhu didn't care how mother Zhou was struggling, she nodded to the little maid who was following the car, and motioned her to call the door.

The little maid was very clever, and immediately ran up the steps with a thud, and slammed on the door with her small fist.

In Rongkang's dignified hall, the eldest lady casually sat cross-legged on the floor covered with a thick felt blanket, with her right hand resting on the mottled silk capsule, twisting a string of agarwood beads in her hand.

A woman about 30 years old was sitting on the lower left side of Zheng, holding a five- to six-month-old baby in her arms and coaxing softly.

Opposite Mrs. Zheng, there was a young woman sitting with her back straight, her head slightly drooping, and holding a book full of words in her hand, she echoed in a deep voice: "...the rent and wild things of the suburban farms in Beijing. They have all been collected in the warehouse, but the farms in Dongdu, Boling and other places have not been delivered to..."

Zheng's drooping eyelids moved, but he didn't say anything, and continued to listen to Wang's report.

"...The annual gifts for old relatives and friends in Beijing have also been prepared. After you have seen them, I will send them one by one."

The woman sitting squatting was none other than Mrs. Wang. After nearly two months of recuperation, her spirit had recovered by seven to eight points, much better than when her husband's scandal just broke out.

At least Mrs. Wang is no longer lingering on the sick bed, and can already have the energy to deal with internal affairs.

Mrs. Zheng gave a soft 'hmm', expressing her affirmation of her daughter-in-law's work during this time.

Wang's expression did not change, his face was still as calm as water, and even his tone of voice did not change at all. He said calmly and without emotion: "In addition, the things for ancestor worship are all ready... the sixth younger brother and sister came to ask. Did Cui Lingshen's name be recorded in the genealogy at the time of the ancestors?"

When uttering the three words 'Cui Lingshen', although Wang's voice did not change, there was a flash of sadness in her eyes as deep as a pool of water.

Mrs. Zheng seemed to sense it. She raised her eyelids and glanced at Mrs. Wang. Seeing that there was nothing unusual about her, she sighed leisurely: "Oh, this matter... Ling Shen is Liu Lang's adopted son. The old lady and Mrs. Since the old man has already agreed, let's do it according to Liu Lang and his wife."

After finishing speaking, Mrs. Zheng softened her tone again, and said consolingly: "It doesn't matter if the genealogy is listed, then Ling Shen's identity will not change. He can only be the posthumous son of Cui Huibo's old friend, and he is the son of a concubine who is more important than him." Even lower-level adopted sons."

Mrs. Zheng understood that although Cui Lingshen was able to recognize his ancestor and return to his clan, his embarrassing background would never block the way of his eldest grandson Cui Lingyuan.

Wang raised her head, trying to pull out a smile, but because of her heart, she was full of grievances and sorrows, so she couldn't laugh.

In the end, there was only an ugly expression that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, or crying but not crying, which made people feel sad.

However, Mrs. Zheng is not an irrelevant bystander. She is Mrs. Wang's mother-in-law. Although what happened this time was her son's fault, in the eyes of a mother, no matter how big a mistake a son makes, he can be forgiven.

The daughter-in-law is different, knowing that Wang has been wronged, but seeing her with a crying face every day, she shed tears at every turn. From Zheng's point of view, Wang is too ignorant.

It's just a foreign house. Among the dignitaries in the capital, who doesn't have a few women who serve them?

Even the son-in-law, most of them also have housekeepers and concubines.

Not to mention their family Yanbo.

Speaking of which, her uncle Yan is such an outstanding person. He entered the imperial examination at a young age, and now he is in the fourth rank of the official rank, with a bright future.

Yan Bo's character is also good, clean and self-disciplined, since he married the Wang family, he has never cheated, and even sent out the maid who has served him for more than ten years, which has given the Wang family enough respect.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Wang would be so ignorant, her husband just made a little mistake, she would not let her go, and people before and after made him look bad, forcing Yan Bo to sleep in the study for several months.

If Mrs. Zheng hadn't reprimanded Mrs. Wang once, Cui Yanbo would not be able to return to the main house now.

Seeing her still have this expression now, the trace of guilt in Zheng's heart disappeared without a trace.

Shua put away the beads, and Zheng said in a cold voice with a straight face: "However, there is one thing I'm ugly to say earlier. After Ling Shen entered the genealogy, no matter what his status was in the past, he will only be the heir of our Cui family in the future. Are you The mistress who presides over Zhongfu is also the future wife of Cui Jiarong Kangtang's chief housewife. There is nothing wrong with the rules. If you let me know that you are unfair and treat your family members harshly, no matter how big or small the matter is, my family law will not be followed. .”

Wang lowered her head, concealed the resentment in her eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Yes, I would like to follow your mother's instruction."

At this moment, Liuli, Zheng's personal servant girl, came over and whispered something in her ear.

Zheng's complexion changed drastically, and she shouted in disbelief: "What? She, she dared to send Zhou's mother back to me? Didn't the housekeeper tell her that Zhou's mother was specially selected by me to give to Lingxi?" of?"

You know, as long as there is no big mistake, the juniors will gladly accept the capable servants that the elders reward the juniors like Mother Zhou.

Even if there are complaints, they will only complain quietly behind their backs, and dare not refuse at all.

Not to mention someone like Xiao Nan who dared to throw someone back in a big way.

Does Xiao Nan still have her mother-in-law in his eyes?Are there ancestors and rules? !
Zheng Shi sat up abruptly and slammed the Buddhist beads onto the table.The table is very narrow, and the beads are smooth, and it flew out after rubbing against the table of the table, and landed on the floor not far away with a bang.

Coincidentally, the bead string just hit the nanny's feet, making her tremble, and the drowsy baby in her arms was also frightened and cried loudly.

When Mrs. Zheng heard the crying, she felt even more annoyed, and shouted repeatedly: "You are a dead man, what is Xiao Lang looking like now? Why don't you take him down and take care of him? Hmph, they are all useless things. , let me tell you, if Mr. Xiao Lang breaks his body from crying, be careful of your skin!"

The nanny was so scolded that her face turned pale, she almost got up tremblingly, answered 'yes' in a trembling voice, and then staggered down with the child in her arms.

Wang looked at it coldly, without saying a word, but the mocking smile on the corner of her mouth showed her mood at the moment.

"Hmph, my good mother-in-law, are you used to scolding me and mistakenly think that your daughter-in-law can bully you at will? This time it's okay, I kicked on the iron board, and I'll see how you end up."

Her natal family was weak and she didn't have a rich dowry to rely on, so the Wang family always lacked a bit of confidence in front of the Zheng family.

Coupled with the shackles of 'filial piety', Wang Shi did not dare to refute anything in front of her mother-in-law. After marrying into Cui's family for more than ten years, she has been firmly suppressed by Zheng Shi.

Now that there will be a good show, Mrs. Wang was looking forward to it, and selectively forgot the word 'avoidance'.

Liuli has stayed by Zheng Shi's side for seven or eight years, so she understands her master's temperament, seeing her going berserk in anger, she didn't worry, and continued to bite her ear in a low voice.

Wang listened carefully with her ears pricked up, but unfortunately Liuli's voice was too low, and she vaguely heard a few words such as 'golden hairpin', 'decent', and 'sending an official'.

Wang gave full play to her rich imagination, coupled with her years of experience in house fighting, she roughly guessed Xiao Nan's approach.

Well, it must be that Xiao Nan was dissatisfied with Zheng's stuffing people into her place. Due to her filial piety and reputation, she didn't explicitly refuse, but designed Zhou's mother to take a valuable gold hairpin, and then charged Zhou with the crime of "stealing". Mom sent it back.

Good means, although a bit direct and crude, but very useful.

Although Wang didn't hear what the person sent by Xiao Nan said, she could roughly guess that it must have said: Originally, the servant who betrayed the master should be killed or sent to the official, just thinking that she is the elders. Ci, she is also a decent servant in the Cui family, for the sake of the Cui family's reputation, I still send her back to the mansion and let the elders deal with it.

Mrs. Wang was thinking about it, and Mrs. Zheng shouted angrily: "Absurd! Really absurd! Ah Feng is my dowry maid and has been with me for 40 to [-] years. I don't know who she is? Besides, she is not That person from a humble family, with shallow eyesight, no experience of the world, and a villainous mind when he sees something good... is clearly dissatisfied with me, so he intentionally framed me..."

Liu Li pursed her lips, glanced at Wang Shi who was listening to the play with her head down from the corner of her eyes, hesitated a little, and didn't know whether to continue to report the matter, or remind Zheng Shi to 'clear the scene'.

Zheng Shi shouted again: "Where is the person Xiao Nan sent? Are they still waiting in the yard?"

To catch a thief and seize stolen goods, Xiao Nan cannot just say that A Feng is a thief and convict her.

Liuli bit her lower lip, hesitated to speak, "Yuzhu, Yuzhu handed Mother Zhou to the woman in charge of the inner courtyard, and then went to Chenguangyuan. Say, say—"

"What did she say? Such an unruly lowly servant girl, she didn't even come to greet me when she entered the door. Could this be the person Xiao Nan trained?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Zheng became even more angry, and almost choked her with one breath.

"She said that Mr. Balang and Mrs. Ba will be back the next day, and the Chenguang Courtyard has been vacant for a few months, so they will not be able to live in it right away. So, she brought someone to clean the house in advance."

Liuli was cruel, closed her eyes and said all Yuzhu's words, "Yuzhu also said that the eighth lady and the little lady are both afraid of the cold, and the Chenguang courtyard has not burned the fire wall for several months, and the room is very damp and cold, so it must be done in advance." Burned the fire wall, earth dragon and warm road, so that the little lady would not get cold..."

Before Liuli could finish her words, Zheng Shi's cold gaze had already cast her over. She was so startled that she swallowed the rest of the words abruptly, swallowed nervously, and looked at Zheng Shi helplessly.

Zheng gritted her teeth, and said word by word: "What else? Tell me, tell me quickly!"

Xiao Nan, what does this mean?ah?
Are you accusing her of treating the left-behind servants of the Chenguang Academy with contempt?Even the charcoal fire is skipped in the winter?

Or is it that she doesn't care about her son and daughter-in-law, the couple are coming back, and she didn't send someone to help clean up the room in advance?
Doesn't she, Xiao Nan, know what time of day it is?
New Year's Eve!

Now is the busiest time of the year, and there are so many things happening in the family one after another. Even though she is a mistress, she has three heads and six arms, and she can't think of being so considerate.

Besides, Mrs. Zheng would ignore her daughter-in-law, so wouldn't she feel sorry for her son?

Obviously that rebellious son was disobedient and ran to the princess mansion by himself. Now that he is coming back, do you want her, a mother, to greet her in person? !

A sentence of rhetorical questions roiled in her mind, and along with the surging anger in her chest, all the troubles at home had long worn out Zheng's patience, and at this moment, she was already on the verge of erupting.

And Xiao Nan's actions today are like adding fuel to the raging anger.

"She also said that the wing room prepared for the little lady is too close to the Xikua courtyard where the concubines Ji lived temporarily. The little lady is weak, how can she live with these people... Eighth lady decided to move all the concubines to Chenguang The West Wing in the courtyard...Although Ajin gave birth to Mr. Balang's heir, she is still a maid after all. In the past, she was left alone in a room to take care of her pregnant child. Now that the child is also born, she, she should... ..."

Liuli stammered, and while she was talking, she would sneak a look at Mrs. Zheng from time to time.

I noticed that Zheng's face was getting darker, and Liuli's voice was getting softer, "Eight Lady ordered Yuzhu to move Ajin to Furong's room, and move to the courtyard with all the concubines."

Finally finished speaking, Liuli quietly wiped off the cold sweat from her forehead, and sighed with great joy in her heart.

Mrs. Zheng was silent for a long time before she gave a weird smile, "Ha~ Our eighth young lady is really 'virtuous'. She has arranged all the affairs of the yard before she came back. Let me ask you, move all the concubines. Arrived at the atrium, visitors came, where to receive them?"

The courtyard design of the Cui family is extremely ingenious, each courtyard is not only a part of the entire huge house complex, but also a small individual that can be independent.

Gates, corner gates, middle gates, vestibules, halls, atriums, main halls, left and right side rooms, east and west wing rooms... the necessary configurations for formal courtyards, and every small courtyard also has them.

Close the courtyard door, it is an independent small family.

Therefore, although the Cui family did not have a separate family, due to the unique courtyard design, they all had a relatively independent territory, and they seldom fought over trivial matters.

Of course, it is also possible that the descendants of the Cui family are not so prosperous, and there have not been any family disputes that only old families have.

Under normal circumstances, the vestibule is the place to receive foreign guests, while the atrium is the place to receive close relatives or female relatives.

However, Xiao Nan moved all the concubines to the atrium, in a sense, something was wrong.

Zheng Shi said this just to vent his anger in his chest, and he didn't really expect Liuli to answer.After all, Liuli is not Xiao Nan, so it is impossible to answer these questions.

No, Liuli replied: "Yuzhu said, don't worry about this point, Da Furen, Ba Niangzi has already thought about it. When the Chenguang Courtyard was rebuilt, Ba Niangzi added a corridor in front of the courtyard wall on the west side of the atrium. , the craftsmen saw that there was still a lot of space between the corridor and the wall, so they built several wing rooms against the courtyard wall... Ba Niangzi said that it is only necessary to add a door screen in front of the corridor leading to the atrium, and then connect the atrium and the courtyard of the main hall. Just cut a pot door hole in the wall..."

Mrs. Zheng was speechless. When co-author Xiao Nan was rebuilding the Chenguang Courtyard, he had saved a hand, and had already planned to send the concubines to the corner.

Just listening to Xiao Nan's arrangements, people who have never been to Chenguangyuan may still think that Xiao Nan's doing so has brought all the concubines to Cui Youbo's side? !You must know that Cui Youbo's study is in the wing room on the east side of the atrium.

But both Zheng and Wang are very familiar with Chenguang Academy and understand its structure very well.

When Chenguang Courtyard was being rebuilt, Xiao Nan added several flower beds in the atrium, and the largest flower bed was built beside the west wall.The area of ​​the flower bed is very large, coupled with rockery, flowers and trees, it can almost replace the west wall, leaving only a small corridor five or six feet wide.

If Xiao Nan added a door screen in front of the corridor, it would almost divide the courtyard into two parts, one big and one small, and they cannot be directly connected.If you want to stroll from the west wing to the east wing, you have to detour behind the flower bed, bypass the entire atrium from the back, and then arrive through the main hall and the courtyard wall on the east side of the atrium.

This not only made a big circle, but also ensured that the small door on the east side was not locked.

Otherwise, even if you try your best to climb over the wall in circles, you will not be able to see the people you meet.

Not to mention some classic bloody plot: in the middle of the night when the moon hangs high, a well-dressed concubine goes to the study room to comfort her lover with soup or snacks, red sleeves add fragrance, concubine's love, you and me , last together...

card!
Harmony, Xiao Nan held up the bricks of the wall and smiled brightly.

"Ma'am..." Seeing Zheng's blank look, Liuli was a little worried, so she hurriedly called out.

Zheng came back to her senses, closed her eyes forcefully, suppressed her anger, and asked angrily, "What's the matter?"

Liuli felt that she was wronged, and she was worried about the well-being of his wife.

Tightly pursing the corners of her lips, Liuli said, "Mother Zhou is still waiting outside, look—"

Mrs. Zheng raised her hand, and said with disgust on her face, "Tell her to go home, she is such a useless old bastard, she can't even do such a small thing."

"Yes."

Liuli responded quickly, and hurriedly retreated out.

"You, what else is there for you?"

It was only now that Mrs. Zheng discovered Mrs. Wang's existence. When she thought that her daughter-in-law was watching her lose her temper just now, she couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, and asked angrily.

"It's Hepu Courtyard." Mrs. Wang reacted quickly. She was caught by her mother-in-law on the spot without panic, and immediately thought of a question, and said: "The fourth lady said that she wants to eat Poria cocos stewed goat's milk today, and the big kitchen has goat's milk today. Not much later, the kitchen steward asked the fourth lady if it would be okay to replace it with milk or Poria cocos ginger tea, and the result—”

Zheng raised her eyebrows and snorted coldly, "Why, she smashed the kitchen again?"

Mrs. Wang nodded helplessly, "How many times has this happened? Just the waste of Hepu Courtyard is worth a month's worth of food for our family."

Mrs. Zheng twitched her brows, a flash of inspiration flashed in her mind, and she thought of a good way to kill two birds with one stone, "Oh, they don't respect themselves, so I can't say anything. How about this, you go to Hepu Courtyard later and tell the four Madam, just say that their family has too many demands every day, and the big kitchen is responsible for the food of the whole family, it is really too busy, how about opening a small kitchen for them alone in the yard?"

Wang's heart twitched, and a thought flashed by, but she didn't catch it for a moment.

Shaking his head slightly, Wang Shi said, "The case?"

The more Mrs. Zheng thought about it, the more she felt that this method was feasible, and finally there was a little smile on her gloomy face, "We still follow the family rules, just convert their family of four into silver coins, um, give her half a year's worth first. Well, no matter whether they eat wild vegetables or delicacies, it’s all the money, if you have more, you can save it yourself, if you don’t have enough, you can use it as a private house.”

"Yes!"

Mrs. Wang couldn't figure out Mrs. Zheng's intentions for a while, but she was also relieved to be able to solve the troubles in Hepu Courtyard.

It is said that the Wang family was born in a famous family. Although the family has fallen, the people who come into contact with them are all from the aristocratic and famous families. Even if she has conflicts with Zheng's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, she complains in private, just like Yao's mother and daughter. It's the first time Mrs. Wang has seen him.

The first time Yao showed his skills was on the fifth day after Sifang moved into Hepu Courtyard.

Yao Shi said that people were disrespectful to them, and every time they asked for hot water, they had to ask for it repeatedly, which made her unable to even wash her feet.

Mrs. Wang had just received a report from the woman in charge of the courtyard, and she was putting on her clothes and rushing to the Hepu courtyard. Before she got halfway there, another woman came to report, saying that Mrs. Yao went to the big kitchen cursing all the way.

Wang had no choice but to go to the big kitchen instead.

When she arrived, the big kitchen was in a mess: several stoves that were kept burning day and night were flooded with cold water, hot water was poured all over the yard, and copper pots and pots were scattered on the ground. On the bluestone floor, a few fresh fish kept in the large water tank in the kitchen were also thrown out the door, and they had long been frozen into ice cubes...

What surprised Wang was that all of this was the 'credit' of Yao alone—a powerful woman with the most destructive power in the Cui family.

As soon as Yao's heroic deeds of causing trouble in the kitchen spread, everyone in the Cui family, from the masters of the houses to the cleaning maids, knew about Sifang's fierce fighting power.

As for the servants, they have all learned how to be good, and they do their best to do all the errands involving the fourth house.

Having tasted the sweetness, Yao became more and more complacent.She made a fuss for a reason, and she also made a fuss if she didn't. Later, she brought her daughter to make a fuss together, which really turned the Cui family upside down, and everyone in the family avoided Hepu courtyard.

But others can hide, but the housekeeper Wang can't hide.

In desperation, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and challenge his own tolerance time and time again.

So much so that when Wang came to Hepu Courtyard and found that Yao was not there, her first reaction was where did this person go to make trouble again? !

"Tsk tsk, the pillar is made of cedar, right? It smells so good!"

"Ouch, look at this rug, it's so soft to the touch, it must be comfortable to lie on!"

"Hey? What is this?"

Standing on the steps of the atrium of Chenguangyuan, Mrs. Wang heard the noise in the main hall from a long distance away. While sighing, she seemed to understand what Mrs. Zheng said.

(End of this chapter)