The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 120

Time is like water, hastily knocked over the bluestone by the river, and quietly took away the first year of Taiping, leaving only a blurred back for everyone.

There are many major events in the imperial court. Since May, it has been turbulent, and there has never been a day of peace. The harvests in Guangdong and Guangxi have been poor for several years, and the strength of the two provinces has to support the sailors going south. The local folk customs have always been tough. I don’t know who started it. At the beginning, there were endless uprisings throughout the first year of Taiping. Fortunately, General Zhaowei Xu Fengjia used troops everywhere.

The capital is not peaceful either. Ever since the old Yang Haidong of the new cabinet wrote a letter in June asking for the reform of the tax system and reforming the tax system, the cabinet has never calmed down.The emperor's attitude is ambiguous, neither admitting nor refusing, this memorial is kept in the middle, and what is left is the lunatic dispute between Mr. Jiao Ge and Mr. Yang-if it is not that Mr. Jiao Ge is too old, Several times, bloody cases were almost caused in Wenyuan Pavilion-this is not without precedent, even in the previous dynasty, there were several gang fights in Huagai Palace!

The two sides criticized each other, and of course they had to catch each other's pigtails. Yushitai was unprecedentedly busy. Headed by the Yang family, the Xu family, the Qin family, and the Sun family were all families with strong backgrounds and far-reaching roots, but Mr. Jiao Ge was not fuel-efficient either. For many years, the first assistant has been highly respected... Although the emperor has remained silent, this big drama in the first year of Taiping was still lively and lively from the middle of the year to the end of the year, without any intention of stopping.

Rather than being entangled in the tax system, anyone with a discerning eye can feel the flavor of the disputes. The old man of the Yang family has always had a smooth career. The chief envoy, going up, has been the governor of Jiangnan for more than ten years, and now he has been ordered to join the cabinet...

The emperor's meaning could not be more clear, Yang Haidong is the next Chief Assistant in his eyes!Let him compete with Mr. Jiao Ge, I am afraid it is to test his ability.

He has achieved such an achievement in his early fifties, but Mr. Jiao Ge is very old and has reached the age of begging for bones...

Or because of these under-the-table reasons, although the Yang family fought fiercely with the Jiao family, they ate more and more in the capital. More and more frequently, invitations flew into the concierge of Yang's family like snowflakes, but the eldest wife almost never went out to socialize, and she just prayed in a small newly built Buddhist hall in the main courtyard, which was a bit strange. Ask the meaning of the world.Unless the old man speaks, he hardly goes out for half a step, and only rarely shows a few smiles when he visits his grandchildren in Dingguohou's Mansion and Qin Shangshu's Mansion every month.

During the New Year in the second year of Taiping, the Yang family became more lively. In the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Xu family sent a few concubines to the door to say hello to the elder. Two or three of Chunwei's sons and so on, all came to pay New Year's greetings. The Eldest Master and Ninth Brother were also in high spirits, chatting and laughing with the men in the outer courtyard.

The inner courtyard was a bit deserted. Except for Grandma Min who came to pay New Year's greetings as usual, there were no other female relatives visiting. The eldest wife was thinking about the "Lotus Sutra" that she had to recite 180 times, so she said a few auspicious words to Grandma Min , Let Qiniangzi entertain the guests, and avoid herself in the Buddhist hall. Qiniangzi simply let Grandma Min speak in her small courtyard.

Grandma Min served her sick mother at her natal home all the year round, and she rarely had the opportunity to come to her home this year. When she entered the inner courtyard, she first took a close look at Seventh Lady, and then swept the decorations in the house, she couldn't help but smiled.

"Big girl." Although she is not very old, her tone is quite old-fashioned, "How come the yard is already full of boxes and cages before February?"

This is to joke that Seventh Lady can't wait to prepare the dowry.

Qin Niangzi didn't have the shame of ordinary daughters on her face. "Sister-in-law forgot? After the Lantern Festival, we will move to a new home."

Only then did Grandma Min remember: Following Brother Nine's entry into Beijing, even the Grand Master couldn't stand this three-way house. Years ago, she bought a mansion with a garden near Chongjingfang Confucian Temple. The cleaning is done, and we will move after the Lantern Festival.

She couldn't help but smile, mocking herself, "The family has been very busy recently, so I said the wrong thing."

Then he took Qin Niangzi's hand and asked, "But you have to know in your heart, the Xu family is not an ordinary family, and the dowry is not prominent, so you can't suppress the situation...Have you ever spoken, Auntie?"

Although the two seldom meet each other, Grandma Min's attitude towards Qin Niangzi has never been unfamiliar, and has always been a three-pointed heart-to-heart.

Seventh Lady smiled slightly, "Fifth Sister's anniversary hasn't passed yet, and Mother didn't say anything about it."

When his wife passed away, Xu Fengjia had to serve a year of filial piety. He was a military commander and was fighting a war. It was impossible for him to wear mourning according to national practice, but the filial piety was still there.At least it will take until February this year before the Xu family will officially come to propose marriage.

It's just that the preparations for dowry are mostly because people start preparing for their daughters when they are four or five years old... One or two months have passed since Seventh Lady's nine-month mourning period. The lady is going to marry her as a dowry, so that she can suppress her sister-in-law in the future and gain a firm foothold as soon as possible. Whether it is in charge of housework or raising two nephews, she will have more confidence.

Grandma Min wanted to say something, she glanced at Qiniangzi, curled her lips, and swallowed the words again.

"It's good that you know what's going on in your heart - but anyway, Auntie can't treat you badly!"

Grandma Min still speaks so straightforwardly.

Seventh Lady changed the subject again, "My little niece is five or six months old, right? Last time I saw her, she was quite tender, why didn't you hug me today?"

Nanyin gave birth to brother Min's eldest daughter in June last year, and now she has some face in the second room, but Grandma Min is strict with her, and Qin Niangzi only saw her a few times in the second room's own courtyard-it's too much to watch A little bit of extravagance, with the appearance of a wealthy family's aunt.

When Grandma Min mentioned the daughter under her name, she smiled, "Okay, I followed us last night to watch the new year and arrived at Zishi. She couldn't wake up this morning, so I asked her to follow her biological mother. The child who is not one year old, Taking it out is also a toss.”

Then he discussed a bunch of parenting scriptures with Qiniangzi, served two or three courses of tea, and when it was time for lunch, he tugged at Qiniangzi's sleeve and asked her in a low voice. "Do you know when Shizi will come back?"

Although the turmoil in Guangdong, Guangxi, and the area seemed to subside, Xu Fengjia did not leave for Beijing. The funeral was busy with fighting, so he couldn't preside over it himself, but the anniversary ceremony couldn't be in time, so it was inevitable that it would be a bit uninteresting.

Qin Niangzi shook her head, "There is no news - usually we don't have much contact with the Xu family."

The eldest wife was still angry, although she agreed to the marriage with Xu's family, but usually the two families naturally stopped walking around, and this year, it was just greeting each other during the New Year and holidays.Mrs. Xu's health is getting worse and worse. She has been sick for the past few months, and she doesn't have the energy to reconcile with the Yang family. Therefore, although a marriage contract has been made, Seventh Lady still doesn't know anything about Xu Fengjia's movements.

Grandma Min became a little annoyed about Qin Niangzi, "Oh, this aunt is the same, she only has Fifth Sister in her heart..."

Halfway through the conversation, I also felt that it was boring, so I simply stopped talking and got up to leave, "I'll go back to eat this year, so as not to cause trouble for you."

Seventh Lady sent off Grandma Min with a smile.

From the beginning to the end, she didn't show any impatience.

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During this year, the life of the Yang family was actually quite peaceful. After the eldest wife sent Wu Niangzi away, she plunged into the Buddhist hall, looking for comfort in the boundless Buddhist teachings. Those who did not believe in ghosts and gods in the past are more trustworthy now than anyone else. They are all devout, and most of the housework is left to Twelve Aunts to take care of.She rarely even comes out to meet people, and even Qin Niangzi rarely sees her aunt, let alone the servants of ordinary families.

Fortunately, Shuxia is indeed a capable person. The two great gods inside and outside are served by her properly, and the trivial matters of daily necessities are also handled in an orderly manner.It seems that there is not much difference whether the mistress is in charge of affairs or not.This time when Brother Nine went to Beijing to tidy up the house and set up a new residence, Shuxia took charge of all the chores, and Qi Yiniang also helped out when she had free time, and if she had no intention of leaving it alone, it was difficult for her to be considerate inside and out.

After the Lantern Festival, the Yang family is busy moving, the elder doesn’t care about everything, and the eldest wife is a shopkeeper, so I have to borrow Grandma Min from the second room to help, and there are Brother Nine and Zhou Quan. In February, Yang The family has settled down in the new residence, but the old house has no intention of selling - the mansion given by the imperial court is the foundation of the Yang family for a hundred years, and the elder has already sent a message. The big and small affairs of the family are taken care of by the new daughter-in-law, and the old man will bring his eldest wife back to Xiaoyongfang. This house is actually just for his grandchildren.

After Wu Niangzi passed away, the Yang family betrothed Qi Niangzi into Pingguo's mansion. Neither the Gui family nor the Quan family could find anything wrong. The relationship between the Xu family and the Yang family in the future, and the intention of the Yang family to marry Qiniangzi, are well known to both families.

(End of this chapter)