The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 158

By the time Qiniangzi returned to Xu's house, it was already dark.

She advanced to Leshan Residence to report to Mrs. Tai about Concubine Xu, then entered Qingpingyuan, and told Mrs. Xu what she had seen and heard about the day, and then returned to Mingde Hall exhausted, changed into her official dress, While taking off the jewelry, she could not stop dozing off, but when Li Xia helped her take a bath, she regained her energy.

"Where is your son?" Seventh Lady covered a small yawn and asked Li Xia casually. "Have Shiro and Goro eaten?"

"Master Shizi was invited out for a drink by some friends in the evening, and he told me that he might not be back early today." Li Xia explained softly after brushing Qin Niangzi's hair. "Silang and Wulang were clamoring to see you before dinner, but I'm afraid they are sleepy now."

Although the two children have very different personalities, they are not difficult to take care of. With Qin Niangzi, the de facto mother, the "Seventh Aunt" in name, they have gotten along with each other for a long time, and they have developed some feelings. In the Mingde Hall, they would even ask the adoptive mother for the seventh aunt.

She changed into the cotton clothes she usually wears at home, put on a coat again, and casually tied up a loose bun, then entered the East Wing and said a few words to Shiro and Goro.Although Shiro was still slurred, he was very clear in the math problems that Qiniangzi gave him casually.

After staying with the two children for a while, Qin Niangzi also became sleepy, so she ate a few mouthfuls of food in the third east room, then simply fell down on the kang, held Wulang in her arms to play with the rattle, and asked Shiro again, "Three blocks plus four blocks, how many blocks are there?"

Before Shiro answered, Qiniangzi tilted her head and fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up again, it was already dawn, and the two children had already been carried into the back room by the adoptive mother to sleep-she was on the kang, and she was just like that. slept through the night.

I got up early yesterday, wasted all day, and was indeed tired. Qin Niangzi laughed at herself and got up. Seeing Shang Yuan dozing at the end of the kang, she woke her up to wash and wash. Went to Xisanjian.

Just entered Xisanjian, and almost bumped into Xu Fengjia: the little father-in-law must fight a set of punches in the yard every day when he gets up early every day, and Qin Niangzi slept soundly, and he never knew what he was doing. Since then, I looked at the chiming clock today and realized that Xu Fengjia got up at five o'clock in the morning.

"My son got up early." Qin Niangzi didn't sleep very well, she bit her yawn again, greeted her vaguely, and slowly entered the room, then fell down at the end of the kang and called Shang Yuan, "I didn't know you last night." Eat a few mouthfuls, but now I am so hungry, go and pass on breakfast."

In a blink of an eye, she saw Qi Qiao coming out of the clean room with a basin of water in her hand, and asked her with a smile, "You don't know that I fell asleep in Dongsanjian last night?"

"Young Madam forgot, the maidservant was not on duty last night." Qi Qiao said with a smile, "I was eager to fetch water in this morning, but who knew that Young Madam was not here, the pot of hot water was wasted."

Seventh Lady smiled and nodded, looked at her one more time, but didn't say anything more.

She yawned, and lazily looked at Xu Fengjia's back through the glass window: This man is full of vigor, and he is not afraid of freezing in the cold weather. Slowly danced a set of Taizu Changquan.

The maids got up earlier than Qin Niangzi when they were on duty, so they were all used to seeing Xu Fengjia's heroic appearance. Li Xia yawned as he walked across the courtyard, without even looking at Shizi, he lifted the curtain and entered the room. Not long after, the sound of her light footsteps came from outside Xisanjian.

"Young Madam got up early today!" She smiled and opened the suitcase, "It only snowed yesterday, so it's warmer to wear a cloak today..."

Accompanied by Zhongyuan's laughter, the woman who delivered the food also entered the room with a food box. Xu Fengjia entered the third room while wiping off his sweat. Mama Xin and Mama Tang also came over to hold clothes, ready to help him change his clothes .Shiro and Goro were also carried by their adoptive mother to greet their parents...

The morning in Mingde Hall gradually became lively.

#
A few days later, Xu Fengjia went out again, and returned to Mingde Hall after the third watch. The smell of alcohol woke up Qin Niangzi from her dream.

"Where did you go again?" she asked while rubbing her eyes, half sat up and fanned Xu Fengjia, disgusting Xu Fengjia, "You stink of alcohol! Have you taken a bath?"

"A friend spilled a whole bottle of Fen wine in my hair, and it didn't go away after several washes." Mr. Xu's tone was still sober. He sniffed his black hair again, and said doubtfully, "I smell it. It has faded a lot."

Fenjiu is a famous wine in the world, and it has always been famous for its fragrance. When it is sprinkled in the hair, how can the smell be so easy to dissipate?Seventh Lady waved her hand, and turned her head helplessly, "Sleep, sleep, I heard it when I greeted you tomorrow, let's see how mother scolds you."

For people like the Xu family, the children should carefully report back to the family, who they were with, where they were with, and how many drinks they drank, not to mention drinking with prostitutes, but even having a drink with three or two friends.Whenever the entertainment is a little more intensive, the family members will put down their faces and criticize them. The strict family education is beyond the imagination of such frivolous and shabby families.Xu Fengjia wrinkled her nose and said sullenly, "Okay, okay, sleep, sleep."

After all, he was a little bit drunk, and he couldn't sleep well. He always had to tease Qin Niangzi a few times, but he succeeded only once before falling into a deep sleep. Instead, Qin Niang tossed and turned, and couldn't sleep comfortably. The next day Xu Fengjia woke him up early in the morning and whispered in her ear. "Did I forget to tell you last night that Uncle Lian Shi and I have already met?"

Before he knew it, he had already changed his title, calling Eunuch Lian Uncle Shi.

Qin Niangzi was clever, and her drowsiness disappeared immediately. She rubbed her eyes and half sat up, "Didn't say - you just met him last night?"

"Well," Xu Fengjia replied in a low voice, "Feng Zixiu just returned to Beijing, and he asked me to eat, which is justified."

He paused, and waited for Seventh Lady to nod her head clearly before continuing, "I met Uncle Lian Shi during the banquet while changing clothes. It took less than half an hour."

"I'm spreading my words. Although the country has reached this point, although it is said to be strong, those who fight the war know best what is going on in the treasury. The emperor must be single-minded and persistent in searching for the King of Lu. One will ebb and flow, and the other will rise and fall. The pace of reform will inevitably slow down." Xu Fengjia doesn't seem to have the slump of a hangover at all, his eyes are piercing, and even in the dim tent, he still has a vigorous spirit, which sets off the Seventh Lady was in a state of depression. "But this matter has been dragged on for too long. If you go all out, you will decline at the second, and you will be exhausted at the third. If the friction between the father-in-law and Mr. Jiao Ge continues, one person must fall. If the emperor still delays the tax system , the Yang family is in danger."

Politics has never been a game for one person. The emperor's strength lies in his ability to use various factors to create a favorable situation.But even he can only make the most of the situation, and he has no way to stop the war between the two elders.Since the tax system reform is the focus of the battle between the Elder Master and Mr. Jiao Ge, the emperor's statement is basically a statement on the tax system reform.If he wants to procrastinate, the Yang family does not have the background of the Jiao family, and it is inevitable that they will step down sadly.

"Why is Uncle Lian Shi willing to help?" Seventh Lady couldn't help asking in a low voice, "The Yang family will not fall, and he..."

"He also supports Ding Heyi." Xu Fengjia replied succinctly, "Besides, no one around the emperor wants to pursue the matter of King Lu any further. Not to mention the waste of money, but with his ingenuity, when the time comes Nanyang has been in Nanyang for a few years, and at least it is a local tyrant. If our few ships go to Nanyang, what can we do?"

Qin Niangzi also understands Xu Fengjia's logic: In the hearts of Daqin people, although Nanyang is rich, it is also a land of alienation. They have always bowed their heads to the Central Plains. If King Lu is willing to flee to Nanyang, it can be seen that he has no ability in this life. Threatening the Central Plains again.It is far more cost-effective to let a down-and-out prince die than to spend gold and silver to hunt him down.

"Where is the emperor..." She was still a little worried.

"Liao Qianhu knows how to speak, so I don't have any worries." Xu Fengjia twitched her lips. "Although the emperor is smart, he doesn't know everything after all. He should learn to let go of many things."

When mentioning the emperor, his tone was always slightly intimacy, as if talking about a closest friend.Seventh Lady couldn't help being a little curious: the two grew up together, and they should be very close. The emperor is powerful, and it stands to reason that Xu Fengjia knows best, but why doesn't he fear the emperor like the old man?
She leaned on the pillow and saw Xu Fengjia put on her clothes, she couldn't help asking softly, "Are you really not afraid of the emperor at all?"

Xu Fengjia stopped buttoning his button, and after thinking about it, he grinned confidently.

"In this world, I am not afraid of anyone."

When he said this, General Xu naturally let out an aura, it seemed that what he said was the most common, and there was a charm of taking weight lightly in it.

Qiniangzi rolled her eyes and didn't speak, only complained in a low voice when he was out of the room, "Big talk."

After thinking about it, she smiled again.

When she entered Qingpingyuan the next day, she discussed with Mrs. Xu, "Grandmother's birthday is approaching, and there must be a lot of things going on in the house. My daughter-in-law thought, why don't you learn how to be a housekeeper from Sister-in-law Wu, so that you don't have to worry about it in the future?" After the separation, the housekeeper is improper, making people laugh, and making mother worry."

Although these words were euphemistic, Madam Xu could understand the meaning behind them.

"Okay." Mrs. Xu agreed immediately. "It's time too."

She looked at the two big dark circles on Qinianzi's face, and her smile became more meaningful.

#
A few days later, Grandma Min came to see Qin Niangzi.

"Thinking that you've been here for half a year, your mother's family can be more diligent when they visit, so I found a day and brought my daughter over to recognize my cousins." Grandma Min was still the same, talking quickly, and she didn't care about the scene at all. "Come here, my name is Aunt Seven."

Little Nannan, Shiro, and Wulang have a birthday difference of more than ten days, and they are two or three years old, and they have already spoken very well. They sweetly called Aunt Qi, then twisted their bodies and went to the ground to go to other places. to play.

"Her biological mother is pregnant again." Grandma Min chatted with Qin Niangzi, "Now she is five months old. I wanted to bring her to see you, but I didn't bother to bother, so I simply locked her at home to save trouble."

Nanyin had such a chance, Qin Niangzi never thought of it, the non-allergic grandma seemed to be very lenient to her, and she didn't mean to be jealous, in the eyes of Daqin people, she was lucky.

"It's also good to give birth to a baby. If this baby is a boy..." She smiled at Grandma Min, who immediately understood.

She waved her hand boldly, "I'm impatient to bring it! Even if I bring my daughter here, it's all on a whim. When I get home, I'll throw it to my aunt! Anyway, it's under whose name it's not written. Let's see what happens then. !"

It's more like Grandma Min's personality.

Qiniangzi lowered her head to refill her tea, she didn't answer for a while, but when she raised her head again, she saw Grandma Min looking out of the window, as if she was looking forward to it, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Her heart was beating.

"Speaking of the pregnancy." So I gossiped with Grandma Min, "When Nanyin gave birth to her daughter last time, did she have a good baby? To tell you the truth, my sister-in-law, I was terribly frightened when I heard that I was going to cut this and that. "

Grandma Min laughed suddenly. "Are you afraid?! I don't want Seventh Sister to be so timid!"

"It's no better than sister-in-law. There are many famous doctors in the family. I'm afraid I'm used to hearing it since I was a child." Seventh Lady disagreed, "We have little experience, so of course we are afraid of hearing it."

"That's true." Grandma Min waved her hand nonchalantly, "I'll tell you the truth, I've heard many more disgusting things than this since I was a child—whose intestines flowed out on the battlefield, stuffed them back and continued Killing the enemy... It was quite disgusting at first, but after listening to it too much, I didn't feel anything."

"It's not like that." Seventh Lady and Grandma Min contradicted each other. "After all, childbirth is a woman's business. When I heard about cutting the perineum and opening the cervix, I felt a burst of bloody pain!"

"You don't need to worry, you don't have to worry about the pain when you give birth." Grandma Min smiled and comforted Seventh Lady. "There are too many births, I'm afraid people say they're scary, but it's not that scary at all!"

Qin Niangzi looked at her and smiled, and said yes gently.

With Grandma Yimin's careless temper, I'm afraid it's hard to remember the conversation a year ago.

The two wentssip again, and Qin Niangzi showed tiredness, "I haven't slept well these days, sister-in-law, please don't be offended."

Grandma Min didn't care either. She looked at the sky and said with a smile, "I should go back too. There are a lot of things at home. Nanyin is pregnant, so it's not good to make her tired."

"Hey, it's rare to come here, let's go after dinner." Seventh Lady refused to let Grandma Min leave, "Also let Nannan play more with Silang and Goro."

She yawned again, Grandma Anton Min said, "I'm just sleepy for a while and I'll get over it!"

Grandma Min thought for a while, then smiled, "It's just right, your young lady and I knew each other before, so it's good to go to Zhishan Hall to talk. I'll come back when you wake up!"

Seventh Lady hesitated for a moment, then readily agreed, and sent Grandma Min to the door of Mingde Hall, watched her go far, and then slowly turned around and went back to Xisanjian.

She rested her chin and meditated, and the little things from the past flowed into her heart bit by bit.

After being in a daze for a long time, she called Li Xia to order, "Go to the front yard and tell the prince not to come in for dinner. I want to entertain my sister-in-law. After dinner, please ask the prince to escort the sister-in-law back. And I, who has always been old I can't sleep well, in a few days you will send someone to invite Dr. Zhong to come in and have a look, and help me feel my pulse!"

When Li Xia went down to arrange staff, she found a few more medical books and read them carefully.

(End of this chapter)