The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 205

The Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion is not like ordinary high-ranking officials and nobles. Most of them live together in Dashiyongfang, Xiaoyongfang and Anfufang. The land is much larger than the Pingguo Mansion.Seventh Lady came here several times before, and under the leadership of Second Lady, she walked into the garden.But they came out of Baifang Garden. Although the back garden of Dingguohou's Mansion is lush with flowers and trees, in the eyes of the two young women, it is nothing.

On the other hand, Shiro and Goro, who had been to Sun's house several times before, were still too young to know that there was such a place in the mansion to visit.Now that she is getting older, Xiao Cuijin has walked by a few times, and when she sees the Sun family's garden, she feels good.

The second lady smiled and hugged the two children. Seeing that their eyes were rolling around the scenery in the window, she couldn't help laughing, and told Xiao Shizi, "Yanping, take the younger brothers to play in the garden." , be careful not to go near the water's edge."

Although the second lady married early, her descendants were not very lucky. The eldest son died in infancy, and the third son managed to raise him until he was three years old. He passed away after a cold spell, but the second son, Yanping, was very strong and sensible. , at the age of seven, he already has the limits of advancing and retreating like a young adult.He listened to his mother's order, first he answered yes solemnly, and then saluted Seventh Lady, "Seventh Aunt, my nephew will leave."

Only then did he take Shiro and Goro out of the house, not even forgetting to ask the adoptive mothers to follow behind with Gu Yuchun equinox.

The two ladies did not speak for a while, watching the children leave the house, vaguely heard Wu Lang ask Sun Yanping, "Why is my cousin also called Seventh Aunt Qiyi?"

Sun Yanping also answered patiently, "Because mother and Aunt Qi are sisters, mother's sister is called Auntie."

The seventh lady couldn't help but smiled at the second lady, "Yanping is like a mother! She has been so stable since she was a child."

The second lady couldn't help but also had a smile on her lips. "His temperament is very popular with his grandmother. It is said that after Ming'er's eighth birthday, he asked the imperial court to make him a son and determine his status."

She curled her lips again, "Actually, I like his temperament, and it's also because your sister and wife are about to leave, and you have promoted two aunts."

Seventh Lady herself crawled out of her aunt's stomach. She could ask Xu Fengjia to be specific, but in front of Second Lady, she must not say too advanced words, so she could only comfort Second Lady with a smile, "There are more children, and the house is always lively. Some, don't be like Brother Nine, the family can't wait to have seven or eight children right away after getting married. The pressure to carry on the family is too great."

There is another sentence that she kept silent: Even in Daqin, the death rate of Er Niangzi's children is too high. If Sun Yanping is not raised and there is a concubine, Er Niangzi can always leave the eldest wife. The old way, so as not to be reduced to adopting other people's children to raise them.

The second lady sighed, and she waved her hand, "It's not bad to have one, unlike the elder sister, who is about to celebrate her 30th birthday, and there is no news in her stomach, even the two promoted houses have no news , that’s called anxiety.”

The first lady has been working with the eldest son-in-law in the south of the Yangtze River for these years, that is, last year she followed the eldest son-in-law Ding You back to her hometown to live in filial piety, and naturally had more contacts with the third and fourth ladies.The few sisters in Beijing rarely hear from her.The last time Qi Niangzi knew about her was when she wrote home again, asking the eldest wife how many beautiful girls she wanted.

"Big brother-in-law is 35, right?" She couldn't help frowning, "Before their old man died, I'm afraid..."

"It is said that it is very tight. I want to adopt the third son of my uncle's family. The eldest sister has not let go, but Ding You must be at home, facing an old lady every day, and life is not very comfortable." The second lady is also very happy. A little helpless, "Forget it, for the sake of parents, no matter what, it will be a little embarrassing. The eldest sister is still blessed, better than the fourth sister..."

Over the years, the sisters have met each other, and their lives have been good and bad. Except for the fifth lady who died young, the fourth lady was the most unlucky. The fourth lady was also infected when taking care of him. Although she was lucky enough to recover, her face was pockmarked. The fourth aunt cried so hard that she wrote to Beijing, asking the elder to pay for the construction of a nunnery next to the fourth aunt's grave. I lived in the nunnery and went to eat fast and chant Buddha with my fourth wife.

Thinking of the past, Qin Niang felt a little bit embarrassed, "At that time, I didn't feel anything in Baifang Garden. Sometimes sisters are like enemies. When they meet each other, they are like fighting cocks. You step on me and I step on you. Only when you go out I know, it has been fate for many years to be able to cultivate into sisters. The few sisters who played together back then are really far away from each other now! That is, my second sister and I can see each other from time to time. The younger sisters of the second room are all..."

The eighth lady and tenth lady of the second room have also been married in the past few years. The eighth lady married into the Li family and married Twelve Lang, which no one expected. Grandma Min was the matchmaker and married her to a family in Shanxi. It was said that the family rules were strict, so she never heard from her again.The sisters in the capital are only the second lady, the sixth lady and the seventh lady.

"It's pretty good to have a few sisters together." The second lady sighed, "It's the empress, the sisters are not far from each other. Now that Lord Hou has gone to Guangzhou again, apart from me in Beijing, I can often Go in and have a look, there is no second relative who can enter the palace!"

Speaking of affairs in the palace, Seventh Lady couldn't help but glance at Second Lady, weighed Second Lady's attitude in her heart, and then asked with a smile, "Speaking of which, how is Sixth Sister? Haven't heard much from her."

The second lady shook her head, "Isn't it the same? Seven or eight days ago, I went to the palace to see the empress, and sat with her for a while. She also said that the days were boring and hard to pass, and she asked me to bring some books in for her." She's watching."

Seventh Lady was slightly taken aback, and when she was about to say something, she swallowed the words thoughtfully. "Alright, she is lucky to be able to live in peace."

The second lady looked at her and sighed, and said, "It's the same for you to hear this. A lot of things are over, and there is no need to turn them over again. If you can live in peace, that's fine."

She has always been fair and strict. Although her attitude towards Wu Niangzi's death is not as crazy as that of the eldest wife, she is still very positive.Now that he changed his tone, Qin Niangzi was naturally surprised when he said such words.

She glanced at Er Niangzi, only to realize that this 28-nine-year-old young woman was exhausted at this moment, and she actually had some dejection unique to the elderly.

Thinking of her entering the Sun's family at a young age, she served her in-laws in every possible way, and she had to personally arrange the infinite trivial matters at home and abroad, not to mention that there was also a princess in the palace who needed to entertain with all her heart.Although her mother's family is strong, but compared with the Sun's family, it is always at a disadvantage, and I am afraid that she has not suffered less from her mother-in-law.Now it's so easy to achieve a good result and become a well-meaning mistress of the family, but there is a sick mother-in-law to serve in the back hall. Sun Liquan uses the name of his sons to lift up his concubine one after another...

Even if everyone envies her dignity, only she knows about her loneliness and sadness in private.

What's even more frightening is that Er Niangzi is already the happiest woman among noble ladies. At least one of her own sons survived, and she is about to establish the position of the eldest son. , no sound at all.Although the mother-in-law is sick, she is still reasonable, and the relationship with the sister-in-law can be said to be harmonious. Compared with many living dead who are well-clothed and well-fed, the life of the second lady is really good!
Seventh Lady was a little scared.

Suddenly, she didn't dare to imagine that after marrying into the Quan family or the Gui family, she would live the same life as the second lady.

The two of them sighed for a while, and then the second lady cheered up, called Xiaohan in, and nodded at her majestically.

Xiao Han lowered his eyebrows and retreated silently.

"In the past few years, she has been very obedient, so she was promoted to be by my side and help me housekeeper." The second lady told the seventh lady casually, "It's just that she doesn't get much favor in front of Lord Hou!"

Unexpectedly, Xiaohan used this method to become an aunt.

Seventh lady thought of the first lady's biological mother, who used to be the wife's companion. Although she was favored, she died in childbirth. For a while, she felt that it was not a bad thing for Xiaohan to not be favored.

Not long after, Xiaohan brought two middle-aged accountants into the house, and naturally someone put a screen in front of the two mistresses, covering their figures.

"This is the accounting office of our Sun family's own property, not the people in Xianxiufang. They have been working at home for generations, so they are the most reliable." The second lady confessed to the seventh lady, "If you have any questions, just ask, I have something else to do..."

Just seeing that Er Niangzi lent out the accountant of the Sun family, one knew that it was not a fluke that she was in charge of the Marquis House at such an age.Seventh Lady would speak to her, she definitely didn't want to disturb her natal family, she didn't use the accountant of Xianxiufang to answer her request, it can be said that she was considerate to Seventh Lady to the extreme, and she took the initiative to avoid it, not to inquire about Seventh Lady's intentions, it was Second Lady's work Extraordinary.

Seventh Lady was not polite either, she stood up, sent Second Lady to the door, then took her hand and asked in a low voice, "It's rare for Shiro and Goro to come over, Second Sister should play with the children more... talk about Fifth Sister , let them hear it."

A little sentimentality flashed across the eyes of the second lady.

"Okay!" She nodded, and squeezed Qin Niangzi's hand tightly. "I see that the two children are growing up very well... Xiao Wu knows the truth, and he can feel at ease!"

Seventh Lady showed a slight smile and nodded slightly.

After seeing off the second lady, she walked back to the flower hall to sit down, and softly invited the two accountants, "Gentlemen, you are welcome, sit down."

The two accountants immediately stood up with low brows and sat down tremblingly with their buttocks sticking to the edge of the chair.

"Actually, I asked the two gentlemen to look at the account, just to be safe." Seventh Lady's tone was still unhurried. "The two gentlemen are old adults, and they know the taboos inside..."

She draws out.

"Young Madam, please don't worry!" One of the accountants took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, while assuring in a low voice, "The villains are all born at home, and they have been trained since childhood to know how to speak and how to do things!"

Seventh Lady nodded in satisfaction, "That's good—I'm just asking for nothing. I don't know these accounts, do you guys see the clues?"

The two accountants looked at each other, then both knelt down again, took out a small book from their arms, lay down on the ground, and one of them began to explain the tricks in the account book to Seventh Lady in a low voice.

This said, it was more than half an hour.

Seventh Lady was always listening intently, and even Lixia and Bailu beside her lowered their heads to remember something from time to time.

After the two gentlemen had finished speaking, Qin Niangzi took a sip of tea and continued to ask questions.

"So, the big kitchen purchases and the loss of gold and silverware are the biggest problems?"

"Yes." The two accountants answered in the affirmative.

"Then based on your estimates, how many taels can you get in and out in a year?" Seventh Lady adjusted her posture and smoothed the corners of her skirt carelessly.

"Tighten your hands, there are 6000 taels, and looser, there are also 5000 taels." The two accountants also answered with confidence - presumably they had expected this question a long time ago, so they were prepared early.

Seventh Lady hummed, and asked again, "Then, according to you, can you tell that something is wrong here in an ordinary accountant?"

The two accountants looked at each other and were stunned for a while, but they didn't make a sound.

Qin Niangzi waited for a long time before clearing her throat urgently.

"This...if it's an old accountant for more than ten years, you can usually see that something is wrong, but those who are not careful or timid will probably let it go like this." One of them answered boldly, "No Dare to lie to Young Madam... the omissions here are not undisputable."

To the surprise of the two of them, Seventh Lady nodded in satisfaction.

"That's what I thought it was." She whispered to herself, "Coin, what a coincidence."

She waved her hand at Bai Lu, got up and turned into the back hall, without any more politeness with the two accountants.

It's rare to be a guest at the Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion, and Seventh Lady naturally wants to go in to see Mrs. Sun, because Mrs. Sun is not in good health, and she didn't get up until noon. Come out and talk with a few children, and it's time to go back.

Er Niangzi sent Qi Niangzi and others to the gate. Seeing Shiro and Wulang being carried into the car by the two adoptive mothers, Xiao Shizi went down to the side of the car to talk to his younger brothers. A smile appeared on her face. She turned around. The head told Qi Niangzi, "Family harmony and everything is prosperous. If there is anything wrong, you should not act too much, and you should still be reserved."

Seventh Lady immediately knew her possible motives, and she did not hide it from Second Lady's insight.This transparent lady was persuading herself, even if she caught someone's pigtails, don't just keep being aggressive, but she would lose people's hearts. She smiled.

"Second sister, don't worry, Xiaoqi knows how to do it."

She followed Er Niangzi and looked at the clean oil truck with the heavy curtains hanging down deeply—Si Lang and Wu Lang had all boarded the car, and they poked half of their heads out of the car window, reluctantly saying goodbye to Xiao Shizi.

Qin Niangzi suddenly felt melancholy again: there are brothers of the same age in the family, but it's a pity that the children are in Xu's house, but they can only be locked in the Mingde Hall, and they can't go out if they have nothing to do.With a few cousins, it is much more estranged than cousins...

She restrained her thoughts again, turned her eyes to the blue sky in early autumn, and let out a slight breath.

Everything must be done step by step.

(End of this chapter)