The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 216

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Sun Liquan, the Marquis of Dingguo, submitted a memorial, saying that he had settled down in Guangzhou and was familiar with the local customs. He thought that next spring, when the sea opened, would be a good time to go to Nanyang.At the same time, please ask the emperor for permission. If there are small countries willing to come to pay homage along the way, they can be allowed to leave behind naval escorts to guide them, and to trade freely with several merchants designated by the royal family.

When Emperor Zhaoming prepared the fleet to go to Nanyang, he originally planned to reproduce the idea of ​​all nations coming to court. Sun Liquan's words were just a formality. Only the last sentence of free trade can be regarded as exposing the emperor's ambition: The focus of this trip to Nanyang seems to have changed to free trade from all countries.

Of course there were objections from the government and the public. After all, the opening of trade routes was something that could not be put on the table, and the emperor did it in private. It would be detrimental to the court's face if the Marquis of Dingguo had to say it openly in the memorial.However, since the emperor insisted on going his own way, Jiao Ge, Yang Ge and other elders also kept silent, and the slightest voice of opposition from Yushitai seemed to be of little importance.

This is just the movement on the stage, and the movement under the stage cannot be known to everyone.Only popular families like the Xu family and the Yang family, who are deeply involved in political wrestling and have a certain influence on the court situation, can have a vague glimpse of the emperor's true intentions.

"In November this year, there will be a navy passing by near Guangzhou." Xu Fengjia and Qin Niangzi sighed with emotion when they rarely rested at home. "Although there are some movements in the northeast area, the emperor still does not give up... Fortunately, the number of this navy is only two to three thousand, and it is unlikely that they will stay in the Nanyang area for too long."

Seven Lady couldn't help but follow Xu Fengjia and sigh. "Since this matter has been settled, the whole court will have more troubles from now on."

Sure enough, only in September, the emperor dealt with several ministers like a thunderbolt, including Beijing officials and local bureaucrats. It is complete and complete, and it can be seen at a glance. This has been carefully prepared for a long time, and it is time to move these people.

Although these people are from all over the world, they seem to have nothing in common. The actions of the emperor seem to be just to clean up the government and sweep away the corruption, but if you think about it a little bit, you can see the only thing in common between these people: Without exception, these people are all disciples of Mr. Jiao Ge.

It took half a year for the emperor to start planning to force Mr. Jiaoge to step down, and he actually took action. With his means, he could of course lay out countless hidden lines calmly, and then provoke them one by one at his leisure.All of a sudden, the Jiao family was in disarray, and Ping Guogong's contact with the Elder was more frequent than ever. Even Xu Fengjia would often go to Menghuaxuan to talk with the elder, or go to the old man's mansion to have a drink with the Elder. Tea—as a close and trustworthy person by the emperor's side, as well as a young general with outstanding military exploits, a potential stock among potential stocks, at such a time, of course, it is impossible to stay out of the matter.

He is busy, so of course Qin Niangzi can't be idle.Since she took over the housework, she has been nothing but Xiao Guicao's follower. Apart from promoting a record method, she has not made much movement.Of course, there is a meaning of a smooth transition, and there is another meaning, which is to familiarize yourself with the personnel and human relations of the Xu family. It has been November, and the time sequence has entered midwinter. The weather is freezing and the children have a cold and a fever. Yes, there are not a few maids and wives in various houses and courtyards who are sick, as well as money for winter clothes, coal money for each house, silver rice for the Xu family to put medicine in the porridge factory every winter, and returns from various industries. Dividends, all kinds of local products returned by the heads of the village and the land obtained from the sale of grain.There are also all kinds of miscellaneous gifts and dowry that Yu Qiaoyi wants to prepare. Although the things are not big or difficult, they are trivial after all. There are still many things that cannot be touched when they are not in charge of the family. Study the notes, in order to take all of the Xu family's housework into his mind as soon as possible, and secure the position of the head of the house.

Because the marriage between Yu Qiao and the second young master of the Fan family had been agreed upon, the Fan family entrusted Fan Zhihong's teacher to teach. Now the doctor of the Ministry of rites came to be the big matchmaker, and Yu Qiaogeng's post was about to leave. Qiao prepares the dowry.There were two aunts in the previous generation of Pingguo Duke's mansion, one died young and the other entered the palace. There was no old example to refer to. When she got up this day, she went to Qingpingyuan to discuss with Mrs. Tai, "Send someone to Sun's house to ask. Qiao is like this, she is the longest of the three daughters, and the dowry should be more generous as usual. Xiaoqi thought, the eldest girl of the Sun family got married the year before last, so she just needs a dowry list. As for being too extravagant to catch people's eyes, it's not too shabby. It's hard for Yu Qiao to talk in Yangzhou - after all, in the land of Huaihe River and Huaihe River, there are the most rich people. It’s bound to be a joke.”

Marrying a daughter represents the face of her natal family. Of course, Mrs. Tai will not give Yu Qiao a problem in this matter. She nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, except for those from your officials, my wife will give 1000 taels herself." Add makeup to her, and ask her to bring some cash on her body."

Seventh Lady paused for a moment before laughing, "Grandmother is in pain."

Generally, the dowry of concubine girls is mainly based on land-produced furniture, and a few boxes of jewelry are packed. Ten to twenty thousand silver can be taken out without seeing it. There will not be too many dowry for her to hold in her hand. .Mrs. Tai paid 1000 taels to add makeup in one go. Of course, it is a very generous gesture in an ordinary person's house, but with the identity of Mrs. Tai, this 1000 taels seems a bit too stingy.

Mrs. Tai has always been kind to Qin Niangzi, and she did not ridicule Qin Niangzi openly or secretly, and asked her a few words casually, "Is the matchmaker of the Fan family decent? Have you met Feng Jia, the elder brother of the new son-in-law?" He didn't pay much attention to the answer, so he waved to Qin Niangzi, "Go and get busy, seeing that it's the twelfth lunar month, there are a lot of things at home."

Qin Niangzi got up with a smile, and took Xiao Huangpu out of Leshan Residence.

As the year approaches, Seventh Lady was originally busy with matters in Mingde Hall alone, but after all, she has the insights of two generations and knows the principle of decentralization, so she does her best for every trustworthy maid around her. Errands were arranged, so although the Chinese New Year is coming soon, the maids and women are getting more and more busy, and Qin Niangzi doesn't worry too much if she asks her a little bit.

This time, when I came to Leshanju to ask Mrs. Tai, there were not many maidservants around, so I had to bring little Huangpu out. Fortunately, although this girl was young, she behaved prudently and decently, and never embarrassed Mingdetang.

It had just snowed a few days ago, and Xiao Cui's brocade was covered in plain silver, looking extremely quiet.Qin Niangzi and Xiao Huangpu walked side by side, looking at the winter scenery in the garden, she couldn't help being interested for a while, so she took Xiao Huangpu to the outside of the Liushang Pavilion, and said with a smile, "When we were not married, we were in the garden in the south of the Yangtze River. There are more than 20 plum blossoms. Concubine Ning lives in the plum blossom forest. In winter, when the north wind blows, our sisters still pick plum blossoms in the forest and play on swings. Do you know if the plum blossoms in the south of the Yangtze River are in bloom?"

Little Huangpu couldn't help showing fascination on his face, "I heard young lady talk about Jiangnan, and I really want to go to Suzhou to take a look. It is said that there is heaven and there are Suzhou and Hangzhou, and the capital is so good. Alright—then I really don’t know what it’s going to look like!”

Seventh Lady smiled and glanced at her with deep meaning in her words. "If you're only looking forward to this, there's nothing that can't fulfill you. If you're looking forward to more than this, then it's better to say it clearly."

The implication in her words is already quite obvious, and little Huangpu may not be able to hear it. The little maid blinked her eyes, and there was a trace of doubt, "As a slave, there is nothing to look forward to, that is, following the arrangement of the young lady. , what the young lady asks the servant to do, the servant will..."

"You will do whatever I ask you to do?" Qiniangzi glanced at Xiao Huangpu. "Let you inquire about Leshan Juli, will you do it?"

Little Huangpu froze for a moment.

She is not a stupid person, and in a flash of her mind, she has already remembered that the people around Qin Niangzi have paid special attention to and favored her these days.

At first, I thought it was the young lady who liked her dexterity, so the sisters also valued her.Unexpectedly, the young lady took a fancy to her and several sisters combing their hair everywhere in the mansion...

Little Huangpu felt relieved all of a sudden, she raised her head, looked boldly at Seventh Lady, then lowered her head and muttered, "Young Madam has a life, slaves will certainly die."

Seventh Lady smiled and said, "Oh?"

She didn't say anything more, but took little Huang Pu all the way back to Mingde Hall.

Little Huangpu was frightened all the way, afraid that he would misunderstand the meaning of the young lady, and also afraid that what the young lady wanted to do by herself would be an unreasonable thing, so he was in a state of confusion, followed Seventh Lady into Mingde Hall, one of them didn't see it, and yelled , tripped over something, and fell heavily on the blue brick floor.

Suddenly laughter came from the corner of the room, Shiro poked his head out, but he didn't know where he was going, but Goro still poked out half of his body, slapping his face to shame Little Huangpu. "Sister is stupid!"

When Seventh Lady looked down, she didn't know who put a wine jar here, and she couldn't help laughing, "It means that these two children are bad, and they just waited there to watch people get tripped."

Chun Equinox picked up Wulang from behind, and said with a smile, "The Shizi ordered someone to bring it in early in the morning. He said it was strong wine from the north. He wanted to soak dates to eat. Wulang stumbled here just now, so no one was allowed to take it away." I have to wait to see others get tripped before I am reconciled."

She tapped Goro's nose and asked, "Now little sister Huangpu has tripped up, Goro is kind enough to move the wine jar away, okay?"

Wu Lang rolled his eyes wide, wanting to say something more, but seeing that Qin Niangzi had already lowered his face, he didn't dare to speak again, but nodded obediently.

Such a young child is already in such a state of mindlessness. He has suffered a disadvantage. What he thinks is not how to tell others so that others will not suffer a disadvantage, but to be happy only when he sees that others are also deceived...

Qin Niangzi frowned, wanted to say a few words to Wulang, and sighed again.

Forget it, I'm not my own mother, so I said a lot, but it's not so legitimate.When Kaimeng goes to school in the future, there will be a teacher to teach him, and there will be a strict father like Xu Fengjia, and Goro will probably change it when he grows up.

She pinched Goro's face, but she still couldn't help but whispered, "Do you know what it means to not do to others what you don't want to be done to others? Brother Fu doesn't like to fall, so does Little Huangpu like it? If you like it like this, it's hard to be the same , next time your brother makes a mistake, you will be punished along with him, okay?"

Goro was confused, and blinked his eyes, as if he didn't understand what Qinianzi meant, but moved his eyes uneasily, not making eye contact with Qinianzi.Qin Niangzi sighed, "In the future, you should be a little stricter in discipline. When this kind of thing comes to the elders, it will easily lead to long lectures... Remember it?"

Chun Equinox didn't dare to say anything, but only obediently agreed, and seeing that Goro was about to cry, he lowered his head and coaxed him in a low voice, and walked all the way into the East Wing.

Seventh Lady was still in a daze until she changed her clothes.

"Young lady, why did you go to Leshan Residence once, and come back out of your mind?" Li Xia came in to reply, seeing that Qinianzi's expression was not right, he asked her with a smile.Qin Niangzi came back to her senses, and she couldn't help touching her stomach.

"Siro and Goro are not my own. When I think of them growing up, they may become dudes. I am really worried. If I have children in the future, wouldn't I have to worry about more than 30 years from the time the child falls to the ground to grow up and have a child?" go?"

She didn't wait for Li Xia to answer, she pulled herself together, "Go and call Xiao Huangpu, I was so distracted just now that I forgot to talk to her about something serious."

Little Huangpu quickly entered the house.

This short period of time seems to have made this little girl think about a lot of things. Her attitude has become more graceful, and she seems to have a little more confidence. Very afraid.

"I haven't asked you yet, what exactly are you asking for." Seventh Lady examined her carefully, her eyes wandering again. "You don't know me, you can ask these sisters... As long as you do things for me with all your heart, I will never treat anyone badly. When your sister Bai Lu was working with me, all you wanted was to get married safely, and you didn't want to be anyone. You can ask her what your elder sister Lixia thinks—in a word, I will never treat those who work for me badly. Think about it for yourself, Xiao Huangpu, whether you want to do things for me, no It doesn't matter if you want it, just say it."

Little Huangpu took a deep breath, and said in a voice like a mosquito gnat, "If this servant can serve the young madam, of course I will die."

She carefully looked at Qin Niangzi's face, and said, "It's just the only wish in my life, which is to marry a scholar and become a young mistress like the second sister. After much deliberation, the only way to achieve this wish is that is……"

Her voice fell, and Seventh Lady already understood what she meant.

She smiled.

"Want to enter the palace to serve Concubine Ning? Well, you girl has ambitions." Seventh Lady praised her with great interest, "None of the maids around me have such a whimsical idea like you--this matter, of course I will do it." Can fulfill you."

Little Huangpu was not happy either, but took a deep breath, waiting for Qinianzi's next words.

"However, there are a few things that I really want to know." Seventh Lady raised a finger. "The first thing is, I want to know if there is any big movement in Leshan Juli recently. Has my grandmother changed her property, for example, she has cashed out the private house and family business that she bought over the years in the dowry farm."

"The second thing is, you are going to bother your other sister." Seventh Lady raised a finger again. "I want to know how the relationship between my sister-in-law and my elder brother is. My sister-in-law has gone out several times in the past few months, and what kind of people do she usually meet with? Do you know what I mean?"

She wanted to know about the young lady, so she needed an eyeliner to report all the details of the young lady's life.

Little Huangpu took a deep breath, hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Young Madam has a life, and this servant will definitely die!"

Seventh Lady let out a sigh of satisfaction.

No matter how capable Bai Lu is, it will be very difficult for her to break into the social network of the servants of the Xu family within a short period of time.Relatives like Xiao Huangpu spread all over the house, and several elder sisters are well-informed people who are around the masters as hairdressing maids. If they can all be used by her, the next thing will be much more convenient.

(End of this chapter)