The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 256

When she got up early the next morning, Xu Fengjia sent the dozen or so servants back to Mrs. Xu's dowry village. Seventh Lady remained calm, assuming that she had never interrogated Xiao Songhua, and her attitude towards the sisters-in-law was the same as before. , even in front of the fifth young lady, she didn't reveal anything wrong.

Because it was originally agreed with the Fan family to get married in July, but now it's Yu An, the Fan family still wants to get married within the year.Mrs. Tai also hopes to find a marriage for Yu Ping before Yu An gets married, so as not to mess up the order.Seventh Lady has been busy with Yu An's dowry for the past few days, and at the same time she is looking for a suitable man in Forty-Nine City.The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and there are some trivial matters at home that need to be dealt with. In addition, when the fourth young lady and the fourth young master are angry, the fetus will not stop.For the next ten days or so, she was neither busy nor busy, and she had a lot of things to do every day. In more than ten days, she didn't free up her hands to deal with the case of Wu Niangzi.

However, or because of this, when Madam Fifth saw Qin Niangzi, her attitude was much more amiable, even Mrs. Tai did not mention the matter of the room.Qin Niangzi saw it in her eyes, and naturally she was not without emotion in her heart.

In private, I sighed with Xu Fengjia, "When I didn't know before, I just felt that I did something wrong. I didn't give my grandmother a good face when I entered the door. No wonder the old man had the opportunity to exclude me like this. Now I know, it turns out that I No matter how well you do it, it's useless, the old man's heart is that he doesn't know where he went from the beginning."

In the current situation, it is obvious that Mrs. Tai is partial to the fifth house, and I am afraid that she will not have too many thoughts about poisoning Mrs. Wu Shao, but she just adopts an acquiescing attitude.In addition to the 10 taels of silver, and the ups and downs of her attitude following Qin Niangzi's investigation of the case... If it is said that Mrs. Tai was completely deceived by Wufang, I am afraid that Xu Fengjia herself would not believe it.

However, Xu Fengjia can say what is wrong with the fifth young master, and even complain about the strength of the fourth young master, but he seldom mentions what is wrong with Duke Ping and Mrs. Tai.After all, Daqin still governs the world with filial piety. In many things, this young master who is fearless is bound by social rules.Seeing that he didn't talk to him, Qin Niangzi looked a little embarrassed, and then changed the subject and smiled, "Actually, I'm still very curious. You said that Fifth Sister-in-law had the idea of ​​poisoning Fifth Sister from the beginning, or just wanted to kill her?" It is not very good for Fifth Sister to be in good health, so that she can stay in power for a few more years and benefit from it?"

Xu Fengjia couldn't answer this question. Instead, he asked Qin Niangzi, "Not to mention that Wang Buliuxing is difficult to distinguish, saffron has a strange fragrance. Why is the woman who cooks medicine so careless? Throw it into a pot and fry it?"

"It's hard to explain." Qin Niangzi sighed, "Not all mothers who cook medicine are proficient in medicine, and they must be loyal and capable. How can there be so many people for you? Boil medicine Hu's mother didn't know how many whips she had received, how many oaths she had sworn, and she said that she didn't know anything, she just left halfway to go to the latrine, and never left the house again. How many times have I been raised, the whole family is the dowry of our Yang family in the past, and it is completely different from the people in the house... If there is anything wrong with this, then there will be no servants to use anymore."

She paused, and then said, "However, I'm just telling you in private, I've known Mother Hu for a long time. Although she was very respectable when she came to the museum in Yueyue, this person is more than loyal, but she is not capable. Very inadequate, very clumsy, let her cook medicine..."

She didn't go on, but the meaning was already obvious: Wu Niangzi's decision was not appropriate in the first place.

Xu Fengjia thought for a while, then sighed again, and said sullenly, "Shanli is actually not stupid at all, but why..."

"Fifth Sister's temperament is indulgent and free, but she has a bit of chivalry." Seventh Lady said indifferently, "To be the mistress of the house, you need to be a little less cautious. I guessed that she must suffer a few times. , to wake up, but I didn't expect..."

Unexpectedly, after falling this time, Wu Niangzi never got up again.

The room fell silent for a while, only the chatter and laughter of the maids in the courtyard came in through the windows, embellishing the heavy loneliness.

After half a day, Xu Fengjia finally said, "By the way, after the Dragon Boat Festival, let's go to Anfufang for a walk."

He sat up halfway, stared at Qin Niangzi and said, "Feng Zixiu sent me a letter today, saying that my aunt is not in good health, I'm afraid she looks a little bad. Feng's family doesn't have many relatives in the capital, please help me , I went to Anfufang to sit down and talk to my aunt."

Although he still seldom called Feng Jin his cousin, but when he talked about Mrs. Feng, he was very polite.

Seventh Lady hurriedly nodded and said, "This is what it should be."

Then he made some calculations, "Let's not talk about the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. If you want to go to the palace to congratulate, you may have to stay in the palace for half a day. When you come out, it will be the birthdays of a few children. Although it is a trivial matter, it is not good if I am not at home. By the way, You have to remember, the sister-in-law said that she has a distant cousin from her natal family, who is about the same age as Yu Ping, and recently came to Beijing to study in the Imperial College. I asked about his background, and his father was also a member of the fourth and fifth ranks. This person is also striving himself, he passed the Juren examination last year, and he is in his early twenties..."

After counting for half a day with Xu Fengjia, it was calculated that May [-]th would be free to visit Feng's house.Xu Fengjia told Seventh Lady again, "When you arrive in the palace, remember to sit with the queen first, don't be impatient, go to Jingren Palace to find your sixth sister..."

He couldn't help laughing again, "Forget it, when it comes to worldly wisdom, you are better than me!"

#
At the end of April, Yu Qiao Qiqi passed, and it was inevitable that there would be a lot of sacrifices at home. Mrs. Xu also specially came back from Xiaotangshan to attend the ceremony, and Seventh Lady would inevitably tell Mrs. Xu about the people Yu Ping saw.Mrs. Xu was very satisfied after hearing this, and discussed with Mrs. Tai again. Mrs. Tai had nothing to say, so the Eldest Young Master and the Fourth Young Master took the opportunity to bring the Young Master of the Han family home to show Duke Pingguo a look.Duke Ping also felt that it was appropriate, so the Han family wrote again to propose marriage and so on. They continued to be busy until the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. Early in the morning, the seventh lady got up and changed into a formal dress, and went in with the fifth young lady to show Mrs. Tai and Mrs. Xu However, the two entered the palace together to congratulate the queen.

According to the rules of the Great Qin Dynasty, every festive season, wives from inside and outside the palace would go to the palace to congratulate them.Since all the vassals are not in the capital, on such an occasion, the Niu family, the Sun family and others are naturally respected. Seventh Lady brought the Fifth Young Madam in, but she wanted to find Quan Ruiyun first and have a few words with her. Unexpectedly, after looking around, he didn't find Quan Ruiyun's figure.It was Madam Fifth Young Master who had sharp eyes, pushed Seventh Lady, and said with a smile, "Look, your siblings are with Madam Sun."

Seventh Lady took a closer look, only to realize that Quan Ruiyun was indeed standing with Second Lady, greeting Mrs. Niu, she hurriedly said, "Fifth Sister-in-Law, let's go over and say hello together?"

Fifth Young Madam smiled and shook her hands, "I have some relatives here who want to talk, the sixth brother and sister can go there by themselves, remember to ask me to go to the Cishou Palace to greet you after a while, it's true!"

Sun's family and Yang's family are also relatives of Seventh Lady, and they have nothing to do with Fifth Young Madam. Seventh Lady was polite, and agreed with Fifth Young Lady to come out of Kunning Palace for a while and wait for each other.So he broke up with her, left the crowd by himself, and got close to the second lady and Quan Ruiyun.

As the second lady, when she usually enters the palace, she must be surrounded by wives.On the contrary, although Quan Ruiyun is the old wife of the pavilion, but in fact she has no orders, it is still due to Quan Zhongbai's face, Brother Nine has not gained fame, she already has orders.Usually when entering the palace, except for the seventh lady who has time to talk to her, the second lady often has no time to talk to her, let alone being surrounded by the wives to flatter her.But today, the bustle around her is not inferior to that of Er Niangzi, and there is a lot of excitement around her.

It seems that the most direct beneficiary of Liu Niangzi's birth is the Yang family.

Seeing Seventh Lady coming, Second Lady and Quan Ruiyun both burst into smiles, Quan Ruiyun even stepped forward to hold her arm affectionately, and said with a smile, "Seventh Sister is just here, I was just looking for you for a long time."

Er Niangzi even called Qi Niangzi to her side, looked her up and down, and said, "You lost weight!"

Both of their two celebrities are so affectionate to Miss Qin, and everyone looked at her with a little more respect, so someone laughed and said, "Which family's daughter-in-law is this? I don't see it!"

Naturally, everyone couldn't help but introduce and exchange greetings. When Mrs. Quan arrived, she led Quan Ruiyun aside and whispered, which disturbed for a while.The married women just came out of Kunning Palace, when Seventh Lady looked up, she didn't see Sixth Lady.

"Sixth sister has two bodies, and the weather has been hot recently." Before she could turn her head, the second lady explained in her ear, "Your Majesty, tell her not to go out and sunbathe."

She snorted softly again, "Look at Concubine Niu Shu's complacent and frivolous look!"

Qin Niangzi wandered her eyes and saw the spring breeze on Concubine Niu Shu's face. She came out of Kunning Palace first, with her head raised high. The palace has become her territory.

She couldn't help laughing silently in her heart: the more proud Concubine Niu Shu is, the safer Liu Niangzi will be.

"Those who don't know, still think she is the master of Kunning Palace..." She echoed the second lady in a soft voice.

The second lady was three points more angry than the seventh lady, "I am so proud of giving birth to a boy..."

She didn't say any more, she showed a pleasing smile, walked to the front of the crowd, and led the wives who had been lined up into the Kunning Palace.

#
After coming out of the Kunning Palace, all the wives left the Forbidden City one after another: the servants sent by Concubine Xu had been waiting for a long time, and Seventh Lady found Fifth Young Madam and settled her down again, "I want to enter the Kunning Palace with Second Sister Greetings to the empress, and the fifth sister-in-law also come together?"

Fifth Young Madam's eyes flashed, and she smiled and cared for Seventh Lady, "I'm afraid it's because of Concubine Ning's business? - I won't go, but it's better to go to Cishou Palace to talk with aunt."

Seventh Lady was originally polite, so she turned and went out, and went into Kunning Palace with Second Lady to meet the Empress in private, and greeted the Empress after a while, before the three of them sat down to talk.

Compared with the last time I saw the queen, this noble lady is obviously much more haggard.Although she was only looking at her 30-year-old side, there were already a little white stars on her temples, and the calm demeanor on her face was gradually replaced by strictness: in just half a year, the queen's state of mind seemed to have changed. changed a lot.

However, she was much more affectionate to Qin Niangzi than before, "I haven't seen Shan Heng for half a year, how is it, has it been going well?"

Qi Niangzi knew very well: Er Niangzi still didn't covet the favor between herself and Liu Niangzi.She hurriedly answered the queen respectfully, "Although the family is busy, life is going smoothly."

The queen asked Seventh Lady a few more words, showing an intimate attitude, and dismissed her with a smile, "I know you are anxious to talk to the Cishou Palace - come out of the Cishou Palace, don't forget to go to Jingren Palace to see Shanying , she has always been heavy, and she is just sitting in her own palace to raise her baby, and it is a time when few people talk. You can spend more time with her, and it doesn't matter if she sits a little later."

Ordinary wives who stay in the palace don't dare to be too careless, and often leave after lunch.The queen is giving Liu Niangzi special grace, and also giving Qi Niangzi face.

Seventh Lady didn't dare to be negligent, she thanked the queen politely, saw Second Lady winking at her, she got up and said goodbye, "In that case, Xiaoqi will take the liberty to leave, first go to Cishou Palace..."

The queen gave a weary smile, and said softly, "Okay, I will often come in to greet you when I have free time."

But she didn't have the city she used to be—Seventh Lady just stood up and didn't take a few steps, when she heard her low-pitched and hasty complaint, and chased after her.

"The other night, the emperor went to Concubine Niu Shu to see the second son..."

She couldn't help but shudder, and stepped out of Kunning Palace faster.

The atmosphere in the Cishou Palace is much lighter than that in the Kunning Palace. When Qin Niangzi entered the door, she happened to see King An standing under the eaves, playing with a little tiger made of wormwood in her hand. She immediately smiled. Come on, he waved to King An and asked, "What is the little prince playing?"

King An immediately put down the wormwood in his hand, and stepped forward to salute Qin Niangzi, "Sister-in-law Liu Cousin—"

He has always been innocent and lively, and his behavior is gentle and courteous. Although he doesn't meet many times, he can talk to Qin Niangzi very well. Qin Niangzi smiled and took out a long life strand from her bosom, and tied it on the arm for King An , "Sister-in-law Liu gave you this, and you have both of your cousins. Next time, let your cousin Liu take you outside the palace to play with your two nephews."

Wang An was overjoyed immediately, "Sister-in-law Liu is not lying, is she?"

In the palace, he only had the prince as a playmate of similar age, and the two of them had different identities and seniority, after all, they couldn't be childhood sweethearts.Qiniangzi just mentioned a few times that she wanted to introduce Wang An to meet two young friends who were similar in age, Shi Lang and Wulang, and Wang An was already interested. When he saw Qinianzi several times, he asked about it.Seventh Lady smiled and nodded, and said, "The weather is hot now, and when autumn comes, Liu Cousin will take you out after asking your mother and concubine for approval."

The two were standing under the eaves talking, and Wang An hadn't answered before the voice of Concubine Xu came from inside, "Who is outside?"

"Mother Concubine, Mother Concubine." Wang An quickly entered the room, "Sister-in-law Liu is here!"

Seventh Lady hurriedly followed Queen An into the main room, and saluted the princess. "Xiaoqi has met my aunt."

Concubine Xu always had a smile on her face when she saw Qin Niangzi, but today, although King An was joking around, her smile faded a bit, she nodded, "I still think you have to go to Jingren Palace first, and then pass here. "

Seventh Lady felt a sudden shock in her heart, she weighed it and replied, "Second Sister took me to Kunning Palace to pay my respects to Empress Empress..."

At the same time, he began to think again: Could it be that the concubine leaked the news about the prince's self-blasphemy and blamed her?
However, with Liu Niangzi's exquisiteness, it is not difficult to appease the concubine. Even if the concubine has doubts, after so long, her anger should have dissipated long ago.When she entered the palace last time, her attitude towards her was still very warm...

She cast a glance at the fifth young lady, put her thoughts aside for the time being, and said, "The empress gave Xiaoqi a few more instructions and asked some outside matters, so it was too late. Let aunt wait for a long time!"

Concubine Xu seemed to be aware of her indifference, she paused for a moment, then changed into a smiling face, and said affectionately, "It doesn't matter, I just happened to be talking to your fifth sister-in-law!"

So I sent the Fifth Young Madam, "Over Ningshou Palace, Madam Niu has been sent to Concubine Niu Shu just now. Let's not be too ostentatious, your six siblings are going to Jingren Palace soon, I think you'd better go back first. Remember to say hello to your grandmother, just say I am safe, and I only hope that her old man is also safe and healthy."

Fifth Young Madam hurriedly stood up and saluted the concubine farewell, "Grandmother is at home day and night, so she misses you..."

Concubine Xu was very emotional, "What's the use of being rich and famous, if you can't be filial, it will be a great regret in life after all."

He got up in person and sent the Fifth Young Madam out of the Cishou Palace, then turned his back and sent King An, "Good boy, let's go out and play."

As soon as King An left the palace, Concubine Xu put down her face and scolded Mrs. Seven, "What a silly child! If your fifth sister-in-law hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have known you were so stupid!"

Rao Yiqi Niangzi was calm and deep, but she couldn't help but be scolded by Concubine Xu, and was stunned for a while.

(End of this chapter)