Mistress

Chapter 42

Li Yan chuckled, "Where do you want to go!"

At this time Xu Cheng was asking Su Bai, "The one who followed just now was actually a woman?"

Su Bai nodded, "I've already knocked her out, tied her up and hid her in the woods, and brought her back at night when there was no one around."

"Well, I'll interrogate her myself when the time comes." Xu Cheng got on the horse without thinking too much, and rode in front of Li Yan's carriage.

Xu Cheng reined in his horse in the bustling city, and the following carriage also stopped.Li Yan lifted the curtain and looked out, Xu Cheng gave her a clear smile, "Ma'am, we're here."

Li Yan discovered that he also loves to laugh, but not easily.Usually people in the mansion seldom saw him smile, but today she saw him several times.When he was usually unsmiling, people didn't dare to get close to him, for fear that if he acted improperly, he would be cold-faced, because when he was cold-faced, there was a murderous look, and the servants couldn't help but tremble.

But at this moment, his simple smile made Li Yan feel very warm. With a smile on her face, she got out of the carriage with Cui Momo and came to Xu Cheng's side.

Xu Cheng pointed to the big courtyard in front of him, and said: "This used to be the residence of Dudu Yang. Last year, he was executed because he formed a party with the second prince, so the people thought it was a haunted house. The other five connected courtyards were also It belongs to the Yang family, and although the brothers of the Yang family were not convicted by Zhu Lian, they were also confiscated. Madam, such a house cannot be sold or rented out, what do you think is the use of it?"

Li Yan was thinking, didn't she want to open a shop?He said: "These houses are all facing the street, and the inverted house can be used as a shop by opening a few gates, and the housekeepers can live in the yard. We can also come and live in the inner courtyard occasionally, just to relax. "

Xu Cheng frowned, "Oh? Are you afraid of a haunted house?"

Li Yan shook her head, "The one surnamed Yang was Ling Chi who was in the execution ground, and he didn't die in the courtyard. There is nothing to be afraid of. If you are afraid, you can live in several other courtyards, which belong to his brothers. , aren't they all still alive?"

Xu Cheng smiled heartily and said, "Madam can really joke, how could I be afraid?"

Li Yan thought to herself, the emperor granted Xu Cheng the title of Marquis of Anle, why the farms and houses he granted were all covered with blood, it sounds unlucky.Fortunately, Li Yan is not a superstitious person. An ordinary woman would definitely say, what is such a house like?That's what Nanny Cui thought at this time, and she felt that it was useless and unlucky to keep it.

Xu Cheng asked Zhang Chun to take out the key to open the door with great interest, and he wanted to take Li Yan in to have a look.

Nanny Cui felt that it was not appropriate for Madam to enter such an ominous house, so she hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Master, Madam, it's getting late, and you must be hungry too. I reckon... At this time, Lao He has brought the cooks to the house. The lunch is ready, if the dish is cold and then reheated, it will lose its taste."

Xu Cheng looked up and saw that the sun was already in the sky. He nodded and said, "That's fine. I'm afraid Madam is tired and hungry. Let's go back to the mansion first. We'll have time to look at it later. In charge of affairs, Madam said that she will move this place Open a few shops, you can start preparing after discussing with your wife."

"Yes, Master Hou." Qi Guanshi leaned forward and bowed his hands.

"It's better for you to call me Master. It's pleasing to the ear after listening too much." Xu Cheng really doesn't like the title of Lord Hou, especially the title of Marquis Anle. How can he be at ease?
"Yes, master." Qi Guanshi replied again.

After returning home, Xu Cheng and Li Yan came to Jinxiu Courtyard, and Lao He had already prepared a table of dishes.This was the first time for him to cook in Jinxiu Courtyard, and he was very excited. All the dishes he cooked were his specialties, and they were all steaming hot now.

Qi'er came over with a silver basin and waited for the master and wife to wash their hands.Li Yan was indeed hungry. Looking at the delicious dishes on this table, she whetted her appetite.

At this time, Aunt Ji in Qiushui Pavilion couldn't eat.

Ying'er persuaded: "Auntie, your body has been weak these days, you need to eat some, otherwise how can you survive this day after day?"

Aunt Ji sat at the dining table, propped her forehead and sighed, "Yeah, day after day, I just turned 20 in a month, how can I survive the long days ahead?"

Ying'er spread hot dishes for her, and said, "Master will come when my aunt is healthy. It's not a hundred days, so it's not suitable for master to come."

Aunt Ji sneered, "Not suitable? It's just an excuse. Didn't he say that three meals a day should be served at Madam's place? Why can't they come to Qiushui Pavilion? Nowadays, everyone cooks meals in the small kitchen, Madam is fine. She kept the cook, but two old cooks sent me away."

Ying'er murmured: "Actually... Aunt Song and Young Master Xiao are also allocating cooks, and there are not enough chefs. Madam said that although you can hire good cooks from outside, they are not as easy to handle as cooks. After all They are all old people in the mansion, and the recruiters are afraid of causing trouble when they come in."

Aunt Ji picked out the dishes in the bowl with her chopsticks, and said, "That's all, what's the point of complaining, is it possible that Madam can hire a royal chef for me? By the way, you haven't seen Chen Hao for a long time. See you for nothing, and by the way, ask what the master is up to recently."

In fact, Aunt Ji really wanted to know if Xu Cheng knew about her pregnancy and abortion. According to her guess, Xu Cheng knew about it. Dr. Zeng's medical skills are not so good that he can't even get a happy pulse, let alone recently. She was not in good health for a few days, so Xu Cheng didn't come to take a look.As usual, although he didn't care about her, he would come over to put on a show.

Xu Cheng knew about this, but he didn't deal with her. Could it be that he was afraid that Xu Cheng would lose face if it was spread out?
She guessed like this, and felt that Chen Hao should know a thing or two, because she thought that Xu Cheng would at least send someone to find out who the adulterer was. If he suspected the emperor, what would he do?
When Ying'er heard that Aunt Ji asked her to meet Chen Hao, she was overjoyed, and put some vegetables in Aunt Ji's bowl, and said, "Eat more, Auntie will take care of her body, and she will give birth to a fat boy when she becomes pregnant next year." , are you afraid that the master will not miss you in the future?"

Aunt Ji froze her hands and glanced at Ying'er.Ying'er didn't know what she said wrong, so she quickly stopped talking.

Aunt Ji regretted it in her heart, if she hadn't listened to the emperor's words before, and hadn't been drinking child-avoiding medicine, she might have had Xu Cheng's child long ago, and she wouldn't have nowhere to go now.There is no medicine for regret in this world, she can only sigh in her heart.

At this time, the Mingxiang Pavilion where Aunt Song lived was not peaceful.The three-year-old Fourth Young Master Jiao Er refused to eat, thinking that the cook's cooking was not tasty, so he dropped the bowl.

Aunt Song was furious, and reprimanded: "You little ancestor, why is this food not delicious? There is nothing on this table that is not top-notch, and this meal costs tens of taels of silver! You are a bastard, What is there to be dissatisfied with being able to eat this kind of food? My mother used to eat in the Song Mansion, and her food was not as good as that of some old mothers. Isn’t my mother’s body still well maintained? Bi’er, get another bowl and feed him !"

Aunt Song was weeping as she reprimanded her. She really didn't dare to complain. She was just a concubine. The two sons she gave birth to were concubines. They could live comfortably in the mansion, and their daily enjoyment was no worse than that of his wife. She felt that I should be satisfied too.

Perhaps her Mingxiang Pavilion was too close to her eldest son's Chi Chengxuan. Six-year-old Xu Chi came over and made a noise, complaining that the food was not good. The two brothers are good, treat him badly.

Aunt Song scolded her again, and then she disciplined her elder son away.

While feeding Jiaoer, Bi'er gave advice to Aunt Song, saying: "Auntie, it's okay if you don't show your face in front of the master all the year round, so the master will not only forget you, but also the two young masters. Your hands are so clever If birds can fly and beasts can run, why not make some decent clothes for the master."

Aunt Song sighed: "Because I didn't make an inner garment well back then, the master refused to let me do it."

"You make it secretly first, and compare it with the clothes that the master usually wears. If it is suitable, you can give it to the master. Can the master not like it?"

Aunt Song was not very interested, hesitated for a while, and said: "Furthermore, I don't bother to please the master, one thing more is worse than one thing less."

Bi'er felt that Aunt Song was too uncompetitive, so she couldn't push her any further.

Xu Cheng and Li Yan happily ate their food face to face, and occasionally looked up and smiled at each other, enjoying themselves, and both of them ate a lot.

After eating, Xu Cheng lay sideways on the couch, propping his forehead with one hand, and flipping through a book with the other. Li Yan sat next to the brazier and sewed socks for him. The two of them were very leisurely.

Xu Cheng glanced at the work in her hands and said, "Aren't these all done by the embroidery workshop? Why do madame do it herself? Don't tire your eyes."

Li Yan had just learned this from Nanny Cui, and she was in high spirits. She concentrated on drawing the thread, "I'm not tired, it's weird to be idle, and I have some work to do, so I can really live this day."

Xu Cheng felt that what she said was very thoughtful, and after taking a closer look at her face and expression, he felt that this day was peaceful and stable, which made people feel very comfortable.

Xu Chengwo read books in Jinxiu Pavilion all afternoon, and after having dinner with Li Yan, he left for Zhihui Hall.It was already dark at this time, and Su Bo came to report that the woman had been taken to the forbidden room.

Xu Cheng came to a remote house not far from the mansion through the secret passage under Zhihui Hall.When he came in, the guard hurriedly opened the door for him.

When he saw the woman in front of him, he was shocked.I saw her sitting on a broken chair, her hands were tied to the back of the chair, and her mouth was stuffed with a cloth.When the woman saw him, her face was full of surprise, her eyes blinked, and she wanted to speak.

Xu Cheng stepped forward and took out the cloth from her mouth.

(End of this chapter)