Mistress

Chapter 53

Ma Xing followed Nanny Cui with his head drooping, and when he came to the Jinxiu Courtyard, he saw Li Yan looking at him carefully, and couldn't help but feel nervous. Thinking of his behavior yesterday, he felt a little despicable.

Thinking of all the kindness Madam had treated him before, she valued him very much, entrusted him with important errands, and only gave him dozens of taels of silver rewards, and raised his monthly salary.And Nanny Cui, she treated him like her own son.

Thinking of myself doing this kind of thing behind Madam Cui's back, I was filled with regret.But when he thought that Rong'er was pretending to be Su Bai in his heart, his heart ached like a knife again, and he felt that there was really no life left in this day.

Li Yan didn't interrogate him directly, but said kindly: "Ma Xing, I heard from Nanny Cui that you like Rong'er and want to marry her?"

Ma Xing hurriedly lowered his head, his ears turned red with shame.

"If you don't deny it, then you admit it. You and Rong'er have been playing together since childhood. If you can really get married, I will be happy. I have already discussed with Cui Momo before, and I want to marry Rong'er Here I am, and I want to promote you to be the second steward, and manage all the affairs of the mansion together with steward Lin. But... Rong'er belongs to Su Bai, if I insist on marrying her to you, if she can't think about it It's good to make a fuss, and you don't want to see her die, do you? You are usually cautious and sensible, and you know that twisted melons are not sweet..."

Before Li Yan finished speaking, Ma Xing kowtowed and said tearfully, "Ma'am, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for Cui Nanny, I... I was blocked for a while yesterday, and I actually acted like a pig and a dog." At that time, I heard Nanny Cui talking about it behind the rockery, so I ran to tell Qiaoer and Bier in a daze. Damn the little ones! Damn the little ones!"

Ma Xing kowtowed, knocking the ground so loudly.

Madam Cui didn't expect Ma Xing to do it, Madam just said a few words, and she cheated him out of these words, it seems that he really has regrets in his heart.

Nanny Cui felt sad for Ma Xing, and she didn't blame him at all.She also ran over to hold Ma Xing and told him to stop knocking, his forehead was bruised.

Li Yanben only guessed that he did it, but she didn't expect her guess to be accurate. She sighed: "I don't blame you, who doesn't want to form a happy relationship with the person they like. The blame is only Yuelao, he doesn't Make a good match, greedy and lazy will mess up the marriage lines in this world, so that the world is always full of joys and sorrows. Alas, Rong'er doesn't like you, you marry her back, life is not good, originally you two They can still talk like brothers and sisters, but if they fight like this, they will become enemies."

Ma Xing hurriedly kowtowed again, "I hope Madam Cui and Nanny Cui don't tell Rong'er about this, if she knows that I lured Qiao'er and Bi'er to Su Bai's place, she will definitely hate me to death."

"Don't worry, Madam Cui and I won't talk about it. Seeing that the end of the year is approaching, there are many things going on in the mansion these days, so you should learn more from Steward Lin's side. From today onwards in our mansion You will be the second steward. When Steward Lin becomes too old to manage other affairs after two years, his position will be yours."

Li Yan saw that Ma Xing really regretted it, and that he was really loyal to her, otherwise he would not have confessed so quickly, and shed a lot of tears.It would be abnormal if he didn't react to the fact that Rong'er likes Su Bai, any man would have moments of restlessness in front of this matter.

Li Yan knew that it was difficult to tame a confidant, so she took the opportunity to give him the position of steward.

Ma Xing originally thought his wife would punish him, but he didn't expect that his wife not only didn't blame him, but even gave him a promotion.What he shed just now were tears of sadness, but now he is crying tears of emotion. He choked up and said, "Madam is so magnanimous, I will devote my whole life to repay Madam's great kindness!"

"You are serious, you just need to do your part well. I will find you a docile and well-behaved girl in the coming year. How about I personally officiate the marriage for you?"

Hearing this, Ma Xing was both happy and worried. It was his great blessing that his wife could officiate for him.But as long as it's not Rong'er, he can't be happy, so he can only thank him and kowtow.

At this time, Cui Momo said: "It's good for me to look at Shuang'er next to the eldest lady. She is usually with Rong'er, and she will let Rong'er in any bumps and bumps. She is more sensible than Rong'er. A few days ago I also asked her, and she said that she has no one in mind, and that Madam will be willing to match her with a man who is steady, prudent and reasonable."

Ma Xing didn't have much contact with Shuang'er, that is, he just knew her, and he didn't know her temperament at all. Hearing what Cui Nanny said, he said resignedly: "It is said that the marriage of children depends on the orders of parents and According to the matchmaker's words, the younger one is like mother Cui, and the younger one should take orders after what Cui Nanny said."

Seeing that Ma Xing is very knowledgeable about current affairs, Li Yan said with a smile: "I'm sure you're right, you're really a useful talent. Tomorrow I'll invite Shuang'er to come over for questioning. If she doesn't object, after the first month, I'll send you both." Set it up beforehand."

Ma Xing knelt down and said, "Young lady, I would like to follow Madam's arrangement, thank you Madam."

After the matter was settled, Ma Xing went to the steward's office, and Nanny Cui accompanied Li Yan to Jingfengxuan to visit Xiao'er.Although Xiao'er looked bad, she could still sit up and talk to Li Yan.

In order not to disturb his rest, Li Yan only said a few words to him, fed him medicine and prepared to go back to Jinxiu Courtyard.On the way back, Rong'er ran over, looked at Li Yan eagerly and said: "Madam, can you go to the dining hall to have a look, Qiao'er and Bi'er...they are too inappropriate!"

Li Yan said angrily: "What time is it, what are they still doing in the canteen!"

Rong'er pouted and said, "I'm afraid they are planning to stay in the dining hall all day, it was Su Bai who asked them to stay there."

Li Yan brought Nanny Cui and the others to the dining hall quickly, Su Bai had already eaten and left, only Qiaoer and Bier were left in the room.

I saw the two of them standing on a thin bench, one at each end, if one of them jumped off, the person on the other end would fall down, and the bench would tilt up and hit the person on the head.

Seeing the two of them standing high on the bench, Li Yan looked pitiful and wanted to cry, but she was really exasperated and wanted to laugh, "Are you two performing arts here? You have to go to the street to perform , why nest in the dining hall, isn't it a waste of energy?"

The other servants covered their mouths and laughed when they saw Li Yan's sarcasm, but Rong'er didn't smile, and her heart was still sour, thinking that Su Bai shouldn't talk to Qiao'er and Bi'er.

In fact, Qiaoer and Bier were already so uncomfortable that they wanted to cry, their legs were not stable after standing for a long time, and Li Yan's squeeze made their legs tremble.

Li Yan ordered: "You all come down together, don't be ashamed here."

But neither of them moved.

At this time, an old cook who was working in the dining hall came over and said: "The old slave saw it just now, and Su Bai told them that whoever jumped off first would be punished by kneeling on the pebbles, and the one who jumped off last You can also wait on him for lunch and dinner." The old cook imitated Su Bai's face and folded arms while talking.

Li Yan almost wanted to laugh, such a cold person like Su Bai has learned how to tease people.

Qiao'er said awkwardly: "Madam, it's not that this servant doesn't listen to you, this servant is really afraid of Su Bai, kneeling on a small stone is definitely more uncomfortable than standing on a stool."

Bi'er followed suit and nodded, her legs were still trembling.

Li Yan thought, this is fine, they have been tortured enough today, and they will not dare to come again tomorrow.Su Bai definitely couldn't drive them away, so he used this trick.

"Well, you two just stand like this. If one fails to stand still and falls, no one cares if the other falls or gets his head smashed by a stool. If he dies, the mansion will just buy a cheap coffin." It's gone." Li Yan turned and left after speaking.

But Rong'er caught up with Nanny Cui who was following Li Yan, and said in a low voice, "Mother, what should I do, the one of them who wins can still serve Su Bai for dinner."

Nanny Cui really wanted to slap this worthless daughter again, and said angrily: "You damn girl, don't you see that this is Su Bai deliberately embarrassing them, in order not to let them pester him anymore, and use a servant to serve him?" So what can Shan do, I'm afraid the two of them won't dare to come until tomorrow. You can't hold your breath for this matter, Su Bai really should punish you for standing still!"

Rong'er seemed to understand a little bit, and smiled again.

"Why are you still sticking around here? Why don't you hurry up and serve the eldest lady!" Cui Momo threw her a word and went after Li Yan.

Rong'er glanced back at Qiao'er and Bi'er who were teased and wanted to cry, and left half worried and half happy.

When noon approached, Ma Xing ran to the Jinxiu Pavilion and knelt down blaming himself, saying, "Ma'am, something happened in the dining hall! Qiaoer fainted and fell off the stool. She might be unconscious. Bier His head was smashed by the upturned stool, bleeding a lot, Doctor Zeng has already passed by with bandages and plaster. I blame the little one for being reckless yesterday, and I hope Madam will punish him!"

Li Yan raised her head and said, "Su Bo is really good at killing two birds with one stone. I hit two birds with one stone. It's okay. I told you this morning. I don't blame you. The two of them are to blame. Let them go. Dr. Zeng can heal Qiao'er and go to the doctor." If the doctor can't get well, she will let her life die. The doctors invited by the master yesterday have all left. Could it be that she has become a little girl of hers, and she has to go and invite them back? can heal her."

"Yes." Ma Xing felt somewhat self-blame just now, after all, he was the one who provoked this matter, and now seeing his wife, he didn't blame him, he felt at ease, and hurriedly withdrew.

Cui Mama was beside her and said worriedly: "Su Bai is too cruel, even if he is willing to marry Rong'er someday because of the master, Rong'er will suffer if he marries."

Li Yan comforted: "That's not necessarily the case. Su Bai is cruel to women he doesn't like. If he really has that kind of meaning for Rong'er, he might guard Rong'er like a master. Isn't Rong'er Blessed? Momo, don't worry too much, no one can say what will happen in the future."

Mammy felt much more relieved when she heard that, if Su Bai could really protect Rong'er, she would have nothing else to do in this life.Both sons have married and have children, and their lives are peaceful and smooth.If Rong'er could marry Su Bai as he wished, and if Su Bai could treat her well, then he and his wife would be able to take care of their lives in a down-to-earth manner.

When Xu Cheng came over for lunch, Li Yan told about Su Bo teasing Qiao Er and Bi Er, Xu Cheng was not at all curious, and said: "Well, this is indeed something Su Bo can do, although If you hurt someone, it should be a warning to the girls in the mansion. Don't try to be jealous and snatch the man. Aunt Ji and Aunt Song can also take care of this, and let the girls fight every now and then, all of them are uneasy of."

Li Yan responded: "That's right, I just said yesterday that I wanted to betroth Rong'er to Su Bai, but today such a thing happened, I hope no one will be killed, Qiao'er is still unconscious."

Xu Cheng continued, "It's not easy to die if you're a good living person. Madam has free time to take care of the two aunts and let them stay quietly in the courtyard. Let them do the work for a few days like the servants, after that they will never dare to toss about again."

Li Yan responded with a smile, "Okay, I'll listen to the master, I've never punished them before."

"You are the mistress of the house, and you are not only in charge of slaves, aunts also have to be strictly disciplined, but you are usually too tolerant, so they will take advantage of you." Xu Cheng sat down to eat, "In the future, will the mansion An Ning, it's up to you."

"Oh, all right." Li Yan nodded obediently.

Xu Cheng has been very busy these past few days. Although everyone thought he was in Zhihui Hall all the time, he was actually running outside every day.This is the time when the gongs are in full swing, if his soldiers and horses are not arranged and drilled well, the Wang family might collapse in a short time if they fight together.

The next morning, Xu Cheng had eaten breakfast, and as soon as he arrived at Zhihui Hall, Su Bai handed over an urgent letter.Wei Ji said in the letter that the Wang family had gathered more than a dozen military generals who had fled from the previous dynasty, and had intercepted a military order. Come.

Wei Ji also said that it is not yet possible to tell whether the order is true or not. In addition, he has submitted the paper to the emperor, but he said that the 25 soldiers and horses were [-] soldiers and horses.The reason why Wei Ji did this was because he was dissatisfied with the emperor's distribution of power to Xu Cheng. Generations of the Xu family had fought for the Ye Dynasty, and the emperor should not have crossed the river and demolished the bridge.

At noon, Xu Cheng learned that the emperor had ordered the crown prince to conscript himself.According to the past, the emperor must have asked Xu Cheng to plan a strategy, but this time the emperor did not look for him, because he thought that the Wang family only had [-] soldiers and horses, and could easily win, and second, he had already divided Xu Cheng's hands. With a lot of power, Xu Cheng has the self-awareness to find a reason to ask himself to retire, don't interfere in political affairs, and just be his Anlehou.

The emperor was afraid that Wei Ji would lie about the military situation, so he sent the prince with two large battalions of soldiers and horses, a total of 16 troops.If the enemy army is not 13, but 25, the prince can handle it.It's just that the emperor never expected that the Wang family had [-] soldiers and horses, which was half of the Ye dynasty.

The Ye Dynasty had a vast territory, and every border had to have defenders. Although there were a total of 50 troops, only half of them could really send the front line to fight.

In fact, the emperor had planned to send someone to assassinate Xu Cheng before, and it was done once and for all.But later he got information from many sources, from Aunt Ji and his [-] hidden guards, who believed that Xu Cheng only had [-] troops for self-defense, and he was just doing it for self-defense.

Therefore, the emperor did not want to kill Xu Cheng. After all, more than half of the world in the Ye Dynasty was credited to the ancestors of the Xu family. If the killing of Xu Cheng was leaked, people all over the world would be dissatisfied with the royal family. Fang people rebelled.Since Xu Cheng only wants to protect himself and has no other ideas, let him be a peace and security.

In addition, the emperor also wanted Aunt Ji to continue to bear children for him, so that he could inherit everything from Marquis Anle, and the so-called Marquis Anle from generation to generation would also be the descendants of the Ye family.

Xu Cheng immediately wrote a secret letter to his father-in-law Li Xiangrui, asking him to visit the army of the Wang family in the northwest.The northwest is vast, and if you want to find out the military situation, it may not be a matter of a few days.

Xu Cheng immediately pretended to be sick, and let someone spread the word to the emperor's ears.

The excuse for the illness is very simple. One is that he learned that the crown prince was personally on the expedition, and he did not bring him, the main force in the think tank. He felt that he would not be reused by the emperor, so he felt very disappointed; The family rebelled, and he worried about the country and the people.

The emperor sent someone to spy on the secrets, but nothing was found, so he came to visit Xu Cheng himself, seeing that he was indeed seriously ill, so he left in peace and gave several boxes of precious tonics.

As soon as the emperor left, Xu Cheng asked someone to call Li Yan over.

Of course Li Yan knew that Xu Cheng was pretending to be sick, because Xu Cheng had already kept the secret from her.She dismissed all the people, came to sit down in front of Xu Chengkang, and asked: "Master, you pretended to be sick not just to reassure the emperor, do you have other things to do?"

Xu Cheng sat up, and said with shame: "I can't celebrate the New Year in the mansion, today is the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, I should have been with you and the children, but now the situation is urgent, I have to go to Yaoshan area."

Li Yan was very worried, "According to the master, you will also lead troops to fight soon?"

Xu Cheng thought for a while, "It's hard to say, but you must live in Zhihui Hall and not let anyone in. Chen Hao, I have already asked Su Bai to lock him up. Just say that you and Su Bai will serve me here , don’t let anyone know that I’m not in the mansion. Besides, if you find time, go to Wang Yingying’s place and stabilize her first, and when you receive my secret letter, send someone to kill her.”

Li Yan heard her heart pounding, "Master, you...you must protect yourself, I will wait for you here."

Xu Cheng held her hand and said solemnly: "The crown prince has already personally conscripted. Once he learns that Mr. Wei Ji lied about the army of the Wang family, the emperor will definitely send someone to kill us, teachers and students, so I have no choice but to act." Of course, the prince may not know, it’s hard to say. If the situation is critical, I will ask Su Bai to come back and take you and the children to a safe place. Don’t think about anything, just wait for my letter , remember?"

Li Yan didn't know why, tears burst into tears, she was really scared, afraid that the Ye Dynasty would face great turmoil, who knew which side would be wiped out in the end.Of course, what was even more frightening was that this was the last time she saw Xu Cheng. Maybe she would be displaced soon, and maybe her life would be lost.Although Xu Cheng said that he would send someone to protect her, but when a real war comes, there will be many things that can't be done.

Xu Cheng didn't have time to talk to her, Li Yan got up and silently put on a thick coat and tied a belt for him.After the two hugged for a while, Xu Cheng left in a hurry.

Li Yan sat on the edge of the kang in a daze, and when Xu Cheng left, her heart was empty, scared and helpless.Now the whole mansion depends on her alone, if something happens, or the emperor sends people to surround the courtyard, and Xu Cheng is outside and doesn't know what's going on in the mansion, what should she do?
At this time, Aunt Ji of Qiushui Pavilion didn't know anything, and she complained there: "Qiaoer, you have been awake for two days, why are you still so confused, telling you to see the wife, not the master, what do you say?" Seeing madam Zhu Yan and Ma Xing can't let you in? And Ying'er, you have Chen Hao's backing, why can't you even enter Zhihui Hall?"

Ying'er timidly said: "Auntie, you can't even get in, and the servants are even more... even more unable to get in, and Chen Hao doesn't know where to go."

"Don't tell me I won't be able to see him for the last time until the master dies of illness?" Aunt Ji slapped the table hard angrily, "Madam is serving the master alone, if she feeds the master poison, won't no one know?"

"Auntie, please keep your voice down. If people listen to this kind of words, they will...will..."

"What will happen? I'll go by myself, I still don't believe I can't enter Zhihui Hall today!" Aunt Ji stood up abruptly, and walked towards Zhihui Hall aggressively, followed by Qiao'er and Ying'er Trot.

(End of this chapter)