Mistress

Chapter 59

The next day, Li Yan ate breakfast alone.

Mother Cui sighed when she saw this, and said, "Ma'am, the master just left the house yesterday morning, and closed up again at noon yesterday. I don't know when the master's knot will be untied. It's boring, it can't be compared to the days when the master was with you before, and you can spend it to the fullest."

Li Yan looked at the account book of the total expenses for the past year, raised her head slightly and said: "Kids know that food is delicious if they rush to eat it. It's really not fun to eat alone. Besides, I ate a lot of meat in the past few days. It would be comfortable to just drink a small bowl of porridge today. The master's knot... I'm afraid it must have been repeated for several months, and it will heal sooner or later."

Qing'er brought over a plate of candied dates and presented it in front of Li Yan. Li Yan grabbed one and ate it, keeping her eyes on the account book. When it comes to silver, some are intimidated.Thinking about it, it cost tens of thousands of taels just to celebrate the simple year, and the children's New Year's gifts were not included, because the jade pendants of Xiao'er and Jun'er were worth tens of thousands of taels.

There are more than 100 people in the mansion, more than [-] taels may still be thrifty.

The reason why Li Yan remembered to look at the account book was that Manager Qi and Accountant Yin came over early in the morning and gave her a note with Xu Cheng's personal seal and handwriting on it, asking to withdraw 20 taels of silver and 1 taels of gold, and three boxes of jewelry, with a total value of more than 50 taels.

At that time, Li Yan was a little stunned, so the meal was tasteless. She knew that Xu Cheng would use the money to raise soldiers and horses, buy weapons, and a large sum of money for rewards. It costs a lot of money.Xu Cheng was preparing for a battle this time, and it is estimated that the 50 taels of silver would not be a waste of money.

Li Yan thought about how to get the money. Although there are farms and houses, and the shop needs to be opened, but if you want to make money, you have to turn around, and making money is not so fast.

What if Xu Cheng needs a large sum of money in a few days, the people in the mansion have to live, and the money left in the mansion is really not much.

At first she thought of selling the farm and yard, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt that it was absolutely impossible. If this matter got to the emperor, it would be a big deal, and the emperor could guess what Xu Cheng wanted to do with his butt.Even the money Steward Yin said he wanted to raise in the morning had to be secretly transported out tonight, not only to cover the eyes and ears of outsiders, but also the eyes and ears of people in the mansion. This is a matter of life and death, and no link can Wrong.

Li Yan looked at the account book carefully, and suddenly came to inspiration, because she saw that Zhang Yuliu's expenses last year were still recorded in the account book, and she remembered that Zhang Yuliu's Fuliu Pavilion was still sealed, Zhang Yuliu had stayed in the mansion for so many years, the pavilion must be A lot of valuable things are hidden.

Li Yan put down the account book, stretched her waist, and said, "Nurse, your waist hurts from sitting too much, why don't we go for a walk, I remember Zhang Yuliu's Fuliu Pavilion has been sealed, why don't you go and have a look?"

Nanny Cui helped Li Yan up, and said, "Boss Lin said that the things in Fuliu Pavilion must be read by the master before they can be put into storage, but the master has never thought of seeing them. Can we unpack them on our own?"

Li Yan still had this bit of self-confidence, she felt that Xu Cheng would not blame her for making her own decisions, she was trying so hard to raise money for him.

Qing'er just found out a satin fox fur cloak for Li Yan, and before she could put it on for Li Yan, Aunt Song brought Bi'er over.

Li Yan saw that Bi'er was holding a big brocade bundle in both hands, and wondered what Aunt Song had brought.

Aunt Song blessed her body meekly and docilely, "Madam, all blessings."

"My sister is very polite. I don't know why my sister came here. There are some snowflakes outside today. My sister doesn't need to come to say hello. As I said earlier, two or three times a week is enough."

Li Yan sat down, and Nanny Cui also sat down for Aunt Song, and Qing'er even brought over the plate of candied dates just now.

Aunt Song took a candied date in her hand and said: "I have nothing to do all day, I should take the child back to her mother's house on the second day of the new year, but the master sent steward Lin to give orders yesterday, saying that this year's day It was extremely cold, and the snow fell intermittently for a month. The ice on the road froze and then melted. Fearing that the road would be unsafe, he sent Ma Xing to take the concubine and the children to Song's house for a formality. Staying in the pavilion is really too busy, so I thought about visiting my wife, not to mention that the second day of the new year should be full of joy, and the whole family should sit together and chat."

"What my sister said is that I just said that I have a sore back from sitting too much. I can't go to my mother's house, it's too far away. Counting it carefully, I haven't seen my parents for many years, and I don't know how they live. How about it, the Northwest is a place of bitter cold, they stayed for several years, I am afraid they have suffered a lot." Li Yan was quite moved when she said that, her eyes turned red, she didn't miss Li Xiangrui, but she missed herself biological parents.

Aunt Song saw that she had made Li Yan sad, and said in a panic: "It's all my fault for my mouth, accidentally poking Madam's sore spot, I hope Madam is not to blame."

Li Yan shook her head, "I don't blame my sister."

Aunt Song said cautiously again: "General Li has been stationed in the northwest for many years. Maybe the emperor will let your parents and two elder brothers come back in two years. At that time, Madam will have to reunite with her family."

Li Yan nodded and smiled relievedly, "What my sister said is that there will be a time to meet each other."

Aunt Song ate the candied date, she didn't dare to talk nonsense, she put her hands on the brazier and roasted it for a while, seeing that Bi'er was still holding a big bundle, she called Bi'er to her.

"Ma'am, my concubine has nothing to do these days. I often go to the embroidery room to have a look, and then I also started sewing." Aunt Song had already opened the bag while speaking, and took out the extremely gorgeous purple robe, "This is The concubine is the robe made by the master, I don't know if the master is wearing it or not."

Aunt Song was afraid that the purple robe would catch fire, so she stood up and held it to look at it from a distance.Li Yan also got up and followed, she was really dazzled by this purple robe, she had only heard about Aunt Song's needlework, but today was the first time she saw something she made by herself.

Li Yan exclaimed: "Sister is really good at craftsmanship. You haven't done it for many years. I didn't expect that it is not worse than in previous years. I really feast my eyes on such a good robe. The master will definitely like it after seeing it."

Aunt Song blushed slightly, and said modestly: "Madam is too famous, as long as the master doesn't dislike it, it's fine. I'm worried that I will make a fool of myself in front of the master, so I will show my wife first." In fact, she was worried about giving Xu Cheng directly, Xu Cheng is like a few years ago, too big and too small, she will not be able to get off the stage, and she passed the wife to send the purple robe to the master privately, which will inevitably make the wife jealous.

This time, she put all her heart and soul into making it, but it couldn't be that it didn't work, and instead made Madam hate it.

Li Yan was still looking at the purple robe carefully, looking at the stitch-by-stitch embroidery on it. Everyone likes good things, so she couldn't stop herself from looking more.If she still looks disdainful when facing something good, that's not her style of dealing with things.

Aunt Song felt relieved when she saw that Madam's expression was showing her true feelings, and she didn't look disgusted or angry.

Li Yan was addicted to watching it, so she asked Bi Er to wrap it again, and said: "The master will come over for lunch at noon, you should present it to him in person, this will show your affection, you have worked hard to make it of."

Aunt Song replied softly: "As long as the master can wear it, it is a great honor for the concubine. I am worried that I will present it to the master, and the master will think of the suit of clothes that the concubine made that didn't fit back then. I hope Madam Don't say it was made by my concubine, when the master says he is willing to wear it, just say it was made in the embroidery room."

Li Yan said with a smile: "Master is not confused, the masters of the embroiderers in the embroidery room are not completely ignorant of the craftsmanship, and he will not believe it if he tells it."

"Then the lady just said that the shop outside is doing well?"

Li Yan shook her head, "I can't say this kind of words from Master Meng. After the master says hello, I will clearly say that you did it. Don't worry, I will definitely persuade the master to wear it. How about it?"

Aunt Song hurriedly gave a big gift, and said gratefully: "Madam is so considerate of my concubine, I really have nothing to repay, I can only give a big gift to my wife."

Li Yan smiled heartily: "It's such a big deal, why is there nothing to repay."

Bi'er has already handed over the packed package to Qing'er, and then winked at Aunt Song, she thinks the matter is almost done, she can go, if she sits down and says something more, one accidentally offends Madam I'm happy, it's not good to make this matter dirty.

Aunt Song understood Bi'er's eyes, and after a few polite greetings with Li Yan, she got up and said goodbye, saying that she would come back early to say hello.

As soon as Aunt Song and Bi'er left, Qing'er pouted and became unhappy, and said, "Ma'am, you are too generous. Aunt Song wants to rely on Madam's face to gain favor with the Master, why should Madam follow her wishes?" .”

Li Yan sighed: "You think I am willing, but she has already made it. If I don't help her, she will find a way to present it to the master herself. Why don't I be a favor. Besides, this robe is really good Since she opened her mouth, let the master wear it. I don't need to be a villain to make the master and the people in the house think that I am narrow-minded. If the master really likes her, I can't stop it; She takes it to heart, and it's not like a robe can win back Master's heart."

Mother Cui echoed, "That's right, the master can go to her room to sit or have a meal at most. Could it be possible to rest at her place? Master's Ding You is still with him."

Li Yan also felt that what Cui Nanny said was very reasonable, so she stopped thinking about it and said, "Let's get up and exercise our muscles and bones to go to Fuliu Pavilion to have a look. Qing'er, you go to the steward's room and ask Steward Lin to get the key." , Unpack and open the door."

When they came to the Fuliu Pavilion, they saw that the gate and the walls of the courtyard were covered with snow, no one cleaned them, and there was a layer of iron embroidery on the gate, and a sense of desolation hit their faces.Although Zhang Yuliu was just a concubine before, she was the first concubine, and she was supported by Mrs. Tai, and her Fuliu Pavilion was only slightly worse than Jinxiu Courtyard in decoration.Now, people go to the building, and this Fuliu Pavilion is also different.

Steward Lin removed the seal and opened the gate. After entering the yard, he found that the snow inside was thicker. Because there was no sunlight, the snow would not melt unless it was swept out.

(End of this chapter)