Mistress

Chapter 8

Aunt Zhang chatted with Li Yan for a few more words, then got up and left.

When she walked out of the courtyard and looked back at the Jinxiu Courtyard, which was twice the size of her Fuliu Pavilion, she secretly swore that when the master was in the mansion, she did not dare to do anything presumptuous, and it is impossible for the master to return now. Come on, she is determined to take back what belongs to her, such a magnificent, majestic and graceful Jinxiu Courtyard should belong to her!

Seeing Xueer, Zier and two young men shoveling snow in the yard again, their little faces flushed from the cold, but still working very hard, she gave these people a hard look.

Li Qing's family and a maid who came with her have been supporting her. Seeing Aunt Zhang's expression, Li Qing's family seemed to understand her intentions very well, and whispered: "Auntie, I want this old slave to catch the servants of the Jinxiu Academy. Is there a handle?"

Aunt Zhang glanced at Li Qing's family approvingly, and nodded slightly.

After watching Aunt Zhang go out, Li Yan sat at the table with her head propped up to think about things, and felt that Aunt Zhang's calm appearance just now was really puzzling.

Li Yan waved to Nanny Cui, and Nanny Cui hurried over, she felt that Madam seemed to have seen some clues.

Li Yan whispered in Madam Cui's ear and asked, "Are there any family members who usually go out with Aunt Zhang to do business with you in private?"

Mother Cui said without thinking, "Yes, it is Ma Xing. I don't know if Ma'am remembers that Ma Xing got a serious illness and lay in the northwest courtyard for ten days. He almost died and no one cared about him. Everyone There were rumors that he had an epidemic, and even Dr. Zeng dared not go to see him. My family and I couldn't stand it any longer. We took ten taels of silver and went to ask Dr. Zeng in the middle of the night, and boiled some soup for Ma Xing for a few days. He was so lucky that he came back to life. Because of this, Ma Xing has always been thinking about my well-being, and he usually told me about Aunt Zhang's affairs."

After Madam Cui said, there seemed to be some fragments of memory in her mind, she nodded and said: "Well, it seems to be the case. You can secretly meet him later, if he goes to the pawn shop with Aunt Zhang tomorrow Let him keep a close eye on Aunt Zhang. Where Aunt Zhang has gone and what she has done, let Ma Xing remember carefully."

Nanny Cui was stunned, "Madam suspects..."

Li Yan nodded and said: "I'm just a bit suspicious, but I'm not sure. I think she should be the kind of person who cares about gold, silver and jewelry, but the house is almost being robbed, but she is not in a hurry , don't you find it strange?"

After being reminded by Li Yan, Madam Cui suddenly felt that Aunt Zhang was too suspicious, and she said solemnly: "Madam, don't worry, Ma Xing is usually careful and reliable in his work, if Aunt Zhang really made a funeral It's a matter of goodness, Ma Xing will definitely be able to detect the change."

As soon as she entered the Cui Song Courtyard, Aunt Zhang twisted her waist and ran to Mrs. Tai to ask her how she was, and then rubbed her shoulders and legs for Mrs. Tai.Aunt Zhang looks really filial and considerate, she really is Mrs. Tai's good niece.

Mrs. Tai seemed to be sober now. As soon as Zhang Yuliu came in, she recognized her niece, "Yuliu, is there something wrong in the house? Why did I hear a big commotion outside, which is different from usual?" Too much the same?"

Aunt Zhang had already sent someone to Cuishongyuan to tell Mrs. Tai that there must be a thief in the mansion.She clenched her hands into small fists and patted Mrs. Tai's legs lightly, "Mrs. Tai, you must have misheard. Where is there any movement? Didn't you say that there was a buzzing in your ears two days ago, which is so annoying?" Well, that's because of your tinnitus."

Mrs. Tai thought it was the same, so she didn't pursue it deeply. She looked sad and said quietly: "This morning, Jun'er came to me later than usual, and listening to him is also very preoccupied. It's really embarrassing for him to endure such hardships and bear the pain. It's not like Xiao'er who will cry and cry whenever he mentions his father."

When she spoke, she reached out and waved at Mrs. Wang and the two maids, and they quickly retreated.They can also be regarded as Mrs. Tai's confidantes. It seems that Mrs. Tai has something very secret to tell Zhang Yuliu, so that even her confidantes have to be dismissed.

Mrs. Tai stretched her hand under the pillow and took out two letters, "Yu Liu, you hand these two letters to Eunuch Li and Jing'er in the palace respectively. Eunuch Xu has a yard outside the palace, which is Yuan Li Mansion at the northernmost end of Yi Street. Also, when you go to the Wang Mansion to hand over the letter to Jing'er, don't be seen by Prince Bao. You must remember that you must be careful when you do things. You deliver the letter yourself, and don't go through others. hand."

Aunt Zhang took the letter, her hands trembling slightly.She knew that this was about her son's future and fate. She came this time to urge Mrs. Tai to do this quickly, but she did not expect Mrs. Tai to be as anxious as she was.

She put the letter in her sleeve and put it away, feeling a burst of secret joy in her heart, and she beat her legs even more vigorously for Mrs. Tai.

At this moment, Madam Tai's second son, Xu Cheng's younger brother, Xu Ze, ran in and called Madam Tai for his mother. He looked panicked and wanted to say something, but choked back.

Xu Ze is only 22 years old this year, and he works as a secretary in the Ministry of War. He is very busy on weekdays, because the Ministry of War is developing artillery recently, which is very secretive, and few ministers in the court know about it.He already has a wife and a concubine, and he lives in the Old Duke's Mansion diagonally opposite the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Mrs. Tai not only has two sons, Xu Cheng and Xu Ze, but also a daughter, Xu Jing, who is married to the emperor's younger brother, Prince Bao. Even Prince Bao, of course, would not be bad to Prince Bao and Concubine Bao. Xu Jing was specially allowed to enter and leave the palace freely, and had close contact with the emperor's concubines.

Xu Jing and Zhang Yuliu are cousins, and she is also partial to her cousin Zhang Yuliu, so Mrs. Tai asked Zhang Yuliu to send a letter to Jinger just now.

On the contrary, the second master, Xu Ze, has always respected his elder sister-in-law more, and he is not biased.

Not only the second master Xu Ze, but also Xu Guogong's concubine Wu Shi and Wu's sons and daughters live in the old Duke's mansion.Mrs. Wu was Mrs. Tai's personal maid back then. When Mrs. Tai gave birth to Xu Ze, this Mrs. Wu took advantage of the situation and climbed into the old Duke's bed, and of course became Mrs. Xu's concubine.Wu's son, Xu Xiuyuan, is 21 years old this year, only a few months younger than Xu Ze. Xu Xiuyuan's younger sister, Xu Wu, is only fifteen and has not yet left the court.

Although Mrs. Tai was old and dim-sighted, she recognized people without any ambiguity at this moment, "Ze'er, why did you come earlier today than in the past?" Xu Ze would come to the Prime Minister's Mansion to visit his mother every day after returning from the Ministry of War.

There were tears in Xu Ze's eyes. He looked at his mother and couldn't bear to say, "Mother, the Ministry of War has nothing to do today, so I'll be back early."

Mrs. Tai is such a smart person. He knew that the Ministry of War always got the news of Jiao Yangcheng earlier than others. Seeing Xu Ze's panic at this time, she probably guessed that the eldest son Xu Cheng would not live for a few days, and she was about to die. Send the brunette away.

She closed her eyes and was depressed for a moment, maybe she shed a lot of tears in the past two months, at this moment she didn't feel much different, she just asked: "Recently, have the three of Wu's mother and son made things difficult for you, your wives, concubines and children? "

Xu Ze doesn't like to take care of household chores very much, "Don't worry, mother, although I live with them in the Duke's Mansion, we live in separate courtyards, live our own lives, and don't even see each other, how can they make things difficult for me?" ?”

At this time, Mrs. Tai became a little excited again, "Ze'er, my mother had a good idea for you a long time ago, to drive Wu and her children out of the country, but you refused to do it out of the kindness of a woman. Wu Born in slavery, how can she and her children have the status to live in the Duke's Mansion? It really humiliates the family of the Xu family!" Wu is the pain of her life, and she can't wait to have Wu's bones broken and her tendons cramped.Every time she thought of Wu's mother and son still living in the Duke's Mansion, she gritted her teeth, wishing she could find someone to throw them out immediately.

Because she was afraid that she would have the reputation of being a jealous woman, she did not dare to do anything to Mrs. Wu on the surface, and she was still polite.But secretly she planned several schemes, but Xu Ze refused to implement them, and delayed again and again, so that Wu's mother and son lived at ease in the Duke's Mansion for so many years.

Mrs. Tai thought that her eldest son was about to die for the country, her second son was only a military officer, and Wu's son Xu Xiuyuan was already a servant of the Ministry of Officials, surpassing Xu Ze in his official career.If this continues, Xu Xiuyuan will definitely become more and more promising than Xu Ze. How can it be embarrassing to call her a lady from the Ye family.

"Son, if you don't want your mother to die, then drive Wu's mother and son out of the Duke's mansion as soon as possible!" Mrs. Tai said in a deep voice with a dark face.

It was not the first time Xu Ze had heard his mother mention this matter so angrily. As usual, he replied, "My son will definitely do his best."

At this time, his heart was very hurt because of his elder brother, so he didn't have the time to think about Wu's affairs, so he didn't stay for long, then stumbled out.He was about to lose his eldest brother, and he didn't want to lose his mother again, so he left without saying a word about Xu Cheng.

Mrs. Tai looked at her son's back and knew that she might not be able to wait for that day depending on him, so she said to Zhang Yuliu, "Yuliu, I will entrust you with the matter of Mrs. Wu, and you will often visit the old mansion opposite when you are free." , have cured Wu's mother and son earlier! In addition, only you and I will know about your delivery of the letter tomorrow. Jing'er and Li Gong will know, and no fifth person will be allowed to know. From now on, the Xu family will rely on Jun'er. The pulse is on the pulse, we must suppress the Wu family in terms of momentum, and we must not let the son of that lowly slave come into the eyes of the emperor."

Aunt Zhang knew that this matter was related to the future of the Xu family, so she nodded solemnly.When she left the Green Pine Courtyard, she was caught up by Mrs. Wang.

(End of this chapter)