in spring

Chapter 242 Human Heart
Hou Ye took a sip of tea, glanced at his son standing in front of him with his arms tied, and put down the tea bowl: "But your mother asked you to come and beg me again?"

Li You was originally in a state of anxiety, but when he heard this, his heart skipped a beat. After hesitating again and again, he said, "Father sees that mother has managed the family for nearly 20 years...even if it's for the son's sake." ..."

Lord Hou snorted coldly: "Why did I treat her badly? Why didn't I care about her years of housework? Why did I disregard your face?! She made up her own mind and made a lot of complaints in the house, which couldn't be suppressed." The scene embarrasses me, and now I pretend to be sick and hide in the house, and I still have the face to ask you to intercede?!"

Hearing this, Li You hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down: "Father calm down. Mother...Although mother is confused for a while, she has been married into this family for more than ten years and is the head of the house. Please ask father to save some money for her." Let's face it!" After saying that, he kowtowed a few times.

Hou Ye felt a little soft-hearted when he saw his only son-in-law like this.He thought of his sons and daughters, not counting the young ones. Among the grown-up three sons and one daughter, the daughter is the eldest daughter, who lost her mother since she was a child, but was looked after by her grandmother. The clan has a son, who will be prosperous and wealthy in the future; the eldest son has been living outside since he was a child, and lost his father when he was young. When he returns home, he is often looked down upon by others, but now he is the master of the house outside, has a family, a business, a wife and children , and has a small official title, he must be able to live in peace; the second son has been spoiled since he was a child, although he is smart, he does not follow the right path, and now he has a bad marriage. However, he is already a man of fame after all. , will come from his good fortune; only the youngest son of his step-wife did not have a good discipline when he was a child, so he was addicted to calligraphy and painting, and neglected poetry and books. I have taught him by my side in the past few years, and found that he is a little bit in court affairs. The talent is surprising, but it's a pity that it is not the right path after all, and his mother's disposition is not good, so I don't know how I will be affected by this mother in the future!
So he slowed down his expression, stepped forward to help Li You up, saw that his son's forehead was red and swollen, and couldn't help frowning: "Okay, that's the end of it!" Then he called someone: "Yun Shao!" Outside A boy of about ten years old came, who was born gentle and steady, so Master Hou ordered him: "Bring a box of blood-activating ointment that Hei Lao San filially respected last time." Yun Shao took the order and went, and after a while, he took a box The small wooden box also contained a jasper ear pick, a small stack of kraft paper cut into palm-sized pieces, a lampstand, flint and other items.Seeing that he was meticulous, Li You looked him up a few times, but he put down his things very calmly and backed out.

Master Hou put the plaster on his son himself. Li You, a handsome young man with a stinky piece of kraft paper on his forehead, unexpectedly became playful.Seeing that his son didn't notice anything, Lord Hou held back his smile, and said with a straight face, "In the future, you must think twice before acting. I know you are filial, but this time it was your mother who was wrong. In order to calm the turmoil, the housekeeper You can no longer hand over the power of the mother to your mother, you need to understand this truth first!"

Li You opened his mouth and lowered his head sadly: "But in this way... what face does mother have to gain a foothold in the mansion..."

Hou Ye sighed, motioned for his son to sit down, and sat back in his original position, before asking him, "I ask you, do you know what your mother did wrong this time?"

Li You secretly glanced at his father: "Mother's fault is... She shouldn't have hired a private person... She changed the job of the old man in the house privately, and she complained..."

Hou Ye sneered: "Wrong!" He stared at his son, "She is the mistress of the house. I don't care about the internal affairs of the house. Of course she is the one who decides! Whoever she wants to appoint as a job is her own responsibility. The right of the mother. No matter how decent he is for a slave in the family, he can’t go past the mistress! Besides, in a family like ours, the mistress is the housekeeper, and he likes to let someone he trusts manage things. Why shouldn’t he?! If your mother Unable to order the steward at home, and being restrained by the subordinates, I think she is useless!"

Li You was very puzzled: "Then why are you, father..." After a pause, he realized, "Is it because the mother can't choose the virtuous? Those who are appointed are all useless?" He was a little sad, "Mother hates others the most. So she..."

"This is half true!" Master Hou snorted coldly, "She has no vision, so don't make her own decisions! She used to be a housekeeper, but some people said she was not?! It is clear that she did not obey the rules set by Fan, so she must To change the old rules, but she is not a talented person! Look who she has chosen! In just a few months, several lucrative properties have gone bankrupt! She still doesn't realize it !Maybe she has noticed it a long time ago, but she just doesn't want to be gossiped, so she just stood up. It's her fault that she doesn't know how to make up for her mistakes, and doesn't have the vision to work hard!"

Li You fell silent.He is not a fool, so he naturally knows what good things his mother has done.

Hou Ye took another sip of tea, and said: "She has another mistake. She wants to replace all the stewards in the mansion with her own people, that's all right, who wouldn't do that? But her methods are too bad! I just know Arouse public grievances, but don't know how to appease them. If you are the head of the house, you can ignore it?! She used to be the head of the house, why don't you see her acting like this?! It is obvious that your grandmother is seriously ill and thinks that you You don’t have to be restrained anymore, you can take power alone, so you can do whatever you want! Your grandmother is still alive!”

Li You hurriedly knelt down again: "Mother would never dare to have such a rebellious idea, father must be careful!"

What do you know?After being a husband and wife for more than ten years, doesn't he understand?Hou Ye ordered his son to get up again, then sighed, and said: "No matter what your mother thinks, you really can't let her mess around in the future. Don't just listen to your mother, you should persuade her more, rest assured You have been 'ill' for a few years, so don't worry about housework. I have sent someone to send a letter to your sister-in-law, and she will return to the house tomorrow to take care of the housework temporarily, and let's talk about things in the future."

Seeing this, Li You had no choice but to accept the arrangement for the time being, but he was still a little worried: "Sister-in-law has always been prudent and courteous, so it is most appropriate for her to take care of the house, but... the son is afraid that the second sister-in-law will gossip, after all, the eldest brother and sister-in-law have separated. If the second sister-in-law asks for a housekeeper, even if it is to help from the side, it will be very bad! My father has withdrawn the positions of Mr. Chen and others, and if the second sister-in-law wins over the replacement candidate..."

Hou Ye glanced at his son with a half-smile, and said: "I just asked your sister-in-law to take over temporarily. In the future, the housekeeper will naturally be your wife. As for your second sister-in-law? I will let her intervene when I am confused! The list of new stewards I have also made a plan. The third black will come up to replace Lao Chen. You don’t have to worry, Ping An and others. I will stay for anyone who has real talents. I want to clean up your mother’s promotion but it’s useless. Trash, it’s not to wipe out all her hands!”

Li You blushed, knowing that his father had seen through his little thoughts, and hurriedly lowered his head.

Lord Hou sighed again, and said: "This time... is also a lesson. In the future, you have to pay more attention to the servants in your family. Those old people who have lived for several lifetimes are deeply rooted in the mansion, and they are connected with each other. If the population is sparse Forget it, it is difficult to get rid of a big family with many children and grandchildren. Fortunately, apart from their selfishness, there is nothing wrong with them. You can rest assured that you can leave things to them. They know the rules, as long as they are tolerant of their masters They will not make trouble. Moreover, the families of them have conflicts with each other. As long as you don’t let them form a group, you can use the way of balance from them. Those evil slaves and deceitful families, in fact It is because of this taboo that one family dominates, or if several families have a chance to form a group, they will be suppressed by the servants instead. These truths, you don’t understand when you say it for a while, just learn it slowly.”

Li You actually understood it long ago, and hurriedly responded respectfully. However, although his mother was at fault first, his negligence was taken advantage of by his subordinates. If he is decent, his second brother must have been secretly laughing at his mother and son, and he doesn't know if he will make trouble again.He hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Although it is important to win people's hearts, but this time, my father was forced by several servants to withdraw even my mother's housekeeping power. Isn't it afraid that they will make more progress? If those servants think that they can be the master's housekeeper Lord, there will never be peace in this house."

Hou Ye sneered: "What are you afraid of? They were just pushed out as shields, but they are not really good. Do you think they are the real culprits?!"

Li You was very surprised: "Isn't it?" After thinking about it, "Yes, I heard that the Mu family's son is very active. Although he didn't show up, it's hard to guarantee that he didn't participate in it!" Be obedient and show no sign of participating at all, otherwise he really can't use them anymore.

"Old Mu has been by my side for decades, and I can trust his son. He has selfishness, but he doesn't dare to betray the Lord." Hou Ye said indifferently, "I have other arrangements for him, so don't interfere. Come forward Lao Zhang and the others who spoke up are obviously the ones responsible for your mother’s random replacement. Even if you don’t like it, you have to arrange it well and don’t let them complain. After two years, everyone will almost forget about it. Then drive people away."

"But aren't they... shields? The people behind the scenes..."

"Just pretend you don't know!" Lord Hou was a little helpless, he naturally knew that this time most of the rich families who had children participated in it, and it was also because his wife had gone too far.Those seats have been controlled by these families for generations. He also thought about replacing them with his own people, but he still failed, so he had to redouble his favor.Anyway, these people had no intention of rebelling against the Lord, so they turned a blind eye.If you really want to fight hard with them, I'm afraid that both sides will suffer in the end, right?In this family, there are so many secrets and wealth held by the family stewards. Although he is the head of the family, he dare not take risks.

Li You was young and energetic, how could he accept this conclusion: "How can this work?! If we don't teach them a lesson, they will climb up on us in the future! Father, why should we be afraid of them? The worst is to send them away! "

Hou Ye reprimanded: "Shut up! What a child, what do you think the hearts of the people are in this world?! The old people in several lifetimes have also demoted them, how can they win people's hearts in the future?! This time they didn't show it on their faces. If you deal with it recklessly, it will only make the people below think that we are mean and ungrateful. Who will be willing to work for you in the future?! Even if you are originally loyal, you have to add selfishness! Besides, what your mother caused , has already brought down our family's reputation, and now we have to deal with servants, whether it's beating, selling or expelling, if there are too many people, it is easy to alarm the outside world, and the imperial censor is not just for nothing. It's not enough for our family to hide right now. , Do you still want to provoke people to talk about the right and wrong of our family?!" After thinking for a while, he repeated the words from his eldest son: "This Hu Wangshan, you know the details, his words are at least [-]% true! If the emperor is true We have become wary of our family, so we have to settle down, don't stand out in the court, and don't make people gossip anymore, otherwise, wouldn't we send the handle to the emperor?! Anyway, there are so many properties in the family. With the support of your big sister and big brother-in-law, our family is already extremely rich, so there is no need to ask for anything else!"

Hearing what his father said, Li You was relieved. He had wanted to persuade him this way a long time ago, but his father seemed to have a bias towards power, and he didn't know how to persuade him: "Father is right. Our family is a generation of lords. The family is rich and rich. You are a royal family member, why force you to go one step further? If you end up being tabooed by the royal family, the loss outweighs the gain." Suddenly remembered: "Brother Nian..."

Hou Ye frowned: "That child is a thoughtful person, please persuade him more. In the past two years, if you want to reverse the case again, I'm afraid it won't work, so you can only wait for the opportunity. I heard that you have Tian is busy with him to pick up his mother's cousins? Doesn't it mean that he has found the Zhuangzi that Zhou's servants took over? Send them over when they come, and don't go out casually on weekdays. It's not peaceful outside now. I was seen by the people of King Ke's mansion, and I still don't know what will happen! You told Brother Nian to stay at home and study as much as possible to take care of your body. You should also take this opportunity to learn more and try it next year or next year. Right. Your second elder brother is famous, and your eldest brother has also donated an official position. Although you want to be a noble, it is better to take the exam, so as not to make people laugh at you."

Li You was dejected by what he said: "Yes..." This is obviously the way his father came up with to prevent him from going out!He doesn't want to read dead books...

Seeing him like this, Hou Ye felt angry, and couldn't help but add another sentence: "Okay, go quickly, from now on, you just need to listen to what your mother says, if you listen to her and do unnecessary things, I will take care of you." Send her to a quiet place to recuperate!"

Li You was stunned, and quickly responded respectfully. He decided to study hard and not ask his father to pick out mistakes, so as not to hurt his mother.

When he exited the study, he heard Lord Hou order Yun Shao to send a message to appoint the third son of Hei as the general manager, and Chen Lang would assist him. There were also changes in the positions of managers in several industries. Among them, Mu Chen, the second child of the Mu family, was exceptionally promoted. The treasurer of the satin village.However, several cronies originally appointed by the mother were removed from their positions, and even the head of the village in Daxing Village was also removed, and Wang Da took over.

Li You thought that Mu Chen was hateful, but this promotion may not be a good thing, if he can only be confined to the silk shop for the rest of his life, he is not afraid of causing trouble again.But the mother suffered a loss this time, and she was not good enough to make her angry again. She originally planned to call Chunying and Shi'er back, but now she had to give up. Make up for it, just ask the Wang family to send a little girl to fill the vacancy in the courtyard later...

Thinking of this, he first went to greet his mother in the main courtyard, and then entered the courtyard gate, Shao Yao came up to him, with a surprised face: "Hey, what happened to the third young master's forehead?! Injured?!"

Only then did Li You remember that there was a plaster on his forehead, so he hurriedly took it off. Seeing the redness and swelling, Shao Yao hurriedly stopped: "Third Young Master, quickly paste it back, it is important to heal the wound!" Li You smiled and said: "It's okay, just paste it After a while, the pain is gone, this is a good medicine given by my father." After finishing speaking, I wanted to wipe it on my forehead, but suddenly remembered that I should let my mother take a look and let her know how difficult I was, so I took it. In this way, he entered the house with a plaster on his forehead.

Before he knelt down to pay his respects, An Shi turned over and got out of bed, rushed over and grabbed his arm: "How is it? Did your father take back his life?!"

Li You shook his head in embarrassment: "Father said... Mother has worked hard, and it's better to recover from illness..."

"I'm not sick!" Anshi shook off his hand vigorously, covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief and cried, "I have been married for so many years, and I have worked hard without merit. How could your father be so cruel! Now those few The slut will definitely laugh at me, and the second child and the couple will make trouble even worse!" Then he grabbed his son's shoulders suddenly: "We mother and son can't just sit and die, good boy, go see the old lady quickly, and ask her to say something!"

Li You endured the pain and said, "Mother, grandma is still ill..."

"I can't take care of that!" An shi cried and sat beside the bed, "How can a housewife lose the power of housekeeper... and ask the junior to put me on top of me..."

Li You pursed her lips, only to feel that the pain on her forehead suddenly intensified, and her gaze towards her mother became a little darker.

(End of this chapter)