Madam Hou

Chapter 143

"Ma'am, Miss Biao has 'encountered' Master Hou again in the garden!"

"Ma'am, Aunt Liu sent soup to the study in the outer courtyard just now!"

"Ma'am, Aunt Liu not only brought soup to Master Hou, but also sent soup to Shi Shi and Shi Mo, the servants beside Master Hou."

"Ma'am, Aunt Liu has been in Master Hou's study for half an hour, and she hasn't come out yet."

Caizhu would come in from outside almost every half an hour to report to her the whereabouts of Aunt Liu's sister Lu Qian.

Yinniang was sitting on the kang looking at the account book of her dowry shop. The shop steward would hand over the shop's ledger to her to check at the end of every year, but there were many things in the past year, and Yinniang was not in the mood to check it.

Hearing Caizhu's return, Yinniang closed the account book, raised her head and said to Caizhu: "It's easy, you go to the outer courtyard and tell Lord Hou that I made him mutton soup in the small kitchen and let him finish it." Hurry back and drink!"

Cai Zhu asked suspiciously: "Ma'am, is this enough?" Aunt Liu is giving soup, and you are cooking soup, how uninspired.Caizhu said again: "Do you have anything else to say to Lord Hou?" It is best to add a few words of love like "I love you" and "I miss you"!

Yin Niang thought for a while, and then said: "Then you tell Lord Hou, I saw a new xiao score in the book today, and I want to share it with him!"

Cai Zhu asked with some doubts: "Madam, I have never heard that you and Master Hou like to play flute, so why would you want to enjoy flute score together?"

"...Uh, this one..." Yin Niang blushed, and said with a little glance: "...this is an elegant hobby that my wife and your Lord Hou have cultivated recently!" As she spoke, she felt a little guilty Pick up the tea and drink it.

Caizhu scratched her ears, and said "oh" in a daze, she served in front of Madam every day, and she really didn't know when Madam and Master Hou developed this hobby.Caizhu said again: "Boss and Lord Hou like flute, why don't you invite an actor who can play the flute to come back and play it for you and Lord Hou every day."

Yinniang almost spit out the tea in her mouth, she swallowed it, then quickly waved to Caizhu and said: "No, no need, I'll just blow it to you Lord Hou later on."

Cai Zhu said again: "Ma'am, do you have a flute? Would you like me to send someone to go outside and buy a few flutes?"

Yin Niang looked at Cai Zhu's serious face, patted her on the shoulder helplessly, and said, "Cai Zhu, hurry up and send a message to your Lord Hou, Aunt Liu has been in for more than half an hour!"

Cai Zhu let out an "Aiya", and blamed herself again and again: "Why did my servant forget such an important matter! This servant will go now, Madam, don't worry, this servant will never let Aunt Liu touch a single hair of Lord Hou!" After finishing speaking He stood up and saluted Yin Niang, then ran out.

Yin Niang shook her head, sometimes it's not a good thing to have a girl who thinks too much about her master!

Lin Fengqi was sitting in the study, watching Lin Fengye opening and closing his mouth and talking all the time, but his heart had already flown beyond the sky.

Ever since Yinniang's girl, Caizhu, came to tell him that his wife had discovered a new music score and wanted to enjoy it with Lord Hou, he had been dreaming, wishing he could go back to the inner courtyard as soon as possible.

"...Big brother, big brother?" Seeing that his elder brother didn't seem to be listening to him at all, Lin Fengye quickly called out twice.

Lin Fengqi was called back to his soul, and asked: "Ah, what?"

Lin Fengye said: "Brother, do you have something to do, or I will tell you tomorrow?"

Lin Fengqi said: "It's okay, just tell me."

Only then did Lin Fengye continue what had happened just now: "... this year, I have recorded and stored all the gifts from officials and merchants from various places. More than [-]%." Then he pushed an account book in front of Lin Fengqi, and said: "This is the book, please take a look."

Every summer and winter, those foreign officials seeking asylum or officials from the Six Ministries and merchants will give gifts to some senior officials, commonly known as ice charcoal filial piety, which is an unwritten rule in officialdom.This kind of gray income, no matter who is an official, will receive some, and it is impossible to accept it, and it is easy to be squeezed out if not accepted.Even the emperor turned a blind eye to this kind of thing.When the water is clear, there will be no fish, and the emperor is not at ease with a person who is too greedy and high-spirited. If he climbs up to a high position and threatens the imperial power that day, the emperor will not even be able to catch his pigtails.Although Lin Fengqi always thought that he was a good general for the country and the people, he could not avoid getting along with others occasionally.Of course, he is a military officer, and civil servants will not come to him for protection, but some junior generals, lieutenants, captains, etc. below will also pay respects.

This year's Tan Jing was two more layers than last year, which was really unexpected by Lin Fengqi.The unexpected reason was that Lin Fengqi did not expect the emperor to believe so quickly that he was actually very loyal and patriotic, and he lived up to the emperor's kindness.

Lin Fengqi was reprimanded by the emperor a few years ago, causing everyone to respect Yongninghou and stay away, and the charcoal respect he received a year ago was much less than last year.But after the fifteenth day, the emperor opened his seal and went to court. The so-called one-year plan lies in spring. At this time, the emperor will always say something to encourage all the officials, to the effect that "everyone did a good job last year, and this year should also do a good job." !” and so on, and sometimes set a few models as examples.But this year, the emperor seemed to have forgotten that he had just scolded others last year for "taking credit for pride, and he owes the emperor's favor!" In the early court, Lin Fengqi also made a majestic flying red flag, praising "Youth is promising, and the great swallow is a rare general." talent!"

Therefore, the officials who are good at figuring out what they want and the merchants who have been keeping a wait-and-see attitude towards the Yongning Houfu began to act. Those who should give gifts should give gifts, and those who should post friends should make friends.Why did Xiao Jing send it only now?Oh, that's because I want to prepare a better gift for you, General. Take a look, is this year's gift a bit thicker than last year's?
Therefore, this year's Tan Jing will be [-]% more than usual, and I'm afraid that's how it came about.

Lin Fengqi was not very interested in taking care of general affairs. Over the years, Lin Fengye had been taking care of the affairs of the outer courtyard. He and Yinniang were the ones who received gifts, but Lin Fengye was in charge of such trivial matters as making books and putting them into storage.Lin Fengqi didn't look through the booklet, but nodded to Lin Fengye, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, second brother!"

"This is what my brother should do!"

Lin Fengqi was very helpless in his heart, they were said to be brothers, but when they talked and got along with each other, they were more polite and distant like master and servant.

The two sat in silence for a while, Lin Fengye saw that there was nothing to do and was about to leave, Lin Fengqi suddenly asked again: "Second brother, do you want to be released as an official?"

Lin Fengye was stunned for a moment, then raised his head to look at Lin Fengqi, seeing that his expression was serious, then lowered his head again, as if he was thinking seriously.

Lin Fengqi didn't disturb him either.

For this concubine brother, although he can't plan everything for him like he did for Feng Shan, he still hopes to do his best to fulfill his brother's responsibilities.He is incapable of both civil and military skills, and I'm afraid he won't be able to take the general civil and military science examination. His original plan was to find him a position of the sixth or seventh rank in the sixth department, and then slowly improve his qualifications.For non-examination officials, it is very difficult to be promoted to a senior official above the third rank, but it is still possible to be promoted to the fourth and fifth ranks.If there is another one or two for him to take care of him, he will not say how good he will be in the future, but it will not be bad.

It's just that Concubine Jing fell out of favor, Lin Fengye's name may have been put on the blacklist in the emperor's heart, and I'm afraid he will definitely not be able to take the above path.And although the emperor didn't explicitly say what to do with Lin Fengye, he couldn't pretend that he didn't know, it was necessary to send him out of Beijing so as not to hinder the emperor's eyes.

Lin Fengye seemed to understand what he meant, and after a while, he said: "If it is possible, brother, please separate my house. After the separation, I want to leave the capital with Mrs. He."

After a while, Lin Fengqi sighed: "It's okay, the branches of a tree will be divided sooner or later. I will arrange for you to be released as a county magistrate. When you take office, you will be the master of the house, and you will be more comfortable."

After the two brothers finished talking, Lin Fengye left the study.

Lin Fengqi looked outside, although it was still early, Lin Fengqi thought of what Yinniang had asked the maid to pass on, so he didn't have the heart to do other things, so he entered the inner courtyard early.

Yinniang's belly is almost six months old, and there are often fetal movements. When Lin Fengqi came in, Yinniang was touching her belly excitedly, and said to the blue and white green vines and others beside her: "Oh, he moved, he moved It's..."

Qing Hua smiled and said: "The one in Madam's belly must be a naughty little boy!"

Yinniang rubbed her stomach and said happily, "Whether it's a son or a daughter, I like both!" She wants to give birth to a son quickly to keep her feet on the ground. Although she often tells people that she likes both sons and daughters, in her heart, she still hopes to have a son.

And when her belly gradually bulged, especially in the last month, she could often feel the baby in her belly moving. Sometimes when she touched it with her hand, he would even play games with her. Until then, she gradually felt What it's like to be a mother.It was a wonderful feeling of pleasure mixed with excitement and anticipation.The only thing she thinks about now is that this child can be born safely.

Seeing Yinniang's happy expression, Lin Fengqi couldn't help laughing in satisfaction.Lin Fengqi walked over slowly, and said as he walked, "Why, is this kid being naughty again?"

When they saw him coming in, they saluted one after another.When Yinniang heard his voice, she also raised her head and laughed, "Come and touch him, he's so funny!"

Lin Fengqi put his ear on Yinniang's belly, listened for a while, and pretended to reprimand: "Why are you so misbehaving, always bullying your mother, wait until you come out, and see if Daddy doesn't spank your ass!"

(End of this chapter)