Madam Hou

Chapter 149

The main courtyard seemed to be noisier today than usual, and the maidservants who walked calmly on weekdays seemed a little hurried today.In the Xikuan courtyard, Liu Jianjian didn't seem to feel the unusual atmosphere in the main courtyard at all, standing in front of the desk and writing quietly as usual.

Aunt Liu's maid, Qin'er, ran in from outside in a panic, and said as she ran, "It's no good, Auntie, Hongying was arrested by Madam, saying that she and Nanny murdered the young master together!"

Hongying relied on the fact that she came from the imperial concubine's side, and she has never been respectful enough to her aunt. Recently, she has not taken her words to heart at all. She clearly told them to stay in the Xikuo courtyard and she still went to the main courtyard all day long. Side swaying.Qin'er has never liked her, and she doesn't care about her life or death, but Qin'er is a maid brought into the house by her aunt in name, and if something happens to her, Qin'er is worried that she will hurt her aunt.

The movement of Aunt Liu's hand paused, the ink from the tip of the pen seeped into the rice paper, and blurred layer by layer, and a big black dot appeared on the word "phoenix" on the rice paper.Aunt Liu frowned, thinking that this word was about to be spelled badly.Aunt Liu took away the rice paper and laid out another piece of rice paper.

Seeing that her aunt was not in a hurry, Qin'er couldn't help shouting anxiously: "Aunt!"

Aunt Liu put down the pen, and said unhurriedly: "Please tell the maids in the courtyard, no matter what happens in the main courtyard, you are not allowed to wander around, and you are not allowed to go to the main courtyard to inquire."

Qin'er suspected that she had heard it wrong, looked at Aunt Liu in surprise, and asked, "That's it, that's it? Qin'er is a maid in our yard." Shouldn't it be time to go to Master Hou or Madam to explain clearly, this It's none of Auntie's business.

Aunt Liu naturally knew what Qin'er was thinking, but she couldn't help but sighed in her heart. Although Qin'er was loyal, she was not smart enough.Of the seven or eight maidservants in the Xikua courtyard, most of them are likely to be Chen's eyeliner. Normally, Chen would know Hongying's attitude towards her master without her telling her.

What Hongying did, without her explaining, Chen would know that it had nothing to do with her.She is not afraid that Mrs. Chen will deliberately drag this matter on her to get rid of her concubine.Instead, she hoped that Chen would do this. Brother Feng Qi is a smart person. If she really did this, it would only make Brother Feng Qi feel suspicious of her.But she also knows that this kind of hope is unlikely to come true, Chen is not a stupid person, although she doesn't like her as a concubine, she even doesn't like to show it directly in front of Brother Feng Qi, but she never cheats on her in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation , let alone suppress and humiliate her concubine in private.Brother Feng Qi likes her, maybe there is this part of the reason.It is said that it is a blessing for my aunt to meet a kind and kind mistress, but in fact, it is a good thing for a concubine to have a vicious and harsh mistress.It doesn't matter if the body is tossed, the mistress is mean and the concubine has more opportunities to stand out.

Aunt Liu pulled her thoughts back, and said to Qin'er: "Let's close the door and ignore the affairs of the main courtyard. Later, if any of the maids around the madam come to ask about Hongying, you can tell them 'Hongying' Ying is a servant girl given by the imperial concubine, but since she entered the Marquis Mansion with me, she is a member of the Marquis Mansion, Hongying made a mistake, she should be punished by the lady, I have nothing to say'"

Although Qin'er was a bit suspicious of Aunt Liu's way of not caring about anything, Aunt Liu was not afraid of implicating herself in Qin'er's affairs, and she always obeyed Aunt Liu's words, so she had no choice but to say yes.

In the main courtyard, Yinniang was playing with Brother Yi's hand.Brother Yi's hands and feet are getting stronger day by day. Whenever he wakes up, his favorite thing is to play with his hands and feet. Sometimes when someone puts his fingers in his palm, he refuses to let go.What Yinniang likes most is to let her son hold her fingers, and then she raises her hand and dangles his hand.

Caizhu came in from the outside, walked to Yinniang's side lightly, and said back: "Ma'am, Aunt Liu said that Hongying was given by the imperial concubine, but when she enters the mansion, she is a maid in the mansion. How should I deal with it?" Your wife decides."

Yin Niang nodded to show that she understood.

The blue and white next to him said: "What do you mean, deliberately showing that it was given by the imperial concubine, do you want us to care about the imperial concubine and then dare not deal with it? What about the imperial concubine, our eldest lady is still a respectful concubine."

Cai Zhu said: "I don't think Aunt Liu means that. On the contrary, I think Aunt Liu is disregarding the relationship with this matter." Said it was a maid given by the imperial concubine, didn't it mean Hongying Concubine Xue Gui is the one who is loyal and not her, and she also said that how to deal with it depends on Madam, and she also wanted to tell Madam that she did not instigate this matter.

Qing Hua disagreed with Cai Zhu's statement, curled her lips and said: "Hong Ying is her maid, whoever believes that she has nothing to do with this matter!"

Yinniang was noncommittal to Qinghua and Caizhu's words, but she thought in her heart that sometimes it's not a good thing if the concubine's room is too quiet, why doesn't she jump up and down to frame the mistress like other aunts in the mansion, making her want to catch a concubine? Even the pigtails can't catch it.

Yinniang asked again: "Where are Nanny and Hongying? What do they say?"

Caizhu replied: "The nanny's interrogation came out. Sister Qingteng brought someone to interrogate herself. The nanny said she didn't know that this thing was harmful to the young master. It was Hongying who told her that as long as she put a little of this thing in the milk After feeding the young master, the young master will only like to drink her milk in the future, and she bought the things from Hongying with two taels of silver.

Hongying's little hoof was stubborn at first, saying that she didn't know what the nanny had done, and that the nanny deliberately wronged her.After Sister Qingteng tortures her twice, tell her the number of times she and the nanny met recently, where they met, and how long they stayed each time, and then search them out of her room. She threw the hollow hairpin with rice sac powder hidden in front of her, and she didn't cry for grievances.But she has been yelling that she belongs to the imperial concubine, and we cannot deal with her without the consent of the imperial concubine, otherwise the imperial concubine will not let us go.She really thinks of herself as an onion, not to mention that Concubine Xue Gui might not stand out for a little girl like her, even if Concubine Xue Gui dared to use this incident to attack the mansion, we have a reason to deal with her, are we still afraid of Concubine Xue Gui no. "

When it comes to Nanny and Hongying's murder of brother Yi, the process is actually not complicated at all.Brother Yi has four nannies, two of them are born in the house, and the other two are bought from outside.The nanny who conspired with Hongying was surnamed Tang, and she was one of the two nanny bought from outside.

A few days earlier, a maid had seen Aunt Liu's maid Hongying often come to visit Nanny Tang, and Nanny Tang not only didn't shy away from it, but also liked to chat with Hongying.If the maid next to the aunt and the young master's nanny get mixed up, what good things can happen? They must be thinking about murdering the mistress or the young master.Being able to report them is a meritorious service, so of course the servant girl hastened to report to Yinniang.When Yinniang found out, she only ordered people to pay more attention to the two of them, and did nothing else.

It happened to be Tang's turn to be on duty today. Yinniang took care of Brother Yi last night, and she didn't have much energy during the day, but Brother Yi was so energetic that he didn't want to sleep at all. Yinniang asked Nanny Tang to take care of Brother Yi. I want to sleep for a while.

Nanny Tang didn't do anything at first, she just walked around the room with Brother Yi in her arms to coax him, but after Yinniang fell asleep, seeing that there were no other maids in the room, she hurriedly hugged Brother Yi into the room. In the small room separated by the screen, that room was originally used by Yinniang to separate it for the nurse on duty to sleep at night.After the nanny came in, she put Brother Yi on the couch, and she untied her clothes and squeezed the milk onto the bowl. Then she untied a silver bracelet in her hand, broke a hole in the middle, and poured some brown milk from it. Put the powder into the milk, close the mouth of the bracelet, and stir it with a small spoon in the bowl.

In the end, before she could feed the milk to Brother Yi, Qing Teng led three or four maidservants suddenly came in from outside, and the sleeping lady woke up.Qingteng asked the maid to tie up Mrs. Tang to the woodshed, and after taking the young master back to his wife, he went to find the doctor with the bowl of milk.The doctor took some milk and tasted it, and then said that some rice sacs were added to it.

As for what rice sac is, most doctors know it, and people who know some pharmacology may also know it.It is the fruit of a plant called rice sac that grows in Miaojiang, Yunnan. The rice sac will draw flowers in March and April, with green buds, and the buds will fall off when the flowers bloom. The flowers are large and showy, called Rice sac flowers, and rice sacs grow in this gorgeous rice sac flower.The Miaojiang people regard the rice sac flower as a sacred flower, and when offering sacrifices to heaven and gods, the high priest must eat the rice sac flower first.Rice sac is also a kind of medicinal material, which is often used by Taifu to relieve abdominal pain, treat diarrhea, and eliminate stomach heat, etc., but it is poisonous, and those who eat too much will become addicted.

As for the rest, there is basically no need for Yinniang to order, Qingteng and others will handle it properly.As for the treatment of Nanny Tang and Hongying, Yinniang neither ordered them to be killed nor given them poisoned wine, but was sent to Shuntian Mansion.

Nanny Tang was sold into the mansion by her whole family, and she signed a death contract, so it's okay to deal with her privately.But Hongying's deed of selling herself is not with her, not even with Aunt Liu. If she is killed, Concubine Xue will make her a good citizen, and then there will be a scene where her family goes to Shuntian Mansion to beat drums and complain. Even if it turns out that Hongying made a mistake in the end, and the reputation of killing a good citizen with a stick spreads, the reputation of the Hou Mansion will be lost.Good people are different from untouchable people. Even if they commit a crime, only Shuntian Prefecture has the right to judge.

Since Hongying was going to be sent to Shuntian Mansion, Nanny Tang, as an accomplice, simply sent her along.As for the family members who sold themselves into the mansion with Mrs. Tang, Yinniang asked Ren Yazi to come here, but Ren Yazi didn't ask for any money, so Ren Yazi took them away directly, and she didn't know where they would be sold again.

Thinking of this, Yin Niang couldn't help but sigh.Nanny Tang also has a baby girl who is just three months old. Nanny Tang is afraid that she will not be able to come out after entering Shuntian. The baby girl lost her mother and wandered around again. I don't know if she can survive.Yin Niang looked down at Brother Yi, and couldn't help feeling more sympathetic to the girl.But sympathy belongs to sympathy, the child is naturally important to her, and she never thought of letting Nanny Tang go.

When Lin Fengqi came back to see her son in the evening, Yinniang told Lin Fengqi about the matter, and also told how to deal with Tang Nanny and Hongying.Lin Fengqi greeted Concubine Xue Gui in front of Yinniang, and then complained to Yinniang: "Why only Mrs. Tang's family was sold out, they should be killed, just to make an example, and see who dares to do so in the future." Thinking of such lowly attitude towards brother Yi!" Then she blamed Aunt Liu for not disciplining her servants well, and said to Yinniang: "From now on, no one from the west courtyard will be allowed to come to the main courtyard."

After complaining and blaming him, he hugged his son to coax him: "Brother Yi must be scared today. I blame my father for not finding someone to serve you..."

Yin Niang took this opportunity to say to Lin Fengqi: "...it is worrying to let outsiders feed Brother Yi, you see, something like today will happen if you don't know, so it is very wise for me to decide to breastfeed myself decided."

Lin Fengqi did not refute Yinniang's words this time.I thought about it all night in bed when I went to sleep, but I still felt unwilling. When I woke up the next morning, I asked the servant to go to Shuntian Mansion with his name card, and asked the Governor of Shuntian Mansion to "enforce the law impartially".

Yin Niang had disposed of Brother Yi's nanny, so of course she had to tell Mrs. Lin too.Mrs. Lin would come to Tangrong Courtyard every morning to see her grandson. When Mrs. Lin came yesterday, the incident with the nanny hadn’t happened yet. When the incident happened later, Mrs. Lin heard the movement, but she only thought it was an ordinary little maid who committed a crime. It was a mistake that Yinniang wanted to deal with them, so she didn't care too much.

When Mrs. Lin came here today, Yinniang told her about Nanny Tang and Hongying, but she didn't dare to tell about the part about her feeding Brother Yi. She only said that Brother Yi preferred to drink from another nanny. Milk, seeing that Brother Yi doesn't like to drink her milk, Mrs. Tang is afraid that the mansion will fire her, so she has the audacity to do this kind of thing.Mrs. Lin's reaction was exactly the same as that of Lin Fengqi's, and she blamed Yinniang after hearing it: "Why did you just sell them, it's too cheap for them, so you should kill them in front of all the maids in the courtyard.... "

Brother Yi's nanny was missing one, and Mrs. Lin added two more. Even if Yinniang repeatedly stated that Brother Yi couldn't drink that much, Mrs. Lin still felt that even if Brother Yi didn't drink, she would definitely not drink that much. I can't wrong my grandson on the show.

As long as you enter Shuntian Mansion about anything, outsiders can more or less hear some gossip.Later Mrs. Chen also heard about this incident, and immediately took a carriage to see her grandson, and by the way cursed Nanny and Hongying in front of her daughter.

"Despicable things that dare to kill their masters, they should die and go to the [-]th floor of hell, reincarnated into the animal realm, and let them be cows, horses, pigs and dogs in the next life..."

Cursing and cursing, Aunt Liu and Concubine Xue also greeted them by the way.Seeing Mrs. Chen scolding till the end, Yinniang's mouth became dry, she quickly asked her servant girl to bring her some tea, and Mrs. Chen took a sip, which relieved the anger in her heart.

When Mrs. Chen calmed down a bit, Yinniang asked about the Lu family's patriarch's entry to Beijing.

Mrs. Chen replied: "They have already entered the capital, I asked someone to arrange for them to live in the front yard, and I called four servant girls to take care of them."

Yin Niang nodded. The Chen family's house in Yangjiaoer Hutong was no longer the original three-entry house. After Mrs. Chen had spare money, she also sold the three-entry house next door, and asked someone to open it up to form a small house. Three-entry mansion.There are a total of four people from Lu's family, and they can live in Yangjiao'er Hutong.

Yinniang asked Mrs. Chen again: "You have seen that family, what do you think of them?" Yinniang asked the family who was planning to adopt Mrs. Lu.Yin Niang continued: "I heard that the adult's name is Lu Chun, the wife's surname is Gao, and the child's name is Lu Wen, right?"

Mrs. Chen nodded, and said: "Yes, your Uncle Lu Chun and Aunt Gao seem to be honest people. Although your cousin Wen is thin, he looks smart. I heard from the patriarch that your Wen Biao My younger brother is very good at studying, and I am afraid that he will be able to take the examination of scholar in the future. The patriarch also took a fancy to this, so he recommended their family to me. The only thing is bad, they are far away from your grandfather. Your uncle Lu Chun and you Grandfather is already in the fifth service, and when it comes to your cousin Wen, this is no longer in the fifth service. They are not related by blood, and I am afraid that they will disrespect the spirits of your grandfather and grandmother in the future."

Yin Niang comforted her and said: "Things can't be perfect, look at my uncles now, they are the sons of my grandfather's cousins, and they were the closest to my grandfather at that time, but so what, it's not about letting my grandfather and grandmother Grass grew in front of the grave, and even the family business earned by my grandfather was completely defeated. The most important thing is to have a good character. If they are kind people, they will naturally be grateful to you for giving them the Qiancheng family business. Offering incense to my grandfather and grandmother."

Mrs. Chen nodded as if she was convinced.

Mrs. Chen said again: "I'm going to redeem the ancestral house and buy them another five hundred acres of fertile land. Do you think this will work?"

Yin Niang nodded and said: "This is very good. It is said that Shengdou rice nourishes enemies. If you give too much, it will easily arouse people's greed. Five hundred acres of fertile land is already considered a middle-class family in Linping County. Compared with their It’s much better to be poor and white now, and it’s definitely not bad for them to guard the fields and live well.”

Mrs. Chen nodded repeatedly, and said, "Yes, yes, that's what I think."

Yin Niang said again: "Didn't you say that Brother Wen can study? Go talk to them and ask them if they would like to let Brother Wen go to the academy to study. If they are willing, I will ask Lord Hou to write a name card and recommend him to the academy. If Brother Wen is successful in the future, he will also be my grandfather's light." Showing kindness to parents is better than giving kindness to children, which will arouse their gratitude even more.

Mrs. Chen said: "Okay, then I'll go back and ask them."

Mrs. Chen said a few more words to her daughter, then teased her grandson again, and then went back.After Mrs. Chen left, Yinniang sat on the bed for a while, then called Qingteng in to discuss the matter of brother Yi's full moon ceremony.

(End of this chapter)