The Red Mansion is so charming

Chapter 132

When the Supreme Emperor returned from offering sacrifices to his ancestors on Mount Tai, he took the Fifth Prince Li Hong, who was supposed to live in the side hall of Beiyuan, with him personally to educate him.From then on, Yuntai had a little boy who came in and out, and no one in the inner palace dared to underestimate him. Even the queen mother always asked about this little boy when she carefully apologized when she came to talk to the emperor. Your Highness.

All of a sudden, the queen's iron plan suddenly came to nothing. Not only did she not expect, even Xiaozong did not expect that within half a month, her illegitimate son would completely capture the old emperor's heart.Such an ending was not what Xiaozong wanted to see. It was true that Xiaozong was infatuated with the child's biological mother, and he also planned to use the opportunity of promoting him to make up for the abandonment of Ouyang's family.

However, the premise of all this is that everything is in the hands of Xiaozong.

Now the Supreme Emperor intends to coerce Li Hong into starting a new business. This is something Xiaozong absolutely cannot accept.As a result, the Fifth Prince, who had been very favored by the imperial court, suddenly became the object of Xiaozong's cold reception.

Gradually, people could see some ways inside and outside. After a long time, except for the palace people of Yuntai, they were also polite and courteous to Li Hong, while the rest of the people always acted in the opposite way, and treated the fifth prince and the people around him openly and secretly. Under the black hands.

The Supreme Emperor just didn't know it at all, and the Empress was even more happy to watch the fun, except for the Yuan Concubine of Fengfengzao Palace who sent eunuchs to Yuntai to visit the Fifth Prince from time to time.

Beijing has entered September, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Except for the morning and evening, there is still a bit of coolness, and the rest of the time makes people want to get into the ice bucket.Lu's body is heavy, and she can't stand the scorching heat anymore, so Xiuyan discussed with her father who went out early and returned late, and the two of them took Daiyu back, and the three of them went to the village on the outskirts of the city to take shelter first, and waited for the weather to cool down a little. come back again.

Xing Zhong stayed in the ordnance shop all day long, and his whole body was as dry as charcoal. Not only that, he also lost an astonishing weight. The clothes he used to wear are now baggy and don’t fit at all. Lu felt sorry for her husband: "I advise you to You shouldn’t have handed over things like that, now it’s all right, the emperor simply treats you like an old black slave, and makes you rush to work day and night, if this continues, your body will definitely be exhausted.”

Xiuyan personally boiled a bowl of herb soup for Xing Zhong: "The doctor Mi said that you can't use big tonic soup in this season, it will make the body dry and hot. He gave me an ancestral recipe, using more than twenty kinds The medicinal materials are made into medicine packs, stewed together with black-bone chicken and rice field eel, and the effect is better with honeysuckle rattan instead of Codonopsis pilosula."

Xing Zhong took the steamer from his daughter with a smile: "It's rare, it's not the time to catch eels, where did you get it?"

Lu looked at her husband angrily: "Your daughter loves you so much, she called all the respectable restaurants in the capital to buy, and a rice field eel will give you a tael of silver. Even this small mouthful in your bowl is enough for a farmer's family to spend half a year. I chewed it up."

Xing Zhong was taken aback, and hurriedly handed the steamer to Lu Shi: "Nonsense! What's the use of eating it, your month is heavy, you should eat it."

Seeing her parents pushing back and forth, Xiuyan couldn't help laughing and said: "Look at you two, even a bowl of soup is modest. Dad just eats it. Doctor Mi said that this herbal soup is not suitable for pregnant women. I asked for it earlier." People cook food for mom. Speaking of this, I have something to discuss with my parents. Now the family needs to increase the number of people, and Zhengde will come out to work in the future, and the money collected by the court will cost a lot. a lucrative business."

The couple were taken aback, since Xing Zhong left his official career, the financial power of the family has been handed over to Lu Shi.Lu Shi was pregnant, and her daughter fought against her shoulders.

From the perspective of outsiders, Xiuyan is only sixteen or seventeen years old, and the actions of the Xing family and his wife are unbelievable, but Xing Zhong and Lu Shi know that their daughter's financial management ability is far beyond their ability, so Feel free to let her take care of it.

"What's going on? Is there something wrong with the business at home?" Xing Zhong looked at Lu Shi suspiciously, but Lu Shi didn't understand, and waved at her husband.

Xiuyan hurriedly smiled and said: "The cake shop's business is very good, but I saw my mother working hard every day, and the cook at home was not delicious, and suddenly remembered that in that era, there was no such place specially for confinement. ? From the beginning of pregnancy to the birth of the fetus, if the profits in the middle are picked up by us, it will be an astonishing value."

Lu's mind was spinning quickly, and when her daughter said this, she immediately interjected: "The big families in the capital specially hire wet nurses to feed their children, and the poor families can't afford to hire them. How do you solve the problem in the middle?" ? Another one, you are a big girl who has never left home, and it may not be good for your reputation to let outsiders know that you are the leader of this business."

Xiuyan smiled: "I've thought about what Mom said a long time ago. The latter one is easy to solve. Now that Dad is an official family, it's not easy for us to come forward, so we will record the business under the name of the housekeeper's wife. People like Rongguo Mansion Most of them use this method. As for the previous one, it is not a problem. Our business has taken a high-end route from the very beginning, and we want to invite people to enjoy a full set of services from us. No one is worth 2000 taels. Don’t even think about it. You guys Think about it carefully, those big families hire nurses for nothing more than to pick the strong and innocent ones among the servants in the family. As for why the children have a fever and why they vomit milk, those nurses don’t understand at all. There are very few of them, even if there are, they are all acted by vulgar medicine women."

Yao Po is a woman who specializes in selling medicine in rural areas or remote areas. They use some local methods and Chinese herbal medicine to treat people. Only poor families have no choice but to hire them when they have no money left for medical treatment. These women often serve as pediatricians. There are those who are cured and those who are not.Their way of making money is nothing more than selling heresy medicines at sky-high prices for the use of inner women.

Serious people are unwilling to deal with this kind of person, let alone entrust such important matters as children to their hands.

"I've heard people say that there are old nanny in the palace who serve women during confinement, but these people are very expensive, and they will not easily pass on their unique skills to outsiders. Although I have never been born, I have served many times." Xiu Yan smiled and said: "Didn't I bring up Zhengde when I was young? I have a lot of experience! Even if it is unreliable, you can still ask other teachers. As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang. I spend money to enshrine those For the old nuns who came out of the palace, everyone brainstormed together, and they can sort out a regulation to some extent."

When Xing Zhong saw his daughter say this, his delicate little face glowed.

The girl in my family knows best. Since her daughter came to Beijing, she hasn't shown such excitement for a long time.

Thinking of this, Xing Zhong couldn't help feeling sad: In the past, in Wu County, although it was not as prosperous as here, the family of four was happy and happy, eating and drinking without worrying about it, unlike now.
When the three of them were discussing what to do about this matter, the housekeeper suddenly came in in a hurry: "Master, madam, someone came from the palace and said that the empress has an order for the wife and our girls."

Xiuyan hurriedly helped the pregnant Lu to the front yard.A little Huangmen from the Queen's Hall was waiting there, and when she saw Mrs. Lu, she smiled and said, "The empress is considerate of Mrs. Xing's pregnancy, and she doesn't want you to bow down, so she just accepted the imperial edict."

Lu's heart was moved, and he quickly laughed and said: "Even though the father-in-law said so, the empress is the mother of a country after all, how dare a little woman be arrogant, this gift must be respected." After finishing speaking, he took Xiuyan's hand , Slowly bend your knees and kneel down.

Xiao Huangmen looked down at Lu Shi from a high position, although he had a smile on his face, he didn't make a sound to stop Lu Shi's actions.When she saw that Mrs. Lu was kneeling firmly, she slowly unfolded the bright yellow scroll and said in a loud voice: "I heard that there is a girl named Xiuyan in the Xing family, who is both good-looking, talented and virtuous. Today, I will go to the palace for questioning and order her mother, Mrs. Lu, to accompany her. "

After Xiao Huangmen finished reading, he congratulated and said: "Mrs. Xing is overjoyed, there are really not many young ladies who can be summoned by the empress! This is the blessing of your family, and it is also the blessing of Miss Xing."

Mrs. Lu gave the housekeeper a wink, and the housekeeper hurriedly handed over the prepared purse, Xiao Huangmen smiled even deeper, "Mrs. Xing doesn't need to be too careful, it's really not a big deal, the third princess lacks a girl to accompany her. Son, the emperor asked the empress to find some suitable candidates in the rich and noble families in the capital. No, the first thing the empress thinks of is Miss Xing."

Lu Shi laughed dryly: "Don't make fun of us, father-in-law? Our girl is also nineteen years old this year. Isn't it too old to be a companion?"

The housekeeper hurriedly took out a 200 tael bank note from his cuff, the little Huangmen was startled, and wanted to accept it but dared not accept it.

"My father-in-law at least give me an accurate word. If we get help from my father-in-law, we will never forget this kindness in the future."

Little Huangmen gritted his teeth, and told Lu Shi directly: "The three princesses were accused of marrying the youngest son of General Ningyuan's family a few years ago, and now they are paying the price with all their heart. How can they really have time to study in the school? It's just that the empress found a An excuse, I want to see the eldest lady of your family. Our family status is low, and we don't know important news, but these days, the third prince often goes to the Queen's Palace to pay his respects, and he goes to see His Highness the fourth prince along the way."

Little Huangmen didn't care whether the mother and daughter of the Xing family understood it or not, they had to leave after taking the silver ticket: "Our family has to go to Ouyang Mansion at the opposite door, so there is no delay, the people in the palace will be on time tomorrow morning." Come to pick up Mrs. Xing and Missy, and please don't delay the two noblemen."

The butler personally sent Xiao Huangmen out of the house, and the mother and daughter turned back to the inner courtyard and told Xing Zhong about the matter.

Xing Zhong pondered for a long while: "That little father-in-law has something in his words. The third prince was born to a palace man, and the mother of the third princess is an unfavorable nobleman. How could the two of them get together? And the queen has never been serious about non-biological children. Color, it is very unusual for the third prince to go to the central palace frequently."

Before Zhengde entered the palace, the Xing family had already inquired about the preferences and backgrounds of the princes and daughters, just in case.Unexpectedly, it was not Zhengde who used this resource, but Xiuyan.

Xiuyan suddenly said: "When Lian's second sister-in-law came, she only said that she begged for the coral tree to send off the king of Beijing Jing. I vaguely remembered that she mentioned the third prince, as if she asked Baoyu for an errand as an attendant. Three Which one was the prince's previous attendant?"

Xing Zhong hurriedly said: "Ah Xing went out to inquire about this matter, so let him come here."

Ah Xing used to be the number one servant by Xing Zhong's side, but now that he is old, Lu married him a good marriage, and even mentioned him to be Xing Zhong's steward.Ah Xing knows how to repay his kindness and is extremely loyal to Xing Zhong and Lu Shi.

"Master asked His Royal Highness the third prince's companion?" Ah Xing stood in the hall and thought for a while, "If I remember correctly, it seems to be a young master of the Xu family."

Xing Zhong nodded: "That makes sense. Once the old concubine of the Xu family left, even Mrs. Xu was allowed to be at home by the emperor Ding You, let alone those juniors? The King of Beijing Jing is not very old, but he has good hands and eyes. Jia Baoyu's favor is nothing. But the third prince asked to accompany him to read, the emperor has no time to take care of such trivial matters, but the queen can't help but ask, is this what the little eunuch is referring to?"

The whole family was puzzled and puzzled, seeing that they were going to enter the palace the next day, and Lu couldn't care about that, so he could only busy himself with choosing suitable clothes for the two of them.

Before dawn the next day, Xiuyan and Lu Shi got up and waited. Lu Shi's ruddy face was a little haggard after all the effort.Xiuyan hurriedly asked someone to set up a couch for Concubine Zhang in the main room of the outer courtyard, and first asked her mother to take a nap here, while she leaned on the chair and closed her eyes to rest.

Xiuyan was preoccupied with something, and she didn't dare to sleep too deeply. As soon as she heard footsteps in the yard, she woke up in a flash.

"Miss, the sedan chair in the palace went to the Ouyang Mansion at the opposite door first." Meilian's face was tense, "The ones who came out were their old lady and two unknown ladies."

Mi Ying, who was standing beside Xiuyan, heard the words, and quickly looked at the girl: "Our family has many spies in Ouyang's house, why didn't we know that Ouyang's house also has a girl?"

Xiuyan sneered: "What kind of spy is that! He's just an old member of the Qi family, and now he's taken refuge in the new owner. It's too late to be a good boy. How could he really tell us the truth!"

Hearing what the girl said, Meilian stomped her feet angrily: "The dogs have eaten the conscience, but the girl gave them money!"

Although Meilian kept complaining, she also knew that it was useless, so she went to call someone with Lu's big girls first.After a while, there was another commotion in the front yard, and the housekeeper led the little yellow gate in the palace to invite Lu Shi and Xiuyan in person.

There were two green-curtain eight-treasure chariots parked outside the gate, the one in front obviously had an owner, the woman following the chariot looked at Lushi and Xiuyan coming out of the gate of Xing's house with disdain, and when they saw them approaching, Then he turned his head and whispered a few words to the people inside the curtain, his attitude was very arrogant.

Xiao Huangmen raised his hand and said with a smile: "Mrs. Xing and Miss Xing, please come this way." Sure enough, they were led to the second car.

If you want to enter from Fengwei Hutong, the first person to pass by should definitely be the Xing family, not the original old house of the Qi family.But the palace people not only passed the Xing family to Ouyang Mansion first, but also gave them the first car, which is more important than others, which can be clearly seen at a glance.

Xiuyan felt unspeakably awkward, while supporting Lu Shi, she couldn't help but look back.

The curtain of the Qia Tou car was also gently lifted by a corner, and half a face suddenly appeared inside.Xiuyan's heart sank, even though it was just a glimpse, but Daiyu would feel ashamed of her beauty if she stood in front of her.
(End of this chapter)