By Jia Xiuzhen

On August [-]th, Jia Zheng paid homage to the ancestral hall, said goodbye to Jia's mother, and was sent by Baoyu and others to the Changting Pavilion outside Beijing, where he went to work.

Mrs. Wang was relieved to hear the comprehensive report, but in a blink of an eye, she couldn't help worrying about the heavy business affairs after the tiring journey.Others only look at the scenery of the aristocratic family, how can they know the difficulty of separating the flesh and blood.I felt restless for a moment, and was about to go to the small Buddhist hall at the back, when Sister Feng found it.

It was originally for the account of the money, she said: "August Festival is settled everywhere, and there are a few extra expenses in the past few months. Although it is not big, it is not the amount. Another good news from the master, the old lady It's up to you, everyone's regular money has also been increased by [-]% under this section. After a few items, the amount of money retained in the book is not enough."

Mrs. Wang rubbed her forehead and said, "Where is the income next to you?"

Sister Feng said: "There are also a few shops and merchants who have sent dry stocks in. Those who ask their wives don't care, but less than half of those who ask their masters agree. They always think that the business is not fair, and even those who accept It’s because of human favors that you can’t shirk it. This time the master ordered the release, but there were a few more people, but none of them could see the money.”

Mrs. Wang was silent for a while, before she said: "Before the master got up, he told me that they still had some money outside. If they really can't adjust it, let me talk to Lian'er. In that case, you will Let Lian'er come over."

Sister Feng raised her eyebrows secretly: "I haven't heard the second master mention this before."

Mrs. Wang sighed: "You don't have to doubt him. I don't know about this. How could he know? It's probably the idea of ​​the master and the eldest master together with Brother Zhen. It's probably accumulated over the years for emergencies. Now I can temporarily move some here for urgent use, and it’s better to go back when it’s looser in the future.”

Sister Feng agreed, and said another thing: "Just now there is a letter from Zhen's family. It is about asking about buying a workshop in the south. The master is on the way. It's not easy to make decisions. I have to ask my wife first."

Mrs. Wang nodded: "I also know about this, and I am going to ask the old lady what she means."

Sister Feng remained silent, and Mrs. Wang said again: "Accordingly, the old lady is at the age when she should enjoy happiness, but she only hates us for being incomprehensible. There are many twists and turns in the incomprehensible things, so I have to ask her old man. "

Sister Feng thought for a while and said, "I've heard about this. It turned out that many factories borrowing water power were built in the Jiangnan area a few years ago. Because of the powerful machinery they used, the previous few spinning and weaving factories were turned away. Forced to nowhere. Even the Zhen family and the Liu family suffered greatly. They originally thought that they would use the grievances of the vagrants who lost their jobs to force the closure of these waterworks. Once the work is done, they will be recruited there. I have not seen any complaints from the people. I really hate them. Who would have thought that the sky is beautiful, and several places have been flooded in the past two years, so the water power cannot be borrowed. The meaning here is just right. Take advantage of this time to re-establish the original workshops and snatch back the various commercial outlets. So come to ask us what we mean."

Mrs. Wang didn't care about anything else, she just asked: "The Liu family? Which Liu family? The big family that produces cloth at the other end has only heard of Yan Zhao Han Wei, but never heard of a Liu family."

Sister Feng said: "Where is the merchant who sells the cloth? It is the natal family of the noble concubine in the palace, and now it has a lot of confidence in the south by taking advantage of the situation. His family doesn't do that, it just collects everywhere like the Zhen family. Some dry stocks."

Mrs. Wang said: "Last year, it was drought in the north and waterlogging in the south. The harvest of several big villages was not even half of the normal year. The money is getting tighter and tighter. You can understand this matter. I will talk to the old lady later, and I will be sure." I'll tell you my idea."

Seeing that Mrs. Wang had no idea, Sister Feng had no choice but to report all the other trivial matters and go back to the courtyard.

I went back, changed my clothes and drank tea to rest my breath. Jia Lian was still missing, so I sat thinking about it and sighed to Ping'er: "Obviously all those things have been put inside, but I won't open my mouth no matter how much I slap on the sidelines." .Look at what is missing in the account now, and the one who spends the most money is not the one in the palace? Which one is the closest? I really don’t know what to do with all of them in my hands. Is it possible that I really want to leave them all to Baoyu Huh, I didn’t say that Baoyu has a good temper, but if he doesn’t have a concubine to support him, what can he do?! Instead of saving his fortune for him, it’s better to spend some money to pay for his concubine. Really!"

Ping'er changed a cup of tea, and complained together: "Speaking of which place is that in the palace! What kind of things are there! Huihui empress will give some rewards, I wish I could come to him for seventeen or eight. Eunuchs, big and small! Where is the reward here? It’s purely for fun! But it’s hard for us to refuse. If you want me to say it, this matter should also be discussed by the wife with the empress in the palace. They are even more happy because they are not ventilated. I don’t believe it, it’s so unruly to give rewards to the concubine’s family who should go to whom! Even our mansion has a saying.”

Sister Feng said: "How do you know? I heard Sister Bao mentioned a few words, saying that this is the case in the palace. For example, the princess thought of you in the palace today, and pointed out three or four things to reward you. They will be delivered to you. Sometimes, it’s sent by three or four people one by one. You don’t have to pay three or four cents? If you’re not careful, the reward is more than the reward! If you’re rewarded with jewelry and clothes, sometimes it’s not enough. It’s one or two dim sum fruits, tell me, what could it be like? When it comes to the masters, it only wins the nobles to smile, just talk about these little bastards! What else can there be with such a sentence?! We have to seriously care about it. Get up, it looks like we are poor."

Ping'er smiled wryly and said, "Grandma, speaking of it, we can be regarded as 'wealthy troubles', and if we talk about it, people will scold us--something not satisfied!"

Sister Feng was amused by her, bent over and smiled, "Your little hoof is getting slippery."

After all, how Jia's mother discussed with Mrs. Wang, but I can't know in detail.Sister Feng only heard Mrs. Wang say that she didn't intend to get involved in their affairs, so she decided on her own, and took some money earned from investing in the sea to be sent to someone to be counted as a private stock.

Li Wan's place is also very quiet now, even the August festival ceremony is sent to the garden outside as usual, and now it is getting more and more lively there.Jia Lan often had only two servants with him, and stayed there for the rest of the six weekdays.Jia Lan also named the garden - "Chengmo Hall", and asked someone to write it on the stone and lie across the door.

Everyone was gossiping at Jiamu's place this day. Mrs. Wang came with Sister Feng, and Jiamu asked, "Why are you here at this time?"

Mrs. Wang said: "I just got the letter. The master has already gone to the place and handed in the seal with the former student. Everything has been settled, so the old lady doesn't have to worry about it." up.Jia Mu knew more than this, so she signaled Mrs. Wang to continue.

Sure enough, Mrs. Wang sighed: "It's just that Aunt Zhou is not in good health, and she can't stand up when she catches some wind and cold on the road. The master was afraid that he would miss the trip, so he left a little girl and two family members to serve him. Hurry to take office. I didn't know that the master had just settled here, and the two family members came back, but Aunt Zhou's wind and cold became severe. She kept asking the doctor for medicine, but her cough became more and more severe, and even the medicine couldn't be taken in. The little girl waited on her all day and night, and for some reason she also started coughing.

The inn where they lived was afraid that they might suffer from tuberculosis, so they refused to take them in no matter how much money they had. They just settled the rent and returned the rest of the money to them until they moved out.The two were helpless, so they rented a small courtyard in a remote place to house them, and hired a medical woman on the street to take care of them. They only lasted a few more days before they all left.The local medical center took the yamen's decree, saying that tuberculosis victims must be cremated within three days.The two couldn't resist, so they had to follow them.He also deposited the ashes of the two in the Yizhuang Women's Temple, rushed to meet the master, and asked what to do with it. "

Mother Jia sighed after hearing the words: "She is also unlucky. If that's the case, you can figure it out."

Mrs. Wang agreed, and said: "Although Aunt Zhou has no children, she has served the master for these years. There is no credit but hard work. So I sent someone to welcome the two of them back. One was sent to the family temple, and the little girl It can be regarded as meritorious service, let her go to the Buddhist pagoda in the courtyard of the family temple."

Jia Mu nodded and said no more.I don't know what words touched my mind, and I lost my heart for joking for a while, and everyone dispersed after a few words.

After a rest in the evening, Jia Mu suddenly called out Yuanyang in the middle of the night and said, "Remember something for me. When Aunt Zhou's ashes are brought back, let the family temple recite Buddha for a day. Then take a Mingbai boy and put it with her. .”

Yuanyang heard such words in the middle of the night, and the hairs on his back stood on end. Finally, he agreed in a deep voice, and served Jiamu to drink two sips of calming soup, and each rested without mentioning it.

The Grand View Garden is also talking about this.Guiliu said to Daiyu: "Miss, this matter is strange. When the girl went to see her off that day, I also saw Aunt Zhou and those two girls. Although Aunt Zhou looked weaker, it was not a disease in her bones. It's like embellishing and covering up. And both of them seem to be full of vitality, how can there be such a reason to die of illness? It's really hard to understand."

Daiyu also felt chills after hearing this, and hurriedly said: "Okay, what are you doing talking about this at night, it's weird. And if you really can see your face, let everyone in the house see it." , let’s say for sure!”

Guiliu shook her head: "The people here are different from ours, and I dare not say that I can see it. It's just that there is nothing wrong with life. From my point of view, these two people should have been murdered. No harm, but the person died, he must have died violently."

Daiyu was so frightened that her claws numb, the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't feel at ease, so she scolded: "Liu'er, you stinky girl, don't let people sleep!"

Guiliu was sitting cross-legged on the felt beside her bed. Hearing what Daiyu said, she raised her neck and looked at Daiyu: "Girl, what's wrong? Why don't you sleep?"

Daiyu wanted to cry without tears: "You always talk about dirty things at night and teach people how to sleep!"

Gui Liu is innocent: "I didn't say anything about the demon invasion..."

Daiyu said: "You keep saying that this one is dead and that one is alive, isn't that scary enough?!"

Guiliu said: "Ah, girl, I'm just talking about death, what's there to be afraid of? This person should die since he was born. Life and death are one, just like the same flower that blooms and should be thanked. What is there to be afraid of? If you are afraid, shouldn’t you be afraid of things that may or may not come, or will come or not come. Isn’t this instability scary? For example, whether this year is the sea monster or the sky monster, Is it an earth-level monster, or a sky-level monster... ah, I'm terrified just thinking about it..." After speaking, he hugged his shoulders and shook.

Daiyu was so angry that she was so angry that she grabbed a pillow of poplar flowers and rose petals and threw it at GUI Liu: "I will make you a demon! I will make you a monster! I will make you tremble..."

Gui Liu fell to the ground with a smile: "Girl... Oh... It's not going to happen, I'm so happy... Girl, why are you still like this... Oh, girl, I, I'm really scared... "

Daiyu smashed it several times in a row, threw the pillow, sweated, and couldn't help but collapsed from laughter.

Guiliu was lying on the ground, still uneasy: "Girl, I'm not wrong. Didn't the book on your desk still say it? 'If you are evil, you know your husband and the dead don't regret the beginning', we I’ve never died before, so how could I know what happened after death, so I’m so afraid of him! Or I’ll only find out after I’m dead, then I should regret living so many years!”

Daiyu couldn't help laughing again, thinking about it, laughing again, and finally sighed: "I tell you, what you said made sense, and now that I think about it, I think it makes sense. But I still listen to those words." If you are afraid of words, if you say any more, Mo Ge'er will replace you!"

Guiliu immediately stopped talking, and before Daiyu lay down, she couldn't hold back and said, "Girl, what you said just now is actually 'saying that you don't know', and still not knowing, it's the right place to fix it."

Daiyu was really sleepy after making a fuss, and hummed back to her in a daze, "I'll learn tomorrow, my good Liuer, don't make trouble, I'm going to sleep."

Guiliu looked at her sleeping face, and shook out a goose-yellow quilt embroidered with big white begonias to cover her, muttering to herself, "If it's cold today, it's okay to just cover it with the blanket at night, girl." Then put this on... Eh? It seems to be born from the heart, or it is because we believe that we have to cover the quilt to avoid catching a cold, so we catch a cold and get a cold... Uh, let's cover it first..."

Listening to the soft murmurs in her ears, Daiyu fell asleep in the depths of sleep.

After a while, Aunt Zhou came back with the urn of the little girl Rui'er. After hearing what the old lady said, Mrs. Wang asked her to pray for a day in the temple at home, and burned some of the little girl's clothes together.Another Ming boy is required to offer together.He had no choice but to let everyone act according to his words, and fell ill when he came back.Even the sisters went to visit and were not allowed to meet. They only said that they were not good and lazy to meet people.

When Jia's mother heard this, she asked someone to bring a message to let Mrs. Wang have a good rest, but she didn't say a word.Everyone speculated a lot, but they didn't know why.

One day, Nanny Xu came to the mansion to report about the village, and when she talked about it again, Nanny Xu smiled and said, "I'm afraid there are quite a few people in the mansion who know about it, but the old people are tight-lipped. Aunt Zhou should have taken care of her." As a child, she didn't have this status at that time, but the date of her pregnancy was only a few months after the wife was pregnant with Bao Erye. The wife said that when she gave birth to the baby, she would be promoted to be her aunt.

When she was pregnant with the second master, his wife was already old, and the imperial physician was invited every day in the mansion.Later, as the months got older, it was even more difficult.I met Hong a few times, and then I found people in several temples to calculate, and they all said that it was because of a collision with Aunt Zhou's stomach.According to the intention of the old lady, it was originally intended to move people to Zhuangzi.The wife felt sorry for Aunt Zhou, and said that it was too poor in Zhuangzi, and she asked the old nun in Shuiyue Nunnery, and only asked Aunt Zhou to kneel for a few days to resolve the conflict.

Unexpectedly, it was a gathering of friends. Aunt Zhou stayed in that temple for a few days, and then something happened, and the seven-month-old baby in her stomach was lost.I heard he was still a brother!The mansion is worried about the wife, and the wife will soon be due at that time, afraid that it will be bad if she hears it, so they hide it from the wife.It was Aunt Zhao who leaked her words in front of his wife, which caused her to be shocked. She just said, "I missed her", and she had an attack of fetal gas that night.This is the second master Bao.

The second master Bao was born with jade, and the whole family's thoughts were attracted, and naturally no one thought of Aunt Zhou.Afterwards, another old lady wanted to hug Second Master Bao to her side to raise him, and it was just a matter of a few heads.Thinking about it later, it was more than half a year later when Aunt Zhou was brought back.

I heard that Aunt Zhou was also very smart at first, but after that incident, she was dumbfounded.And she hurt her body that time, it will be difficult to have it again in the future.On the contrary, both the wife and the old lady felt sorry for her, and she was promoted to aunt, and the master treated her kindly.I just didn't expect such an ending, which makes people sigh. "

Several people were moved after listening to it, and Nanny Chang said again: "How do you know so clearly? We haven't come here yet at that time."

Mother Xu smiled and said: "The old lady at home asked people to inquire about the affairs of this mansion, and she probably knew something about it. What kind of person the mother-in-law at the head is is really important. Therefore, after we came, I also talked about it in private. Listen to the gossip of those women. Putting it all together, it's probably like this."

Nanny Chang smiled: "It's strange that you always spent money to buy people wine and tea at that time, so it was for this reason."

Mother Xu said: "But it was stupid at that time. It depends on human nature. How can we see how she serves the powerful mother-in-law? It should be seen how she treats the weak daughter-in-law." After saying that, everyone laughed.How many words are there in the smile.