114 Chapter 114
◎Lip color◎
After coming out of the east side room, she walked around the house with great interest.
"Is this the house you bought at that time?"
"Yes, and I would also like to thank the young lady for the one hundred taels she gave me."
Gao was pregnant at the time, and he felt sympathy for her, who was also pregnant. He remembered that his mother-in-law and her aunt were close friends, and that his husband also had a relationship with her, so he wanted to help her, so he gave her so much. Whether she could live well was up to her fate.
Now it seems that life is pretty good.
"Were you renting a house with the surname Jiang at that time?"
This was exactly what Cheng Mu wanted to ask. "Aunt Jiang has always taken good care of me. It was thanks to her that I was able to buy this house first. After I bought this house and moved out, something happened to her family, and we lost contact. Later, I heard that she sold the house and followed your family to the capital."
Gao nodded. "She and her husband sold themselves to the mansion. She told me this story when she came to me. A little digging revealed the story. At that time, she suffered an unexpected disaster and was targeted by the Yang family. She fled to her brother's house in Yizhou and hid there for a while. Later, she had a dirty deal with her brother and sold her house and body to pay off the debt."
"So that's how it is." Cheng Mu sighed.
Looking up, he saw that the tip of Gao's nose was a little red, and he quickly said, "Come in and sit down. It's too cold outside."
Gao sat in the house for a while longer, enjoying some dried fruit and pastries. She didn't leave until the maid reminded her and the sedan chair carrier stopped in front of the house gate.
Remembering that she had not yet looked at the Thousand Happiness Box, Cheng Mu called Xiaoliu and went to Lin's house with Gao.
In the greenhouse of Lin's house, Gao was shocked again. The Thousand Happiness Box here was even more spectacular than the one sent to Liu's house last time. Moreover, some of the vegetables here did not grow in the soil, and some grew on wooden towers.
The two accompanying maids had no reaction to the exquisite things they saw in the east room, but when they saw the lush green vegetables that were often eaten in the kitchen but difficult to buy in winter, they couldn't control their expressions and were very surprised.
There were still five boxes of Qianxi fruit. Gao picked three boxes, one to be sent to Grandma Liu and two to the Gao residence.
She took Xiaoliu's hand and said, "Good boy, I'll have someone deliver the silver to you later."
Xiaoliu had been keeping her lips tightly pursed, but joy ran into her eyes and almost jumped out.
After saying goodbye, Gao left the alley and asked the sedan bearer to turn to Liu's mansion.
She would come to see Grandma Liu every three to five days.
Grandma Liu's surname was Xu. She had invited a female opera singer to perform in the flower hall. She was watching the show with the old lady. After hearing the report from the maid, she returned to her own courtyard after getting the approval of the old lady and her mother-in-law.
Gao was sitting there, playing with the tassels on the hand warmer out of boredom.
Mrs. Xu asked, "Why are you here at this hour today? Why don't you go to the opera with me?"
Gao gave the hand warmer to the mother-in-law to replace the hot water, "No, I want to talk to you quietly."
Xu took off the cloak she wore when walking outside, handed it to the maid, and sat down beside her. "What happened today? Did your sister-in-law make you angry?"
"No. I just came from Baoqing Hutong and went to Cheng Jiuniang's house for a while."
Xu quickly realized, "You really chased her to her house? How was it?"
"I was mistaken."
Gao was a little melancholy. After celebrating the New Year in Puyang City, she was going to Yizhou, where Zhou Mao was working. She did not go with him because she was pregnant, and gave her personal maid Kai Lian to him. Zhou Mao took a concubine there, and Gao had been serving her parents-in-law. The couple had no chance to meet for so many years, and they only had one son. This time she came back to attend the funeral, and her parents-in-law let her go to her husband.
I heard that the concubine was very domineering and difficult to get along with. And she and her husband hadn't seen each other for so many years that they were no different from strangers.
When she saw Cheng Jiuniang again, she had thought of inviting her to go to Yizhou with her. Her mother often said in her ear that if the wife did not compete with the concubines, and one concubine was the most powerful, then she should take another concubine and let the concubines compete with her.
She had thought several times today about what would have happened to them if Cheng Jiuniang had come in. But there were no ifs.
Today, Cheng Jiuniang would not go to Yizhou with her.
"Cheng Jiuniang is a truly free person in this world," Gao said with a wry smile. "She lives by her own rules."
Unlike them, although they look rich, they live according to other people's rules.
"Just let it go." Madam Xu patted her hands. "Let her be strong and fussy as she wants. Just keep calm. One is willful and rambunctious, the other is knowledgeable and interesting. Everyone can tell the good from the bad. Sooner or later, your husband will get tired of her."
"I hope so."
Xiaoliu couldn't sit still after returning home. She rooted to the gatehouse, sometimes thinking someone was knocking on the door, and sometimes opening the door to look out.
Her mother said that as long as it can be sold, don't worry about the price. Now is the best time to sell it. After a while, even the best eyes will become dead fish eyes.
Xiaoliu readily accepted the offer and took three boxes of Qianxi fruit, no matter how much the lady gave him.
An hour later, she finally received a purse personally delivered by Gao's maid.
There were three ingots of silver and a silver note worth one hundred taels.
"I'm rich! I'm rich!"
Gui'er shook the weight of the silver with envy, and looked at the hundred-liang silver note over and over again.
"Aunt Gui, I'm rich!" Xiaoliu hugged her neck.
Gui'er retracted her hand and said, "Don't be obsessed with money, kid. Hand all this over to your mother!"
"Give it to me! Give it back to me!" Xiaoliu went from being extremely happy to extremely sad in an instant, "Give me back my things!"
Gui'er wrinkled her nose provocatively and ignored her.
Xiaoliu tried to take it back by throwing a tantrum, but she was no match for Guier. She ended up crying, "I'll give it to Mom myself! I don't want you to give it to me, I want to give it to me myself, give it back to me..."
Xiaoliu was crying heart-wrenchingly, and Muyun happened to come back from outside.
"Zhao Guier!"
Before Mu Yun could even start, Gui'er flung her purse at him, "Here you go! I'm trying to teach her a lesson. She acts like I've bullied her so cruelly. If you were her father, you'd fight me to the death..."
Escaped, escaped.
Mu Yun's face darkened, but he couldn't really go up and beat her up.
After coaxing her for a long time, Xiao Liu finally stopped crying. She hugged Mu Yun tightly and said aggrievedly, "Auntie Gui is so mean."
Mu Yun said, "There are two boxes left. Daddy bought them for you."
Xiao Liu was not happy at all. "Daddy, if you want to give me money, just give it to me directly. Why did you take away my Qianxi Box?"
"You have nowhere to sell it, don't you need my help?"
"Then little daddy, go find someone for me. I won't sell it to you."
"The head of the Wuwei Escort Agency is coming over. I'll put it in her room and she can buy it."
"Really? Then I'll tell Aunt Gui the good news! She likes your boss the most!"
The tears on Xiaoliu's face were still wet. Mu Yun held her back and said, "You hated her to death just now."
Xiaoliu pretended to be reserved and said, "Okay, I'll tell her tomorrow."
Mu Yun held a letter for Cheng Mu in his hand. He rubbed Xiao Liu's head and said, "Are you going to keep all this money for yourself? Shouldn't you report it to your mother? Have you heard the story of the child carrying gold through the market? Hmm?"
Xiaoliu pouted and followed Mu Yun to the study.
Cheng Mu was soaking her seed. She glanced up and then went back to her own business. "What were you howling about outside just now?"
Xiaoliu stepped forward and said, "Mom, Madam Zhou sent someone to deliver the money to buy the Qianxi box." She reluctantly opened her purse and poured out the silver ingots and banknotes inside.
Cheng Mu unfolded the banknote, which was worth one hundred taels, and couldn't help laughing. This Gao Yuping.
Xiaoliu didn't understand what her mother was laughing at, so she turned her head to look at Mu Yun.
Mu Yun was concentrating on the smile in front of him, staring at the pale pink lips.
Cheng Mu put away the banknote and said to Xiao Liu, "This banknote is from the young lady. You can keep the three silver ingots yourself. Keep them safe."
It turned out to be a box of Qianxi fruit and a silver ingot. Xiaoliu suddenly realized that it was not bad at all. Mother had already told her that, so Aunt Gui couldn't find fault with it!
She packed three silver ingots in her purse and skipped out of the door.
"Is there a letter?" Cheng Mu saw a familiar envelope.
Mu Yun handed her the letter, "It's from the boss to my sister-in-law. The boss also sent a letter saying that he will come to Puyang City to inspect the branch office in the near future."
Cheng Mu had already opened the letter quickly and read it through at a glance.
"That's what she said in her letter. I'll go visit her then."
"Anything else?" He didn't even glance at him.
Mu Yun had already read the letter from the boss, which said that Mu Yun refused to return to Yunzhou City. She had found many suitable young ladies but was helpless. She would bring the daughter of an old friend with her when she went on an inspection tour, and hoped that Cheng Mu would assist her.
"The boss asked her to clean and decorate the yard. She never cared about these things. I only asked Xiaoliu for two boxes of Qianxi fruit to put them on display. I'll have to ask my sister-in-law for the rest."
"Okay, I'll arrange it."
After Mu Yun left, Cheng Mu was not in the mood to have another child, she just felt helpless.
Something that can't be avoided. Something that can never be dealt with. She was so angry that she sent Madam Zhu away, and now, she's chasing after her with such fanfare.
Really... Cheng Mu was so angry that she laughed.
On the 18th, Mu Yun borrowed the mute woman to host a welcome banquet at the escort agency. Just before noon, a carriage arrived, specifically to take Cheng Mu and the two children. Gui'er refused to take Qiao with her, so she stayed at home with Huaihua.
The branch office in Puyang City was not as large as the one in Yunzhou City. It only had one main courtyard, and the rest of the space was used as housing for the escorts and servants. Mu Yun had earlier ordered the six rooms in the main courtyard to be cleaned and fully equipped.
After Cheng Mu and Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi arrived, they simply placed the potted flowers and pasted words and flowers cut out of red paper on them, and the atmosphere immediately changed.
First, Muyun and his companions went hunting in the mountains and brought back a golden pheasant with very beautiful feathers. Xiaoliu collected all of them and made two dream catchers with Huaihua these days. She brought one over and Cheng Mu taught her to hang it next to the bed curtain in the east room.
Cheng Mu also specially painted two botanical encyclopedias: one depicting ginseng in bloom, and the other depicting sesame in bloom. Both have good meanings, with neat brushstrokes and fresh, natural coloring. They are not comparable to other paintings, but they have a unique charm. The ginseng is hung in the main house, and the sesame is hung in the east room.
Xiaoliu was more attentive and asked her, "Mom, who lives here?"
"The boss has brought guests."
At 3:00 p.m., word came that the carriage had arrived at the door. Cheng Mu put down what she was doing and quickly asked someone to call Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi, who had gone off to play somewhere, as well as the escort and all the servants who were not busy in the kitchen, to come to the hall to greet them.
Wu Tao was thinner than before, with gray hair, but she was still as energetic as before, walking with a breeze. She and a chubby steward walked in front. After entering the house, she paused, looked back, and called out, "Zhenzhen, come quickly."
A young lady who was left behind by her a few steps away was accompanied by Nanny Chang. She was slim and graceful, with beautiful features. She hurriedly took a few steps, and a pair of dimples instantly appeared on her oval face. "Auntie." She caught up with her, supported the person, and raised her eyes shyly to look at the man who was coming towards her.
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