Chapter 115: Past Events (Part 1)

Mrs. Xiang was very attentive to Amber, and after a few visits, Amber got to know some of the circumstances in her family.

The only son died of illness before he was 20 years old, leaving behind a son and a daughter. She couldn't bear to see her young daughter-in-law become a widow, so she let her remarry. The old man helped feed the horses in the stable, and the food and drink were provided by the mansion. The monthly salary was 500 coins. She didn't have a proper job, and it was really hard to live with her grandchildren.

After hearing this, Eleventh Lady fell silent for a moment.

Not to mention that the maids in her room all worked hard, even if they wanted to replace them, they would not hire a talkative one. In her previous life, she had everything going smoothly, but when she came to the Luo Mansion, she was forced into the dust by the environment, and she had to beg for help humbly, so her feelings were deeper than those of ordinary people. Do not impose on others what you do not want others to do to you. She gave such great hope to the maid, and then sent her away with a casual remark "No replacement for the time being", I am afraid she would not be able to sleep for most of half a month. And those two roast chickens, I don't know where they were bought with the money saved. She felt sorry for him because of her own experience. And Amber felt guilty when talking about this, which surprised her.

How old are Xiang Po's grandson and granddaughter?

Amber's eyes lit up when she heard this: The older granddaughter is called Fangfei, who is twelve years old this year and was born in April. The younger grandson is called Suoer, who is ten years old this year.

Eleventh Lady remembered that there was a girl named Fangfei in Yuanniang's room: Was she a servant in the eldest sister's room?

No, Amber smiled, I heard that she is very smart, so people in the mansion call her Da Fangfei and Xiao Fangfei.

Eleventh Lady pondered: "She talks too much to the old woman, and is not suitable to stay here. When the time comes, you can see if there is a shortage of maids, find a job for Fangfei, and give her some pointers, so that she won't be as talkative as her grandmother, and then she will be able to stay in the job for a long time."

Amber is the most capable maidservant beside Shiyi Niang, and everyone in the Xu Mansion knows it. Although Shiyi Niang is not the head of the household, if there is a vacancy in the household, she wants to go in as an individual, and the Third Lady will not reject her face for this. This matter is naturally not difficult to do. Amber happily agreed, and the two talked about the affairs of the household.

The old marquis took three concubines in succession. The first one was a servant who gave birth to the third master. She died of illness in her thirties. The second one did not give birth to a child and died of illness two years after the old marquis died. The third one was taken in by the old marquis in his later years. She was only in her early twenties when the old marquis died. The old lady gave her a sum of money and let her go. When the old marquis was alive, the concubines stayed in the old lady's room for five days each, and stayed in the old lady's room on other days. After the third lady married in, she also followed this rule, and the old aunt also followed this rule.

Eleventh Lady didn't know that Third Master also had concubines: "...How many concubines does he have? Do you know their backgrounds?"

"There is only one, her surname is Yi, she is the third lady's companion, she was born when the third lady was pregnant with the eldest young master. She has never given birth. She is very close to our concubine Qin."

They are all maids, so they should speak a common language!

Eleventh Lady nodded slightly.

"…The Second Master passed away on the tenth day of the first lunar month in the fifty-second year of Jianwu. Madam Wen was brought into the palace on the sixth day of the eleventh lunar month, and Madam Qin and Madam Tong passed away soon after. The Old Marquis passed away on the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month."

Qin and Tong were both born as maids and served Xu Lingyi since childhood. It is said that Tong died a long time ago, and Qin was promoted to concubine because she gave birth to a concubine's eldest son...

"As far as I remember, Qiu Luo didn't seem to have a concubine?"

"You remembered correctly. Aunt Tong was not promoted." Amber knew what Eleventh Lady wanted to ask, and whispered, "Tell the maid that Aunt Tong was already four months pregnant when she died. If the child could be born, the eldest young master would be older... She also said that Aunt Tong's appearance and temperament are unmatched in the whole mansion. When she served the Marquis, she never went out to see the excitement. Even on days like the New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival, when everyone in the yard went out to play, she would stay in the house to fumigate the quilt and warm tea for the Marquis. She was most liked by the Madam, and she was promoted as Aunt Tong whenever she was happy."

Pretty, sensible, and polite, she became an aunt as soon as she was born, and then got pregnant with her first child...but in the end, she died of two deaths!

Eleventh Lady felt a chill in her heart: "Do you know how he died?"

Amber's face turned slightly pale: "It is said that the fetus is in trouble..."

Isn't it said that the first three months are the most unstable? Why is it that in the fourth month...

"Where is the Marquis?" Eleventh Lady asked in a low voice, "What was the Marquis's reaction when he found out that Aunt Tong was dead?"

"It is said that Yanjing was in turmoil at that time, so the Madam sent the Marquis to his hometown in Henan to guard the old Marquis's mausoleum. When he came back, Aunt Tong had been dead for almost two years. It was hard to see that the Marquis was different, but not long after, the Marquis had a quarrel with the eldest aunt over the second wife, and then the two gradually became estranged."

"Oh?" Eleventh Lady listened and moved her body, "Why are you arguing?"

"The house we live in now is to the east of the main hall. It is the upper courtyard where the marquises and their wives lived. After the second master got married, he originally lived in the courtyard where the concubines live in our house now. At that time, Dianchun Hall had not been demolished yet. The marquis and the eldest aunt lived in Dianchun Hall. The fifth master was still young, so he lived in the west wing of our courtyard.

Later, the Second Master died. The Second Madam was a widow, and according to reason, she should have moved to a more secluded place to live. But she was so sick at the time that she was confused. In broad daylight, she actually said that she heard the Second Master coughing in the study, and asked the maid to bring a cloak to the Second Master... The Tai Madam burst into tears when she heard this, and she cried with her, and no one dared to mention moving. Later, the Second Madam was better, but the old Marquis passed away again, and the Tai Madam fell ill. It happened that something happened in the family, and it was said that the old Marquis was a member of such and such a party, and if things went wrong, he would seize the title. Thanks to our old lady who intervened, everything was safe. So when you married into the family, everyone said that the Xu family was repaying the Luo family for their kindness!"

This was the first time that Eleventh Lady heard about such a thing happening between the Xu and Luo families.

"…The Marquis and the Third Master were out every day. The eldest aunt was in charge of the family affairs, and the Third Madam was pregnant, so the Grand Madam couldn't take good care of her. It was all thanks to the Second Madam who dragged her sick body and took the Fifth Master to the Grand Madam to offer medicine and soup, and also supervised the Fifth Master's homework. At that time, everyone was so thin that only a bag of bones was left. After the incident was over, the Marquis and the Third Master went to their hometown in Henan to guard the mausoleum, and the Second Madam helped the Grand Madam manage the family business. She stayed in the Grand Madam's room nine out of ten days. Naturally, no one mentioned asking her to move out."

Eleventh Lady was stunned: "Did the Second Madam help the Madam manage the family business?"

"Yeah." Amber said solemnly. "I asked it repeatedly."

Tell the maid that in those days, the managers of the outer courtyard had to report to the second lady for instructions. The matters of the inner courtyard had to be reported to the eldest aunt.

Eleven fell into deep thought.

Amber continued, "Later, the Marquis and the Third Master came back. The Third Master took over the family business, and the Second Madam proposed to move to where the Tai Madam currently lived. The Marquis disagreed, and said, 'I didn't come back to drive my widowed sister-in-law out.' After hearing that, the Second Madam was reluctant to bring up the idea of ​​moving again. The Tai Madam saw that this was not going to work, so she had two new courtyards built next to Dianchun Hall, which are where the Fifth Master currently lives and where the eldest aunt used to live."

"So, the courtyard where Fifth Master lives and the house where Eldest Aunt lives were built later?"

When Shiyi Niang was handling divorce cases, she had seen too many dramas. Any trivial matter that others thought was trivial could become the fuse for divorce. She could guess what happened later: "It turns out that the Kun position of Xu's mansion happened to be the courtyard where we live now!"

Amber nodded repeatedly: "At that time, the courtyard next to Dianchun Hall had not been built yet. When the second wife heard this, she immediately moved to the current house in the back garden. The Marquis thought the eldest aunt was meddling. He also said that the second wife was a woman living alone in the back garden, so you might as well drive her to the nunnery directly, at least she would have someone to keep her company. The eldest aunt was very aggrieved and said that she had lived in the upper courtyard of the Xu family for three years and I didn't say anything. If I wanted to drive her away, I would have driven her away long ago. Who knew that the Marquis would be even more aggrieved after hearing this? She was angry, asking if the eldest aunt was thinking about the upper room every day, and also said, "Now I am the Marquis of Yongping, I have made progress, are you satisfied and happy now?" The eldest aunt was so angry that she burst into tears and said, "Didn't I live with you before you became the Marquis?" The two of them talked more and more deeply. The Marquis, who never spoke loudly in front of the eldest aunt on weekdays, actually slapped the yellow pear wood kang table beside him into pieces with one palm, and scared Wanxiang to run to find the lady. "

"Then the Madam scolded the Marquis?"

Amber stared at Shiyi Niang with wide eyes: "How did you know?"

Eleventh Lady smiled slightly: "The Dowager is the one who helps the weak and not the strong. The Second Lady is alone, so she pities the Second Lady; the Fifth Master is like a child who has not grown up, so she is afraid that the Fifth Lady will be wronged; the Third Lady has two sons, and the Third Master listens to the Third Lady. The Dowager will definitely not worry that she has a bad life. She is most at ease with her and naturally pays the least attention to her." She has seen many mothers-in-law like this. The daughter-in-law often feels that the mother-in-law is not fair, but the mother-in-law hopes that everyone can live a good life. She thinks that if you are capable, I don’t need to help you anymore. "Now that the eldest sister and the Marquis are quarreling, she wants to help the eldest sister scold the son to calm things down!"

Amber recognized a hint of admiration in her eyes: "As a result, the Marquis, who usually kept silent in front of the Madam, also moved to the back garden in anger."

"Half Moon Pan?"

Amber jaw.

"Then the eldest sister also moved to the current house out of spite." Eleventh Lady couldn't help but smile, "How did the two of them reconcile later?"

Otherwise, how could there be a brother who is being lured?