Chapter 184 Firecrackers (Part 1)
After having lunch at the lady's house and returning home, Zhen Jie'er followed Shiyi Niang into the main house with some hesitation.
Seeing that she looked like she had something to say to her, Shiyi Niang asked Luyun and Hongxiu to make the bed and serve Xu Lingyi for his nap, while she and Zhen Jie'er went to the east room.
"What's wrong?" she asked Zhen Jie'er with a smile.
Zhen Jie'er hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mother, I want to spend the New Year with my second aunt."
Eleventh Lady was slightly stunned.
Zhen Jieer said hurriedly: "Second aunt is alone in Xishan... There are also my eldest brother, second brother, third brother and brother Zhen at home... And I am a girl..."
This means that the family would not need more or less of her. The Second Lady was alone, and she would be a companion.
The idea is good.
But she was the eldest daughter of the Xu family after all. If she didn't stay at home to observe the New Year's Eve, the first option would probably not work with the Madam.
Looking at the attentive and considerate Zhen Jie'er, Shiyi Niang took a step back.
"I'll talk to your father about it. Let's see what he says."
Zhen Jie'er knew that her request was too absurd, but when she thought of her second aunt's cold expression and lonely figure, she couldn't help but speak out her thoughts. Now that she heard that Shiyi Niang was willing to help her, she smiled brightly: "Thank you, mother!"
Seeing her smile as bright as the spring sunshine in May, Shiyi Niang changed her usual cautiousness and worried whether she had spoken too harshly - if she failed, wouldn't Zhen Jie'er be even more disappointed.
"Don't be so happy yet." She poured cold water on Zhen Jie'er in advance, "We don't know whether your father will agree or not."
Zhen Jie'er didn't take it seriously, and her smile was still bright: "Whether she agrees or not, my mother is willing to talk to my father for me."
Eleventh Lady was slightly moved.
She had never seen a child who was more grateful than Zhen Jie'er.
When they returned to the room, Xu Lingyi was leaning on the big pillow on the bed reading a book. He raised his eyelids and looked at her, and said, "Sister Zhen, what do you want to talk to you about?"
He took the initiative to ask, there was no better opportunity than now.
Eleventh Lady smiled and told Sister Zhen what she meant: "...From the tone of Third Sister-in-law, she will send someone to give Second Sister-in-law gifts for the New Year tomorrow. If Sister Zhen can go with her, Second Sister-in-law will be so happy!"
Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "I'll discuss this with my mother later."
If he is willing to come forward, then the matter will be 90% certain.
Eleventh Lady breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to ask about the Second Wife: "...Why don't you adopt or adopt a child? This way, you can inherit the Second Wife's family line and save the Second Wife's loneliness."
A trace of sadness flashed across Xu Lingyi's eyes, and after a while he said, "My second sister-in-law doesn't want to. It's not easy to force her." Then he put down the book and lay down, "I'll take a rest." He looked unwilling to talk more and turned over and went to sleep.
Eleventh Lady was very surprised, but thinking that this was his family affair after all, she did not ask too much. She tucked in the quilt for him and went to the warm room in the east wing to sleep for a while.
When he woke up, Xu Lingyi was gone.
"Seeing that the lady was still asleep, the Marquis went to Banyuepan." Luyun answered carefully while observing Shiyi Niang's expression.
Eleventh Lady nodded. Seeing that it was still early, she told her to move the embroidery frame to the big kang by the window in the inner room: "...the progress is too slow."
"I have already embroidered one and a half characters." Luyun smiled and went to move the embroidery rack with Hongxiu. "You are really too busy."
As he was talking, Amber came in and said, "Liu Yuanrui's family is here."
The New Year is just around the corner, and coming here at this time must be for some urgent matter.
Shiyi Niang hurriedly asked Amber to bring her in.
This time she was wearing a lilac-colored muslin jacket and her hair was neatly combed, and she looked very energetic.
Kneeling down and paying respect to Eleventh Lady, she smiled and said, "The New Year is coming soon. Although we are far away, I also want to come and pay my respects to Madam. I also thought that Madam might be busy entertaining those wives of officials in the past few days, and it would not be good to come and quarrel with you at this time. Everyone pushed me to come forward and ask Madam to give us a few "Fu" characters to paste, so that we can also share in Madam's blessings."
Really good at talking.
Among her companions, only Wan Daxian worked in the mansion, and he could go with the housekeepers to pay New Year's greetings to Xu Lingyi. Others lived far away, and even if they hurried over to pay New Year's greetings, they would look shabby among the servants in the Xu family and other houses who were wearing gold and silver. If it was only Shiyi Niang's family, it would be fine, but several houses in the Xu family lived together, and by comparison, there would definitely be those who would take advantage of the situation to gossip and embarrass Shiyi Niang, so it would be better not to come.
Eleventh Lady was not afraid of being laughed at. She felt that it was a bit of a fuss to come all the way here in such a cold weather just to pay respects to her. After hearing what Liu Yuanrui's wife said, she asked Luyun to help with the writing and asked Hongxiu to cut a large red and gold-sprinkled paper, and wrote seven or eight "Fu" characters in one breath in the warm room in the east side room.
Liu Yuanrui's wife kept shouting "good" at the side. When she finished writing, she watched Luyun and Hongxiu take the gold-sprinkled scroll to the hall to dry it, and then she went forward diligently and helped Shiyi Niang to the big kang by the window in the west room.
"Madam, your handwriting is so beautiful that the Wanyi clan will definitely sigh when they see it." She carefully looked at Shiyi Niang's expression and smiled, "You don't know. Wanyi clan knows that you intend to marry the people around you to their children, so they come to my house every day, either bringing ribs or pig kidneys. It makes me laugh so hard."
You're probably trying to find out what she's thinking!
Eleventh Lady just smiled and said nothing, and only talked to her about other things.
Liu Yuanrui's wife was able to keep her composure and spoke in accordance with her wishes, never mentioning the three words "Wan Yizong" again.
Eleventh Lady looked at him and nodded secretly, and the topic turned to some social etiquette and the affairs of the household.
Liu Yuanrui's family had already found out that the current head of the Xu family was the Third Lady. Some people felt that although Eleventh Lady would be the head of the family sooner or later, firstly, she was young and it was unknown when she would be able to take over. Secondly, there were many people in the mansion and she was not the companion of Eleventh Lady. Even if there were good jobs in the future, it would not be her turn. It would be better to take advantage of the opportunity of the Third Lady's replacement to occupy a position. Eleventh Lady could not replace everyone when she was the head of the family, right? Maybe she would be lucky enough to take the position.
She originally thought that if it were her turn, she would probably do the same thing. But after interacting with Shiyi Niang a few times, she changed her mind.
The fourth lady was young, but she was not young, and she acted prudently. Even if she lived twenty years longer, she might not be able to do this. She also heard that she had won the favor of the old lady when she entered the mansion, and even the marquis treated her politely. She quickly put away her indifference and flattered her with all her heart.
Hearing Eleventh Lady asking about the housekeeper's affairs, she thought she was preparing for her future role as the head of the imperial court, so she did not dare to be careless. She told her everything she knew, and also told her what she heard from others about things she did not know. She laughed and talked very happily.
Seeing that Liu Yuanrui's wife was not only quick-witted and observant, but also spoke fluently without exaggeration, and had her own way of dealing with interpersonal relationships and managing household affairs, Shiyi Niang was very satisfied and listened more and asked less questions.
As he was talking, a maid came in and reported, "Manager Bai sent someone to deliver a fine hemp tent."
So fast.
Eleventh Lady was stunned and ordered Luyun to bring it in.
Liu Yuanrui's wife dropped the topic and accompanied Shiyi Niang to look at the accounts.
In one breath, she found five hats. Two were plain, one was embroidered with Cordyceps, one was woven with broken branches and flowers, and one was five bats holding clouds. They were all very exquisite. The plain one was especially soft and light, like a wisp of smoke. It was obvious that it was not an ordinary item. Shiyi Niang liked it very much.
"Chief Steward Bai said that if the Madam is not satisfied, she can just tell him the design and ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do it."
"No need." It's okay to do it occasionally, but it's too conspicuous to bother the Ministry of Internal Affairs frequently. "This is good enough."
The little maidservant responded and reported back to Manager Bai. Eleventh Lady picked out a plain curtain and asked Amber to replace the original red curtain.
Liu Yuanrui's family watched with their eyes wide open.
I thought to myself, no wonder the Luo family members are full of envy when they talk about the Xu family.
He went forward to help with a smile, but he only dared to change the bright red gauze curtain and did not dare to hang the plain gauze curtain.
Before she finished her work, Hongxiu brought over the Chinese character "Fu" which was soaked with ink. Another maid came to report that the three concubines had arrived.
Liu Yuanrui's wife cleverly took the "Fu" character, thanked Shiyi Niang, and was led out of the door by a maid.
Eleventh Lady went to the east room and sat on the big kang by the window. The three concubines sat around the kang. The maid served tea. Eleventh Lady asked Amber to read the list of things that were distributed to the four rooms in the mansion for the New Year to the three concubines.
Aunt Qin was full of surprise, Aunt Wen was shocked at first, then showed a clear expression. Qiao Lianfang sat aside drinking tea with a cold look, as if these things had nothing to do with her.
After Amber finished reading, Madam Wen immediately said, "Sister, you are the mistress of the family, so you have the final say in this family. It is not our turn to interfere."
Qin Yi Niang didn't understand Shiyi Niang's intention, but she understood what Wen Yi Niang said, and hurriedly said, "Madam, I have the same idea as Wen Yi Niang. I will do whatever you say."
Qiao Lianfang sneered as she heard this.
What the public received was just money, candy and food for the New Year, not dividends from the shop, so Shiyi Niang was naturally happy to be generous.
Seeing that Qiao Lianfang didn't say anything and ignored her, Shiyi Niang smiled and said, "It's fate that we can be together. I don't have any other intentions. There aren't many things, so everyone can divide them according to the number of people in each room and have a good New Year. It's also my intention." She smiled again, "If you think the things are too few, I really can't give you more."
"How can you complain that it's too little!" Aunt Qin said innocently, "This year we have 200 taels more than in previous years."
Eleventh Lady's heart skipped a beat, but she smiled calmly and said, "That's good!" Then she drew up a list of how much Xu Siyu, Zhen Jie'er, Zhe Ge and the three concubines should each get, and distributed it to everyone, "Send the maid with the key to collect the things from Amber later!"
Aunt Qin said "yes" respectfully, and Aunt Wen thanked Shiyi Niang with a smile, as if Shiyi Niang had given her a treasure, very attentive. Qiao Lianfang just nodded coldly.
Eleventh Lady started talking about the duty matters: "...From what the Marquis said, fireworks will be set off again during the New Year. There will be banquets and operas at home, so you should arrange the duty personnel in each room. In case someone takes things away or accidentally knocks over candles, start from tomorrow until the Lantern Festival. Make a list of the people who will be on duty during the day and at night and give it to Amber."
All three of them were stunned.