Chapter 31: Guests (Part 1)
After leaving Yuanniang's place, they still sat in the green-curtained carriage they had come in, and walked west for about an incense stick's time, then turned left into an alley, turned left again after exiting the alley, and stopped in front of a Guangliang gate.
Gray tiles, plain walls, a black lacquered gate, and an eight-character wall outside the gate, with a "Fu" character carved on the left and a "Shou" character carved on the left and right, both as tall as a person. In front of the gate are five stone blue steps, carved into the pattern of five Fu holding a longevity. Two little maids were playing on the steps, and when they saw the carriage stop, one ran in quickly and the other came forward to greet.
The brother called out "Xiao Shao" to the little maid.
It can be seen that he is very familiar with everyone in the lady's courtyard.
Xiao Shao agreed with a smile, and Mother Xu took out a few coins from her sleeves to reward the little maid. The little maid thanked her for the reward, and then several maids wearing official green vests came out, escorting a maid wearing ivory yellow vests.
"Madam, I am Wei Zi, who works for the Madam." The maid in the ivory-yellow vest respectfully saluted the eldest wife and others, and then saluted Brother Zhe with a smile: "Master Zhe, are you here with my grandmother to see the Madam?"
Brother Zhe smiled shyly.
Mother Xu took out her purse and presented it to everyone as a reward. Wei Zi and the others thanked her graciously and went in.
Facing you is a rocky rockery with corridors on both sides.
The rockery is covered with vines that sway like green ribbons or twist like green threads. The foot of the mountain is covered with lush vegetation dotted with small yellow, red or blue flowers. Although it looks wild, it is a scene of spring flowers in full bloom.
Eleventh Lady was shocked, and after a closer look, she discovered that among the plants there were dark red large square pottery grids crisscrossing like a chessboard - it turned out that these plants were not growing in the soil underground, but were planted in square pottery jars.
It must have been grown in the greenhouse and then moved here.
While she was thinking secretly, she followed the eldest lady with a smile on her face through the corridor on the right to the hall.
There are three rooms in the hall, with a four-panel rosewood glass screen in the middle, with a pine and crane pattern to welcome guests. Beyond the screen, there are corridors on both sides, and in the middle is a small three-room hall.
Yao Huang smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, mothers. Come with me and have a cup of tea!"
It turns out that if it’s not a big deal, don’t follow it.
Mother Xu winked at Ziwei, Amber and the others, and said with a smile, "Thank you, Miss Yao Huang." Then she took them and followed Yao Huang through the corner door beside the small hall to the brothel at the back. Zhege was held by the wet nurse, and the First Lady, Fifth Lady, Eleventh Lady, Madam Wen, and the two maids that followed Zhege followed Wei Zi through the small hall to the main courtyard at the back.
The upper room has five rooms, black painted floor-to-ceiling pillars, large glass windows, snow-white brocade curtains, stone blue philadelphus pleated curtains, and parrots and thrushes of various colors on both sides. There is a cross-shaped bluestone corridor in the middle of the courtyard. In the northwest corner, there are two towering trees with branches and leaves that cover the roof like umbrellas. In the northeast corner, there is a tree as tall as a person, without leaves or flowers, and the brown branches are twisted. In the southeast corner, there is a flower stand covered with green vines, with stone tables and stone blocks underneath, which exudes a sense of elegance and simplicity.
The maids who had received the news stood on the steps. When they saw them coming, some helped to open the curtains, while others reported to the inside: "Master, the master is here with his wife."
They entered the room, and a large group of women dressed in red and green came in, surrounding a tall woman.
My brother was already shouting, "Grandma!"
Eleventh Lady knew that this person was Yuanniang's mother-in-law, the Dowager Lady of the Yongping Marquis's Mansion, and she could not help but look at her carefully.
The old lady looked two or three years younger than the first lady. She wore a dark blue jacket with a golden pumpkin and butterfly pattern and a turmeric skirt. Her dark hair was tied into a bun, with only two coral, turquoise and honey wax beads on her temples. She had fair skin, a slightly plump figure, and a pair of very gentle eyes on her round, white face.
She smiled at her brother, then took a few steps forward and bowed to the first wife: "Sister, I am really ashamed to ask you to move."
When the old lady knelt down, the eldest wife also knelt down to return the greeting to the old lady: "Sister, you are embarrassing me by saying this." She then introduced Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang to the old lady: "These are my two useless daughters. The older one is Wu Niang, and the younger one is Shiyi Niang."
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang hurried forward to pay their respects to the lady.
The eldest wife smiled and looked at the two of them carefully: "As bright as pearls in the morning dew, they are really two beautiful ladies."
"Thank you for the award, Madam." The eldest wife said modestly.
The Taifu introduced to the First Madam a woman in her forties who was wearing a dark lotus root purse satin embroidered with a cloud and crane pattern: "This is Madam Qiao from the Chengguo Mansion."
The two men greeted each other.
The lady pointed to a girl with bright eyes and white teeth beside Madam Qiao and said, "This is the sixth young lady of Duke Cheng's mansion."
The eldest wife smiled and nodded to the little girl, politely calling her "Miss Qiao".
Miss Qiao bowed to the eldest lady, and then bowed to the fifth and eleventh ladies.
Mrs. Qiao pointed at Madam Wen and said, "This one is..."
The lady smiled and said, "It's Si'er's little star."
Madam Wen hurried forward to pay her respects to Madam Qiao, who smiled and nodded, gave her a purse and said, "You are so lucky. Look at Madam Wen, so petite and cute, so lovable!"
The Madam smiled and invited the First Madam and Madam Qiao to the west side room where they usually rested. The Madam and the First Madam sat on the kang by the window as host and guest, and a maid brought a chair for Madam Qiao to sit on below the Madam, and brought a brocade stool for Miss Qiao, Fifth Lady, Eleventh Lady, and Madam Wen to sit on.
Zhege paid his respects to the Madam Tai and Mrs. Qiao. Mrs. Qiao held Zhege in her arms, examined him carefully, praised him, gave him a purse, and handed Zhege over to Miss Qiao, asking her to give the child to the Madam Tai.
I don’t know if it was because the purse given by Mrs. Qiao was so interesting that it attracted Zhege’s attention, or because he could return to his grandmother’s arms soon, but Zhege struggled for a while in Mrs. Qiao’s arms, but when Miss Qiao held him in her arms, he didn’t move at all.
Mrs. Qiao smiled and said, "Brother Zhue has a connection with our Sixth Sister."
The lady said nothing, but smiled and touched Brother Zhe's head, and told Wei Zi: "Take Brother Zhe to the warm pavilion to play!"
Wei Zi hugged Brother Zhe in response, and Aunt Wen stood up with a smile: "Madam, I will go and accompany Brother Zhe!"
The lady smiled and glanced at her, saying, "Then be careful not to bump the child!"
Mrs. Qiao suddenly interrupted and said, "Why don't you go and keep Brother Che company, Sixth Sister?" Then she said to the Lady Dowager, "Our Sixth Sister just loves children. When the nephews and nieces see her, they start clamoring for her."
Miss Qiao blushed slightly and said coquettishly, "Auntie...you really are..."
The lady smiled and said, "Sixth Miss is a guest! How can we trouble her?"
"You are the elder and she is a junior, you just need to give orders. How can there be any such thing as "labor"?" He looked as if he was determined that Miss Qiao should accompany Brother Che to the warm pavilion.
The lady smiled and said, "How about Miss Qiao, please help me accompany my two daughters! The older ones can talk together, so that the younger ones won't be bored!"
Miss Qiao immediately stood up and said "yes" obediently, and moved Jinwu to sit with Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang. The lady told the eldest lady about the journey. When did they set out from Yuhang, when did they arrive at that place, and when did they arrive in Tongzhou...
She was talking about accompanying Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang, but no one dared to interrupt when the adults were talking, let alone whisper. Miss Qiao just sat next to Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang.
A maid came in and reported, "Madam, Lin Bo, who is by the Marquis's side, said that the emperor has asked the Marquis to stay for a talk. He is afraid that he will be back late today, so he asked me to tell my wife to come to the mansion in person when I am free tomorrow."
"I don't know what this kid is busy with!" The old lady sighed and turned to the first wife and said, "Please don't blame me, madam."
The first wife was about to say something, but Mrs. Qiao smiled and said, "You are the pillar of the country, so you should put state affairs first. How could the wife blame you?"
After hearing this, the lady-in-waiting smiled apologetically at the first wife and said, "Duke Cheng's Mansion and our family are old friends." It was as if she was explaining Madam Qiao's enthusiasm to the first wife.
"That's right." Madam Qiao laughed after hearing this. "When our Duke entered the Tiger Camp of the Yulin Army, the old Marquis was the leader, and our Duke was a guard, following the old Marquis around every day. At that time, we hadn't gotten married yet, and he didn't go home either. He followed the old Marquis to my sister's place every day to eat..." As she said this, she laughed, "After we got married, he always said that the smoked venison at my sister's house was delicious, and he once sent someone to ask my sister for a piece. Do you still remember it, sister?"
"Remember." The lady smiled faintly, not as enthusiastic as Mrs. Qiao.
Madam Qiao sighed softly: "Later, the old marquis passed away, and our Duke was also sent to the northwest. My sister closed the door and refused visitors, so we came less often..."
The eldest wife, however, heard something.
Since they were old friends, how could they have less contact just because their husbands were sent to the northwest? Moreover, before the old marquis passed away, Xu Ling'an, the prince who the Xu family had always placed high hopes on, died of illness. Xu Ling'an's widow, Madam Xiang He, could not bear the blow and fell ill. Suddenly, her daughter took over the feeding. The third grandmother of the Xu family, Gan, had never taken care of things and was pregnant. Not to mention helping, she could not even be counted on to take care of her mother-in-law. She specially brought Madam Xiang's sister to her house to accompany Madam Xiang for more than half a year.
Thinking of this, she glanced at the lady.
The old lady felt the gaze of the eldest lady and smiled helplessly at her.
The eldest wife suddenly understood.
Something happened that year.
The "Witch Case" in the 46th year of Jianwu involved several adult princes. After the empress and the crown prince died of poisoning, the late emperor had not appointed a queen or a crown prince. That year, someone wrote a letter suggesting that the tenth prince, born to the noble concubine Ye, be appointed as the crown prince. The emperor was furious and ordered the cabinet scholar Li Qing to investigate the matter thoroughly. Afterwards, everyone knew that Li Qing had an affair with the ninth prince and took the opportunity to attack the other princes. But at that time, the "Witch Case" had been investigated for five years, and countless ministers were involved. The Xu family, as the seventh prince's in-laws, was also involved. If it weren't for the protection of his father-in-law, and the old marquis died of illness, I'm afraid things wouldn't have been so easy to settle.
At that time, she was in Yuhang taking care of her sick mother-in-law and could not come to Yanjing. She was cut off from news and felt anxious. She even complained that her father-in-law should not have betrothed her daughter to the Xu family...
If the Qiao family and the Xu family did not have any contact at that time, it means that the Qiao family supported other princes at that time!
The eldest wife couldn't help but smile coldly in her heart.
Now I know that I voted in the wrong direction, so I rushed to curry favor with him. Haven't you ever heard of the saying "It is easier to add flowers to a brocade than to send charcoal in the snow"?
Eleventh Lady also noticed something wrong.
Although this Mrs. Qiao looks generous and graceful, she is actually fawning on the lady in her actions and words. Could it be that she wants something?
Her mind moved, and her eyes fell on Miss Qiao.