Chapter 126 Chapter 126 Two Chapters in One
The spring rain was drizzling, blowing on people's bodies and making them feel tingling and numb. Jinniang took out a sky-blue oil umbrella and handed it to her husband. After he opened it, she came over and stood with him.
The couple is preparing to go back to the old house. Jiang Yan's resignation is such a big deal that as brothers they have no choice but to accept it.
After Jiang Xian helped Jinniang onto the carriage, he quickly got up as well, and said to Jinniang with a smug tone, "Usually, your sister-in-law always thinks you are better than her because she is the sister of the daughter-in-law of the Prime Minister Jixian. Now, look at how she is so arrogant."
"Although I should advise you to 'let things change' now, I am indeed proud of myself. Although I am a bit of a villain, I am not a gentleman to begin with." Jinniang raised her eyebrows and smiled at Jiang Xian: "Speaking of which, my husband is still the best to me."
Jiang Xian was a little embarrassed: "I was afraid that my wife would blame me for not being a gentleman enough."
Jinniang shook her head: "At that time, you were recommended by the Wei family to Jixian Xiang. You have done an excellent job in the position he arranged for you. We have always visited each other frequently during the four seasons and eight festivals. I just sent him some supplements. However, you are an official appointed by the court, not his personal official. You still have to work in the court. That means you are loyal to the emperor. Who would say anything against you?"
Jiang Xian nodded: "Don't worry, my lady, I will do well no matter where I am."
"That's true, but you can't be without integrity. It's okay to be the Prime Minister, because it was the Wei family who recommended you. But Shen Shangzheng recommended you when you were in Pingjiang, and now he is the Minister of State Affairs, so he promoted you immediately. You have to grasp the right balance..." Jinniang was mainly afraid that if Shen Shangzheng fell, Jiang Xian might retaliate.
Sometimes you may achieve temporary success, but it is not good in the long run.
Probably only when Jinniang said this did Jiang Xian listen to her a little. His wife always thought that it was useless for her to talk to him, but in fact he did listen, otherwise he would have been attacked from all sides this time.
"My dear, I understand." Jiang Xian said coquettishly.
Jinniang patted his head and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore."
After the couple arrived at the old house, Jiang Yan looked very calm, as if he was just out for a trip, but Xu had a dull look on her face.
"Shiliulang, I'll trouble you to take care of the family on a daily basis." Jiang Yan said lightly.
Jiang Xian said quickly, "Don't worry, brother. I will definitely take good care of my parents." Then he said to Xu, "Sister-in-law, what's not cheap? Just go find Ning'er's mother."
Xu hurriedly said, "Uncle, you're too polite." After that, she looked at Jiang Xian and his wife, cursing the villain in her heart.
But she couldn't persuade Jiang Yan to do anything. For the sake of her so-called political ideals, she couldn't even make a fuss. But without her husband's salary, they could only live on the family's land. Fortunately, after the Jiang Yan brothers passed the imperial examinations, the clan gave them some land, which was enough for their family.
Seeing Xu holding back her anger like this, Jinniang felt like she had finally gotten some relief. Sometimes she thought it was good to be a bad person, at least one could dare to show one's vicious side.
The few of them talked a few more words again. Jiang Xian's meaning was nothing more than that if he had the opportunity to meet the emperor in the future, he would definitely mention the Prime Minister Jixian and so on.
Jinniang said to Xu: "We learned in a hurry that brother was going to Yingtian Prefecture, so we prepared some gifts. Sister-in-law, please don't think it's too little."
Even though Jinniang's words sounded normal to outsiders, Xu felt like a thorn in her throat. She knew that ever since she passed the imperial examination, the days of her dominance over her brother-in-law and his wife for nearly ten years were no longer the same as before. Her status as a daughter of an official family and her powerful network of contacts allowed her to win the competition with her sisters-in-law, but at the same time, once her network of contacts fell, her status would be reversed.
Instead, it was the sister-in-law's younger brother who became a Jinshi, her family was related to the Wei family, and they had money, not to mention that her brother-in-law had been promoted again.
"Thank you very much, sister-in-law." Xu uttered these words with difficulty.
Jinniang smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, why are you being so polite to me? It's just that how you treat me is how I treat you. Isn't it mutual?"
Xu had a bad feeling.
After Jinniang and her husband left, Xu opened the gift money that Jinniang had sent her. All of it contained only some snacks and cakes, except for a purse that contained two taels and six cents.
This was exactly twice the price of the collar she had given her as a gift.
After Jiang Yan left, Jiang Fang passed the examination but was attacked by others. He still asked Shen Canzheng's disciples to recommend him. Shen Canzheng was amazed when he met him. He thought Jiang Fang was extremely talented and promoted him to be the proofreader of Jixian Hall and the examiner of Zhongshu.
Compared to Jiang Fang, Jinniang didn't have much feeling. Probably because he had been adopted out and the two sides had little contact.
The Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, and Jinniang prepared festival gifts and sent them to the Wei and Liu families as usual. The gifts were the same, including six strands of five-colored silk threads, a box of flowers made of mugwort, two gauze fans, two mud-gold fans, as well as sweet fruits, rice dumplings, white dumplings, perilla, calamus, papaya and other fructose fruits.
It was also delivered to the old house, as well as to Teacher Jiang Xian’s colleagues and other places.
The family also received many gifts from others. They received half a box of silver drum fans. Jinniang selected two valuable ones and kept them. They used the other slightly inferior ones themselves, and gave the rest as rewards to Aying, Qingrong and other servants.
Speaking of which, Qingrong is not young anymore. She was sent by Madam Dou Er when she went to Wu County to take up the post. She is twenty years old this year.
Therefore, Jinniang wanted Aying to ask Qingrong what kind of husband she wanted to find, so that she could choose one for her when the time came. Qingrong unexpectedly said that she didn't want to get married. She was not being shy, but she really didn't want to get married.
"Why?" Aying didn't quite understand.
Now that she was married, Liu Dou'er was very considerate to her. She was pregnant and was well taken care of, so she said, "You are only twenty years old now. Don't jump to conclusions too early. I will slowly look for you."
Qing Rong still shook her head: "Sister Aying, I know you and my wife are doing this for my own good. But I really don't want to get married. I'm fine with my wife. It would be good if I marry a good one. If not, my life will be over. Besides, the mansion provides for the elderly, so I'm not afraid even if I get old."
Ah Ying wanted to persuade him again, but Qing Rong's attitude became more resolute: "I only have six cents of silver a month now, and that doesn't even include the snacks and ingredients that my wife gives me from time to time. What am I going to do outside for?"
What people worry about most is the issue of retirement. As long as they can move, have work to do in the house, eat from the same pot, and have a place to live, it is better than anything else.
When Jinniang first heard Qingrong say she didn't want to get married, she thought she was the same as Aying before. Unexpectedly, she was so determined, so Jinniang had to agree.
However, Peilan who was with Ning Ge'er and Jiaoxing who was with Yun Jie'er had both found someone to date. Peilan was promising the servant Gao Si, who was skilled in martial arts, had a handsome appearance, and was not fond of drinking, so he was a good choice. Furthermore, Jiao Xing was promised to Hu Cheng, the son of the village head. Hu Cheng was sent to Luoyang to manage the village, so he arranged the marriage between Gao Da and Pei Lan first.
Of course, Jinniang picked a few maids from outside and bought them in. This time, she bought six maids with fixed indentures. Three maids were sent to Yunjie'er, one maid and a servant were sent to Ningge'er, and another was sent to Dingge'er.
Because Ning Ge'er was already eight years old and would be nine this year, he had to move to the outer courtyard. It was just right that the room in the east wing outside was cleaned up and he could move in.
The maids lived in the side room of the hall and could not enter the young master's room at will at night.
These are all household expenses, but they have to be spent.
My daughter is almost thirteen years old, and she needs a few people under her.
How to manage a room and make people convinced is not achieved by just beating and scolding. You have to be able to control your subordinates and make them feel at ease working for you. This is the skill.
Jinniang asked Aying to help manage the business. Although Aying had a bad temper, she was upright and fair in her dealings, so everyone was convinced by her.
These are naturally household chores, but they also need to be handled with care.
"Madam, Madam Zhou is here." Aying said.
The lady from the Zhou family is Miss Zhou San. She followed Jiang Fang to Beijing this time. Because Jiang Fang got a good official position, her status rose with the tide. As soon as she came in, she smiled and said, "I heard that you had moved when I went back to Nanxunfang yesterday, so I came to take a look today."
Jinniang smiled and said, "It's only three rooms. If there are too many children, I'm afraid there won't be enough space."
After saying that, she looked at Mrs. Zhou San again. She gave birth to four sons and was respected by Jiang Fang. Even her parents-in-law liked her as a daughter-in-law.
As expected, she was more tactful than Mrs. Jiang, the wife of Zhou. She did not mention Miss Zhou Er at all when she was with Jin Niang, but only talked about some troubles she had just returned from: "I don't know what's popular in Tokyo now."
Jinniang smiled and said, "It's pretty much the same. People used to like wearing red silk clothes, but now they like wearing cherry red. They like wearing skirts with gold thread. It would be even better if they could wear two colors."
While the two were talking, they asked the children to come over and pay their respects. Mrs. Zhou gave them gifts. She saw that Yun Jie'er had become a young girl. She was wearing a lilac-colored jacket, a pearl hairpin with a few silk flowers on her hair, and gold bracelets on her arms. She looked graceful and elegant.
"This child is so beautiful." She has a full forehead, a small nose, and an oval face, and she is dignified and beautiful.
Sister Yun bowed and said, "You are too kind."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Go down with your brothers."
Mrs. Zhou San looked at Jinniang and her heart was really in turmoil. When they returned to Beijing, they passed by the place where her fourth brother-in-law was exiled and met her fourth sister. I heard that the fourth sister's two daughters also studied poetry and books. They were about the same age as Yun Jie'er, but they were different. Yun Jie'er looked bright and generous, a real lady from a noble family, but the two nieces looked like beautiful girls from a small family.
After returning home, Mrs. Zhou San and Jiang Fang mentioned it and both felt surprised: "I didn't expect that Wei was so good at teaching children. When she was in our house before, we only thought she made good clothes."
Many people think that women admire strong men, but in fact men admire strong men more.
Jiang Fang had indeed said something bad about Jinniang, thinking that she was born a slave and was the daughter of a merchant family, and that if he married her, it would be a complete disgrace to the family. Even with my brother's conditions, he could definitely marry a better official's daughter. In this dynasty, alliances are mostly based on in-laws. If he marries this girl, it would be like cutting off his own arm.
I didn't expect that such a person would be so successful. Not only did he buy houses and land, he also became a relative of Wei Daxueshi's family, and his younger brother was even a Jinshi.
Life is so unpredictable.
"It's been so many years, let's not talk about the past. Even a hero doesn't ask about the origins. It won't be good if Shiliu Lang hears it." Jiang Fang said.
Mrs. Zhou San was stunned for a moment. Her husband rarely used a preaching tone, but now that he had said this, Zhou San had no choice but to say, "You're right."
…
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather started to get hot. Jinniang's happiest thing every day now is to help Dingge'er take a bath with Jiang Xian. The child liked to take a bath. There was a colorful ball in his bath. He was obedient. Jiang Xian flushed the water and Jinniang rubbed his hair gently. She also washed his hair. After washing it fragrantly, she dressed him and carried him out.
When Mrs. Wei brought Wei Qilang over, the family of three had just come out of the bathroom. Jinniang was still very embarrassed, so she quickly changed her clothes and let her son take a nap before she went out to talk to them.
"If we bathe him at night, I'm always afraid that he will catch a cold, so I always choose a time to bathe him during the day." Jinniang said with a smile.
Normally, Mrs. Wei would not come except on important occasions like Chinese New Year. Jinniang wondered why she came.
The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Madam Wei sighed, "I plan to go to Luoyang for a few days, but Qilang has to go to school, so I can't take him with me, so I have to leave him at home. Unfortunately, our master is busy, and his sisters-in-law have their own children to take care of, so I want to ask Madam Sangu to help take care of him for a few days."
Jinniang looked at Wei Qilang and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll go over and take care of him often, don't worry, sister-in-law."
As the saying goes, there are many good horses but few good horse trainers. The Wei family has treated her like an aunt for so many years, so how could Jinniang refuse to take care of the child?
Mrs. Wei said, "I want Qilang to live in your house for a few days, so he can learn from Ning Ge'er about his studies." At this point, she sent Wei Qilang away first, and then whispered to Jinniang, "I am afraid. He is studying in You's family, and the girls in You's family are jealous of him, and he keeps saying that they are annoying."
So that's the case, but Jinniang said: "I am looking forward to his coming, but our family conditions may not be as good as yours, and I am afraid Qilang will not be able to get used to living here."
The daughter of the Wei family received a dowry of one hundred thousand strings of cash when she got married. On ordinary days, she only had luxurious food and simple meals at home. They were afraid that their good intentions would turn into bad deeds.
Mrs. Wei was a little worried, but she had observed how good Jinniang and Jiang Xian were to the children. Luoyang's father was also very anxious. Moreover, Qilang wanted to come by himself and pestered his father and herself. So, Mrs. Wei said, "It's okay. Let him stay here. Sorry to trouble you, sister."
"That's good. I can just clean up the courtyard in the garden." Jinniang agreed readily.
After both sides agreed, Jinniang sent two maids to clean the courtyard first, then opened the storeroom and moved the new four-poster bed with swastika pattern made of rosewood that Fan Zhuangtou brought to the courtyard. This bed was originally intended to be a dowry for her daughter, but she couldn't just buy one off the shelf.
Fortunately, she still has extra wood, so she can ask someone to bring an extra bed next time.
She also had someone hang up a gauze curtain and bring over the gauze screen she had embroidered before, as well as new porcelain, a half-worn table, a floor lamp, and a bookcase.
Jiang Xian said: "My nephew, you really work hard."
"You are jealous of everyone. I'll give you a nickname, the 'Jealous King' of Jinliang Bridge." Jinniang covered her mouth and laughed.
Of course, the couple knew that treating Wei Qilang well was just a trick.
When Wei Qillang moved in, he brought a lot of servants with him, including six maids, four maids, four servants, and four attendants. There were four wet nurses, but only one followed along, and two nannies, but only one followed along.
The maids who served him all lived in the east and west wing rooms, while the servants and attendants were arranged to live in the veranda room in front of the garden.
Sister Yun whispered, "Seventh cousin really has a big family and a lot of wealth."
"Hush." Jinniang thought that they were surprised because her daughter grew up in a different environment, and perhaps they didn't think they had too many people to serve.
Sister Yun stuck out her tongue.
After the others moved in, Jinniang asked Aying and Wei Qilang about his daily routine. It turned out that Wei Qilang had to get up early every day to go to You's house to study, and he would be there all day, eat at You's house at noon, and go home after school.
Jinniang arranged several more meals to welcome Wei Qilang, and Juxiang added a few more dishes. She had heard that Wei Qilang liked to eat plum blossom soup cakes, so she asked someone to make willow leaf leeks, and asked the waiter to make honey-fried kumquats and lotus cakes, as well as several drinks that the children loved.
But Jiang Xian couldn't come back for dinner today. His colleagues invited him to a restaurant for a drink, so he had to go.
Just when Wei Qilang had just returned and had changed his clothes, Jinniang gave him a drink first and then asked, "Do you have a lot of homework?"
"Not bad." Wei Qilang thought he could eat.
Unexpectedly, Jinniang smiled and said, "Then take your homework and go to the study with Ning Ge'er to do it first. I'll have someone serve dinner when you finish."
Wei Qilang had someone take the bookcase and went straight to the front yard. Ning Ge'er had already started writing, but when he saw Wei Qilang, he called out "Seventh Cousin" and buried his head in his homework again.
Originally Wei Qillang was a gifted man, but his family environment was too comfortable, studying was too hard, there were too many temptations, he was always thinking about playing and found it difficult to calm down. But now that he was with Ning Ge'er, the outside world suddenly became quiet, and he began to think hard about his homework.
The maids who served Wei Qilang were all talking to Jinniang. They said, "Qilangjun usually goes home to eat first and always finishes his homework last. I didn't expect that he would sit down today."
Jinniang smiled and said, "I am like this. Since they were young, I always let them finish their homework first and then eat. If there is too much homework and it takes a long time to finish, they will eat first. Otherwise, people will easily want to sleep after eating."
When she was young, she often stayed up late because of the pressure of life and also because of bad habits. So after giving birth to children, she first cultivated good habits for their children.
After getting up, Jinniang finished embroidering the image of Guanyin, and then she embroidered a gauze robe for Ning Ge'er. The white crepe was trimmed with light green satin, with three or two clumps of green bamboo embroidered in the middle, and a gamboge cord with thin tassels was used in the middle as a belt.
An hour later, the clothes were finished and Yun Jieer came over. She smiled and asked, "Why haven't my brother and seventh cousin come yet?"
"Yes, wait another stick of incense. If they haven't finished writing, let them eat first so they don't starve." Jinniang said.
Someone was asked to urge them to come forward, saying that it would take two cups of tea, so they had no choice but to wait. After a while, his two cousins finally arrived. Jinniang asked someone to serve the meal immediately, and then asked Wei Qilang with a smile: "Let's eat first, and then go for a walk in the garden and play for a while. Then wait for your uncle to come back and check your homework."
Wei Qillang had never known what it felt like to be hungry before, but today he was exhausted after spending half a day doing homework, and his appetite was whetted when he smelled the delicious food.
The maid who was serving the food thought that Qi Langjun usually took his medicine at home like eating, but today she poured him a bowl of ordinary egg cake and quail bamboo shoot soup, and he actually finished it all.
Ning Ge'er even snatched the honey chicken wings from him, and Wei Qillang even ate an extra bowl of rice with the last piece of pickled mustard and shredded pork.
Jinniang clapped her hands, "Great, Qilang. You couldn't even eat before, but now you can eat so much."
Wei Qilang smiled shyly.
After the meal, Jinniang took out new clothes and gave them to Ning Ge'er: "Go try them on first and see if you want to alter them."
When Ning Ge'er tried on the clothes, because they had short sleeves, they were cool to wear. Jin Niang also took a piece of cloth of the same color and helped him comb it on his hair. "If you like it, don't take it off. Wait until we come back from our walk and wash it tomorrow before wearing it. Okay?"
Ning Ge'er nodded: "Mom, the clothes you made are so beautiful."
"That's right." After Jinniang finished laughing, she saw Wei Qilang looking at her and couldn't help but ask, "Qilang, do you want your aunt to make a set for you?"
Wei Qilang was also thirteen years old, and he was still very worldly-wise: "It's so hot, it's really hard for aunt."
After hearing what he said, Jinniang still wanted to do it, but she was very tactful. However, she did not refuse and said directly that it was not hard for her. When someone comes to stay at their house and makes a set of clothes for them to take back, the Wei family knows that they have put in a lot of effort.
"Then I will draw two sets tomorrow, and I will make whichever one you like." Jinniang said.
After that, the group went out the side door to the garden for a walk. Ning Ge'er told Jin Niang what he had seen today: "Today the teacher talked about "Spring River Moonlit Night". I remembered that when we came back from Daming Prefecture, we saw someone playing the piano from the boat, and the moonlight was shining on the river, making the waves sparkle."
"Mother, you said that this Mid-Autumn Festival, we should set up the table here by the pond, and my sister will play the moon guitar and my son will play the flute. Isn't it the same as the night of flowers and moon over the spring river?"
Jinniang nodded: "Okay."
After that, Jinniang felt it was not right to let her daughter go with her teenage nephew, so she said, "Ning'er, you can go play with your cousin, or go to the library to read a book. Your sister and I will pick some flower petals."
Ning Ge'er nodded, but Wei Qilang said, "Aunt, I will go and teach my cousin how to shoot arrows."
"That couldn't be better." Jinniang smiled.
For some reason, she always treated Wei Qilang as a child before, but now she feels that he has a very high emotional intelligence.
They played until the sun went down and Jiang Xian came back. Jinniang took the children to the front and asked them to show him their homework first. Wei Qilang saw that Jiang Xian almost never preached to the children, and he would tell a few jokes, which Jiang Xian could understand very quickly. He felt like he was in spring breeze. Jiang Xian told jokes better than his own father, who always had a fierce look on his face, which made Wei Qilang tremble with fear.
After her uncle finished speaking, Jinniang asked everyone to disperse. Yunjie went back to take a flower petal bath, while Ningge went to the front yard to play chess with Wei Qilang.
…
Mrs. Wei was going to Luoyang the next day and was worried about her son, so she couldn't fall asleep until midnight. Fortunately, Wei Qilang's foster mother passed on the news. Mrs. Wei was very surprised and ate two bowls of rice at a meal and fell asleep immediately.
Well, now my son doesn’t have to worry anymore.
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