Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Two chapters merged into one
"Eat quickly and don't worry about what's happening outside." Miao Xiaoniang pointed at the food in front of her and said to her daughter.
The girls all lived together, and it was a busy time. The fourth girl knew what had happened. She was shocked and said, "Second sister is really something. It was because Jinniang was busy last time that she didn't have time to make clothes for her. She treated her like this."
"Shut up." Miao Xiaoniang glanced at her daughter.
After finishing the meal and sending the servants away, she said, "I don't think this girl is someone you can easily mess with. She fainted in front of the Second Miss's room in front of everyone. I'm afraid the Second Miss will be accused of being harsh to servants. She just got engaged."
The fourth girl was shocked to find out that, yes, this was the smart and clever Wei Jinniang in the novel. She almost forgot that she had been deceived by her cute face and figure, her impeccable work ethic and honest character. This girl was not a pushover.
However, the fourth girl didn't understand: "How can I see it so clearly?"
Miao Xiaoniang smiled lightly: "We were all servants once. It is natural for the masters to punish the slaves, but the slaves are also flesh and blood. Although they are often suppressed and blindly obey, it is not necessarily true that anyone is born to be lowly."
After hearing what Miao Xiaoniang said, the fourth girl thought that it was no wonder that many fans of the book "Guide to Filling a Household" liked this Black Lotus. It was really not easy to say such words in this era.
Let's talk about Jinniang again. Of course, she pretended to be unconscious. After pretending to be woken up by someone pinching her Ren Zhong, she took a rest openly. No matter who called her, she pretended not to hear.
Even though Qin Shuang'er was gloating, she didn't dare to show it in front of him, and could only say: "Why is Jinniang like this..."
"It's all my fault. I knew the second young lady didn't like Jinniang, but I didn't help to stop her. Now, if something really happened to Jinniang, what should I do?" Madam Chen blamed herself very much.
She had promised Jinniang's mother that she would not let her be treated harshly. Little did she know that this second girl would be so brutal and domineering.
Fang Qiaolian and Jinniang had a good relationship, but when she heard Si'er say that her knees were bruised and pale, she was also shocked, "Will this matter not get out?"
Madam Chen said unhappily, "If it gets out, it will be her fault. Fortunately, we will be leaving next year."
Before he could finish his words, he saw Luying coming in. Everyone fell silent and pretended to be busy with their own work. Then Luying came in with a few boxes and said with a smile, "This is a reward from the eldest lady to Jinniang, saying that she worked hard for the second lady."
This is to shut up...
It can be said that Jinniang woke up in the morning by hearing the chirping of birds. She did not feel like she had stayed up late, but slept until dawn. She did not feel anything when lying down, but when she tried to sit up, she felt her knees aching so much that she could not stand up straight.
"hiss……"
"Sister Jinniang, you're awake. I just brought you some porridge. I was afraid it would get cold, so I kept it warm in the tea room next door. I'll bring it to you." Si'er was overjoyed to see her wake up.
When she shouted, everyone else in the sewing room came running over. Jinniang pretended to be asleep at first, but later she really fell into a deep sleep. Unexpectedly, Luying would come to deliver something on behalf of the eldest lady.
Before she even looked at the things, Lan Xue asked, "What happened to you yesterday?"
Jinniang knew that Lanxue's teahouse was a gossip center. She would not let the second young lady go just because the first lady sent these things. But she had to make sure that no one could find fault with what she said, so she shook her head and said, "I am also puzzled. I didn't say anything. I just measured the size and asked what kind of fabric and clothes the second young lady wanted. I was afraid that the second young lady would not like the fact that the first lady asked me to embroider Buddhist scriptures for the second young master last time, so I specifically said that I would make clothes for her in the afternoon and embroider a wedding quilt for the first young lady at night."
"No wonder. Your words about embroidering a quilt for the eldest girl must have hit her sore spot." Lan Xue made a decision.
Jinniang rubbed her knees and said, "No way, aren't they real sisters?"
Fang Qiao Lian sneered.
Lady Chen was afraid that outsiders would hear her, so she scolded them, "Okay, all of you stop talking. You are talking about the master's family's gossips and you are risking your life. Lady Jin, next time if the second lady asks you to go again, I will help you."
You have to know that Qin Shuang'er seems to work diligently, but she can't get anything done. Fang Qiaolian just completes the task. Only Jinniang works quickly and well. She is a real expert at work. She is the key person to whether the eldest girl's dowry can be embroidered.
What's more, although she had offended the second young lady, she was a respected person in front of other masters, unlike that Shan Jie.
Shanjie didn't dare to fight and finally compromised, so the people who came to help didn't dare to speak out for fear of being backstabbed. However, Jinniang's personality was different, and she unintentionally made things worse.
Even though Jinniang felt aggrieved, she still nodded and said, "I'd like to thank Madam Chen for that." Then she looked at everyone in the sewing room and said, "In the future, please take me as a warning and never mention the eldest lady in front of the second lady."
Everyone felt the same way. Lan Xue quickly told her relatives what she knew. Her relatives were the sons of the family in the mansion, spanning three households. There was also Zhen'er who came to visit. Zhen'er's mother was Mrs. Hu from the kitchen. The kitchen was also a place of gossip. Within a day, the rumor that the second girl hated the eldest girl spread like wildfire.
This is exactly the effect Jinniang wanted. Things in the world will always change. She is being bullied now and can only fight back in this way. In the future, one day, her identity will change.
Even the eldest girl didn't expect the second sister to be like that. It was Jinniang who asked her to embroider a wedding quilt for her. She frowned and said, "The marriage was not arranged by me. Why does she hate me and make such a big fuss? She is just making a fuss for me."
Chunlan said, "You have been very tolerant. The silver-red material that was popular the other day was originally a betrothal gift from the Wang family. It was meant for you, but you gave it to the second young lady."
"I know she is unhappy, but if she makes it known, what will others think?" The eldest girl was really annoyed.
Apart from the eldest girl, the second grandma witnessed everything with her own eyes yesterday, but she didn't expect that the second young master's affairs were involved. She quickly asked someone to investigate. Cuixian quickly defected to the new master after the second grandma came in, so naturally she told everything.
"The one in the needlework room is Jinniang. Although she looks chubby, she is very good at embroidery. The first and second ladies both like to have her make clothes. Once, the second young master had a damaged bamboo coat, so I went outside to find an embroiderer, but many people said they had never seen one, so I asked her to mend it, and she really did it. Later, the second young master wanted to give Madam Zhang an embroidered Buddhist scripture, and she was the only one who was good at embroidering Buddhist scripture. But when she was embroidering the scripture, she was in a hurry and had no time to help the second young lady and the others. I heard that the second young lady was very angry at that time." Cuixian told her everything.
The second wife tightened the handkerchief in her hand and said, "So it's because of this matter. You are such an old man but you are so ignorant."
It was not Cuixian's place to comment on the good or bad of the second young lady. She just stood there with a smile on her face. The second lady encouraged her and then said to her trusted nanny, "I have seen several young ladies in the Zhou family. The eldest young lady is good, the third young lady is elegant and pretty, and the fourth young lady is gentle and docile. Only the second young lady did something really ugly."
In fact, beating slaves is inevitable in a large family, but firstly, Jinniang is not an ordinary slave. She has superb skills and honest character. Secondly, there is no legitimate reason for her to do so.
At least you could accuse him of something!
…
While everyone was talking about it, Jinniang secretly opened the gift boxes sent by Luying. One box contained longan, one box contained Jiangzhou dates, and there was also a five-foot-long silk cloth. Under the silk cloth were two Jiaozi notes, each worth ten strings of cash, a total of twenty strings of cash, which was almost her monthly allowance for most of the year.
Jinniang put away the Jiaozi and understood that Jiang probably knew that she usually exchanged most of her money for Jiaozi and kept them there, and she also found out about her situation.
After she sneered, she rubbed her knees with the medicated oil.
Sure enough, Jiang heard that although Jinniang had difficulty walking due to knee pain, she still hobbled to the embroidery frame to do her embroidery work. She also heard that even Madam Chen praised her for her improved craftsmanship.
"She is a sensible child." Jiang sighed.
Luying said: "You have treated her very well. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. The second girl has been taken in by the Jiang family. I think our family can have some peace for a while."
Jiang nodded.
It is also said that on the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jinniang received a letter and some gifts from her mother. Last year, her family was poor, and the gifts sent by her family were looked down upon by the other people in the sewing room. But this year, they received two huge burdens.
Her mother also had someone write a letter to her. She opened the letter first and read it. Her mother said that her uncle had no one to help him, so he asked her and her husband to run the breakfast shop on the grounds of letting them run the shop for a year. Unexpectedly, after working for a year for nothing, her uncle quit and wanted to drive them away. Fortunately, she had a quarrel with her uncle and aunt and won the right to run the shop for a year, so she had money in her hands. They also said that the cloth she sent back was so good that they exchanged one piece of silk for two pieces of cloth. They also said that the cotton-padded jacket she brought back was especially warm-proof. They also wrote down all kinds of other things she brought back.
The first bundle contained red oranges, which were a specialty of Jiangling Prefecture and were Jinniang's favorite at home. There was also a kind of black dates, which Jinniang had eaten in modern times. They were palm dates, now called Persian dates. There was also a bundle containing several feet of Jiangling brocade.
Her mother had made the clothes purely for her, but Jinniang saw that the brocade, with its elegant patterns of longevity peaches, delicate deer, and auspicious elephants, was very suitable for a wedding, so she took a piece of satin cloth to wrap it up, and picked up some red oranges and dates and went to the upper room.
Jiang soon saw her. Jinniang deliberately stumbled in and said with a smile, "My parents sent some things from my hometown. Although these things are not very valuable, they are also quite interesting. I want to present them to the first lady to repay you for taking good care of me all the time."
"When my sister was in Jiangling, she often sent me local specialties from Jiangling. Do you have oranges? I like the oranges from your place better than those from Wenzhou." Seeing Jinniang's peaceful expression, Jiang was relieved.
Jinniang smiled and said, "There are oranges and loquats, and also Persian dates. I ate these Persian dates once last year. I heard that they are called desert tonics. They not only have the effect of clearing the lungs and moistening the intestines, but are also useful for pregnant women to prevent colds during childbirth. In addition, Jiangling brocade may not be as famous as the cloth from Liangzhe Road or Pingjiang Prefecture, but it was often used in weddings as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Even the tribute gifts presented by Emperor Suzong of Tang were mainly silk fabrics such as Fangwen silk and Fu cloth. I'm afraid you don't like it."
Jiang took a look at the cloth and found it was indeed good. She accepted it with a smile: "No matter how big or small the item is, it is a token of your thoughtfulness."
"I knew you wouldn't mind. Don't worry, I understand what you mean. I felt a little aggrieved that the second young lady punished me, but when I think of your kindness to me, I'll let it go." Jinniang expressed her grievances, but at the same time said that she would not bear a grudge.
If you just say that you have no complaints, then you are a saint and no one will trust you.
Jiang had originally just sent someone to give money to keep her quiet, but she didn't expect Jinniang to be so smart. It would be nice if such a person had a son at home, who could be given as a dowry by her daughter. As long as you treat her well, she won't have any second thoughts. Even though she had a good skill, she never felt proud no matter how they praised her.
Unfortunately, she was not an orphan left unattended. She had smart and capable parents at home, and they could communicate frequently. It is very difficult to deal with such a family.
So, Jiang patted Jiang Lingjin and said, "Good child, it's all her fault. She's already engaged, but she's still so ignorant."
Jinniang showed a look of horror: "What are you talking about? I just hope that the misunderstanding between the second young lady and this servant will not be too deep, otherwise it will make her feel uncomfortable."
"I'm glad you think so." Jiang patted her hands.
Jinniang said goodbye with a smile, and there was no expression on her face when she turned and walked to the door.
**
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mrs. Chen paid for the kitchen to prepare a feast to reward everyone.
Jinniang's knee was almost healed, but everyone didn't let her do anything else. They just asked her to sit down. Fang Qiaolian sat beside her and asked, "Jinniang, do you still hate the second young lady?"
"I don't hate her anymore. The eldest lady is very sensible. Why should I hate her?" Jinniang curled her lips.
Fang Qiaolian smiled and said, "It's great that you think so. I was afraid that you couldn't figure it out. Let's work peacefully for a year and then go back to Jiangling."
The two of them have had a good relationship since they entered the sewing room. Fang Qiao Lian usually thought that Jinniang had a very strong temper, but she didn't expect that she would forgive her so easily this time. This is also a good thing.
Si Er poked Jin Niang's arm and said, "Sister Jin Niang, here, we have the lamb head skewers you like."
"Hey, let me try a few." Jinniang said with a smile.
Sheep head skewers are not mutton skewers. They are made by tearing sheep head meat into thin strips, adding egg white to make stuffing, then wrapping it with lard and rolling it into a thin tube shape. After being steamed, it is coated with batter and fried. It tastes golden, crispy and delicious.
This was Jinniang's favorite. She ate three of them and had a bowl of lychee drink. Her favorite thing in the Song Dynasty was all kinds of drinks, which were definitely no worse than modern milk tea.
Madam Chen raised her glass and said, "I am sorry to bother you all these days. We have been busy day and night for the past six months, and finally the quilt covers are almost done. I will trouble you all again next time."
Everyone also raised their glasses and drank.
As for how the Zhou family's masters, mistresses, grandmothers and girls celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jinniang was very excited in the first year, but now she has no interest at all.
But there was only one person who gave her a new look. She quietly asked Si'er, "How is Yanhong, the one I asked you to inquire about?"
"She has been sick ever since the child passed away. Sister, you talked to Sister Hu and asked her to send some nourishing soup to her every day, but Sister Hu said she didn't seem to drink much." Si'er was young, but he felt bad and uncomfortable when he heard such things.
Jinniang sighed: "If I were her, I would definitely pick myself up again. The most important thing in a person's life is to live for oneself."
Then, he said to Si'er, "You have learned several needlework techniques now. You can make shoe uppers and purses, but you can't embroider flowers. I don't have much time now. Tomorrow I will give you a pattern and you can try to embroider it first."
Si Er said happily, "Okay, I will definitely learn from you, but I am too slow to learn. I heard from Madam Chen that Sister Jin Niang can become an apprentice in two years, but I have been here for two years and have only just learned how to cut purses."
"If I didn't have talent, I would have gone into weaving, and I wouldn't have been able to embroider. Don't worry, we are like sisters, and I will teach you how to cut. I learned this from a master when I was young." Jinniang touched Si'er's head.
Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the second grandma became pregnant. Within three months of her marriage, people were urging her to get pregnant, and the servants were gossiping about her. Now, about half a year later, she is definitely pregnant, and the Zhou family is bustling again.
"The old lady sent a lot of supplements to the second grandmother, and the maids couldn't hold them all."
"Yes, the Second Madam also sent some donkey-hide gelatin from Daming Prefecture."
Qin Shuang'er and Fang Qiaolian looked at her with envy, but Jinniang sighed, "The servants in the Second Madam's courtyard received double the reward money, but we got nothing."
Jinniang felt that she was just a worker who only cared about how much she was paid and didn't bother to care about anything else.
"You, you think so much, and you still give us money. It's a blessing that you didn't ask us to make clothes or swaddling clothes for us." Fang Qiao Lian said with a smile.
When it came to the news that Zhang was pregnant, everyone in the house was happy, except Miao Xiaoniang, who was unhappy. She had finally given birth to a pair of children, and thought that Yanhong had fallen out of favor and her son had stood out, but she didn't expect that the second wife was pregnant.
So fast, how could it be so fast!
She thought that after giving birth to the eldest master's only son, life would be different from now on, but now it is still the same.
It is easy to deal with Yanhong, but it is not easy to deal with Second Lady.
After being in a daze for a long time, she saw someone coming in. It was the fourth girl. She couldn't force a smile, but just said lightly: "Your father doesn't know what's going on in the backyard. Yesterday during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he was still complaining about why the second girl didn't come back. Your needlework is still not good. I'll give you the shoe pattern, you paste the upper and make a pair of shoes for your father."
"My dear, my daughter..." The fourth girl had read novels before and thought that needlework seemed easy, but when she really started to learn it, it was actually very boring. Even sewing shoe soles was not something that ordinary people could do as it took too much effort.
Besides, she didn't like this scumbag father. He treated his wives and concubines in a mediocre way. The women were fighting over each other like black-eyed chickens. He appeared to be harmonious on the surface, but in fact he was secretly leading them to compete with each other. Whoever was favored would get gold, silver, cloth, and better food.
Miao Xiaoniang was of course the best at pleasing him, but the fourth girl was unwilling to do so.
Miao Xiaoniang lifted her eyelids and glanced at her: "You are also diligent in moving around. Although your father likes poetry and songs, he doesn't like to show off his fame. You can learn more from your elder sister. Look at her needlework, she is also good at it, and she is also elegant and virtuous."
The fourth girl agreed casually.
She thought that her mother still didn't know that Jiang secretly gave all the family fortune to her two daughters, so she could say these things calmly.
After the second wife became pregnant, everyone thought Cuixian would be promoted, but unexpectedly, Zhang kicked the face of her own maid who came with the dowry. Jinniang heard this when she went to Mrs. Hu's place to drink Ma Yin, because she had to send a few tables of food over.
Mrs. Hu said with a smile, "You are busy in the sewing room all day long, you don't know what's going on here. Even though Second Madam is usually nice to Cuixian, she is always wary of her."
"I'm afraid neither of them will get anything good." Jinniang had a good eye because of her embroidery work, and she had a certain understanding of judging people. The second young master had a different temperament from his father. He seemed a little rebellious, but he also had the capital to be proud. Such a person was born a child of destiny and was quite romantic. Zhang, however, seemed to be a pure love candidate, and she was afraid that she was not sincere in letting the maid open her face.
Mrs. Hu gave her a sheep's head stick and said, "That's right. I don't want Zhen'er to go to the mansion to serve the masters. If she can work in the needlework room for a few years, and if I have dignity in the future, I can let her go out and marry her, it will be better than anything else."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Look, I'm here to teach Zhen'er. I've been very busy lately. Come, Zhen'er, I've got you a pattern. This is a new pattern I drew, of hollyhocks. You should embroider it first. You should embroider vertically here, and horizontally here. Put the needle in from here."
"I don't understand what others say, except you, Jinniang. This hollyhock is really beautiful." Zhen'er held the flower as if it were a treasure.
After returning from Mrs. Hu's place, Jinniang continued to make a new wedding quilt with her head down. After she had embroidered the Blooming Flowers and Mandarin Ducks Playing in the Water, she began to embroider her third set. After all, a young girl would have to embroider ten quilts and ten covers for her wedding, so the pattern she chose for the third wedding quilt was the Begonia Gorge Butterfly, which symbolizes longevity. She used white satin as the base color and used double-twisted colorful silk threads to embroider it.
This painting of crabapple gorge butterflies mainly depicts the crabapple blossoms in full bloom in the sudden spring breeze, with the flowers tilted back to face the back and the leaves seemingly rolling and twisting. These charms must be captured, and the feeling should be as clear as water and as clean as frost and dew. 【1】
Because they had to make two red beds and one other color.
After a day's work, Jinniang finally finished the painting. Si'er filled a basin with water and asked her to wash her feet. He then picked up the painting and said, "Sister's paintings are getting better and better."
"I'm just getting better, but I'm still far from the level of those embroidery masters." Jinniang held her chin.
Si'er opened his eyes wide and said, "But I still think it's good."
Looking at the cute Si'er, she smiled and said, "Okay, you should go wash up quickly too."
The two of them were joking, which made Qin Shuang'er, who was staying up late outside embroidering a quilt of hundreds of descendants, very angry. Her characters were particularly complicated to embroider, and she had to embroider two identical ones, which was extremely painful.
Therefore, she deliberately mentioned: "Jinniang, I heard that the second young lady will be back from the Jiang family soon, you should be careful that she will bully you again."
"There's nothing we can do. She's a young lady, so whatever she says is reasonable. Fortunately, Mr. He San doesn't know about it." Jinniang wiped her feet and glanced in the direction of Fang Qiaolian.
Si'er asked in a low voice: "Sister Jinniang, what do you think Sister Fang is doing?"
Jinniang curled her lips and smiled, because she knew that Fang Qiaolian was the accomplice sent by the He family. Otherwise, why would she change her weapons so quickly and suddenly look brand new when the third young master He came?
Humph, you have blocked both my parents' home and my husband's home. If I have to blame anyone, it's you who humiliated me first.
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