Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Two chapters merged into one
After returning from Chongyang, the old lady heard that she had caught a cold outside and fell ill. Even Zhang from the eldest house came to visit her. The waiter also asked two little maids to watch the fire. When Jinniang came over, she was overwhelmed by the smell of medicine.
Lanxiang came in holding Jinniang's hand and asked the maids to go down first. She watched the fire herself and whispered to Jinniang at the same time.
"The old lady's condition is actually not serious. The medicine the doctor prescribed is very mild." Lan Xue said in a low voice.
Jinniang thought that the old lady was not the kind of person who liked to make trouble on weekdays, so why was she pretending to be sick now? She suddenly had an idea: "Could it be to bring Mrs. Mei back?"
Lan Xue suddenly realized: "I haven't thought of this yet, your brain is really quick. That's right, Auntie originally went back because the old master was seriously ill, but I didn't expect the old master to die like this. Although the mansion sent someone over, they didn't say they would pick him up."
"That lady..." It was hard to say what Jinniang said next. It would not be nice if others heard her talking about the master's family, but it was also a fact that this lady was stirring up trouble.
Lan Xue asked, "What if she comes back this time and asks your sewing room staff to come over again?"
Jinniang was not worried: "Of course not. The eldest girl's marriage is the top priority of the mansion. To tell you the truth, the four people in the sewing room are not enough. It is impossible to spare some manpower."
If the old lady really still had weight, how could she pretend to be sick?
However, Jinniang teased her: "You are not a doctor, how do you know the properties of the medicine?"
Lan Xue smiled and said, "I've been cooking medicine for so long, how could I not know? Don't underestimate me."
Normally, the Zhou family's sons would be married off at the age of eighteen. Lan Xue was one year older than Jin Niang, and she was fifteen this year. She would have to be married off in three years. There were very few maids serving as maids in the second branch of the Zhou family, and even Madam Chen lived in the outer wing.
In fact, Lan Xue is the best in the tea room. She is very good at decocting medicine and making tea. Even Yao Niang learned how to make tea from her. But because he was born in a family, he had to be confined to this mansion for the rest of his life.
Jinniang stretched and said, "I can't be lazy for too long. I have to go back. Don't tell anyone else about this."
"Well, don't worry." Lan Xue said.
After working for a while, Si'er came back with the rice. Jinniang took a bite of the rice and her teeth were scratched. It turned out to be sand and the rice was yellow. "Hiss, what's going on? Why is the rice getting more and more unpalatable?"
"It's rare that you say it's unpalatable." Qin Shuang'er shook her head. Now she could only use fat and delicious to attack Jinniang in a tactful way.
Jinniang rolled her eyes and was too lazy to speak.
Madam Chen pointed at them and said, "You don't go out, so you don't know what's going on outside. There was a big flood in the south, and many crops were flooded this year. People started selling their children. As for the rice and flour in our house, it's good enough to eat."
"There's a flood in the south? I wonder if my parents are okay?" Jinniang was very worried. The Jingjiang River is winding and there was a flood a few years ago.
After she said this, Qin Shuang'er and Fang Qiao Lian also became worried.
Madam Chen shook her head: "I don't know either. I'm the same as you. No, I have to ask someone to bring some money back, for fear that my family will not be able to make ends meet."
"No, then I have to ask someone to bring some rice and flour back." Jinniang was anxious.
Madam Chen waved her hands quickly: "Who will bring the things back for you? The people from Shuxiu Pavilion won't bring them. The food is too heavy."
Jinniang immediately wrote a letter to inquire about the situation at home, and other people in the sewing room also asked her to write letters to take back. In this era, literacy is really important, at least it can help you avoid being blind.
Even the sewing room noticed something was wrong. As the mistress of the house, Jiang had of course long known that there was a food shortage. The old lady in the mansion naturally ate the best white flour and rice, but what others, including herself, ate was worse than before.
Nowadays, high-quality japonica rice costs one thousand coins per dan, and medium-quality japonica rice costs eight hundred and fifty coins per dan, which means that one dou of rice costs between eighty and one hundred coins. The Zhou family has a large population in the main branch, and the daughter-in-law comes with a large dowry. The family prepared a dowry for the eldest daughter and also provided one hundred acres of paddy fields. But the second daughter's dowry also needs to be prepared, which is a huge sum of money that cannot be moved at all.
Just at this time, the old lady wanted her aunt to come back.
After the aunt comes back, not only will she stir up trouble again, she may also take away the old lady's dowry.
She turned to look at Luying and said, "Go and invite the master over."
Master Zhou arrived late. When he came, Jiang looked at him and said, "The old lady wanted to take Auntie in. We can keep other things secret, but we can't keep it secret that Master Auntie has passed away. What does the master say?"
No one expected that Master Mei had passed away. If he hadn't passed away, it would have been great for Aunt Mei to stay at home and take care of her husband, but now...
Thinking of this, Master Zhou raised his eyes and sighed slightly: "You arrange these."
"I can make the arrangements, but what if something scandalous happens again? " This is what Jiang was most worried about.
Master Zhou said, "Then let her stay at home to mourn for her husband. She will have to mourn for a year at least before she can leave. By then, she will have to travel for several months. Our Shishi has already married."
Jiang nodded: "This is a good idea."
After the couple agreed, Jiang went to the old lady again. She fed the medicine herself and said, "The eldest master said that after my sister finishes mourning, he will take them over. At that time, we will take care of them. Don't worry."
The old lady coughed a few times and said, "They are orphans and their mother is widowed. The Mei family has long been in decline. I don't know what's going on with them. I'm worried about them."
"Don't worry, we plan to let Cun'er go over and take a look." Jiang said.
The old lady said quickly, "That won't work. Cun'er is going to take the imperial examination. How can we let him go outside? Let Shen'er go."
Jiang and Xi looked at each other. Shen'er was the only child of the third wife, and she could not agree on behalf of the third wife. Xi said, "That's as it should be. But the third master and his daughter-in-law have recently fallen in love with a girl. Let him go after the marriage is settled. It's not good to keep the girl waiting."
This is a really great trick, Jiang secretly said in her heart, Xi's son Zhou Shenzhi is also a good scholar, an example of a bad bamboo producing good bamboo shoots. His father was a failure in study, favored his concubine and neglected his wife, and was a corrupt family, but this child was taught to be kind, righteous and upright. The reason why Mrs. Xi was quite respectable was because her son was very outstanding, but she just made one more move.
Let the third brother get engaged directly to prevent certain accidents from happening. She couldn't accept it if the aunt did something despicable to deliberately make it happen.
I feel sorry for my niece and my cousin, but I can't let my son suffer any accident.
The old lady started coughing violently, so Jiang and Xi called a doctor again. After waiting for her to take the medicine, Xi went to Wu for help.
Mrs. Wu patted her hands and said, "Don't panic. I asked the second master. One of his colleagues also came from a wealthy family. I asked the matchmaker to bring a copy of her invitation."
"Okay, I'll have to trouble my second sister-in-law again." Xi was very pleased.
The second sister-in-law often delegates power to her and is very good to the third brother. This is also her support in the mansion. She can make the decisions without relying on the third master.
But they were all wrong. On the first day of October, the door of Zhou's house was knocked open. The aunt chose an adopted son from the Mei family and let her daughter take her place to fulfill her filial duties.
Unfortunately, this time, Jiang only asked the second and third girls to pick out two sets of clothes that they had not worn and send them to her, and did not ask the sewing room to send any more clothes.
Even Mrs. Chen said, "As a mother, she knows that she is not welcome, so it is right for her not to come."
Jinniang had just finished making the pillowcase in her hand, and started making chair covers, table curtains and hanging curtains.
Madam Chen had to teach them all these things first: "It's best to make a set of chair covers and table curtains together. It's best to choose red satin. Go to the storehouse to get the silk floss."
She gave a demonstration first, and Jinniang and the others learned from her before starting to do it.
I have to say that this time I really gained a lot. Jinniang didn't know that there were so many things to prepare for a wedding, and she didn't even know that the embroidery pieces to be rewarded to the servants had to be specially made.
At night, she lit a candle and wrote densely on a whole page. For some things, she was afraid that the descriptions would not be clear, so she just drew pictures, which made Fang Qiaolian unhappy.
"Go to sleep, you can't sleep if it's always on."
"Okay, okay, it'll be almost there." Jinniang said.
Because she was thinking about the paintings in the flower and bird album of the Hanlin Academy that Wu had given her, she got up again and began to prepare to draw a table curtain and chair covering of magpies on plum blossoms. This time she prepared four types. Magpies on plum blossoms were her usual embroidery patterns. After finishing the magpie, she would prepare to embroider blooming forsythia.
In this case, gamboge is needed as the main color, and cinnabar and rouge are used to adjust the edges of the petals.
That's just how she is. She always has to be more prepared.
Any two volumes of flower and bird albums from the Hanlin Academy of Painting are in line with current aesthetics. If she could enter the Academy of Wenxiu, these Hanlin Academy albums would be sent here first, which would be the most fashionable.
Although some patterns look good, they cannot be accepted if they do not conform to the current aesthetic standards. We must keep up with the trends.
Unfortunately, there was not enough cinnabar, so she asked Brother Kuang San to bring her some cinnabar. One or two taels of cinnabar cost more than two hundred coins, which was really not cheap, but there was no other way. If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.
Fortunately, just after she paid out two hundred coins, the old lady's people behind her asked her to make a set of clothes for her cousin, and also asked someone to bring over a hundred coins and cloth.
"I can do it, but it will be a little slow." Jinniang has almost finished embroidering the big piece, and she also has an idea of how to embroider the table curtains. As long as she is not urged too quickly, she will do it when she has time.
The maid from the old lady's side said, "It's not a big deal. The old lady knows that you are going to embroider the dowry for the eldest girl and she is really busy. You should focus on embroidering the dowry and finish it when you have time."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Thank you very much for your understanding, old lady."
This time, although the aunt didn't come, the cousin was so considerate. When Jinniang came to measure her feet, Mei Paner even gave her a silver hairpin: "Thank you for your trouble, sister."
Jinniang refused to accept it: "This is too expensive, cousin, there is no need to do this."
Mei Pan'er was very resolute this time: "When I came here before, I was ignorant and caused you some trouble. You can take it now. You are so busy, I still need you to take some time to do something for me."
"You're really too kind." Jinniang said as she accepted the silver hairpin.
The cousin now lives in the wing next to the old lady, unlike before when she lived behind the third room. She is well taken care of by the old lady. Jinniang thinks that for daughters of officials, even if her mother bullied others and did bad things in the past, as long as there are people protecting her from above, there is still a lot of room for error.
But Sister Shan, if she did one wrong thing, she would be beaten and kicked out, and her life would fall from a high point from then on.
Even though she worked in Shu Embroidery Workshop, she could only be an embroiderer forever, but Jinniang and the others learned a lot of new things from Chen Niang, and even received generous rewards from the Zhou family. After the eldest daughter of Zhou got married, they could find jobs elsewhere and their monthly wages could be multiplied several times. But Shanjie couldn't do that.
In the sewing room, apart from Jinniang, everyone else was also taking private work, but Qin Shuang'er was the one who really made the situation worse. She only remembers to eat and not to be beaten. This was the case when she first came. Jinniang had finished embroidering the pillowcases, but she had not yet finished embroidering her own wedding quilt. Now she was also helping the second mistress make clothes in private.
Zhang was pregnant now, and many of her clothes were too small, so she had to make some new clothes. However, her nanny said, "You can ask the embroiderers in the needlework room to make clothes for a hundred bucks. Why go out and find someone to do it? They do pretty good work."
"Is this true? It only costs one hundred dollars?" Zhang thought it was too cheap.
The servant said, "It's true. Those people are paid monthly, and their food is also provided by the mansion, so it's not expensive for them to take on some private work."
Zhang said indifferently, "Okay, let them do one."
Therefore, Qin Shuang'er stayed up more and more late nights. Although Jinniang also stayed up late, she was nothing compared to her.
Mei Pan'er was also staying up late. This time when she returned to Beijing from home, many things were different. For example, although the meals she had eaten before were not abalone, sea cucumber, or other delicacies from land and sea, they were still delicacies of the highest quality. But now even the rice she ate was medium-quality rice, which was completely inferior to before. Could it be that her aunt was disgusted with her?
Although she is under the protection of her grandmother now, her grandmother is old and she is alone in Beijing. She doesn’t know what will happen to her in the future.
She didn't know whether her family had received the letter she sent back home. Times were tough and she didn't want anything to happen to her family.
Biting her lip, she put down her clothes and went to rest on the bed.
After the clothes for the cousin were finished, Jinniang had to send money as gifts to the servants in the mansion when they got married or had children. The hundred dollars she had just received was not enough to spend, and she even had to buy some water gifts for Luying's birthday.
Not to mention Jinniang, even a little girl like Si'er had to give gifts to the housekeepers. It was only after Jinniang gave her two hundred coins that she was able to make up the amount.
Si Er was getting impatient: "As long as someone is of a higher status than us, we have to give him money. It's really hard to stop this."
"That's impossible. Just do your embroidery well and get more rewards in the future, then you don't have to worry about it." Jinniang said.
In fact, Si'er can now do sewing, make purses, paste shoe uppers, and make samples quite well. Just like the shoe uppers of my cousin’s shoes were made by her, which actually shows that she has already started to learn the basics.
The white snow and red plums embroidered on the clothes that Jinniang made for Mei Pan'er actually made her look even more outstanding. Even Jinniang felt that the cousin she had met before seemed to have grown up and become much more beautiful, making it difficult for people to take their eyes off her.
Actually, when it comes to looks, the third and fourth girls are not bad, but they are both little girls with innocent looks that are not bad, but the eldest girl has a natural charm.
But even with such a beautiful appearance, she was not popular in the Zhou family, because it was the old lady's birthday, so all the ladies were specially invited, and the girls went out to meet the guests. Everyone learned that the first two girls of the Zhou family's eldest master were already engaged, and seeing that the third girl was gentle and pretty, five or six matchmakers came to the door in succession.
Jiang and Lu Xiaoniang used to be master and servant, and they had a very good relationship. They couldn't just marry the third girl off to someone else. They also thought that the people who said this didn't mind.
Even the young fourth daughter had someone ask her this question, but no one paid any attention to the cousin.
At this time Jinniang suddenly realized that although appearance has advantages, it is worthless compared to family background. To some extent, marriage is also an exchange of interests. No matter how beautiful you are, if you have no value, it will be of no use.
The day before the winter solstice, Jinniang took a day off and went to her cousin's place. Of course, she used this name to go out, but in fact she still had to find some agents to ask in the middle.
Now that she was familiar with the route, there was no need for the mansion to arrange a carriage. After going out of the corner gate, she first walked out of Wuque Lane and bought some seasonal food at a nearby store, including a pound of goose pears, a pound of clams, and a bag of sugar-coated steamed buns.
There was a food shortage in the capital at that time, so bringing some food to the door was better than anything else. Besides, she was the kind of person who never came to someone empty-handed.
As expected, when they arrived at Rong Niang's house, Rong Niang complained again: "You always bring so many things every time you come to my house. You are too polite. There is always something missing in the house."
"I just bought it. Tomorrow is the winter solstice, and I can't go out, so I came out to take a look today. Last time I heard that there was a flood in the south, and I didn't know if our house was affected. I sent a letter, but there has been no reply yet." Jinniang sighed.
Rong Niang was stunned. Since she came to Bianjing, she had been living with Feng Sheng wholeheartedly because her parents had passed away. She didn't think too much about it, so she said, "Don't worry, I'll ask your brother-in-law to find out."
Jinniang said happily: "Thank you very much, sister and brother-in-law."
My little nephew has already been married and has a name, a single character "Lin", Feng Lin.
"Lin? The Lin in Qilin. Sister, it seems that my brother-in-law hopes that my nephew will become a Qilin in the future." Jinniang smiled and thought that this expectation was still very high.
Rong Niang said with a smile: "Your brother-in-law has already figured out which school the Zhou family will attend and where they will study."
In the past, Jinniang would advise Rongniang that since her brother-in-law was so ambitious, she should also work harder. However, she knew that such words were inappropriate, so she just acted envious and said, "Big sister is really lucky and blessed. With a brother-in-law like this, you can save yourself a lot of worries."
Rong Niang was also very pleased to hear this. She looked at Jin Niang again. She was still wearing the purple raccoon sleeves, her hair was unpolished, she had big dark circles under her eyes, and her lips were upturned. She really looked a bit unkempt.
She thought so and said it out loud: "You girls don't have to dress up too much, but you have to dress yourself up a little bit, because you are old enough to be in your husband's family."
Jinniang didn't think so. She thought that she would only dress up for important occasions, and she could keep it simple on weekdays. Besides, she felt that what she wore was not bad, and the material she wore was much better than Rongniang's. But what disgusted her most was that she had reached the age where she had to talk about her in-laws' family, as if everything she did was just to talk about her in-laws' family.
Therefore, Jinniang also said with a frown: "Big sister, I understand. Let's not think about these things for now."
Then Rong Niang said, "I've said too much, but you don't like it. By the way, Ying Niang is getting married. Are you going?"
"Then I'd better not go." Jinniang waved her hand quickly.
Yingniang is the daughter of her third uncle. When her mother had not given birth to her younger brother, her third aunt often ridiculed her secretly. Later, she instigated her family to occupy the land of Jinniang's family. Even when my father built a house in the countryside, my eldest uncle said that he would not return to his hometown and it was not necessary for him to do his share. My third uncle was not married at that time, and my father built the house so that he could get married. Later, after my third aunt got married, my father went to work in the imperial guards. My third uncle said that he wanted to pay for the house, and my father agreed, saying that he would only sell half of it, which was an extremely low price, even less than five strings of cash, and gave it to them.
Later, my third uncle was running a small business outside and asked my grandparents to help him. He even said shamelessly that he would be the one to look after my grandparents until they passed away. Unfortunately, my grandfather fell ill and died, and they simply denied it.
After my grandfather passed away, conflicts broke out among everyone.
The third aunt also spread rumors and made trouble, saying that my parents had taken all of my grandfather's property and stole their land deeds, and the two families were at loggerheads.
So, even though she knew that her third uncle and aunt had come to the stinky alley in the east of the city two months ago, she was unwilling to go there. Firstly, the two families had a falling out, and secondly, her third aunt was a miser. She heard that her family was in the steamed bun business, and the business was obviously good, but they only lived in a shabby house that rented for 100 cents, and they only bought rotten fruits. If a customer ordered an extra bowl of rice at her house, she might roll her eyes.
How could Jinniang possibly get past such a person?
Rong Niang also advised: "We are all relatives, why do this? Ying Niang is now working as a waiter in Panlou, and her fiancé is also a waiter in the store. Third uncle and his family are a little disgusted with her, but Third sister has already decided on her..."
"Well, big sister, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first." Jinniang stood up instantly. She thought that her uncle had gone out a long time ago and didn't take care of the family much when he was away. He only showed his glamorous side to everyone. At most, his third uncle and people from his hometown would stay in their home in Anlu Mansion and look up to them, so Rongniang only saw kindness.
Jinniang's father is a soft-hearted and confused good man. Even if you think you are doing good for others, they will still think you are not doing enough, so their money is almost being eroded. Therefore, Jinniang feels more malice than kindness, and she is too impatient to listen to these things. Uncle San and his family relied on Rong Niang to gain a foothold in Tokyo, so of course they support her. Rong Niang also has different feelings towards the Third House.
After she left, Rong Niang felt embarrassed, and she also felt that Jin Niang was being too ruthless by seeming to want to break off the engagement.
Jinniang went out, breathed a sigh of relief, and went to several pawnshops in succession. She didn't dare to go to a particularly small pawnshop, so she chose a regular pawnshop. Regular pawnbrokers all have ID cards, and Jinniang can read, so they can't cheat her.
After checking her ID card, she asked about Wenxiuyuan. "Uncle, I want to ask when Wenxiuyuan will hire someone?"
Seeing Jinniang hand over the 100 coins quickly, Cheng Yaren said, "It's not easy to get into the Wenxiu Academy. Once you get in, you have to stay there for at least three years."
"It's okay, I'm willing." Jinniang blurted out, she was shocked, and immediately covered her mouth and asked: "I'm doing embroidery work at someone else's house now, staying up day and night, won't Wenxiuyuan be more tired?"
She couldn't stand being too tired.
Cheng Ya was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "No, no, we only have a break once every ten days, we work during the day, we have a break during the three major festivals, we get two stone of grain per month, and six dou of rice and beans, it's easier than in other places."
Two dan of monthly rations and six dou of rice and beans, equivalent to two strings of silver per month, was indeed not a lot.
But the work is easy, and I can have the atlas provided by the Hanlin Academy of Painting. In my spare time, I can also take private work from the embroidery houses outside. Jinniang said seriously: "I really want to go, so please trouble Cheng Yaren."
Cheng Yaren nodded and said, "Okay, when the job opening notice comes out, leave me your address and I'll have someone bring the letter to you."
Jinniang left the address and breathed a sigh of relief.
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