Chapter 76 Chapter 76 Two Chapters in One
It was said that ever since she visited the Liu Mansion last time, Madam Xun had always been arrogant, but Madam Liu looked favorably upon her and even asked her to bring Sister Yun over to see her.
As it was starting to get cold today, Jinniang helped her daughter put on a pink slanted-collared jacket with rabbit fur trimmed all around and a white rabbit munching on a carrot embroidered on the chest. She wore a skirt over her trousers with a few cute little rabbits embroidered on it, a hat with white and pink pompoms on her hair, and rabbit-shaped sachets hanging from her body.
Even Jiang Xian, who was waiting at the door to meet them, was almost melted by his daughter's cuteness: he reached out to hold her, but Jinniang said, "My daughter just woke up, let me hold her."
In fact, whether a man really cares about you depends on whether he is willing to bring you to meet people he thinks are important. Jinniang is very satisfied with Jiang Xian in this regard. Unlike some men, they marry women of low status, listen to other people's gossip and look down on their own bedmates.
When the family of three came to see Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Liu fell in love with Yun Jie'er as soon as she saw her: "This doll is the most beautiful doll I have ever seen."
Many parents, even though their children are obviously average-looking, always think that "my son/daughter is the best-looking in the world", so they feel it is not good to let outsiders praise them, but it is also not good not to praise them.
Parents like to be praised. If the child is really good-looking, it's fine for people to praise him. But if the child is ordinary-looking, they still want others to praise him. It's simply...
It seems that Jiang Xian and Jin Niang rarely talk about their daughter's appearance in front of outsiders, but as parents they like to dress up their daughter. Also because of this, little Yun Jie'er is popular wherever she goes.
"Madam, you're praising me too much." Jinniang looked at her daughter with a smile, signaling her not to be afraid of seeing strangers.
People of Madam Liu's age love to be lively. She sees that Jinniang is beautiful, her daughter is cute, and Jiang Xian is good at both studying and doing things. There was a problem in her mother's family, and it was Jiang Xian who helped her solve it. As a result, she saw that Jiang Xian loved his wife, and she also looked favorably upon Jinniang and Yunjie'er.
After a few jokes, Jinniang took the child out again and happened to meet Liu Jixiang's eldest son, Liu Dalangjun. Jiang Xian suddenly became nervous, because you know, Liu Dalangjun was not a quiet person. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Madam Xun is making a fuss. In fact, Mr. Liu has several mistresses outside.
He naturally knew that Liu Dalangjun was a loyal man and that one should not tease a friend's wife, but Jiang Xian understood the thoughts of these men very well. If he had achieved fame and honor, it would be easy to say, but if he had not, it would be difficult to say.
"Shiliulang, where are we going?" asked Liu Dalangjun.
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "I just sent my wife to pay respects to the old lady. Now I have something else to do at home, so I will send them back."
When Liu Dalang saw Yun Jie'er, he took off a jade pendant and gave it to her. Jiang Xian smiled and thanked him on behalf of his daughter, and then they said goodbye. Jiang Xian originally planned to send them back, but when he remembered the matter of renting a house at Jinliang Bridge, he said to Jinniang, "Let's go together."
Jinniang nodded immediately. Fortunately, the people in the bank were also knowledgeable. Seeing Jiang Xian coming in person, they did not dare to refuse and sent ten silver ingots. One silver ingot was fifty taels, and ten ingots were exactly five hundred taels. Naturally, Jiang Xian gave all the silver to Jinniang.
When the two were on their way back, she saw Feng Sheng and Lou Si Niang nearby. Feng Sheng also saw Jiang Xian on horseback and immediately came over to talk to him.
It turned out that he and his wife had bought a place near Jinliang Bridge to open a clinic. Feng Sheng was very modest at this time: "We are starting from scratch, and business is not very good yet. So, Si Niang and I have to take turns to go out for consultations."
Jiang Xian didn't want to say more, he just smiled and said, "Then Doctor Feng, please slow down, we won't delay you."
Feng Sheng bowed and left in a hurry.
Ever since Feng Sheng remarried, the two sides have had almost no contact. Jinniang didn't like Feng Sheng very much in the first place, and she didn't know that he would open a clinic so soon.
It was just that the daughter in her arms was about to pee, so the wet nurse quickly took her over to help her pee. Then Mother Luo helped put a diaper in her and only after she had comforted the child did she calm down.
Yun Jie'er is usually taken care of by her foster mother and Luo Mama, and in the afternoon, Jin Niang's parents help take care of her. With four people looking after a child, Jin Niang can do her work safely.
When she returned home, she heard that the Zheng family had sent a gift. Jinniang took a look and found it was two packets of Southeast tea. Southeast tea is usually only sold in Guangnan and Sichuan. It is forbidden to be sold in other places. When she was about to open it to take a look, Jiang Xian took it, smelled it and said, "Old tea."
"Whether it's old tea or not, I'm just delivering some needlework over there. It won't be a problem." After all, she is not his biological mother-in-law, so everyone just needs to take care of their own face.
Jiang Xian took advantage of the fact that no one was around and kissed Jinniang: "Well, I'll listen to you, madam."
Jinniang stood up and put the money away, and then said, "I think it's easy for officials to become greedy for a little while and then become greedy. My husband and I are not short of money now, so you must not make a mistake and lose everything."
"Why do you say that, madam?" Jiang Xian didn't understand.
Jinniang smiled and said, "I just felt inspired at the time."
Jiang Xian was finally at home today, and he invited his friends over for dinner and chat. Jinniang quickly asked Chen Xiaolang and Liu Douer to go to a nearby restaurant and order a medium-quality meal. It was not that she did not want to order a high-quality meal, but there were too many dishes, and the three of them might not be able to finish them.
Only after returning to Tianshui Lane did Jiang Xian feel like he was home. He felt a little uncomfortable when he first came here, but now he feels very familiar with it.
When his father-in-law heard that he had friends coming, he swept the yard himself. His mother-in-law also prepared fruits and snacks and treated him like her own son.
In the study, the three of them were chatting. Zhang Jiulang had now entered the Imperial College and became a student. He was talking about the people he knew in the Imperial College and said, "There are many Qin and Chu buildings near the Imperial College. We have to go there."
Jiang Xian pointed at him and smiled: "You should take it easy too."
"Shiliulang, don't talk about me. Even near your Tianshui Lane is Lushi Lane, where there are even more brothels." Zhang Jiulang naturally did not think that he was a lustful man, but with his status, many women would flock to him even if he did not do anything, and he still had to have some fun with them.
Jiang Xian smiled, but he didn't want to. Not to mention that he didn't like these, even if his wife knew about it, he didn't know how to break it off. He declined the offer to visit Zhangtai, but he naturally would not say it out loud.
If some words get out, there will be a group of people who, the more serious you are, the more they want to set you up. It's really annoying.
He was the son of an official family and had seen countless people since childhood. He was also very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared and well-informed about worldly affairs, but he just covered it up with a smile.
But Peng Sanlang said, "Shiliulang is studying at the Liu family now, so he doesn't have time to care about those things."
As they talked, they mentioned Zhou Cunzhi again. Zhang Jiulang said, "My brother-in-law said that you don't come to my house very often now. He mentioned you a few days ago."
As a grandson, Zhou Cunzhi only needs to observe mourning for one year, but he has been waiting for an official position for several months.
The Zhou family is no longer what it used to be. Zhang Jiulang also sighed, thinking of how his sister and brother-in-law were almost enemies, but what happened in the boudoir was not easy to talk about.
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "I would like to go, but now my cousin Liu has forced me to study, and even I rarely come home, so how can I go to Zhou's house? Jiulang, please apologize to Zhou Erge for me."
He would rather go to the Liu family than to the Zhou family. Firstly, it was because Jiang treated Jinniang with disrespect, and secondly, Zhou Cunzhi coveted his wife. However, these things were difficult to talk about even among brothers who had a good relationship.
Zhang Jiulang took a bite of the roasted pigeon and said hurriedly, "It's my job, brother."
Seeing Zhang Jiulang enter the Imperial College and Jiang Xian becoming more and more outstanding in his studies, Peng Sanlang said with some sadness, "You two have a promising future, but I have accomplished nothing here."
He was not good at studying and his family finances became increasingly difficult. He was ignorant before and followed Zhang Jiulang to Zhangtai, but Zhang Jiulang's family had already paved the way for him and the gap between him and his friends was getting bigger and bigger.
It’s hard to prepare good gifts for the Winter Solstice and New Year nowadays.
Besides, the fur coat he was wearing was several years old and was neither old nor new. However, Jiang Xian was wearing new clothes and was still feeling hot. He took off the fur coat and found that the padded jacket inside was also brand new, with a very beautiful style and exquisite embroidery.
Jiang Xian was still sweating profusely, and said a little embarrassedly: "My wife insisted that I wear a thick coat inside. It's very hot."
Now Jiang Xian's clothes are so good that even a young master like Zhang Jiulang said, "I'm going to attend a poetry gathering in a few days. Lend me your purple fur coat."
Jiang Xian held his forehead with his hand and said, "You are too late to borrow it. It has already been borrowed by the son of Huang Daxueshi."
In modern society, women's clothing stores have more styles and designs than men's clothing stores, and it was similar in ancient times. The clothes that Jinniang made for Jiang Xian were entirely based on the desire to dress him up, so they looked very good.
Originally, they said they would not make fur coats this year, but when Jiang Xian went to study at Liu's house, Jinniang made him a new goose-patterned sheepskin coat. Last year, his tiger-skin coat was borrowed by someone, and he whispered, "My wife won't let me borrow clothes casually, so don't tell anyone."
Not to mention women love to be coquettish, men are almost the same.
Zhang Jiulang's family has people who are good at sewing, and they know many tailors, but the styles they make are far inferior to those of Jinniang.
As the saying goes, respect the clothes first and then respect the person. Jiang Xian originally loved wearing new clothes, and Jinniang loved to make them for him. He really felt that he would easily attract attention wherever he went.
After a meal, it was dark and the shop was closed. Jinniang asked Aying to burn incense and hang up the clothes she would wear tomorrow. She went to embroider the Guanyin statue and saw Jiang Xian again and said, "Madam, the candlelight is blinding, please don't embroider too much."
"I know." Jinniang knew very well that the job of an embroiderer could easily damage the eyes. Just like her master, Chen Niang, said, when an embroiderer reaches the age of 30, her skills will go downhill. This is determined by physiological reasons.
So she has to work hard for a few years while she can still make money, because she won't have to do this anymore in a few years.
Jiang Xian added: "Peng Sanlang is having a hard time right now. He can't even prepare holiday gifts this year."
During festivals, gifts are a huge expense. Jinniang looked at him and said, "What should we do? The Peng family is a well-known family with many members, so we can't make any mistakes in etiquette."
If you want to borrow money, you can borrow up to five strings of cash, no more.
After all, emergency relief cannot save the poor.
Since even buying holiday gifts is so difficult, one has to think of a way to make a living. Jinniang remembered that the rich families have hangers-on. It would be great if Peng Sanlang could achieve fame this time. If not, he has to humble himself. Otherwise, it would not make sense to borrow money to make ends meet.
Jiang Xian thought to himself that if his wife didn't take care of things, he would be in the same situation. The rent of a decent house in the capital would cost around ten strings of cash a month, not to mention food, gifts, and clothes. Everything would cost money, and it would be a lot.
The fact that he can maintain such a high standard of living today is all thanks to his wife.
So, he said, "Yes, so he is worried too. Madam, how do you think we can help him?"
Jinniang smiled and said, "My dear, a gentleman should be willing to make money. If he is short of money, it is okay for us to give him some. However, it is easy for brothers to have grudges over money. As the saying goes, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. If he can find a way out, it is worse than giving him money."
Jiang Xian nodded: "My wife is right. It really enlightened me."
"Don't give me that. You are much more capable than me." Jinniang knew that Jiang Xian was very good at helping people get things done. She even gave him a difficult matter regarding Madam Liu's family.
Jiang Xian had eaten too much today and felt a little sleepy. He lay on the couch and looked at her and said, "But I have to rely on you now, how can I find a way out for him?"
Jinniang was a person who did not hesitate, so she said: "Then you can do whatever you want, this is your friend after all."
So Jiang Xian lent three strings of cash to Peng Sanlang, and Peng Sanlang agreed to pay the money back by the end of the year. Jiang Xian told him not to worry. Because of this incident, Jiang Xian felt more and more that his mother was right to ask him to marry a wife.
Jinniang worked on her needlework for another half an hour, then stood up and flipped through the clothes Jiang Xian had brought back. She asked him again, "Where's the fur coat you made last year?"
Although Jiang Xian and Zhang Jiulang said that, he privately said to Jinniang: "The eldest son of Master Huang's family, please borrow his clothes for a few days. I was worried about how to explain to Master Huang that he is going to study at Liu's house. I am doing you a favor by letting you sleep on my pillow. Please don't be angry, madam."
"It's just a piece of clothing, nothing special. Just don't wear it greasy and shabby, it's a piece of fine leather." Jinniang felt distressed.
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "Don't worry, my lady, it won't happen. It's because what you made for me was so beautiful that they were envious. This is also because your craftsmanship is so good."
Soon it was the day of Master Jiang Liu's wedding. Master Jiang Liu, at his age, naturally did not dare to hold a grand ceremony. They were the younger generation and only met Zheng the next day. Zheng was fair-skinned, with an oval face, and her smile was quite amiable.
Zheng naturally also met the two sons of Master Jiang Liu. She was very satisfied with Master Jiang Liu. He was gentle in temper, lived a decent life, and had the elegance of a child from a noble family.
Seeing Jiang Yan, a modest gentleman, and Jiang Xian, a handsome man, they are already old and married, so it is not easy to win them over. She also figured it out that it was best to just maintain superficial peace with her step-sons who were already adults.
A hundred years from now, it would be enough if there was someone to see me off to the end of my life.
But she tried her best to win over her daughters-in-law. Born a concubine's daughter, Zheng knew that women's pillow talk was quite effective.
Jinniang prepared a headband and a pair of purses for her stepmother-in-law, the Zheng family. Jinniang didn't know how much dowry Zheng had, but she still gave each of their two rooms a box of cloth.
"Thank you, ma'am." Jinniang said with a smile.
Seeing that Xu was dignified and elegant, and Jinniang was pure and charming, Zheng did not act like an elder. Instead, she said many words of intimacy to them. She thought she had done a good job.
But Xu disliked these rulers because they were made of old materials.
Jinniang said to Jiang Xian, "It seems that the Zheng family cherishes this marriage very much. You see, although the materials sent by Zheng are not fashionable, and she has been in the temple for many years, how can she have any good things in her hands? But these are all good materials."
When she was at the Zhou family, she saw Jiang saving dowries for the two legitimate daughters of the Zhou family, and she started saving from a very young age. I'm afraid these materials were accumulated by Zheng when she was young. Now the Zheng family is unable to buy her a very decent dowry, so they use the ones they had in the past to show off.
Jiang Xian is a man after all, and he often travels outside. Now he has a wife and a daughter. Although he feels that Zheng has taken his mother's place, he thinks that his father also has someone to take care of him, so Zheng is always better than Xu, his daughter-in-law.
When Zheng came into the family, she brought two maids and a family as a dowry, but she sent away the old man who had been the wife of Jiang Liu. That's fine, she is very obedient to Master Jiang Liu, completely different from the previous Sixth Lady.
Mrs. Jiang Liu was very talented and beautiful in her time, and was worthy of being the match for the prime minister's grandson, but she had a bad temper and was very opinionated. She also gave birth to three sons and one daughter. When she was alive, Master Jiang Liu could only listen to her.
Zheng knew that Mr. Jiang Liu liked to eat crab meat buns in the morning, so she made them herself, breaking away from Xu's previous simple habit.
Mrs. Xu was so anxious that she kept jumping up and down: "Now it's all good, she's so extravagant, she even sent someone to look after the rent of my father-in-law's land. She's so extravagant, just to please my father-in-law and spend it lavishly, what are we going to do in the future?"
You know, my father-in-law now owns 150 acres of land, which is not a small income.
Mother Ge said, "She has the Sixth Master's support. You have to be patient."
There is naturally no equality between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in terms of etiquette and law. What's more, Zheng has the Zheng family behind her, which is something the Xu family cannot compare to. Xu had originally planned to put all the rent from the garden and her father-in-law's land into the public purse. Then she could still have the two hundred acres of land she came with as a dowry, so she could live a good life if she was frugal. Zheng was obviously trying to snatch the food from the tiger's mouth.
But she had no choice. Even with the support of Master Jiang Liu, Zheng wanted to be the housekeeper, so Xu naturally couldn't let her do as she wished.
What the outcome of the fight between the two sides is is no longer something Jinniang cares about, because she has already ordered ten sets of her newly designed little yellow chicken children's clothing for the Year of the Rooster, and when Yunjie wears them, she will be the biggest living signboard.
Jinniang and Minzhi were making children's clothes together, while Zhu Xiu Niang was still embroidering the wedding quilt. Everyone was busy. If there is work to do, there will be wages. If there is no business, there will be no income.
Halfway through, Juxiang brought over some Ma drink, which Jinniang had to drink for the sake of black hair.
Minzhi finished a set and asked Aying to iron it. During the break, she asked Jinniang, "How is your Guanyin embroidery going?"
"The embroidery is almost done, but I feel it lacks some charm. I'll have to go to Xiuxiang to ask for advice later." Jinniang said.
Minzhi said worriedly, "How can I teach you how to eat?"
Jinniang was not worried. When she became the head of the group, things would be different when she went to ask for advice. She would have things to exchange then.
At noon, Jinniang was having lunch with her parents, and her mother said, "We have to start hanging bacon and making pickles."
Jinniang knew that her mother's love for pickled vegetables was unchangeable, so she smiled and said, "Okay, but you can ask Juxiang and Xiqiu to do it together, it will be faster this way."
Luo Yu'e said: "Don't worry."
"Mom, let's pickle some duck eggs this year. Pickle two jars and cut one whenever you want to eat them." Although Jinniang is not very good at cooking, she really needs to take care of the housework by paying attention to the details.
Luo Yu'e nodded: "Pickled two jars, enough for us to eat."
The mother and daughter talked about housework for a few more words, and Jinniang went upstairs to see Yunjie. The ten-month-old girl could eat egg custard every day, and could also eat noodles as a staple food. Last time, her father made egg custard specially for her, and she licked the bowl clean.
Now she was standing by holding a bench, and was very happy to see Jinniang. She was just about to take a nap with the child in her arms, but unfortunately, she was called to the head of the group.
There were two other people in charge who went with them, one was Bao Niangzi, the daughter-in-law of the owner of Binyun Tower, and the other was Zhen Dajie from Xiuxiang.
Madam Bao is now in charge of the embroidery business of Binyunlou. It is said that she was particularly good at needlework before she got married. After she got married, she took over the management of the entire Binyunlou in an orderly manner on behalf of her mother-in-law. Sister Zhen is also a celebrity in Xiuxiang. First of all, she is a loyal and filial person. She learned embroidery from her mother-in-law. She was an orphan and a widow, and she raised her children to adulthood. Her embroidery skills are also well-known.
On the surface, Jinniang's advantage is the smallest, but Jinniang is not discouraged.
When the three of them entered the door, they were all polite and asked each other to go in, but after they came in, they became impolite in front of the head of the group.
Madam Bao spoke eloquently: "Our Binyun Tower is as famous as Jinxiu Pavilion. We employ more than 30 embroiderers and pay the most taxes every year. If we were in charge, we would win the support of the people."
"Madam Bao, although you have many embroiderers, they are indeed very capable. But in recent years, most of them have been taking on wedding embroidery or making embroidered screens. They have never taken on any work for the Wenxiu Academy. Our Wei's Embroidery Shop has been taking on such work for two years. Moreover, on last year's Qixi Festival, the two pieces of clothing sent by your building were defeated by Jinxiu Pavilion and Tianyifang. As the head of the group, I will not say anything else, but if I take over as the head temporarily, I must at least guarantee a rank in next year's Qixi Festival." Jinmaang said with a smile.
Madam Bao thought that the Wei family's embroidery shop was only half the size of their Binyunlou, but it had a strong backing. Not only was it closely connected with the Wenxiuyuan, but her husband was also a famous yamen master in Bianjing.
Therefore, she only defended herself: "Taking the business of embroidered screens, and letting people from Pingjiang Prefecture and Lin'an Prefecture come to buy them, doesn't this show that our Binyun Tower is famous far and wide?"
Sister Zhen said with a smile, "Speaking of embroidered screens, who doesn't know Wang's Embroidery Shop? Your Binyunlou doesn't sell as well as Wang's."
Ever since the plagiarist shopkeeper Wangji found out that selling embroidered screens was the most profitable, all the embroiderers went to make embroidered screens. Now, except for some old customers, all the new customers of Binyunlou go to Wangji.
In fact, this analogy is not appropriate, because Wang Ji was almost expelled from the guild. He was only able to stay in this industry after he used his connections and found someone to smooth things over. The owner of Wang Ji Embroidery Shop even became a behind-the-scenes person, pushing his nephew to take charge of the business.
Sure enough, the leader also frowned.
Sister Zhen thought what she said was very sharp and felt very proud of herself for a moment.
"I want to choose Madam Wei as the leader of the group. She shared the patterns of 'Luoyang Brocade' with Zhang Huaniang from Xiuxiang, which helped us rank third in the Qiqiao Festival this year. At the same time, she used to be the head embroiderer of the Wenxiuyuan. She can have a say with the government, is literate, has first-class craftsmanship, and ranks among the top seven in tax payment in our South City." The leader of the group looked at Jinniang and was very satisfied.
Jinniang gave herself a victory sign in her heart, and said modestly: "Boss, Nancheng still needs you. I am just helping out temporarily. Once I learn a thing or two, I will definitely follow your example."
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