Minghui got up from the ground, with beads of sweat already oozing from her forehead.
Zhengxiu turned a blind eye and said, "I will go with the prince to pay my respects to the old lady in a while. I want to rest with A Shao for a while now. You can go down first."
The three maids responded and retreated.
After leaving the house, Minghui breathed a long sigh of relief.
Fen Ge was a little bolder, so he asked in a low voice, "Sister Minghui, why did you say that and deliberately make the second wife unhappy?" Although Minghui was promoted from a second-class maid after the second master's maids got married, she was a maid born in the manor of the Duke of Qing, and her father was the steward of the manor. She has always been very disciplined in doing things and is not the kind of reckless person. In the past, she and Bai Zhu did not know how to do things, and Minghui taught them how to do things step by step.
Minghui smiled and said, "When the Second Master was not at home, the princess could not think of taking care of us servants. You all know what kind of life we lived. Now the Second Master, the Second Madam, and the Second Young Master are back, and good days are coming. But the Second Master is away on business, and the family still depends on the Second Madam... Fortunately, the Second Madam looks gentle and comes from a small family, but her temper is not easy to be manipulated." As expected, she was testing to see if Zheng Xiu could stand up. If she couldn't stand up in her own courtyard, they, the servants, would not be able to count on this master.
"Okay, don't be idle. The Madam and the Second Young Master will have dinner soon. We should go and prepare. We haven't cooked in the yard for a long time. Don't let those cooks hide away and be lazy. We can't find them."
Because the master was away all year round, the maids in Hao Yetang were married, and the people below didn't take their jobs seriously. Later, whenever someone in the family wanted to do an idle job, they would push them here. I think the few days when the Second Master just came back, their Hao Yetang was deserted like a dead nest. The princess usually called the second master over for dinner. The cook in the kitchen had been lazy for many years. When the second master came back from drinking at the princess' place, there was no one in the kitchen to cook sobering soup. Minghui had to cook it herself. Minghui
wanted to talk to Xue Zhi about the personnel issues in Hao Yetang, but Xue Zhi had just returned and was too busy to handle everything. Later, the imperial edict came down and Xue Zhi was busy with the salt tax in Jiangnan. He mostly lived in the front yard during those days and was not even seen in the back yard. The problems in Hao Yetang had been dragged on and not solved. Now Zheng Xiu had moved in with Xue Zhi, and she was not the kind of master who was ignorant of work and allowed others to bully her. Minghui felt that there was finally hope.
Zheng Xiu opened the closet and chest. Every girl loves beauty, so she naturally liked these clothes.
Xue Shao also touched them and found them smooth, soft and delicate. He withdrew his hand and dared not touch them again. "Mom, please change into new clothes. They will look good on you." Although the people on the road did not say anything just now, he was very sensitive and felt their inquiring eyes. That kind of eyes made people uncomfortable.
Zheng Xiu shook her head and said, "Forget it. Even if we put on nice clothes, others will know where we come from. It's not the evening after bathing. If we change clothes deliberately, people will talk about it... Wait, what did you call me just now?"
Xue Shao just called her "mother" and blurted it out. Now he has realized what he meant and said shyly, "I didn't call you anything, just you."
Zheng Xiu pulled her to sit on the round stool, "Our A Shao calls you so beautifully, call you again so I can hear it."
Xue Shao pouted and said, "I only called you because A Yu is not here." If he was here, he would definitely take advantage of her and let her call him uncle.
When Zheng Yu was mentioned, both of them stopped joking.
"I don't know how Ayu is doing now, whether he is crying or not." Zheng Xiu couldn't help showing a worried look, "I don't know if he is eating well now, sleeping well, whether he is picky about food, whether he kicks the quilt at night."
Xue Shao stepped forward and put his arm around her shoulders, "Mom, don't worry, Ayu will be fine."
Zheng Xiu nodded, put away her worries and smiled, "There is nothing to worry about. In a few months, we will see each other again. You must eat more during this period and grow up quickly. He told me at night before he came out that he would be fine next time. I will definitely be taller than you when we meet again."
Xue Shao snorted unconvincedly, "How is that possible? I am already so much taller than him now." He stretched out two fingers and gestured, "Next time we meet, I may be half a head taller than him."
Zheng Xiu was amused by him, "It's good to be tall. When our A Shao and A Yu are taller than our sister, it will be time for us to get married." Time flies the fastest for children. She still remembers that when she first traveled through time, Zheng Yu was still a little bean sprout, and he would only lie on the hospital bed and talk to her every day.
Although Xue Shao was young and didn't understand the specific meaning of marrying a wife, his face turned red. "Mom, what are you talking about?" He didn't like to stay with little girls. They were crying and complaining. Last time he went to Erbao's house to play, his sister Sanbao was a troublemaker. If they didn't play with her, she would cry and complain to Erbao's mother.
The mother and son chatted for a while, and Xue Qin came from the front yard to take them to see the old lady.
Xue Shao was a little nervous, and he pulled Zheng Xiu and asked softly, "What should I do if grandma doesn't like me?" Just now, his aunt didn't seem to like him very much. When she saw him, she didn't even look at him.
Zheng Xiu shook her head and said, "Your grandmother doesn't care about worldly affairs and concentrates on worshipping Buddha, but she must be thinking about you in her heart."
Xue Shao nodded, said no more, and walked his own way attentively.
The old lady lived in the small Buddhist temple in Bihe Garden and had not come out for many years.
There were few people serving in Bihe Garden, and many places in the yard were deserted, looking like a place that had been uninhabited for a long time.
Xue Qin caught them at the door of the small Buddhist temple and asked the old nanny at the door to report it.
The old nanny said, "The old lady has already instructed that if the second young master brings the second wife and the second young master here, you will be allowed in directly."
Xue Qin was very surprised. He saw his grandmother only a few times throughout the year, and he didn't expect that his grandmother would actually be willing to see people at this time.
Zheng Xiu had only heard Xue Zhi mention his mother a few words, and she didn't know much about the old lady, so she didn't feel surprised. She just reminded Xue Shao: "When you see the old lady later, remember to call people and greet her."
Xue Shao's hands were sweating, and she also noticed his nervousness. She was afraid that he would be rude, so she reminded him more.
Xue Shao nodded and followed them inside.
The small Buddhist hall was very simply decorated. In addition to simple tables and chairs, there was a Buddhist shrine at the top, on which was a white jade Guanyin with a kind face, and at the bottom were two cushions.
An old lady with silver hair was kneeling on the cushion. She was wearing coarse cloth and only had a wooden hairpin on her head.
The old lady had her back to them and didn't turn around when she heard the noise.
"My grandson has seen my grandmother." Xue Qin bowed to the old lady and said, "My grandson has brought back my second aunt and second uncle's child."
Zheng Xiu bowed to the old lady and said, "My daughter-in-law has seen my mother-in-law."
Xue Shao bowed to the old lady squarely and imitated Xue Qin's tone and said, "Shao has seen my grandmother."
"I'm here." The old lady said calmly.
The small Buddhist hall was quiet, and only the sound of the Buddhist beads in the old lady's hand could be heard.
The old nanny helped the old lady to stand up, and the old lady pointed to the chair next to her, "You sit down and talk."
Xue Qin, Zheng Xiu and others responded and sat down. Xue Shao was a little nervous, so he didn't sit down alone, but stood next to Zheng Xiu.
Although the old lady's hair was gray, her face was very young, she looked no more than forty or fifty years old, and her expression was very peaceful. She sat on the cushion, her eyes moved around the faces of the people present, and finally fell on Xue Shao's face, her eyes were even more kind. She waved to Xue Shao, "Come to grandma."
Xue Shao looked at Zheng Xiu, who nodded at him and whispered, "Go quickly, this is the grandma you think about day and night. Don't be afraid, be brave."
After Xue Shao learned that he had family members besides his father, he didn't sleep well for several days, and he kept picturing what his family members looked like in his mind. It's no exaggeration to say that he thinks about them day and night.
Xue Shao walked up to the old lady bravely and called her "grandma."
The old lady smiled and responded, and then smiled and said, "A Shao looks so good, he really looks like your mother."
The mother of Xue Shao she was talking about was naturally not Zheng Xiu, but Xue Shao's biological mother.
Xue Qin and Zheng Xiu were both puzzled. Wasn't Xue Shao the child of Xue Zhi who had an affair outside? How did the old lady know Xue Shao's biological mother?
Xue Shao was of course very concerned about his own mother, so he asked, "Grandma, do you know my mother?"
The old lady nodded and said, "Of course I know her. Your mother...she is very good." As if she recalled the past, the old lady smiled more. However, Zheng Xiu was present, and Xue Shao's mother's identity was a little embarrassing, so she didn't continue to talk, and turned to Zheng Xiu and said, "Our A Shao is sorry to trouble you."
The old lady said this very politely, and she was so polite because she saw Xue Shao was close to her.
Zheng Xiu quickly stood up and knelt down to salute, "It's what a daughter-in-law should do."
The old lady's expression turned calm again, and she said to Zheng Xiu, "You are new here. If there is anything inconvenient, come and tell Aunt Du, she will take care of it for you."
Aunt Du was the old lady's dowry maid. She married a few years ago, and her husband died to save the old Duke. Even the people around Princess Guihe had to give her some face. Although the old lady didn't care about worldly affairs, she also knew that the connections in the Duke's Mansion were tangled and complicated, and they were used to flattering the powerful and stepping on the weak, and doing things according to the wind. This has already opened a convenient door for Zheng Xiu.
Zheng Xiu knelt down again to thank her.
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