After returning to her hometown, Mi Niang resumed sharing a bed with her parents. Of course, she knew that this would not last long, as in two days they would be leaving for the provincial capital.
Dad said that he rented a house with a nice environment near Dingshengmen. This was a place that was found by Grandma Shang Si. I heard that the environment here is beautiful, and there are wealthy families living around here, so it is also very safe.
Of course, the normal price for a house like this is about three cents a month. In a year, about ten taels might be needed, but Grandma Shang was only willing to take two taels. Originally, she didn't want a penny.
Does that mean that Fourth Grandma Shang has lost money?
No, not at all.
Grandma Shang Si's son is sick all year round. He can't lift anything. It may be difficult for him to do business. Although studying takes some time, fame is a talisman for people.
It is not easy to find a good gentleman. Who would be so stupid as to not look for someone who is familiar to them and knowledgeable, but go out to look for someone with no background?
No one who does business will suffer losses.
Look, her father gave a book of annotations on elementary education to Grandma Shang Si and also gave her some personal guidance.
It wasn't just Fourth Grandma Shang's family that did this. In fact, Fourth Grandma Shang also wanted to give some valuable gifts, but they were all rejected by Second Grandma Ding. Although Second Grandma Ding was poor and needed money, she knew that greed would bring trouble.
The grandmother Gui in front even asked Ruan Shiyi to become Ruan Jiading's disciple. Of course, Ruan Jiading did not agree because of his lack of knowledge, but he revised Ruan Shiyi's proud articles one by one and taught him wholeheartedly.
Now Ruan Jiading is determined to start a business. Mi Niang knows that her father did not pass the imperial examination in his previous life, but because he won the first place in this life, he has more money. Mi Niang and Ding's second wife both persuaded him to go to the big academy in Wuchang to study, which is better than staying in the prefecture to study in his previous life.
Most of the students in the prefectural school were there to pass the time, and those who actually taught were all famous teachers hired from outside. As someone like Ruan Jiading who had no elders to support him, it was natural that he could not hire any famous teachers. Of course, he could only go to a large academy. Fortunately, his title as the top scorer in the prefecture came in handy, and he successfully went to the most famous Huanghe Academy in Huguang. He would be going to Wuchang soon, and he would just come back to report for duty after a while.
Of course, you have to get first place in the annual examination, so you have to take good care of your teacher.
All this money is actually not that much.
However, fortunately, there is no shortage of food and clothing.
Mi Niang turned over and continued to sleep soundly.
Early in the morning, Aunt Ding was pregnant with a child and was easily hungry, so Haopo brought her breakfast early. The food was very simple, a bowl of fried steamed buns and cooked red bean and longan porridge.
The steamed buns were coated with egg liquid and fried until golden and crispy. Mi Niang couldn't help but eat a piece as soon as it was served. Ding Er Niang scratched her nose and said, "Little greedy cat."
It wasn't that Mi Niang deliberately ate before the elders, it was because she was pregnant in the palace and couldn't prevent it, so she was very careful about what she ate, especially what she put into her mouth. She didn't know why Second Lady Ding had a miscarriage, but it was always good to be more careful.
Well, fortunately, these are all fine.
Mrs. Ding didn't think much of it. She thought her daughter was tall and fat, so of course she ate a lot.
Ruan Jiading thought his daughter was perfect in every way. Moreover, he was about to go to Wuchang. Although Wuchang and Jiangling were very close by boat, he could not be at home all the time, so he missed his daughter even more.
"Today I have to go to the clan leader. I'll have to ask them to take care of my parents' affairs. You two can stay at home. Anyway, we should go to the capital as soon as possible so as not to delay our mother Mi's studies."
"good."
Mrs. Ding also wanted her daughter to be educated, so she paid the ten taels of silver as a dowry without even blinking an eye.
The cost of a daughter attending a girls' school was more expensive than that of a husband attending a college. Her husband's tuition at a college in Wuchang was only three taels of silver a year, and because he was the top student, he was exempted from part of the tuition. He even rented a house in the capital for his daughter, otherwise, it would be better for her to give birth at home.
Although her parents-in-law are not easy to get along with, and her sister-in-law is not easy to get along with, but now that her husband has gained fame, this ancestral home originally belonged to her husband. She has money in her hands, and her servants are getting closer to her. This does not cost anything. And there is also a well-connected person like Grandma Shang Si who can help.
When I arrived at the provincial capital, I was unfamiliar with the place. Besides, every penny counted.
But Second Mistress Ding felt it was very worthwhile. She had never been to school and could not read. She only managed to learn a few words after marrying her husband. Therefore, she did not understand the meaning of some idioms her husband said, and she was not very good at socializing.
This inevitably made her feel petty.
She had no choice, but she always hoped that her daughter would be better and stronger than herself.
"Sister-in-law, someone outside said that Fourth Grandma Shang wants you to come over." Ruan Ping'er came in in slippers to report the news.
As the saying goes, a girl cannot be kept at home when she grows up. Ruan Ping'er lost the perfect marriage before, and the conditions of the families that the matchmaker found later were very poor. Of course, this was also related to Ruan Ping'er herself. Her father was a spendthrift, she had no dowry, was not good-looking, and did not even have any virtues. She quarreled with her sister-in-law at home. Who would want such a person?
So now she had no choice but to curry favor with her sister-in-law. Now that her brother had made progress, others might look up to her for her brother's sake.
This was also the image of Ruan Ping'er in Mi Niang's mind. When she heard that Fourth Grandma Shang was calling her mother, she couldn't help but feel a little strange: "Aunt, who is that person?"
Ruan Ping'er thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be a little girl with a bun."
"Does Auntie recognize her?"
"They look very unfamiliar." Ruan Ping'er said and then laughed, "But Fourth Sister-in-law Shang has a large family and a great fortune. I heard that they bought a new batch of servants."
Mrs. Ding Er did not suspect anything. No matter how smart she was, she would not think that there would be any misfortune. Instead, Mi Niang smiled and said, "Mother, I want my aunt to accompany me. You should rest well at home. Anyway, if Fourth Aunt really has something serious, she will come to tell us. Dad has already said that you should rest well."
Ruan Ping'er also immediately advised: "Sister-in-law, just rest at home, I will go with Mi Niang." She had bullied Mi Niang before, and now that Mi Niang took the initiative to show her goodwill, how could she not go? Besides, Sister-in-law Shang Si was generous, and there might be some snacks to take away if she went, so why not?
This aunt was also vain. When she went out, she put on Second Madam Ding's coat. She would take advantage of anyone whenever she could. Mi Niang was speechless.
The Ruan family lived together as a clan. Grandma Shang's house was actually very close to theirs. It could be reached through a corridor. As soon as the aunt and nephew walked onto the path, they saw a small black dog not far away. Ruan Ping'er even pouted and said, "Where did this stray dog come from?"
"No, auntie, his eyes are red. He is a sick dog..."
Mrs. Liao was very nervous. She was an honest person and it was the first time in her life that she had done something shameful, so she couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Women who are not yet pregnant are most likely to have miscarriages. She wanted to buy safflower musk, but it was too expensive, not to mention contraceptives. Yesterday, her aunt saw a group of rats in her house, so she kindly left a bag of rat poison, but she didn't have the intention to steal money or kill people. She just wanted Fei'er to be adopted, not to kill the second wife.
She had originally spilled some oil on the door of Ruan's house, but it was Ruan Jiading who went out. When he saw the oil stains on the door, he immediately asked someone to cover them with wood ash and sweep it again.
There was no other way, so she thought of a solution.
When Liao was a child, her mother was bitten by a wild dog and the child died. She wanted to give it a try, but time was running out. If she delayed any further, once Second Madam Ding returned to the capital, it would be too late.
She waited quietly for news, expecting that if there was a commotion next door, she would go up and say a few words of concern.
But until night fell, there was no news.
Finally, she couldn't help but walked out. She stood at the door of Ruan's house and listened for a long time but heard no response. She turned around in disappointment, but was covered with her mouth and tied to the side by several people.
There was almost no need to torture a woman like Liao. Ruan Jiading just let them scare her and use her son as a threat to get the truth out of her.
"I...I want to let Ji Fei'er go to Mr. Xiucai's house. I do this for my son!"
She still felt wronged.
The people sent over were from Fourth Grandma Shang's family. Mi Niang and Ruan Ping'er felt something was wrong at the time, so they turned back and told Fourth Grandma Shang about it. Fourth Grandma Shang said that she had not sent anyone to pass the message.
Someone actually dared to use her name to let Second Lady Ding pass, and even released a sick dog on the way. If Second Lady Ding got hurt, how would she deal with it? She immediately sent people to investigate, but in order not to alert the enemy, everything was done very covertly.
Originally, everyone was suspicious of Grandma Shu. After all, Grandma Gui gave the benefits originally given to Grandma Shu to Grandma Ding's family. Grandma Shang even sent a group of people to Grandma Shu, but they found that Grandma Shu was not only normal, but also still sick.
On the contrary, it was Liao who was still listening at the door late at night, looking absent-minded.
This looks fishy.
I didn't expect it was really her.
Mrs. Ding Er couldn't understand why: "I used to have a good relationship with Sister-in-law Tong San. When it was inconvenient for me to take care of Mi Niang, she would often help me take care of Mi Niang. How could it be like this..."
But Mi Niang also knew that this was just like what some people say: men become bad when they have money, and men who don't become bad may be poor. This may not be true, but it is very appropriate to describe Liao. In the past, Liao was the same as Ding Er Niang, and Ding Er Niang's situation was even worse than Liao. Liao gave birth to at least five sons.
But now, Grandma Ding Er has become a celebrity in the clan, and this imbalance has made her unbalanced.
If successful, perhaps Ding Erniang would really have a good chance of succeeding her son, after all, they had a good relationship.
In the past, Second Lady Ding was wary of those who were obviously bad people, like her aunt and cousin who always beat and scolded her, her parents-in-law at home, and even her great aunt who had a vested interest in her. She never expected that even though there was no grudge between them, they wanted to kill her.
This person looks harmless on weekdays and is recognized as an honest man.
Mi Niang also solved a mystery. Perhaps her mother was harmed in this way in her previous life and ended up having a miscarriage. Because she was about to get pregnant, she read a lot of books about women's childbirth. She heard that women bitten by wild dogs would not only have a miscarriage, but would also be more likely to contract rabies, bite people, or even go crazy and bite people around them to death.
"Shujun, don't worry. I will make sure this matter is handled properly. I won't hand the person over to the clan. If I hand him over to those people in the clan, they will be afraid of trouble. You know that Liao has five sons. Now that she is gone, who will be willing to raise her sons? I know what to do." Grandma Shang patted her chest and said.
In terms of relationships, Fourth Mistress Shang would not go this far, but she wanted this favor. Business people cannot last long without a backer. They used to rely on the title of the Empress, but ended up having to share half of the profits with the Empress and the people in the Duke's Mansion. If it was Second Mistress Ding, they would definitely not be so greedy.
Ruan Jiading and Mrs. Ding Er also appreciated her kindness, and Ruan Jiading even went out for a special trip.
She didn't come back until late at night. The last thing Ding said was not about her own safety or the treatment of Liao, but she lamented to her husband: "If it weren't for Mi Niang, I would be the one suffering today. You used to say that I spoiled her, but both you and I benefited from her. My Mi Niang is the best daughter-in-law in the world."
Thinking of the convenience he had gained after winning the first place in the case, Ruan Jiading also agreed: "Yes, Mi Niang is the best daughter in the world."
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