Chapter 74 Little Heartless

Chu Changping looked at Liu coldly: "Is that so? A thief broke into the house, but no one else saw it, only my sister-in-law saw it."

Liu heard that Chu Changping's words were not right, and she restrained her expression: "Third brother, I don't understand what you said."

Chu Changping's words were hinting that she was a thief in the house.

She has been in charge of Zhongli for more than ten years, and it is inevitable that she has filled her own pockets sometimes, but she only takes small advantages, so the two elders of the Chu family turn a blind eye. Chu Changping suddenly made trouble, and Liu couldn't help but get angry and embarrassed. She pointed at Jiang Yanyi's door and said:

"I know that my aunt is gone. You and my parents feel sorry for the two children left behind by my aunt, but at least your daughter's family reputation should be maintained, right? I just heard a man's voice in Yi's room with my own ears. You feel sorry for your niece, why don't you feel sorry for your nieces? They haven't even found their marriages yet!"

As soon as these words came out, the guards surrounding the yard had different expressions. The housekeeper glanced at Chu Changping's iron-green face and groaned inwardly.

When he was called by Liu, he thought there was a thief in the house, but he didn't know that it was the masters above who were fighting.

Chu Changping said angrily: "You are talking nonsense!"

Liu said sharply: "Whether I am talking nonsense or not, you can tell it by asking Yi to open the door and take a look!"

At this time, Mr. Chu, who was afraid that Chu Changping would get angry and use violence against Liu, also rushed here.

Although Mrs. Chu was angry about the behavior of the eldest wife, it was unreasonable for the younger brother to beat his sister-in-law. She brought her second son here to persuade them to stop fighting. After hearing Liu's solemn words, she was also a little nervous.

The atmosphere was at a stalemate when Jiang Yanyi suddenly opened the door. Looking at the people standing in the yard, she said in surprise, "Why are you all in my yard?"

Seeing her frank expression, Liu couldn't help but panic. She hurriedly stepped forward a few steps, entered Jiang Yanyi's room, and searched everywhere under the bed and in the cabinets. "Where is the person?"

Jiang Yanyi stood at the door and asked her, "What are you looking for, aunt?"

Liu secretly hated herself for talking too much and said, "I just came here to see Yan Gui, and I clearly heard a man talking in your room!"

Jiang Yanyi's expression suddenly became ugly: "I at least called you aunt, and you ruined my reputation like this?"

Liu thought to herself, it would be strange if you still have a reputation after serving in the army, but she didn't dare to say it out loud.

She searched the entire room of Jiang Yanyi, but couldn't find him.

Chu Changping stood in the yard and shouted, "Enough!"

Old Mrs. Chu also pointed at Mr. Chu angrily and scolded, "Look! Your sister's body is still warm! What did you two do?"

Liu was in a panic. If she couldn't produce any solid evidence today, her reputation as an orphan left by her aunt and sister-in-law would be confirmed. She was upset and suddenly found that Jiang Yanyi had changed her clothes.

When she was cooking in the kitchen before, Jiang Yanyi was still wearing a soft silk skirt, but now she changed into a pleated skirt with scattered flowers.

Liu asked hurriedly, "Why are you changing clothes in broad daylight?"

Jiang Yanyi said, "I just went to see the medicine for Yan Gui. When I was pouring the medicine, I accidentally knocked over the medicine bowl and soiled my dress. The dress I changed was still in the dirty clothes basket. Didn't you see it, aunt?"

Liu rushed to the basket where Jiang Yanyi put the dirty clothes. Sure enough, she found a brown medicine stain under the hem of the dress. The smell of medicine was real.

Liu's face turned pale in an instant.

Jiang Yanyi looked at her, his expression calm and somewhat indifferent: "Aunt, are you going to continue looking?"

Liu said embarrassedly: "Misunderstanding... It's all misunderstanding! I... I'm just afraid that you will be bullied..."

Even though Liu was sure that she had heard the man talking, she had no evidence at the moment, so she changed her words immediately.

Outside the house, Old Master Chu felt very anxious, and he scolded his eldest son fiercely: "Why don't you call out the stupid woman in your room!"

Master Chu also felt very embarrassed and glared at Liu.

Liu left Jiang Yanyi's room with ups and downs in her heart. This was not what she expected.

她原想着，姜言意既然跟那泥腿子兩情相悅，她整這麽一出，既能讓楚家其他人按頭認下這門親事，又不會讓謠言閑話傳出去，壞了自己兩個女兒名聲。

她這也算是幫了姜言意，怎料看戲的人都到齊了，姜言意房裏的男人卻平白無故不見了！

到了院子裏，她忐忑叫了楚老太爺一聲：“爹。”

又看向自己的丈夫：“大郎。”

她這才發現楚大爺一身狼狽，明顯是被人揍過，忙問：“這……這是怎麽了？”

管教兒媳本不該楚老太爺來做，但楚老夫人身子欠安，楚老太爺也怕老伴兒被氣得一病不起，他指着劉氏道：

"You have been married into our Chu family for more than twenty years. We can't say that we have treated you well, but at least we have never treated you badly. When a girl from our Chu family returns to her parents' home, all her food, clothing and other expenses are paid for by the Chu family's account. We have not used a penny from your Liu family, nor have we deducted a penny from your first wife. Not only did you deduct the money for buying medicine for Yan Gui, but now you have the audacity to lie and frame Yi girl. No matter how many conflicts Ping'er had with you during her lifetime, those old grudges should have been settled after her death. Yi girl at least called you aunt, but you slandered her like this. What is on your mind?"

"If it weren't for the fact that you have worked hard to support the family for more than twenty years, and traveled thousands of miles from the capital to Xizhou, I really want to ask Dalang to divorce you with a letter of divorce!"

As soon as these words came out, Liu was completely panicked.

How did Old Lady Chu and the others know about Jiang Yan's return to medicine?

Could it be that the brother and sister filed a complaint?

Liu's mind went blank. The words "divorce you" frightened her so much that her pupils trembled.

Her knees went weak and she knelt on the ground, begging bitterly, "Dad, I know I was wrong! I was just bewildered for a moment! Yan Gui's medicine... I didn't mean to do that... At that time, the account was tight and every penny had to be spent wisely, so I had to stop the painkiller, but I didn't give Yan Gui other medicines!"

Chu Changping closed his eyes and said, "That pill is for anti-inflammatory. Yan Gui's leg almost got rotten due to inflammation!"

Liu knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, "I didn't know, I really didn't know, I thought it was just an ordinary painkiller... If I knew Yan Gui wouldn't get better without that medicine, I wouldn't dare to stop giving him the medicine no matter what..."

Grandpa Chu also knelt before Grandma Chu: "Father, I know that you and mother don't like me, but Liu has been with me for so many years, and has taken care of mother every morning and evening for so many years, and has given birth to three children for me. She has no merits but has worked hard, and has come all the way from the capital to Xizhou. Even if she has made a big mistake, I can't ignore her. If you want to punish her, punish me as well."

Grandma Chu felt very uncomfortable.

He hit Grandpa Chu three times with his cane, turned around and walked away in tears, his figure obviously more dejected.

Master Chu is his eldest son, and he has been placed with high hopes since he was young. Compared with the younger ones, he and his wife did not love this child much. They were stricter and more demanding with him, and tried hard to train him to be the pillar of the family. Unexpectedly, it was this kind of education that made Master Chu alienate them.

Jiang Yanyi looked at the farce in the Chu family and felt exhausted.

She did go to get medicine for Jiang Yangui and accidentally soiled her dress, so she went back to her room to change clothes. When she pushed the door open, she found Feng Shuo in the room.

The two of them only said a few words, and Feng Shuo found someone eavesdropping outside. She saw Liu sneaking out through the crack of the door, so she let Feng Shuo leave first.

Unexpectedly, Liu had invited so many people with great fanfare, as if she wanted to catch an adulterer. Jiang Yanyi played along with her and acted to this extent, just to find a bigger excuse to ask Chu Changping and the two elders of the Chu family to take Jiang Yangui away.

However, when the other people in the Chu family also knew that Liu had withheld the money for Jiang Yangui's medicine, things became easier to handle.

The first master Chu and his wife were still kneeling on the ground, hugging each other and crying. The second master Chu might have thought of his divorced wife, and he also returned to his residence with a wine pot.

Chu Changping looked at Jiang Yanyi, and something seemed to be choked in his throat. All he could say was, "Ayi, uncle is sorry for you."

Jiang Yanyi said, "Uncle, don't say that. There's just one thing I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I plan to move out with Yangui."

A hint of sadness appeared on Chu Changping's weather-beaten face: "Don't be afraid, this kind of thing will never happen again."

Jiang Yanyi said seriously, "Uncle, I decided this after careful consideration. Leaving the Chu family doesn't mean I will no longer be close to this place. I want to change places so that Yangui will feel more comfortable and his injuries will heal faster."

She had said this, and all the facts were before her eyes. Chu Changping couldn't say anything to keep her.

Two of his guards worked as waiters in Jiang Yanyi's store. He knew that Jiang Yanyi had the ability to survive. In addition, based on what King Liaonan said today, she had a backer. Chu Changping clearly realized that if the two siblings moved out, they might live a better life.

He was silent for a while and said, "Okay, I'll tell my mother about this."

Jiang Yanyi didn't know how Chu Changping told Old Madam Chu. Old Madam Chu did not try to keep them. She just came to Jiang Yanyi's room to see him once in person, and said with tears in her eyes that even if he moved out, he should come back often to see her, an old woman.

The Chu family was no longer managed by Liu, but by Madam Chu herself. Everything in the mansion was in good order. The servants that needed to be bought were quickly bought and assigned to various courtyards. The children of the first and second wives were taken to the old lady and raised by her personally.

Jiang Yanyi was a "dead man" in the Jiang family tree, and Jiang Yangui was unwilling to recognize Jiang Shangshu as his father. The two siblings changed their surnames to their mother's, entered the Chu family tree, and passed on to Chu Changping.

The day before leaving, Jiang Yanyi went to the kitchen to boil medicine for his brother, and ran into Liu, who was covered in dust and making soup on the stove. Old Madam Chu had to drink soup every day, and she only drank soup made by Liu herself

. From processing the ingredients to serving the soup, no one else could do it. The old nanny beside Old Madam Chu would come to the kitchen to keep an eye on her from time to time. This was obviously to let Liu fulfill her filial piety, but it was also a disguised punishment.

Liu had never suffered such sufferings. She was either fumigated to tears when burning the fire, or accidentally cut her fingers when cutting vegetables. She made a pot of soup with great difficulty, but because it was not tasty, she was scolded and asked to make it again.

When she met Jiang Yanyi, Liu knew that her current situation was embarrassing, so she did not take the initiative to talk to Jiang Yanyi.

Jiang Yanyi just pretended not to see her. When he was about to leave after decocting the medicine, Liu suddenly said, "I did hear a man's voice in your room that day."

Jiang Yanyi looked at her dusty body and did not deny, "What does aunt want to say?"

Liu said excitedly, "Since you are in a relationship with that peasant, why don't you stop competing with Shubao for her, okay?"

Jiang Yanyi was confused, "What?"

Liu said angrily, "Don't pretend now! Military Advisor Chi came to the house that day and gave you something. Although I don't know when you two got in touch, you should eat from the bowl and don't look at the pot! You should give Military Advisor Chi to Shubao!"

Jiang Yanyi was silent for a while. She finally understood why Liu was abnormal that day.

However, Chi Qing and Chu Shubao have nothing in common, but Liu said that they have something in common.

She twitched her lips and said, "Don't worry, the person I like is not Chi Junshi."

Liu didn't believe her and said angrily, "Chi Junshi is handsome and talented. I don't believe you will die by hanging on a peasant. Do you think that peasant is the King of Liaoning? You swear to me that you will never have any idea about Chi Junshi in your life!"

Jiang Yanyi felt puzzled. Liu's skill in taking advantage of others was really disgusting.

She looked at Liu and said, "I won't take the oath, but I have a piece of advice. If you really want to do good for your cousin, stay away from her in the future and don't make a mistake. You are right about one thing. I like the King of Liaoning."

She left with the medicine.

Liu looked at her back and said, "What's the use of your liking him!"

When it was time to take Jiang Yan back to the mansion the next day, the carriage that Jiang Yan had contacted in the morning did not come, but the carriage of Feng Mansion came.

The wheels of the carriage were cast iron, twice as large as ordinary wheels, the carriage was wide, and the wood used was also yellow pear wood. There were three horses pulling the carriage, all of them were fat and strong, with bright fur.

The coachman was a talkative man, and he explained his purpose in a few words: "Miss Jiang is a neighbor of the prince's palace. The prince and the Empress Dowager usually like the food in Miss Jiang's shop, and the two families are good friends. Miss Jiang wants to borrow a carriage, and the carriage in the prince's palace happened to be idle, so the prince asked me to bring the carriage here."

Jiang Yanyi was a little confused. How did Feng Shuo know that she was going to take Jiang Yan back today?

She glanced at the expressions of the Chu family and felt a little scalp tingling. Then she thought of what Feng Shuo had said, that Chu Changping already knew about their affairs. Jiang Yanyi didn't dare to look at Chu Changping anymore. She forced a smile on her face and said to the coachman, "Thank you for your help."

All the Chu family members, young and old, stood at the gate to see them off. At the banquet that day, the father and son of the Chu family had already had some subtle perceptions because of Feng Shuo's attitude. Now that the Feng family sent a carriage to pick them up, the guess in their hearts became clearer.

Liu stood at the door, her expression as if she had seen a ghost.

The driver's words seemed to be reasonable, but which wealthy family would take the initiative to lend out their carriage? And such a good carriage!

Liu suddenly felt that what Jiang Yanyi said in the kitchen yesterday was true.

If Jiang Yanyi really had something with the King of Liaoning, how would her family be able to survive after entering the palace?

Liu's heart sank, and if she hadn't been holding on to the wall, she would have almost fallen.

Jiang Yangui is now included in the Chu family's genealogy and has changed his surname to Chu. Chu Changping personally carried him out and put him in the luxurious and comfortable carriage. Chu Changping said meaningfully: "Yan Gui, take good care of your sister outside."

Chu Yangui had experienced so many things and was very sharp. He nodded.

Chu Changping turned around and told the guard Chu Zhong who was going to take care of Chu Yangui: "If there is anything over there, let me know immediately."

"I understand." Chu Zhong clasped his fists.

Old Madam Chu has lived for most of her life and has seen through many things. She took Jiang Yanyi's hand on the steps and said, "Yi, if you encounter any problems, just come back here."

Jiang Yanyi nodded vigorously, "Of course I will come back to see you often. The main street of the Protectorate is not far from here. If you want to eat hot pot, send someone to the store to tell me and I will make sure to deliver it to you personally."

Old Madam Chu patted her hands and said, "My Yi is very dexterous. My grandmother loves the soups and snacks you make these days. None of the ones sold outside can match the ones made by my Yi. Being able to be a female shopkeeper, my Yi is a promising girl."

Everyone thinks that women should stay in a deep mansion to take care of their husbands and children. When Old Madam Chu said this, Jiang Yanyi was moved.

When the carriage left the Chu family, Jiang Yanyi leaned out of the window and waved to Old Madam Chu.

It was early in the morning, and the snow on the street had not been cleared yet. The carriage left deep wheel marks.

The sun rose from the east, and the golden morning light shone on the houses of different heights, bringing a special kind of warmth.

When the carriage passed by a steamed bun shop, Jiang Yanyi bought a few steaming big meat buns, gave two to the driver and Chu Zhong, and one to her and Chu Yangui.

The buns looked plump and lovely in the steamer, but when she actually picked them up to eat, Jiang Yanyi found a lot of problems: the skin was too thick, the dough was not well kneaded, the filling was too greasy, and the taste was not well adjusted.

Jiang Yanyi's tongue has been spoiled by her cooking skills lately. She couldn't eat more after just two bites. Seeing that Chu Yangui only ate half of it reluctantly, she said, "When we get to the store, I'll steam a small basket of dumplings for you."

After leaving the Chu family, Chu Yangui seemed to be relieved. He curled his lips, revealing two small dimples, "Okay."

Everything in the store was the same as before. When the carriage arrived, Qiu Kui had already opened the shop door.

When Jiang Yanyi was away, she was afraid to be alone, so she begged Aunt Guo to stay and sleep with her.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi come back, Qiu Kui was so happy that she was busy in and out serving tea and water.

Chu Zhong carried Chu Yangui to the room that he had prepared for him early in the morning. Although the room was not big and there were no valuable items in it, there was a charcoal basin burning in the room, so it was warm as soon as he entered.

The blankets and mattresses on the bed were all goose down, which was very warm. There were a lot of pens, inks, papers and inkstones on the desk beside him. There were also some books for him to read when he was passing the time in the cabinet beside the bed. Every place was carefully decorated.

Chu Yangui felt that all the depression he had when he was in the Chu family was swept away, and the whole person was like a dead and rotten wood, suddenly full of life.

Jiang Yanyi came into the room with a plate of snacks, "The place is a little small, you live here first, I will move in later when I find a new place to live."

Chu Yangui shook his head: "Sister, this place is great, I like it here, if mother was still here, our family could live a simple life, wouldn't it be nice..."

Speaking of Mrs. Jiang, his eyes were a little dim.

Jiang Yanyi put the plate of pastries on the low stool beside his bed: "Don't think about these, mother also hopes for the best for us. Here are some pastries, if you are hungry, eat some to fill your stomach, I'll make porridge in the kitchen, and you can have steamed buns with the porridge later."

Jiang Yanyi almost tripped when she turned around, she looked down and saw the little fat orange who she hadn't seen for a long time, compared to when she left, the little fat orange was a circle bigger, rubbing against her legs and acting coquettish.

"It's glutinous rice cake, how come you are so much fatter than your brothers and sisters?" Jiang Yanyi stroked the fat orange cat's fur, and the fat orange cat purred comfortably.

The kittens all looked plump, but maybe because they couldn't escape the law of big orange cat, this little fat orange cat was the fattest, like a plush ball.

After Jiang Yanyi left the room, the little fat orange cat didn't leave with him, but stared at Chu Yangui for a while.

Chu Yangui thought for a while and looked at the pastry placed next to the low table. This was almond pastry, golden in color, with a crispy crust and a layer of thinly sliced ​​almonds on the outside. The aroma of nuts and wheat was mixed, and there seemed to be a milky aroma.

Chu Yangui picked up a piece of cake, broke it into pieces and put it on the ground. Pangju came over and sniffed it, opened his mouth and ate the small piece, then raised his head, stared at Chu Yangui with a pair of round eyes, and called out twice in a flattering manner.

Chu Yangui's mouth curled up, this time it was a smile from the heart, he broke the snack in his hand into pieces and continued to feed Pangju.

Jiang Yanyi was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. The porridge was already boiled in a clay pot. She found a clean wooden basin to knead the dough. The experienced dough kneading master pays attention to the "three lights": shiny dough, shiny basin, and shiny hands. That is, after kneading the dough, the dough should be smooth, and the bottom of the basin and hands should not be stained with dough.

Jiang Yanyi was an expert at kneading dough. After kneading the dough to a firm consistency, she placed a clean wet cloth towel over the basin to let the dough rise, and began to prepare the stuffing with fresh pork.

The pork was just bought from Ma's butcher shop, and it couldn't be fresher. Jiang Yanyi cut off a small piece, washed it, put it in a bowl, and marinated it with ginger slices and cooking wine.

She planned to put this small piece of pork in a clay pot to cook preserved egg and lean meat porridge.

When Jiang Yanyi was in the military camp, she saw Zhao Tou'er not knowing how to deal with the duck eggs because of insufficient salt. She thought that there were no preserved eggs in this era. Later, she opened her own shop in Xizhou City and visited the shops and stalls in the streets and alleys. Only then did she know that preserved eggs were sold on the market. However, in ancient times, the preparation of preserved eggs was also a family craft, and outsiders naturally could not learn it.

She washed the remaining pork and chopped it into stuffing. In order to blend the taste, Jiang Yanyi used 80% lean and 20% fat meat. After putting various seasonings into the stuffing, she chopped some ginger to remove the fishy smell and stirred it in one direction. In order to make the meat stuffing more fresh and fragrant, Jiang Yanyi added soup three times when mixing the stuffing, and finally mixed in chopped green onions.

The dough was rolled into strips, cut into thumb-thick dough pieces, and rolled with a rolling pin until it became round thin slices.

Qiu Kui was learning, but the dough broke as soon as she rolled it, which made her very frustrated.

Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "Kung fu is something you have practiced over many years, so take your time."

She put enough stuffing into the dough, and it seemed that it would not wrap up anymore, but she folded the dough flexibly with a few fingers, and gave it a final twist. , all the stuffings are wrapped inside, the buns are bulging, the pleats on the body are the same size, and there is a small nest on the top, which looks quite cute.

Okra didn't dare to blink when she saw it. When she took the dough rolled by Jiang Yanyi to wrap it, she didn't dare to put too much meat filling like Jiang Yanyi did. She also had ten fingers on both hands. She couldn't see clearly where Jiang Yanyi's fingers were. How do I twist the pleats? I tried several times but the skin tore and the stuffing spilled out.

Qiu Kui shut herself up. No matter how Jiang Yanyi tried to comfort her, she refused to learn and ran to the back of the stove to concentrate on making fire, which made Jiang Yanyi laugh and cry.

The steamed buns were steamed in the steamer. Jiang Yanyi used a small stove to heat water and put the marinated buns in the steamer. Wash the lean meat, cut it into thin strips, put it into a small pot and cook it until it changes color, then take it out. Peel a preserved egg, cut it into dices, put it into a clay pot with the minced meat and cook it with the rice porridge.

When the porridge is cooked, add Jiang Yanyi. A little sesame oil, the oil meets the lean meat to stimulate the aroma of the meat to the greatest extent, and then sprinkle some chopped

green onions after adding salt, the fresh fragrance is refreshing. Jiang Yanyi took the bowl to serve, the porridge was thick and sticky, with shredded pork and diced preserved eggs in it. , it makes me hungry just by looking at it.

The steamed buns can be turned off after a quarter of an hour. Jiang Yanyi didn’t have a small steamer, so he used a large steamer. The people in his own store didn’t need to be shy and just moved the large steamer to the outside shop and put it on the table. Everyone had a bowl.

Preserved egg and lean meat porridge, sitting around a table, picking up a small steamed bun and putting it in your mouth, it was so hot that you couldn't stop eating even if you kept breathing. Chu Yangui had difficulty walking and could only eat in the room. Jiang Yanyi served him a bowl of

After the steaming , the dumplings swelled up a lot, but the skin was too thin, and the shape collapsed a little when the heat dissipated.

Chu Yangui picked up one with wooden chopsticks and put it into his mouth. The bun skin was soft and the inner wall seemed to be soaked in soup, fresh and delicious. The meat filling was well-placed. Although it was mixed with fat, it was completely delicious. There was no greasy taste of fat because the soup was added during the seasoning, making the taste even more delicious. With a mouthful of porridge, the whole stomach warmed up. Chu Yangui

was extremely satisfied with this meal.

They arrived early and had breakfast. The two of them and Chu Zhong had previously worked under Chu Changping, so they were familiar with each other.

Chu Zhong had a mouthful of preserved egg and lean meat porridge in his left hand and a small steamed bun in his right hand, and reminisced with the two: "Do you eat these every day when you are at my cousin's place?"

Yang Xiu said: "On the first day we came, we had roasted whole lamb. , mutton soup pot and smoked lamb chops."

Bing Shao continued: "Recently, I've been eating stir-fried pork ribs in a dry pot, which tastes pretty good."

Chu Zhong felt that the porridge and steamed buns in his mouth suddenly didn't smell so good.

After a noisy breakfast, Auntie Guo and Qiu Kui were busy clearing the dishes, leaving Jiang Yanyi free to look at the accounts and play with her cat at the counter. It was a pleasant morning, but she always felt I seem to have forgotten something.

At this moment, Feng Shuo, who was playing chess with himself in the next room for the whole morning, finally couldn't help but ask the housekeeper Fu Xi: "Are you sure you told the driver that I asked him to drive the car to pick someone up?"

In the past, She found out that he was secretly helping her, so she came to the door in the morning.

Fu Xi offered a cup of hot tea and said, "This old servant has told me to do this.

" Feng Shuo waved his hand impatiently, "Alright, go down."

Fu Xi knew that he and others were waiting for him. After playing for the whole morning, I'm afraid he's in a bad mood now, so he quits.

Feng Shuo throws the chess piece back into the chess basket and murmurs in a very low voice: "You little heartless guy."