Chapter 026 Chapter 26
When the spring weather is warm and the scenery is bright, the sky looks like apricot mist and flowing jade. The boat is moving very slowly, and only the sound of water can be heard occasionally. Yao Niang looks out the window and has long lost the excitement she had when she first boarded the boat.
This time, except for the old lady, all the people from the third room went to Beijing together, and unified arrangements were made for the personnel.
Zhen and Xie each occupied a main house, and Yao Niang and the other four sisters now lived next to each other. Originally, everyone lived separately, but now they all lived together, and lived so concentratedly, conflicts arose.
Yan Yingqi was unwilling to slack off in their studies, and even on the ship, she still let Mr. Yu teach them. Naturally, this was also the last year that Mr. Yu taught them, because he had to prepare for the imperial examination next year.
However, Yan Ningxin's academic performance was worse than that of Yan Yingqi's youngest son, who had just started to learn English. Therefore, Yan Yingqi suggested that the sisters take turns to help Yan Ningxin make up for the missed lessons.
It would be fine if she was teaching motivated students, but Yan Ningxin was absent-minded and didn't like studying. It's not that she was unlearned, but she would always ask a lot of questions and was very jumpy, as if there was a thorn on her butt.
The one who taught Yan Ningxin today was Yingniang. Yaoniang couldn't help but cover her ears when she heard Yingniang's lion roar.
"I can't even read a book because it's too noisy." Yao Niang stood up from the window again, banging and banging, looking quite impatient.
Mother Gu advised: "Sister, why don't you take this opportunity to rest for a while."
"Forget it, I'll go find my mother. It's a little quieter there." Yao Niang took two books and went to Xie's place.
Seeing her brother here, Yao Niang asked happily, "Brother, why are you here?"
Yan Jingzhao smiled and said, "I came to give mother some toys to relieve her boredom."
After leaving the Third Old Lady, Yan Jingzhao and Xie naturally became closer, especially since he saw through the connection between Guan and the Third Old Lady. Perhaps if Guan gave birth to a son, even he might be abandoned by the old lady.
In this way, he became closer to his biological mother, Xie, and he could also realize that Xie was the one who truly had good things for him.
Xie asked Yao Niang again, "Why did you come here at this time? Didn't you say you wanted to read a book yesterday?"
Yao Niang complained: "It's not that I didn't watch, it's the fourth sister who taught the eldest sister to read, and the lion roar skill simply shocked me. I came to your place to hide and have some peace and quiet."
"Yao Niang, you can be angry with your elder sister because of your personality or the frictions with her, but you must remember that your father feels very guilty towards your elder sister. She is also a pitiful person." Xie said earnestly.
Yao Niang smiled and said, "I know, don't worry. It will only take two hours at most, and I will teach her seriously. I won't be particularly angry if she can't learn it."
"Well, that's right." Xie said.
Yan Jingzhao had to study, so he left first. Yao Niang was reading at Xie's place. When she saw Yan Jingzhao leave, she asked Xie, "Is your sister-in-law feeling better?"
As soon as Guan got on the boat, she vomited violently and everyone thought she was pregnant. Later, they asked a doctor to check and found out that she was suffering from seasickness.
"It's a little better now. I always have a headache." Xie didn't take it seriously.
Yao Niang stretched her back. Xie asked her to have dinner with her. Yao Niang said, "Isn't Dad coming over today?"
Xie smiled and said, "Your father went to visit Aunt Feng."
Yao Niang pouted. Xie looked at her daughter's expression and explained, "Your father is the head of the family. Although he treats us very well, he has to take care of your aunt and the other concubines as well! Don't act like this. How will people see you?"
"I see." Yao Niang thought, it would be nice if every man in the world could have only one woman.
In fact, Guan thought the same. Before leaving, the Third Old Lady gave a maid named Cui'e to Yan Jingzhao. Now Guan was seasick, and there was a smell in the cabin. Yan Jingzhao had to study during the day and rest at night, so he rested in the front, and Baohua and Cui'e were waiting on him.
Guan was also upset. Although her father had a concubine, she was just a maid by her mother's side and lived like an old maid. The Yan family was completely different. The concubines were all glamorous and beautiful. Who wouldn't want to be a concubine?
Unfortunately, she no longer had any power over the household. Even her husband secretly criticized her, saying that she rarely paid respects to Mrs. Xie.
Guan thought to herself that even if I were to pay my respects, I would pay my respects to the real wife, Zhen. This lady had an imperial decree in the family tree, so what did Xie have? But she knew very well that if she said that, it would mean that she would offend the whole family and openly break up with Yan Jingzhao.
Therefore, she had to swallow her anger and be respectful to Xie.
"I don't vomit so much now. I have to get better soon before I come to pay my respects." Guan said, touching her chest.
Xi Que supported her and said, "Second Madam sent a can of green plums over, saying they are for you to stop vomiting."
"Please thank my second brother and his wife for me and send a box of preserved fruits in my room over." Guan couldn't help but sigh that Yu was indeed very good at these little tricks, but small favors alone were not enough.
Yu received Guan's return gift, put it aside, and lowered her head to embroider. She did a good job. But she was worried, so she got up and went to find her husband. Yan Jingzhang was not a bad person. He was quite respectful to her and looked decent. There was only one thing about him: he was not ambitious.
Just as she was thinking about it, Aunt Yin came over. Yu quickly stood up and asked someone to pour tea and water. Then the two of them sat down to talk.
"Brother Zhang's daughter-in-law, you should stop doing needlework every day and be careful." Aunt Yin said with a smile. She got along well with her daughter-in-law.
Yu was still sewing, but she said, "What you said is true, Auntie. I noticed that Second Master's feet sweat easily, so I made a few more pairs of insoles. I sewed them myself, the stitches are fine, and they are more comfortable to wear than those outside."
Aunt Yin was even happier. This daughter-in-law was really attentive to her son. After all, she was three years older than him and she also cared about Jingzhang.
The two chatted for a while, and Aunt Yin also told her a lot about the turmoil in the Yan family. "Why didn't Miss Xin come with you? It's because the old master and his wife didn't want her to be their daughter-in-law. The wife has always been dissatisfied with Miss Xin, but the old master didn't see anything wrong. This time they left, and left Miss Xin in Jinling. They said that she was accompanying the old lady, but in fact, it was just this."
Yu stopped and said, "So that's what happened. I was wondering why Miss Xin didn't come with us, but the old lady loves her so much, why didn't she ask Miss Xin to come with us?"
"This is the parents' order and the matchmaker's words. Our first wife is not as gentle as the second wife, and our old lady is not as strong as the third wife." Aunt Yin said.
"Besides, no one can find fault with Guan's selections."
After hearing this, Yu understood everything. Yan Jingzhao was the eldest son, who was adopted by the third wife. The Guan family chosen by the third old lady had a very good family background. The Guan family had produced three prime ministers, and his father was now a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. In terms of official career, this adult could help Yan Jingzhao.
As it happened, Yan Jingzhao himself was well-educated and intelligent, so his father-in-law naturally acquiesced to the marriage.
The reason why she was able to marry into a wealthy family was not because she was so outstanding, but because Yan Jingzhang was not good at studying. If she married someone of equal status, she would be too proud and would look down on Yan Jingzhang, which would also be a good way to shut up Old Lady Yu.
Zhen had already married Mrs. Yu's niece's granddaughter and had taken care of the old lady once. When it came to her own son's marriage, she would definitely not let Mrs. Yu's granddaughter get her wish.
This is why Old Lady Yu tacitly agreed to let Xin Wan stay in Jinling.
In fact, Yao Niang knew about this fate from the beginning, but there was nothing she could do. If Xin Wan's parents were still alive, they might not look down on her third brother Yan Jingwen. But her parents were both dead, and she came here to seek refuge, and no one could make the decision for her.
After having dinner at Xie's house, Yao Niang read a book by candlelight. She now liked reading more and more, and always felt that there were endless worlds in books that she had never seen before.
"The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" says that if there is no headwind, one can travel more than 400 miles downstream in one day and night, and more than 100 miles against the wind.
From Nanjing to Beijing by water, it takes fifteen days at the fastest and about twenty days at the slowest.
It has been about ten days since we set out from Nanjing. Today I heard that Yan Yingqi specially rewarded Yan Ningxin with a set of top-quality study treasures and even gave her two boxes of pearls.
Mother Gu asked, "Why is this happening, Master?"
"Before eldest sister came back, the three of us sisters had a lot of jewelry and clothes. Last New Year, she only had the brocade swing she learned from school. Now that dad is like this, he should give her some jewelry. Besides, fourth sister yelled at eldest sister that day, and I'm afraid she will be sad." This is how Yao Niang felt.
Mother Gu smiled and said, "I'm afraid the fourth girl will be jealous again."
"She really loves to compare herself in everything. She can't stand others being a little better than her. A few days ago, she was also saying something about legitimate and illegitimate children at home." Yao Niang knew Ying Niang very well.
When the ship had to stop for supplies, someone took the opportunity to come on board to pay a visit and said he was someone who knew Xie. Xie was playing chess with Yan Yingqi at the time and when he saw the post that was passed over with gold embroidery on the article, he immediately knew who it was.
"Mom, who is it?" Yao Niang asked.
Xie thought for a moment and said, "Why not ask her to come over and we'll know." Then she asked Yan Yingqi to leave, saying that she was a female relative and a fellow villager from Dongshan, and they had had a close relationship in the past.
Before the lady arrived, Yao Niang flipped through the post and said, "Mom, isn't she the wife of a thousand households?"
A Qianhu was just an official of the fifth rank. Civil officials in the Wei Dynasty had much higher status than military officials. The wife of a Qianhu was not really considered to be a high-ranking official.
Xie smiled but said nothing. A mother and daughter walked in through the door. The mother was plain and delicate, but the daughter was pretty. When she saw Xie, she was about to bow down, but Xie helped her up.
"You and I have known each other since childhood, why are you still doing this to me?" Xie looked at Lu in front of her and sighed.
At that time, Xie's father was just a student, but Lu's father was a teacher in the prefecture. Her mother was from a wealthy family, and she was the apple of her eye. In fact, her conditions were better than hers.
After the two sat down, Yao Niang invited Lu's daughter to come over and eat some cakes.
"Sister Lu, it's been many years since we last met. How have you been?" After reading the post, Xie knew something was wrong, because when Lu got married, she married a scholar named Chen, who was also said to be the son of an official. But now the post said "Mrs. Shu".
According to Xie's understanding, it might be that Lu's previous husband died and she remarried. Otherwise, according to Lu's character, she would not have come to visit her so much. In the past, Lu was very disdainful. When she married Yan Yingqi, Lu looked down on the Yan family.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Lu said something shocking: "My life these years is hard to describe, but now I can say that the hardship has finally paid off. Three years after I got married, I caught the man from the Chen family and his cousin in bed. The parents-in-law who had said they would wait for me to marry their daughter suddenly changed their minds and said that she was pregnant and asked me to take her in. I couldn't bear it, so I divorced her. Later, someone tricked me into coming into the mansion again. Originally, I was said to be the legal wife, but later I became a concubine. That person died a year later, and that's when I happened to meet him."
These were the things in her past that she could not bear to recall. The reason she told them to Xie was because she felt sorry for her and wanted to have some connections.
Xie was astonished, but couldn't help but admire her decisiveness, "Sister Lu, I see that you look rosy now, I guess your life must be much better now."
Mrs. Lu nodded sweetly: "Everything depends on human effort. When I first divorced, I thought the sky was falling, but later I realized that it was nothing more than this."
"That's good. We are destined to meet at this ferry. Who knows when we will meet again in the future? This is Mother Song who is by my side. You know her. If you have any problems in the future, you can come to Anrenfang in Beijing to find me." Xie said with a smile.
Lu got the answer he wanted and left feeling a lot more relaxed.
So, during lunch, when Yan Yingqi asked about it, Xie told the story: "She was so brave and wise, and luckily God had a good heart. Now she is living a good life. She gave birth to a daughter and a little son."
"Divorce?" Yan Yingqi felt a little panicked when he saw the envy in Jie's eyes.
Xie was still indifferent: "Yes, the Qianhu who divorced and remarried actually married a better one."
Yan Yingqi glanced at Xie and knocked on the bowl: "Xie Lanyou, you want to carry someone else's coffin to your home and cry every day. You sympathize with this or that all day long. Can you still eat normally?"
Xie rolled her eyes at him and said, "I know."
After they finished their meal, they realized that Yao Niang was not around. Yan Yingqi asked, "Where is the third girl?"
"After she had eaten her fill of snacks, she told me she didn't want to have lunch and went to learn painting. Girls nowadays have different ideas every day. They are really different from our time." Xie was sometimes helpless with her daughter. It was said that she had someone send her a pot of chrysanthemum and wolfberry tea because she ate too many peanuts.
Yao Niang was indeed learning to paint, but she focused on painting figures because she had just chatted a lot with Yan Jingzhao, which made her realize the importance of it.
Her brother said that her father was the Minister of Personnel, which meant he recommended officials to the emperor. Sometimes he couldn't remember people clearly. If she could accurately draw people's faces, wouldn't that help her father? Moreover, she had long discovered that she was not as talented as her sister in painting those artistic landscapes or flower-and-bird paintings, but she had some talent in painting figures.
Yao Niang first borrowed a few books from Yan Jingzhao, and then began to draw the people around her. She first drew her wet nurse, Gu Mama, who served her every day. Gu Mama was a little flattered and surprised: "Sister, are you really going to draw me first?"
"Of course. I have decided to draw a picture every day. You may not know the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi, who practiced even harder." Yao Niang is a person of action. She doesn't like to talk about what she wants to do every day, but once she decides to do something, there are only two words to do it - persistence.
She even shortened the course to half an hour when she was teaching Yan Ningxin so that she could paint.
When Xie heard that her daughter was learning to paint figures, she helped the maids and women around her to paint a circle but did not even paint her own mother, she could not help feeling jealous.
Yao Niang smiled and said, "You are so beautiful, I am afraid that I will make you look ugly, so I have to work on my painting skills."
"Little brat." Xie shook her head.
Yao Niang had been busy these days with reading, painting, playing the piano and doing needlework, so she didn't notice that Guan had actually recovered. Not long after she arrived, Guan came to pay her respects.
Seeing her coming, Yao Niang also stood up quickly: "Sister-in-law."
Guan smiled and said, "Third sister."
Although Guan was still a little dizzy now, she was much better now. Yao Niang asked, "Is sister-in-law feeling better? I haven't seen you for half a month."
"I'm much better now. Thank you for your concern, sister." Guan's words and actions were polite but a little distant.
She didn't like people who were too popular, especially girls like Yao Niang, who was eloquent and sometimes even aggressive. She could attract everyone's attention as long as she opened her mouth, and there was no chance for others to interrupt her.
Yao Niang said, "We will be arriving in Beijing in a few days. Mother, I always feel that my Mandarin has an accent. I should practice more in the future so that others can't hear it."
"Yes." Xie nodded.
Yao Niang thought her mother was sometimes silly, and said with a smile: "Mom, you can ask Dad to teach you."
Xie quickly waved her hands and said, "When your father taught me to ride a horse, he would slap me when he was anxious. I dare not let him teach me."
"Riding a horse? Do all the women in Beijing ride horses?" Yao Niang asked.
Guan, who was standing aside, silently ate a mouthful of dog food given by her parents-in-law. This was almost impossible to happen in her family. Her parents almost never interacted like this. They were always well-behaved and never acted in such an improper way.
Xie shook her head: "I haven't been in Beijing for many years. I just heard about it from others."
As for riding a horse, none of the three sisters in the Yan family is very good at it. Yao Niang holds her chin in her hand. She doesn't dare to touch a horse. She doesn't even like small animals very much. Ying Niang likes small plush dogs, Qian Niang has also raised rabbits and hamsters, but Yao Niang has never raised anything.
"Sister-in-law, can you ride a horse?" Yao Niang also took Guan's words into consideration.
Guan smiled and shook her head: "I don't know how to do that either."
"Then you can let big brother teach you. I'm good at riding and shooting. When I was in the northwest, I was not inferior to those northwestern men." Yao Niang joked.
Guan also showed a rare bit of shyness. She thought it would be nice if Yao Niang said it to Yan Jingzhao in person, but in fact it was just a casual remark made by Yao Niang.
Just like Xie told her, the affairs of her brother and sister-in-law were another family's business, so she should mind her own business if possible.
Every person and every family has their own way of getting along with each other.
Besides, Yao Niang would only talk to people who were good to her. Guan said in front of the old lady that she didn't do needlework, and last time her brother bought her a zither, her sister-in-law was not happy. In this case, who would be willing to speak for her? If she really gained power one day, she would definitely look down on her mother and her.
Just as everyone has their own ideas, Yan Ningxin is no exception. The more she learns about these things, the more troubled she becomes, especially since her relationship with Ying Niang has always been unharmonious.
Especially after Yan Yingqi gave her the four treasures of the study, Yingniang always spoke to her in a very aggressive manner.
Just like today when Yingniang taught her, she rolled her eyes and said, "Big sister, it's been half a month, and you still don't know how to punctuate a sentence? I don't know how to teach you. You studied in Prince Qi's mansion, and you are worse than us. I don't think it's the problem of Prince Qi's mansion, it must be that you are too stupid."
"What did you say?" Yan Ningxin didn't want to endure it anymore, so she brushed the book off the table, also very angry.
Ying Niang snorted coldly, "That's right. My third sister also came back from the northwest. In less than two months, she has reached the same level as us. Look at yourself... Am I wrong in some way?"
Yan Ningxin almost burst into tears, but she held them back because she seldom cried and she knew that Yingniang was just a bad-tempered girl and didn't have any bad intentions. But she couldn't stand seeing Yingniang scolding her like that.
It was Yingniang's wet nurse and nanny who came out to apologize: "My dear, our daughter is young and has always been reckless in her words. Please don't bother with her."
She is still young, so don't bother with her...
Why is she always the one who gives in?
Yan Ningxin raised her head and clenched her fists tightly, but Yingniang didn't care. She was stupid to begin with and didn't know how to restrain herself. She always used her background to act pitiful in order to get her father's favor.
"Fourth Miss's words are so harsh. How can you say that about your sister? Our young lady has been enduring silently since she came back from Prince Qi's Mansion and has never lost her temper. Isn't it too much today?" Jin Lu was taken care of by Prince Qi, so naturally he spoke for Yan Ningxin.
Yingniang's wet nurse admitted her mistake vigorously, "Yes, yes, our girl also knows she was wrong."
When Yan Ningxin was in Jinling, she would occasionally talk to Zhou Lingguang, as he knew her situation and would offer some comfort. But now she is alone, has no close friends, is not close to her sisters, and is even scolded by others.
…
Yao Niang had just finished a bowl of silver vinegar noodles and was very satisfied. Then she heard Qing Dai talking about the dispute between Ying Niang and Yan Ning Xin. She felt a little headache and said, "I saw the capital. I'm afraid there will be many more disputes like this in the future."
"It's true that what the fourth young lady did was a bit too much." Qingdai couldn't help but say.
Yao Niang nodded: "Yes, it's because my elder sister has no mother, so she is bullied by Jin'er. A child with a mother is naturally a treasure. For example, my brother is very close to mother now. You can say that he visits mother more often than I do."
That's why even though everyone praised Zhen's virtues, Yao Niang didn't quite agree.
Mama Gu was originally Xie's maid, and she also lamented that luck had changed: "Young lady, you don't know, when our Madam wanted to visit the eldest master, his two wet nurses, Madam Wang and Madam Wei, were so domineering that they offered money three times, and it was good enough to be able to visit once. Now, our eldest master has finally become close to Madam, and these two old women can't do anything strange anymore."
"I heard that when the old lady came back this time, she was unhappy with my mother. It was those two old women who complained about us. Fortunately, we have hidden ourselves now, and they can't cause any trouble." Yao Niang knew everything about this matter.
The servants were usually submissive in front of their masters, and Yao Niang didn't take them seriously. Unexpectedly, these two people whom she didn't take seriously caused such a big trouble, and taught Yao Niang a good lesson.
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