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.

“你我總角之交，怎麽還來這一套。”解氏看着眼前的陸氏，也頗為唏噓。

當年解氏之父，不過是個監生，陸氏的父親卻是州府教瑜，其母巨賈出身，她又是掌上明珠，說起來比她的條件還要好的。

二人坐下之後，窈娘招呼陸氏的女兒到一旁吃糕點。

“陸家姐姐，這有許多年我們也未曾見面了？你一向可好？”解氏其實看了帖子知道其中不妥的，因為陸氏當年成親時嫁的是姓陳的一位秀才，此人據說也是官宦子弟，可如今帖子上寫的是舒夫人。

按照解氏的理解，可能是陸氏前頭丈夫死了，又再嫁的，若非如此，按照陸氏的性情，不會如此見縫插針來拜見她了，以前陸氏可是十分不屑的。當年她嫁給顏應祁時，陸氏可是嘴裏十分瞧不起顏家的。

沒想到陸氏出口駭人聽聞：“我這些年日子過的一言難盡，現在也算是苦盡甘來了。進門三年，陳家那個和他那個表妹被我捉奸在床，以前說待我入女兒的公婆也一瞬間翻了臉，說她有了身孕，讓我接納她入府，我沒忍下，就和離了。後來又被人騙進府，原本說是做正妻的，後來是做妾，那人死了一年，正好我就遇到了他。”

這些屬于她最不堪回首的過去，之所以說給解氏聽，也是想着她看着她可憐，能夠有一個條人脈。

解氏聽的咋舌之餘，又不禁贊賞她的果絕，“陸姐姐，我見你現在面色紅潤，想必現在的日子好過多了。”

陸氏甜蜜的點頭：“事在人為，我起初和離的時候，以為天都塌下來了，後來才覺得也不過如此。”

“這就好，你我有緣再這個渡口相見，日後再見也不知道是何日？這位是我身邊的宋媽媽，你也認識的，日後若有事，可以去京中安仁坊找我。”解氏笑道。

陸氏得到了自己想要的答案，離開時整個人都輕松了不少。

于是，午膳時，顏應祁問起，解氏就說起了此事：“她這樣有膽有識，還好老天有眼，現下日子過的挺好的，生了個女兒，還生了個小兒子。”

“和離？”顏應祁見解氏眸中露出欽羨之色，心中有些慌。

解氏還渾然不覺：“是啊，和離了又嫁的這位千戶，反而嫁的更好了呢。”

顏應祁看了解氏一眼，敲了敲碗：“解蘭憂，你這一天天的恨不得把別人的棺材擡到自己家哭，成日不是同情這個就是同情那個，還能不能正常吃飯？”

解氏白了他一眼：“知道了。”

二人用完飯，才發現窈娘不在跟前，顏應祁問道：“三丫頭呢？”

“吃零嘴吃飽了，和我說午膳不吃了，又去學畫畫了。現在的小姑娘，一天一個想法，真的是和我們那個時候不同。”解氏有時候也對女兒沒辦法，據說她花生吃多了，還讓人送了一壺菊花枸杞茶過去。

窈娘的确在學畫畫，但是她着重畫人物，因為方才她和顏景昭聊天說了許多話，讓她意識到重要性。

哥哥說爹是吏部侍郎，也就是向天子推薦官員，有時候難免記不清楚人，若是她能準确無誤的繪畫出人的長相，豈不是能幫到爹？再者，她早就發現了，她若是畫那些有意境的山水畫或者花鳥圖，并不如姐姐有靈氣，但是畫人物卻有些天賦。

窈娘先找顏景昭借了幾本書，就開始從身邊的人畫起，她先畫的是每日服侍她的乳母顧媽媽。顧媽媽還有些受寵若驚：“姐兒，你真的要先畫我啊？”

“那肯定啊，我現在決定，每天畫一幅圖。您不知道大書法家王羲之，人家可是練的更勤奮呢。”窈娘是個行動派，不愛用嘴巴天天喊要做什麽，但是決定去做，就唯獨有兩個字——堅持。

甚至她在教顏寧馨的時候，把課程縮短到半個時辰，就是自己要畫畫。

解氏聽聞女兒學畫人物，幫身邊的丫頭婆子畫了一圈，可連自己親娘都沒有畫，不禁有些吃味。

窈娘笑道：“娘太美了，我還不是怕把您畫醜了，所以我得琢磨琢磨自己的畫技。”

“小鬼頭。”解氏搖搖頭。

窈娘這幾日成日讀書作畫，還得彈琴作女紅，忙的不可開交，因此也沒留心關氏竟然已經大好了，她剛來不久，關氏就過來請安了。

見她過來，窈娘也趕緊起身：“大嫂。”

關氏笑道：“三妹妹。”

關氏現下雖然偶爾有些頭暈，但已經好了許多，窈娘問道：“嫂嫂身子可好了？我有半個月未見嫂嫂了。”

“現下比之前好多了，多謝妹妹關心。”關氏言行很客氣但帶着幾分疏離。

她平生不太喜歡風頭太盛的人，尤其是窈娘這樣的女孩子，言辭伶俐，有時候甚至咄咄逼人，只要開口就能吸引全場注意，別人插嘴都沒縫。

窈娘則道：“再過幾日就要到京裏了，娘，我總覺得我的官話有口音，日後還是要多練練，讓別人都聽不出來才好。”

“是哦。”解氏點頭。

窈娘覺得娘親有時候呆呆的，好笑道：“娘親，你可以讓爹教你啊。”

解氏趕緊擺手：“你爹以前教我騎馬的時候，一着急還拍我，我可不敢讓他教我。”

“騎馬？京中女子都騎馬嗎？”窈娘問起。

再一旁的關氏默默吃了一嘴公婆的狗糧，這在她家裏幾乎是不可能發生的事情，她爹娘相處幾乎都不是這樣的，規規矩矩，從沒有這樣的不正經的樣子。

解氏搖頭：“我也好些年不在京中了，就是聽別人說起的。”

要說騎馬，顏家三位姐妹都不是很會，窈娘則托腮，她可不敢接觸馬啊，甚至她都不是很喜歡小動物。瑩娘喜歡小絨毛狗，倩娘還養過兔子倉鼠，就窈娘什麽都沒養過。

“嫂嫂，你會騎馬嗎？”窈娘說話也會照顧到關氏。

關氏笑着搖頭：“我也不會。”

“那可以讓大哥哥教你，哥哥騎射俱佳，在西北的時候都不輸那些西北漢子的。”窈娘打趣。

關氏也難得露出點嬌羞，她想要是窈娘親口和顏景昭說也是不錯的，但實際上這只是窈娘随口一句話。

就像解氏告訴她的，哥嫂的事情那是另外一家人的事情了，能少管就少管。

每個人，每一戶人家都有自己的相處方式。

再者，窈娘只會對自己好的人，才願意多說話。關氏在老太太面前說她不做女紅，上次哥哥給她買了一把古筝，嫂子也不高興，如此這般，誰願意幫她說話？她若真的一朝得勢，肯定還是對娘對她看不起。

正如每個人都有自己的想法，顏寧馨亦是如此，她學這些學的越多就越煩，尤其是和瑩娘的關系一直不和睦。

尤其是顏應祁送了她文房四寶之後，瑩娘和她說話總是夾槍帶棒的。

就像今日瑩娘教她，翻了個白眼：“大姐姐，都半個月了，你還不懂斷句啊？我都不知道怎麽教你了。你在齊王府讀書，比我們都差，我想不是齊王府的問題，肯定是你自己太笨蛋了。”

“你說什麽？”顏寧馨也不想忍了，把桌上的書拂了下去，也很生氣。

瑩娘冷哼道：“本來就是，我三姐姐也是從西北回來的，不到兩個月就和我們進度一樣了，你再看你自己……難道我哪裏有說錯嗎？”

顏寧馨眼淚差點飚出來，她又忍住了，因為她很少哭，也知道瑩娘只是個脾氣壞的小姑娘，沒有什麽壞心思，可她這樣罵自己，自己也忍受不了了。

還是瑩娘的乳母和教養嬷嬷趕緊出來道歉：“大小姐，我們姑娘年紀小，素來說話橫行無忌，您就別和她計較了。”

又是她年紀小，別和她計較了……

為什麽退讓的總是她？

顏寧馨仰頭，拳頭捏的很緊，瑩娘卻不在意，本來就蠢笨不堪，還不知道收斂，老是用自己的身世裝可憐讓爹偏愛。

“四姑娘說話也太難聽了，哪有這樣說姐姐的，我們姑娘從齊王府回來，就一直忍氣吞聲，從來沒有發作，今天是不是也太過分了。”金盞受齊王世子過來照顧顏寧馨，自然也幫顏寧馨說話。

瑩娘的乳母一個勁兒的認錯，“是是是，我們姑娘也知道錯了。”

原本顏寧馨在金陵時，還偶爾和周陵光說說話，他知道自己的處境會開解一二，現在只有她一個人，沒有知心朋友，姐妹們也不親近，甚至還被人罵。

……

窈娘剛吃完一碗銀酢面，很是滿足，又聽青黛說起瑩娘和顏寧馨的紛争，有些頭疼道：“我看到了京城，日後怕是這樣的紛争還有許多。”

“四姑娘這樣做也的确有點過分了。”青黛忍不住道。

窈娘點頭：“是啊，還不是看大姐姐沒娘，可着勁兒的欺負。這有娘的孩子自然就是個寶，像哥哥如今就非常親近娘親了，可以說比我跑娘那兒還跑的勤。”

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.