Chapter 027 Chapter 27
Before getting off the ship, Yan Yingqi invited Zhen and Xie to discuss the arrangements at home, even though he was not very willing. In his opinion, it was impossible for Xie to completely obey Zhen, and it would be too unfair to Xie to let Zhen manage Xie in the same way as a concubine.
Aunt Feng was helping Zhen with her makeup. Seeing that Zhen's expression did not change, she secretly praised her for being a person who could hold on. As Zhen's former maid, she knew Zhen very well. In fact, Zhen had a cousin at that time, who was the granddaughter of the eldest son of the cabinet. Normally, that was the one who should marry the old man.
But Zhen was introverted, tolerant and scheming, while the other man was too gentle and kind.
Xie is different now than before. In the past, she avoided him on her own initiative. Last time when Yan Yingqi was in Beijing, she took the initiative to stay in Jinling. But now she has followed him with her children, which is simply a strong enemy.
However, facing such a great threat from Xie, Zhen was able to remain calm, which was also very unusual.
Mother Song was also worried about Xie: "I'm afraid that the first lady will bring up the fact that all the people are from the first house. Our every move is under their surveillance. Besides, the first lady is not very stable, so it's possible that she will be plotted against."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Xie said.
In fact, Xie and Zhen were somewhat like sisters-in-law. They seldom appeared together, and even when they met, they addressed each other as sisters-in-law.
The two met today at another place chosen by Yan Yingqi. When Xie came over, Zhen had already arrived. It was unknown what she was saying to Yan Yingqi with a smile.
"Sister-in-law." Xie called out as she entered the room.
Zhen said, "Come and sit down. We are waiting for you."
Xie smiled and sat down: "It's my fault."
Seeing that the two of them were seated, Yan Yingqi cleared his throat and said, "We will arrive at Tongzhou Port soon. Madams, why don't you discuss the household affairs? This will avoid confusion among the people."
Zhen smiled and looked at Xie: "I can say anything. It all depends on what you want, my sister-in-law."
"Sister-in-law is the eldest and I am the second. Originally, everything should be arranged by sister-in-law. But when we were leaving, the third old lady instructed that the servants of the third room and our expenses should be paid by ourselves. However, there is one thing. Sister-in-law is from the north and we are from the south. Our tastes are different. I also brought a few kitchen staff with me. If possible, we will set aside a kitchen. This is also a long-term solution." Xie said.
Zhen nodded slightly, "I have no opinion, what about the master?"
Yan Yingqi glanced at Lie and said, "You are all my wife and children. Do you have to pay for your food, clothing, housing and transportation separately? Do I not have the money to support you? We can build a kitchen separately, but the expenses will be charged to my account."
Xie thought more thoroughly. She said, "Master, there is really no need to do this. Living in the capital is very difficult! This will be too much trouble for my sister-in-law."
It's not that she's tired, but Zhen is not willing to use the money from the first wife's house to support the people from the third wife's house.
Yan Yingqi also saw it, so he said, "Since you all insist, let's do this. The east wing will be for Jing Zhao and his wife, and the west wing will be for Jing Zhang and his wife. As for the four sisters, Qianniang and Yingniang are used to living with you, Madam, so it's better for them to live together in the back building of our main house."
Zhen agreed immediately: "Master, the arrangement is very good. Second and Fourth Mother grew up together and have a very good relationship."
"Well, in that case, Ning Xin will live with Yao Niang." Yan Yingqi looked at Xie and said.
It was a joke. Xie Shi of course disagreed. It wasn't that she had any opinion about Yan Ningxin, but Yan Ningxin's personality. She had no boundaries with Zhou Lingguang before.
So, Xie smiled and said, "I would love for the eldest girl to keep company with our third girl, but my daughter Yao likes to practice the piano in the morning, and I can't stand her noise. I'm afraid that the eldest girl will be wronged."
Yan Ningxin is from the first wife's house. Why don't she get along well with Ying Niang? Our own Yao Niang has to coax her. Yao Niang is also the eldest daughter of their third wife, okay?
This was already said in an extremely euphemistic way. What's more, Zhen was Yan Ningxin's stepmother. How would it fit in with Xie?
Yan Yingqi knew all this, but Zhen had told her in advance that Yan Ningxin and Yingniang had different personalities, and it seemed that Xie didn't want Yan Ningxin either, so he had no choice but to say, "In that case, let Ningxin live in the west wing."
Zhen couldn't object any more and had to agree.
As for the rest, both sides put forward some opinions. Xie was not aggressive and Zhen showed complete respect. Only then did Yan Yingqi feel relieved.
Therefore, after Xie came back, she called her son, daughter-in-law and daughter over and told them about Yan Yingqi's arrangement.
"You and your wife can live in the east wing, but all expenses will be paid by our third branch. My eldest brother and his wife, your lives in Beijing will not be the same as in Nanjing. It's my fault that I didn't set the rules before. You don't have to come here often on weekdays, but you have to come to visit us morning and evening on the first and fifteenth days of the month. Otherwise, people will say that our third branch has no rules." Xie glanced at Guan.
She was going to the capital, and she had to discipline her daughter-in-law well, and she couldn't be like the Third Old Lady. The Third Old Lady was almost driven into desperation by her mistress, and later she agreed to let Yan Yingqi take over the throne, and only then was she able to gain the support of the First House. Moreover, the Third Old Lady had a rude temper and lost the support of the people.
If my daughter-in-law continues to act like that, she will have to clean up the mess if she offends anyone in the future.
When Guan heard this, she felt a chill in her heart.
Yan Jingzhao asked her in public: "Don't you usually greet your mother?"
Xie waved her hands and said, "She is so seasick, how can she greet you? Don't blame her too much."
Yao Niang was very happy to hear that she would live alone. She had been living with her sisters these days, and everything she did was under their noses. She would be accused of making noise when she practiced the piano, and the servants would easily get into disputes with each other.
"Once you enter the mansion, the servants must behave themselves and not cause trouble. Yao Niang, you are grown up now too, and you can't let them do whatever they want. Do you understand?" Xie said, looking at her daughter.
Yao Niang nodded heavily: "Please rest assured, mother."
Only then did Guan realize that her mother-in-law was actually not a fool at all, and was even very capable. She could compete with Zhen in the inner house, and was even more favored than Zhen.
She had been holding back until then, but when the power was cut off, the third old lady was no match for her.
After saying this, Xie smiled again: "We will be arriving in the capital soon."
The Yan family lived in Anrenfang. This big house was bought by the eldest and third old men when Yan Yingqi got married. Almost all the people who lived here were powerful and wealthy.
As Yao Niang traveled along the way, she felt that the capital city and Jinling were completely different. Jinling was quite cold at this time of year, especially in winter, when the coldness penetrated deep into one's bones.
The north is dry and cold. In the chilly spring, she wore a thick cotton jacket. When she got off the carriage, she put on a cloak and even a Zhaojun hat, otherwise the biting north wind would feel like a knife scraping her face.
Housekeeper Xie had many years of experience. After entering the house, they first found where they lived. Zhen lived in the fifth courtyard, and they lived in the fourth courtyard, because the fifth courtyard had a back room and was bigger, so there were more people in the big room.
In the fourth courtyard, Xie lived in the main house, Yao Niang lived in the west wing, and the east wing was set aside as a kitchen.
Guan Shi now did not dare to move around without permission, and stood with Yao Niang to watch Xie Shi's distribution.
"You must guard the East Corner Courtyard and the West Corner Courtyard with me. If anyone opens the door at night while drinking or gambling, I will not let them off. The third courtyard is for entertaining guests in the future. Since there are women in the family, you must remember who passes by every day. Do not let in anyone you are not familiar with."
…
Yao Niang finally got home. Gu Mama and the maids were all cleaning and making the bed. She had never worried about how to clean her own place before, as she had her mother around. But now it was different. Xie had let her take care of many things, and now she had to learn about household chores.
Compared to Yao Niang who lived alone and in the same courtyard with Xie Shi, Yan Jingzhao lived alone in the East Cross Courtyard. After he returned to the mansion, he was called over by Yan Yingqi. The competition between the Southern Zhili and the Northern Zhili was completely different. Ningguo, Chizhou, Taiping, Luzhou, and Fengyang. The competition was huge, while the competition in the north was smaller.
Then Yan Yingqi would have to change his nationality, which would make the provincial examination much easier.
This was a serious matter, so Yan Jingzhao only told the servant to go to Xie's place and tell her to come back for dinner.
Little did he know that the people around him had changed their minds. Mother Wang and Mother Gu used to compete with each other, but now because Yan Jingzhao was close to Xie, they quickly became united after hearing what the third old lady said.
Mother Wang's daughter is Mingyue, Yan Jingzhao's maid. Ever since Guan married into the family, Mingyue has been loyal to Guan, but secretly she and Mother Wang are of the same faction.
"Mom, what did you call me for?"
"Did you know that your brother's job was taken away by the guy next to Madam?" said Mother Wang.
Mingyue nodded: "Who told my brother not to do his job properly? He chose to slack off and drink, and was caught by Mother Song."
Mother Wang snorted coldly, "This is what the Second Madam did on purpose. Now your brother's job has been investigated. I'm afraid that Mother Wei and I will be driven away sooner or later. If it weren't for the old lady's insistence, Mother Wei and I would not have come to the capital this time."
"That being said, you can't be like the way my brother was when he was little. Back then, the old lady had the final say and the second lady was in frail health. Whenever she came to visit the eldest master, she had to say nice things and give him money and food. Now that my brother has grown up, you still don't change your habits." Mingyue advised her mother.
Mother Wang disagreed: "My brother was raised by my milk, and my monthly allowance of eight taels of silver was also set by the old lady. Just now, the second lady let me have the same monthly allowance as you maids, which is only one tael of silver a month. I'm afraid the next step is to send us away."
Mingyue advised, "Mother, the Third Miss's wet nurse, Gu Mama, was originally the Second Madam's servant, and her monthly allowance is only one hundred yuan."
"So what? Mother Gu will go out with the girl in the future, so good days are still ahead. Our grandmother is also a very bossy person, and there is no place for us to stand." Mother Wang cried.
Mingyue, however, refused to join in the fun. Although her brother's job was gone, she was still the head maid in his room. Madam had promised to transfer her to the study to serve, but her mother favored her brother. If she knew this, she would probably instigate her to become a concubine and ask her to help him get a job.
Seeing that her daughter didn't say anything, Mother Wang refused to give up. But Mother Wei also had the same idea. The difference between her and Mother Wang was that last time she was just kind enough to suggest that Yan Jingzhao should not visit the Second Madam too often because she was afraid that the old lady would worry. It was originally a good thing to say, but her brother scolded her for being too nosy.
That would have been all, because Cui'e was her goddaughter, but her brother did not love Cui'e and only doted on Baohua.
When he was in Jinling at first, he still pretended to be a good person, but now that he has left the third old lady, he is not even willing to pretend to be a good person.
All of them belong to the Third Old Lady. If they don't hold on, even if they beg the Third Old Lady for help, she will probably treat them as useless and throw them away.
If we don't take action now during the chaos, it will probably be even more difficult later.
But how can we make our brothers listen to us?
This old boy studied in the study during the day, and was not too obsessed with beauty at night, but only stayed at Guan or Baohua's place. This reminded Wei's mother of an incident in the past, when the third old lady took Yan Jingzhao to her side, and then one year when Yan Jingzhao was seven years old, he fell ill. At that time, Xie wanted to take the boy back, and the third old lady did not want anyone to know that the eldest master was ill, so she only let them, the wet nurses, take care of him secretly.
At that time, she kept wiping the sweat off her face and rubbing her brother's body with wine before the high fever came down.
From then on, the brother became very dependent on these wet nurses. Xie had to secretly give money to the wet nurses if she wanted to see her son, and the brother only listened to them.
If the boy is ill for a while, as long as they take good care of him, won't they be able to regain his trust?
But she certainly didn't have the courage to harm her master. She just didn't expect that this opportunity would come so soon.
On that day, because the stove had just been built and could not be used, Xie asked the steward to order a banquet from Chunfeng Manyue Tower. She also said to Guan: "You can sit down too. You don't need to wait on us. We can all eat together."
"Yes." Guan smiled and sat down.
Xie then asked Guan, "Have you finished cleaning up the yard today?"
Guan said quickly, "Don't worry, everything has been packed."
"Well, I feel relieved now. When I first arrived, I was overwhelmed with things to do. You can just order food from outside these days. You don't have to come tomorrow. I can ask someone to deliver the food to you." Xie said with a smile.
Yao Niang looked at the table full of dishes and gave a thumbs up: "Mom is really thoughtful. I was wondering what the difference is between the food in Beijing and the food here. This is delicious, especially the roast duck, which is better than the food in Nanjing."
"Your aunt invited us to have dinner with her, but I just told them to go and eat. It's not good for us to go alone." Xie said with a smile.
The third wife had a lot of private property. The third old lady was in charge of Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan for decades. Xie was in charge of most of the family's farmland and shops. Moreover, Xie was very good at managing her dowry. She also wanted to buy some land and shops for her children when she went to Beijing. Therefore, she had to try out the wine shops, tea leaves and raw silk prices here.
Guan was very anxious watching these things. She just felt that Zhen was better at managing her life than Xie. Although Zhen came from a prime minister's family, she was quite frugal. Like the Guan family, she knew how to cherish food and would not be so extravagant. But Xie spent money lavishly, which was not a long-term solution.
But the food in the restaurant was delicious. Guan drank both sweet soup and salty soup, both were delicious.
Yan Jingzhao also announced a good news: "I can take part in the provincial examination in Beijing."
"That's good. You and your wife can visit your in-laws' family tomorrow. I have prepared some small gifts and will have someone send them over in the morning." Xie said.
Guan's father was a Hanlin scholar. Whether it was the provincial examination or the metropolitan examination, the chief examiner and the examiners were likely to be from the Hanlin Academy. Naturally, he had a better chance of success than others by visiting and listening to the emperor's teachings.
However, when Yan Jingzhao was leaving, Xie said she had something for him and asked him to stay. Yao Niang yawned and went back to sleep.
Mother Gu supported Yao Niang and joked, "Our sister drank a glass of fruit wine and pretended to be drunk."
Yao Niang laughed and said, "I was just imitating my father when he was drunk."
The trip from Tongzhou to home was very busy that day, and Yao Niang fell asleep right on the pillow. Mother Gu extinguished the candles, told Hongxiu and Qingdai to keep the door, and then she went out.
As soon as Mother Gu left, Hongxiu said to Qingdai, "Just now, the Second Madam asked Grandma to go back and make the bed first. I think Grandma is reluctant to do so."
"What's wrong with a few words between mother and son? No wonder everyone says she is a little old lady. She is just like the third old lady, wanting to monopolize the eldest master." Qingdai said disdainfully.
Hong Xiu whispered, "Look how generous our sister is. She is not afraid that the Madam will give something to the Master in private, and she is still happy."
Qing Dai smiled and said, "That's right. Our girl is not an ordinary person. To be honest, the eldest girl almost lived with our girl, but fortunately she didn't."
"Yes, she is from the eldest wife's house and has a bad relationship with the fourth lady. If she is placed with us, our lady will have to teach her everything, and our lady is not her mother." The two maids were also glad that the third wife got rid of Yan Ningxin.
But Yan Ningxin still felt uncomfortable because the chamber where she lived was opposite the residences of several concubines and maids. But she had no way to refuse because the household affairs were taken care of by the eldest lady and all her shares were given to her.
Jin Jiao and Yin Dan also felt sorry for her: "This place is called your home, but it's no different from living under someone else's roof."
Yan Ningxin shook her head: "In fact, in this home, everyone is just not close to me, but it is still my own home."
Just like no matter how much Yingniang disliked her, she would just have a few words with her and would not really do anything. But in Prince Qi's Mansion or in the Wei family, it was no joke.
Those words could be much more unpleasant than what we are saying now.
Jin Li smiled and said, "That's true. I heard that the Third House ordered food from the restaurant. It smells so good. The people around the First and Second Madams sent food boxes to the study for the old man. I don't know what the old man is eating."
This is the gossip that these servants love to gossip about the most. There are two ladies in the Yan family, and Master Yan is not the kind of person who has many wives and concubines. So whether he goes to the first or third room, the servants can judge which lady is the most favored by the master recently.
Yan Ningxin was not a real lady from a noble family, so she couldn't help but say after hearing their discussion: "The first lady got the face, and the second lady got the inside."
"Yes, it depends on what you think."
Yan Ningxin laughed at herself: "Actually, this is also the difference between me and my third sister. Although I am the eldest daughter in the mansion, in terms of pampering and prudence, Yao Niang is more like a lady than me."
The master and his servants talked for a few words, and then seeing that it was late at night, they went to bed.
Dongkuaoyuan
Yan Jingzhao was resting at Guan's place today. He was saying to Guan, "Mother gave me fifty taels of silver privately. Take it first. No family relies on monthly allowance to survive. You can use this for your daily expenses."
Guan was delighted: "I didn't expect that mother would support us privately."
"Living in the capital, where is nothing free? No one lives on salary. My mother is very good at managing the household business. You don't know that although my uncles have no fame, they have a solid family background." Yan Jingzhao also hoped that Guan could change her mind and work with them. Otherwise, if Guan became disloyal, that would be a case of one incompetent general leading to the death of the entire army.
Guan thought that her mother-in-law's extravagance was not the right way to run a household, but she couldn't criticize her in front of her husband, so she just kept it in mind.
The couple were also extremely tired today, so naturally they were no longer restless. However, Guan was fine, but Yan Jingzhao had to get up to go to the toilet several times.
Every time the main room was in use, there was noise. Wei's mother, who had been secretly observing, could not help laughing. She added a small amount of croton seeds to the mouth of the silver pot, which would induce diarrhea without causing vomiting or diarrhea.
In this way, the rumor could also spread that the second wife did not take good care of the eldest master and was an unlucky person. Anyway, everyone had always said that she was unlucky in bearing children. If she had not given birth to the third daughter, everyone might have almost forgotten about her.
The next day, Mother Wei skillfully stuffed croton seeds into the mouth of the pot. After Yan Jingzhao came back from Xie's place, she asked the maid in the tea room to deliver water and then pick out the croton seeds. This way, no one could catch him.
But she didn't expect that when she stuffed the croton into the room this time, the door of the tea room opened and Yan Jingzhao was standing at the door.
"Brother, why are you here?" Mother Wei was greatly shocked. She already felt guilty, and now her whole body was shaking like chaff.
Yan Jingzhao sneered, "You always think of yourself as a gift from your grandmother. I also respect you as a mother. If I hadn't discovered it this time, I'm afraid the next time you gave me poison instead of croton."
Seeing Yan Jingzhao's eyes like sharp blades, Mother Wei immediately knelt down and said, "Brother, I really don't dare. I just..."
"He just wants to make me have diarrhea. If I have diarrhea a few more times, I think I will die soon." Yan Jingzhao walked up to her and whispered a few more words.
Mother Wei fell to the ground. The next morning, while Xie was still washing up, she heard Mother Song quickly run up to her and say, "Second Madam, it's bad. Mother Wei has hung herself."
"What?"
In her expectation, Yan Jingzhao would at most send Mother Wei away without hurting the reputation of the Third Old Lady and Yan Jingzhao. Little did she know that her son was so tough and cruel.
But now, Xie still wants to clean up the mess for her son. "Give 10 taels of silver to Wei Mama's son, and let him buy a coffin. He can continue to work hard in the future, and his mother's affairs will not affect him."
Compared to Xie who was relatively calm, Guan was so frightened that her hands couldn't stop shaking. She remembered how Yan Jingzhao had introduced this Mother Wei when she first came in. She said how respectable this Mother Wei was and that she was the one who had brought up Yan Jingzhao since he was a child. She could be dead just like that.
She had seen her mother beating people with sticks, but she had never seen anyone die in front of her.
Although she and he were husband and wife, they had no affection for each other. If she offended him in the future, she didn't know what would happen to her. Thinking of this, Guan was panicked.
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