Chapter 028 Chapter 28
"Dead?" Zhen covered her chest with her hands, still somewhat incredulous.
Mother Wei nodded, "Yes, Mother Wei was hanged to death, and her death was horrible. I don't know the details, but I heard rumors that Mother Wei wanted to harm my brother, and after being discovered, she died of shame."
Even Zhen had never thought that Yan Jingzhao was much more cruel than Xie. He was so ruthless that it was really frightening.
Zhen asked Mother Wei again, "Did you see your eldest brother this morning? How did he look?"
Mother Wei said, "I saw that my eldest brother looked normal. I went to deliver something to the second lady just now and saw my eldest brother was about to go out, talking and laughing happily."
"I originally thought that this boy was just eccentric, arrogant and conceited, but I never thought he would be like this..." After all, Zhen was a woman in the rear house.
After listening to Xie's story, Yao Niang first felt that this matter was unreasonable: "Mother Wei is my brother's wet nurse. When my brother becomes successful in the future, we will all prosper together. Why would she want to harm my brother?"
Xie said, "Things that seem unusual and unreasonable in this world may not really be unreasonable. People who do bad things may not all be scheming and far-sighted. Most people in this world may kill people because of impulse, just like Wei Mama, she is your grandmother's iron rod. After your brother grows up, he no longer depends on them, the wet nurses, so of course they will panic. But with their views, I am afraid they still treat your brother as a child, thinking that it was me who made your brother have an upset stomach and that I am his nemesis. They first gave him croton seeds for a few days, and then Wei Mama took care of him personally. She stopped giving him croton seeds, and your brother's illness was cured. Naturally, your brother will be grateful to her."
"Just because of this..." Yao Niang was speechless.
Xie stroked her daughter's head and said, "King Ping of Chu never expected that there was a fish named Wu Zixu who escaped from the Wu She family, whose entire family he slaughtered. Later, when the Chu State was destroyed, King Ping of Chu's tomb was dug up, and the foundation of the Chu State was almost destroyed."
"Then my daughter will definitely pay attention to the people around her." Yao Niang was worried that she might do something wrong and be harmed by others in the future.
Xie waved his hand: "It is right to take precautions, but you can't easily disappoint others. You have to find the right balance."
This is also another way to teach her daughter how to manage the household. Xie was very afraid that her daughter would end up like Guan.
The girls of the Yan family always act superior when they go out, but they can't be too arrogant. Otherwise, they will have problems getting along with their husband's family, let alone with normal people.
After that, Xie said to Yao Niang, "Mother, you have been eating at snack bars and restaurants outside these days and found that the cakes in Beijing do not have the sweet taste. I want to open a shop to sell tea and cakes together. When we have everything in place here, I will ask Brother Zhang to go out and find a shop."
"Mom, do you have a source of goods?" Yao Niang asked curiously.
Xie laughed and said, "How can I have nothing? Business is all about slowly accumulating connections. The rent of land depends on luck. Lending money at high interest rates is much higher, but truth will come to light. If something goes wrong, it's better to open a pawnshop or silver shop myself."
She likes to start with the smallest things so that they won't become too big and she won't be able to finish them.
Now the kitchen in the east room was ready. Seeing Jie holding her chin, Yao Niang couldn't help asking, "Mother, aren't you going to the kitchen today?"
Xie shook her head blankly: "I just want to stay like this."
"Okay then, my daughter, go back and practice the konghou for a while." Yao Niang said with a smile.
Yao Niang is now used to this. She will easily become rusty if she doesn't play the instrument for a day. Today she played "Shen of Luo River". Compared with guzheng, konghou has more pressure and vibration techniques.
When she was playing with ecstasy, Yan Jingzhao came in playing the flute. The flute and the konghou have always been a perfect match. Yao Niang and her brother smiled at each other, and they continued playing. After a while, they changed to another piece of music, and the servants were all stunned.
"Big brother." Yao Niang stood up and prepared to salute.
Yan Jingzhao smiled and said, "Seeing you playing "Shen of Luo River", I couldn't help but feel itchy for a moment."
Yao Niang said, "Sometimes music can resonate with people."
Boys and girls do not sit at the same table after the age of seven, and even their fathers and brothers cannot see each other often. Yan Jingzhao has always been fond of reading, has profound literary talent, and has unrestrained and free-spirited ideas. When he heard the music today, he was somewhat moved.
"Your skills are becoming more and more advanced." Yan Jingzhao praised.
Yao Niang was a little embarrassed: "I am still far from it, but you always praise me. If you have time, you can teach me how to write poetry. You have good calligraphy and good handwriting. I envy you."
Everyone in the world likes to hear nice words, and Yan Jingzhao is no exception. Especially since his sister is not a flattering person, Yan Jingzhao feels happy when he hears what her sister says.
"Yao Niang, if you don't understand something, you can ask me." Yan Jingzhao said.
Yao Niang really didn't understand something, and she had a good memory. She showed it to Yan Jingzhao, who taught her one by one, and even felt that she hadn't finished. But Yao Niang was a very interesting girl, and she urged Yan Jingzhao, saying, "Brother, you still have to study to prepare for the provincial examination. We study nonsense, but you should study seriously."
Yan Jingzhao smiled and said, "In fact, studying hard is useless. When I was twelve years old, the teacher asked me to teach the students on his behalf."
Yao Niang clapped her hands and said, "Brother is really amazing."
"Okay, I won't say any more to you. I'm going to the study first." Yan Jingzhao walked out quickly.
Soon after the Yan family was settled, school resumed. Yao Niang and her sisters still went to the front yard to study every day. Qian Niang also felt that she had changed a lot in the short few days since she came to the capital from Jinling.
In the past, Qianniang was quite talented in calligraphy and painting, but her focus did not seem to be on these. In the past two years, Yaoniang has almost caught up in painting, and now she is working extra hard.
Ying Niang also said, "Second sister went to bed very early, and turned off the lights at twilight hour."
"You're herself going to bed so early? I haven't even taken a bath yet at 4 pm" Yao Niang thought to that she couldn't fall asleep so early.
Qianniang was born out of wedlock and grew up between her biological mother and her stepmother, so she was more mature than her sisters. In addition, Yin's son got married, and her daughter-in-law, Yu, was also a good woman, so she paid more attention to her daughter.
This year my eldest sister is fourteen years old, and she will soon be thirteen, which is the age for marriage.
Especially after her father was promoted to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Yao Niang lived with the Second Lady. It was unknown whether many wives of officials from the capital came to live with Zhen Shi. Aunt Yin lost both her parents at an early age and grew up relying on her uncle's family. She knew very well how to plan for herself since she was a child, so she told her daughter in advance, hoping that she could prepare early.
This preparation is reputation. Now, among the four sisters, out of selfishness, Zhen will definitely reserve the best candidate for Ying Niang, and the most beautiful sister is Yao Niang. Yao Niang's mother, the Second Lady, has a lot of influence in front of her father. She even has a brother who can help her if he enters the officialdom in the future.
Even the eldest sister was the object of her competition, because she was the eldest daughter. In general, the eldest daughter was the focus of training, and the eldest daughter determined the marriage status of her younger sisters.
But Yan Ningxin is totally not a good match. Qianniang actually knows that Yan Ningxin has a very good personality. She never mentions Prince Qi's Mansion since she came back from there. Although she is reluctant to leave Prince Qi, she doesn't mention him every day. She is a person who can let go of things.
But it is not known whether this elder sister had not received any guidance from a nanny since she was a child, or whether the palace had never taken care of her, allowing her to act without restraint and do whatever she wants. Her temperament was even less reserved than theirs.
Therefore, after her analysis, she concluded that her eldest sister could get along easily with men because she was enthusiastic, lively and able to put down her airs, which were rare qualities among the Yan family's daughters. Her third sister was a little too tactful, and if the eldest lady took her to a banquet, she would definitely not steal the limelight. As for her fourth sister, she was unscrupulous in nature.
Therefore, she was able to defeat them because she stood out before they had this awareness and became a lady who was well-educated, well-mannered, virtuous and dignified in the eyes of outsiders.
So the first step is to have talent. With talent comes fame.
This is also the reason why she has been studying again recently. Her idea is very simple, to pick a good husband as much as possible, otherwise, she, a concubine's daughter, will be drowned and can only choose what others have left.
There were only four of them in the school, so Yan Ningxin and Qianniang sat together, while Yaoniang and Yingniang sat together.
Mr. Yu's explanation became more and more profound, and they all listened very attentively. In the second half of the afternoon, the teacher taught them painting. The lives of the ladies were not much different whether in Jinling or in the capital.
After class, Yao Niang yawned: "I haven't sat for such a long time. I'm still a little tired."
Qingdai came over and took her school bag, and said with a smile, "Madam knows that you are very tired from studying the day before, so I made some rice dumplings today. There are plain rice dumplings, salty ones with egg yolk and meat, and sweet ones with red beans."
Yao Niang was the kind of person who loved eating zongzi even if it wasn't the Dragon Boat Festival, so when she heard that Xie had made zongzi, she stamped her feet and said, "I want to go home right away."
In an instant, Yao Niang's figure disappeared.
Every time this happened, Yan Ningxin envied Yao Niang. After all, she had a mother who loved her very much. Just like her fourth birthday was coming up soon, and no one in the house seemed to remember it, she took a deep breath.
During dinner, Yan Yingqi came to Xie's place and saw that there were rice dumplings today. He paused and said, "Isn't the Dragon Boat Festival still a few months away?"
Xie smiled and said, "My daughter loves it, and I happened to have nothing to do, so I made it."
"It would be great if Yao Niang could learn your craft." Yan Yingqi said.
Xie glanced at Yao Niang and said, "Cooking is just the most stupid job. I think Yao Niang is very smart. She will learn it after doing it a few more times."
This kind of thing can be learned casually after getting married. Xie also figured it out slowly after getting married.
Yao Niang took a bite of the rice dumpling and wrinkled her nose: "It's delicious."
"Although it tastes good, you can't eat too much." Xie warned.
Then, she talked to Yan Yingqi about opening a shop: "I think the location is good, and the annual rent is about 20 taels of silver, so I want to buy it and make half of it a teahouse and the other half selling snacks."
Yan Yingqi looked at her in surprise: "You've decided on a place so quickly?"
"Yes, that's how business works. If we can open before the Dragon Boat Festival, it will be a huge success." This is what Xie thought.
Yan Yingqi smiled and said, "Take my note with you, and if you want to go out, just go out. As for the rent for the shop, you can take it from my cash box."
Xie shook her head: "Why should I ask for your money?"
Yan Yingqi put down his chopsticks and said, "What do you mean by yours and mine? My money is not all yours. If I lose, it's mine. If I gain, it's yours."
Xie smiled.
Watching her parents discussing household chores, Yao Niang slowly finished her rice dumpling and went downstairs. After she came out, she walked several laps in front of her yard and drank some hawthorn water to help digestion, and then she felt her stomach was a little better.
After about a month, Xie went out to look for a shop and quickly signed a one-year contract. She also asked a middleman to help her hire a more efficient manager and employees. She hoped to turn the shop into a quiet and peaceful teahouse with moderate prices, so even a small table had a partition to avoid being crowded.
At first, there were a lot of things to consider. Xie decided on the price, the style of oil paper to wrap the cakes, and the day before Qingming Festival when the store would open, offering a free half-pound of cakes for every pound of cakes purchased.
Even though the business was not very good at the beginning, Xie never gave up.
During the month since coming to Beijing, Zhen had already taken Yan Ningxin, Qianniang and Yingniang to several banquets. One was to Gongci Fu's family, and another was to attend the birthday banquet of the wife of Yan Yingqi's superior, the Ministry of Personnel.
At these two banquets, Yao Niang heard that Qian Niang's talent had spread outside, and Qian Niang was even invited to participate in a poetry meeting.
This highlights Xie's shortcomings. It was fine in Nanjing, but in Beijing, Zhen had some official wives she was acquainted with. Now that she was in Beijing, she could just make some contacts and everyone would send their invitations to her.
Yingniang didn't expect that her opponent, the third sister, was unknown, while the second sister took advantage of the situation to rise, so she went to Zhen and said, "I didn't expect that when the second sister goes out now, everyone says that she is a talented woman of the Yan family, and that she is well-behaved and sensible. She is just a concubine's daughter--"
"Ying Niang, don't talk nonsense. They are all your father's daughters. What's the difference?" Zhen scolded.
"That's the same, then why can't Third Sister go?" Yingniang felt that she knew a lot. Although her mother seemed to be very nice to everyone on the surface, she never took Third Sister out to these banquets.
Zhen patted her daughter's head and said, "Your third sister is from the third house after all. It's not like in Jinling where she can just hang around. If I take her out and someone asks about it, I don't know what to say."
Although Yingniang was a little jealous of her second sister's limelight, she thought about her rival, her third sister, who was unable to go. So, if she had to choose, she would still choose Qianniang.
Compared to the Zhen mother and daughter who didn't care much about Qianniang, Aunt Yin and Yu were very happy for Qianniang.
"Second sister, that's great. Although our daughter doesn't need to go out and socialize much, but since you have such a reputation, I'm sure father will look up to you." Yu said happily.
Aunt Yin nodded: "Your sister-in-law is right."
They were not comfortable discussing marriage in front of Qianniang, a young girl, but they all implied this. Aunt Yin even said, "It would be great if we could just send you an invitation in the future."
"How could that be? I wouldn't offend anyone for no reason, right?" Qianniang said with a smile.
Aunt Yin waved her hands and said, "How can this be considered as offending anyone? Think about it, if the eldest girl is so uneducated, it would be a burden for her if she was invited to attend. In general, even poetry gatherings invite learned people to attend. You have been doing your fourth sister's homework since she was a child. You were the most outstanding one."
Yu was listening at the side, and she thought of the third girl, Yao Niang. She was also a woman of great talent and knowledge of music. She was a little younger, but not weaker than the second girl. Why didn't the first lady ask the third girl to go together?
Although the Zhen and Jie families seemed to be getting along harmoniously, there were actually turbulent situations underneath.
The same question, Xie Shi of course knew in her heart that Zhen Shi deliberately did not take her daughter, she must have hated her for a long time. And her reasons were very sufficient, the invitation was sent to the first wife, it was proper for her to take the first wife's child, as for Yao Niang, she was from the third wife, it was her kindness to take her, not taking her was her duty.
If Xie and Yan Yingqi complained, her daughter would go out with Zhen. If Zhen was angry, Xie would not want to see Yao Niang make any mistakes, so she remained silent now.
Yao Niang was very smart and proud. Of course she felt disappointed that she couldn't go to these places, but she didn't bother to say it out loud. After she said it out loud, she acted as if she really wanted to go there.
After the shop was opened, Xie called her daughter over and said, "I heard that they all went out to meet guests these days, but you didn't go out? Are you sad?"
Yao Niang nodded: "My daughter just thinks that they can do it, but I can't. But I think forget it, those reputations are gone, I'm only eleven years old, and I don't have the talent of singing songs, so I might as well enrich myself."
Xie nodded slowly: "The reason why I have not spoken is because the timing is not right. Look at your brother, everyone knows that he is your father's eldest son, even the first lady dare not do anything to your brother, it is not because of anything else, just because he is a man, he can be a general or a prime minister, but it is very difficult for you."
"My daughter knows." After Yao Niang really started to study, she realized that it was impossible for a woman to take the imperial examinations, and it would be difficult for her even if she tried hard.
Xie laughed again and said, "Yao Niang, it is my identity that has harmed you, but I promise you that you will not be far away when you appear in public."
Yao Niang knew that everything Xie did was for her, so she quickly said, "Mother, I have been to those poetry gatherings in Jinling before, but I don't really like them. There are only a few people who can really write good poems, and most of them are just playing the flute to make up the numbers. Some of them have strong personalities and want others to flatter them. Instead of this, I might as well paint more. I used to think that I was not good at learning art, but now I write poems every day and give them to my brother to review for me. In fact, I am still far from being a good poet, so how dare I show off in front of others?"
She said it seriously, and Xie was afraid that her daughter was really accumulating strength, so she couldn't help but say, "Your aunt is just hoping that we will mess up our positions. If I really beg your father to take you to someone else's house, I'm afraid your father will be reported too."
"Why?" Yao Niang didn't understand.
Xie stood up and said, "You are also a learned person, and you have studied the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Spring and Autumn Annals clearly mentions that 'no marquis has two legitimate wives'. No matter how noble a marquis is, he is not allowed to have a concubine. In the Han Dynasty, 'changing wives and concubines' was clearly defined as a crime. Even in this dynasty, if a concubine replaces a wife, the person will be punished. When I was in Nanjing, I could still argue that I was the mistress of the third house and attend the banquet. But now I am in the capital, and countless political enemies are waiting to find out the little braid. Even if they are not political enemies, they can impeach one or two if there are historical rumors. In this dynasty, the small are used to control the big. Although those officials are only seventh-rank officials, they are prone to impeachment. Even if I ask your father for consent and take you out, I am afraid that we will suffer."
It is even more impossible for Xie to ask Zhen for help. Even if Xie begs for mercy, Zhen will not give her an easy time.
"Whether my daughter is born of a legitimate or illegitimate child, even she herself doesn't know?" Yao Niang looked down at her hands.
Xie was also a little upset, but she heard Yao Niang say, "Although I am not embarrassed, at least I can still say who my grandfather and father are. For so many years, my mother must have been more upset than me, right?"
She just felt sorry for her mother. Even though she was just a little girl, she knew that what her mother was talking about was something she couldn't bear to see in public.
The entire Yan family is a stage. Outside the stage, the old men and young ladies on the stage are also actors.
Xie hugged her daughter and said, "It is enough for me to have you and your brother."
"Not enough, not enough, mother. I will definitely make you proud. I heard that Han Qi, a famous prime minister in the Song Dynasty, was the son of his father and a maid. When he became the prime minister, he posthumously conferred the title of Lady Tai of Qin on his mother. Also, Sima Guang's grandfather Nie Zhen was a concubine's son, and the poet Mei Yaochen was also a concubine's son. Mother, although I am not able to pass the imperial examination and become an official like my brother, in ancient times there was also Tiying who saved her father, and Hua Mulan who joined the army. Women are not necessarily inferior to men. It's just that I am now trapped in the palace, so I just need to enrich myself and wait for the future." Yao Niang said seriously.
Her power is too weak now. When her power is weak, she should lie low instead of thinking about showing off.
Xie smiled with tears in her eyes: "Okay, I will always believe in my daughter."
Even after Qianniang joined the poetry club and won everyone's admiration with a painting, there was still no movement from the third room.
Even Yan Jingzhao, who was devoted to studying, heard that the three younger sisters of the eldest wife had gone out for a banquet and his own sister was writing at home, so he came over to ask about it.
Yao Niang said sensibly, "Brother, you also know that I am not from the first house. This place is not like Jinling. If I go out like this, will I be considered a legitimate or illegitimate child? What does it mean for me to go out? So I won't say anything, and you don't say anything more to me. I will be sad. Besides, I don't like socializing every day."
"The little girl knows how to socialize." Seeing Yao Niang like this, Yan Jingzhao not only saw through the cruelty and selfishness of the Third Old Lady, but also saw through the ill intentions of Zhen.
So, he promised Yao Niang: "Sister, I promise you that I will make mother and you successful in the future."
Yao Niang looked at her brother in surprise, and asked uncertainly, "Brother, now that you say this, are you ready to join us?"
Yan Jingzhao smiled: "Of course."
Yao Niang also laughed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
