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 going to bed so early? I haven't even taken a bath yet at 4 p.m." Yao Niang thought to herself 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 fourteenth 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."

“雖說好吃，可也不能多吃。”解氏叮咛。

随即，她又和顏應祁說起要開鋪子的事情：“我見那裏位置還好，一年賃錢約莫二十兩銀子，所以想盤下來，一半做茶樓，一半賣點心。”

顏應祁吃驚的看着她：“這麽快就定好地兒了？”

“是啊，做生意就是這樣，現下若是能趕在端午前開張都能一炮打響啊。”解氏是這麽想的。

顏應祁笑道：“把我的帖子帶上，還有管事那裏你要出去的話，只管出門去，至于賃鋪子的錢，你就從我的錢匣子裏拿。”

解氏搖頭：“我怎麽要你的錢。”

顏應祁放下筷子：“什麽你的我的，我的錢不都是你的，虧了算我的，賺了算你的。”

解氏笑了一下。

看着爹娘商量家務，窈娘慢慢的把肉粽吃完，就先下去了。她出來之後，再自己院子前面走了好幾圈，又吃了消食得山楂水，才覺得肚子稍微好一點。

約莫一個多月，解氏出去看鋪面，很快就賃了一年約，又找中人幫忙請了麻利些的掌櫃和夥計。她希望把店鋪打造成一個清幽安靜，價格适中的茶樓，因此即便是一張小桌，都有隔斷，不至于紛紛攘攘。

起初千頭萬緒，解氏定了價格，包糕點的油紙樣式，再有在清明前一天開張，買一斤糕點送半斤撒子。

即便開始生意不是很好，解氏也完全不懈氣。

而來京的這一個月中，甄氏卻已經帶着顏寧馨還有倩娘瑩娘出去赴宴幾次了，一次是龔次輔家，還有一次是去顏應祁的上峰吏部上書夫人壽宴。

就在這兩次宴會上，窈娘就聽說倩娘才名外面竟已是傳播，甚至倩娘還被邀請參加詩會。

這就凸顯出解氏的弊端了，在金陵還好，在京中，甄氏往常就有認識的官夫人，現下來京裏，稍加聯絡，衆人送帖子也是送到她那裏。

瑩娘沒想到她本以為的對手三姐姐寂寂無名，二姐姐卻趁勢崛起，于是她找甄氏道：“沒想到二姐姐現下出去，大家都說她是顏氏才女，還說她乖巧懂事。她不過是個庶出——”

“瑩娘，不許胡說，都是你爹的女兒，又有什麽分別。”甄氏呵斥。

“說是一樣，那三姐姐為什麽不能去呢？”瑩娘自覺她知道的不少，娘雖然表面上對大家都是很好，可是這幾次宴會，娘壓根就沒有帶三姐姐出去。

甄氏摸了摸女兒的頭：“你三姐姐到底是三房的人，這不比在金陵，可以胡亂混着，若是帶她出去，別人問起來，我也不知道如何說。”

瑩娘雖然見二姐出風頭有些嫉妒，但是想着對頭三姐姐沒能去，相較起來，她要選的話還是選倩娘。

比起甄氏母女對倩娘的不太在意，殷姨娘和于氏都很為倩娘高興。

“二妹妹，這可就好了，咱們家的女兒雖然是不需要怎麽出去交際，但是你能有這樣的名聲，想必父親也會高看你一眼。”于氏喜道。

殷姨娘點頭：“你嫂嫂說的很是。”

她們不便在倩娘一個未出閣的姑娘家面前談論婚事，但是言下之意都是這個意思，甚至殷姨娘還道：“日後若是只給你下帖子那就太好了。”

“那怎麽會呢，人家也不會平白無故得罪人啊？”倩娘笑道。

殷姨娘擺手：“這算什麽得罪人，你想啊，像大姑娘那樣學問差成那樣，人家請她過去，反而對于她而言是負擔。舉凡做事，就是詩會都請有學問的人去，你四妹妹自小的功課也是你做的，原本你就是最出挑的。”

于氏在一旁聽着，又想起三姑娘窈娘，那也是個才氣斐然，又通音律，年紀稍小些，但并不弱于二姑娘，只是大夫人為何不喊三姑娘一起去呢？

看來甄氏和解氏看起來和睦，底下也是波濤洶湧。

同樣的問題，解氏當然心裏有數，甄氏是故意不帶自己女兒的，想必她早已記恨自己。而且她的理由很充分，帖子是下到大房的，她帶大房的孩子去是正經，至于窈娘是三房的人，她帶她去情分，不帶是本分。

若是解氏和顏應祁告狀，女兒跟着甄氏一道出去，甄氏若心裏有氣，窈娘有任何閃失，都是解氏不願意看到的，所以她現在保持沉默。

窈娘很聰明也很傲氣，她當然對自己不能去這些地方覺得喪氣，可是，她不屑于說出來，說出來之後仿佛自己很想去的樣子。

解氏等鋪子開張之後，便把女兒喊了過來：“這些日子，聽說她們都出去會客，就你沒有出去？會不會難過？”

窈娘點頭：“女兒就是覺得憑什麽她們能，我就不能呢。可是我想算了，那些名聲沒有就沒有，我才十一歲，又沒有詠絮之才，還不如多充實我自己。”

解氏緩緩點頭：“我之所以一直沒有說話，正是因為時機不對。你看你哥哥，誰都知道他是你父親的長子，連大夫人也不敢對你哥哥如何，這不是因為別的，僅僅因為他是男子，出将入相都可以，而你卻很難了。”

“女兒知道。”窈娘真正讀書之後，她就知道了，女子不可能考科舉的，她就是想努力也難。

解氏又笑道：“窈娘，都是娘的身份害了你，可是娘向你保證，你公開亮相在衆人面前也不會很遠的。”

窈娘知道解氏所做的一切都是為了她，她趕緊道：“娘，我在金陵也不是沒去過那些詩會的，其實我也不是很喜歡。真正能詩詞作的好的，寥寥無幾，大多數不過是濫竽充數，有的個性強的還要別人捧臭腳，與其如此，我還不如多畫畫。原本我覺得自己學藝不精，現下我每天有所得都會寫詩，然後拿去給哥哥替我批閱，其實我替作好詩還差的遠呢，怎麽敢在人前舞。”

她說的認真，解氏也怕女兒是真的在積蓄力量，不由得道：“你大娘現下就巴不得咱們自亂陣腳，我若是真的央求你父親，帶着你去別人家登堂入室，恐怕你爹也會被參。”

“為何呢？”窈娘不明白。

解氏站起來道：“你也是讀過書的人，還是專門學過《春秋》的，《春秋》中明确提到‘諸侯無二嫡’，尊貴如諸侯，都是不允許平妻存在。在漢朝漢朝，‘亂妻妾位’被明确規定成了犯罪，甚至本朝若是以妾代妻，會仗九十的。在金陵的時候，我尚且可以狡辯成三房主母的身份出席宴會。可現在是在京裏，無數的政敵等着揪出小辮子，即便不是政敵，有禦史風聞，也能彈劾一二。本朝是以小馭大，那些科道官員雖然才七品，但彈劾成性，我即便求得你父親同意，帶你出去，恐怕到時候吃苦的還是咱們母女。”

要解氏去求甄氏，更是不可能，解氏即便彎腰，甄氏也不可能給她好果子吃的。

“女兒到底是嫡出還是庶出，就連女兒自己也不知道了？”窈娘低頭看着自己的手。

解氏也有些難受，但聽窈娘又道：“可是女兒雖然不尴不尬的，好歹還能說一句祖父是誰父親是誰。娘這麽多年，一定比女兒更難過吧？”

她只是心疼娘，即便她只是個小女孩子，也知道娘說的就是她見不得光的。

整個顏家就是個戲臺子，出了戲臺子，戲臺上的那些老爺小姐也都是戲子。

解氏摟着女兒：“娘有你和你哥哥，就已經足矣。”

“不足，不足，娘，女兒肯定會讓您堂堂正正的。我聽說宋朝名相韓琦，是其父和婢女所出，當他成了相國大人時，還把其母追封為秦國太夫人。還有司馬光的外祖父聶震是庶出，詩人梅堯臣也是庶出，娘，女兒雖說并非是哥哥那樣能夠科舉出仕的，可古代也有缇萦救父，還有花木蘭從軍，女子未必不如男子，只是女兒現在困囿于閨閣之中，唯獨好好充實自己，以待來日。”窈娘很是認真的道。

現在她的力量太小了，力量小的時候應該蟄伏，而不是想着出風頭。

解氏含淚帶笑：“好，我永遠相信我女兒。”

即便在倩娘參加詩社，還以一幅畫博得衆人贊賞後，三房也依舊沒什麽動靜。

連一心只讀書的顏景昭都聽說大房的三位妹妹出去赴宴，自己妹妹在家寫字，還特地過來問了一下。

窈娘卻很懂事的道：“哥哥，你也知道我不是大房的人，這裏不比金陵。我這麽出去，到底算是嫡出還是庶出，娘出去又到底算什麽呢？所以我不說，你也別在娘那兒再多說什麽了，這樣娘也傷心難過，再說了，我可不喜歡天天應酬呢。”

“小丫頭知道什麽就應酬了。”顏景昭看窈娘如此，他現在不僅看透了三老太太的蠻狠自私，也看透了甄氏的不懷好意。

所以，他向窈娘保證：“妹妹，哥哥向你保證，日後一定會讓母親和你出人頭地。”

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.