Chapter 041 Chapter 41
As usual, Yao Niang got up and went to Xie's house for breakfast. She hadn't made clothes for some time and felt refreshed, with sharp ears and eyes.
Xie was thinking about something during dinner today. Yao Niang was still wondering if it was because of Madam Guan's request to find a sequel for her brother. But seeing that the servants were all around her, she couldn't say anything. As the saying goes, "What goes around comes around". If a third person knows, then it's no longer a secret.
After the meal, she saw Xie dismissing everyone, and Yao Niang thought her mother was going to talk about this.
Unexpectedly, what Xie was talking about was actually about her: "Yao Niang, your father intends to marry you to Shen Linfeng?"
"What?" Yao Niang covered her chest in disbelief.
Xie said, "Your father went to the Shen family yesterday. He was originally just dealing with your elder sister's affairs, but when he saw how the eldest master Shen acted, he immediately felt admiration for him." She said it very objectively, and it was also based on Yao Niang's wishes.
As soon as Yao Niang heard this, she waved her hands quickly: "No, no, this Shen Linfeng is almost my brother-in-law. How can this be okay?"
"I think so too. Your father is a man and he values your future. Besides, he said that if you marry him, your eldest sister's dowry will be yours. Anyway, you will marry again in two years and become an official's wife. Besides, Shen Linfeng is not interested in matters between men and women." Xie still had to explain the pros and cons, fearing that her daughter would blame her in the future.
Yao Niang was stunned for a moment, and then said, "If it is something that I have a clear conscience about, my daughter will not change even if everyone points fingers at her. But if it is something like this, my daughter does not want to take advantage of me, and she does not want to eat this bowl of rice."
Xie suddenly gained courage: "You are not a child anymore, are you sure about this?"
Yao Niang said without hesitation: "Of course."
Yes, the Shen family is very magnanimous now, who knows what others think? Besides, my elder sister caused such a big trouble when she married there, if I really married there, I might be looked at with prejudice for the rest of my life.
Is it true that Concubine Yan can only pick up what others leave behind in her life?
Xie took a deep breath and said, "You go back now and pack your boxes. You don't have to take everything with you. Just take what you need for daily use."
"What?" Yao Niang didn't expect her mother to be so fast.
Xie ordered again: "Don't make too much noise. I'll ask Lian Da to book a boat now, and we'll go back to Nanjing. If you stay here, your father will never know what we really think."
Yao Niang also agreed. Since they were in the capital now, the Yan family would be affected by their elder sister and their reputation would be affected. They might as well go back to Jinling. However, she said to Xie: "Then we and elder sister——"
"It's not a bad thing for her to go to the family temple to practice. If there is no punishment for everything, then your elder sister will definitely commit the same mistake again." Xie hated Yan Ningxin. If she had gotten married normally, her daughter would still be able to go out to climb mountains at this time today.
Yao Niang nodded.
It was a coincidence that Lian Da was going on a ship today, and there happened to be a passenger ship that would leave for Nanjing in three days.
Xie asked Yao Niang not to make it public, and that they would take their luggage and leave when Yan Yingqi went to the yamen, and they would even tell Yan Jingzhao on the last day.
This was also out of necessity. If Yan Jingzhao was not an official yet, Xie could take her son away.
Yan Yingqi didn't know this yet. After leaving the government office, he went to Xie's place and was very happy to see that Xie even cooked his favorite dish: "Eel is best cooked like this."
"If you like it, eat more." Xie thought that she was leaving anyway, so she might as well make Yan Yingqi happy before leaving. No matter what, his unremitting efforts for Yan Jingzhao and his protection of her were not false, it was just that everyone had different ideas.
Yan Yingqi added: "Don't worry about your father-in-law's job. Kaifeng is vacant, so it's best to go to Kaifeng. It's the capital of Henan, the best place, and it's easy to collect taxes. The future performance will definitely be good. But there are many vassal kings there, and it's not easy to deal with them, so I gave one of my teachers to my father-in-law."
"Thank you." Xie was still very grateful to Yan Yingqi for this. He was quick in getting things done, never shirked his responsibilities, and was very dedicated.
Yan Yingqi finished the eel with a smile and ordered another bowl of rice.
Even in the past few days, Xie has been very caring towards him, and Yao Niang even made a sachet and purse for him, which made Yan Yingqi feel happy and uneasy at the same time.
However, it is said that during the few days since Yan Ningxin came back, she has been almost always locked in the room, and the meals are much less than before. Before, there were quite a few people serving meals, but now each meal only has six dishes and one soup.
Zhen Shi certainly didn't treat her harshly, and she even had a good reason: "If there are more people serving food, more people will see her plight, which may not be a good thing."
Anyway, Yan Yingqi would not care about her anymore. To be honest, Yan Yingqi was not a conservative person. He planned to put his daughter in the family temple as a pretense and then secretly find a good family to marry her. Thanks to the other sisters of the Yan family, none of them were cruel and ruthless. Otherwise, how could she live so comfortably after doing so many wrong things?
"Give her a few copies of 'Nu Xun', 'Nu Yi' and Buddhist scriptures so she can read more." Zhen instructed Mother Wei.
Yan Ningxin received the books soon. She put them aside and kept thinking about the situation at that time. If Shen Linfeng hadn't come out, she might have been punished. Would she still be alive after being whipped fifty times? Her father even wanted her to commit suicide.
Why did Dad never notice that she was missing when she was little? After he brought her home, he treated her less favorably than his sisters. The second sister was known as a talented girl, and the third sister was even better. Dad even wanted to give her dowry and marriage to the third sister. The fourth sister was unruly and willful, but Dad never punished her.
"Miss, none of these dishes are your favorite. The mutton has a fishy smell, and I don't know how it was cooked. The chicken stewed with chestnuts is not flavorful. Even this porridge is not made from rouge rice." Jinlu couldn't help complaining.
Yan Ningxin picked up the chopsticks: "It's okay, eat." In fact, she used to eat worse in the military camp, but later she followed Wei Wuji to eat delicious food often. Unfortunately, the richness of Wei's family's food was not as good as Yan's family's ordinary dishes. She couldn't help but smile bitterly. It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
Although Jin Ke and Yin Dan were maids, they were raised as deputy ladies since childhood. Even before they were with Yan Ningxin, they served the prince of Qi directly. It goes without saying that when they arrived at the Yan family, the Yan family was a noble family with exquisite food and drink. How could they have ever suffered such hardship?
But it was hard for both of them to swallow. They hated Wei Wuji in their hearts, and also blamed Yan Ningxin for provoking Wei Wuji. Why?
"Eldest Miss, the Second Miss was so good to you before, but she never asked to come and see you." Jin Lu couldn't help but complain.
Yan Ningxin also thought of Qianniang. She wanted to tell her that she was innocent. If she hadn't been worried about her cousin, she wouldn't have followed Wei Wuji out. She didn't expect Wei Wuji to do such a crazy thing and actually tied her up.
During this period, Wei Wuji wanted to take her away, saying that both the Yan family and the Shen family hated her, and she would be in trouble if she came back. It was for the sake of the Yan family that she went to the Shen family, but she didn't expect that the Shen family hated her, and the Yan family hated her, so she was caught between a rock and a hard place.
She didn't expect Yingniang to mock Qianniang as well: "Second sister, you know that you and eldest sister are like sworn sisters. Do you think of her for a moment?"
Qianniang was concentrating on her needlework, pretending not to hear the gossip.
Yingniang was really hitting a cotton ball with a punch. She wanted to go to the third room to look for Yaoniang again, but was persuaded by the wet nurse beside her, "Fourth Miss, the master said that we should not move around if we can. It is said that the third miss is in the room all day. If we go there, it will be bad."
Yingniang was very upset. Her mother was stricter with her this time. Really, she would never be like her elder sister.
That evening, after Yan Jingzhao got off work at the yamen, he heard Xie calling him, so he came over immediately. He thought his mother had something to tell him, but he didn't expect that his mother was leaving.
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Yan Jingzhao was puzzled.
Xie told Yan Yingqi about his plan to marry Yao Niang to Shen Linfeng: "Your father wants to marry your sister to Shen Linfeng? I always feel that it is not right. It has nothing to do with whether Shen Linfeng is good or not, but it feels very uncomfortable. But your father will do whatever he wants to do. In this case, it is better for us to go back to Jinling. As for the income from my shops, I have agreed with them that they will send it to you after the monthly accounts are settled. The Hanlin Academy is purging poverty, and you are a big spender. You can't be without money. Besides, Guan just passed away. I will help you look for a few girls to continue the marriage. I want to find someone you like. Your father doesn't know about this yet. We will leave quietly tomorrow."
"You won't tell my dad?" Yan Jingzhao was shocked by his mother's actions.
Xie bit her lip and shook her head gently. Yan Jingzhao felt that things had gotten out of hand. He had heard what his father said that day, but his sister's marriage was ultimately decided by his parents. It was even said that Shen Linfeng had stopped coming to the Hanlin Academy these days because he was preparing for the imperial examination. However, Yan Jingzhao knew very well that there was nothing wrong with Shen Linfeng's character.
Just when Xie thought her son would object, Yan Jingzhao smiled and said, "Okay, I promise not to tell you." But he was a little worried, "But you and your sister are two weak women, and you have to travel so far. I am a little worried. Otherwise, I will take my leave and send you and your sister back?"
Xie said quickly, "That won't do. You are now a scholar-official, and you can only take one day off every five days. Jingzhao, your future is the most important thing to you. When mother and your sister are not around, you must take good care of yourself."
Yan Jingzhao looked at Xie and felt a little sad. It seemed that her mother and sister had always been relying on her, but in fact, he was the one who had always been relying on them.
解氏看兒子難過，又指着兩個箱子道：“你冬日的衣裳我這幾天讓人拿出來都曬了，等天兒轉冷，就讓寶華她們伺候你穿上。再有關夫人還想把她侄女說進府來，她那個侄女我讓人查了一下，其父不過是個監生，相貌平平，也沒聽說才幹如何，我看不是很配你。”
“兒子不會被人哄了去的，兒子只聽娘的，等娘給兒子找個好媳婦。”顏景昭以前是很難說出這種撒嬌的話的，但是近些年，他和解氏感情很好，也自然而然的就撒嬌了。
解氏笑道：“傻孩子，便是娘看中的人，也會走眼的。”
解氏總覺得人都會僞裝，就鄉金陵韓氏那位韓嘉翊韓公子，這位曾經到府上拜訪過，哪裏知道私生活如此不堪，明明從外面看就是個腼腆俊朗的小公子。
“娘，您就是想的太多了，什麽妖魔鬼怪只要用心，難道就不會發現有問題嗎？您不必擔心，既然準備回去金陵，您也別太老實了，祖母若說您為何回去，您就直接把大妹妹的事情捅出來，就說咱們是三房的人，不能受大房的拖累，再者，您就拿我做說辭，就說是我想讓娘找一個讓老太太也滿意的媳婦。”顏景昭理所當然的說這些。
因為他很清楚解氏絕對不是那種特別假的人，每次兒女們說什麽，解氏也都會聽進去。
解氏聽了捂嘴：“這樣也可以嗎？”
“當然可以，您就按照我的做，正好明日兒子休沐，送您和妹妹，敲打那些下人一番。回去之後一定要給兒子來信，這樣兒子也不用擔心您。父親那兒您放心，兒子幫你轉圜。”顏景昭道。
解氏也舍不得兒子，尤其是他喪妻之後，也沒個知冷知熱的人，想到這裏，她道：“你身邊那幾個切勿在正妻進門前讓她們有了孩子，這可不是開玩笑的，若是你有了庶長子，再要娶個好的進門可就難了。”
顏景昭點頭：“兒子知道，兒子都聽娘的。”
“嗯，你去吧，你爹今日去了大房那邊，你大娘聽說頭還有些疼，等會兒怕是要過來。”解氏道。
不說這一夜顏應祁何等滿足，平日解氏害羞，雖然和他歡好，但總束手束腳放不開，今日卻是一反常态。
這讓顏應祁這幾日如同做夢一般。
卻說一大早，等顏應祁走了之後，解氏吩咐人拿鎖把正房等處都鎖着，把宋媽媽和幾個仆婦留下來照看家中。
她和窈娘趁着晨光熹微就上了馬車，窈娘也是頭一回這麽偷跑，忐忑之餘不知道怎麽還帶着些興奮。
“娘，總覺得跟做夢似的。”窈娘都有些不真切了。
但随即她也有些害怕，早年是跟随祖父母哥哥一起從西北回來的，後來也是跟随父母一大家子上京，心中是安定的，畢竟那麽些人呢？現在她和娘親倆人。
解氏其實心中也怕，她年少時美貌冠絕吳中，長成時，常常被人打量，甚至有人翻牆想去輕薄猥亵她了之後再逼娶她，讓她常常如驚弓之鳥一般。
還好，窈娘給自己打氣：“娘，我覺得我們這樣很好，我們常常在爹爹的羽翼之下生活，固然一直安然無恙，可現在我們倆能夠單獨回去，這路上指不定會遇到很多形形色色的人，也能當成我們的經歷了。”
解氏握住女兒的手，重重點頭：“是啊，窈娘，其實你爹爹一直都保護我的。可是我也要克服這些才行，不能總怕，讓自己舉步維艱。”
坐船到通州口岸至少要半天，但是今日什麽公爵出行清道，等了半天才出城去。
解氏母女離開的事情其實甄氏一清二楚，原本她是扼腕的，因為她女兒也受顏寧馨牽累，留在京中，反而并非好事，金陵人文荟萃，指不定還能說一戶門當戶對的人家。
可是她突然聽說過一件事情，說顏應祁想把三丫頭許配給沈臨風，這還是從大丫頭那裏的人聽到的，若是這樣，三丫頭一走，指不定她的四丫頭就能後來居上。
記得四丫頭的那根簽文，不就說該抓住的時候就要抓住嗎？
所以，她原本有些病體未愈，後來其實好了，也還裝有病，就是推脫解氏要走的事情她不知情。
一個不被愛的人就是這樣，你的男人可能不喜歡你，你還要做出寬宏大量，甚至你還沒欺負他心愛之人，只是沒有讓心愛之人過好，他都會怪罪你。
可甄氏還是不後悔，解氏還是和以前一樣，負氣而去，真是江山易改本性難移。從此，顏景昭的婚事和女兒的婚事，這些好處她就都得了。
想到這裏，她都要感謝解氏了，甚至對衛媽媽笑道：“可真是我的好妯娌，這麽多年還以為她出息了呢，沒想到又傻了。”
衛媽媽笑着點頭：“是啊，頭一次，解氏和老爺鬧別扭，結果她的女兒兒子被三老太太帶着去了西北，咱們呢，也讓馮姨娘得寵，那時，裏裏外外什麽都是您做主。”
甄氏笑而不語，又起身去看瑩娘，俗話說母壯子弱，她從小在外祖家長大，雖說是首揆之府邸，繁花似錦，可其中寄人籬下的滋味又和誰言？所以，她生了景文和瑩娘之後，就希望她們過的自在。
盡管連她自己都覺得女兒性子不如倩娘那般隐忍，可不得不說，這樣也顯得明亮。
這個時候瑩娘還在睡覺，小臉紅撲撲的，跟粉蘋果似的，乳母想喊醒，被甄氏阻止了：“別叫她，少年人正是好休息呢，讓她睡吧，正好多睡會兒。”
她想等顏應祁從衙門回來時，解蘭憂早就回了京中，只是沒想到顏應祁因為覺得解氏這幾日對他好的有點不正常，所以他派人在家裏看着，沒想到得到消息居然是解氏帶着窈娘出城門了，往通州方向去。
有個三品官剛見完，顏應祁頭一次告假出去，原本傳轎子或者坐馬車，但是他都嫌棄太過慢了，所以直接把袍子撩起，騎着馬就往前面跑着。
一路跑去，他是又氣又笑，對自己這麽好的原因就是想離開嗎？
真的不愧是你，解蘭憂。
跑路逃跑，什麽事情都能做的出來。
卻說顏應祁追過來的時候，窈娘正小聲哼着歌兒：“蘭花草啊，牡丹花啊……”
解氏則靠在女兒肩膀上發呆，她有些擔心顏應祁和顏景昭，顏應祁常常忙于公事而不注意自己的身體，又有胃病，景昭就更不必說，關氏在的時候也就是個無事忙，這孩子和他爹一樣，但更桀骜幾分，雖然十分有義氣也聰明。
“嘶~”
她們的馬一下嘶鳴起來，窈娘驚了一下，捂住胸口，和解氏對視一眼，“娘，這是怎麽了？”
卻沒想到簾子掀開後，發現是熟稔，窈娘喊了一聲：“爹，您怎麽來了？”
顏應祁迅速下馬，又進來馬車上，這馬車原本窈娘和解氏坐着很寬松，但是顏應祁進來之後，就變得逼仄起來。
“你們倆準備回金陵？就這麽回去？”
解氏別過臉去，窈娘也道：“爹，我不願意嫁給沈臨風，總之，我回去金陵了。”
顏應祁扶額：“我那也是露了點口風給你娘，她就如同驚弓之鳥一般，我又沒說一定會這樣，對不對？窈娘，爹爹平日待你也算是有求必應吧。”
“我還不知道你，但凡說了什麽，肯定就會去做的，反正我是不同意的，我們金陵也是人文荟萃之地，我就不信找不到什麽好人。”解氏冷哼一聲。
顏應祁沒好氣道：“如今水道陸路都不太平，你也不雇個镖局，就你和窈娘兩人，恐怕下人把你們賣了，你們都不知道？現在你們倆是主子，到了船上，小鬼們作祟的事情常常有的。前些日子，剛剛有官眷被賣，只要是賺錢的勾當，殺人都做，更何況是你們母女？我可不是吓唬你們。”
窈娘确實有些害怕，但她依舊道：“爹，那是別人，未必是我們，只要我們小心些就好了，再者如今乘船順風順水，二十日就到了，沒事兒的。”
解氏握緊拳頭，也道：“比起窈娘吃一輩子的夾生飯，我寧願回去，指不定柳暗花明又一村呢。再說了，你這個人執拗的很，我也怕我被你說服了。”
“多謝你對我的贊賞。”顏應祁聽了也覺得好笑。
他見母女二人都似乎下定決心，自己不好勸回，故而又心生一計：“蘭憂，你和三嬸素來不和，現在關氏死了，恐怕她還得找你的不是，甚至會嘲笑你。別吃心，我不是勸你們回去，而是想讓你們換一個地方。”
窈娘皺眉：“爹爹是何意？”
Yan Yingqi said, "I'm always worried about you two weak girls. If Jing Zhao goes back with you, it's fine. So, I think you should go to Kaifeng Prefecture with your father-in-law. Kaifeng Prefecture is also the best capital in Henan. Your father-in-law is a mediocre official. To be honest, I'm not without worries about going to Kaifeng Prefecture this time. Besides, Lanyou, your mother-in-law is with your father-in-law to take care of him. You and your biological mother rarely get along, and she is a polite person. Besides, Kaifeng and Luoyang are close, and you and your daughter can go to Luoyang to see the peonies. Isn't it a great pleasure in the world?"
Obviously, Yan Yingqi's words touched Xie's heart. She was a little confused again: "Is there any fraud here?"
"You are so kind-hearted that I am taken for granted. I am doing this for your own good. To be honest, the older the Third Old Lady gets, the more irritable she becomes. And you are the younger generation, so you will always be bullied. Besides, Yao Niang, you've had enough of Jinling, why don't you go somewhere else?" Yan Yingqi spread his hands.
Yao Niang was also somewhat tempted. Indeed, Luoyang's peonies were the best in the world, and Kaifeng was the capital of the previous dynasty. I wonder what it was like there? Besides, it would be much safer to be with her grandfather.
"But has my boat been hired?" Xie asked again.
Yan Yingqi clapped his hands and said, "That's perfect. Let's use this boat to send the girl back to Jinling."
Xie and Lan You both nodded, and Yan Yingqi breathed a sigh of relief. He heard that Shen Linfeng had resigned from the Hanlin Academy and was going to his aunt's home in Henan to prepare for the imperial examination. If they were destined to meet, they would naturally meet. If not, Henan was closer to the capital, and her uncle was in the Hedao Yamen, so at least they would be much happier.