Chapter 093 Chapter 93
Shen Linfeng slept late last night and had to get up early in the morning, which was really painful. Yao Niang also felt quite sympathetic towards him. God knows how comfortable Yao Niang was when she took a nap every day.
But this guy, he was so tired yesterday, and the couple talked so much. After he finally dried his hair, he still had time to think about that kind of thing. He didn't seem tired at all. I really don't know what Mrs. Shen ate when she was holding him. He was so energetic.
I slept until noon and woke up. The servants were doing their own job and didn't dare to say anything. But Rong An came back and said that Shen Linfeng wanted to invite her to have dinner at Chunfeng Manyue Tower in the evening.
Yao Niang was very happy and immediately asked the maids to prepare new clothes and earrings.
In the past, when she followed her mother to inspect stores, she came and went in a hurry. At that time, Xie told her that she should be the head of the family. Now, it has come true just a few days after she got married.
After Shen Linfeng reported to the emperor today, he could no longer hold back. After leaving the court, he flew out like an arrow from a bow. The dean of the academy pointed at the afterimage and asked the people around him, "Who is that?"
"It seems to be Editor Shen." someone said.
The dean of the academy said, "Young people are extraordinary. They just came back from Jiangxi yesterday, and they are running so fast today. They are very healthy."
"Of course not. Editor Shen is also good at writing imperial edicts. Among the new batch of young people, his imperial edicts are the best." Huang Shijiang said with a smile.
Huang Shijiang is a classmate of Mr. Shen Er. Mr. Shen Er asked him to recommend Shen Linfeng more often. Huang Shijiang is very good at doing favors. Anyway, the dean seems to appreciate him very much.
Being a Hanlin scholar was very hard and poor. If you didn't have a family background, you wouldn't have a good life in Beijing. But for someone like Shen Linfeng who passed the imperial examination at the age of 19 and the imperial examination at the age of 20, it was different. His future was very bright.
But it is said that Shen Linfeng went home specially to pick up Yao Niang, and he met Shen Bangyan at the door of his house. Shen Bangyan hurriedly stepped forward and called out, "Brother."
Shen Linfeng thought of what Yao Niang said yesterday, and naturally he was very wary of the second house, and even the couple were ready to investigate. But on the surface, Shen Linfeng was still the same as before, and he was quite concerned about him and asked: "Isn't the second brother studying in the Imperial College? Why are you back?"
"Everything is fine, but my father recently hired a famous teacher to teach me how to study well, so I have to come back to ask for advice. Brother, you must have worked hard on the journey, where are you going?" Shen Bangyan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Shen Linfeng had no change of expression.
Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "I'll take your sister-in-law out. I'll be away for a few months, and I'll have to thank your sister-in-law for staying at home."
Shen Bangyan was stunned for a moment, then said, "Yes, a lot of things happened during this period. Fortunately, my sister-in-law was able to turn the bad things into good things."
"Well, you go back." Shen Linfeng nodded.
Yao Niang heard that Shen Linfeng was waiting for her outside, so she walked out quickly. Shen Linfeng still stretched out his arms to her as usual. She ran over quickly, and Shen Linfeng tried to hold her up quickly: "Slow down, are you hungry?"
Yao Niang nodded heavily: "Ever since I heard that you were going to take me to Chunfeng Manyue Tower in the evening, I drank a bowl of porridge at noon."
"You really..." Shen Linfeng wanted to touch her belly to see if she was crazy.
She would not be so polite to Shen Linfeng. Yao Niang immediately slapped his hand away. Shen Linfeng got into the carriage behind her and saw Yao Niang drinking a sip of brown sugar water. He asked hurriedly, "Is your day coming today?"
"Yes, just before I went out. I was always a little wet before, but now it's much better. I used to like staying up late to read, but now that I'm with you, I go to bed at the same time every day, and I have become much more regular without realizing it." Yao Niang was also deeply touched.
Shen Linfeng probably knew what dishes he would order later. Thinking of this, he started playing with Yao Niang's hand.
Yao Niang sat next to him and always felt that he smelled very good. Even though he changed his clothes hastily after leaving the government office, he still had a very clean fragrance. Shen Linfeng was afraid that she would be shaken by the carriage, so he kept protecting her with his hands.
The two of them were still holding hands even after they got out of the car. Yao Niang still felt that it was not good, so she said to him, "Don't hold hands outside. It would be bad if someone you know saw us."
"I was afraid you'd be sad if I let go of your hand, but I didn't expect you to be more carefree than me." Shen Linfeng certainly felt it was awkward to hold hands in public, but if he let go, Yao Niang would probably be very sad. Unexpectedly, she would break away first.
Yao Niang covered her mouth and laughed.
The waiter at the door had sharp eyes. When he saw Shen Linfeng, he immediately stepped forward and said, "Mr. Shen, the private room is ready."
"Thank you." Shen Linfeng took Yao Niang upstairs and introduced: "There will be singing and dancing, and sumo wrestling, which are all very interesting."
"Yeah." If Yao Niang wanted to explain why she liked Shen Linfeng, it was probably because he was truly handsome like a god, but he was not the kind of person who was superior or self-righteous. He was really like herself and found the little things around him very interesting.
The two of them ordered a large table of dishes. Shen Linfeng specially ordered wolfberry stewed chicken for Yao Niang. He was also worried that the dishes in the restaurant were not clean, so he asked for hot water to wash them for her again.
Drinking a bowl of hot soup in late autumn makes my heart warm. Chunfeng Manyue Tower is indeed the largest building in Beijing, with all kinds of fresh dishes, some of which I have never eaten at home.
This drunken fish dish is better than the fish cooked at home, and it doesn’t have that strong smell of wine. Instead, it has a fermented aroma, which gives it a unique flavor.
"You eat too." Seeing that he only fed himself, Yao Niang also served him a bowl of soup.
Shen Linfeng shook his head: "I'm fine."
As the two were eating, they saw someone dancing in the hall. Yao Niang watched intently. She felt like a little monkey in the mountains. Now she came out to see everything that was new and exciting.
As soon as Shen Linfeng saw her expression, he knew that she must have been pushed too hard at home. Her mother-in-law status was not legitimate after all. He had rarely seen her in the social scene before. She was obviously more talented than her second sister, but she had no fame. He would take her out to play more often when he had time in the future. Seeing her happy would make him happy too.
The couple had dinner here. Shen Linfeng saw that it was getting late. Considering that they had been intimate for a long time yesterday and his wife was having her period again today, he had to keep warm and go back to rest early.
However, he didn't expect to meet Zhou Lingguang when he went downstairs. Shen Linfeng nodded to him slightly before taking Yao Niang back.
Zhou Lingguang looked at Shen Linfeng's high-spirited look and thought that if his father had not been framed, he would be like Shen Linfeng. Unfortunately, there is no if, Shen Zongxian has already resigned, which can be regarded as a lesson. It is said that the incident of his father was reported to the Taiwan Censorate by the current Shen Jijiu, who collected evidence. The Taiwan Censorate, that is, Shen Yushi, presented it to the Taiwan Censorate, which caused the disaster.
After lying dormant for so many years, Zhou Lingguang certainly knew that he did not have the capital, and if he acted rashly, he would fail miserably.
My elder brother was exiled in place of my father, but he couldn't bear it and has passed away. My father also passed away two years ago. The prosperous Zhou family almost ceased to exist, and even my nephew died of an illness because he had no money to treat it.
He must pass the imperial examinations repeatedly so that he can avenge the Zhou family.
Before that, he had to stay calm and wait until he passed the imperial examination before looking for a good in-law family, because he found that people don't have to be too rigid. After seeing this Miss Yan married Shen Linfeng, they were so affectionate and didn't feel sorry for their elder sister at all. Not to mention Shen Linfeng, since he was going to marry a lady from the Yan family, it seemed that any one would do.
In life, there is always gain in loss. When he was in the Yan family, he lived there for several years but was looked down upon. It seemed that no one mentioned that Yan Yingqi was actually their father's disciple. They all thought of him as a poor beggar.
**
Yao Niang had been having a hard time for seven days, and after all the troubles, she felt much better. After Shen Linfeng came back, he personally visited Yan Mai and others, and learned that Li Shilang was going to move to Luoyang because of his unsuccessful career, so he sent a gift to him.
This incident also made Yao Niang feel that the so-called marriage, after all, cannot be based entirely on family background and official position. Look at the Li family. At the time of the marriage, the minister was still the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Now Minister Li was reported and left the capital in disgrace. My brother is still nothing, and the Li family hoped to get a noble son-in-law, but my brother was exiled.
The mountains that were once numerous will eventually become flat. Nothing is constant. Only by relying on yourself can you carve out your own world.
In the autumn, the farm that came with her as a dowry sent her a lot of fruit and grain, as well as many free-range chickens and a few pigs raised on the farm.
Yao Niang couldn't finish all of it, so she discussed with Shen Linfeng: "Should I open a grocery store and sell these there?"
Shen Linfeng was drinking water, and almost coughed up the water after hearing this: "Madam, cough, cough, your idea is very good, but have you ever thought about the fact that your farm does not produce much, and the grain and oil store not only sells one kind of rice, but you also have to hire a shopkeeper who is proficient in these. If you just want to deal with the excess, you might as well store it in some stores and sell it."
"So do you also consign the leftovers to the store?" Yao Niang asked.
Shen Linfeng waved his hand and said, "There are hundreds of people in our family. Sometimes we can barely feed ourselves. If there is any extra food, I will store it so that we won't have nothing to eat in the disaster year."
In fact, Yao Niang hasn't thought about these things. She thought that if the rice is stored, people will have to move it around, so it is better to stockpile it. She has never thought about what to do in a year of disaster.
"Then I'll stockpile them too. If we're not in the capital anymore, I'll sell them." Yao Niang said.
Shen Linfeng nodded: "Okay."
Yao Niang looked at Shen Linfeng with admiration: "You really know a lot, but there are so many things I don't understand."
沈臨風笑道：“這沒什麽，我也不能四肢不勤五谷不分啊。”
“可是你真的懂得好多呢。”而且還會教她，窈娘年紀太小就出嫁了，許多事情要一邊摸索一邊來，沈臨風常常幫她出主意，不管多忙都會陪她說話，窈娘越來越依賴他了。
沈臨風心想自己是男子，當然要保護好妻子才行。
晚上，二人親熱一番，窈娘想起到了冬日柴火米面都貴，就想和沈臨風商量先買回來，今年大人們不在，但是窈娘作為大房也得接親戚朋友們過來吃戲酒。
沈臨風撐起腦袋聽了半天，把頭往枕頭裏一埋：“娘子，我困了，好想睡覺。”
窈娘失笑，她都忘記了自己這位夫君到了點就要睡着的，所以不由笑道：“睡吧。”
話音剛落，沈臨風就歇下了。
到了次日，沈臨江專程上門找沈臨風說和，還為前幾個月之前的事情道歉：“都是她有孕在身，一時也不知道規矩，倒是得罪了弟妹。大郎，這是我們的不是，我們夫妻也略備薄禮，求得弟妹原諒。”
沈臨風笑道：“區區小事何足挂齒，二哥還拿禮物來，豈不是與我夫妻二人生分？我家娘子她為人胸襟廣闊，從不計較這些。”
其實在沈臨風看來窈娘是立規矩，又不是針對別人，更何況當時他也在，為何不把他算上？怎麽搞的好像只有他娘子故意針對，這不是說他娘子心眼小嗎？
沈臨江自然知曉送東西給別人，無論怎麽樣，別人受了你的禮，那就是真心和好，若是不收，那就是不原諒了。他總覺得沈臨風和之前有些不太一樣了，以前沈臨風就像挂的畫像一樣，大家知道的無非是他潇灑，騎射俱佳，還通曉音律，跟沒心沒肺的孩子似的，就是這些細微的感情幾乎很少有，現在卻感覺不同了。
說話行事竟然有些鋒芒和計較，甚至他能聽出沈臨風在維護顏氏。
但沈臨江多的是水磨功夫：“你若不收，你嫂嫂是定要怪我了，況且上次你嫂嫂身體不舒服，弟妹也送了不少補品去。親戚之間往來也屬正常，若你不收，才是對我夫婦心聲怨怼。”
見沈臨江說自己心生怨怼，不是說的窈娘，沈臨風就笑道：“既然二從兄都如此說了，我不收下倒是不近人情了。今日揭過此事，日後就不必再提。”
沈臨江也松了一口氣，又推說要照顧邵氏，先人一步回去了。
這邊沈臨風等他走了，才拿起一個匣子進來交給窈娘，原來沈臨風見窈娘着實有些怕生孩子，就托朋友買了這些避孕之物來，白日泡上一天，夜裏才能用。如此二人舒坦了，也不必現在就受生育之苦，沈臨風也覺得窈娘和自己現在危機重重，背後的人還未揪出來，再者他們夫妻現在着實分不開。
見了這個匣子，窈娘不由得一笑：“我都有些吃不消了。”
“吃不消我們倆就不用，早些睡覺。”
“那可不行。”
……
今年是窈娘頭一次當家，還要準備祭祀之物，什麽最新的糯米如何儲存，要如何做，這些她都在紙上寫下。
這是當家主母們的日常，很瑣碎平常，而祖父的屬下徐翰之死，最後被判成自殺。這位徐員外原本一心跟随祖父的，只是那些人捏着他兒子不放，他既不願意背叛祖父，也不想讓那些人真的坑害他兒子，因此故意在說客離開之時自殺。
窈娘這才知曉沈臨風曾經跟她說過，大刀闊斧改革其實是很難的，這也給她在查二房的事情時敲了警鐘，若無十足把握，反而會害了無辜的人。
她就不信二房從來不會出什麽纰漏，她和沈臨風都警覺了，日後遲早會找到蛛絲馬跡。
沈二夫人還渾然不知，她還正等着看笑話呢？今年沈夫人回去老家了，大房還要掌祭祀，那可不容易呢。
至于三房盧扇兒倒是想出了不少儉省之法，可惜沈家大房要施粥，三房的清大奶奶不由得道：“三太太，以往都是大伯母代我們三家一起施粥贈藥，今年大房獨自設了粥棚，挂的幌子也是沈編修府邸。那咱們府上是不是也單獨要施粥或者贈藥？”
盧扇兒皺眉：“二房怎麽說？”
“二房暫時還沒說，太太是要和二伯母商量一起麽？”清大奶奶問起。
盧扇兒道：“總得先問問二嫂的意見，若是她同意，一起辦也好。”
沈二夫人倒是願意和她們一起，但是沈二夫人有個要求：“我們設定了好幾個粥棚，其中有一個不如讓清哥兒媳婦去操持，你與我們一處，到時候也多認得幾位官場的夫人，對你而言也是好事。”
“好。”盧扇兒答應了。
別看一起合着施粥，但沈二夫人要求的糧食可不少，米要五十石，面要兩百袋，聽說這還是少的。
因此，盧扇兒上門找窈娘打聽去。
窈娘管內賬，外面的賬房還是沈臨風管着，他是宗子，自己也頗通庶務，尤其是在生意這條路上，腦袋一想就是一個主意。上次，他見窈娘看賬本，還給窈娘出難題，故意做了假賬，窈娘居然都沒發現。
真正的高手做假賬其實很難察覺，家裏那些廚房還有管事娘子的賬本平日很容易發現問題是因為她們本身也就認得幾個字，并不精通。
人家沈臨風是真正非常專業的，他還惋惜自己沒分到戶部去，偏偏在翰林院，臭屁的很。
所以她拿九章算術在看，每日沈臨風會給她出幾道題，說起來她在家也算賬，怎麽沒發現往深了學這麽難啊。
正打了個哈欠，聽說盧扇兒過來了，窈娘又起身迎她。
盧扇兒見窈娘面前堆着賬本，她也聽說了長房錢最多，要不然當時也不會三房分了産，但平日三房沒有分家都在一處。
“侄兒媳婦，我就開門見山了，我聽說你最近施粥了？不知你施了幾日，準備了多少粥米？”盧扇兒倒也不繞彎子，直接就問了。
窈娘反問：“可是您這裏也要施粥嗎？”
她是特地沒有和另外兩房一起，她早就發現了，無論這兩房仕途更高還是更有錢，總歸和她們一處大房總會吃虧，所以她就和沈臨風商量之後二人直接設了一個粥棚，挂的是沈編修府上，夫妻二人還親自給災民盛粥。
盧扇兒道：“是啊，這施粥我才剛嫁過來，并不知道如何處理，所以想先問問你的意見。”
窈娘笑道：“京裏富戶不少，我家大爺說實在的只是個正七品的編修，我們只施了三日粥，大概每日三石左右，早中各一次，炖的都是稠粥，另外還備下了榨菜、饅頭、燒餅這些。三日大概十石左右。”
“才十石嗎？”盧扇兒突然覺得自己的五十石也太多了。
窈娘笑道：“我們就一個小粥棚，主要都是給孩子女人吃。”
其實施粥也很有講究，比如選地址，龍蛇混雜的地方不行，太偏僻的鄉下沒人來，最好是設在寺廟或者道路中間。熬粥的的竈要選用磚竈，耐久還灰塵少。但最重要的是孩童最不好維持秩序，所以一般讓五人一隊一起取粥，至于乞丐，則找到丐頭組織，不能幹擾其他的饑民。
顏家來京沒多久，顏氏常常出去，她卻不會帶着解氏和窈娘，窈娘對這些事情還是聽沈臨風告訴她的。
然後，還孝敬給五城兵馬司讓他們幫忙維持秩序，總之耗費也算不得少。
但這些細節，她就不會随便告訴別人了。
盧扇兒自己曾經也窮過，她是自然願意施粥的，可五十石實在是太多了。一石米平時約莫一兩，災年京中四五兩一石，也就是每日至少十五兩，這還不算其餘面和小菜，一日就二十多兩，她們跟着沈二夫人每日還要施粥十日，零零總總要花二百兩。
現在還有一個多月就進臘月了，過年要用銀錢的地方更多。
所以，盧扇兒就直接和沈二夫人道：“您和趙次輔的夫人一起施粥，我是個見不得大世面的，不如我就自個兒弄吧。”
在她這三位兒媳婦中，盧扇兒發現清大奶奶辦事不嬌氣，為人倒也不錯，倒是自己的得力助力，不像邵氏總是嬌氣的很，韓若華呢，是個一問搖頭三不知的。
故而，她喊來清大奶奶，清大奶奶倒是的确有手段，還對盧扇兒道：“其實咱們也不必用自己的銀子，我記得有幾位商婦之前求而不見，如今讓她們捐一些出來，太太只需在過年的時候請她們外廳坐坐，她們是很願意的。”
“還能如此？”盧扇兒突然覺得其實這個後宅實在是藏龍卧虎，只不過表面上看起來大家似乎都千人一面。
清大奶奶笑道：“太太若是信任我，我都辦好，也不必花家裏的銀錢。”
盧扇兒松了一口氣。
Qingda's grandmother did a great job this time. Yao Niang said in front of Shen Linfeng, "She is indeed a talented person. I heard that she even asked some well-dressed disaster victims to help cook porridge. She did her part and it didn't cost her a penny."
"Do you also want businessmen to donate?" Shen Linfeng asked tentatively, because he felt that Yao Niang had a rather noble character.
Yao Niang said to Shen Linfeng, "I was thinking that this method is a good one if they can come up with it. But as a clean official, you should be more careful about your reputation. We may lose some money, but if they know that we invited the business wives into our house and took their money, how are you going to repay us in the future if we don't know the details?"
Only then did Shen Linfeng smile sincerely: "My wife is the one who understands me."
At the same time, Yao Niang also said: "The third room did not cooperate with the second room. I heard that the relationship between the second aunt and the third room is a bit strained."