Chapter 100 Chapter 100
Shen Linfeng helped Yao Niang up, touched her belly carefully, and asked caringly: "My wife, are you feeling uncomfortable? How about I carry you over to eat?"
"No need, I'm just pregnant, not paralyzed. I'll change my clothes and go out, you wait for me outside." Yao Niang pushed him out.
Shen Linfeng then walked out, looking back every few steps. She changed into a gauze gown with a butterfly pattern on the collar, and her hair was casually tied up with a hairpin. The couple were in the flower hall outside, enjoying the cool breeze and a sumptuous feast. How happy they were!
"My dear, crabs are cold in nature, you can't eat them. You can eat beef and shark fins, but just eat this." Shen Linfeng picked up a piece of beef and put it in Yao Niang's bowl.
Yao Niang ate it with a smile on her face. Even when she heard Shen Linfeng mention that Ying Niang's husband's family was promoted from the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice to the minister of the Ministry of Justice, and there was a possibility of even further advancement, she did not react much.
However, Yao Niang also said to him: "You want to invite me to dinner, but you don't ask me first. Sister Qing from the third room has had a miscarriage, and I am pregnant again. It's a bit embarrassing to say the least."
Shen Linfeng is a very kind person. He immediately said, "It's my fault for not being considered enough. I only cared about my own happiness."
"Forget it. There's no need to carry someone else's coffin to your home and cry." Yao Niang comforted him. This sentence was said by her father, and it is very appropriate to use it here now.
Shen Linfeng nodded: "That's true. I heard that Brother Qing and his wife earned a thousand taels in the first half of this year."
Yao Niang was surprised: "I heard Grandma Qing complaining about her poverty a few days ago, but I didn't expect she actually made so much money. How did she make it?"
"My aunt originally deposited a sum of money in the bank before she died. She was quite good at managing the family finances. Before she died, she told my uncle about the money, but she forgot to take it out. It seems that they found this money and took it out secretly." Shen Linfeng said.
Yao Niang frowned: "Since he married her secretly, how did you know?"
Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "Because that is the Qin family's bank account. Uncle Qin told me."
So that's what happened. Yao Niang thought that Grandma Qing got such a large sum of money privately, but she kept complaining to Shao about her poverty. She heard that Shao was even sympathetic to Grandma Qing and didn't take away many of her belongings from the public purse. What a sinister person!
He also said that after giving birth, Grandma Qing was exhausted physically and mentally. Unexpectedly, she heard that Yao Niang was pregnant. She thought she had heard wrongly: "What did you say? She is pregnant?"
Shao nodded, "Yes, she's pregnant. Master Feng was very happy to hear about it. He asked the chef from Fanlou to come over to cook for us. He also asked the housekeeper to find someone to buy ginseng from Liaoning. He also gave double bonuses to each of the servants in the first house. It's very lively there."
"It has come to this..." Grandma Qing felt as if she had just had a dream, but when she heard the good news, she couldn't help but shiver with pain.
Seeing Grandma Qing like this, Shao's goal was achieved. Ever since Yan showed her skills before the Cold Food Festival, she heard Shen Linjiang privately envy Shen Linfeng and praise Yan for her extraordinary intelligence and talent. She also lamented that her child was not blessed and that if he was born in Yan's belly, he would be born under house arrest.
Shao was not convinced to begin with, thinking that her uncle was also a high-ranking official. Although he was not as prominent as the Yan family, he was still pretty good. Instead, she was secretly looked down upon.
It's just a chicken that can't lay eggs!
What's the big deal? Maybe the baby will be a girl.
The only advantage that the Shaw family has now is that they gave birth to the first child of their grandchildren. They have been proud of it for several years, but now the Yan family has caught up so quickly. Now she is also playing tricks on the Qingda grandmother, because the Qingda grandmother always praises the Yan family in front of her. Now look at what the Yan family has done.
Build your own happiness on the suffering of others.
"Sister-in-law, don't get too excited." Shao said with hypocritical concern.
Grandma Qing smiled bitterly: "My relatives may be sad, but others are already singing. I have already expected this, so my brother and sister-in-law don't need to worry about me."
Shaw comforted her again. Seeing that Shaw had no grudge against her, Grandma Qing remembered that she had once harmed Shaw's child, and now her own child was gone. Deep down, she was actually relieved.
But she also felt that she was not deserving of such punishment, that she was not wrong, and that she had never done anything to him, so why should she be punished?
That's how life is, it's hard to admit when you're wrong.
After Yao Niang finished her meal, she sat down and talked with Shen Linfeng. The couple decided to stay at home to take care of the baby and not go out if they could. Shen Linfeng also said, "Nothing is more important than your body and the child. You just need to take care of the house on weekdays and don't have to do anything else."
"I understand." Yao Niang is not stupid, nor is she someone who likes false reputation.
She knows exactly what is most important.
When the Bi family heard that Yao Niang was pregnant, they specially brought some fashionable cakes to the house. The person who came this time was Bi's aunt. Since her grandson had no breast milk, she bought a wet nurse. Little did she know that wet nurses are expensive nowadays. The monthly salary of a wet nurse is eight taels, which is like eating human flesh. The cheaper ones also charge five taels.
The wet nurse asked for twenty taels for the four-month leave, and she even pawned some of her own jewelry.
This time he is naturally here to ask for money, and since she is pregnant, she will not refuse him.
But Yao Niang refused to give it to her this time. Seeing her explain her purpose incessantly, Yao Niang just said that she didn't know: "It sounds really pitiful. Why not stop breastfeeding? I heard that the child is already over one year old."
The eldest aunt said anxiously, "How can you wean the baby when he is just over one year old? Grandma, you live in a house like this and your family is very rich, so you won't notice it."
"We only look glamorous. Look at how little my husband earns a month, and how many mouths to feed at home he has to support. He almost wants to borrow money to make ends meet. To be honest, our lives are not easy either." Yao Niang took a sip of water and said.
Bi Da's aunt smiled and said, "What are you talking about, Grandma? Everyone knows that your family is rich and powerful, and is a powerful family in Wu."
Yao Niang smiled faintly and said, "Aunt, what are you talking about? Hey, last time I asked you about the matter between cousin Bangxing and my elder brother Linyi, could you tell me about it?"
It's very simple. I won't give you money for free. Aunt Bi shook her head when she heard it: "I really don't know."
The more she talked about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Aunt Bi soon thought of selling the good things to Madam Shen Er. She walked past Yao Niang and said to Madam Shen Er, "The young wife next door seems to be investigating Shen Linyi's death. She has asked me several times. Sister, don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
After hearing what Aunt Bi said, Mrs. Shen asked again, "When I asked you to kill those two, did you see them die with your own eyes?"
My aunt Bi Da responded hesitantly.
Mrs. Shen snorted coldly: "You can't escape responsibility for this matter. Don't lose your life for some tiny profits." After that, she threw a bag of fifty taels of loose silver to her. Mrs. Bi took the silver and left in a hurry.
Because Yao Niang had someone guarding the door, someone soon informed her of the incident.
"It seems that the Bi family is very secretive about this matter. The second lady didn't give any money before, but now she has given a bag of silver." Yao Niang felt more and more suspicious.
She asked on purpose today, deliberately trying to scare the snake out of its hole.
Shen Linfeng was busy walking around in the inner cabinet, his calves were swollen from standing, and he couldn't force others. If he was outmaneuvered, it would be difficult for him to get promoted. They wanted to investigate this matter, but they also had to focus on their own affairs first.
Otherwise, once they lose their power, they themselves may be treated arbitrarily.
"Grandma, my aunt has sent over some top-quality blood swallows." The maid came in and said.
It turned out to be a bird's nest sent by Li. Yao Niang had it viewed by others and then looked at it herself. She found that the red swallow was indeed top-grade, so she asked Qing Dai to keep it. The third branch of the Yan family is now very prosperous. My mother gave birth to a son, and my sister-in-law gave birth to another son. No wonder my grandfather is now much more relaxed.
After Li's people left, the servants said that Grandma Wenqi had sent a pair of pillows with a picture of a hundred children.
Grandma Wenqi was of course Qianniang. When Mama Gu saw it, she said, "The second young lady usually boasts that she is the daughter-in-law of the prime minister, but she sent this to me. I can't even buy this for two cents outside. She really doesn't take me seriously."
"Isn't this how she always behaves? She flatters the powerful and looks down on the weak. It's just that when she was in the Yan family before, she loved to please everyone. Now, of course, all her good things are given to those who are willing to curry favor with her. Do you remember that when the eldest sister was going to marry into the Shen family, she instantly became good friends with the eldest sister. Later, when the eldest sister got into trouble, she became a different person again." Yao Niang shook her head.
Mother Gu said, "It's impossible for Wen to continue to be the chief minister forever. We don't know what the future will be like. At least our aunt is an official."
Yao Niang smiled and said, "Since ancient times, a lack of patience can lead to big plans. It's easier said than done."
Every time someone gave her a gift, she could see how important she was in other people's eyes. Yao Niang also asked people to register the gifts one by one. After that, she went to rest again. She only worked for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon every day, and rested the rest of the time.
If you do everything yourself, you will be exhausted and die.
Just assign the right things to the right people, that's all.
In fact, after the separation, they lived the same life as before, but they saved a lot of money. Yao Niang took out one-third or one-twenty percent of the money to give to Shen Linfeng for entertainment, which saved 20% more money than before. In addition, she and her husband had a lot of private savings, so their life was actually better than before.
After receiving the fifty taels, Aunt Bi lived a pretty comfortable life and she hadn't come to visit for a while.
Yao Niang started to suffer from morning sickness, vomiting everything she ate. She was so sick that she became reluctant to go out and wanted to take care of herself. The sisters-in-law from several rooms came to visit her. Wang saw Yao Niang lying on the bed with her hair in a bun and her hair hanging down behind her head. She had the beauty of a young woman.
"Are you okay? If you have morning sickness, you can eat more plums." Grandma Qingda kindly suggested.
Shao also echoed, "Yes, just eat some plums."
Yao Niang smiled and said, "Our master has asked the imperial physician Long for a lot of food for morning sickness. I have some sour dates here, but I don't like sour food. The imperial physician also said that if I eat light food on weekdays, this period will pass soon."
Grandma Qing smiled and said, "So you have already consulted a doctor. We won't say anything more."
"That's not the case. It's good that you can give me these suggestions. After all, my mother also gave birth to a child last year, but she is not with me now. Your experiences are really important to me." Yao Niang said.
Mrs. Shao was surprised: "Mrs. Yan gave birth to a child?" She had met Mrs. Xie before. Although Mrs. Xie had the ability to treat Yan, she must be quite old to give birth to a son as old as Yan Jingzhao. She didn't expect that she could still have a child.
"Yes, I heard that he is very smart and clever. My father often held him on his lap to teach him to read. In fact, my mother was also very good to my brother at this age. When we were young, my father wanted to pursue a career in politics, and my mother was a young daughter-in-law and had no time to take care of us. Now they can all accompany my brother. It's the same with my nephew now. My brother was sent to work far away, and my sister-in-law is raising the child alone at home." Yao Niang said.
Grandma Qing was originally extremely jealous, but she was relieved after hearing what Yao Niang said. Madam Yan was almost forty years old and could still give birth to a child. She was only twenty years old, but much younger. She should take good care of herself and wait for the future.
Madam Yan was only the concubine's wife, while I was still the principal wife.
Han Ruohua said: "Sister-in-law is blessed, and your mother is also blessed."
"What's the use of luck or bad luck? Just let nature take its course. I wasn't pregnant in the past two years and I was extremely anxious at first. But then I stopped thinking about it and ended up getting pregnant. It's not always a good thing to try to intervene when things don't go as planned." Yao Niang smiled.
Han Ruohua heard that the words were directed at Grandma Qingda, but why did Yan want to criticize Grandma Qingda?
Grandma Jifeng Qing understood what she had done, and she thought she had hidden it very well. In fact, Yao Niang was telling her that she knew what she had done, but she didn't say it because it didn't infringe on her interests.
Suddenly, Grandma Qing remembered that the second wife's relative You Da was shot into a sieve, and she came to her senses. She realized that the Yan family was not someone to be trifled with.
Seeing the expression on Grandma Qing's face, Yao Niang pretended not to know and said, "This is my first child and I don't know anything, so I rarely go out. I just focus on taking care of the baby. Please bear with me."
Naturally, those ladies all said good things, but since they were all born as noble ladies, they were a little dissatisfied with Yao Niang's tone.
Then someone outside came in and said, "Grandma, our grandma is coming over for dinner today. He told you to ask the kitchen to prepare a few more dishes."
"Okay, I understand." Yao Niang smiled.
It is said that Minister Yan treasures his granddaughter very much and often visits her. Now I see that it is indeed true.
In addition to Yan Mai, Shen Linfeng specially sent passion fruit. The servants cut it open, and Yao Niang felt much better when she smelled it. She didn't feel sick. She smiled and said, "This tastes better than sour dates and plums. It's fragrant and sweet."
Qingda's grandmother knew that Yaoniang not only had a strong background, but also was a tough guy, so she didn't say anything more. After all, she couldn't do business without capital, and she knew very well that stealing chickens would lose rice.
Because this Yan is not as easy to fool as Shaw. No matter what you say, she always has a lot to say, as if what she says makes more sense than you. Sometimes she even quotes classics, but the main point is that you don't listen at all. No matter how high your seniority or experience is, she is too opinionated and even thinks of herself as a queen to a certain extent.
It is very difficult to persuade such a person, and she may even stare at you.
The sisters-in-law left one after another, and Yao Niang closed her eyes to rest.
While Mrs. Shen Er was still keeping her composure, the Bi family had already made a breakthrough. Shen Linfeng deliberately asked a woman to rent a room near the Bi family. This woman had known Bi's aunt for more than a year and often invited her to drink. The two were about the same age, and the woman often pretended to drink together, complaining about her son, her mother-in-law, and her sister-in-law, and even often complained about her sister-in-law, which was exactly what Bi's aunt wanted.
Just today, that person and Bi Da's aunt were drinking together again. During the meal, that person said, "Your sister-in-law is from such a high-ranking family. Unlike my sister-in-law, she looks respectable but is actually a nobody. I didn't tell you before that when her family became rich, they competed with others for land. Do you know that in order to seize other people's land, they forced the whole family to death and made my husband and I clean up her mess. "When she saw the good things, she thought of us. But she didn't think of me. Last year, when there was a disaster, I asked for some food, but she drove me out? Later, it was my sister-in-law who came to her house and asked for a bag of rice. Compared with my sister-in-law, you didn't do anything. Your sister-in-law gave you some money, which was very good. To be honest, you should be more self-aware. You didn't help her. Don't come to her house to ask for money in the future."
The eldest aunt said angrily, "What did you say? I didn't help her. No, you are talking nonsense. My sister-in-law is so cruel. After her own son died, she bribed the servants to kill the son of my eldest uncle. The child is smart and good-looking, but he was fucked by two women every day, and then the windows were opened, the cold wind blew in the cold winter, and he took aphrodisiacs. He got sick at such a young age. She asked my husband and me to help her kill the two girls. We dared not do such a sin and we really couldn't do it..."
After getting angry, he burped. The man laughed and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's drink first. When you go back, your daughter-in-law and grandson will bother you again."
In fact, after Bi Da's aunt finished speaking, she came to her senses instantly, but she remembered that this person only knew that they had a sister-in-law who was an official, but she didn't know who she was. Besides, she was a small businessman and didn't dare to do anything, so she was relieved.
If it was just a guess before, Shen Linfeng would not be able to ask her directly, but now she said it herself.
After Yao Niang received the news, she told Shen Linfeng. Now Shen Linfeng wrote the whole story and sent it back to Wu Xing's home, and also confirmed that the two girls were not dead.
Wu Xing
Mrs. Shen has been depressed these days. She fainted after receiving a letter from Beijing some time ago. Mr. Shen doesn't know what he is busy with. Mother Zhou brought in the rouge porridge and said, "You must eat some. If you keep eating like this, your eyes will go blind."
If Yi'er grew up, he would definitely be like that, wearing a palace flower in his hat and riding a horse in a parade, full of vigor and vitality, dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse. But because she was careless for a moment, her son died.
"I don't want to eat. I have no appetite. Just leave it there. Is Linfeng angry with me? The letter said that he would send the painting to my husband and me and asked us to find out the cause of Linyi's death. What cause of death? This is embarrassing. I don't want his brother to die in restlessness." Mrs. Shen thought her son was still too young. He didn't know that if some things were told to others, people would only remember Ma Shangfeng, and Linyi's reputation would be destroyed.
Mother Zhou said, "How could you know this, young master?"
As the master and servant were talking, Mr. Shen walked in and Mother Zhou quickly retreated.
Madam Shen asked, "Where have you been these days? I haven't seen you."
"I received a letter from Lin Feng. He said he accidentally heard Aunt Bi talk about the cause of death of our Lin Yi. This is the letter, please take a look." Mr. Shen handed it to Mrs. Shen with a serious expression.
At that time, he was an official in a foreign country. When he heard that his eldest son had died, half of his hair turned white overnight. However, he only blamed his son for being too smart and dying of misfortune. He never thought that there was such a secret.
"My second brother's wife? How could it be her?" Mrs. Shen was incredulous. "I remember one year when Lin Yi had chickenpox, she was the only one who stayed with me to take care of him."
Mr. Shen said, "That only means that she is more cruel to me. Otherwise, why would you trust her in everything? Aunt Bi has already said it. Otherwise, why would Lin Feng write to me for no reason?"
Mrs. Shen still didn't understand: "Why did she do this? She obviously likes Lin Yi so much, and as sisters-in-law, she and I have never had a quarrel."
Old Master Shen sneered, "Don't you understand? Lin Feng's letter clearly said that her son died of a high fever. You invited many doctors to your house, so no one cared about her son. She hated you. Therefore, she wanted to harm Lin Yi. Lin Yi was so young, and was a rising star in our family, but he was destroyed by the woman in the backyard."
Mrs. Shen's brain was no longer able to react. She was indeed selfish and paid more attention to her own son, but she also did her best to take care of her nephews and never neglected them. When Bangxing died, she was sad for several days.
"When Linfeng was a child, his reaction was not as quick as Bangyan. Bangyan is quick-witted and has a good memory. If Linfeng had not changed, who do you think would be the best person in the next generation of our family?" Mr. Shen was originally a good judge of cases, and he could make a guess with a little analysis.
Madam Shen fell to the ground. Old Master Shen said, "Last time Lin Feng wrote to me, he said he wanted to investigate the cause of Lin Yi's death. I was investigating, but I didn't expect that it has been confirmed now. The two maids are not dead. We must find them as soon as possible, find out the truth, open the ancestral hall, and convict Bi. I will never let her go."
"Okay." Mrs. Shen felt like dying when she thought of her son.
But Mr. Shen said, "But she is the second son's legal wife after all. It may not be easy to convict her. Moreover, it may not be possible to convict her based on the testimony of two maids. In fact, those two maids were once your maids in the same room. You chose them. She can say that you are slandering her."
Mr. Shen often judges cases and is very familiar with the process.
Mrs. Shen couldn't believe it: "It has come to this? How could I harm my son?"
"Yes, the reason why I said so much is because of the principle of protecting one's relatives, and also for the sake of the entire family. If you accuse this person, then all the dirty deeds of the Shen family will be blamed on the entire Shen family, and Lin Feng will have no prestige. His own brother was killed by his aunt, and his marriage was ruined by his cousin who deliberately let someone in? If you only deal with it according to family rules, I will also have to collect evidence, which may take a long time. During this period, you should not believe Bi anymore, and don't tell anyone else about this matter, so as not to alert the enemy." Old Master Shen warned.
Mrs. Shen often received letters from Qingda's grandmother, who often greeted her in the letters. She was much closer to her than her own daughter-in-law, and would tell her about everything that happened in Beijing. She didn't expect that her husband also knew about this. She shuddered and said, "I know."
Seeing her like this, Mr. Shen also softened his heart. His wife was a little girl he had rescued before. She was naive and had been like this since she was a child, but she had no bad intentions towards others. For so many years, she was an official away from home, and she was the one who took care of the family, especially being respectful to her own parents.
"It's good that you know." Mr. Shen sighed.
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