Chapter 106 Chapter 106
The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and Yao Niang has been preparing festival gifts for the past few years. She originally learned it from Xie at home, and later she also had the gift list of the Shen family. After looking through the gift lists of previous years, she also prepared in the same way, and this way she never made any mistakes.
"Originally I wanted to eat rice dumplings very much, but the doctor said to eat less sticky food because it would cause belching, so I held back and I can't eat rice dumplings this year. You can ask the kitchen to leave some glutinous rice for me after I give birth. I want to eat a few more in one go." Yao Niang now sighed at the sight of the rice dumplings.
Mother Gu smiled and said, "Grandma, I will definitely ask the kitchen to keep them all."
Yao Niang nodded: "That's good."
Calamus was hung in front of the door, and Yao Niang asked the needlework worker to make a lot of longevity threads. Although she was not in good spirits because of her pregnancy, she also made a pair of bright purses for Shen Linfeng.
Shen Linfeng got up later than the pregnant woman, yawning as he came out, with the purse Yao Niang made for him tied around his waist. He sat opposite Yao Niang and said, "Breakfast is ready, why don't you call me out to eat with you?"
"You seem really tired, so I thought of letting you sleep a little longer." Yao Niang said with a smile.
You have to know that what Shen Linfeng is doing now is very intense. Although he is young and grew up in an official family, he lacks experience and is often highly nervous. Yao Niang can only stop disturbing him and let him rest more.
Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "I really slept well. I'm in a very good mood. Anyway, I'm staying at home with you today. There's still a lot of time to go."
The two chatted for a while and then started to have breakfast. Just after breakfast, they heard that Shen Bangyan and his wife came. Yao Niang will be seventeen next month, and it will be almost three years since she got married. Shen Bangyan and his wife did not have a good relationship in the past two years, but their relationship has improved a lot in the past year.
According to some gossip, Wang was a big shot among the civil officials and nobles. She was the daughter-in-law of the chief academician of the Imperial College. Apart from those who inherited military positions, many nobles who wanted to enter the Imperial College naturally followed Wang's path. Because of this, Wang benefited a lot. Even those with lower status than hers were treated with courtesy and she introduced the daughters of civil officials to the sons of nobles, or married the daughters of nobles into scholarly families.
As a result, her status rose rapidly, and the women in the family all went their own way. Grandma Qing was in charge of the third house, made private friends with businessmen, put the money she earned in her dressing box, and bought a shop and a house. Wang, on the other hand, worked hard to improve her popularity and become the one in charge.
Yao Niang knew very well what she had to do now. One cannot have everything. She usually closed the door to thank guests and focused on production. It was enough to send some gifts during the four seasons and festivals. Besides, she and her husband were both far-sighted people. Yao Niang thought that since Shen Linfeng had entered the inner cabinet to do work, she had to be more low-key and cautious.
If her husband became an official, she would use this matter to get ahead herself. In the future, if she often walks by the river, her shoes will get wet.
However, Wang hadn't been here for a long time, so he didn't know what she was doing here today. He was a little confused, but he also went to meet her outside with Shen Linfeng.
The men went outside to talk, while the women talked in the small hall. Wang saw Yao Niang's big belly and couldn't help asking, "Sister-in-law, how are you these days?"
Yao Niang shook her head: "I always feel uncomfortable. I have to endure this until the next month."
"It's so hard to be pregnant." Wang saw that Yao Niang had a light figure before she was pregnant, but now she was extremely heavy, and she was a little scared.
Yao Niang smiled and said nothing, "My sister-in-law is here, is there something wrong?"
She was too lazy to make small talk. If it was a gift, it would usually be delivered by the housekeeper of each room. Why would she come?
Mrs. Wang said: "Originally, I shouldn't bother my sister-in-law with this matter, but the person my second aunt loved most when she was dying was my eldest brother. Their family was in dire straits, so I thought if we could pool some money together, we could always help the second aunt. Things to do after my aunt’s death.”
"The second aunt passed away?" Yao Niang remembered that the second aunt had made things difficult for her when she got married a few years ago. She didn't expect that she would pass away so soon.
"Yes, he got lung disease and we went to visit him," said Wang.
Of course, it costs a lot to hold a funeral, including buying a burial site, making a coffin, and holding a funeral ceremony. The second aunt's people went to the second house for help. The second wife of course thought that this was a matter for the whole family, so she asked Wang to come and ask for money. It just so happened that Yao Niang was too pregnant to take care of it, so Wang could go and take care of it.
But I didn't expect Yao Niang to cover her mouth and nose and say, "You visited a tuberculosis patient and you're here again?"
Wang hadn't thought of this yet. When she saw Yao Niang stand up and yell, Shen Linfeng, who heard the noise from outside, rushed in. Yao Niang immediately asked, "She went to visit someone with lung disease, and she actually came to my place?"
"Sister-in-law, I didn't mean it." Although Wang was usually very sharp-tongued, she was speechless. She really didn't consider the possibility of contracting the disease.
Yao Niang took three steps back before saying, "I know you didn't do it on purpose, but we have been married for three years before we had a child. If anything happens to the child in my belly, I'm afraid I will let down the ancestors of the Shen family."
Originally, Shen Linfeng was a generous person, and even believed that a gentleman should share wealth, but Yaoniang thought that the second aunt usually interacted with the second wife and was not close to her family at all. The last time Shen Linfeng was promoted, the second aunt was very obvious, as if she was unhappy, and kept saying that Shen Bangyan was just unlucky, otherwise he would definitely be able to win the first prize.
Such a person usually sticks to the second wife, and now she wants them to pay for her funeral. She is dreaming.
After being disturbed by Yao Niang's behavior, Wang and Shen Bangyan saw that she was still holding her belly, and they were a little scared. It was Shen Linfeng who said that he was going to call a doctor and asked them to leave first. The two of them left quickly.
Only after they left did Yao Niang snort.
Shen Linfeng still didn't understand what he meant: "How are you?"
"What's wrong with me? I just don't want you to be a scapegoat. The Second Aunt was usually the Second Madam's pawn. I don't know how much she looked down on you and me. Now that she is dead, the Second House refuses to take the money and even wants to show off with our money. I won't agree to it. I would rather throw the money into the water than pay such a sum of money." Yao Niang said.
Shen Linfeng was a person who didn't care much. After all, death was the most important thing, and it was better to bury the dead as soon as possible. But he also felt that his wife's words made sense. Even if Mrs. Shen treated them well, it was not a big deal for these people to kill their brother and ruin their marriage.
However, Shen Linfeng said: "If we don't pay, will others blame us in the future?"
"What are you saying about us? The dowry that Second Aunt brought from the Shen family was so rich. The Song family took all of it, but instead didn't use it to hold the funeral for Second Aunt. Instead, they asked the Shen family to pay more. This doesn't make sense in the world. In this case, you might as well go and give her family a warning. This is the right way to do things." Yao Niang said.
The second aunt used her dowry to subsidize her husband and children, and actually took advantage of the second uncle when they divided the family property. As a result, her life in her old age was so miserable that she even wanted to take advantage of her natal family.
Shen Linfeng and Yao Niang thought about it and called the people from the second and third rooms to come together to see if the second aunt was really too poor to do a funeral or if she deliberately didn't do it for the second aunt, so they naturally wanted an explanation.
Shen Linqing was not interested in these matters, nor was Shen Linjiang. They both said they were busy. Shen Bangyan said, "I will follow my elder brother's instructions, but I think the Song family is just like that. It would be better to give some money so that my aunt can have a decent funeral."
"You can't say that. Back then, the second aunt's dowry was two boats and six carts. I just got the dowry list. Over the years, could it be that the Song family didn't spend a penny and spent it all on the dowry from our Shen family? Or maybe they withheld the dowry and asked the Shen family to pay for the burial. Once this precedent is set, will the first aunt and the third aunt also ask our Shen family to pay in the future? Will our Shen family's daughter-in-law also have to be buried with money from her in-laws in the future?" Shen Linfeng became more and more confident as he spoke.
Shen Bangyan kept silent, and the third room also stopped talking. Seeing that they were silent, Shen Linfeng said, "Since you all don't agree, then forget it."
Later, Second Madam Shen asked Grandma Qing's three wives to collect two hundred taels each and sent them over without telling the first wife.
This was the first time that Shen Linfeng was not held hostage by others. Although some people said some gossip, he did not care. Yao Niang was very satisfied and said, "Just wait and see. Your aunts are not young anymore. I gave them money once. Let's see if they will come out the second and third time. If they don't, it will still offend people."
Shen Linfeng said: "That makes sense."
Yao Niang also heard that Wang helped to arrange the funeral. Some people in the family, such as Aunt Qi, who were just sitting on the fence, naturally said that the couple were cruel, but they gradually stopped caring because these were just minor matters.
Shen Linfeng also wants to show them that he will no longer be the person who allows himself to be morally kidnapped and bound by others.
At the end of May, Yao Niang heard that Yan Yingqi and others were about to return to Beijing, and was ready to go to meet them, but she thought of her stomach and did not force herself. After he and Shen Linfeng finished breakfast that day, Shen Linfeng went to the study, and Yao Niang was supported by someone to walk in the yard. Unexpectedly, she started at this time.
She once heard about a woman who tried to give birth for three days and three nights but still couldn't give birth. The widow also said that her baby was too thin and that the lumbar spine might be dislocated during childbirth. She must be extra careful.
"Let Grandma Wen come over, and Mama Gu, you go ask someone to get scissors and boil water. Also ask Master to invite the doctor and Mama Hu from the Marquis Jinghai's mansion, and bring my old ginseng to make soup." Although Yao Niang herself had never given birth to a child, she had learned a lot from asking around. Now that she was giving birth, she was surprisingly the calmest.
Mother Gu sighed and immediately gave instructions to the kitchen and asked someone to call Shen Linfeng.
Shen Linfeng was writing. When he heard that Yao Niang was about to give birth, he suddenly started to tremble and was very scared. Fortunately, he just came out and heard Rong An say, "Master, my wife is here."
Shen Linfeng was overjoyed. Now that his mother-in-law was here, he felt relieved. He wondered how relieved his wife would be.