Chapter 121 Chapter 121
Yan Ningxin was not a cunning person. When she walked out of the third room, she was still a little dazed and almost bumped into Yao Niang who was holding Fu Jie'er's arms.
"Big sister." Yao Niang glanced at her.
Yan Ningxin quickly apologized: "I was thinking about something and didn't see you."
Yao Niang shook her head and was about to move forward when she saw Yan Ningxin and said, "Third sister, I have something to ask you?"
Yao Niang stopped and listened attentively.
"I have no experience in raising children, and I don't know how to get along with them. Can you teach me?" Yan Ningxin had no choice but to ask Yao Niang for help. After all, she now has a son and a daughter, especially Fu Jie'er, who is simply a happy person and loved by everyone.
Yao Niang immediately understood what she wanted to ask: "Third sister, if it was your own child, you could just hit her or scold her a few times, and there would be no barriers between mother and daughter. But if it was someone else's child, you would provide her with good food and drink, and it would be more wrong to meddle in her affairs, and less wrong to meddle in her affairs."
Zhou Lingguang had a son born to Fan Ruhui before. After the Fan family fell from power, Yan Ningxin, as a stepmother, had to consider how to help Zhou Lingguang manage the household. As for the child born to his previous wife, she let the wet nurse take care of him while his father took care of his studies. Yan Ningxin took the opportunity to have a child of her own.
"But he is still so young, and that's when he needs his mother." Yan Ningxin felt that what Yan Yingqi and her third sister said was really too cruel.
Yao Niang glanced at her and said, "You are not talking about the child of Brother-in-law Zhou, are you?"
Yan Ningxin sighed: "You really can't hide anything from your third sister."
"This is your family affair and I cannot interfere. I can only say that if it were me, I would arrange more people to serve you. Those wet nurses are better at serving than us. You just need to keep an eye on them and don't let them slack off. As for the child's future studies, it's a man's job to take care of the outside world, so you don't need to worry about it. I see that my sister was good at playing polo, so she must be in good health. Who knows, you might even have your own child in your belly?" Yao Niang said with a smile.
It’s not that Yao Niang is selfish, but it’s possible that even her own son might not be close to her, let alone her stepson.
If I put myself in their shoes, if Xie treated Yan Ningxin or Qianniang better, my daughter would definitely be alienated.
Yan Ningxin felt that it was useless to ask, but somehow she kept Yan Yingqi and Yao Niang's words in her heart, so when Zhou Lingguang wanted to take the child to the main courtyard, Yan Ningxin refused.
She was not good at speaking, so she just said, "I have never taken care of a child before, and I am afraid that if I don't do it well, the child will not be raised well. But don't worry, I have two dowry mothers around me, both of whom are experienced maids and are very good at taking care of people. Let them take care of my brother first."
Zhou Lingguang was so smart that he certainly noticed that Yan Ningxin's attitude was completely different from before.
She was full of love for the child in the first few days of her marriage, but now she is completely alienated. It is probably because of what the Yan family said. But Zhou Lingguang would not expose it. Although he believed that Yan Ningxin would definitely treat the child well, it was difficult for a stepmother to say something to the child born by the first wife, so he gave up.
The Yan family is probably considering Yan Ningxin, so this is a good thing. The Yan family values Yan Ningxin, and he will also benefit from it in the future.
Without mentioning other things, just look at how Shen Linfeng entered the Hanlin Academy only six years ago, and he has already become a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy. It is simply a direct promotion. How could there not be the support of the Yan family? There are many people who are not as successful as Jinshi.
It is also said that Yan Ningxin's stepmother does not want to take care of her stepson's affairs, and the same is true for Lu Shaner from the third branch of the Shen family.
Now Third Master Shen has been transferred from Nanjing to Beijing to serve as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Lu Shan'er has also returned with him. She is now holding two children in her arms and pregnant with one. It can be seen that Third Master Shen is an old man with great ambitions.
The grandmother of Qingda University welcomed them, and Yao Niang also went there with Shen Linfeng.
This time, Grandma Qingda was talking about the marriage of the fourth son of the third branch. The fourth son was a few years younger than Sanlang. He was now eighteen years old and had not yet married.
I have to say that, on the surface, Qingda Nainai, the eldest sister-in-law, is really able to suppress the group of people under her.
She was quite caring towards her brothers-in-law, and would privately favor her husband's brothers. Even after such a big turmoil in the Chu family, her position remained unchanged.
Lu Shan'er is no longer the ignorant girl who came to Beijing in the early years. She also met Guan's mother, Madam Guan, when she was in Nanjing with Mr. Shen San. She used to naively think that Yan Jingzhao had been punished, and that Guan had indeed jumped into the well and died, and that the Yan family did nothing wrong.
But now think about it, Guan was actually killed by cold violence. The Yan family deliberately sent Guan to the mountain for treatment, which was actually to deliberately treat her coldly and let her commit suicide.
But now it is difficult for her to overthrow Yan Jingzhao. The three elders of the Shen family have to go to Yan Yingqi to pay homage. Yan Yingqi is not yet fifty years old. If he has another ten years of official career, Yan Jingzhao is said to have made great achievements. His grandfather was the governor of the river.
Now she should forget all these and wait for the future. Naturally, she also clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment, and will not do anything to Yao Niang.
Therefore, she had no time to care about Silang's marriage now. Besides, she was his stepmother and she didn't want to get involved in many things. After all, Grandma Qingda was still her ally.
"I'll talk to my father about this first. I'll have to ask you, grandma, for help then. I've been away from home for many years and I'm not familiar with the people in Beijing." Lu Shaner said with a smile.
Grandma Qing said, "Just tell me what to do."
Although Lu Shan'er relied on Grandma Qing, she also liked Shao Shi very much. After all, she felt that Shao Shi had a smart face but a stupid heart, and was very straightforward.
Yao Niang saw that Lu Shan'er had given birth to a son and a daughter, and was pregnant with another, so she silently calculated that the Qingyi Garden might not be able to accommodate them. There were a total of 46 rooms in the Qingyi Garden, with only five courtyards, but the third wife now had seven sons, and the sons had sons, which was really difficult to deal with.
But Third Master Shen was worthy of his reputation. He seemed to have expected this and said to Shen Linfeng, "I heard that the second house is empty now?"
Shen Linfeng nodded: "Yes, when my second uncle got into trouble, the whole family left, leaving behind only a few servants and housekeepers."
"I think Silang is old enough to get married, and Wulang and Liulang are not young either. If they all live in Qingyi Garden, I'm afraid there won't be enough space." Third Master Shen was willing to buy the second wife's house, but he didn't really mean to take advantage.
Shen Linfeng didn't mind it too much: "Third uncle might as well write a letter to second uncle about this matter. If he agrees, it will be easy to talk about it."
Master Shen San smiled and said, "That's right, but I'm not very good at it."
After Lu Shaner married him, she initially thought the Shen family was extravagant, but later, as she got used to it, she also started to live lavishly. She even gave Lu Shaner's maid a dowry of 500 taels, all of which was paid by the Third Master Shen. Now the second house was estimated to be worth more than 13,000 taels, and he didn't have that much money, so he wanted to borrow some from Shen Linfeng.