Chapter 75
"The music has ended in the courtyard, and the lights have been turned downstairs. My lady, no matter how grand the party is, it will eventually end. Sometimes, why bother to dwell on these trivial matters?"
Shen Linfeng was inspired, and it was unclear whether he was lamenting the prosperity of his family or the impermanence of the world.
Yao Niang held his hand and said, "I don't care about the change of generations, the rise and fall of nations. I only know that I want to live a good life. In a nutshell, one has to rely on God to live and always believe that big things will fall from the sky. Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, it can give rise to infinite possibilities."
After returning from the temple, she and her husband watched the lighthouse in their home being demolished, and Shen Linfeng had a lot of insights.
Although the development of things is in accordance with the laws of nature and has its own rules, human power is still capable of reversing the situation.
"Grandma, Uncle and Aunt Yan are here." Someone outside delivered the message.
Yao Niang asked, "What are you doing here at this time, brother and sister-in-law?"
It turned out that Yan Jingzhao heard from the person to whom Yao Niang sent the holiday gift that his sister fainted because of standing too properly and had to be carried back home. His silly sister actually kept it a secret from her family and did not tell them.
Yan Jingzhao also disliked Shen Linfeng: "Brother-in-law, I only have this one sister, she is younger than you, and she is always afraid that we would know that she is not doing well. If I hadn't heard it from somewhere else, I would have no idea that such a thing existed."
Shen Linfeng quickly stood up and bowed: "Uncle, it's my fault. I made my wife suffer."
"Don't just say it, you have to really protect my sister. If this happens again in the future, I can take my sister home. My sister is very talented and beautiful. To tell you the truth, people who want to marry her have broken down the door of my house." Yan Jingzhao saw his sister sitting aside, not caring about the world, and couldn't help but speak up for her.
Shen Linfeng naturally knew it and apologized immediately.
Yao Niang invited Li to come into the inner room again. Li was now the head of the family, and she was less timid than before. She held Yao Niang's hand and said, "Are you okay, sister?"
"It's okay now. It's not enough for their wives to pay their respects every day, so they asked me to serve and serve the dishes. At first it was fine, they would let me go back after just moving their chopsticks a few times, but later I had to serve the whole meal. Sometimes they had just finished their meal and I had to go back to eat, but then guests came and I had to stand again." Yao Niang complained to Li.
Li was shocked: "How could this happen?"
"Yes, I thought my parents were not in Beijing, so I just endured it. But sister-in-law, you have to know that it was the coldest time of the year, and my life had started again. I couldn't bear it any longer, right?" Yao Niang shook her head.
Li thought back to when she first got married, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were so considerate to her. Even though she had to stand properly for the first month, she just stood up and handed over a pair of chopsticks and served some dishes, and her mother-in-law let her go. After a month, she didn't even have to go to pay her respects every day.
She had never thought that her sister-in-law would live like this. She asked, "Aunt-in-law, how are you doing now?"
Yao Niang said, "Maybe I made a big noise when I fainted last time, so my mother-in-law doesn't dare to harass me openly now. I'm fine recently, so you don't have to worry, sister-in-law."
"How can I not worry?" Li felt distressed when she heard this.
But Li had no choice. Not to mention Madam Shen, even Madam Wen was a powerful person. She treated her daughters-in-law very harshly, and the daughters-in-law of the Wen family also had a lot of conflicts.
But worrying is useless, just like Yao Niang knew very early that she had to rely on herself for her own life.
"Sister-in-law, let's stay here and have a meal today. The food at the Shen family's restaurant is quite good." Yao Niang said with a smile, and told Qingdai to go to the kitchen to add a few more dishes for Qian Duo.
When Li saw that she had gotten up to give orders, she was looking around Yao Niang's residence. To be honest, it was indeed magnificent and elegant, and the yard was also very large. The Shen family was indeed a wealthy family in Wuxing.
The sisters-in-law had dinner in the inner room. Shen Linfeng entertained Yan Jingzhao and specially invited Shen Linqing and Shen Linjiang to accompany him. Yan Jingzhao was always a heavy drinker and a very talented person. He had all the skills and abilities, so he disliked mediocre people the most. Even though Yan Jingzhang was his brother, he said that this person was a complete failure of humanity and there was no hope for him.
Of course, Yan Jingzhao still had basic courtesy, but his words and actions were so arrogant that the brothers Shen Linqing and Shen Linjiang were disgusted with him.
Of course Shen Linfeng also noticed this, and he said to Yan Jingzhao: "Uncle, I heard that grandpa will also go to the capital to report on his work. My wife has always missed grandpa, so we must invite grandpa to come over when the time comes."
"Difficult, difficult, difficult." Yan Jingzhao knew his grandfather very well.
Being an official father is one way of doing things, and being a grandfather is another.
My father relied on trying to figure out the emperor's intentions and maintaining a clean government to balance government affairs. To put it bluntly, he was a very good paperhanger. But my grandfather was the kind of person who served the emperor with integrity. He was already a high-ranking official, but he still rebuked the powerful and punished corrupt officials.
Shen Linjiang was puzzled after hearing this: "What does this mean? Mr. Zhushan has always been respected by my generation."
Yan Jingzhao smiled and said, "My grandfather went to the capital to report on his duties. I'm afraid many people couldn't sleep at night."
Most young people today only know that Yan Mai was an old official, and that he was a capable official. They even know that he loved to write poems about bamboo, so he was known as Mr. Bamboo Mountain.
Shen Linfeng said: "We are not in a position to comment on the affairs of the court. We are just minor officials now. It would be great if we could learn some experience from the affairs of the adults."
After that, he took a steamed bun, broke off half and handed it to Yan Jingzhao: "Try it, this is made in our family with milk and old dough, it's very tasty."
Yan Jingzhao took it and said, "There is a person in our family who is good at cooking phoenix fish. She came to your house as a dowry with my sister. Have you ever eaten her phoenix fish?"
Of course, Shen Linfeng couldn't say that he didn't know about it, so he just said, "I'm sure you'll have a chance to eat it in the future."
After three rounds of drinking, Yan Jingzhao was about to leave, but Shen Linfeng wanted to keep him. He said, "I have two good friends coming from Jinling, and I have to go back to entertain them."
Shen Linjiang was surprised: "I don't know who this person is? How could Brother Boying treat him like this?"
"One is my good friend Gu Silangjun, who is here to take part in the imperial examination this year, and the other is here to study in Beijing." He did not mention Zhou Lingguang's name.
Shen Linjiang had a wide circle of friends: "Brother Boying is talking about Gu Guan, one of the two masters of Jinling. His poems have the style of Liu Sanbian, fresh and handsome."
Yan Jingzhao was surprised and said, "I didn't expect that you actually know our Jinling talent. When he finishes his exam, I will definitely invite you to come over for a while."
Shen Linjiang was happy to go. Shen Linqing claimed to be the eldest son of the third wife, but his social skills were not as good as his younger brother, and he was not as likable as his younger brother. He just ignored the banquet and went back home sulking.
When Shen Linfeng came back for his afternoon nap, Yao Niang brought him some honey water and said, "It's easy to feel uncomfortable after drinking. Drink some to sober you up first, so you don't get a headache."
Shen Linfeng struggled to get up, but was held down by Yao Niang, "Don't get up, I'll feed you."
While feeding her honey water, she said, "My sister-in-law is pregnant. She has severe morning sickness and can't eat anything. I ate almost all the food on the table by myself."
"Is your belly bloated?" Shen Linfeng asked drunkenly.
Yao Niang smiled and said, "It won't increase, because I have a big appetite. Drink it quickly. After you finish, I have to go to my mother-in-law's place. My family sent some venison over, and I have to give some to each family."
The Yan family had a farm outside Beijing. This year, all the people in the first branch had gone back home, and the third branch had too much food to eat in Beijing, so Li simply sent venison, musk deer, roe deer, and mutton over.
Her words and deeds were also learned from Xie Shi, who had never been challenged by anyone. Living in a big family, one must not be stingy.
The Yan family was very considerate and had already slaughtered the meat. Yao Niang came over and said, "Madam, my eldest brother and sister-in-law specially asked me to bring this to you to nourish your body. This venison is from red deer, and I heard it can nourish the spleen and treat weakness."
Mrs. Shen smiled and said, "Thank your family for me. They always think of us."
"This is as it should be. The holiday gifts we sent were all arranged by Madam," said Yao Niang.
Madam Shen added: "It is natural for relatives to visit each other."
"Yes, then the daughter-in-law will take her leave first." When Yao Niang saw Shen Mo coming, she also took her leave first.
Shen Mo's marriage has always been the most anxious thing in Mrs. Shen's heart. After Yao Niang left, Mrs. Shen flipped through the invitations in her hand, which were all sent by the matchmaker.
Shen Mo glanced outside: "What are you doing here, sister-in-law?"
"Her parents sent some venison and she came to tell me specifically." Mrs. Shen said lightly.
Shen Mo said: "We in the Shen family have nothing, why bother asking her to send it to us."
She looked down upon these and said, "I heard that Yan Jingzhao scolded my brother and blamed him. If my brother had not insisted on marrying the daughter of the Yan family, our family would not have been able to marry anyone else."
Mrs. Shen couldn't bear to hear this, but her reputation of being harsh towards her daughter-in-law had spread. If she spoke out at this time, she was afraid that others would make a big fuss about it.
However, she also said to her daughter, "Your sister-in-law has a good relationship with the wife of the prince of Jinghai. The wife of the prince Liu often holds flower banquets. I heard that she has helped to bring together several couples, but it is not easy for her to arrange. You should also visit her often and let her take you out for a walk. Now it is the world of young people. I am old and I don't like the invitations sent here."
Shen Mo was a little unhappy, but she said: "Cousin Han will soon be coming of age. She is older than my sister-in-law. You should worry about her first."
Of course, the Han family sent their daughter here with this intention. Han Ruhua was her niece from her mother's side, and it should have been easy for her to marry off. There would even be nothing wrong with her marrying her to her own son. But Shen Linfeng happened to have remarried.
Mrs. Shen naturally had another idea: "I know how to handle your cousin's affairs."
Third Uncle Shen was coming back soon. His first three sons were all legitimate, but the third son had never married, so his family background was suitable for him. Third Uncle was still young and had a good career. If Ruohua could marry him, it would be considered a marriage between relatives.
Yao Niang then went to the second wife, Madam Shen. When Madam Shen saw that she had brought eight rattan baskets with red ropes tied around them, all of which were top-quality meat, she kept saying, "Thank you very much."
Mrs. Shen's room was completely different from Mrs. Shen's. Mrs. Shen's room had no dressing mirror except a small mirror on the dressing table. Mrs. Shen's room had a large dressing mirror, as well as a round mirror and a target mirror on the table.
Yao Niang lowered her eyes and said, "It's good that you like it, Madam. It's not a good thing. It's just that my parents sent it to me, so I sent it to you."
In fact, Madam Shen and Yao Niang looked at each other and stopped talking. This girl was smart and hard to fool. Yao Niang also discovered that Madam Shen had set traps for her several times. She didn't know whether it was intentional or she just said it casually. The two of them were wary of each other and were very polite to each other.
But Second Madam Shen's evaluation of Yao Niang was higher than Madam Shen's: "It is said that the Yan family is a famous and powerful family. Originally, when we saw the eldest and fourth daughters of the Yan family, we thought that the daughters of their family were just so-so. Now it seems that the third daughter should not be underestimated."
Mother Qian believed it deeply: "What kind of person is the eldest son? He didn't care much about Miss Yan back then. He only cared about the fact that she was a good match with the Yan family. But it's different for this third girl. She has seduced the eldest son so much that he can't even walk. Although her methods are immature, she is not ordinary enough to be able to control her husband and her mother-in-law."
Madam Shen Er glanced at the chambermaid Qian Ma and said, "Uncle San will be going to Beijing to report on his work soon. I heard that it was Uncle San who arranged this marriage. He really knows how to behave."
"The Third Master has always been a smart man, but so what? None of his sons are capable of anything. Our Young Master Yan is still the best."
Speaking of her son, Mrs. Shen smiled and said, "It's good, it's very good, but there's someone standing in the way, so it can't get better." After she finished speaking, she looked at Mother Qian and said, "Why is Han so lucky? She is the daughter-in-law that her parents-in-law hold in their hands, and I am a daughter-in-law who married up, and my eldest son also likes her more. But when that child died of a high fever, Han was busy taking care of her own son and asked all the doctors to treat her son, but my son died of a high fever."
She started crying when she thought of this. Everyone thought Shen Bangyan was the only son, but in fact, Shen Bangyan and Shen Linfeng were both the second children.
Mother Qian sighed slightly and handed her a handkerchief: "Second Madam, don't be sad. I think our Second Master has always been filial and smart. He may not be worse than the people in the first house in the future."
"It's difficult. Linfeng is already an editor in the Hanlin Academy. I didn't expect that after experiencing the humiliation of escaping marriage, he became more and more courageous." Mrs. Shen narrowed her eyes.
Mother Qian looked at Mrs. Shen and asked, "What should we do next?"
Madam Shen Er said, "We'll talk about it when we find the right opportunity. If we don't find the opportunity, we can't act rashly. By the way, there are a few little demons around Yan'er who are not obedient. You go and teach them a lesson. If there are any disobedient ones, drive them out directly. Don't let them teach us bad things."
Mother Qian replied hesitantly.
Yao Niang then sent her two sisters-in-law to the third room before returning to her room. She was so willing to take this trip because she wanted to lose some weight and she really didn't want to gain weight.
Actually, being a little fat is also good, but she likes to be beautiful.
After coming back, Shen Linfeng was sleeping soundly. Looking at his sleeping face, Yao Niang leaned over and kissed him. She thought he was fast asleep, but unexpectedly, after being kissed by her, he turned over with a smile on his face.
Yao Niang was afraid that he could not sleep, so she sang a song to lull children to sleep. Xie Shi often sang this song when she was a child, and she herself was also very good at singing lullabies because she was quite knowledgeable about music.
"Twenty-four flower winds signal the arrival of each festival and three seasons mark the auspiciousness of the day. Plum blossoms bloom in the first season of Minor Cold, and camellias and narcissus bloom in turn. When the osmanthus wind arrives, it is already the Great Cold, and after the orchids, the alums bloom. When the Beginning of Spring arrives, we welcome the spring, and the cherries and spring flowers bloom to bring warmth...."
Shen Linfeng was listening to the lullaby in his ears and being patted by someone, and he fell asleep again.
Seeing that he was really asleep, Yao Niang went to the side room to copy scriptures. There are two advantages of copying scriptures: one is that it can practice calligraphy, and the other is that it can be given to others.
The imperial examination was approaching, and Yan Jingzhao was entertaining Gu Silang and Zhou Lingguang. Gu Silang and Yan Jingzhao had been friends for many years and had been exchanging letters. When Yan Jingzhao met him this time, both of them were extremely excited.
"Shiro."
"Dalangjun."
Zhou Lingguang said from the side: "You two have forgotten me."
Yan Jingzhao quickly hugged Zhou Lingguang and said, "No way, I've already asked my wife to prepare the guest room. You can all stay at my house. My parents are worried, and my sister is married, so you can stay here without worry."
The three of them laughed loudly, but Gu Silang pretended to be casual and said, "Is the third lady married already? If we knew, we should have prepared a gift for her."
"She got married before the Chinese New Year last year. The Shen family was in a hurry to get her, so now she's been given to someone else." Yan Jingzhao felt a little regretful. In fact, his friend Gu Silang could be considered a good son-in-law. If Yao Niang and the Shen family were not engaged, Gu Silang would also be among the candidates.
Although he is a bit arrogant and dissolute, he is more understanding and has good relations with me, so he is better than that old witch Mrs. Shen.
There was no point in bringing it up now, so he just started talking.
Gu Silang asked, "Shen family? But the Wuxing Shen family."
"Yes, my brother-in-law is now an editor in the Hanlin Academy. He is one year younger than me and is quite talented. I will invite several young masters of the Shen family to meet him in a few days." Yan Jingzhao said with a smile.
Gu Silang had seen Yao Niang playing the zither at Yan Jingzhao's wedding in his early years. She was still young at that time, and he was afraid of offending her. He only hoped that he could pass the imperial examination or gain fame before proposing to her. However, he did not expect that the beauty was already married.
Zhou Lingguang understood, and he said to Yan Jingzhao: "I won't live here anymore. I have an aunt in Beijing. She has no son, so she treats me like her own son. I can't refuse."
If he really cared about him, why didn't he care about him for so many years? Zhou Lingguang's food, clothing and other expenses were all in the Yan family. Yan Jingzhao was about to persuade him again, but he remembered what his father said, telling him to stop interfering in Zhou Lingguang's affairs. So, Yan Jingzhao patted his shoulder and said, "Since you said so, I can't stay any longer. But if you have something to do, don't forget me."
“How could that be? If it weren’t for the Yan family, how would I, Zhou Lingguang, be where I am today?” Zhou Lingguang raised his glass.
Yan Jingzhao and Gu Silang raised their glasses again.
Although Gu Silang felt bitter in his heart, as a man he could let go of things. He put all these aside and hoped that Miss Yan San could live a happy and beautiful life in the future.
Zhou Lingguang used to have a good relationship with Yan Ningxin, and he even went to visit her secretly once when Yan Ningxin was suddenly and secretly sent back to the temple. He did not have any romantic feelings for Yan Ningxin, but he just felt that she was someone who was quite friendly to the Yan family.
It turned out that she was sent to the family temple because she ran away from her marriage. The people in the family temple treated her very strictly. Although the Yan family sent her enough food, clothing and charcoal, how could the people in the family temple take Yan Ningxin seriously when the Yan family themselves no longer valued their daughter? Zhou Lingguang sent a roast chicken once, which was considered to be a token of his acquaintance.
But no one expected that the third daughter of the Yan family would marry in place of her elder sister, and she married into the Shen family.
"Boying, did your sister marry Shen Linfeng?" Zhou Lingguang suddenly asked.
Yan Jingzhao nodded: "It's not him or anyone else. The next generation of the Shen family is the leader. He treats my sister like a treasure, but his mother is not very kind to my sister. I won't talk about my sister when it snows heavily in the morning and evening. I won't talk about being on call. When I am in good health, I have to stand everywhere with guests. Standing for a whole day makes people dizzy."
Yes, when I, Yan Jingzhao, went to your Shen family, I saw Shen Linfeng like that. He was definitely like my sister's doll. You, Madam Shen, are old, and I, a foreign man, cannot see you in person. Why can't I publicize your methods as an old witch in front of others?
However, the people he was talking to were two grown men, and they were not the kind of people who spread rumors. Instead, they advised him, "Brother Boying, you should be more open-minded."
Only then did Yan Jingzhao accompany the two of them for a drink.
It is also said that after Zhou Lingguang moved out, Gu Silang lived in Yan's house. Yan Jingzhao invited Shen Linjiang and Shen Linfeng to come over for a drink. Shen Linfeng also admired Gu Silang's talent and specially invited him to be his guest.
Yao Niang borrowed a stove and asked the four officials and six departments that came with her as a dowry to prepare a table of dishes.
Because they were all relatives and friends, Yao Niang personally presented a roasted piglet. The preparation of this roasted piglet was quite particular. One had to choose a piglet weighing about six or seven pounds and roast it over charcoal fire on a low heat until all sides were golden brown. Then, butter was applied under the skin while roasting.
Shen Linfeng knew at first glance that this roasted piglet was made by Yao Niang specially for him. He is already twenty years old, and he still has a wife who sings to him and coaxes him to sleep and thinks about him all the time. How happy he must be!
When Yan Jingzhao saw his sister coming in, he put his hand on Shen Linfeng's shoulder, and Shen Linfeng smiled, showing that he and his wife were very loving. Gu Silang also saw the grown-up Yao Niang for the first time. She was more beautiful than before. Now Shen Linfeng was about the same age as himself, but with outstanding appearance, a face as white as cream, eyes as white as lacquer, like a fairy. When talking to people, he was more like the autumn sun, a very bright young man, a talented man and a beautiful woman, he could only wish them well.
"Brother, Fourth Brother Gu, please enjoy your meal slowly. I asked someone to warm up the Huadiao wine. Please enjoy yourself." Yao Niang said with a smile.
Gu Silang hurriedly returned the greeting. Shen Linfeng saw that although Gu Silang looked calm, his ears were slightly red. He was certainly not stupid, especially since he was fine with other things but was extra attentive to Yao Niang. He was not comfortable with Yao Niang and Commander Liu being in the same room, let alone other people.
But this emotion was too unfamiliar to him and he didn't know how to express it.
When Yan Jingzhao brought Gu Silang to visit today, Madam Shen heard about it in advance. She couldn't help but call Shen Mo over and said, "The Gu family is also a famous family in Jinling. I knew Gu Silang's aunt when I was a child. I saw that he was also handsome and was already the son of a Nanzhili at the age of 20. Your brother said that even if he didn't pass the exam this time, he would definitely pass the next one. He is still unmarried. I think this Mr. Gu is a good choice."
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