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."
沈三叔馬上就要回來了，說起來他前頭三個兒子都是嫡出，唯獨三子并未娶妻，門第倒也配得上。三叔人還年輕，仕途也很好，若華若能嫁過去，也算是親上結親了。
要說窈娘接着去了二房沈二夫人那裏，沈二夫人見她一共帶了八個藤筐過來，藤筐外面系着紅繩，都是上等好肉，連聲道：“多謝多謝。”
沈二夫人這裏和沈夫人完全不同，沈二夫人房裏除了梳妝臺有一面小小的鏡子，連穿衣鏡都沒有。沈夫人那兒有大大的穿衣鏡，桌上還有圓鏡子和靶鏡。
窈娘垂眸：“二夫人您喜歡就好，也不是什麽好東西，只是我娘家送來，我就送過來了。”
實際上沈二夫人和窈娘對視一眼，所有她想說的話都不說了，這姑娘是個精的，且非常不好糊弄。窈娘也發現幾次沈二夫人挖坑的事情，不知道是有意而為，還是随意說說，二人互相提防，相處倒是很客氣。
但沈二夫人對窈娘的評價就比沈夫人要高了：“都說顏家名門顯宦，原先是咱們見到那顏家大姑娘和四姑娘，以為她家姑娘也不過如此，現在看來這位三姑娘不可小觑啊。”
錢媽媽則深以為然：“大公子是何等人物，當年對那顏大姑娘也并沒有很上心，看重的不過是和顏家門當戶對。可對這位三姑娘則不然，勾的大公子都走不動道來了，手段雖然稚嫩，但是這後宅既攏得住丈夫，又能抗衡婆婆的，可不一般啊。”
沈二夫人看了陪房錢媽媽一眼：“三叔馬上就要上京述職了，聽說這門親事還是三叔促成的，他可真是會做人。”
“三老爺素來是聰明人，可那又怎麽樣？他那幾個兒子沒一個成器的，還是咱們彥少爺好。”
提起兒子，沈二夫人笑了：“好，是很好，可前頭偏偏有人擋着，怎麽也好不了。”她說完，又看着錢媽媽道：“你說韓氏怎麽就那麽好的命呢？她是公婆捧在手心的兒媳婦，我是高攀的兒媳婦，我生的長子也更喜歡她，可那孩子高燒去世的時候，韓氏就忙着看顧自己的兒子，還讓所有的大夫去給自己兒子診治，我的兒子卻活活高燒死了。”
想到這裏她就哭了，別人都以為沈邦彥是獨子，其實沈邦彥和沈臨風一樣，都是老二。
錢媽媽微微嘆了一口氣，遞了一條帕子給她：“二夫人，您別難過，奴婢看咱們二爺素來都是孝順聰明的，将來未必會比大房的人差。”
“難了，臨風已經是翰林院編修了，真沒想到經歷過逃婚羞辱，他反而越戰越勇了。”沈二夫人眯眼。
錢媽媽看着沈二夫人道：“那接下來咱們如何是好？”
沈二夫人道：“找到合适的機會再說，沒找到機會就不能輕舉妄動。對了，彥哥兒身邊有幾個小妖精不聽話，你去敲打敲打。若是有不聽話的，直接趕出去，不能讓她教壞了爺們兒。”
錢媽媽讷讷應是。
窈娘接着往三房兩位嫂嫂一并送去後才回到房中，她這麽願意走一趟，也是想變瘦一點，實在是不願意長胖。
其實胖點也很好，可是她愛漂亮。
回來之後，沈臨風睡的很香，看着他的睡顏，窈娘俯身親了他一下，本來以為這人熟睡了，沒想到這人被她親了之後，翻了個身，臉上漾出笑意。
窈娘怕他睡不着，又唱起了哄孩子睡覺的歌兒，她小時候解氏常常唱，她自己也因為頗通音律，很會唱搖籃曲。
“二十四番花信風，一節三候記祥明。小寒一候放梅花，山茶、水仙次第誇。瑞香風至已大寒，蘭花看過看山礬。立春剛到時迎春，櫻桃、望春暖意薰。……”
沈臨風聽着耳邊的搖籃曲，又被人一拍一拍的，居然又睡着了。
見他真睡着了，窈娘才到次間抄寫經文，抄寫經文有兩個好處，一個是可以練字，另一個就是能送人。
科舉在即，顏景昭正招待顧四郎和周陵光，顧四郎和顏景昭數年好友，一直書信未斷，這次顏景昭和他見面，二人分外激動。
“四郎。”
“大郎君。”
周陵光在一旁道：“你們倆這是忘記我了啊。”
顏景昭又連忙摟住周陵光道：“哪有啊，我早就已經讓內子收拾了客房，你們都在我家住下，我爹娘丁憂，舍妹又已經出嫁，你們放心住下。”
三人哈哈大笑，顧四郎卻佯裝不經意道：“三姑娘已然出嫁了嗎？若是知曉我們該備下一份禮物才是。”
“去年年前嫁的，沈家要人要的急，這不就給人了嗎？”顏景昭有些惋惜，其實他的朋友顧四郎算得上是一位佳婿了，若是窈娘和沈家沒有定親，顧四郎也在人選之列。
他雖然有些恃才放蕩，可是更懂情，又和自己交好，總比沈夫人那個老妖婆好。
現下這些再提無用，他也就說開了來。
顧四郎問道：“沈家？可是吳興沈氏。”
“是啊，我那妹夫如今任翰林院編修，說起來年紀還比我小一歲，才學頗高，等過幾日我請沈家幾位公子見面。”顏景昭笑道。
顧四郎還是早年在顏景昭的婚事上見着彈琴的窈娘，那時候她還小，他生怕唐突了她，只盼着自己能中進士，或者有了功名再上門求娶，沒想到佳人已經嫁了。
周陵光已經了然，他對顏景昭道：“我就不住這兒了，我有位姨母在京中，她沒有兒子對我視同親子一般，我也不好推辭。”
若真的對他好在，怎麽這麽多年不聞不問，周陵光吃穿用度都在顏家，顏景昭正欲再勸，但是想起他爹說的話，說周陵光的事情讓他少管，故而，顏景昭拍了拍他的肩膀，只道：“你既然這麽說，我也不便多留，只是你有事，千萬別忘了我。”
“怎麽會呢？若無顏家，哪裏有我周陵光的今日呢。”周陵光舉杯。
顏景昭又和顧四郎一起舉杯。
顧四郎雖然心中苦澀，但男子漢拿得起放的下，他抛卻這些，倒是希望顏三姑娘能夠日後過的幸福和美。
周陵光以前和顏寧馨關系不錯，甚至顏寧馨突然被秘密送回關在家廟，他偷偷去探望過一回。他對顏寧馨不是男女之情，只是覺得她算得上顏家曾經對她頗為友好的人。
原來她是因為逃婚才被送進家廟的，家廟的那些人對她管的很嚴苛，顏家雖然衣食炭火足份送去，但是顏家自己都已經不看重的女兒，家廟那些人怎麽會把顏寧馨當回事。周陵光送過一次燒雞去，也算是全了認識的香火之情。
只是沒想到顏家三姑娘代替姐姐嫁了過去，還是嫁到沈家去了。
“伯英，你妹子可是嫁的沈臨風？”周陵光突然問道。
顏景昭點頭：“不是他還有誰，沈家下一代執牛耳之人，待我妹子如珠似寶，就是他母親對我妹妹不怎麽好，我妹子下大雪天早晚晨昏定省就不說了，随叫随到我也不說了，這身子好的時候還要到處陪客人站着，一站站着一天，人都暈了。”
是，我顏景昭去你們沈家時，看到沈臨風那樣，絕對是我妹的玩偶似的，你沈夫人年紀大了，我外男也見不到你的面，怎麽，我不能當着別人宣揚一下你這老妖婆的手段啊。
只不過他說的對象都是兩個大男人，這倆也不是愛傳話，反而勸道：“伯英兄，你也看開些。”
顏景昭這才陪這兩人吃酒。
又說周陵光出去住之後，顧四郎則住在顏家，顏景昭請沈臨江和沈臨風過來吃酒，沈臨風也頗愛惜顧四郎才氣，特地請他上門作客。
窈娘則借了竈臺，讓自己陪嫁的四司六局，特地做了一桌子菜。
因為都是親朋故舊，窈娘親自送上一頭燒小豬，這燒小豬頗有講究，要選一頭六七斤重的小豬，要用炭火烤，小火烤至四面金黃，再在皮下用奶酥油塗上，一邊烤一邊塗。
沈臨風一看就知道這頭烤小豬是窈娘特地為他做的，他都二十歲了，還有妻子唱歌哄着睡覺，時時刻刻想着他，他該多幸福啊！
顏景昭見妹妹一進來，手就搭了一下沈臨風的肩膀，沈臨風則是笑容滿面，可見他夫妻平日頗為恩愛。顧四郎也是頭一次見到長大後的窈娘，她比之前更美了幾分，如今看着沈臨風和自己年紀一般大，但容貌出衆，面如凝脂，眼如點漆，似神仙中人。與人說話時，更似秋陽果果，是個非常明亮的少年郎，郎才女貌，他唯有祝福。
“哥哥，顧四哥，你們慢慢用，我讓人溫的花雕酒，可要盡興才好。”窈娘笑道。
顧四郎連忙回禮，沈臨風見顧四郎雖然面上鎮定，但耳朵微紅，他當然不傻，尤其是他在別的事情上還好，在窈娘這裏分外用心，他都不放心窈娘和劉指揮使同處一室，更何況是別的人。
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."