boudoir

Chapter 17 Harmony between Wife and Concubine
In the long room, Cuiying poured a cup of ginseng tea for Mrs Yu.

Aunt Su, who was doing needlework beside me, said, "Sister, I don't sleep well, and I'm refreshed with ginseng tea. Let's make some chrysanthemum tea."

Yu closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead: "I haven't had a good night's sleep for many days, if I don't eat this, the night will be even more difficult."

Aunt Su thought for a while, put down her needlework and walked up, stroked the sides of Yu's temple hair with both hands, and said softly, "Let me rub it for you."

He Cistan strode in with a sullen face, seeing the two of them like this at first sight, he couldn't help but stop.Seeing that no one was paying attention to him for a while, he smiled self-consciously: "Meiyin is considerate to Madam, Madam is now satisfied?"

Yu opened her eyes impatiently, and sneered out of her nose: "The master's words are flattering me! Who am I! Living such a happy life, there are men's concubines waiting inside, and men's concubines outside. What qualifications do you have to be dissatisfied with your close relatives who are chasing after you for fame and status? But the master is willing to do so, he has a new appointment as the Censor of the Third Grade Capital, and he has a new daughter who is like a flower and a jade, it can be said to be very beautiful!"

He Cistan got up with a flick of his sleeves: "My dignified censor's daughter has become my own servant girl, thank you for doing it!"

Yu sneered again: "If you don't want to be reconciled, you can go to the old man to mention it! No one will block your way!"

He Yu was trembling with anger, pointing at her, unable to speak for a long time.

Aunt Su hurriedly said: "Sister, calm down! The master should not say a few words." While talking, she secretly winked at him.

He Cistanchi snorted heavily, flung the curtain and went out the door.

The little maid Huang Xing came in pouring tea, seeing that the person had already left, she couldn't help wondering.Yu's anger still persisted, and he smashed the cup of tea with water in his hand: "Irregular thing! Who taught you to look around in front of the master? Drag it out and beat it!"

Poor Huang Xing just got a hole in her head, and was dragged out and slapped a few times.

Aunt Su didn't dare to speak either.Yu's face was sullen for a long time before he said: "You go down."

There was no drop of water in Liuli for a whole day, and at night, some false fires had risen.I had no choice but to run to the door: "Please pour me some water." The woman guarding the door was chatting and ignored her.Liuli had no choice but to say it again, and the woman with the pomegranate hairpin in her hair stared at her: "What water do you drink? Be honest! Someone will take you to see the housekeeper at dawn!"

Liuli was stunned: "Why do you want to see the housekeeper?"

Another woman in a green jacket, Card Card, smiled and said, "The Da Furen said, I can't bear to let you be homeless, even if you have a dog or cat in the house, I'll let you stay and be a poor servant girl!"

Pomegranate Hua murmured: "The old lady stayed in the big house well, eating wine and chattering, but was sent here to blow the wind, how dare you send me to serve tea and water! Dream on you!"

The night wind blew through the door curtain, and the sky was already darkened by thick clouds.Liuli stood for a moment, then shut the door with a bang.

Aunt Su returned to the house and leaned on the door for a long time before her brows felt warm.He raised the candle and walked to the dressing table, stared at the mirror for a long time, until some red threads appeared in the pair of clear eyes in the mirror, then turned his face away and put the candle down.The face was still beautiful, but not young anymore. A 38-year-old woman, no matter how well-maintained she is, she is not as charming as that.

She waited for 20 years, but she got nothing except to age her face.

Heng Wei walked in: "Is Auntie going to rest?"

Aunt Su was startled, shook her head and said, "No, I have to go out."

Heng Wei was silent, picked up the Yuehua robe and put it on her, and straightened her temples in the mirror.

There is no moonlight tonight, and the flowers and trees under the porch look extraordinarily rich.When Aunt Su arrived in the old man's study, the old man was watching Min Hua practice calligraphy.Aunt Su bowed in her lap, Min Hua hurriedly got up and called "Mother".

The old lady said: "Why are you here? Didn't women always come to pick you up?" Aunt Su said with a smile: "It's getting cold and I'm a bit hungry, so let's walk along the way."

The old lady brought the tea and blew on it, and Aunt Su took a small porcelain jar from Hengwei and handed it over: "This is the hawthorn that I pickled myself. It helps digestion, so I brought some here."

The old man nodded, but didn't seem to be in the mood to taste it.Looking at the pages of the book, he said, "If you have anything to say, just say it."

Aunt Su glanced at Heng Wei, Heng Wei understood, and took Min Hua out, and there were two young servants in the other room, and they also retreated.

Aunt Su blessed her body and said: "The eyebrow tone is a little unpleasant, I dare to say it only after my uncle agrees."

The old man said: "If you are also here for that girl, you don't need to say anything."

Aunt Su said: "No, Meiyin is here for our master." She raised her head: "Qingyun's new appointment as the deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is a good thing, and the family should support and sympathize with him, and maintain his reputation. But has my uncle ever thought that Qing Yun once left the treasure in the sea outside Beijing ten years ago, and now that the child has come back, he was taken into the mansion to pray and chant scriptures for the old lady. There have been rumors about this matter. If he is demoted to be a domestic slave, what will the outside world say?

"In this matter, Qingyun was inappropriate, but the accident happened, and the mistake has already been made. We can't make mistakes and make Qingyun fall into a quagmire! Isn't uncle afraid that someone will use this to attack Qingyun in the court?"

At the end of Aunt Su's words, she was a little excited, and her eyes were slightly red.The old man looked at her for a long time, and finally sighed: "It's hard for you! Only you, a child, think about him in every possible way!"

Aunt Su shook her head and wiped away her tears.

The old man got up and walked around twice, then said, "According to you, how should I arrange her?"

Aunt Su pondered for a while, and said: "If she is allowed to go out according to her own will, in case her child's family is talking nonsense outside, and someone coaxes her to do something that is not good for He Fu, it would be inappropriate. In the opinion of Meiyin, it is better to let her live as a concubine lady. In this way, on the one hand, it will stop the mouths of those who do things, give the He family a good name for benevolence, and prevent her from spreading rumors outside. Maybe, our family is not short of food for her alone, but it's just a dowry."

The old man hummed with his hands behind his back, noncommittal.For a while, he said again: "This is also feasible, but the reputation of my He Mansion for several generations will be ruined by this 'concubine'!"

Aunt Su said: "Could it be that if you don't accept her and demote her to a domestic slave, Qingyu will be saved? Besides, did uncle forget that Min'er is also a concubine?"

After speaking, her voice lowered, with deep loneliness.

The old lady couldn't bear it, and sighed: "It's been hard for you all these years, I know, if it wasn't for your son, you wouldn't talk about it." ——It's getting late, you go back first, I'll go and see your aunt."

Aunt Su sent Min Hua back to her room, and asked her carefully about her medication for the past few days before returning to her room with Heng Wei.

He Cistanchi waited in the room, saw her come in, went up to meet her and unfastened her coat.Aunt Su raised her lips and said, "I shouldn't be here for the past two days, why did the master come?" He Tanyu was embarrassed: "Think about not coming for a few months, come to see you and talk."

Aunt Su asked Hengwei to make tea, and she personally uncovered the gold-painted plum blossom wide-mouth urn on the cabinet, and put two kinds of preserved fruits in a fine porcelain plate.

He Yuxi tasted a piece of preserved apricot, and said: "Just now I was at the old lady's place, and the old lady called me to the next door, asked me about political affairs, and said that Liuli should be recognized as my ancestor, is that what you said?"

Aunt Su's hands fiddled with the plate paused for a moment, and she said seriously: "I don't have this ability, but when I picked up Min'er, I chatted with my uncle by the way, master, don't go out and talk nonsense."

He Yuxi nodded and didn't say much.He just said: "I know what you mean. If Mrs. Yu is half as gentle and considerate as you are, I will be content! When I become a major event in the future, I will definitely make it up to you."

Aunt Su laughed so that Gu Jing could not waver: "Master has been awarded the third grade, and he will be promoted again soon, so he will naturally become a big event in the future."

He Cistan let go of her and stood up, suddenly there was something incomprehensible between his brows and eyes.

(End of this chapter)