Ordinary clear day

Chapter 100 Endgame
When Zhang Bao learned from his wife that he was about to add another person to the house, he was very surprised: "Is Er Niang confused? She is still in Xiaozhong, what is she doing? No, go back quickly, although I I said that I don't want to be in the officialdom anymore, but I didn't intend to let people take part in me for being unfilial and disrespectful."

But Mrs. Tong comforted him, and said with a faint smile: "My husband is too caring, how could Er Niang do such a foolish thing? She just said that we don't have enough staff in the house, and there is no one who is willing to serve you, so she put your beloved The little girl sent to take care of your daily life. When did the old man say that she was sending you a concubine? Don't misunderstand Er Niang's kindness."

Zhang Bao was stunned, then smiled: "Ma'am, what I said is, how can I misunderstand Erniang like this? She just wanted to send a maid, and there is absolutely no reason for a mother to take a concubine for her son during the father's funeral. , I was wrong just now.”

The couple looked at each other and smiled again.

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Shu Ning really couldn't understand the old lady's thoughts, she could only lie on the bed and couldn't move, and she still couldn't forget to penetrate someone in their third room, what kind of psychology was she?Could it be that, once you are used to being in power, even your thoughts have become perverted?
In the past, the old lady wanted to install a concubine because she wanted to cast eyeliner in each house and restrain the daughters-in-law by the way, and also to better control the power in the mansion.But is it really useful to do so now?Shuning really doesn't like this method, as can be seen from the people placed by the old lady in the past.

Not to mention the death of Cuiqiao in the big house, the successor Cuiping has almost become a member of the Nala family, and there is also the son An Ning left by the predecessor to rely on. As long as she keeps herself safe, she can always live a good life.Now that the Nala family is in charge, of course Cuiping will not be so stupid as to oppose her.

Cuizhen of the second room is quite loyal to the old lady. From the gossip collected by Suxin, she often pays her respects to the old lady, and Suo Chuluoshi regards her as a thorn in her side, so she can't do without the old lady as her backer.But if the backer falls and she has no children, what will happen is unknown.As for the other concubine, Cuiying, she had offended the old lady a long time ago. I heard that since the miscarriage that year, she has been ill, lost her beauty, and fell out of favor. Now she can only live silently.

Sifang has never had a formal concubine, only a few housewives.Although I heard that most of them were sent by the old lady, it is a fact that there are no names.Fourth Uncle Rongbao and Fourth Aunt Shen Shi have been estranged in recent years, but even so, Rongbao has always treated those couples equally, and has no intention of praising any of them. The situation is ignored.

It can be seen from this that placing concubines in each house may have worked once, but after a long time, people's hearts will become difficult to control.The old lady repeatedly wanted to place someone in the third bedroom, but was it just an obsession?How useful are those eyeliners now that she can no longer run the house?

And the most critical issue is that the old lady herself probably won't live long.

Shuning turned her head to look at the shriveled and thin old lady on the bed, she was very sure of this fact.

Although the imperial doctor said in person that resting is fine, but no one knows what he said to the Zhang Bao brothers in private.This can be guessed just by looking at the old lady's getting weaker and weaker body, the secret preparations made by the elders, and the whispers of the servants in the house.But obviously, the old lady herself did not have this awareness. She probably thought that she had just had a stroke for a while, and she could continue to live for a long time, right?

In the evening, Shuning handed over the care to Wanning and Shen Shi, and returned to Huaiyuan with heavy steps.This kind of life of serving people is really unnatural. Since she traveled through time, although she is not rich, she is pampered and has never worked so hard.It seems that there are too many good days, and it is easy to degenerate. When she is free in a few days, she will find a way to exercise her body.

About one watch, an accident happened.The old lady's throat was once again clogged with phlegm. Although she finally coughed it up, she was exhaling too much and inhaling less.The crowd was in a hurry again, Wanning was kicked out of the room amidst a burst of crying and shouting, and kept crying with her arms around Sitara.After the imperial physician came to see him, he just shook his head, implying that Jinbao would prepare for the old man's funeral.

The yard was once again full of people, all of them with mournful faces.Shu Ning looked at Wan Ning crying to death, Yuan Ning who was expressionless, and Fang Ning who was reciting Buddha with her eyes closed, feeling a little dazed.When someone walked out of the room and officially announced that the old lady had passed away, the people in the yard burst into tears.

Hearing the cries beside her ears, Shuning felt that her nose was a little sore, but it was still a long time before she was about to cry.She sniffed and wiped her nose with a handkerchief. A special smell came from the handkerchief. She was immediately irritated and her eyes were red, and tears kept flowing.At this time, she felt someone pulling her robe, and looked down, it was Xianning.He opened his eyes wide and asked, "Sister, why are you crying?"

Shuning knelt down and said to him, "Because the old lady passed away, everyone is very sad."

"Old lady? Is that the old lady who touched my face that day?"

"Yes." Shu Ning nodded, suddenly thought of something, pretended to tidy his younger brother's hair, and gently wiped his face with a handkerchief.Xianning couldn't help shedding tears, sucked her nose and said: "Sister, I feel sad." Shuning suddenly felt a little guilty, but was startled by a sharp cry next to her, looked up and saw Shen Shi hugged and coaxed her crying daughter Yan Ning, but her left hand clearly just pinched the child.

"Uh, so there are people more evil than me." Shu Ning thought.She suddenly felt that someone was touching her head, and when she looked up, it was Duanning.He twitched the corners of his mouth, hugged Xian Ning, patted him gently, and made him cry on his shoulder.

At this time Jin Bao came out and said, "You all go in and see the old lady for the last time."

Said it was the last time, but in fact it was just seeing the corpse.The old lady's hair and clothes have been tidied, half of her body is covered with a quilt, and her face is covered with Supa.

As soon as Wanning saw it, she immediately rushed forward, but was hugged tightly by Nala's maid. She kept struggling and cried so much that she couldn't bear to live.Everyone in the room was crying gracefully and dignifiedly. Even the old lady's most beloved nanny was lying on the ground and howling, so Wanning's agitation and gaffe were particularly conspicuous.

Nala looked at her frequently, and finally saw her break free from the maid, threw herself on the old lady, hugged the dead body tightly and cried bitterly, immediately frowned and asked her to be pulled away, and then tidied up the things pulled away by her daughter herself. Quilt, while wiping tears with a handkerchief, he ordered the people to prepare coffins, candles and other things.

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Probably because the old lady died earlier than expected, and many things were not ready yet, so she had to rush to ask people to buy them.In the process of preparing for the funeral, there was another problem-there was no money.

There are still about 2000 taels of cash and banknotes in the account of the mansion, but it is still early before the autumn harvest, and the land rent has not yet been collected, and the several businesses run by Erfang are said to have problems with capital turnover. The money has not been handed in for a month.A decent funeral is not enough without two or three thousand taels, but if all the money in the mansion is used, how will the whole mansion maintain its daily expenses in the next few months?
Therefore, after making calculations, Jinbao and Nalashi found that they could only use 1000 taels of it at most.Because it was not enough, Jinbao asked Xingbao to transfer money from the store, but was refused.

Xingbao said: "I lost a lot of money because of Er Niang beating Chuan'er to death. You don't know it. And this year I opened several restaurants and teahouses in Beijing. I suffered a lot from those businesses. In the past few months They are all losing their money. It is really powerless for me to pay out a few thousand taels now. I already paid for Ama’s big event last time, why do I have to pay now?”

Jin Bao was very displeased when he heard the words: "Second brother, you have to make it clear that those businesses were paid by the family at the beginning, but now the family needs to use silver, so what's the point of transferring some money? When did it become yours?"

But Xingbao sneered and said: "Brother, you are confused. Although the family gave some money at the beginning, most of it was from my private house, of course it was my business. And the money the family got in these years is already ten times the original capital. It's been several times, I have been supporting the family with good intentions, but my elder brother can't take my private property just because of this."

Jin Bao turned pale with anger, and instead of arguing with him, he said directly, "I'll bring it up later, it's important to deal with Er Niang's big business first. Are you going to pay?"

Xingbao turned his head away: "I just said that, last time I paid for Ama's matter, you can find someone else."

Jin Bao said bitterly: "Last time, because several princes were involved, Ama's affairs were not dealt with in a big way. It only cost a little over two thousand in total. Among them, the coffin was prepared a long time ago. It was made of incense paper , and it’s all the public’s money, how much did you spend? Now it’s Er Niang’s turn, but you shirk it. Don’t forget, Er Niang will get sick, it’s a good thing you two did!”

Xingbao jumped up, shouted "You nonsense", almost rushed over, but was stopped by Rongbao, persuaded: "Second brother, if you have something to say, you are going too far this time. Er Niang treats you well. "

Xingbao broke away from his younger brother, and said with a sneer, "Don't pretend to be a good person here, she treats me well? She loves you the most!!! Who owns the body that Erniang has saved for so many years now? Don't you Tell me you don't know! Who was the last person I saw yesterday when my mother was still awake? It was your wife! Who knows what's going on here!"

Rong Bao also blushed, and immediately started arguing with him, while Jin Bao got angry beside him with a headache.Zhang Bao heard more and more unreasonable, so he shouted: "Enough!" When the brothers calmed down, he thought for a while, and then said to Jin Bao: "I have been an official outside for several years, and I am not afraid of elder brother's jokes." , I also have some savings. The younger brother dare not go past the elder brother, but is willing to pay 1000 taels, what does the elder brother think?"

Both Xingbao and Rongbao looked at him in surprise, and Jinbao was a little moved: "Third brother, you don't usually live well..." Xingbao interrupted him: "Come on, he is rich. They're all pretending to be poor." Jin Bao shouted sharply, "Second boy!" Xing Bao then closed his mouth angrily.

Zhang Bao said indifferently: "I have been outside for more than ten years, and I did not fulfill my filial piety in front of my parents. Now I just donate some money. Besides, it is not easy for the elder brother to run the family business. Brothers can share as much as they can."

Jin Bao patted his third brother on the shoulder vigorously: "Good brother, brother will never forget your friendship!"

Seeing this, Rong Bao hurriedly said: "Third brother is right. Usually, Er Niang loves me the most. If I stand by and watch her old man's important affairs, who will I become? But I don't have much money, so I can only pay 500 taels. Brother, don't be disgusted."

How could Jin Bao dislike him?Hastily hugged Younger Brother, the three brothers seemed to be very close to each other.

Xing Bao hesitated, and had no choice but to say: "In that case, I'll pay... 500 taels." Jin Bao glanced at him, and said indifferently: "Second brother has a heart, I think Er Niangquan knows it, and he will be very pleased. "

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The money for the funeral has finally been settled, and the preparations for the funeral have started smoothly.

Shuning wore mourning all over her body, and together with her sisters and sisters-in-law, knelt in the inner hall to burn paper and chant scriptures.Wanning stared blankly at the brazier, mechanically threw some paper money into it, and shed tears silently.

Shuning was a little ashamed, she had never shed a single tear for this old man sincerely, but when she thought of the harm she had brought to her family, her heart hardened, she still took out the veil that concealed the secret sachet, and she wore a fake tears.

It was late at night, and gradually some people found excuses and left the inner hall, and the only ones left were Wanning Shuning and a few maids and servants trusted by the old lady, and some of them even fell asleep on the spot.

Shu Ning accidentally glanced outside, only to find that her elder brother Duan Ning was standing in the corner, quietly looking at the coffin of the old lady, the candlelight was flickering on his face, making him look a little dazed. Measurement.

Shuning hesitated for a while, seeing that everyone was exhausted and no one noticed her side, so she got up quietly and walked towards Duanning, touched the corner of her brother's clothes, and asked gently: "Brother, what's wrong with you?" ?”

Duan Ning looked at her from the side, shook his head, then turned to look at the coffin again, and said quietly: "Things are impermanent. Before I went to Guangzhou, she was still the undisputed master of this mansion. She is high above everyone. She bowed her head in front of her. Before last night, she could only lie on the bed, relying on help for everything. After she died, even the money for the funeral was hard to get together. Most of the guards were just pretending, It didn't take long before they all slipped away. She has been tough and majestic all her life, what is the reason for?"

Shuning stood with him silently, and after a while, he said again: "Mafa treated me very well, knowing that he died so unjustly, I actually feel a little bit resentful towards the old lady in my heart, seeing her suffering, my heart It’s actually a little fun.”

Shu Ning looked over in surprise, only to see him twitching the corners of his mouth, and said: "But what about resentment and hatred? Look, how many people in this house are really sad for her? Sons and daughters-in-law? Grandchildren? Confidants?" Slave? Even Wanning who cries the most sadly, who knows whether it is she or herself who cries? Moreover, if it is not for the sake of showing to outsiders, I doubt anyone would pay for her funeral!"

Shuning pulled his sleeve and said seriously: "Brother, calm down." Duanning was startled, and smiled slightly: "I'm very calm, don't worry." He patted his sister's head and said: "So I still blame her for hating her, but seeing her live like this, I feel that no amount of hatred is necessary. She has already received her retribution for such an ending."

(End of this chapter)