Ordinary clear day

Chapter 254 Idlers
When Tong Ying faced other people again, he gradually returned to his original cheerful and open appearance. Even if someone tried, ridiculed or provoked, he would get over it with all his might.However, compared to before, he spends more time in his small home. Except for going back to Prince Jane's mansion once every five days to pay his respects, even his father and brother are less than before.

Maybe it was because of guilt in his heart, and because he heard that the number of manpower in Tongying's Duke's mansion had decreased, and the head of internal affairs had even left, Prince Jane signaled his eldest son to send some people over.Among them, Lin Ji'an, who is the leader, is not a big or small manager. He tried many ways to grab this job, but he came for the position of the chief internal affairs officer.

As soon as Tongying heard about it, she knew it, but Shuning always took care of the housework, so she handed it over to his wife.Seeing that they were sent by Prince Jane's mansion, Shuning was afraid that there would be some entanglement, so she took Tong Ying to watch it together.

The servants of eight men and four women, except Lin Ji'an and the four nurses, are mostly ordinary servants, but they all behave well, and it can be seen that they have been trained.But the most astonishing thing was the two seventeen or eighteen-year-old girls who were said to be maids, but judging from their appearance and behavior, they didn't look like they were here to work.

Shuning sized them up a few times, then raised an eyebrow at Tongying.Tong Ying rolled her eyes and asked, "Who are these two? Don't tell me they're here to do rough work."

Lin Ji'an wanted to sell to the new owner, so he ran up bumpingly and said with a smile: "If you go back to the second master, they are all respected by the stewards of the property in the south. There are four in total, and only two from the second master's side. The one on the left My name is Huang Yinger, a beautiful woman from Sichuan. She grew up in an opera troupe and is the best at singing. The one on the right is called Yijun, a lady from the south of the Yangtze River, a decent official lady. I am a magistrate. I committed a crime last year and was beheaded. She has just been confiscated from the official status, but she was redeemed before receiving the guests. She has been able to read and write since she was a child, and she can play a song and discuss a poem. The meaning of the prince and the son is to ask them to relieve the boredom of the second master. Yes." After a pause, he quickly added two sentences: "Second Lord, don't worry, the documents are all complete, and there will be nothing wrong."

Shuning didn't like his demeanor, so she just looked at the two girls.The one named Huang Ying'er has a pretty face and a pair of phoenix eyes that are lively and energetic. Although her name is Huang Ying, her voice is not as melodious as that of a bird: "Although my family grew up in an opera troupe, I was a young man who sang. I'm afraid my master and wife won't be able to listen to me if I let my family sing some cute little songs." Regardless of Lin Ji'an's winks, she still stood where she was, and had no intention of going up to act like a spoiled child.

The other one, Yijun, is not very beautiful, but she has a gentle temperament like water, and her demeanor is gentle, as if she is a lady of everyone.Ever since she heard Lin Ji'an's words, she looked sad, bowed her head in silence, and there were still tears on her face.

Shu Ning didn't have any ill feeling toward them, but she couldn't figure out their thoughts for the time being.After sharing weal and woe during this period, the relationship between her and Tong Ying has greatly increased, and the tacit understanding has also become deeper than before. She quietly took a sip from the tea bowl and did not speak.

Seeing this, Ling Ji'an swallowed his saliva and retracted his neck slightly.

Tong Ying said casually: "There is no need to relieve boredom. I can't stand the noise when I read and draw, but I can't calm down when they are around. If they don't know how to do things like needlework and cleaning, they can be sent back to the palace. Now my grandfather Today is not what it used to be, and there is no spare money to support the extra people."

Good master, as long as they serve you, you will not be idle.Lin Ji'an was slandering in his heart, but he was still careful: "Second Master, don't worry, Huang Ying'er has been embroidering her legs since elementary school. With some strength, she can do cleaning work. That Yijun also knows needlework. He will never be an idler. The second master can keep them, at least it is the wish of the prince and the son."

"Oh? Speaking of which, they are unusual in appearance and figure. Would it be too wronged to be a maid? Do I, Ama, and elder brother have any extra confessions?" Tong Ying raised her eyebrows.

Lin Ji'an hurriedly said: "Of course it's the maid, who is dedicated to serving the second master and his wife. The second master can do whatever he wants them to do." After finishing speaking, he showed a wretched smile.

"Well." Tongying turned her head and smiled at Shuning, "Since you are a maid, let me leave it to the madam, and send some errands casually, so that they won't be idle." Shuning smiled and said: "Isn't steward Lin just now? Did you say that? Huang Yinger will do some rough work in the outer courtyard, Director Yin will arrange these things. As for Miss Yijun, try it in the sewing room and see how her skills are."

Tong Ying nodded in agreement, but Lin Ji'an's eyes widened unexpectedly, thinking that this lady looked at Xianhui, but in fact she seemed to be jealous, if she sold herself to the second master today, would she offend her?
Then he heard Shu Ning say: "Boss Lin is new here, and I don't know anything about the house, so let's do some chores with Boss Zhou first, and let's talk after getting familiar with him." Yes, it seems that I have to find another way to get the position.

Manager Zhou is Shu Ning's companion, Wu Fu, who is honest and considerate. Under Manager Yin, he is in charge of the flowers and trees in the mansion. Although it is a fat job, it has nothing to do with the duties of the house manager.From the very beginning, Shu Ning did not intend to let Lin Ji'an take charge of the inner courtyard, she did not know the basics and absolutely trusted, she would never let outsiders enter her private life.

After everyone retreated, Shu Ning said to Tong Ying with a funny face: "Young master, you are so beautiful, look at those two beauties, the one who is delicate and hot, the one who is gentle and talented, and the one who is gentle and talented. Don't be immersed in the gentle country and can't get out."

Tong Ying couldn't laugh or cry: "I'm still upset, and you still make fun of me? Brother, I don't know what it means. I see that these two women have some connections, and I don't know who is connected to the palace. .Be careful and don’t let them enter the inner courtyard. The same goes for the others, let’s arrange them in the outer courtyard.”

Shuning pursed her lips and said with a smile: "I thought so too, but in this way, I can't escape my reputation of jealousy. How will you compensate me?" Eye waves circulated while speaking.Seeing Tongying, she put on a troubled look: "How can I make it up? Well... yes, then... this way to make it up!"

While talking, he rushed towards Shu Ning, tickling her, making her laugh non-stop, begging for mercy, until Ju Xiang's voice came from outside: "Master, Master Sun is here, waiting outside." down.

Panting for breath, Shu Ning tidied her clothes and hair, and said, "Mr. Sun loves to come at this time, is it for our family's food? I just sent a few baskets of dried shrimps to the palace, just in time to pack them up. Let's eat the stewed beef brisket at night." Beef is Sun Mingze's favorite food.

Tong Ying couldn't help laughing: "This is good, I also like radish and beef brisket, don't let him share it." Then she went out with a smile.

When I got to the front living room, I saw Sun Mingze poking his head outside the door, so I patted him and asked him what he was looking at.Sun Mingze said with a smile: "I just passed by two beauties, I took a few extra glances and was stared back by one of them, which is a bit interesting. Who are they?"

Tong Ying smiled and said: "It's the girl who just called over from the palace, what's the matter? Did you like it?"

Sun Mingze quickly waved his hands to deny, thinking how could such a beauty be a girl?It must be the alternate concubine, right?But Tong Ying said indifferently: "What's the matter? Tell me if you like it. As long as the girl nods, I won't stop her."

Sun Mingze rolled his eyes and didn't say anything more. He just pointed to a big lotus leaf bag on the tea table: "I just bought the sauced beef from Liu's shop, and it's still hot. Master Tong , how? Have a drink or two?"

Tongying's expression was a little weird, thinking of what his wife said just now, she couldn't help laughing.

The new servants all settled down in Shuning and Tongying's house. At first they were quite peaceful, but after a long time, some of them gradually showed some bad habits, and some wanted to climb up, deliberately currying favor with Shuning and his wife. and butler.Shu Ning watched coldly, beat a few of them, and let them be scolded publicly in the front yard, and they became honest after a while.

Huang Yinger and Yijun are both quite honest.Although one has a stronger temper and refuses to be angry, and the other cries a round every day, it seems that there is no wrongdoing.But although they are content, some people refuse to let them relax.

Qiuyi and Linglan, ever since their companions were married to Changping Zhuangzi, they have been keeping themselves safe, hoping to succeed in the future.But after Huang Ying'er and Yi Jun came, their looks surpassed them, and the latter was very popular, and even good at sewing, their minds were a little complicated.Among them, Linglan was more jealous, always felt that they were in her way, so she took advantage of going to the sewing room to say some sour words to Yijun, especially the fact that the other party was an official prostitute. Everyone knows.

Yijun didn't want to offend anyone, so he forced himself to bear it, but the needleworker next to him couldn't see it, so he helped him with a few words and notified Huang Yinger.The latter rushed over to quarrel with Linglan. She was eloquent, but Linglan couldn't compete, so she satirized her for being unruly and teased the guests all day long.How could Huang Yinger bear it?As a result, the two almost had a fight, but in the end it was Suxin who came to let her get separated and brought the situation under control.

Su Xin said to Shu Ning afterwards: "That Linglan and Huang Ying'er are not easy to get along with, madam should try to get rid of it, especially Linglan, I don't think she is a safe girl, but that girl Qiu Yi is still a good girl." Know how to measure, know how to help me fight."

Shu Ning thought for a while, then smiled and said: "Let's put it aside for now, do more work for Linglan, don't allow Qiu Yi to help her, lest she spend all day idle and have nothing to do to provoke others. On the other side of Huang Ying'er, let the people from the outer courtyard Arrange more errands. It is Yijun who has been wronged this time, I heard that she is a little depressed, let Dongqing go and solve her more later."

Suxin nodded, looked left and right, and asked: "Where is Dongqing?" Shuning said: "It was still there just now, maybe it went back to the room." Suxin jumped off the kang and said: "I'll go find her." But she panicked Shuning hurriedly stopped her, and called Juxiang to find Dongqing, turned her head and said to Suxin: "Are you confused?! You are twins now, why are you still blah? You should have been at home these few months That's right, in the end you ran around, not to mention, and even fought, what if you bumped into each other?"

Su Xin was slightly embarrassed and said: "I can't be free. Tell me to do nothing and stay at home all day, and I will definitely die of suffocation. I didn't go to fight myself, I asked others to stop me."

Shu Ning sighed: "It's okay for you to walk around. It's okay to ask for some gossip when you're bored, but you have to be careful when you act."

Su Xin responded indiscriminately, and then asked: "Master is not in the courtyard, but went to Mr. Jiang's place to carve stones?" Shu Ning smiled and nodded, "Looks like I'm learning to carve small seal characters recently."

Tong Ying is now at home, not only painting, reading and practicing martial arts, but also interested in things like gold and stone seals.Every morning, I go to Mr. Jiang's place to learn engraving, in the afternoon, I paint, and in the evening, I accompany my wife to read accounts and chat, and occasionally offer some ideas.

Shuning supports him in developing new hobbies, but there is one thing: he can't spend too much money.After all, it takes a lot of money to collect good things like Jinshi calligraphy, calligraphy, painting and antiques.And their family's financial situation cannot support such a thing.

Tongying's title has been lowered by several ranks. Originally, the salary and Lumi were both [-], but now it is only [-], and the salary and various subsidies of the second-rank official are missing, and the income has dropped a lot.Although the harvests of the three Zhuangzi were not bad, but because Tongying donated money to support those who are less than her family a few days ago, in order to save Tongying's reputation and accumulate some evil virtues, she reduced the land rent of the three Zhuangzi. Ten percent, plus the money and food sent to the Huguo Temple to do good deeds, and the salary will be fined for the next year, so she can only budget carefully.

Fortunately, the title has been lowered, and the size of gifts will also be reduced by [-] to [-] percent. This year, the birthday gifts sent to the palace to celebrate the Empress Dowager cost less than in previous years, and social expenses have also been reduced, so there will be no money problems for the time being.As long as the land rent and the income from the store are collected, it will be able to pass smoothly.

Tongying also knew the situation at home, so he only used ordinary seal stones to learn to engrave. Even after Duanning heard about his new hobby, he put away a pair of Qingtian stones and a square of lychee jelly, and refused to use them.

After lunch, Tong Ying talked with his wife, and mentioned that he was wearing a new cotton gown at Mr. Jiang's place today, which looked familiar to him, and remembered seeing Dongqing make a similar style, so she asked.Mr. Jiang only said that he asked Dongqing to do it, and nothing else, but Tongying felt that there seemed to be something inside, so she asked Shuning to ask what was going on.

Shuning is very surprised, Dongqing never makes men's clothes, but remembering what Suxin said a few months ago, is Mr. Jiang the person Dongqing likes?But Mr. Jiang is almost forty years old, he is old enough to be Dongqing's father!Is this why Suxin is not optimistic about Suxin?

But she still asked in private, Dongqing blushed and refused to speak, she and Sandalwood tried for a long time before getting a positive answer.Dongqing also said that she knew that her status was not enough to match the master's teacher, and if he didn't dislike her, she would be willing to be his concubine.

Shuning sighed secretly, and told Tongying about the matter. Tongying went to talk to Mr. Jiang, but was surprised to hear that Mr. Jiang offered to formally marry Dongqing to fill in the house.He didn't care about status and the like, and said: "I was living in an art gallery, and my status was not much higher. Thanks to the favor of my little father-in-law, I made an offering at the mansion, and I have the scenery I am today. .Miss Dongqing is gentle and virtuous, and she doesn’t dislike me for being old. What more can a husband ask for if he has a wife like this?”

And so the marriage was settled.Shuning returned Dongqing's deed of sale to her, revoked her slave status, and prepared a dowry for her, while Tongying also said that this was a rare happy event, and she wanted to celebrate it, and specially ordered someone to handle it , one application cannot be ignored.On the side of the West First Hospital, only Mr. Jiang lives now, and it was simply converted into a new house.

When Tongying and Shuning went to Prince Jane's mansion to pay their respects, they also sent a post to Mr. Shi. The two gentlemen lived in the same courtyard at the beginning, and they had a good relationship. When Mr. Jiang got married, he naturally invited Mr. Shi to have a drink.

After greeting Prince Jian, Prince Jian said to Shuning: "The third child is going to get married, and the yard he lives in needs to be refurbished. Fujin and your sister-in-law are discussing it. You should also listen and come up with an idea." Shuning agreed, took a look at Tongying, and backed out.

Tong Ying still smiled and chatted with his father and brother, but compared to the past, as long as no one asked, he no longer offered any suggestions.Prince Jane didn't notice anything wrong, but the eldest son Yarjana felt a little bit. He glanced at his younger brother and sighed inwardly, but he still didn't say anything after all.

Shuning came to the main hall of the inner courtyard, Ji Fujin and the Guerjia family were arguing about something, they stopped temporarily when they saw her coming, but they still held their guns and clubs afterwards.Shuning listened carefully for a while, and then asked Guo Fujin privately to find out what was going on.

It turned out that when Prince Jian went south, there was a favorite concubine Fu Jin, also surnamed Gua Erjia, who was just about to give birth, so he didn't accompany him.Now she has given birth to a boy, who is full moon, but still very thin, so she wrote a letter to ask the prince to take her mother and son to Beijing to recuperate, because the winter in Fengtian City is too cold, if the child can't bear it, the child may die young.

Ji Fujin finally got rid of her, how could he agree?I only said that the road was hard, and it would be bad if there was an accident. It would not be too late to go south after the spring and the weather became warmer.

Although the Guerjia family had nothing to do with that concubine Fujin, they questioned Jifujin's intentions, implying that Jifujin didn't allow people to go south because he wanted newborns and mothers to survive the winter.

The two sides quarreled again, but forgot the original topic. In the end, Guo Fujin made the decision to renovate Azaran's yard, but it was delayed again because of the money.

On the way back, Shu Ning told Tong Ying about the matter. Tong Ying was very worried about the little brother she had never met, but she was also a little embarrassed: "Am I too soft-hearted? Anyway, they are not my brothers. You may not be close to me when you grow up."

Shuning smiled and shook her head and said: "Children are innocent, what's wrong with newborn children? Although they are not the same mother, they are also brothers. It is normal for you to care. If you are ruthless to them, then you are not the Tong I like. Brother Ying."

Tong Ying coughed twice, turned her head away, but her ears were a little red.

The wedding between Mr. Jiang and Dongqing will be held soon. Tongying specially set up ten tables of wine for them, and let everyone in the house come to congratulate. A few maids who made friends came to have a wedding wine.

Dongqing put on her red wedding dress and was as beautiful as a flower.She is gentle and kind by nature, and has a good temper. She is very popular among the maids in the house, and everyone is happy that she has found a lover.Seeing Holly's beautiful marriage, many people were envious. Qiu Yi watched them congratulate her in the crowd, and changed her name to Grandma Jiang, feeling thoughtful.

As a guest, Sun Mingze also came to drink the wedding wine, and together with the others, he poured on the groom's official.Turning around and seeing Tong Ying, he threw down the jug to say hello, and said with a smile: "Look at the bustling scene, I also feel a little itchy, and I want to marry a wife."

Tong Ying said: "If you think about it, are you still afraid that you won't be able to marry? I think you are just afraid of being restrained. You come to my house all day to tease the maid, how dare you say such a thing?" Sun Mingze said with a smile: "How could it be? Is it molesting? I really mean it, Mr. Tong, why don't you give that girl to me. "

Tong Ying glanced at him with a half-smile: "As long as you can let that girl nod by herself, I'll make the decision to promise her to you, how about it?"

Sun Mingze rubbed his nose, changed the subject, and said, "Master Tong is at home now, have you ever heard of the big commotion in the court? Master Chen started to make trouble again, this time it is a salt merchant, saying that he wants to change the Gangsalt Law to something The salt law will no longer allow the salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River to monopolize the salt business. Hey, he has been holding back for a long time, and he has been in trouble for so many years, and now he is killing it."

But Tong Ying raised his glass to stop him: "I'm a idler who doesn't care about these things. Today is a day of great joy, let's not talk about these disappointing things and drink." Sun Mingze smiled, poured himself a glass, and drank with him .

Chen Liangben made another memorial these days, targeting the salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, which surprised many people.Some people think that he is already 50 years old, and he probably wants to do more things so that he can make a name in history.Some people also think that he is unwilling to let the big salt merchants continue to enjoy themselves, and after a few years of patience, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.

No matter what others think, Chen Liangben seems to be very persistent this time. No matter how others object, he will refute them one by one, and repeatedly state the various drawbacks of the old system in front of the emperor.However, he had already offended a lot of people because of the water transportation last time. Now, in the matter of salt merchants, more vested interests are affected, and the attacks on him are getting stronger. One thing was also dug out and said.

Those people accused him of being a Han Chinese, and came up with such an idea, not to mention making the land of Longxing outside the pass a place where merchants ran rampant, and also causing many children of the Eight Banners nobles to work hard outside the pass for many years. After Fengtian became rich, the life of the Eight Banners in Huitun became better and better, and they were not much worse than the dudes in Beijing.If Zhou Peigong, the admiral of Fengtian, hadn't stopped them, I'm afraid these children would be even more miserable.This is all Chen Liangben's fault.

Together with this statement, some people attacked another thing he advocated: sending six low-level Beijing officials to other places for training.It is said that this practice is detrimental to the dignity of Beijing officials and consumes money and food from the treasury.

All of a sudden, there were many attacking Chen upwards, and the emperor quickly stopped when he saw that the situation was out of control.After thinking about it carefully, he felt that although Chen Liangben's suggestion was good, there were too many opponents, so it could not be implemented for the time being, so he had to wait until later.But his previous proposals were very good, and the return of Jingqi to the village has already achieved results, so it cannot be shaken.Over the years, there have been hundreds of Eight Banners disciples who have been trained and have been sent to other places to work. Those who are now messing around in Fengtian all came later and have not suffered much. If people beat these young people well, the problem will not be too big.

As compensation, he changed Chen Liangben to be a scholar of the Wenhua Palace, and gave him a lot of things so that others would not dare to hold on to this courtier again.In addition, he had to find a group of young children with better backgrounds from the imperial clan and noble families in central Beijing, and let them participate in the Beijing Banner Huitun, so as to suppress all opposition voices.

When the news spread, many families tried to escape. No matter what, Fengtian is not as comfortable as the capital, who wants to suffer there?

But when Tong Ying heard the news, her eyes lit up.

(Stomach hurts today, I will post and refine tomorrow...)
(End of this chapter)