The rebirth of the poisonous girl is back
Chapter 115: One Arrow and Two Eagles
Chapter 115 Two birds with one stone
Time went back to the morning of the day before New Year's Eve, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and the Right Prime Minister's mansion is already so busy that they don't touch the ground. The Liu family took people to clean the ancestral hall early in the morning. Yuwei each received the annual bounty and came back.
Jing Yuhuan received 200 taels of gold, and the third master, Jing Yuwei, who had a lower official position, received 500 taels of silver.
As a direct descendant, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion also enshrines the ancestral hall, so it is rare for Pangzhi people to send people to ask the ancestors about the opening date of the ancestral hall.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the middle gates of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion were wide open from [-] o'clock in the morning, and the clansmen kept coming in and out.
Jing Se got up early in the morning and went to the Millennium Hall with her sisters. Whenever people from the clan came to salute Mrs. Jing, the sisters had to help distribute the Spring Festival gifts.
In a year, these few days are the busiest, it is rare for Mrs. Jing to see so many offspring, and she is so happy from ear to ear.
Today, people from the clan came to ask about the time of worshiping the ancestors, but not the real day of worshiping the ancestors, so there were not too many people, and they dispersed almost at noon.
At this time, Mammy Xie came in, walked to Mrs. Jing's side, and asked in a low voice if he would pass on the meal now.
Mrs. Jing glanced at the granddaughters of the concubines, thought for a moment, looked at Jing Se and the others with a smile, and said, "Arthur, your second uncle will return home today, and the letter said that he will arrive at about noon. Since we have only just come back this trip, we will be a little bit tired, and we will use some snacks as a base first, and we will hold the banquet together when he comes back, what do you think?"
Although Mrs. Jing's tone was inquiring, the meaning in her words was already self-evident: before the second master comes back, no one can eat first, so as not to break the rules.
Now Jing Wan Bai automatically stood on the same line with Jing Se, so she didn't speak, and glanced towards Jing Se without any trace.
Jing Wan Bai didn't speak, and Jing Shurao naturally had no reason to speak, so she also looked at Jing Se.
Jing Shudi is even more timid and cowardly, she has the least sense of existence, she keeps drooping her head, wondering what she is thinking.
The one who is about to return home is Jing Nanqing's biological father. As a daughter, she is excited and has no objection to the old lady's arrangement.
Jing Se took everyone's expressions into his eyes one by one, and then smiled and said to the old lady: "Since it is to welcome the second uncle, then we juniors should obey grandma's arrangement, and do what you say."
The old lady nodded in satisfaction, and said: "You guys should be tired after working all morning, go back and rest first, it won't be too late to come out to greet the second master when he comes back."
When Jingse and the others heard this, they all bowed their knees and bowed to leave.
After Jing Se returned to Muyun Residence, Qing'er brought some snacks, "Miss, it looks like this, it's still early for dinner, you might as well use the snacks to pad your stomach first, otherwise it's not good to be hungry all of a sudden. "
Jing se picked up a piece of hazelnut cake, a little absent-minded.
Qing'er saw it, and asked her, "Did Miss encounter any problems?"
Jing Se frowned, "Qing'er, did the second master have a concubine in office?"
Qing'er nodded and said: "Yes, we have such a rule in the Western Qin Dynasty, the wives and children of the officials who have been sent out must stay in Jinling, but officials can take concubines when they are in office, so many children of officials who have been sent out There are few concubines and many concubines, and even doting on concubines and destroying wives is common."
Speaking of this, Qing'er was slightly puzzled, "Miss, do you think something is wrong?"
Jing se shook her head and said nothing.
She didn't think there was anything wrong, after all, Xiqin had such a rule, and the second uncle had nothing to do with it. What she was worried about was that the second uncle would favor his concubine son and concubine daughter more and neglect Jing Lan, a concubine.
After all, Jing Lan is Xia Mu's cousin anyway. Although she seldom interacts with the Second Household after returning home, it doesn't mean she doesn't care about the Second Household.
She still secretly observes the movement in the second room.
Although Jing Lan seems to have nothing to do, he is actually thoughtful and has a very deep city, so he is definitely a person not to be underestimated.
If he can get the favor of the second master, then Jing Lan's future will not be too difficult.
But if the second master doesn't want to see this son-in-law, it will be a little troublesome.
Thinking of this, Jing Se felt faintly worried.
Not long after, a maid from another yard hurried in, knelt outside the door, and said out of breath, "Miss, it's not good, that pomegranate in your yard has committed a crime and caused the third lady to die." Angry."
Qing'er was startled.
Jing Se also narrowed her eyes, full of thoughts in her heart.
Mrs. Liu has never been against Jing Se. Even if Jing Se's maid occasionally makes some small mistakes, Mrs. Liu will just turn a blind eye and close her eyes for Jing Se's sake. When she didn't let it go, the maid said that the pomegranate made the third lady angry, so she must have committed a serious crime.
With this in mind, Jing Se looked at Qing'er and asked, "Why isn't pomegranate in Mu Yunju?"
Qing'er hurriedly said: "Miss, you went to the Millennium Hall early in the morning to receive the people of the Pangzhi tribe, maybe you didn't know that the third lady brought a group of people to clean the ancestral hall. It was originally planned to let the maids from the outer courtyard go, But after all, the ancestral hall is an important ancestral hall that has to be opened to the clansmen to worship tomorrow. The third lady felt that the maids were messy and afraid that they could not do it well, so after asking the old lady for instructions, she picked out the maids from various houses and courtyards. We took them with us, and we brought pomegranates and gemstones to our yard."
"So that's how it is." Jing Se suddenly looked at the maid who was kneeling outside, and asked, "Then do you know what exactly happened to Pomegranate?"
The servant girl faltered and said: "I heard that pomegranate accidentally knocked over the ancestral tablet, and the third lady happened to see it, and now I am angry!"
Jing Se collected herself, motioned the maid to get up, and said, "Take me there to have a look."
"Miss." Qing'er called Jing Se, and asked with concern: "Do you want this servant to follow you?"
"No need." Jing Se shook her head, "You stay and guard the yard. If the second uncle comes later, please come and notify me as soon as possible."
Qing'er nodded, and watched Jing Se walk out of Mu Yunju.
Jing Se followed the maid all the way to the ancestral hall, and sure enough, she saw a group of people outside, all maids from various houses and courtyards.
Voices continued to be heard from among the crowd.
"You servant girl is too courageous. You dare to overturn the ancestor's spiritual seat. You know where the ancestral hall is. You are so sloppy, how dare my wife use you?"
It was the voice of the third lady.
"The third younger sibling is now in charge of the family, but she is just a maid who has committed a crime. Why do you hesitate? According to me, it is better to report to the old lady and sell it. After all, it has been here for so many days. Learn to behave, such slaves staying in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion are also a disaster, not a climate."
The one who spoke was Su Aoyu.
Jing Se's eyebrows twitched, why did Su Aoyu just happen to appear outside the ancestral hall?
Thinking of this, she quickly pushed aside the crowd and walked over, and saw Pomegranate kneeling on the ground, with clear five finger marks on both cheeks, swollen as high as fermented dough, apparently severely beaten.
Glancing at Su Aoyu lightly, Jing Se looked at Mrs. Liu and asked, "What made Third Aunt so angry?"
Seeing Jing Se coming, Liu's face showed embarrassment, "Arthur, when you were cleaning the ancestral hall, you knocked over the ancestor's spiritual tablet, and it fell into two pieces. This is a big deal, so many people see it Now, if I don't punish her, won't it be difficult to silence the people?"
Yingluo was originally standing aside anxiously, but when she saw Jingse coming, she was overjoyed, and her whole body gained confidence, she stepped forward, looked at Liu Shi and said, "Mrs. of."
Liu looked over, "What do you mean?"
Jing Se also looked at Yingluo suspiciously, and asked in a low voice, "How do you know?"
Yingluo lowered her head and said in a low voice, "The servant clearly saw the pomegranate and just accidentally touched it lightly, and the spiritual tablet fell down. What's even more strange is that the spiritual tablet broke into two halves before it landed on the ground."
Su Aoyu sneered, and looked at Jing Se, "Arthur, you girl's words are so scary, if according to what she said, wouldn't it be that the spiritual tablet fell from the altar and broke into two halves by itself?"
Yingluo also knew that her words could not convince anyone, so she looked at Jingse with pleading eyes. Now, she can only beg Miss Biao to believe in herself.
Jing Se frowned, looked at Shiliu who was kneeling on the ground, and asked her, "Did you overturn the ancestor's spiritual seat?"
Shiliu bit her lip, raised her eyelids to look at Jingse, hesitated for a while, and said softly: "Miss, the servant just touched it lightly when cleaning the altar, and didn't expect..."
Liu Shi said: "You see she has admitted it herself, if I still ignore it, and it will spread to the old lady's ears in a while, then she should accuse me of not being strict in family management."
Su Aoyu also said: "Arthur, mother knows that you have always been kind-hearted and never easily beat and scolded servants, but this time Pomegranate really caused a catastrophe, even if you wanted to protect her, the broken ancestor's spiritual tablet is now It’s still in the ancestral hall for everyone to see, so you can’t say that so many of us slandered her?”
Thinking back and forth, Jing Se didn't give a direct answer, but looked at Liu Shi, "Take me to the ancestral hall."
"This..." Mrs. Liu suddenly looked embarrassed, "It's not yet time to open the ancestral hall, the young miss is not allowed to come in and out at will."
Jing Se's face was slightly cold, "You said that my maid overturned the ancestor's spiritual throne, and said that I can't go in and out of the ancestral hall. Do you still want to find evidence to deal with this maid?"
Liu was at a loss for words for a moment.
Su Aoyu looked at her and said: "Third brothers and sisters, Arthur is the first daughter, it is not impossible to go in and out of the ancestral hall. Since she insists, you let her go in and have a look. Tomorrow will worship the ancestors. If today's matter cannot be handled Well, when the old lady and the old man blame it, none of us can bear that responsibility."
After thinking about it, Liu thought it was right, so she nodded to Jing Se.
Jing Se asked Yingluo to stand outside and look at the pomegranate, while she herself went to the ancestral hall with Liu Shi and Su Aoyu.
Sure enough, an ancestor spiritual tablet was overturned, and now it is being taken out and placed on the altar.
Jing Se's heart shuddered, and he walked over to have a look. The body of the tablet was separated from the base, and there were obvious signs of fracture in the middle.
Jing Se picked up the two halves of the shattered spirit tablet with both hands and glanced left and right, his eyes thoughtful.
After a while, she turned around and looked at Liu Shi, "Third Aunt, are you sure that the pomegranate really knocked it over?"
Mrs. Liu was a little hesitant at this moment, and her voice was a little weaker, "I was directing the servants outside, so I didn't see the details, but most of the maids inside said that Pomegranate knocked it down, not to mention your maid. Yingluo also said that it was Pomegranate who touched the spirit tablet first, and then the spirit tablet fell down. I think it has something to do with her no matter what."
"Really?" Jing Se sneered, and glanced at Liu Shi and Su Aoyu. She vaguely felt that today's incident had something to do with Su Aoyu, but it had been a long time since the incident happened, and she couldn't find evidence for the time being, so she had to Looking at Mrs. Liu, he asked her: "Third Aunt, let me ask you, before today, who came to the ancestral hall?"
Mrs. Liu said in surprise: "Miss, don't talk nonsense. If you want to worship the ancestors and open the ancestral hall, who would dare to come to the important place of the ancestral hall without the orders of the old master and the old lady?"
Jing Se raised her eyebrows, "So, before today, no one has ever been to the ancestral hall, is it?"
Facing Jingse's eyes, Liu's heart panicked. Although she had never seen pomegranate overturning the spiritual seat, Jingse's confident appearance really made her feel scared. After all, she was in charge of the family not long ago. If the crime of "slandering the maidservants" is brought to the old lady, then her days as the wife in charge of the house will come to an end.
"Third Aunt?" Jing Se looked at her, "Why don't you talk anymore?"
Su Aoyu also said, "Third siblings, Arthur asked if you can guarantee that no one has visited the ancestral hall before today. Yes, yes, no, no. What do you mean by hesitating?"
Liu's heart trembled, she clenched her fingers, bit her lips and said, "I can guarantee that no one will come to the ancestral hall before today."
When she said these words, Liu's heart was flustered. She had to answer Jingse's question no matter what, and she could guarantee that no one would come. It was the fault of her wife in charge, and the consequences would be even more serious than she had imagined.
With another sneer, Jing Se said: "Since that's the case, then we have to go to the old lady to reason."
When Liu Shi heard this, she immediately softened her hands and feet, and looked at Jing Se in fear, "Arthur, what do you have to say, say it now, if you can solve it, we will solve it together, if you can't solve it, we will find a way to solve it, and we will soon It's New Year's Eve, if such an unlucky thing is brought up to the old lady, wouldn't it make her feel bad?"
Jing Se's expression was indifferent, "Third Aunt, it's not that I'm making a big fuss, but you said it yourself, the overturning of the ancestor's spiritual seat is not a trivial matter, no matter how you hide this matter, it will eventually reach the old lady. But now I still have many doubts about this matter, and I haven't been able to make a decision for a while, so I want to call my third aunt and mother to the old lady to discuss it, hoping to finally discuss right and wrong."
After all, Jing Se looked at Su Aoyu deliberately, and asked with a smile, "Mother, what do you think?"
Su Aoyu also smiled back, and said calmly and calmly: "Arthur is right, there must be a conclusion on this matter no matter what, otherwise tomorrow the tribe will come to worship the ancestors, how can we explain to others?"
Jing Se's eyes flickered, why is Su Aoyu so calm?
Could this matter really have nothing to do with her?
Mrs. Liu lowered her head dejectedly, "Well, let's go to the old lady right now."
Jing Se asked people to bring pomegranates, and a group of people went to the Millennium Hall in a mighty manner.
The old lady only heard about the general course of the matter, and her face was already gloomy and terrifying.
"Presumptuous!" She slapped the table heavily, "Which courtyard does that maidservant belong to? She is too courageous to do such disrespectful things to her ancestors!"
Mrs. Liu whispered: "Hui old lady, that maid is Mu Yunju's pomegranate."
The old lady was taken aback, then looked at Jing Se, "Arthur, is that your maid?"
Jing Se nodded, "According to what they said, the person who overturned the spiritual seat was my servant girl."
The old lady heard something wrong with her tone, and hurriedly asked: "Why, is there something strange here?"
"I don't know if there is something wrong." Jing Se said, "But I have a few questions, and I want to ask them in front of everyone."
After finishing speaking, she asked someone to present the spirit tablet.
The old lady frowned when she saw that she had openly brought the spirit tablet to the Millennium Hall.
Jing Se walked over and knelt down, "Grandmother, forgive me, but my granddaughter has no choice but to do this."
Seeing Jingse kneeling in front of the spiritual tablet, all the maids and women in the back also quickly knelt down, and even Liushi and Su Aoyu slowly knelt on the ground.
Jingse held the tray with the spiritual tablet in both hands, and continued: "When the granddaughter went to the ancestral hall, they both insisted on their own opinions and argued endlessly. No one could tell the truth of the matter, so I That’s why I came up with the idea of letting the old lady decide.”
The old lady's face was relaxed, but she was still a little displeased, "You might as well tell me, how do you want me to help you make this decision?"
Jing Se turned her eyes, looked at Liu Shi, and repeated her previous question, "Third Aunt, let me ask you again, are you sure that no one has gone to the ancestral hall quietly before today?"
Now, what can the Liu family say, naturally they can only bite the bullet and say: "I'm sure, except for today I took the maids to clean, during the period when I was in charge of the house, no one went in."
Mrs. Jing was puzzled, "Why did Arthur ask such a question?"
Jing Se said: "Because I found that there are traces of glue on the break of the spiritual bit."
As soon as these words came out, Liu's face turned pale, and the old lady's eyes widened, "What did you say?"
Jing Se said: "If grandma doesn't believe it, she can come forward and check for herself."
Mrs. Jing naturally didn't believe it, so she stood up tremblingly and walked towards Jing Se, her eyes were fixed on the broken part of the spiritual position, and she saw some traces of white glue.
The old lady was furious immediately, "What's going on?"
Liu's whole body trembled. This matter really had nothing to do with her. She also heard the maids say that the pomegranate had overturned the spiritual seat, so she hurriedly condemned the pomegranate. She never doubted the authenticity of this at all, let alone whether someone would take the opportunity to frame her, but now that she heard Jing Se's evidence, Liu's heart was ashamed for a moment, and she knew that she would be severely punished.
Su Aoyu lowered her head, her lips raised slightly.
Naturally, the matter of the spiritual position has nothing to do with Liu Shi, but has something to do with her.
Not long after Jing Se returned to the mansion, Su Aoyu was punished to kneel down in the ancestral hall after losing to Jing Se. Before that, she had always been the high-ranking mistress. She had never been punished like this, so after entering the ancestral hall, Su Aoyu sent a message After a good fire, he accidentally knocked over the spiritual seat and broke it.
No one knew about this matter until now, but she was also worried about it for a long time, afraid that the old lady or others would accidentally enter the ancestral hall and show it.But fortunately, after the Liu family took over the power of the family, Su Aoyu thought of a plan.
She has the backup key of the ancestral hall, sneaked in last night and glued the two halves of the spiritual tablet together with white glue, and then suggested to Mrs. Liu this morning to go to each house and courtyard to choose some maids with good hands and feet to clean.
It was the first time for the Liu family to be in charge of the family, so they naturally thought that what Su Aoyu said was reasonable, so they soon sent people to choose maidservants in various courtyards.
Su Aoyu took this opportunity to bribe the big girl sent by the Liu family to choose the maid, and told her to choose the pomegranate in Mu Yunju, and then let the pomegranate clean the spiritual seat.
In fact, according to the current relationship between Su Aoyu and Jing Se, Su Aoyu will not frame Jing Se's maid for no reason, after all Jing Se has the grace to save Jing Wanbai's life.
But unfortunately, Pomegranate's appearance threatened Su Aoyu, making her feel uneasy, and she couldn't sleep well at night. Although she had someone check Pomegranate's background in private and found nothing suspicious, she still didn't give up. That incident was about to be exposed back then, so no matter whether Shiliu's identity was related to that secret or not, Su Aoyu felt that Shiliu must never be retained.
Therefore, Su Aoyu planned to set the blame on Pomegranate by putting all the blame for overturning the spiritual position on Pomegranate, and deliberately left traces of white glue on the fracture, in order to let the clever Jing Se discover the clues and cause trouble to the old lady. Come, prove that although Pomegranate has touched the spiritual position, in fact the spiritual position has been tampered with long ago. In this way, Mrs. Liu can't tell. After all, she didn't guard the ancestral hall well. fault.
Su Aoyu set up this game, which can not only successfully drive Pomegranate out of the house, but also make Liu's family lose the power of the family because of this, which is really killing two birds with one stone.And she, a bystander, only needs to watch the whole process with a cold eye, and then she can easily regain the power of the family.
Seeing the old lady's furious look, Jing Se said: "Grandmother, it's obvious that someone overturned the spirit seat and glued it up with white glue. Unfortunately, my maid overturned it again, so I took advantage of the situation to marry disaster."
Liu's face turned pale, "How is it possible..."
Jing Se turned her head and looked at Mrs. Liu, "Third Aunt, I also want to ask, how is it possible that when Pomegranate went to the ancestral hall for the first time, she just overturned this spiritual seat. What's more, when the spiritual seat was overturned, Pomegranate was overthrown." You caught her and knelt outside the ancestral hall and slapped her a few times. From this point of view, she has no time to prepare white glue to stick the spirit seat. So, where did these white glue come from?"
Liu's lips trembled, her pitiful eyes were helpless, "I, I don't know."
Jing Se looked at her coldly, "Didn't the third aunt promise that since you took charge of the family, and before today, no one will ever enter the ancestral hall?"
Liu Shi was trembling all over, her lips turned white, and she couldn't answer anything.
Seeing this, the old lady was even more furious, and fixed her cold eyes on Mrs. Liu, "Third daughter-in-law, how did you manage the family? Someone sneaked into such an important place like the ancestral hall. That's all, to overturn the spiritual seat and blaspheme the ancestors is simply audacious!"
Mrs. Liu hurriedly cried: "Forgive me, Madam, my wife really doesn't know that someone sneaked into the ancestral hall and committed such evil deeds."
Jing Se's face became colder, "Third Aunt, if I don't find out today, you will wrong my maid."
Although Jing Se thinks that this matter probably has nothing to do with Liu Shi, but she is dismayed by Liu Shi's way of dealing with things, that she would deal with her privately without asking indiscriminately, so Jing Se doesn't plan to help Liu Shi today, but wants to see how she can struggle until what time.
Mrs. Liu burst into tears, "Old madam is aware, my daughter-in-law really doesn't know why someone sneaked into the ancestral hall."
Su Aoyu took the opportunity to say: "Third siblings, you have the key to the ancestral hall, how can outsiders get in?"
This sentence is to accuse that the person who overturned the spiritual seat is probably Liu himself.
"Sister-in-law, don't accuse me wrongly without evidence!" Liu Shi looked at Su Aoyu in horror, "What am I doing in the ancestral hall?"
Su Aoyu said: "I don't know about that. The purpose of those who do things secretly is always unknown."
Liu's face turned even paler, "Sister-in-law, what do you mean?"
Su Aoyu didn't say anything, just looked at the old lady.
The old lady snarled, "Enough!"
Turning to look at Jing Se, the old lady asked, "Arthur, today's matter concerns your maidservant. Give me an explanation, how should you deal with it?"
Jing Se said: "Pomegranate has indeed overturned the spiritual position, so the punishment is certain. As for the person behind the scene, I am afraid that the third aunt will have to find out in person. Today is the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and tomorrow morning the clansmen will come Now that we have come to offer sacrifices to our ancestors, the most important thing to solve right now is to invite another ancestor spirit tablet to come back to make up the vacancy, so as not to be unable to explain to the clansmen tomorrow."
The old lady nodded in satisfaction, "You're right." Looking at Liu Shi, "Third daughter-in-law, for the sake of New Year's Eve, I don't care about it, I'll give you ten days, if you can't find it If you find out who did it, then don’t blame me for being ruthless."
Liu's heart relaxed, and she thanked again and again, "Thank you, old lady."
The old lady gave her a cold look, "You should thank Arthur, my niece, for her generosity. If she has the heart to argue with you today, I'm sorry you can't tell why."
Liu Shi glanced at Jing Se gratefully, but Jing Se remained expressionless and turned a blind eye.
"Madam, my daughter-in-law has a word." Su Aoyu took the opportunity to say.
The old lady looked down, "Say."
Su Aoyu said: "Pomegranate, a servant girl, overturned her spirit seat and offended her ancestors. If she continues to stay in the house, I'm afraid it will be bad."
After Jing Se heard the words, she narrowed her eyes. Could it be that driving pomegranate out of the mansion is Su Aoyu's ultimate goal?
The old lady felt very reasonable, looked at Jing Se, and said, "Arthur, this maid who just entered the mansion is so messy, why don't you sell her, and after a few days, I'll buy a few more for you Choose, what do you think?"
Jing Se said: "Mother's words are wrong. Although Pomegranate overturned the ancestor's spiritual position, it was because of her actions that we discovered the heinous person behind him who deserved to be struck by lightning and harvested by heaven. Pomegranate is clearly replacing the ancestors." Guide us to find the real culprit, why did you come to confront me?"
"This..." Su Aoyu was momentarily at a loss for words.
The old lady also frowned, she had to admit that Jing Se's words were completely flawless.
Looking at the old lady, Jing Se said: "Grandmother, the pomegranate is sloppy because she has only been in the mansion for a few days, but the third aunt is the master of the mansion. When she was picking a maid to take to clean, didn't she know that pomegranate was Is my Mu Yunju a new maid? Why do I have to choose her instead of others? There are at least eight or nine maids in my Mu Yunju from the first-class maid to the sweeping maid. Why does the third aunt look down on others? Let the pomegranate go?"
Jing Se's series of questions made Liu's speechless. Up to now, she can only eat Coptis chinensis in silence, bow her head and admit her mistake, "Old lady, it's true that my daughter-in-law didn't think carefully about this matter."
Mrs. Jing looked at Liu Shi with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
Jing Se said again: "I said earlier that Pomegranate must be punished, but she is just a new maid. As the saying goes, those who don't know are not guilty, and the biggest crime is not on her. If it is a heavy punishment, it will be unjustifiable, but it will appear to be a serious punishment." As masters, we are not considerate of new maidservants, and we have a bad reputation if we spread it out. So, what do grandma think about punishing pomegranates for two months?"
Jing Se's words blocked all escape routes, neither the old lady nor Su Aoyu could find more convincing words to refute her.
After thinking for a moment, the old lady nodded, "Okay, then, according to what Arthur said, we will deduct two months from Pomegranate's maid. As for the person behind the scenes, the third daughter-in-law has to hurry up and investigate, otherwise she will not be able to find out." , I will only ask you!"
Liu Shi nodded again and again, "Daughter-in-law knows."
The originally joyous New Year's Day was disturbed by such an unlucky incident. The old lady looked a little tired between her brows. She waved her hand, "Everyone back down."
In the end, he ordered Liu Shi, "Arrange it, and quickly invite the ancestor's spirit seat to enshrine."
Liu shi wiped away tears while responding, and not long after, she left the Millennium Hall with everyone.
Su Aoyu was very reconciled to not being able to get rid of the pomegranates, but today is still a good harvest, at least Liu's left a bad impression in the heart of the old lady, which is a great joy for her.
When Jing Se came out of the Millennium Hall, she saw Pomegranate still kneeling outside the door, so she waved her hand slightly, "Get up."
Shiliu stood up slowly, lowered her head and followed behind Jingse.
After returning to Muyunju, Jingse deliberately screened Yingluo away, leaving only Qing'er, and asked Pomegranate to come to see her.
After Pomegranate came in, she knelt on the ground directly, not daring to vent her breath.
"Do you know what trouble you got into today?" Jing Se looked down at her with a slightly cold look.
"Your servant knows your mistake." Shiliu prostrated herself on the ground, her voice weak.
Jing Se sneered, "Know your mistake? Where did you go wrong?"
Shi Liu said: "The servant girl's hands and feet are not quick, and she overturned the ancestor's spiritual seat."
Jing Se's pupils shrank slightly, "Since the truth has been revealed and proved that you didn't do it, why do you still take the guilt on yourself?"
Pomegranate pursed her lips and remained silent.
Jing Se looked at her, and suddenly said: "Pomegranate, do you know that someone in this mansion wants to kill you?"
Pomegranate's body trembled while lying on the ground.
Jing Se continued to casually say: "Do you know why you were targeted just after entering the mansion?"
Shiliu's face was already pale, contrary to her usual calmness, her heart was beating violently.
Jing Se picked up the teacup, "I don't know what your purpose of coming to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion is, but let me tell you, without my protection, your little life will soon perish. A little maid like you can understand. The masters want to kill you, it's just a blink of an eye."
Pomegranate's eyes were moist, and she bit her lower lip lightly.
"Therefore." Jing Se continued: "If you want to save your life, tell me your true identity and the purpose of coming to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. I dare not say that I will help you achieve your goal, but I want to keep you alive." Fate, I still have this ability."
Qing'er frowned and glared at Shi Liu, "Miss has already talked about this point, how can you be so ignorant, you girl, could it be that you want to talk about today's matter a few more times?"
Shiliu shook her head violently, her voice was crying, "Miss, it's not that I don't want to say it, but I don't know where to start."
"Oh?" Jing Se was slightly puzzled, "How do you say that?"
Shiliu's complexion was gloomy, and she said slowly: "The slave girl was originally from Linjia Village, Wanping County. Soon after she was born, people in the village spread rumors that the slave girl was not born to my father, but my mother married me after she was pregnant with me. My father has a bad temper, and because of this, he often drank and beat me and my mother. He even sold me to a big family in the town as a slave for two years in order to get money to buy wine. Later, that family fell into decline , Nubi was finally able to return home, but Nubi's mother died of illness long ago, and later the neighbor's grandmother quietly told Nubi that my mother had told her about my life experience before she died, and told her to tell me."
Jing Se's eyes moved, "Are you really not your father's biological daughter?"
"No." Shiliu shook her head, "Grandma said, my mother carried me out from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion in Jinling City."
The complexion changed, and Jing Se stared at Shiliu's face. Seeing that she didn't mean to lie, she withdrew her senses, and then denied, "This is impossible!"
Jing Yuhuan only had two aunts from the beginning to the end, why is it such a big deal that someone was kicked out while pregnant, even Qing'er didn't know about it?
"My servant dare not lie." Shiliu cried, "Grandma really told this to my servant."
Qing'er was even more puzzled, "What's your mother's name?"
Shiliu said: "My servant's mother's name is Qinglian."
"Qinglian?" Qing'er exclaimed.
"Yes." Shiliu nodded, "Slaves would never dare to lie in front of the eldest lady."
Jingse noticed Qing'er's strangeness, and quickly made pomegranate retreat.
After Pomegranate walked away, Jing Se looked at Qing'er and asked her, "Do you know this 'Qinglian'?"
Qing'er nodded, "Qing Lian is Da Furen's servant girl, and she was kicked out of the mansion by Da Furen for some reason. But these were told by the old people to the servants. After so many years, the old people in the Youxiang Mansion They have been replaced long ago, and only Aunt Xue is the oldest one staying in the mansion, so she should know the truth."
Jing Se fell into deep thought. Could it be that his previous guesses were all wrong? Jing Yuhuan did not take advantage of the disaster relief time to go out to find women, but after Su Aoyu married in, he accidentally had an affair with the maid beside Su Aoyu, causing Su Aoyu Drive that maid named "Qinglian" out of the mansion in a rage?
But in this way, it doesn't make sense.
Generally speaking, with Jing Yuhuan's identity, if he marries Su Aoyu, then Su Aoyu's maid will eventually become his concubine.
In other words, even if Jing Yuhuan had an affair with Qinglian unintentionally, it is perfectly normal. Why did Su Aoyu drive Qinglian out of the house?
And according to the news from Qing'er's inquiries, when Qinglian married Pomegranate's father, she had a lot of money with her, and she was able to help Pomegranate's father pay off his debts.
Qinglian is Su Aoyu's maidservant, so after she leaves the mansion, Su Aoyu can only give her so much money.
Then with such a push, it is impossible for Qinglian to be kicked out of the mansion by Su Aoyu, but negotiated to leave the mansion.
Su Aoyu gave a maid a lot of money to let her go out of the house?
Which one is this playing?
The more Jing Se thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. She stood up and went directly to the outer courtyard to find Jing Yuhuan.
Jing Yuhuan was instructing his servants to clean his yard. Seeing Jing Se coming over, he was a little surprised, "Why is Arthur free to come to the outer courtyard?"
Jing Se's face was a little dignified, "Father, I have something to ask you."
Jing Yuhuan heard something was wrong, he took Jing Se to a place where no one was around, and then asked, "What's the matter?"
Jing Se looked into Jing Yuhuan's eyes, "Do you know a maid named 'Qinglian'?"
Jing Yuhuan thought about it carefully, "I have some impressions, it seems to be the maid who stayed in the house many years ago, why did you suddenly ask her?"
"It's nothing." Jing Se said: "The house was being cleaned today. I accidentally turned to the list of maids in the house. I saw Qinglian and learned that she was the mother's companion. Logically, Qinglian should be of the same generation as Aunt Xue. People, Aunt Xue still stays at the mansion, but this one named 'Qinglian' has gone missing, I'm just curious."
Jing Yuhuan said: "It's just a maid, how can it be worth your time?"
Jing Se saw that there was no evasion in his expression, he didn't seem to be lying, and he was even more puzzled, "Father really doesn't remember who Qinglian is?"
Jing Yuhuan frowned again and thought about it, but still shook his head, "It's probably because she stayed in the house for a short time, I don't know about others, but I really don't have much impression."
Jing Se's eyes moved slightly, she nodded and said with a smile: "Then I will trouble my father."
Jing Se started to leave, but Jing Yuhuan called her, "Your second uncle will be back in a while, after you go back, let your younger sisters prepare to meet him."
Jing Se responded, and quickly returned to the inner courtyard.
Qing'er guessed that Jing Se must be looking for Jing Yuhuan, so after seeing her come back, she asked softly, "Miss, what did you find out?"
Jing Se shook her head, "I don't think my father is lying at all. He said that he can't remember Qinglian. If Qinglian really went out from the right minister's house with her body pregnant, then such a big thing, father Why don't you have any impression?"
Jing Se still felt something was wrong, she asked Qing'er to take a look at Pomegranate's roster, and found that Pomegranate was three months older than Jing Wanbai.
In other words, before Su Aoyu was pregnant with Jing Wanbai, Qinglian was pregnant with pomegranate first.
Then, according to Su Aoyu's temperament, even if she didn't take the opportunity to execute Qinglian, she would try her best to drive Qinglian out, but why did she give her so much money when Qinglian left?
This is simply too unbelievable!
Jing Se rubbed her forehead.
It seems that things are not as simple as she imagined, and there must be hidden secrets in it.
If we want to investigate this matter, we must start with Aunt Xue from Linglong Courtyard.
*
Not long after, Miao Er came running out of breath and said, "Miss, the aunt of the second room is back."
Jing Se was taken aback, "Where is Second Uncle?"
Miao Er said: "I heard from the wives in the outer court that the second master went directly to the palace to report on his duties, and asked my aunt to bring the young masters and ladies to the mansion first. Now I am afraid that I have already arrived at the Millennium Hall. Do you want the eldest lady?" Go and have a look?"
Jing Se sat still, and said: "Second uncle hasn't come back yet, let's not move for now, if someone from the Millennium Hall will come over to pass on a message, it won't be too late for us to go, after all, it's just my aunt who came, and I She's a prostitute, so there's no reason to go and see her."
Qing'er echoed: "Miss is right, you are the eldest daughter, there is no reason for you to visit the concubine's room in person."
The three of them were talking, when Mo Mei, the eldest maid of the Millennium Hall, came over to pass on a message, "Miss, Aunt He from the second bedroom has returned with a gift for the New Year, and the old lady asked you to go there in person."
Jing Se raised her eyebrows, thinking that this aunt who had never met before was quite polite, but she didn't know if it was just for face or out of sincerity.
Mo Mei came to deliver the message in person, and Jing Se naturally had no reason to shirk. She stood up and followed Mo Mei to the Millennium Hall.
Jing Wanbai, Jing Shurao and many other people were already sitting inside, Jing Nanqing's expression was the most ugly, she kept staring at the hall secretly.
Jing Se followed Jing Nanqing's line of sight, and saw a woman about 25 years old standing in the middle hall, wearing pink embroidered peach blossom long skirt, light yellow osmanthus embroidered silver red horse face skirt, and beeswax inlaid hair With a water-drop red gold step, a slender waist, an overhanging figure, and a slight smile on his lips, he looks particularly approachable.
This person is the second master Jing Yutang's concubine, Aunt He.Beside her stood two children, the older one was a girl, about ten years old, and the younger one was a boy, about five or six years old, about the same size as Haohao.
Seeing Jing Se coming in, Aunt He pulled the two children and turned around, and said: "Ming'er, Rong'er, I met your big sister."
The two children saluted very politely.
"Ming'er (Rong'er) has met the eldest sister."
Jing Se touched the heads of the two children and said with a smile, "You two have such sweet mouths, but my sister forgot to prepare a red envelope. I will make a big red envelope for you tomorrow night, okay?"
Jing Ming and Jing Rong shook their heads together, "We can't ask for sister's red envelope."
"Why?" Jing Se raised an eyebrow in doubt.
Jing Rong is the older sister, she was more polite, she knelt down and said, "My aunt said, we should be the ones who give my sister a gift when we meet for the first time."
After finishing speaking, Jing Rong took two brocade boxes from the side and handed them to Jing Se, saying, "Sister, this is a gift for the Spring Festival, I hope you don't dislike it."
Jing Se took it, opened it, and saw a finely crafted windproof blanket in one brocade box, and a lacquered makeup dowry box in the other brocade box. Although the two items were not considered first-class, they were absolutely indistinguishable. vulgar.
This kind of gift will not make people find out that Aunt He is a concubine but has money and extravagance, and it will not make people feel that the gift is too shabby.
With a thought in Jing Se's mind, this Aunt He is actually a very delicate person.
Dear ones, Happy Friday O(∩_∩)O
(End of this chapter)
Time went back to the morning of the day before New Year's Eve, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and the Right Prime Minister's mansion is already so busy that they don't touch the ground. The Liu family took people to clean the ancestral hall early in the morning. Yuwei each received the annual bounty and came back.
Jing Yuhuan received 200 taels of gold, and the third master, Jing Yuwei, who had a lower official position, received 500 taels of silver.
As a direct descendant, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion also enshrines the ancestral hall, so it is rare for Pangzhi people to send people to ask the ancestors about the opening date of the ancestral hall.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the middle gates of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion were wide open from [-] o'clock in the morning, and the clansmen kept coming in and out.
Jing Se got up early in the morning and went to the Millennium Hall with her sisters. Whenever people from the clan came to salute Mrs. Jing, the sisters had to help distribute the Spring Festival gifts.
In a year, these few days are the busiest, it is rare for Mrs. Jing to see so many offspring, and she is so happy from ear to ear.
Today, people from the clan came to ask about the time of worshiping the ancestors, but not the real day of worshiping the ancestors, so there were not too many people, and they dispersed almost at noon.
At this time, Mammy Xie came in, walked to Mrs. Jing's side, and asked in a low voice if he would pass on the meal now.
Mrs. Jing glanced at the granddaughters of the concubines, thought for a moment, looked at Jing Se and the others with a smile, and said, "Arthur, your second uncle will return home today, and the letter said that he will arrive at about noon. Since we have only just come back this trip, we will be a little bit tired, and we will use some snacks as a base first, and we will hold the banquet together when he comes back, what do you think?"
Although Mrs. Jing's tone was inquiring, the meaning in her words was already self-evident: before the second master comes back, no one can eat first, so as not to break the rules.
Now Jing Wan Bai automatically stood on the same line with Jing Se, so she didn't speak, and glanced towards Jing Se without any trace.
Jing Wan Bai didn't speak, and Jing Shurao naturally had no reason to speak, so she also looked at Jing Se.
Jing Shudi is even more timid and cowardly, she has the least sense of existence, she keeps drooping her head, wondering what she is thinking.
The one who is about to return home is Jing Nanqing's biological father. As a daughter, she is excited and has no objection to the old lady's arrangement.
Jing Se took everyone's expressions into his eyes one by one, and then smiled and said to the old lady: "Since it is to welcome the second uncle, then we juniors should obey grandma's arrangement, and do what you say."
The old lady nodded in satisfaction, and said: "You guys should be tired after working all morning, go back and rest first, it won't be too late to come out to greet the second master when he comes back."
When Jingse and the others heard this, they all bowed their knees and bowed to leave.
After Jing Se returned to Muyun Residence, Qing'er brought some snacks, "Miss, it looks like this, it's still early for dinner, you might as well use the snacks to pad your stomach first, otherwise it's not good to be hungry all of a sudden. "
Jing se picked up a piece of hazelnut cake, a little absent-minded.
Qing'er saw it, and asked her, "Did Miss encounter any problems?"
Jing Se frowned, "Qing'er, did the second master have a concubine in office?"
Qing'er nodded and said: "Yes, we have such a rule in the Western Qin Dynasty, the wives and children of the officials who have been sent out must stay in Jinling, but officials can take concubines when they are in office, so many children of officials who have been sent out There are few concubines and many concubines, and even doting on concubines and destroying wives is common."
Speaking of this, Qing'er was slightly puzzled, "Miss, do you think something is wrong?"
Jing se shook her head and said nothing.
She didn't think there was anything wrong, after all, Xiqin had such a rule, and the second uncle had nothing to do with it. What she was worried about was that the second uncle would favor his concubine son and concubine daughter more and neglect Jing Lan, a concubine.
After all, Jing Lan is Xia Mu's cousin anyway. Although she seldom interacts with the Second Household after returning home, it doesn't mean she doesn't care about the Second Household.
She still secretly observes the movement in the second room.
Although Jing Lan seems to have nothing to do, he is actually thoughtful and has a very deep city, so he is definitely a person not to be underestimated.
If he can get the favor of the second master, then Jing Lan's future will not be too difficult.
But if the second master doesn't want to see this son-in-law, it will be a little troublesome.
Thinking of this, Jing Se felt faintly worried.
Not long after, a maid from another yard hurried in, knelt outside the door, and said out of breath, "Miss, it's not good, that pomegranate in your yard has committed a crime and caused the third lady to die." Angry."
Qing'er was startled.
Jing Se also narrowed her eyes, full of thoughts in her heart.
Mrs. Liu has never been against Jing Se. Even if Jing Se's maid occasionally makes some small mistakes, Mrs. Liu will just turn a blind eye and close her eyes for Jing Se's sake. When she didn't let it go, the maid said that the pomegranate made the third lady angry, so she must have committed a serious crime.
With this in mind, Jing Se looked at Qing'er and asked, "Why isn't pomegranate in Mu Yunju?"
Qing'er hurriedly said: "Miss, you went to the Millennium Hall early in the morning to receive the people of the Pangzhi tribe, maybe you didn't know that the third lady brought a group of people to clean the ancestral hall. It was originally planned to let the maids from the outer courtyard go, But after all, the ancestral hall is an important ancestral hall that has to be opened to the clansmen to worship tomorrow. The third lady felt that the maids were messy and afraid that they could not do it well, so after asking the old lady for instructions, she picked out the maids from various houses and courtyards. We took them with us, and we brought pomegranates and gemstones to our yard."
"So that's how it is." Jing Se suddenly looked at the maid who was kneeling outside, and asked, "Then do you know what exactly happened to Pomegranate?"
The servant girl faltered and said: "I heard that pomegranate accidentally knocked over the ancestral tablet, and the third lady happened to see it, and now I am angry!"
Jing Se collected herself, motioned the maid to get up, and said, "Take me there to have a look."
"Miss." Qing'er called Jing Se, and asked with concern: "Do you want this servant to follow you?"
"No need." Jing Se shook her head, "You stay and guard the yard. If the second uncle comes later, please come and notify me as soon as possible."
Qing'er nodded, and watched Jing Se walk out of Mu Yunju.
Jing Se followed the maid all the way to the ancestral hall, and sure enough, she saw a group of people outside, all maids from various houses and courtyards.
Voices continued to be heard from among the crowd.
"You servant girl is too courageous. You dare to overturn the ancestor's spiritual seat. You know where the ancestral hall is. You are so sloppy, how dare my wife use you?"
It was the voice of the third lady.
"The third younger sibling is now in charge of the family, but she is just a maid who has committed a crime. Why do you hesitate? According to me, it is better to report to the old lady and sell it. After all, it has been here for so many days. Learn to behave, such slaves staying in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion are also a disaster, not a climate."
The one who spoke was Su Aoyu.
Jing Se's eyebrows twitched, why did Su Aoyu just happen to appear outside the ancestral hall?
Thinking of this, she quickly pushed aside the crowd and walked over, and saw Pomegranate kneeling on the ground, with clear five finger marks on both cheeks, swollen as high as fermented dough, apparently severely beaten.
Glancing at Su Aoyu lightly, Jing Se looked at Mrs. Liu and asked, "What made Third Aunt so angry?"
Seeing Jing Se coming, Liu's face showed embarrassment, "Arthur, when you were cleaning the ancestral hall, you knocked over the ancestor's spiritual tablet, and it fell into two pieces. This is a big deal, so many people see it Now, if I don't punish her, won't it be difficult to silence the people?"
Yingluo was originally standing aside anxiously, but when she saw Jingse coming, she was overjoyed, and her whole body gained confidence, she stepped forward, looked at Liu Shi and said, "Mrs. of."
Liu looked over, "What do you mean?"
Jing Se also looked at Yingluo suspiciously, and asked in a low voice, "How do you know?"
Yingluo lowered her head and said in a low voice, "The servant clearly saw the pomegranate and just accidentally touched it lightly, and the spiritual tablet fell down. What's even more strange is that the spiritual tablet broke into two halves before it landed on the ground."
Su Aoyu sneered, and looked at Jing Se, "Arthur, you girl's words are so scary, if according to what she said, wouldn't it be that the spiritual tablet fell from the altar and broke into two halves by itself?"
Yingluo also knew that her words could not convince anyone, so she looked at Jingse with pleading eyes. Now, she can only beg Miss Biao to believe in herself.
Jing Se frowned, looked at Shiliu who was kneeling on the ground, and asked her, "Did you overturn the ancestor's spiritual seat?"
Shiliu bit her lip, raised her eyelids to look at Jingse, hesitated for a while, and said softly: "Miss, the servant just touched it lightly when cleaning the altar, and didn't expect..."
Liu Shi said: "You see she has admitted it herself, if I still ignore it, and it will spread to the old lady's ears in a while, then she should accuse me of not being strict in family management."
Su Aoyu also said: "Arthur, mother knows that you have always been kind-hearted and never easily beat and scolded servants, but this time Pomegranate really caused a catastrophe, even if you wanted to protect her, the broken ancestor's spiritual tablet is now It’s still in the ancestral hall for everyone to see, so you can’t say that so many of us slandered her?”
Thinking back and forth, Jing Se didn't give a direct answer, but looked at Liu Shi, "Take me to the ancestral hall."
"This..." Mrs. Liu suddenly looked embarrassed, "It's not yet time to open the ancestral hall, the young miss is not allowed to come in and out at will."
Jing Se's face was slightly cold, "You said that my maid overturned the ancestor's spiritual throne, and said that I can't go in and out of the ancestral hall. Do you still want to find evidence to deal with this maid?"
Liu was at a loss for words for a moment.
Su Aoyu looked at her and said: "Third brothers and sisters, Arthur is the first daughter, it is not impossible to go in and out of the ancestral hall. Since she insists, you let her go in and have a look. Tomorrow will worship the ancestors. If today's matter cannot be handled Well, when the old lady and the old man blame it, none of us can bear that responsibility."
After thinking about it, Liu thought it was right, so she nodded to Jing Se.
Jing Se asked Yingluo to stand outside and look at the pomegranate, while she herself went to the ancestral hall with Liu Shi and Su Aoyu.
Sure enough, an ancestor spiritual tablet was overturned, and now it is being taken out and placed on the altar.
Jing Se's heart shuddered, and he walked over to have a look. The body of the tablet was separated from the base, and there were obvious signs of fracture in the middle.
Jing Se picked up the two halves of the shattered spirit tablet with both hands and glanced left and right, his eyes thoughtful.
After a while, she turned around and looked at Liu Shi, "Third Aunt, are you sure that the pomegranate really knocked it over?"
Mrs. Liu was a little hesitant at this moment, and her voice was a little weaker, "I was directing the servants outside, so I didn't see the details, but most of the maids inside said that Pomegranate knocked it down, not to mention your maid. Yingluo also said that it was Pomegranate who touched the spirit tablet first, and then the spirit tablet fell down. I think it has something to do with her no matter what."
"Really?" Jing Se sneered, and glanced at Liu Shi and Su Aoyu. She vaguely felt that today's incident had something to do with Su Aoyu, but it had been a long time since the incident happened, and she couldn't find evidence for the time being, so she had to Looking at Mrs. Liu, he asked her: "Third Aunt, let me ask you, before today, who came to the ancestral hall?"
Mrs. Liu said in surprise: "Miss, don't talk nonsense. If you want to worship the ancestors and open the ancestral hall, who would dare to come to the important place of the ancestral hall without the orders of the old master and the old lady?"
Jing Se raised her eyebrows, "So, before today, no one has ever been to the ancestral hall, is it?"
Facing Jingse's eyes, Liu's heart panicked. Although she had never seen pomegranate overturning the spiritual seat, Jingse's confident appearance really made her feel scared. After all, she was in charge of the family not long ago. If the crime of "slandering the maidservants" is brought to the old lady, then her days as the wife in charge of the house will come to an end.
"Third Aunt?" Jing Se looked at her, "Why don't you talk anymore?"
Su Aoyu also said, "Third siblings, Arthur asked if you can guarantee that no one has visited the ancestral hall before today. Yes, yes, no, no. What do you mean by hesitating?"
Liu's heart trembled, she clenched her fingers, bit her lips and said, "I can guarantee that no one will come to the ancestral hall before today."
When she said these words, Liu's heart was flustered. She had to answer Jingse's question no matter what, and she could guarantee that no one would come. It was the fault of her wife in charge, and the consequences would be even more serious than she had imagined.
With another sneer, Jing Se said: "Since that's the case, then we have to go to the old lady to reason."
When Liu Shi heard this, she immediately softened her hands and feet, and looked at Jing Se in fear, "Arthur, what do you have to say, say it now, if you can solve it, we will solve it together, if you can't solve it, we will find a way to solve it, and we will soon It's New Year's Eve, if such an unlucky thing is brought up to the old lady, wouldn't it make her feel bad?"
Jing Se's expression was indifferent, "Third Aunt, it's not that I'm making a big fuss, but you said it yourself, the overturning of the ancestor's spiritual seat is not a trivial matter, no matter how you hide this matter, it will eventually reach the old lady. But now I still have many doubts about this matter, and I haven't been able to make a decision for a while, so I want to call my third aunt and mother to the old lady to discuss it, hoping to finally discuss right and wrong."
After all, Jing Se looked at Su Aoyu deliberately, and asked with a smile, "Mother, what do you think?"
Su Aoyu also smiled back, and said calmly and calmly: "Arthur is right, there must be a conclusion on this matter no matter what, otherwise tomorrow the tribe will come to worship the ancestors, how can we explain to others?"
Jing Se's eyes flickered, why is Su Aoyu so calm?
Could this matter really have nothing to do with her?
Mrs. Liu lowered her head dejectedly, "Well, let's go to the old lady right now."
Jing Se asked people to bring pomegranates, and a group of people went to the Millennium Hall in a mighty manner.
The old lady only heard about the general course of the matter, and her face was already gloomy and terrifying.
"Presumptuous!" She slapped the table heavily, "Which courtyard does that maidservant belong to? She is too courageous to do such disrespectful things to her ancestors!"
Mrs. Liu whispered: "Hui old lady, that maid is Mu Yunju's pomegranate."
The old lady was taken aback, then looked at Jing Se, "Arthur, is that your maid?"
Jing Se nodded, "According to what they said, the person who overturned the spiritual seat was my servant girl."
The old lady heard something wrong with her tone, and hurriedly asked: "Why, is there something strange here?"
"I don't know if there is something wrong." Jing Se said, "But I have a few questions, and I want to ask them in front of everyone."
After finishing speaking, she asked someone to present the spirit tablet.
The old lady frowned when she saw that she had openly brought the spirit tablet to the Millennium Hall.
Jing Se walked over and knelt down, "Grandmother, forgive me, but my granddaughter has no choice but to do this."
Seeing Jingse kneeling in front of the spiritual tablet, all the maids and women in the back also quickly knelt down, and even Liushi and Su Aoyu slowly knelt on the ground.
Jingse held the tray with the spiritual tablet in both hands, and continued: "When the granddaughter went to the ancestral hall, they both insisted on their own opinions and argued endlessly. No one could tell the truth of the matter, so I That’s why I came up with the idea of letting the old lady decide.”
The old lady's face was relaxed, but she was still a little displeased, "You might as well tell me, how do you want me to help you make this decision?"
Jing Se turned her eyes, looked at Liu Shi, and repeated her previous question, "Third Aunt, let me ask you again, are you sure that no one has gone to the ancestral hall quietly before today?"
Now, what can the Liu family say, naturally they can only bite the bullet and say: "I'm sure, except for today I took the maids to clean, during the period when I was in charge of the house, no one went in."
Mrs. Jing was puzzled, "Why did Arthur ask such a question?"
Jing Se said: "Because I found that there are traces of glue on the break of the spiritual bit."
As soon as these words came out, Liu's face turned pale, and the old lady's eyes widened, "What did you say?"
Jing Se said: "If grandma doesn't believe it, she can come forward and check for herself."
Mrs. Jing naturally didn't believe it, so she stood up tremblingly and walked towards Jing Se, her eyes were fixed on the broken part of the spiritual position, and she saw some traces of white glue.
The old lady was furious immediately, "What's going on?"
Liu's whole body trembled. This matter really had nothing to do with her. She also heard the maids say that the pomegranate had overturned the spiritual seat, so she hurriedly condemned the pomegranate. She never doubted the authenticity of this at all, let alone whether someone would take the opportunity to frame her, but now that she heard Jing Se's evidence, Liu's heart was ashamed for a moment, and she knew that she would be severely punished.
Su Aoyu lowered her head, her lips raised slightly.
Naturally, the matter of the spiritual position has nothing to do with Liu Shi, but has something to do with her.
Not long after Jing Se returned to the mansion, Su Aoyu was punished to kneel down in the ancestral hall after losing to Jing Se. Before that, she had always been the high-ranking mistress. She had never been punished like this, so after entering the ancestral hall, Su Aoyu sent a message After a good fire, he accidentally knocked over the spiritual seat and broke it.
No one knew about this matter until now, but she was also worried about it for a long time, afraid that the old lady or others would accidentally enter the ancestral hall and show it.But fortunately, after the Liu family took over the power of the family, Su Aoyu thought of a plan.
She has the backup key of the ancestral hall, sneaked in last night and glued the two halves of the spiritual tablet together with white glue, and then suggested to Mrs. Liu this morning to go to each house and courtyard to choose some maids with good hands and feet to clean.
It was the first time for the Liu family to be in charge of the family, so they naturally thought that what Su Aoyu said was reasonable, so they soon sent people to choose maidservants in various courtyards.
Su Aoyu took this opportunity to bribe the big girl sent by the Liu family to choose the maid, and told her to choose the pomegranate in Mu Yunju, and then let the pomegranate clean the spiritual seat.
In fact, according to the current relationship between Su Aoyu and Jing Se, Su Aoyu will not frame Jing Se's maid for no reason, after all Jing Se has the grace to save Jing Wanbai's life.
But unfortunately, Pomegranate's appearance threatened Su Aoyu, making her feel uneasy, and she couldn't sleep well at night. Although she had someone check Pomegranate's background in private and found nothing suspicious, she still didn't give up. That incident was about to be exposed back then, so no matter whether Shiliu's identity was related to that secret or not, Su Aoyu felt that Shiliu must never be retained.
Therefore, Su Aoyu planned to set the blame on Pomegranate by putting all the blame for overturning the spiritual position on Pomegranate, and deliberately left traces of white glue on the fracture, in order to let the clever Jing Se discover the clues and cause trouble to the old lady. Come, prove that although Pomegranate has touched the spiritual position, in fact the spiritual position has been tampered with long ago. In this way, Mrs. Liu can't tell. After all, she didn't guard the ancestral hall well. fault.
Su Aoyu set up this game, which can not only successfully drive Pomegranate out of the house, but also make Liu's family lose the power of the family because of this, which is really killing two birds with one stone.And she, a bystander, only needs to watch the whole process with a cold eye, and then she can easily regain the power of the family.
Seeing the old lady's furious look, Jing Se said: "Grandmother, it's obvious that someone overturned the spirit seat and glued it up with white glue. Unfortunately, my maid overturned it again, so I took advantage of the situation to marry disaster."
Liu's face turned pale, "How is it possible..."
Jing Se turned her head and looked at Mrs. Liu, "Third Aunt, I also want to ask, how is it possible that when Pomegranate went to the ancestral hall for the first time, she just overturned this spiritual seat. What's more, when the spiritual seat was overturned, Pomegranate was overthrown." You caught her and knelt outside the ancestral hall and slapped her a few times. From this point of view, she has no time to prepare white glue to stick the spirit seat. So, where did these white glue come from?"
Liu's lips trembled, her pitiful eyes were helpless, "I, I don't know."
Jing Se looked at her coldly, "Didn't the third aunt promise that since you took charge of the family, and before today, no one will ever enter the ancestral hall?"
Liu Shi was trembling all over, her lips turned white, and she couldn't answer anything.
Seeing this, the old lady was even more furious, and fixed her cold eyes on Mrs. Liu, "Third daughter-in-law, how did you manage the family? Someone sneaked into such an important place like the ancestral hall. That's all, to overturn the spiritual seat and blaspheme the ancestors is simply audacious!"
Mrs. Liu hurriedly cried: "Forgive me, Madam, my wife really doesn't know that someone sneaked into the ancestral hall and committed such evil deeds."
Jing Se's face became colder, "Third Aunt, if I don't find out today, you will wrong my maid."
Although Jing Se thinks that this matter probably has nothing to do with Liu Shi, but she is dismayed by Liu Shi's way of dealing with things, that she would deal with her privately without asking indiscriminately, so Jing Se doesn't plan to help Liu Shi today, but wants to see how she can struggle until what time.
Mrs. Liu burst into tears, "Old madam is aware, my daughter-in-law really doesn't know why someone sneaked into the ancestral hall."
Su Aoyu took the opportunity to say: "Third siblings, you have the key to the ancestral hall, how can outsiders get in?"
This sentence is to accuse that the person who overturned the spiritual seat is probably Liu himself.
"Sister-in-law, don't accuse me wrongly without evidence!" Liu Shi looked at Su Aoyu in horror, "What am I doing in the ancestral hall?"
Su Aoyu said: "I don't know about that. The purpose of those who do things secretly is always unknown."
Liu's face turned even paler, "Sister-in-law, what do you mean?"
Su Aoyu didn't say anything, just looked at the old lady.
The old lady snarled, "Enough!"
Turning to look at Jing Se, the old lady asked, "Arthur, today's matter concerns your maidservant. Give me an explanation, how should you deal with it?"
Jing Se said: "Pomegranate has indeed overturned the spiritual position, so the punishment is certain. As for the person behind the scene, I am afraid that the third aunt will have to find out in person. Today is the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and tomorrow morning the clansmen will come Now that we have come to offer sacrifices to our ancestors, the most important thing to solve right now is to invite another ancestor spirit tablet to come back to make up the vacancy, so as not to be unable to explain to the clansmen tomorrow."
The old lady nodded in satisfaction, "You're right." Looking at Liu Shi, "Third daughter-in-law, for the sake of New Year's Eve, I don't care about it, I'll give you ten days, if you can't find it If you find out who did it, then don’t blame me for being ruthless."
Liu's heart relaxed, and she thanked again and again, "Thank you, old lady."
The old lady gave her a cold look, "You should thank Arthur, my niece, for her generosity. If she has the heart to argue with you today, I'm sorry you can't tell why."
Liu Shi glanced at Jing Se gratefully, but Jing Se remained expressionless and turned a blind eye.
"Madam, my daughter-in-law has a word." Su Aoyu took the opportunity to say.
The old lady looked down, "Say."
Su Aoyu said: "Pomegranate, a servant girl, overturned her spirit seat and offended her ancestors. If she continues to stay in the house, I'm afraid it will be bad."
After Jing Se heard the words, she narrowed her eyes. Could it be that driving pomegranate out of the mansion is Su Aoyu's ultimate goal?
The old lady felt very reasonable, looked at Jing Se, and said, "Arthur, this maid who just entered the mansion is so messy, why don't you sell her, and after a few days, I'll buy a few more for you Choose, what do you think?"
Jing Se said: "Mother's words are wrong. Although Pomegranate overturned the ancestor's spiritual position, it was because of her actions that we discovered the heinous person behind him who deserved to be struck by lightning and harvested by heaven. Pomegranate is clearly replacing the ancestors." Guide us to find the real culprit, why did you come to confront me?"
"This..." Su Aoyu was momentarily at a loss for words.
The old lady also frowned, she had to admit that Jing Se's words were completely flawless.
Looking at the old lady, Jing Se said: "Grandmother, the pomegranate is sloppy because she has only been in the mansion for a few days, but the third aunt is the master of the mansion. When she was picking a maid to take to clean, didn't she know that pomegranate was Is my Mu Yunju a new maid? Why do I have to choose her instead of others? There are at least eight or nine maids in my Mu Yunju from the first-class maid to the sweeping maid. Why does the third aunt look down on others? Let the pomegranate go?"
Jing Se's series of questions made Liu's speechless. Up to now, she can only eat Coptis chinensis in silence, bow her head and admit her mistake, "Old lady, it's true that my daughter-in-law didn't think carefully about this matter."
Mrs. Jing looked at Liu Shi with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
Jing Se said again: "I said earlier that Pomegranate must be punished, but she is just a new maid. As the saying goes, those who don't know are not guilty, and the biggest crime is not on her. If it is a heavy punishment, it will be unjustifiable, but it will appear to be a serious punishment." As masters, we are not considerate of new maidservants, and we have a bad reputation if we spread it out. So, what do grandma think about punishing pomegranates for two months?"
Jing Se's words blocked all escape routes, neither the old lady nor Su Aoyu could find more convincing words to refute her.
After thinking for a moment, the old lady nodded, "Okay, then, according to what Arthur said, we will deduct two months from Pomegranate's maid. As for the person behind the scenes, the third daughter-in-law has to hurry up and investigate, otherwise she will not be able to find out." , I will only ask you!"
Liu Shi nodded again and again, "Daughter-in-law knows."
The originally joyous New Year's Day was disturbed by such an unlucky incident. The old lady looked a little tired between her brows. She waved her hand, "Everyone back down."
In the end, he ordered Liu Shi, "Arrange it, and quickly invite the ancestor's spirit seat to enshrine."
Liu shi wiped away tears while responding, and not long after, she left the Millennium Hall with everyone.
Su Aoyu was very reconciled to not being able to get rid of the pomegranates, but today is still a good harvest, at least Liu's left a bad impression in the heart of the old lady, which is a great joy for her.
When Jing Se came out of the Millennium Hall, she saw Pomegranate still kneeling outside the door, so she waved her hand slightly, "Get up."
Shiliu stood up slowly, lowered her head and followed behind Jingse.
After returning to Muyunju, Jingse deliberately screened Yingluo away, leaving only Qing'er, and asked Pomegranate to come to see her.
After Pomegranate came in, she knelt on the ground directly, not daring to vent her breath.
"Do you know what trouble you got into today?" Jing Se looked down at her with a slightly cold look.
"Your servant knows your mistake." Shiliu prostrated herself on the ground, her voice weak.
Jing Se sneered, "Know your mistake? Where did you go wrong?"
Shi Liu said: "The servant girl's hands and feet are not quick, and she overturned the ancestor's spiritual seat."
Jing Se's pupils shrank slightly, "Since the truth has been revealed and proved that you didn't do it, why do you still take the guilt on yourself?"
Pomegranate pursed her lips and remained silent.
Jing Se looked at her, and suddenly said: "Pomegranate, do you know that someone in this mansion wants to kill you?"
Pomegranate's body trembled while lying on the ground.
Jing Se continued to casually say: "Do you know why you were targeted just after entering the mansion?"
Shiliu's face was already pale, contrary to her usual calmness, her heart was beating violently.
Jing Se picked up the teacup, "I don't know what your purpose of coming to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion is, but let me tell you, without my protection, your little life will soon perish. A little maid like you can understand. The masters want to kill you, it's just a blink of an eye."
Pomegranate's eyes were moist, and she bit her lower lip lightly.
"Therefore." Jing Se continued: "If you want to save your life, tell me your true identity and the purpose of coming to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. I dare not say that I will help you achieve your goal, but I want to keep you alive." Fate, I still have this ability."
Qing'er frowned and glared at Shi Liu, "Miss has already talked about this point, how can you be so ignorant, you girl, could it be that you want to talk about today's matter a few more times?"
Shiliu shook her head violently, her voice was crying, "Miss, it's not that I don't want to say it, but I don't know where to start."
"Oh?" Jing Se was slightly puzzled, "How do you say that?"
Shiliu's complexion was gloomy, and she said slowly: "The slave girl was originally from Linjia Village, Wanping County. Soon after she was born, people in the village spread rumors that the slave girl was not born to my father, but my mother married me after she was pregnant with me. My father has a bad temper, and because of this, he often drank and beat me and my mother. He even sold me to a big family in the town as a slave for two years in order to get money to buy wine. Later, that family fell into decline , Nubi was finally able to return home, but Nubi's mother died of illness long ago, and later the neighbor's grandmother quietly told Nubi that my mother had told her about my life experience before she died, and told her to tell me."
Jing Se's eyes moved, "Are you really not your father's biological daughter?"
"No." Shiliu shook her head, "Grandma said, my mother carried me out from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion in Jinling City."
The complexion changed, and Jing Se stared at Shiliu's face. Seeing that she didn't mean to lie, she withdrew her senses, and then denied, "This is impossible!"
Jing Yuhuan only had two aunts from the beginning to the end, why is it such a big deal that someone was kicked out while pregnant, even Qing'er didn't know about it?
"My servant dare not lie." Shiliu cried, "Grandma really told this to my servant."
Qing'er was even more puzzled, "What's your mother's name?"
Shiliu said: "My servant's mother's name is Qinglian."
"Qinglian?" Qing'er exclaimed.
"Yes." Shiliu nodded, "Slaves would never dare to lie in front of the eldest lady."
Jingse noticed Qing'er's strangeness, and quickly made pomegranate retreat.
After Pomegranate walked away, Jing Se looked at Qing'er and asked her, "Do you know this 'Qinglian'?"
Qing'er nodded, "Qing Lian is Da Furen's servant girl, and she was kicked out of the mansion by Da Furen for some reason. But these were told by the old people to the servants. After so many years, the old people in the Youxiang Mansion They have been replaced long ago, and only Aunt Xue is the oldest one staying in the mansion, so she should know the truth."
Jing Se fell into deep thought. Could it be that his previous guesses were all wrong? Jing Yuhuan did not take advantage of the disaster relief time to go out to find women, but after Su Aoyu married in, he accidentally had an affair with the maid beside Su Aoyu, causing Su Aoyu Drive that maid named "Qinglian" out of the mansion in a rage?
But in this way, it doesn't make sense.
Generally speaking, with Jing Yuhuan's identity, if he marries Su Aoyu, then Su Aoyu's maid will eventually become his concubine.
In other words, even if Jing Yuhuan had an affair with Qinglian unintentionally, it is perfectly normal. Why did Su Aoyu drive Qinglian out of the house?
And according to the news from Qing'er's inquiries, when Qinglian married Pomegranate's father, she had a lot of money with her, and she was able to help Pomegranate's father pay off his debts.
Qinglian is Su Aoyu's maidservant, so after she leaves the mansion, Su Aoyu can only give her so much money.
Then with such a push, it is impossible for Qinglian to be kicked out of the mansion by Su Aoyu, but negotiated to leave the mansion.
Su Aoyu gave a maid a lot of money to let her go out of the house?
Which one is this playing?
The more Jing Se thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. She stood up and went directly to the outer courtyard to find Jing Yuhuan.
Jing Yuhuan was instructing his servants to clean his yard. Seeing Jing Se coming over, he was a little surprised, "Why is Arthur free to come to the outer courtyard?"
Jing Se's face was a little dignified, "Father, I have something to ask you."
Jing Yuhuan heard something was wrong, he took Jing Se to a place where no one was around, and then asked, "What's the matter?"
Jing Se looked into Jing Yuhuan's eyes, "Do you know a maid named 'Qinglian'?"
Jing Yuhuan thought about it carefully, "I have some impressions, it seems to be the maid who stayed in the house many years ago, why did you suddenly ask her?"
"It's nothing." Jing Se said: "The house was being cleaned today. I accidentally turned to the list of maids in the house. I saw Qinglian and learned that she was the mother's companion. Logically, Qinglian should be of the same generation as Aunt Xue. People, Aunt Xue still stays at the mansion, but this one named 'Qinglian' has gone missing, I'm just curious."
Jing Yuhuan said: "It's just a maid, how can it be worth your time?"
Jing Se saw that there was no evasion in his expression, he didn't seem to be lying, and he was even more puzzled, "Father really doesn't remember who Qinglian is?"
Jing Yuhuan frowned again and thought about it, but still shook his head, "It's probably because she stayed in the house for a short time, I don't know about others, but I really don't have much impression."
Jing Se's eyes moved slightly, she nodded and said with a smile: "Then I will trouble my father."
Jing Se started to leave, but Jing Yuhuan called her, "Your second uncle will be back in a while, after you go back, let your younger sisters prepare to meet him."
Jing Se responded, and quickly returned to the inner courtyard.
Qing'er guessed that Jing Se must be looking for Jing Yuhuan, so after seeing her come back, she asked softly, "Miss, what did you find out?"
Jing Se shook her head, "I don't think my father is lying at all. He said that he can't remember Qinglian. If Qinglian really went out from the right minister's house with her body pregnant, then such a big thing, father Why don't you have any impression?"
Jing Se still felt something was wrong, she asked Qing'er to take a look at Pomegranate's roster, and found that Pomegranate was three months older than Jing Wanbai.
In other words, before Su Aoyu was pregnant with Jing Wanbai, Qinglian was pregnant with pomegranate first.
Then, according to Su Aoyu's temperament, even if she didn't take the opportunity to execute Qinglian, she would try her best to drive Qinglian out, but why did she give her so much money when Qinglian left?
This is simply too unbelievable!
Jing Se rubbed her forehead.
It seems that things are not as simple as she imagined, and there must be hidden secrets in it.
If we want to investigate this matter, we must start with Aunt Xue from Linglong Courtyard.
*
Not long after, Miao Er came running out of breath and said, "Miss, the aunt of the second room is back."
Jing Se was taken aback, "Where is Second Uncle?"
Miao Er said: "I heard from the wives in the outer court that the second master went directly to the palace to report on his duties, and asked my aunt to bring the young masters and ladies to the mansion first. Now I am afraid that I have already arrived at the Millennium Hall. Do you want the eldest lady?" Go and have a look?"
Jing Se sat still, and said: "Second uncle hasn't come back yet, let's not move for now, if someone from the Millennium Hall will come over to pass on a message, it won't be too late for us to go, after all, it's just my aunt who came, and I She's a prostitute, so there's no reason to go and see her."
Qing'er echoed: "Miss is right, you are the eldest daughter, there is no reason for you to visit the concubine's room in person."
The three of them were talking, when Mo Mei, the eldest maid of the Millennium Hall, came over to pass on a message, "Miss, Aunt He from the second bedroom has returned with a gift for the New Year, and the old lady asked you to go there in person."
Jing Se raised her eyebrows, thinking that this aunt who had never met before was quite polite, but she didn't know if it was just for face or out of sincerity.
Mo Mei came to deliver the message in person, and Jing Se naturally had no reason to shirk. She stood up and followed Mo Mei to the Millennium Hall.
Jing Wanbai, Jing Shurao and many other people were already sitting inside, Jing Nanqing's expression was the most ugly, she kept staring at the hall secretly.
Jing Se followed Jing Nanqing's line of sight, and saw a woman about 25 years old standing in the middle hall, wearing pink embroidered peach blossom long skirt, light yellow osmanthus embroidered silver red horse face skirt, and beeswax inlaid hair With a water-drop red gold step, a slender waist, an overhanging figure, and a slight smile on his lips, he looks particularly approachable.
This person is the second master Jing Yutang's concubine, Aunt He.Beside her stood two children, the older one was a girl, about ten years old, and the younger one was a boy, about five or six years old, about the same size as Haohao.
Seeing Jing Se coming in, Aunt He pulled the two children and turned around, and said: "Ming'er, Rong'er, I met your big sister."
The two children saluted very politely.
"Ming'er (Rong'er) has met the eldest sister."
Jing Se touched the heads of the two children and said with a smile, "You two have such sweet mouths, but my sister forgot to prepare a red envelope. I will make a big red envelope for you tomorrow night, okay?"
Jing Ming and Jing Rong shook their heads together, "We can't ask for sister's red envelope."
"Why?" Jing Se raised an eyebrow in doubt.
Jing Rong is the older sister, she was more polite, she knelt down and said, "My aunt said, we should be the ones who give my sister a gift when we meet for the first time."
After finishing speaking, Jing Rong took two brocade boxes from the side and handed them to Jing Se, saying, "Sister, this is a gift for the Spring Festival, I hope you don't dislike it."
Jing Se took it, opened it, and saw a finely crafted windproof blanket in one brocade box, and a lacquered makeup dowry box in the other brocade box. Although the two items were not considered first-class, they were absolutely indistinguishable. vulgar.
This kind of gift will not make people find out that Aunt He is a concubine but has money and extravagance, and it will not make people feel that the gift is too shabby.
With a thought in Jing Se's mind, this Aunt He is actually a very delicate person.
Dear ones, Happy Friday O(∩_∩)O
(End of this chapter)
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