The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 45

After breakfast the next morning, Mrs. Li brought the two boys into the eldest wife's quarters.

"Eleventh Lang, Twelve Lang." The eldest lady greeted the two boys with a smile.

Eleven Lang is older, 13 years old, but Twelve Lang is still a little boy, wearing a royal blue robe with auspicious animal patterns, and saluting the eldest wife with a smile.

"I met Mrs. Yang."

Eleven Lang also kowtowed to the eldest lady steadily.

The eldest wife accepted the ceremony with a smile, and then introduced, "This is Mrs. Pingguo."

Only those who are very close to each other will receive full gifts from the younger generation. It seems that the relationship between the Li family and the Yang family is really good.

The daughters of the Yang family, Brother Nine and Xu Fengjia also visited Mrs. Li.

Mrs. Li looked very friendly, with a smile on her face all the time, maybe because she was away from home, she was dressed very plainly, wearing a dark brown Ge silk jacket, and there were not many ornaments on her head.

She and Fifth Lady seemed to be very familiar with each other, and she chatted with Fifth Lady with a smile, and then let Fifth Lady go away, and Sixth Lady would pay her respects.

Seeing Miss Six's outstanding appearance, Mrs. Li's eyes lit up, and she pulled her up kindly, "Miss Six is ​​getting more and more handsome. When I saw you in Baifang Garden last year, you were still a little girl."

She speaks in a slow rhythm, and her voice is kind, which makes people feel very warm.

Liu Niangzi pursed her lips, a little shy, "Mrs. Li is absurd."

Mrs. Li and the eldest lady looked at each other and smiled, and let go of Liu Niangzi's hand.

The little girl's family is like this, she is shy on the face, but she doesn't know how happy she is in her heart.

Qin Niangzi stepped forward and kowtowed to Mrs. Li.

"I met Mrs. Li." Her voice was cool.

Mrs. Li looked at Qin Niangzi very carefully.

Both the fifth lady and the sixth lady had met before, and the fifth lady often walked around with her mother. Mrs. Li was no stranger.

It was the first time seeing Seventh Lady.

One can tell at a glance that she is Brother Nine's twin sister.

The Li family and the Yang family are close, and Mrs. Li can always hear some rumors about the Yang family.

It is true that they are born very similar to Brother Jiu, but the temperament of the two siblings is not quite the same.

Ninth Brother was quite naive in his spirit and wisdom. One could tell from his smiling face that this kid was very smart.

Seventh Lady was very quiet.

Mrs. Li couldn't tell why, but she just felt that listening to Qin Niangzi's words was like drinking a cup of warm tea, which warmed up from the bottom of her heart, and brought a little bit of coolness.

"It's the first time we've met." She smiled and said to the eldest wife, "Standing with Brother Jiu, it's like a golden boy and a jade girl, and it's as pleasing to the eye as the orchid and the jade tree."

The eldest wife looked at Qin Niangzi tenderly, with a flash of appreciation in her eyes, "Xiao Qi is sensible, but he is much more obedient than Brother Jiu."

Brother Nine refused to hold back and tugged on the eldest wife's sleeve to act like a spoiled child.

Mrs. Li was a little surprised.

Mrs. Li knows the eldest wife very well.

Although she is a competent mistress, her heart is not very big.He hugged the concubine Brother Jiu to his knees, but he didn't hear that he praised his biological mother.Even this twin sister seems to have been silent for many years.

Mrs. Lee would not do such a thing.Doesn't this show that she is petty and narrow-minded in front of her husband?

However, because of this, her attitude towards Qin Niangzi should not be too kind.

I didn't expect her to have such a high opinion of Qin Niangzi!

Silently, she appeared next to Mrs. Yang, and she was so favored...

The way Mrs. Li looked at Qin Niangzi changed a little.

"Come and play in our willow garden in the future!" She smiled and patted Qin Niangzi on the shoulder.

Seventh Lady agreed in a soft voice.

Wu Niangzi felt a little boring.

She has always been the focus of attention of these grandmas and wives.Although it is all about saving face and polite words... But everyone has vanity.

Now that the object of attention has become Seventh Lady, Fifth Lady will inevitably feel a little uncomfortable.

She walked to Xu Fengjia's side and talked with him about the scenery in the temple in a low voice.

The eldest wife and Mrs. Xu exchanged glances and smiled at each other.

Seeing this, Mrs. Li couldn't help feeling a little enlightened.He looked at Eleven Lang and Twelve Lang again.

The two children and Brother Jiu also come and go frequently, and Master Li sometimes takes them to visit Yang's house.

The three boys got together and talked enthusiastically.

Look at Seven Lady again.

Seventh Lady and Sixth Lady stood together, talking and laughing softly.

The brows of the two are full of spring-like smiles.

The eldest wife asked Mrs. Li how long she planned to stay in Guangfu Town, and invited Mrs. Li to board a boat to Taihu Lake to enjoy the autumn.

"This time, I plan to do rituals for ten days." Mrs. Li restrained her thoughts, answered calmly, and explained to Mrs. Xu with a smile. "Madam Xu doesn't know that the "Great Buddha Huayan Sutra" and the relics of eminent monks are enshrined in this Guangfu Pagoda. Together with the bronze Guanyin statue in the temple, they are all famous and very effective. If there is something to do, I will go to the temple to do rituals, pray silently in front of the Guanyin statue for several days, and nothing will fail."

Mrs. Xu's eyes lit up. "I heard that there are many Buddhist temples in the south of the Yangtze River, but I didn't know that Guangfu Temple is so effective." She was indifferent at first, but after hearing Mrs. Li's words, she suddenly became interested and chatted with Mrs. Li.

There was doubt in the eyes of the eldest lady.

Why on earth is Madam Xu so keen on matters of gods and Buddhas all of a sudden?

She couldn't help but glanced at Seventh Lady.

Forget it, since the second lady can trust Xiao Qi so much... There is no need to doubt the person, and the employer does not need to doubt it.

Mrs. Li said a few words to Mrs. Xu, and she understood what Mrs. Xu meant.

Mrs. Xu wanted to stay in Guangfu Temple for a few days and visit Guanyin with her.

Speaking of which, the Li family and the Xu family cannot be said to have no origins. When Pingguo Gong went west, Master Li was in charge of food and grass.

With this layer of previous love, the two quickly became intimate.

Mrs. Li took advantage of the situation and explained to the eldest wife, "With Mr. Yang around, it's not easy for me to get on the boat and cause trouble. I appreciate Mrs. Yang's kindness."

The eldest lady smiled hurriedly and said, "It doesn't matter, we haven't had a proper gathering for half a year. If you are willing to come, I will send the master to talk to the abbot in the temple. It's the same."

Qin Niangzi smiled from the bottom of her heart after hearing what the eldest lady said.

The eldest wife is very cute when she gets angry.

"Then how can you feel sorry for it?" Mrs. Li humbly said, "But Shishi Lang and Shi Shi Lang follow me to do things in the temple, and it's a bit difficult for them... I want to ask Mrs. Yang to take care of them and take them to the temple. boat to play."

The two families are good friends, and Mrs. Li's entrusting her two sons to Mrs. Yang is not too much.

The eldest lady glanced at Xu Fengjia and smiled secretly in her heart.

It's just that he wants to make friends with the Duke of Pingguo.

That's right, for official Li Wenqing to do this, if he wants to go one step further, he doesn't have many friends in Beijing, so how can he succeed.

"Okay, leave it to me." She readily agreed.

Follow the flow of favors, do nothing for nothing.

Mrs. Li glanced at the sisters Liu Niangzi and Qi Niangzi again, and thanked the eldest lady with a smile.

Mrs. Xu was in a hurry. She was going to pay homage to the Guangfu Pagoda at that time, and she brought Xu Fengjia there again, in order to let him also be imbued with the spirit of relics.

Several children went to play in the plum grove in Guangfu Temple.

Guangfu is famous for its plum blossoms. Of course, there will be no plum blossoms in Guangfu Temple. The plum trees of two or three acres are now bare. Brother Nine and Twelve Lang laughed and chased each other, playing hide-and-seek around the tree.

Wu Niangzi was envious, but she didn't dare to step forward to meddle. After all, she is a girl's family, and she must keep a bit of dignity in front of outsiders.

The three little girls had to sit on the clearing among the trees.

Seventh Lady and Sixth Lady had something to say, Fifth Lady joined in, but the three fell silent.

The atmosphere was a little awkward for a while.

The fifth lady asked the seventh lady, "Have you written the ten big characters that the master ordered?"

Seeing that both of them are interested in calligraphy, the husband often assigns special homework for Fifth Lady and Seventh Lady to practice at home.

Qin Niangzi shook her head, "I wrote one sheet a day, but now I only wrote three."

Fifth Lady was a little proud, "I've already written seven sheets!"

"Fifth Sister is amazing." Seventh Lady frowned.

Wu Niangzi spat, "Don't laugh at me, pretend I can't hear it."

Having said that, there is no shortage of complacency in his tone.

Sixth Lady and Seventh Lady both laughed.

"Which one is making fun of Fifth Sister?" Sixth Lady smiled, "The same is true for Fifth Sister. When someone tells you good things, you think it's a joke instead."

Fifth Lady rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

The atmosphere relaxed.

Seventh Lady asked Sixth Lady, "How long did you live in Xiangxuehai in previous years?"

The fifth lady hurriedly said, "Sometimes we stay for more than a month! For a few years, my mother is impatient to socialize, so we just live in Xiangxuehai for the New Year."

In the twelfth lunar month, wintersweet blooms first, intermittently from early plum blossoms to late plum blossoms, and can bloom until spring and March.

Last year, the eldest wife only came back after living in Xiangxuehai for half a month.

What Wu Niangzi said about celebrating the New Year in Xiangxuehai probably refers to the years when the eldest wife lost all hope and ignored housework.

Being the mistress of the house, entangled in mundane affairs, is not so comfortable.

Wu Niangzi was aroused, "Going around the foot of the mountain, our garden is within a few miles. If my mother is willing to go, I would like to go and see it. I have never been to Xiangxuehai in autumn."

"The mountain is all bare, what's there to see?" Liu Niangzi didn't think so, leaving this sentence behind, and walked back to the house with heavy snow.

I think it is to clean the room.

"Damn girl," Wu Niangzi spat at her, then straightened her face, and asked Qi Niangzi seriously, "Yang Qi, are you planning to spend so much time with your cousin?"

Seventh Lady couldn't help but smile.

The emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is in a hurry first.

"Cousin is really too much." She didn't pretend not to understand. "I am naturally bold, and I am not afraid of insects and snakes...but he can't push me down the rockery."

"My cousin didn't tell me about this in detail!" Wu Niangzi's big eyes widened. "It's just that you are very courageous." As a concubine, she dared to go against the little father-in-law.

Seventh Lady had no choice but to tell her carefully.

Wu Niangzi pressed her chest and gasped for breath.

"You are too courageous!"

Seventh Lady smiled and said nothing.

Fifth Lady was worried about Seventh Lady again.

"Cousin, things are not going well these days," she reminded Seventh Lady, "When you wanted to find someone to vent your anger on, you still ran into him as a target...Yang Qi, you are a concubine."

If Qin Niangzi was a concubine, Xu Fengjia would not dare to do anything to her, but she is a concubine, so I can't tell.The status of the young master is already noble, if something happens in a hurry, will the Yang family turn against the Xu family because of a concubine?

Seventh Lady sighed.

As Wu Niangzi is a person, to be able to say these words is already the utmost benevolence and righteousness.

But Qin Niangzi couldn't hug Xu Fengjia's thigh, and begged him not to pester her anymore...

"If you don't tell me, I'm still a young cousin, and I'm born with this temperament." She had fun and made a little joke.

There is no sense of inquiry.

Everyone has curiosity, and Xu Fengjia grew up as the son of Pingguo Gong, so she should have always wanted the wind to get the wind, and the rain to get the rain.

Who dares to anger him?

Fifth Lady gave Seventh Lady a white look.

"Cousin usually goes in and out of the imperial study and studies with the prince." She faintly showed pride. "You think he is impatient with you little ladies?"

Her words made herself involved.

Seventh Lady couldn't help smiling, but she didn't point it out.

"However, I don't know why he is so troubled." Wu Niangzi also showed a little confusion, "I have been fine for the past few months, and she told me that when the prince leaves the cabinet to study, he will go back to Xu's home to study ...Suddenly, it was as if he had changed himself. In the past, he didn't even look at the concubine daughters of his aunt's house, and said something. He was not related to them. Sister and Fourth Sister are here."

Qin Niangzi couldn't help but wonder, and was a little curious.

With Xu Fengjia's haughty temperament, I'm afraid looking at these concubine girls is like looking at mice and cockroaches.

It is true that they are not from the same world... These concubines are not his relatives either.

Why did he suddenly compete with such a humble concubine like her?

It's as if they are being treated as objects of anger.

Wu Niangzi groaned, "I did say something wrong, don't worry about it."

Seventh Lady was stunned for a moment, then remembered that she was also a concubine, and what Fifth Lady said could easily be interpreted as Seventh Lady in the village.

She looked at the fifth lady who was slightly embarrassed, and for a moment, she felt that she was a little more cute.

Fifth Lady has a bad mouth, but she still has a good heart.

"Nothing." She didn't care. "My cousin is right."

In ancient times, the concept of clan was very strong. Speaking of which, the concubine daughters of the Yang family and Xu Fengjia were also considered cousins.But I can't help but look into it... If they really consider themselves cousins ​​in the future, and lose courtesy when interacting with the Xu family, they will be discussed behind their backs.

The fifth lady stopped talking.

She looked straight at Seventh Lady.

"I don't think I've ever seen you make a mistake...you lose your composure, you get angry."

Seventh Lady was slightly taken aback.

Two people said that to her in one day.

For Liu Niangzi, she focused on comforting her.

Isn't Liu Niangzi cautious in words and deeds, and careful in everything?
For some reason, she suddenly wanted to tell the truth to Fifth Lady.

Maybe it's because in the future, they will spend a few years together day and night.

Maybe it was just because Qin Niangzi was already very tired.

Years of being cautious made her a little tired after all.

"I don't have the capital to make mistakes." She said frankly, "Naturally, I have to be careful in front of people, lest I fail!"

Fifth Lady was stunned.

She didn't speak, but chewed carefully the bitterness in Qiniangzi's words.

"Sisters, what are you talking about?" Ninth Brother suddenly greeted from a distance, "The temple sent pickled plums!"

Wu Niangzi groaned and stood up.

“I love pickled plums the most!”

She walked over to Brother Jiu.

Seventh Lady is thinking about Sixth Lady.Liu Niangzi has been in the house for a while...

She took a step slowly on purpose, and looked in the direction of the house.

Just saw Liu Niangzi and Li Shishilang come out talking and laughing.

Although Li Shishilang is 13 years old this year and has men and women to defend him, Liu Niangzi is still young after all, so she can't be said to be more polite.

Seventh Lady's heart skipped a beat.

The two young masters of the Li family are very gentle and well-groomed.

Eleven Lang looks like a teenager again, he looks elegant and romantic, and has the temperament of a scholar.

She raised her foot to avoid Liu Niangzi and Shi Shilang.

"Seventh sister," Liu Niangzi greeted with a smile when she saw Qi Niangzi at a glance. "Master Eleven told me the story of Guangfu Temple!"

Seventh Lady had no choice but to smile and wait for Sixth Lady and Shishilang.

Eleven Lang told the story from the beginning.

He speaks clearly, uses dictionaries elegantly without being jerky, and vividly highlights the special features of Guangfu Temple.

The ancient bridges of the Song Dynasty... the mountain gates of the Liang Dynasty, the Tongguanyin of the Tang Dynasty, the relics of eminent monks, and the Buddhist scriptures from the Western Regions...

The three of them walked while talking, Wu Niangzi, Ninth Brother and Twelve Lang gathered around the stone table to eat pickled plums, Ninth Brother waved them over from afar.

When he walked to the stone table, Eleven Lang talked about Situ Temple.

In the Situ Temple, there are moments of the "Surangama Sutra" and "Huayan Sutra" in the Tang Dynasty. The techniques are simple and round, and the brushwork is round. It is a famous stele in Wuzhong.

Fifth Lady just glanced at Seventh Lady.

There was a heartbeat in his eyes.

Those who practice calligraphy, when they hear that there are good characters, they always want to take a look.

Seventh Lady smiled and shook her head.

Fifth Lady felt a little regretful, "Brother Eleven is a boy, so he can run around, that's great!"

Eleven Lang smiled.

"There are still four thousand-year-old cypresses in the Situ Temple." He said gently, "I can't bring back the ancient cypresses... However, I can ask for a few rubbings for Fifth Younger Sister."

Fifth Lady was pleasantly surprised, "Then thank Eleventh Brother first."

Eleventh Lang asked Seventh Lady again, "Sister Seventh is also good at calligraphy?"

Qin Niangzi hurriedly gave way, "It's not a hobby, but I have nothing to write."

Eleven Lang nodded, and looked at Liu Niangzi again, thoughtfully.

Seventh Lady felt very strange.

(End of this chapter)