Kido

Chapter 2

November 15, 29th year of Taishi, Taikang County, Xie Mansion in the west of the city.

It was snowing heavily, the fourth wife of the Xie Mansion's companion, Nanny, supported a little girl, followed by a stout servant woman holding a green silk umbrella, and walked slowly towards the upper room where the fourth wife lived.Going down the corridor, Nanny Ji waved away the little girl and the maid, and entered the upper room alone.

The fourth wife, Mrs. Han, is in her early twenties, with fair complexion and beautiful eyebrows.She was sitting on the kang with a small purple jade hand stove in her arms, wearing a peach red jacket and a green damask cotton skirt with pine flowers.

"The one in Xikuayuan was born, mother and daughter are safe." Nanny Ji replied respectfully.She felt a little uneasy, her aunt came from a famous family, her appearance, temperament, temperament and upbringing were all first-class, but her affection for the fourth master was too deep, and she naturally didn't like concubines and concubines, let alone concubines and concubines. up.Now that there is another concubine daughter in the fourth house, it is really not a happy event.

Give birth to a girl?The fourth wife held a small white jade fire chopstick in her slender hand and slowly poked the ashes in the stove, and said lightly, "This is good, we will have both children." Aunt He lives in Xikuayuan. Now that she has given birth to a daughter, Aunt He will have both sons and daughters.

Nanny Ji knew that the fourth wife was unhappy, and said with a smile, "What kind of child is she? Brother Tang has been taken away since he was born, and he has been raised by the old lady's side. It is difficult for her to see her! Brother Tang is fine too. , a newly born sister and son, I can only recognize you as the mother, how can I get her both sons and daughters?"

The fourth wife is very godly, noncommittal.Sister Ji stood with her hands down and smiled, not daring to speak any more.After a long time, the fourth wife ordered softly, "This is a great joy, report it to the old master and the old lady." Mammy Ji quickly agreed, saluted, and took the little girl out to thank the old master and the old lady. The good news went.

The Fourth Wife sat alone for a while, slowly drank a cup of hot tea, checked the time was up, ordered a waiter to go out, and went to the newspaper building to settle matters.Although Xie Xun and Fourth Master Xie are the youngest in the family, only the fourth wife is the daughter-in-law in the mansion, so Xie's mansion is the housekeeper of the fourth wife.

Mrs. Xie had four sons in total. The eldest son, Dao Xie, served as the Minister of the Xing Department in Beijing, the second son, Xie Feng, served as the head of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing, and the third son, Xie Wei, was just a juren and served as the magistrate of a small county in Huaiqing Prefecture.The fourth son, Xie Xun, is the youngest. Although he has been studying since he was a child, he has never entered the examination room and only donated a supervisor.I don't go to the Imperial College to study, but I just serve by Mrs. Xie's side.

The eldest Xie Dao and the fourth Xie Xun are from the concubine, the second Xie Feng and the third Xie Wei are from the concubine, Mrs. Xie does not like the concubine's daughter-in-law and their grandchildren, and orders them to "take the whole family to serve".Mrs. Xie agreed, and agreed very thoroughly, "The boss is too, and the whole family will take up the post."Therefore, only four families and one family remained in Xie's mansion; thus, the fourth wife, the youngest daughter-in-law, had to learn to manage the house.

"This charcoal account was calculated wrong, go back and recalculate!" The fourth wife made a gesture, and Huairou, the eldest girl beside her, said crisply.The daughter-in-law who came to pay the bill blushed, hurriedly picked up the bill, saluted and left.

Walking out of the newspaper building, the daughter-in-law wiped the sweat off her face.The Fourth Wife is really amazing, after just a few glances, she can see that the number is wrong!After all, he is from a family background, and he is well-informed.

"Su Ling from the third wife's room came to collect the monthly money." The nurse in charge replied with a smile.The fourth wife glanced lightly, and there was a young woman with heavy makeup standing below her, with a lady's hair combed, looking a little frivolous.

The fourth wife was heartbroken, and said lightly, "Pay it to her according to the old rules." The salary of the officials in this dynasty is meager, and the salaries of the three masters who are officials outside are not enough, so they still pay the monthly money in Xie's mansion.Dao Dao Xie is the darling of the old man and the old lady. Every year, his confidant family members bring the distribution from the mansion and the old man’s allowance to Beijing; Recently, and the third wife Miao's spending money is careless, if the money for a year is spent, the third house will start to be tight in the middle of the year, and it will be difficult to live by the end of the year.

There is no other way but to close the money and food every three months.Even so, Sanfang often has to pay the monthly payment in advance, "My brothers and sisters are getting older, and the expenses are increasing, and the monthly payment is really not enough."The fourth wife specifically asked Mrs. Xie for instructions. Mrs. Xie had been rich and prosperous all her life, and she didn't care about these small money, "give it to him", as long as they don't dangle in front of her eyes, spending some money is a trivial matter.

The fourth wife finished handling the affairs at hand and looked back at the account book again, feeling bored.To say that Xie's family can be regarded as a wealthy family, but they can't afford to just go in and out like this!The eldest house has the uncle, the eldest wife, the eldest young master Xie Songnian, the second young master Xie Henian, the eldest lady Xie Younian, the fifth lady Xie Ruinian, and two aunts, more than a dozen maids, seven or eight servants. , this flower is of course a big deal.

In the next year or two, Xie Songnian will talk about getting married, which will cost a lot of money.No matter how much it takes for the eldest grandson of the house to marry a daughter-in-law, it will cost no less than 1 taels of silver.Even if the old lady takes out her private house and doesn't use the public house, isn't the old lady's private house also belonged to the uncle or the fourth master?

The second master paid for it. Although the salary is meager, there are only the second master and the second wife in the family. Much simpler.And it has always been simple, with only six maids and four servants. Apart from the routine expenses of the business, it has never asked for extra money.

The third master is in trouble.First she had the second miss, Qinian, and then the fourth miss, Fengnian, but she never gave birth to a son.The third master married five or six concubines in one go, "for the sake of heirs"!Very righteous.The third wife came to the old lady crying, but the old lady didn't want to meddle in this business, she just pretended to be deaf and dumb.The third master became more and more complacent, and one after another beautiful women came into his backyard, and the expense was getting bigger and bigger.

Now it is very difficult to have a brother, who is only two years old, and is the lifeblood of Sanfang, very precious.Everything is exquisite in food and clothing, and the third wife often writes to ask for this or that, "I am weak in my old age, and I need to nourish myself."

And the ostentation is big, as a small county magistrate, there are many maids, maids, servants and servants, all of whom go back to Xie's mansion to close the money and food.Every time the fourth wife saw the account of the third room, she felt a headache.

Not to mention my fourth master.I never mentioned "money" in my life, and I only know about wind, flowers and snow nights, peace and honor.Anyway, Xie's family has a great career, and in the future, fourth master Xie will be able to live in prosperity for a lifetime only by relying on his ancestral property.

Fourth Master Xie's expenses were not small.The fifth young master Yannian was born, the sixth young master Tangnian was born, the sixth young lady Jinnian was born, and now a seventh young lady has been added.

There are two aunts in the fourth master's backyard. Both are girls who have served him since childhood, and they were raised as aunts after they had children.Thinking of these two, the fourth wife smiled sarcastically.Yuan Zhao and He Li are really good names.

Whether it is talent or talent, they are all beautiful.Fourth Master Xie was born with a beautiful spirit, like a fairy, and was loved by his parents since he was a child.Mrs. Xie spent all her time choosing girls for her youngest son. She couldn't have the ones that were too coquettish, and she couldn't have the ones that weren't good-looking. She chose the handsome Yuan Zhao and the gentle and pleasant He Li after a thousand choices. .

Yuan Zhao and He Li are all girls bought from outside.Yuan Zhao's original name was Wu Niu, the fifth daughter of a peasant family; He Li's original name was Xiaoduo, the youngest daughter of a hunter family in the mountains.When she first entered the Xie Mansion, she was a rustic country girl. After being trained by the nuns for two years, the clever and clever girl gradually behaved gracefully and decently.

When the two girls were brought to the fourth master's study, the fourth master was reading the biography of Shangshu, "Zhaozhao is like the brightness of the sun and the moon, and separation is like the erroneous travel of Shenchen", so the two have a new name: Yuan Zhaozhao, He Lili.

"Zhao Zhao" and "Li Li" are very popular with the fourth master. When he was 16 years old, he opened his face and became a roommate.When Xie and Han were negotiating their marriage, the Han family knew about this, but they didn't take it to heart. Who doesn't have a roommate?

The fourth wife, Mrs. Han, didn't think much of it at first, but she was just a girl. If it was good, she would stay and serve, and if it was not, she would send it away.It was only after entering the door that I realized that this was not the case. Yuan Zhao was beautiful and beautiful, and I felt sorry for him. He was the fourth master's sweetheart; what.It's not easy for such two girls to move.

Besides, these two people have always been careful, respectful and polite, never overstepped the rules, and never caught any major mistakes.It would be easy if they planted a stolen item and let them take advantage of it to dispose of it, but it would not be worth it if they lost fourth master's favor.

The fourth master has an outstanding character, a young celebrity, and a husband like this, what more can a husband ask for. "Cultivate a talented woman and a woman in the world, and she will be as thin as a plum blossom."It's just that his temperament is too indifferent, and he is not keen on fame and fortune, which makes people distressed.

When discussing marriage back then, his father praised Xie Jiashiro, "Young celebrity, rare and rare!" Who would have thought that this "young celebrity" would not even be willing to pass the examination room. Since ancient times, how can a man who failed to win the Jinshi be called a celebrity?Thinking of this, the fourth wife frowned slightly.

"Next year in the spring, the superintendent's authorized supervising students can leave the court directly." In the Kuaixue pavilion in the backyard of Xie's mansion, the old master Xie asked his young son with a smile, "Do you want to try Yulang?" The old man Xie is already an old man in his sixties, but his body is still Healthy, still hale and hearty.

"I don't want to." Fourth Master Xie said leisurely, leaning on the railing.He has a snow-covered sable fur, a relaxed expression, a creamy face, and lacquered eyes, looking as beautiful as a person in a painting.

What kind of examination room, if you are free, just not being allowed to leave the examination room for several days in a row will be unbearable.Besides, what if you won the Jinshi through hard work?Being an official is even more troublesome, flattering the boss, socializing with colleagues, supporting subordinates, which one is not troublesome.

As long as the Xie family has a big brother to support him, as a younger brother, he is happy to enjoy leisure.

"I serve my parents at home." Fourth Master Xie looked like a filial son.

"That's a good thing." Old Master Xie said happily, "It's good to have Yulang by my parents' side." If you don't take the exam, don't take the exam. My youngest son is like a pearl like a jade, and he should be as free as a cloud and a wild crane. lost him?
Outside the pavilion, the heavy snow fell like rubbing cotton and wadding. The father and son stood together enjoying the snow scene for a long time.Seeing that it was getting late, Fourth Master Xie personally helped Mr. Xie into the bamboo sedan chair, walked slowly beside him, and returned to Mrs. Xie's study.

"Father's calligraphy is wonderful in the mountains and forests, and the rock corridors are heroic." Fourth Master Xie smiled and said, "My son's study room still lacks a pair of couplets, please give me a pair of calligraphy. "I know that Mrs. Xie likes to be praised for his good calligraphy.

Mrs. Xie is really happy, Yulang has vision!Mrs. Xie thought happily, and was led by the youngest son to the desk, contemplated for a long time, and wrote "laughing at the world, being an official, recluse, or Bodhi is all about nature. Throughout the past and present, only the sun, the moon, and the wind and rain dominate the coquettishness."

The fourth master Xie sighed, "Don't be obsessed or unruly, spontaneously ancient, good calligraphy!" Mr. Xie stroked his white beard, smiled and said nothing, quite complacent.

Fourth Master Xie put away the couplet with great care, and spread a piece of rice paper on the case.

What's the matter, do you want more?Mrs. Xie was puzzled.

"Father, you have another little granddaughter today, please give me a name." Fourth Master Xie said with a smile.

Asked for a name at birth?Mrs. Xie hesitated, "It won't be too late to wake up when the moon is full." It's just a name, what's the rush.

"Father, Xiao Qi is a concubine." Fourth Master Xie rubbed his ink slowly, "The status is not noble enough, father gave her a good name, so that she can be part of your blessing." On the day of her birth, her grandfather gave her a good name, that's great.

"Take the little girl to your mother's place to raise her, and it will be all right." Old Master Xie frowned slightly.The daughter of the Xie family is a concubine so what? Yulang loves his daughter too much.

"Tang'er was born just after one full moon, and she was taken away by her mother." Fourth Master Xie said in a flat voice, "In those days, Ah Li became so thin that I couldn't bear it, so I took her to see Tang'er secretly a few times. , She just got better day by day. If Xiao Qi is also taken away, I don't know if Ah Li will survive."

Old Mr. Xie had a sore nose, "It's just a girl!" A Li, isn't it the youngest daughter of the Orion family who couldn't support her, and was sold to be a girl.

"She has served me since she was ten years old, and it has been 16 years now." Fourth Master Xie said in a low voice, "In 16 years, even kittens and puppies have developed feelings." wonderful person.

Old Master Xie snorted, "Let her raise Xiao Qi! There is only one thing, six years old must go to school, ten years old must live alone in the courtyard, and it can't be changed!"

Mrs. Xie picked up the pen and wrote three big characters, "Xie Liunian".Miss Seven who was born in the Xie family has a name, Xie Liunian.

(End of this chapter)