()

Shortly after Zhao Jia arrived at the old lady's yard, Li received a letter from her side. Although the sister-in-law's relationship was only faint, she still had to live up to her face. After she packed up, she brought a few concubines and maids to the backyard.

When the old lady saw the concubines following Li, she thought of something and asked Zhaojia: "I remember a few days ago when I talked about the treasure butterfly in your yard, how many months have it been?"

Baodie is Cao Quan's concubine. He was originally a girl in Zhaojia's room. After getting pregnant, he helped him become a concubine.

Zhao Jia was not as jealous as before, but replied with a smile: "It's eight months since I've arranged the yard long ago. The midwife and the nurse have also been found. The ancestors can wait to hold their grandson with confidence!"

When the old lady and Li saw that Zhao Jia became so generous, they felt unreasonable. Zhang, who was standing behind Zhao Jia, stepped forward and smiled and said, "I want to congratulate my ancestors, our wife has it again!"

The old lady looked at Zhao Jia, with a little more concern on her face: "When did it be found out, you have to be careful in the past few months. This is not something to play with!"

Li was beside him and quickly congratulated him. Zhao Jia thanked him, and then replied to the old lady: "I just found out this morning. I came over to report the good news to my ancestors. I said it was two and a half months ago. No wonder I didn't taste it recently and I liked to eat sour things. I thought it was because of the hot weather, but I had it!" A bit of pride in my words, and the annoyance of the concubine's pregnancy also disappeared. I had given birth to a legitimate daughter and two legitimate sons, and I was pregnant with another one in my stomach. Even if I had a illegitimate child, it could not shake her status at all, and it could set off her virtuousness. After thinking about these things, how could she not be proud?

After hearing this, the old lady smiled and nodded: "'Sothy and spicy girl', it's a good sign, and she will definitely give birth to a fat boy!" As she said that, she looked at her eldest daughter-in-law Li, with a little more profound meaning in her eyes.

Although Li laughed with her, her hands and feet were cold. After Cao Yan was born, her belly was no longer moving, and the couple had children and daughters. However, the old lady saw that the eldest wife was a small group of people, and Cao Yan did not have a brother to accompany her. Whenever she heard that the second wife had a happy event, she would arrange to take concubines for her eldest son. It seemed that soon, the new aunt would take her again.

Zhao Jia knew something about it, and she was so happy to watch Li's jokes. She just made fun of her, making the old lady look happy.

Not talking about the female relatives in the backyard talking gossip, Cao Yin from the front yard did not return to the inner house after finishing his business, and his face became a little sad. Zhuang Chang, the chief aide in the mansion, had been having sex with his guest and host for many years, and he did not hide anything. When he saw this, he asked, "Sir, why are you worried?"

Seeing that there was no one in the study, Cao Yin looked at Zhuang Chang and said, "Without outsiders, Brother Tianxing calls him "Master". I've been wronged. You have long been promoted to the fifth rank, but I just can't be proud of you. Even if you meet an eighth rank, you have to greet you!"

"Tianxing" is the word Zhuang Chang. In addition to being the chief aide of the Weaving Mansion on the surface, he also has a secret identity, which is the senator of the Tongzhengsi of Jiangnan, and is the official position of the fifth rank. Cao Yin was also. In addition to the fifth rank official of the Jiangning Weaving Mansion on the surface, he was also the chief official of the Tongzhengsi of Tongzhengsi, and the third rank.

The Tongzhengsi of Jiangnan was a department under Emperor Kangxi's personal jurisdiction. It was originally established to better control the political situation in Jiangnan, which was the eyes and ears of the court. In the early days, the anti-Qing forces were mainly concerned and suppressed. When the anti-Qing forces were reduced in recent years, the Tongzhengsi of Jiangnan had a wider range of attention. From the privacy of officials to the people's livelihood, they were summarized on schedule and presented to the emperor in the form of secret copies. Due to its secret nature, this yamen was not known to outsiders except for the emperor and several important officials in the study room. The officials in the department also hid their identities and scattered everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River.

When Zhuang Chang heard Cao Yin's words, he stroked his beard and smiled, "Brother Dongting is impetuous, and even saying such complaints is rare!" At this point, he paused and said, "Let me guess it, is it for the eldest son!"

Cao Yin sighed and nodded: "It's just for this evil deed. He is already seven years old. The old lady is still protecting her like this. She has only been to school for a few days. How can you not worry about such a waste of time!"

Zhuang Chang pondered for a moment: "Brother Dongting was too anxious. The eldest son was the eldest grandson of the mansion. It was a common human nature to be loved by the wife. With the relationship between the Lord Longsheng and the Cao family, if there is no accident, the weaving house will still fall on the eldest son in the future, so don't worry too much about fame."

Cao Yin shook his head: "Even so, we can't treat it carelessly. It's okay now that we are young, but if we are older, we have to work in Beijing. If we become a ignorant playboy, we may not be able to save this little decent for two lifetimes!"

After all, it was the family affairs of the Cao family, and Zhuang Chang was not good at talking much, so he also said some news about the capital, and it was dispersed.

Cao Yong in the backyard was not feeling well. Cao Song was a six-year-old child after all. After a while, he became naughty and chased the white cranes in the pond. The white cranes were all tame and had their wings pruned. They could not fly, so they could only escape everywhere and avoid this little ancestor.

Cao Song smiled "haha", his clothes under his knees were wet, and he didn't care at all. Seeing Cao Yong not moving beside him, he sprinkled water on him. Cao Yong couldn't dodge and was soaked in front of him.

When Cao Yong saw Cao Song having fun, he let him not care. He didn't expect a gust of wind to blow, he put his wet clothes on his body and sneeze heavily.

Cao Yong was extremely depressed. It seems that not to mention the future fortune of the Cao family, it is the most important thing to maintain a good body, otherwise this little body might have passed one day.

Daimao happened to come out of the room. When he saw it, he hurried forward, squatted down, wiped the water splashed on Cao Yong's face with a veil, and his face was full of worry: "Little ancestor, he has only gotten better, what should I do if I catch a cold again?"

Zhang's wife, who followed Zhao Jia, came out to find Cao Song. When she saw Cao Song covered in water, she hurried over and carried him out of the pool. After another arrangement, several maids and mothers came out and took the wet clothes of the brothers. Cao Song did not bring the changed clothes and wore Cao Yong's, tight and much smaller.

After a while, it was dinner time. Because the grandchildren of the Western Mansion came, the old lady specially asked the kitchen to add vegetables. The round dinner table was placed on the west side. According to everyone's rules, the wife could not be served. The old lady sat in the north, with two granddaughters Cao Ying and Cao Yan on the left hand, and two grandchildren on Cao Yong and Cao Song on the right hand. Cao Shuo is young, and the nurse is holding it and sitting on the small bench next to him feeding.

As described in Dream of Red Mansions, after everyone sat down, the maids held copper basins about one foot in diameter, containing clear water.

Cao Yong came here for a few days and his meal rules became familiar. Although he felt it was complicated, he could only follow the local customs. After washing his hands, he wiped it with a silk squid.

The cold dishes on the table were already arranged, and eight plates were placed in a five-inch dish: salted elbow flowers, pine flower belly, cordyceps chicken, rabbit jelly, assorted tofu, pickled cucumber shreds, mixed crust, and red oil bamboo shoots. After you sit on your hands, the hot dishes started to come up, and there were eight plates, seven-inch plates, three-fresh shark fins, Buddha-hand sea cucumbers, steamed white fish, stir-fried crabs, jiang rice stuffed duck, sugar braised lotus seeds, roasted lilies, and stir-fried loofah. Then, four bowls, rotten turtle, mushroom and wild duck, winter melon chicken wings, soup cabbage. Then two soups, duck blood soup and three-fresh meatball soup. Finally, four snacks, lotus seed cake, bean paste roll, pea yellow, and golden shredded roast.

The old lady ate rouge rice, while the others all had a bowl of green rice.

Considering that Zhao Jia had a body, after decorating the bowls and chopsticks, the old lady asked her to rest in the east room. Li took Cao Yin's two concubines Feng and Qian to dress everyone up for food.

Cao Yong had just drank lotus root powder not long ago, but was not hungry, so he ate half a bowl of rice with shredded cucumber and shredded bamboo shoots. He slowly drank half a bowl of duck blood soup. Seeing that everyone else had put down the chopsticks, he put down the spoon. The maids served half a bowl of chrysanthemum tea, which was used for rinsing mouth. The water for rinsing mouth was spit into the delicate and small spittoon held by another maid. Then, according to everyone's preference, different teas were served. The old lady was Pu'er tea, the two ladies were jasmine tea, and the two young masters were Biluochun.

The dishes on the table were removed, and most of them only moved one or two chopsticks. The old lady pointed to a few more supplementary dishes and asked someone to deliver them to Baodian from Xifu.

Seeing that Cao Song was full and started dozing off, Cao Yong pulled him to the Longcui Pavilion and fell down. Cao Ying and sister Cao Yan also followed in and sat on a small stool beside the bed and talked to the brothers. When the old lady saw that their brothers and sisters were close, she was happy and asked someone to wash the fruits, pears and peaches to send them over.

The north side of Rongcui Pavilion is facing the lotus pond in the back garden. The windows are all open, covered with grass-green window screens. The cool breeze is blowing, and there is no heat at all.

Cao Yong leaned halfway on the bed and looked at the two little girls sitting on the ground. Cao Ying was wearing a rose-red silk jacket and a milky white vest. He was not as stingy as Zhao Jia. He was shy of a southern girl and spoke softly. Cao Yan was wearing a sky blue dress. He was taught by his father Cao Yin since he was a child. He was knowledgeable in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. He was considered a young talented woman. Although she was only ten years old, her words and demeanor were already quite good, revealing her style.

It seems that all the women of the Eight Banners are going to participate in the palace audition. The Cao family is under Zhengbai, and of course it is no exception. I vaguely remember that Cao Yin had a daughter who married a king with an iron hat as the princess. If nothing unexpected happened, it would be Cao Yan, but I don’t know what Cao Ying’s future will be. Thinking of this, Cao Yong was a little ecstatic. Although he had a daughter as the prince’s princess, the Cao family still could not escape the fate of the family’s confinement. The prince seemed to be without real power. Otherwise, his brother-in-law, who would be the boss, would be able to take a shower with a big tree and would no longer have to worry about the fate of the Cao family. Cao Ying’s fate is completely unknown. It is estimated that like an ordinary daughter, he would marry a husband of a good family and be a virtuous wife.

When Cao Ying saw Cao Ying looking at her, he thought he wanted to eat fruit, so he put a grape in a bamboo stick and handed it over. Cao Ying took it and thanked her. Cao Ying just smiled and retreated back to the seat. However, Cao Yan refused to rely on her, raised her face and pretended to be angrily, "My brother is so rude. He pretended to be well-behaved in front of his grandmother. He was so arrogant behind his back. He didn't even call out a sister. Be careful to tell his father to teach you a lesson!"

He was actually threatened by the child. Cao Ying rolled his eyes in his heart, but he still defended himself on the surface, but said that it was not. Cao Yan was so mocking him, why would he give up? He was eloquent and preached again. Seeing that the brother and brother were having fun quarrels, Cao Ying covered his mouth with a veil and laughed.

Suddenly, a "click" sound came from the old lady's room, as if the sound of a cup falling to the ground. The outside room was silent, and the children in the inner room noticed something was wrong and stopped. Then, the old lady raised her voice and said, "It's just settled. Go back and clean up the house. I'll ask someone to send it over tomorrow. Good things will be together, so that you can't make me obedient!"

After a while, Mrs. Zhang brought several maids from the East Mansion to invite Cao Ying and Cao Song to go out. Cao Song rubbed his eyes and followed Mrs. Zhang. Cao Ying and Cao Yan looked at each other, and walked out with a downed look. Cao Yong also got up and followed the two little girls.

Zhao Jia bowed and said goodbye. After the siblings came out, he ordered the nurse to pick up Cao Shuo and return home. The teacup fragments on the ground had been cleaned up, and only the water stains were left to prove that the sound I heard was real. Although Zhao Jia lowered her head, Cao Yong saw her shoulders slightly moving, and half of her exposed face turned pale.

Cao Yong was full of curiosity. He was obviously still in good atmosphere after dinner, but why did he become like this in just two quarters of an hour? Thinking of this, he looked at the old lady carefully and was calm and he was not surprised. Looking at Li again, although his face was plain, his eyes were quite complicated, as if he was a little mocking and a little tired.

After Zhao Jia took the children away, the old lady sent Cao Yan back first, and then explained to Li a few words, preparing two sets of dowry for Liuli and Jade. Liuli was sent to the front yard, and Jade was sent to the Western Mansion. Each person transferred two third-class maids to follow. Li responded calmly and took people down to prepare.

The old lady was leaning on the soft couch, wondering what she was thinking about. Cao Yong sat on the edge of the kang and helped her to beat her legs. In fact, he was very surprised. It seemed that the old lady was the concubine of the eldest maid Liuli and jade for the brothers Cao Yin and Cao Quan. No wonder Zhao Jia's face looked so ugly. Unlike Li's virtuousness, she had always been a silly man in her mansion. Although she had an aunt Baodie, she was her maid who helped her to look good in terms of appearance. She probably regretted it too. If she had not shown off so nakedly, there would probably be such an unexpected "happy event".
Chapter completed!