Late at night, a misty drizzle poured down the streets, and apart from the occasional bang, everything was silent, and people had fallen asleep. In Zhang's Mansion in Jinan, there was also silence, only whispers came from a small courtyard in the back house. An oil lamp was lit in the room, and on the bed against the wall lay a slender girl, crimson and breathless. Two girls dressed as maids stood beside the bed, one put a silk handkerchief soaked in warm water on the girl's head, and the other stood aside and said anxiously:

"Miss, I'll go back to Mrs. to ask for a doctor, how can you go on like this?"

"In the middle of the night, don't toss people, please do the same tomorrow morning, maybe just get some sleep. The girl lying on the bed said weakly.

"It's all because Madame, she ......"

"Shut up, Qiu Yan, is that what you can say? Don't make trouble for Miss anymore. Why don't you go and pour a cup of tea for the young lady to moisten her throat. The other maid said angrily. The maid named Qiuyan glared at her dissatisfied, but obediently closed her mouth and poured the tea.

"Autumn frost, I'm cold. ”

Qiushuang hurriedly took out the quilt and covered her, then sat on the edge of the bed and kept changing the silk handkerchief soaked in warm water on her forehead, looking at the sick and weak girl lying on the bed, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

The sick girl was Saitama the eldest daughter of Zhang Hou, the chief secretary of the Shandong Buzheng Division, whose biological mother Jia died of illness when she was less than a year old. And Zhang Hou married the continuation of the Wang family a year later. Saitama has always been raised by her grandmother Shen, although she has no mother, but under Shen's love, her life can be regarded as carefree.

But six years ago, Zhang Hou was released, because the Wang family told Zhang Hou that if he put Saitama in the capital, he would be estranged from his parents and sisters over time, so he should go with them to avoid separation. Zhang Hou doted on this stepwife very much, and immediately went to propose to the Shen family, and the Shen family was not easy to stop, after all, they were close relatives, and they thought that they would come back after three years of exile, and it would be good to let Saitama exercise, although Saitama didn't want to go, but he only agreed. Since then, Saitama has been living carefully under the nose of her stepmother.

No, when I was in the etiquette class today, I was punished by kneeling for an hour under the pretext that Saitama's prostrations were not done well, and it was late autumn, and I knelt on the cold floor for an hour, although I put a mat, but at night Saitama had a fever, and I didn't dare to let Wang ask for a doctor, lest my father know that he was troublesome.

Early the next morning, after Saitama got up, she still felt dizzy and fluttering under her feet, but she was no longer feverish, so she insisted on asking the girl Qiuyan to comb her hair, dress her, and go to ask for peace. At this moment, the little girl in Wang's room ran over and said that Mrs. knew that the eldest lady was punished yesterday, so she had a good rest today, and there was no need to ask for peace. Saitama knew in her heart that this was what the Wang family did for her father, and if she didn't go, she would be sitting on the eldest lady's shelf, and there would be no one in her eyes, which would inevitably cause her father's dissatisfaction and make the already weak father-daughter relationship even worse.

Zhang Hou came from a scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River, his ancestors were officials in previous dynasties, and his brother Zhang Zan is now serving as the left waiter of the Ministry of Officials in the capital. Zhang Hou stayed in the Hanlin Academy for three years after being admitted to the Jinshi, and then found an opportunity to be released to improve his qualifications, and six years ago he was appointed as the Tongzhi of the Shandong Buzheng Division, and he has completed two terms, and this year is the last year. The elder brother had already brought the news and asked him to return to Beijing after his term of office expired and wait for an opportunity.

The current house of the Zhang family is the courtyard of the five entrances purchased by Zhang Houren when he knew it. The main house is the residence of Zhang Hou and his wife, the east courtyard is Zhang Hou's concubines Bai and Liang, the west courtyard is the young son An Ge of the Wang family, the eldest son of the Wang family Zhang Xiao lives in the front yard, and the back three courtyards live respectively Saiyu, Qi Jiao and Qi Yun. Qi Jiao was born to the Wang family, and Qi Yun was the daughter of Aunt Bai.

At that time, it was late autumn, and there were only a few sparse chrysanthemums blooming in the garden, and a few yellow leaves fell from the trees from time to time, which made me feel even more depressed. Wrapped in a thick red cloak, Saitama walked through the winding stone path in the back garden with the support of Akiyan to the main house. A maid had already seen the curtain open, and before she could enter the room, she heard the laughter of Qi Jiao and Brother An.

Saitama took off her cloak, got dressed up, and walked inside. I only saw my father Zhang Hou and his wife Wang sitting on the couch, Brother An was tired of talking about something beside Wang, and Qi Jiao sat on the chair under the couch and listened with a smile, so happy. Somehow, Saitama felt out of place with all this, even very superfluous, ruining the peaceful atmosphere. Wang saw Saitama and hurriedly said:

"Let Rui'er go in the morning, I don't use it to say hello today, why did I come here again, watch my body. ”

Before Saitama could answer, Zhang Hou on the side said,

"Greeting parents is a must for children, as long as you can walk, how can you be lazy. ”

"I don't know, yesterday because Sister Yu didn't do well in learning the rules, she was raised to let her kneel for an hour, and the concubine was afraid that the eldest lady would be unwell today, so she didn't let her come, and she had a good rest, and she was also a concubine. As he spoke, Wang also pressed the corner of his eye with a handkerchief.

Zhang Hou immediately said: "Madame Hugh should be sad, it is rare that Madame does not avoid suspicion, strictly teaches her children, and punishes her for her good. ”

Qi Jiao, who was sitting on the side, suddenly said: "Father, my sister didn't mean it, just forgive her."

Saitama said, "What you say doesn't mean that I am dissatisfied, so I said:

"Father is right, what my mother punished was that Yu'er didn't do well and was punished for kneeling, how could she not come to ask for peace, mistake on wrong, Yu'er thanked her father and mother for her teachings. The corners of Wang's mouth twitched imperceptibly.

Zhang Hou said: "Get up, just know your mistakes and correct them." At this moment, I heard the maid's report that Aunt Bai, Aunt Liang and Third Miss Qi Yun walked in. Aunt Bai is a little older, her appearance is average, it turned out to be Zhang Hou's roommate, after giving birth to a daughter, she was raised to become an aunt, in addition to serving the Wang family on weekdays, she only guards Qi Yun to live, never makes trouble, everything is the head of the Wang family. Aunt Liang was born very coquettish, and she was the most favored by Zhang Hou, so she was quite pampered and arrogant, but she had no children, and the Wang family had a stable position, as long as she could get by, she didn't bother with her.

Qi Yun has always been like an invisible person, and after inviting An, she sat aside and was silent. Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Wang family ordered the meal to be set, and Aunt Bai and Aunt Liang stood aside as usual to serve. Zhang Hou taught his children not to eat and not to speak, so everyone finished eating quietly. Due to today's rest, Zhang Hou took Brother An to the study after dinner. Wang looked at the rest of the people in the room, and said I still want to be a director, let's all disperse. Then he looked at Saitama again, smiled and said:

"You just have to rest in the house for the day, and you don't have to go to class. ”

It turned out that the Zhang family was a big family, and most of the marriages were the same big family. A woman who marries into such a family is not only required to be a housekeeper, but also needs to be literate and hyphenated and familiar with various etiquette. Therefore, not only did a family school be set up for the men in the clan to study, but also a boudoir school was set up to teach women literacy, etiquette, and female popularity. Although Zhang Hou was an official, he also followed the habits of the clan and invited Mr. to teach his children, in addition to inviting Mr. Enlightenment to Brother An, he also invited a female gentleman to teach his daughters to read, and a grandmother to teach etiquette and rules, in addition to this, there is also a female red master. So every day after breakfast, several young ladies need to read to their husbands, and in the afternoon they need to learn the rules and female celebrities.

The three Saitama sisters, Aunt Bai and Aunt Liang retired together, and when they came out of the house, Qi Jiao walked up to Saitama and said:

"My sister is weak, let's have a good rest, my sister took a step first, and turned around to look at my sister. After saying that, he covered his mouth and smiled at Saitama and left. Qi Yun nodded at Sai Yu, and quickly caught up with Qi Jiao and left. Aunt Bai took a look at Saitama and left. The corners of Aunt Liang's mouth curved and Chong Saiyu said:

"I said Miss, you just let others bully you like this, obviously it's good, you can still come to say goodbye, don't say it...... , I won't let you go, it's not that I'm afraid you'll exceed ......"

"Auntie, don't say that, my mother is sympathetic to me, how can I not know what is good or bad. ”

Aunt Liang listened, shook off the veil,

"So it's me who is troublesome? After speaking, he took the little girl and left.

Saitama shook his head and smiled bitterly, and couldn't help but think that the Wang family was like this every time, always using the excuse that he was not in good health when learning the rules, let him rest more, and then said that he did not learn the rules well and punished him. This stepmother of mine is really ...... I remember that when I came to Shandong, my grandmother told me to keep my eyes on it, not to be beautiful in front of others, it was really prescient, if I was sharp, I don't know if there is a small life now.

Among the three small courtyards in the back house of Zhang's mansion, Saitama lives in the middle of the courtyard, the left is Qi Jiao's, and the right is Qi Yun. The layout of the three courtyards is exactly the same, and the furnishings and layout are basically the same. Wang's move was deeply praised by Zhang Hou, who felt that Wang was generous and treated his stepdaughter and concubine well. The furnishings in several ladies' rooms are basically the same, and there is no special one who is special, even the clothes of each season. Wang treats all of these things equally, and as a result, he has earned a good reputation for goodness.

Saitama's maternal grandfather's family turned out to be a scholarly family for generations, but the people were not prosperous, and the family business withered. After the death of my grandmother, no one thought of this niece again. Wang's father was the secretary of the ministry, his brother was the prefect of Jiangzhou, and his sister married General Weiyuan.

In Zhang Hou's heart, the two Yue families, which is more important, is self-evident. In the same way, Saitama is not valued by her father, but she meets her in the morning, and under Wang's special "care", she has been repeatedly seen by her father because she did not study well, and was punished by the teacher, in her father's mind, she is such a daughter, neither talented, nor beautiful, and it is not very useful to the family, live well or badly, as long as you can get by.