Mrs. Tai has lived in the capital for decades and has never returned to her hometown in Jiangnan, so when she meets flattering clansmen, she likes to ask about things in the south. Mrs. Cao Wu naturally told her, but she has been following Cao Wu in Shaoxing for the past few years, and what she can say is naturally some scenery of Shaoxing. And Taohua followed Jiang Xi to visit several towns near Wuxi before she was ten years old, and she could say much more than Mrs. Cao Wu, and Mrs. Tai gradually focused all her attention on her.

Taohua smiled and replied to Mrs. Jinghai Hou a few words, until Mrs. Tai asked her, "What do you do at home on weekdays?" Then he replied: "It's just doing needlework, turning a few pages of books, and planting flowers in my spare time." ”

"What kind of flowers are planted?" Mrs. Tai is old and likes to look at flowers, of course, she doesn't have to plant them herself, someone will take care of her.

"The mother-in-law took care of everything else, and they didn't let me move, as if I would hurt my hands if I went to prune and prune." Taohua laughed self-deprecatingly, but her eyes glanced coldly at Mrs. Cao Wu, and said with a smile in the other party's weak expression, "It's just that you raise a few pots of narcissus by yourself in winter, and no one will stop you." ”

When the word narcissus came out, Mrs. Cao Wu's buttocks were like a red-hot pot, and she seemed to be unable to sit still. Mrs. Bitai didn't notice it at all, but said in surprise: "You also love to raise narcissus?" ”

Taohua nodded with a smile: "In winter, there are a few pots in the house, and it is comfortable to look at." ”

Mrs. Tai smiled: "That's exactly what I said." I love this thing, it can bloom when you raise it in the water, it's easy and fun. He turned his head and pointed at Mrs. Cao Wu and said, "The fifth daughter-in-law knows that I love narcissus, so she sent a pot of jade carved narcissus, and it looks like the real thing." ”

When Mrs. Cao Wu heard Mrs. Tai say this, she only felt that her brain was crumbling and aching, and she couldn't even maintain the smile on her face.

Taohua also turned her eyes to look at Mrs. Cao Wu, but said: "Speaking of jade carving narcissus, there used to be a pot at home. The jade is a little variegated, but it is carved well by craftsmen, the yellow is the flower core, the green is the leaves, the white is the petals, and there are a few black and brown spots, which can not be grinded, but it happens to be carved into the outer skin on the flower ball, and it is really vivid. ”

Mrs. Tai agreed: "Exactly, the fifth daughter-in-law sent it like this." This beautiful jade carving, the color of the jade is still second, the important thing is to carve it skillfully. ”

Beads of sweat had already appeared on the tip of Mrs. Cao's nose, and she couldn't sit still anymore, so she laughed dryly: "It's still Mrs. Tai's knowledge, we can't compare, even if we see good things, we may not know the goods." As he spoke, he was about to get up, "It's not too early, there are still some things at home, and I'll come back to talk to Mrs. Tai in a few days." ”

Mrs. Tai also felt that Mrs. Cao Wu was a little wooden today, and what she said didn't seem to be as interesting as usual, not to mention that there was Taohua by her side, so she didn't keep it, nodded and told them to leave.

Taohua chatted with Mrs. Jinghai for a while, and when she saw that it was almost noon, she got up to say goodbye. Mrs. Tai was still unsatisfied, and she wanted to leave them for lunch. Cao's face looked like he wanted to say something, obviously wanting to agree, but Taohua didn't look at her, and only said with a smile: "Mrs. Tai didn't dare to quit when she gave me food, but she didn't tell her family before she came out, and she had to go back to copy books for her uncle and grandfather." ”

Move out of the elders, it's not good to stay anymore. Although Mrs. Tai has a noble status, but she can't help but do what she promised the elders in the family, Mrs. Tai had to nod her head with some regret: "Miss Hui went to her uncle's house today, and I wanted to leave you to talk to me--that's it, I'll come back next time when I have time." Then he turned back and said to the maid, "Bring two of the purses." ”

This kind of purse is full of gold and silver bills, which are used by the lady to reward people. Originally, Mrs. Jinghai was there, and Mrs. Tai didn't have to think about giving these relatives a gift, but today because she was speculative with Taohua, she specially gave something. Taohua accepted it with a smile, thanked Jiang Yanhua together, and then said goodbye.

As soon as the carriage left the Jinghai Hou Mansion, Jiang Yanhua's eyes turned red. Cao Shi was a little sluggish, and when Mrs. Cao Wu began to tell him about remarriage in person, he felt that his face was hot for a while, and then he gradually forgot about it. Jiang Yanhua felt that the maids in the room were staring at her with strange eyes, and she had to grit her teeth to sit down. Now in the carriage, I couldn't hold back any longer.

The Cao family was at a loss, and only after a while did he say, "Your uncle-"

Before she finished speaking, Jiang Yanhua had already raised her head sharply and said loudly: "I don't have this aunt!" ”

Cao Shi was stunned by her yelling, and Taohua had already turned her head and looked at her coldly: "What are you shouting, isn't this the place you begged to come to?" ”

Jiang Yanhua met those sharp eyes, choked up, and didn't dare to speak.

Taohua was also holding her stomach, the words jade carving narcissus were blocked in her chest until now, and she had been thinking about whether there was any way to get that thing back for a long time, but she was at a loss. was on fire, and Jiang Yanhua was still yelling, it was almost like he slammed into the muzzle of the gun.

"You think everyone else is stupid? If she doesn't say it, no one will know that you changed your surname? Do you think that the female dependents of those high-ranking officials and dignitaries will talk and laugh with anyone they meet? If they don't know your details and weigh your weight, they won't know where to put you. They are all shrewd people who are used to communicating, who would make such a mistake? ”

Taohua smiled coldly: "Now that they are all relatives surnamed Cao, you can't stand it?" What will you do if you meet a pampered lady from another family in the future? I've told you early, the chickens are standing and the cranes are like that! I can't stand this, and I try my best to post it up, wouldn't it be humiliating myself! ”

"Sister Tao-" Cao Shi saw that her daughter's face turned from red to miserable white when she was scolded, and her lips were bitten out of a deep mark, and finally couldn't help but say, "We are always a family, Sister Yan is embarrassed, and you are also ashamed of your face, isn't it ......"

"Oh, now that my wife knows we're family?" Taohua looked at her sarcastically, "I thought that Mrs. and Mrs. Cao Wu were just a family, otherwise how did the jade carving narcissus get to the Jinghai Marquis Mansion?" ”

Cao Shi was dumbfounded for a while, and it took a long time to think that he couldn't admit it, so he had to bite the bullet and say, "What kind of jade is this...... I, I don't know......"

Taohua smiled contemptuously, turned her face away, and said coldly, "It's okay if Mrs. doesn't know." Now that the Marquis of Jinghai Mansion has also gone to ask for peace, it's time to take care of it. ”

The carriage drove all the way back to Jiang's house, and there was no sound in the carriage, only Jiang Yanhua's tears were like broken beads, and they kept falling one by one. When the car arrived at the door, she didn't need a maid to help her, she buttoned her hat to her head, jumped out of the car and ran. Cao Shi hurriedly chased after him.

Although Mint did not enter the main room of Mrs. Jinghai Houtai, she also heard the words at the door, and then saw Taohua sitting in the car, her face was as cold as a stone statue, and she couldn't help but feel distressed, and said cautiously: "Girl, get out of the car." Wait for the master to come back and sue him! ”

Taohua came to her senses, smiled faintly, got up and got out of the car: "What about suing Sù Dad?" ”

The humiliation that Cao Shi and Jiang Yanhua felt, in fact, Taohua didn't feel anything. After all, she came from the afterlife, whether a widow remarries, or a child who follows his mother to find a stepfather, it is a very common thing. In terms of identity alone, Cao's remarriage and Jiang Xi's remarriage, everyone is almost the same, and no one can dislike anyone. What is hateful is that Jiang Xi still saw the wrong person at the beginning, and married such a woman who was not only confused but also restless, so that her biological mother's beloved companion has now fallen into the hands of others.

Mint also felt that there was nothing to say. What if Jiang Xi knows? Divorced Cao? Isn't Jiang Bohua embarrassed? There is a mother who has been divorced, and he will not want to hold his head up in the future.

"Let's, let the master strictly discipline them!" Mint thought about it for a long time, but she could only send this ruthlessness.

"This is natural." Taohua smiled coldly, "But now that I'm in my uncle's house, there are some things that can't be done too conspicuously." When they return to Wuxi, they don't want to go out again, and as for Cao Wu, I don't need to say it, and I won't come back again. ”

Mint muttered, "The slave can't see it...... Mrs. Cao Wu's cheeky ...... Maybe I will come back and coax my wife again......"

Taohua sneered: "Don't worry." Even if the wife was willing, her good daughter would not recognize this uncle. ”

Mint nodded, and couldn't help but say again: "But that jade carving ......"

Taohua rubbed her chest: "I thought that the Cao Wu family would definitely not admit it, but I didn't expect that now I actually know where it is - maybe there will be a chance to ...... in the future" Although this opportunity seems very slim, just looking at the attitude of Mrs. Jinghaihou, I know that they are not welcome to come to the door.

Mrs. Jinghaihou, who was pondering Taohua, had already served her mother-in-law at this time and went back to her room to rest. In fact, she is now Mrs. Hou, married in her early twenties, and has two sons and a daughter, so she no longer has to make rules around Mrs. Hou like a new daughter-in-law. However, in order to show filial piety, it is always necessary to symbolically distribute one or two chopsticks and serve a bowl of soup.

Mrs. Tai also likes this tone, and she often shows off in front of the guests, how her daughter-in-law is courteous. Mrs. Jinghaihou naturally won't refute, isn't it an excellent reputation that she can still serve her mother-in-law like this at her age? Therefore, although Mrs. Tai has many problems, Mrs. Jinghaihou still feels that life is not too sad.

However, her maids felt sorry for their master, and as soon as they returned to the room, they fetched water to wash their faces and hands, and beat their legs: "Madame is tired for a long time today, and the girl will not come back until the evening if she wants to come, so Madame will rest for a while." ”

Cao Hui went to her uncle's house today, of course, it was arranged by Mrs. Jinghaihou. Mrs. Cao Wu and the Cao family, if they really want to recognize their relatives, even if they are Cao Hui's elders, if they have to make a salute at home, Mrs. Jinghai doesn't want her daughter to go to the younger generation with such a broken family, and if you can save it, you can save it. What's more, today is supposed to be a play, and young girls should not be present. However, this play seems to be different from what she expected......

"Piercing the clouds, this seems to be a bit strange today."

Chuanyun said with certainty: "Madame said yes." When Mrs. Tai mentioned the jade carved narcissus, the faces of the people in the room were not right. ”

"Jade Carved Narcissus ......," Lady Jinghai muttered, "there must be something wrong here." Could it be that the jade carving narcissus was originally something obtained by the Jiang family? Otherwise, why did the eldest girl of the Jiang family say it so clearly, if she didn't see it, she couldn't even know the few black and brown variegated colors on the daffodil balls. ”

Chuanyun thought for a while and said, "Isn't it a birthday gift prepared by the two families together, but it was swallowed by the fifth wife alone?" According to the fifth wife, the family is so poor that they can't live a good life, where will the money come from to buy this piece of jade? Although this jade is a little variegated, it is worth one hundred and eighty taels according to the slave maid. ”

When Mrs. Cao Wu gave this birthday gift, it was said that Cao Wu knew that Mrs. Cao loved jade and daffodils, so she specially searched for it. At that time, it was faintly revealed that he had spent a lot of money, so Cao Xilin gave Cao Wu a job in Shangbaosi, and he didn't want to waste his money. But later, when Mrs. Cao Wu's mother and daughter came to flatter Mrs. Tai, they always cried poor, and inevitably some inconsistent words fell on the ears of others.

"This jade, if someone you like sees it, don't say one hundred and eighty taels, two hundred taels are also willing to give it." After all, Chuanyun is a maid, although she has seen a lot of good things in Jinghaihou's mansion and can recognize the material of jade, but she can't fully understand the carving and the like, but Mrs. Jinghaihou can see it, "With Cao Wu's family, I really can't take it out." ”

"Yes. The fifth lady is the most stingy-" Chuanyun pursed her lips, "The slave said something over, when they gave a birthday gift, they may not be able to climb the lady, but I am afraid that they will not spend this money." ”

The eyes of the people in the big families are extremely sharp. Mrs. Cao Wu doesn't forget to give a reward every time she comes to the Hou Mansion, but whether the amount of money is more or less, whether she is really generous or distressed while taking the money, these people see it really well. If it is said that Cao Wu's family will spend a large amount of money for the sake of an uncertain future, Chuanyun will not believe it.

"You girl—" Mrs. Jinghaihou smiled, "but your eyes are sharp." Speaking of which, the Jiang family is much stronger than the Cao Wu family. This jade, I'm afraid it's really prepared by two families. ”

"Otherwise, why didn't Mrs. Jiang bring Mrs. Jiang to see Mrs. Jiang when she came to the capital?" Chuanyun said unceremoniously, "I'm afraid that I will swallow the credit of the Jiang family, and I'm afraid that people will show their stuffing when they come." If it weren't for the two families called over today, I'm afraid this window paper wouldn't have been broken. ”

"You're right." Mrs. Jinghaihou leaned back and leaned on the pillow, thoughtful, "If this is the case, Cao Wu's family will be white-eyed wolves." ”

Chuanyun was stunned for a moment, and then woke up: "Madame is saying, Mrs. Fifth She-"

"Seeing her like that, in order to please me, she immediately sold her sister-in-law, and she didn't mean to hide it at all......" Mrs. Jinghaihou showed a sneer of contempt, "It's Miss Jiang, who can actually say 'when you enter the door, you are a family', which is quite unexpected to me." ”

Piercing the clouds and cleverly, listening to Mrs. Jinghaihou's title to Taohua changed from "Jiang family's big girl" to "Jiang big girl", she knew that Mrs. Jinghaihou's impression of Taohua had changed, and she hurriedly said: "The slave also thinks that Jiang Da girl is bold, and she dares to reply like that......"

Mrs. Jinghaihou smiled slightly: "You don't understand. Although it is her stepmother, if she tramples on her face, she will lose her father's face. This is how things are at home, even if you make a lot of noise behind closed doors, you have to take care of each other when you go outside, this is the face of the family. This girl came from a small place, and it is rare to understand this truth. As he spoke, he sighed, "If the Jiangnan family knew this truth, the master would not be teased from time to time now." ”

Jinghaihou has countless unassuming clansmen, and this matter is known all over the capital. Mrs. Jinghaihou herself has impeccable manners and demeanor, although Jinghaihou is not a very outstanding person, he is loyal and diligent, and the emperor also values him.

At the beginning, Mrs. Jinghaihou still felt that it was nothing to bring poor relatives, it was like this in the big family, and the emperor still had three poor relatives. But you must at least be angry. Cao Xilin was outside to save face, but these people didn't know how to defend Cao Xilin's face.

Like this again and again, Mrs. Jinghaihou became more and more angry, and hated these people more and more. But because they have the same surname, they can't do anything, so they can only comfort themselves and say that people from the countryside are insightful. Who knew that she was also from the countryside, and the girl of the Jiang family actually knew this truth, how could she teach people not to be emotional? The original bad impression of the Jiang family's belly has changed a little.

Chuanyun joked: "Madame said yes." Speaking of which, Miss Jiang and Miss Luo are both from Jiangnan, but this is not quite the same......

Mrs. Jinghai didn't like Cao Luo. The mother and daughter are dead-skinned, and they will only flatter Mrs. Tai explicitly. Mrs. Bitai likes it, and even Cao Hui asked Cao Luo to follow her in order to meet the rules of the election, and she often had to take her with her when she went out. With Cao Luo's identity, what rules in the palace do you have to learn, is there still a day when you can use it?

"Hmph-the Jiang family is a family that knows some rules. At the beginning, both of them worked as imperial doctors in the palace, and they had some knowledge. The latter words were swallowed by Mrs. Jinghaihou, and those clansmen in Jiangnan were ignorant. When the old marquis joined the army, his brother was only greedy for comfort and comfort, and he took concubines in his hometown, so that his children and grandchildren were endless, and today they all came to bring Jinghai Houfu one by one.

"That's it. With today's scene, I think Mrs. Jiang San is embarrassed to come to the door again, and even Cao Wu's family can stop for a while. It's Miss Jiang - it's a pity, she looks good, she speaks well, if she comes from a better background, she is a good girl. ”

It's just gossip. In the circle of Mrs. Jinghaihou's communication, there are many beautiful and noble women, even if Taohua is born more outstanding than others, she is not worth seeing more in terms of identity, so she said a few words casually and left it behind. Anyway, if the person sees it, King Anjun will go through the motions there, and there will be nothing more.

The Jinghai Marquis Mansion and his party made Jiang Yanhua silent for several days, and the Cao family was even more trembling, for fear that Jiang Xi would come to Xingshi to ask for guilt.

Taohua did tell Jiang Xi about this, and the father and daughter sat opposite each other for a long time, and decided to wait for Taohua to enter the palace to diagnose Jiang Meihua's pulse, and then pack up their things and go back to Wuxi as soon as possible. When he returned to Wuxi, the Cao family stayed in his house honestly and cut off contact with Cao Wu's family. As for Jiang Yanhua, if the mother and daughter are separated, they will find her a similar family to marry in a few years. If she still wants to make trouble, she can only send her back to Chen's house.

The father and daughter didn't tell the third person about this plan. No one likes these things to be made at home, I originally thought that the family would live in harmony, but now that it has become like this, Jiang Xi regrets it too late. And he originally loved Jiang Yanhua, but now he is really uncomfortable in his heart.

In the family, only Jiang Baihua didn't know how to worry, he grinned sweetly every day, and followed Taohua to recite the birthday message, preparing to read it out at the birthday banquet of Mrs. Jiang, which made Jiang Xi feel both comforted and a little stunned - such a good child, why can't his mother mention it so much.

After more than ten days like this, Mrs. Jiang's birthday arrived.

When they got up early in the morning, the three Jiang Jun brothers took their wives and children to Mrs. Jiang's place to pay their respects, and presented the birthday gifts in turn.

On this day, Mrs. Jiang finally left Baicaozhai and returned to Yu's courtyard. However, the atmosphere between him and Yu was still cold, and the old couple sat together in the main room, and they only said a few words to each other, and they were dry.

Fortunately, the children and grandchildren who came to pay their respects were lively. Xiaoshi is a clan woman, no matter how much she doesn't like uncle and concubine, she has to make everyone happy on this kind of day. Not to mention Jing's, he can speak well and have witty words. The Cao family is the most wooden, and Jiang Xi has even met her in person these days, and his heart has been hanging, and he has no heart to speak. But she is a niece and daughter-in-law, so it doesn't hurt to talk less, and Jiang Bohua is likable.

If you want to talk about the grandchildren, Jiang Bohua will take advantage. Because of his young age, the Jiang family has not seen such a young child for many years, and even the Yu family likes him. He was wearing a big red shirt, holding two meat fists and kowtowing to the old lady Jiang, which caused laughter in the room, and it seemed that he was happy.

Jiang Jun and his wife prepared a set of Yixing purple sand tea sets that came from the new fashion, and Jiang Zhu and his wife sent six different cans of tea, all of which were famous products. Because Mrs. Jiang has no other hobbies, she just likes to drink tea, which can be regarded as her favorite.

It's a pity that Mrs. Jiang didn't show any special joy for these two birthday gifts, but when Jiang Xi held the transcribed "Compendium of Herbal Medicine", he had a smile on his face.

After that, it's time for the grandchildren to give gifts. Most of the girls are all kinds of needlework, but only Jiang Lianhua gave a volume of "Mountains and River Scenes", which really won the favor of Mrs. Jiang. The boy is a painting of calligraphy and painting, and Mrs. Jiang also expressed his pleasure. On the whole, the old lady was much kinder to her grandchildren than to her sons.

Xiao Shi saw that the old lady Jiang was holding the album given by Jiang Lianhua with a smile on his face, and his heart was sour. Jiang Danhua's needlework has never been very good, and the home-style robe he gave still made most of the maid. This family knows it, and Mrs. Jiang also knows it. However, Jiang Xinghua was very good at needlework, but he only gave one pair of shoes and two pairs of socks, which made him a little ungodly.

To say that this person's psychology is contradictory. Xiao Shigu didn't want Jiang Xinghua to stand out, but now that Jiang Zhu's daughter had overshadowed her side, she hated Jiang Xinghua for why she didn't do a few brilliant needles and threads to win glory for her own house.

Mrs. Jiang's birthday this time, Jiang Jun wanted to do a big deal, but the old lady refused, and in the end only invited a few old friends to come over, all of whom were acquainted when they were imperial doctors, or their families also practiced medicine, or they were petty officials. As for Jiang Jun's colleagues in the court and Jiang Zhu's friends in the shopping mall, Mrs. Jiang did not allow them to be invited to the house, saying that she was afraid of noise.

"Old lady, there's a guest outside." Xiao Shi received the words from the maid, and replied to Mrs. Jiang, "It's an old gentleman surnamed Ou, and he also brought a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, and he wants the little boy to give you a birthday." ”

"Oh?" Old Lady Jiang's eyes lit up, "Invite someone in." ”