Steward Cao said: "Look at what my aunt said, isn't the Anguo Mansion your father-in-law?" If you want to go in, you can go in at any time, so why bother to report it? To tell the truth, back then, our grandfather was also forced by the old prince at that time, and had to sacrifice the fourth miss, after the fourth miss left, the grandfather of the country was worried day and night, regretful, so many years have not forgotten the fourth miss, if the fourth miss suddenly goes back, Hou Guogong and Mrs. must be happy, that is, the aunt and grandmother saw you, and the illness is afraid that they are all cured! ”

"What? She's sick? How so? What is it? ”

Although Du didn't believe that his father and grandmother would worry about her, and he didn't believe that they would regret what happened back then, when he heard that his mother was sick, he really believed it.

When she didn't run away, her mother's health was not very good, and with all these years of hard work, her body must have deteriorated, which made her even more anxious.

Steward Cao sighed and said, "My aunt's health is always not very good, and I have seen it with the imperial doctor before, saying that it is a disease caused by overwork, and I am afraid that I will not have a few days to live..." ”

Hearing this, Du Shi was shocked, grabbed Mu Zhongqing's clothes, and cried: "Xianggong, I want to go back to the house to see, no matter what, I have to go back, they want to beat and kill me, I admit it, but I have to go back to see ......"

"Well, that's fine!"

Mu Zhongqing could understand Du Shi's feelings, he didn't worry about Du Shi going back alone, so he didn't hesitate to take his wife's hand and said, "I'll go with you!" ”

Steward Cao said happily on the side: "Great, Miss and Uncle go home, Grandpa and Mrs. Guo must like it!" ”

After saying that, with a wave of his hand, a carriage behind him came over with a grunt, and Steward Cao lifted the curtain and respectfully invited Du Shi and Mu Zhongqing to get into the car.

"The slave originally came out to do something, but I didn't expect it to be done, but I found the fourth lady who had been lost in the house for more than ten years, and the grandfather of the country will be happy, and he will definitely reward the old slave..."

Steward Cao chattered, followed the car, and walked towards the Anguo Mansion.

After walking for a long time, the carriage traveled a long way, and finally stopped, and Steward Cao stepped forward respectfully and said, "Grandma, aunt, it's here!" ”

Mu Zhongqing was the first to get out of the car, and after getting out of the car, he turned around and went to pick up his wife, he took Du Shi's hand and led her out of the car, before looking at the mansion of the Anguo Mansion.

Anguo Mansion is luxurious and magnificent, there is a pair of tall and mighty lions in front of the gate, a wide vermilion bright door, the façade is fixed with nine copper nails in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the door knocker of the beast head embedded with the tiger's head is majestic and solemn, full of momentum.

Entering the gate, the familiar scenery made Du Shi's expression in a trance.

According to her memory, Anguo Mansion is divided into three roads, east, middle and west, the buildings on the east road live Du Shi's brothers, the west road is the place where some concubines in the house live, and the middle road is the main courtyard of the Guogong Mansion, the residence of the old grandfather and Mrs. Tai, however, the old grandfather and Mrs. Tai are now ancient, and are now lived by her father, the current grandfather Du Ruhai and her mother Wang.

Steward Cao led Mu Zhongqing and his wife to the photo wall, and said to the two with a smile: "Please aunt and aunt later, let the old slave go in and report, Guogong is also old now, he must slowly inform him of the good news, lest his old man be overjoyed and hurt his body." ”

Although Du Shi and Mu Zhongqing didn't believe that Du Ruhai would be so happy to see them that he hurt his body, he didn't expose Steward Cao, and said politely: "Steward Cao, please take care of yourself!" ”

Steward Cao went with a smile.

Mu Zhongqing said worriedly: "Meiniang, I always feel that something is wrong with my husband, so Steward Cao is too attentive, come to think of it, you don't have so much influence in this mansion, why is he here?" ”

Du Shi said: "I can't notice that something is wrong, but I really care about my mother, and I can't take care of it much, if they really harm my heart, even if we don't come, with the power of the Anguo Mansion, killing us is just a matter of words, so, let's take a step at a time and see one step at a time!" ”

While the two were talking, Steward Cao hurriedly walked over and said with a smile: "Grandma, aunt, please come in, but it happens that the prince and all the masters are here, and they all want to see their uncle, so take your aunt to recognize your relatives!" ”

Du Shi and Mu Zhongqing glanced at each other, nodded, and followed Steward Cao towards the hall of the mansion.

Bypassing the wall, I walked to the door of the hall, and saw four girls waiting outside the door, and several mothers-in-law were also standing in the corridor, ready to be dispatched.

Seeing the Du husband and wife, a girl with quick eyes opened the curtain and invited the two to come in.

In the flower hall, standing and sitting, it was crowded with people. In the middle of a pair of rosewood circle chairs, sitting An Guogong Du Ruhai and his wife Wang.

Du Ruhai is about fifty years old, with scarce hair, pale face, puffy eye bubbles, and a wine-colored body injury, wearing a chestnut trimmed wide-sleeved robe, the robe is embroidered with cumbersome ornaments, which is very consistent with his identity as the Duke of An Guo.

And Mrs. Wang, fifty years old, dignified and delicate, wearing a lake blue embroidered West lotus Shu brocade placket, below is a dark brown embroidered gold sprinkled horse face skirt, with a hollow crested hairpin on the head, gold inlaid ruby longevity hairpin, a pair of red coral pendants on the ears, a tourmaline bracelet on the left hand, and a white jade ring on the middle finger, looking luxurious and rich.

Although Mrs. Wang has a dignified appearance, Du Shi knows that this grandmother is actually a very powerful person.

Father An Guogong was romantic when he was young, there were many concubines, and there were more concubines and concubines, but in the end, there were only two concubines and a few concubines with outstanding appearances, those two concubines, one was crippled while riding a horse, he was a cripple, and the other was born stupid, he was a fool, and now they are all raised in the west courtyard, and they have started a family.

The concubines who survived were all beautiful and could go out to marry for the Anguo Mansion and bring benefits to the Anguo Mansion. Over the years, the Anguo Mansion has indeed benefited from which in-laws.

In this way, Mrs. Wang's methods can be seen.

"Meet my father and mother, and meet my brothers and sisters-in-law."

Du took Mu Zhongqing to ask for peace to Du Ruhai and Wang, the Duke of Anguo, and asked a few sisters-in-law who sat under Du Ruhai and a few sisters-in-law who sat under Mrs. Wang.

Du Ruhai and Mrs. Wang glanced at each other, and there was a look of disgust in their eyes, but they didn't speak. The elder brothers who sat down were also silent with dark faces, and their eyes looked at the couple with no kindness.

The Du family and his wife were both polite, but no one in the room called them up, and the atmosphere became awkward for a while.

However, a sister-in-law sitting under Mrs. Wang stood up with a smile, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

"Look, I haven't seen you for decades, and when I saw the fourth sister at first glance, I couldn't say anything excited about everyone."

"Yes, yes, I haven't seen you for more than ten years, and when I saw the fourth sister at first glance, I didn't dare to recognize each other."

"The fourth sister is still as beautiful as when she left, and a beauty is a beauty......"

Someone broke the awkward atmosphere, and the house quickly became lively, and several sisters-in-law took the lead in getting up and chatting affectionately around Du's family.

Du Ruhai pulled a long tone and said, "Get up, family, don't just be polite." ”

"Yes!"

Du Shi got up and led Mu Zhongqing to meet with everyone one by one privately.

"This is the eldest brother, when I left, the eldest brother was already the six-grade Hanlin Academy, and now I don't know what the official position is?"

Du Yongzhi smiled proudly and said, "Brother Wei is just a mere five-grade middle scholar now, which makes the fourth sister and brother-in-law laugh." ”

said that he was smiling, but there was a smug look on his face, as if he was amazing.

Speaking of which, if you rely on Du Yongzhi himself, I am afraid that he can't even keep the six-grade Hanlin Academy, fortunately, there is a second-grade mighty general as a brother-in-law, and now the brother-in-law has been promoted to the first-grade protector general, and he has been in the limelight in the court for a while, and the brother-in-law has a good feeling for his sister, and he naturally takes care of his eldest brother.

"This is the second brother, I was still studying in the academy when I left, and now I don't know what official position I have?"

Du Shi then introduced to Mu Zhongqing, and Mu Zhongqing stepped forward to salute.

Du Yongbang bowed his head and said: "My sister and sister-in-law don't have to be polite, I am not talented for my brother, I only do a small official who is not eye-catching, and I don't make my sister and sister-in-law laugh." ”

Mu Zhongqing said politely: "The second brother Yu Zhongqing is of the same age, but he is an official to the sixth grade, but Zhongqing is still a talentless and rankless, speaking of which, it really makes Zhongqing ashamed of himself!" ”

Mu Zhongqing's politeness greatly satisfied Du Yongbang's vanity, and when he looked at Mu Zhongqing, he was not so disdainful, but said with a smile: "Although my brother-in-law is not willing for the time being, he has it." ”

He just wanted to say, with the son-in-law of 'Huo Gongzi', is he still worried about having no official position?

But when he said this, he slammed his mouth, just now he was proud for a while, and almost missed it, when Huo Gongzi sent someone to talk about this matter, he had repeatedly instructed, and he should not let the Mu family know that it was he who made them recognize each other behind his back, of course he didn't want to touch Huo Gongzi's reverse scales and cause Huo Gongzi's dissatisfaction, so he was very glad that he shut up in time.

"Hehe, my sister-in-law has a lot of talent, and the middle move is just a matter of hand, and sooner or later he will be out of office!"

Du Yongbang played a round in time. Mu Zhongqing bowed his hand politely, and went with his wife to recognize the last eldest brother.

"This is the third brother, the youngest son of my father,"

"It's also the most unsuccessful one!"

Du Yongchun didn't wait for Du Shi to finish speaking, he intercepted her words, arched his hand to Mu Zhongqing casually, and said solemnly: "My sister-in-law smiled, my brother is now just a mere example of the Hanlin Academy, and my sister-in-law has a bright future, and he can't get into the eyes of his sister-in-law." ”

Du Ruhai glanced at his youngest son, although he was dissatisfied, he had long been accustomed to his virtue, snorted lightly, and turned his face to the side.

Du Shi led her husband and met the people in the house one by one, and there were some young ladies who I didn't know, presumably the children of these brothers, because they were juniors, Du Shi didn't let her husband meet them.

At this time, Mrs. Wang brewed a good feeling, beckoned Du Shi to her side, took her hand and sat down, took out a handkerchief, wiped her eyes, and sobbed in a low voice: "My son, my father and mother were also forced by the old beast of King Guangling and had no choice but to give you up to protect our family, you don't have to blame your father!" ”

Hearing this, Du Shi unconsciously recalled the miserable appearance when she fled in a hurry, which made her still have palpitations, and she couldn't help but shed a few tears with Mrs. Wang.

Madame Wang continued: "The old man died in less than two months after you left, and it is a shame that you had the idea to escape, otherwise, you would have stayed in that pickled palace now, and you still don't know how to panic!" ”

Du Shi cried for a while, held back his tears, looked at the people underground, and said, "Mother, why does it seem that there is no one missing?" ”

Mrs. Wang said, "Is my son inquiring about Aunt Mei?" ”

Du Shi nodded and said, "I haven't seen my aunt for a long time, I heard that my aunt's health is very bad, my daughter is very worried, and I hope my mother will be considerate, and let me go to see my aunt." ”

Mrs. Wang sighed and said worriedly: "Hey, poor thing, Aunt Mei has been washing her face with tears all day long since she beat you away, and now she is blind, and she refuses to eat well, and she refuses to take care of her body, and now her body is too empty, and the doctor said that she is afraid that she will not be able to survive this year...... That's it, thrush, you took the fourth aunt and aunt to Aunt Mei's place to have a look! ”

Du Shi remembered that in the past, his mother lived in a corner of the west courtyard, and the house was a utility room where sundries were piled up in the past, and later he was pointed out by his grandmother to live in the mother, but fortunately this is the south, and it is not cold in winter.

The thrush took Du Shi and Mu Zhongqing and walked towards the west courtyard, through the hanging flower gate of the second gate, all the way to the west, through the long hand-copying verandah, through the garden, and through an apricot forest, before arriving at the courtyard of the west courtyard.

The west courtyard is divided into more than a dozen small courtyards, where Du Ruhai's concubines and concubines live.

Du used to live in the Changchun Garden here, and practiced singing and dancing with the prostitute-born adoptive mother all day long, but then she ran away, and I don't know what happened to the prostitute-born adoptive mother.

When they arrived at the Changchun Garden, the thrush stopped and led them in.

"Madame took pity on Aunt Mei alone, so she let Aunt Mei live in this Changchun Garden, and my aunt and uncle should come in with me."

The furnishings in the yard are still the same, not much has changed, only a small stove has been added.

A little girl who had just left her head was squatting on the edge of the stove, fanning the stove pit, and in the medicine jar on the stove, the strong smell of medicine filled the air, which was very unpleasant.

"Xiaohong, how is my aunt's situation today?" Thrush asked.

The girl known as Xiaohong raised her head, saw the big girl thrush next to her lady, got up busily, and said respectfully: "Back to my sister's words, my aunt still hasn't seen any better, the doctor said that she can't survive this year, according to me, this spring is enough to survive it." ”

"Presumptuous!"

Thrush was furious, pointed at Xiaohong's nose and scolded: "What a bold minion, who did you borrow courage from?" Dare to casually talk about the life and death of the master, and still kneel down, slap your mouth! ”

Xiaohong was scolded by the thrush, and stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do, this Aunt Mei, obviously the lowest person in the house, is the master who is beaten and scolded, how can she be so dignified and noble, and she can't even say a word?

She is the son of the house, and the days of coming to the house are not shallow, and she knows the details of this Aunt Mei best.

In this house, although Aunt Mei has the identity of an aunt, even the most inferior servants can abuse her at will, especially after she is blind, there are often subordinates who run to her because of the anger of the master, so they run to her and punch and kick her, venting their anger, sometimes her blood is all over her face, everyone is dizzy, and no one pays attention.

It's been like this for more than ten years, but half a month ago, Aunt Mei was suddenly picked up from the dilapidated house that was ventilated on all sides, not only gave the best Changchun Garden in the West Courtyard to live, but also invited the imperial doctor, and nursed the ginseng and deer antler velvet every day, and sent two of them to serve her, what is going on?

"Don't kneel yet!" The thrush shouted angrily.

Xiaohong woke up like a dream, and hurriedly knelt down, opened her bow left and right, and fanned her cheeks.

Du Shi didn't have time to watch them act, so he walked quickly towards the house, walked into the hall, entered the inner room, and saw his mother lying on the kang at a glance, describing her withered hair, gray hair, empty eyes, and already thin into a handful of bones.

"Mother, my daughter is back......"

Du stepped forward, knelt down on the edge of the kang, and cried loudly.

Mei Shi on the kang moved, tremblingly raised his withered hand, and touched it in the direction of Du Shi.

"Who? Who are you? Who do you say you are? ”

She asked eagerly, waving her hand to touch the person who was speaking.

"It's me, beautiful girl, your daughter......"

Crying, he grabbed his mother's withered hand and put it on his cheek.

"The daughter is not filial, and even the mother is so far that it is really difficult to atone for her sins..."

Mei struggled and got up, her dry hands rubbing against my face, tears streaming down her blind eyes.

"Are you really my daughter? Are you my beautiful girl? You didn't lie to me? ”

"No, my daughter is really back, and I brought your son-in-law back, as well as your grandson and granddaughter......

Du Shi got up, hugged his emaciated mother, choked up, tears raining down.

"Good.... All right...... I've finally waited for this day......"

Mei Shi decided, hugged his daughter, and cried loudly, as if the grievances that had been accumulated for more than ten years, they all vented their brains, crying darkly, their liver and intestines were broken, hugging Du Shi, just screaming 'son, meat'.

Mu Zhongqing stayed aside, looking at his mother-in-law who was crying like a tearful child, and couldn't help but be secretly frightened.

Mother-in-law's face is covered with deep and shallow scars, hideous and terrifying, and the hands exposed outside are also scarred, it can be seen that over the years, how much inhuman treatment she has suffered, and how many tragic trials and tribulations, but, I don't know who is so vicious that even a lonely old woman refuses to let go?

Mu Zhongqing clenched his fists, his eyes burning with anger.

Mei didn't notice her son-in-law's gaze on her, she was still crying like a drunk, and kept patting Du's back, as if she was filming a little baby.

"Son, if I hadn't stayed up and wanted to see you for the last time, my mother would have been unable to hold on, and when I saw you, my mother would have been relieved......"

Du Shi cried: "My daughter is back, and my mother's good days are coming, and when I wait for tomorrow, my daughter will bring your grandson and granddaughter, and kowtow to you." ”

Du Shi's words made Mei Shi see hope at once, and the original dead gray face appeared with the brilliance of motherhood.

She held back her tears and muttered, "Do I also have a grandson and a granddaughter?" Oh, that's good, I pray to the Bodhisattva all day long, and the Bodhisattva must have heard my heart and manifested his spirit......"

Du Shi also wiped away his tears, and just wanted to say a few words to his mother, but suddenly found the scars on his mother's face, and he didn't feel a heat in his throat, and spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Meiniang, what's wrong with you, tell me, what's wrong with you?"

Mei smelled the blood, and was so anxious that she knelt on the kang, waving her hands in the air, trying to catch her daughter and investigate.

"Mother, I'm fine, sue me, who beat you like this!"

Du Shi wiped the blood from his lips and held his mother's hand again, the anger in his eyes burned fiercely, as if he wanted to fight with someone.

Mei touched her cheek, smiled disapprehantly, and said: "Mother is fine, as long as you can be well, son-in-law and granddaughter can be fine, even if you let your mother die, your mother is willing, what is this injury?" ”

Du Shi was not affected by her mother's breeze, she asked sharply, "Is it An Guogong?" Or Madame? Or was it ordered by the master in the house? ”

Mei was anxious and said: "No, no, you must not be an enemy of your father in order to fight for your mother, he can let you meet your mother, and allow you to enter the house again, your mother has died without regrets, you know, he is An Guogong, you can't compete with him, annoyed him, not to mention his mother, even his son-in-law and grandson, his life will be worried!" ”

Du Shi listened to his mother's words, gradually calmed down, took his mother's hand and thought for a while, and said, "Later, I'll go and talk to An Guogong, let him let you out, and live with us!" ”

A hint of anticipation flashed across Mei's face, but it quickly dimmed.

"He won't allow it, without a son, he won't allow the concubine to leave the house, unless I die, he will never agree!"

Mei was right, when Du mentioned to An Guogong that he wanted to take Mei out to live, An Guogong refused.

In the eyes of the ancients, daughters are all people with foreign surnames, and it is a very shameful thing to hand over their concubines to people with foreign surnames to raise, not to mention the Houmen family, even ordinary people, and they will not allow their concubines to go out with their daughters to live.

Mrs. Wang said: "Since the beautiful lady is not worried about Aunt Mei, it is better to move into the house with the family, first, the flesh and blood can be gathered, and second, if Aunt Mei has children and grandchildren around her knees, maybe the disease can be cured without treatment." ”

This mention stumped Du Shi, she was worried about her mother, but she was also afraid of what was greasy in this house, she didn't care alone, but if those children were calculated by them, wouldn't it be like picking her heart and liver.

Therefore, she did not agree immediately, but only said that she would go back and discuss with the children.

An Guogong and Mrs. Wang were not reluctant, and after a few words of persuasion, they sent someone to send them back.

As soon as Zhong Qing and his wife left, Du Yongzhi called the girl to wipe the floor and smoke incense, and said in disgust: "The smell of cow dung in the countryside is disgusting!" ”

Du Ruhai glanced at his son and said, "What's wrong with the countrymen?" Countrymen can still train a good girl, you are a prince and nobleman, and if you have the ability, you can also let your daughter recruit a son-in-law like Huo Gongzi, and it is not too late to talk about it! ”

Du Wanqiu, the eldest daughter of the Anguo Mansion who was standing behind Du Yongzhi, heard this, and immediately bit her lip, and her slender phoenix eyes revealed a strong resentment and unwillingness!

She is the eldest daughter of the big house of the Anguo Mansion, with a noble status, beautiful appearance, and a very high heart, since she was a child, she was determined to find a good man who was worthy of her and made women all over the world jealous.

It's a pity that there are too few good men in the Great Jin Kingdom, except for the crown prince who has married the concubine, the King of Qin from the queen, and then Huo Yuan, the eldest son of the Huo family, who is known as the richest man in the Great Jin Kingdom.

The prince has already married a concubine, which can be ignored, I heard that the king of Qin is beautiful and self-loving, and is known as the first prince of the Great Jin Kingdom, which has really made her admire for many years.

It's a pity that her cousin Li Ruizhu will soon become the princess of Qin, Li Ruizhu's identity is noble, and her family is far better than her, although she is envious and jealous, but she has nothing to do, so she has to accept her fate.

However, that cousin from the countryside, what kind of thing is she, why dare to rob her favorite Huo Gongzi?

When she heard that Huo Gongzi asked her grandfather to take their family into the mansion for her, and did not let their family know that it was him who did it, her eyes were red with jealousy.

That cheap woman in the countryside, maybe she used some shameless means to seduce Huo Gongzi to treat her like this, and when she was in the house, she would definitely teach her a good lesson, let her know what it means to abide by her duty, and let her understand that there are some men that she can't afford to mess with!