May of the 11th year of Pingxi. This year's summer came earlier than usual, and the weather gradually became hot in May, and before the height of summer, the trees were already singing cicadas. This noisy sound was the loudest at noon, and it was endless, and finally woke up the sleeping Mrs. Lu family. "Mother Wang, what time is it?" Wang Liming's hoarse voice sounded, waking up the nurse who was napping in front of the bed. "Madame, you're awake! It's noon. Mother Wang whispered in surprise: "Madam, the old slave asked the kitchen to stew the pumpkin porridge that clears the heat and removes the fire, and has asked the maids to dry it first, now the temperature is just right, do you want to use some?" Mother Wang asked as she helped the eldest lady sit up. Where can I eat? A wry smile appeared on Wang Liming's pale face.

It's been nearly a month since she married into the Lu family. The surprise when she lifted the hijab and saw her husband for the first time, the sweet and harmonious newlywed time between the two after marriage was like a sweet dream, which was gradually shattered in the old lady's daily struggle. When she was about to get married, Wang Liming also imagined her future life after marriage. In her imagination, there is her husband's dislike, and her stepson's estranged resistance, she also thinks that she is mentally prepared, but who knows that the qiē after entering the door is completely different from what she imagined. The husband is dignified, mature and steady, although he can't do the piano and the song, but the two of them also respect each other like guests; The stepsons and stepdaughters are respectful, and the eldest daughter often sends some small objects made by herself to express kindness; On the contrary, she thought that the old lady who was not a serious mother-in-law, the shelf was bigger than the serious mother-in-law of ordinary people, and the woman who was degraded to a cheap concubine that she had never put in her eyes jumped out from time to time to make waves with the support of her mother-in-law! I thought that my cousin would help her in front of her relatives, but who knew that this woman treated her like a passerby, and every time she saw her angry with the old lady, she stood by as if she was watching a play!

After returning to the door on the third day, the old lady couldn't wait to ask her eldest daughter-in-law to set rules. Before dawn every day, Wang Liming had to rush to Songling Courtyard to serve the old lady to get up and dress up; For three meals a day, she must serve the old lady on the side, serve tea and water, and carry cloth and vegetables; At night, the old lady said that she was sore, and she had to massage the old lady's back, and she served until the old lady fell asleep before returning to her Lihe Courtyard. The eldest lady, who has almost done all the big maid work in Songling Courtyard, is weak every day when she returns to her own courtyard. Fortunately, her husband felt sorry for her, and he never wanted his wife who was tired for a day to serve her life again. When she was really wronged, Wang Liming also tried to cry to her husband about her mother-in-law's troubles, but her husband cited a bunch of terrible examples of "because her daughter-in-law was not filial to her mother-in-law, she was impeached by the imperial history and dismissed by the emperor as a court", and apologized and told her to be more patient, as long as she follows the old lady in everything, after a long time, she can always warm the old lady's heart. For the sake of her husband's future, Wang Liming can only swallow her anger and comfort herself that the old lady will always have a soft-hearted day. If so, forget it. In Jing'an customs, in the first month of marriage, the husband has to stay in his wife's room for the whole month in order to show respect for his wife. As soon as the month was over, the restless concubine in Begonia Courtyard couldn't wait to come out to compete for favor.

On this day, Wang Liming, as usual, served until the old lady fell asleep, and then returned to Lihe Courtyard exhausted. I thought that my husband, as usual, was in the room reading a book while waiting for him to come back. As soon as I entered the room, I found that it was empty. Asked about the whereabouts of the eldest maid Xingshuang called by the old lady, she reported hesitantly, "The uncle was originally waiting for Mrs. in the room, but just now someone from Haitang Courtyard came to say that Miss Seven was uncomfortable and crying for her father, so Uncle went to Aunt Zhou's place, and when he left, he told that Mrs. didn't have to wait for him tonight." Wang Liming was furious when he heard this, and he fainted on the spot after working hard for days and being angry. After falling ill, Wang Liming finally waited for the day when the old lady's heart was soft, and Mother Liu of Songling Yuan sent the old lady's words, telling the eldest lady to recuperate well in the past few days, and then go to the old lady to say goodbye when she is well.

After serving the eldest lady sitting on the bed with a small bowl of pumpkin porridge, Wang's mother dismissed a group of subordinates, and sat on the small collapse next to the lady's bed by herself, talking with her to relieve her boredom. After all, the eldest lady's family background is not good, and only the nurse Wang's mother is married. The eldest lady could not trust the other maids, and when the master and servant spoke, even if they were just chatting about some inconsequential gossip, no one else was allowed to be present to serve.

"Madam, you have to take good care of your body, your illness, the Begonia Courtyard is satisfied." Taking care of her sick wife for days, Wang's mother herself was also very haggard, but she didn't care about it at all, and she only cared about worrying about her wife.

"Why don't I know that? It's just that when I think that after I get better, I will start to live that miserable life again, and I can't wait to be sick forever. Closing her eyes, the eldest lady sighed in frustration.

"Miss, what are you talking about?" In a hurry, Wang's mother blurted out her past name. She took out the handkerchief in her arms and wiped away the tears that suddenly poured out: "It's all because the old slave was blind at the beginning, and persuaded the young lady to marry this Lu family!" Miss, punish the old slave, it's all the old slave's fault, the old slave should die! Remorse made Wang's mother's tears flow more and more, she simply didn't wipe it, got up and knelt down to kowtow to the young lady again and again, eager to apologize for her sins.

"Mom, what are you doing? Get up! When did I blame you? The eldest lady was also anxious, she was sick and weak, and she couldn't stand up and go over to help the nurse, and she still didn't want to get up when she saw that the nurse's head was bruised, so she was so anxious that she slapped one hand on the edge of the bed: "Mom, is this going to kill me in a hurry?" I'm sick like this and I still need my mother to take care of you, you don't care about your body now, are you thinking that you are sick too, don't you care about me? ”

Only then did Wang's mother stop kowtowing, stood up tremblingly, walked over and took the crying young lady into her arms, and gently patted her back as she did when she was a child to comfort her. After the master and servant hugged each other and cried bitterly for a while, the painful feelings were finally vented enough, and the eldest lady spoke: "When I chose the Lu family, it was also a matter for me to make up my mind, which of the words that my mother persuaded me to do not consider for me?" How could I blame Mom? Mom, don't look at me that I have a hard life now, but it's worth it! If one day in the future, the matter of my body is exposed, and the more guilty my uncle is about me now, the more he can't divorce me at that time! If I marry the Lin family, no matter how much hardship I suffer, I will be taken off one day in the future. "The tempering of life made the eldest lady begin to grow up, and she thought more and more transparently. Mother Wang's remorse calmed down a little, and she sighed: "My hard-working young lady! ”

"It's just that it's really not a way to blindly swallow your anger like this. I can see that the more obedient I am, the more I will make the old pious woman in Songlingyuan worse, and instead of hoping to warm her stone heart, it is better to stand up with my own ideas. "Roushun is just a mask that Wang Liming put on to gain a good reputation when she was about to get married, and it has never been her nature. Wang Liming, who was shrewd and powerful in his previous life, finally grew up in advance under the polishing of the old lady.

"Madame, but you have an idea?" When Wang's mother heard what Mrs. said, she thought that she had a plan, and her spirits were lifted.

"Not really...... Let's sort out the situation of the Lu family again and see if we can find a way. I believe that there is always a solution to things! "The so-called one person counts the short, two people count the long, the master and servant finally found a breakthrough after thinking about it.

"Mom, you said that the old lady treated me like this, isn't it because I am not her own daughter-in-law, right? But the big girl Zhihua is not her granddaughter, why does the old lady never make things difficult for her? The little girls in the second and third rooms are secretly fighting so hard, why have they never seen the idea of beating the big girls? The eldest lady suddenly remembered her eldest daughter, and every time she saw her, she had a faint smile on her face, and she had always been gentle and kept a distance from the old lady and her sisters. The strange thing is that a person who is soft and weak and looks so easy to bully no one dares to provoke in this wolf's den-like Lu Mansion. After thinking about it carefully, she felt that the big girl was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Mother Wang thought carefully and bowed her head: "That's true." Madam, you should be glad that this eldest lady is still respectful to you on the surface, if we want to start from her, we can only win over, and we must not offend. "Mother Wang is afraid that Mrs. will want to be crooked, and order the eldest lady to do something as the main mother, and the effect can only be counterproductive.

I have to say that Mother Wang is really like a roundworm in the belly of the eldest lady, she thinks so now, first take the initiative to make a good friend to the eldest daughter, if she knows each other, take the initiative to say good things for herself in front of the old lady, that is the best; If she is that unenlightened, with her identity as the mother of the long-term housekeeper, isn't it as easy to pinch her daughter as it is for the old lady to pinch herself?

Therefore, the eldest lady was a little dissatisfied with the nurse's words: "I am her mother, under filial piety, what do you dare to let her do?" Isn't this house governed by filial piety? I am filial to the old lady, this daughter, you have to be filial to me! Mother Wang actually agrees with this point of view, but she is old and sophisticated, and she still wants to persuade her wife not to offend people indiscriminately: "Having said that, but we are now in this Lu Mansion, the situation is already quite difficult, and it is really unwise to make enemies indiscriminately." I think Madame should try her best to win over! ”

The eldest lady nodded: "I will salute first and then soldier, it depends on whether that girl knows each other or not!" Anyway, we're like this now, even if we offend her, how bad can we be? I don't dare to resist the old lady, and if I still have to observe the words and feelings of the stepdaughter, then what else can I do as the eldest lady? Invite yourself to go home! Immediately, attached to Wang's mother's ear, she gave such and such an order.

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Zhihua came back from the school a little late today, and Minyi's girl pestered her to remake a pastry she learned today, saying that she would take it back to her mother to taste. After a year of hard work, Zhihua's cooking skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and now she makes pastries, and even Mr. Yun often nods and praises. Today's teaching is a jasper paste, Zhihua added honey and mint water to the original materials, and the new product made is sweet but not greasy, cool and delicious, which is most suitable for eating in early summer, so Minyi eats it herself, and she has to grind Zhihua softly and hard to make another one and pack it home.

"Why did Miss come back so late today?" Han's mother was waiting at the gate of Qiuhua Courtyard early in the morning, and when she saw the figure of the young lady, she immediately greeted her.

"It's not Minyi's girl who hurt her." Zhihua smiled and told Han's mother about Minyi's dead-skinned little scoundrel's deeds, but Han's mother couldn't laugh, but frowned, looking like she had something to say. Zhihua knew that this was not the place to talk, so she didn't ask anything, and only took Han's mother to the house. When he entered the room and took the hot tea that Bai Lan had already brewed, Zhihua asked, "Mom, what happened?" ”

"In the afternoon, Mother Wang from Lihe Hospital came to us in person, saying that the eldest lady's illness has not improved in the past few days, so let you take leave in the school tomorrow and go there to serve the sick." Thinking back to this, Mother Han couldn't help frowning, the eldest lady is planning to learn from the old lady to take care of the young lady.

Zhihua didn't laugh angrily, "She has no way out, she wants to start from my side and let me help her." She has always looked at the situation of the eldest lady, but she has never taken the initiative to help, just like the others in the Lu Mansion, polite and gentle but not close.

"Miss, don't underestimate her. Don't look at her as docile as a harmless sheep in front of the old lady, the old slave looks at her eyes, it's not a good kind. In the opinion of the old slave, you should let the old lady deal with this matter, right? This is not a trivial job, so why should you suffer so much? Seeing that Miss Han had no intention of refusing, Mother Han was worried that she was despising the eldest lady.

Mother Han's worry made Zhihua's heart warm and comforted, she smiled and comforted: "Mom, don't worry, it's not easy to serve the sick, but the person who is served may not be comfortable!" I know it in my heart, you don't have to worry. When Han's mother heard this, her heart was a little relieved, and Miss Zhang Luo went to dinner.

The confrontation with the eldest lady had been prepared by Zhihua long before she entered the door. Dealing with people like Wang Liming, whether it is taking the initiative to take action, or nodding to help her as soon as she shows her goodwill, it will not make her grateful, it will only make her feel that she deserves it, if she helps once, she will have the next time, and as long as she refuses once, she will become her enemy; When she takes out her identity as a housemother to suppress herself, she can't compromise, otherwise it will only make her feel that she is the paper tiger, which doesn't look simple, but is actually easy to bully. This kind of person, only if she is scared and convinced, and let her know that she is powerful before helping her, will she be grateful and dare not take an inch.