Xu is because Zhou Caiwei is about to leave the cabinet in the near future, and she is married to the king of Yingchuan as a concubine, and there are still more than ten days before September, and Uncle Anyuan will start to give Zhou Caiwei a beautiful birthday on her third birthday in September, which is much more attentive than her last year's ceremony.

Mrs. Luo took out her private money and ordered Mama Wang to go to Su Kum Kee to buy several new silks, and invited the best master of the Nishang Pavilion in the capital to make several new clothes for Zhou Caiwei. He also ordered someone to order a drama troupe, not only to hold a banquet for Zhou Caiwei on the third day of the ninth lunar month, but also to perform several classes of operas, so that she could have a good life for a day.

For An Yuanbo's mansion to celebrate her birthday with such fanfare this time, Cai Wei was not flattered at all, but felt even more unsteady. Seeing that she is going to get married next month, it should be time for the house to be busy preparing all kinds of dowries for her. Although the dowry left to her by her father was rich, in addition to about 5,000 taels worth of antique porcelain, another 30,000 taels were in cash.

Because of her makeup this time, Mrs. Tai did not hand it over to any lady to handle, but regardless of her old age and weakness, she took her hand and said that she would come to buy it for her in person, so that she could rest assured. Even though Cai Wei faintly felt that something was strange, she was hindered by filial piety, and it was difficult to open her mouth to ask her grandmother.

On the third day of the ninth lunar month, Cai Wei got up early in the morning, put on new clothes, put on a new head, she was already picturesque, born very beautiful, and then dressed up like this, it is like a Zhilan jade tree, bright and beautiful.

She first went to Xuhui Hall to kowtow to Mrs. Tai, and then went to kowtow to the elders, ran down in such a circle, took a breath, ate a bowl of longevity noodles, and was called to the upper room by Mrs. Tai, saying that her aunt Mrs. Changping Hou came over with her son and daughter-in-law, and asked her to meet the ceremony.

This time, in order to celebrate her birthday, Mrs. Tai made a big show, and all the relatives of the Zhao family were invited to eat and drink. Mrs. Tai also asked Cai Wei to invite some of her best friends to come over, but she has hardly been out in Beijing in the past few years, and the girls of the same age who meet are several nieces of Mrs. Huang, in addition to their own relatives, but unfortunately they are now all booked and are waiting to be married, and it is inconvenient to come out.

Yizhi was still far away in the suburbs and was not allowed to come back, so he sent her a birthday gift a few days in advance. Yifang also only ordered someone to send a birthday gift back, saying that her mother-in-law was not feeling well these days, and she had to wait for her mother-in-law, and she couldn't go back to the house to attend her birthday banquet.

Cai Wei arrived at the upper room and gave her eldest aunt, fourth cousin, and third cousin-in-law all salute, and saw that Yi Hui was not seen in the family, so she walked to the second wife and asked quietly, "Second aunt, why hasn't Sister Hui arrived yet?" ”

The second wife pulled her aside and said in a low voice: "I also got the letter, and Hui'er is afraid that she won't be able to come over today." ”

Cai Wei couldn't help but be a little disappointed, several cousins in this house who were close to her all said that they couldn't come, except for Yihui, who knew that when it came to her day, Yihui suddenly said that she couldn't come.

The second wife said apologetically: "But a little disappointed? I know you want to see Hui'er, she also wants to see you, I heard that there is going to be a birthday banquet for you in the house this time, and she said early that she would come back. She was going to get into the carriage this morning, and she didn't want to feel a little unwell suddenly, so she went back to her room to rest, and couldn't come again. ”

When Cai Wei heard that Yi Hui couldn't come because she was unwell, she was immediately a little worried, and she was about to ask the second wife to ask the doctor to treat her, but she saw that the second wife's eyebrows and eyes were not only not half melancholy, but full of joy.

She was thoughtful, and immediately guessed what was going on, so she smiled and said, "Is Wei'er going to say hello to her aunt and sister Tonghui?" ”

The second wife smiled: "I know that you girl is a ghost, she can't hide anything from you, it's not even three months, don't tell me yet!" ”

"Auntie, just rest assured, I don't tell anyone, I only secretly envy and envy Sister Hui's good fortune in my heart!"

The second wife smiled and said nothing, yes, her sister Hui is indeed a very blessed person, she has only been married for less than a year and has a body, Aunt Hu cursed her mother and daughter that day, do you think she doesn't know?

The wicked woman with a black heart actually cursed her sister Hui for not being able to give birth to a child, but now? Her Hui'er and her husband love each other, and they have children, but it is Sister Fen, the daughter of the Hu family......

The second wife remembered a letter she received yesterday, which was sent from Ganzhou Mansion in Jiangxi, and it was the third letter that the second wife received from Jiangxi this year. These three letters were all written by Sister Fen, who married Wan Tongzhi, and these letters were naturally not sent to her mother-in-law, but to her sister Yihui.

She kept crying in the letter about how miserable she lived after marriage, and the dowry was all taken by the surnamed Wan, not to mention, and she was often beaten and scolded at every turn, knowing that she had a sister who married into Xing'an Bofu as the wife of the prince, so she forced her to write a letter to her sister, wanting to take the path of the prince of Xing'an, so that she could be promoted to another level in her career, or find a fat shortage.

Yifen said that she didn't want to trouble her sister, but when Wan Tongzhi saw that she was disobedient, he beat her hard and didn't give her food, she really couldn't live, so she had to come to her sister with a shy face and beg her sister to show mercy, so as to save her life!

Her three letters are really words of blood and tears, if it really makes Yi Hui see it, it will inevitably give birth to a sympathy for her, but what kind of person is the second wife, I have already prevented Yi Fen from pestering Yi Hui again, even if Yi Hui may not be bewitched by her anymore and help her, but in the end, I will not feel very comfortable after reading this.

This mother lives freely for her children, and she really can't wait to think about everything for her, and the second wife has already instructed a few maids around Yihui, but all the letters from Jiangxi are shown to her first.

These letters written by Yifen to Yihui, the second wife will never show them to her daughter for the rest of her life, but it is not that she is ruthless, she once gave Yifen a chance, it was her mother who insisted on coveting the official position and wealth in front of Wan Tongzhi, but ruined her daughter's happiness for a lifetime.

Since this path was chosen for her by her mother, it is good or bad that Yifen has to suffer by herself, don't blame her for standing by, she is not Guanyin Bodhisattva, she is not so merciful and compassionate, and she can't make her daughter live a peaceful life for a bad-hearted concubine.

The second wife took out a very small brocade box from her sleeve, handed it to Cai Wei with a smile, and said: "Although Hui'er can't come back to congratulate you on your birthday in person, she specially asked someone to send you back the birthday gift, let me give it to you personally, can you open it and see if you like it or not?" ”

Cai Wei took it and opened it to take a look, and saw that it was a jade Buddha carved from mutton fat jade, the jade was shining and shining, and she knew that it was an excellent jade at a glance, so she hurriedly thanked the second wife, and was about to ask a few more words about Yihui's recent situation, but her second aunt Zhao Mingxiang came over and said, "The old lady is looking for you!" And he took it away.

It turned out that Mrs. Luo didn't have anything else to do with her, but the banquet was about to start outside, so she called her to go over with her to watch a play and eat wine.

Cai Wei helped Mrs. Luo to walk outside the main courtyard, and when she arrived at the banquet place, Cai Wei wanted to sit with her sisters, but she was forced to sit down by Mrs. Luo's side, saying that she was a birthday star today, and it was okay to sit here.

Wu Juan sat at another table, and saw that her cousin Cai Wei was sitting on the left of the old lady, and her grandmother Zhao Mingxiang was sitting on the right, so she couldn't help but clench the handkerchief in her hand, and saw that if she couldn't go over and say a few words to Cai Wei, she would never have a chance again. Although she was terrified in her heart, she still raised her trembling legs, walked up to Cai Wei and said, "Sister Wei, I haven't given my birthday gift to my sister yet, this is a sachet I embroidered, don't dislike it." ”

She was about to hand the sachet to Cai Wei, but she shook her body and suddenly fell to the ground.

Cai Wei hurriedly got up and left the table to help her up, but when Wu Juan got up, she suddenly leaned into her ear and whispered, "Don't eat what your mother gave!" ”

Before Cai Wei came back to her senses, Wu Juan had already stuffed the sachet into her hand, and ran away with her skirt.

Her mother-in-law, Zhao Mingxiang, thought that she was ugly and shy in front of others, and she didn't care, so she hurriedly helped Cai Wei back to the chair and said with a smile: "This girl, she is such an adult, and she is still so clumsy when she comes back!" Let's leave her alone, come, Wei girl, first accompany your aunt to have a glass of wine, and it will be your aunt's birthday celebration! ”

Cai Wei saw her second aunt pour out a glass of wine from a black ginkgo leaf pot and put it in front of her, and then looked at another silver-dotted emerald treasure elephant pot on the table, and couldn't help asking: "Isn't the wine in that treasure elephant pot empty, why did I pour this cup of wine out of this black silver pot?" ”

Zhao Mingxiang patted her on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You just drink yours, even the old lady can't drink this wine, we elders can't drink it, and you are the only one on this table who can drink it." ”

Without waiting for Cai Wei to ask again, Zhao Mingxiang said again: "The name of this wine is Daughter Red, your uncle is from Shaoxing, and the custom in that area is that whenever a daughter is born, she will brew a few jars of Daughter Red and bury it under the osmanthus tree, and wait until the daughter gets married as a congratulatory gift." This wine is the red that our sister Wan gave to her daughter in the year she was born. ”

"Because you are in your aunt's heart, you are regarded as your own daughter, and on the day of your wedding, you walked the rules and etiquette of the royal family, and I don't know if you can drink the daughter red brewed by your aunt, so I simply took advantage of your birthday today to congratulate you on your birthday, this is a piece of my aunt's heart for you, good boy, drink it quickly!"

Cai Wei remembered what Wu Juan whispered to her, "Don't eat what your mother gave!" ”

So is this wine considered "something to eat"?

Cai Wei was hesitating, and Mrs. Tai suddenly said: "Mingxiang, since you are an elder, how can you not know how to drink this wine on an empty stomach, so it is the most hurtful and easy to get drunk." Wei girl, since this is your aunt's heart, you might as well eat a dim sum cushion first, and then drink this cup of daughter red. ”

After Mrs. Tai finished speaking, she personally took a piece of red bean cake and put it in the azure glazed rhombic flower plate in front of Cai Wei, Cai Wei saw that this plate of dim sum was placed on the table for everyone to eat together, and it would not be specially prepared for her by the second aunt, so she agreed, first ate the dim sum slowly, and picked up the cup of red that Zhao Mingxiang specially poured for her daughter, but she didn't dare to eat a drop, and took the opportunity of covering the cup with her left sleeve, and quietly poured it on the sleeve.

Seeing that Zhao Mingxiang wanted to persuade her to drink another glass, she hurriedly excused herself, saying that her daughter's red wine was too strong, and she was afraid that she would get drunk if she drank another glass. Mrs. Tai also helped her, and only let her drink a few more glasses of ordinary rice wine.

But it didn't take long for Cai Wei to feel a little dizzy, and she wasn't drunk. She faintly felt that something was wrong in her heart, that cup was a daughter red with something added, she hadn't even touched her lips, how could she still be on the way?