The big mahogany garden table was full of people, the old lady Shen was in the main position, Shen Congshi and Shen Congwen sat on her left and right hands, and then the eldest lady and her four sons, and then the sisters in the second room.

On one side of the red table was a small round table, leaving a few aunts to sit alone.

"Let's move the chopsticks." Old Mrs. Shen lifted the chopsticks first, and the others began to move the chopsticks quietly.

The Shen family's Chinese New Year's Eve tuanyuan meal must be eaten on the family table, which is a rule set by the ancestors of the Shen family, and everyone abides by such rules every year to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve.

It's just that there are two fewer people this year than last year, except for the deceased Aunt Da Zhou, Mrs. Shen didn't let Shen Qinfu pick her up, and Shen Congwen didn't ask much, as if this was the case.

The dinner table was very quiet, everyone's appetite didn't seem to be very good, the table full of delicacies from the mountains and seas was still half left when the table was withdrawn, and some exquisite dishes were not even moved.

Mrs. Shen waved her hand and gave the meal to the maid who was waiting in the house.

A few people respectfully accepted the reward and went down happily.

She rubbed the corners of her forehead tiredly, and asked An Ping to support herself, saying that she was old and in poor spirits, so she let her children and grandchildren play by themselves, and then went back to the hospital.

Shen Fangshi held back a few words, and when he saw that Mrs. Shen was tired, he thought that Mrs. Shen was mourning about Aunt Da Zhou and Shen Qinfu, so he said a few good words and called Shen Qinya to accompany Mrs. Shen back to the hospital.

Since Aunt Da Zhou's accident, Mrs. Shen has treated her most favored granddaughter a lot coldly, which even Shen Fang's on the side can see that for this eldest niece who gets along more and does things well, Shen Fang's likes it a little, and is happy to take care of her.

Shen Qinya smiled at her gratefully and held Mrs. Shen, but Mrs. Shen did not refuse.

They were the first to withdraw from the banquet, and the old lady Shen, who had presided over in previous years, left, so that the banquet was officially dispersed.

In the flower hall, except for the family in the big room, there are talking and laughing, and the people in the second room are all silently doing their own thing.

Or tea tasting, or flower appreciation, as well as teasing children, playing with silk silk in their hands.

The cousins who were supposed to be close sat in a row, and they didn't talk much to each other, even if they said two words, they were polite, but if they talked too much, they seemed more distant, so it was better not to say them.

What's more, Shen Fang's clan also avoided that they were together.

As a mother, I am always worried that I will bring my child badly, after all, the door style of the second room is not flattering.

Sitting idly in the flower hall was really boring, so everyone found their own excuse and left.

The big red lanterns under the eaves also reflect the snow on the ground.

On a cold winter night, many people in the house have a holiday, and they have the permission of Mrs. Shen, so it is rare for them to be able to wander around the mansion, so when they walk in the corridor, they can still see people traveling together with lanterns.

But they have been happiers and rejoicing in this year than in the house of the Lord.

Shen Qinrou shook her head with a sigh.

Aunt Zhao's body bones were still not very good, and after a few people walked for a while, she leaned on the railing and stopped, saying that she wanted to rest for a while.

The cold north wind blew the neck of the person, Shen Qinrou turned her head to look at her, but she felt that it was much better than the half-dead appearance some time ago.

"Rourou." Aunt Zhao called softly.

"Hmm." Shen Qin responded softly, raised his head and looked at her, his big eyes shining black and shining.

Aunt Zhao patted her head and called again, "Rourou." ”

"Huh?" Shen Qinrou replied again.

Aunt Zhao suddenly lifted the corners of her lips and showed a wry smile, "Rourou, you have to remember in the future, you would rather be a little housewife than a big concubine." ”

Shen Qinrou lowered her eyes.

In the future, how can I mention her in the future, the diamond lips under the veil were gently pulled, although she didn't know why Aunt Zhao said this, she still nodded obediently.

Aunt Zhao gently stroked her head with her hand, standing in the cold wind.

The fur on the collar danced gently in the wind, she raised her hand to catch the snowflakes floating in outside, and her lips approached and blew gently, "I regret ...... at the beginning." ”

She read it too quietly, and Shen Qinrou, who was standing beside her, didn't hear it clearly.

Suddenly two people came around the corner.

When the two got closer, Shen Qinrou saw clearly.

It is Shen Qinxin's two masters and servants.

She hurriedly walked in front and said angrily to Mochizuki behind her: "Take it and throw it away, why is he so shameless." ”

Under the red lantern, her face was red, I don't know if it was originally red, because the lantern was red, or because she was popular.

Mochizuki followed behind her aggrievedly and said, "Miss, Young Master Zhou said that if you don't accept it again, he will come to visit next time, and the slave and maid will be forced by him to have no choice." ”

Shen Qinxin glanced at her coldly and snorted, "It's really a faceless and skinless person." ”

Mochizuki followed behind her, not daring to persuade again.

Shen Qinrou smiled suddenly, it was the first time she had seen Shen Qinxin's "human" expression, and she thought that her second sister was a snow lotus on the top of the mountain.

It's just that Young Master Zhou?

Is it Wednesday?

She frowned slightly.

Shen Qinxin's two masters and servants obviously also noticed the people in front of them, their footsteps and voices were lowered, and when they passed by them, they nodded their heads lightly, which was regarded as a greeting.

Then it regained its previous appearance, cold as frost.

Mochizuki glanced at them warningly.

Momoko glared at her angrily.

"It's not what we want to hear." She muttered quietly, and spit out two mouthfuls of white air with some grievances.

Aunt Zhao in front of her suddenly turned around, with a few snowflakes on her eyebrows, and said after taking a light breath of cold air: "Let's go, there are many people." ”

Indeed, standing in one place can also cause trouble, Shen Qinrou shook her head helplessly, as for the matter between Second Miss Shen and Young Master Wednesday, it is not something she can manage, and I hope that her second sister, who thinks she is extremely smart, will not be confused.

The group slowly disappeared into the long corridor.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the atmosphere of the Shen family was still deserted.

Mrs. Shen was not very good because of her body, and after everyone used the ingots together, she sent red envelopes with her children and grandchildren, and let them disperse.

Outside the Shen Mansion Courtyard, it is extremely lively, many famous families are the head incense of the two famous temples in Kyoto, Daci Temple and the Big Buddha Temple, and the competition is in full swing, and the head is almost bleeding.

The Shen family is not in the queue in Kyoto, so they will not join in the excitement, and there is no one in charge to speak, so everyone will return to the courtyard.

couldn't get out, so Shen Qinrou sat in front of the dresser, untied all the red silk purses, and took out the things inside one by one.

Mrs. Shen, as in previous years, gave a plum blossom sheath weighing five taels of gold, but her father gave an ink ingot, the eldest uncle's red seal was the most valuable, it was a pure white little jade rabbit, oily and lubricated, and the tentacles were warm, and at a glance they knew that it was an excellent thing, and Shen Fang's gave a four-tael-eight gold fortune pattern shoehorn, which was slightly lighter than Mrs. Shen, not light or heavy.

The Shen family is rich and noble, there is no shortage of gold and silver, and there are often a lot of rewards during the holidays, they rarely go out, except for rewarding people, there is no use, the dresser on the dresser has a lot of gold and silver snails, Shen Qinrou put the two gold snails into the dressing box casually.

The ink ingot and the white jade rabbit were taken into a box and solemnly packed.

After the curtain rattled, Momoko entered the door, and a few unmelted snowflakes still hung from the ends of her hair.

"Miss." She let out a big sigh of coldness, took out the small hand stove and pasted it on her face, and sighed with emotion: "It's really cold." ”

"Winter is always like this in the north, and it's warmer in the south." Shen Qinrou smiled and beckoned to her, and handed her the hot hand stove on the side, "It's a pity that the old lady came to Beijing this year, otherwise I can take you back to Yuhang during the New Year's Reunion, there is little snow in the south, and although it is cold in winter, it is much better than in the north." ”

Peach listened, yearning, and nodded again and again, "It's indeed much warmer in the south." ”

She said a few words of gossip, and suddenly stopped and slapped her mouth, "Miss." She pursed her mouth and wrung her handkerchief in her hands like a castrated eggplant.

"What's wrong?" Shen Qinrou looked at her and felt a little funny, one moment she was elated, and the next moment she was listless.

"Miss, you won't be stupid with Peaches, will you?" Momoko looked at her timidly, raised her hand and knocked her head heavily, "I was stupid, and I almost forgot what the eldest lady told me." ”

"The eldest lady said that the maid of Chunlan Courtyard was sold."

Shen Qinrou listened quietly, did not interrupt Peach's words, and did not answer her words.

Even Shen Qinfu was taken out, and it was expected to sell a few maids, so there was nothing surprising.

"The eldest lady said that there are two maids missing." Momoko said again.

"Who's missing?" Shen Qinrou asked quickly.

Peaches tilted her head and thought for a while, and suddenly realized: "If the two maids who stopped us that day, the eldest lady said that there were no them in the roster of maids in our house, and the old lady said that she would sell the maids in Chunlan Courtyard, and someone bought them with silver on the back foot." ”

"Aunt Zhou's road, that's not broken." Shen Qinrou frowned, thought about it and asked, "Do you know who bought it?" ”

Peaches shook her head and said, "My mother said that she went to ask, and I heard that it was bought by a merchant who passed by all the way, but I can't find out the specifics." ”

Since Qin's mother said that she couldn't find out, she couldn't find out, her means were not higher than Qin's mother, and she couldn't reach out of the house.

Aunt Da Zhou's words are still in my ears.

She wanted to ruin the Shen family.

may have bought those maids, and the one who planted the maids in was the person behind her.

The Shen family will not be destroyed lightly, although in Kyoto, the Shen family is only a small boat.

As far as Shen Qinrou knows, there are several powerful people in the Shen family's silk weaving business, and every year those people can get a lot of income from the business managed by the Shen family.

Moreover, a person who still needs to provoke people who rely on women to make things happen, Shen Qinrou doesn't feel that he has the ability to subvert the entire Shen family, at least at the moment.

It's just that, what has that person done with Aunt Da Zhou over the years?