"Second wife, this is the lotus flower that the third lady picked for you personally, you see, how beautiful it is to insert it into this Western glass flower bottle."

The lotus flowers are all budding, red and white, slim and elegant. Jin Yuan's second-class maid Zisu smiled skillfully, and placed the Western glazed flower bottle with lotus flowers on the yellow rosewood carved kang table next to Song Xiuzhu.

Song Xiuzhu was leaning on the edge of the table with one hand, and the other hand was on the pillow embroidered with peony flowers in autumn fragrance, and the maid Lixiang was trimming her nails.

She glanced at the lotus flowers in the flower bottle out of the corner of her eyes, mumbled, and said to Zisu: "You don't know how to fiddle with these flowers and plants all day long, the old lady is coming tomorrow, if you are really Sister Yuan, you must tell her more at this time, so as not to say the wrong thing in front of the old lady and fall into the hands of others, I tell you, the people around the old lady are all exquisite, if you go on a business trip again this time, Sister Yuan has no good home, and you who want to marry in the past have no good fruit to eat." Written it all down? ”

Zi Su lowered his head and said again and again: "The maid followed the third miss when she was a child, and the horizontal and vertical are all the people of the third miss, the third miss is good, it is the blessing of the maid, the second wife advised, and the maid has all written it down." ”

Song Xiuzhu lifted her hand from the pillow, spread it out to take a look, and said to Lixiang: "Let's cultivate this hand like this first, and change it." ”

Rika hurriedly took a pillow and put it on Song Xiuzhu's lap, while she knelt on the ground and trimmed Song Xiuzhu's other hand's nails.

Zi Su said with a smile: "The second wife's hands are so good, she is naturally rich, and the third lady is also alive with the second wife." ”

Song Xiuzhu raised her eyes at this time, looked Zisu up and down a few times, picked the corners of her mouth, and said: "You girl has a clever mouth, when the old lady comes, you have to remember, what to say and what not to say, don't let Sister Yuan suffer in the conversation, you know?" ”

"I know, I know, the servant has written it down."

Song Xiuzhu sneered: "Hmm." If you do a good job, it won't treat you badly, if it is because of you that Sister Yuan is on a business trip, you will blame me for letting Yazi come over to get people. ”

Zi Su didn't dare to say anything else except nodding, she peeked at Song Xiuzhu, and saw that Song was wearing a large-sleeved shirt with a green grape entwined branch collar, with a filigree dotted emerald gold hairpin on her head, and a matching dotted emerald earring. People in their thirties, they can't see the slightest bit of old age, they are usually delicate and weak, but they look a little more aggressive.

Zi Su didn't dare to look more, hurriedly said goodbye, and went out backwards, but saw the third old man Jin Min at the door, Jin Min was in a very good mood today, and he came in directly without letting people pass it on.

Seeing Jin Min, Song Xiuzhu stood up to greet her, and said in a coquettish voice: "Why didn't the master come over without saying a word, the concubine didn't have any makeup." ”

Jin Min looked at the beautiful concubine and said with a smile: "You are already very beautiful like this, where do you need to dress up again." ”

Song Xiuzhu blushed with shame, glanced at the girls, Lixiang and a few little girls all retreated, she pulled Jin Min to sit in front of the kang table, and complained softly: "Why did the master come here again, if it reaches the ears of the eldest sister-in-law, it should be said that you are not strict in governing the family." ”

Hearing Song Xiuzhu mention the Nie family, Jin Min's face showed displeasure, and she said angrily: "When will it be her turn to point fingers on the affairs of my Xifu, is it ridiculous that I want to enter someone's house and let her eldest sister-in-law approve it." ”

The more he spoke, the higher his voice became, and when he looked back, he saw that Song was looking at him timidly, his soft eyes were like frightened deer, and his pitiful, spring-like jade hands were rubbing his clothes and belts, so nervous that he didn't know what to do.

"Zhu'er, don't be afraid, it's all my fault, I'm scared of you." For more than ten years, Jin Min's favorite is Song Xiuzhu's pitiful appearance, in terms of appearance, Song Xiuzhu is not as bright and radiant as Feng, but this Jiangnan woman's unique graceful charm is not available to Feng.

Seeing that Song Xiuzhu hesitated and didn't dare to come over, Jin Min sighed, stretched out his arm and hugged her to his lap, and said softly: "I haven't let you out of the garden for more than a month, I have suffered you, and it seems that I have lost weight again." ”

Song Xiuzhu burst into tears, like a pear blossom stained with rain, which made Jin Min want to protect her under her wing forever.

"Master, it's all the concubines who are misbehaving, scaring the fifth lady, and provoking the eldest sister-in-law, so that the master is blamed for the concubine's body, if it is not for the reluctance of the master and the children, the concubine body wants to die of the concubine, and it will be a hundred to protect the reputation of the master. ＂

Since Song Xiuzhu was arrested by the Nie family that day, Song Xiuzhu has been grounded in Bitong Courtyard for more than a month. Jin Yuan was also grounded, and like her mother, she hadn't walked out of Wanghe Garden for more than a month.

Jin Min gently rubbed Song Xiuzhu's hair, which was neatly combed, with her chin, and said angrily: "Don't say such nonsense again, when did the master say that you would surrender, and when did you let you protect my reputation?" I am a dignified court official, do I still have to sacrifice my concubine to fulfill myself? Just relax and don't think about it anymore. Mother will be here tomorrow, and you should not always be in the garden and talk to her more. ”

"Did the master let the concubine out of the garden? Are you sure? Song Xiuzhu showed surprise on her face, grabbed Jin Min's sleeve like a little girl and shook it gently.

Jin Min's heart shook her, and she whispered in her ear: "I'll stay tonight, and you will come with me to pick up my mother outside the city tomorrow morning." ”

Hearing that Jin Min was going to stay, Song Xiuzhu's pretty face had two smears of red dew, like a shy girl, she hid her face in Jin Min's arms, but raised her head again, with a panicked face: "This time, the concubine is in the garden, she can't take care of family affairs, and the house is in chaos, so she secretly wrote a letter and asked the old lady to come over and preside over the feed." The concubine only thought that no one could control this mansion, but she forgot that the eldest sister-in-law and the old lady had never been on good terms, lord, you said that if this reached the ears of the eldest sister-in-law of the East Mansion, would you blame the concubine for being troublesome, right? ”

She didn't hide the letter she wrote to the Jin family's old house, and about ten days after the letter was sent, people revealed the matter to Jin Min. On that day, several of Jin Min's friends from the same department happened to come to talk about poetry and painting, and the maids brought up before the rain last year, which made Jin Min lose face.

Knowing that the Song family wanted to invite Mrs. Jin to live in the capital and help take care of the house, he did not object, but praised the Song family in his heart for being sensible.

"Hmph, I, like my eldest brother, are my mother's biological flesh and blood, is it true that if she is not filial, she will not allow us to fulfill our filial piety in the third room? You don't have to worry, if the eldest sister-in-law really wants to blame it, you just have to push it on me. ”

A burst of lotus fragrance wafted over, and Jin Min saw the bottle of lotus flowers on the kang table, and praised: "You can imagine it, putting lotus flowers in the room is very elegant." ”

Song Xiuzhu said with a smile: "This is sent by Sister Yuan, this child knows that he likes lotus flowers out of the sludge and is not stained, but he doesn't dare to send it to you, so he finds an excuse to send it to me, what an infatuated child." ”

Since the Dragon Boat Festival made such a fuss, Jin Min has not been as good as Jin Yuan before, although he didn't say it explicitly, he still reacted very to Jin Yuan's snatching of Linglong's relatives.

Now he looked at the lotus flowers, and saw the Song family with affection in his arms, so he said: "From tomorrow, let Sister Yuan come out, let her be clever in front of the old lady, and don't do anything undignified." ”