When I went to the east garden of the partial house, because of noon, most of the masters took a nap, and the servants were even more lazy. Even there was no one in the room of Dongyuan, which happened to be Xiao Zhisu's wish - she couldn't blatantly inform everyone now that she still had a younger brother here.

Walking to a shop pointed out by Mama Lin, Xiao Zhisu motioned for a few people to wait outside, stood at the door for a moment, took a deep breath and pushed the door in.

The next person's room is not big, but it is not small. Mama Lin said on the road that Tong Lotus had been stripped of her qualifications to enter the inner courtyard because she had been unwell in the past two years, and she could only be a low-class maid in the outer courtyard. I heard that her husband, the slave child, died of illness not long after giving birth, and there was no one to protect him, and Ah Bai had been helping to work since he was three years old.

In a famous family like Xiao Mansion, the maids who stay in the inner courtyard basically don't have to do anything else except serve their masters, and they are dressed more decently than the girls of ordinary official eunuchs. But the subordinates of the outer courtyard are divided into grades, such as procurement, which is oil and water work, most of which are done by the powerful grandmothers and relatives in the inner courtyard, and those who are distributed like Tong Lotus are doing miscellaneous work.

Obviously it was the strongest sun, but this shop was still full of the smell of yin and tide, and the musty smell in the room made people feel uncomfortable.

Xiao Zhisu's eyebrows frowned slightly, and she followed the scattered light of the tissue paper that the sunlight sprinkled on, and saw the skinny woman lying on the bed. Next to the woman stood a boy who had just reached the height of the bed, dressed in coarse cloth and dirty clothes.

"Nine girls......" The woman didn't wonder when she saw her, but directly called out her name.

Xiao Zhisu raised her eyebrows, she is a low-class maid, she can't even enter the main courtyard, she has never seen herself, but why can she recognize it at first sight? Approaching slightly, he looked at the little boy with his back to her and was concentrating on his mother's legs, and asked, "How do you know who I am?" ”

"The girl's appearance is so similar to the county lord back then, how can the slave not recognize it." The woman's lips moved, as if she was very tired from saying a few words.

"You're Tong Lotus?"

The woman blinked, which was considered a tacit acquiescence. She stretched out her already thin hand, stroked the boy's cheek, and said softly, "Ah Bai, you go out first, my mother and your ninth sister have something to say." ”

Nine Sisters......

Hearing this, Xiao Zhisu already knew her plan in her heart. Ah Bai's little boy blinked his eyes wide when he heard this, his eyelashes were thick like a fan fluttering up and down, and after a while, a few tears hung on his eyelashes, crumbling, he seemed to have some warning, and said pitifully, "Ah Niang...... Don't you want me anymore? ”

Tong Rong pulled her lips and smiled hard, "Ah Bai, my mother told you that your ninth sister will take good care of you, but my mother can't stand it...... I'm going to listen to your ninth sister in the future, you know? Your life...... In this life, I have to live to protect your ninth sister, and live to protect your ninth sister! Ahem...... Mother...... After my mother leaves, she will turn into stars in the sky, look at you know? ”

She was a wise woman, but she didn't know it thoroughly. Xiao Zhisu thought that Tong Lotus's last words were just to let her keep Ah Bai, and she was also vaguely telling her that in a place like the Xiao family, she needed someone to rely on. And this reliance can only be Abai, who she brought with one hand, because it will be the most impregnable city wall.

But she miscalculated, the Xiao family cannot be prosperous forever, things must be reversed, and prosperity must decline. One day, this great tree will be enraged by its infinitely extended roots, and it may be uprooted at any time.

Xiao Zhisu understood this truth from a very young age. Whether in a past life or in this life.

Growing up in such a big family, watching the family history gradually grow stronger, it is also equivalent to witnessing the gradual decline of this family. Success or failure is only a matter of time, and she will never deny this eternal law because she is a member of the Xiao family.

There is a reason why the two Ruan Xie families have been able to prosper so far. For example, the Xie family is gradually releasing the real power in their hands, and only letting their descendants have the right to ensure the inheritance of the Xie family; For example, the Ruan family chose to marry with the Heavenly Family and integrate their own blood and blood with the Heavenly Family, but just like this is still not enough, otherwise, why did the amazing Jianwu Marquis start from commercial farming? Is it really willing, or is it forced by the situation?

But the Xiao family is different, his ambition is too big, or rather, his grandmother wants to run the Xiao family and leapfrog the Ruan Xie family in one fell swoop. That's why the eldest uncle and eldest brother will be actively engaged in politics and match the marriage between Xiao Zhiyan and the royal family.

Therefore, it may not be a good thing for Ah Bai to become a descendant of the Xiao family, maybe one day, he will lose his life because of this.

Xiao Abai sobbed and agreed to Tong Lotus, and then turned to look at Xiao Zhisu, she smiled and met his curious eyes, "Abai, you will call me Sister in the future." ”

It's not the eldest sister, it's the elder sister.

Xiao Abai nodded, pinched the corner of his clothes and reluctantly glanced at the tung lotus, and turned around in three steps and two times at her wave, until he finally disappeared into this dark and damp shop.

"Tong Lotus, now you can tell me everything you know." Xiao Zhisu accepted the gentle smile when facing Ah Bai, her tone was light and her attitude was detached.

Tong Lotus smiled weakly, lay on the kang and looked at the rotten beams, and said quietly, "I really didn't read it wrong, you are a smart person, Ah Bai will be safe by your side." ”

Without waiting for Xiao Zhisu to be impatient, she continued, "That's right, I know something very important. It's about your mother, Lord Yunyang. ”

Xiao Zhisu moved a bench and sat down, looked at Tong Lotus and asked her to continue.

Tong Lotus's gloomy eyes stared at Xiao Zhisu, with a pleading gaze, "Ninth girl, I wanted to take the initiative to find you when I knew that my life was short, but I was afraid of ...... If it is known by Xue Shichang...... It doesn't matter if I die, but Bai can't die! When I knew that you were also looking for a five-year-old boy, I knew that Ah Bai was saved, he was your younger brother, the biological son of the third master! ”

"I believe that Ah Bai is my father's son, but what I want to know most is my mother's death." Xiao Zhisu said lightly, if she didn't know, she wouldn't bother to find it.

"The county lord did not die of a serious illness, but Xue Shiyan put chronic poison in the county lord's decoction every day. On the last day of the county lord's life, the maid in charge asked me to go to the East Garden, and when I passed by the small kitchen because I was in a hurry to go to the toilet, I accidentally saw Xue Shiyan pouring medicine powder into the medicine jar......"

Xiao Zhisu listened quietly, but her expression was frighteningly cold, and her eyes were staring at Tong Lotus like a dead lake, "Why didn't you stop her at that time?" Or is it to tell someone? ”

Tong Lotus laughed miserably and said, "How dare I? The only thing I can do is probably stop the county lord from drinking that bowl of potion...... But in the courtyard, how much eyeliner does Xue Shiyan have? After the medicine maid left, I put away the residue and rushed to Lianxi Xiaozhu ......"