The Fang family is a big family, more than a hundred years of branches, ups and downs, there have long been rich and poor in the family, Ying Guogong as the patriarch is also indispensable to help take care of the poor clansmen, now Ying Guo Gong and his wife are not in the house, the young lady found an old servant to interrogate, to understand the situation of the clansmen's family. In previous years, these chores in the family were handled by Uncle Fang, Fang Kui's eyes did not allow sand, he hated the betrayal of Uncle Fang's family, and pulled out the people used by Uncle Fang, and the young lady had no reference, but this is also a good thing, and the young lady has a lot less restraint between actions.

Almost everyone in the capital can talk about relatives, and it is impossible to walk around from house to house, the four brothers of Ying Guogong are all concubines, the second master died early and left a large family to take care of, the third master of the Fang family Fang Ang also has military merits, guarding the southeast coastal line, the third lady stayed in the capital to take care of the family, the fourth master was born from the imperial examination, and now it is also from the third rank of the outsider, Mrs. Qiao gave birth to five daughters, only three were raised, the second daughter was elected into the palace during the Tongqing year, and the first emperor was named a virtuous concubine, It's a pity that the life is very thin, the virtuous concubine died in less than two years, and the eldest aunt and grandmother were gone the year before last, leaving only a little aunt and grandmother, and the lady of the Qi State Mansion, the festival rites of these two families must be rich, and there are three aunts and grandmothers who are out of the house, and it is not good to favor one over the other, they have to take care of it, just this gift list is enough to give people a headache.

Yutan thought about it for a while, the lady of the Qi State Mansion has a noble status, and she lacks nothing, of course, there are valuables on the gift list, but it is also necessary to be ingenious, the eldest aunt and grandmother are married to the Yang family, and the old lady of the Yang family is now seventy years old. Zhishi has been returning to his hometown for many years. The cousin of the Yang family has also been an official for many years. These two families are getting more and more to move around, roughly counting that there are more than a dozen relatives from near and far who need to move around, and the young lady made a careful mention of the festival with reference to the gift list of previous years, and took it to Fang Ziqi to see.

The two brothers, Fang Ziqi and Fang Ziying, were talking, Fang Ziying was pointing fingers, and when she heard the young lady from outside coming in, she stood up with a smile, "Sister-in-law is here." My second brother has just taken medicine, and I'm watching him here. ”

Fang Ziqi smiled bitterly, "I'm with medicine now, I take more medicine than I eat, and I can still stand you forcing me." ”

Yutan smiled when he saw that he was in good spirits, "Thanks to the third brother who is willing to look at you, these maids can't control the second brother, you can make your own decisions about everything, and you secretly poured the medicine yesterday, which is also like what the master does." ”

Fang Ziqi said with a smile. "Didn't I run away, my sister-in-law stared at me personally. I don't dare not drink it. ”

After a few words of gossip, he talked about housework, Fang Ziying hurriedly wanted to slip away, but was called back by the young lady, "I know you are impatient to listen to this, but your eldest brother is really not good at these foreign affairs, pointing at him has been coaxed, and the second brother can't worry about it now, and the sister-in-law can only point at you." ”

Fang Ziying stood there with a bitter face, Yutan smiled and asked him to sit down, let him read the proposed gift list, Fang Ziqi listened to it and considered it for a while, and explained the distance between the relatives of these relatives, the character of each room, etc., this is more than half an hour, Yutan saw that he was a little tired, and hurriedly stood up to let him rest, Fang Ziqi was still unsatisfied, and asked about the land rent collected this year, Yutan smiled and told him the approximate amount, "When you wake up, I will have someone send you the account book, and let the third brother read it to you, and he can also learn a little, Don't eat and play anymore, and the rations on the side of Wushantou have not been confiscated, so I have to send someone over to urge it, but there is no one available at home. ”

Fang Ziqi thought for a while, "Fang Zilan, who lives on the back porch, is a clever one, and he hasn't come out of five suits yet, so why don't my sister-in-law use him to give it a try." ”

Yutan thought for a while and smiled, "Are you talking about the fifth aunt on the back porch and her house?" A few days ago, the fifth aunt came to sit for a while, and left after grinding at my place, and didn't say anything to ask, I saw that she was dressed normally, and I thought that there were some difficulties at home, but she didn't open her mouth and I couldn't help. ”

"I'm talking about her family, there are only two of them in the back corridor five aunts, Fang Zilan is a widow, orphans and widows guard a meager property, they also have a story in their family, Fang Zilan has some ability, it depends on whether my sister-in-law can control him, I didn't mention it because I don't know the depth of my sister-in-law."

Yutan smiled when he heard this, "I'm not afraid that he will make ghosts, I'm just afraid that he has no ability, that's called a bad heart, the person that the second brother values is also a smart person with some ability, and he also knows where not to stretch out his hand." ”

Fang Ziqi also smiled when he heard this, and told the third brother to help his sister-in-law well.

took Fang Ziying back to Yinqiu Garden, the maid hurriedly stepped forward to open the cotton door curtain, Fang Ziying looked at the room and said with a smile, "I haven't been here since the eldest brother moved here, I have lived in the palace for the past two months, and I don't even dare to say more, I am really aggrieved in my heart, fortunately, there is a brother Shen to accompany me, and the two of us also take care of it." ”

Yutan sat on the chair, Fang Ziying sat down, a little maid who had just left her head sent tea and slowly withdrew, Fang Ziying took a sip of hot tea and said with a smile, "What does my sister-in-law ask me to do?" I don't understand anything. ”

"There are a lot of miscellaneous things for the New Year, some things have to be divided into various families in the clan, the people who come and go are all masters, and it is inconvenient for the sister-in-law to come forward to say hello, and you have to go over to socialize, these gift lists are ready, you look at the car and let the next person send it over from house to house, and other people's rituals also have to be registered and filed, now we don't have a big housekeeper, there are many inconveniences."

Fang Ziying lowered her head, "Uncle Fang is good to me, he has followed his father since he was a child, he is in charge of everything in our family, it was Sister-in-law Fang who harmed him, Uncle Fang didn't find out, sister-in-law, do you say that Dark Yunwei can release Uncle Fang?" ”

Yutan has been married for a short time, but he doesn't feel anything about Uncle Fang, "Even if Uncle Fang comes out, our family won't dare to use him, and it's not easy to find a good housekeeper, or the people in the family know the roots, do you know what your second brother said about Fang Zilan?" In a moment, you send someone to him, talk to him first, and probe his tone. ”

Fang Ziying agreed, while sending someone out to pass the word, and helping to file the gift list, seeing that there were seven or eight things, but the next person came to receive something, the red note opened the right card, and sent it to the young lady after the eyes, and it was noon in a hurry, the fourth son got out of school, came to ask his sister-in-law to say goodbye, and was busy saying hello to the third brother, Fang Ziying smiled, "How are you reading?" I'll test you in a moment. ”

The two brothers said a few words, the mother-in-law came over to ask for instructions, Yutan eats by himself at noon every day, Fang Ziyao went back to his aunt, today Fang Ziying just came back, and the second brother can't eat together, when the sister-in-law also has to entertain him, so the fourth son also left, Hua Rui came in and said with a smile, "Aunt Feng came back from the palace to ask An, saying that she wanted to see the young lady." ”

The red note said, "Does this Aunt Feng have the eyesight to see, I haven't seen our young lady cooking here, she has to come here at this time if she has any big things." ”

Fang Ziying asked, "This Aunt Feng is the one that Concubine Zhang rewarded?" ”

Yutan smiled, "Which one else is there besides her?" looks really good, and looks knowledgeable, but your eldest brother doesn't want to pay attention to her, but he is blind to this little girl. ”

Fang Ziying was about to make a few jokes, when Hua Rui came in again, "Aunt Feng knelt on the ground outside, saying that she had something important to tell the young lady, and asked the young lady to meet her." ”

Yutan had no choice but to let her in, Feng Yansu had just come back from the palace, took off the silver-red brocade outside, revealing the rose-red Ruyi flower jacket inside, the lower body was a green cotton skirt, and a few pieces of jewelry were worn on her head. ”

"Sister Feng, hurry up, Sister Feng was rewarded by the concubine, don't be polite, what's the need to be in a hurry."

Feng Yansu's eyes were slightly red, and if she wanted to say it or not, Fang Ziying glanced at her, "If you have something important, go back to your house and stay in your house after you finish speaking, you didn't see my sister-in-law here to eat, you just have to come over and talk about it." ”

Feng Yansu hurriedly said, "Please also ask the young lady to retreat, it is really the concubine Niangniang who has an explanation." ”

Fang Ziying just sneered, "Don't talk about your family's concubine, Concubine Zhang can still take care of our family's affairs?" Still holding back your breath, you just say let me out. ”

The young lady smiled slightly, "If Sister Feng doesn't want to say it, don't say it, when my sister arrives at our house, she should know who to listen to." ”

Feng Yansu lives in a hut in the backyard these days, don't talk about the prince, the maid and the lady can't see it, the daily meals are brought in, and even the toilet is put in the house, she doesn't even have to go out of the house, where is this the life of a person, it is easy for Concubine Zhang to let her and the young lady enter the palace to ask for peace, the young lady said that she has housework to be busy, just sent her into the palace, Concubine Zhang asked her how the princess's favor is, where did Feng Yansu dare to tell the truth, she had to bow her head, Concubine Zhang thought she was shy, Confessed to her one more thing, Feng Yansu was so frightened that she really went out of her body, and then she wanted to see the young lady.

Feng Yansu hurriedly knelt down, "The slave and maid are the criminal slaves in the palace, the mother and sister are all on errands in the palace, the slave and maid dare not disobey the concubine Niangniang, and when they get to the young lady's side, they dare not disobey the young lady, the slave and maid also know shame, the matter of Concubine Zhang's confession to the slave and maid is too important, the slave and maid dare not hide the young lady, and ask the young lady to show her a way to live." ”

Yutan's heart moved, he waved his hand, the maids in the house all went out, and Fang Ziying also went out with the fourth young master.

Feng Yansu burst into tears, "The slave said this, the mother and sister in the palace are hard to protect, if the slave does not say, the mother and sister will not survive, the wife let the slave find a way to burn the first lady's dowry on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, when the Guogong Mansion thought that it was ignited by fireworks, and could not suspect the slave, and promised the slave benefits, the slave was timid, and did not dare to do such a thing." ”

The young lady gasped, what secret is Concubine Zhang going to destroy, and what else is there in the dowry? (To be continued......) R861