The winter of the fourteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty

The bangzi had just been knocked on, and looking at the sky through the window paper, it was still pitch black and there was no light. It was the early morning of the cold winter wax moon, the north wind was howling, blowing the branches of the trees to sway and sway, and the ghost shadow was reflected on the window paper.

Chu Lan lazily curled up in the quilt, stretched comfortably, closed her eyes and just wanted to squint for a while, but listened to the sound of rustling in the half of the room on the side.

"Xiao Gu, got up so early?"

Chu Lan muttered vaguely, rolled the quilt and rolled half a circle, still unwilling to open her eyes.

No one answered, the sound of rustling still rang non-stop, and it stopped for a while, and then only heard a squeak, and the wooden door of the partition opened, and suddenly an indescribable strange smell rushed out, choking her to cover her nose and cough twice.

It was a mixture of smoky firewood, salty pickles, and an indescribable greasy taste.

"Xiao Gu, you don't open the window to breathe, the smell in the room is so heavy......"

Chu Lan muttered in a daze, and then remembered that the half of Xiao Gu's room was cut off from the side, so how could there be any windows?

She squinted, and in the blurred light and shadow, a slender and thin figure slowly walked out of the inside, an oil lamp in her hand was half-burned and swaying by the wind.

Chu Lan was annoyed that she wrapped her head in the quilt, and finally lost her sleepiness, she groaned softly, and jumped up, but her nose was sour by a gust of cold wind, and she sneezed halfway, but she was suddenly frightened by the sight and swallowed back-

The door was ajar, and in the dark and cramped corner behind the door, a dark shadow curled up, and only a pair of sparkling eyes looked out through the crack in the door.

At first glance, it looks like a gloomy ghost crouching there, looking at which person is delicious and delicious, and is about to pounce on it and eat it!

"Little Gu! You're trying to scare me to death!! ”

Chu Lan screamed, and finally woke up completely, she quickly put on her clothes, shoes and socks, ran over and dragged Xiao Gu, and turned on the core of the oil lamp, only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"How many times have I told you, don't be so sneaky and hide behind the door to watch people, it will scare people to death!"

Chu Lan was shocked, and poked her forehead and said.

Under the bright light, Xiao Gu was still looking at her with a wooden flute, her palm-sized face was covered with black soot, and her thin body was covered in a wide cotton robe, which looked even more funny.

The skin on her hands, feet and neck was yellow and dry, and the whole person looked gray, not to mention that compared with the deputy ladies in the upper room, who were covered in ayaluo, even in this rough maid's courtyard, it was also the most inconspicuous one.

"...... outside the yard"

Xiao Gu said in a low voice.

"What?"

"It's a fuss."

Xiao Gu whispered.

Chu Lan Yileng - After living together for so many years, she knew that Xiao Gu's ears were very smart, and when she said this, she must have heard something.

At this time, the neighbors also got up one after another to open the door, and Liu's mother's unique loud voice had already sounded, and Chu Lan also left this matter behind.

****

The Shen Mansion covers a vast area, and there are a row of high-eaves houses in the large kitchen alone, with a total of eight rooms. The first six rooms are the meat room, the fruit and vegetable room, the roasting room, the dim sum room, and the rice and noodle room, and the last two rooms are the lobby where everyone washes vegetables and cuts meat, and the other is the charcoal room.

There is a big way to mix in the big kitchen. If you follow the mother in charge of the stove, although she is diligent and easy to be scolded, she can also learn a trick and a half, and it can be said that she will be of infinite use in the future; If you divide your hands and send enough oil and water to the steward, you can also fish in troubled waters and be lazy; But if you get a charcoal house, the future is not bright.

The fire water of the whole large kitchen is supplied by the firewood and charcoal room, and the firewood should be dry and not choking, and the water should be chopped neatly; Black coarse charcoal cannot be broken by two catties, and it must be delivered to each room in time; Even the water on the stove must be guarded properly, and no idle people are allowed to approach.

The charcoal house is biased in a corner, and there is not even a little oil and water benefit, and it is hard to work all day long, but it is easy to be blamed at every turn, and it is very easy to eat and be punished, so it is also an unpopular messenger in the rough slave and maid.

The dog froze to death on the day of the moon, the steaming warmth on the big stove was warm, but the water in the charcoal room was dripping into ice, and the cold was in the bone marrow, Chu Lan stomped his feet vigorously, sniffed his nose, and was about to continue to stack charcoal, but he heard the sound of chopping wood on the other side still unhurriedly-

Looking up, sure enough, it was Xiao Gu who was holding a big axe, chopping wood one by one.

The big axe was majestic, weighing thirty pounds, with a wide and flying edge, and it looked particularly abrupt and funny in the hands of the delicate and thin little Gu.

Axe after axe, making a dull dull sound, shaking people's hearts.

Although it was not the first time she had seen it, the corners of Chu Lan's mouth still twitched: People are so thin and small, but they have so much strength!

Mother Qin, who was in charge of the charcoal house, didn't come today, so Chu Lan was simply lazy and watched Xiao Gu chopping firewood with interest.

Once, again, again.

Xiao Gu is always an action, a rhythm, an expression, if you look carefully at the firewood she chopped, you will find that the length and thickness are the same, because of this, she has been praised several times on the stove!

Chu Lan was looking at it, but she heard a sound of footsteps walking quickly towards this side, and then she only heard a bang, and the wooden door was violently pushed open!

What appeared in front of the two of them was a charming beauty: she was dressed in a peach-colored brocade skirt, combed a moon-ring bun, hairpinned with purple and gold five-bat hairpins, and the rice-beaded rubies on her ears were dazzling, followed by a little maid, looking a little frightened and anxious, as if she wanted to stop her from coming in.

"Miss Fang, this kind of vulgar place will stain your clothes, let's go back!"

The little maid said weakly, and the beauty looked at her, and immediately scared her so much that she didn't dare to speak.

"Long time no see."

Slightly raised chin, the beauty smiled with a smug sense of superiority.

She...... Who is she talking to?

Chu Lan was a little confused - although she had been a rough maid and had not seen a few old women, she also saw that the dress and title of this "Fang girl" were very ambiguous, the master was not the master, and the slave was very embarrassed, but she understood a point or two in her heart, but she couldn't guess her intention, and she couldn't speak for a while.

There was an eerie silence at the scene, except for the sound of axes chopping wood.

As if feeling that she was being slighted, the beauty stepped forward and stopped the hand wielding the axe, "You are dumb, why don't you say a word?" ”

"I'm going to chop wood."

The low voice sounded very muffled.

"What did you say?"

"Today, the meat room needs to stew chicken, roast goose paws, dim sum room, make hibiscus lotus seed cake, rice and noodle room, and steam blue stem porridge, which requires 50 catties of firewood."

Uttering this series of words without pause, Xiao Gu's expression was still dumbfounded, and the little maid next to him burst out laughing, but was frightened by Miss Fang's vicious eyes.

Miss Fang sneered and squatted down, pinched Xiao Gu's chin with her fingers stained with red Kodan, and said softly: "You see that you are like this now, like a fool, you almost drool twice-reduced to lowly status, you people are willing to be slaves and lie in the mud for the rest of your life?" ”

As soon as the word cheap came out, the faces of the two people on the side suddenly turned pale - even the little maid in the inner courtyard of the deep house still had lingering palpitations about the origin of these two words.

Since Shangjing ascended the throne, many courtiers loyal to Emperor Jianwen would rather die than obey, and now Shangshang was furious and cruelly bullied these people, punished their relatives and friends, and sat thousands of people, and the scholar Fang Xiaoru was even punished by the Zhu Ten clans.

The families and relatives of these former Jianwen ministers were killed and wounded, and most of the surviving women and children were old and weak, or exiled, or given to meritorious heroes as slaves, or sold into dirty places...... Now there is even an edict issued: These people will never be pardoned!

Chu Lan had already vaguely heard that Xiao Gu was given to the house as a slave because of something wrong at home, and when she heard the word cheap at this time, her heart immediately brightened, and she secretly sighed for Xiao Gu - she is obviously also a daughter of gold and jade, but now she has fallen into such a stupid appearance.

Xiao Gu was still dumbfounded, as if he couldn't understand Miss Fang's words.

Miss Fang's mouth opened slightly, gritted her teeth and spit out the word "cheap", as if there was infinite resentment in her heart, and there was endless pleasure of majesty after being aggrieved, "Hmph, you will be a slave for the rest of your life, but I want to get rid of this word cheap!" ”

Naturalization?!!

The two people on the side were taken aback - the difference between good and bad is like a world, how can it be done so easily?

Xiao Gu's eyes were still as dull as a dead fish, as if he didn't understand the meaning of the word "denaturalization" at all.

Miss Fang stroked the jade bracelet on her wrist, and she was even more shy, "I am already a big man, he personally promised me that he would improve for me, and he would raise me as an aunt." ”

It turned out to be ...... by the old man

Chu Lan's gaze was a little complicated—there was envy, curiosity, and even more disdain. The eldest lord's lewdness and lust are clear to the whole house, and on a whim, he can spend thousands of children and eight hundred taels in order to pursue a play, but after the fun, he will treat it as contempt and have no pity.

After Miss Fang finished speaking, she stood up, condescendingly supported her flat lower abdomen, and smiled sweeter, "What the eldest master said, it will definitely be done—even if it is not for me, for the sake of his future child." ”

It turns out that it is because of this reliance that he dares to be so confident.

Miss Fang came to raise her eyebrows, and said so much in one breath, seeing that Xiao Gu was still dumbfounded, she didn't feel that her interest was extinguished, and she snorted coldly and kicked an axe and turned around to leave, but found that the sole of her shoes was embedded in the axe surface, and she couldn't pull out her feet for a while.

Xiao Gu silently pulled out the axe, Miss Fang stood unsteadily and squatted down, and at this moment of lightning, she clearly saw Xiao Gu's silent mouth shape: Run!

Runaway?

What does that mean?

Miss Fang was stunned, and then the axe was pulled out, and when she looked again, Xiao Gu still had that blank face—at this moment, she almost thought that she was dazzled and misunderstood.

With a full stomach full of doubts, Miss Fang walked charmingly, followed by the cowering little maid, and walked all the way to the flower garden, only then did she return to her yard, but saw that the two old grandmothers had been waiting for a long time.

"Miss Fang, the old lady is invited."

The polite tone made her even more excited-the eldest lady had two sons, and the old lady must have heard that she was pregnant, and she was rewarded with joy.

****

At dinner, Xiao Gu and Chu Lan walked through the inner courtyard to hand over the water on the stove today. The water on the stove is stored in a large vat high for one person, and every day the housekeeper leads the small maid in the outer courtyard to carry the water and pour it full, and hand it over to the two people at the second gate, and the little maid is not allowed to enter the inner courtyard for a step - the strictness of the rules of the Shen Mansion can be seen.

The two of them were walking inside with the bucket, when suddenly there was a terrible scream, which frightened Chu Lan and almost fell.

The scream seemed to contain great pain, and it didn't stop and sounded, and then it stopped abruptly after it was high.