South of the city, pine alley, Cheng house, west side yard.

Han Jiang sat in front of the window, holding the account book in his left hand and stroking the abacus in his right hand, calculating quickly. She was wearing a cyan ratskin gown, her hair was tied in a bun, and only a green hosta was pinned to it, which looked very plain.

If it weren't for the thick hair of the crow, revealing a pink face and a snow-white neck, just looking at this dress, I really couldn't tell that she was a young woman.

Her expression was solemn, and she glanced at the tent in her left hand, and the fingers of her right hand were already moving.

The room was silent, and I heard the sound of "pop" and "pop" abacus beads.

With the sound of "popping", the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Han Jiang didn't realize it, and he was still engrossed in settling accounts.

Her personal maids Xiaoxi and Xiaofu walked in together, and when they saw their young lady like this, they could only look at each other helplessly.

Xiaoxi took two quick steps, took off the glazed lampshade on the square table, and lit the fire sickle palm lamp.

Xiao Fu held the purple gold hand stove that Han Jiang's family put aside, and tried it, but it was not very hot.

She glanced at her young lady and said with a little disgust: "Girl, it's been two hours, and I hurt my eyes carefully." ”

Han Jiang lost her mother since she was a child, and these two girls served her as a child, relying on them as confidants, and did not treat them as ordinary maids.

She was too busy to look up and said, "It's almost over, and I need a cup of tea." ”

Xiaoxi and Xiaofu saw her like this, so they sat in the small pestle by the kang and played with a tie, holding their breath and concentrating, for fear of disturbing her.

After a while, I saw that the Han Jiang clan sighed and said, "Three thousand four hundred and sixty taels." As he spoke, he closed the account book on his left.

Xiao Xi and Xiao Fu saw that she had finished counting, and hurriedly stood up, one called people to pour hot soup, and the other sent the hand stove that had been changed with charcoal, and said, "Girl warm your hands first!" ”

Han Jiangshi rubbed his fingers, which were already a little stiff, took the hand stove, and said with a smile on his face, "It's so warm, you two still know how to hurt me." ”

Under this smile, Han Jiang's is like a spring flower, which is completely different from the image of ordinary unrestrained smiles.

is Xiaoxi and Xiaofu, who are also women, and they can't help but be stunned.

Xiaofu sighed twice and said, "The girl should smile more, but it looks much better than having a straight face." ”

Xiaoxi hesitated for a moment and said, "Girl...... The girl is not small, it is not good...... Just like this, I have been guarding the silver all day......"

Although as a maid, it is already a transgression to say this, but Xiaoxi still can't help but want to nag.

If it is someone else's family, in order to make a living, it is better to say that the last thing her girl lacks is silver. Although it can't be said that there are millions of family assets, there should be 100,000 or 80,000 taels of silver.

Not to mention a lifetime, it is enough to chew for several lifetimes. The lonely one doesn't get married, why are you so desperate?

Xiaoxi didn't say it explicitly, but Han Jiang also heard the meaning of his words.

She smiled and said, "What's wrong with this kind of leisurely talk? It's not that I can't support myself, so why bother to find another man and live by watching other people's faces? As he spoke, he turned around, looked out the window, and said, "It's windy, it looks like it's going to snow again......"

At the beginning of the first month, the snow fell sparsely and endlessly. Stopped for two days, and after two days, it was cloudy again, and it went down until the fifteenth day of the first month.

Yesterday's Lantern Festival, the snow cleared for a day, and this is the sixteenth night, and it began to rain again.

Han Jiang is a native of the south, and he is most afraid of the cold in winter.

When Xiaoxi heard this, she picked up the curtain and went out, and saw that there were indeed snowflakes falling outside, so she turned back and said to Han Jiang: "The girl is right, it's starting to raise snowflakes again, the slave and maid call people to come, and add another charcoal pot, right?" ”

Han Jiang tightened the clothes on his body and nodded...... * Xicheng, Caofu, East Courtyard, and Inner Courtyard Main Room.

Zhao Jiashi did not sit on the kang, but sat on a chair by the door. Opposite her, sat the furrowed Ministry of Works, Murtai.

Although he was sitting at the door, Zhao Jia's was a little hot, and he only felt uncomfortable.

She muttered to herself in her heart, is it because of the two charcoal basins, it seems that Zilan and Luju will be asked to remove one charcoal basin after a while.

The house is large, and a charcoal basin is a little cold, but it can also save some charcoal.

Eat and wear, and be a good livelihood in the future, otherwise, Yinyue ate the grain, wouldn't it be a joke for the big house?

Speaking of which, the previous sub-stove also has the advantage, that is, it knows the cost of these expenses. Otherwise, it will be a little uncomfortable to split up directly.

After all, over the years, she has not bothered about the money, all she has done is to hold the silver she has obtained tightly in the palm of her hand and save her private house hard.

In the past half a month, Zhao Jia's heart has not been without remorse.

Don't say anything else, just talk about a few small ones, whether you will study in the future, or go out on an errand, they are all throwing money. The fourth sister and the fifth son also need silver to prepare for the draft in the future.

If the family is not separated, this is all in the public middle school, but now it is the second room to bear it by itself.

Although after the separation, she no longer needs to look at the face of the big house and can be a wife, but thinking of the gains and losses outside here also makes her feel painful.

However, the words have come to this point, Cao Song is iron-hearted to split up again, and the long house also took the opportunity to agree. No matter how thick-skinned Zhao Jia's Rao is, he can no longer hold a smiling face and stammer.

Separation, it's tonight.

Her mother's brother, Murtai, the waiter of the Ministry of Works, and Fu Nai, the aunt of the older generation of the Cao family, both of them, as members of the Cao family, both arrived at the Cao Mansion.

The difference is that Fu Nai went to Xifu and saw Cao Yin go; Murtai entered the Eastern Mansion to meet his sister-in-law.

Although Zhaojia's family has always been domineering and has a bad surname, he is still a little afraid of his mother's brother.

The room was so silent that it was frightening, and Zhao Jia's family couldn't sit still, so he felt that his mouth was dry, so he picked up a few teacups and drank most of them.

Cao Song waited in the outer hall with a few brothers, and only the two Zhaojia brothers and sisters were left in the room.

Murtai looked at Zhao Jia's clan, sighed, and said with a little complaint: "What is this not confusion? The Cao family is decent, long house. The eldest master and the eldest uncle of the in-laws are both kind-hearted people, and they have nothing to say to Song'er and their brothers. Isn't it a blessing for you to be cared for by their father and son, and not to worry about any of your hearts? It's so raw, and it's a big New Year. ”

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Wu Yashi sent someone to pick up his daughter and return to the province. From Ruhui's mouth, Murtai also knew the causes and consequences of the separation of Cao's family room and the second room.

Zhaojia is also a big family, and Murtai knows the importance of relatives the most, especially in the promotion of official careers.

If he didn't have the shadow of his uncle Marhan, his performance would be mediocre, and it would be good if he wasn't demoted, let alone promoted to a Beijing official.

Therefore, he is against the sister-in-law and his nephew mentioning the separation.

Although Cao Song has been on an errand in the second room, there are still five or six small ones below, where is it so easy to hold up the portal?

He called Cao Song over on the same day, and tried to persuade him bitterly, wanting him to take back his words of separation.

Cao Yin is a human being, he knows, a gentle gentleman. If the nephews didn't mention the "separation", Cao Yin wouldn't have spoken.

Cao Song knew his uncle's good intentions, but thinking about his mother's temper, he was in the same diaphragm muscle, which hurt everyone's feelings; It's better to split up early, and let the uncle and brother worry less.

Speaking of which, he is still in the old saying of Fucha Mansion, as the eldest son of the second room, he should also have some responsibility.

The uncle is already a man who is close to the age of six, and he has a chronic illness, if he still keeps worrying about his nephews in the second room, it will be a little unfilial.

Cao Song is twenty-one years old, he has an errand, his daughter-in-law is married, and he is already an adult.

Murtai couldn't persuade him, so he could only sigh and sigh again.

Although he is an uncle, he is an outsider in the end, and some things are not easy to say. Moreover, since Cao Yin invited Fu Nai to share the family with him, he also knew in his heart that even if he divided the property, Cao Yin would not treat his nephews badly.

Although he knew that the "separation" of Cao's family room and the second room was a foregone conclusion, Murtai had to complain a little about his sister in his heart, and couldn't help complaining.

Zhao Jiashi heard the reproach in his brother's words, and felt that he was wronged.

The conscience of heaven and earth, if you want to say that she is herself, but she has never thought of the idea of splitting up, and she was not caught by Cao Song's big evil obstacle?

When my son is older, he doesn't listen to what he says, what can he do? Besides, looking at the meaning of the long room, she just wants to share, and she doesn't want to have a hot face but sticks to the cold ass over there.

The girl's temper, Murtai knows best.

Seeing that she still looked disapproving, Murtai shook his head and didn't bother to say anything else.

I heard Cao Song outside the door: "Uncle, the hour is almost up, we should pass, right?" ”

Murtai glanced at the table clock on the ground, it was already two o'clock.

He stood up, flicked his sleeves, and said to Zhao Jia's Zhengse: "Xueqin, listen to my brother, no matter how your in-laws divide the property tonight, you don't have to speak." ”

Zhao Jiashi saw that his brother got up, and he also got up.

Hearing this, she was puzzled, raised her eyebrows and said, "Brother, what are you talking about?" You are here to be a middle-aged person, and you should be facing us, is it difficult to let us suffer? ”

"Confused, what a woman's opinion!" Seeing that she was confused, Murtai couldn't tell the priorities, so he rubbed his feet hard and said, "Xueqin, think about the future of your sons?" Do you want to tear your face and share more money? If you don't say anything else, let's just talk about Xiao Er's errand, which is spent on money and has no place to do it. If it weren't for Cao Hao's Heshuo forehead, and he was friendly with the princes, and he also had dealings with several adults in the guards, do you think it would fall to Xiao Er for nothing? ”

Zhao Jiashi was so trained that he had no idea, grabbed the handkerchief vigorously, raised his head, and pleaded with a little pleading: "Brother, you have to make the decision for your sister." This side is not better than the long room just one Cao Hao brothers, there are several brothers and sisters, if the silver is not enough, in the future, there will be more than 100 mouths......"

"Long hair, short vision. If you don't want the future of your sons, you can fight for it. Seeing that the girl was stubborn, Murtai also lost a little patience, and said: "Uncle has retired from the position of Shangshu for many years, and now I am not having a good time. Although I have the heart to mention my nephews, I also have more than enough heart but not enough strength. If you really offend the father and son of Changfang, then in the future, you want to pay money for Brother Song and a few of them to run for the future, but you can't find a way. I've said all these things, and you can weigh the rest yourself! ”

With that, Murtai picked up the curtain and went out.

Zhao Jia's face was cloudy, and he followed his brother out.

The fourth sister and the fifth son are daughters, and Jinghui and Ruhui are daughters-in-law, so they don't need to go over. Cao Song took his three brothers and accompanied his mother and uncle to Xifu.

*Xifu, in the ancestral hall.

Cao Yin sat in a chair, and there were several account books on the several cases beside him, which were the registers of some ancestral properties in the public middle school. There are nothing more than a few properties, as well as antique calligraphy and paintings, furniture furnishings, gold and silver utensils and other things.

In the early years, in order to pay off the shortfall, several fields and shops in the public were sold, and only a few properties remained.

The old house here is the ancestral house, and this one is usually indistinguished, and it is lived in by a long house. There are also two houses over there, one in Suzhou and one in Hangzhou.

Although the house in Dongfu was purchased by Cao Hao, the silver from the account of the public can also be classified into the public middle school.

There is also the garden of Haidian, when it was built, although there was a lot of help from the Chunjun Palace, but it was built in the name of Cao's house, which cannot be regarded as Cao Hao's private property, and it is reasonable to say that it is a public industry.

In addition to these properties, it is the pearl factory of Taihu Lake. At that time, Cao Yin spent the money of the public high school to buy it, and it was also regarded as a public high school industry.

Tonight's "separation", the family property to be divided is these houses, bead fields and registered antique calligraphy and paintings, furniture and so on......

(To be continued)