CHAPTER XIX

The capital, the Jingyong Mansion.

"The second wife is here." The little maid outside Fushou Hall lifted the door curtain and spread it loudly. When Mrs. Xu walked into the house, she saw Mrs. Yu sitting on the throne of the black acid branch seven screens in front of her, with a few soft pillows of Shu brocade stacked in her hand. The old lady was nearly seventy years old, wearing a brown brocade robe with a pattern of blessing characters, and her forehead was wrapped around her forehead with jadeite inlays of the same color. Although she was closing her eyes, her eyebrows and eyes were kind, and she looked very amiable. I saw that she was holding a string of rosaries in one hand, each of which was the size of a thumb, and the scriptures were engraved on it.

At the bottom left, the current Duchess of Jingyong Xu's family and the Liu family in the third room are there, and the tea and fruit products on the small square table between the two of them have traces of moving, and it seems that they have been here for a while.

"The old lady is well." Xu glanced inside the room and stepped forward to curtsy the old lady. I met Mrs. Xu again and sat down opposite Mrs. Xu. Old Mrs. Yu opened her eyes and looked at Mrs. Xu, and said, "I called you here today just to ask you about Xiao Yatou, how did I hear that the words from the palace are not very good?" ”

Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Liu didn't mean to leave, so they just sat there and looked at Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Xu was a little annoyed, but she could only reply: "It's not a big deal, the little girls are just unhappy." If you don't go in the future, you'll be fine. ”

Old Madam Yu glanced at Mrs. Xu, propped herself up and sat up straight, and said, "She shouldn't have gone in the first place." My brother-in-law left, not to mention this, but instead entered the palace to swagger. You are her mother, you sincerely want to send her in, and I can't say anything. Lest I be annoyed by this old fellow. ”

As soon as the old lady said this, the three ladies immediately stood up, and Mrs. Xu hurriedly said: "Where is the old lady, our whole house has to rely on the old lady to take care of it." ”

Old Madam Yu shook her head and waved her hand to signal them to sit down, "You don't have to coax me, you have to send Xiao Yatou to a great future, although I don't like it, I won't stop you." Now that everyone has come back and the word has been spread, Xiao Yatou should not go out and walk around during this time, stay at home to read and be a female celebrity, and have a good and stable temperament. ”

"This ............" Mrs. Xu was a little anxious when she heard the old lady say this. Yu Xiao has passed the time, and it is a good time to talk about others. For people like them, interpersonal communication is a must. At this time, it is not a good thing to ask Yu Xiao not to go out to socialize.

"I know what you're thinking, but you don't look at who you're going to today. The young lady in the Imperial City has gone so much, and the girl has been retreated, and I don't know what the outside is saying about our family now. You still have to take her out to socialize at this time, and Baba sends it out to show people jokes, which is not good for Xiao Yatou or the house, and this matter is decided. Mrs. Yu made a decision, and Mrs. Xu didn't dare to disobey too much, so she could only agree with a full stomach.

"Don't be angry, old lady, I heard that the tenth princess is only thirteen, and the little girl's family is very noisy. Didn't the palace people just pass the word and let it go? Nothing else. Mrs. Liu saw enough of Mrs. Xu's liveliness on the side, so she didn't hurry up and persuaded: "Besides, I heard that Miss Qin has a big face in front of Her Royal Highness the princess this time, then Miss Qin is the best with Qingling on weekdays, and with her by her side, Her Royal Highness the princess will not embarrass the girl of our family." ”

Speaking of Mu Qingling, Mrs. Yu's face softened a lot, and she said with a rosary: "Hey, it's been almost a month since Ling'er went back, and when I think that she will come back in a year, my heart is like frying in a frying pan." ”

"A year?! Why did it take a year to come back? Mrs. Xu was taken aback when she heard Old Madam Yu's words, she was not prepared to let Mu Qingling stay in Hangzhou for so long!

Mrs. Liu glanced at Mrs. Xu and said with a smile: "Yo, I forgot that the second sister-in-law didn't know yet." Before the second sister-in-law came, we were talking to the old lady about this, some time ago I asked my nephew Jun Nan to visit in Hangzhou, and when he came back, he also brought Qingling's letter of peace back, Qingling's girl was pure filial piety, and told the old lady to keep a year of filial piety in Hangzhou. The old lady agreed. ”

Mrs. Xu laughed dryly and said, "What...... Why didn't I see Wen Yuan say it in the letter. Before Yu Wenyuan and Mu Qingling left Beijing, she told her to let Yu Wenyuan clean up the affairs of Hangzhou as soon as possible and bring Mu Qingling back. The letter that Yu Wenyuan sent back during this time only said that everything was going well, and she thought that the two of them should leave for the north in just over a month.

Now tell her that Mu Qingling actually bypassed her and directly told the old lady that she wanted to keep filial piety in Hangzhou for a year? ! In a year's time, who knows how many branches will be born!

Mrs. Xu looked at the old lady's face and said sadly: "Although it is for filial piety...... But Qingling is a child in the end, and Wen Yuan has never been to such a far place alone. This year...... Will it be too long? When I thought of Qingling's girl being alone outside, and there was no one to talk to, my heart hurt like something......

Xu pretended to be a mother, but when these words fell into the ears of Mrs. Yu, it was really a bloody sentence. She and Lao Guogong have a total of two sons left, and a concubine who is raised under her knees, and only has a daughter like Yu Ling. It has always hurt like a jewel, and Yu Ling's marriage is like a piece of meat in her heart. Later, Yu Ling died early, and the old lady Yu was so sad that she almost didn't go with her, but it was the eldest son Yu Enrong who used Mu Qingling to comfort her, so that the old lady could ease up and cheer up again.

The old lady took Mu Qingling to her side, and all her feelings of pity were placed on Mu Qingling. Mu Qingling is going to leave Beijing for a year, and the most uncomfortable thing is Mrs. Yu, at this time, when Xu said this, the old lady's eyes were slightly red, and she was about to cry when she saw it. Mrs. Liu hurriedly got up, walked to the old lady's side, and persuaded softly: "Don't be sad, old lady, didn't Qingling say in the letter, she didn't see her father for the last time, and staying in Hangzhou to keep a year's filial piety is already her last bit of filial piety. Besides, isn't Wen Yuan still there? After Wen Yuan got married, people saw that they were stable, and Hangzhou was an important place in the south of the Yangtze River, so nothing could happen. ”

Old Madam Yu remembered the things mentioned in Mu Qingling's letter, and her heart was a little relieved. Although she is partial to her second son, and even the right to be in charge of the family can be given to the second room, it does not mean that she does not care about the big house. Wen Yuan is also her grandson, and now Wen Yuan has a great opportunity to stay in Hangzhou, how could she cut off her grandson's future because of her own longing?

Old Madam Yu wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "When people are old, they are easy to shed tears. I also agreed to this matter, and asked Wen Yuan to accompany his cousin to live in Hangzhou for a year, be careful in everything, and send letters back from time to time. ”

Xu saw that the old lady had been moved by her before, and she was actually told back by Liu's three or two sentences. Suddenly, looking at Liu's eyes, it was a little bad. Liu stood beside the old lady and pinched the old lady's shoulder, as if he didn't feel Xu's hostility.

She asked Liu Junnan to go to Hangzhou to remind Yu Wenyuan that other people's knives were on his neck, and he hadn't woken up yet. Now that her goal has been achieved, and it seems that not only Yu Wenyuan, but even Mu Qingling is a little sober, which is great news for her.

The Jingyong Mansion has been controlled by the second room for too long, so long that the Xu family really thought that she could cover the sky with one hand, and thought that no one knew her thoughts. Now she Liu Yuechan wants to see how the Xu family is still making waves.

Hangzhou, Mufu.

Three days after the Mu family moved to the house, the house was generally sorted out. There is a box of various account books, and these things have to be sealed in the warehouse after Mu Qingling looks at them, so Mu Qingling has been holding a finger-thick account book all day long to check.

It's easy to finish sorting out these things, and guests are coming to the house one after another. Although Mufu is still in filial piety, he can't drink and feast. But a major event like the relocation of the government cannot be passed without a sound. So all the ladies in Hangzhou came to visit with gifts.

In the past few days, the ladies and ladies have come a lot, and Mu Qingling heard something under the chat. The Mu Qiuming of the Mu clan retired his wife Wang.

This gossip was told to Mu Qingling by Zhou Qingnian's wife, and that day Mrs. Zhou came to the door with a congratulatory gift and drank tea with Mu Qingling in the garden. Mrs. Zhou understands the grievances between Mu Qingling and the Mu clan the most, the Mu clan is not particular, and she doesn't have a good impression of the Mu clan when she listens to it. After chatting and chatting, Mrs. Zhou suddenly remembered the Wang family, and said: "If you want to say that this person really can't believe in retribution, how long has it been since the Wang family made trouble on the street?" I was also troubled once, and I was given a break by the Mu family. Now the mother-in-law doesn't want her mother's family to love her, so she took a little maid to live in Baiyun Nunnery outside the city. ”

Mu Qingling was a little surprised with the tea bowl and asked, "I see that she and Mu Qiuming are in the same breath, and the relationship should be very good, why was she suspended?" ”

Mrs. Zhou shook the brocade dough fan in her hand and sneered: "Silly girl, this husband and wife are originally birds in the same forest, and they fly separately when disaster comes." Last time, she and her father-in-law had such a big scene on the street, and they didn't get any benefits, but posted a lot of them. I have scruples outside, and when I return to my house, I don't know how to fight, just the virtues of those two, what feelings can I have? Besides, this time I heard that the Wang family had a bad reputation, and the Mu family opened an ancestral hall, and the clan decided to divorce her. ”

"Is it so serious to open an ancestral hall? What's going on? Mu Qingling was surprised. For a big family like the Mu family, sometimes the clan law is more useful than the national law.

"What about retribution? That Mu Qiuming and the Wang family wanted to use their reputation to blackmail you on the street last time, and now the Wang family is also planted on this reputation. I heard that not long after Mu Qiuming and the Wang family returned to Xujia Town, a splash came to the door, insisting that the Wang family had a head and tail with him, and that the Wang family promised to give him silver and support his whole family. That commotion, all the neighbors heard it. ”

Yunqiao stood behind Mu Qingling, and when he heard it, he couldn't help but interject: "Does that person have evidence?" ”

Mrs. Zhou smiled: "Where is there any evidence, empty white teeth nonsense." Some words are too dirty, so I won't learn to listen to your boudoir daughter, anyway, everyone knows about it. The Wang family cried and shouted in the mansion to fight with the knife, and was locked in the room by Mu Qiuming and said that he would not let it out. ”

"This kind of thing is fishy, and the Wang family is at a loss. That Mu Qiuming is also affectionate, can he not know what kind of person his wife is? That's how he divorced. Mu Qingling shook her head, sighing.

Mrs. Zhou looked at Mu Qingling and said, "You, people are careful and kind, and you don't know the secret." Mu Qiuming's family is only a little rich, last time my lord sentenced his family to compensate for the losses of merchants along the road, then Hangzhou City is a place where every inch of land is valuable, can their family afford it? Isn't the missing silver only to be made up by the clan? The Mu clan has suffered such a big loss, and it is estimated that many people in the clan are holding back the fire, if they don't push a scapegoat out, how can they be calmed down? It just so happened that something happened to the Wang family, whether it was true or not, the Mu family was lost, and it just so happened that he sacrificed a Wang family and gave an explanation to the clan. The Wang family was divorced for losing his temper, and he lost so much money in the clan, and when he heard that he was kicked out of the Mu family, he didn't even leave any better clothes, and left in a linen dress. ”

Mu Qingling shook her head, this Mu family is ruthless, and it is really rotten from the roots. But how could it be so coincidental that someone came to the door to make trouble with the Wang family? Mu Qingling chatted with Mrs. Zhou and thought in her heart.

She always felt that this thing was ...... It's someone's handiwork.