Su Ruan heard the footsteps behind him drifting away, and only after disappearing did he glance back.

"Miss......"

Cai Qian and Cheng'er entered, looking at Su Ruan's reddened eyes, a little at a loss.

Su Ruan rubbed his arms with a gesture, and then forced the corners of his mouth to show an ugly smile.

"I'm fine, close the door quickly, I'm freezing to death."

As if nothing had happened, she tugged at the clothes she was wearing and said:

"Cheng'er, I'm a little hungry, can you take a look at the small kitchen and have anything to eat, get some for me, pick the herb, you go find a thick dress for me to wear, my hands are almost numb."

"Miss."

Cheng'er wanted to speak, but was pulled by Cai.

"What are you doing?"

Cheng'er turned her head.

Cai Qian gave her a look and asked her not to talk too much, "Miss is hungry, you go to the kitchen to take a look, get some sweet soup, Miss can fall asleep after drinking." ”

Sent the somewhat stupid Cheng'er out, picked a thick fur and stepped forward, and after covering Jiang Yunqing on his body, he went to the side to fiddle with the fire in the carbon basin, and after adding some charcoal into it, it burned more vigorously.

Su Ruan just stood by the window, looking at the night outside through the gap in the window lattice.

Cai Qian was a little worried.

She had heard more or less about Miss's life in Jingnan before, and later saw the second lady's temperament with her own eyes.

When they were talking in the room just now, Su Ruan was a little emotional when she was emotional, just a few words, you could feel Su Ruan's determination when she said those words, she wanted to comfort her, but she didn't know how to speak.

In the end, Cai Qian could only squat next to the brazier and quietly guard Su Ruan.

After a long time, Su Ruan suddenly spoke: "Picking." ”

Cai Qian hurriedly got up: "Miss is tired?" ”

Su Ruan shook her head and looked back at her by the window: "Who else is there in your family?" ”

Cai Qian didn't expect Su Ruan to ask this, so she was stunned for a moment before replying: "The slave's mother died early, my father is still there, and there are stepmothers and two younger brothers at home." ”

"Then how did you get into the mansion in the first place?"

"The family is poor."

After Cai Qian put down the fire tongs in his hand towards the edge of the carbon basin, he lowered his eyes and said:

"The slave maid's family is poor, living on two acres of thin land."

"If the wind and rain are good, it's fine, but if God is not happy in any year, and the harvest is reduced, everyone in the family will be hungry."

"Slaves and maids have been hungry for as long as they can remember, and the slave's father is always worried about where to find the next meal."

"Later, when the slave and maid were older, a squire wanted to buy a slave and maid as a concubine for fifteen taels of silver, but the slave and maid's father was reluctant, and it happened that the people of the Hou Niang's family knew the little steward in the Hou Mansion, so they asked someone to say that they sent the slave and maid to the Hou Mansion on an errand."

Su Ruan tilted his head slightly sideways and looked at Cai Qian: "Is your stepmother good to you?" ”

Cai Qian hesitated for a moment before saying, "The slave and maid can't say clearly. ”

"The slave's father is honest, but the stepmother is a pungent temper, and she has the final say in everything in the family."

"If you want to say that she is good to the slave and maid, when the slave and maid were at home, all the dirty work was done by the slave and maid, and when she lost her temper, she would beat and scold the slave and maid, but if it was not good, she had never been short of slaves and maids in food."

Afraid that Su Ruan would not understand, Cai Qian explained:

"Miss hasn't been to us, so I don't know, in our place, no one wants girls when they are born, and I don't know how many people starve to death every year because they can't eat."

"Although the stepmother will beat and scold the slave and maid, but there is no shortage of slave and maid, as long as the two younger brothers and the father and mother have food, she will remember the slave and maid, and later when those people want to buy slaves and maids as concubines, it is also the stepmother who scolds people away."

"If it weren't for the stepmother who left the door and spent two taels of silver, the slave and maid would not be able to enter the Hou Mansion on an errand, so she is good to the slave and maid."

Cai Qian always remembered that the squire who wanted her to be a concubine was over fifty years old, full of brains, and there were already more than a dozen concubines in the house.

When those people said that they wanted to buy her, she thought that her stepmother would agree, after all, fifteen taels of silver was already a huge amount of money for a family like them, enough for the family to live a good life for two years.

But who knew that her stepmother knew that the other party was old enough to be her grandfather, and even had a habit of torturing women, so she directly crossed her waist and scolded people out, and beat the matchmaker away with a broom, and her father was worried for a while, afraid that those people would find trouble later.

Later, the stepmother scolded and disgusted her for being too good-looking, and caused trouble to the family, but at the same time, she asked her mother's family for help, and spent the only two taels of silver left in the family to send her to the Xuanping Marquis Mansion.

At that time, Cai Qian was grateful to her stepmother.

Su Ruan listened to Cai Qian talk about her stepmother, and was silent and didn't speak.

Cai Qian glanced at her cautiously, and then whispered again: "Miss, the slave maid has not read any big truths, but the slave maid feels that some things are actually not so complicated. ”

"When the stepmother used to beat and scold the slave maid, the slave and maid hated her, and always thought that if the mother was there, she would definitely not treat me like that, but then I thought about it, in that situation, even the mother may not be able to protect the slave and the maid."

"The slave and maid are grateful to her, but her beating and scolding back then was in the slave's heart after all."

"The slave maid thinks that she protects the slave and the maid well, but it is difficult to get close to her, so the slave and maid just regard her as a stepmother."

"The slave and maid will give the family silver, and when they have spare energy, they will also find a good errand for their younger brother, and support her and her father for the rest of their lives, and do their filial piety, but the rest of the slave and maid can't give it, and they can't afford it."

Cai Qian said this, and there was some cunning in those eyes that had always been gentle.

"Miss doesn't know, in fact, the slave maid is selfish."

"In the past few years, slaves and maids have kept a part of the monthly silver for themselves, and the rest is sent home."

"Some time ago, my father sent a message, saying that the family had built a house, the eldest brother had married a daughter-in-law, and the younger brother was also talking about kissing, and the stepmother's mouth was still the same as before.

"The slave and maid did what they had to do, and they were at peace, but they didn't lose themselves for them, making themselves uncomfortable."

"The slave thinks that the young lady can be the same as the slave, don't embarrass yourself."

"Some people get closer when they get along, and stay farther away when they can't, and they don't have to get together to get by."

Su Ruan listened to Cai Qian's words, looked at the serious look on her face, and suddenly calmed down in her heart, which she had felt a little panicked before, and she slowly smiled, "You're right." ”