There was silence in the room. Time. Only the sound of each person's breathing could be heard, but no one spoke.

Lu Yougui stared at Mu Chen, who was a little uncomfortable at first, but quickly calmed down and looked at him fearlessly. After a while, Lu Yougui exhaled and said lightly: "I didn't understand, what you said was ...... Do you sue in front of Hou Ye? But don't forget, that's the main wife! Even if it's a house, it's still a wife! The son she gave birth to, but the son of the Hou Mansion, our future master! If you do this, you won't be afraid ......" Chunying and the others also looked at Mu Chen nervously.

Mu Chen sneered: "If there is a second way, we will not do it." Uncle Lu, you can't see it anymore, but the people we left in the capital don't know how far we are going to be tossed! There is merit, it is someone else's, and if there is sin, we bear it, and the master is not satisfied. pushed us out to carry the black pot, others still spent all day and wine, fished out the silver, reported a sick person and left, and went to other places to be rich, but told us to live a poor life! Uncle Lu, Uncle Mo, Aunt Wang, we are all servants for several lifetimes, Lao Tzu Niang has always been decent in front of the old lady and the Hou Ye, why should those who have no ability to just rely on sycophants to be on our heads? ! ”

When everyone heard this, their faces were a little angry, and they seemed to be greatly moved. Chun Ying secretly looked at Mu Chen a few times, and secretly thought in her heart: I didn't realize that this guy was a good lobbyist before.

Mu Chen continued: "Actually, our family has children, and we are people's slaves as soon as we are born in our mother's womb, and we can only follow the master for the rest of our lives, how can we deliberately go against the master's family??" Naturally, he is looking forward to the prosperity of the master's family. The master's family is good, we are naturally good, the master's family is unlucky, and we will not end well. Now seeing that the mistress has done something wrong, if she doesn't open her mouth to admonish because she is afraid, and when she loses her family business in the future, will we drink the northwest wind?! Maybe when the time comes, she thinks we are spending food, so she throws it out and sells it indiscriminately, where are we going to cry out for grievances?! There was a pause. slowed down his tone again, "Actually, my wife used to be fine, but in the past two years, somehow, she has become more and more confused." In the past, there were old ladies watching, and everyone in and outside the house acted according to the old routine, which was quite organized, but now there are no rules at all! Those of us who are subordinates are also anxious for the old lady and the Hou Ye in our hearts! ”

Chunying's eyebrows jumped, and she quickly glanced at the others, and sure enough, she saw that everyone's faces seemed to be relieved, and Aunt Wang sighed: "Isn't it?" We are also looking forward to the good of the master's family, after all, we grew up watching the Hou Ye grow up, and seeing that the wife he remarried made a mistake, we naturally have to worry about it! ”

The corners of Shi'er's mouth quickly curled, and he immediately changed his worried color: "But isn't it?" In case the Hou Mansion really falls, when the third young master inherits the title in the future, this business will be greatly discounted! The third young master is a filial son, and it is not good to blame his mother, but we are current people, and we should share the worries of our master! ”

Chun Ying glanced at Shi'er strangely, and Mu Chen next to him was already surprised: "That's exactly what you said!" Let's tell Master Hou what my wife has done wrong. It's not to go against the masters, it's really for the sake of the Hou Mansion, and I just hope that the Hou Mansion will become more and more prosperous. ”

Everyone echoed one after another, Lu Yougui saw this, smiled, and said to Mu Chen: "Your intentions are good, I'm just afraid that there are too few people to become a climate, and if there are too many people, it is easy to leak the news, if you ask your wife to find out early, you can't do it, but now you can't keep your errand, you are not afraid of taking risks?" ”

"I'm afraid I'm going to go." Mu Chen smiled, "Don't hide it from Uncle Lu, I have already met with several old stewards in the capital, and everyone has many complaints about Mrs. Madame's practices, although they are no longer in charge, they are still very decent in the house." After leaving here, I have to run back to Hejian Mansion, and tomorrow I will go back to Shunyi to find my father, and someone else will go to Xishan and Liangxiang. I am looking for all the servants in the house, who used to have good errands, but now they have been removed from their posts and are idle, or uncles and grandfathers who have received the grace of their wives and left their stewardship in the past few years. Most of the things that my wife favors are the companions she brought from her parents' house, or the new outsiders, and we don't even have anything to do with their marriage, so I don't think we will leak the news. ”

This Mu Chen really has some brains, Hejian, Shunyi, Xishan, and Liangxiang, these places are all the locations of the large and small granges under the name of the Hou Mansion, and the head of the village is a person who is deeply trusted by the Hou Ye. Arguably. These places are all in the hands of the big family, and the wife can only give orders in the name of the main mother, but it is even more difficult to change the supervisor, and it is necessary to ensure that the successor can pass the Hou Ye's pass. And what these people said, even if Hou Ye didn't think so, he couldn't ignore it. With the departure of Mr. Wang and the fact that almost all of the Wang family fell into the third line, these families were already the mainstay of the Hou family's children, but it was a pity that most of the forces were outside the mansion.

Shi'er's uncle Mo Da whispered beside him: "Sister, our family also participated." The second uncle's family was doing things for the third young master, and he had secretly sent a message, saying that the third young master had ordered him to inquire about the current situation of a few people, and he found out that those people were coming in the direction of the capital, and they would arrive in a few days. ”

It's also good to be able to avoid conflicts with the future head of the family. Aunt Wang was immediately moved and promised to persuade her husband's family to intervene as well. When Mu Chen heard this, his mood became more relaxed, and he turned his head to Lu Yougui and smiled: "Uncle Lu, you were originally also a steward with a head and face, can you also join one?" Let's go and ask Lord Hou for his life together! There are many of us, and we are reasonable. He won't go unlistened! When the time comes, your errand will be back again. I'd rather learn from you than see that crap's face! ”

Lu Yougui frowned, hesitating. He didn't know whether to agree to the other party, now that he was doing well, he didn't pay so much attention to the so-called "decency", and he didn't want to be involved in the power struggle in the house. Mu Chen said it nicely, but if it really failed, none of them would think about a good end!

Chunying watched the expression on her father's face change, but she guessed his thoughts a little and thought about it. Then he said to Mu Chen: "Our family has no objection to this matter, but to be honest, my wife drove our family to the village, and we couldn't even spend the night outside the village without being summoned, let alone going back to Beijing?" If you can't go back to Beijing, what can you say to Hou Ye? If we go back secretly and are seen, someone will send us back before we see Master Hou. Maybe you'll have to scare the snake when the time comes! We are no more than other stewards, we are all masters who can leave when we want. I also have one more thing to remind Second Brother Mu, the head of the village here is the wife's person, and his wife is still the wife of the wife's wife, although I haven't seen the wife for many years, but I can't guarantee that they know about you here, and they have to report it. If we dare to leave, they will know better! Doesn't it affect other uncles and grandfathers? ”

Mu Chen glanced at Aunt Wang and Mo Da, and when he saw that they were all nodding, he knew that this was true and fell silent.

Chun Ying looked at her father's expression and knew that he agreed with her words, so she smiled and continued to say to Mu Chen: "If Second Brother Mu really wants to gather the stewards to make a suggestion to Hou Ye, I wonder if you are willing to listen to my suggestion?" ”

Mu Chen hurriedly said, "Please speak." ”

"In the final analysis, we are still born in the family, although it is reasonable, but when we express our feelings to the Hou Ye, we must also pay attention to the tone and method. Because there are many people, and there are many people who are resentful, I am afraid that Hou Ye will think that we are persecuting him, so he responded in the face, and then quietly disposed of us, wouldn't we suffer too much? After a pause, Chun Ying glanced at the other party's face before continuing, "Besides, even if the third young master really hasn't heard of it at that time, he will always know later, and he will be the little marquis in the future." After ten or eight years, we can't do anything about it if we get the charge right and then try to retaliate. After all, his wife is his own mother, and if the Hou Ye is angry, he will not divorce his own wife and the biological mother of the future heir, and then drive his sister-in-law out of Youmen! "If the grass is not rooted, there will be endless troubles! It's not grass, but it's a deep-rooted tree!

Mu Chen sighed, and began to feel that he did have something to think about: "What does the girl think she should do?" ”

Without waiting for Chunying to speak, Lu Yougui said, "Where does her little child know this?" It's just a little more careful, and I can remind you. You go and discuss with your father, the other old things are also human spirits, they must have good ideas, you ask them to go, and ask others to come out and show their faces, don't rush ahead with a bullish anger, so that the Hou Ye is annoyed with you, but it makes your old son sad! ”

Mu Chen listened, touched his head a little embarrassedly, and responded with a smile.

Because he still had to rush to Hejian Mansion, Lu Yougui ordered his wife to get him some dry food and water, so he sent him and Mo Da away, and no matter what Aunt Wang said to her husband and uncle who had just returned home, she beckoned his wife and daughter to go back to the new house together.

Chunying saw that he was silent all the way and didn't speak, so she asked him carefully: "Dad...... Are you still thinking about the position of steward? Do you want to go back? ”

Lu Yougui glanced at her: "What's there to go back to?!" Get up early and be greedy for darkness, work hard, isn't it that people want to be lifted up, and if you want to be belittled, you can be belittled? ! Now that I have my own money, and no one cares about me, why bother looking for that uncomfortable?! ”

Chunying breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Dad, when we become good citizens, we will open our own shop, and you can sell whatever you want!" The money earned is also ours, and we have the final say on everything in the store! ”

Mother Lu echoed beside her: "That's right, that's right! When the time comes, if you get impatient, leave the work to the guys, and your father can still go home and enjoy the blessings of the master! ”

Lu Yougui smiled and glared at his daughter, but he stretched out his hand and twisted his beard, quite moved.

In the evening, Hu Fei returned. As soon as Chunying saw him, she greeted him and complained a little: "Why have you been there for so long?" Are you done? ”

"That's it." Hu Fei squeezed his eyes, "Those troubles can't bother us for a while, I'm going to spend this winter here!" ”

"Huh?!" Chunying was taken aback, a little surprised, and a little shy, "You're not...... Is there anything else to do in the capital? "For example...... Revenge on his brother?

Hu Fei smiled, in fact, he was not so obsessed with revenge now: "That's not in a hurry, everything that should be prepared has been prepared, just wait for the result, and watch them slowly fall, it's also a quick thing!" In addition, I really didn't have anything to do, and I wasn't used to staying in vain and not doing things, so I thought that I would simply take advantage of the autumn harvest to see if there were any good granges for sale near the capital, and it would be good to add a few properties. "Besides, the prime minister had already warned him not to have anything to do with the magnates in Beijing anymore, and he must keep a low profile and keep a low profile, so as not to leave a bad impression on the supreme.

He almost thought he didn't have a chance, but now it seems that things are not so bad. Should he thank the ambitious Fan family and the Marquis of Qingguo, who had "bad intentions"? And that official, for personal gain, didn't pass on his words, if it weren't for this, maybe he wouldn't have had a chance a long time ago, right? In fact, he has seen a lot now, and feels that it is not a big deal that he has not been able to win that position, and his family property is enough to buy a few profitable properties.

Chunying didn't know what he was thinking, but she was attracted by his words: "You want to buy land?" I don't think it's a good time. I heard that the current land price is enough to cost 12 taels of silver per acre of land! If you buy one hectare, it will cost more than 1,000 taels. I remember you said that the one thousand taels given to me are calculated proportionally, so that your family property is four or five thousand, and it is not cost-effective to spend one-fifth of your family property to buy a field! If the wind and rain have been smooth, it's fine, but if there is a disaster year, there is no harvest, wouldn't you suffer a big loss?! ”

Hu Fei blinked, and blushed for some reason: "This ...... Chun Ying...... Don't be annoyed...... Actually, my silver ...... What's ......?"

Chun Ying glanced at him a few times, and some understood, but she felt funny: "You are really!" What's the point of being honest with me? Am I still not satisfied with the thousand taels? ”

"No, no, no! In fact...... That's all you can earn from the sea...... It's just that after coming back, the grange and shops I bought made some money, and there were a few shops that I opened with Li Xu's family...... I didn't count the money earned in those places......" Hu Fei was a little embarrassed, "I didn't mean to hide it from you...... Li Xu didn't want his family to know about these things, and I didn't mention it to anyone......"

Where would Chunying blame him: "Just don't tell me." Anyway, you have enough money to buy these fields, don't you? ”

Hu Fei nodded, still feeling embarrassed: "Actually, the grain price in the south is too low, and I saw that the grain price in the north was higher, so I thought about buying a Zhuangzi here......

Chunying shook her head and said: "The land in the south is fertile, and the harvest is also high, and the fields in the north, I specially asked, one mu can only be harvested more than one stone, and two stones are not guaranteed, and when it comes to the autumn harvest, everyone has to sell grain, so that they can pay taxes in exchange for silver, and the price of grain has fallen sharply at that time, and you can't make any money, unless you hide the grain and sell it when the price of grain is high." ”

Hu Fei thought for a while and asked again: "Then what do you think...... If you don't buy a grange, what kind of property can you buy? ”

Chunying's eyes rolled: "The property is good, the shops are also very good, buy a few good shops in the lively area, don't do business yourself, rent to others." In this way, you don't have to worry about whether the business is profitable or losing, just collect rent on a quarterly basis. Or buy some yards to rent for people to live in, many people who come to Beijing to study, foreign officials, visit relatives, businessmen, and rent houses in Beijing for a long time, which is cheaper than living in guest houses. To tell you the truth, my father bought two yards, hung them in his brother-in-law's name, and rented them to individual guests, and he could collect more than ten or twenty taels of silver a year. If you have a lot of money, you buy more houses, and you earn more. If you really want to buy a field, just buy a hundred and eighty acres and plant enough grain to eat for yourself. ”

Hu Fei smiled: "My Chunying is really shrewd and capable!" That's it! ”

Chun Ying spat him: "Who is yours?" Less nonsense! Seeing that Hu Fei was just looking at himself and smiling, his face suddenly turned red.

Not to mention that Hu Fei accompanied his sweetheart with tenderness and sweetness, and occasionally went around to inquire about suitable real estate and fields, when the first snow fell in Daxing, a shocking news came from Beijing.

Steward Cao was dismissed, while Wang Da was appointed as the new head of the village.

When Chunying got the news, she immediately turned her head to look at her father, and Lu Yougui smiled slightly: "This is ...... Interesting......".