Liu Xixi sighed in his heart, it seems that this family is quite complicated. The mother who appeared just now, she squinted and secretly glanced at it, she was a young woman in her twenties, with a good appearance, and she seemed to have a good temper on the surface, but judging from the conversation between the master and the servant just now, she was a very scheming woman. The father, who has not yet met, seems to be an ancient civil servant who worked in a place like the yamen, and is the third among the brothers. This is an embarrassing ranking, and usually the boss and the boss get more attention. His parents have a son and a daughter, and the little brother is four or five years older than him, and he seems to be good to his younger sister. There are many servants in the family, and what she sees alone is two maids and a nurse shared by two siblings. There are also concubines in the "East Chamber".

The second sister-in-law was stunned for a while, and when she woke up, it was already late. There was a burst of rice outside. She hurriedly got up, checked on Xiao Niuniu, and when she saw that there was nothing wrong, she went to the kitchen to help.

Liu Xixi fell asleep in a daze, and when he woke up, it was dark, and there was the sound of people walking back and forth outside the door, and the sound of cups and bowls colliding. After a while, the second sister-in-law came in with a bowl of rice cereal to feed the little girl. Liu Xixi was already hungry, and she ate most of the bowl, and the second sister-in-law was very happy to see it, fed her two sips of water, and after putting away the dishes and chopsticks, she picked her up again and went out of the room.

Liu Xixi only felt that the surroundings were dim, as if he had walked through a corridor, and suddenly a bright light appeared in front of him, and then he entered a door, and a maid ring came to him, which was Xiaomei he had seen during the day.

Xiaomei saw that it was the second sister-in-law and asked, "Why are you here?" The second sister-in-law said: "The little girl just now ate most of the bowl of rice cereal, which shows that it is good, so she brought it over to the third grandmother to see." Tong Shi listened to it in the middle and said with a smile: "But it just so happened, Brother Duan was clamoring to see his sister just now, so you hugged her over." The boy on the bed was even more happy, although he was still sick and weak, he stretched out his hand to the sister in the arms of the second sister-in-law, calling "sister, sister". Tong ordered the second sister-in-law to carry the child over and put it beside the bed, so that he could take a closer look at the little girl.

Brother Duan used his little hand to hold his sister's little hand and shake it to coax her. Liu Xixi only felt that this child was tiger-headed, although his face was pale and there were still a few scars on his face, he was still very cute, so he couldn't help laughing. Brother Duan was even happier, and only grabbed his sister's hand and shook it.

Tong persuaded him: "I've only been awake for two hours, and I've taken medicine just now, so it's better to sleep, so that the medicine can come out." Brother Duan'er was a little reluctant, so she had to persuade her gently: "E-niang, let my sister accompany you here, and you two sleep together, okay?" "Brother Duan'er is willing to do so. The second sister-in-law felt that something was wrong, and persuaded Tong Shi on the side: "In case of illness, it will be bad." The little girl is so young that if she gets sick again, it will be troublesome. Tong felt sorry for his son, but said that his son's illness had been cured, so it was okay, and the second sister-in-law had to give up.

Because Brother Duan'er insisted on watching his sister fall asleep, he slept before he slewd, but he was obviously sleepy, and he still held on, Liu Xixi couldn't bear it, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, so he fell asleep. Tong sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the pair of children, and only felt very satisfied. He turned out most of the lights in the house, left only a candle, and took everyone away, and sat on the chaise longue in the outer room, closing his eyes and resting his mind.

Liu Xixi also fell asleep unconsciously. After some time, she heard low sobs outside, and a male voice whispering persuasion. She cleared her mind, didn't open her eyes, and quietly listened to the people outside.

Outside, the male owner of the house, Zhang Bao, is comforting his wife Tong. Just now the husband and wife had a disagreement on the disposal of the concubine, and the wife couldn't tell him, so she cried, which made him at a loss.

Tong Shi whimpered: "I know what you are thinking, you must be thinking that this time it was just an accident, it was not her doing, I took the opportunity to deal with her." That's what she said to you. But you don't want to think about it, Brother Duan'er and Xiao Niuniu are both my own children, a piece of meat on my body, when they encounter such a thing, I am so scared that my soul is gone, how can I have the leisure to look for her for no reason. Besides, when she did this, not only did I see it alone, but the second sister-in-law also saw it with my own eyes. She's an old man in the house, can't you trust her? At that time, there were two people from the Ha family, Ah Shan and Ah Hai, who were nearby, because they heard the shouts of the second sister-in-law, so they ran over and went into the water to save people. You also go and ask them, is she alone at the water's edge at the time? ”

Zhang Bao also hesitated when he heard her say this. He had always doted on that concubine, and she had always been gentle and polite in front of him, gentle and considerate, and he originally heard his wife talk about it, so he didn't believe it, and he heard the concubine cry, saying that the child just stumbled and fell, and she had the good intention of pulling the child up with a branch, but she was regarded as a wicked person by the main room, and was very wronged. He only felt that his wife was in trouble, so he was a little impatient. But now listening to his wife's statement, there were still others who saw it at that time, not to mention that the nurse was a credible person who had been serving in the family in Beijing for generations, just the two teenagers of Ahsan and Ahai, he had only seen one or two times, and he usually had no contact with the Ha family. If they all come out to testify, it can be seen that there are eight or nine truths about the matter. Could it be that the concubine really had bad intentions and deceived him again?

Seeing that he hesitated, Tong Shi forcibly suppressed the sourness in his heart, and continued: "I know that you have always thought that I deliberately suppressed her to embarrass her, so I didn't believe my words, but because I was born to Brother Duan's childhood, my health has been bad, after giving birth to a little girl, I was bedridden for half a year, there is no one around you to wait, and I am not happy, because she has been waiting by your side since she was a child, and she looks quite pleasing, and you also have a little meaning, so I made a decision to open her face, thinking that you have someone to serve, and I have many arms." In the past two years, I have never treated her badly, and her food and clothing are the same as mine. If I am the one who does not tolerate anyone, how can I let her come and serve you? I know it's common for other ladies to torture concubines, but don't you know if I'm such a person? After that, he lowered his head and wiped his tears.

Zhang Bao remembered the love between husband and wife when he was newly married, and thought of how much he had snubbed her in recent years, so he couldn't help but feel ashamed, and handed her a handkerchief to help her wipe her face.

Tong cried for a while, and then continued: "I had good intentions, but I didn't know that she was not a peaceful person, although she looked virtuous in front of you, she always loved to make trouble behind her back. I often want this and that, and my family is not so rich, how much money can you get for any small principal in the yamen? It's just a matter of getting help from home. Because she is the proud person in front of you, I don't want to wronged her, so you don't look good, and I don't make new clothes myself, so I first put the money out to buy clothes for her, and she still thinks that the material is not expensive enough. I didn't pay attention to it either. ”

Zhang Bao really saw that his wife was wearing the old clothes she brought from Beijing a few years ago, and remembered that her concubine often had new clothes to wear, so he felt that she was ignorant.

Tong continued: "Last time, she said that two relatives wanted to come into the house on an errand, and I didn't respond, so you were annoyed. But didn't you see those two people, both of them are strong laborers in their twenties, where can they find something to do, and they want her to recruit a woman into the house without suspicion? Besides, I see that they are all good-looking, melons and plums, and they are prone to accidents. She has never heard of any relatives in our family since she was a child, so I don't agree. I'm careful for fear of causing trouble, but you just believe her. Then he wiped away his tears.

Zhang Bao didn't know the reason for this, but the concubine said that there were two poor relatives, who were old and pitiful, and wanted to help them find an errand. He has always had a bodhisattva heart, and he is a well-known good man among his friends, so he does not like his wife, does not pity the poor and the weak. If what the wife said was true, the origin of the two men was somewhat suspicious. Besides, when the concubine was in Beijing in the past, she loved to talk and laugh with the little girl at home. As soon as he became suspicious, he felt that the color of the hat on his head was not good.

Tong said a lot of words, which shook her husband's heart, and hurriedly continued: "Since that day, she has complained in front of me all day long, you don't know if you are not at home, how ugly what she said." He also said that I was a sick man, and I couldn't wait for you, but you only allowed me to be at home for the sake of a pair of children, and if I didn't have children, you would leave me early and help her become bigger. When it came to the end, I couldn't cry anymore.

Zhang Bao was really furious when he heard this: "This is too much, you are the main room that I am marrying, and you are sick to help me spread the branches and leaves, no matter how bad you are, I will not lift her up as a girl." When she said this, she just didn't know her duty. ”

Tong Shi added to the fire: "She has always been your heart's meat, what else can I say?" I just want to be able to pull the two older children well. Who knew that she was so vicious that she actually poisoned two children! She never paid attention to Duan'er and Xiao Niuniu on weekdays, and suddenly wanted to take them to play that day, I didn't worry, and quietly followed behind with the second sister-in-law, who knew that she actually pushed the child into the water, and took a long branch to beat them, and did not let Brother Duan'er come ashore, I saw that my feet were soft, but fortunately, the second sister-in-law was alert and called people, so she rescued the child. Su Ri looked at your face, I can bear whatever she wants to do to me, but this time she wants to harm my flesh and bones, how can you tell me to let her go? ”

Zhang Bao already believed it, but he felt that the gentleness of his concubine in the past was fake, and he was so vicious behind his back, and he couldn't even keep the woman's way. At this time, the son of the inner room happened to muttered two dream words, and he walked into the inner room and looked at a pair of lovely little children, and he couldn't help but be afraid for a while when he thought of almost losing them.

He walked back to his wife, Wen Yan persuaded her to stop her tears, and said, "Su Ri is not aware of it, and you have suffered such a great grievance. It's that I can't live with you. That woman almost killed our child, and she really can't stay. Find someone to send her to the yamen, and I will greet her, and I will not spare her." ”

Tong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, remembering that her husband had always loved that little slut in the past, and now although he agreed to get rid of her, if he regretted it later, he would blame himself, so he said: "You really think so." In fact, I also know that you feel sorry for her, crying this time, your heart is not so uncomfortable, and the child has not really happened to anything, if you are really reluctant to her, just lock her up at home, only do not allow her out of the room, let her reflect on it. As long as she sincerely repents, let her wait for you. ”

Zhang Bao was displeased: "Am I unable to leave her?" Joke! She will naturally be punished for doing something wrong. And both children are seriously ill, how can it be said that there is no real accident. I've got the final say on this, you don't have to say more! After that, he really went out and asked someone to follow him to the East Chamber.

Liu Xixi only heard a woman crying outside, and a few men shouted to stop her, and then the father spoke angrily, saying that she did not abide by women's morals, and had a vicious heart, and wanted to let him cut off his children and grandchildren, and he must not spare him. Then she was gagged and sent to the yamen in person.

The voice gradually faded away, and out of the corner of his eye, Liu Xixi saw Tong gently walking to the window, looking outside, without saying a word, and gradually felt a coldness invade his body.