He Angelica patiently explained to her: "Once it really happens, even if it is just diarrhea for a day or two, it will be difficult for Luodong Mansion to explain to other families. After all, those young ladies and sons are all the treasures of their respective families, and even if they sneeze a few times and lose a few hairs on weekdays, their elders are so distressed that they can't replace each other. If they contracted any disease in Luodong Mansion, even if everyone knew that it was an accident, they might not be able to understand it! I don't know if Mama Tang still remembers, half a year ago, the second sister returned to her grandfather's house to live for a few days, and after coming back, she had a headache and brain fever, saying that she accidentally fell into the water while swimming in the lake, which made the cold water agitated. Although the Sun family is the second aunt's maiden family, and they are like a family on weekdays, the second aunt was furious because of this, and made a special trip to the door to ask Mrs. Wang, who was in charge of the house, to give her an explanation. ”

Mama Tang nodded and said, "That's right, I have an impression of this matter." Mrs. Wang is the sister-in-law of the second lady, and she is also a character who is not to be outdone, and she also turned her face with the second lady at that time, saying that the second lady fell down while rowing alone, and no one pushed her, how to let the Sun family give an explanation. Later, the incident gradually subsided after a month, and because of this accident, the second lady specially spent a lot of money to hire a female escort who had practiced the style of the second lady. ”

He Angelica sighed and said: "Mama Tang, you don't know, in the past few days and nights, I often hear the 'squeak' sound in the east chamber where I sleep, and every time I listen to it, I will think of the West Cross Courtyard where I used to live...... Cousin Wei's four or five small pets have now grown to four or five hundred, and although I myself am accustomed to seeing them on the farm, and can live under the same roof with them without incident, I am really afraid that they will go out of the west courtyard and wander around in other yards. In case it hurts someone, I said that I raised poisonous insects and rats, and I wanted to use them to harm people. Mama, you teach me, what should I do? ”

Mama Tang shook her head and sighed, and couldn't help but open her mouth to reproach He Angelica: "Third Miss, even if you are diligent and thrifty, saving money is not such a provincial method." Didn't Wang Qi's family hand over to you sixty-two taels of silver for the regular meal at the end of every month? If you save up for half a year, you should have nearly four hundred taels of silver, even if the second lady is too busy to take care of you for a while, and doesn't send you lime powder and rodenticide, you won't send some broken silver to the little guy at the door, so that they can go to the pharmacy to buy some arsenic and come back! It dragged on until such a bad situation today that you told me, even if your experience is sympathetic, but the plague can neither be blamed on Wei Ge'er, nor on the second wife, but only on you! ”

He Angelica covered his mouth through the veil, tears fell in response, and he shouted: "How can this be! I can't afford it, Mama! ”

Mama Tang couldn't bear it a little, but she could only tell the truth: "One, Wei Ge'er is only three and a half years old this year, children are inevitably naughty, and the old lady definitely can't bear to scold him, even the third lady, you must not be able to bear it!" Second, Wei Ge'er's mother was sitting in the house with a five-month-old belly half a year ago, and she didn't have to be responsible for this matter. Now, she has added a cute daughter to the eldest young master, who is the number one hero of our Luo family, and she can't be blamed for everything. Third, the second wife didn't give you rat poison at that time, out of love for Wei Ge'er, and then she was too busy to forget, which is also very likely. Third Miss, you are the master of the West Cross Courtyard, no matter what caused it at first, now the result is that there is a plague in your place, who do you blame? ”

He Angelica wiped away his tears and nodded at the same time: "What Mama said is very reasonable, Angelica just confesses his guilt." I don't know what the penalty will be? ”

"Now, we have to wait until we return to the mansion and report this matter to the old lady, and see what she does with you." Looking at the tearful girl in front of her, Mama Tang couldn't bear it a little, and comforted, "Don't worry, I will definitely help you intercede, and the old lady also loves you." ”

"Thank you Mama for taking care of me, Angelica is grateful." He Angelica's voice was choked, and he said intermittently, "If I have money to buy medicine, why would I have a small kitchen and let the maids and mothers in the yard follow me hungry...... In fact, I went to my second aunt several times after that, but I never got the medicine. Although Aunt Wang said that she would send the silver for the meal, I never saw a silver tael. My monthly silver is one or two dollars a month, and I give it to ten maids as a dinner subsidy, and I still feel very sorry for them...... So, I single-mindedly waited for my mother to come back from the Taoist temple so that I could ask her for money to buy medicine, and this is why I have been delaying until now......"

Mama Tang's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "What? Wang Qi's family didn't give you a tael of silver? How is this possible! This rice money is the money of the public government, and it is allocated to the kitchen to buy ingredients from the public account on the first and second days of each month. Wang Qi's family is also a person with a head and a face, how dare she blatantly embezzle public funds? Moreover, the monthly silver at home is customized, the monthly case of all the young ladies is fourteen taels of silver per month, and the monthly case of the first-class maid is one or two dollars of silver per month, since the third lady has made a mistake in your monthly case, why don't you come to tell the old lady? ”

He Angelica was just about to answer, when suddenly her shoulders shook subconsciously, her hands began to scratch violently again, and she apologized embarrassedly: "I'm sorry I'm so itchy, Mama, you've worked the journey, but I'm pulling you to say so many things, it's really rude." Look at me here, I can't even pour a cup of tea for my grandmother, and I'm really uneasy...... Cicada clothes! ”

"Miss, what are your orders?"

Mama Tang stared at it, and saw a round-faced girl dressed in blue and about the same age as the third lady running to the door, and responded crisply.

He Angelica smiled and said: "Mama Tang is a distinguished guest, but unfortunately we don't have any good things to entertain here, I suddenly remembered that there are sun-dried red fruits on the windowsill outside, you go and boil a pot of boiling water and make a bowl of red fruit tea to quench Mama's thirst." The round-faced girl agreed to go down, and He Angelica smiled at Mama Tang again, "This red fruit tea is sweet and sour, very appetizing, Mama and rest your feet to drink a bowl, and I will let Mama Cicada collar go to use some fasting rice." ”

Mama Tang saw that the round-faced girl was smart and lively, and she loved it, and asked, "That little girl is the maid of the third lady?" I've never seen it before, but it was sent at the funeral? ”

He Angelica rubbed the back of his hands, looked at the busy blue shadow outside the door and said with a smile: "She was originally a little Taoist aunt of this Taoist temple, her legal name is Zhenjing, and she is very close to me, so I plan to take her home with me so that I can be a companion with me." Seeing that Mama Tang had a hesitant look on her face, He Angelica added, "Mama rest assured, Cicada Yi is obedient and clever, and will never cause trouble." And she is my personal maid, she doesn't receive the monthly rules of the maid in the house, and she eats with me when she eats, and she doesn't receive the food in the public school. Mama will hurt me once, make up your mind about it! ”

Mama Tang thought to herself, that little girl is really cute, so it is better to be a favor and agree to the third miss. However, she said: "It's easy for me to agree, the third lady will tell me why you didn't get your regular meal money, is it really Wang Qi's greed?" ”

He Angelica sighed: "Angelica has experienced a life and death, what else can't be seen?" When Aunt Wang was pregnant, she relied on Aunt Wang to serve her three meals, and after three meals a day, Aunt Wang had to personally stew blood swallows to send to her cousin-in-law, which was really touching. If the eldest cousin is the No. 1 hero of the Luo family, then Aunt Wang is the No. 2 hero of the Luo family, how can I speak ill of the hero? ”

Mama Tang was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said: "It's not the truth, one yard is one yard, don't say that you are very short of silver, Third Miss, even if you don't need this silver, it should be after Wang Qi's family sends it to you, and then you give it to her." ”

He Angelica raised his eyebrows: "Is there any difference?" Mama, let's not talk about these things, I know that I can't escape the blame for the plague in the kitchen, Mama, you have to help me plead with my ancestors! ”

Mama Tang nodded solemnly: "The difference is big, Third Miss, because Gongzhong has already paid enough for your monthly regular meal, but you have neither eaten nor received any silver." Third Miss, you have a good temperament and don't care about these, but my duty is to reflect this problem to the old lady. The matter of four hundred taels of silver is small, whether someone embezzles public funds is a big matter, and the Luo family will never tolerate such a slave who climbs to the head of the master. ”

He Angelica was silent, with a look of hesitation in his eyes, and in the end he still hung his head and said nothing.

Mama Tang saw that there was a door, and continued to enlighten her slowly: "I said before that the responsibility for the plague was on the third miss, because I thought that the third miss had the ability to solve the plague problem alone, but now it seems that it turned out that Diao Nuke deducted the third miss's use, so that you were hungry and poor, and you were deeply troubled by the plague. If it can be confirmed that Wang Qi's family embezzled the money in the public school, then the third lady, you have also become a victim, and you don't have to accept the old lady's punishment, and naturally you don't need me to help you intercede. ”

"Really?" He Angelica's clear eyes flashed with brilliance, "Is it true that as long as I tell the truth, I don't have to be punished?" ”

Mama Tang's gaze fell on the back of the snow-white hand that was scratched red, and she couldn't bear it in her heart. A baby with a mother is a treasure, a baby without a mother is grass, and even a scholarly family like the Luo family is not exempt from vulgarity. Now it seems that this third lady who is not accompanied by her mother has really suffered a lot in the Luo family in the past six months, and from the time when Mrs. Gu took her to leave the He family, she was destined to be an embarrassing identity of a young lady who is not a young lady and a girl who is not a girl. is obviously a good boy who is lovable, but he is not treated well in Luodong Mansion, which is really pitiful.

Thinking of this, Mama Tang had a warm color on her face, and comforted: "Not only do you not have to be punished, but the four hundred taels of silver originally belonged to the third lady, and when the accounts are clarified, the old lady will make the decision to return it to you." ”

"Since Mama said so, then I have no reason to hide it anymore." He Angelica looked into the distance, revealing a look of reminiscence, "In the first month when the big kitchen didn't send dinner, the opinions of the sixteen maid mothers in the West Cross Courtyard were very big, I felt sorry but I didn't know how to compensate, one or two more months is just a drop in the bucket for so many people's belly in a month." At the end of the month, the promised silver of Aunt Wang was not delivered, although I was reluctant in my heart, but I felt more than 30 eyes in a yard, so I went to the kitchen to find Aunt Wang. ”

Mama Tang frowned and asked, "The third lady went in person, didn't she arrive?" ”

He Angelica hung his head and said sadly: "Somehow, I went seven or eight times and didn't see Aunt Wang, I heard that Aunt Wang often cooks a few dishes for dinner every day in the house, so when it comes to dinner, I stand outside the kitchen and wait." But the days I went there were not the days when Aunt Wang was in charge, and I asked a lot of people in and out of the kitchen, but for some reason they ignored me, and there was no way, so I had to continue to wait. When I went back on the seventh day, the kitchen was somehow unlit and the door was closed, and it was pitch black outside, and when I walked to the place where I used to stand and wait, I was not afraid of being slipped, and my palm was cut by a stone, and then I realized that the place was somehow sprinkled with tung oil. ”