Licorice was arguing with Mama Tang, and persuaded Mama Tang to wait until the old lady woke up tomorrow, when the door behind her suddenly popped open, which scared her.

Mama Tang's expression changed from anxious to relieved, and she hurriedly stepped forward to hold the old lady and help her inside, although Mama Tang herself was more than four years older than the old lady, but the habits she had developed over the years could not be changed, as long as she saw the old lady standing alone, she couldn't help but step forward to help.

"Don't worry, old lady, the Taoist temple is very good, and the third lady lives there very well, I'll come back this time now, I have something I want to tell you." Mama Tang carried the old lady into the house, and then turned her head and ordered, "Licorice, go and turn on the lamp, open half of the window of the outer room, and bring the old lady a bowl of pure-hearted barley soup, and mix two more spoonfuls of honey in it." Licorice agreed.

The old lady's heart was still hanging in the air, and she asked anxiously, "Hongjiang, you didn't coax me, did you?" If everything is fine on Sister Yi'er's side, why don't you pick her up and come back tomorrow morning? Something's wrong! ”

Mama Tang put the old lady back on the soft couch, and while pulling the thin quilt to cover her legs, she said softly: "You just put your heart back in your stomach, the old slave has already gone to the Taoist temple to see the third lady, she lives there very well now, and the sister-in-law there is also very good to her." After this catastrophe, the third lady is a lot smarter than before, and her speech is clear and distinct, like a little adult, and she is more likable than before. ”

As she was talking, Miss Ji walked in from outside with a red lacquer plate, first brought a cup of warm honey barley soup to the old lady, and then put a cup of red date tea on the small table at the head of the bed, and said softly to Mama Tang: "The cup is very hot, Mama put it away and eat it again, I asked Licorice to order a moxibustion box for the old lady to cover her feet, and the thing that Mama handed me just now, I have handed it to Jiugu and explained the reason." ”

Mama Tang nodded and said: "Now I can't take care of that matter, just let Jiu Gu go and check slowly, Ah Ji, you go outside and sit for a while, and when the licorice comes, you will take the moxibustion box and let her go to sleep." Miss Ji answered.

Miss Ji is the first-class maid in the old lady's room and the steward of the small warehouse, and she is also the adopted daughter of Mama Tang. In the early decades, when Mama Tang was still young, the old lady and the living old man always wanted to find a good family for her, and said that several conditions were not bad, but Mama Tang just refused to marry her. The old lady privately persuaded her that men are not good or not, the same see one and hug the other, the same sleeping, snoring, eating, scratching and tickling, they are "married" as women, and the most important thing is that if you marry someone, you will have a son and a half daughter in the future.

Mama Tang took the old lady's words to heart, and after a period of time, she adopted two little boys and a baby girl in a row, put incense on the case and burned yellow paper to recognize them as righteous sons and daughters, and swore to the sky that she had decided not to marry for life, and raised them well, hoping that God would have mercy and bless the three children to be filial and sensible when they grow up, and they can give her a pension in the future. When the old lady saw that she was so resolute, she was no longer reluctant, but only mentioned her monthly routine to ten taels of silver per month.

Miss Ji was the baby girl at that time, now she is twenty-six years old, and her adoptive mother is also an older and unmarried, intelligent and careful, advanced and retreated, from a fourth-class maid step by step to the old lady's garden in the small warehouse steward. Mama Tang asked Miss Ji to call her Mama in front of people, and then call her mother when she arrived at home, the relationship between the two is better than that of the biological mother and daughter, and they both feel the kindness of the old lady for many years, so they are now the right hand of the old lady.

The old lady grabbed the soup cup and refused to drink it, and insisted on asking: "No, no, there must be something wrong with Sister Yi'er!" I know you, before leaving, I told you to take care of Sister Haoyi, if it wasn't for something big over there, you wouldn't have come back alone! My right eyelid has been jumping since dinner today, and you're going to tell me what's going on! ”

Mama Tang also insisted: "You drink two sips of the old slave first and start talking, otherwise as soon as you talk later, the soup bowl will be put aside by you and let it cool." ”

The old lady reluctantly took half a mouthful, and then glared at Mama Tang, and Mama Tang then began to speak: "When I arrived at Shuishangguan this evening, the third lady sat in the room dignifiedly, but she was wearing a veil because of some nasal congestion. The old slave asked the third lady if she wanted to ask for a doctor, and the third lady said that instead of inviting a wild doctor outside, it was better to go home and ask the old lady to help her take a look. The old slave looked at the third lady not only safe and sound, but after some attention from the Antarctic Immortal, now she is full of aura, her demeanor is generous and decent, and her eyebrows and eyes are much more radiant than before! ”

"And then? Why did you come back on your own? The old lady still refused to believe that everything was going well on the Taoist temple.

Mama Tang sighed, opened her palm, which was already rubbed red, and said in a deep voice: "Old lady, once upon a time, the old slave heard that there was a kind of itchy powder called 'Diao Yam', whose medicinal properties were extremely sinister, and the old bustard in those kilns was specially used on the disobedient kiln sisters. However, just when I gave her the dress hairpin powder that the old lady specially instructed the third lady to do, the most unexpected thing happened, those clothes were actually stained with Yam! And Miss San and I didn't notice it at first, so we both ran into Diao Yam on our clothes, and our hands were immediately very itchy! ”

The old lady also heard a little about this kind of itchy powder, and asked Mama Tang angrily: "How can good clothes get on that kind of thing, and where did they come from?" Seeing that Mama Tang's hands that had always been well-maintained were red and swollen into their current appearance, the old lady lost her voice and said, "Sister Yi also encountered itchy powder, is she serious?" Red ginger, what does this medicine do in addition to itching? Is it poisonous? ”

Mama Tang first shook her head, then nodded, and sighed: "Let you say it, this medicine is said to be non-toxic, except for itching or itching, it will be itchy for two or three days." If you can't stand this itch that comes out of your bones, you will scratch it with your hands, and it won't take long to scratch the flesh. But if you scratch the skin and flesh, it's still itchy, and if you can't scratch it at that time, you will have to endure it for two or three days, but I'm afraid that good people will also hurt their vitality! ”

The old lady grabbed the middle finger of her right hand with her left hand, and she was shocked to hear it.

"Speaking of the third lady, it is even more pitiful, she heard that it was the clothes that the old lady specially brought her, so she was so happy that she put a few clothes on the table and touched them, and suddenly she was pricked with blood on her hand!" Mama Tang gestured to the bleeding part of He Angelica's hand, and said bitterly, "The old slave shook off the gauze she had touched, and a large handful of sharp and thin white thorns fell out of it, which looked very much like it came from a thorny plant called cactus!" After a while, the third lady began to scratch the back of her hand again, scratching the back of her hand and scratching her arm, all the way up to her shoulder, if it wasn't for the old slave to stop her, I was afraid that those two tender little hands would be scratched on the spot! ”

The old lady was so angry that she pounded the bed again and again, and said sharply: "Who did this on the clothes I gave Sister Yi'er, and Sister Yi recruited who to provoke!" Now that I'm not dead, I've already been bullied to my face, and I can't be sure how to curse me behind my back! No wonder I've been in bad health lately, it turns out that there is a black-hearted ghost living in this house! ”

Mama Tang hurriedly patted the old lady's back to give her a good breath, and brought her the barley soup on the small table, and persuaded: "Miss, please calm your anger, be careful to get angry!" Who in this family doesn't respect Miss, even if there are one or two Diao slaves making waves in secret, it won't be a climate. Miss, you have to cherish yourself a lot, don't be like those villains, who do you want this family to count on when you are angry? ”

Although the old lady has nothing to do with the word "Miss" now, Mama Tang still occasionally calls each other "Miss" when she is alone with the old lady, and usually at this time she will start to say something heart-wrenching.

"Diao slave? Which Diao slave? The old lady keenly grasped the word in Mama Tang's words, her eyes fell on her face without blinking, and asked, "Do you know who did it?" ”

Mama Tang sighed and said: "Although the culprits are a few slaves, but the old lady, please think about it, this set of clothes outside was sent to the second wife by the second lady, and the middle clothes inside were directly taken to the second wife from the warehouse, and the old slave personally went to Baoqin Pavilion to get things, at that time all the things had been wrapped and placed in the inner hall, and then went up the mountain to hand over to the third lady, and there was no turning of other people's hands in the middle, and the time to do hands and feet was only the time to put it in Baoqin Pavilion for a while." The old slave was very impressed, the thorny cactus only had a few pots in the yard of the second lady in the entire mansion, which was the second miss's favorite object, who would dare to take away its thorns from ordinary slaves? The old slave thought that the thing could only be bought on the black market in the north of the city, and the price of this medicine would not be cheaper than those such as crane top red and peacock gall, who could afford to buy it from ordinary lowly minions? ”

The old lady frowned: "You mean, it is the Luo family's own family who did this?" Do you suspect it's the second daughter-in-law? ”

Mama Tang waved her hand again and again: "How is it possible! The second wife is the head of our Luo family, and she has all the opportunities, so how can she have the leisure to buy itchy powder and sprinkle other people's clothes. Even if she really sees what's wrong with the third lady, she just needs to use her identity as an elder to persuade her, can she do this? Mrs. Gu is not at home all the year round, the third lady is not accompanied by her mother, and the eldest wife and the second wife are not half of her mother. Besides, the things are all taken from Baoqin Pavilion, if there is a problem, the second wife will also have to face the old lady's questioning, how could she do the act of causing trouble for herself, so this matter must have nothing to do with the second wife! ”

"And who are you talking about? The master of Baoqin Pavilion is the second daughter-in-law, and the inner hall of Baoqin Pavilion is her bedroom, who can outsiders enter? If it weren't for her, it couldn't be Kawatani, right? He's Sister Yi's uncle! The old lady suddenly understood, looked at Mama Tang with wide eyes, and asked urgently, "Hongjiang, are you suspicious of Sister Qiong and Sister Shao?" ”

Mama Tang sighed, nodded and said, "Don't dare to deceive the old lady, the old slave is already very sure that this matter was done by the fourth lady!" And the second lady is dignified and demure, and her heart is pure and kind-hearted, and this matter should have nothing to do with her. ”

The old lady has always liked the lively and delicate granddaughter Luo Baishao, although she knows that Mama Tang has never lied to herself, and she has hardly said a word about the rights and wrongs of the master of the Luo family, and now she dares to say that there must be evidence, but it is still difficult for the old lady to associate the "special medicine for the old bustard" with "her lovely granddaughter of nine years old".