Wu Manniang, the eldest granddaughter of the You family, can only be in time for the court in May, because she took care of the eldest lady's serious illness and went out of the cabinet in advance, so she performed the ceremony last year, and she passed the door for less than four months, still with the shyness of a new bride, especially in the Duanyi Garden, she came to the less, and after coming in, she saluted, and was kindly excused by the Ban family, and asked her to sit down, so she asked softly: "Mama Zhou went to tell her granddaughter-in-law in person, saying that grandmother has a life, I don't know what to order?" ”

The eldest lady of the You family, Jiang, died in the first month, as a new wife but the eldest daughter-in-law of Wu Manniang had to take off her red makeup early and put on filial piety clothes, now the hundred days have not passed, although there are elders in the hall, but Wu Manniang came out in plain clothes, she rarely went to Duanyi Yuan and places outside the long house for this reason.

Wu Manniang was born very delicate, with a kind of warmth of a small jasper unique to the south of the Yangtze River, but if she is the wife of the house, she will inevitably lack momentum, and she still has a childish spirit on her face that is difficult to hide, the second lady is sitting next to her, and she mutters in her heart, secretly saying that even if there is Ban Shi now, she and the third lady are afraid of Ban Shi, and have to hand over the power to Wu Manniang, that is, after handing over the right to do nothing in private, this big family up and down, forgive Wu Manniang and don't manage it well, Ban is afraid that she will have to follow her daughter-in-law to practice her hands first.

Thinking like this, the second lady made up her mind in her heart, and also brought out a smile.

I didn't want Ban to say: "Your mother died before, because in the hundred days, I can't say anything, now that it is out of the hundred days, although filial piety is still guarded, but this family, as the eldest granddaughter-in-law, should also be managed." But he never said anything about asking the second lady and the third lady to help.

The second lady was stunned, but Wu Manniang was also taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Grandmother, the granddaughter-in-law is young, and it has only been a few months since she entered the door, how can she be a housekeeper?" ”

Ban said: "What's wrong with this? Your mother was sixteen years old when she passed the door, but she was only a year older than you now, and it was only a full moon when she passed the door, so I handed over the stewardship to her, and she has always been in charge of it, hasn't she been very good? It's been almost four months since you passed through the door, not to mention that your mother has a handful of people left behind, and although some people have gone these days, it won't take much effort to find them! With their help, if you don't understand, ask the elders and just learn! ”

Hearing this, the second lady suddenly felt a little unnatural, the so-called people have gone these days, Ban said this, it is nothing more than to save some face for her and the third lady in front of the juniors, in the end it is also a knock - who doesn't know that since the death of the eldest lady, the second lady and the third lady have taken turns to steward, and the only thing for the two to work together is to replace the manpower that the eldest lady has used for many years with their own henchmen?

Although Ban said so, Wu Manniang still said timidly: "But there are still aunts in the family, and the granddaughter-in-law is young and ignorant......

Ban frowned and said, "Who didn't come from a young and ignorant world? What's more, the housekeeper of the mound woman, this has been the rule since ancient times, as for your aunts, they have children and daughters, and they all have to be busy, how can they have the effort to bear this for you? These words suddenly blocked the second lady who wanted to take the initiative to help, so she had to keep her mouth shut.

Wu Manniang still wanted to refuse, but Ban was too lazy to continue to entangle, and directly instructed Mama Zhou: "My granddaughter-in-law has not been around for a long time, her face is still tender, but I don't have the spirit to persuade her repeatedly, in this way, I will lend you to her for a while, you help her to bring back the people of the Jiang family before, and then take the account book handed over by the Jiang family before his death, and explain it clearly to her - the previous rules of the Jiang family have been in practice for more than 20 years, and there has never been a problem, so it can be seen that it is good. ”

Seeing that Wu Manniang agreed in shame, Ban Shi said again: "Mama Zhou has not always lent it to you, you use your heart to be able to manage it independently as soon as possible, I can't leave her here for a long time." ”

In this way, someone took a small wooden box from the inner room, but inside it was a box full of account books, all of which were quietly sent by the eldest lady Jiang before her death.

Seeing these many account books, the second lady's face was blue and red for a while-speaking of which, she and the third lady were competing for the house, wasn't it just for the benefit of their own room? Originally, I thought that the eldest lady would die, and I and the third lady would take turns to manage the house, not to mention that the account book was in my own hands, and it was naturally seamless, where did I think that the Jiang family was worthy of being the wife of the house for more than 20 years, and I came to such a hand when I was about to come!

She is like sitting on pins and needles here, Ban Shi only did not see it, and said to Wu Manniang: "This is just a copy, you take it and look at it, if you have any questions, ask Mama Zhou, if Mama Zhou is not sure, ask me again, there are not a few steps from the big house to Duanyi Garden, even if there is filial piety, they are all a family, there are not so many taboos, come and ask if you should ask, you know?" ”

Wu Manniang respectfully agreed, she had shirked in every possible way before, and when she saw that Ban had made up her mind, although her speech and demeanor were still gentle, she would not be afraid, in the end, it was the Jiang family who personally selected the person who was going to be the grave woman.

When Mama Zhou accompanied Wu Manniang back to the big room, the second lady thought of the account book that Jiang handed over before her death, and what she had done in the past two months, where could she still sit still, barely supported her smiling face, and found an excuse to retire in a hurry.

Ban didn't stop her, and when she left, she said to Zhuo Zhaojie: "You go back to the Zhuo family, I'm afraid that such a thing will also be encountered, your grandfather is just a Hanlin, you didn't return to your hometown before you were born, so the affairs of the You family are not very complicated, your uncles are still friendly, and the aunts are a little careful, and they just want to save some furniture for their own house. This contention is not tight, and some small calculations between each other will not reach the point of hatred, but the Zhuo family is different. ”

Since Zhuo Zhaojie was eight years old, Ban dealt with family affairs, if she happened to be there, she would be called to her side to teach carefully, and she would mention that the complexity of the Zhuo family was far better than that of the You family, and told her to pay attention to the Zhuo family after returning to Beijing.

Zhuo Zhaojie asked: "My grandmother said that the Zhuo family is different, how is it different?" ”

Ban sighed: "For example, your grandfather is just a noble and poor Hanlin, after returning to his hometown, he also has some reputation in this Moling City, but your grandfather Minping Marquis, even if his title is attacked, it is also an uncle, the problem can only be passed on to one room, and the rest can only rely on their own ability, the Zhuo family now has five rooms, three of these five rooms are grandchildren, the problem is that your fifth uncle and your father, uncle are not the same mother, because after the death of your grandmother, your grandfather continued the string, and gave birth to your fifth uncle and ten aunts!" ”

"Your grandmother is your uncle, second aunt, your father three, speaking of your grandmother's identity is not ordinary, her surname is Liang, is the niece of the first emperor Jingzong Yuan with Queen Liang, when he was not out of the cabinet, he moved the capital with his beauty, and he almost married Jinshang, and then the first emperor hired the current Chunyu Empress for today, and then married your grandfather! It's a pity, Queen Liang's face is thin, when she gave birth to the eldest son of the first emperor, Yan Wang, she had a difficult birth, and the successor Empress Zheng also gave birth to a son-in-law, and when the first emperor Yan Wang and King Qi were all competing for the position of their sons-in-law, and even made trouble to the point of rebellion, which provoked the anger of the first emperor, and sent the two sons-in-law to the frontier, and re-established the present Shang, after the King of Qi ascended the throne, the King of Qi rebelled, because the King of Yan had passed away at that time, and the King of Qi was captured and dragged the mother of the King of Yan, that is, the Liang family, into the water - your grandmother died depressed because the Liang family was distributed!

"Speaking of which, your grandfather has vision, when the King of Qi rebelled, he resolutely stood on the side of Jinshang, so not only did nothing happen, but after the rebellion of King Qi was pacified, he was more and more relied on and trusted by Jinshang!" Ban touched her head and said earnestly, "It stands to reason that your uncle is the eldest son of the Yuan Match, and this title should be given to him, but in the past few years, I have heard that your grandfather likes to remarry the lady very much, and he is also very fond of his young sons and daughters, and he has not established a son for a long time - partial to your uncle, cough, I heard that it is quite mediocre......"

Just as he was talking about this, someone outside was laughing and running all the way in, and the maid at the door didn't have time to say goodbye, so she heard a crisp children's voice say: "Grandmother, grandmother! My grandfather and I caught some big fish today! ”

This rushed in and hit Ban's arms headlong is an eight- or nine-year-old boy, with beautiful eyebrows, born a little tiger-headed, cute, wearing an indigo brocade robe, with water stains in several places on his body, and a faint smell of fish, and Ban Shi said a word, only to notice Zhuo Zhaojie, and hurriedly moved over and regretted: "Cousin, you didn't go today!" I caught one of the biggest fish, almost as tall as me, but unfortunately I called my grandfather, who helped him slow down and broke the line and escaped. ”

You Ruoheng has nothing to do after saying goodbye to old age, except for occasionally guiding the children of Sun and the same clan who have not entered Huaixing Academy to study, he is idle to take his favorite grandchildren out to play or fish, his favorite is the youngest son in the fourth room, and he is also the youngest of the grandchildren You Xiaoliulang You Xuan, and his granddaughter Zhuo Zhaojie.

At this moment, accompanied by You Xuan's chatter, Zhuo Zhaojie's inquiry, I saw You Ruoheng pacing slowly into the door, and untied his clothes at the door - You Ruoheng was over the age of six, because he was old early, he didn't have too much heart, his body was still tough, and his hair was not much gray, he was an elder with a clear face and a smile on his face, taciturn, after coming in, he only nodded with Ban, and then glanced at Zhuo Zhaojie, and sat on Ban's left side, and only bowed slightly to Zhuo Zhaojie's invitation.

It seems that he is not close to people, but in fact, after getting along for a long time, you can find that You Ruoheng has been listening attentively to the words of his wife, grandson, and granddaughter - he knows that You Ruoheng is not indifferent, but he is wooden.

Otherwise, he won the second-class first name perch in the scientific examination, and now the famous cabinet chief assistant Shi Wei is a fellow classmate and fellow villager and the same department, the only concubine You Ji and Minping Hou's fourth son Zhuo Fangli's marriage is still a matchmaker after Shi Hui Shangzhu helped, such a good situation, not to be in his early forties to sue the old, he is really not good at interacting with people, nor is he good at directors, except for reading, he is not good at anything, he is really helpless without Hanlin, If you catch up with the time when the officials are not clear, you may be able to rely on a staff to mix, the first emperor and the present are the kings of hard work, with his nature. If Zi really gives an official position, I am afraid that it will be easy to have an accident, if you want to stay in the Hanlin Courtyard for a lifetime - You Ruoheng thinks about it and thinks about it, it is better to return to his hometown early, and he is not used to the climate in Beijing!

For You Ruoheng's nature, the You family went up to Ban's, down to You Xuan, and Zhuo Zhaojie, who grew up in You's family, was very clear, Ban carefully asked You Xuan about fishing, comforted him for a bit of getting rid of the big fish, looked at the sky, and was about to ask You Ruoheng if he would use the rice at this time, suddenly remembered something, frowned and asked the maid not far away: "I just asked the kitchen to cook ginger soup, why haven't you brought it to this day?" ”