In Chen Lan's memory, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and finally Zhu Yuanzhang stood out and sat in the world. However, in today's history, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in poverty, has no chance to get ahead at all, and it is Lin Changhui who was born as a grass man who swept the world to establish Dachu. After he established the Chu Dynasty, he first inspected the acres of land to set taxes, encouraged industry and commerce, and continued the open sea trade of the Song and Yuan dynasties. But no matter how good the system is, it can't stop the corruption of people, and now that it has been 150 years since the founding of the country, it is far worse than before.

Now that he knew that there was no Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang in history, and there was more Chu Taizu Lin Changhui, Chen Lan was naturally more vigilant and cautious, and some of the original abacus were immediately put away. After a general understanding of the general environment, her mind was placed on her side.

The Marquis of Yangning is a hairpin family, when the founding of the country was given ten rooms of slaves and maids, and later from the earl to the marquis, and then given ten rooms of slaves and maids, more than a hundred years down, these people multiplied, since it is a huge number. If you don't let it out often, I'm afraid that no matter how big the Hou Mansion is, it won't be able to accommodate it. Because of this, although the manpower in the house is enough, there are not many girls around the owners of each house at first.

There are no first-class girls around the young lady, only two second-class and four third-class, and the little girls who sprinkle sweepers in the yard are more or less. Now the Zhu family has added another second-class to each young lady, and said that another one will be added after the New Year, and Mrs. Ma, who is in charge of housework, has the most headache. The second class has been added, but can the third class not be added? As a result, Chen Lan only heard that Mrs. Ma's Water Mirror Hall, which specializes in housework, was busy all day long, recommending people, recommending people, inquiring about people, and discussing...... It must not be stopped all day long.

For a few days, except for going to the Zhu family in the Tatexiang Courtyard in the morning and dusk, Chen Lan didn't go out of the house much. Chen Yan also went to the school every day to study, and he could come to see her at night. However, the Splendid Pavilion is no longer deserted as before, and all kinds of people come in droves.

During her recuperation, the Zhu family only sent Zheng's mother once, but now there are girls who come to deliver things almost every day or two, sometimes plum blossom boxes with snacks, sometimes high-quality bird's nests sent by other families, and sometimes gadgets for decoration. Since there is extraordinary care from the Zhu family, the second and third rooms often make people visit, especially the mother of the second room, Zhu's mother, not only personally sent the monthly money that was missing before, but also made compensation, and explained that the daughter-in-law who was in charge of this matter had been removed from the errand.

Although Chen Lan felt that these diligences were really a little inexplicable, she was not familiar with personnel and this era now, so she really had no time to be distracted. In addition, she still has books to read, so she only has the idea of not moving, but it is still fixed to walk in the courtyard every morning and evening. In this big mansion where countless people watch her every move, morning and evening exercises are just extravagant expectations, and she can only exercise her body that doesn't look very strong by walking.

In the morning, she went to Zhu's place to say hello and came back, she was reading a book in the east room as usual, and only read a few pages, and when she saw Hongluo coming in, she put down the book and asked with a smile: "Sister Hongluo, it's been three days since you came, but you are still used to it?" ”

Although the red snail is not as tall as Zhenlong, it is also slim, and none of the girls in the courtyard of the Splendid Pavilion can compare to her. She is also extremely measured, she has always been less fancy, only with two small jade plugs on her ears and eyes, or Chen Lan smiled back and said her two words Don't learn your own simplicity, she wore a silver bracelet on her hand. Standing in front of Chen Lan at this time, she looked at Chen Lan's simple clothes, and inevitably compared with Chen Bing and Chen Yun, who advocated luxury, she couldn't help but sigh secretly in her heart.

If such a look is born in the second room, it is a legitimate daughter of the Houmen, how can it be so helpless as in the long house?

"Sister Qinfang has recognized people with me, everyone is very kind, and this Splendid Pavilion is also quiet, and the slaves and maids can do a lot of idle work every day, and they also do a lot of needlework."

Chen Lan nodded, then looked at the book again, and said without raising his head for a while: "Yun'er has always had sharp teeth and sharp mouths, and she is angry on weekdays, no one will inevitably be praised by her, you just don't go to your heart." ”

Hongluo originally came in because Qin Fang was not there, thinking that he had to serve tea, but when he heard this sentence suddenly, he was stunned and his heart tightened. Although the girl next to the old lady is decent, generally speaking, it is to let it out to take care of things. And the girl next to Miss was originally at most second-class, but after reaching the second-class, she would be promoted to two first-class, and most of them were originally second-class and went up to top the vacancy. Therefore, she had long expected that someone would look at her unpleasantly. Sure enough, Qin Fang was okay to her, but Yun'er often gossiped behind her back, and she just didn't hear it.

So she was only stunned for a moment, and then she smiled: "Yun'er is just young, and her temperament is a little more jumpy." ”

"What is my sister arranging me in front of Miss again? I was born like this, and I never heard anyone say anything before. ”

As he spoke, the curtain in the study was raised high, and then Yun'er walked in. She glanced at the red snail with a smile, and then walked to the desk with her head held high, and put the stack of books in her hand on the desk with a smile: "Miss, this is what the fourth young master sent in just now." The fourth young master really has a heart, as soon as the young lady said that she wanted to read, he found so many. ”

As she spoke, she unfolded her palm again, and there was a small silver horn on the palm of her hand: "The fourth young master also said that the silver given to him by the young lady was useless, and he originally wanted to find the steward to help, but as soon as the words came out, the person took the initiative to look for it, and the eldest son didn't spend it, and the person also said a lot of good things." Miss's injury has healed, and the fourth young master has also looked more energetic these days. ”

Chen Lan casually gave the silver slot to the red snail, and when he turned around and saw Yun'er staring at the red snail, he asked casually, "Where did you pick up these books?" ”

"It's at the second gate." Yun'er saw Chen Lan asking herself again, and replied with a smile, "I happened to go over there to do errands, and I saw the fourth young master talking to a mother-in-law at the door, so I stepped forward and asked a few words, and I happened to follow these books." ”

Chen Lan nodded, and without asking anything more, Yun'er retreated, and the red snail poured water, and when she saw that there was nothing to do, she followed out of the house. After about a quarter of an hour's effort, Qin Fang came back, first said about making up the monthly money before, and then whispered at the end: "The slave inquired and learned that it was Zhu Mother who put the money for the second lady, so this month's monthly money is not only late, but our money is still less, that is, Miss Liang will not be quiet." This time, I saw that the old lady was kind to the young lady, so she hurriedly paid the silver to fill the gap here. ”

Hearing this, although Chen Lan remembered it in his heart, he knew that the second aunt was now the housekeeper, and others might not know about it, so he didn't dare to make a noise. Therefore, after nodding, she asked Qin Fang, "How about you look at the red snail after you have been down for the past two days?" ”

"Hongluo is kind and angry, and he does things decently, and he can't see anything else for a while." Qin Fang pondered for a while, but could only say such a sentence, and then shook her head again, "She is from outside, she has only served in front of the old lady for a year and has been promoted from the third class to the second class, she must be extremely smart, and the slave maid is stupid and useless, and she can't understand her temperament." ”

Qin Fang said that Chen Lan was not surprised, she had been in charge of recruitment and training in the past, even she could only see that Hongluo was a very assertive person, and even had an indescribable stubbornness, so after smiling, she made fun of Qin Fang. The master and servant talked for a while, and Chen Lan suddenly asked again: "Yun'er, have you reminded me, don't keep getting along with Hongluo?" ”

"Yun'er's little hoof Miss doesn't know, she is arrogant and sharp-toothed, but what should be in the yard from the front is missing, she is fighting with her face, but her heart is the best. Even in front of me, she often grabs white, not to mention the sudden arrival of a person on her head. It's just that she just muttered that the red snail was bought from outside, and she didn't know her background at all, and she was not more reliable than her family's children, and she didn't say anything else. I said two things to her, but she said that the young lady likes her to put everything on her face, and she is uneasy about other thoughts, and I can't say any more. ”

Chen Lan picked the corners of his mouth, picked up the small bowl, gently filtered the tea leaves on it with the lid, took a sip and whispered: "There's nothing wrong with putting everything on your face, I just hope she is softer." The red snail is the person given by the old lady, you and I still have to respect her for three points, if Yun'er blindly gives people a look, what will others think? That's it, go back and pick two complicated embroidery work, let her be more quiet, if she doesn't listen to you and tell me again, I'll go back and try again. Also, when the fourth brother comes in the future, you should pay attention to her. ”

The words in front of her were all reasonable, Qin Fang nodded again and again, and it was not until the last sentence that she was suddenly startled. Think about it carefully, when Chen Yan came over, Yun'er was always in front of her, either serving tea and water or talking with her, which was the case every time. Although the fourth young master is only eleven, Yun'er is only thirteen, and when she is older, she may not know what will happen. So, she took a strong breath to calm her mind, and bowed on her knees.

"Yes, slave maid understands."

In the evening, each room went to the Tatexiang Courtyard to greet the Zhu family after dinner, and the huge warm pavilion was naturally full of a large number of people, and even Chen Jiu, the Marquis of Yangning, who was rarely seen on weekdays, also showed up. It's just that he himself probably knows that the blue and black circles under his eyes and his tired face are too conspicuous, so he just nodded and hurriedly retreated. As soon as he left, the second lady Ma naturally couldn't sit still, Zhu knew it, and went to bed to rest under the pretext of being tired, and after a while, the room was full of people and dispersed.

Out of the Tatexiang Courtyard, Chen Yan naturally took Chen Lan's hand. Chen Lan has also been accustomed to his intimacy in the past few days, so he simply let it go, walked to the corner, and saw a slip of tile lanterns in the distance along the sandwich road, plus the front and rear lanterns, illuminating the whole road brightly. Chen Yan kicked up a pebble to play with as he walked, and said casually: "Sister, when I become an official in the future, we don't have to look at people's faces......"

Before he finished speaking, he felt his hand squeezed heavily, and he couldn't help but look up at Chen Lan. Chen Lan glanced left and right, and then glanced at Qin Fang. Qin Fang hurriedly stepped forward to talk to the mother-in-law who was holding the lantern in front of her, while Hongluo was lagging behind from the beginning, talking to the two third-class girls, as if she hadn't heard the babbling just now.

"Fourth brother, do you know that in the past hundred years in our Yangning Hou Mansion, how many people have been selected for Xiucai, and how many people have been selected for the promotion of Jinshi?"

Chen Yan heard his sister's low voice next to him, he was stunned for a moment, and then he said uncertainly: "There are a lot of Xiucai, there are about four or five people, as for Jinshi, it seems that there is only one uncle in the lead, and two elders from distant branches." ”

"Then what kind of officials did these three jinshi do?"

Chen Yan racked his brains and thought about it, and then shook his head blankly. At this time, Chen Lan grabbed his hand and said unhurriedly: "It's not surprising that you don't know, because almost no one remembers them." The ancestor of the pioneer worked extremely hard, but he was not confused before he got into the second class, and then he was released to the county, and he was promoted all the way, and when he died more than ten years later, that is, from the prefect of Sipin. And the elders of the two distant branches are even more official, and they are only five grades, and none of them have become Beijing officials. Do you know why since we are the Hou Mansion, why can't we produce a few civil officials? ”

Seeing Chen Yan shaking his head again, Chen Lan sighed lightly, stopped and tidied up the windblown wind for him, and then whispered: "Our family is a hereditary marquis, and we have a lot of connections in the army for more than a hundred years. Therefore, the children of the family who want to make a career by studying not only can't enjoy the shadow of the family, but are affected by the family's name. ”

To Chen Lan's surprise, Chen Yan just tilted his head and thought for a while before he understood a little, and actually nodded, and then asked strangely: "Sister, then why did you always force me to study before......

"I used to want you to be more diligent, so that we wouldn't be looked down upon even more at home, but now the situation is different."

Looking at Chen Yan, whose little brows were furrowed together, and his face was full of strangeness, Chen Lan couldn't say much to explain. These days, in addition to those books, she inquired most about the elders of the Chen family. If Mother Zheng hadn't said that the second lady Ma wanted to move the young masters outside, it would have been forgotten, since she said it, she had to rush ahead to plan and plan.