The water mirror hall was originally three small hugging halls on the east side of the road in front of the Zining House, and when the Zhu family was the housekeeper in the past, it was still the inner study of the old marquis Chen Yong, and it was specially used to meet the world and make friends. After Chen Yong's death, Chen Jiu didn't want to occupy his father's house, so it was vacant, and in the end, Mrs. Ma saw that the place was deserted, so she returned to the Zhu family and vacated the place for housekeepers. The dragon was originally installed here, and the brazier was also added to the charcoal from time to time, and it was the warmest in winter, so when it was cold, the housekeepers, daughters-in-law and mothers all loved to stay here for a while, just to keep out the cold.

It was only a little past in the morning, and it was still dark, and there were several housekeepers, daughters-in-law, and mothers waiting in the water mirror hall early. Compared with the usual jokes and chats, the room is much quieter at this moment, even if the speech is whispering, everyone's face is full of uneasiness. Suddenly, the curtain of the door outside moved, and a sharp-eyed mother by the brazier hurriedly stood up and greeted her with a smile on her face.

"Why is Mother Zheng here so early?"

When the daughters-in-law with their backs to the door heard that it was Zheng's mother, they didn't dare to slack off, and turned around to greet each other. Mother Zheng was wearing a dark cyan silk coat and a half-old dark green wool felt cloak on the outside, and at this time she gathered the cloak and glanced at everyone lightly and ordered: "Now that the house has suffered an accident, and the second lady is not in good health, so the old lady has sent three young lady housekeepers." We are a century-old Houmen, not ordinary people who have not experienced anything, you are all old qualified people in the house, don't worry about the bad situation, and have any strange thoughts. I think you should also know that when the time comes, the green calyx will accompany the three young ladies over, and whatever is good or bad will return to the old lady. ”

Everyone hurriedly said that they didn't dare, and they cautiously inquired about the situation in front of Zheng's mother before, and learned that Zheng's mother was going out to the Jin Palace, and those who originally put melancholy on their faces quickly changed their expressions. It was only after sending people out of the Water Mirror Hall that they watched the line gradually disappear into the dim corner door along the metro, and they turned around, exchanging glances and words in twos and threes according to their past friendships.

Before Mao Zheng arrived, Chen Lan took the red snail Qinfang and Sumu pepper to the Water Mirror Hall. At this time, the sky was still not bright, the green calyx had been waiting here for a long time, the mother and daughter-in-law had already arrived at more than ten people, but Chen Yun and Chen Xi had not yet come, until the copper kettle was almost dripping, there was a burst of words outside, and then the door curtain was beaten high. Chen Lan put down the teacup and looked up, only to see Chen Yun and Chen Xi entering the door one after the other, followed by a group of girls who followed.

Chen Yun glanced at the people in the room first, and then walked straight forward, apologized to Chen Lan sneeringly and said that it was late, and asked Lu Cao to accompany him, but Chen Xi just had a cold face as always, and only delayed for a while before going out. Chen Lan wouldn't be able to take these small sections, so he invited the two of them to sit together, and then listened to everyone.

Such a big event just happened yesterday, and now there are three young ladies to take care of the housework, although Zheng's mother has only come to warn before, and the green calyx has always stood on the side, but it is inevitable that some people have strange thoughts. So, after a few things were assigned, a housekeeper's mother stepped forward and saluted, and said, "Three young ladies, according to the practice of previous years, the silver of the spring shirts of the girls in each room is one hundred and twenty taels. ”

On the first day of taking charge, Chen Lan didn't have any intention of exposing the malpractice of Zheng Liwei - she only found out the clues about the personnel in this family before easily, and the rest didn't know, if she really made an example, the old lady would naturally be happy to see it, but it was more likely that she broke the big thing on impulse. When the road was difficult to understand, she had to be careful. However, when she heard the number one hundred and twenty taels, she was still taken aback in her heart.

Before she could speak, Chen Yun on the side suddenly said, "How can you ask for so much!" ”

Seeing that everyone else was looking at him all at once, Chen Yuncai seemed to know that he was speechless, and said embarrassedly: "Third sister, don't laugh at me, I just thought that the sisters' monthly silver is only two taels on weekdays, and I didn't expect that the girls would have to use so much to make clothes." Something has just happened at home, and this major expense should always be avoidable, third sister, don't you say? ”

Chen Lan saw that Chen Yun was just looking at himself and Chen Xi, and saw that Chen Xi didn't seem to hear it at all, just sitting there with a hand stove in his hand, while the daughters-in-law and mothers below had different expressions. Some are gloating, some are pouting and disapproving, and some are looking at a good show, but none of them have spoken or suggested. So, naturally, she turned her head to look at the green calyx.

Green Calyx has always been a good-tempered person, but just now the daughter-in-law and mother in charge of the affairs were anxious and fast, and did not give the first three young ladies any time to react, and when she heard this one hundred and twenty taels, she felt more and more that these people were greedy and hateful. So she bent down and whispered: "What Miss Fourth said just now is not unreasonable, this time is not as good as usual, and it is not impossible to put it aside for the time being." ”

Just when Chen Lan was groaning, there was a sudden commotion outside, and immediately after, he saw that the thick pine-colored checkered cotton curtain in front of him was slammed open, followed by a person who stumbled into the house. Almost at the same time, two sturdy mothers-in-law also followed, but they couldn't help but stretch out their hands to pull people.

"Fourth sister-in-law, what are you doing here, didn't you see that the ladies are assigning things?"

"The family is running out of rice for the New Year, why don't you want me to find the ladies to defend themselves?"

The woman who was called the fourth sister-in-law was a woman in her early fifties, with a thick waist, and was dressed in a blue cloth that had been washed white. For a while, there was a buzzing discussion in the Water Mirror Hall. She didn't care about any of this, and just slammed her head twice and straightened up.

Chen Lan heard the erection voice, and when he saw the four sisters-in-law at this time, there was already some bruises on their foreheads, and he knew that this was a real death meeting, not a fake salute, and immediately asked, "What's going on?" ”

"The three young ladies are on top, and the younger one is from the Chu family, I didn't want to come here when something happened to me in the house, but now I really have no way to live, so I can only give up my life to beg and plead!"

Hearing these three words, the two mothers-in-law around who originally wanted to pull her suddenly shrank back, and the people who were pointing and talking about it also closed their mouths all of a sudden, and the hall was silent for a while. The four Chu families glanced at the brightly dressed housekeepers and daughters-in-law around them with a sneering smile.

"My family has guarded Gansu with the old marquis, served for many years before and after the saddle, killed people on the battlefield, drank wine in the Hu camp, and the scars on his body can't be counted! I don't understand, all the good errands at home are all won by that clever words, and our original bleeding was left aside and we were about to starve to death. Not only our family, but also the two Xi families and the three Ping families in the east, and the old German family in the west, who accompanied the old marquis from birth to death, are now not as good as the ones who were thrown into the house after the family! When the men in our family were born and died, where were those who eat and drink spicy food now? Not to mention anything else, there was an accident in the house yesterday, and these stewards who swaggered all day long have an excuse to quietly go out and find another way today! ”