Chapter IV

Among the three girls who came, Qi Niang and Eleven Niang were the same as Shanniang, who lived in the West Garden with the old lady. As for the fourteenth mother, although she did not live in the West Garden, she seems to be very pleasing to the old lady recently, and is often called to accompany her to talk and chat, and even at this year's spring banquet, the old lady unexpectedly named her name, so the family said that maybe the fourteenth girl will be the next jade girl to be taken into the West Garden by the old lady.

Although Mrs. Meng actually likes to watch her children and grandchildren compete for favor in front of her, she knows more about the truth of "family and everything is prosperous", so she has always strictly forbidden the occurrence of disputes between brothers and sisters in the family. Therefore, the three girls who came to see Shanniang, no matter what kind of thoughts they had, when they saw Shanniang come out, they all smiled the same.

Fourteen Niang even hurriedly said, "Is the thirteenth sister better?" I was able to see my sister at the old lady early this morning. ”

Fourteen Niang's words, although there is a sarcasm that Shanniang does not know how to grasp this last opportunity, but more importantly, she wants Shanniang to know that this morning, she went to say goodbye to the old lady.

You know, although the old lady only has two biological sons, the old lady is quite capable of giving birth, in addition to the two sisters-in-law, there are five concubines and seven or eight concubines. Therefore, the old lady has many children and grandchildren. If you really want to come over one by one to say goodbye, I'm afraid that even if the old lady's yard is used, you may not be able to stand all of them. Therefore, except for the girls and young masters who live in the West Garden, the other juniors, if there is no summons from the old lady, there is no such "honor" to ask for peace - and the focus of Fourteen Niang's words is here.

Fourteen Niang's sè, Shanniang has not yet said anything, and the seven girls, who have always been very dustless, can't listen to it.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, put on a playful posture, reached out to twist Fourteen's cheek, and said with a smile: "You bad girl, this is on purpose, right?" Knowing that your thirteenth sister is not good, and you can't go to the old lady to say goodbye, I must be very uneasy in my heart, but you still stimulate her so much! ”

Qi Niang's words are not for the thirteen gangs. If you talk about it, the girls in the West Garden are not as friendly and helpful as they seem on the surface, not to mention that every year when studying for the exam, Qi Niang is always the second in ten thousand years, which is always lower than thirteen, and now seeing that Thirteen Niang is going to be unlucky, she is too late to be happy, how can she help her speak? The reason why she said that was because Fourteen Niang was likely to be the next girl to enter the West Garden, and she naturally preferred to erect a bit of majesty in front of her before Fourteen came in; The other is that she has been taught by the old lady since she was a child, and she behaves in the same way as the old lady.

And it is not so much that the old lady's most taboo is the brother's wall, but that her most taboo is the indecent eating when fighting - you know, even the prince, when facing beggars, also needs to show due politeness and upbringing-and now although the Hou family lacks a title, but in the end, it is the noble family of the Fifth Zhongding, that is, it is in decline, and the charm and demeanor that should be there are indispensable.

Fourteen's slightly vulgar show-off technique is simply unsightly in the eyes of the arrogant Qi Niang.

Qi Niang is the second daughter of the long house, and her father is the future patriarch, although her father and Shanniang's father are the same mother, but she has a strong concept of concubine, and she usually can't even look at Shanniang who has better grades than her, not to mention the fourteenth mother who has not yet been able to live in the West Garden.

However, in the heart of the eldest daughter of the third room, Eleven Niang, who is also a concubine, is not as strong as Qi Niang (probably because her father was originally a concubine), compared with the arrogant Seven Girls, Eleven Niang's style of acting is more modest and gentle.

So Eleven Niang bypassed the joking Qi Niang and the fourteen Niang who begged for mercy, went over to hold Shanniang's arm, and asked with concern: "Your spirit seems to have really deteriorated a lot recently." I heard that the doctor came? Where is the doctor? What did the doctor say? Sister, what's wrong with this? ”

Shanniang smiled and let everyone into the courtyard, and replied, "Who knows, the doctor can't say why, only that the spleen and stomach are not in harmony or something." ”

Qi Niang immediately threw away Fourteen Niang, and took over the words: "I'm afraid it's spring coming, because of the change of seasons." Recently, my mother has always said that she has no energy, and the doctor also said that her spleen and stomach are not in harmony, which shows that many people are like this. ”

The four girls exchanged pleasantries, and then returned to the hall to sit down with the guests.

Qi Niang said again: "It's a pity that you are sick at the wrong time, it seems that you can't catch up with this spring feast." ”

Shanniang personally took the teacup from Shuangyuan's hand and served it to the three girls one by one, the corners of her lips pursed slightly, and deliberately showed a little annoyance on her face that the guests probably wanted to see, but she secretly said in her heart: If I hadn't rushed to avoid this unfortunate spring feast, I wouldn't have risked provoking the old lady and acted in such a hurry.

If she was given a little time, she would have been able to do things well, so that the old lady would not be able to grasp her. It's a pity.

"Yes, yes," after eating Qi Niang's demeration, Fourteen Niang was only quiet for less than half a cup of tea, and now it was like a resurrection with full blood, and she staggered in the wide Taishi chair and said with a smile: "I heard the old lady say that this year's spring banquet at home has invited a lot of guests, and it is more lively than in previous years." ”

She suddenly showed her intimacy with the old lady so suddenly, Shanniang didn't react much, but Qi Niang and Eleven Niang were not lightly deserved in their hearts.

So Eleven Niang blinked her pure eyes and asked in surprise: "Really?" ”

"Hmm!" Xiao Fourteen nodded proudly, "I heard from the people around the old lady that it seems that the old lady's maiden family, there are also people from the Yuanyang Meng family who are coming." ”

"Ah, you even know that? I don't know anything. Eleven Niang was a little lost.

Eleven Niang's performance was too realistic, so that Shanniang, who knew her temperament well, hurriedly lowered her head and hid the smile on her face by sipping tea - she, the eleventh sister, is the best at pretending to be like, and she will never know anything as long as it is not already put on the surface.

Compared with the cautious and thoughtful Eleven Niang, Qi Niang is much more straightforward. She glanced at Shi Niang and said with a smile: "You are always like this, if others don't tell you, you will never know anything." But yesterday, I did hear the old lady mention it, as if it was the 'pillar' of our Great Zhou, and the Yuan family in the capital was coming. ”

Shanniang, who lowered her head and sipped tea, suddenly choked on the tea.

"Look at you, be careful!" Eleven Niang hurriedly patted her on the back twice across the coffee table.

Shanniang reached out and beat her chest, and shook her hand to stop the nurse who wanted to come forward to help, but she couldn't help coughing twice - how much psychological shadow did this Yuan Boss cause her?! Ming Ming had already made full preparations, and when she heard it so suddenly, she still choked.

I heard Fourteen Niang ask curiously: "What is the pillar of the Great Zhou?" ”

"You don't even know that?" Qi Niang glanced at Fourteen Niang with disdain. Although the first requirement for girls who are qualified to enter the West Garden is to be outstanding, talent and knowledge are also indispensable. And as far as Qi Niang sees now, this little fourteen now only accounts for this one...... Ah, no, even this first one isn't very qualified.

She raised her eyes to look at Thirteen Niang, who was still beating her chest, and suddenly found that Thirteen looked much more pleasing to the eye than Fourteen.

"This 'pillar' refers to the family of Yuan Lao Linggong, the prince of Zhongyi." Qi Niang said, "Do you know the battle to defend the Moluo River fifteen years ago?" In that battle, Lao Linggong withstood the nearly 50,000 troops of the pigtail army with 7,000 Yuan family troops, and when the reinforcements arrived, the entire Yuan family army was almost wiped out, and the pigtail army did not occupy an inch of our land, and Lao Linggong and several sons were all martyred. Today, the saint personally mentioned the three big characters of 'pillars' to the Yuan Mansion, and also personally compared the Yuan family army to the Yang generals of the previous dynasty, so now everyone respectfully calls Yuan Lao General 'Yuan Lao Linggong'. Speaking of which, this Yuan family is also a bit close to our family, and Lao Linggong's wife, like the old lady of our family, was born in the Yuanyang Meng family. The old lady said that when it comes to age, the old lady should be called our sister. ”

The eleventh girl probably listened attentively, and unconsciously leaked a sentence and asked, "But our family has never had any interaction?" ”

As soon as the words came out, she regretted it a little and glanced at everyone quickly.

The seventh girl was more lively than the eleventh girl, pursed her lips and looked at her with a raised eyebrow and smiled, and said, "Not now, but it doesn't mean that there will be no in the future." ”

She laughed and looked at Eleven Niang with strange eyes. Suddenly, the exquisite-minded Eleven Niang thought of something, and the little face turned red unconsciously.

Now living in the West Garden of the three girls, seven girls sixteen, recently is discussing marriage, the other party is a grandson of the second auxiliary family, it is said that the learning is good (in the words of later generations, it is a potential stock), although the two have not yet decided, but this matter has been ten out of eight to nine.

And below her, there is the eleventh girl.

The eleventh girl is fifteen this year, and Yuan Changqing is sixteen this year, which is the same age.

Shanniang thought silently, and couldn't help but be slightly distracted.

After that, Fourteen Niang wanted to provoke people to come out, and talk about Shanniang's imminent banishment from the West Garden, but those two girls had already become human spirits, and even if she was lucky, how could she still be calculated. And there is a training in the West Garden: even if you stumble under the enemy, you must also be elegant and calm, so that no one can see your hands and feet. At this time, I wanted to do my hands and feet in person, but I still had traces of the fourteen mothers, and the girls in the West Garden who were carefully cultivated by the old lady could naturally only be inferior everywhere. Fortunately, she was still quite obedient, and seeing that the momentum was not right, she only tried it slightly and then stopped.

Therefore, this time the visit of the three girls was particularly intimate and peaceful.

It's just that after sending the three girls away, the two girls from the West Garden, who behaved elegantly and calmly, and never said a word of rudeness from beginning to end, still achieved the purpose of their visit.

After the girls left, they were still worried about their respective futures, and after hearing the news of the upcoming visit of the Yuan family, they couldn't help but gather together and quietly discuss a few words, not to mention the others.

In later generations, there was a saying called "the power of the masses is infinite" (Xu should be called "the brains of the masses are infinite"), and in such whispered discussions, the real purpose of the Yuan family's visit, which was half-covered by the old lady, was gradually outlined by everyone.

In the evening, Shanniang washed up and went to bed, and even the nurse couldn't help muttering about it to her.

"Actually, if you want to talk about it, this can also be regarded as a good family business." - No, compared to the six girls who fill the house, this family affair is really superior.

If the truth is as everyone suspects.

Shanniang sneered, "What a good family!" The nurse didn't know the inside story of the Yuan family, and even said that this was a good family affair. ”

"You know again." The nurse laughed.

"I really know!" Shanniang turned over and sat up, and the nurse hurriedly took her clothes and put them on her, and then she said, "That Meng is actually the continuation of Lao Linggong." Lao Linggong had a wife before and left two sons. These two sons and Lao Linggong both died in the Moluo River. However, the eldest son still left a little blood, but the second son was extinct. It stands to reason that the title of Lao Linggong should be passed on to the eldest son and eldest grandson, but it was later passed on to Lao Linggong's fourth son, who is Meng's biological son......"

"Huh? How so?! The nurse was amazed.

Shanniang pursed her lips, "Nurse forgot?" There is also a peerless Meng Niangniang in the palace! A little bit of wind in the ears, plus that Meng also had a dead son, this matter is not difficult. What's more, the eldest son and grandson were less than a year old back then, and it was passed on to him, and whether he could grow up smoothly in the future would be a problem. In short, now it seems that this title will never be passed back to the long house. And this Yuan family is a little similar to our family......"

Xu is heart has a hatred for Yuan Changqing's indifference, and Shanniang's voice has a few meanness that she doesn't realize.

“…… If you want to talk about our Hou family, the poor are only left with money; As for the Yuan family, they are so rich that they only have that little title left. This one wants money, the other wants status, and the old ladies on both sides are combined, how can there be no one who doesn't hit it off. It's just that our old lady wants to borrow the high branch of the Yuan family, but the Yuan family is not stupid, people still want to borrow a higher high branch, but our family has nothing else to look at except money. Nurse, do you think, in this case, how can the Yuan family take a serious son who can attack the lord to marry? I see, it's just that grandma doesn't care about the grandchildren of the Yuan family who uncle doesn't love, and the eldest son of Yuan uses it to make do with it. ”

"That's ......"

No matter what the nurse thought at the beginning, when she heard the girl say this, she had no thoughts. Therefore, the nurse's thoughts only wandered around the Yuan family and the Spring Appreciation Banquet for a while, and then turned back to the fact that her girl might be kicked out of the West Garden.

Thinking like this, the nurse couldn't help but worry for a while, and poked Shanniang, who was already a little confused, with her hand and said, "Otherwise, Miss Ming'er should go and bow her head to the old lady, right?" What if I do get sent back? I'm afraid the girl won't be able to hold her head up for the rest of her life. ”

"Why can't you hold your head up?" Shanniang said with a little confusion, "I wasn't kicked out, but I don't want to stay in the West Garden......"

The nurse was stunned for a moment, and then she realized that her girl was intentional!

"Oops!" The nurse couldn't help but let out a soft snort.

Shanniang, who was already half-confused, thought she was noisy, and pushed her and said, "Nurse, go to sleep." Don't worry, if I have a bite to eat, there is a bite of you, what are you afraid of. ”

"That's right." The young lady immediately became smiling. In her eyes, her girl is simply omnipotent, as long as it is what her girl wants to do, she will support it unconditionally.

Isn't it just to leave the West Garden and go home, what a big deal!

"Isn't this enough," Shanniang turned over and slurred her words, "Don't worry, nurse, without him Yuan Changqing, we will only get better and better." ”