In Yejing City in December, heavy snow hit the sky.

Just after the end of the day, the Lin Mansion on Changping East Street has been holding the lights one after another.

The lights and shadows were flickering, and a dilapidated old courtyard in the depths of the Lin Mansion was covered with thick dust, and Lin Yi'an knelt in the snow in the courtyard, looking up at the night beyond the corners of the four corners. A pair of good-looking eyes are so calm that they seem to be stagnant water.

"Miss Six is kneeling here, and my aunt can't come back." The coarse cloth woman behind her reached out to help the stubborn girl in the snow. The hands that used to embroider dexterously are now covered with calluses, and Lin Yi'an can even feel the calluses through the winter clothes.

"Aunt Surong." Lin Yi'an held the woman's hand, and the warm tears fell mixed with the cold of the snowy night. She was silent for a long time before she slowly spoke: "Why did my aunt die suddenly?" How did you guys get through it? ”

Su Rong went to the village with Aunt Wen five years ago. At that time, the old lady Lin who was in charge of the house was sick and did not stay for a long time. The eldest lady invited the monks to pray for blessings. One sentence of eight characters conflicted, and sent his aunt Wen to the remote Zhuangzi. Externally, it is only called recuperation. Aunt Wen has been gone for five years, and then Su Rong knelt and fainted outside the Lin Mansion early this morning, bringing the news of Aunt Wen's death.

"My aunt died of illness. Miss, don't ask any more. You will grow up peacefully and marry a good husband according to your aunt's wishes. In this way, my aunt will be satisfied in heaven. Su Rong's eyes were sour, and he didn't dare to look directly into the little girl's watery eyes after all.

"Five years ago, when my aunt was leaving, she told my brother and I to take good care of my sister, and told us to restrain our edges and learn to forbear. For five years, I have always kept my aunt's words in mind and stuck a knife in my heart, just for a forbearance! But Aunt Surong, have you seen it? My sister's temperament has changed greatly, my brother is gone, and now even my aunt has abandoned me! ”

Lin Yi'an took a deep breath and said slowly: "The Lin Mansion is a big family, how can a person who can live with a forbearance?" The heart is sinister, does Aunt Surong think that she can protect me just by concealing it? The pretty face like a hibiscus was hazy with teary eyes, "Aunt Surong!" ”

What the half-grown girl said was reasonable, but this old town that did not match her age made Su Rong sigh deeply. At the age of thirteen, he should be carefree, and he doesn't know how much suffering he has suffered behind his back to have the precocious wisdom he has now.

Su Rong held the girl's pretty face with pity: "The days in the village are sad. Although the people in charge do not say that they are treated harshly on the surface, there are also many people who are secretly excluded. Drying ears of grain in the scorching sun, washing in the river in winter, and cold soup are common. Slaves and maids are used to being a subordinate man, so it doesn't hurt to be tired. It's just that my aunt suffered and lasted for three years, but in the end I still fell ill. ”

"At first it was just a cough, then I was groggy all day. The slave maid went to ask the village steward many times, but ......" Thinking back to the hardships of the past five years, Su Rong's voice trembled a little, and she continued: "This illness has dragged on for half a year, and my aunt is getting more and more energetic day by day, and the slave and maid have no choice, so they have to make trouble every day." Only then did he bring in a doctor from the countryside. At first, it got better with the medicine, but gradually it got worse. The slave and maid kept their eyes on the medicine and secretly kept the dregs. But the village had no choice but to watch it closely, and the slave maid couldn't find someone to check it. Until—"

Speaking of this, Su Rong's tone could not hide her anger: "Three days before my aunt died, the housekeeper sent the slave maid to find the tenant to collect rent with the Ting girl, which was supposed to be a day's work, but the slave maid was dragged back to the village by the Ting girl for three days!" ”

When the slave went back, my aunt's body was cold. Others told me that no one had come to see my aunt in the past three days, and in three days, no one had sent my aunt a bite of food or a cup of tea! The slave hated it very much, but she could only collect the body for her aunt. When the funeral was collected, the slave maid saw that there were some inconspicuous medicine stains on the placket and collar of the aunt's chest. ”

When Su Rong said this, Lin Yi'an stretched out his hand and gestured on his body: "How can the medicine stains drip on the chest and collar?" ”

"Yes, my aunt is sick in bed, even if she takes medicine and drinks it, she will only spill it between her legs, how can it fall to her chest and collar? Unless someone grabs her palate and forces her to raise her head and forcibly pour the medicine down, the medicine will flow down the corners of her aunt's mouth and neck to her collar and drip onto her chest! ”

"Miss Six!" Su Rongshu knelt down in her skirt and kowtowed heavily to Lin Yi'an: "The slave knows that her aunt has gone strangely, and she also understands the resentment in your heart now. But you are still young, and if you want to take revenge on your own, it is nothing more than hitting a stone with an egg! Su Rong said everything and the plate, but he didn't want you to misbelieve the bad guy and hurt himself. We hope you don't take it personally. ”

"Are there still few villains in this Lin Mansion?"

"The Zhuangzi you go to is the dowry of the eldest lady. My brother's carriage suddenly ran out of control and rushed out of the cliff on the way to Shangxiang, what a coincidence, the carriage that day was also prepared by the eldest lady. ”

Lin Yi'an gradually clenched her fists, her black hair hanging down her cheeks to cover her expression at the moment, only her voice was as cold as the snow: "In the past, my aunt always warned me to be forbearant and restrained, but now that she is gone, I don't want to endure it anymore." ”

"Lin Mansion is a place to eat people!" Su Rong interrupted her, for fear that the pretty girl in front of her would follow in Aunt Wen's footsteps.

Lin Mansion is a big family with a total of three rooms.

Because Mrs. Lin died early, the Lin Mansion was handed over to the daughter-in-law of the big house, Li, to preside over the feed. Among the three rooms, Lin Zhenwen, who is in the big room, is the most promising, and at a young age, he has been promoted to the waiter from the second grade, and then Lin Zhenwu in the second room is in the fourth grade. The last is the third room, Congwen of the second room of the different big rooms, Lin Zhenhua of the third room is a martial artist, and he is not tactful enough to get a third-class guard who is a fifth grade.

The three bedrooms of a family are all above the six grades, and they are already extremely decent in Yejing City. Such glory is known to outsiders that the Lin Mansion brothers can compete for strength to be so glorious lintel, but in fact, those who are used to it in the officialdom know that the glory of the Lin Mansion only depends on the old lady Lin.

Speaking of which, the old lady Lin, who is in charge of the Lin Mansion, is not an idler. He is not only the brother of the emperor who worshipped his son, but also the enlightenment teacher of His Majesty today. The high position of the earth, although he only hung an idle position, he was very respected by the emperor. Lin Zhenwen of the big house is only thirty and five years old to be able to sit in the position of a second-class waiter, Rao is related to his smooth manners, but he can't leave the face of the old lady. Besides, Lin Zhenwu in the second room is a down-to-earth official, and his promotion is not fast, and he has achieved the four qualities step by step. The most unfortunate third room is stained with the light of Old Lady Lin and the second room of the big house, and the five-grade guards can also do it steadily.

It is because everyone adheres to the principle of brotherhood, friendship and brotherhood, and as for the eldest lady in the house, the Li family has been well organized and cannot find mistakes over the years. However, He's second daughter-in-law, who was born in a businessman, saw that her husband's career was stable, and she gradually developed the heart of a housekeeper. It's just that this heart is about to move, but it keeps pressing.

Mrs. He of the second room of the West Garden of the Lin Mansion lazily leaned on the pear-scented cork Luohan couch, and the maid Lingfang respectfully served the tea and said: "Second lady, the slave maid heard from the people of the East Garden today that Mr. Nangong, who is a female student, will come to the Lin Mansion to pick a young lady to be a student in a few days. ”

He took the tea and asked, "Is it Nangong Jing who was in charge of the Shangyi Bureau in the palace before?" ”

"Exactly." Ling Fang bowed his head and said: "After this gentleman left the palace, he went to the women's school to teach, and the students under his name are all daughters of wealthy families. But then again, Mr. Nangong also said that he would only pick one student in our Lin Mansion. Madam, we have three daughters in the third room of the Lin Mansion alone. ”

Second Master Lin is not like the wife and concubine in the big house, except for the He family, there is only one concubine who has nothing to do. The He family is also considered complete, with a son and a daughter under his knees, and people can't find faults. But in recent years, the Li family of the big house has the right to feed in her hands, although she does not dare to treat the other two rooms harshly, but she will see every cent of silver to death, because although the other two rooms live a comfortable life, there is little silver at her disposal.

He Sirped the tea thoughtfully, but was bitter by the astringency of the aged tea in his mouth. She smashed the teacup and scolded: "It's the same tip, what we drink in the West Garden is the old tea, and the East Garden is the new tea we bought." Look, my sister-in-law is really a good cook! It's all about these little things, but I can't help her! This time, Mr. Nangong came to Lin Mansion to select students, and she had to cover the news tightly, for fear that our Sister Jing would steal the limelight from her Sister Man and Sister Hua. It's really annoying to me! ”

"Madame, don't be angry." Lingfang stepped forward to clean up the mess and patiently persuaded: "Now that the eldest lady is in charge, we don't have any big handles in our hands, so we really can't tear our faces with her." What's more, now that the second master has a stable career, he still has to rely on the help of the uncle in the future. Let's take a good look at Taoguang and think of some way to send Sister Jing to Mr. Nangong to learn lessons. ”

At the mention of Sister Jing, He's expression relaxed, and she sighed: "You are right. Now that my sister-in-law is in charge of the house, I can't interfere at all in Dongyuan, even if she really has any big tricks, I can't handle it. The only thing I can do is to raise Sister Jing well. ”

"If there were our people in Dongyuan, it would be different......" He's expression deepened, and he had a calculation in his heart.