Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 726 Morning Mud [Thank you! Thank you again! 38k words owed]

汴京
Xiguozi Lane

The former official Kang Youwei's residence is located here.

The matriarch of the household, Madam Wang, also came from an extraordinary family; her maiden family was the Wang family, whose members were honored with a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Looking around, the Kang family mansion was very impressive and intimidating.

But after learning the inside story, one realizes that the Kang family is no longer what it used to be.

Heading east from Xiguozi Lane,
Across the street, there was another large residential area.

That place belonged to the Hai family, a family with five members who had served as Hanlin scholars.

Standing on high ground, one can clearly see that there are many chimneys emitting smoke from the roof of the Hai family mansion.

The Kang family mansion, however, only had a few chimneys emitting smoke.

Hai family backyard,

The courtyard with the plaque "Sui Chun Courtyard" on the gate belongs to Hai family's daughter, Chao Yun.

Outside the main house of Suichun Courtyard, there is a surrounding corridor.

The south-facing wall of the veranda is half wall and half window.

At this moment, sunlight was streaming through the windows into the corridor.

Wearing winter clothes and sitting in a sunny spot in the corridor is a kind of enjoyment.

Especially since there was a charcoal brazier and incense burner burning nearby.

suddenly,

"Ah!"

Hai Chaoyun, who was sitting by the window reading a book, sneezed.

Zhu Jian, the maid standing to the side, immediately turned her head to look over.

"girl?"

Hai Chaoyun waved the hand holding the book and said, "It's nothing. My nose is just a little itchy."

"I think you should go inside! You need to drink some hot soup to warm yourself up before bed tonight."

Upon hearing this, Hai Chaoyun pursed his lips and said, "Alright! Remember to make less."

With that, Hai Chaoyun stood up and walked into the house.

The maid standing at the door lifted the heavy cotton curtain.

Hai Chaoyun lowered her head and went inside.

The light inside the house was dimmer than in the surrounding veranda.

Baoxiu, who was ironing clothes at the table inside the house, looked up at Hai Chaoyun and said, "Miss, although Madam Xu said that sunbathing in winter is good for the body and mind, you can't always sunbathe like this."

"Your complexion seems a bit darker than before!"

Zhu Jian frowned and said helplessly, "Bao Xiu, it's not that the girl has gotten darker, it's just that the room is a bit dark!"

As he spoke, Zhujian glanced at his daughter.

"Oh!" Baoxiu's eyes lit up, and she nodded with a smile, then asked, "Miss, were you reading a poetry collection outside just now?"

"Did you see any clever or beautiful phrases?"

Hai Chaoyun casually placed the book on the table, then untied his cloak and said, "No."

Zhu Jian, who was following behind, took the cloak and picked up the book.

Zhu Jian laughed after only glancing at the book cover.

This left Baoxiu, who was standing nearby, somewhat bewildered.

Looking at Baoxiu, Zhujian laughed and said, "It's very difficult to find any wonderful words or phrases in this book."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Baoxiu put the iron aside, walked around to the table, and reached for the book.

After flipping through a few pages, Baoxiu exclaimed in surprise, "Miss, you're actually looking at a cookbook?"

"Ok!"

Hai Chaoyun stretched lazily in a very unladylike manner and said, "I visited Sister Tingyi's house before and thought her food was very delicious."

"After asking a couple more questions, Sister Tingyi brought this cookbook over."

Not far away, Zhu Jian, who was folding his cloak, said, "Miss, you should address her as Madam Gu."

Hai Chaoyun nodded slightly: "At home, you can call me whatever you want!"

Zhu Jian gave an "oh" and continued, "When the maid from the Gu family came, I asked her a few more questions and heard that this recipe was brought by Madam Gu from her maiden home!"

"Before the book was written, I consulted a nanny who served an old lady. That nanny was extremely skilled."

Baoxiu, who had returned to the table to iron clothes, asked with some confusion, "Miss, every household has a cook or something; you can just give them a call if you need anything. Why are you looking at this recipe?"

Hai Chaoyun, pacing around the room, casually remarked, "The Book of Changes says, 'Nothing is accomplished; if one stays at home, good fortune will come.' Wasn't that what our tutor said when we had classes at home?"

"In the future, although I won't have to handle the banquets and kitchen matters myself, I still can't be completely ignorant of them!"

“What you say is true, young lady!” Zhu Jian said with a smile as he walked over.

Hai Chaoyun smiled.

What Hai Chaoyun didn't mention was that her own mother had taught her this.

It is said that when Hai Chaoyun gets married in the future, her husband will be greeted with a table of dishes prepared by his wife when he comes home after a long day of work.

It can also be a kind of pleasure that makes people feel happy.

"If she doesn't understand these things, what if she doesn't treat her guests well after the young lady marries into a good family? Those who know will say it's because the mistress is ignorant and incompetent, while those who don't will feel she's been slighted by the master." "Who knows, it might even ruin the master's relationship and future!"

"No matter which one it is, people will gossip about it! Given the girl's status, the family she will marry into will inevitably have to host banquets."

Hearing Zhu Jian's words, Bao Xiu nodded repeatedly: "If we're talking about the most famous in the capital right now, it's the fifth young master of the Xu family! If only the young lady could marry into that family..."

"Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting!" Zhu Jian scolded, frowning.

Bao Xiu pursed her lips and said awkwardly, "We're in our own courtyard, no one can hear us if we say these things."

Seeing that his young lady remained silent, Baoxiu continued, "Miss, you've known Xu Wulang for much longer than the noble ladies of the Chai and Rong families."

Hai Chaoyun smiled and shook her head: "So what if we met early? Does meeting early mean we have to get married?"

"Besides, marriages have always been arranged by parents and matchmakers; how can one make their own decisions?"

"Just the other day, I heard you talking about the young master of the Qi family. Why is it the fifth young master of the Xu family today?"

Bao Xiu smiled and said, "Miss, I think both of them are quite good."

"You were even selected!" Zhu Jian shook his head helplessly.

Hai Chaoyun looked at Baoxiu and said, "Just like you said, from now on, we'll only talk about these kinds of things in this room!"

"You can't be so reckless in public, otherwise..."

“Miss, I understand,” Baoxiu said solemnly.

Hai Chaoyun nodded, walked to the side, picked up an embroidery hoop, and carefully traced the pattern.

"Daughters of noble families have no say in their own marriages! When it comes to matters of the heart, young ladies must guard their hearts and be extremely cautious!"

"otherwise."

Thinking of his teacher's earnest advice and the examples he had given, Hai Chaoyun took a deep breath.

"But with the Hai family around, the girls don't need to worry too much."

Thinking of the words his mentor had said earlier, Hai Chaoyun smiled slightly again.

The Hai family's girls' school was very famous in Bianjing.

The reason is that,

The female teacher inside would break down and explain many things that happened in the mansion to the girls in the school.

Call it taming or inner self-consistency.

Anyway, once the girls get married, they will be very attentive to their husbands and children, attending to their parents morning and evening, treating guests with courtesy, and taking good care of their husbands and children.

When faced with a difficult mother-in-law, no matter how much she makes things difficult, the girls always remain steadfast and unmoved.

This kind of 'immovable as a mountain' is not the kind of aggrieved little wife who is like a piece of wood.

Instead, it's a calm response like, "I did what I was supposed to do, and I don't care about what you said! But I'm worried that you'll upset yourself."

It's one thing for mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to fight each other all the time.

If the in-laws go too far...

Huang Fengju, who accompanied the Hai family as part of their dowry, was not just for show.

Moreover, compared to girls from other families, the Hai family girls have a certain level of security or constraint, at least on the main branch.

That is, to become the son-in-law of the Hai family, one must guarantee that one will not take a concubine in the future, unless one is still childless by the age of forty.

prior to,

Hai Chaoyun visited the Huang family of Shoushanbo.
Tingyi's two sisters-in-law also went.

The head of the Hai family was Gu Tingyu's mentor, so Pingmei was naturally very close to Hai Chaoyun.

After some conversation, Hai Chaoyun learned that when Marquis Yongyi Xu Minghua's older and younger sisters got married, they did not bring fine horses as part of their dowry.

The practice of providing a fine steed as part of a dowry began with Pingmei.

The Marquis of Yongyi's mansion followed the example of the Hai family.

Many people know about the chaos that ensued when the Marquis of Ningyuan took a concubine into his household.

The trouble that happened to the Gu family finally came in handy with the horse that was part of the dowry.

I let my mind wander for a while.

Hai Chaoyun picked out a needle from the ball of thread in the basket and prepared to thread it.

In early November,

Although the weather is getting colder, the smell is less likely to spread.
But every morning when Xu Zaijing went to school, he could still smell the mud in the air.

It was dark in the early morning.

When Xu Zaijing rode his horse past the river, he would often see simply dressed laborers carrying torches, bowing and greeting him.

There is no other reason,

The coal in many of the tents along the river was delivered by Xu Zaijing after he had circled around the tents.

The people around Bianjing were conscripted as laborers to clean up the silt in the river channels. They had to bring their own food, cook it themselves, or buy it, and they also had to find their own ways to keep warm.

Laborers with spare money and connections might live in temples or Taoist monasteries.

But those from average-income families who were frugal with their household expenses had no choice but to endure the hardship in the makeshift sheds.

At the time, the laborers had no idea why Xu Zaijing, a young master dressed in fine clothes and riding a fine horse, had come so early.

But then the government sent people to bring coal.

Every day after work, they would drink a bowl of piping hot soup to ward off the cold.

(End of this chapter)