The concubine lifted the table, the prince was too rampant

194: There is a storm in the Hou Mansion, who will control the universe? Life is like a roller coaster, with highs and lows. After returning from Qingshui Temple, half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. Life in the Hou Mansion is as calm as a mirror, without the slightest ripple. It feels like the rain is about to come and the wind is all over the building.Life has been peaceful for too long, and there is a weird uneasiness everywhere.

For a family like the Hou Mansion, which is full of bells and whistles, there are at least forty or fifty things happening every day. How can every place be safe and sound without any major incidents happening.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, and the Hou Mansion is getting more and more busy. In a blink of an eye, it is August [-]th to worship the moon. In addition to incense candles and general offerings, there are reunion mooncakes.Carve watermelon into lotus petals and pick radish leaves to make sala.Fragrant pingpo fruit, bright red crispy dates, royal plums from Zhongshan, pomegranates from Henan, purple grapes, green soybeans, pineapples, red persimmons, white lotus roots, green lotus, various paper idols, and Taoist monasteries The invited essay is titled "Yuefu Suyao Taiyin Xingjun".First Ding offered sacrifices to Confucius, and later She offered sacrifices to the Kitchen God, proclaiming the blessings of heaven, earth and ancestors, and reporting on the autumn harvest and the Xiyue in the western suburbs. These are important ceremonies for a country and a family.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people in Beijing have the custom of making white jade rabbits from yellow sand and decorating them with colorful makeup. People gather in the moonlight of Tianjie Street to buy and sell colorful rabbits.There are also stalls for roasting meat and sifting wine on the street, roast lamb, warm wine, and colorful rabbits can be used as wine glasses.

In the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to moon cakes, there are stewed stuffing, sprouts, leeks, slightly wheat, Nanlu roast duck, roast suckling pig, hanging oven meat, food with dregs, osmanthus frozen wine...There are many types of fresh fruit, the best of which is grapes.The purple, round and large ones are called agate, the oval and white ones are called horse milk, and the mixed ones are called Gonglingsun. There are also cinnabar red, ditang yellow, black jade beads, etc., all of which taste very sweet.The small and sweet ones are called Suo Suo grapes, which are hot and can cause acne.As for the small, black sour grapes sold on the street, they are inferior products.

Persimmons are generally produced in Xishan Mountains. They are bowl-sized and sweet as honey. Eating them in winter can detoxify the poisonous gas of coal fires.Before and after Bailu, Jizhou chestnuts were on the market and fried with sugar sand. It is a famous snack in the capital, and Yangdian in Wangpi Hutong, Zhengyangmen is the best.Other fruits, including pingpo, pines, and grapes, are packed in large porcelain jars, stored in the ice cellar, and taken out after a winter, they are still very delicious.

All kinds of exquisite snacks are placed on the table. This is the first Mid-Autumn Festival that Zijin has spent in the Hou Mansion. In the past, Yao Mansion felt that the days had been very fulfilling, but now compared with the ostentation of the Hou Mansion, it suddenly fell behind. downwind.No wonder everyone is vying for power, but it is wonderful.

I think when I read the Red Mansion, there are all kinds of exquisite food, utensils, all kinds of luxurious life in the Red Mansion, the servants are in groups, calling the wind and rain, I always feel like a dream.It's just that the era I stayed in was more dangerous than the Red Mansion, and all kinds of conspiracies and struggles emerged endlessly.

Mrs. Ye is at the top, Ye Qingcheng is at the bottom, Du Manqiu sits next to the eldest princess, and then Ye Jin and his wife, Ye Fan and his wife, and Ming Xuan and his wife sit in groups. It is always a pity that there are no younger children and grandchildren around their knees.

Ye Qingcheng took the lead to toast Mrs. Ye, the atmosphere gradually became lively, Ye Mingxuan looked at Zi Jin's face was a little pale, and asked in a low voice: "Uncomfortable?"

Zi Jin shook her head lightly, turned to look at Ye Mingxuan and said, "It's just a pity, we still have to break up in the end."

Ye Mingxuan understood the meaning of Zi Jin's words, and said in a low voice: "Don't think too much, there are some things you can't hide from, what should come will come."

It was because Zijin knew that, so she started on the mid-autumn night, looked up at Ye Mingxuan and then at Mrs. Ye, and then said: "I don't know which side grandma will stand this time? According to the past practice, she always protects the big house." Yes, big things turned into small things."

Ye Mingxuan's eyes turned cold, and he lowered his eyes and said shallowly: "You just make trouble, as for grandma, what will happen to her, when the time comes when the certification and evidence are all available, where else can she go?"

Zi Jin is actually not afraid of Mrs. Ye being biased, but afraid that Mrs. Ye will not understand the tricks in it, and has always regarded Du Manqiu as a good person.It's just that Du Manqiu's disguise is too good. Even if Zijin knows that Du Manqiu is a little inappropriate, but there is no real evidence, he can only start from the inner house, and gradually erode Du Manqiu's housekeeping power, forcing Du Manqiu to lose his stability. If he makes a mistake, so that he can have a chance to find Du Manqiu's flaws, there is really no other way.

Zi Jin nodded lightly, took a sip from the wine glass, and then said: "When the time comes, don't talk too much, so as not to cause unnecessary disputes, the affairs of the inner courtyard are always women's affairs, and even the Marquis should have some taboo."

Ye Mingxuan frowned slightly, and then said: "Let's talk about it when the time comes."

Zi Jin knew that Ye Mingxuan couldn't stand by and watch, so he thought for a while and said, "If you can suppress Ye Jin and Ye Fan, it will be a big help to me, how about it?"

Ye Mingxuan looked at Zijin, and suddenly smiled, a cunning little fox, so he nodded and said: "Okay." Ye Jin and Ye Fan still have weight in front of Mrs. Ye, in case the two of them say something to help Du Manqiu, Mrs. Ye may not listen to it.Since Zi Jin said that Ye Mingxuan would not be allowed to intervene in the affairs of the inner house, it means that Ye Jin and Ye Fan must also intervene, and Ye Mingxuan can keep others in check even if he stands on his own.

Zi Jin has always been a cunning person, she was really calculating, so Ye Mingxuan naturally agreed and just watched the show.

After drinking for three rounds, the atmosphere on the wine table became more and more intense. In the moon viewing hall outside, a woman in charge had already set up tea, melons and fruits, and invited Mrs. Ye and her party to go to watch the moon.Mrs. Ye was in good spirits, and walked out slowly while holding Du Manqiu's hand.Zi Jin stood behind the eldest princess and walked out, just now when she was slender outside, Zi Jin knew that everything was ready.While helping the eldest princess to go out, Zi Jin said in a low voice: "Mother, everything is ready, we just wait for midnight to arrest people."

The Eldest Princess nodded imperceptibly, looked at the many figures in front of her, and said slowly: "Don't worry about this matter, the masters haven't stopped yet, and the servants dare not do anything, let alone startle the snake. Looking back, it's almost time for you Please ask your grandmother to go back to rest, when the yards will be scattered, it will be better to act in the dead of night."

Zi Jin nodded hurriedly, the eldest princess did not feel flustered at all, this action can be described as well-prepared.The aristocratic family has always banned gambling, but as time goes by, the head of the family will not be so strict, and there will always be omissions.The women who are on duty at night always gamble when they have nothing to do, and take out some small profits as a way to make money.As the days go by, the courage becomes more and more courageous. From a few tens of pennies at the beginning, to one tael or two taels of silver, and now to more than ten or twenty taels of silver, you must know that the monthly money of a woman in charge for a year is not enough. It's one 20 taels, such a big bet, there must be something tricky in it.

Since the eldest princess wants to do it, she has to choose a good place to do it, so gambling that has been repeatedly banned is the most important thing.Zi Jin was still surprised when the eldest princess said this. Unexpectedly, in a short period of time, the eldest princess not only found out that there were people gathering at night to gamble, but also knew the size of the bet, and knew who participated in the gambling. Who are the people, where are the gambling dens? You can find out everything in a short period of time. Only then does Zijin look at her mother-in-law with admiration. Zi Jin has always looked down upon the eldest princess too much, so she can't help but feel a little guilty.

Precisely because he found out the details of some people's gambling, Zi Jin used this as a breakthrough to start the battle for power.Gambling together is a behavior that cannot be tolerated by any family, especially the gambling of servants is even more unforgivable, because gambling is easy to make people commit crimes, corrupt the master, and insult the family style. No matter what kind of family it is, it is strictly forbidden.Zi Jin remembered that in Yao's house, Hai's gambling was often banned, and he would take his mother-in-law with him to make surprise raids at night, and he would never let him go lightly if he caught a group of people.

Zijin had discussed with the eldest princess that if he wanted to tear apart the watertight affairs that Du Manqiu took care of, he had to start from the hard place, with all the witnesses and material evidence. In this way, Du Manqiu would have no reason to escape, and they would have even more reason , It is more convenient and logical to intervene in housework.After much deliberation, we still have to start with the repeated gambling gatherings. After the two discussed it, the eldest princess said that she would be in charge of finding out the location of the gambling dens, and finding out who and what kind of people participated in the gambling gatherings. People can move, who can use it, who must be beaten down at once and never turn over.

After this discussion, Zi Jin felt amazed that although the eldest princess had not interfered with housework for so many years, she had no control over the situation in the mansion.Including the fact that there is a large kitchen in the Hou's mansion, Mrs. Ye can also let Mrs. Ye agree to set up a small kitchen in each courtyard without any trace, and strive to provide Ye Mingxuan with a little more security.Zi Jin doesn't know how much the eldest princess has done for so many years, but just looking at the situation of the Hou family, the eldest princess can know that the eldest princess is not indifferent to everything, but just a proud princess who comes from the royal family and disdains to do it.

Zijin sighed softly, a proud princess who has been staying out of things for so many years, now for the sake of her husband and children, finally stepped into the quagmire, and this quagmire is many times more dangerous than before.Perhaps it was because she knew how dangerous it was that many times, the eldest princess made up her mind to take action. Zi Jin smiled slightly and looked at the round moon above her head. In fact, many things in this life are not what you want to do, but what you do for yourself. Those who love and guard have to do it.

Just like Du Manqiu, he is too unclear with Master Jing Mi of Qingshui Temple, why?If there is no reason, why Du Manqiu would do such a meaningless thing, there must be a reason, but this reason is still unknown to Zi Jin.

The night was getting darker, watching the moon and watching the lanterns, guessing riddles, and drinking orders. After all, Mrs. Ye was old and couldn't bear the fatigue. With the support of Nanny Song, she took the people from Luyuan back Rested.Ye Qingcheng felt a little uncomfortable with the younger generation left, got up and went to the outer courtyard, as soon as Ye Qingcheng left, the eldest princess and Du Manqiu also left, leaving three sisters-in-law, you look at me, I look at you, Chu is the eldest sister-in-law, He laughed and said, "Should we continue drinking or..."

Shen quickly waved her hands, her face was bright red, she glanced at Zi Jin, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that the third brother and sister are also experts in drinking orders. Brothers and sisters, let's continue."

Seeing Shen Shi walking top-heavy, Ye Fan gritted his teeth and gave Zi Jin a look, and helped Shen Shi walk away.

As soon as their husband and wife left, Zi Jin, Ye Mingxuan, and Chu Shi and Ye Jin looked at each other and smiled, and Zi Jin said: "Why don't we break up too, sister-in-law has to supervise the women to watch the night, and we will be busy for a while. Will not be disturbing."

When Zi Jin said this, Chu quickly laughed and said: "The third younger siblings are always so considerate, but it's not a problem. Things are arranged in advance, and they are all old rules. Naturally, women know what to do. What."

Although Chu said so, Zijin still smiled and said goodbye, and then left with the girls and women.

Ye Mingxuan and Zi Jin walked in front, covered by the wide sleeves, Ye Mingxuan took Zi Jin's hand, smiled softly: "Tonight you seem to be specifically targeting Ye Fan and his wife when you always let her To be punished, why?"

Zijin sighed softly, and then replied: "Second sister-in-law and elder sister-in-law are both very scheming people, but relatively speaking, second sister-in-law is more impulsive than elder sister-in-law. What happened tonight is definitely not a trivial matter. If second sister-in-law really It is also a troublesome thing to fight with us, simply get her drunk, and when she wakes up, the matter has been dealt with, so we won't waste any more time."

"Oh? So you're not afraid of Ye Jin's daughter-in-law who is more considerate?" Ye Mingxuan looked at Zi Jin curiously, what's the reason?

Zijin laughed, men don't know women's twists and turns, so they analyzed: "Sister-in-law is smart and good at analyzing the situation, she knows when to do things is better, if we succeed today and everyone gets the stolen goods, The eldest sister-in-law will probably stop fighting and not confront us head-on, but the second sister-in-law is still a bit straightforward, and if she really gets angry, I am afraid that she will make a fuss regardless of her face and it will not end well."

"Women are really troublesome, why are there so many things." Ye Mingxuan muttered.

"Women are different from men. A man's battlefield is in the officialdom. The battle is the country, and the win is the future. The woman's battlefield is at home. The fight is scheming. The main wife wants to keep her position and sovereignty, and the concubine wants to surpass the main wife. , I most hope that a man will spoil his concubine and destroy his wife, Tongfang wants to have a child and raise him as an aunt, and he will be prosperous and rich all his life, a big girl wants to become Tongfang, a second-class girl wants to become a first-class girl... Everyone has their own desires future, and what I want to do now is to reveal Du Manqiu's true face, to keep you and me, and even the safety of the entire Hou Mansion." Zi Jin's tone sank, and she looked at Ye Mingxuan with determination in her eyes, " Ming Xuan, we will definitely do it, won’t we?”

"Yes, I will always be by your side, never leave. There is no roommate, no concubine room, nothing, just one you is enough." Ye Mingxuan looked solemn, "So, in the future, our little family will never need You fear these fights between women will never happen."

"I know." Zi Jin said slowly, why so sure?In fact, Zi Jin didn't know either, but she knew that she trusted the man in front of her, her husband, the one they wanted to hold hands with for the rest of their lives.

Walking back to An Yuan, Zi Jin ordered the maids to bring in the bath water, Zhou's mother took advantage of Ye Mingxuan's going to clean the room, and said to Zi Jin in a low voice: "Everything is ready, the time to start the bet is at After the midnight, the gambling nest will still be in the old place, and then as long as you follow the plan, you will be able to take care of it."

Zijin nodded, looked at Zhou's mother and said, "You must have done this kind of thing when you were in the Hou Mansion before, right?"

Zhou's mother nodded and said, "I've done it a lot. Which big family doesn't have such a thing. As long as the information is accurate, we can catch one."

"So what to do, Ms. Zhou must communicate clearly with her mother-in-law and Nanny Jiang in front of her, and she must not let any one go. Nanny Jiang is the main thing in everything, don't disobey her, do you understand?" Zi Jin didn't want to let her go. Mother Jiang, who was in front of the eldest princess, had any bad opinions about herself, so she told Zhou's mother like this.

Mother Zhou nodded and said: "Don't worry, the old slave knows that the old slave will go down to prepare, and he will have to work for a long time after a while."

Zi Jin nodded, and then said: "That's good, remember, after the incident, you must let the idlers go and report back, but the one involved in gambling can't be lenient." Not letting the idlers go, Zijin followed Why did the eldest princess appear in Luyuan for no reason?How can he intervene in the management of this matter openly and aboveboard?If the whole family doesn't know about the matter, maybe Mrs. Ye will cover up the matter for Du Manqiu under the thunderous tricks. This is not what Zi Jin wants to see.

If there is a commotion, it will be the biggest one, and everyone inside and outside will know about it, so Mrs. Ye can't cover it up if she wants to cover it up for Du Manqiu, so it's time to start.

After some more discussion, Zhou's mother went down, Xianqiao and Hanmei made the bed and came out, Zijin said to them: "There is no need to wait here, you go down to rest, after a while you will be busy until dawn . Only when you have enough energy can you handle things well.”

Xianqiao and Hanmei naturally knew what was going on, so they hurriedly responded, and Xianqiao asked, "Who will be on duty that night?"

Zi Jin pursed her lips into a smile, and said slowly: "In the first half month, I already asked you to arrange for Su Wan and Bi He to start night duty, right?"

"Yes, it's Suwan's turn to be on duty today." Xianqiao pursed her lips and smiled.

Zi Jin nodded, very satisfied, "Let's decide like this, you guys go."

Xianqiao and Hanmei walked out, and Hanmei looked at Xianqiao and asked, "Sister Xianqiao, why did the young lady let Suwan stay on duty at this time?" ?Su Wan is a dishonest person, and she occasionally breaks ties with Du Manqiu, who knows what she will do.If something happens, wouldn't it be a big mistake to keep it secret?

Xianqiao smiled in a low voice, and explained slowly: "Because Suwan is from there, good steel should be used on the blade at this time. If something big happened, if she didn't report it, it would be disrespectful to the young lady." Zhong, if you don't hide the notification, you will offend Mrs. Du. After all, the person who will be arrested tonight is someone from there. Tonight, the young lady just wants to try this little hoof to see how she is. Who is it?"

Hanmei suddenly realized, looked at Xianqiao with admiration, sighed and said, "No wonder the young lady likes sister, sister, I am really stupid, I can't even think of such a thing."

Slimy patted Hanmei's hand, and said softly: "What's the matter, it's just that I followed the old lady and heard a lot from Mama Du, so I guessed a little bit. I'm afraid that my sister will not have the opportunity to practice with the young lady in the future." ?Look more, listen more, learn more.”

Han Mei nodded and said, "Yes, I will take good care of her, and I hope my sister can give me some advice."

"Why do you and my sister say such polite words?" After talking about this, they walked into the yard, and the two stopped talking about the matter just now. Xianqiao laughed loudly on purpose: "Tonight is the first time for Sister Suwan to be on duty. I'm going to find her right now, and tell her about the young lady's taboos, so as not to accidentally offend the young lady."

Han Mei said cooperatively: "Then sister, go, I will go back first."

After the two separated, Xianqiao went to Suwan's room, and Hanmei went to Shui Rong and Yantao's room, and there were still many things to be discussed before going to sleep peacefully.

Su Wan was packing her things, when she heard the knock on the door, she hurriedly went to open the door, she didn't expect Xian Qiao to come over at this time, she was a little surprised, she said with a smile: "Why is sister here?" Then she invited Xian Qiao into the room.

As soon as Xian Qiao came in, she saw that Su Wan had already packed the quilt, she smiled and said: "So it's already ready, but I'm too busy, I thought I'd come here to remind my sister that I'm on duty tonight."

Suwan smiled a little embarrassedly, "My sister came just in time, I was going to knock on my sister's door after packing up, and I need to ask my sister to remind me a little more. Knowing the habits of the young lady, I am afraid that I will miss something, so I ask my sister to take pity on me and remind me a little bit."

Suwan made tea herself, invited Xianqiao to sit down, and asked very humbly.

Xian Qiao hurriedly said: "I don't dare to take it seriously. Who doesn't know that my sister is an old man who came from Chengyuan, and the people who served Mrs. Du have seen more scenes than us. Then I will ask my sister for advice."

Listening to Xianqiao's words, Su Wan's expression remained the same, but the expression on her face was a little more sad, and her face was filled with loneliness, she said a little embarrassedly: "Sister, don't say that, it stands to reason that slaves can't Criticize the master, but my sister also knows the situation of our Hou Mansion. Here and there have always been... I didn’t dare to point out that the young lady can reuse me when I came here. I just thought it would be good not to cause trouble for the young lady. Now the young lady is willing to arrange for me to be on duty at night, and I am not a fool, how can I not know what is good or bad, so no matter what, I should ask my sister to give my sister a lot of advice, don't let my sister mess up an errand since she was on an errand, and treat her as my sister Have pity on the poor man I can't rely on on either side."

What she said was really pitiful, especially what surprised Xianqiao was that Suwan would reveal her embarrassing position with just one sentence.In fact, there is nothing unexpected or incomprehensible about this. It has always been that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and the disagreement between Du Manqiu and the eldest princess is also a well-known thing.When Zijin married, Du Manqiu stuffed someone in, so the person who stuffed in was destined not to be accepted, that is to say, he was in an awkward position.

A person in such an embarrassing position, as the new master, Zi Jin cannot easily dispose of her. If he disposes of her, he will be disrespectful to Mrs. Du, a mother-in-law. .

So Suwan impresses Xianqiao from such a perspective, and shows her loyalty to Zijin through Xianqiao in a timely manner, she is indeed a very smart person.It's just that Su Wan doesn't know that Zi Jin has more doubts about her identity, and she doesn't even know that it is because of her that Zi Jin has deepened her doubts about Qingshui An.

Xianqiao sighed softly, with a look of understanding on her face, and then said: "Young Madam is a very easy person to get along with, and she never sends people off without reason, and as you have seen, Young Madam is very kind to you. Those of us who are slaves are all excellent, so you don’t have to worry. Since the young lady entered Anyuan, Sister Suwan has always kept her duty. The young lady is not unreasonable. Now my sister can finally get the young lady’s Blue eyes, let alone from now on. Sister, don't worry. At night, if the young lady asks for water, she will call you out. Just don't fall asleep at night. If there is any urgent matter, no matter when I have to make an announcement, but nothing happened all the time. I just want to say something in vain. When the time comes in the morning, I will wake up through the curtain. After the young lady gets up, my sister can change shifts. It's nothing important. That's the thing, that's all."

Suwan hurriedly thanked her, and said cautiously: "Young Madam is really a good-natured person, we slaves who meet such a good master naturally have to serve with all our heart, but I... always Outsiders."

Xianqiao raised her eyes to see Suwan's helpless expression, she snorted coldly in her heart, but persuaded her: "Lu Yao knows the horsepower, and sees people's hearts after a long time. My sister has entered this yard, and she will always be with us for a long time in the future. The Young Madam will naturally know what is going on with my sister. What's more, Madam Du is very good to us now, so why should I have any concerns? Every day I always listen to the Young Madam talking about marrying the right person .”

Xianqiao said a few more words to Suwan and got up to say goodbye, and Suwan delivered it herself with a grateful smile on her face.Xianqiao chuckled in her heart, said all that should be said, it depends on what Suwan does tonight, I don't know if I can find out some clues in this way, and I can follow the thread to find out the real master behind Suwan.

Today's big picture, a minimum guarantee of [-], plus [-] words for the advance ticket, and another [-] words, love you!There is also a [-]-character one, (*^__^*) hee hee...