swear not to be concubine

Chapter 107

Xu Zhongxuan's heart changed a few moments, but it still didn't show on his face, he just ordered unhurriedly: "Keep talking."

He knew that there was a class of people in Yangzhou who spent money to buy good-looking girls from poor families to practice, and then changed hands, or sold them to powerful people as concubines, or sold them to Qinlou and Chuguan.At first, he vaguely felt that Mrs. Jian's feelings for Jian Yan were not like a mother's feelings for her daughter, but now that Pearl said this, it was even more urgent to confirm this guess in his heart.

So Jian Yan is actually a child from a poor family?

Pearl thought about it for a while, and then continued cautiously: "Actually, if it wasn't for the fact that Shen's mother accidentally missed a few words that day, the servant would never dare to think about it. After all, the servant has stayed in Jian's house for seven years. Eight years, during these seven or eight years, the slaves have heard other servants mention it more than once, saying how the wife vomited so much when she was pregnant with the girl, how dangerous it was when giving birth to the girl, and how the girl was born in the first few days. How did you cry all night? Everyone said that the girl was born to the wife? Even our son, when we mentioned it, we also said that there is only a sister like the girl, so this mother of Shen The slaves don’t know whether they should believe it or not.”

Xu Zhongxuan's long eyebrows frowned slightly, and his mind felt foggy.

In other words, all the servants in Jian's house, including Jian Qing, thought that Jian Yan was born to Mrs. Jian?And according to this pearl, at least in the eyes of outsiders, including her own son, Mrs. Jane was indeed pregnant with a child.

If it is said that Mrs. Jane wanted to pretend to be pregnant because of her stronger position in Jane's family, and then carried a child to raise her as her own, but at that time she already had Jian Qing. I have a son, what are you afraid of?Now, according to the news he asked Qi Sang to investigate, Mr. Jane's parents have passed away, and a younger brother also lived in a separate family. Mr. Jane is away from home all year round. Forget it, Mrs. Jane is so afraid of whether her position is secure or not?
If Mrs. Jane just wanted to buy a girl from a poor family back then to teach, and then make a profit for herself when she grows up, just buy it back and raise it, and if it doesn’t work out, she would consider her a goddaughter or a relative’s child, Why go to such lengths to pretend to be pregnant and suffer such a crime?
He frowned tightly, unconsciously and slowly fiddled with the Ganan bracelet on his left wrist with the thumb of his right hand.

Pearl knelt down on the ground and didn't dare to make a sound, Xing'er also stood beside her with her hands down, holding her breath, not daring to breathe.The room was extremely quiet for a while, except for the occasional crackling of candles.

After a while, Xu Zhongxuan's thumb fiddled with the Ganan bracelet suddenly stopped.

What if Mrs. Jane was indeed pregnant and gave birth to a child?But what if the child died after birth, and then she had to adopt Jian Yan for some reason?And she would definitely not tell the outside world about such a confidential matter, and only a few close and close people around her would know.

If so, then all this can be explained.

So he asked: "During the time when Mrs. Jane gave birth, did any outsiders come to Jane's house?"

Pearl also frowned.

At that time, she hadn't sold Jian's house yet, so she only heard occasional stories about Mrs. Jian's childbirth from the servants in the house.

After thinking about it for a while, she replied with some uncertainty: "I seem to have heard a servant woman mention that during the time when my wife was in confinement, a sister-in-law once came. That sister-in-law She seems to be our sister-in-law from Guanyin Nunnery in Longxing Mansion."

Speaking of this, her frowning eyebrows relaxed, and she said very quickly: "Yes. I remember that two days before our wife left Longxing Mansion and came to Tongzhou, this aunt, yes, her dharma name is Mrs. Jingyuan, she once came to our Jian’s house. At that time, the servants were waiting on my wife. After seeing our wife, Mrs. Jingyuan said that she also wanted to see our girl. When the girl came, she returned it to us. The girl has a box, which contains a safety talisman and a long-life lock made of silver."

"Master Jingyuan has frequent contacts with Mrs. Jian? Have you met your girl before?" Xu Zhongxuan hurriedly asked.

Pearl shook her head: "At least during the seven or eight years that I stayed in the wife's courtyard, I never saw Mrs. Jingyuan come to see our wife, let alone heard that she had seen the girl during this period."

After Xu Zhongxuan pondered for a moment, he waved his hand, indicating that Pearl could go back.

So Pearl kowtowed to him, then got up and stood up, led by Xing'er out of Ning Cui Xuan.

Xu Miaojin came out from the Dongci room at this time.

She heard what Xu Zhongxuan and Pearl said just now in the bedroom.

Seeing that Xu Zhongxuan was leaning on the table with his elbows, his forehead with his hands, and thinking about something with his eyes closed, she didn't bother him for the time being, but sat in the first chair on the left.

After a while, Xu Zhongxuan opened his eyes and looked at Xu Miaojin.

Xu Miaojin asked: "Brother, do you want to check your sister's life experience?"

It's just that she really felt that there was nothing to investigate.There are a lot of poor families who sell their children and daughters, but if they really check up on sister Yan's biological parents, what's the use if they're just from poor families?Could it be possible to let them take sister Yan back?Mrs. Jane will not let go.

It's just that Xu Zhongxuan felt that things were far from that simple.

According to Pearl, before Jianyan came to Tongzhou, Master Jingyuan once gave her a silver lock.Mrs. Jingyuan is just an aunt, how much money does she have?Besides, I haven't seen Jian Yan for so many years, why did I come here and give her a silver lock when I found out that she was leaving?It can only be said that this silver lock originally belonged to Jian Yan, and it has been kept in the hands of Mrs. Jingyuan since then. Now that she knows that Jian Yan is leaving, she took it out to her.

And how can a family that can afford a silver lock be a family that is so poor that it needs to sell its children and daughters to survive?Therefore, it is not certain that there may be some inside story about Jian Yan's life experience.

It is still necessary to send Qi Hui to Longxing Mansion to meet that Mrs. Jingyuan.

Xu Zhongxuan made a decision in his heart, but he didn't tell Xu Miaojinming.He just raised his head and said calmly: "I will be very busy these days, and maybe I may not be able to come back on the days of Xiumu. Jian Yan, if you have nothing to do, you can walk around and talk with her. It's also good. If she If there is anything, someone will be sent to tell me immediately."

Xu Miaojin sighed.

The fact that Zhou Yuan was about to accept Jian Yan as his concubine had been spread all over Jian's house, how could Xu Miaojin not know?At first, she only thought that her elder brother would let Jian Yan go after she knew about this matter, but after listening to his interrogation of Mrs. Pearl Jian just now, and now asking her to say such things, it obviously didn't mean to let go of Jian Yan Ah, it means that they still have to confront Zhou Yuan.

"Brother, are you crazy?" Xu Miaojin's voice was a bit reproachful, "That's the chief assistant of the court. How many ministers in the court obey him? If you confront him like this, do you want to be an official? Is it? Do you want your life?"

If he just watched Jian Yan become Zhou Yuanzheng's concubine, or even be forced to death by Zhou Yuanzheng, then what would he want his official career and life for?
But he didn't say that to Xu Miaojinming, he just said it very simply and neatly: "I have my own measure."

Proper ass.Xu Miaojin couldn't help cursing a foul word in her heart, but as long as you encounter Jian Yan, you will have no sense.

But in the end, he still didn’t say anything, just sighed, and then said: “Sister Yan, you can rest assured. If you have something to say to me in the future, or sister Yan has something to say to me You say, I will convey it for you in the middle."

Xu Zhongxuan nodded, then got up and went out.

He has much more to do.

Zhou Yuanzheng has worked hard for so many years in the court, and it is really not an easy task to bring him down in more than four months.

But no matter how difficult it was, he would still give it a try.

Jian Yan was sitting on the big kang by the window reading a book.

Since New Year's Eve, the sky has been gloomy.In the past two days, the new wind has picked up even more. When I sleep at night, all I can hear is the whining of the wind outside.

And when April came in with hot water early this morning, she had a happy smile on her face and said, "Girl, it's snowing a lot. It's all white outside."

Jian Yan was buttoning the pipa button on her long coat, she nodded when she heard this, and then said: "I know. The snow started to fall in the middle of the night last night."

When Si Yue heard it, the smile on her face seemed to be frozen, and she just froze there.At the same time, she felt uncomfortable.

The girl can tell immediately when the snow started to fall. Does that mean that the girl has not fallen asleep in the middle of the night last night?

How much is the girl pretending to do?

Si Yue secretly sighed, feeling sorry for Jian Yan.But she didn't say anything, she just waited on Jian Yan to freshen up quickly.

After she finished serving Jian Yan to wash and wash, the green soft silk curtain on the green gauze cabinet was lifted, and a maid walked in.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, this maid was very delicate and clean.

She carried a food box with bamboo carvings and lacquer painting in gold in her hand, and after entering, she bowed to Jian Yan and saluted.

"Miss, this food box was sent by Miss Pearl from my wife's room just now, and she said it is the girl's breakfast today."

This maid's name is Biyun.That day after Jian Yan told Mrs. Jian that she would not live in Zhou Yuanzheng's other courtyard, Zhou Yuanzheng sent a maid and a mother over the next day, saying that they wanted them to serve Jian Yan closely.

Jian Yan didn't refuse either, and each of them gave a purse containing a tael of silver, and then let them stay.

This Biyun didn't talk much.Jian Yan ordered her to do things, but she just kept her head down and didn't ask why.If Jian Yan didn't talk to her, she would stand aside with her hands down, and she didn't say a word, it was like a piece of decoration in this room, which was very worry-free.

Immediately, Jian Yan nodded and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you."

Although she was displeased with the people Zhou Yuanzheng sent over, if they didn't touch her bottom line, she didn't want to tear herself apart for the time being.

"Miss is really a shameful servant." Biyun saluted again, and then took all the food in the food box to the kang table on the kang by the window, and said, "Please come over to eat."

When Jian Yan sat on the kang and looked at the food on the kang table, she saw a plate of butterfly rolls and a plate of shiitake mushrooms and pork siu mai steamed in goose oil.The side dishes are a plate of dried bamboo shoots and a plate of bad fish.The other is a big bowl of donkey-hide gelatin porridge.

The other side is fine, but Jian Yan is a little dumbfounded when she sees the bowl of porridge.

Because although this porridge is seasoned with brown sugar, the taste is really not very good.

But even so, she sat down and slowly finished the big bowl of donkey-hide gelatin porridge.

These days, most of her meals are for blood.Even rice porridge is mostly blood-enriching rice with astragalus and angelica, or blood-enriching porridge with black rice and red dates.

How could she not know who someone cared about her so much?So no matter how bad the donkey-hide gelatin porridge was, she would finish it all.

After the breakfast was finished, Biyun quickly cleaned up the kang table, and Jianyan took a book from the small bookshelf beside her, and leaned on the backrest to read.

Si Yue hugged a blanket and covered her lap, and took a black lacquer and gold painting box filled with various candied fruit and placed it on the kang table beside her hand.

Mrs. Jian would never dare to offend her these days, and she would give her the best when eating and drinking.Jian Yan was not polite either, and took all the orders one by one.

It was still snowing outside.If you really concentrate on listening, you can hear the subtle rustling sound like crabs crawling on the sand.And the snow light came in through the white window paper, reflecting the room much brighter than before.

Although Jian Yan's gaze was on the book in her hand, her thoughts had already drifted away.

She was thinking of Xu Zhongxuan.

She hadn't seen him since that day.

It turned out that Zhou Yuan was sending Biyun and Cui Mama over here. Normally, whenever she stepped out of the screen door of the east courtyard, at least one of the two of them would follow her closely. She just wanted to meet Xu Zhongxuan. Seeing that, I have to be a lot of scruples, and these two times, Xu Miaojin has been here several times, although Xu Zhongxuan entrusted her to pass the message to herself, saying that everything is fine for him, please rest assured, but Jian Yan still knows that he is definitely not. will be so good.

Zhou Yuan has been immersed in the officialdom for decades, and now he is in the position of chief assistant. His power in the court must be intricate and intricate.If he really wanted to attack Xu Zhongxuan, I'm afraid it would not be difficult.

Such a person, but Xu Zhongxuan still wants to bring him down, the difficulty can be imagined.

Sometimes when Jian Yan thinks about it, she even feels that she has dragged Xu Zhongxuan down.

If it wasn't for her, according to Xu Zhongxuan's and Guang Tongchen's principles of handling things, he would have been able to move up slowly and step by step, and in the end he would definitely be able to be an excellent minister.But now, he was forced to confront Zhou Yuan immediately.And according to Zhou Yuanzheng's ruthless temperament, he was afraid that whenever he got the chance, Xu Zhongxuan would definitely be unable to stand up forever.

But she is now in this house, and there are people following her in and out, so she has no idea what Xu Zhongxuan is going through now.Although there is Xu Miaojin who can pass the word between her and Xu Zhongxuan on her behalf, but Xu Miaojin only says that Xu Zhongxuan is doing well every time, so she can rest assured.No matter how clichéd she was, she couldn't get a word out of Xu Miaojin's mouth.

Jian Yan knew that Xu Zhongxuan must have repeatedly asked Xu Miaojin to say this.He didn't want her to worry.

But when her eyes are darkened and she doesn't know anything, she will be more worried about him.

Jian Yan sighed secretly, put down the book in her hand, and reached out to press the center of her brow.

At this time, she heard the creaking sound of stepping on the snow coming from the yard.

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look over.

The window is half open, and you can see everything in the yard.

So she saw Siyue holding someone's hand and walking towards the house with a smile on her face.

When she saw the man's face clearly, Jian Yan hurriedly sat up straight.

It's Bai Wei.

At this time, Si Yue pulled Bai Wei to open the curtain and entered Jian Yan's bedroom.

"Girl," Siyue's voice was joyful, and her face was full of smiles, "Sister Baiwei has come to see you."

Seeing that Jian Yan was about to get up, Bai Wei hurriedly said: "It's cold, girl, sit down."

Jian Yan looked at Bai Wei, who had a water-red chrysanthemum-patterned double-breasted long jacket, a tooth-colored pleated skirt, a married woman's bun on her head, and two silver hairpins on top.

She was still as calm and gentle as ever.

At this time, Bai Wei handed the package in her hand to Si Yue who was standing beside her, and then she knelt down to Jian Yan, and her upper body fell down deeply.
"Girl," Bai Wei said with tears in her eyes and a trembling voice, "I miss you."

There were also tears in Jian Yan's eyes.

This was the first time Bai Wei came back to see her since she got married years ago.

At the side, Siyue also took a handkerchief and wiped the tears on her face.Seeing this, Jian Yan held back her tears, and said to Siyue with a smile: "It's rare for your elder sister Baiwei to come over, why don't you help her up quickly."

Si Yue hurriedly agreed, and then bent down to help Bai Wei up.

Bai Wei stood up, and greeted with tears in her eyes again: "How are you these days, girl? Is the wound on your neck healed? What do you eat every day? On such a cold day, do you often feel cold hands and feet? "

As she asked, she saw Jian Yan sitting on the kang, the window behind her was half open, and a cold wind was blowing in, so she angered April, saying why didn't the window be closed on such a snowy day?How about a girl who is cold?
Jian Yan hurriedly said: "It's not Siyue's fault. I wanted to see the snowy scenery outside, so I drove here myself."

After hearing this, Bai Wei had no choice but to give up.But in the end, I still went to get a hand stove, filled it with charcoal, and handed it to Jian Yan.

Jian Yan took it obediently and held it in her arms.Because Bai Wei was asked to sit down again, he asked how she was, how was Brother Zhou, and so on.Si Yuezi was also joking aside.

After the three of them talked like this for a while, Bai Wei seemed to remember something, and asked Si Yue to take the package she brought over and put it on the kang table.Then she stretched out her hand to uncover the burden, and said with a smile: "These are some cakes that the slaves have learned to make these days. They don't look very good on the surface. I didn't want to bring them for the girl to taste, for fear that the girl would laugh at me. But Brother Zhou tasted it, and only said yes, I must bring it to the girl to taste."

Bai Wei has served her closely all these years, so she is really not very proficient in cooking.

So Jian Yan and Si Yue looked at the hibiscus cake, yam jujube cake and other pastries on the kang table, and looked at Bai Wei in disbelief: "You made this?"

Bai Wei nodded with embarrassment.

Jian Yan immediately reached out for a piece of yam and jujube paste cake, wanting to taste it.

It's just that before the yam and jujube paste cake was brought to his mouth, the curtain on the green yarn cabinet was lifted, and a servant woman walked in quickly.

The maid was wearing a reddish-brown satin jacket, a black horse-face skirt, a little gold hairpin on her head, a silver hairpin, and a pair of silver lilacs on her ears.His life is normal, but he is extremely shrewd just by looking at him.

This is Mama Cui who came here with Biyun under Zhou Yuanzheng's order.

Mother Cui walked up to Jian Yan in two steps, and snatched the jujube yam cake in Jian Yan's hand, her voice was very severe.

"Girl, how can you just eat the things outside? It's not clean, and it will damage the girl's body."

Si Yue only opened her eyes wide, looking at Cui's mother in disbelief, while Bai Wei's face slowly turned red, twisting the handkerchief in her hand anxiously.

Jian Yan, on the other hand, slowly put the hand that was holding the yam jujube paste cake on the hand stove, and then slowly touched the hollowed out begonia copper coin pattern carved on the stove cover, raised her head, and called out calmly: " Mother Cui."

Although Mother Cui agreed respectfully on the surface, she still didn't care about it in her heart.

It's just a little girl who hasn't reached the age of hair, and she is a concubine for her master, what can she do?

At this moment, Jian Yan could be heard asking casually: "Who are there in Mama Cui's family?"

Cui's mother didn't understand what Jian Yan meant when she asked her such words, but instead she said triumphantly: "The servant's husband and a pair of children are working in Zhou's house now. The husband is in charge of the stables, and the son and daughter follow respectively. The girl and son in the house."

"That's it," Jian Yan nodded, then she raised her head, looked at Cui's mother with a smile on her face, and said slowly, "If I write a letter to Zhou Yuanzheng right now, saying that you are disobedient Let him punish your husband and a pair of children, do you think he will listen to me?"

Mother Cui's pupils dilated slightly, and she looked at Jian Yan with a good eye.

Jian Yan still had a slight smile on her face.

While slowly stroking the fine lines carved on the stove cover, she said: "You must have heard of it to some extent. My face looks very similar to the woman Zhou Yuanzheng cared about the most when he was young. ...Just because of this, Zhou Yuanzheng also cares about me very much. Isn't it because he cares about me that he sent you and Biyun to serve me in Xu's house? Then tell me, in his heart, Is it more important to me, or your husband and your two children?"

Cui's mother turned pale in an instant.

They are all servants of the Zhou family, so Jian Yan is naturally more important.

And Jian Yan was already looking at her fixedly at this time, and said in a very cold voice: "Either I should write a letter to Zhou Yuanzheng right now—you must have stayed in the Zhou Mansion for some years, Zhou Yuanzheng You know what kind of person he is, and what methods he will use—let him punish your husband and your two children, or you can apologize to Bai Wei now, and then go to the yard outside the house to kneel for half an hour, Then I can let it go. You can choose for yourself."

Mama Cui's choice was to bend over and say to Bai Wei, "I'm sorry, but the old slave's lard has deceived me, so I shouldn't be bothering the girl and not letting her eat the pastry you made."

Bai Wei was a little overwhelmed, she turned her head to look at Jian Yan.

Jian Yan nodded to Cui's mother, and then said lightly: "Go outside and kneel."

Mother Cui bowed her knees and saluted her, then opened the curtain and left the bedroom without saying a word.

Jian Yan turned her head, and through the half-opened window on the side, she could see Mother Cui walking into the snow and kneeling down.The heavy snow like goose feathers covered her head and shoulders with a thick layer in a short time.

Bai Wei was a little worried: "Girl, although Mama Cui was at fault first, but if you punish her like this, if she holds a grudge against you in her heart and trips you secretly in the future, what should I do?"

"Don't worry, I have my own measure," Jian Yan smiled and comforted her, "Of course I won't really let her kneel for half an hour, it's just a show, knocking the mountain to shake the tiger, let her know that she must abide by her duty, Don't worry about what you shouldn't care about. I will let April wake her up later. "

Although this incident was used to shake the 'tiger' Cui's mother, it was also used to shake the 'tiger' Biyun.

Biyun stood in the room from the beginning to the end, and also saw the incident clearly.

Only then did Bai Wei feel a little relieved.

Because of taking a quick look at Bi Yun who had been standing aside without saying a word, Jian Yan immediately understood.

So after a while, she reached out her hand to touch the teacup by her side, and said to Siyue: "The tea is cold, go and get me another cup."

Then he said to Biyu: "You also follow April, pour a cup of tea for Bai Wei."

Both Siyue and Biyun agreed, turned around and opened the curtain to go.

Time was running out, so Bai Wei quickly handed over a letter that had been hidden in her sleeve all this time, and said in a low voice: "Mr. , what should be done in the future, Mr. Shen has written in this letter. Miss, you will understand after reading it."

Shen Chuo?What was he doing writing her?
Jian Yan was suspicious, and was about to ask, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Bi Yunji was holding a tea tray, so she had no choice but to give up, stuffing the letter in her hand into her sleeve, and casually I chatted with Bai Wei about some other gossip.

(End of this chapter)