Yutai Bi

Chapter 231 Visit 2
After a cup of tea, Mrs. Zou led Bao'er in.

Zou's clothes are average, with a half-foot-high bun, headgear, neck ornaments, earrings, and earrings. There are only four or five gold bracelets on the hand bowl, and there are three rings on the left and two on the right.

Cen Sanniang was stunned for a while, secretly calculated the weight, and estimated that it might weigh several catties.Thinking of the wealth of the Zou family, Zou is used to showing off his wealth, so he stopped looking at her and looked down at Bao'er.

Bao'er is three and a half years old, and it is the cutest time for a little girl.The small face is fair and clean, and the eyes are round.Missing a tooth, she stretched out her white and tender hands and called Cen Sanniang with a grinning mouth: "Auntie! Give me a gift!"

"Oh, Bao'er is a little money fan!" Cen Sanniang was so happy that she moved her hands up and down, pinching and kneading, and she couldn't bear to stop playing.

Mrs. Zou looked at it and didn't stop her. Seeing that Cen Sanniang liked her daughter, she was relieved instead.

Knowing that Mrs. Zou had something to say, Cen Sanniang untied a string of jade pendants from her waist and gave them to Bao'er.Ming Fengchun took her to his Kuayuan to have snacks and play.

The two met and sat down.Ah Qiu served tea and snacks, and went to sit at the end of the wooden corridor to embroider and watch.

They were far away and couldn't hear the two talking.Cen Sanniang called out, and she was able to serve again.

When Mrs. Zou saw it, she couldn't help thinking of the days in Chang'an, and her eyes turned red immediately: "Sanniang, I want to go away with Erlang and leave home!"

Cen Sanniang was not very surprised, and asked her quietly: "Why does sister-in-law think so?"

Mrs. Zou ruthlessly rubbed a golden rumpled gauze handkerchief, tears streaming down her face: "You know, since I returned to Longzhou, it was the first time I went out alone. My sister married my brother, how could the old lady let me come to see you? Fortunately, the Duke of the country kicked the prince into the lake when I was cleansing the dust for you. The old lady was frightened and wanted to use me to win over you. Otherwise, she You are only willing to let me post a post to invite you, but you are not willing to let me come out to find you."

Ben was deliberately telling Aunt Sitang to listen, so that Old Madam Cen would let her come over.Cen Sanniang ordered a cup of tea and handed it over: "It's not convenient to talk in the mansion, it's quiet here. Just drink tea and talk slowly."

Seeing Cen Sanniang's composure, Cen Sanniang seemed to have the backbone, she put back her tears and said, "I made you laugh. Ever since the young master in the palace died of a sudden illness, my mother-in-law has collapsed. In addition, my father-in-law has gone to the government. My mother-in-law almost went to the streets." I dare not. I am afraid that people will recognize her. The old lady wrote a letter asking her to go back to Longzhou. The father-in-law also wrote a letter saying that she has been working outside for so many years and asked her to return to Longzhou to fulfill her filial piety. She was persuaded In fact, the Shilang’s mansion was taken back. We can still live comfortably in Chang’an by buying another yard. The old house in Longzhou is not separated. There is an old lady in charge of the house, and the aunt is in charge of the house. I don’t want to talk about it in the morning and evening, and I have to report it even when I leave the house. The most hateful thing is that the old lady cried for a long time. Take a concubine for Erlang. He also said that he was far away, and persuaded me to sell the dowry shop in Chang’an, Tianzhuang, and buy land and a shop in Longzhou.”

When Zou said this, she hated her so much, she looked at Cen Sanniang and said, "My natal family is far away. You and the Duke are no different from my natal family. Sanniang, you have to be the master for my sister-in-law."

For Yanwan's sake, I have to take care of Zou's.Cen Sanniang thought for a while and asked her: "Since my sister-in-law entrusted me and the Duke, I will definitely take care of it. But, tell me the truth, sister-in-law, you really want to leave Bao'er at Cen's house and leave it alone. Or do you want to take Bao'er back to Chang'an with Erlang?"

"The old lady is in the church, so she won't separate the family. The father-in-law is far away in Youzhou, and the mother-in-law is back. She has only one son, Erlang, so she will let him and me go back to Chang'an." Zou's expression was gloomy, and he said sadly: "Yuan I thought that Erlang treated me wholeheartedly. I married him for four years, but he never took a concubine. Who would have thought that he would change when he returned to Longzhou. He would hang out with Sibo all day long and eat wine. I persuaded him to read books and take exams, and he said that his father-in-law won If he is a criminal, he will never enter the officialdom again. He will never read books again in this life."

Zou began to cry again: "I persuaded him that Chang'an is prosperous, he is still young, and his life in Longzhou is really useless. But he scolded me for not living in poverty. I took 2000 taels a few days ago. Yinzi bought a miscellaneous bird with his uncle, turned around and gave up, and asked me to buy him a bird king for 5000 taels. It took nearly ten thousand taels of silver after I came back. Scolding me for being unworthy. I was thinking of going back to Chang'an by dealing with the dowry. When I opened my mouth to test, the old lady said that Bao'er was too young to leave her mother. It's better to ask Erlang to go alone. How could she let Erlang go alone? It was arranged that if Erlang went, he would have to bring those two maids to wait on him. I had no choice but to entrust my elder brother to take care of him when I left. Erlang didn’t even recognize the manager of my shop, so I wrote a letter to my elder brother before making plans.”

Wiping her tears, she choked with sobs and said, "It's not that I, a mother, didn't feel sorry for my daughter and insisted on leaving her. There was a girl who was two months pregnant. The mother-in-law was so happy that she directly carried her concubine. The old lady hurriedly arranged for two more to come. We all know that the old lady let go and wanted to give Erlang more concubines and children. Erlang is young and handsome, and the thoughtful girls in the mansion want to squeeze into my yard like they are bursting their heads. If I stay in the Cen's house again, Erlang's concubines will be one after another, and there will be a lot of concubines. A man's heart will be biased. I'm afraid I will become a chicken that lays golden eggs in the hands of the Cen family."

There was endless sadness and fear in Zou's eyes.

Cen Sanniang understood very well.

I left my hometown alone with my husband, and I didn't know the place well.Zou can only rely on Cen Zhibai.If Cen Zhibai took a concubine, she would be alone, Longzhou is far away from Chang'an, her natal family is not around, and she holds a large dowry in her hand.Holding Jinshan but unable to protect himself.With old lady Cen's method, sooner or later she will be drained dry.Maybe the Zou family will send more gold and silver if they don't want to see her suffer.So Zou wanted to leave home with her.While only 20 years old now, people are still young.With a large dowry, I am not afraid that I will not find a good man to marry in Chang'an.

"What did your father and elder brother say?" Cen Sanniang asked carefully.

Mrs. Zou took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to her: "When I left Chang'an, my father entrusted someone to deliver it. Tell me not to open it until absolutely necessary."

Cen Sanniang opened the letter, which was addressed to herself and Du Yansui.In the letter, Zou was entrusted to them.He also stated that no matter how they deal with it, the Zou family will have nothing to say.

Liao Liao wrote a few lines on the letter, but not only Zou Yuanwai's name was written, but also his seal was stamped.This is a certificate for Cen Sanniang to act.

The letter was written by Mrs. Zou when he left Chang'an with his second wife.At that time, Zou Yuanwai expected that his daughter's life would not be easy.

This old fox!The Zou family is a merchant, and a strong dragon can't beat a local snake.Du Yansui and Cen Sanniang had already made their minds up.No wonder when Du Yansui went to visit the Zou family when he left Beijing, the Zou family father and son solemnly asked him to take care of the Zou family.

Cen Sanniang put the letter away carefully, smiled slightly, and asked Ah Qiu to fetch water to wash Mrs. Zou's face.She smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry. Since it's Uncle Zou's entrustment, no matter what happens, sister-in-law must fulfill her wish."

After washing her face and applying makeup again, Zou Shi's complexion looks much better.

Hearing that Cen Sanniang agreed, Zou was both happy and sad.The happy thing is that I can finally get out of the sea of ​​suffering, but the sad thing is that even if I get divorced, I will be separated from my daughter for life.Bao'er is a girl, not a son.Cen Zhibai's temperament changed drastically, and he indulged in sensuality.Only relying on the little money from the father, I am afraid that my daughter will suffer.

She begged Cen Sanniang: "Sanniang, can you let Bao'er follow me?"

Cen Sanniang didn't answer, but was also thinking about it.

Cen Zhibai lost his ambition because his father went into exile.With no property in hand, sooner or later he will be as virtuous as Si Tangshu.Bao'er was only three years old, and the concubine beside him was already pregnant.If the concubine gave birth to a concubine's eldest son, and Zou and Li left, Bao'er would be a child without mother's love, and a daughter, and would not be taken seriously.Even if there is a stepmother, at Cen Zhibai's age, the stepmother must be young.He has a child himself, how can he treat Bao'er sincerely.

But Mrs. Cen may not be willing to let Mrs. Zou go.Who doesn't know that the Zou family is rich?When the second master was still an official in Chang'an, Mrs. Cen was tempted for the 4 taels of dowry from the Fan family.Now that he is pinching his own daughter-in-law to shake money, how can he be willing to let go.

The old lady's plan now is to take concubines for Cen Zhibai, no matter how many.With someone between Erlang and Zou Shi, the relationship will naturally weaken.Zou's natal family is far away in Chang'an.The second wife's daughter died, her husband was exiled, and his spirit had already collapsed.Zou can only rely on Mrs. Cen.How?What do you rely on?Naturally, he used money to make the old lady happy.This is how you can keep your position.

Cen Sanniang gasped in admiration, the old lady's hands are extremely beautiful.

She said softly to Mrs. Zou: "You want to reconcile, but the Cen family refuses? What if the old lady waits for the girl to give birth to a son, and directly leaves the son to the mother, and adopts the son into your name?"

"It's not that I can't have children! Adopt me, if I have a son in the future, wouldn't it be possible to change from the eldest son to the second son?" Zou's hated this the most.She is twenty years old, and it's not like she can't give birth.The old lady made it clear that she wanted her to be subdued, so she stopped thinking about stuffing people in her yard.

Mrs. Zou raised her head and said: "Although I am a merchant's daughter, I can't see how stingy the Cen family is. If you want Qian Ming to tell you, you must use these tricks. Erlang doesn't seek to make progress, and he doesn't know how to be considerate of our mother and daughter's difficulties. I advised him not to learn from Uncle Si, but he also said that I am not good. What use is there for such a man?"

"There is a saying that it is better to tear down ten temples than a single marriage. Since you have made up your mind, I will help you. It's just that, after all, Bao'er is a girl from the Cen family. Whether you can take her away from the Cen family depends on you Take it slowly." Cen Sanniang saw Zou's tough attitude, so she nodded and agreed to help her reconcile.

(End of this chapter)