Biography of Concubine Shujia

Chapter 16

Let's talk about the ten niangs, after waiting for the carriage at the second gate, they took the maid and pedaled away.All in all, since her mother was seriously ill, Ten Niang hadn't set foot in Lu's mansion, her grandfather's residence, for almost five years.For a moment, I felt a little uneasy, and these worries followed the swaying carriage up and down.

At one moment he disliked the carriage running too slowly and wished to see his close relatives immediately; at another moment he was worried that his grandparents would blame him if he hadn't visited the house for many years.I don't know whether my grandfather and grandmother are in good health, whether my uncle and aunt welcome me to their house, and whether my cousins ​​still remember me.Worrying that there would always be an end, the carriage stopped firmly in front of the gate of the Lu residence.

The boy driving the carriage asked earnestly through the curtain, "Miss Ten, the Lu residence is here, please help me get out of the carriage."

Baoqin, the servant, got out of the carriage with the help of the servant, and helped Shiniang get out of the carriage after finding the pedals.As soon as Shi Niang stood still, Lu Liang, the chief steward of the Lu Mansion, stepped forward to salute Qian'er, and said, "Miss Biao is here, the old man and the old lady have been talking about you a lot these days. There is already a soft sedan chair on the door , please follow the servants."

"Thank you, butler. Baoqin, take a look." Shiniang thanked the butler for his welcome.Under Shi Niang's order, Baoqin came forward to reward the butler with silver, "Thank you, butler, here are some teas for you."

The butler happily accepted the reward, and the cousin still knew how to do things as before.

In the upper room, the three generations of the Lu family were indeed looking forward to the arrival of Ten Niang.

Shi Niang's maternal ancestral home, the Lu Mansion, is considered a branch of the aristocratic Lu family.

The Lu family in Yujing, together with the Ouyang family, Liu family, Xiao family, Chen family, and Li family, are known as the six great families in Yujing.A few years ago, the Ouyang family was exiled to northern Xinjiang for the sake of the regent, and even the eldest lady of the Ouyang family was deprived of the title of queen, and died of a blood collapse after living in a secluded cold palace.The huge Ouyang family disappeared in an instant.

The Liu family and the Nalan family have always stood by the emperor's side in the event of overthrowing the regent, and have been honored and favored.Therefore, among the current aristocratic families, the Liu family is the most popular among the six aristocratic families.Because of the Nalan family's support at the beginning and the marriage relationship with the Liu family over the years, it can be regarded as gaining power.

As the emperor's mother's family, the Xiao family was indeed very arrogant for a while because of the empress dowager and the holy mother. , the Xiao family is even more low-key.

The Chen family, the Lu family, and the Li family, these three families have always been wise and safe in case of trouble, so the emperor did not pay much attention to these three families than the Liu family and the Nalan family.Only these three families also have daughters in the palace, and they are more favored than the daughters of the Liu family and the Nalan family. Therefore, the power of the six major families is intertwined, and they check and balance each other, which saves the emperor a lot of thought.

As mentioned earlier, the Lu family has a daughter who entered the palace, and the Lu family daughter who entered the palace is indeed not far from Shi Niang's ancestral family.The daughter of the Lu family in the palace was just promoted to be the fourth-rank Shun Rong this year.In the four years since entering the palace, she has grown from a humble fifth-rank nobleman to a fourth rank, which shows that this Lu Jieyu is also a safe person.There is never a lack of grace in the harem, the key is whether the time of this grace lasts.

Speaking of which, this Lu Jieyu was of the same family as the deceased mother, Mrs. Lu, and she was also a distant cousin. Lu Jieyu's grandfather and Mrs. Lu's grandfather were brothers of the same mother.Because Lu Jieyu's grandfather was the eldest, he inherited the family. Mrs. Lu's grandfather separated from her elder brother after her parents died, and the two families often visited each other at first.In Mrs. Lu's father's generation, because both father and brother served in the army, they couldn't get along with the civil servants of Lu Jieyu's family, so their relationship was not as close as that of the older generation.

Shi Niang's grandfather, who was a fourth-rank official, is now an official at home.On weekdays, he raises flowers and walks birds, and raises his grandson from time to time.The grandmother, Mrs. Lu, had only one daughter in her life, Shi Niang's mother, and she was still an old woman, so the death of Shi Niang's mother hit the old lady hard.Since four years ago, the old lady has stopped intervening in the affairs of the mansion and handed over the management of the mansion to the eldest daughter-in-law. She only focuses on raising her granddaughter strictly so that they will not follow in the footsteps of her daughter.

Regarding Shi Niang, the old lady has a complicated heart. On the one hand, Shi Niang is the only blood left by her daughter, and on the other hand, Shi Niang is the blood of the Du family who forced her daughter to death.Therefore, for Shi Niang's visit, the old lady is looking forward to and sad mixed with anger.It was the old man who knew about his daughter-in-law's troubles and comforted him for a while, so that the old lady became happy with Shi Niang's arrival.I haven't seen this niece for four years, and I don't know if she looks like her poor daughter.

The old lady was thinking about her daughter, and when she looked up and saw Shi Niang saluting to her surrounded by maidservants, she burst into tears, "My poor child, come here quickly, let grandma take a good look at it." Look."

While holding Shi Niang's "heart and heart" cry, she cried to her daughter, "With such a cruel heart, I will leave the parents and children like this." When Shi Niang heard her grandmother mentioning her mother, she couldn't help herself for a while, and hugged her grandmother. began to cry.

It was the daughter-in-law and maidservants at the side who saw the old lady crying sadly, so they quickly persuaded her.After Shi Niang and the old lady calmed down, Shi Niang hurriedly saluted the aunts again.

Just when he was about to sit down and talk, the young man next to the old man came in and spread the word, saying that the cousin girl came to the door today, so that she would disappear so as not to be sad when meeting each other, and asked the girl to just treat her grandfather's house as her own home, and come and walk often in the future.

Ten Niang hurriedly stood up to thank her, and the maid on the other side also took the opportunity to hug the old man and bring Zhennan Yueqin, saying it was for the cousin girl to enjoy.Up to the old lady and down to the girls of the Lu family, everyone was stunned. This Zhennan Yueqin was the old man's favorite in his life, but he gave it to his niece who hadn't seen him for four years. How could it not be shocking.

Shi Niang saw that Zhennan Yueqin was very expensive, and the body of the piano was made of very exquisite small-leaf red sandalwood.The head of the piano is carved with a dragon head and decorated with dragon whiskers.Dragons and phoenixes are carved on the front panel of the qin, and a small gold round mirror is inlaid in the middle of the qin surface.

Ten Niang couldn't help but hugged the piano obliquely in front of her chest, pressed the strings with her left hand, and plucked the strings with her right hand, and played a piece of "Longxi Diao".

The sound of the piano is clear and melodious, with a clear rhythm, and its gentle flicking is like a drizzle; when it is fiddled quickly, it is like a galloping horse. It must move up and down, the round mirror is shining, flamboyant and phoenix dancing, vivid.

After the song, Shi Niang put down the Yueqin and confessed to the elders, "My grandfather gave Zhennan Yueqin as a gift. Shi Niang was so happy when she saw it, she couldn't help playing it, which made my grandmother, aunts and cousins ​​laugh."

Mrs. Lu took Shiniang's fingers, touched the thin calluses on her hands, and sighed, "I'm really just like your mother. She also loves Yueqin. Back then, your mother begged your grandfather to give her this Zhennan Yueqin. Grandfather didn't agree after all. You are a blessed and good boy, and your grandfather's efforts are not in vain."

Shiniang stood up and worshiped, "How can Shiniang take away what my grandfather loves? Today, I am satisfied with playing a song with my grandfather's Zhennan Yueqin. When I was at home, I often heard my mother say that my grandfather played the Yueqin well. My grandpa is free, so I hope my grandpa can give Shi Niang some advice. Grandmother, you have to say a few kind words for Shi Niang in front of grandpa."

Mrs. Lu couldn't help but patted Shi Niang's head when she heard Shi Niang's words of admiration, "Good boy, come to the mansion often when you have time, your grandfather will definitely teach you well."

"It was given to you, girl. If you accept it, accept it. There are so many refusals. This is your home. You don't have to be polite." A desolate male voice came from outside the house.

When the maid opened the curtains, she saw an energetic old man pacing in, waving his hands to let the saluting daughters-in-law and granddaughters get up, and sat on the Eight Immortals chair next to the old lady.Ten Niang stepped forward to salute, thanking her grandfather for the gift of the piano.

He looked at Shi Niang carefully for a moment, took a sip of the red robes that the maids had just put on, and said, "Get up. You are not the same as when you were a child. How long have you been practicing Yueqin?"

"If I go back to my grandparents, I have had it for two or three years. When I was a child, I often listened to my mother playing, and I knew a little simple fingering." Shi Niang had never worked hard to practice Yueqin before, but since she knew she was going to enter the palace, she has He pays more attention to the playing of musical instruments, so he is also proficient in the song "Yuxi Diao".

"Fingering is proficient, but the technique and artistic conception are much worse. There is no master to guide you. If you can play like this by yourself, you are considered talented. How about it, the master who taught your mother is still at home now, let her follow you. Go back to the Du Mansion, and I will be responsible for teaching you musical instruments in the future. Only her future pension will belong to you, do you have any objections?"

The old man made some arrangements, thought about it and asked Shi Niang for her opinion.

"Thank you grandpa for thinking about Shi Niang, Shi Niang is willing to take care of the master." Shi Niang is really happy to have a master guide her skills.

Afterwards, most of the time was spent with my grandfather guiding Yueqin and my grandmother asking about various life trivia.When the sun went down and Shi Niang said goodbye and left, she couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to part with her, fearing that it would be difficult to visit again next time, and she didn't know when it would be.Looking nostalgicly at the gate of Du Mansion again, Ten Niang said cruelly to the boy driving the car, "Go back to the mansion."

After Shi Niang returned to the mansion, she received a message from the old lady and Mrs. Chen, saying that it was a tiring day and there was no need to go to pay her respects.Ten Niang took her maid and mother-in-law back to Huanhuayuan.

After Shi Niang settled down, Fuqi went inside to report the big and small things that happened during the day.When talking about the red sandalwood zither brought by the old lady, Shi Niang was taken aback, she really cared too much about skills.Even the old lady saw the clue and sent a favor.But that's good too, when I practice Yueqin again, I can use the guise of learning guzheng as a cover.

Let the servant book take the master to rest, and explain the arrangement to the maid in detail.Shi Niang made up her mind that she only needs to learn the guzheng, and she doesn't have to be good at it; it's good that Mrs. Chen doesn't lose face in the house. As for her good skill, she has to be Yueqin.You have to hide your clumsiness, otherwise the stunt is not called the stunt.

In the days that followed, the three sisters of Shiniang added a skill course, and all of them were taught by their mothers.When the old lady checked the progress, Shi Niang lost to Liu Niang and beat Ba Niang every time. For a while, no one said that Shi Niang was bad, and they only supported Liu Niang even more.

Before I knew it, winter came like this this year.When Mrs. Chen was passing by Shiniang's yard, she had accidentally heard Shiniang playing the yueqin, and she didn't say much, but read two lines of poems to Shiniang: "Golden plucks the red sandalwood trough, and the strings are tuned higher at the beginning. "Since then, Shi Niang practiced more cautiously, and the maid could only occasionally hear the sound of the new strings.

In this voice, the summer of Xijia Six Years is about to go away, and winter is coming.

(End of this chapter)