Foster son and husband

Chapter 229 Inquiry
In the inner courtyard of Changle Hou Mansion, Mrs. Changle Hou was holding Heng'er, walking side by side with Meimei, talking and laughing, it was obviously not the first time Heng'er had met Mrs. Changle Hou, and she was holding her obediently. refer to:
"Dick!"

"Oh, that golden pheasant, go and have a look. Because of this golden pheasant, I almost lost my mother!"

Madam Hou of Changle put Heng'er down with a smile, and beckoned to the girl behind: "Go with brother, I'm so good to watch, don't let that golden pheasant peck him!"

Meimei said: "You are really capable. You can tame a pheasant into a domesticated one. It won't fly away, and it won't be killed by you!"

Mrs. Changle Hou smiled: "I learned these things from my father at home. There is actually a trick... Otherwise, what do I do every day? My mother-in-law is in charge of Zhongfu, and my grandmother lives in a Buddhist hall. We don't need to go there every day. Please be safe, I only raise a couple of children, and I have a nanny and a nanny, so it's very leisurely!"

"Raise a few more children."

Chang Lehou sighed: "It must be there. My daughter is six years old, and my son is almost four years old. If there is no further movement, my mother-in-law will force my husband to take a concubine!"

Meimei looked at her: "Are you accepted?"

"He dares!"

Chang Lehou broke off a tender willow and waved it: "It would be nice to give him two rooms, and I want to take a concubine!"

Meimei smiled, and Mrs. Changlehou looked at her: "Go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, you came to see me today, what should be the matter?"

Meimei was about to answer when she suddenly saw her mother-in-law approaching and wishing Madam Changle Hou a blessing, and said, "Miss Liu is here!"

"There are no outsiders here, let her come in!"

Mrs. Changle Hou took Meimei's hand and walked to a round table. Cushions had already been laid on the stone bench. The two sat down, and after a while, girls brought refreshments.

Mrs. Hou of Changle said: "Then let's talk about it first after meeting my cousin from the distant house. Her name is Liu Jingyun, and she has brought me an embroidered autumn dress!"

"Doing autumn clothes so early?"

"Well, teach my cousin to do it for me first, otherwise I won't have time to talk to me. She is very skilled, especially in embroidering peonies. It really embroiders the richness. You can see it later. If you like it, let her embroider it for you too." Two sets!"

"it is good!"

After a while, I saw a light blue figure walking out from among the flowers, tall and slender, wearing a blue floral shirt with a white background, a moon white eight-panel skirt, and a blue silk sash tied around his waist. , hanging down to the knees and tied with a complex and exquisite bow, the silk sash then spreads out and hangs down to the skirt feet, flying and dancing between movements, showing elegant and light steps.

Liu Jingyun came to the front, blessed her body and saluted, her voice was soft and gentle, as if she was afraid of disturbing someone's dream: "Cousin!"

Before Meimei could see her face clearly, she was embarrassed to stare at her, so she smiled and looked at Mrs. Changle Hou.

Mrs. Marquis Changle smiled and took Liu Jingyun's hand, pointing to Meimei: "Cousin, this is Mrs. Marquis Weiyuan, she is very good, let's get to know her!"

Liu Jingyun came over with a smile, and bowed properly, Meimei quickly stood up and helped her up, took the opportunity to hold her in her hands and looked at her carefully, and praised: "You are so beautiful, you are indeed the cousin of Mrs. Changlehou!"

Chang Lehou laughed: "Look at this little mouth, you can say whatever you like, my cousin is indeed beautiful, but it has nothing to do with me, and I'm not as good-looking as her!"

As the name suggests, Liu Jingyun has a demure and elegant temperament, she doesn't speak much, she just smiles, and when the two of them make jokes, she just blushes a little and doesn't make a sound.

She has a pair of gentle eyes, curved willow-leaf eyebrows, a fine nose and diamond lips, and a typical Jiangnan beauty face. Apart from two pearl flowers and an ordinary jade hairpin, she has no other accessories on her jet-black bun. The hairstyle is exquisite and elegant, and it is definitely not something that ordinary girls and daughters-in-law can do by themselves.

Meimei had a good impression of Liu Jingyun. Seeing that her skin was clear and clean, with delicate texture and a slightly tired face, she asked, "Is Miss Liu uncomfortable? Or are you too tired? Sit down and have a rest!"

Madam Changlehou hurriedly said: "Sit down, this is my cousin's house, do you consider yourself a guest? Sit down and have a cup of tea, do you still need your cousin to pull you?"

Liu Jingyun smiled and shook her head: "Cousin also knows that my sister is busy, and has taken over the embroidery work of the two wives in the past few days, and my sister has to rush back to do it, finish it as soon as possible, and if there are new ones, I won't be too busy. My younger sister came here to deliver clothes to my cousin. I wanted to see her try on the Haitang cloud brocade robe. I felt that the dressmaker sewed a little on the armhole. I saw it when I was embroidering it. Come out, but he who knows the clothes will know!"

"Really? Let me see!"

Madam Hou of Changle reached out to grab the burden that Liu Jingyun brought on the stone table, Liu Jingyun hurriedly said: "Wait for my sister to untie it!"

He stretched out his hand to untie the burden, his fingers were white and slender, soft and dexterous, he untied the burden in two or three strokes, and shook out the brocade robe, Madam Changle Hou tried it, it really deviated from the shoulder bone, she couldn't help cursing:
"Which blind person in the garment workshop, wait for me to slap her in the face!"

Liu Jingyun said with a smile: "Tell my cousin, let them be more careful when making changes, if the embroidery thread is really broken, it's okay, just send it to the store, and I'll send it back after I fix it—my sister will leave first!"

"Hey, what are you in a hurry for?"

Chang Lehou threw down his clothes, grabbed Liu Jingyun, and pointed at Meimei: "I have guests here, and Mrs. Weiyuan Hou wants you to embroider two clothes. Why are you leaving so fast? Drink a cup of tea and eat a few snacks before leaving." !"

Liu Jingyun showed embarrassment, looked at the smiling Meimei, then sat down helplessly again, leaned slightly and apologized and said: "Madam Weiyuanhou please forgive me! I... the little girl was so busy that I got dizzy and offended Madam Already!"

Meimei smiled and said: "Your complexion is not good. You must have stayed up late last night. You should take a break. No matter how busy you are, you have to rest. You have to eat. You can't take care of your work. You are exhausted and hungry. I can't do it even more, don't you think?"

Liu Jingyun was startled, looked at Meimei gratefully, and nodded: "Yes! Mrs. Weiyuan Hou is right! The little girl has been taught!"

Mrs. Changle Hou glared at her: "I'm wrong on weekdays? It's only because she said it that I can listen to it!"

Liu Jingyun blushed and lowered her head: "Thank you cousin for your careful teaching!"

"Look! I'm begging her to thank you!" Mrs. Changle Hou smiled at Meimei: "Would you like to embroider clothes? Tell her, let her go quickly, and it's annoying to see her absent-minded. A young lady who is familiar with poetry and books is now in Qian's eyes!"

Liu Jingyun's face turned even redder, and she didn't dare to look up at anyone: "Cousin came to tease me again! Knowing that today is not what it used to be, my sister is no longer the same as before!"

Madam Changle Hou sighed: "Why don't you listen to me? How long will it take for you to struggle alone?"

Liu Jingyun was silent for a while, then said softly: "Sister, everyone has their own voice, please be considerate of my sister!"

After finishing speaking, she lowered her head and stood up, bowed deeply to the two of them, and said: "Sister, it's time to say goodbye——If Mrs. Weiyuan Hou has clothes to embroider, you can send someone to a small shop on the west side of South Street. The name is Jixiang Embroidery Village, the little girl should embroider within two days and send it to the mansion!"

Meimei looked at her slowly leaving back, and made a bet with herself: [-]%, she is undoubtedly the woman that Lao Liu had seen!
Mrs. Changlehou answered Meimei's questions, and after listening to Meimei's intention, she stayed for a while and said:
"Could it be that they are really destined? Your sixth son really has good eyesight. My cousin is indeed a rare and good woman!"

Then he laughed again and said: "The men of your Xu family are really extraordinary, what kind of eyes do they have? It is rumored that Xu Junying also fell in love with you at a glance, this time the sixth son of your family..."

Meimei was a little helpless: "What's so funny about this? If there is a fate, it's just a glance, but if there is no fate, it's useless to watch for a lifetime!"

"Well, it makes sense!"

Mrs. Changle Hou stopped laughing, calmed down, and resumed her dignified and noble Mrs. Hou's demeanor: "I want to know about my cousin, right? Let me tell you——Cousin Jingyun's grandmother and my grandmother are siblings. Married in the north, one married in the south, the one in the north is naturally my grandmother, and the one in the south is Jingyun's grandmother, we are cousins ​​within three generations. Jingyun was born in Pingzhou, Hunan, which is a land of fish and rice, and the Liu family has more than ten thousand fertile fields Mother, the gold and silver treasures accumulated by the ancestors are countless, a real rich family, the cousin has been a delicate lady who can only read books, play the piano, paint and embroider since she was a child. The dams of the lake collapsed, and all of them were submerged in a radius of hundreds of miles. Tens of thousands of people died in the flood disaster. Hundreds of members of the cousin's family were dispersed. The surface of the water was washed to a high slope in a neighboring county. Fortunately, the local wealthy family opened a porridge shed, and relied on the servant woman to make half a bowl of porridge every day to support her life. I took my cousin's 13-year-old younger brother and 11-year-old concubine brother to escape from birth. In this way, at least a few of the family gathered together, begging all the way, doing some needlework for others, and went to the capital to join me... She knew Me, because when I got married, she came to the capital with her family to have a wedding banquet, and she was only ten years old at that time!"

Madam Changle Hou had tears in her eyes: "Do you know what she looked like when I saw her? She was as thin as a stick, like a thin reed. She didn't tell who she was, and she couldn't recognize her at all! I placed them She is in the side courtyard of the mansion, and she will gradually get better after being raised for a few months. The cousin is strong, I don’t know how her parents taught her since she was a child, she refuses to eat free food, but wants to lead the concubine and servants to make some for the mansion Needlework, their embroidery skills in the Liu Mansion are indeed very superb and exquisite. After her body fully recovered, she asked me to help her and open an embroidery shop. With so many rich and noble women I know, each family is looking for a piece of clothing Embroidery for her, after a year, the money earned is more than enough for their family's living expenses. She said that the only thing she can do is this, she can't depend on her cousin for a lifetime, she has to work hard to earn a living, raise her younger brothers, let them Studying and gaining fame, only in this way can the Liu family have hope!"

Meimei was moved, this weak Liu Jingyun was quite similar to her in her stubbornness.

"How old is Jingyun? Is she engaged?"

Mrs. Hou of Changle wiped away her tears and said, "I'm 17 years old this year. She was betrothed since childhood. She was betrothed to a rich and wealthy local family. Her surname is Lin, but someone is an official in the court. That fiancée has long since I went to study in the capital for two years, my hometown was washed away by the flood, and all the family property was gone. The young master of the Lin family stayed in Beijing with his relatives. The two had met on the street, but they were strangers. After marrying a merchant girl, Jingyun has nothing to do with him! As you can see, Jingyun has an outstanding personality and appearance. She wears a veil when she goes out on the street on weekdays. She has seen her real face and asked someone to tell her a matchmaker. Yes, she said - I will never marry in this life!"

　Third watch. . . . . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)