The Concubine's Survival Manual

Chapter 166

"If it was an ordinary woman, I'm afraid I would just accept my fate like this. But Feng Hong has been strong since she was a child, and this time is no exception. That night she took her sister-in-law to accompany her, and secretly entered my house through the back door, and asked me what was in the dowry gift?" How much money is short, she will find a way to make up."

Even the eunuch's voice became distant, and the infinite bitterness was tinged with bits and pieces of sweetness.

"Although I was surprised and delighted, but the family spent all they had, and they could only come up with 300 taels of silver. It happened that at that time, a fellow villager invited me to sell silk and satin to the capital. Seventh Miss might not know that even now, the silk and satin business is very profitable. .Sometimes the color selection is clever, and it is not uncommon to make a double profit. Your mother took 200 taels for capital, and asked me to bring the 500 taels of silver and sell them in Suzhou. The cloth went to Beijing to sell. Two or three times like this, a thousand taels of betrothal gifts came out.”

"I was always too young at the time, so I didn't ask where the money came from. I accepted it happily, and promised her to return soon... I went to the capital together with a few fellow villagers..." Even the eunuch The voice gradually became bitter. "Actually, there were no major events along the way. It's just that there are long-term attendants of the parents and officials of Suzhou City who are accompanying us. Relying on the identity of the master, they are always domineering. A rice merchant can't see the eye, and the two often quarrel."

"When we got to Tongzhou, the two quarreled again that night. In a fit of anger, the long follower drew a knife and stabbed the rice merchant to death in front of the few of us—this was a life lawsuit, and he was not allowed to enter Yamen? It just so happened that the magistrate of Tongzhou and the official in Suzhou were in the same year...the merchants in the same company were all sophisticated people. I sow dissension and instigate that Chang Sui to kill, Chang Sui himself is just young and impulsive."

Even the eunuch paused, then smiled self-consciously.

"Fortunately, I still have some money on me, and there are two loyal elders who refused to collude with each other, so they were released in a daze. But they are already registered as guilty. When the government is happy to try the case again, what? The time is when I go to prison again."

He turned around and stretched his sleeves to show Qiniangzi, "The three nails on the left hand were pulled out in prison, and they will never grow back in this lifetime."

"After this unreasonable disaster, I lost all the 500 taels of silver on me. I didn't dare to stay in Tongzhou, and I didn't have the face—I didn't have the money to go back to Suzhou. I had no choice but to go to the capital to find a job. I lived frugally, brokered goods everywhere to sell them, and after two or three years, I actually saved some money and had the travel expenses back to Suzhou.”

"At that time, I was getting older and understood a lot of things in the world. I already knew that the 200 taels that your mother took out must be the Feng family's own private savings. With Uncle Feng's insatiable temperament, how could he let it go. So I was anxious to go back and accept the crime. So I quit my job and went back to Suzhou in hiding." Eunuch Lian sighed. "Sure enough, it is said that the Feng family was in a hurry to use the money, but they couldn't get it out. Both the sister-in-law and your mother were severely criticized. Your mother couldn't bear it, so she went to work in the embroidery room. I went to someone else and saw her again. At that time, she was sixteen or seventeen... exactly your age now."

His voice was distant.

"I told the whole story, but I didn't expect that she not only didn't blame me, but also comforted me by saying that she had paid back the money, and told me not to worry. Instead, she asked me if my family was in a stable position. My life was rough and my family affairs were scattered. , only your mother treats me that way wholeheartedly. At that time, I secretly made up my mind that as long as I have a breath, I will definitely not disappoint your mother's affection. I said I had some money, and I was going to ask someone to wash away my crimes. Open a small shop outside, and you will have a place to live for the rest of your life. It's just that I can't afford the thousand taels of betrothal gift."

"Your mother didn't care at all. She said that she was too stupid in the past. She didn't care if she didn't want a thousand taels of dowry, and she was willing to elope with me. She asked me if I would wait for her for a few years, and then come out to get married after her contract with the embroidery room is over... ...I, I like it so much, how could I not want to?" Lian the eunuch suddenly turned around again, his breathing was short and broken. "Those six months were the happiest days in my life. I could see her once a month, and I heard from her best friend that she was saving for a dowry. I also lived hard in private, thinking that I would save some money now and save money in the future." Days get better."

"But I didn't expect, and I still don't understand, how the world can be so tricky. Only half a year later, one day, the family of the rice merchant suddenly came to the door, saying that I used money to escape the crime and wanted I took the life of a dead man. At that time, the magistrate was still in office. If I wanted to bite his house, I was afraid it would be a death. After thinking about it, I had to avoid the limelight first. Before I left, I went to see your mother, but she insisted on giving it to me. 500 taels of silver, tell me to take self-defense..."

Even the eunuch smiled dryly, "Miss Seven, look how kind-hearted she is. Once I leave, I don't know when I will come back, and she doesn't care, she just wants me to carry it with me."

His voice dropped. "That was my second mistake. I didn't ask where the money came from, so I took it. I asked her to go with me, but she said that the Yang family was powerful, and she was afraid she would get away, so she wanted to send someone came after."

"It's just such a coincidence that this matter actually reached the ears of Chang Sui. He was more afraid of the incident than I was. After a few words, the government also sent a message to chase me. I was cornered and lost. I have been wandering for more than a year. I try to find ways to return to Suzhou, thinking that your mother may have left Xianxiufang after her appointment..."

Even the eunuch stopped talking and stopped talking.

The following story, Qin Niangzi can probably imagine: it was the time when Jiu Yiniang was the most popular, Hong Yi Niang of the Jiangsu chief envoy's family, and the wife of the same fugitive, it seemed that people with discerning eyes knew how to choose.

"The long follower..." She changed the subject softly.

Even the eunuch turned around and smiled slightly.

"You lived in Suzhou too, Miss Seven."

Seventh Lady fell silent for a moment.

How could she forget about this?
At the end of the Zhaoming Dynasty, the Cheng family of the prefect of Suzhou was first exposed for corruption, and the holy will has not yet been judged. The elder also gossiped with Qin Niangzi, "I don't know who wants to punish Cheng Yu". His sudden death in Suzhou during this time is a famous unsolved case in Suzhou.She had also met the two young ladies of the Cheng family, and they had been in awe for a few days with Fifth Lady and Sixth Lady.

"Ten years is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge." Even the eunuch seemed to be the person in power who was not angry and arrogant again. He folded his hands behind his back and took a deep breath. "Isn't that the case for repaying kindness? I have always been your mother and lived a good life in the Yang family... I didn't expect to hear from Zixiu that the only one who served her all these years was your own daughter. Thinking about what she did to me Shen En, I can only repay you. If Miss Seven has something on your mind, just tell me, as long as it is useful to me, even a certain person will not refuse!"

Seventh Lady gave Eunuch Lian a deep look.

The expression on the middle-aged man's face was indeed sincere, and he looked at Qin Niangzi with a distant daze, as if he wanted to look for the person after that through her face.

She took a breath and let out all her chaotic thoughts.

"Uncle Lian Shi's kindness, Xiao Qixin accepts it." She took a few steps forward and looked at Eunuch Lian sincerely. "But it's your regret that you want to repay your kindness. Xiao Qi has no status to accept your kindness. The right and wrong back then have been buried in the ground with the death of my mother. No matter how good you are to me, I can't return."

She paused, then continued before even the eunuch. "Or you want me to forgive on behalf of my mother, to forgive something, but there are some regrets that you can't make up for no matter how much you try to make up... Mother never told me about you, and I don't know Does she still have any complaints in her heart, or she just hopes that you can live in this world, or she has long forgotten the past. It is not for outsiders to judge arbitrarily whether it is a relationship between a man and a woman."

"This embroidered handkerchief is the dowry that my mother embroidered for herself before she was alive. After going through several hands, it came back to me. Now that I give it to you, it can be regarded as marrying part of her energy to you."

She reached into her bosom, took out the yellowed embroidery that had been prepared, stepped forward, and gently stuffed it into Eunuch Lian's hand.

Even the eunuch's face was dull, as if he didn't respond to Qin Niangzi's every move, just immersed in his own world, the embroidered handkerchief barely lingered in his palm for a moment, because the master didn't hold it tightly, it slipped from his fingers .

As the silk and satin fluttered, the pair of vivid mandarin ducks seemed to come to life as well, fluttering in the air for a short distance, and finally fell into the dust again.

Qin Niangzi sighed, shook her head again, glanced at the big bright yellow screen again, quickly averted her eyes, turned around and walked out of this suffocating room quickly, shutting a piece of the past behind her mind .

As soon as she was out the door, she glanced down the steps in surprise.

"Cousin Zixiu?"

The young man in brocade was leaning over to take a closer look at a blooming Clivia, when he heard Seventh Lady's voice, he raised his head and smiled at her.

"I'll pick you up."

(End of this chapter)