Mistress

Chapter 54

Aunt Ji brought Qiao'er and Ying'er to the gate of Zhihui Hall. On the left side of the gate, Ma Xing led a dozen servants, and on the right side of the gate, Zhu Yan led a dozen soldiers. Not even a fly can fly in.

Ma Xing listened to Li Yan, and no one was allowed to enter even if the sky fell, while Zhu Yan had Xu Cheng's order before, so he listened to his wife.

Xu Cheng's followers, Zhang Chun and Wu Qingfeng, were missing. Maybe they were ordered by Xu Cheng to go on business, or maybe they were locked up like Chen Hao.

Aunt Ji came to Zhu Yan first, and asked: "Chen Hao often goes out and in with you, do you know where he is?"

Zhu Yan really didn't know where Chen Hao had gone, but based on the old master's style of handling things, he felt that Chen Hao should be on an official business, so he said: "Chen Hao is on a business under the master's order, and my aunt, as a person in the back house, shouldn't ask about it." .”

Aunt Ji snorted coldly, "When is it your turn to teach me a lesson, and you should blame me for asking?"

Zhu Yan shut up and didn't bother to talk to her.

Aunt Ji came to Ma Xing again, looked him up and down, and said teasingly: "Oh, the dog servant climbs too high, so he is not afraid of falling down and knocking his teeth? You are really a good trick, and Qiaoer was teased by Su Bai Break your head, and you're on a tall branch in no time."

Ma Xing didn't dare to talk to Zhu Yan when he saw that Zhu Yan had suffered a lot just now.What's more, Madam has also confessed that he doesn't want to talk back to anyone who makes sarcastic remarks. Once he talks back, he will easily quarrel. The master needs to rest in the house, so he keeps his mouth shut and pretends that he didn't hear anything.

Aunt Ji saw that Ma Xing was ignoring her, so she raised her hand to slap him when she walked over. Unexpectedly, Ma Xing was neither humble nor overbearing, and his skills were quick. He grabbed Aunt Ji's wrist, then pushed her aside, saying: "Madam said Now, whoever dares to make a noise in Zhihui Hall and disturb the master's recuperation will have to be taken care of by family law!"

"You dog slaves, how dare you push me and pay me back? The madam is in charge of the Zhihui Hall alone, and the master doesn't know whether he is dead or alive in it. You are still acting as dogs for the madam. If the master has something wrong, you will eat it." I can't walk around!" Aunt Ji yelled sharply, she was really anxious, she originally planned to recruit Xu Cheng into the Qiushui Pavilion after the New Year, so that she could conceive a child, but she didn't expect the master to be sick, and she couldn't even see the shadow of the master. Can't see them all.

"Qiao'er, Ying'er, go up and beat him!" Aunt Ji ordered.

As soon as Aunt Ji finished speaking, the dozen servants took a step forward to protect Ma Xing.Qiao'er and Ying'er are just weak women and little girls, how dare they step forward to make a move.

Aunt Ji was out of breath, so she burst into tears, wanting Xu Cheng and Li Yan inside to hear, "Master, what's wrong with your body, at least let me take a look at it. Serving jobs like feeding soup and medicine should be done." It was done by my concubine, if Madam is tired, let her rest for a while."

Li Yan was sitting inside in a daze, thinking about how to deal with various situations, such as what to do if the yard is surrounded, or what to do if she is caught while escaping, and she can no longer contact Xu Cheng. What should she do, how should she protect the two children?

Thinking about Princess Bao and Second Master Xu Ze, I don't know if Xu Cheng wrote a secret letter to them, anyway, my mind is in a mess.

At this time, she heard Aunt Ji making noise outside, so she came out and locked the door of the inner room and the door of the outer room one by one.

When Aunt Ji saw that Li Yan had finally come out, she immediately stopped crying, stepped forward and said, "Madam, I have always respected you, never contradicted you, and never done anything wrong to you. You treat my concubine very well. , the younger sister is always longer than the younger sister, and now that the master is sick, the wife should also let the concubine go in and take a look, right?"

Li Yan was very upset, and her attitude was not as gentle as usual, with a little impatience, she said: "It's not that I don't let you in, it's the master who doesn't let you in. He's not feeling well, afraid of noise, and doesn't want to see people. "

Aunt Ji didn't quite believe it, the master has always been very strong, how could he be unable to see anyone once he got sick, and said: "The concubine is also the master's concubine, and she slept with him before, it is impossible for the master I really don't think about my concubine at all, madam can't just take advantage of the master's illness and not let me in."

Li Yan remembered what Xu Cheng said a few days ago that she was asked to discipline the concubine's room, saying that as a wife, she could punish the concubine severely.She really had a headache and didn't want to hear Aunt Ji's noise anymore, so she said coldly: "Aunt Ji's words are inappropriate, if you offend me next time, don't blame me for being rude! Ma Xing, take someone to lock Aunt Ji into the firewood room in the dining hall. Send someone to guard!"

Aunt Ji was surprised: "What? Lock me in the woodshed?"

Li Yan said seriously: "Yes, if you dare to talk back, I will let Ma Xing hold your mouth!"

Aunt Ji jumped in front of Li Yan, as if she wanted to hit someone, but was dragged away by Ma Xing.Aunt Ji was really impatient, she usually cared about her elegant posture, but now she completely lost control, jumped up and down, and shouted: "Li Nianyun, who do you think you are, how dare you lock up my firewood room? ? I was appointed by the emperor to be a noble concubine for the master, not a cheap concubine bought by the master, I cannot tolerate you being so cruel!"

Li Yan raised her eyebrows, "I can't tolerate it? Then you have to invite the emperor as a rescuer. Ma Xing, hurry up!"

"Who dares!" Aunt Ji shouted.

With Li Yan's backing, Ma Xing is not afraid of Aunt Ji's backing, even if the emperor will help Aunt Ji, but right now she is not working every day, and the earth is not responding.

Ma Xing greeted several servants, grabbed Aunt Ji's left and right arms, and dragged her towards the dining hall.

Ying'er and Qiao'er cried and chased after them, also screaming.

Li Yan ordered the servants again, "Take Ying'er and Qiaoer to Qiushui Pavilion, restrain their feet, and send someone to guard them." Immediately, several servants went up to pick up Yinger and Qiaoer.

Aunt Ji scolded all the way: "Li Nianyun, Ji Yanqiu respects you in vain. You treat me like this today, so you are not afraid of retribution in the future. If you have the ability, kill me and see if the emperor will chop your head off!"

"Li Nianyun, shut up my firewood room, you will die!"

"Li Nianyun, do you want to secretly murder the master, the emperor lacks such a pillar as the master, and your father is easy to plot a rebellion in the northwest?"

Aunt Ji scolded all the way, until she was pushed into the woodshed by Ma Xing and she was covered in ashes, then she became panicked.If Xu Cheng really died, or was killed by his wife, would she really have to wait to die?
She got up and banged on the door vigorously. The guards outside simply added an extra lock, and then stuck a hatchet in the crack of the door, causing her to back away in fright.She felt extremely regretful, she shouldn't have gone to Zhihui Hall to make trouble, she should have gone directly to the emperor.

But how did she know that Madam would close her firewood room before, she never dreamed that such a thing would happen.

Aunt Song was still bowing her head at Mingxiang Pavilion to embroider cloud pictures, and the purple robe she made for Xu Cheng had already seen its first appearance.At this time, Bier came to report in a hurry, saying that Aunt Ji had been locked up by his wife in the woodshed, and she was so frightened that all the needles and threads in her hands fell to the ground.Her intuition was that the madam wanted to take the opportunity to torture the two concubines while the master was ill and neglecting his affairs, and maybe even killed them.

"Bi'er, hurry up and get the two young masters back, don't let them play wild in the yard, and let them live with me from today. Also, none of us in Mingxiang Pavilion are allowed to go to Zhihui Hall Dangling in front of you, stay in the pavilion honestly and don’t go out.” Aunt Song had just finished saying this, and suddenly said, “No, we have to go back to the Song Mansion immediately!”

But Bi'er said with a bitter face: "Auntie, we can't go anywhere. Madam doesn't let people from the house go out, and doesn't let people from outside the house come in, except those who buy ingredients in the dining hall and those who pull Gong barrels can go out. Everyone else is not allowed to leave the mansion. But because it is the New Year's Eve, Madam gave those non-family children a few days off and asked them to come back after the [-]th day of the first lunar month."

Aunt Song was terrified, "What if Madam wants to take the opportunity to harm the two young masters? Quickly bring my silver boxes and jewelry boxes!"

Bi'er hurried to move, a few boxes of silver and a few large boxes of jewelry were all Aunt Song's savings over the past few years.

Aunt Song touched and touched these precious jewelry, finally closed the lid, stopped looking at it, gritted her teeth and said: "First take 300 taels of silver to the dining hall for accommodation, and ask them to help me deliver the letter to the Song residence. In addition, take these few boxes of silver and jewelry to the Song Mansion and give them to my elder brother, so that he can find a way to save us."

Bi'er was not confused, and said: "Auntie, this method is not feasible. If the master suddenly recovers from his illness, the master will be very angry when he sees you taking the young masters back to her mother's house for the new year. Don't you remember what happened to Zhang Yuliu? Well, she thought that the master would die in Jiaoyang City and never come back, so she made herself so miserable, Auntie, don't follow in her footsteps."

Aunt Song was startled, thought for a while and said, "Then let elder brother send dozens of guards to sneak into the mansion to protect us secretly."

Bi'er nodded, looking at the belongings in front of her, feeling a little reluctant, "Auntie, you and the young masters will have a long life in the future, why don't you keep some of it?"

Aunt Song sighed: "If life is gone, what's the use of keeping the money. Just keep a few jewelry and a box of silver, and give away the rest."

"Yes!" Bi'er hurriedly went out and told the rough envoy to find the two young masters, and then she came in to pack the silver, first packing the 300 taels of silver for accommodation.

Aunt Song wrote a letter. Although she hated her natal family, in the end she could only count on her natal family.

At noon, Nanny Cui and Qi'er came to Huitang with food boxes and fruit boxes respectively.To be on the safe side, Li Yan didn't tell them about Xu Cheng's fake illness.

Li Yan only let the two of them into the outer room, Cui Mama cried as soon as she came in, but afraid of disturbing the master, she only dared to sob in a low voice: "Ma'am, what do you think is wrong with the master, I haven't seen him sick all these years Seeing that it was the New Year's Eve, but he couldn't afford it."

Li Yan said in a daze: "The master has a heart disease. The emperor has divided his power, and now he is not used. The Xu family has always been the emperor's right-hand man. Now that the master is here, the emperor has alienated him. Why don't you tell him?" Sad. Mammy, don't worry too much, the master just feels bad and rests for a few days, but he doesn't have any illness that makes him unable to get up on the kang."

Nanny Cui stopped crying and showed joy on her face, "Ma'am, what you mean is that the master is fine, and he will recover after a few days of rest?"

Li Yan squeezed out a smile and nodded.

Qi'er also became happy, "The slaves hurried back and told Xue'er and the others, lest their eyes swell from crying these days."

Cui Momo frowned and said: "Shhh..., keep your voice down, the master is still inside. What do you have to say about this to those girls, don't let them spread the word, let's just know it in our hearts."

Qi'er hurriedly covered her mouth, and then went out with Nanny Cui.

It was quiet for the next two days, and no one came to Zhihui Hall to make trouble anymore.Li Yan sometimes reads and writes inside, so that she can calm down, and sometimes comes out to relax, just let Ma Xing and Zhu Yan lead people to guard the door.

On the day of the New Year's Eve, the mansion was busy pasting up the window grilles, the red lanterns were hung up, and the dining hall was busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.Although the children of the family did not dare to be as noisy as in previous years, they also carefully arranged them as in previous years, and they did not dare to be lazy at all.

Li Yan was very anxious, because she had never received any secret letter from Xu Cheng, and she didn't know what happened to him outside.Moreover, the second master Xu Ze also said that he would bring his family over for a New Year's Eve dinner in the evening. He seemed to know nothing about his brother.

The more Li Yan thought about it, the more anxious she became. She was about to go out of Zhihui Hall for a walk to relieve boredom, but she heard movement at the secret door, and when she looked back, Su Bai came.

He handed Li Yan a secret letter written by Xu Cheng.Li Yan didn't have time to read the letter, so she asked: "Is everything all right, master, where is he?"

Su Bo replied, "Master, everything is fine." As for where he was, he didn't answer.

Li Yan knew that she couldn't get anything out of his mouth. His mouth was too tight, and he wouldn't say anything even if it wasn't important.

Su Bai didn't leave immediately, but wanted to leave Zhihui Hall.Li Yan hurriedly asked: "Where are you going?"

"The master asked me to inspect the situation in the mansion. The guards arranged by the master outside the mansion captured more than 50 guards of the Song Mansion yesterday. For the safety of the wife and young masters and ladies, the master asked me to investigate carefully. In addition, The master also asked me to show up more in the mansion, so that the people in the mansion can feel at ease."

Li Yan was astonished, the guard of the Song Mansion?In other words, they were recruited by Aunt Song. I didn't expect even her to be restless.Thinking about it, anyone who is in this situation will feel flustered.

After Su Bai went out, Li Yan opened the letter Xu Cheng wrote to her, the content was very simple, as follows: everything is well, don't worry.You go to appease Wang Yingying tonight, and when she spreads the news tomorrow, you order the soldiers to kill her.Also, be sure to celebrate the New Year with peace of mind!

After reading this letter, Li Yan felt relieved all of a sudden.Thinking about it, I shouldn't have worried at all. After being the prime minister for so many years, Xu Cheng must be good at strategizing, and he will arrange everything.

Li Yan left Zhihui Hall, returned to Jinxiu Courtyard with joy, and tried on new clothes for the New Year.

The servants thought that the master was in good health and would come out in a few days, and seeing Su Bai walking around the mansion, they were even more convinced that the master was safe.

At this time, it was Aunt Ji who was desperate. After a few days of sloppy life in the woodshed, she could hardly bear it anymore. How could she bear to eat in the woodshed and pull in the woodshed.Moreover, the guards didn't take out the toilet in time, and she was almost out of breath.

Today is New Year's Eve, and Li Yan still doesn't seem to want to let her out.She knocked and kicked the door with the last bit of strength, and cursed: "Li Nianyun, let me out quickly, if I die, a ghost will not let you go! Li Nianyun, bitch, you will be struck by lightning if you are so cruel! of!……"

The guards told Li Yan about Aunt Ji's swear words, and Li Yan felt uncomfortable hearing it. She didn't intend to suppress her concubine, and she didn't want to torture Aunt Ji to death, but wanted her to suffer so that she could understand herself. Situation, don't think about trying to win people over at every turn, and show yourself in front of Xu Cheng at every turn.

Thinking of the New Year's Eve today, Li Yan pondered for a while, and ordered Aunt Ji to be released from the firewood room and let her go back to Qiushui Pavilion, but her feet were still grounded and she could not leave the Qiushui Pavilion.

Aunt Ji thought that after returning to Qiushui Pavilion, she would be able to find a way to get out, or deliver a letter to the emperor, but unexpectedly Li Yan sent more than [-] people to guard Qiushui Pavilion tightly. Can't do it.

When Ying'er and Qiao'er saw Aunt Ji came back, the three of them cried together.Without Chen Hao, they couldn't spread a single word to the outside world.The emperor is working on the crown prince's affairs, because the crown prince's conquest, so far not even a single soldier of the Wang family has been seen, and the Wang family has also disappeared without a trace, not even a single servant has been caught.

The emperor was worried about this, he didn't care to think about Aunt Ji, he didn't know what happened to her in Xu's residence.

Aunt Song and Bi'er were also crying, and the money was sent out, but no hidden guards sneaked in to protect them, and she didn't know if the money was not sent to her brother, or if the brother took the money and didn't send anyone.

The only thing Aunt Song didn't expect was that all the people sent by her brother were arrested.

Bi'er cried and comforted Aunt Song, "Auntie, Madam has returned to the Jinxiu Courtyard, and the slaves have seen Su Bai, so the master is probably recovering soon. Since Madam hasn't come to trouble you these few days, you don't have to worry about it." Yes. It’s better than Aunt Ji. She was imprisoned in the woodshed for three days, and now she’s confined to the Qiushui Pavilion. Auntie, at least you can walk around the mansion at will. If Madam wants to harm you, she should do it long ago. Won't wait until now."

Aunt Song felt reasonable after hearing this, and regretted it again, "Could it be that my money and jewelry were wasted?"

Bi'er also felt that it was a waste of money, but it was not easy to poke Aunt Song's heart at this time, and said: "Although it was a waste of money, didn't Auntie feel relieved because of the money spent in the past two days? The day's peace of mind is not in vain."

Aunt Song felt pain in her heart when she thought about it, and cried again.

In the evening, the dining hall has prepared the New Year's Eve dinner.Li Yan had also dressed up, and Madam Cui asked her, "Ma'am, isn't the master even coming out for the New Year's Eve dinner?"

Li Yan shook her head, "If the master doesn't come, he asked me to stay with the second master. The children of the second master are too noisy, even I can't bear it, let alone the master who is resting."

"Then Aunt Ji...do you want to let her out for the New Year's Eve dinner?" Nanny Cui asked again.

Li Yan shook her head again, "Why did you let her out? Don't overturn the dining table just to get discouraged when she comes."

"If Madam doesn't let Aunt Ji come to the New Year's Eve dinner, she's afraid she'll hate Madam to the bone. After Master comes out, if he lifts the ban on her, will she secretly murder Madam?" Cui Momo was a little worried .

"She already hates me to the bone, and it doesn't matter if she doesn't come out for the New Year's Eve dinner."

"How about...madam just...deal with her?" Nanny Cui said such words cruelly for the sake of Madam's future safety.

Li Yan thought for a while, and said: "Nurse, this matter is important, and I need to think carefully about it. Let's go to the New Year's Eve dinner first, the children are waiting."

"What madam said is that at least we have the reunion dinner first."

Nanny Cui led Qi'er, Qing'er and others, surrounded Li Yan and walked towards the dining hall.

(End of this chapter)