in spring

Chapter 271
Zhou Nian has always been a gentle gentleman. When Chun Ying first met him, although he had dark eyebrows, compared with his current expression, he still had a sense of anger, and he would smile when talking to people.But the current him gave people a strange feeling, as if he had lost all hope, or was numb, with a blank look on his face, which made Chunying's heart feel sore.

Zhou Nian was walking in the direction of his small courtyard at the end of the street, but two women came towards him, chatting with each other while looking at the Wang family's courtyard, without being on guard for a moment, one of them bumped into Zhou Nian's arm, and fell He was jolted awake and bowed his head to apologize to the woman.But the woman glared at him, and cursed at him, saying that he had offended her, that he was rude and arrogant, and mentioned several times in her conversation that he was a lowly official slave and a sinner of the court.Even if another woman pulled her, she ignored her and continued to scold her.

Chunying felt angry when she saw it, and felt that the woman was very unfamiliar, and she didn't know where she was working. Although Zhou Nian was an official slave, he was actually the son of a family friend of the Hou family. He has always been very kind to him, how could he allow the servants to insult him so lightly? !However, Zhou Nian seemed to be unable to hear other people's scolding, just bowed his head and listened without refuting, Chunying watched anxiously.

"I wonder what my sister is looking at. It turns out that she is watching a crazy woman scolding the street." Shuangxi's voice came from behind her ears, and then she leaned over and looked out of the car next to Chunying's shoulder, "That woman is Which one? What is it like to be so noisy?! Miss Si is here, is she blind?!"

Chunying rolled her eyes, and smiled, "I don't know this woman, but I know who that one is. Didn't I say two days ago that Master Hou recommended a companion to our Fourth Young Master? Is it the son of an old friend? This is Zhou Nian Zhou."

Shuangxi was taken aback, quickly retracted her head, then secretly smiled again, and carefully looked out of the car: "Look...you look pretty good...just not in good spirits..."

Chunying said: "He wasn't like this before, and he doesn't know what's going on now. That's all, it's just this woman is abominable! He just bumped into her carelessly, and he already paid for it. She still wants to hold her People scold me, and I don't listen to others' dissuasion. If it's normal, it's fine. Today, the Wang family married a daughter, and everyone came to congratulate her. The fourth lady is also here. She just talks nonsense like this. Does she take us seriously? ?!"

Shuangxi hurriedly said: "That's what I said too, let's send someone to scold her!" Then he turned to the other side of the car window, lifted the curtain, called a woman, and told her to chase her away.Taking advantage of her unpreparedness, Chunying lifted the curtain to look at Zhou Nian, but just in time to see him turn his head and look at each other, his eyes met, he was startled for a moment, and then a faint smile appeared on his face, but unfortunately the smile was only fleeting , he turned his head away and continued to listen to the scolding in silence.

Chunying frowned slightly, feeling that his situation seemed really bad.

The old woman from Dong Mansion walked over and said a few words to the cursing old woman. Chunying originally thought that the old woman would shut up obediently, but she curled her lips and refuted with a sarcasm on her face. In the carriage, she could vaguely hear her saying, "I'm not your servant, you can't control me", "It's such a big road, anyone can walk, why don't you let me stay here", "Which young lady is so big? How dare you teach my old lady a lesson, Chunying and Shuangxi frowned when they heard that.The latter sneered and said, "What a big tone! Hearing what she said, it turned out that she wasn't the servant at the bottom? And where did the crazy woman come from to play wild here?!"

A daughter-in-law who was following the car sneered and said: "Young lady, listen to her nonsense? Why isn't she a servant? She is the nanny of the Second Young Mistress of the Xifu, and she came here to accompany the marriage. What! It's just relying on the power of the Grand Master's Mansion." !"

Shuangxi sneered: "So it's that master's man, I don't know who it is, it's such a great blessing to be able to raise such a decent servant!"

A woman came over from the courtyard of the Wang family, looking very dignified, she coldly reprimanded the cursing woman: "What kind of person are you?! You are so rude to our lady from the same family? Since you said that you are not the servant of our family, then you should simply understand the old lady, madam, and ask Mammy to go back to her own house! I won’t be wronged Mammy!" The old woman got angry and wanted to scold again, But the Wang family's mother-in-law ignored her, and turned to the woman who was joking with her earlier and said, "Aren't you supposed to be working today? Are you here? If you are lazy, I don't care about our family's wedding. Now, when the children are out of the house, let's go to see the second wife together, so as not to cause trouble, I will take the blame for you!" The old woman shrank her head and dragged away the second young lady's nanny, so that she would not have to follow her again. People quarrel.

At this time, there were a few shouts from Miss Fourth's carriage, it seemed that the people from the Hei family had finally finished their chatter, and the carriages in front of them urged their horses to move forward when they heard the sound, and the carriage that Chunying was sitting in also started to move forward. Okay, she only had time to glance at Zhou Nian again, but unfortunately he didn't look up again, he just retreated to the side of the road numbly, bowed his head and respectfully sent the carriage past.

Chun Ying could hardly hide her surprise, what was going on with him like this? !
Shuangxi didn't notice anything strange about him, because she saw something new again: "Isn't that man the son of the former head of the West Mansion? I heard that his house was released? Did he come to congratulate him today? Oh...there was a quarrel Now, how will this end..." The woman following the car persuaded: "Shuang girl, although most of the people who come and go on this street are our own family members, there are still men here, please put down the curtain and sit in the car quietly." Shuangxi curled her lips. , and sat down again, Chunying reluctantly smiled and comforted: "The Wang family has their own opinions, so don't worry about it, I really want to know, let's inquire later."

She returned to the East Mansion full of thoughts, although she was not in the mood, but because of her duties, she had to go to the second old lady to talk and laugh, and told all about the experience of going out this time. She wanted to tell Zhou Nian about it, but then she thought , and felt that this was a bit dangerous, so he kept it a secret.After the second old lady was blocked by the carriage and sedan chair she said, the Hei family came up to make amends and amused. Seeing that the granddaughter came up to pay her respects after washing, she specifically asked about it, and the fourth lady added all the details with a bitter face. The grandparents and grandchildren had fun again.

Chunying reluctantly chatted and laughed with him for half a day, and when she returned to the room, she was already very tired.After a simple grooming, she climbed into bed, but after thinking over and over for a long time, she came to a conclusion: Zhou Nian's family's case had failed, he must have been discouraged and hopeless, so he lost his energy, and the Second Young Mistress took this opportunity to bully him. he.

I just don't know why Master Hou and the third young master didn't interfere?Or did they interfere, but the Second Young Mistress's people still went their own way?The woman who scolded Zhou Nian was the nanny of the Second Young Mistress, so she should have some status, but no matter how high her status was, she couldn't be higher than Master Hou and the Third Young Master.But then again, what has the third young master been doing recently? !It didn't take a day or two for his best friend to become like this, why didn't he take care of it?All day I just think about whom to give the girls to be concubines!
Chunying complained angrily, thought about it for half the night, and woke up the next day to yawn, but finally thought of a way, hurriedly got up and combed her hair, while thinking about when to speak to the second wife.Unexpectedly, when she was about to doze off, she encountered a pillow. Not long after breakfast, the second wife called someone to pass her on.

After seeing the second wife, Chunying first made a salute, and then stood by the side to wait for orders. The second wife Zhuo Shi generously gave her a foot, and then asked: "That in-law of the West Mansion, Miss Fan's, is here in Beijing?" Having lived here for so long, have you heard the rumor that she will marry into the palace after the draft?"

Chunying was a little puzzled, so she nodded and said, "There have been rumors for a long time, but there has been no movement."

"Then do you think this rumor is true? Does the palace in central Beijing really have contacts with the Fan family?"

"Yes, there are." Chunying said, "After Miss Fan entered Beijing last year, she was introduced by Princess Jing, and met the concubines, concubines, princesses and other female relatives of several palaces. Two palaces seem to like Miss Fan very much. , took her as a guest from time to time, but the marriage was never mentioned, maybe it was mentioned, but the slaves didn't know about it."

Zhuo fell silent, and Chunying tried to ask: "Why is Madam asking this? Presumably Miss Fan is really going to marry into the palace?"

Zhuo smiled: "I don't know who she will marry into, but she sent someone to see me yesterday, saying that her uncle has found the house and is tidying it up, and will move out when it's done. So I wondered in my heart, is it because the marriage is settled that I plan to move out?" After all, she has a family, parents and relatives, and she cannot marry from a relative's house.

Chunying didn't know how to answer, so she lowered her head silently.Zhuo thought about it again, smiled again, and wanted to send Chunying back, but Chunying hurriedly put on a hesitant expression, and when she saw her, she asked, "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Chunying hurriedly stood up, lowered her head and said respectfully: "The servant girl received a letter from home the day before yesterday, saying that my brother-in-law has found a school for my younger brother. The gentleman is well educated and willing to accept my younger brother. Therefore, this servant girl is happy and sighs at the same time. Yesterday At night, thinking of what I saw and heard in Wang's house, the servants thought of something."

Zhuo asked: "What's the matter? It's good that your younger brother can study seriously for a few years. It's just your family's situation. It's better to learn some crafts to be serious."

Chunying didn't go to refute, and responded with a smile: "Madam is right, the maidservant's family just thinks that even if they can't enter school, it's always good to know a few words. Only after reading books can they understand the truth." After a pause, Back to the topic: "I saw the boys of the Wang family, the older ones were in their early ten years, and the younger ones were three or four years old, all playing around in the street. The older ones were fine, while the younger ones were almost like wild children. I only know how to play all day. The younger brother of the servant girl was so naughty before, and the neighbors' boys are not very gentle. There is no one in ten who can read before entering the mansion! The servant girl thought... …Since the gentlemen outside don’t want to accept slaves as students, why don’t we find someone who can read and write in the mansion to teach the boys? It’s not to teach them the Four Books and Five Classics, but just read the three-character scriptures and hundreds of surnames. , Let them learn arithmetic, and when they enter the mansion, whether they serve the masters or young masters, or work as clerks in the door, study, or account room, they can also know some basics, so that they don’t have to re-train them and spend time.”

Zhuo frowned: "Is...is it necessary? The errands in the door and the study naturally want to pick people who can read, but what they need to train is not just literacy. If you really want to hire a special person to spend time on training, wouldn't it be better? It would take a lot of trouble to teach people after entering the mansion? Besides, where can we find such a gentleman? Anyone who can read a few words will be sent on an errand."

Chunying knew that the critical moment was coming, so she hurriedly approached Zhuo, "Madam, do you remember that Young Master Zhou? Master Hou recommended him, but Madam thought he was too old to be the fourth young master's companion. But he already has some knowledge, how about letting him be the gentleman?"

A gleam flashed in Zhuo's eyes: "Go ahead!"

"The identity of this young master Zhou is really embarrassing. Speaking of which, he is a domestic slave converted from an official slave, but in fact he is still on the list of official slaves. The Hou Ye treats him with courtesy and kindness, but if someone wants to be picky, he is also a Trouble. It’s just that if you really want to use him as a servant, relying on the friendship between the two families, it’s somewhat unethical. Besides, there may be hope for his family’s case to be vindicated, and he will be free in the future. Wouldn’t it be more embarrassing to neglect him? Being a husband to the son of a servant, although not as respectable as a serious master outside, is still a good example of a teacher, and it’s not ashamed to say it out. My wife doesn’t have to worry about Lord Hou having ideas.”

It took Chunying a long time to come up with this method, but it actually has advantages and disadvantages.She didn't know what Lord Hou and the third young master thought of Zhou Nian now, but with students, Zhou Nian could also have a spiritual sustenance, and when he was busy, how could he have the time to think about it?His situation in the back street will be much better. No matter how someone bullies him, someone will stand up for him, and he can avoid the Second Young Mistress's people.After all, as long as he enters Dongfu, there will be nothing wrong with Second Young Mistress.

Zhuo thought, this method is decent and straightforward, it won't break his promise, and it can separate his son from Zhou Nian, and it will give him an excuse not to let Zhou Nian go to Liu Xueshi's residence. If something happened to Zhou Nian, just find someone to replace him.It's just that the matter is a bit troublesome, and the clansmen may still have objections, so I have to find a way to solve it easily.If you do well, you can also get a good reputation.

Thinking of this, she smiled: "The girl really has a good idea from time to time, so I invited Mr. Xu and Aunt Xu to come, so we can make a plan?"

Chunying breathed a sigh of relief, she only hoped that her method could really help Zhou Nian.

(End of this chapter)