Madam Hou

Chapter 36

I don't know if Chen's mother was surprised or not. In short, when Lin Fengqi drove her horse and galloped in the quiet imperial city, when they reached the west city, they were taken by a group of guards from the Fifth Army Battalion on duty to destroy the capital city. When the terrorists of social harmony stopped him and wanted to search him, but our Shizi Lin couldn't find anything to prove his identity, Yin Niang really felt very excited, and she wanted to find a hole to hide in the ground.Fortunately, the battalion commander who rushed over recognized the young general who had just taken office, otherwise the two of them would have spent the night in the prison of the Fifth Army Battalion.

But the guard battalion commander I met had a great admiration for the eldest son who had made great achievements and was promoted to a general at a young age, and he was too enthusiastic about them. Come on, he led a group of guards to escort the idol all the way to the idol's mother-in-law's house in a fake public service, and knocked on the door vigorously with a fist like a sledgehammer, making Mrs. Chen and others who had already met Duke Zhou think that they were recruited. Bandits who rob houses.

After a group of people ran wild, Mrs. Chen was wearing a coat, and her hands and feet trembled so that someone opened the door, and then she saw the neat and magnificent guards forming a semicircle outside the door, and the prospective son-in-law standing in front of the guards. The second daughter with a delicate face in the hat, I think she must have been frightened.

After Mrs. Chen invited Lin Fengqi and Yinniang in, she asked the maid to make tea.Mrs. Chen was still under a lot of pressure facing her son-in-law-to-be, she didn't dare to use too much a complaining tone, and even asked flatteringly: "My son, what's the rush for you to come here so late?"

Based on the principle of voting for Li Baotao, since Lin Fengqi brought her to see her family, she couldn't let her mother have a bad impression of him, so she deliberately helped him hide it and said, "Mother, there is nothing urgent, I miss you and Ping Niang. So I asked the prince to bring me here."

Mrs. Chen was not so polite to her daughter, she patted her daughter on the head with one hand, and said: "You damn girl, you should choose a good time to come here, what time is it now, it's midnight, You think you are a ghost, you come out to wander around in the middle of the night, you are not afraid of scaring people to death."

After hearing this, Lin Fengqi touched his nose uncomfortably.And Yin Niang cried out that it hurts as she touched the place that her mother had patted.

Mrs. Chen lost her composure in front of her prospective son-in-law in a moment of excitement, but now she came to her senses, sat up straight again, coughed softly, and continued: "You should have reported to Mrs. Lin Hou seriously during the day to get her Come back after agreeing, Mrs. Lin Hou is a benevolent person, so why not make it difficult for you not to let you come to see me?"

Lin Fengqi became even more uncomfortable. For two or three months, he restrained his daughter to learn the rules and refused to let him out to meet his mother. It seemed a bit harsh.

After Mrs. Chen said these mysterious sounds to her daughter, she turned to Lin Fengqi, looked at him and said, "My lord, my daughter, I know, always thinks about the past and ignores the future when she does things. Take it easy. If she does something to offend you and your wife, tell me, and I will teach her a lesson."

Lin Fengqi sat up straight facing Mrs. Chen, and said respectfully: "Yes, mother-in-law, Yiniang is very good. I will take care of her in the future. Even if she makes mistakes in the future, I will take care of her."

Mrs. Chen said comfortingly: "I knew that Shizi is a good man, otherwise I wouldn't have let Yinniang be engaged to you."

After hearing this, Yin Niang said in her heart, don't be funny, when you asked me to get engaged to him, I didn't know him at all, so you can know that he is a good man?Yinniang raised her head and looked around again, seeing that Pingniang was not there, she asked Mrs. Chen, "Mother, where is Pingniang, is she still asleep?"

Mrs. Chen said: "She's not here. If you are in such a big fight, she would have woken up long ago. There is a pair of nephews living in Mao'er Hutong next door. The niece is a lady named Jiang. She likes Ping Niang very much. I don't think she's a bad person, and that old aunt is also very disciplined, so I let her go. Today, Mrs. Jiang sent her maid to say that Pingniang would stay with her for one night, so I asked Qingmiao and Qingdou to take her with her. Ping Niang's clothes and went to serve."

Speaking of Mao'er Hutong, Yinniang remembered what Yanniang had told her when she was in the palace, saying that Momo also lived in Mao'er Hutong, so she asked Mrs. Chen: "Mother, do you know where this place lives?" Is there an old man surnamed Yu in Maoer Hutong, last time my sister said that the person who taught her also lives there."

After listening to Yinniang's words, Mrs. Chen seemed to remember this matter: "If you don't tell me, I will forget about it." She lowered her head and thought for a while, and then said with some uncertainty: "It seems that I heard Pingniang say last time However, it seems that Mrs. Jiang's aunt is surnamed Yu."

A light flashed in Yinniang's heart, and she thought, there can't be such a fate!Next time you come here, you should pay a good visit to this mysterious Yu Momo.

Mrs. Chen also knew in her heart that the daughter came here in the middle of the night, and she probably didn't report to Mrs. Lin Hou, so she didn't dare to keep them for a long time, and let them go back early.

Lin Fengqi did a good job of keeping secrets in the mansion. When he went out, he went out quietly, and when he came back, he also came back quietly.Only Qing Hua, who had been covering Yinniang and Lin Fengqi in the room, was so worried that she hid on Yinniang's bed and did not dare to move, for fear of making a noise that would attract the maidservants who were watching the night outside and let Mrs. Linhou know.She knew clearly that apart from her and Qingteng, all the maids and wives in the courtyard were the eyes of Mrs. Linhou.

But if the secrecy work is done well in the mansion, it does not mean that the secrecy work outside is also done well.Not only women gossip in this world, but men gossip too.The fact that Yongning Hou Shizi took his fiancée to his mother-in-law's natal house in the middle of the night spread to the ears of their wives through the mouth of the patrolling guards that night, and then from their wives to the ears of the wives of the capital.

Of course, this kind of thing is also a matter of different opinions.Dayan didn't take the rules as seriously as before. Even the punishment of soaking the pig cage was abolished by the Taizu who had just conquered the world. If a couple of unrelated men and women appeared on the street late at night, maybe everyone would say something with disgust "Dogs and men" and "shameless", but they are unmarried couples. After the iron board is nailed, they will sleep on the same couch. One is a young general who has just won military merits, and the other is a direct sister who is loved by the empress. Now, some people who want to make a good relationship between the two families will praise "deep affection" and "talent and beauty" against their conscience.Of course, some people said contemptuously: "Sure enough, she is a girl from the countryside. If she doesn't obey the rules like this, the rules in the capital will be broken by them." I just don't know how much envy or jealousy is contained in this contempt.There are more people who purely regard this incident as entertainment, I just listen to it and don't tell anyone, I will not offend anyone, and I also listened to an interesting story.

When Jingcheng was gossiping about this matter, Yinniang didn't know that she was locked up in the yard to learn embroidery, settlement of accounts and etiquette, and she didn't hear anything outside the window.Mrs. Lin Hou didn't know either, because it was the time when the stewards of the farms from all over the country were sending the year's prospects to Beijing, and Lin Hou didn't care about things. The money of the Hou Mansion went smoothly.In addition, in addition to the property of the Hou Mansion, her own dowry property also needs to be liquidated, and she is also busy with Lin Fengxuan's wedding dowry.In another month, it will be Lin Fengxuan's wedding date.

Half a month has passed since she came back, and what Yinniang wants to learn, except for female workers, other courses are finally basically satisfactory to Mrs. Lin Hou.Since then, Yinniang has been a teacher. As a reward, Mrs. Lin Hou asked someone to set up a carriage and sent Yinniang to Yangjiaoer Hutong to reunite with Mrs. Chen for a day.

As a result, as soon as the carriage left the gate of the Marquis of Yongning, Mrs. Lin heard from other wives that her son took his future daughter-in-law to meet his mother-in-law in the middle of the night, and Mrs. Lin was so angry that she was half dead.Naturally, she would not think it was her son's fault, it must be the daughter-in-law-to-be who asked her son to take her there.The son is a soft-hearted person, and also his future daughter-in-law, how can he stand up to her soft-heartedness.

Mrs. Lin Hou thinks that her authority as a future mother-in-law has been violated, and she asked her son to avoid taking her to see his mother in the middle of the night. Doesn't this imply that she has treated her harshly and deliberately separated their mother-child relationship? suspected.No, this is not married yet, it is already like this, and it will be fine in the future.It seems that he hasn't been trained well yet, and he has to continue training when he comes back.

Yinniang naturally didn't know what Mrs. Lin Hou was thinking. After she arrived at Yangjiaoer Alley, she talked to Mrs. Chen and Pingniang for a long time.Although I came here in the middle of the night last time, time was limited after all, and Lin Fengqi was beside me, so the mother and daughter didn't have time to say a lot.This time, the three mother and daughter can finally talk happily.

After finishing speaking, Yinniang asked Mrs. Chen to take her to Mao'er Alley.Yangjiao'er Hutong is not far from Mao'er Hutong, and the horse-drawn carriage passes by, but it takes only half a cup of tea to arrive.Pingniang jumped out of the carriage first and knocked on the door. A 50-[-]-year-old mother opened the door. Seeing that it was Pingniang, she smiled and said, "Oh, it's Pingniang. Why are you here today?"

Pingniang called her "Mother Jiang."

That Madam Jiang is the nanny of Mrs. Jiang. She was originally a servant of the Jiang family. She was widowed and lost her son when she was young. like.Mother Jiang saluted Mrs. Chen and Yin Niang, and then led them in.

As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Mrs. Jiang standing at the door. When she saw Pingniang, she smiled and waved her to come over. Pingniang ran over and took Mrs. Jiang's hand.Lady Jiang looked at Pingniang and said lovingly: "I heard your maid came and said that you are coming. I made kidney bean rolls. You can try them later. Don't you like them the most?"

That Mrs. Jiang looked 25 or [-] years old, but she was dressed like a girl, and her hair was not combed.After Mrs. Jiang finished speaking to Pingniang, she gave a shallow salute to Mrs. Chen who came over, and Mrs. Chen returned the salute.Because the two knew each other before, and their attitude towards each other was very casual, Mrs. Chen pointed to Yinniang and introduced: "This is my second daughter, her boudoir name is Yinniang."

Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Jiang are equals, so Yinniang regards Mrs. Jiang as an elder, and bows to her as an elder. opened, and then said with a smile: "It's really exquisite, all the daughters born by Madam are so beautiful."

They exchanged greetings for a while before entering the room.

In the room, Yu Momo was reclining on the imperial concubine's couch, squinting her eyes, with a big welcome pillow behind her. Beside the imperial concubine's couch, a maid was beating Yu Momo's legs with a hammer.Hearing someone coming in, Yu Momo opened his eyes, saw Yin Niang, and asked: "Are you Yan Niang's younger sister who is betrothed to Yongning Hou Shizi?"

Yin Niang smiled and said: "Yes." Then she ran over, took the hammer from the servant girl's hand and helped Yu Momo hammer her leg.Yu Momo kicked Yinniang away, and scolded with a smile: "Go, go, be as virtuous as your sister, and you will be cute."

Yin Niang said: "Why are you trying to be cute, I really want to serve you."

"Come on, tell me, what are you looking for?"

Yinniang put down the hammer, then went to lie down on the side of the imperial concubine's couch with her hands, and said to Memo: "My sister said that when I first came to the capital, I didn't know all the rules and etiquette, and she said that Yu Momo was excellent in everything. Let alone the capital city, even in the palace at that time, he was first-class and outstanding, let me visit the thatched cottage three times, and you must ask Chu Mo to teach me the rules."

"Bah, I've flattered you a lot. You just want me to work for you. I'm in my seventies and eighties, and I won't let me live a clean life for a few years."

"You're only 61 today, and you're still far away from seventy or eighty. You're going to live a long life."

Mrs. Chen also stepped forward to help Yinniang and said: "You are so noble, I heard that the one who loves the younger generation the most, please teach us Yinniang!"

Yu Momo glanced at their mother and daughter, and then said: "When I went to the Yongning Hou Mansion to teach Yanniang, I said that Yanniang would be the last student I taught. Mrs. Lin gave medicine to save my brother-in-law One life, let my sister and brother-in-law live a few more years, and also let my poor niece have a few more years of love from her parents, but when Uncle Lin lost the battle and died, the first emperor wanted to take Yongning away in a fit of anger. The title of Marquis, I begged successively for repaying the favor, and I persuaded the previous emperor to keep the title of Marquis of Yongning. I taught Yanniang, and I repaid the last kindness of the Marquis of Yongning. I am old, and I don’t want to die Work hard."

Yin Niang and Mrs. Chen were a little disappointed, but they had already talked about this, and it was hard to force them, so they gave up the idea of ​​asking her to teach.

After a while, Yu Momo said again: "But if you come to me and ask me about anything you don't understand, I'd be happy to give you some pointers. After all, it's just a matter of lip service. And that girl Ping Niang Well, my niece likes her, and I usually ask her to come here more often and spend more time with my niece."

Expectations after disappointment are the most gratifying, and Yin Niang happily said yes again and again.

Can't teach, it's good to get advice from Yu Momo, and Ping Niang, walk around here more, Yu Momo can still teach a few times from time to time.Pingniang is also at an age where she should learn the rules. If there are no accidents, she will not marry a poor family in the future. Knowing more about the rules is not bad.

(End of this chapter)