Rebirth of the High Gate Mistress

Chapter 45: The Head of the House 2

After Shunxi left with a lot of gratitude, the mother-in-law Zhou who was in charge of the outside came in and replied: "Madam, just now an invitation was sent from Yongyi Hou Mansion, saying that the third young master in the fourth room is getting married on the eighth day of this month. Please Let’s go to watch the ceremony.”

Yongyihou Mansion is Xu Wanning’s natal family, and this third son is her cousin

Jingshu took the invitation and asked Uncle Fu: "How much money do you usually give to people in the house?"

Uncle Fu replied: "The amount of money received for marriage by the prince's family and the first-rank official family is three hundred taels of silver. The earl and second-rank officials and third-rank officials receive two hundred taels of silver." After saying that, he ordered someone to take it and record it and give it to Jing. Shu: "This is a detailed record. Madam, please take a look."

Jingshu looked through it once, and she had something in her mind. She asked the steward in the warehouse to fetch the warehouse record. After reading it from beginning to end, she pointed at the objects recorded on the record and ordered the steward. : "Take out this Ruyi Baizi screen and this set of red kiln porcelain and wrap them up. In addition, go to the account to withdraw three hundred taels of silver notes and prepare them. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, I will go to the Yongyi Marquis Mansion to watch the ceremony."

After the steward retreated, Jingshu turned to Danzhu and ordered: "I remember there is a gold nanmu dowry in the small warehouse in our garden. Take it out, and then take two pieces of head jewelry and wrap them together."

Danzhu couldn't help but mutter in Jingshu's ear: "Miss, shouldn't the gift to Yongyi Marquis' Mansion come from the palace? Why do you have to add it yourself?"

Jingshu replied in a low voice: "The ones that came out of the palace are due to the friendship between our house and Yongyihou's house. The one we gave out is the intention of the prince and I. Is it different?"

Danzhu pouted and said, "As long as the father-in-law is born, that dowry of golden nanmu is the dowry given to you by your aunt and grandma. It's very valuable."

Jingshu patiently replied: "It's a pity that valuable things are left idle. It's only right to make the best use of them."

Just as he was talking, Grandma Chen, the steward of the third girl's yard, walked in. When she saw Jingshu, she respectfully replied, "Madam, I'm here because the third girl goes to school to collect money every month."

Jingshu asked: "What went wrong with the third girl's academic practice?"

Grandma Chen replied: "It stands to reason that the school rules for each young lady are fixed, but we three girls are different. In addition to studying at home every day, we three girls also have to go to the official school several times a month. The round trip fare, snacks and tea to the school, and the favors with the ladies and gentlemen in the official school cost a lot of money every month. So the third girl wanted the madam to give her an extra fifty taels of silver every month. Examples."

This third girl, so spoiled and pampered, is short of this little money. She is just making such a fuss for others to see.

Among the young masters and ladies in the mansion, the third master was arrested by Li Ling and sent to the military camp. The two eldest and second daughters of the concubine in the first house are married. Now it is the third daughter and the fourth master who are studying at home.

The third girl is a legitimate daughter and is eligible to enter the official school. The fourth master is a concubine and naturally does not have this qualification.

Needless to say, it is estimated that these three girls have probably had some trouble with the Fourth Master in the past few days. The reason why they come to ask her for this privilege today is for the Fourth Master to see.

  Children’s character!

Jingshu replied: "Each young master and girl have a fixed number of monthly lessons. I can't make an exception for the third girl. This money cannot come out of the father's house. You go back and tell the third girl that if the lessons are not enough, , this is the fifty taels of silver that the prince and I will allocate to her every month."

Mother Chen didn't know the third girl's character. After listening to Jingshu's words, she felt she had an explanation for this little ancestor when she went back, and she left with a smile.

By the time Jingshu had taken care of everything, she left the meeting hall and the full moon was already rising into the sky.

Jingshu took Ziyun to Qingfeng Garden, passing by Fourth Master’s Zhuxuan Hall, and happened to bump into Aunt Zhou next to Fourth Master.

Mama Zhou held the food box and bowed to say hello to Jingshu.

Jingshu looked at the food box in Nanny Zhou's hand and asked, "It's so late, hasn't Fourth Master eaten yet?"

Aunt Zhou lifted the food box in her hand and replied: "Fourth Master has been studying hard in the study. It was useless to say that he was not hungry during dinner. Now he feels hungry. I just went to the kitchen to get him some food. .”

Jingshu stepped forward and opened the food box. Inside she saw two cold steamed buns, a plate of already cold braised vegetables, and a plate of pickles. She frowned slightly and asked, "Why do you give these things to Fourth Master?"

Mama Zhou’s eyes darkened, and she replied with a downcast face: “The stove has been turned off at this hour, where is there anything hot to eat?”

The masters of the house all have their own small kitchens in the main courtyard. The fourth master is a concubine, so naturally he does not get this treatment. But even if the stove is turned off, it's not like he can't even cook a bowl of hot rice. This is clearly because the people below are bullying others by looking at others.

Jingshu handed the food box to Ziyun aside and said, "Take Aunt Zhou to the kitchen and tell them to restart the small stove to prepare food for Fourth Master. In addition, tell the steward in the kitchen that Fourth Master It’s hard for me to study, so from tomorrow onwards I will make him a nourishing late-night snack and send it to his study every night.”

Mammy Zhou said in fear: "How can this make me know that you have good intentions, but if others find out, you may not be able to make things difficult for us."

Jingshu comforted her and said, "If anyone makes things difficult for you again in the future, just come back and I'll be there."

Mama Zhou choked up and didn’t know what to say.

Ziyun advised: "Mom, don't worry. Today I took you to the stove to spread the word on the order of our wife. How can they dare to embarrass you in the future?"

Mama Zhou bowed deeply towards Jing Shu, wiped away her tears, and said gratefully: "In this way, I can thank you Madam on behalf of our fourth master."

Ziyun followed Jingshu's order and took Nanny Zhou to the kitchen to pass the message. Who is not a human spirit? The steward on the stove immediately started the stove. In a short time, four dishes, one soup and two snacks were prepared neatly. Put them all in a food box and bring them to Grandma Zhou in person with a smile.

Mama Zhou is the wet nurse of Fourth Master Li Yu. Over the years, she has never been as happy as she is today.

Seeing Aunt Zhou walking in with a food box, Li Yu moved her eyes from the book and asked, "Mama is in a good mood today."

Mammy Zhou smiled and arranged the food in the food box one by one, and said: "Brother Yu, come over and eat quickly."

Li Yu put down her book, walked to the table, looked at the sumptuous meal, glanced at Grandma Zhou, and said lightly: "No wonder Grandma is in a good mood today."

He glanced at the corners of his eyebrows and said, "It's rare. Did they take the wrong medicine today and they didn't make it difficult for you?"

Mammy Zhou put the bowl and chopsticks in front of him and said with a smile: "Brother Yu, don't worry, from now on, those snobbish minions will never dare to embarrass us again."

With that said, Grandma Zhou told Li Yu what happened just now.

“This second lady is indeed a good person.” Grandma Zhou praised Jingshu from the bottom of her heart.

Li Yu put down the chopsticks and said with a gloomy look: "There are no good people in this house. She is just the new head of the house, and she is just pretending to have a good reputation."

Mammy Zhou replied: "The second lady is different from them, she is not that kind of person."

Li Yu said coldly: "I don't think there is any difference."

Mother Zhou knew that he had a stubborn temper, so she didn't say much. She picked up chopsticks and served him food, and persuaded him: "Brother, I was bored reading when I came back from school. Let's eat quickly."

　　When mentioning the school, Li Yu remembered how he was annoyed by the third girl in the school today. He threw the chopsticks impatiently and said bitterly: "They are the same as each other."