The Good Concubine of the Qing Dynasty [Red Mansion]

The next morning, Hongxiu, wearing a red dress, helped Aunt Yun wash and put on makeup. Seeing that the area under Aunt Yun’s eyes was smooth and not dark, she felt relieved. It was obvious that Aunt Yun was not affected by the master’s departure last night. She asked with a smile, “Aunt Yun, which set of jewelry are you wearing today?”

Yun Shuyao casually pointed to a set of pearl jewelry that Lin Ruhai had given her yesterday.

It is not as good as the famous South Sea pearls, but it can still hold its own.

Under Hongxiu’s skillful hands, Yun Shuyao saw the exquisite bun in the mirror and exclaimed: “Hongxiu, your craftsmanship is really good.”

She could only follow the original owner’s memory and make some simple hairstyles step by step, but Hongxiu was different. With her skillful hands, she could always give people a refreshing look.

Hongxiu heard the sincerity in her words and smiled shyly. “I practiced a lot at home.”

At that time, she almost made her mother’s hair bald because of her bun.

Yun Shuyao was wearing a light green dress today and had pearl jewelry on her head. She looked very fresh. When she arrived at the gate of Bitao Courtyard, she was stopped by an old maid.

From her clothes and appearance, Yun Shuyao quickly drew a connection with the character that Hongxiu had described to her. This was Jia Min’s wet nurse, Madam Qian, and also Jia Min’s confidant, whom she relied on very much. In the backyard, apart from the two masters—the old lady and the mistress—she was the most “impressive.”.

She looked Yun Shuyao up and down, with a fake smile on her plump face, and said something a little weird: “It’s early, Aunt Yun.”

It’s already this late, and she’s just arrived. She’s indeed a tricky guy!

If the master had not come to Bitao Courtyard yesterday, Nanny Qian would have regarded her as a serious threat.

In her opinion, some situations are unavoidable, especially when there is an old lady above, but this does not prevent her from standing on the side of the wife and treating all the vixens who seduce the masters as enemies.

This is also to protect the interests of all the Jia family members.

When one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer.

If the wife’s life is not easy, their life will definitely not be much easier.

“Madam is still dressing up, so please wait a moment, Madam Yun.” She looked at her disdainfully, trying to dampen her arrogance.

Yun Shuyao smiled and said, “My wife is dressing up, so of course we have to wait.”

Check-in early?

Impossible.

It was enough for her to arrive a little earlier than another colleague, but how long could she stand there?

The time for Lin Ruhai and Jia Min to pay their respects to the old lady was set. She arrived at Bitaoyuan, and it would not take long for them to leave.

For the principal wife, bringing the concubines to pay respects to the old lady is a way of honoring these concubines.

Jia Min would not do such a thing.

Yun Shuyao stood there for a few minutes before Aunt Mei arrived.

Seeing Aunt Mei’s imposing manner, Nanny Qian’s expression became even uglier.

Aunt Mei’s dress today is not as gorgeous as yesterday, but it is equally eye-catching, and the jewel hairpin on her head is eye-catching.

Yun Shuyao took a look and thought that this kind of dress made her look like a nouveau riche, but the hairpin was really pretty and the girl was indeed beautiful, especially her eyes, which were typical “fox eyes.”.

“Aunt Mei.” Yun Shuyao spoke first, her voice clear.

You can also hear her calmness in her voice.

The master left after dinner last night, but she wasn’t angry?

Aunt Mei chuckled. “Good morning, Sister Yun.”

She emphasized the word “sister” as if to emphasize something.

In terms of height, Yun Shuyao is taller than her. They both have the same date of birth, but she came in first, which means she has more seniority.

She is worthy of calling her sister.

When her eyes caught sight of the set of pearl jewelry on Yun Shuyao’s head, her chin lifted two points higher than before.

It’s not big and not very expensive, but it was a gift from her master.

This is a priceless treasure.

Yun Shuyao noticed that, compared to yesterday, her eyes were much colder today. Did this mean she had “turned darker”?

No, she still wants to stay here for a few years and save some money.

It doesn’t mean that everything will be fine after leaving the Lin family. In this feudal society, there are not so many ivory towers. Just like her father, he is not an ordinary civilian but a scholar. If it weren’t for the Lin family, her father’s life would be in danger.

If she wants to leave, she must be prepared.

Seeing that Aunt Mei didn’t look well, Aunt Qian’s face looked better.

She hoped that these two people would fight each other so that the wife would be in a safe position.

When they went in to pay their respects, Jia Min glanced past Aunt Mei without staying there for even a moment.

The jewelry on Aunt Mei is indeed nice, but Jia Min is the only legitimate daughter of Duke Rong; her wealth is definitely much richer than Aunt Mei’s, and many of her items are good things that merchants cannot buy.

Jia Min naturally also noticed the pearl jewelry on Yun Shuyao’s head. She took a look at the luster and size, but didn’t say much.

The master mentioned it to her last night and also gave her a more expensive jade hairpin worth more than one thousand taels, which was exactly what she liked. She couldn’t put it down and was wearing it on her head now. She was in a very good mood today.

She would not target Aunt Yun. She knew this well. The Yun family was too poor, and Aunt Yun really did not have anything good.

So even though she felt a little uncomfortable, Jia Min pretended not to see it.

“Good morning, Master. Good morning, Madam.”

Aunt Mei looked at the master and the mistress and, from time to time, looked at Lin Ruhai with pitiful eyes, which soon ruined Jia Min’s mood.

After greeting them, she brought them teacups and asked them to go back.

She would never let these two people stay in front of her for even one more second, or the master would see them playing tricks.

Therefore, Yun Shuyao felt that if this was the case every day, this job would be really easy.

It’s like punching in at work and then going home.

When leaving Bitao Courtyard, there was a maid who understood their wife’s intentions best and started “whispering” with others.

“Did you see the jade hairpin on Madam’s head just now?”

“Which one?”

“The one on top that is milky white and has a lotus carved on it.”

“Ah, that one, I see it; it’s really beautiful; I haven’t seen Madam wear it before, right?”

The maid who started the conversation said proudly, “Of course you haven’t seen this. This is what the master personally selected for our wife.”

Another maid exclaimed, “Ah, the master picked it, especially for the mistress. No wonder; it’s so beautiful. It must be very expensive, right?”

“Of course. It is said that it is worth thousands of taels of silver.”
The maid gasped when she heard this: “Wow, so much silver; the master is so good to his wife…”

The envy and admiration in these words were about to overflow, and Yun Shuyao couldn’t help but cast an admiring look at the two maids.

Wow, your acting is pretty good. You’re still so young. Keep working hard. If there were Oscars in ancient times, you would have been nominated.

Aunt Mei naturally heard it as well. Her mood, which had been bad to begin with, plummeted to the bottom. She was so angry that her chest heaved violently. She grabbed the handkerchief fiercely and almost tore it.

The master not only gave it to Lanxinyuan but also bought it for Bitaoyuan. Only she didn’t get it. How much did she not meet the master’s wishes?

But she couldn’t just say it straight!

As a result, Yun Shuyao received a pair of eye rolls from Aunt Mei: “Haha, don’t be too proud too soon; there is still a lot of time!”

This is a double entendre.

Aunt Mei doesn’t think she is worse than Yun; this is just a temporary novelty of the master! After saying this, she quickened her pace and left with the maid.

Yun Shuyao stroked her sleeves as if thinking about something.

If this was the level of infighting in Lin Ruhai’s backyard, she felt that there would be no problem for her to stay here for a long time.

When she was working before, her colleagues were double-dealing and full of tricks in order to achieve good performance and climb the career ladder. If she hadn’t kept an eye out for everything, she would have been kicked out as a scapegoat long ago.

It’s really nothing to just say something that’s not even harsh.

Yun Shuyao returned to Lanxin Courtyard, walked around the yard, and chatted with Hongxiu about the situation of the Lin family. After they finished talking about the topic, breakfast arrived.

Xiaolongbao, fried dumplings, lean meat porridge, steamed cakes, large portions, and enough to fill you up.

The cooking skills are also really good.

Especially the steamed dumplings, Yun Shuyao thought they were really the best: “Hongxiu, do you know who made these dumplings? They are so delicious.”

Hong Xiu smiled and said, “This is made by Chef Miao. She makes delicious dumplings.”

After finishing her satisfying meal, Yun Shuyao took a leisurely walk in the Lanxin Courtyard, practicing at the same time.

She looked up at the sunlight, then at the garden full of orchids, and sighed.

She has to say that days like this are really leisurely.

At this time, it is still a two-meal system, with only two meals a day, morning and evening.

There was a snack at noon, and Yun Shuyao asked Hongxiu to take some money to the big kitchen and bring back an extra portion.

The practice time cannot be too long, as too much is as bad as too little. In the afternoon, she took out the needle and thread.

She now has three superiors, and when it comes to their birthdays, she must show her appreciation. Doing needlework by herself is the most cost-effective way.

Anyway, there is no rush, so she will do it slowly and present it when the time comes. This can save money and express her sincerity at the same time.

She will prepare two more copies of the Buddhist scriptures for the old lady. Even if this doesn’t suit her taste, it won’t be a mistake.

After doing needlework for a while, she took out a book. It was not a serious book, but just a travelogue of mountains and rivers.

She didn’t bring many books with her. Books were relatively expensive in that era. Casual books were still okay, but books about the imperial examinations were not cheap.

But the Lin family should not lack books, no matter what they lack.

After getting more familiar with Lin Ruhai, Yun Shuyao was ready to ask to borrow books. It would be even better if she could borrow some books that would be useful for the scientific expedition.

On the third day, Yun Shuyao took out paper and pen, wrote a letter, and asked Hongxiu to help her take the letter over.

If she was getting married properly, she could go back to her parents’ home, but this was not a wedding, so this step was skipped.

However, the Lin family still sent a gift back, which was arranged by Jia Min. The value of the gift was not much different from that of Aunt Mei, but it was replaced with the four treasures of the study that scholars liked.

When the Song family received these things, as well as the letter written by their daughter, they finally felt relieved.

They have been worried these days, fearing that their daughter is not having a good life in the Lin family.

To put it bluntly, if something happened to their daughter, they would not know unless the Lin family told them.

The daughter did not say in the letter whether she was doing well or not, but she just wrote down how she had been spending the past few days and what she had eaten. This was enough to let them know how she was doing.

Yun Qingliang did not look as happy as Song, but after reading the letter, he loosened his hands that were hidden in his wide sleeves.

The brothers Yun Heng and Yun Yan laughed just like Song.

Yun Yan asked: “Mom, when can we see my sister?”

Song was silent.

Yun Yan understood what was going on during this silence, and the smile on his face slowly faded.

Wu Peng didn’t know how he learned about the gift from the Lin family, so he found an excuse and had someone send a letter and a gift over to express his intention to forget their grudges and laugh it off.

This time, the Yun family was not given any chance to return these things, and they were forced to accept them.

These gifts were worth nearly a thousand taels and included a lot of fabrics and jewelry that women could use. It was obvious that they were given to their daughter.

Yun Qingliang held his breath and kept this in mind.

Although their family is now related to the prefect’s family, which makes Wu Peng wary, the county magistrate is not a grassroots person either.

Yun Qingliang had no idea what the prefect would do to Wu Peng and the others. The word “official” has two parts, and there is a saying that officials protect each other. His daughter had just married into the Lin family, and he didn’t know what the future would be like. If he wanted to take revenge on Wu Peng, he’d better have the power himself.

Yun Qingliang had inquired around and found out that, although the county magistrate had someone behind him, they were not very powerful backers. His biggest backer was his wife, the legitimate daughter of a prefect, and his brother-in-law was the cousin of this wife.

Moreover, this county magistrate was not a true Jinshi but only a Juren.

Yun Qingliang had no hope of passing the imperial examination, but as a juren, he thought he had a good chance if he tried hard.

When the time comes, he will find a way to get an official position so that his daughter will no longer be helpless in the prefect’s backyard.