Chapter 7

There was a half-a-half time difference when the Zhen family's carriage stopped in front of the Song Mansion. Mrs. Meng took Jiafu and was led by the servants through the corner door. Finally, they were transferred to a side hall. There was no tea or no one in sight. There were only two people. The old woman stood upright and stared at the small eyes, waiting for a long while, and finally heard a series of footsteps approaching, Madam Song put on a new attire, wrapped in gold Peiyu, surrounded by a group of maids, all the stars. Gongyuedi appeared and sat down. After Mrs. Meng brought Jiafu to greet her, she didn't say a word. Her eyes were like two fine grates. She swept Jiafu from head to toe, up and down several times. What was missing, Fang pointed to a chair next to him, and asked Mrs. Meng to sit down, "Just now, the female family members of the Marquis of Anyuan came to the house. I said a few more words, but I neglected your side." At a glance, when he raised his voice, he scolded the old lady for being ignorant of etiquette, and he didn't know how to serve tea when people came. The mother-in-law was clearly told to treat her coldly, but she was scolded at the moment, and she didn't dare to reply. She hurriedly served two cups of tea and pleaded guilty to Mrs. Meng.

Mrs. Meng is busy. Mrs. Song smiled half-heartedly: "You Zhen's family is in Quanzhou, and you are considered a big family. The mother and daughter came all the way to Beijing. When you come back to me, the servants are not polite, which makes you laugh."

As soon as Mrs. Song appeared, Mrs. Meng felt unhappy from her. In the few words just now, she even pointed out that Sang scolded Huai with a gun and a stick. How could she not hear it? Seeing that Ye Momo next to her, she also squinted coldly, completely different from how she looked when they parted at the pier this morning.

The Song family is now powerful, and Mrs. Song is arrogant. Not only does Mrs. Xin want to see how she looks, but she even has to intervene in the marriage of her daughter and the prince of the Duke of Wei's government. Mrs. Meng knows all the twists and turns. Therefore, was focused on making good friends in the past in order to have nothing to do. At this moment, can't help but be at a loss, and don't know what went wrong. For the sake of daughter's marriage, can only bear it and make a few false promises with her.

Mrs. Song's attention was always on Jiafu. Without saying a word, she waved to Jiafu and motioned her to come forward. Jiafu lowered her eyebrows and walked over, calling her a godmother. Mrs. Song asked her how old she was and what she did at home on weekdays. Jiafu answered them one by one, very well-behaved.

Mrs. Ye rushed back to the Song family in a hurry early in the morning, and immediately told Mrs. Song that she was very upset at the time.

Ordinarily, people are going to marry their daughter, passing by the temple, and asking for a son-in-law, even if it is a successor, it is only natural, and it is not her turn to take care of it.

But she just wasn't happy. According to her idea, the daughter of the Zhen family can be recognized as her goddaughter and marry Pei Xiuzhi to fill the void of her hard-working daughter. This is a great compliment. The sparrows fly on the golden branches, and they should be grateful. Everything must come first. She said it here. It's not that she doesn't allow the Zhen family's daughter to be born and raised in the future, but now, hiding from her, she has such thoughts early on. Obviously, this is aimed at her grandson, which is absolutely unbearable.

With her character, how could she hold back, and after listening to the mother-in-law, how the daughter of Zhen's family looked so charming when she was born, the man was afraid that he couldn't help but say a few words of pillow wind, and his heart was even more like a cat's scratching. Someone called to find out. In fact, just now, there was no Mrs. Houfu who came to be a guest to be fettered, but she learned that the mother and daughter of the Zhen family were coming, and she deliberately suppressed her temper and wanted to hang people. The first time I saw the face of the Zhen family's daughter, my heart skipped a beat. I knew that Mrs. Ye was not exaggerating, she didn't know how much she had won than her deceased daughter, and I was disgusted in my heart. Pay attention to her words and deeds, not even a glance. The more gentle and well-behaved Jiafu was, the more suspicious she became. She always felt that she was pretending, and her boredom increased. In the end, two eyes stared at the small purse she wore around her waist and loomed under her jacket. He smiled and said, "The embroidery of this purse looks unique. Did you do it yourself? Let me have a look."

Madam Meng suddenly remembered the talisman she had asked for from the Guanyin Temple on the way that day, and told her daughter to put it away, but she forgot about it later.

The pomegranate pattern is painted on the talisman, which can be recognized at a glance. If the daughter is still in the purse and falls into Mrs. Song's eyes, I am afraid it will be a bit ugly. However, Jiafu had already taken off her purse, handed it over with both hands, and said shyly, "It was indeed embroidered by myself, but the needle and thread were not good, and the goddess praised it."

Mrs. Song took it, flipped it in the palm of her hand, and pretended to praise a few words, under the pretext of looking at the needlework in the inner layer, she pulled the finger, and the hole opened. She glanced at the bottom of the purse and saw two small incense cakes. Only the talisman, and then under the pretext of taking a closer look, turned the purse over and poured it out, only to find that it was just an ordinary amulet. So he glanced at Mrs. Ye.

Madam Ye was excited and opened her eyes wide, waiting to see Zhen's daughter make a fool of herself. You know, an unmarried girl with a yellow flower was seen carrying a begging talisman. He frowned and winked at her desperately, implying that the daughter of the Zhen family was put away and not brought.

Mrs. Song didn't get the handle, so she had to praise a few more words, put the purse in place, and hand it back to Jiafu.

Jiafu took it and put it back on as if nothing had happened. Madam Meng on the side was relieved, and she secretly took out an envelope and said with a smile, "My daughter is stupid, and the lady who also loses praises her and wants to recognize her as a goddaughter. My old lady is grateful, and before I went out, I specifically told me to bring some local produce, which is not worth much, and it was considered a little thought, I have already asked someone to carry it in, this is the list, madam take a look."

Mrs. Meng found out that Mrs. Song was greedy for money, so she prepared this generous gift for her, saying that it was a local product, but in fact, the items listed on the list were all valuables, and some of them were even more excellent.

Mrs. Song took it, took a look, and felt a little satisfied. She thought that the Zhen family finally had a little wink.

Mrs. Meng observed her words and expressions, secretly exhaled, thinking of Brother Quan, since she was here, it would be absurd to not ask a question, so she smiled: "I just went to Pei's house to visit relatives, and I thought I would see Brother Quan. I've come here, madam. Brother Quan is four years old now, right? Our old lady specially gave Brother Quan a golden lock of a hundred blessings, and asked the eminent monk to consecrate it and bless the child with great wealth and long life. Years old." After saying that, he took it out.

Mrs. Song also knew that the marriage of the Pei Zhen family had already been mentioned. She was relieved earlier and recognized her goddaughter. Now even if she is dissatisfied with the Zhen family daughter, she can't come up with any excuse to go to the stage. If you block it, why don't you call Brother Quan out, take this opportunity to knock and knock, and let the Zhen family daughter know the seriousness. When she passes the door, she will find another reason for herself, and send a trusted mammy to watch over it. Can't turn any big splashes.

Madam Song made up her mind and said, "The old lady has a heart. Then I'll ask someone to bring the child, and you can see it too."

Mrs. Meng naturally said yes. Mrs. Song ordered to go on. After a while, heard the laughter of children coming from the corridor outside. saw a handsome 16- or 17-year-old girl on all fours, with a four- or five-year-old boy sitting on her back, crawling all the way in.

That child is Quan Ge'er, who was originally born to be handsome, but because of his gluttony, he turned into a round, a little heavy, sitting on the back of the girl, followed by a few girls, helping him vainly to prevent him Falling down, the girl on the ground was panting and sweating profusely. He held a wicker branch in his hand and waved and twitched indiscriminately, making the sound of "driving" and "driving" like a horse. He rode like this came in.

Jiafu looked at him with a smile on her lips, but her eyes were very cold.

After she married into the Pei family, Pei Xiuzhi liked her very much, and soon she became pregnant. When she was five months old, she stepped on a mung bean and slipped to the ground. It took a long time to get down to the ground, but the root of the disease fell on her body. After that, whether it was with Pei Xiuzhi or with Xiao Yintang, she never got pregnant again.

Those mung beans were sprinkled by the child at her feet. Jiafu remembered that Pei Xiuzhi was very angry at the time. She wanted to hang and beat her, but was stopped by Mrs. Xin. The next day, when Mrs. Song heard the news, she went to the door to make a scene, saying that the child was still young and ignorant, and she might still be wronged. Yes, after that, it didn't matter, and it passed.

Now that think about it, she was also a blessing in disguise without having children in her previous life. But for the child in front of her, Jiafu couldn't develop closeness no matter what.

Mrs. Meng was dumbfounded, but the Song family seemed to be used to it. Mrs. Song laughed, her eyes were full of pampering, she yelled naughty, and asked someone to bring the child over.

Brother Quan likes to ride people, and specially chooses handsome girls to ride, but when he was in Pei's house, he didn't dare to play like this, because he was sued before the old lady, the old lady called Mrs. Xin over, and Mrs. Xin was not allowed to ride Brother rides people, but the Song family doesn't care, so brother Quan prefers to run here.

Mrs. Ye hurried over and carried Brother Quan over. Mrs. Song took it and sat on her lap. The child was wriggling about to get off. She hugged her, raised her eyes and stared at Jiafu and said, "I'm just a daughter. My heart is like flesh and blood. Now that I'm gone, Quan Ge'er is no different from my own grandson. As a person, I pay the most attention to clear grievances. Whoever treats my Quan Ge'er is good to me..."

She paused, squinted her eyes, and emphasized her tone: "If anyone hits his head with an idea, even a single hair will be damaged. If I find out, I won't let it go."

Madam Meng gasped. Jiafu opened her eyes wide, nodded vigorously and said, "Godmother, what you said is very true, Quan Ge Jingui, who dares to touch?"

Mrs. Song was a little unsure if she understood. While staring at Jia Fu, the child on her lap stared at Jia Fu with wide eyes. Suddenly, she slipped out of her arm and ran to Jia Fu. In front of Fu, she raised her neck and pointed at her with akimbo: "Get down! I want to ride a horse!"

Jiafu walked towards the child, stopped in front of him, bent down with a smile, and said, "You can't ride a horse, but I can hold you and play."

Brother Quan immediately fell to the ground, kicking his legs indiscriminately, and howling: "Don't hug! I want to ride a horse! I want to ride a horse!"

Madam Meng's face was ugly, Madam Song gave Madam Ye a quick wink, Madam Ye stepped forward and picked up Brother Quan and coaxed, "Let's go out, go out and ride again."

Brother Quan spat at her, his fists kept pounding on her, and shouted, "She's beautiful! I'm going to ride!"

Jiafu stood there, staring coldly at the child splashing on the ground, still with a faint smile on her lips.

This time, Madam Song couldn't hold her face anymore. She coughed, and several girls stepped forward. Together with Mrs. Ye, they carried the crying brother Quan to go out. The crying gradually disappeared. Finally quiet down.

Mrs. Song smiled dryly: "This child is not usually like this, but it was a little noisy today."

Madam Meng smiled reluctantly, sat for a while, and then got up to leave. Madam Ye also coaxed brother Quanquan back and said, "Madam, have you seen it with your own eyes? Look at the charming face she gave birth to, how could any man not fall into the trap? Before she arrives today, the prince will run away in person. The pier picked it up. Madam, you didn't see it. The eyes that were staring at her didn't even blink. How can you remember the half of Quan Ge'er and her mother? As the saying goes, if there is a stepmother, there is a stepfather. When she has given birth to herself, Brother Quan is afraid that even her own father will be lost! Madam, please don't be deceived by her, this girl has two faces, and I have lived and walked with me for the past few months.

Madam Song thought of her dead daughter, both sad and helpless, and frowned: "I am not satisfied with this daughter of the Zhen family. It's just that I have already answered it before, and after listening to your words, she recognizes her as a dry daughter, and it is a sure thing. , how can I speak now?"

Mrs. Ye slapped her mouth hard, and at this moment, a little girl who had just left ran in in a panic, Mrs. Ye sank her face: "I am so rash, I startled Mrs. Look at me with a needle to stab you. mouth!"

The girl kept waving her hands and shouted, "It's brother Quan, brother is a little bad!"

Madam Song was startled: "What's wrong?"

The girl said: "Just now, we took my brother to play in the yard, and my brother suddenly shouted that there were bugs crawling on his body, and he was scratching everywhere, and I looked at him, my good guy, that face, just made a face. , I got fat all at once..."

Mrs. Song's expression changed, and she hurriedly walked out. The brother Quan had already been taken back to the room, lying on the bed, crying non-stop. Mrs. Song went up to take a look and saw that his face was red and swollen. It was as if he was blowing air, and he was so frightened that he went up to hug him, and he gave a few heartfelt shouts, and hurriedly asked someone to ask for an imperial doctor. When the imperial doctor arrived, Brother Quan's face was already swollen like a ant's nest, he was fat all over his body, and there were rashes all over his body. Crying nonstop.

The imperial doctor couldn't see why, so he only prescribed the decoction, let it boil and smear it to reduce the swelling, but the swelling couldn't go away.

Mrs. Song didn't want Mrs. Xin to find out, but unfortunately, the next day, the Pei family came to pick up Brother Quan. Mrs. Song couldn't hide it, so she had to tell the truth, and she was very wronged. When Mrs. Xin heard the news, she rushed over in a hurry and took the whole brother away with a sullen face.

Mrs. Song was very boring and worried about Brother Quan, so she sent people to Pei's house to check on Brother Quan's condition. She learned that Mrs. Xin pointed at Sang and scolded Huai in front of her mother-in-law. , People are not good on her side, and she couldn't shake her prestige, so she could only forcibly hold back her anger. On the second night, she finally learned that the child's swelling was almost gone, Fang was relieved.

Madam Ye thought to herself that she had been working hard in Quanzhou for the past few months and had suffered a lot of crimes, but in the end the Zhen family only took twenty taels of silver to send her away. It was blowing in her ear, saying that the daughter of the Zhen family had just come to the house, and the originally good brother had this unprecedented strange disease.

One of Mrs. Song's best things is to take anger out. Being so slapped by Mrs. Ye, she can't help but become suspicious. After another night, on the third day, the warehouse steward came to report, saying that among the things the Zhen family sent the day before yesterday, When the jade beads that should have been the most valuable were put into the warehouse, they were found to be of insufficient quality. Although they were treasures, they were not of the highest quality. As a result, the price was greatly reduced.

Mrs. Song remembered the respectful attitude of Mrs. Meng when she came the day before. She expected that the Zhen family did not have the guts to fool herself with shoddy products. Presumably this was something that his family could handle. She was contemptuous. With a voice: "I also said how rich the Zhen family is. It turned out to be nothing more than that. The Pei family is willing to even get married like this, so it can be seen how poor they are now!"

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and this day was the 60th birthday of Madam Pei of the Duke's Mansion.

Although the Duke of Wei's mansion was defeated, his family was still there. The old Duke of Wei had outstanding achievements, and Mrs. Pei had a prestige of exceeding the first grade. Emperor Xi has always missed her very much. The old lady has an extraordinary position. On her sixtieth birthday, the eunuch of Huangmen also came down from the palace early in the morning, and gave a decree to show the grace of heaven. The aristocratic dignitaries who had contacts with the Duke of Wei also came to celebrate their birthdays. On this day, the gate of Duke Wei's mansion opened wide, and the inside and outside were radiant, and it seemed that some of the former glory was finally restored.

After returning from the Song family that day, Jiafu did not go out for the past few days. Mrs. Meng heard that Brother Quan was ill and was picked up from the Song family. Although she hated this child, she went to visit him for a while. , came back and said to Jiafu: "It's almost done. I just scratched a few skins on my body, and I'm still crying."

Jiafu pursed her lips and did not speak at that time. Madam Meng was very thoughtful and did not mention the matter again. On today's birthday, Mrs. Xin was too busy because of things to do, so she asked her to come to help earlier. Mrs. Meng naturally agreed and stopped her son, not allowing him to go out to play anymore. He changed into the clothes prepared for today, and after noon, he brought him with him. A pair of children went to the government office.

The mother and daughter sat together in the carriage. Mrs. Meng was silent all the way. Jiafu leaned over and rubbed her mother's arm: "Mother, what are you thinking? I haven't spoken to you for two days."

Madam Meng was lost for a moment and whispered: "Mother only heard that the child was naughty before, but I never imagined that it would become such a mess. In the future, when you pass the door, mother is afraid that it will be difficult for you..."

Jiafu hugged her and said with a smile: "Mother, if they don't like me in two days, and I can't marry my cousin, will you call me useless?"

Mrs. Meng was startled, a little surprised that she suddenly said such words, and gave Jia Fu a look: "As long as you are not sad, why should I scold you? If it weren't for your grandmother, my mother would be so eager..."

She stopped, sighed, and lovingly hugged her daughter into her arms.

Jiafu smiled, leaned her small face in her mother's arms, and closed her eyes.

Everything is going well, and things are developing step by step towards her expectations.

The strange disease that Brother Quan suddenly hit that day was exactly what she expected.

This child is the most important key person in her retirement plan.

Once in a previous life, Brother Quan was fine the moment before, and ran to Mrs. Xin's house. Soon after he came out, his head and face were swollen, and he had a rash on his body. The land was healed, but I didn't expect that I would have this kind of disease again soon. After repeated tossing and suffering several times, the imperial doctor could not find the cause. Mrs. Xin was very anxious. Later, a careful mother-in-law discovered that every Every time I went to Mrs. Xin's house, he got sick like this when he came out.

At first, Mrs. Xin thought that her house was not clean, and hurriedly asked someone to do something to exorcise evil spirits, but it still didn't work.

Later, Jiafu found the root of the problem.

The fault lies in the ambergris smoked in Mrs. Xin's house.

The real ambergris has a soft and deep fragrance, vivid and elegant, the original fragrance is pure, and there is no miscellaneous odor, and the back smell of frozen borneol also has a special faint wood moss smell, two kinds of fragrance. , it is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish.

Jiafu was very familiar with spices, and recognized that the smoked ambergris in Mrs. Xin's house was not the ambergris she always used, but the frozen ambergris. After all, it was after he started using this box of spices that Brother Quan got a strange illness, so he withdrew the incense. Sure enough, Brother Quan never got sick again. Later, the imperial doctor said that it should be Brother Quan who was uncomfortable with the fragrance alone. This disease is extremely rare, and he told him not to use this incense near him again in the future.

Ambergris has the name of Tianxiang, the top ambergris, and the fragrance can last for several months. The wealthy people in Beijing can use ambergris, which is also one of the signs of identity.

Mrs. Xin has always smoked ambergris, but now she is in a hurry, but she still refuses to use anything else. This box of frozen dragon's brain was previously brought up by Zhuang Tou in the next Zhuangzi, saying that it was dragon saliva obtained at a high price. Mrs. Xin could not distinguish the true and false. It was a box of fake incense, and it caused Brother Quan to suffer a lot. When he learned the truth, he even lost a lot of temper at that time.

At that time, Jiafu was deeply impressed by the chaos of the entire Duke of Wei's mansion. In this life, she naturally thought of using frozen borneol to help herself out of the predicament. This is why she has been using frozen borneol since she came back from Xishan Temple.

Ordinary people close to you can only smell her using ambergris, how do you know that this fragrance is not another fragrance?

Slowly citing Mrs. Song's dissatisfaction with herself, this is medicine citing.

She lacks an excuse to attack, so give it to her. Let her use her and brother Quan's fate as an excuse to come forward to mess up this marriage. This is the powerful medicine that Jiafu is going to take.

This method is indeed not kind to the child, but at that time, Jiafu only hesitated, and then made a decision.

In the previous life, she was kind to others, gave in everywhere, and tolerated everything, but in the end she did not get the so-called good fruit.

Life is so hard. In this life, whoever treats her well, she treats whomever she treats, and if possible, repays her twice.

That's enough, don't think about the rest.

"Mother, sister, here we come!"

The carriage gradually slowed down, and the voice of my elder brother Zhen Yaoting came from the window.

"Afu, here we are. There are a lot of people here today. Mom is busy. I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of you. Don't squeeze in the front, so as not to collide. Stay in a quieter room at the back. Mom will send someone to call you later."

Mrs. Meng patted her daughter's shoulder lightly.

Jiafu opened her eyes, smiled sweetly at her mother, and hummed.