Spring is in full bloom, the grass is growing and orioles are flying, and there is a peaceful atmosphere in the Begonia Courtyard.

At this moment, when Xie Shuning and Xie Shumin arrived, the atmosphere suddenly changed. Ms. Chen jumped up from the rocking chair and hurriedly took two steps forward. However, she stopped when Xie Shumin was pushed forward by Xie Shuning. She looked at the manager.

She had not seen her biological daughter for years, but she seemed to be looking at a strange little monster and backed away hesitantly.

Xie Shuning stood not far away and chuckled, "Auntie, what are you doing? Could it be that even Minmin doesn't recognize her?"

Chen's face was stiff and she wanted to laugh but couldn't.

Since the death of the third old lady earlier, she had no supporter, and then she became angry with Xie Yuanmao, causing herself to be completely left out, and she has changed.

I have become less impatient and less ambitious than before.

She is already a concubine, and her family has been slaughtered by some gang of thieves. Without help, what else can a woman expect?

If you have nothing to do, you can just lie on the rocking chair, enjoy the breeze in the courtyard, listen to the chirping of cicadas, and have a few drinks. Wouldn't life be complete? What's more, a family like the Xie family would never be harsh on concubines.

Mistress, the four-season clothes are not bad for daily expenses, so there is nothing else she is dissatisfied with.

However, having said that, Chen was certainly not satisfied.

After the Song family and their daughter left the capital, Aunt Dong's bitch started to think about it. Naturally, she would not sit still and wait for death, just watching that bitch climb on top of her.

But no matter how hard she tried to behave, Xie Yuanmao would never accept this trick again.

After that, she really started to get tired and put away all the things she wanted to do.

"What are you doing here with Miss Eight bringing Miss Nine here?" She calmed down her thoughts, forced a smile on her face, and asked.

Xie Shuning expressed surprise: "Auntie, are you not happy to see the ninth sister?"

Ms. Chen lowered her eyes and said, "I am happy, my concubine."

To be honest, she is just a concubine, so she has no right to be happy or unhappy.

She is a noble concubine, but in the final analysis, she is still a concubine. A shameless concubine is not even as good as a respectable mother-in-law.

Mrs. Chen also understood. If she wanted to show her face in front of Xie Yuanmao again, the person she really wanted to please was not Xie Yuanmao. Living in the inner house, she could only have a chance to climb up by pleasing her mistress first.

But she and the Song family have long been incompatible. How can they take this path?

For a moment, Mrs. Chen couldn't figure out the real reason why Xie Shuning brought her silly daughter to visit her.

She opened her eyelids and glanced at Xie Shumin quietly. The grown-up child's features were quite similar to hers, and one could tell at just one glance that this was her child. But as soon as one thought, this child was a fool.

It became a great shame and humiliation.

Mrs. Chen had vaguely heard rumors among the servants and wives that Miss Jiu was no longer stupid.

She didn't quite believe this.

"What are you guys doing standing around here? Why don't you go and serve tea?" Mrs. Chen secretly took a breath, turned around and gave instructions, and then asked Sister Xie Shuning to show her a seat.

Xie Shuning thanked her and sat down gracefully.

The young Xie Shumin looked forward and backward, as if she had something to hide, and looked uncomfortable.

Immediately, the maids brought tea and water.

Xie Shumin took it. She just lowered her head and held the teacup and sipped it, without speaking or looking at anyone.

She seemed to be trying her best to stay calm, but her slightly trembling hands didn't cover it up well.

The panic gradually seeped out.

Like Chen, she also couldn't figure out why Xie Shuning suddenly brought her to see Chen.

Through the gaps between her fingers, she looked hard at the girl on the other side who was wearing a green woven makeup and flowered robe, and there was a hint of sinisterness in her eyes that could not be suppressed.

She heard from Xie Yuanmao that Xie Shuning was injured when she was in Mobei. She was thinking at that time that it would be a good thing if she died in Mobei. In this way, with the Song family's temperament of loving her daughter like her life,

Presumably, she was unable to return to Kyoto, and it was not impossible to die outside the Great Wall. If Mrs. Song died in depression, she would really have to hide in bed and laugh all night long.

But before she could wait for much longer, the Song family and their daughter came back leisurely with others.

As soon as I came back, the situation immediately changed.

"Although Ninth Sister is young, I heard that she is very affectionate. At a young age, she often went to the eldest house to visit several cousins ​​of the Chen family. It seems that my aunt has given birth to a good daughter."

Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly heard Xie Shuning say something like this. She felt a lump in her throat and immediately started coughing heavily.

The teacup in her hand also swayed, and the remaining half of the tea mixed with the slightly curled tea leaves was poured onto her.

The spring shirt was soaked and in a mess.

Mrs. Chen quickly asked someone to get a clean handkerchief to wipe her.

Xie Shuning ordered people to go to Ruixiang Courtyard to get clean clothes to change.

Mrs. Chen glanced at her, her lips twitching as if she wanted to speak, but no sound came out.

After a while, Chen finally said: "The Chen family has declined. It's hard for Miss Eight to still remember her cousins ​​and go to see them from time to time."

When she said this, she had been thinking about the words for a long time, and the intention in them was easy to understand at a glance.

Of course Xie Shuning is no exception.

But after hearing this, she was stunned.

She originally thought that this matter had something to do with the Chen family. After all, Xie Shumin was still young. She was afraid that she didn't even understand the relationship between the Xie family and the Chen family, so how could she often see them. After hearing that, she

The first reaction was that Chen secretly taught Xie Shumin.

As a result, it was not.

Recalling that when they first stepped into Haitang Courtyard, Mrs. Chen's surprise didn't seem to be fake, and Xie Shuning was secretly surprised.

Besides the Chen family, who else would want Xie Shumin to have a good relationship with the orphans of the Chen family?

No one can tell what happened to the Chen family. The Xie family took over these children, and not all of them got a good reputation.

Of course they themselves know that the three old ladies and Chen's family are real losers, empty inside, and almost too poor to open the pot. But people outside don't know, they only think that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse.

The Xie family adopted the Chen family's children and must have taken away all the Chen family's property.

Word spread among the people, and it soon spread that the Xie family was greedy for money, so they plotted to kill the Chen family, and then deliberately took in the three children so that they could have a legitimate reason to make money.

As the saying goes, three people make a tiger. When this saying spread later, it almost became true.

The Xie family didn't even have a chance to argue, so someone slapped a bucket of shit on their heads.

Public opinion has completely forgotten that the Xie family's family background is much better than that of the Chen family.

As a result, the Xie family's decision on how to arrange the three Chen children became a bit more subtle.

Raise them, but don't get too close.

The elders would certainly not like Xie Shumin to see them often.

But it happened that because of her status as a concubine, in the eyes of several elders, she seemed not that important and did not have too many concerns.

Xie Shuning lost interest in continuing to talk to Mrs. Chen. After Xie Shumin had packed up, she wanted to take her back. Before leaving, Xie Shuning deliberately asked: "Does Minmin want to live with my aunt?"

"In no mood!"

As if she had been frightened, Xie Shumin, who had begun to become lively and intelligent in the eyes of everyone, became stunned again. The words she blurted out really embarrassed Chen, and her face turned pale in an instant.

Everyone knows that Xie Shumin moved out of Haitangyuan in the first place because of a few words from Xie Shuning.

Now if she wanted to send Xie Shumin back, it would only be a matter of a few words.

Xie Shumin didn't dare to take risks.

Because of this, she did not dare to say a word to Mrs. Chen.

She was afraid that if she even showed the slightest hint of being close to Mrs. Chen, she would be sent back to Haitang Court to be educated by Mrs. Chen.

Chen is already a useless abandoned son. Being with Chen will only make her already difficult steps forward even slower.

Fortunately, the word "don't want to" seemed to finally win Xie Shuning's favor. She then took Xie Shumin back to Ruixiangyuan.

Under the skylight, Xie Shumin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Shuning asked her: "I heard that you are very sad because of what happened to Zhu's mother?"

Xie Shumin nodded hesitantly.

"Mother Zhu did something wrong, and she deserves to be punished." Xie Shuning laughed, "You don't have to be sad. Tomorrow I will ask my mother to assign you a mother in charge who is a hundred times better than Mother Zhu."

Her voice was gentle, like a well-behaved elder sister that is all too common.

But Xie Shumin shivered under the bright sun.

When they arrived at Ruixiang Courtyard, Xie Shuning did not leave, saying that she would stay and have dinner with her. Xie Shumin immediately lost her appetite. The hands hanging by her sides were tightly clenched into fists, and she gritted her teeth and remained silent.

She suddenly realized that the person in front of her was much more difficult to deal with than the Song family.

Obviously the Xiaoxiang Pavilion is right next door, but no one dared to chase Xie Shuning away unless she said she wanted to leave.

After lunch, Xie Shuning still didn't move, lying lazily on the couch, looking at the furnishings in Ruixiang Courtyard with a half-smile.

As she watched, an indescribable feeling of familiarity gradually filled her heart.

His eyes wandered to the stove placed on the spring bench by the wall.
To be continued...