After listening to Hongyun's words, Mrs. Xu did not call the spring parrot in.
"The confused second wife is the third brother's mother. If she calls the third brother over, whether it's a scolding or anything else, it's all right. How can it be her turn as a servant to worry about it?" Mrs. Xu frowned.
The maid and adoptive mother beside Shen Jue were supposed to be arranged by Mrs. Qiao, but last year Mrs. Qiao was not energetic and did not like to worry, so the second master entrusted them all to Mrs. Xu.
Mrs. Xu selected two of the second-class maids at home and sent them to serve her. One of them was Chun Ying who came today, and the other was named Chun He.
In order to avoid suspicion, although these two maids were born in the same family, they were not serving in the main courtyard.
Spring Ying took it upon herself to come and say this in private, which was already a taboo.
Although Mrs. Xu was the mistress of Shen House, she did not stop Mrs. Qiao from training her son.
Compared with turning a blind eye before, Ms. Xu would rather Ms. Qiao treat Shen Jue more strictly. They are not biological flesh and blood. If you ignore her, you will only become more alienated. How can a family get along in the long term?
Mr. Qiao lost her son in middle age, and her husband and wife were separated. If the only heir was also estranged, it would be a pitiful life.
Therefore, Xu is still optimistic that Qiao is willing to take this step.
"Don't report Third Brother's matter here. This is her first offense. She will be fined a month. She won't have to serve Third Brother next time..." Mrs. Xu said calmly.
Hongyun responded, then picked up the curtain and went out.
Spring Ying was waiting at the door of the wing. Seeing Hongyun coming out, she hurriedly stepped forward to greet her and whispered: "Sister, what did the madam say?"
Hongyun was so excited by the cold wind that she couldn't open her mouth, so she only spoke Xu's words after entering the side room.
The spring parrot turned pale when he heard this.
The Chunying family and the Hongyun family are both descendants of the Shen family. Although the two families are not relatives, they are familiar with each other because they both live in the same row house.
Hongyun pointed at her forehead and said: "You are too honest. Even if you are worried about Third Brother, you shouldn't come here so boldly. Why not go to Jiuruju? Even if Third Brother meets The difficulty is that the second brother speaks out, so why is it your turn? Or do you think that now that you have dignity in front of the third brother, you can work for your wife with just one sentence? "
Spring Ying said shamefully: "I was so anxious that I didn't think too much..."
It was too late to regret now. Mrs. Xu had punished her and not allowed her to "worry", and the eldest daughter-in-law had no intention of intervening in the second-room maid's housework. How could she dare to make her own decision to find Shen Rui again?
Hongyun pinched her face and said with a smile: "Don't be so sad. Maybe you are just in a hurry. Maybe the third brother has gone back now..."
Spring Ying nodded and said, "Well, I'll go back right away with my sister's good words..." When he walked to the door, he turned back and said with a troubled face: "Sister, what if the third brother hasn't come back yet?"
Hongyun looked at the sky outside and said: "It's past seven o'clock in the evening, and it's not daytime. The second wife won't keep the third brother for long..."
After hearing this, Spring Ying felt that this was indeed the truth, and she felt a little more at ease. She felt a little embarrassed and said: "I am the one who made the fuss, but I bothered my sister to worry about it..."
Hongyun pursed her lips and smiled, and whispered: "You are trying your best, but you have a long-term plan in mind?"
The spring parrot Xia Fei raised her eyebrows and said: "Sister has become bad, she is just making fun of people..." After that, she turned and walked away.
Looking at the back of the spring parrot, Hongyun was a little startled.
She just asked, but Chunying didn't mean to hide it at all. Is this because she got the third brother's promise, or does this girl realize that her affection is enough?
In the beginning, Mrs. Xu was afraid that her maidservants would be restless and make the young masters mischievous, so she chose maidservants who were honest, honest, and average-looking. This was not only the case for Chunyan from Jiuruyuan, but also for the Chunying and Chunhe around Shen Jue.
It has only been more than a year, and an honest child like Chunying has his own plans. Is it greed, or is the third brother passionate?
Thinking that Shen Jue was usually sweet-tongued and lively, and had the same temperament as Shen Rui, Hongyun was a little confused.
Spring Ying hurried back to the northwest courtyard, and was a little nervous when she was about to enter the house. If she took it upon herself to beg his wife, would it make her third brother unhappy?
But when she entered the house and saw that Shen Jue was not there, Chunying felt heavy in her heart.
Chunhe held the needle and thread in his hand, with worry on his face. When he saw Chunying coming back, he stood up hurriedly and said, "What do you say, madam? Can you send someone to see the third brother?"
Spring Ying sighed: "My wife didn't see me. She only said that raising children is a serious matter for the second wife and we don't need to worry about it. She also thought I didn't understand the rules and fined me a month's money..."
"How could this happen?" Chunhe asked, eyes wide open and speechless.
Spring Ying said worriedly: "The third brother is the second wife's son after all, not the wife's son. It's really hard for the wife to interfere. It was because I was confused before... I've been gone for half an hour. Maybe I'll be back soon. I want to come back soon." Why don't I go over with a lantern to greet you?"
Chunhe knew that Chunying was interested in her third brother, so he didn't fight with her. He just told her to put on a thick coat and not to pick up people and freeze herself.
The spring parrot carried the lantern and headed to the southwest courtyard again.
When they reached the entrance of the southwest courtyard, the pace of the spring parrot slowed down.
As a maid, she did not dare to barge in without being summoned by her master, so she waited outside the gate of the west courtyard.
She looked for a place with leeward and stood, while raising her ears to listen to things in the yard, hoping that Shen Jue would come out soon.
But due to the wind and snow, no other sounds could be heard except the howling north wind.
She didn't dare to go to the door for fear of being seen by the people inside, so she could only worry.
After waiting for a cup of tea, the spring parrot felt that his hands and feet were numb, so he couldn't help but put down the lantern in his hand and tiptoed to the door of the yard.
The courtyard door was ajar, but not closed.
The spring parrot came closer and peeked through the crack in the door. However, the clouds covered the stars and the moon, and the sky was very dark. Even though there was snow on the ground, nothing could be seen clearly due to the heavy wind and snow.
The spring parrot shivered and returned to the corner, holding a lantern in its hand. After struggling for a long time, it finally returned to the north courtyard.
Because of the cold air on his body, the spring parrot sneezed twice as soon as he entered the house.
Chunhe saw that there was snow on her head and clothes, so he quickly took a feather duster and flicked the snow on her.
"Why hasn't Third Brother come back?" Chunhe asked.
Spring Ying sneezed twice more and said, "Maybe the second wife is leaving the third brother to talk. If she just scolds the third brother, it won't take so long..."
Chunhe nodded and said: "That's probably the case, otherwise Third Brother should have come back long ago..."
Under the corridor of the west courtyard, Shen Jue was kneeling on the ground, his body already covered with a layer of snow.
The cold wind was biting and turned his face numb.
But Shen Jue wanted to laugh inexplicably.
"Hungry and cold", he actually thought of this word at this time.
I have lived for fourteen years and lived a prosperous life with good food and clothing for fourteen years. Is it considered that I have learned a lot today?
At noon, because he drank wine, he didn't use a few chopsticks at all; at dinner, because he had no appetite, he only ate a few mouthfuls of tofu soup, and now he was very hungry.
Underneath his cloak was a thin jacket worn indoors, so he didn't feel cold when he walked. However, after staying outside for such a long time, he felt frozen from the inside out and couldn't feel any warmth.
Especially on the head, even though it was covered by the hood of the cloak, it was not tight at all. The rest of my hair was stiff with ice, and my scalp seemed frozen.
Shen Jue felt very uncomfortable with her whole body feeling cold and her stomach empty. Although there was a fur cloak between her knees and the ground, she could only feel the cold air rising up from her knees because she had been kneeling for so long.
It was his own fault. Who made him forget his identity as an heir and not think of the Qiao family at all?
Even if he made such a mistake in the Matsue family, the old man would punish him after knowing about it. However, the old man's method of punishment was different from that of the second wife. Even if he was willing to punish him, he would probably kneel in the ancestral hall, Shen Jue thought with pleasure. With.
In the Jiuru courtyard, go to the upper room.
Shen Rui put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and walked to the window.
The lights crackled and exploded. After hearing this, Chunyan hurriedly found a pair of scissors, stepped forward to take out the lampshade, and cut off the light.
Shen Rui looked a little heavy. He knew that Shen Cang came back from the Yamen and then left home in a hurry. As for Shen Cang's whereabouts, he also guessed that it was probably the Yang family.
Isn't it too much for him to frighten Shen Cang and Mr. Xu like this?
But neither Xu nor Shen Cang had a single word of blame in front of him.
Thinking of this and listening to the howling wind outside, Shen Rui couldn't sit still.
He picked up the hanging big fur cloak, put it on, hugged another raincoat and left Jiuruju.
When I asked in the front yard, I found that Shen Cang had indeed left the house in a carriage before dark.
Shen Cang has been gone for so long, is this the Yang family's meal?
Shen Rui didn't know whether to feel relieved or uneasy, so he did not return to Jiuruju, but waited in the concierge.
After about half an hour, someone knocked on the door outside.
The Shen family's carriage came back. Shen Rui followed the concierge out and stepped forward to help Shen Cang get out of the carriage.
Shen Cang looked okay, and when he saw Shen Rui coming over, he was quite relieved and said: "You kid, how can you come out in such heavy snow?"
Shen Rui took out his coir raincoat, unfolded it, and put it on Shen Cang. Fang apologized and said, "Did my son misbehave today and cause trouble for his father and parents?"
Shen Cang raised his eyebrows and said, "Brother Rui, what do you think you did wrong?"
"You shouldn't invite friends who don't know the details to your home..." Shen Rui said.
As for not stopping Shen Jue from drinking, Shen Rui knew in his heart that this was inappropriate, but he couldn't say it in front of Shen Cang, otherwise Shen Jue would be implicated.
Snow was flying all over the sky outside, and the father and son turned around the screen wall and walked toward the inner house together.
"Don't think too much. No matter what happens, there are still me and your mother..." Shen Cang said.
The north wind has gradually weakened, and the snowflakes have fallen.
The night was quiet, and the sound of clappers could be heard in the distance. It was already the second watch.
They sent Shen Cang to the entrance of the main courtyard. Before Shen Cang could go in, he heard a loud noise coming from the southwest.
The father and son stopped together and looked to the southwest.
To the southwest is the courtyard of the second bedroom.
Shen Cang heard that the sound was wrong and hurriedly said to Shen Rui: "Hurry up and see what's going on over there?" After that, he hurried into the yard to look for Mrs. Xu.
"Madam, there is something wrong in the second room. Send someone to the second room to see if there is anything wrong with Mrs. Qiao?" Shen Cang said.
He is the eldest brother-in-law, so it's hard to go there directly, otherwise I wouldn't have sent Shen Rui there alone.
When Mrs. Xu heard this, she was startled and said hurriedly: "I'd better go there..."
Shen Cang nodded and said: "That's fine, if there is something wrong with Mr. Qiao, I can't explain it to my second brother...
Both husband and wife dislike Mrs. Qiao, but neither of them can really ignore Mrs. Qiao.
When Mrs. Xu came out of the main courtyard, she saw a person rushing towards her. When she saw Mrs. Xu, she didn't even bother to salute, but said in a tearful voice: "Madam, please send someone to call the doctor quickly. Third brother has fainted..."