"Auntie, the third girl is here!" The maid's voice suddenly came from the door.
Aunt Zhou hurriedly wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said, "Please come in, Miss Three."
He stood up with his hands on the chair and stuffed the fan into the sewing bag beside him in a panic.
Yu Xijiao walked in, saw Aunt Zhou with red and swollen eyes, and said straight to the point: "Aunt Zhou is still sad about the letter you received yesterday?"
"Third Miss..." Aunt Zhou trembled and looked up at Yu Xijiao in astonishment.
"Does Aunt Zhou know what happened in the house yesterday?" Yu Xijiao sat down and asked.
"My concubine knows something about this matter." Aunt Zhou said vaguely. Yesterday, this matter caused a big fuss. Qian Lizhen, who had always been arrogant, was rudely driven back by the Marquis. She didn't say anything to the lady in public, and even blamed her.
took over the wife's responsibility.
In the evening, the Marquis once sent someone over to ask her if she was willing to take over the matter. She was so upset at the time that she couldn't think about taking care of the house, so she declined because she felt unwell.
"Aunt Zhou, do you know why?" Yu Xijiao smiled.
"Isn't this matter... Miss Qian?" Aunt Zhou hesitated for a moment.
"This matter naturally happened because of Miss Qian. Madam was reprimanded by her father for this. After that, she handed over all the power of management without any excuse. People who heard from my father said that Madam actually asked herself to relinquish her responsibilities. She felt that yesterday
The thing is that she mistakenly trusted Miss Qian."
Yu Xijiao said calmly.
Aunt Zhou was stunned. During the time she entered the mansion, she actually had many fights with the Qian family. At that time, the Qian family was dissatisfied with the Marquis for bringing her into the mansion, and deliberately gave herself a slap on the wrist, pretending to be ill and ignoring the affairs of the mansion.
She was also asked to wait on him, and she had no choice but to take care of him for a few days. Seeing that she was doing a pretty good job, Qian's health immediately recovered, and she immediately handed over the management power to herself.
"Aunt Zhou, do you think Madam... would do this?" Yu Xijiao continued to smile.
Aunt Zhou hesitated for a moment, but still said bluntly: "No!"
"Since you can't, why did Madam do this? Do you really want to release the power of taking care of things and become a Madam of the Marquis who doesn't take care of things in the future?"
"This...impossible!" Aunt Zhou denied it again. If Qian had such a temperament, she would not have made things difficult for herself at that time and made it difficult for her to express her suffering.
"Since it's impossible, Madam has done it. Except for Aunt Zhou, those other aunts in this mansion have long been taken care of by Madam. There shouldn't be anyone who deliberately goes against Madam." Yu Xijiao said bluntly, with an aggressive look in her eyes.
He looked at Aunt Zhou and reminded.
Aunt Zhou was stunned at first, and then shocked. She raised her head and looked at Yu Xijiao almost in disbelief. Her lips trembled twice, but she was speechless.
"Aunt Zhou should also understand that what I said is true, right?" Yu Xijiao looked at her and raised her eyebrows slightly.
"That's what Third Miss said." Aunt Zhou said with difficulty.
"Yesterday, Madam handed over the power of stewardship, and Aunt Zhou received a letter. I guess because of this letter, Aunt Zhou refused to take charge of father's housekeeping?" Yu Xijiao said straightforwardly, "At this time,
, will Aunt Zhou still think that this letter is really a letter from your important relative?"
"Concubine..." Aunt Zhou was so shocked that she almost stood up.
"If Aunt Zhou believes in me, give me this letter first." Yu Xi sighed delicately, "I'm afraid it will be too late. By then it will be too late."
Aunt Zhou didn't expect that she would make such a request. She bit her lip and looked at Yu Xijiao not knowing what to say.
"Aunt Zhou is not afraid that father will come and ask you for this letter?" Yu Xi said pointedly, with a sweet smile, "Aunt Zhou was so abnormal yesterday, and today she sent others to leave and sit in the pavilion.
After looking at the fan for a while, I'm afraid I'm not the only one who knows about this matter, as my wife has always been in charge of this house."
Aunt Zhou's face was ugly, and she pressed her sleeves with trembling fingers.
Yu Xijiao's eyes fell to her sleeves, and she could faintly see the shadow of the paper, "Don't worry, Aunt Zhou, you can seal it first and then give it to me. I promise not to read your letter."
Aunt Zhou smiled reluctantly: "I don't quite understand what the third girl said."
"If my aunt insists on having her own way, I'm afraid my father will come here if he finds out." Yu Xijiao stood up, "Does your aunt think that everything in the letter is true?"
"Three...Three girls?" Aunt Zhou stood up in panic and said.
"Aunt Zhou, do you think Madam has not considered this much?" Yu Xijiao lowered her eyes and looked at Aunt Zhou's belly, "I heard that Aunt Zhou... had an accident, otherwise the Xuanping Marquis Mansion would not be the same at this time.
I am the youngest, and it is strange that I have been away from Beijing for so many years, and when I come back, I am still the youngest daughter in the house."
Aunt Zhou took two steps back almost in shock, stretched out her hand to support the edge of the table, and then stabilized her body. She looked at Yu Xijiao with excited eyes and said eagerly: "Third Miss...do you know something? Please...please
The third girl told the concubine?"
"I don't know, it's been several years since I left the capital." Yu Xijiao said calmly.
Aunt Zhou's face was full of disappointment, and she slowly lowered her head. It was true that she was overthinking.
"Auntie should have checked it out, right? Nothing was found, right? Everything is accidental. At most, it's because Auntie was not careful. She has no one else to blame but herself." Yu Xijiao looked at Auntie Zhou's face and knew that
She thought of something and continued.
"Yes, I checked and it was an accident, but I... don't believe it. It can't be like this..." Aunt Zhou murmured, "But Mr. Hou doesn't believe it."
The moment the child disappeared, she almost went crazy and immediately wanted to rush to the madam, but the Marquis stopped her and told her not to mess around, saying that the matter had nothing to do with the Qian family.
But she doesn’t believe it, she doesn’t believe it anyway!
But after all, she was just a concubine and had no way to do more, especially when the Marquis stopped her. From then on, Aunt Zhou lingered on the bedside and was extremely disappointed with Yu Ruiwen.
"If there is anyone else in this house who can do it quietly, there will be no one except Madam." Yu Xijiao looked at Aunt Zhou's sleeves and said softly, "Aunt Zhou still feels that
Is this letter really delayed for so long by accident?"
Aunt Zhou's hand shook and she subconsciously pressed it on her sleeve.
"Auntie, the Marquis is here!" The mother-in-law's voice suddenly came from outside.
Aunt Zhou raised her head in panic and looked out the window in fear. She squeezed her sleeves hard with her hands and her whole body trembled unconsciously.
Yu Xijiao sighed and stretched out her hand: "Aunt Zhou, please give me the letter!"
Aunt Zhou raised her eyes and looked at Yu Xijiao, then gritted her teeth, no longer hesitated, took out a letter from her sleeve, handed it to Yu Xijiao, bowed to Yu Xijiao sideways, and begged: "Thank you...
…Three girls.”
Yu Xijiao took it and held it casually in her hand without putting it into her cuffs.
Aunt Zhou's eyes narrowed tightly, and just as she was about to remind her, the curtain had been raised, and Yu Ruiwen appeared at the door.
"Father!" Yu Xijiao took the letter and stepped forward to salute Yu Ruiwen generously.
"Master Hou!" Aunt Zhou's charming voice.
"Why is Jiao'er here?" Yu Ruiwen didn't expect to see Yu Xijiao here, a hint of surprise appeared on his gloomy face, and he looked at Aunt Zhou aside and said.
"When I was walking in the yard just now, I met Aunt Zhou. When I returned home, I found that an embroidered handkerchief given by my grandmother was missing, so I came over to ask." Yu Xi said with a smile and raised the letter in her hand.
"Whose letter is this?" Yu Ruiwen looked at the letter in Yu Xijiao's hand with a strange expression.
"This is a letter from Aunt Zhou, written by Aunt Zhou's aunt. It mentions some old customs in Aunt Zhou's hometown. It's very interesting. During the temple fair, men were actually asked to dress up as Guanyin. This is different from Jiangnan.
." Yu Xi said with a sweet smile, the letter in her hand was fluttering.
Aunt Zhou's hometown, Hechang, is considered northern land, some distance from the south of the Yangtze River.
"The soil and water support the customs, so it should be different from those in Jiangnan." Yu Ruiwen's face relaxed a little, and he looked deeply at Aunt Zhou, "Are you feeling better?"
"It's much better now." Aunt Zhou raised her pale face. Although her eyes were red, she was in good spirits.
"Why are you still crying?" Yu Ruiwen looked at her face and said.
"My aunt also mentioned what happened when I was a child. I remembered that my father was still there at that time... I was just a little girl, but now my father... has long been..." At this point, Aunt Zhou shed tears and turned her head to get the handkerchief.
Wiped away tears.
Yu Ruiwen knew that Aunt Zhou was thinking of her father. Every time she thought of her father, Aunt Zhou would cry sadly.
"Okay, what happened in the past is in the past. Your father will definitely feel at ease knowing that you are fine now. As for your aunt, if you really miss her, you might as well invite her over. You two aunt and nephew
You can also meet." Yu Ruiwen said nonchalantly.
She looked around again and didn't find anything disturbing. However, she held the letter in Yu Xijiao's hand generously, and it didn't look like anything was wrong. Otherwise, Aunt Zhou wouldn't have taken it out to her little daughter.
look.
Looking up to meet his little daughter's suspicious gaze, Yu Ruiwen smiled: "Have you found the embroidered handkerchief?"
"I didn't find it, and I don't know where I went." Yu Xi's petite face looked bitter.
"Go out and take a look tomorrow and choose the right one. Father will give it to you." Yu Ruiwen reached out and touched his little daughter's hair and said distressedly.
"Thank you, father!" Yu Xijiao bowed sideways, then stood up, and said with a smile in her eyes, "Father, the lunch in the house was very late today, and my daughter didn't even eat enough, nor did she eat well.
,Who is in charge of the affairs of the government now?"
"This... we haven't found a suitable candidate yet." Yu Ruiwen coughed uncomfortably. He was still thinking about it and had a headache.
"Father, please ask Aunt Zhou to take care of it. My daughter just heard Aunt Zhou say that her father is a scholar. His family background was good in the past and he had also taken care of things at home." Yu Xi suggested with a smile.
"This matter... still needs to be discussed." Yu Ruiwen really didn't want Aunt Zhou to reject his matter and let his little daughter know, so he could only say vaguely.
However, Yu Xijiao had already turned to Aunt Zhou and gave her the initiative: "Aunt Zhou, how about you help my father with the affairs of the house? It's not good to always be in such a mess. It will make people laugh at my father.
, and my father’s official reputation is not good!”