Shen Xiu and Li Miaoer got off the carriage and walked to the second door of Mi's house. Mrs. Tao came up with her maid and her mother-in-law.
Tao is about thirty-seven or eighteen years old. It can be seen that she was a beauty when she was young, and she is still somewhat beautiful now.
With a smile on her face, she greeted Li Miao'er and then looked at Shen Xiu, "This must be Shen Xiu Niang. My father-in-law sent someone to tell me that I must entertain you well."
"I don't dare take this seriously," Shen Xiudao said, "Mr. Mi is too polite."
Mrs. Tao originally thought that Shen Xiu was a guest invited by her father-in-law. If she took advantage of her power to make things difficult for her, she would have to tolerate her for the sake of her father-in-law.
When they actually met, Mrs. Tao found that Shen Xiu was not as domineering as she thought, but was instead very polite.
When Mrs. Tao put down her worries, she became more fond of Shen Xiu.
"The camellia grown by my father-in-law is in the garden. It's just that Shen Xiu Niang rarely comes to the house once, so why not have some refreshments first and then go see the camellia after a rest."
Mrs. Tao thought very carefully, Shen Xiu glanced at Li Miao'er. Li Miao'er had no objection, Shen Xiu nodded and said with a smile: "Then I'll bother you, madam."
The maids quickly brought refreshments.
During the chat, Mr. Tao mentioned the recent government examination.
Li Miao'er mentioned that Shen Xiu's husband took part in the government examination this year.
When Tao heard that Shen Xiu's husband was a scholar, he asked a few more questions. When he learned that Shen Xiu's husband was not only the head of the county examination case, but also knew Tao Ziqian, Tao looked at Shen Xiu more. A bit of intimacy.
Li Miao'er added from the side: "Madam, you probably don't know that Madam Shen is currently living in the Yu family. The girl from the Yu family is still Tao Ziqian's unmarried wife."
It's okay that Li Miao'er didn't mention the Yu family, but when he mentioned the Yu family, Tao's face felt a little uncomfortable.
Shen Xiu noticed it immediately and winked at Li Miaoer.
Li Miaoer quickly changed the topic, and Tao's face looked better now.
After the maid added a second cup of hot tea, a servant came over and whispered a few words in Tao's ear. Tao then said sorry and left for a while.
Li Miao'er took advantage of Mrs. Tao's absence and whispered to Shen Xiu: "I mentioned the Yu family just now. Why does her face look so wrong? Is it because she doesn't deal with the Yu family?"
Shen Xiu said softly: "I don't know very well. There must be details we don't know. In short, we just don't mention the Yu family."
Not long after the two of them finished speaking, Tao came back with a haggard look on his face.
Shen Xiu and Li Miaoer looked at each other, neither understanding why Mr. Tao's face looked so bad after he had only been there for a while.
Tao worked hard and sat with the two of them for a while. Shen Xiu saw that Tao was really out of energy, so she asked to see the camellia.
The purpose of her coming to Mi's house was to embroider the two camellias. Now that she saw Mr. Tao was in a bad mood, she didn't want to stay at Mi's house any longer.
Mrs. Tao still remembered her father-in-law's instructions, and even though she was in low spirits, she took them to the garden herself.
The two camellias were planted in the flower bed of the pavilion.
Shen Xiu had seen many precious flowers in his previous life, and he recognized at a glance that the two camellias in the flower terrace were two very rare varieties, one was the Eighteenth Bachelor, and the other was the Zhuangyuan Red.
She was looking at the two camellia plants in front of her when she heard a voice coming from not far away.
Mr. Tao was staring at the camellias in trance, but when he heard the voice, his expression changed slightly.
Shen Xiu looked where the voice came from and saw several maids surrounding a young girl, seemingly trying to persuade her to go back.
The girl was about 14 or 15 years old, with beautiful features and a slight resemblance to Tao. But there was something wrong with her expression, her face was downcast and her eyes were dull.
Mrs. Tao forced a smile and said, "This is my second daughter. She didn't come out to meet the guests because she was feeling unwell." She turned around and told the maids, "It's windy in the garden. Send Xinzhi back quickly!"
After receiving Master Tao's instructions, the maids all went to persuade Miss Mi Er to go back. Unexpectedly, Mi Xinzhi became stubborn and refused to go back with the maids.
The maids didn't dare to do anything to her, they all looked embarrassed.
Mrs. Tao's face became even more ugly. She was about to ask the maids to send Mi Xinzhi directly back when Shen Xiu suddenly said: "Madam, can I say a few words to the second girl?"
Tao said with some reluctance: "She has been feeling unwell these past few days and has a bad temper. It would be bad if she collided with you."
Shen Xiu glanced at Mrs. Tao, smiled slightly and said, "No. The second girl looks very much like an old friend of mine. Can I say a few words to her?"
Mrs. Tao glanced at Shen Xiu with some confusion, hesitated for a while, and finally declined: "I think it's better to forget it, wait until she gets better..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Mi Xinzhi suddenly heard a suppressed shout.
"Don't follow me anymore."
After saying this, Mi Xinzhi turned around and left, leaving several maids stunned for a moment.
Mrs. Tao had a headache on her face and was about to ask the maids to follow her quickly. Shen Xiu suddenly interrupted: "Madam, don't ask the maids to follow you yet. Let the second girl stay by herself for a while!"
There are women guarding the gate in the garden. Even if no one follows, Mi Xinzhi cannot escape.
Tao thought for a while, and finally listened to Shen Xiu's words and nodded helplessly, "Then let her be alone for a while!"
"Madam, how long has the second girl been sick?" Shen Xiu thought for a while and finally asked.
Judging from Mi Xinzhi's behavior, she should be suffering from depression.
The reason why Shen Xiu was so sure was that one of her best friends had suffered from this disease after a breakup. In order to help her cure her depression, Shen Xiu stayed with her for half a year and knew what it was like when the disease broke out.
Mi Xinzhi's suppressed shouting just now was exactly the same as her best friend's appearance when she had an attack.
Moreover, through Tao's performance, Shen Xiu guessed that Mi Xinzhi was suffering from depression and was probably lovelorn. And Mi Xinzhi's sweetheart was most likely Tao Ziqian.
Otherwise, Mr. Tao wouldn't have looked so ugly after hearing about the Yu family.
After hearing what Shen Xiu said, Mrs. Tao had a clear look of surprise on her face, and reluctantly said, "I don't quite understand what Shen Xiu Niang said."
Shen Xiudao: "I know that with my love for my daughter, I definitely want the second girl to get better as soon as possible. But I am also afraid that asking a doctor for consultation will spread the news that the second girl is ill, which will make it difficult to be married to someone in the future.
I understand your lady's worries.
It's just that the sooner this disease is treated, the better. Otherwise, if it continues like this, the disease will become more and more serious.
If Madam doesn’t want the news to leak out, why not let me give it a try. I’m a very strict person, and I’m not a doctor. Even if I say a few words, people won’t believe it.”
After Shen Xiu finished speaking, she looked at Tao sincerely. She could have pretended that she couldn't see anything, but when she thought of her best friend's pain back then, she still couldn't remain indifferent.
Mrs. Tao had a confused look on her face, and every word of Shen Xiu's words spoke to her heart.
Of course she knew that the disease would get worse the longer it lasted, but her daughter was probably suffering from madness. If the doctor was really called in, the news of her daughter's madness would spread before the disease was cured.
For the sake of her daughter's reputation, Mrs. Tao could only seek medical consultation privately, but the doctors could not see her and the medicines they prescribed were not very effective.
Mrs. Tao had already made up her mind and planned to take her daughter on a secret trip to another place, and then find a famous doctor there for proper diagnosis and treatment.
But before Mrs. Tao set off with her daughter, her father-in-law arranged a task for her to entertain Shen Xiu.
Now that she heard Shen Xiu's words, she doubted her belief and said, "What do you mean by giving it a try? Do you know how to cure this disease?"
Shen Xiudao: "I have seen such a patient before and cured her myself. In fact, Ling Qianjin's illness is not too serious. As long as she is treated well, she will get better soon."
"It's just enlightenment, no need to take medicine?" Tao asked in disbelief.
Shen Xiudao: "You still need to take medicine, but it's just some medicinal food. The most important thing is to ease her emotions."
Mrs. Tao thought about it for a while, and she still didn't quite believe Shen Xiu, but if she went to other places, she might not be able to deceive others.
For the sake of her daughter's reputation, Mrs. Tao finally made up her mind, "Okay, then I'll bother Shen Xiu Niang. If you can cure Xin Zhi's disease, I will agree to whatever you ask for."
"I don't have any requirements. Just the double-sided embroidery on my house will be fine." Shen Xiudao said that she was willing to treat Mi Xinzhi just for the sake of her best friend and did not want any reward.
A trace of uneasiness flashed across Mrs. Tao's face and she said: "Now that I've mentioned this, I won't hide it from you. The double-sided embroidery on my father-in-law's hand was handed down from the previous dynasty. It looks fine, but when I touch it, it's
broken.
I know that you want double-sided embroidery, not just for viewing, but to study how double-sided embroidery is made. Well, if you can cure Xin Zhi's disease, then I will give you a double-sided embroidery from your dowry.
Embroidered for you.
The double-sided embroidery in my trousseau was purchased by my eldest brother for one thousand taels of silver when he went to Suzhou that year. I heard that it was embroidered by the most famous embroiderer in the area.
According to my elder brother when he came back, double-sided embroidery is a secret of Su embroidery, and there are no more than three embroiderers in Suzhou who can do double-sided embroidery."
When Shen Xiu heard this, she couldn't help but secretly thought that it was no wonder. Such a precious double-sided embroidery, Mr. Mi took it out as soon as he said it, but it turned out to be an old thing that broke at the touch of a touch.
Fortunately, I couldn't bear it and wanted to treat Mi Xinzhi's illness. Otherwise, when I finished embroidering the camellia, I would only get a double-sided embroidery that could not be touched.
And double-sided embroidery that breaks when touched is considered double-sided embroidery. I can't say anything to Mr. Mi for this.
Shen Xiu wanted to understand Mr. Mi's plan. She could have turned down the job of embroidering camellias, but thinking about it from Tao's point of view, if she turned down the job, Tao, the informant, would have to bear the wrath of her father-in-law.
.
For the sake of Mrs. Tao, Shen Xiu could only take on this job. Anyway, as long as Mi Xinzhi was cured, she would still get a double-sided embroidery. In this way, she would not be so careless in her life.
The worst case scenario is that I won’t have any contact with Mr. Mi from now on.