Dowry maid's daily life [Red Mansion]

After the beginning of summer, the sky gradually heats up, and all the summer clothes have been sent out, but the sewing room is getting busier day by day.

Gein Wang Xifeng's wedding is scheduled for August 29, and there are only a few months left.Both the Rongguo Mansion and the Wang family are well-to-do families, and marrying a wife and daughter is a matter of course. Wang Xifeng's dowry was as much as 64 liters.The rest of the antiques, furniture and makeup boxes are not bad, they have been accumulated and prepared since the early years.But the bedding, bed curtains, clothes, shoes, etc. need to use fashionable materials and styles, so it's not just busy.

"...Even so, we should have started buying from last year. How come we are in such a hurry?" Du Yun'an was busy writing while planning, "It's just the backrest of the mattress, the carpet on the bed, the curtains and curtains. Dozens of items are missing, and two or three hundred purses of various colors are missing. This is not the important quilt bed curtain..."

Before Yinxian had time to speak, the little girl came in and sent a message: "Sister Yun'an, ten tailors and embroiderers have been called in to help. Take the cloth utensils from the library."

Ask Yinxian again, Yinxian has already stood up: "Quickly issue a receipt, so I can go find the steward and deposit to open the warehouse."

Yun An sighed, finally caught the Silver Thread Gang to help, it's over again!

Pulling out a thick account book sprinkled with gold and red paper paste from the pile of books, Du Yunan discussed with Yinxian while writing the receipt: "This time I opened it for a ten-day period?"

Yinxian laughed and said, "Let's just open it for half a month, to save trouble. Put it in the empty room first, and I will separate it with paper, so I'm not afraid of people playing tricks on me."

Du Yunan just nodded, and someone outside said: "Ping'er from Miss Feng's room is here."

Yinxian took the ticket, nodded slightly to Ping'er who came in, and went out with the little girl.

Inside, Du Yun'an had come out from behind the book case to greet her, Ping'er hurried to catch up, held her hand and smiled, "Who am I on the cards, dare to trouble my sister to be so solemn?"

Everyone takes the second class as an example, and now Du Yun'an is particularly favored by his wife, and Mrs. Jin thinks highly of her again, as if she is already the second manager in the sewing room.Ping'er just didn't understand why Du Yun'an was so polite and polite every time he saw her, but he couldn't help feeling more fond of her.

"Sister Ping'er is here, but Miss Feng has orders?" Du Yun'an has been busy like a spinning top in the sewing room these days, and has never had the chance to meet Wang Xifeng, but Ping'er has already met several times.

Ping'er always whispered softly: "It turned out that when I was counting, I found that six pieces of leather robes and jackets were missing. I hurried to tell you."

Yun An was taken aback, but he didn't dare to answer these words, he just smiled and said: "I came late, and the fur robe and crane cloak in winter have never been charged here, so I have to ask Aunt Jin."

Unexpectedly, Ping'er grabbed her hand, secretly handed over a bank note from his sleeve, and said in a low voice, "It was our own negligence, and we didn't need to trouble Mrs. Jin, let alone let my wife know about it. It's 500 taels, it doesn't matter what it is, just let it go quietly."

This is the meaning of bribery. Knowing that Du Yunan's elder brother was outside, he took money to hire her for errands - 500 taels, and didn't say what kind of fur jacket it was. Good fox fur and sea dragon skin are naturally not enough, but squirrel skin and sheep skin are not enough. But more than enough.If the brothers and sisters of the Du family were more greedy, it would be fine to get some thick clothes made of doro.

Seeing that there was no one around, Yun An grabbed her hand, frowned and said, "My good sister, although I just came here, I am very good with you. Tell me the truth, but something happened?" She guessed or It was caused by those two nuns from the south who stole it. It is said that the two of them have very bad character, and they will do everything from drinking to gambling.

Six big woolen clothes are not a trivial matter, and Sister Feng is still helping to cover up the two old ladies?Those two were the culprits, even if Sister Feng was willing to cover it up, Yun An would not want to step into this muddy water.

Unexpectedly, Ping'er's eyes suddenly turned red: "You don't know how embarrassing it is for me here! Not only the fur clothes this time, but also many things inside. My dear sister, let me tell you the truth, it was a gift from my hometown in Jinling. There is something wrong with the things that came here!" Ping'er was anxious when thinking of those dowry boxes, thinking that there would be many things that Du Yun'an needed to help in the future, she was close to herself again, she was a good girl with a tight mouth and kindness, so she told the truth.

"I'm afraid it's not a secret anymore, I just kept it from my wife." Ping'er said, "We were happy with the twelve boxes of clothes and cloth sent by our family earlier, but it doesn't look like it here."

"Maybe it's because our eldest lady prepared it early, and the silk and colored gauzes have faded after a long time, so we had to report that we didn't get the curtains and bedding, and Aunt Jin helped cover it up, and we just need to use some other materials when making those things." Just give it to us. We also have a few good needles and threads in the house, and we have spare material, but we can mend it when we are tired." She said with tears in her eyes, "But those big wool clothes can't be remade by changing the inside. New ones, several of them are already out of shape, all moldy and rotten!"

"...Our girl is the most stubborn and shameless temperament. She just kept quiet about such a shameful thing, and quietly took out her private room and asked me to deal with it."

Ping'er's teeth itched in anger, and he held Yun'an's hand: "Our eldest wife loves the girl the most, but when those villains see that our girl is not in front of them, they willfully play tricks to get rich! Miss Feng is filial, sobbing in anger , and refused to write a letter to tell the eldest wife, so I had to tear things apart and make up for things, I beg you to help!"

She looked outside the door, and said in a low voice: "I also know your difficulties. I seem to be a lonely ghost in this mansion, unlike other people who have parents and sisters to help. I wanted to ask for silver thread, but I wanted to Although she is familiar with people, she is not as easy to handle as your brother who has seen outside, and she has many relatives and friends, so I am afraid that it will be leaked..."

Only then did Du Yun'an understand why there had been a lot of unreasonable accounts recently drawn from the warehouse. She had wondered before that the mold given by Aunt Jin was too wide, and the materials used to make one curtain could make two.She thought she was taking advantage of the chance of giving Sister Feng a dowry.

If Yinxian really asked for it, and Yinxian's father was in charge of the concierge, it would not be difficult to get it done.It's just that she begged her now, but she didn't feel guilty——

"If you tell me the truth, I might as well say something from my heart: if you are like this, your wife may not know it?" Du Yun'an said.

Ping'er was startled, his face turned pale: "Do you know someone gossips at your wife?"

Yun An shook his head and said: "If you don't tell me, I don't know yet, obviously it hasn't spread yet. It's just that Aunt Jin is the one I'm most familiar with here. Aunt Jin is a cautious person, and she doesn't dare to let her go without her wife's instructions." Do it? You are fans of the authorities, just think about it carefully, can you hide it by relying on the tricks of your wife’s housekeeper in the past?” Needlework and thread mended the bedding curtains with great fanfare, and hired tailors and embroiderers from outside. It's buying new fabrics, but it's just a way for Mrs. Li to cover up for the embarrassing Sister Feng.

Knowing everything, Du Yun'an's doubts that had been in his heart for two months were solved.

"Sister Ping'er, I just advise your girl to put herself in the position of a wife and think about it..." Du Yun'an nodded, "If you really need my help, you can come to me again."

Ping'er's face was green and white, and he thanked Yun'an again, before he left in a daze.

Sending her out, Du Yun'an thought of Ruiyun and said: "If you continue like this, my wife's love for Miss Feng will be ruined sooner or later." At this time, he fully understood the meaning of these words:

Wang Xifeng has a brother Wang Ren, why can he "pretend to be a man and bring him up since childhood"?It was because Mrs. Li's knees were empty, so she took her niece from Jinling to raise her in the capital. She loved her like a jewel, even if Wang Ziteng's aunt later gave birth to Miss Zhengzheng, she never went past Wang Xifeng at Mrs. Li's place.Wang Xifeng's sharpness and decisiveness are all like Mrs. Li, except for one thing: she has a real elm head in terms of reading and writing.

But the mother and daughter, who are like a real mother and daughter, had a rift when Wang Xifeng left the house.The only thing to blame is that the wife of the first wife who is far away in Jinling is unwilling to be outdone and wants to make a show of her own daughter's marriage, so that the clan will not forget that she is the wife of the twelfth house of the Wang family.It's just that she didn't know whether she slapped her face to make herself fat, or she was really greedy for ink. The dowry she sent was very good on the surface, but there were many mistakes at the bottom of the box.

But Wang Xifeng is used to being strong, and she is smart, so she came up with this way of deceiving the world - but if she really treats Mrs. Li as her own mother, why should she act so presumptuously?

Wang Xifeng and Heping'er were temporarily fascinated in the game, but Du Yun'an could see it clearly. Because of the romantic relationship of "the man in the book is in front of my eyes", Du Yun'an only reminded him.

----

I don’t know how long it takes to be busy, and another half a month has passed. Ruiyun came to Du Yunan to talk about something new: “Miss Feng, for some reason, my ex-son nestled in his wife’s arms and cried for a long time, and the wife cried out that she had a headache— —but guess what, the two of you are like one another!"

"Miss Feng went to greet his wife every day, and the wife smiled a lot! According to me, this is what Miss Feng does. Those who didn't come out of the courtyard before are probably fake."

Yinxian also said: "She also reported the illness to the woman from Nanjing, and sent her to recuperate outside. That's the two who pulled my wife's tongue."

Rui Yun said mysteriously: "I happened to be serving in the house the day before yesterday, and Miss Feng cried so much that the dowry sent by her hometown went wrong. In fact, my wife knew about it a long time ago, but Miss Feng just wanted to help the other side hide it, and she would rather keep it on her own. Posting money to make up, the wife can't help but feel cold. Now it's all over, and the wife is naturally happy to know that Miss Feng kissed her. It's just—"

"Just what?" Du Yunan asked with a smile.

"It's just that the wife's other plan has failed. I think what the wife means, I'm afraid she has to bear it for Miss Feng's face."

"What are your plans, tell me quickly!" Yin Xian brought her tea.

Rui Yun raised his eyebrows: "The wife of the big house in Jinling's hometown is always acting like the elder sister-in-law, and she has caused a lot of trouble these years. The wife originally thought that Miss Feng was a girl born in someone's womb, so she is not like her. Seeing, who knows that this time she jumped out to act as a mother-in-law again, wouldn't this annoy the wife? Originally, she was separated from Miss Feng, and the wife wanted to wait for Miss Feng to go out of the door, so she pinched the big gap in the dowry and treated her. If you are so ruthless, you will definitely make her bow her head and become a vassal, and she will not dare to point fingers and make trouble..."

Du Yun'an and Yin Xian were speechless: Jiang is still as spicy as his wife's!

----

Sister Feng no longer hid in the yard and did not go out. Du Yun'an naturally saw the face of this 'Feng Lazi', and she really was a magnificent and charming beauty.

Sister Wang Feng was very polite to Du Yun'an, she not only rewarded her a few times with pretexts, but also often asked Ping'er to pick her up, and gave her some food by the way.If there are any insignificant needlework matters, they are also directly sent to Du Yun'an, which is quite dense for a while.

On this day, the comprador of the outer courtyard bought a cart of good leather from the north. Mrs. Li told Sister Feng to pick them out first. These furs were expensive. Aunt Jin took Du Yun'an and the silver thread and sent them to Wutong Court to show Ms. Feng to have a look.

Du Yun'an led seven or eight women and servants, followed behind Aunt Jin, and then walked to the corridor on the west side of the main courtyard. Was hit hard on the shoulder.

"Ouch!" Yun An covered his shoulder in pain.

"Bitao, what are you doing in such a hurry, it's so decent!" Aunt Jin shouted.

The one who replaced Bitao was the second-class girl in Mrs. Li's room, and she was bumped hard, but she took a breath and replied with a smile: "It's the second master Lian of the Jia family who came to greet his wife, and Baba gave some Good things for the 'sisters' in our house! Madam asked someone to take Erye Lian to the garden for a stroll, I told the girls to stay away from Mrs. Feng..." Before the words finished, the man had already run away.

Du Yun'an and his group walked slowly carrying the boxes, and they were overtaken by a group of people behind before they reached the Indus Courtyard.

The one in the lead was a young gentleman with a powdery face and a smile on his lips, holding a black bone fan in his hand, and he was a handsome young gentleman.

Aunt Jin hurriedly led the people to one side, and said with a smile, "Hello, Second Master Lian."

Jia Lian hurriedly folded her fan and cupped her hands slightly: "Golden mother."

Du Yun'an raised his eyes slightly, and saw Jia Lian glanced over the crowd, and paused for a moment on her body. Her long eyes were black and white, and she looked like she was wearing countless small hooks.

Chicly folding the folding fan, Jia Lian was surrounded and went forward, beside Du Yun'an, Yin Xian's face was already flushed.