Red Mansions: My Book is Cool

Sitting on a chair in the middle of the living room, Mrs. Chen looked puzzled at the middle-aged woman who bowed her head respectfully and stood aside.The woman was dressed in a refreshing and simple dress, with a bamboo blue fine check pattern dress, her hair combed neatly, a plain silver hairpin on her head, a pair of silver cloves by her ear, and a green jade bracelet on her wrist.She has a beautiful face, but with a somewhat unconcealable sadness, she can't tell her identity for a while.

Mrs. Chen turned her head quietly, and asked Madam Du with her eyes: what is the origin of this person, why has she never seen him before?Judging by her appearance, she is not from the Lin family!It's not her relatives from the Chen family, is it from her husband's side?But this person, she tried hard to recall, but she didn't have the slightest impression in her mind!

"Ma'am!" Madam Du leaned close to Chen's ear and said in a low voice: "This woman is a bit strange. When she knocked on the door, it was the Sun Zong's family who greeted her. As soon as she opened her mouth, she asked: Is this the Lin Mansion, the master of the mansion?" Is it called Lin Qing, a scholar?

Sun Zongjia's just answered 'yes'.

She asked again: Is your brother at home?Is your body better?

Sun Zong's family heard her mentioning the master and Ange, especially when it came to Ange's son, she had a tender and loving face, and said that she asked to see his wife

I thought she was my wife or a distant relative of the master, so I didn't dare to neglect her, so I hurriedly called Qian Jixiang's family to find me.That woman seems to be very respectable. Hearing that Madam, you want to see her, she specially asked Sun Zong's family to fetch a basin of water, wash her hands and face, and arrange her clothes and hair before coming to see her.It can be seen that this woman is still a decent person. "

Chen's eyes slid down, and saw that the corner of the woman's cloth shoes was exposed under the skirt, covered with dust, it seemed that she had walked a long way.She remained calm, invited her to take a seat, ordered Madam Du to bring tea, and said in a gentle voice: "Madam, please have some tea. I wonder why you came to the Lin family? Forgive my poor eyesight, I don't seem to have seen you before."

The woman was a little uneasy, she didn't dare to take her seat, and called to Madam Du: "Sister, don't be busy, I can't afford it!"

After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly stepped forward and knelt down, with tears in his eyes, he said: "Mrs. Lin, I am really presumptuous in coming, please don't take offense!"

"What do you mean, I don't even know who you are? Get up quickly!" Surprised, Mrs. Chen approached quickly, trying to pull him up together with Madam Du.

"Ma'am," the woman said in a bitter tone, "my slave name is Zhao Yulan, I am from the Jinling Lin family and I want to come and see my brother."

Chen's complexion suddenly darkened, she glanced at the woman vigilantly, and said in a deep voice: "Master Jinling Lin asked you to come? It is normal for him to miss Brother An, but at that time he and my master Let's just say that our husband and wife have no children, so we will naturally love Ange as our own. Ange is still young, so we don't need to let Ange know about it. We are no longer related, we are only of the same family. Now, your behavior is not in accordance with the agreement! Besides, even if your master cares about your brother, you should follow the etiquette, first write a letter to explain the matter, Then solemnly send the daughter-in-law in charge here. How can there be such a reason for a servant to come to the door suddenly?" As he said, he couldn't help showing a bit of anger.Although my own family is not comparable to the Jinling Lin family, but this shows that the Jinling Lin family has no respect for my family, how can I feel at ease?

Madam Du also had a bad look on her face: "Brother An is very well, you go back and tell your master that there is no need to worry. My brother has to study every day, the master has ordered, don't let anyone disturb you."

"It's not easy for you to come from afar!" Mrs. Chen said indifferently: "Nurse Du, ask the cook to prepare the food so that she can rest well. The house is small and there is no place to put her. You can find Mrs. Zhao at the Ping'an Inn." Stay in one room for one night, settle the bill, and reward her with three taels of silver. Arrange for her to go back tomorrow morning

"

"Ma'am," Zhao Yulan hurriedly said, "I am not a servant of the Lin family." Facing the puzzled gazes of Mrs. Chen and Madam Du, she gritted her teeth, "I am the biological mother of Aunt Zhang of the Lin family!"

"My daughter is a concubine of the Lin family, and I am a concubine of the Zhang family. Madam, you see, our mother and daughter are destined to be concubines!" Zhao Yulan smiled bleakly.

Mrs. Chen and Madam Du glanced at each other, not knowing what it meant.

"I was sold to the Zhang family by my parents because of my poor family. First I served the young master's maid, and then I was confiscated. After the mistress came in and gave birth to her son, she saw that I was well-behaved and promoted me to be an aunt. In fact, I was half slave and half slave." Later, the slave gave birth to his daughter Zhang Donger. The Zhang family was a wealthy businessman. My wife hadn't left home for many years, and wanted to take a house to be a good concubine, so the Zhang family thought about sending Dong'er there. I'm just an aunt, so how can I speak? The master said, that Master Lin is from a noble family Scholars, talent and learning, the Lin family is an excellent and decent family, even though she is a concubine, she is not treating Dong'er badly. She is a concubine, she wants to marry a good family, and she also wants to marry a good man, but what is she dreaming? If she is not a concubine Miss is already married, and the Lin family would rather have a lower concubine status than Dong'er. Thinking of this, I feel a little more at ease."

"The clan brother's family is simple, and the clan's sister-in-law is also from a famous family. The duke and noble daughter, the husband and wife are both educated and reasonable, so they won't be mean to others, right?" Chen couldn't help asking.

"In the beginning, Dong'er lived well in Lin's house. Her basic necessities of life were much better than those in Zhang's house. Mrs. Jia even gave her a separate yard to live in, and assigned two servant girls to take care of her. Although she was a concubine, her daily life She is also comfortable. Dong'er also knows that her identity is very different from Mrs. Jia's. Master Lin abides by the rules and is definitely not someone who favors concubines and destroys wives. She has been a concubine since she was a child, and she never dared to compete with her aunt and sister. When she came to the Lin family , also respectful and obedient to Mrs. Jia, and never thought anything wrong. When I went to see her, she always said good things about Mrs. Jia."

Zhao Yulan sighed and said, "After a year, Dong'er became pregnant. She conceived in October and gave birth to a son, An Geer, the eldest son of the Lin family. Both Master Lin and Mrs. Jia are very happy. It’s too late. At that time, Ang Ge’er was assigned two nurses and four servant girls to serve her, and Dong’er was rewarded generously, and I got a lot of good things with her.”

"After An Ge'er caught Zhou, Mrs. Jia found out that she was pregnant. The master was very happy. The son of the concubine was naturally more noble than the son of the concubine. Dong'er was terrified, but Master Lin comforted him and said that Ge'er was his eldest son, and he would not I will treat you badly. Dong'er admires Master Lin and believes in his words." Zhao Yulan said dully: "I am Dong'er's biological mother, so naturally I wish her well. The eldest son of a concubine is the head of the house in a big family. It was a thorn in my side, very sad. I knew it in my heart, but there was nothing I could do. Even though I burned incense and prayed to Buddha, Mrs. Jia still gave birth to a son."

"This is the son-in-law! The Lin family threw a big banquet to celebrate the birth of the son-in-law, and An Ge'er was no longer a treasure, and even the nanny didn't care about it in the past. We don't complain about this, the son-in-law, it's always different!"

"Unfortunately, that younger brother is not in good health. He has been sick frequently since he was born. In comparison, An Geer is strong, lively, and smart. Mrs. Jia's companions are full of gossip and anger all day long. Mrs. Jia also gradually treats Dong'er and An Ge'er differently, although Master Lin also likes An Ge'er, but most of his thoughts are on his legitimate son and wife. Dong'er and An Ge'er's life is becoming more difficult."

"That's all. Dong'er has a meek and patient temperament, and the servants dare not treat An Ge'er badly. When I went to see Dong'er, I advised her to be patient, and in the future, An Ge'er will be able to rely on her when she grows up. The days passed as soon as I endured them, and I was much more sad than her back then." When Zhao Yulan said this, tears slowly filled her eyes, she took out a handkerchief to cover her eyes: "Who knows, when Brother An was two years old, he I contracted the cold with my younger brother, and when I got sick, my younger brother was even more ill. The Lin family was busy seeking medical treatment, but An Geer was in good health and older, so he recovered faster than my younger brother. I don't know where Rumors spread that An Geer and his first brother's fates are incompatible and cannot be kept together. If they are together, they will take away the luck and vitality of the first brother. They speak clearly. Not long after, Mrs. Jia also fell ill Now, Master Lin also felt unwell. Now, people all over the house are talking about it. The Lin family invited eminent monks to pray for blessings, and they even said that Brother An is not related to his parents, siblings, and if he insists on keeping him, he will definitely Ke Fu Ke Mu Ke younger siblings, only by cutting off this connection, it will be cheaper, he has his own fate."

"Master Lin didn't believe it at first, so he tried to send Brother An to another hospital for a period of time. Sure enough, both his husband and wife and the son-in-law were in better health. Then he brought Brother An back, and he started to get sick again. After several trials , under such circumstances, I have to believe that I will never ignore it for a bastard. To put it bluntly, if you have a son, then the bastard is dispensable!"

"Madam, you also know what happened later!" Zhao Yulan said, wiping her tears.

Chen Shi and Madam Du looked at each other, and both sighed.Although this is cruel to Zhao's mother and daughter, but the world is like this. Between the noble sons and wives and the concubines, what choice will a scholar with fame and official positions like Master Lin make? And metaphor.He has to care about his own reputation, unless he has a deep friendship with that Dong'er.However, I heard that he and Jia's husband and wife are in harmony, and taking Dong'er as a concubine is just to continue the heir.

Speaking of it, even the legitimate son and the legitimate daughter, if there is a conclusion that restrains parents and grandparents, for the sake of filial piety, I am afraid that they will have to give up.The more official the family is, the more strict the ethics are, and the less humane it is, it is not as warm and harmonious as their small family.However, it is unknown whether there is any weirdness in this!The eldest son of the concubine, the second son of the concubine, who is strong and smart, but weak and sick. Thinking of this, she felt a little sympathy for Zhao Yulan.

"Oh, it's God's will, so don't be sad! Brother Lin is not completely merciless to An Ge'er. He found my master for it. He found someone to match his horoscope. My master and An Ge'er's horoscopes are very compatible. , is a mutually prosperous and complementary fate. Therefore, after discussion among the clan, Angle was adopted by our husband and wife. Angle is extremely painful. We have no children under our knees, and we treat Angle as our own. Gods and Buddhas are all over the sky, you just need to rest assured!"

Madam Du then persuaded: "Old sister, to tell you the truth. Brother An is probably more comfortable with the master and wife than at the Jinling Lin family. Although the Jinling Lin family is richer, but the concubine is already bowing his head. The eldest son of the concubine will be even more feared. You see, the scheming mistresses of rich families don’t beat and scold the concubine badly. Teach carefully, and you will have a bright future in the future!"

"Aunt Zhang is still young, so she and Mr. Lin will have a son and a half in the future, so don't be so sad." Chen persuaded: "You should persuade her, why don't you calm down? You think about your daughter. Think, once your words are revealed, don’t the masters and wives there think that Dong’er is harboring resentment? She still wants to live in the Lin family!”

After hearing this, Zhao Yulan suddenly burst into tears, which stunned Mrs. Chen and Madam Du.