Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

Sitting on the boat, Zili looked at the lush scenery on both sides of the river. Ming Qian said it was so hot, and came in with a plate of rice dumplings: "But it won't be in time for the Dragon Boat Festival, grandma will pay attention to eating. I will make up for it when I get home." Let’s go. The zongzi I ate at home before are very delicate, I’ve never seen anything like this. Although it’s crude, it looks good, grandma, let’s try it.” Mingqian put the plate in front of Zili, and put it on the plate. There are zongzi full of them, all the size of a fist, exuding the unique fragrance of zongzi leaves.

"I don't have any appetite, so share it with them. Who sent this?" Zili glanced at the rice dumpling and told Mingqian to take it away.Just now, I calculated in my mind that Zili's trip to Jingcheng has been going on for a month now.It wasn't obvious that her stomach had left Qingzhou, but now she could already feel the fetal movement clearly.In a few days, her stomach will get bigger and bigger.This child, Zili was born at the end of the year no matter what.

Thinking of Yuanchun's miserable fate, Zili couldn't help but mutter in his heart that this child was a boy.This is a boy!She doesn't want to be someone's concubine with a child who was spoiled and raised like a baby!Neither can the imperial concubine!And what made Zili crazy was that if this child was really destined to be a noble concubine, wouldn't it be——Zili thought about the face of His Highness the grandson, the current emperor.She had to hold onto something tightly to restrain her urge to scream.Old cows eat tender grass!Why should her daughter give it to the old fat pig.Zili was so depressed by the future scene that the scenery outside was not attractive to her either.Along the way, Zili basically had the emperor's villain in his heart.The poor Emperor His Majesty is currently sneezing in the palace.

"Grandma, let's eat some. Grandma has been bored these days. I'm afraid she's worried about the second master and Zhu'er. The second master is more and more stable now. Zhu'er was brought by the second master himself when she was young, and Zhu'er The son is the son of the second master, so there is no reason why a father doesn't feel sorry for the child. Besides, Zhou Rui's family and Mrs. Dong are watching. The servants in the family are all selected by the second grandma, so don't worry, the second grandma." Mingqian Thinking that Zili was worried about his family, he softly persuaded Zili to eat a little.

She peeled off a zongzi and put it in front of Zili: "This is from Hejian County. Yunguang, the magistrate of Hejian County, is our master's student. He received the news and knew that grandma was going to Qingzhou, so he was busy sending people to deliver things." .This is also the intention of others." Ming Qian rambled on about the origin of zongzi.

"It turned out to be my father's protégé. It's troublesome. Why didn't you tell me, did you reward the person who gave them the gift? What did you say?" various networks of relationships.Everyone is maintaining this net according to the various unspoken rules and clear rules that have been agreed upon, and at the same time looking for their own seats in it.Since he was in the officialdom, Zili could not avoid acting in accordance with that set of norms.

"I was going back to grandma. It's just that the people sent by Lord Yunguang are also busy going back, saying that they dare not disturb grandma's rest. They also said that they have a lot of work these days, and their master can't come over to take care of them in person. Please forgive me. I said grandma was a little unwell, so I couldn't see her in person. I gave him a top-notch red envelope of 50 taels of silver. Master Yunguang is a caring person. He has already written to his colleagues along the road, asking them to come Take care on the way." Mingqian put the zongzi in Zili's hand and stared at her to eat it.

Zili sighed, and could barely swallow the zongzi.Jia Zheng in Qingzhou also sighed.Of course, he sighed not because he was about to have many daughters who might be rich and powerful, but because he was a little empty in his heart, always feeling cold, and needed someone to comfort his lonely little heart.To put it bluntly, it is empty, lonely and cold, and needs a warm, fragrant and nephrite comfort.As for the comfort of the warm and fragrant nephrite?Jia Zheng hopes to be a girl like Qingniao.

Men are always easy to be controlled by the lower body, especially in this environment, they can accept concubines openly, accept girls in the house, and go out to drink flower wine and so on.Basically no one will say anything, but it is considered a matter of course.Ever since he came out to be an official, Jia Zheng didn't have the configuration of a housekeeper around him.Although the two of them have a good relationship, they always get tired of eating delicacies every day.Jia Zheng seemed to have eaten too many exquisite meals and wanted a delicate snack for a change.

But Zili seems to have expected Jia Zheng's flamboyant intestines. Zhou Rui's family, that is, the former Zili's close girl, Yu Hou, and Jia Zhu's nanny Dong Saozi, both inside and outside, managed the dripping water in the back hall of the prefect's yamen. Not revealing.Not to mention the blue bird, it is not easy for Jia Zheng, a casual girl, to eat it.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. A few days in advance, Mrs. Dong began to urge the servants in the family to clean the courtyard, hanging iris on the door and tying tiger charms on her arms, preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival.Early this morning, Jia Zheng first changed into his official uniform and took Qingzhou officials and gentry to the Confucian Temple to offer sacrifices, then went to Qu Yuan Temple to offer incense, and waited for the officials and people to watch the dragon boat race together. Jia Zhengcai got out of the banquet.

It was already noon when I waited to come back. The family members had already had lunch and went to rest if they had no errands.Jia Zheng didn't call the person at the door, and went into the study with the corner of his robe ready to rest for a while.Unexpectedly, there was no one in the study room. The little girls thought that Jia Zheng would not come back for a while, so they either went to sleep or ran out to play.After several glasses of wine at the banquet, Jia Zheng became a little thirsty.He picked up the teapot on the table, and there seemed to be half a pot of tea left. "It's really lonely, and I can't even drink hot tea." Jia Zheng remembered that Zili would not be back for a few days, and couldn't help feeling even more depressed.He felt that he had been abandoned, and every detail of life in the past was well arranged by Zili, not only the clothes to stretch out his hands, and the meals to open his mouth, but also every piece of clothing fit, and every meal fit his appetite.

In the end, being served was so comfortable that when Zili left for a few days, Jia Zheng was too busy to drink hot tea. "Second Master's tea is cold, call your maidservant to refill the tea." With a soft voice, Qingniao stood at the door with a tea tray and smiled sweetly.

Jia Zheng's heart fluttered for no reason, he put down the teapot and said casually, "Why are you here? Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, can you eat zongzi?"

"It's a holiday today, and I'm going to give out reward money. I'm waiting for the games outside in the afternoon. I think the little girls ran to the backyard to watch the games outside through the wall because of their fun. They are also working hard, so let them play. Slaves I have been doing needlework for a long time and wanted to go out for a walk. Who knows that I saw the second master coming back, thinking that the little girls must not be here to take a look." Said Qingniao, she skillfully helped Jia Zheng change clothes, washed his hands and face with a towel.

Sitting on the chair, Wu Rong whispered softly to his ears, and Jia Zheng felt that every bone was lazy. He leaned on the chair and asked the blue bird to take off his boots, holding a teacup and savoring carefully. "It's so fragrant!" The mellow and smooth tea soup slid down the throat and into the stomach, the temperature was just right, and the warm tea water ironed every pore on the body, and the hotness and depression disappeared.

"What kind of tea is it? I like it very much." Jia Zheng casually praised Jade Bird's skill in making tea.

"Second master came back from drinking today, and the slave made Pu'er tea just to get rid of the greasy." Before Qingniao could say a word, Jia Zhu came in crying: "Woooo, I'm scared. Daddy, I'm scared." Jia With pearly feet and only a close-fitting shirt, she came in with her face flushed from crying.As soon as he saw Jia Zheng, he ran up to Jia Zheng, and suddenly got into his arms, crying and complaining about having a nightmare and being frightened and sad when he woke up.