She doesn't know anything
Xue Mingli suffocated for a moment, standing outside the door a little overwhelmed, and after a long while he whispered: "But you don't tell me, how do I know..."
Xue Minglang, who was inside, did not speak any more.
In the study, there was a faint choking sound, as if trying to suppress something, but the more this happened, the more sad it sounded.
Xue Mingli's heart clenched when she heard this.
She knew Ming Lang.
Although Sister Lang has a bad temper, she has always been more coquettish to her mother. The word rude, Ben has nothing to do with her.
But today, this situation is almost contradictory.
And it's so unexplainable and inexplicable.
She mentioned the aunt, did the aunt say something
Xue Mingli was anxious and wanted to ask clearly.
But no matter how she knocked on the door or persuaded her, Xue Minglang inside was just crying and didn't answer her at all.
In the past, she went into the study angrily, but never came out for an hour.
Maybe…
She is angry today, will she come out later
Xue Mingli pressed the door and pushed it, but still didn't move, so she had to say, "Then if you don't want to come out, then I'll wait for you outside. For the dinner at night, I'll tell Mommy and let the kitchen keep you warm. With you. My favorite candied cheese. When you're hungry, I'll ask someone to bring it to you, okay?"
There was still no response from the room.
The suppressed crying stopped for a while, but in the blink of an eye, the cry became more intense.
The servant girls who were serving had already been watching from the outside, looking at each other in dismay.
They also knew a little about Xue Minglang being shy or being arrogant with others.
When the second grandmother forbade her to look for the eldest son, she made a scene once, and later coaxed her out.
This time, there is trouble again, I don't know why
Immediately, a little maid whispered to persuade: "What kind of temperament Sister Lang is, you should know the eldest miss. Why don't we wait a little longer?"
"… "
What can you do without waiting
Xue Mingli guessed that she would not come out for a while, so she sighed, her two delicate brows furrowed, and she said in a thin voice: "You go and tell your mother, and tell others not to look for her. My sister is in the study. When I came back, I didn’t run around. Just let my mother relax, and I’ll wait for Sister Lang.”
"Sister, sit down first, and the servant will go for a run."
It only took a few steps to get to Lu Jinxi's side. The maid first helped Xue Mingli to the outside, poured tea, and then hurriedly ran to inform everyone.
Xue Mingli sat outside waiting, looking at the half-embroidered Begonia in the sewing basket from time to time, and from time to time to the study door.
Time passed by unconsciously.
This wait, actually waited until late at night.
The dinner prepared in the kitchen outside has been heated several times.
She was afraid that it was too hot to eat, so she whispered to Mama Jiao and went to the kitchen to make a supper. But Xue Minglang still didn't come out.
The maids and maids who were serving were worried when they saw it, and could not help but persuade Xue Mingli: "Miss, Sister Lang is not the way to do this. Why don't we call someone and force the door to open? Or do you go to bed earlier? Those who are on the bed, the rest will be guarded by the servants."
"No need." Xue Mingli shook her head, but when she lowered her eyes, there was a resolute light flashing in her eyes. She only said, "Everyone, let's go back to sleep, and I'll go back to sleep too."
"Sister Li? This is... "
Madam Jiao was getting old, so she couldn't handle it very well at this time, but she felt a little stupid when she heard Xue Mingli's words.
But Xue Mingli didn't explain, it was still the same sentence: "Go back to sleep."
The maids were at a loss, but since she had already said it, she had to do it.
A few people waited for Xue Mingli to fall asleep, and when Jiao Ma saw that she was lying down obediently, she blew out the candle in the room and turned over by herself.
In the boudoir, it suddenly became pitch black and quiet.
Only the moonlight outside the window cast a snow-white, reflecting a hazy light and shadow on the furnishings in the house.
Xue Mingli on the bed quietly opened her eyes again.
The maids are gone.
So she got up from the bed without a sound, and with some difficulty picked up a warm quilt, barefoot, like a cat, without making any sound, and walked towards the study.
The study was also pitch-dark, and no lights were lit at all.
Xue Mingli's heartbeat was a little faster, and when she looked around, she was still a little scared, so she only dared to knock on the door lightly.
"Dong dong dong."
"Minglang, are you asleep?"
Standing outside the door, her voice was also small and thin.
It was quiet inside, as if someone had fallen asleep.
The quilt in Xue Mingli's hand slipped down halfway, and she almost couldn't hold it. But she was unwilling to give up.
In the always gentle and quiet voice, there was a little more pitiful trembling: "It's so dark outside, sister, can you open the door? I don't dare to sleep alone..."
The ground in front of the study is paved with terrazzo, and there is no carpet.
In this kind of weather, stepping on the ice is cold and cold, and the cold air rises from the soles of the feet. Even though she was holding a quilt, Xue Mingli was still a little cold.
There was no answer in the door for a long time.
But she was looking forward to something vaguely, so she opened her eyes and looked at the door.
A long time passed, and it took about half an hour before there was a sound inside.
"Squeak", the door finally opened.
The expressionless Xue Minglang held the door with both hands and stood inside the door. Both eyes were red, and even the eyelashes were still wet.
Seeing that Xue Mingli was still standing outside the door, she stepped aside.
That's what it means to let her in.
When Xue Mingli saw it, she was actually relieved. She hugged the quilt and walked silently into the door with a smile on her face: "Thank you Minglang."
Xue Minglang was too lazy to roll his eyes.
She closed the door with a stiff face, but this time she didn't lock the door, she just covered it. Looking back, she saw that Xue Mingli was in the dark and folded the quilt together on the low couch, and the two quilts were pressed thickly.
"That way it won't be cold."
"Go to sleep."
Xue Minglang didn't want to talk to anyone for the time being, he climbed onto the bed by himself, and lay in the inner position, leaving half of the bed.
Xue Mingli stared at her for a while, then shrank back, buried herself in the quilt, and asked her with a wink, "Are you really not going to tell my sister?"
"... She doesn't want us anymore."
Xue Minglang was silent for a while before saying this.
But then I thought, what should I tell my sister to do
It can't be stopped.
The mother has changed, not the mother who will depend on them in everything.
So, before Xue Mingli asked, she immediately said, "There used to be only the three of us, but now she even cares about her eldest brother. I'm not happy. Anyway, you're not allowed to ask any more. If you ask me again, I'll kick you out."
"… "
If Xue Mingli wanted to exit, he was blocked for a while.
Sister Lang's words turned very blunt.
But the phrase "she doesn't want us anymore" makes people feel frightened.
She wanted to continue to ask questions, but Xue Minglang had already turned around, turned her back to her, and closed her eyes, obviously not ready to pay any attention to anyone.
Everything I had to say was swallowed back in my stomach.
Reaching out to put a hand on Xue Minglang's shoulder, Xue Mingli finally didn't ask, only whispered, "See you tomorrow morning."
Sister Lang didn't answer, just curled up her body.
Slowly, the breathing sound became even.
-Fell asleep.
Xue Mingli couldn't calm down. She always felt that her sister knew something, but she really didn't tell her. But this can't be rushed...
She had to close her eyes and lay in bed.
I don't know how long it has passed, and suddenly there was a very light "knock" sound outside the house, as if someone was knocking on the door outside. Then, there was a conversation in a lowered voice.
The door opened and someone came in.
The dim light seemed to be lighting up the lamps in the room.
Not long after, he was outside the door.
"Is it in there?"
Depressed voice, warm and soft.
It's a familiar voice!
Xue Mingli's heart suddenly jumped.
Then, with a soft sound, the door of the study opened, and the footsteps were quiet, and they soon came to their bedside.
When he moved around, it seemed that someone was sitting down.
The quilt and quilt covering her body seemed to be tucked in by someone, and it warmed a lot - at this moment, Xue Mingli finally couldn't hold back and quietly opened her eyes.
That figure, illuminated by dim lights, was a little hazy and blurry.
A pair of plain white hands stopped there before they had time to withdraw from the corner of the quilt. Perhaps seeing her eyes suddenly opened, she had a slight surprise on her face, but blinked and smiled again.
It was Lu Jinxi.
She had just finished writing something in the study, but she wasn't quite made up her mind, and she thought of the two little girls falling asleep, so she came over to take a look.
At this moment, she was sitting on the side of the bed, just tucked the quilt for the two sisters.
Sister Lang was fine, she really fell asleep; but Sister Li, who was lying outside, opened her eyes and saw that her soft eyes were clear, but she didn't feel sleepy at all.
People are awake.
The corners of Lu Jinxi's lips curled up, just about to speak.
Who would have thought that Xue Mingli stretched out her hand from the quilt and put her index finger to her lips: "Shh..." Then she pointed to Sister Lang beside her, then hesitated, and then pointed to the door.
I'm referring to Sister Lang, because I'm afraid of disturbing her; but I'm pointing at the door...
Lu Jinxi also looked in the direction of her finger, only guessing that she had something to say to herself.
The servant on this side went over to reply, only saying that Sister Lang didn't come out and was locked in the study.
But when she came here, she found that Sister Li was not on the bed. Instead, the door to the study was open a crack and was not closed tightly.
So she opened the door and saw their sisters sleeping together.
Lu Jin pondered for a while, and when she saw the clear eyes of the little girl, she nodded slightly.
So Xue Mingli gently got out of the bed and pulled Lu Jinxi out.
Her palms were soft and warm.
Lu Jinxi was led by her and returned to her room. There is a distance from the study here, so it won't be noisy if you speak in a low voice.
At this time, Xue Mingli bowed her head a little embarrassedly, and whispered: "I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night just now, so I went to my sister with the quilt, and she opened the door for me. Why is my mother here?"
"You can't fall asleep, how can my mother fall asleep?"
Lu Jinxi's eyes were slightly sleepy, but his smile was very moving.
Seeing that Xue Mingli was not wearing shoes, she frowned slightly, but didn't say anything, she just told her to sit back on the bed, and pulled the quilt over to cover her.
"What do you want to say to your mother?"
"… Um."
Xue Mingli hesitated for a while, but still answered, but looked at the egret Qingque and a few maids standing behind Lu Jinxi.
Lu Jinxi immediately understood and turned around and said, "You all go outside and wait for me."
The egret blue bird followed.
Only the two of them were left in the house.
Lu Jinxi walked up, sat sideways beside Xue Mingli, took her shoulders, helped her wrap the quilt tightly, and then asked with a smile, "There's no one left now, can we talk?"
Xue Mingli bit her lip and looked at her with a twinkle in her eyes.
But she really just wanted this to pass quickly.
So, she finally opened her mouth: "... Sister Lang said just now, mother, you don't want us anymore."
"… "
At that moment, Lu Jinxi's eyelids twitched and he was suddenly speechless.
In fact, she was relatively calm.
Because Sister Lang knew that Song Zhiyan's guess about this matter had been in her heart for a long time, but she didn't expect that Sister Li, who has always been gentle and quiet, would say it so bluntly.
However, Xue Mingli mustered up his courage, squeezed his fingers, and said everything he wanted to say.
"But when Mingli asked her questions, she used the fact that you started caring about Big Brother to prevaricate me, and she refused to say anything."
"I'm the eldest sister, and I'm three years older than Sister Lang."
"Although I don't know what Sister Lang knows or what my mother is doing, Mingli believes: You won't want us."
Lu Jinxi listened, without refuting, just put a slight smile on her lips.
She reached out and touched Xue Mingli's head.
In the action, there is a little gentleness.
Xue Mingli suddenly felt very at ease.
She originally had a trembling voice, but gradually became calmer and more stable.
"My sister has a knife mouth and a tofu heart. She has a little temper, but she is very close to her mother on weekdays."
"Although I don't know what happened, Mingli lives with Sister Lang and knows her well. I want to tell my mother what happened recently."
"Mingli is still young, I don't know if these things will be a problem, but maybe it will be useful to my mother..."
She whispered softly.
Lu Jinxi suddenly felt that Sister Li's voice was very similar to her mother's. It was so soft and soft, and it had a reassuring taste.
Outside, the egret and the green sparrow have been waiting for a long time.
Egret didn't know the whole story at all, only a little sleepy; Qingque on the other side handled the matter of sending a letter to Song Zhiyan by hand, and was already a little uneasy in his heart, raising his eyes from time to time to look inside.
After a full two or three minutes, Lu Jinxi came out of it: "Okay, let's go back too."
"Ma'am, how is it?"
Qingque still held Lu Jinxi's cape, came up and put it on her, but there was a bit of worry in her eyes.
Lu Jinxi knew what she was worried about.
When Sister Li said the sentence "Mother doesn't want us anymore", she was naturally surprised. But what she said later was actually unexpected to Lu Jinxi.
"I had a heart-to-heart talk with Sister Li, and it wasn't a big deal."
She didn't say much. When the cloak was fastened, she looked at the maids in the house and said, "It's quite cold in the second half of the night, so you don't have to send it away. Go in and serve it. Remember to pour some soup for Sister Li and Sister Lang. Tuck it under the covers, beware of freezing."
A few maids were a little frightened, and hurriedly agreed.
Lu Jinxi didn't intend to scold them. After speaking, he went out the door and went down the steps.
The moonlight falls like water.
She was walking on the porch leading to the front yard, looked up at the frosty white moon, and only instructed: "When it's dawn, you all go to the warehouse, but ask someone to cover the room of Sister Li Erlang with blankets. In this weather, walking barefoot on the ground is afraid of getting cold air."
Egret was speechless and wanted to say that it would be better for Sister Lang not to wear shoes. But on second thought, it is indeed more foolproof to lay a carpet...
For a moment he was speechless.
Qingque laughed: "I saw you didn't say anything just now, and the slaves still thought you didn't find out."
"Such a little girl, walking barefoot, I'm not blind." Lu Jinxi laughed softly, but did not reply much, only said, "How to deal with Sister Lang's affairs, you don't have to worry, I I already have an idea in my mind."
Just haven't made a final decision yet.
Almost everything in the conversation with Xue Mingli just now confirmed her guess.
The eldest daughter of the Lu family actually doesn't have much to say on weekdays. Among the Lu family's children, she plays a peaceful role.
But she did not expect that in dealing with these things, she could take into account both emotion and reason.
She didn't doubt anything in her words, just tried her best to put herself in the position of bystander, and recalled Sister Lang's recent actions.
As she herself said -
As someone who didn't know, she couldn't find out some details, but Lu Jinxi could.
In fact, Lu Jinxi did draw some useful inferences from the various information she gave.
For example, Sister Lang still has a deep yearning and longing for her father who can hardly remember his face;
For example, mothers and daughters depend on each other, so she has a strong dependence on the only mother;
For example, she likes to make friends, including He's daughter, Sister Zhu;
For example, she loves to read books, but once she came back from Sister Pearl, she turned over the "Girl's Ring" that was about to be dusted in the corner of the bookshelf...
Before leaving, Sister Li asked her how to deal with the matter.
Lu Jinxi replied to her and said that she had already made up her mind. As long as she brought Sister Lang over to greet her tomorrow night, she would take care of the rest.
Thinking of this, Lu Jinxi had already seen the lights still lit in his study, and only said slowly: "I will go to the study as usual. I have to go out tomorrow, you should go to bed earlier, I will sleep in the study, and you will get up early tomorrow. Zhang Luo, come and call me."
It was normal for Lu Jinxi to stay up late in the study for checking accounts.
Qing Que guessed that she was still thinking about Sister Lang's affairs, or wanted to be alone, so she didn't dare to say anything of concern, so she retire with Egret.
Lu Jinxi entered the study alone.
The old and new collections of books are neatly placed one by one, with a smell of ancient scrolls and ink. The chessboard sent by Gu Juefei earlier was placed on the chess table by the window, and the dim yellow light shone with its own warm luster. And that "Yishan Poems" was placed on the bookcase.
There are several pages of snow-white rice paper on the bookcase, the ink in the inkstone has dried a little, and a thin tube of lake pen is placed on top, next to the inkstone drop that controls the amount of ink.
On the left is a stack of ledgers, and on the right is a small box.
Lu Jinxi walked over and sat down again.
Everything she had thought about before flashed through her mind again.
There are generally two ways to deal with Sister Lang's matter.
The first one, Bento himself is the Lu family.
Comfort the children, and leave your own life behind, never think about your previous identity, and be a widow with peace of mind.
The second is to take the initiative to educate Sister Lang.
Use her thoughts and concepts to influence the child and make her identify with everything about herself. To put it simply, it was brainwashing to completely remove Xue Minglang's old concepts and ideas.
For Lu Jinxi, the first one is definitely not in her consideration.
"Self" is the key to a person's identity.
From beginning to end, she just took care of her children on behalf of the Lu family, but she would not have any idea of becoming Lu's family, and she would not confuse her identity and existence just because she passed through.
Therefore, asking her to lose herself is tantamount to fooling around.
In this way, only the second method remains.
Sister Lang is only seven years old this year. Even though the children of this era may be a little precocious, they are still too early for Sanguan to mature. It is not difficult to exert influence.
The difficulty lies in the follow-up effects of this approach.
In order for Sister Zhu to marry a good family, the He family kept her widowhood and did not allow Sister Zhu to go out.
On the one hand, it is He's own choice; on the other hand, isn't it because the external environment requires women to do this
If she really taught Sister Lang, and even Sister Li, to be independent women, would they really be better off than other girls in their generation
In an environment that is different from the people around you, will you not be shaken
This is not modern after all.
What's more, the key lies in Lu Jinxi himself.
She does look light on relationships, but not every relationship is a joke. Maybe one day I will find a very suitable one to marry
At this time, as her daughters, what kind of existence will Sister Lang and Sister Li look like in the eyes of others
If the family is not good, it is not necessarily easy to marry, let alone a child who is not raised by a mother.
Lu Jinxi really had a headache.
But she also knows better than anyone that to solve the problems brought about by this choice, there is actually a very simple and rude, and even universal solution—
That is, to become the next "Princess Yongning".
At any time, only the weak will be chosen.
The emperor's daughter will not worry about marriage, even if they do something too extreme, someone will take care of them, so as not to mix into a miserable state.
Power, wealth.
As long as enough is enough, most of the difficulties will be solved.
Therefore, in order to take into account the kindness of Lu's body and the original wish in her heart, Lu Jinxi actually has no second way to choose, and there is no second way to go.
She couldn't help shaking her head and smiled, faintly smelling the smell of blood and blood coming from the future, but there was a little bit of brilliance in her eyes.
The higher the mountain, the more people want to reach the top.
Nothing difficult, she had no interest at all.
"Then, the rest is how to convince Sister Lang..."
Lu Jinxi muttered to himself, finally picked up the pen, wrote down a few words on the paper, lined up the problems that he needed to solve, and looked for countermeasures in turn.
In this way, before you know it, the three shifts will come to an end.
Seeing that the analysis was almost done, she went through it again in her mind before she put away the scribbled pages, lay down on the couch, and slept for a while.
When the egret Qingque arrived, he came to call her.
Today, Lu Jinxi has to go out and can print six children. The excuse is that he has recently liked cursive script and running script, so he wants to go out and choose some good copybooks.
There is nothing abnormal about this, and of course there are not a few broken-mouthed criticisms.
Lu Jinxi got up to wash up, put a hot towel on her face, and woke up, she only asked, "Did there be any movement from Grandma yesterday?"
"No."
Egret has always been the most well-informed, and shook his head when he heard this.
"It's still the same as before, only nurturing Sister Pearl, but I asked the kitchen for a small bowl of bird's nest and said it's good for Sister Pearl."
"Is it?"
Lu Jinxi covered her face with a towel, and the moist heat made her cheeks feel very comfortable. Her voice became a little vague, with a bit of casual laziness.
"It seems that my sister-in-law is very delicate when raising her daughter."
Hearing this voice, Egret's heartbeat suddenly stopped, and he just felt that the words were not quite right.
"you… "
"I'm going out today, you can stay in the mansion, I have an urgent errand for you."
Lu Jinxi took off the towel and handed it back to Egret.
"I kept a few account books in my study. You take them and go to the great grandmother. I saw that she received a lot of things in the past two months. No. An honest person like my sister-in-law must have picked it up by mistake, and you don't have to make a statement, but please return the things to the warehouse. Be careful not to ruin her reputation. "
"… This… "
The egret's eyes were widened, and its mouth was even more open, and it was almost enough to stuff an egg.
They all know it.
Although the second grandma and the eldest grandma do not have much interaction, because they are both widows, Lu often has sympathy for the eldest grandma, and the monthly bills are released in advance.
On weekdays, if the He family had any need, she would never doubt it and just let it go.
This is also the reason why Egret didn't like He Shi before.
The second grandmother treats her so well, but she ignores people's love.
But she never expected that Lu Jinxi would say such a thing!
Ruthless, too ruthless!
If you don't count the account, it's already. Once the account is settled, it's like a few slaps in the face.
Two books of accounts
It's more than just two books!
Egret was stupid for a long time before he could react, but then he felt a little secret excitement: "Don't worry, this slave will definitely handle this matter for you!"
Lu Jinxi only smiled.
Earlier, she had seen the accounts of the mansion, and had not settled accounts with anyone. But now, doesn't this come in handy? If you want her to say, Lu's kindness is a perfect match for her cruelty.
Mr. Lu has been a good person, leaving behind this group of idiots who are full of food and drink. When she got here, she was responsible for taking the handle to collect people's heads, and hitting them face by face.
He's…
Humph.
To Sister Lang, she would hesitate a bit, because she was the Lu family's child; but to the He family's gossip behind her back, her heart was not kind.
Lu Jinxi sneered secretly, only picked out a silver-plated gilt silk inlaid white jade lychee earring from her makeup gown, leaned over the mirror, hung it on her earlobe, and said casually, "If she wants to come to me at that time, you I just said I'm going out, I don't know when I'll be back, let her change the time. It's not a big deal anyway, don't worry. "
Don't worry, there is still a stack of account books.
Let her first see what this little grasshopper is doing.