There have been two snowfalls in Beijing in early November, but they were not heavy. Even though the weather was freezing and the snow was difficult to melt, it only covered the branches and tiles, like the few strokes of pen on a picture scroll.
Chu Yitong, the newly promoted eighth young lady of the Jiang family, returned to her room after serving tea. Seeing her husband Jiang Yadan looking tired, she gently invited him to take a nap in the inner room. On the pretext of not disturbing him, she took her wet nurse Zhu to the study to talk. : "The Fourteenth Grandson is the legitimate son of the first wife after all. Although he is raised by the Nineteenth Couple and does not need to worry about me on a daily basis, we should not take away his things during the holidays. We should bring whatever good things we have here. I’ll give him a share, and I’ll ask my mother to take note of this for me.”
Zhu nodded: "Don't worry, Princess, I will definitely..."
"Call me Young Madam!" Chu Yitong said calmly, "You see, the nineteenth younger brother and sister are also princesses. Don't everyone in front of her call her Young Madam? There is no need for people to talk about me being in Cao Cao. The heart of the camp is in Han!"
Zhu's response was dull - Chu Yitong thought for a while and then said: "Actually, the fourteenth grandson is not here with me, so that's fine. The trouble is for those concubines to give birth to children. Although the mother-in-law pointed out the Gu family to raise them, But apart from the nine grandsons who died young, there are still three sons and three daughters, a total of six children. How can Mrs. Gu see this by herself? If she comes to serve me tea in this way, what do you think I should say? "
"That's what the Fourth Madam said. If she can't support her, then find a concubine who can!" Mrs. Zhu said sternly, "You also know the origin of this Gu family, she is not an ordinary person! The Fourth Madam didn't take her Take her seriously, that’s because the Fourth Madam’s status and means really don’t require her to be taken seriously, so we have to be careful!”
Chu Yitong frowned slightly and nodded. Just as he was about to say something, a little maid suddenly rushed in in a panic: "Princess! It's not good!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Mrs. Zhu couldn't help but get angry, "If you have something to say, I'll marry you. Why are you yelling? Are you itchy?"
"Mom, listen to what my maid said - something serious has happened. The Marquis of Jibei has fainted!" The little maid argued with a pale face, "The old man was so weak when he heard the news just now, if it weren't for the Nineteenth Young Master who happened to report the matter. , I have quick eyes and hands to hold on, I am afraid it will be necessary... Now everyone is rushing to the Jibei Marquis Mansion, and the Nineteenth Young Madam specially sent people to call our young master and the county... Where is the Young Madam!"
Chu Yitong's face changed color and she stood up quickly: "Go back to the room! Hurry!"
The little maid didn't talk nonsense. The Marquis of Jibei is in trouble. This is definitely a big deal - especially for the fourth room!
After all, after his support for Jiang Tianchi when he was in the Zhenbei Army, and his choice of stance on the Zhenxi Army issue, everyone believed that the Marquis of Jibei was partial to the Fourth Fang. At this point, as the daughter-in-law of the fourth house, if you don't show enough care, it will be a small matter if someone pokes you in the back, but it will be a big deal if someone from the other house takes advantage of you!
Chu Yitong hurried back to the inner room and woke up Jiang Yadan who was catching up on his sleep. The couple hurriedly changed out of their Ji clothes and chose an outfit suitable for visiting patients. Qiu Yilan, who was waiting for them to leave together, was already anxious. After meeting each other, He didn't care to say anything more and just said: "Let's go quickly, everyone else has already gone!"
At this time, the Marquis Mansion in Jibei was already crowded with people. Cars and sedans were passing outside the door, blocking the originally wide streets!
The carriages from the Duke's Palace always had special privileges, so a lane was cut out from the crowd to let them pass.
After entering the door, I finally squeezed into the courtyard where the Marquis of Jibei was housed. Looking at the crows and crows in the corridor, the Zhuzi people couldn't get close no matter what.
"How is my uncle doing now?" So I can only ask the person who came first.
Chu Yitong was a bride and had not yet become acquainted with her husband's family. It was Qiu Yilan who asked, explaining to them by the way, "The eighth sister-in-law just came here. After learning the news, she was delayed in changing clothes, so she arrived now."
She was asking about the eleventh young lady, Xiao Zhuang. Xiao Zhuang's expression was not very good: "Second uncle brought Dr. Lin in, and he hasn't come out yet. Sixth uncle came out just now. Judging from his expression..." She frowned. No further words were said.
Qiu Yilan's heart tightened: "What can you say?"
"It's said that Dr. Lin asked me to go to the warehouse to get a piece of old ginseng for use."
People who grew up in Wealth know more or less how to maintain their health. At this moment, after hearing what Xiaozhuang said, Qiu Yilan, Chu Yitong, and Jiang Yadan looked at each other, and their faces changed colors: Ji For people of Beihou's age, ginseng soup and ginseng tea are always available. Now Jiang Tianzhen is specially asked to go to the warehouse to get ginseng. Obviously, he needs to use good ginseng of a certain vintage - that kind is usually kept for death. use!
Just as he was panicking, the door suddenly opened, and everyone in the courtyard and corridor ignored their whispers and all looked over!
When they saw that the person who opened the door was the Duke of Qin, who looked like he was a haggard teenager, everyone felt a chill in their hearts!
Sure enough, Qin Guogong looked around in despair, and said in a low voice: "Everyone... please go back first! Let us Jiang family members gather together!"
This statement obviously means that the Marquis of Jibei has failed, and he must seize the time to explain things to his family, and has no time to take care of outsiders.
Suddenly, there was a murmur of sighs in the crowd. Xue Chang took the lead in expressing sympathy for Qin Guogong, and helped persuade the guests who were not from the Jiang family to disperse.
At this time, Qiu Yilan and others could finally move to the front, but no one could open their mouths looking at Qin Guogong's expression. In the end, it was Qin Guogong himself who broke the deadlock and pointed at Jiang Yadan: "Your uncle has spent the most effort in this life. This junior is not your sixth uncle, but your father! Now that your father is in Northern Xinjiang, as the eldest son, come in and receive training on his behalf!"
Jiang Yadan said cautiously: "Yes!"
After he entered, Qin Guogong closed the door.
When the door opened again, the person who called in was Jiang Jingzheng, the great-grandson of the Marquis of Jibei, the eldest son of the tenth son Jiang Yabi.
Except for Mrs. Ou, who had been guarding the bedside from the beginning, and Mrs. Tao, who was immediately let in after Duke Qin arrived, no one else was called out to the female family members.
Qiu Yilan's lips trembled slightly, she lowered her head and wiped the corners of her eyes quietly: "According to the rules, if an old man becomes an adult, his family will kneel in front of the couch to see him off. Now my daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law are not allowed in, but my nephew, All the nephews and grandsons are here. I am afraid that the Marquis of Jibei is still worried about the family and wants to persuade him to make peace before he dies. "
Otherwise, even if men are superior to women, it is impossible not to allow the daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law to say goodbye to the elders in front of the bed, right
In the evening of that day, Jiang Tianhe, the fifth aunt's wife, staggered into the hospital. Everyone was in a heavy mood at the moment. They didn't pay attention to her at first, but soon they discovered that the person supporting the fifth aunt's wife was Empress Xin!
"Why are the Queens here too?" Mi rushed to greet her - Jiang Tianhe ignored her, while Queen Xin said calmly: "My grandfather is ill, and I am here to visit him now!"
The empress came in person, dressed lightly, in the name of visiting on the orders of the empress dowager and the emperor, so it was naturally impossible for her to wait outside the door. After the news was reported, Jiang Yahong, who had followed Jiang Tianao in, came over and opened the door. He greeted Queen Xin in a low voice. Jiang Tianhe took the opportunity to step in with his heels!
My father-in-law is dying, my sister-in-law and niece can go in, but my own daughter-in-law is left outside!
Mi couldn't help biting her lip, although she also knew that this was because Xin Fubing was the queen. Although the imperial power was declining and the Jiang family was powerful, there was no way that the status of the monarch and ministers could ruin the dignity of the mother of the country. ! But Jiang Tianhe also stepped forward because of his daughter, telling her that she could not rest assured!
After all: "This sister-in-law has been afraid of causing too much trouble for me since she returned to Beijing this time! Now that my father-in-law is about to pass away, she will not come directly, but will come with the queen. I am afraid that she wants to rely on the queen to come so that she can go in and talk! I don't believe her There is no purpose in doing this, is it just for me and Yin Yin? "
She guessed correctly.
That night, just after midnight, a wail suddenly broke out from inside the closed door!
Inside, there was the voice of Duke Guo of Qin.
The younger daughters-in-law, who had been waiting outside the door for a whole day and a half, were stunned, looking at each other with panicked expressions on their faces, but they did not dare to say anything because they were not sure. A moment later, it was Jiang Yahong who opened the door. While wiping her tears, she said to Mi, "Sixth aunt, my uncle... is here! My aunt asked you to prepare things!"
When the female relatives received the accurate news, they covered their sleeves and howled!
Chu Yitong's wet nurse, Mrs. Zhu, cried even more sadly than her serious niece-in-law: "The young lady just finished serving tea, and something happened to her husband's uncle. He didn't even make it through the night - this is how the young lady will behave in the future. ?”
But no one has said such small words now. The Marquis of Jibei left too suddenly!
From the moment something went wrong to the moment I took my last breath, it didn't take a full day. No one could have predicted it, and naturally there was no way to prepare for the funeral in advance.
Originally, Mi's ability to do things was only at a normal level, but he was caught off guard, and because he was not there before his father-in-law died, and his sister-in-law and his daughter, who had a grudge against him, were dead, he was always thinking about it, and he was in a daze when doing things. It was not something he missed. This one just forgot about that one.
Fortunately, she still remembered that after she made the mistake, she insisted that she was too sad to make the mistake. In this case, Mrs. Tao asked He and Huang to come over to help manage the situation. One of them was incompetent, the other was young and lacked experience. None of them are capable people, so they have to drag in a bunch of granddaughter-in-laws to help.
Whether it was Chu Yitong, who had been in the house for less than three days, or Qiu Yilan, who had three unweaned children under her knees, they were all ordered around! No one has the time or mood to mutter.
Amidst the chaos of war, Xiao Fu finally finished the work. Mi Shi finished dividing the people present. With a thought in his mind, he sent someone to give a gift to Mi Yin Yin who was forcibly sent back to her parents' home. However, after giving the order, Jiang Tianhe didn't know where to get it. He came out, his eyes were red because he had just cried, but his gaze was very sharp: "Sister-in-law Six, who are you going to give it to?"
"Give it to my daughter-in-law. She is the grandson-in-law. How can I not wear mourning after my grandfather passes away?" Mi's face changed and she asked in a strong tone.
"My father's biggest regret before his death was that his two grandchildren were not with him!" Jiang Tianhe sneered, "Forget it about Bi'er, he has an errand! Lan'er was fine in Beijing, but if you hadn't been confused, your arms would be clean Why did you force him away from his parents' house and ask his father to close his eyes without even being able to see his grandson? His father just saw Zheng'er and regretted that he could not see Lan'er's child in this life - you still want to give him something? Your precious niece is paying filial piety to her granddaughter-in-law! Do you think you can continue to rely on Lan'er by letting her keep her filial piety as your granddaughter-in-law?"
Mi's pupils suddenly shrank, and she was so angry that she almost screamed: "You... you, you mother and daughter..." Sure enough, knowing that her father was in bad condition, she didn't rush over immediately, but went to the palace to call Xin Fubing together. It was not at all What kind of filial piety, just to give the Mi family a hard slap!
"You should be wiser!" Jiang Tianhe covered his mouth with a handkerchief, as if wiping away tears, but his tone was cold and emotionless, "This is what my father said himself, and all the male heirs in the room can hear it clearly! Don't you Are you convinced that you dare to make trouble? If you dare to make trouble, you won’t even be able to stay in this house!”
Seeing Mi's suppressed rage, she sneered and stuffed the handkerchief into her sleeves, "Isn't it fun? When our husband and wife were not in Beijing, it was fun for your aunt and nephew to bully my daughter? You should try it too. This tastes great!" He stopped looking at her face and walked away!
... Not far away, Qiu Yilan and Jiang Yashuang were talking about the placement of their three children. The couple watched this scene from beginning to end. Seeing that Mi was about to notice, they turned away and said, "Uncle, is this really that bad?" explain?"
"The fifth aunt mentioned that Thirteenth Brother is not here and that Thirteenth Brother is still empty at his knees. My uncle sighed." Jiang Yashuang said expressionlessly, "Forget it, it didn't cause any trouble anyway, let them go!" He Shuijin Without him, the Jiang family's backyard, which was accustomed to He Shuijin's meticulous housekeeping ability, was in such a mess that even though young and old came together, it was impossible to care about trivial matters.
Qiu Yilan also knew this truth. She sighed and was about to nod when Jiang Yahong suddenly came over, glanced at her, and said softly: "Nineteenth brother and sister, may I lend a few words to my nineteenth brother?"