"May I ask why you alarmed the old lady?" Xi Fuwei's mind was spinning with thoughts, and he tentatively asked the steward who was leading the way.
The steward smiled apologetically at her and said, "I don't know, either."
This was clearly prevarication. Xi Fuwei was a little disappointed when the steward said, "Madam thinks that your talents, knowledge, appearance and appearance are enough to be our teacher."
This means that Mrs. Shang has been convinced by what she said when she came to apply for the job last time
Xi Fuwei couldn't help but wonder if she was unlucky and got involved in the fight between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Zou family by accident
After all, Mrs. Zhuang has been doing nothing for many years. If Mrs. Shang is still hesitant to hire her, maybe she still has a deep love for her mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law noticed her daughter-in-law's worries and took the initiative to help share her worries.
But now that Mrs. Shang has made a decision, Mrs. Zhuang should not interfere anymore according to reason, right
With this thought in mind, she followed the steward into the house quite anxiously.
This room was more spacious than the one where Mrs. Shang received her before, but the furnishings and layout were similar, making it look like a well-behaved house for a large family.
Mrs. Zhuang, who is sitting above her, is sixty years old by calculation. Her hair is faintly visible on her temples, but her clothes are bright and her hairpin is exquisite. It can be seen that she must have been a beauty when she was young, and she was a refined beauty. , even though I am old and my youth is gone, I still take care of it carefully.
Xi Fuwei always felt that such people were the most difficult to get along with. At this moment, she couldn't help but cheer up. She stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "I have met the old lady!"
"You're welcome, please sit down and talk." For the sake of etiquette and the fact that she was on Mrs. Zhuang's territory at the moment, she only glanced at the old lady and did not dare to take a closer look. Mrs. Zhuang relied on her seniority, but she He looked her up and down unscrupulously, and then said with a smile, "I take the liberty to invite you here today. If you offend me, please don't argue with my old lady!"
Xi Fuwei said cautiously: "What the old lady said really upset me!"
The two of them exchanged pleasantries for a while. Xi Fuwei saw that the atmosphere was about the same and was thinking about when Mrs. Zhuang would get to the point. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Zhuang said, "I don't know how much Miss Shen thinks of our family." A girl, can you still like her?"
Why does this sound like he is finalizing his decision to come to Zou Mansion to be a teacher
Xi Fuwei couldn't believe it, and thought quickly before saying: "The family has a long-standing reputation. Although all the ladies have only had a glimpse, they are all Yuxue's lovely and kind-hearted ones. Such talented people Meiyu, I wonder who in the world would not like someone who wants to be a teacher? It can even be said that he is a dream come true."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhuang smiled with satisfaction and said, "Please take care of these children, Mr. Shen!"
She changed her words, and the servants around her also came up to address her as "sir", thus confirming her identity as teacher.
Xi Fuwei was confused about the situation, but in any case, the mission of entering Zou Mansion was finally completed!
In order to prevent long nights and nightmares, she didn't even go back to Shen Diao Lan to pack her luggage... Originally, she took Xi Jiao and faked her death to escape. Apart from the banknotes she carried with her, she didn't take anything else with her, so she settled in Shen Diao Lan. The current residence is just to hide from others, and there is nothing important there.
Now I am afraid that things will change again when I go back, so I can't wait to go to the school set up by Zou Mansion for several young ladies to give some lessons immediately. How can I be willing to leave Zou Mansion even half a step
So after a while, Xi Fuwei was taken to a small private courtyard in the southwest corner of the backyard.
There is a plaque hanging on the door of this small courtyard, which reads "Fenzhi Tower".
Pushing the door open, you will find a small courtyard with a rockery, pool, plants, and flowers. Although it is a bleak season, it is kept spotless, which shows that the Zou family attaches great importance to their female husband.
Across the courtyard, a privet tree hugging two people was still flourishing, covering half of the two-story building.
Xi Fuwei raised her head and glanced at the balcony, and happened to catch a glimpse of a corner of red clothes flashing past. The maid led her in, and she heard footsteps walking down slowly.
The maid said, "I think it's Mr. Fu."
A moment later, a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old came out of the stairs. She had slender eyebrows and handsome eyes, and was pretty and fair. She was wearing an eighty-percent-new goose-yellow short-sleeved jacket with narrow sleeves and a light purple embroidered half-arm with entwined peach blossoms. As he walked out, he asked with a smile: "Ying Niang, who is this girl?"
"This is the new Mr. Shen hired by our boss." The maid Yingniang said, "Mr. Shen is well-read in poetry and books, and both his wife and the old lady appreciate him very much."
He then introduced to Xi Fuwei, "This Mr. Fu is a teacher hired by our employer a few days ago. He is good at music. His song "Mountains and Flowing Waters" made my wife high-five her on the spot, saying that he is qualified to be a national player!"
"Sister Shen, don't listen to Ying Niang!" Mr. Fu looked at Xi Fuwei's clothes, his eyes paused for a moment on a delicate silver butterfly in her hair, and then smiled, "What kind of national player is not a national player... Mrs. Shang is making fun of me, she likes to make fun of me with this."
He added, "My bestie is Chuoxian, and I am 16 this year. When my father was here, my family had some property, so I hired a teacher for my brother, and I also learned a few tricks from him. Later, my father passed away, and my brothers were loyal and sincere. , none of them are good at business, and their family is in a state of decline and it is difficult to survive. I happened to hear that the Zou family wanted to hire a female gentleman, so I came boldly to give it a try. Mrs. Shang was kind-hearted and thought that the ladies in the Zou family were still young and did not need it. For the sake of a truly brilliant teacher, he allowed me to pass.”
Her family background can be seen from the fact that the material of the dress she is wearing is not bad but is obviously old and a little faded. However, Fu Chuoxian's expression was calm when describing, without any trace of embarrassment or shame. This calm and sincere attitude , besides being so generous, people can't help but feel good about him.
It's just that Xi Fuwei first learned a lesson about Xi Jiao's kidnapping, and then heard Shen Tiaolan say that Fu Chuoxian's origins were not yet clear to Jin Yiwei, so they had preconceived doubts about her.
Now he greets Fu Chuoxian with a smile, calls "Sister Fu" sweetly, and introduces himself to his family and talks about his disguised life experience, but his heart is full of wariness.
The maid Yingniang is the person in front of Mrs. Zhuang, and she is only responsible for bringing Xi Fuwei here.
At this moment, seeing that Xi Fuwei had already started talking to Fu Chuoxian, she took a chance and excused herself with a smile, saying that she was going to reply to Mrs. Zhuang. She added, "Sir, there are always people waiting for you. Wait a minute." A steward brought them over to help Mr. Shen choose."
Xi Fuwei thanked her quickly, walked a few steps away from Yingniang, and secretly stuffed a purse into her.
There were only a few copper coins in her purse. After all, she was a poor and wealthy girl now. Taking too much would arouse suspicion.
When she returned to Fenzhi Tower, Fu Chuoxian had already made a pot of tea and was waiting for her. Seeing her come in, he greeted her: "Come and try my craftsmanship... The tea was sent by Mrs. Shang. I am like this Although ordinary people can never tell the difference between good tea and bad tea, they still know that it must be good when they smell the fragrance."
Although her words were meant to please her boss, it was still reasonable.
Xi Fuwei smiled and thanked her, took the cup of tea, but did not drink it. Instead, she put it aside, put her hands on her knees, leaned forward slightly, showing respect and apprehension, and said softly: "Sister Fu, I’m new here and I don’t know much about the Zou family’s rules. I wonder if my sister can tell me something?”
"Why should my sister be so solemn about such a trivial matter? It seems very serious!" Fu Chuoxian heard this and said hurriedly, "Let's talk about it while drinking tea!"
She organized her thoughts and told Xi Fuwei readily about the news she had collected in the past two days in the Zou Mansion. "The old head of the Zou family and Mrs. Zhuang have three daughters and one son. The head of the Zou family is the youngest son, and the top three are Both sisters have already left the government, and all of them passed away due to various reasons a few years ago!"
"Mrs. Shang married by the head of the Zou family, who is now the head matron of the Zou family, is from Yingtian Mansion. People say that Mrs. Shang has a good background. However, this lady is low-key and never shows off her natal family's wealth. Power and status... So the Zou family doesn't like to elaborate on this matter. They only say that my wife comes from a wealthy family, and she married in Yanzhou by chance."
"Speaking of which, the reason why everyone in the Zou family is convinced of this lady is not only because of her background, but also because she is virtuous, kind, tolerant and generous. She not only keeps such a large mansion in order, but also makes the head of the Zou family completely miserable. To worry about the future, I love and educate the daughters of a common concubine as if they were my own flesh and blood!"
She smiled and said, "Sister Shen must have seen our female disciples, right? Just judging from their dress and the degree of intimacy with Mrs. Shang, is it difficult to distinguish the concubines? Mrs. Gai Yinshang generally has no interest in them. Second, they all look like her own children!"
Xi Fuwei praised: "The head of the Zou family is so lucky to have a wife like this, what else can a husband ask for?"
"Who says it's not the case?" Fu Chuoxian said with a smile, "I made some special inquiries and found out that the eldest lady, fifth lady and Master Zou Yi'ang in this mansion are direct descendants of Mrs. Shang! As for the other ladies, they are all It's my concubine."
He added, "The fifth lady is Zou Qiongruo, the oldest among our disciples. The four ladies above her have either left the government or died in infancy."
She pondered for a moment, looked around and saw that there was no one around, then she came close to Xi Fuwei and whispered, "Mrs. Shang is a good teacher of daughters, and none of the ladies are difficult to get along with. Let's talk about what we have to worry about in the future... But it’s that young master!”
"According to the meaning of sister's words, the Zou family now only has one male heir, Mr. Yiang?" Xi Fuwei asked, "So he is the future head of the Zou family? With such an important status, normally... he should not be disciplined strictly. What? Why do we need to be particularly worried?"
She thought to herself that Mrs. Shang was telling her son that he was "ignorant and unskilled", which showed that the young master of the Zou family was not very good at his studies... This was strange. If the Zou family's heirs were prosperous, it would be okay to let Zou Yiang slack off in his studies. That’s all.
But now he is the only male heir in the Zou family. No matter how painful it is to the bones, he won't be so confused that he doesn't discipline him properly, right
In particular, Mrs. Shang doesn't look like the kind of person who dotes on her children without asking any questions
"The youngest son and grandson are the lifeblood of the old lady." Fu Chuoxian smiled and said softly, "The head of the Zou family, Mrs. Shang and concubine Ji actually gave birth to several male heirs, but all of them died in infancy. Now there is only Mr. Yiang left. Not to mention the old lady's favorite, it is the head of the Zou family and Mrs. Shang. He looks disapproving, but in his heart he is a little frightened, lest he make any mistake... There is nothing we can do about it. severe?"
Xi Fuwei said: "I see... Thank you so much, sister, for the tip!"
"You can find out all this with a little inquiry, but I can't thank you." Fu Chuoxian said humbly, "I also took advantage of coming a few days earlier."
She enthusiastically told Xi Fuwei about some of the well-known servants of the Zou family who were not easy to offend. Finally, she estimated the time and said, "The steward should bring someone here to choose for you soon. The Zou family treats us very well and is dedicated to them." I have arranged for a personal maid... My one just asked me to go out and do some work. I will give you a gift for my sister when I come back."
Xi Fuwei was talking to her, but she said in her heart: "I'm afraid that the Zou family is very kind to the female gentleman, and they also feel that the female gentleman they just invited may not be reliable, so they arranged for people to follow her closely to find out the flaws. ?”
This is very disadvantageous for her, so she has to find a way to solve it.