"Mr. Shen just came to Zou Mansion. He was not familiar with the route and got lost there. I happened to be passing by, so I took him with him." Xi Fuwei was about to answer, but Ouyang Yuanshui had already grinned at the maid who passed the message and said , "Sister Ying'er, why are you doing the errands in person today?"
The maid seemed to be very familiar with him. She looked at him with a smile and said, "This is really strange! I am the lady's maid. Isn't it my duty to run errands? Why not do it in person?"
Ouyang Yuanshui said with saliva on his face: "The north wind has already started to blow today. Sister Ying'er's delicate and tender face is turning red right now. It makes me feel really sad!"
When Ying'er heard this, she hurriedly touched her face. She probably thought about Xi Fuwei's presence, so she licked Ouyang Yuanshui's eyes and said, "You! If you continue to say such dirty things to me in such an unruly manner, I'll tell my wife carefully!"
He regained his respectful and distant attitude and said, "Mr. Shen, Madam is waiting. Let's go there quickly!"
Xi Fuwei glanced sideways at Ouyang Yuanshui, and saw that this man was flirting with Ying'er, but also took the time to glance at herself affectionately. She was speechless for a while: she had heard before that Zou Yi'ang would bring his family to the house. The gentleman who specially invited him was so angry that he almost walked away. He thought he was a rigid and strict gentleman, but now he looked at him and found that he was simply a libertine!
This kind of person would actually have a dispute with a student because he urged Zou Yiang to study
I always feel that he might be wishing that Zou Yiang would not go to school all day long, so as not to prevent him from having sex with the maids, right
... Ying'er took Xi Fuwei around, but did not go to the courtyard where the banquet was being held. Instead, they went to a secluded private courtyard that was not often used.
The tables, chairs and tea sets in this place had obviously just been cleaned, and the places a little further away were still full of dust.
It's just that Mrs. Shang, who has always loved cleanliness, has no time to pay attention at this moment. The cup of boiling hot tea in her hand has already revealed a slight coolness, but it has not moved at all.
Seeing Xi Fuwei coming in, she calmly breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to the seat in front of her: "Sit down and talk!"
Then he asked right away, "Who are you?"
When Xi Fuwei was about to speak, she added, "I'll answer after I think about it... Wen Xianyun is now asking for someone from the old lady."
"..." Xi Fuwei was silent for a moment and looked around.
Mrs. Shang understood what she meant, but shook her head and said: "Firstly, these are my confidants, there is nothing I can't listen to; secondly... I heard that you were in the garden before, and you had a fight with Wen Xianyun for a long time before falling behind. Otherwise, we won’t be able to support Mr. Ouyang from disrupting the situation?”
This statement clearly showed that he did not trust her, lest she would rely on force to his disadvantage.
Xi Fuwei thought quickly, pursed her lips and said, "I am indeed the daughter of the Xi family, and my maiden name is Fuwei."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ying'er and the other attendants all let out a low exclamation of surprise. Perhaps the anxious maid blurted out, "Then you really ran away without caring about what happened to your father and brother?"
"We also know a bit about the Xi family." Mrs. Shang said calmly after hearing this, "After all, Xi Fucui has a very good reputation as a scholar. Jining is not very far from Dongchang Mansion. I have heard about it to some extent. . It is said that Miss Xi lost her mother when she was young, and she started helping your father manage the family business when she was six or seven years old?"
Seeing Xi Fuwei nodding, she sighed, "Such a girl, no matter how much filial piety she has for her father and brother, is definitely not stupid enough to understand the consequences of abandoning everything and fleeing incognito to a foreign country after her father and brother leave. If you are discovered! To escape, it seems that something forces you to do so?"
"My brother's death was very strange." Xi Fuwei smiled bitterly, "Although he caught a cold during the autumn examination and fell ill after coming back, after a few days of recovery, he should be much better. But... On the day when the good news came, the person suddenly disappeared... My father and I happened to be neither present at that time. I questioned his personal attendants, but found nothing."
"Afterwards, my father was deceived and almost lost all his money to buy half a street of property, but because of the news that the court wanted to dredge the canal, it was worthless!"
"And that half of the street was sold to my father by the Wen family."
"The water disappeared inexplicably at home, and daddy is just gone!"
"So my nephew and I are left to depend on each other. I have a lot of doubts in my heart, but there is no one to talk about, and there is no place to talk about it. After thinking about it, I simply packed up my belongings and left with my nephew!"
"After all, if something happens to my nephew... my Xi family will be completely wiped out!"
"Then you can find someone to take your nephew away." The maid who had just scolded her couldn't help but said, "You should stay here yourself and finish arranging the funeral affairs of your father and brother, and finish the first seven, right? Otherwise, your father and brother will be in trouble. , how to be at peace?"
Xi Fuwei looked at her: "My nephew is so young, and I am a pure woman. Where can I find someone who can entrust such an important task to me for help? As the saying goes, there are three unfilial piety and no descendants. When father and brother are gone, if If I can't protect my nephew, then my father and brother will have no peace under the Nine Springs, right?"
The maid said: "Then you can arrange for your nephew in Yanzhou and then go back to keep filial piety for your father and brother! You entered the house under the name of Mr. Shen, and you didn't even bring your nephew with you! During this period, You didn't say that you went out every three days. It shows that your nephew's current situation does not require you to think about it all the time. However, instead of going back to see your father and brother, you went to Zou Mansion to be a female teacher... Don't you feel guilty for doing this? ?”
"I really don't think so." Xi Fuwei said indifferently, "My nephew really doesn't need me to think about him all the time now, but he is in his current situation only because of me, my aunt. If I have any shortcomings, I will As the saying goes, when people leave, do you think the people who are currently taking care of him will continue to treat him like they are now?!"
She sneered, "If my brother was still here, I would still be in Dongchang Mansion and being the Xi family's daughter. Why would I pretend to be someone else's name and hide in the Zou Mansion?"
Mrs. Shang waved her hand to stop what the maid wanted to say, and said: "As you said just now, you are just a harem woman, and there is no one who can trust you to hand over your nephew to help take him away from Dongchang Mansion. Since So...how did you take your nephew from Dongchang Mansion to Yanzhou, and also deceive me by pretending to be your identity and enter Zou Mansion?"
Xi Fuwei's thoughts turned and she tried to say: "The Wen family is the only one in Dongchang Mansion, but my brother still had a little reputation during his lifetime. Some old friends did not dare to offend the Wen family directly for the sake of the family, but they secretly treated our aunt My nephew has some sympathy."
"Brother Ling is really well-connected." Mrs. Shang nodded. Her tone could not tell whether it was sarcasm or praise, but she did not inquire further. "Just now, Wen Xianyun went to the old lady and took advantage of her birthday wishes to say He has revealed your identity, and what he means is that he has a deep love for you. No matter why you didn't keep filial piety to your father and brother, or even regretted your marriage, he wanted you to go back and be the young lady of the Wen family. Originally, because of today, I On his birthday, we planned to put this matter down and discuss it later. But by chance, Miss Xu and Miss Song became interested and said they wanted to get to the bottom of things on the spot... From what I heard from Miss Xu, it was clear that she was leaning towards Wen Xian. Cloud."
She raised her eyebrows, "Before, these two charming guests said they wanted to come to Zou Mansion for a drink, and the old lady and I were very surprised. Now it seems that they are here to have a drink? They are obviously benefiting from the Wen family, and they come here to give Wen a drink. Xianyun is supporting the show!"
Seeing that Xi Fuwei didn't speak, she added, "Although I don't know how the Wen family impressed these two charming guests, you should know that the Zou family can offend the Wen family, but it can't afford to offend those two!"
Xi Fuwei sighed and said, "I know."
She thought that Mrs. Shang was going to take her to Mrs. Zhuang and leave her to her fate. However, Mrs. Shang still sat motionless and said calmly: "But although the Zou Mansion doesn't mind giving face to those two young ladies, this face is I don’t want to blame the Wen family.”
"..." Xi Fuwei squinted his eyes, thought quickly, and suddenly understood: Among the prefectures in Shandong, the canal only passes through Yanzhou Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture.
As the most prominent families in these two prefectures, the Wen family and the Zou family actually relied on the canal to develop their ancestors.
The canal has become clogged over the years, but now that the court wants to dredge it again, while communication between them will be more convenient, it will be difficult not to create competition.
It’s not just competition, because the canal dredging is just an idea of the court and has not yet been implemented. In the process of implementation, it is nothing more than an opportunity for people along the river to reshuffle.
As both big families in Shandong, the current relationship between the Zou family and the Wen family is not to say that it is on the verge of breaking out, but it is definitely not too harmonious: after all, in this section of the canal in Shandong, the two families are the most powerful.
Things like being evenly matched only exist after they have fought against each other many times and confirmed that they really can't do anything to the other side.
Now Wen Xianyun came to Zou Mansion to ask for someone, not only in front of all the guests at Mrs. Zhuang's birthday, but also with the help of Xu Jingyuan and Song Jianiang. In Wen Xianyun, no, it should be said that in the eyes of Xu Jingyuan and Song Jianiang, maybe Just because I have a female gentleman, I will be sure of it, no problem.
But from the Zou Mansion's point of view, Xi Fuwei is not the important point. The important point is that if Wen Xianyun is allowed to take Xi Fuwei away, then when people talk about it in the future, it will be the day when the eldest son of the Wen family is celebrating the birthday of the old lady in the Zou Mansion. , took the female gentleman away.
No matter how you think about it, Zou Mansion has lost a round.
This is simply the ambition of the Wen family, trying to overwhelm the Zou family and become the most prominent family in Shandong!
This is something that is absolutely not allowed in the Zou Mansion!
After thinking about this, Xi Fuwei breathed a sigh of relief and said attentively: "Wen Xianyun kept saying that I was his fiancée, but there was no proof! Back then, I lived in a boudoir, and no one in the outside world knew me. What's more, even if Someone has seen me occasionally. The world is so big and there are so many people who look like me! Why do you think I have something to do with him and want to follow him? "
Mrs. Shang said: "He said that one of your servants testified."
"Even if it turns out that he is indeed a servant of my Xi family, since I can stand up and testify for him, who knows if I have received benefits from him?" Xi Fuwei shook his head and said, "I have no one in my family except a nephew. Don’t be afraid of mere words from servants!”
She pondered for a moment, "On the other side of Jinan Mansion... My pretended Miss Shen family, although she is an only child and both her parents are dead, it is said that there are many members of the clan?"
Mrs. Shang's face was as dark as water and she said, "If Wen Xianyun had inquired about your current identity before coming here, then it is very likely that a witness has been found from the Shen family!"
"...Although the Shen family has many members, the real Miss Shen is a girl who has not left the court after all." Xi Fuwei was silent for a while and said, "I think the Shen family has really met her, especially had deep contact with her. There must not be many people!"
"In that case..."
She narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "If these witnesses can't reach Jining alive, isn't that enough?!"