In the eleventh year of Jiajing, a winter snow enveloped the capital early. Yesterday it snowed all night. When I woke up this morning, the sky and the earth were white, and the ground was covered with silver frost.
The servants of Zhenyuan Hou's Mansion got up early in the morning to sweep the snow, the brooms scraped on the ground, making a rhythmic "clump" sound, against the background, the courtyard became more and more quiet.
The two maidservants with stubble hair held the soup cup and walked down the porch in small steps. These two are different from the maids who sweep the floor. They are the maids by the master's side. They usually don't have to do rough work. They wear bright clothes, have high hair, and if they are favored by the master, they can wear jewelry. They live more delicate than ordinary ladies. .
Therefore, these maids raised their heads wherever they went, feeling extremely high-spirited. The maid in a red jacket lowered her voice and whispered to her companion: "Have you heard that the marriage between the Marquis and the third maid of Yongping Marquis is set. After the old marquis's mourning period, it will be in the spring tomorrow. The road is clear."
The maid next to him in a lake-green suit sneered, "Isn't this what it should be? The Marquis became a lord when he was only twenty years old. The three girls of Yongping Marquis’s Mansion are the niece of Marquis Wuding, and the Marquis works with Marquis Wuding. Now the Fu family and the Hong family are married, it’s called kissing and kissing, and everyone is very happy.”
The maid who spoke earlier heard it, and kept pouting towards the yard in the northwest: "If Lord Hou and Miss Hou San of Yongping get married... what about that one?"
Hulu Bijia's maid glanced forward, and said neither yin nor yang: "The original form is complete, let's go back to everyone. She is just the daughter of an ordinary military household, and the family is still in the family. Her father's kindness for defending the old Hou Ye on the battlefield, she can enjoy ten years of wealth in the Hou Mansion, and she should be content. The old Hou Ye was really confused, and he wanted her to marry the Hou Ye, the old Hou said. That's all, she really regards herself as Mrs. Hou?"
The red-dressed maid was somewhat sighed: "She has lived in Hou's mansion for ten years. From the age of seven to seventeen, she has been by his side. There are several decades in a woman's life, and she is so old. What can you say about the marriage in the future?"
Hulubijia's maid was a little unhappy for some reason, she pouted and said, "How can you watch her marry another man? Don't pity her, her life is better than ours, maybe we will have to in the future. Call people a master."
"Shh!" The red-dressed maid quickly reminded her companion, motioning her to stop talking. A maid in a blue satin jacket lifted the curtain from the main room and happened to meet them. The blue coat maid had a light expression on her face and said, "It's so cold, why did the two sisters come over so early?"
The red-dressed maid secretly pinched her companion, and in a blink of an eye she put on a smile on her face: "Sister Feicui, good morning. It snowed last night, and the old lady was worried that the girl would be cold, so she specially made mutton custard in the kitchen and let us cook it for Wang. The girl brought it."
Jade glanced at the smiling face of the red-dressed maid, as if she hadn't heard the words just now, stepped aside and said, "There are two of you. Please come inside."
The maid in the red dress kept laughing, and the maid in Hulu Bijia knew that she was in trouble, so she lowered her head and went inside quietly to greet her. No matter how arrogant she was, she knew that she was a little bit tall. No matter what her background was, she was the benefactor of the Fu family, and she grew up with Lord Hou. With only childhood sweethearts, she was afraid that even the future Mrs. Hou would not be able to match. The third young lady of Yongping Hou's mansion is looking at the scenery now. After entering the mansion, she may not be able to compete for this one.
Although it was not stated clearly, everyone in Zhenyuan Hou Fu's family tacitly agreed that Wang Yanqing would stay in the Fu family in the future. Marquis is a super-quality marquis, and the right lady always wants to marry Miss Xungui, but Wang Yanqing has been with her for many years, so it doesn't hurt to stay as a concubine.
The two of them didn't dare to look up after entering the door. They vaguely glimpsed a silhouette behind the Duobao Pavilion, and immediately squatted down and saluted Wang Yanqing: "Slave, please greet the girl, good luck to the girl."
After a while, a light voice sounded: "Get up."
Her voice line is very unique. It is not the crisp silver bell that elders like most, nor is it charming and tactful that men like. It is like the snow outside.
The two maids thanked and got up slowly. Hulu's maid glanced at her quietly through her movements. A woman was sitting sideways on the Arhat's bed, her shoulders were cut into pieces, her waist was roughly plain, her neck was slender, and her legs were on the pedals, making her look particularly slender. She turned her face sideways, showing her superior bone appearance, the bridge of her nose was straight and straight, her face was white, and her jaw was almost flowing down in a straight line, clean and deserted.
This kind of appearance is not something that any rouge gouache can pile up. No wonder Lord Hou likes her. Hulu's maid felt discouraged, and after forcing her to say goodbye to Wang Yanqing, she quickly stepped back.
After the two maids left, Fei Cui's anger could no longer be controlled, and she said angrily: "These girls are really insane! They dare to talk about the girls behind their backs, I have to tell the Hou Ye and beat them!"
"They're just a bunch of little girls, and they don't go outside the door, so what's the use of hitting them?" Wang Yanqing put down the spoon and wiped his hands with a handkerchief, a smile appeared on his lips, "It's the old lady who wants me to listen. With these words, can you handle the maid and the old lady through the hands of the second brother?"
Fei Cui suddenly fell silent, she looked at Wang Yanqing, her lips moved, she couldn't bear it: "Girl..."
Wang Yanqing lowered his eyes, his eyes were as calm as an ice lake, without the slightest fluctuation. The character of filial piety is bigger than the sky, after all, a family is a family, not to mention, does Fu Tingzhou really not know
The old lady can rely on her parents' orders to say kiss to Fu Tingzhou, but for the marriage to happen, Fu Tingzhou must nod. I heard that the third girl Hong is the niece of Marquis Wuding. If you marry her, you will be able to go further with Marquis Wuding. A smart person like Fu Tingzhou certainly knows how to choose.
Wang Yanqing put the handkerchief on the short table and sighed softly: "The right family, talented and beautiful, good thing. Congrats to the second brother."
Fei Cui endured the pain for a month and burst into tears: "But, girl, you are the grandson-in-law chosen by the old Marquis, you have waited ten years for the Marquis, ten years! The Marquis wants to learn martial arts, so you don't care. Nv Jie went to learn to ride horses and archery, and Hou Ye wanted to take charge of the army, so you would disguise yourself as a man and accompany him to stumble and roll around in the barracks. How many scars you have left on your body over the years, until now, when they say that they are well-matched, they will kill the girl ten Year's pay?"
Emerald wiped her tears and complained, but Wang Yanqing sat indifferently like an outsider. Jade is so wronged, does Wang Yanqing, the righteous master, really care? how is this possible.
After ten years of youth, she was taken to Zhenyuan Hou's mansion at the age of seven. In her life, there was only Fu Tingzhou.
Now is the eleventh year of Jiajing, the eleventh year of the twelfth emperor of the Ming Dynasty coming to the capital. Civil servants and military officers in the Ming Dynasty were clearly distinguished from military officials, scholars and nobles. Civil servants were all obtained through the imperial examinations. Hou's mansion, those are all generations of ancestors in charge of the army, and they have been in the capital longer than today's emperors.
The Fu family has been prosperous in recent years, but their ancestors are also a family of military officers. They made military exploits in the generation of Fu Tingzhou's grandfather Fu Yue, and were named the Marquis of Zhenyuan by the late emperor Zhengde. For this reason, the Fu family was always a little shorter in front of the old families of the capital, such as Xungui Wudinghou and Yongpinghou.
But no matter how shallow the Fu family is, it has nothing to do with Wang Yanqing. Originally, according to her status, she would never have access to these generals and princes in her life.
Military attachés are passed down from generation to generation, and soldiers are also hereditary. Soldiers and non-commissioned officers, the difference between the words is a world of difference. Wang Yanqing's ancestral home is Datong Prefecture, and her family is a military household. The male Wang family was born as a soldier. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, and father all died in the battle between Datong and the Mongolians.
In the twelfth year of Zhengde, Fu Yue, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, was transferred to Datong to serve as the chief soldier. Wang Yanqing's father, Wang Cong, was gradually appreciated by Fu Yue for his agility and courage. In a pursuit battle, Wang Cong died in battle in order to block Fu Yue's arrows.
After winning the battle with the Mongols, Fu Yue was transferred to the capital because of his military exploits. Fu Yue liked Wang Cong very much, and now Wang Cong died for him again. After Fu Yue was sad, he sent someone to Wang Cong's hometown to appease Wang Cong's family and widow.
However, it was only after I went to find out that Wang Cong had been away from home for these years, his wife Shen Lan had passed away due to physical weakness after giving birth, and his mother Li, in order to support her granddaughter, went to farm at an age, and fell ill in early spring and died. After the whole family, only a seven-year-old daughter, Wang Yanqing, was left.
There are many orphans like Wang Yanqing in the border area, but when the incident happened under Fu Yue's nose, he couldn't ignore it. After his men returned to the capital and Fu Yue returned to life, Fu Yue thought for a moment and decided to adopt Wang Yanqing.
With the power of the Marquis of Zhenyuan, raising a little girl is not a problem. But if he doesn't care, the child will die outside.
When Wang Yanqing was seven years old, his fate changed drastically. That year, she lost her last relative, and with the help of her neighbors, she finished the funeral for her grandmother. After that, their ancestral land was occupied by distant relatives, but as to who adopted Wang Yanqing, it was kicked around like a ball. Willing to keep an extra mouth.
A strange group of people came to see her, and after a while, the group came back with more money and money. They added incense to Wang Cong and said they would take Wang Yanqing to Beijing.
The faces of the relatives suddenly changed greatly. Every mile and eight townships knew that the ancestral tomb of the Wang family was smoking. Wang Cong was appreciated by the nobles, and Wang Yanqing was going to enjoy the happiness in the city. The villagers didn't know what the concept of Zhenyuanhou was, they only knew that he was a high-ranking official who was in charge of all the troops of Datong Mansion. Those mean uncles and aunts changed their faces one after another, scrambled to snatch Wang Yanqing, and wanted to trick Wang Yanqing to change his tune and bring their own daughters over.
Although Wang Yanqing is only seven years old, her life has long taught her the warmth and warmth of human feelings, and to be observant. She didn't leave a single child behind for those so-called relatives, and silently followed Fu Yue's troops to Beijing, a city she knew nothing about.
At that time, she didn't know what kind of world she was going to enter. She knew that there are poor and rich, officials and farmers in the world, but she did not expect that the class gap was so large.
After entering Xuanwumen, everything along the way was prosperous that she dared not imagine. She turned left and right with the carriage in a dizzy manner, and finally, drove into a mighty and majestic mansion.
When Wang Yanqing got out of the car, he was so frightened by the sight in front of him that he didn't dare to say a word or take one more step. A big family, not angry and arrogant, his servants walked around with bowed hands, and any sweeping lady was better dressed than the village chief's family. Is this where she's going to live next
When Wang Yanqing was at a loss, a young voice suddenly came from behind him: "Who is this?"
She turned her head and saw an extravagant young man, about ten years old, already tall and tall, with a dignified appearance. The people around him changed their attitude and said flatteringly, "Second Young Master, this is the orphan girl that Hou Ye adopted."
The teenager stared at her for a while, and seemed to finally remember some impressions, and asked, "What's your name?"
"Second Master Hui, her name is Wang..."
"I didn't ask you." The young man glanced at the servant lightly, and raised his chin to Wang Yanqing, "Let her speak."
Although it has not been introduced yet, Wang Yanqing already understands the situation. She lowered her head and replied obediently, "Second Young Master Hui, my name is Wang Yanqing."
It seems rare for the young man to see a peer of his age and take her to see the Marquis of Zhenyuan in person. Later, Wang Yanqing learned that the boy who led her was Fu Yue's grandson, Fu Tingzhou. Although everyone called him the second young master, he was the only man alive among the grandchildren, and he was the default son of everyone. The Marquis of Zhenyuan was so lively because that day happened to be Fu Tingzhou's birthday.
Later, Fu Tingzhou kept joking, saying that Wang Yanqing was a birthday gift given to him by God, and it happened that he was in a bad mood, so he came out to relax, and saw Wang Yanqing after a turn.
Fu Yue was very happy to see Wang Yanqing. Wang Cong was about the same age as Fu Yue's son. Unexpectedly, Wang Cong's daughter is Bingxue cute, not like Wang Cong's naughty at all.
Fu Yue has been in the army all his life, and he has acted resolutely. He could hear his voice outside the camp when he was training soldiers. When he first saw such a soft and waxy little girl, his heart melted. It happened that Wang Yanqing was about the same age as Fu Tingzhou, so Fu Yue kept the two children by his side and raised them personally.
Speaking of which, there is actually another lawsuit. Fu Yue spent many years fighting abroad, and he did not return home for several years after fighting. Fu Yue's son, Fu Chang, was doted on by his old wife. Later, he moved to the capital and became the son of Lord Hou. Gradually, he developed a bad habit.
After Fu Yue was transferred back to the capital from Datong, he was furious when he saw his son Mianhua Suliu and Fighting Cock walking. But at that time, Fu Chang was almost thirty, what about reform? Fu Yue beat and scolded and scolded, but he couldn't correct it.
It has not been easy for him to fight in these years, and he must not hand over his family business to the sons and grandsons of prodigal families. Fortunately, Fu Tingzhou is still young, so he has time to teach.
It was at this time that Wang Yanqing came to Fu's house. Fu Yue asked Fu Tingzhou and Wang Yanqing to be brothers and sisters. Wang Yanqing knew her position very well. She was the daughter of Fu Yue's subordinate, and she was far from the Fu family. Fu Yue kept her by his side thinking about saving her life, but she had to understand that Fu Yue taught her grandson, and she just took it by the way.
So Wang Yanqing studied very seriously, she could learn whatever Fu Tingzhou learned, and she never complained. When Fu Tingzhou went to the school to practice martial arts, the maids all said that Wang Yanqing was a girl, so why should he suffer this crime, but Wang Yanqing didn't say a word, and insisted on it.
The Wang family is a military household and has been in the army for generations, so it is difficult to say about marriage, and it is often within the small circle of military households. Wang Yanqing's grandmother and mother are both daughters of military families, and Datong Mansion is one of the nine major border defense towns, guarding the capital. It is in conflict with the Mongols all the year round. The people are fierce and fierce, regardless of gender, age, and age. , the next second will be able to raise a knife to cut people, even if the daughter still has the blood of bravery and fighting in her body.
Wang Yanqing grew up in turmoil, and is far more mature than her peers. She endured the hard physical work that the ladies in the capital thought were bitter. In the previous years, it was to please Fu Yue, and in the following years it was for Fu Tingzhou.
Fu Tingzhou inherited his grandfather's ability, tall, valiant, sharp-eyed, determined, and because he was born in the capital, he was more intelligent and sharper than Fu Yue. Even in the noble circle of Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger, Fu Tingzhou is praised by everyone as a "general talent". Fu Yue was very satisfied with his grandson, and at the same time, in order to take care of his orphan daughter, he privately said that fat and water would not flow to outsiders, and asked Wang Yanqing to marry Fu Tingzhou.
Fu Yue said this not just to repay his kindness, Wang Yanqing became more and more beautiful as he grew up. He was also empathetic, intelligent and sensible. He could bend a bow and shoot arrows, and read and write. Miss strong? Fu Yue saw with his own eyes that the two children had grown from little peas to full-fledged young men, and he knew in his heart whether they were suitable or not.
Before Fu Yue died, he left two passwords. One was to bypass Fu Chang and directly pass the title to Fu Tingzhou, and the other was to let Fu Tingzhou not have to keep filial piety and get married as soon as possible.
In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Fu Yue's second rule is for Wang Yanqing. But after Fu Yue was buried, Fu Chang and his wife changed their minds. They pretended they didn't know what Fu Yue meant, and told Fu Tingzhou about kissing with great fanfare.
Fu Yue said that there is no need to observe filial piety, but his children and grandchildren should not be arrogant. But they couldn’t get married, but they could see each other in private.
The Marquis of Yongping had previously guarded western Sichuan, and the third daughter had not yet settled on her husband's house, so the two families hit it off. Fu Tingzhou went to Yongping Hou's mansion privately, and agreed after returning. Miss Yongping Hou San was delighted to be a good son-in-law, Zhenyuan Hou's mansion took the old-fashioned way, and Wuding Hou attracted a young general. Everyone was very happy, except Wang Yanqing.
Fu Tingzhou wants to marry Yongping Hou's daughter, what about her
Since the death of the old marquis Fu Yue, Wang Yanqing's position in Fu's family has become embarrassing. Now the Houfu is openly proposing to Fu Tingzhou, and he is not even willing to do superficial work. These maids gossip, but a trivial microcosm.
Jade cried out for her girl, but after she finished crying, she really didn't know what to do. Wang Yanqing's grandfather and father died in battle, she had no brothers, and when the old man died, there was no one to support her. What's more, even if the Wang family has an uncle, what right do they have to speak in front of the Zhenyuan Hou Mansion
To put it badly, in Wang Yanqing's identity, being a concubine in Zhenyuan Hou's mansion is a tall order.
Jade choked, while Wang Yanqing never spoke, sitting quietly like a painting. Emerald looked uncomfortable and went out for a reason.
Wang Yanqing sat alone in the room, reading books, studying calligraphy, and studying the art of war as he had done countless days in the past. After an unknown time, a gust of wind came from the door, a shadow sat down in front of her, and naturally took away what was in her hand: "The Classic of Tiger Seals? It's the end of the year, are you still watching?"
Wang Yanqing clenched her fingers. She raised her head and tried to face him with a flawless smile: "Second brother."