He Changdi raised his eyes and looked at King Jin. Deep in the deep eyes, there was a deep and faint grief that King Jin could not understand.
"Your Highness, there are some things I can't tell you right now, but I promise, I have a reason why I must go to the North!"
By the time He Sanlang came out of Yuehonglou, it was past noon.
King Jin stood by the window on the third floor, watching his friend's carriage disappear at the end of the street, and then looked away, thoughtful.
After Chu Lian used the court food, he went to Mrs. He's yard to pay his respects.
Except for Mrs. Jing'anbo who was bedridden, all the female relatives of Jing'anbo's residence were gathered in Qingwei hall at this time.
As soon as Chu Lian came in, Mrs. He looked over and saw that she was wearing a light blue dress. Thinking that He Sanlang was also wearing a light blue robe when he left the mansion in the morning to greet An at Qingwei Hall, He The old lady laughed.
Apart from the two little nieces in the family, Chu Lian was the youngest in seniority. After asking for Ann, he was dragged to the couch by Mrs. He.
"Lian'er, are you still used to living in the house these few days?" Mrs. He spoke kindly, with the unique kindness of an old man, making people unable to help but want to be with such a person The old man is close.
Chu Lian nodded, and looked at the old matriarch with a pair of moist and clear eyes, "I'm used to it, granddaughter-in-law, thank you grandma for your concern."
"Sanlang went out early this morning, and I'm afraid he won't come back until the afternoon. At noon today, you and your sister-in-law will stay at grandma's for dinner."
Chu Lian nodded in agreement.
After sitting in Qingwei Hall for half an hour, she went to Mrs. Jing'an's yard with Mrs. Zou to visit.
Before entering the door, she heard Mrs. Jing'an coughing violently.
Mrs. Zou frowned, just in time to meet Miaozhen, the eldest maid next to Mrs. Jing Anbo who came out to deliver the medicine.
Miaozhen raised her head and saw the two masters standing at the door, "Eldest grandma, third grandma is well."
"Mother, what's going on, why do you feel more serious than yesterday?" Zou asked Miaozhen with a frown.
Miaozhen frowned, "I don't know, this recipe has some effect in the first half month, Madam can get out of bed and walk around occasionally, but these days, this prescription seems to be completely useless, even if Madam drank it The medicine is not good at all."
Standing beside Mrs. Zou, Chu Lian fell into recollection. The original book did not mention what kind of disease Madam Jing An was suffering from, but looking at the symptoms, it might be tuberculosis, not to mention pneumonia. In this era, if you get this disease, you will almost There is no possibility of cure, it can only be dragged by medication.
"Go get the medicine, my siblings and I will go in and see mother."
When she came out of Mrs. Liu's room, Mrs. Liu was already tired and fell asleep. Her face was pale and ugly. Even when she was asleep, she still looked emaciated from a long illness.
According to Miaozhen, Mrs. Liu was unable to eat due to illness, and hadn't eaten properly for several days.
In the past, I could still eat some snacks from the chef Zhou in the Jing'anbo mansion, but now the cook Zhou was burned to death, and Mrs. Jing'anbo didn't even have this bite to eat.
The two sisters-in-law and sister-in-law left Liu's courtyard and turned into the small garden of the mansion. They each held a red jadeite bracelet in their hands. Judging by the color, they knew that it was extremely valuable. The Liu family was born in a wealthy family, and the dowry back then was very rich and there were many good things. This was what Zou told her later.
Chu Lian pinched the bracelet in his hand a little uncomfortably. This red jadeite bracelet was a pair. She and Mrs. Zou each had one. Chu Lian had never seen such expensive jewelry even when she was a child. I also collected a lot of good things, but compared with this red jadeite bracelet, it is still a lot worse.
Mrs. Zou glanced over her head, noticed the uneasiness on her face, and smiled, "Mother gave it to me, let's take it, otherwise Mother will be unhappy."
Chu Lian could only nod, and took it away in Mrs. Liu's room. It would be hard to take it back at this time.
Mrs. Zou handed her bracelet to the maid next to her, and asked her to wrap it in a handkerchief and put it away carefully. She led Chu Lian to walk slowly on the corridor covered with wisteria, and suddenly sighed, "Actually, where is the bracelet?" There are not many good things left, and these two bracelets are probably the only ones left."
Seeing the doubts on Chu Lian's face, Zou wanted to have a chat with this new younger brother and sister, she waved to the maidservants who were following her closely, and the maidservants quickly stopped and stood there, letting go Mrs. Zou dragged Chu Lian away.
With no outsider around, Mrs. Zou spoke more freely, "Mother's illness, the third sibling must have heard a thing or two."
Although He Sanlang didn't mention it to her, Chu Lian also knew that Mrs. Jing Anbo's illness was serious, and the original book also mentioned that Mrs. Jing Anbo was bedridden all year round.
Chu Lian nodded.
"The younger brothers and sisters only know one thing but not the other. There is no cure for my mother's illness, even the palace Chinese medicine practitioners, so I can only delay it by relying on special prescriptions. This prescription contains a variety of precious medicinal materials, and there are many of them that are worth thousands of dollars. Few of them, although the Uncle Jing’an’s mansion has a great reputation, but my father is not good at housekeeping, let alone collecting money. If it weren’t for the simple population and simple expenses of our mansion, and the fact that the old lady’s private property is subsidized from time to time, how could there be such a day. Mother It costs a lot of money every month to take the medicine, and it was paid by the family at the beginning." As he spoke, Zou stretched out a slender finger towards Chu Lian.
"One thousand taels. My mother needs one thousand taels a month for medicine alone, and my father, a general in Zhennan, has an annual salary of one thousand taels. Even if the income from the family's Zhuangzi and other shops is counted, it is only worth a thousand taels a month." Guan Yu…”
Mrs. Jing'an's mansion provided Mrs. Jing'an's medicine for two years. Mrs. Jing'an found Mrs. Zou and asked her to cancel the expenses.
Over the past few years, Mrs. Jing'an's dowry has been spent in sevens and eighties, and there is not much left.
The Liu family, whose surname was surnamed Liu, was demoted a few years ago because it violated the Holy Majesty's taboo. The whole family moved out of Shengjing and settled in Luoyang.
Chu Lian was surprised when she heard that, although she just came here, she still has some understanding of the prices in this Great Wu Dynasty after listening to Xi Yan's chatter on weekdays.
The copper coins used today are still Kaiyuan Tongbao, the standard system is one thousand taels of silver, and the usual money is one thousand taels, not counting the fluctuations in the price of copper and silver, according to the living standards of ordinary people in the Great Wu Dynasty, ten taels of silver can give An ordinary family of three has used it for a year.
The monthly silver for the small stewards in Jing'anbo's mansion is only one tael.
And Mrs. Jing'an spent more than 10,000 yuan a year on medicine, which is quite an astonishing amount of money!
No wonder Mrs. Zou said that Mrs. Jing'an's dowry is not much left.
Uncle Jing'an's salary for one year is only enough for Mrs. Liu to take medicine for a month.
Seeing the surprised look in Chu Lian's eyes, Mrs. Zou patted her hand, "Sister-in-law didn't tell you this to put pressure on you, but just to tell you that even though mother is poorer, it's important to us two daughter-in-laws." But there is nothing to say, you must be filial to her in the future."