Xue Minghua took out a small piece of silver from his pocket, stuffed it into the hand of the gatekeeper and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm sorry to have to run over and tell you that there is a young woman named Minghua looking for me outside. If Manager Yang doesn't want to come out, , then we’ll go somewhere else to stay and come back tomorrow.”
The man shook the pieces of silver in his hand, finally put a smile on his face, and said to them: "Then you wait, I will report it right away."
This has benefits, but it's different. Even if Manager Yang is unhappy, aren't there still people outside the door who are supporting him? He is just doing things for others.
After saying that, he turned around and entered the yard, and closed the side door again. From the sound of it, it was not unlatched.
They are not the kind of rude people. Even if the door is open, they will not rush in, even if this is Xue Minghua's natal family.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, the person still hadn't come back, and Qingyan didn't hear any movement. If she hadn't heard with her own ears that the other person was walking further and further away, she would have thought that he just took the advantage and ran away to sleep.
After taking a look at the expression on Xue Minghua's face, he looked like he was used to it. This house must be quite big, so that's why he stayed there for such a long time.
It seems that she has a villainous heart.
A few minutes later, footsteps were heard in the distance, and they were obviously not from one person. Of course, Xue Minghua couldn't hear them, but Qingyan's good ears could hear them.
One should be the concierge who just left, relatively brisk, and the other should be older, walking a little dragging, and breathing loudly, as if he has a bad trachea.
Then the voice of the concierge just now came, "Manager Yang, please wait a little longer. My lantern can't illuminate the path under your feet. I'll throw you down if I turn around..."
Then a gasping old voice said: "Hou Shunzi, hurry up, it's Miss Minghua, it's Miss Minghua who's back! Phew... Why didn't you invite them in, you little bastard, and asked Miss Wait outside the door, phew...I won't deduct your monthly payment later..."
The concierge named Hou Shunzi said flatteringly: "Yes, yes, it's all a boy who has eyes for gold and jade. He didn't recognize the eldest lady. I guess it was too dark and I didn't light a lantern before. Miss." He didn't identify himself, so I didn't think about it for a while.
I will make an apology to the eldest lady in a while and let the eldest lady hit me a few times to vent my anger..."
Qingyan listened to the conversation and thought that it should be settled now. Looking at Manager Yang's attitude, it was obvious that the family had not given up on Xue Minghua and should welcome her back.
These current people are very good at looking at the master's eyes, otherwise they would not be able to be in charge of the government. Many times, the attitude of the servant is the attitude of the master, and it all depends on the dishes.
Thinking of this, she quietly asked Xue Minghua: "Sister Minghua, does that concierge know you just now?"
Xue Minghua shook his head, "I probably don't know him. When I was in the mansion, the concierge here was Uncle Liu, but Uncle Liu was almost sixty years old at that time. He must have gone home to take care of his old age, or was no longer here. Will replace it with this.
It must have been brought up by the servants at home. There were many servants in the house, and I couldn't recognize them all before, but I'm sure they weren't familiar. "
Qingyan nodded. Hou Shunzi probably just said polite words. Even if Xue Minghua introduced himself to his family before, the other party probably wouldn't recognize him and would think he was a relative of the Xue family.
Soon, the footsteps came closer and closer, the side door was opened, and this time both wooden doors were pulled open.
Then I saw the previous concierge holding a yellowed lantern in his hand. When the man went in to report, there was a dog barking from the opposite side, so Xue Minghua asked her to put out the torch first.
Qingyan guessed that the other party didn't want to attract other people's attention and wanted to quietly test whether he could go home.
After all, she didn't have a good reputation when she disappeared. Now that she suddenly returns, her family's attitude is unclear and it's normal to not want to attract attention.
So it's dark outside here, but now with this lantern, the light suddenly brightens.
I saw an old man with a beard and gray hair appearing behind the door first, raising his feet to step over the high threshold, and bending his legs when he came out, he was about to kneel on the ground.
Xue Minghua hurriedly reached out to help, but she was leaning on a crutch with one hand and could only stretch out one hand, unable to support her at all.
Qingyan quickly took action and restrained the old man in one fell swoop.
The old man was kneeling halfway up. It was neither kneeling nor not. It was quite awkward.
Fortunately, Xue Minghua spoke, "Uncle Yang, what are you doing? Get up quickly!"
The old man straightened up and said with tears in his eyes: "Miss, really eldest lady, you are finally back! Where have you been all these years?"
It was obvious that he was really excited, his lower lip was trembling, but he still knew how to keep his voice down. It seemed that the old steward was also a wonderful person, and he knew not to make too much noise and attract the attention of outsiders.
After saying this, he looked at Qingyan and the two children, knowing that this should be Xue Minghua's child. It was normal for him to have a family and have children after missing for so many years. But looking at it like this, he probably had a child not long after he disappeared.
Manager Yang's eyes finally fell on Xue Minghua's injured leg, and the tears in his eyes finally couldn't help but fall.
"Miss, what's wrong with your leg? How was it injured? Have you seen a doctor? Oh, my eldest lady has really suffered a lot in these years..."
Xue Minghua waved his hand and said: "Uncle Yang, don't worry, it's okay, it's all over, I'm back now.
I just don’t know if my parents are okay and whether they still recognize me as an unfilial daughter, but even if they don’t recognize me as an unfilial daughter, that’s fine.
This disaster happened because I was young and ignorant and ran around blindly. I just wanted to come back to see my two elders this time, and I would have no regrets about leaving again. "
Manager Yang quickly said: "Where are you talking? Where are the words? Madam and Master have been looking for the eldest lady for eleven years without interruption.
It's just that I haven't been able to find the lady. My wife is talking about you every day, saying that you must be suffering out there, and she tells me not to give up and to find you.
The eldest young master and the second young master never forget to inquire about the whereabouts of the young lady every time they go on official business, but there has been no news from the young lady for so many years..."
Hou Shunzi, who was next to him, saw that the old housekeeper was about to reminisce outside the door, and quickly reminded him: "Miss, Manager Yang, let's not talk outside. Come in quickly and inform the master and his wife."
Manager Yang had an annoyed look on his face, "Yes, yes, yes, oh, I'm really old. I blocked the young lady from the door. It's really a sin. Young lady, please come in quickly. Are these Master Sun and Miss Sun? They look really good." Like a lady..."
Hou Shunzi helped illuminate the scene with a flattering look on his face, and said to Xue Minghua: "The eldest lady is atoneing for her sins. The younger one really didn't recognize her. Don't get angry with me."
As he said that, he wanted to return the penny.
Xue Minghua waved his hand towards him, "You did a good job, and this is a reward for you."
Hou Shunzi bowed quickly and said, "Thank you, Miss, thank you, Miss!"
After a few people went in, Manager Yang looked at them and said nothing. These were common things and not surprising. As long as the matter was done and the master was not angry, it would be fine.
He looked at the donkey cart behind him again, pulled Hou Shunzi to the side, and whispered: "You remove the threshold, help drive the donkey cart and the horses next to it, and get to the stables first. Miss Don't talk nonsense before you come back. If anything bad comes out, I'll ask you the only one!"
After saying that, he took another look at the horse. It was not unusual to see a donkey cart, but this horse was not something that ordinary people could raise.
Not only is the price of this horse more expensive, but it also costs a lot of money to keep it every year, which is at least a big burden for ordinary small families.
Hou Shunzi repeatedly promised that he would not tell lies and would keep his mouth shut.
All the old people in their house knew that the Xue family also had an eldest daughter who was a direct descendant. She disappeared when she went to visit the temple fair eleven years ago. Although the head of the family said to the outside world that she went to the direct branch of the Imperial City, the people in the house Everyone knows that he was kidnapped by a kidnapper.
Now that the eldest lady is back, she is carrying a child and is still lame. She is obviously having a very bad life, and I don't know how the master and his wife will arrange it.
While thinking about it, he removed the threshold and poked it into the wall on one side, and led the donkey cart and horse through the door. Hou Shunzi quickly closed the door. Before closing the door, he looked around to make sure there was no one there.
Qingyan was a little amused when she saw him acting like that, and she thought he was engaging in underground connections.
Manager Yang turned to them and said: "Miss, this girl, please take the donkey cart and horse to the stable to raise them first. If you want to use them later, just ask someone to take them out."
Xue Minghua looked at Qingyan and saw that she had no objection, so he said to Manager Yang, "Okay, let Uncle Yang arrange it."
Manager Yang: "Then let's go to the backyard quickly. The master and his wife will be very happy to know that you are back. It's just hard work, Miss. Can you walk with your injured leg? Why don't I carry you on my back?"
Xue Minghua shook his head and said, "It's okay. I have a cane. Just walk slower."
Qingyan whispered in her ear: "Is it far? How about I carry you on my back and don't turn around and get hurt more."
She still remembered that Manager Yang arrived more than 20 minutes ago, which showed that the Xue Mansion was very big.
Xue Minghua smiled and shook his head: "The backyard is not far from here. Manager Yang came here from the front yard, so it took a little longer."
After hearing this, Qingyan felt relieved, and then sent a message to Chou Chou to use her spiritual consciousness to look at the layout of the Xue Mansion.
Within a few seconds, Chou Chou replied: "We are in the west, in a back garden, and the stables are in the northwest. There are several horses in it. There are brands on the horses' butts and shoes on their hooves. They should be war horses.
To the east is the front yard, with a hall, flower room and study room. To the south are several independent yards, some large and some small. The largest one near the southwest is probably the backyard where the owner of the house lives. "
It seems that the Xue family is really not an ordinary family. They actually have several horses. Of course, ordinary wealthy families can afford them. However, Chou Chou said that the horse has a brand on it and should be a war horse, indicating that the Xue family serves in the military.
I heard from Xue Minghua before that the Xue family was indeed in the military. They were supervisory captains before, but now they don't know what their positions are. She also doesn't understand how the ancient official positions are calculated.
Holding Xue Minghua in one hand and holding Huan'er in the other, Fulai walked beside them and followed Guanshi Yang forward.
After entering the courtyard, there are all kinds of paths among flowers. Especially this summer, the vegetation is lush, so you can only walk slowly according to the light.
Fortunately, Hou Shunzi gave them the lantern before, and he went to the stable to discredit it, otherwise Qingyan suspected that he would trample a lot of flowers to death.
Huan'er clung to Qingyan and didn't dare to leave for a while. It was normal for the little girl to be scared. After all, she was in a strange place. Besides, except for the lantern in front, the surroundings were dark and there were some crickets and insects chirping. It was really Quite permeable.
For some reason, Qingyan looked at the dangling lantern, and her mind was automatically filled with special effects of the woo-woo-woo-woo music from Liaozhai. She was so frightened that she shivered, and quickly shook her head, thinking The screen in the video was thrown out.
Sure enough, you can't scare yourself, this is so scary, I almost made myself pee!
Fulai was lucky, he was a teenager after all. He was supporting his mother from the other side. Although he was not big, he still tried his best to serve as a crutch for her mother.
At this time, Manager Yang told Xue Minghua what happened at home after she disappeared.
"After the eldest lady disappeared, the master sent many people to search for her. He even notified the direct branch and asked them to help see if there was any trace of the lady in the Imperial City and Bianzhou, but none were found.
The eldest young master and the second young master also went out to look for her, but the lady immediately fell ill and had to lie down for more than three months before she recovered.
Because of this illness, the housekeeping power was handed over to the second wife. As a result, the second wife made a big mistake, and the wife had to take charge of the house despite her illness.
The current second wife is Miss Gao who entered the family four years ago. "
Qingyan felt that Xue Minghua's body visibly paused, then relaxed again, and continued to move forward with the old housekeeper in front.
Qingyan thought, could this second lady be Xue Minghua's father's concubine? Isn't it that the concubines are also called the Second Madam, the Little Madam and so on?
Then I heard the old housekeeper continue: "The eldest young master also got married six years ago, and he married a young lady from the He family in Bianzhou. Now your eldest nephew is three years old, and your younger nephew is already over one year old.
The second young master married three years ago to the eldest daughter of the Sun family in the city. Now he has only one younger daughter, who is just over a year old this year.
The third young master, the fourth young master and the fifth young master also got married last year and this year respectively. They have been separated by the master and do not stay in the main house.
Several concubine ladies also got married, most of them went to Bianzhou and the Imperial City, but none stayed there..."
Listening to what Manager Yang said, Qingyan thought that the eldest young master, the second young master and Xue Minghua should be the legitimate sons of the same mother, so she emphasized it.
Then the third young master, the fourth young master, and the fifth young master were all concubines, so they just passed by.
As for those young ladies, what they said is even more clear. The young ladies who were mentioned directly were all married out of town.
It should be a marriage. Larger families are basically married to each other.
(End of chapter)
