Qingyan sighed in her heart and thought, the children of this big family are indeed going to marry each other. Judging from the two brothers and wives of Xue Minghua, they should also have family backgrounds.
One is the Sun family in this city, and the other is the He family in Bianzhou...wait! He family?
Bianzhou He family, it can’t be such a coincidence, right? Didn't that guy who was disguised as a man just tell her to go to the He family in Bianzhou to find her if he had something to do?
She asked why the He family sounded so familiar to each other. They couldn't be from the same family, right?
At this time, they had turned into a larger garden, which was also a garden. They walked through the garden and came to a moon gate. There was a small room next to it with lights inside. It should be guarded by someone.
"Mother Li! Come out for a moment!"
Manager Yang slightly raised his voice and shouted.
Soon an old woman who seemed to be in her fifties came out of the hut, holding an oil lamp in one hand and protecting the wick from the wind with the other hand to prevent the lamp from going out.
After squinting his eyes, he recognized Manager Yang, "Manager Yang? It's so late, but you have something to do with the master? Who are these people? Why did they come directly to the backyard?"
Manager Yang didn't say much to her and just said, "Go and ask my old lady to come out and tell her that I'm looking for her."
His old lady is with his wife and is the housekeeper of the backyard. He, a foreigner, is definitely not allowed to enter the backyard, not to mention at night, not even during the day.
Because the young lady disappeared, a group of people were replaced in the backyard, and they were all sent to Zhuangzi. The gatekeeper, Mrs. Li, was transferred from Zhuangzi and did not know about the eldest lady. She even heard about it from others later and did not recognize her. The appearance of a young lady.
It would not be appropriate for her to inform his wife or bring the eldest lady and the others in, so he could rest assured that his old lady would come.
The old woman responded, put the oil lamp back into the hut, and went to the back.
They were waiting at the Moon Gate. Manager Yang asked Xue Minghua worriedly: "Miss, can your legs still hold up? Otherwise, I will force you to sit in the gatekeeper's hut?"
The gatekeeper's hut was too small. There was only a small couch of about 1.5 meters placed horizontally, and a table with tea and oil lamps. There was really no way to take it out for her to sit on, so she had to go inside.
"No need, my legs are fine, just wait here."
Xue Minghua shook her head. She was so excited that she was about to see her mother that she didn't care whether she was hurt or not.
Manager Yang and Qingyan both looked at her legs. It must be because Qingyan was supporting her. They were relieved when they saw that her injured leg had not fallen to the ground, so there was probably no problem.
In just six or seven minutes, Mrs. Li came back with another woman in her fifties carrying a lantern.
This woman's clothes are obviously much better than Mrs. Li's, but her bun is a little messy. She must have fallen asleep and was woken up from the bed.
Qingyan was a little confused, did Manager Yang and his wife sleep separately like this? One in the front yard and one in the back yard?
It's really hard to be a slave. After getting married, you have to live in two places because of your respective masters.
The woman stepped forward and was about to ask her man what he wanted from her when she saw Qingyan and Xue Minghua standing next to him.
He rushed over at once, his face was full of excitement, his eyes were red, and when he was about to speak, he was intercepted by Manager Yang.
"Old lady, take them in to see Madam first."
This is not a place for talking. The master and his wife have to decide whether to spread the news about the eldest lady's return, and how to arrange it so that outsiders can't look down on the eldest lady.
After hearing what her man said, Zhang Fangcao quickly stopped talking, suppressed her excitement, and then said: "Okay, okay, little... please come with me."
After saying that, he walked to the other side of Xue Minghua to support her, used a lantern to illuminate their feet with one hand, and led them inside.
Seeing them walking away, Manager Yang gave the old lady instructions and turned back to the front yard.
When there was no one around, Zhang Fangcao cried and said: "Oh...my good lady...you are finally back, why didn't you send a message home so that I could pick you up?" …”
Xue Minghua was also in tears. He could restrain himself in front of Manager Yang just now, but he couldn't hold back in front of Mrs. Zhang.
Zhang Fangcao used to be her nanny. It can be said that she brought her up single-handedly. He spent more time with her than with his biological mother. As soon as he saw her, Xue Minghua's tears welled up in his eyes. Now when he heard that she Crying, tears couldn't help falling.
Choking in her voice, she replied in a low voice: "Nanny... I... I was kidnapped back then. Although I was rescued later, my reputation was ruined anyway. How could I come back and ruin the family tradition..."
Zhang Fangcao couldn't help but interrupt her and said: "Miss, you are confused! The master and his wife only said to the outside world that you went to your maternal home. If you had asked someone to send a message back, they would have brought you back long ago. There would be no way outside. Know……"
Xue Minghua shook his head and said: "I thought wrong for a moment, but I don't regret it. If I come back, I won't have a pair of filial and good children like me."
Then he waved to Fulai and Huan'er, "Fu Lai, Huan'er, this is my mother's nanny. Just call me Granny Zhang. Nanny, these are my son Fulai and daughter Huan'er."
Then he introduced Qingyan and said: "This is Qingyan, who is also from our Xue family. Thanks to her for sending us back, otherwise we wouldn't know when we would be able to come back."
She didn't talk about Chen Jiawang's affairs. Anyway, she had already left. There was no need to mention that person's affairs anymore, and it would save those who cared about her from feeling uncomfortable.
From now on, it will be enough to say to the outside world that Huan'er and Fulai's father is dead. Of course, she still needs to make it clear to her family that she is divorced. As for the reason, she just said that she had an affair with the widow and had a child. She wanted to divorce her. It would be better if you take the initiative and leave.
As for wanting to take her life and sell the child, there is no need to mention it again.
Of course, the premise is that that person will not appear in front of her again. If that person appears again, she will definitely not help him hide these things.
The legs of the Chen family's mother and son were broken, and she took the child away again. She felt that they were completely separated. As long as the other party did not appear, they would be fine. If they appeared in front of their mother again, she would not mind letting him go. The family helped and took care of him. This was her bottom line.
…
After that, they entered a larger courtyard, with five main rooms and six side rooms, connected to the main room by a corridor.
They walked to the door of a room on the left side of the main house. Qingyan looked at the exquisite carvings on the door and window edges. They turned out to be pictures of flowers, birds and figures!
This was the first time she had entered a wealthy family's home in ancient times. She used to think that the palaces and famous temples she saw in later generations were the essence of ancient architecture.
Her courtyard house and the antique Chinese-style villas in Hong Kong City are also imitations of those, and they can be considered carved beams and paintings.
But compared with this real house of a wealthy family in ancient times, it's still a little less interesting.
Take a look at the doors and windows. They are all made of good wood. Even the eaves are carved, not to mention the furniture inside. They are probably the kind you have seen in museums. I walked into bed several times.
And this is not a top-notch wealthy family. This is just a branch of the Xue family, which only has an official position in a city in Xingtang Prefecture. It is conceivable that a wealthy family like that in the imperial city must be even more luxurious.
Zhang Fangcao patted Xue Minghua's arm, released the hand holding her, stepped forward and knocked softly on the door.
Immediately I heard a young woman's soft reply, "Who is it?"
Zhang Fangcao replied: "It's me, Chun'er. Call Madam and Master, and tell me that I have something urgent to report."
The maid inside was obviously responsible for the night watch today. She didn't say much, she just responded and went to report.
Qingyan nodded secretly in her heart, look, this is the real quality that a maid from a wealthy family in ancient times should have. Like on TV, it is impossible for a maid to ask questions first when something happens. As long as you do your best You just have to do your job, you should pass on the news, you should keep vigil at night, there are so many people who do things for you, if you really want to do that, you will probably be dead a long time ago.
Of course, we don't rule out that there really is that kind of servant. It may be that kind of family with no background would have that kind of servant.
Soon Qingyan heard the voices of a man and a woman talking inside, followed by rustling sounds, they must be getting dressed.
The house looked quite big from the outside, and it was probably quite deep inside. There were partitions outside, and there were maids, and there must be another room inside, so the sound came from inside, and it wasn't loud. Xue Minghua and the others didn't hear it. .
After waiting like this for a while, it must be that the clothes of the ancients were cumbersome, and the ancients would dress neatly as soon as they left the room, so it took a while before the little maid opened the door again and let Zhang Fangcao in. .
Zhang Fangcao gave Xue Minghua a comforting look before entering the room first. If she wanted to go in, she would tell the master and his wife first, and then take the eldest lady and the others in directly. She was afraid that the wife would be too excited and couldn't bear it, and it would be bad to make too much noise.
After that, the little maid named Chuner retreated, and Zhang Fangcao came out after a while.
He came over to support Xue Minghua and said, "Miss, let's go in. Madam and Master already know about it and are waiting for you."
As an outsider, Qingyan couldn't go in with her. After all, it was a family matter. To put it another way, entering someone's parents' bedroom was okay for her biological daughter, but not so good for her as an outsider.
Then he whispered to Xue Minghua: "I won't go in, just wait outside."
Xue Minghua thought about it. If she had to reminisce with her family for a long time, she would definitely cry. It would not be good for Qingyan to see her. Besides, Qingyan was driving the car along the way and had to fight with others. She would definitely be crying. I'm tired, there's no need to stay up late with them anymore.
Then she said to Zhang Fangcao: "Nanny, please arrange a guest room for Miss Qingyan and let her rest first. Thanks to her, she must be tired along the way."
Zhang Fangcao nodded and said, "I neglected the guests. Don't blame Miss Qingyan. I will make arrangements right away."
Then he said to Chun'er who was standing not far away: "Chun'er, take this young lady to the guest house next to her to settle down and then come back. Let the little girl over there take care of her. Don't neglect her."
"Yes, Mother Zhang, Chun'er will arrange it."
Chun'er nodded, bowed to Qing Yanfu, and made a gesture of invitation, "Miss, please come with me."
Qingyan let go of Xue Minghua's arm and saw that she could walk with a cane, so she followed Chun'er out of the main courtyard and took the corner door to the guest courtyard next to her.
This is really the guest courtyard next to it, separated by a wall. It should be used for relatives or important guests at home.
The courtyard is neither big nor small. It is similar to an ordinary courtyard. There are three main rooms and two side rooms.
Two of the main rooms were probably for guests, and one was relatively narrow, probably for the servants who served.
This guest house is usually looked after by special servants. As soon as they come in, Chun'er starts to call for help.
Soon a little maid came out of the side room. She looked to be about the same age as Qingyan, maybe even younger.
The facial features are quite good, quite bright and generous, but the skin is a bit rough, and the face looks very yellow under the illumination of the oil lamp. I don't know whether it is the light, or whether it is the skin color.
Chun'er introduced Qingyan: "Miss, this is Xiaoyue who is serving in the guest house. If you need anything, just give her instructions directly.
Xiaoyue, this is a distinguished guest in our house. You have to take good care of him. Do you know that the room can be kept clean? "
Xiaoyue nodded repeatedly and said: "It's clean. I clean the house every day, and the bedding inside is dried every day. I just smelled the incense today, so you can move in directly."
Qingyan didn't tell them her last name. After telling them, it seemed as if she really belonged to the young lady of this family. After all, her surname was Xue. It didn't seem very good to call her Miss Xue, so she just let them call her Miss. Anyway, in this mansion The ladies are all married and live in the guest house, so no one should misunderstand her.
Chun'er gave Xiaoyue a few more instructions, bowed to Qingyan again, and left. She had to go back to work.
Qingyan followed Xiaoyue into the main room of the guest house. She lit the candles in the main room and went to help make the bed.
Qingyan looked at the candles and raised her eyebrows. She thought they were all using oil lamps at this time. After all, she hadn't seen any candles since she came here.
The candle was similar to those of later generations, except that it was thicker, and the candlestick was also very beautiful. It was a bronze candlestick in the shape of a crane.
Qingyan looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere, and then she remembered that it was in Xiangxiang Space.
Before, my parents went to the sea to salvage many sunken ships, and the antiques they salvaged included many bronzes. Many of them were emptied out by cultural relic dealers. However, due to bad luck, the ship sank at sea.
Those with historical significance and research value were handed over to the state by their parents, but a lot of them were left behind. Although these are old, many of them have survived. Among them, there seems to be this kind of candlestick, and there are many Less similar to this one.
She used to think that ancient lamps were all oil lamps, but then she saw a stick on the candlestick. Her father said it was for candles, and she realized that candles had been there a long time ago.
