By the time she was twelve or thirteen years old, the little girl's appearance had completely grown.
By then, I’m afraid it will be impossible to guard against it!
The princes in the palace are old and young, and I heard that the emperor is in good health. Although there is no crown prince, the competition among the several princes for the right to inherit the throne is intensifying.
After Xie Yanzhi entered the officialdom, a few years later, Caiwei's age was also reached.
It is said that civil servants have to wait for seniority. As the child of a low-level official, no, a stepdaughter, Caiwei will eventually be used as a bargaining chip to win over Xie Yanzhi and marry her back.
At that time, it will not be a question of whether you are willing or not, and because of your low status, you can only be a concubine.
It is said that it is better to be a wife of a poor family than a concubine of a high family. Rather than doing this, it is better to stay far away.
Only by leaving and becoming a parent can we protect others.
As for Yuan Niang, she has good looks, but after all she has given birth to a child and is still old, so she has no worries.
Caiwei seemed to understand, but she only knew that what her aunt and father said was for her own good.
She turned to look at Xie Yanzhi, fearing that he would be embarrassed, and was about to say that she would go back to Xinyang Mansion to accompany her master when she was older.
Unexpectedly, before she could speak, her father said: "What my aunt said is true, Shaoan also has this intention!"
Caiwei's eyes turned red when she heard this.
"father--"
Seeing the gratitude in her eyes, Xie Yanzhi bent down slightly and said to her with a smile: "Caiwei, if dad becomes an official and leaves the capital to take up a post, it will not only be because of you, but also to realize his own ambitions." Ambition. Your mother knows this. If you don’t believe me, ask her!”
Li Yuan nodded in response at the right time: "Yes, Caiwei, don't think too much about it. Your father's wish is to be a parent official of one party and benefit the people of that party. This is because your father has to find time to give guidance while he is busy with the provincial examination. Mr. Xu from Liuyun County can tell."
Even so, Caiwei was still grateful.
She knew that her father was very talented and it would be better if he stayed in the capital after becoming an official.
Her master also said this!
After Zhou Caijing saw that they had finished speaking, she looked at Li Yuan and asked, "Sister, are we going to the Yamen to sign the contract now?"
"Later, there's still traffic outside, so I'm afraid it won't be that fast."
After Li Yuan finished speaking, she turned to Aunt Ou: "Aunt Ou, I think that lady just now was not innocent. Is there anything you want to say?"
Zhou Caijing and Qingmei looked at each other after hearing this, and then called the servants in the house together and asked the housekeeper to arrange for them to move to other empty houses.
Because the house suddenly became empty, Li Yuan asked Caiwei to take her sister back to the room to rest, and then asked Old Man Li and his grandson to leave, and then she no longer had any worries.
Aunt Ou stood in the yard, pursed her lips for a while, and then said: "Madam, Song Fanghua did not admit that the old slave was wrong just now!"
It was only now that Li Yuan found out that the woman's name was Song Fanghua.
"Since she didn't admit her mistake, what did she mean? What does it mean that your whole family was exiled to Lingnan and was never allowed to return to the capital? Are you not the old lady in charge of that house?"
Aunt Ou hesitated for a moment and said truthfully: "Yes, but no! The old slave was sold to the Qing's Mansion in Taichang Temple when he was a child. It's just that she was not a dead girl, but a living one. She was supposed to be in her double decade, okay? Redeem my deed and return my freedom. However, in the year of 28, my wife was pregnant, so she opened my face and sent me to serve the master. However, the old slave did not want to be a concubine, so he stayed as a steward. At Madam’s side.”
"The year the house was raided, the old slave was already twenty-three. Although he was a live-indenture steward, he had just given birth less than a year ago, so he was still half the master of the house. When they were exiled, the old slave naturally had to follow. But at the critical moment , the master and his wife took out my deed of sale and said that I was not a concubine, but the living deed manager of the house, so I was able to escape in the end. I could have redeemed the deed of sale with my own money and would not have to be resold."
When Li Yuan heard this, she already understood, so she asked: "But your child is the master of that house and will be exiled with him. You were worried and couldn't follow him, so you gave them the money. You had no choice but to Was he sold as a sin slave?"
The tears in Aunt Ou's eyes were like broken pearls, falling slowly.
"Yeah! But even so, those officials took so much money from me, but in the end my child was still gone!"
A mother-in-law would never listen to such words, especially a Qingmei who had a child who died in infancy.
She hugged Aunt Ou empathetically.
Aunt Ou wiped the corners of her eyes and continued: "If my child was still alive, he would be old enough to marry and have children. However, I didn't even get to see him for the last time. Before he was taken away, he didn't even see him. My mother can’t even scream..."
Li Yuan saw that she was so sad that she couldn't continue the topic, so she asked: "The person who pulled you earlier, what is the relationship between you?"
Aunt Ou wiped the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief again, took a deep breath and then said: "Song Fanghua is the distant cousin of Lao Nu's original wife. I heard that her mother's family was in poverty. When she found out that my wife was pregnant, she ran to the house. Deqin seemed to want to be a concubine for the master. I don’t know what happened, but once she came, my wife came to see me the next day and said that she knew that my natal father was seriously ill and needed money. She could help find a doctor, or she could help Provide money to build a house for my mother-in-law. The condition is that I will serve the master and not be pregnant within five years."
After hearing her words, everyone present knew that she was angry!
Perhaps in Song Fanghua's view, she could not marry a third-grade official because she was robbed by Aunt Ou.
No wonder he is so resentful towards her!
Li Yuan asked bluntly: "So, even if outsiders know that your name is Wanhua, it doesn't matter who your former master was?"
"It doesn't matter! The old slave was sold as a sin slave. It's just that the old slave didn't want to mention this name. It was the name given by the master after the old slave served the master. Before the old slave entered the house at the age of five, his name was Meiya, after entering the house, the old lady named me Xia Lian. But compared to these, the old slave prefers to be called Ou Ya, and also prefers everyone to call the old slave Aunt Ou."
Li Yuan was relieved when she heard the affirmation.
It was better not to be exiled and run away or to be replaced, otherwise she was really afraid that one day her brother Xie would become an official and someone would take this matter against him.
"Okay, I know about this. If our family encounters that Song Fanghua again, you should be more confident and say it's none of your business. If she refuses to give in, we don't have to be afraid. We can just go to court. What? We can all eat, but we can’t suffer, you know?”
When Grandma Ou heard those words about not being able to suffer a loss, a smile suddenly appeared in the corners of her tearful eyes.
"Well, the old slave knows!"
After saying these words, Li Yuan thought about what her brother Xie said, asking Brother Cao to buy two big mountains near Lanxia City and prepare to start cultivating tea in the coming year, so she asked: "Aunt Ou, you and your former master's family, Do you still have contact after all these years?"
