What Zhao Heng said about watching a theater is really just watching a theater, but it is not the kind of theater performances that adults like to watch, but the shadow puppet shows that children especially like.
As soon as Xie Rongzhao agreed, Zhao Heng took her hand and walked out without anyone noticing.
Although Zhao Heng is two years younger than Xie Rongzhao, Zhao Heng is no shorter than Xie Rongzhao. Perhaps it is because he was born into a wealthy family and had better food since childhood.
Zhao Yue had no legitimate daughters, only a few concubines.
Zhao Yue's wife, Mrs. Gao, was kind to others and was not harsh on the concubines and concubines in the mansion, so the atmosphere in the prince's backyard was still very harmonious.
"This is my second sister, who is one year older than me. Sister Zhaozhao, who is older between you two?"
Zhao Ying hurriedly came over and said, "Sister Zhao Zhao, I am Zhao Ying. I received a gift from you earlier, but I never had the chance to thank you in person."
Xie Rongzhao also returned the gift: "I am seven years old this year. Since you call me sister, you must be younger than me."
Zhao Ying smiled and said, "I'm six years old. Brother Heng brought you here to watch a shadow puppet show together? Come on, we've reserved the best seats."
Today is Zhao Heng's birthday. Among the group of children, he is naturally the eldest.
The table at the front was naturally reserved for him.
Zhao Yue had originally mentioned that Xie Rongzhao should come to the Hou Mansion to learn some courses from the female teacher. In addition to etiquette and rules, he wanted to have Xie Rongzhao come to the Hou Mansion to learn some courses, including chess, calligraphy and painting.
Xie Xiuwen felt it was inappropriate and pushed it away.
Xie Rongzhao herself doesn't like to be detained all day long, not to mention that she is self-aware. Her father is just a petty official now, and a family like the Hou Mansion is not something ordinary people can afford.
Although Xie Rongzhao did not come to the Hou Mansion to learn from her, Gu would teach her the rules at home. It can be seen from ordinary little things that Gu used to work in a high-ranking family.
After Xie Rongzhao and Zhao Ying got to know each other, the two girls talked a lot when they chatted. When Liu Ruolan left, Zhao Ying was still reluctant to let go of her sister.
In the evening, Liu Ruolan discussed with Xie Xiuwen that it was time to hire a female gentleman for Guobao.
"I have inquired about it. Several female gentlemen in the Hou's Mansion are either female officials from the palace, or they are post-Confucian scholars. Not all the girls who take classes there are girls from the Hou's Mansion. I heard that there are also children from relatives. , there are several cousins and cousins, I don’t think it’s appropriate for us, my dear, to go there.”
This matter has been mentioned before. Xie Xiuwen naturally does not want his daughter to go out and suffer injustice.
Those rich ladies from well-known families have a very high self-esteem. If Guobao really goes there, even if they don't bully her, the atmosphere will definitely not be good. Even the difference in clothes is huge and it is easy to hurt the child. self-esteem.
"I have always been interested in this matter. I heard that there was a female gentleman living in the west of the city. Her father was originally a scholar, and her husband was also a scholar. However, the family was unfortunate and her husband passed away, leaving them orphans and widowed. I used to give lessons to some ladies from merchant families, but now I am at home."
Liu Ruolan's eyes brightened slightly: "How is that female gentleman's character?"
"Not bad. Her husband's surname is Wang, so people call her Mrs. Wang. She has a son and a daughter. The daughter is married, and the son is studying in the academy and doesn't come back often."
"Then if it can be done, should we send our sweet baby there, or should she come over?"
Xie Xiuwen didn't care about other people's affairs, but he paid close attention to his daughter's affairs.
"Of course we let her come here every day. If she wants, she can stay at our house, which is more convenient. However, her piano skills are average, but her painting skills are very famous."
"Then ask someone to inquire again. As long as his character is not bad, we will invite him to our home. But we don't know how much dowry this Mrs. Wang wants."
"It won't be too much. Ten taels of silver a month is enough."
Liu Ruolan breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. Now that they have their own property in the capital, they have income every day, and ten taels of silver is indeed nothing.
Xie Xiuwen now has Lumi in addition to his monthly salary.
It's just that Lumi is usually distributed at the end of the year, and a year's worth is distributed at once.
Although Xie Xiuwen mentioned ten taels of silver just now, he seemed frivolous, but in fact, he didn't even have ten taels of silver as a sixth-grade official. With his small salary, he really couldn't afford to support so many servants.
Before the matter of the female gentleman was settled, Xie Xiuwen received a letter home from Xie Laosan.
After reading the letter, Xie Xiuwen's eyebrows knitted together and he was so angry that he punched the desk.
"That's unreasonable!"
Xie Xiuwen sat alone with Xie Lin because he wanted to invite a female teacher.
"Brother Zicheng, is there anything you need help from?"
Xie Xiuwen nodded, then shook his head and pushed a few letters over.
Xie Lin was a little confused for a moment, but he still opened it in front of him and looked at it carefully.
The content on it was really surprising, and what surprised Xie Lin even more was that the writing was very familiar to him, and it belonged to his good cousin Xie Lin.
"Brother Zicheng, this?"
"Brother, don't be surprised. This is all true. Moreover, I also dealt with this matter when I returned to my hometown to worship my ancestors. The clan leader punished Xie Liujin in front of the whole clan, oh, that is Xie Chen. My biological father, it’s just that I, Mrs. Xie of Gaoyang, don’t want to cause more trouble, so the matter was not reported to the Yamen, otherwise..."
Otherwise, things would not end so easily.
Xie Lin frowned. He had known that Xie Chen had a sinister temperament, but he never thought that he could be so harmful to others.
Just to prevent Xie Xiuwen from getting ahead of himself, he was able to come up with such a stupid trick. It was really infuriating.
"Brother Zicheng forgives me. I really don't know about this. Don't worry, I will definitely report this matter to the elders in the family and give Brother Zicheng an explanation."
Xie Xiuwen raised his hand to signal him not to worry.
"To be honest, brother, I originally didn't intend to pursue this matter any further. After all, this is the capital, and Xie Chen is your cousin. I, Xie Xiuwen, have just arrived, and I have a shallow foundation, so I don't have the ability to hit myself with an egg. But things backfired. Xie Chen actually sent people back to my hometown to stir up trouble, which is really annoying."
Xie Lin was slightly surprised, obviously he didn't expect Xie Chen to dare to attack Xie Xiuwen.
"Xie Chen sent someone to Gaoyang County a few days ago. He actually promised a huge profit to my former sister-in-law, Mrs. Gao, and then tried to find a way to get my two nieces to come to Beijing to join me. My dear brother doesn't know the trivial matters in my family, and Mrs. Gao He once attempted to murder my wife and almost sold my daughter. It was precisely because of the evil she did that my eldest brother abandoned her.
But I never expected that Xie Chen would be able to find her, sow discord between our uncle and nephew, and even secretly arrange for two nieces to come to Beijing. If I hadn't received a letter from my third brother yesterday, I'm afraid that my reputation as Xie Xiuwen would be discredited and I would be known as a cold-blooded and ruthless person! "(End of chapter)
