He Niang didn't know that He's food was usually not bad, but it was definitely not as good as today, and He was usually asked to serve Wang Ximeng during meals.
But it was useless even if He said it, because the rules of wealthy families were like this. It was normal for a concubine to serve the mistress.
This time He Niang came to confirm that her daughter was living a good life here. When she heard that she wanted to do some laundry and do some chores, He Niang looked at her in a wrong way.
"Didn't you do more than this at home before? They don't let you light a fire to cook or chop wood. What else do you want?"
The more he said this, the more it seemed that He was ignorant.
He didn't expect that her mother would think that she was living a good life in the Zhao family.
"Aniang, she, she bullied me, and she even asked me to serve her food. Is this a good life?"
He Niang rolled her eyes at her: "Which family is not like this for concubines? The main reason is that the man is not at home right now, so you can only do this. Anyway, now that she is pregnant, you should take good care of her until the son-in-law is admitted to the imperial examination. , your status is naturally different. And if the son-in-law can stay at home for a long time in the future, he will definitely spend more time with you overnight. I think that the queen's appearance is average, and she has given birth to children. , how can I compare with you?"
He thought so. Now that Zhao Jiajun comes back twice a month and stays at home for two nights at a time, can he still count on his husband's love?
Forget it, that’s it.
"Auntie, how about you also buy a girl and send it over to serve me?"
When He Niang heard this, her eyes widened: "What are you talking about! How can our family have any spare money? Your younger brother is not married yet!"
He Yi pouted: "Didn't your husband give our family a gift of twenty taels of silver?"
"That's not possible. Houses in the capital are so expensive. Our house is too small. When your younger brother gets married, he will either have to move out or move to a bigger house. How can our family have so much money now?"
In order to accept the concubine, Zhao Jiajun not only gave a concubine gift of twenty taels, but also gave a lot of good things such as rice, noodles and meat.
Otherwise, He Niang's family wouldn't have been showing off outside for several days.
Even the small stall set up by the He family could not earn more than ten taels of silver a month.
Comparing this, Zhao Jiajun's concubinage gifts are indeed quite a lot.
He Niang still felt that it was a pity. If Zhao Jiajun did not have a real wife, the betrothal gift would have been many times more.
Forget it, people can't be too greedy, it's not bad to have twenty taels of silver.
When He Niang left, the servant sister-in-law at home walked her out of the second door, and then took out two slings of money from her arms.
"This is a reward from our wife. Here are some packets of snacks. You can take them back and give them to the children to try."
After the mother-in-law finished speaking, the little girl on the side carried the things and sent them forward.
He Niang felt so happy in her heart.
I came here and not only had a meal of meat, but I also got reward money and expensive snacks. It was really not bad!
Of course, she also knows that this kind of thing cannot happen every day.
And what the mother-in-law said later was very clear. After all, she was a family member of the concubine, so it would be better to come less often in the future.
Although He Niang was a little angry in her heart, when she thought of these practical benefits, she said nothing and tiptoed home.
Two ounces of money is equivalent to their family's income for two or three days.
He couldn't fault Wang Ximeng's arrangement, and neither could her family. Even after Zhao Jiajun found out, he could only say that Wang Ximeng was virtuous.
Xie Rongzhao's appetite has not been very good recently, and he has no interest in eating anything. However, after returning to his parents' house that day, he took a bite of the pickles Liu Ruolan made and his appetite was so great that he ate two bowls of rice in a row.
Liu Ruolan was originally worried about her daughter not being able to eat, but now that she was eating more, she was naturally happy and immediately arranged for someone to pack a small jar of pickles for her to take back.
"Although this pickle is to your taste, you can't eat too much. You can just have a few bites per meal. You still need to eat some fish."
"I know, Auntie."
Before they left, Xie Xiuwen and Cheng Jingzhou came back.
Weng and son-in-law, one rushed back to see his little sweet baby, and the other was in a hurry to take his wife home.
After Xie Xiuwen said something, Cheng Jingzhou could only stay for dinner and was not allowed to leave after dinner. Xie Xiuwen forced his daughter to play chess together.
"Okay, if you don't leave, there will be a curfew outside."
Liu Ruolan couldn't stand it anymore, the master was becoming more and more childish.
Xie Ronlang sent the couple into the carriage and asked the driver to walk more steadily.
Xie Rongzhao raised the curtain and spoke: "Alang, you and Miss Chang should get married as soon as possible. I see that Aniang is very leisurely now, so I got married to you quickly so that next year she can have a grandson again. "
Xie Ronlang blushed and rolled his eyes: "Go back!"
Xie Rongzhao chuckled and said, "Alang, are you shy?"
Xie Ronlang turned his face away, feeling a little uncomfortable: "I, how can I!"
"Isn't it right for you to take a bath the next day? I've made an appointment with sister Yaqin of the Chang family to come to the Cheng Mansion as a guest. Remember to dress nicely when the time comes."
Xie Ronlang's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Xie Rongzhao lowered the curtain and the carriage moved.
Xie Ronlang wanted to argue with her a few more words, but he thought about taking a break the next day. If he could go to see Chang Yaqin, he would have to ask her about some of her preferences, and make some arrangements for the yard by then.
Xie Ronlang thought about what others had mentioned about the family separation. After his expression changed slightly, he hurried to the study again.
Fortunately, my father is still here and has not returned to the inner courtyard.
"What's wrong? We are all officials, so we don't know how to be more prudent."
Xie Ronlang quickly bowed and admitted his mistake.
"Father, I have something to discuss with you."
"Say it."
Xie Ronlang hesitated for a moment, but didn't know where to start.
He didn't know much about the family separation. It seemed to have been decided when he was young. But now their whole family is in the capital. If the family separation really happened, would it be detrimental to the eldest brother's future?
Because Xie Ronlang was a first-class Jinshi, he entered the Hanlin Academy directly, while Xie Ronghui was a second-class Jinshi. According to the rules, he had to enter the Common Hall and take another exam.
However, Xie Xiuwen knew that Xie Ronghui's qualifications made it impossible for him to enter the cabinet, so whether he entered the Imperial Academy or not was not that important.
Xie Xiuwen's original plan was to release Xie Ronghui directly, but considering that this was Xie Ronghui's own choice, he stopped interfering too much.
"Father, when I returned to my hometown to pay homage to my ancestors, I heard about the rules you and my grandfather made about the separation of the eldest brother's family. My son came here just to ask, is this true?"
