"Mother Gu, can you tell me why the old Marquis and the old lady don't want to see my girl so much."
"If it is really my girl's fault, she will stop thinking about it and stay in the backyard honestly, not to offend the old lady."
Grandma Gu took the heavy silver in her hand and thought for a while, then said, "It's not a secret, it's just that it took too long, and all the old people in the Hou Mansion left, so no one said it."
Aunt Gu put the silver in her arms, looked around and continued, "When the Marquis was young, he was also a famous young talent in the capital, and he fascinated many girls in the boudoir."
"Later, when the Marquis got married, he had seven or eight concubines in the backyard, and several of them were girls from official families."
"My aunt has a high status, so the old lady naturally doesn't like her. They often quarrel over things in the backyard. As time goes by, their relationship gradually gets worse and worse."
When Mrs. Gu mentioned the young Mr. Hou, the smile on her face became a little brighter, which showed that the young Mr. Hou was really extraordinary.
"Later, the Marquis simply moved to the military camp and did not return to the Marquis' residence for several months. Later, the old lady's only legitimate daughter, Miss Qi, got chickenpox and became very ill. The old lady sent someone to invite the old Marquis."
"On the day the old Marquis came back, he brought back Aunt Xia and Master Liu from outside. Not long after the old Marquis came back, Miss Qi disappeared."
"Less than a year later, Aunt Xia also had chickenpox and disappeared, so the old marquis adopted the sixth master into the old lady's name."
Lu Zhu was stunned when she heard that. The old Marquis was really a bastard when he was young.
If she were Mrs. Ye, she would be furious to death.
And that Aunt Xia died of chickenpox by such a coincidence.
"Has Madam Ye been treating Mr. Six harshly?"
"That's not a big deal. Mr. Liu has been smart since he was a child and never messed with the old lady. He won the imperial examination when he was a teenager, and later became a Jinshi. He left the Marquis Mansion early to find his own way."
Luzhu told Ye Jintang everything she learned from Mrs. Gu.
"There must have been other things back then. Otherwise, how could the old lady let my father be recorded in her name? She doesn't lack a son."
Ye Jintang sat on the Arhat bed, with a fluffy fox fur blanket on his legs and a stove in his arms.
She put down the medical book in her hand and continued, "It's really not easy for my father to live to adulthood under the old lady's care."
Luzhu doesn't understand these twists and turns, she should do whatever Ye Jintang says.
"Girl, Mrs. Gu is just a janitor. When asked about the income of the mansion, she couldn't explain clearly. However, she secretly told the servant that when the mansion was renovated thirty years ago, the Hou Mansion dug four secret rooms."
It’s self-evident what the darkroom is used for.
Ye Jintang asked excitedly, "Where is the darkroom?"
"It's just under the current warehouse. The reason why Mrs. Gu knew it was because her men participated in building the darkroom during the renovation."
Ye Jintang, who was ecstatic in his heart, thought to himself that thirty years have passed and he still doesn't know if the darkroom is full.
"Okay, you won't ask any more about this matter, so as not to alert others."
"Yes, Mrs. Gu took so much money from this slave, just saying that these two items are really cheap for her."
Luzhu muttered angrily.
"Go get a scripture. I have nothing to do in the afternoon, so I just copy a few pages."
"Does the girl really want to copy such a thick scripture? Even if the handwriting is broken, it can't be written. How about a servant helping the girl copy it together, it will be faster."
"The scriptures I copied are to be burned to my parents. If you do it for me, it will appear that I am very insincere. Go and get the scriptures. I can copy very quickly."
Ye Jintang was not used to using brushes, so she asked Zhou Cong to go to the street and buy many brushes for her. Finally, she chose black silk pens.
The so-called black silk pen, also known as a lead pencil, is very similar to the current pencil, but it is not cylindrical, but flat. Currently, fewer people use it, mostly painters.
For the convenience of use, she specially asked Zhou Cong to help her customize some pencil-shaped black silk pens. They were just delivered today and she was just in time to try them out.
The characters written by Ye Jintang using a black silk pen are easier to control in size and faster than a writing brush. It doesn't take much effort to copy a lot of scriptures.
Luzhu, who was waiting on the side, watched Ye Jintang quickly write line after line of beautiful hairpin regular script on the white paper. Her eyes widened in surprise, with a look of disbelief on her face.
She had seen Mrs. Wen write before, but she wrote much slower than Ye Jintang.
Luzhu didn't dare to disturb Ye Jintang's copying of scriptures, so she quietly stuffed the hot Tang Pozi under the blanket beside Ye Jintang's legs.
Xue Tuan, who had just put Yu Pozi down and had been sleeping next to her, stretched out, meowed like a baby, and lay down next to Yu Po Pozi and continued to sleep.
Luzhu poked the snow ball and signaled it not to bark and not to disturb Ye Jintang's copying of scriptures.
I don’t know when, tiny snowflakes started flying outside the window.
It snows in Beijing in winter, and it happens every once in a while.
Ye Jintang was busy copying scriptures when he heard a burst of voices coming from outside.
"I've met Miss Ran."
"Well, Sixth Sister is in the house."
"Here you are, girl, please come in."
The door curtain opened, and Ye Yanran entered the house with her personal maid Su Shu.
A thin layer of snowflakes fell on Ye Yanran's cloak. She untied her cloak and walked towards the inner room with a smile on her face.
"What are Sixth Sister busy with?"
"It turns out that the eldest sister is here. Sit here."
"Grandma asked me to copy scriptures for my parents, and I've just started copying them."
Ye Jintang put down his pen and spread out the scriptures he had copied for Ye Yanran to read.
"Why does Sixth Sister like to use black silk pens? This pen holder looks very rough and it will definitely be uncomfortable to use."
"It doesn't matter, I like writing with black silk pen."
Ye Jintang asked Luzhu to pack up her things and brought over the osmanthus tea that she loved to drink recently.
Ye Yanran sat down and looked at everything in the room as soon as she entered the room.
From the furniture and furnishings to the things used by Ye Jintang, I have seen them all one by one.
She thought that it was just as she expected, Ye Jintang should have money in his hands, otherwise he would not have replaced all the furniture in Jade Garden.
Looking at the fox fur blanket covering Ye Jintang's legs, both the workmanship and the materials used are excellent.
Ye Yanran secretly rejoiced that she had come to take a closer look, otherwise Ye Jintang would have been deceived.
Looking at the tea cup used by Ye Jintang, it seems that the Wen family did give Ye Jintang a lot of money.
"Sixth sister, my cousin sent me some very good snacks this morning. I will bring you some so that you can have a taste."
As soon as Ye Yanran stretched out her hand, Su Shu put the food box in her hand on the small table.
"There are few flowers in winter, so the ladies in the back house can only work hard on rouge, gouache, and snacks and tea."
As she spoke, Ye Yanran opened a layer of food boxes and took out a box of white round cake-shaped snacks.
"This is called White Jade Pancake. The outer shell is made of glutinous rice with a thousand-layer skin, and the inside is filled with various flower petals as fillings."
Then she opened the food box on the bottom layer, which contained snacks in three colors: red, yellow and green, each of which was shaped like a flower.
"This is called the third-grade flower cake. The dough is made with fruit juice and flower juice. It tastes particularly soft. It is filled with eight-treasure nuts and various candied fruits."
"Try which one you like. If you want to eat, just come to me. The most famous snack shop in Beijing is owned by my grandfather."
Looking at the two boxes of snacks, Ye Jintang raised a question mark in her heart. She didn't believe that Ye Yanran was suddenly so kind and came to give her snacks.
