Nightwatcher Chapter 559

Published at 21st of April 2023 06:40:50 AM

The capital.

It snowed heavily last night. When I got up this morning, the courtyard was covered with silver and plain. The thin snow covered the ground laid by flower beds and bluestone slabs.

My aunt's morning was awakened by a silver bell of laughter.

She subconsciously pushed her husband around and found that he had already got up on duty.

My aunt frowned delicately. She sat up in the warm quilt and stretched her waist. The house was burning with charcoal. Every other hour, the maid sleeping in the bedroom would add some animal gold charcoal.

This kind of charcoal doesn't smell of smoke, on the contrary, it has the clear air of pine branches...

This winter is very cold. The eldest princess sympathizes with shujishi of Hanlin academy and orders someone to send 30 jin of Royal animal gold charcoal. Princess Lin'an also sympathized with the poor man. Xu Xinnian worked hard and made great contributions. She specially ordered people to send 30 jin of animal gold charcoal.

So my aunt used this good thing that only the nobles could enjoy.

My aunt was very happy. When she had dinner, she praised Xu Erlang. She had accumulated a lot of experience in the past ten years. She was not only appreciated by the first assistant, but also valued by the two princesses.

Xu Er Shu laughs that his aunt is still too young. What the princess gives her for the imperial use is that her name is right and her words are right. There is only one Erlang in the Xu family.

The two princesses are just one tool.

Of course, these words Xu Er Shu won't tell aunt.

"Clamorous..."

beautiful women wear thin underwear, messy green silk, with a bewitched expression, which is somewhat childish.

When my aunt opened the door, she shivered and suddenly disappeared.

However, in front of the scene, let her even forget the cold.

In the yard, two girls, big and small, are rolling all over the ground, pressing out traces on the snow.

"This is snow," Lina said. "I saw snow for the first time in my life."

"This is the first time I have seen snow in my life," Xu said

They were covered with blood foam, just like two snowmen.

"Xu Lingyin!"

My aunt screamed.

Cold weather, dare to play like this, is not a fool, is not fatal.

Xiaodouding was startled, raised his head, looked at his aunt, and said in a loud voice:

"no, my mother found us, let's go."

Lina said quickly, "OK."

Then the two rolled away.

...

when Xu Lingyue wakes up naturally, she has long heard that her stupid sister and her stupid master are making trouble outside, but she doesn't pay any attention.

Today I'm going to visit the palace to deal with the family members of the palace, so I have to dress up.

"Miss, what is the right dress to wear when you go to Wang's today?" The servant girl tilted her head and thought.

"Dress plain and elegant. The Wangs are used to being rich. We dress up in a showy way. It's hard to say that people laugh at us in their hearts. Small families love to show off."

Xu Lingyue combs her make-up in the mirror. In the bronze mirror, the girl has a melon face, big eyes and three-dimensional facial features.

She wore a pair of fluffy brocade boots with a pair of light gold thread, and a pair of fluffy leather cloak.

It doesn't appear to be showy, but also to wear the temperament of a lady.

"Bring me something."

"All right." The servant girl answers crisply.

She immediately left the room with her maid and had breakfast in the inner hall. At this time, Xu Lingyin had changed into a clean dress and had a hot bath.

Xiaodouding is still in the same bun as before, like two meat buns, but with a beautiful skirt, she looks like a lady.

Just stand together with Qingli refined elder sister, also barely call a lovely just.

The aunt looked at the water leak in the hall and urged: "it's time to go, Erlang. Remember to take more care of your sisters. Lingyue, don't always look like anyone can bully you. What you represent now is not yourself, but the Xu family.

"Lingyin, don't be greedy and mischievous when you come to the Wang's house. Do you understand me?"

Today, Xu Erlang is going to the Wang family to discuss business with Wang Shoufu and go there with his sisters.

The three brothers and sisters put down their bowls and chopsticks, rinsed their mouths with salt water, left Xu's house and boarded the carriage.

The coachman walked cautiously on the icy wet street.

It took two quarters of an hour to get from the Xu family to the Wang family. Because the road was slippery and difficult to walk, it took half an hour to get there.

Xu Erlang jumped out of the carriage, turned around and helped Xu Lingyue out of the carriage, but Xu Lingyin had already jumped down from the other end.

Under the leadership of the steward, the three brothers and sisters went straight into the depths of the palace.

In the bedroom, Wang Shoufu stands by the screen, and Mrs. Wang leads her maid to change clothes for her.

"I remember that Sima said that Miss Xu is not easy to be provoked. The eldest daughter-in-law is snobbish, and the second daughter-in-law is careful. When you meet people, you can watch them. Don't let them make trouble."Wang Shoufu said.

"They don't have such shallow eyes. They'll take the measure." Mrs. Wang said with a smile.

She was a little surprised that the master should pay attention to these trivial matters.

"Master, Mr. Xu is here." A servant stood outside the door and reported.

"Ask him to his study."

Wang Shoufu looked at himself in front of the bronze mirror, stroked the pleats of his chest, looked at Mrs. Wang, and said, "are the gifts ready?"

Mrs. Wang nodded with a smile.

In the inner hall, Wang simu was holding a cup of tea, tasting the fragrant tea and listening to the chattering of the two sisters in law.

My sister-in-law's name is Li Xianghan. My father is a doctor in the household department. He is not a big official, but he is linked with silver, so he is snobbish.

The second sister-in-law's name is Zhao Yurong. Her father's official position is smaller, but she is only the master of Dali temple.

It is reasonable to say that such a family background is inferior to the Wang family, even if the second brother is a business man and has no obvious status.

There are also two origins. Before Wang Zhenwen's rise and fall, he had several low ebbs, one of which was framed by a political enemy and sentenced to prison.

Zhao Yurong's father worked in Dali temple at that time and had a good relationship with Wang Zhenwen. He spent a lot of money to clear up the relationship and finally survived.

The father of Li Xianghan, his sister-in-law, had a similar favor for Wang Zhenwen.

Therefore, after Wang Zhenwen made a fortune, the two sisters in law married into the Wang family.

Li Xianghan, the elder sister-in-law, said:

"Sima, last time you went to Xu's house, did Xu's mother make rules for you?"

Wang simu shook his head.

Zhao Yurong, the second sister-in-law, looked at her and said with a smile:

"I think there are. Don't you say that Xu's mother is a skillful one. Simu, don't be embarrassed to say that when the new daughter-in-law comes in, her mother-in-law always has to make rules.

"I was beaten by my mother-in-law. But you are different from us. You are the daughter of the Wang family. If you marry Xu Erlang in the future, you will get married.

"Xu Erlang has to rely on our Wang family to make a good progress. When you go to the Xu family, you can be a bully. This time, we have to make rules for Miss Xu to let her know the difference between the Xu family and the Wang family. "

It's not certain who sets rules for whom. You also want to wrestle with the girl Xu Lingyue..... Wang simu muttered in his heart and shook his head:

"don't do that. Sister Lingyue is so smart that she doesn't need to be provoked."

Li Xianghan, the eldest sister-in-law, smiles with a sense of superiority:

"it's inexperience to think about it. Before getting married, the two women's family members communicate with each other, and the most important thing is to try each other. Don't you have such an idea when you are a mother-in-law?

"Xu's mother told her what she saw and heard at home today. Let's knock her a little so that we can warn master Xu that we won't bully you in the future. "

Since ancient times, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can be summed up in the four words of "fighting openly and secretly".

It is the power of the steward that is in dispute.

The more powerful the family is, the fiercer the competition for financial and domestic power will be.

"It's not good..."

Wang simuqiang resisted the impulse to stir up the corner of his mouth and frowned.

The elder sister-in-law said with a smile: "don't worry, the elder sisters know how to be proper."

Wang simu said helplessly: "well, since it's a conventional rule, it's according to the meaning of the two sisters in law."

With that, she took the tea cup and made a tea drinking posture to cover up the slightly raised corners of her mouth.

In the marriage of two families, no matter how the feelings of men and women are, there is a "game" between families.

The mother-in-law made rules for the daughter-in-law who had not been through the door, while the daughter-in-law's family showed a deep enough foundation to "warn" the husband's family to be kind to their daughter.

It's all human.

Wang simu was relieved to see that the two sisters in law were so enthusiastic.

Last time I went to the Xu family as a guest, Xu Lingyue, a dead girl, did not get in the way. When she was a junior high school student, Wang simu was a senior high school student.

Just then, a pair of sisters came out of the hall. The younger sister was not as tall as her sister's waist. She was led by her little hand. She was a little girl who was a little naive.

As for the elder sister, she brightened the eyes of the two sisters, dressed in brocade and wool cloaks, wore sheepskin boots, and trimmed bangs to beautify their small faces.

The feeling is soft and gentle.

At the moment of seeing Xu Lingyue, the two sisters in law of the Wang family knew that they were going to eat her. She was afraid that if she showed a little displeasure, she would be scared and at a loss.

If you ask some tricky questions, you will hold your face and have no place to put your hands.

Bullying such a little girl is really boring.

As for the naive child, of course, they were ignored by the two sisters in law.

"Sister Lingyue is coming."

Wang simu got up to greet him and said, "this is my sister-in-law. This is my second sister-in-law. Sister Lingyue, please call meXu Lingyue said in a soft voice, "Lingyue has seen two sisters in law."

Li Xianghan, the elder sister-in-law, said with a smile, "what a pretty girl. I don't know which young master will marry our sister Lingyue in the future."

With a reserved smile, Xu Lingyue bowed her head and said, "ring tone, please call my sister-in-law."

Xu Lingyin raised her head and wrinkled her two shallow eyebrows: "why is she also a sister-in-law? Are they going to marry the second brother, too? "

The four women's faces Suddenly froze.

Zhao Yurong, the second sister-in-law, immediately looked at Xu Lingyue. Seeing that she was blushing, she forgot to reprimand her younger sister, so she had to say with a dry smile:

"tongyanwuji, tongyanwuji."

Wang simu took a look at Xu Lingyue and said with a silent smile:

"my mother should get up. Let's go and greet her."

This is to take the sisters of the Xu family to see the old lady.

So, with Wang simu, they went deeper into the palace, walked through the courtyard and came to a big room.

Inside, there are two pieces of soft and warm woolen blankets, on which there are four small cases, and on which there are dried fruits, preserved meat, preserves, cakes and so on.

Sitting on the soft floor on the left is Mrs. Wang, the original match of Wang Zhenwen.

Mrs. Wang is over 50 years old, but she is well maintained. She is neither fat nor thin, and her blood is ruddy. The crow's feet at the corners of her eyes add to the charm accumulated by years.

"Mother!"

"Granny!"

"Old lady!"

All the girls saluted one after another, but Xu Lingyin was a little bit restrained. She was not used to the atmosphere.

Since childhood, xiaodouding has lived in an unrestrained environment without so many rules.

Mrs. Wang nodded kindly, and her eyes fell on the faces of the Xu sisters.

"Is this Miss Xu?"

Mrs. Wang thought of Xu Erlang's handsome and matchless appearance, then looked at Xu Lingyue's beautiful and refined appearance, pondered for a while, and said with a smile, "each of the sisters has her own merits."

Then they took their seats.

My sister-in-law Li Xianghan took a sip of hot tea, sighed and started a topic:

"this damned weather, at this time of last year, the charcoal fire burned all night, and I was very bored. Now, if you don't burn all night, you'll freeze to death. "

Second sister-in-law Zhao Yurong said: "who said it is not."

At this time, she found xiaodouding staring at the half man high charcoal stove in a daze, which was burning smokeless animal gold charcoal.

Most of the children have never seen this kind of non-smoking charcoal......

"the second sister-in-law moved her heart and said with a smile," so, your majesty has given us ten jin of animal gold charcoal. This kind of charcoal doesn't smell of smoke. It still has a fragrance when it's burning. "

The second sister-in-law looks at Xu Lingyue with a sense of superiority, but finds that she is smiling and has no response.

Don't you know what the animal gold charcoal is?... the second sister-in-law added: "it's for the imperial use."

Holding the candied fruit in her hand, Xu Lingyin said in a loud voice, "we have it in our family, too."

... > in the study.

Wang Shoufu sat behind the case, holding a cup of tea in his hand, with the lid gently knocking on the edge of the cup, listening to the report of his future son-in-law.

"Mr. Shoufu, this winter, the people will have a hard time, especially in areas that have experienced drought and flood. How can the local people survive this winter? "

Xu Xinnian made an impassioned speech: "I have written to your majesty to ask you to verify the granaries in various places and make preparations for disaster relief funds in advance. Why did you deduct my discount?"

After listening patiently, Wang Shoufu sipped his tea and said:

"if you want to be an official, you have to raise your vision and see the overall situation before you can plan ahead. You can only see the hardship of the people this winter, but you can't see the hardship of the imperial court. "

He put down the tea cup and pushed a pile of folds in front of Xu Xinnian. "Look at the folds of the household department."

Xu new year unfolded a fold, read ten lines at a glance, quickly finished, his face changed greatly.

Wang Shoufu sighed: "the imperial court has no money."

Xu Xinnian murmured: "how can it be?"

"After 20 years of struggling, the Treasury was empty, and the foundation of Dafeng was already crumbling. A few months ago, 120000 troops supported yaoman, and Wei Yuan led 100000 troops to capture Jingshan city.

"Although there is a great victory, which is not the consumption of silver? The national strength is weak, and the cost of supporting a war of that scale is huge, which is beyond your imagination. "

Wang Shoufu stretched out his hands and approached the charcoal stove, baking his cold hands and saying:

"originally, he was able to survive this year. When we wait for the autumn harvest next year, we will be able to stabilize the overall situation. I have lived for decades and never experienced such a cold winter. "

The imperial court is hard to clean up, natural disasters continue, the Treasury is empty, and the mess... Xu Xinnian is heavy hearted and asks, "is there any way to save it?"

Wang Shoufu stared at the stove and did not speak for a long time.

"Time." He said.After a long silence, Wang Shoufu said: "when you cook fish, you will be broken. When you treat people, you will be scattered. When you know how to cook fish, you will know how to treat people. If there is no foreign invasion, time will heal everything. "

Xu Xinnian whispered: "if there is foreign trouble?"

Wang Shoufu turned and said, "have you heard from him?"

Xu Xinnian knew who Wang Shoufu was referring to and shook his head: "so far, no letter has been sent back to his family."

PS: code the next chapter. Maybe after midnight.

Chapter end