Chapter 34 tongue sword lip gun

On the third day after the Huqiu meeting, that is, at night on the 30th day of the third lunar month, Qian Qianyi and Liu Rushi returned to Changshu by boat.Along with them came three clan members including Chen Zaizhu, and a group of male and female servants.When the team composed of lanterns, umbrella covers, large sedan chairs, small sedan chairs and all kinds of luggage entered the Banye Hall, everyone in Qian's mansion woke up from their sleep and got busy.From the gate, the second gate, the lobby, the second hall to the courtyard of the inner house, the lights were turned on one after another.Several deacons appeared in the hall almost at the same time, and the servants with panicked expressions were running back and forth, and the two shoulders specially designed for walking in the house had already been lifted out of the sedan chair hall for preparation.A bleary-eyed young guard stumbled in the wrong direction, was grabbed by the neck by the guard, shoved hard, and stumbled back into the queue.

Qian Qianyi got off four people in the sedan chair hall to carry the big sedan chair.He looked haggard and tired, his dark face had become noticeably thinner, and his hair and beard seemed to have grown a lot grayer.While waiting for the rest of the people to get off the sedan chair, he closed his eyes and stood motionless.The gracious greetings from several deacons did not cheer him up.It wasn't until Chen Zaizhu and others walked over silently and looked at him inquiringly that Qian Qianyi barely opened his eyes and waved his hands: "Well, you all go back!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and separated from Liu Rushi. After getting on a shoulder pad, two young servants held lanterns in front of them to light the way, and walked slowly towards the inner house.

There is no moon tonight, and a few twinkling stars, only blinked, disappeared in the mist.The courtyard was dark, and the distant and scattered lights trembled in the night air, protruding more clearly; on both sides of the shoulders, the shadows of porch columns, railings, and flowering trees outside the railings kept flashing; the voices of people at the gate gradually faded away It gradually got smaller and could not be heard, only the light and even footsteps of the well-trained bearers remained in my ears... Perhaps because of returning home, Qian Qianyi felt that his nervous mood began to relax.Although his limbs were doubly tired, the sharp claw that was tearing his nerves desperately these days finally let go.He leaned back on the chair, silently looking at the tall, dark, battlement-like courtyard wall outside the promenade, and suddenly felt: the world is indeed huge, but a person only needs a corner of the land to avoid it completely. In the turbulent world, live contentedly.And my own home is safe and reliable.Within this strong and tall courtyard wall, there will never be a situation where one's own status and authority are despised.This is enough, as for the ups and downs outside the courtyard wall, it can be ignored. "Hmph, let them fiddle with them as they like! The so-called reputation and prestige are nothing more than a capital to gain a high position. If you can't do this, what's the use of it!" He thought coldly, and began to feel close to In the past two or three days, I have been panic-stricken and restless because of this, which is really unnecessary.Then, he thought again, this time is undoubtedly very unlucky and disappointing, but compared with the two incidents of the main test in Zhejiang in the first year of Tianqi, being accused of bribery and fraud, and Zhang Hanru, a traitor from his hometown, who went to Beijing to falsely accuse him a few years ago, it is luck after all. much.Those two times, he was thrown into prison, and his life was almost lost; this time, the big deal was that he could not be restored to office, and he would lose thousands of taels of silver, plus he was accused and criticized for a while, that's all. "Hey, it's unavoidable for the ancients to 'sit your own way and wait for the time', not to mention me, Qian Qianyi!" After saying this secretly, he seemed to have finally found a way out of self-extrication, and he was no longer as troubled as before.Originally, he planned to send a wide range of personnel to inquire about the reaction of the Shilin to this matter, but now he feels that it doesn't matter whether he sends it or not...

The next morning, Qian Qianyi slept in my room until Chenshi. In the living room outside, Liu Rushi walked up and down on tiptoe, looking restless.She got up early, and after washing up, she went to the adjoining shrine dedicated to Guanyin to offer incense, and then watched the two maids, Hongqing and Lvyi, watering the flowers with her sleeves folded.She originally wanted to wait for Qian Qianyi to get up and eat breakfast together, but later she couldn't wait, so she had to eat it first.After eating breakfast, Qian Qianyi was still asleep, so she studied the ink and spread the paper, and came across a few lines of Song Huizong's "Nv Shi Tie", and finally felt that she was not interested, and dropped it again.

"Could it be the end of this matter?" She thought, "So fast, so easy!... The old man is actually too timid, and he panics when he is frightened! He should have tried everything, but he I dare not. In the end, I failed, and all my thoughts were wasted... What should I do in the future? Could it be that I really want my mother to accompany him to live like this? Could it be that I will never show my face again in this life? This one! . . . But so what? What can be done? What—oh, what's the matter! Why isn't the damn old man getting up?" Liu Rushi turned around, hesitated for a moment, and was about to walk towards the dormitory.At this time, Hongqing's voice sounded in the yard:

"Ah, the old lady is here! The servant girl greets the old lady! Greetings to the young master! The old lady please sit in the room, the master is still asleep at the moment!" Liu Rushi was stunned for a moment, then stopped.The door curtain was lifted, and Qian Qianyi's first wife, Mrs. Chen, walked into the living room surrounded by a group of maids and servants. Mrs. Chen is a kind-faced old woman, her hair has turned slightly white, her round and flat face has a pair of almond-shaped eyes embedded in it, and her eyelids are drooping as if she is sleepy. With the small flat nose and two thick lips, it makes people think that this face is not beautiful even when it is young.However, she was born in a famous family, and she was deeply influenced by poetry, books and ethics since she was a child, but her eyes and demeanor have a kind of ladylike grace.This is exactly what neither Aunt Zhu nor Liu Rushi can imitate.Today she is wearing a tea-brown cocoon silk dress embroidered with blue flowers, and she is wearing an old-fashioned round bun with a few pearls and emeralds inserted in the bun.Since the fine wrinkles on her face could no longer be concealed, she simply applied a thin layer of powder.Mrs. Chen is tall and fat, which is in stark contrast to Liu Rushi's short stature.

Together with Mrs. Chen, there are young master Qian Sun'ai, eldest maid Yue Rong and two old mothers with status. "Sister is here, please sit down!" When Liu Rushi saw that she couldn't avoid it, she had no choice but to go forward and salute.Originally, according to the rules, a concubine should go to the upper room to greet his wife every morning.But when Liu Rushi married in, she sat in a bridal sedan chair carried by eight people, held a wedding ceremony with much fanfare, and Qian Qianyi also ordered her family to call her Mrs. Liu.In terms of status, she can't be considered a concubine.What it is, no one can tell.However, given Liu Rushi's temperament, she thought, first, according to age, it is enough to call Madam Chen "Sister", and there is no need to call her "Old Madam" like other concubines and servants; , Those things like greetings every day and kowtow on festivals are even more irrelevant to me.For this reason, many relatives, friends, and even maidservants privately felt aggrieved for Mrs. Chen.On the contrary, Mrs. Chen accepted the situation submissively and calmly, and never raised any protests.So for more than half a year, they can live in peace with each other.

"Then, is the master not up yet?" Mrs. Chen was supported by Yue Rong, and after she sat down on a chair in the middle of the living room, she raised her eyes, looked at Liu Rushi peacefully, and asked. "Oh, not yet!" Liu Rushi narrowed her eyes, met the other party's gaze, and replied in the same calm tone.In the past, when she faced Mrs. Chen, for some reason, she was always nervous and flustered involuntarily, as if she had done something wrong.This annoyed her in retrospect.Now she is determined to change that. "Hey, sit down too!" Mrs. Chen said gently, and then nodded to Qian Sun'ai standing beside her, "Sun Ai, sit down too."

Qian Sunai quickly sat down.He was still pale and thin.From the moment he entered the door, he had been staring at Liu Rushi intently, with ecstasy in his eyes, showing that he wanted to talk to her from time to time. Liu Rushi did not sit down.According to the family rules of the Qian family, in front of the wife, the concubine can only sit on a stool, not a chair.The stool is shorter than the chair, which is nothing more than maintaining the tradition of superiority and inferiority.Now Liu Rushi naturally doesn't need to sit on a stool, but when Mrs. Chen asked her to sit down, she only addressed her as "you", which aroused the indignation in Liu Rushi's heart.She discovered early on that although she kept claiming Mrs. Chen as "sister" and the other party never raised any objections, the old woman still refused to call herself "sister".This often makes Liu Rushi think sharply and humiliatingly: the other party still refuses to recognize each other's equal status, even if she doesn't say so...

"Hey, why don't you sit down? Sit down!" Mrs. Chen urged, she was obviously a little strange about Liu Rushi's hesitation. "Yes! Mrs. Liu, my wife let you sit!" Qian Sunai also enthusiastically chimed in. "Hmph, if I don't sit down, she will think I dare not!" Liu Rushi thought, holding her breath, and sat down on the chair on Mrs. Chen's right. Afterwards, in order to maintain a basic family atmosphere, they began to talk about the weather, Liu Rushi's experience of going to Suzhou with Qian Qianyi, the exhaustion of the car and boat, and some trivial matters at home, etc.Mrs. Chen always had a kind smile on her face, she listened patiently and never interrupted Liu Rushi's narration.Liu Rushi, on the other hand, seemed overly excited and happy. She talked about everything she saw in a harsh and critical tone, and constantly introduced all kinds of profound allusions and famous sayings from the ancients in the conversation, often without any reason. Laughing, then suddenly stopped.

"Did the master go to bed very late last night?" Mrs. Chen asked calmly, and looked back at the door of the dormitory. Liu Rushi gave Mrs. Chen a sideways look. "Why does she always act like this? As if she is the only legitimate master in this mansion!" Liu Rushi thought angrily.In order to show her contempt for this hateful "dignity", she intentionally paused for a while before replying slowly: "Yesterday, the master fell asleep as soon as he returned to the house. Well, he has such a strange temper. Sleep, or sleep forever! How many times have I advised him that this is not good, it will hurt your body! At that time, he really listened. But after ten and a half months, I forgot again!" She paused , glanced at Mrs. Chen, "How can my sister not know about Master's temper?" "Is that so? I really don't know yet!" Mrs. Chen replied honestly. "Ah, my sister is scolding me!" Liu Rushi yelled in a fuss, "How can my sister not know? If my sister says she doesn't know, she's scolding me for spouting maggots!" Mrs. Chen was stunned for a moment, and then smiled slightly: "Why? You have been serving the master all these years. Naturally, you know more about his temper than I do." Liu Ru remained silent.She blinked her eyes and felt a little disappointed: "Oh, why isn't she angry? I'm obviously making fun of her, can't she hear it? No, she despises me from the bottom of her heart! By the way, she is Miss Everyone, I am just Despicable whore. She must feel that even if I get angry, she will lose her status as a nobleman!" Thinking of this, Liu Rushi was stunned as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on someone's head.She stared blankly at Mrs. Chen, gradually showing a desperate and resentful expression. "Master, it's fine if you don't wake up for the time being. There is one matter that I wanted to discuss with you first." Mrs. Chen said, as if she didn't pay attention to Liu Rushi's expression. "..." "That's what happened. The third aunt was at fault and offended you. I have already taught her a lesson. I heard that the master was also very angry. He wanted to drive her out and let her live in the old house in the east of the city. Yes. It’s just that she has served the master for more than ten years, and she has the credit of giving birth to grandchildren. As the saying goes, don’t look at the monk’s face to see the Buddha’s face. I want to ask you to forgive her this time, and if she does it again next time, Even if the punishment is doubled, I will never defend her. Look, can this be done?" Madam Chen lowered her eyes and spoke slowly.In her capacity, speaking to Liu Rushi in such a tone, in the eyes of others, she was too low-key and angry.The eldest maid Yue Rong and the two old women standing beside her looked at her in amazement, and then at Liu Rushi, with aggrieved expressions on their faces. Naturally, Liu Rushi couldn't see this.Originally, she had promised Qian Qianyi to let it go for the time being, but she was afraid that Aunt Zhu would become more airy when she found out, so she kept procrastinating on purpose and didn't explain it clearly to her.As for Mrs. Chen, when she came back from her natal home, Qian Qianyi and Liu Rushi had already gone to Suzhou, so naturally they didn't know.Now she obviously listened to Aunt Zhu's complaint and came forward to intercede.However, Liu Rushi was very annoyed by the old woman's attitude and tone. "Hmph, you're trying to embarrass me, embarrass me, and embarrass me! I'm not a fool!" she thought.So he sneered and said, "Sister, I absolutely dare not accept what I said! Who am I? How dare I be so bold as to drive my third aunt out of the house? Even though I have been by the master's side for half a year I have more time, but I don't dare to ask about the master's affairs. The third aunt scolded me, cursed me, and slandered me behind my back. I don’t think so. I don’t know why the master wants to drive the third aunt out of the house. Seeing that the master is very angry, I am so scared that I don’t want to ask. Dare to ask. Now that my sister has been instigated by some black-hearted and blind girls, she suddenly came to me to beg for mercy, which really surprised me! Look at this, have I become that contemptuous, arrogant, uneducated and uneducated person? Sister? If you are angry in your heart, you can scold me or beat me, but don't mention this kind of begging!" These words were sharp and decisive, and Mrs. Chen's face turned red and white, and she stood there in a daze, losing her mind.Even the two old ladies standing behind her looked at each other and gasped.In the end, it was Yuerong, the eldest maid, who was more obedient. She tugged on Sun Ai's sleeve quietly, and pouted again, meaning that she wanted him to speak out. Ever since Qian Sun'ai met Liu Rushi, she always wanted to talk to her, but she couldn't get in.Reminded by Yue Rong, he jumped up hastily, walked up to Liu Rushi, saluted respectfully, and said, "Baby greet Mrs. Liu. I haven't seen Mrs. Liu for a long time. How is Mrs. Liu?" Liu Rushi glanced at him, and asked lightly: "Well, what's the matter, young master?" Qian Sun'ai said excitedly: "Oh, no...it's nothing, my boy just hasn't seen Mrs. Liu for a long time, and I miss him very much. A few days ago, I heard that Mrs. Liu was not in good health, and my boy was always worried. Now I see Mrs. Liu is fine, my boy Don't worry!" What Qian Sunai said was humble, polite and sincere, which surprised Liu Rushi.She stared at him, and suddenly smiled slightly: "Well, if you keep calling me your wife, aren't you afraid that your third mother will smash your little ass?" "What are you afraid of!" Sun Ai blushed a little, and then said confidently, "This is what my father ordered. You are a wife, so I should naturally call you that, that's right!" Liu Rushi nodded, and smiled softer: "Didn't you never come into my door again? Why are you here again today?" "No, that's because Sanniang didn't allow me to come. In fact, the boy really wanted to come. Today, my wife brought me here, so she, she can't stop me!" "Well, if no one brings it, you dare not come?" Qian Sun'ai hesitated for a moment, obviously he hadn't considered this question yet.However, when he saw Liu Rushi's slightly narrowed eyes expressing contempt, he became impatient: "No, I dare, who says I dare not? As long as I like it, hmph, no one can control me!" "So, do you like me?" "Yes... baby, baby, I like it..." Qian Sunai stammered, flushed with excitement. "Then," Liu Rushi tilted her head, raised her chest high, and swayed her waist coquettishly, "tell me, why do you like me? Huh?" "This...baby, no, I don't know...baby just thinks...likes..." Qian Sun'ai shyly glanced at Liu Rushi and lowered her head.However, he immediately raised his head again and stared at Liu Rushi frantically. While talking with Sun Ai, Liu Rushi kept secretly watching Mrs. Chen's reaction.She tasted a vindictive, malevolent pleasure when she found the hideous, self-proclaimed, well-behaved old woman, stupefied at her own behavior, and trembling involuntarily. "Then, okay. It's rare that you have such filial piety. I will reward you well later!" Liu Rushi finally finished.She had already teased Mrs. Chen severely, and saw the terror and panic of the other party with her own eyes, so she didn't want to pay any more attention to Qian Sun'ai. Qian Sunai didn't understand this, and he was urged by Yuerong again. "Mother, don't, baby don't... No rewards, don't! My baby only wants you... one thing, promise me." He said incoherently. "Hey, what's the matter?" "Boy...uh, if you really love baby, please tell dad not to drive Sanniang out." Liu Rushi was taken aback for a moment, and then his face darkened: "You child is really ignorant, didn't I just say that it's none of my business!" "Oh, it's closed, it's closed, I know it's closed! I want you to promise me!" Qian Sunai grabbed Liu Rushi's sleeve, twisted her body, and acted coquettishly. Liu Ru was a little annoyed.She thought to herself: "Thanks to your salivating face, your mouth is sweeter than sugar just now, and I still think you are really towards me. It turns out that you have all colluded and come to play for me. Hmph, how can I be a slave to you?" Playing a role. If you ask for help, don’t expect me to let go!” After making up her mind, she pulled her sleeves hard and said, “What are you clinging to? Look at the clothes are wrinkled, let go quickly!” "No, I want you to promise me!" Qian Sun'ai said while clenching her sleeves tighter. Liu Rushi was really angry, she widened her eyes and shouted: "You bastard, will you let go?" Qian Sun'ai hesitated for a moment, but Liu Rushi's previous intimacy obviously gave him an illusion.Not only did he not let go, but he boldly embraced Liu Rushi's arm. "No, I..." However, the furious Liu Rushi raised his right hand and slapped him across the face without waiting for him to speak. At this moment, Qian Sunai immediately let go.He took two steps back and stared blankly at Liu Rushi, with a dazed and astonished expression on his face, which gradually turned into terror.Suddenly, he screamed, turned around, frantically pushed away Yue Rong and the other two old women who rushed over to protect him, and rushed out the door.The two old ladies yelled repeatedly, and ran out in a panic. At this moment, Mrs. Chen had already stood up.She was so angry that she was trembling all over, pointing at Liu Rushi, she said repeatedly: "You, you, you..." But she couldn't say anything. Liu Rushi was also blushing. She rubbed her sleeves resentfully, and shouted angrily: "You are shameless yourself, but you resort to such low-level tricks to send a child to the battle and let him be beaten. This is what you brought on yourself, and you can't complain." Who!" Mrs. Chen obviously would not deal with such lawless concubines at all.She didn't know what to do, and after a while, she panted and said, "Okay, I, I'll go find my husband!" "Don't look for it. I heard it all!" said a deep voice.Everyone suddenly turned around.At some point, Qian Qianyi was already wearing a robe, standing at the door of the dormitory with a gloomy expression. "There is an old saying, 'A country must be destroyed by itself, and then by others.' The same is true for a family. It must be defeated by itself first, and then by others!" He said angrily, walking out of the living room, "People in the same family can't We live in harmony, but we have to fight endlessly. You say, how can we resist the invasion and bullying of outsiders, how can we cope with extraordinary changes? Even if you don’t have to worry about this kind of thing, I do! Will you let me have a moment? Peace? Ah!" He roared angrily, glaring at Mrs. Chen sternly.It wasn't until the latter lowered his head full of grievances and collapsed into the chair covering his face that he turned his eyes to Liu Rushi and found that she was biting her lip and still frowning with anger, so he slowed down and said: " Now is not the time to scramble for idleness or vent petty anger. We have to work together to tide over the difficulties—I don’t think we can forget about today’s matter. Aunt Zhu, let her stay in the mansion, but don’t allow her to make trouble anymore! As for Sun Ai, you're not young anymore, you should know something. Even he is messing around with you, what's the matter! Well, tell him to come see me later!"