Chapter 19 disband concubine

Hu Xueyan's special official ship, two sizes in size, this time in a small one with a shallow draft, dragged by a small steamer, like a light car familiar with the road, very smooth, passed through Haining Zhili Prefecture at dusk, entered the border of Hangzhou Prefecture, and arrived in the province that night In the city, I went ashore at Wangxian Bridge, hired a sedan chair, and arrived home quietly. "Come back so soon?" Mrs. Snail asked in surprise, "Is everything going smoothly?" "I can't tell for a while." Hu Xueyan asked, "How is the old lady?"

"It's fine. I just miss you." "Ah!" Hu Xueyan sighed slightly, speechless. "I told them to prepare the meal, you take a breath first." Mrs. Snail called Ayun and said, "Go and tell Alan, tell her to report to the wife that the master is back." This is the rule that she abides by her concubines, but Hu Xueyan stopped her, "No, no!" He said, "I'll tell her after we've settled down." This conversation reached the fourth watch, before Hu Xueyan went back to bed.Mrs. Luoshi didn't go to sleep, she thought and calculated by herself, and at dusk, she took Ayun to knock on the door of Mengxiang Building, and talked with Mrs. Hu for half an hour before she came back, woke up Hu Xueyan, and waited on him. After washing and washing, let's have breakfast, and still eat the front foot.

"From tomorrow onwards, you can no longer put on a show like this." Mrs. Snail hastily explained: "It's because you came back the first day, and the little kitchen was very flattering." "The small kitchen can also be canceled from tomorrow." "I know." Mrs. Snail said, "I can take care of these things, so you don't have to worry about it!" Hu Xueyan remained silent, looked at the dining table and said, "Go to the big kitchen and get two fried junipers." There have been countless treacherous ministers in ancient times, and Hangzhou people hate Qin Hui who killed Yue Fei the most, so they call the long fried dough sticks "Fried Juniper", which means that he was fried in the 18th hell, and it is also written as "油烧饼". ".The Hu family has a lot of servants, and Hu Xueyan, who has never tasted sesame seed cakes and deep-fried fried dough sticks in the big kitchen every day, suddenly thought of this food, it just means that he will be poor in the future.Mrs. Snail felt that he had been wronged too much, and she was afraid that someone would add fuel to the news and spread rumors, or someone would scold him for being artificial, so although she didn't stop her face to face, she gave A Yun a wink. , Went around outside and came back and said: "The fire has been turned off, and the cold fried dough sticks are the worst, I don't want it."

"If you don't want it, don't want it." Mrs. Snail said, "Master is almost ready to eat." Hu Xueyan remained silent, stood up after eating the porridge, and just as the clock struck eight, he nodded and said, "It's time." "Ayun!" Mrs. Luosi began to issue orders, "You ask someone to call Fusheng and Lao He's mother. Then inform the concubines and wives in each room to meet in the second hall. If the master has something to explain, if you want to tell Alan, please also ask the wife Go to the second hall." She said a word, and Ayun responded. After a while, Fusheng, the male and female manager, and Lao He's mother came. Mrs. Snail ordered Fusheng to set up a brazier in the second hall, and then called Lao He's mother aside, and explained a lot talk.

For the past ten years in the Hu family, "Lantern Festival every night, cold food every day", some concubines in each house have just got up and are washing, and some are still in bed.Two of them got up early, and they both learned from the girl that Hu Xueyan had arrived home last night. One was lazy by nature, and put aside what he had heard, and only cared about her parrot and goldfish. The weather was too cold, and the goldfish froze to death. Two, it's not pleasant.The other one has an honest personality, serves Hu Xueyan, and always wants to please him everywhere. He knows that Hu Xueyan likes concubines to dress up, so after washing and washing, he puts on his head full of pearls and emeralds, and puts on a brand new green satin leather jacket. I will definitely see Hu Xueyan—whenever he returns home from a long distance, he will definitely call a family dinner for the twelve-room wife. Although it is not the same now, she thinks that the old rules will not change.

Because of this, when the girl came to summon her, she was the first to arrive at the second hall.Hu Xueyan felt his eyes light up, "Hey!" He said, "You are all dressed up early in the morning, as if you are going to have a wedding somewhere, don't you?" Miss Song ranked fifth among concubines of the Hu family.Hu Xueyan has always liked her to be submissive and open-minded, and despite setbacks, she has not changed, so he joked with her like this. Miss Song calmly greeted Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Luoshi first, then Fang Shi replied with a smile: "I heard that the master is back, so I have to get dressed before I can come to see you."

"Yes, yes!" Hu Xueyan said, "The more you wear, the better." As soon as the sentence was finished, Mrs. Snail coughed heavily, as if blaming him for saying something wrong. Of course, Miss Song would not have thought that there were other meanings in his words, she saw the figure at a glance and said, "Aunt Fujian is here." The Fujian aunt's surname is Yang, and she wears homely clothes. Although she has combed her hair, she doesn't even wear a flower. When she enters the living room, she salutes one by one. No smiles. Then the aunts and wives from the other houses came one after another. Mrs. Luozhi saw that it was time, so she said to Hu Xueyan, "Everyone is here."

So Hu Xueyan coughed, inside and out, so still that you could hear a needle drop on the ground.But Hu Xueyan looked at this and that in a daze, unable to speak for a long time, and the corners of his eyes were glistening with tears. His state of mind at this time is unknown to others, but Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Luoshi are very clear.These eleven concubines were all selected by him personally, or hired out of money, or after a lot of trouble, it was hard to come by.What's more, each has its own strengths. No matter what troubles he encounters in officialdom, shopping malls, or foreign affairs, when he returns home, there will always be someone who can match his mood and let him put aside his troubles for a while. , how can you be so cruel?

Mrs. Luosi made a decisive decision, "Madam, please tell everyone!" Then she wanted to order Alan, who was standing behind Mrs. Hu, to help Hu Xueyan in, but when she caught a glimpse of Aunt Zhu who was walking seven, she changed her mind and said, "Sister Qi , you send the master to the back." Aunt Zhu knew that she had some serious intentions, so she agreed to come and help Hu Xueyan, but without saying a word, he shook his head, turned around and walked inside.But Aunt Zhu still took two steps forward and supported his arm. "The master came back last night." Mrs. Hu said, "The news is not well communicated, so I don't need to go into details. In a word, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered, so everyone had to make their own plans."

As soon as this remark came out, there was a slight commotion inside and outside, Mrs. Hu coughed heavily, and when everyone quieted down, she was about to continue, but someone rushed to speak before her. This person is Mrs. Dai, the second in line. "I am forty years old." She said, "There is no one at home, and there is no place to go. I still have food and porridge with my wife. My wife has enjoyed the blessings, and now she deserves to suffer." "Aunt Dai, don't say that—" At this point, Mrs. Hu realized that Mrs. Snail gave her a hand, and stopped immediately, waiting for her to speak in a blink of an eye.

Mrs. Snail realized that she would have to spend a lot of time talking to Aunt Dai. If she could not be persuaded, the matter would become a stalemate, so she said softly: "Madam, I think we have made a solution first. Ask one by one. If you don't want to leave, otherwise Say it again." Mrs. Hu listened to her words and said: "My master does this, which is also called helpless. Now that my master has been dismissed, I don't know what crimes I will be charged with. In order not to bear everyone's burden together, I have to ask everyone to find a way. The master thinks I managed to scrape together a little cash, and each of them shared five hundred taels to live. You don’t have to go back to your own room, 'the general will get off his horse and go to his own way', so let’s leave here!" Upon hearing this, the first Aunt Yang from Fujian, holding on to the shoulders of a girl, rushed out of the hall and went to the gate of the garden. stay there. "Open the door! Open the door!" Aunt Yang said, "I want to go back and get something." "Aunt Yang, I can't get in because I don't have a key." "Where's the key?" "On the master." "I do not believe." "If you don't believe it, there is nothing you can do." Old He's mother said, "Aunt Yang, forget it!" "I, I," said Aunt Yang crying, "I haven't fed my parrot and goldfish yet." "Please don't worry." Old He's mother said, "I have someone to support me, and I won't die." Aunt Yang still wanted to argue, but Old He's mother remained silent, seeing that she couldn't think about it, so she had to go back to the second hall aggrieved. There were many lawsuits gathered in the second hall, some were discussing where to go, some were thinking silently, some were complaining about themselves, if I knew this, I should learn from Miss Song and wear all the jewelry on my body.Of course, the expressions are also different, some are weeping and can’t bear to say goodbye; The male and female servants gathered outside the hall had even more complicated expressions. Most of them were in twos and threes, whispering together, and some people looked excited and weird. It was not difficult to see their hearts. They all wanted to pick up a ready-made Cheap, especially the young and unmarried male servants, as if they saw a swan descending from the sky, and they were about to reach their mouths. This kind of opportunity to gain both man and money was never imagined in dreams. After a while of chaos, it was roughly settled, except for Aunt Dai who insisted on not leaving and decided to send her to accompany the old lady, the other five went back to their natal homes, and the four were undecided, either visiting relatives, or renting a house temporarily, a total of nine people.Mrs. Hu immediately told the manager that those who went back to their mother's house or went to visit relatives hired a car or boat to escort them; In addition, there is only one Aunt Zhu left.She was personally arranged by Hu Xueyan, "Lao Qi," he said, "you are the daughter of a good family, so I always treat you differently, and you know it yourself." "I know." Aunt Zhu said with her head down. "Before I went back to Shanghai, Fourth Sister Luo talked to you about Zhou Shaotang. What do you think?" "I didn't think about it at all." Aunt Zhu said, "I just thought she was joking." "It's not a joke." Hu Xueyan said very tactfully, "I also know that you don't want to go out, but the time is limited, so there is no way. As the saying goes: 'Husband and wife are originally birds in the same forest, and when the deadline comes, they fly separately', You need to open up a bit." "How can I think about it? I have been with the master for eight years, wearing satin, and the jewelry is either pearls or emeralds. After enjoying such a blessing, how can I live in other people's homes?" The tone is loose.Hu Xueyan felt as if he had eaten fireflies, and his stomach was clear. After thinking about it for a while, he said in a low voice: "My wife and I have made an agreement that each of us will give five hundred taels of silver, and we don't have to go back to our room. For you , is of course an exception." Aunt Zhu's heart fell to the ground, and she immediately bowed down, "Thank you, master." "Get up, get up." Hu Xueyan asked, "How many private houses do you have?" "I haven't calculated it carefully. What's more, the master rewarded me with jewelry, so I can't estimate the price." "What about cash?" "I have more than 20,000 silver, which is placed in the bank." The concubine of the Hu family has a private house to live in Fukang.Once Fukang collapsed, deposits were withdrawn one after another. Hu Xueyan also took care of these deposits and paid them accordingly.However, Aunt Zhu still has more than 20,000 taels in savings, so she can't help being surprised. "What? You didn't withdraw your money?" "I don't want to mention it." "Why?" "Master, something like this happened, it seems too snobby for me to mention the more than 20,000 silver." "Okay! Okay! It's not in vain that Fourth Sister Luo and I look at you differently." Hu Xueyan paused, "Where's your passbook?" "in the room." "Give it to me later, and I'll give you another sum of money." "No!" Aunt Zhu said, "Master doesn't even know where his own money is." Next, Hu Xueyan talked about Zhou Shaotang, saying that he has been different since he was young. He can speak kindly with his mouth, which seems a bit slippery, but he does things in a down-to-earth manner.He also talked about how virtuous Mrs. Zhou is. Aunt Zhu is married, so she will be able to live in harmony. Aunt Zhu kept silent all the time, and it was doubtful whether she was even listening, because she either lowered her head or looked out the window, as if thinking about her own thoughts. This made Hu Xueyan a little uneasy, "What exactly do you mean?" He asked. "I," Aunt Zhu replied, "I want to ask my brother." "The first marriage is up to the father, and the second marriage is up to oneself. Your old man has passed away, how can your brother control you?" Aunt Zhu groaned before answering, and at this moment the door was gently pushed open, and it was Mrs. Luosi who appeared at the door. "Is everything done?" "Only Aunt Dai will definitely refuse to leave, and would rather serve the old lady." "Oh." Hu Xueyan nodded indifferently, "Where is Miss Song?" "She's going back to her mother's house." Mrs. Snail said, "She's going to come in and kowtow to you. I said I'd be sad to see you in vain. There's no need for it." "She has a conscience." Hu Xueyan pointed to Aunt Zhu and said, "She has more than 20,000 silver in Fukang, and everyone went to deposit it last month, but she didn't mention it." "Oh." Mrs. Snail didn't say any more. At this moment, someone knocked on the door, and it was Fusheng who asked to see him, just to bring in a copy of the "Declaration" that had just been delivered.The newspaper published the news that Hu Xueyan was dismissed and handed over to Zuo Zongtang for investigation, and there was also a "local news": "In Jixianli, the British Concession of this port, Mi Benchang, the deacon of the Fukangzhuang House opened by Hu Xueyan Observatory, escaped due to a shortage of funds, and caused the bankruptcy of the village. This has been published in the previous report. I am informed that Mi Benchang first arrived in Ningbo, where he was originally from. After arriving in Hangzhou, he did not dare to visit Hu Guan, and he still comes to Shanghai today. Hu Guan went to Shanghai a few days ago, and met Mi Benchang, but Mi died of poisoning that night. It was not discovered until the morning of the day before yesterday, and he had committed suicide. His abdomen was swollen and there were traces of vomiting blood, and he suspected that he had swallowed the Xiguo medicine and died." Mi Benchang's life and death is no longer of concern to Hu Xueyan. What Hu Xueyan cares about is another article titled "Hu God of Wealth Lost Because of Extravagance".One of them says: "Hu ran big mansions in Shanghai and Hangzhou. His Hangzhou mansion is particularly magnificent. All of them are ruled and banned, imitating Western methods, and have been destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly. There are statues on all four walls of the hall, without any gaps. They are all from the Qin and Han Dynasties, and each is worth a thousand gold. , use a bowl of sand to finely coat the wall, touch the edges, and it can be immortal for a hundred years. The fairy cave in the garden is like a cellar, a few couches, etc., lined up in rows. In June and July, Hu Yuzhong fur lay in it, I don’t know if there are still people in the world. The smell of flames and dust." Seeing this, Hu Xueyan laughed out loud, and Mrs. Luoshi and Aunt Zhu gathered around. After listening to him talk about that passage, Mrs. Luoshi asked, "What is 'heavy fur'? Is it a fur robe?" "Even if it's not a leather robe, it's at least a jacket. It's cooler in the fake caves. Why do you wear jackets in June and July? Let me see what nonsense it is?" A closer look reveals that this article has a general title called "Nanting Notes", and the author is Li Boyuan.Another passage says: "Hu Changyi passed by a prostitute's house. The prostitute was rude and rude. An old woman asked earnestly. Hu felt her sincerity, so she sat and moved away. Tomorrow, the envoy will give the old woman a cattail bag. Look at it, and it will shine like a golden leaf. The prostitute. Huge regret, let the old woman follow the door again, please drive Hu Ming, Hu silently said nothing, but just smiled with his beard. Hu tasted a tailor shop, there was a woman standing against the door, quite slender, Hu watched it carefully, the woman felt, Nai closed the door and entered. Hu Huan made people say that his father wanted to accept her as a concubine, but his father Jin refused. Hu Xu offered 7,000 yuan, and it was agreed. On a certain day, Yan guests, after drinking, entered the bridal chamber , opened the honor to drink alone, and after being drunk, the meeting girl lay naked on the bed, only holding a huge candle to wait beside her, Hu Huihuan looked at it, Xuan Ran laughed and said: "You didn't let me see it the day before yesterday, what are you doing now?"" Seeing this, Hu Xueyan laughed again, "Look, this Li Boyuan said that I have a beard." Then he told them the notes in a flash. "Tongue chewing!" Mrs. Snail said, "Where is such a thing!" "And the preface doesn't match the postscript." Aunt Zhu is the daughter of a doctor, who has a little literacy, and pointed out Li Boyuan's contradictions, "Sometimes he 'smiles with his beard', and he 'laughs with his beard' for a while. Forget about it." "That's right." Hu Xueyan said, "But the latter part is interesting, as if he knew that today's ending would happen." "Oh," asked Mrs. Snail, "what did he say?" "He said, 'That's it, I hurried out of the other place. Jiedan sent the woman to tell the girl: everything in the house will be gone, and you can remarry someone else, and there is no place here. The girl received more than 20,000 gold and returned it to her father. Then he became very rich.'" "This person's eyes are too small." Aunt Zhu said, "With more than 20,000 silver, can you be considered a rich man?" Hu Xueyan remained silent, and Mrs. Snail asked, "How much money do you need to be considered rich?" Aunt Zhu thought about her words for a while, only to realize that her unintentional words had aroused Mrs. Snail's suspicion. After thinking for a while, she replied, "I'm just laughing at his surname Li, whose eyes are smaller than mine. More than 20,000 silver seems too big, I have more than 20,000 silver, I would rather not have it." This refers to her Fukang deposit, which once again expresses her renunciation.Of course, she might as well speak beautiful words, but Hu Xueyan thinks that there is no need to make a serious distinction, as long as she does it in her own way.Mrs. Snail felt that it was inconvenient to say more, but Aunt Zhu's original intention of not wanting to fight for wealth has become clear, so she has a little more affection for her. At this time, the hall was quiet, but Mrs. Luoshi and Mrs. Hu still had to arrange the dismissal of the male and female servants according to the scheduled plan, so Mrs. Zhu was still sitting idle with Hu Xueyan. "Let's go in!" Hu Xueyan said, "It's too cold here." "The gate of the garden can't be opened yet, sir sit down a little longer. I'll ask someone to bring another brazier." After going there for a long time, no one came to talk to Hu Xueyan. I wanted to drink a cup of tea, but the tea was cold. I wanted to find a book to read. I searched the drawers, and there was only one almanac. The good times are over." Aunt Zhu finally came back.It turned out that when the concubine of the eleventh room was called to the second room, the old mother He and Ah Yun immediately locked the doors of many rooms, and the maids and maids were all gathered in the servant room to wait for orders. One of Aunt Zhu's big girls, Chunxiang, was also among them. She found Chunxiang first, and Chunxiang searched around, and finally found a basket of charcoal, which would be a big delay. Fire coals were added to the brazier, and the water was boiled on a copper brazier, so that Hu Xueyan could have hot tea, and his body was not cold anymore, but there was a rumbling sound in his stomach, so he asked, "Where to eat?" "I have no choice but to stay here." Aunt Zhu took care of Chunxiang, "Go to the small kitchen and explain, the master's meals are served here." "It's useless for me to explain." Chunxiang replied, "There are rules, and Mrs. Snail counts in the small kitchen." "Then go find Ayun." Chunxiang agreed to go, and came back shortly to report: "I went to the small kitchen with Ayun. Liu Ma said that the small kitchen will not open today, and I don't know that the master has returned, so there is no preparation. However, she has nothing to do , poured the Laba porridge to be eaten tomorrow, and asked the master if he wanted to eat it?" "Why isn't the small kitchen open today?" Hu Xueyan asked. "Of course Mrs. Snail told me that." Aunt Zhu replied. Hu Xueyan understood, this was also Mrs. Luoshi's last resort. If the food was cut off, everyone had to leave immediately.Hu Xueyan was very disapproving, shook his head and said: "This is too much. People who go out say: I left the door of Hu's house hungry! Do you think this is a bad word?" "There's nothing you can do. Don't blame Mrs. Snail, sir." "I don't blame her, I only blame myself, I should have thought of it." Aunt Zhu didn't make a sound, and when Mama Liu brought someone to open the meal, she could still set out four plates and four bowls, but they were all made up with ready-made materials, and there was also a hot pot, of course it was assorted hot pot. The aristocratic family always has seasonal food throughout the year, and the Hu family is already a home of Zhongming Dingshi, and Mrs. Hu believes in Buddhism, so the Laba porridge every year is very particular, divided into upper, middle and lower classes, and middle and lower two. Etc., for the deacons and other servants, prepared by the big kitchen, and the first-class ones are specially made by the small kitchen. Except for the "superior", only the guests and a few "big guys" can enjoy it.The Laba porridge is very particular. In addition to sweet dried fruits such as pine nuts, lotus seeds, longan, red dates, etc., and salty ones such as fragrant mushrooms and dried bamboo shoots, it also adds medicinal materials that benefit the middle and nourish Qi.Today, Yan Ji is scattered like clouds, and the scene of decay is everywhere. Only these two kinds of Laba porridge are still the same, which arouses Hu Xueyan's emotion again, but it is also a kind of comfort, so he said happily: "Sweet, I want salty ones." "Eat the salty ones first, then the sweet ones." Aunt Zhu said, "Eat the sweet ones first, and then the salty ones will lose the taste." "That's right!" Hu Xueyan said, "Sweet on the back." When the porridge was served, I just picked up the chopsticks when I suddenly remembered something and immediately put the chopsticks down again. "how?" "Has the old lady delivered it?" "Well, I don't know yet." Aunt Zhu shouted too hastily, "Mama Liu, Mama Liu!" Liu Ma, who was on standby outside, came in at the sound, and when Aunt Zhu asked, Liu Ma was stunned, "Mrs. Snail didn't explain." She murmured. Hu Xueyan has never been angry since Fukang's accident, but he couldn't help it now, and suddenly slapped the table, "If you don't explain, you don't care!" He roared, "Don't think about it, the old lady usually How nice to treat you! She is not at home, you can't even think about her, you are ungrateful, you are simply inhuman!" No one in the room had ever seen him lose his temper so much. Aunt Zhu immediately knelt down when she saw the opportunity. When she knelt, the rest of the people naturally became half shorter. "Master, don't be angry. Today is the seventh day—" "Today is the seventh day of the lunar new year, tomorrow is not Laba, what time do you think you can delay?" Aunt Zhu was scolded for no reason, so she naturally felt aggrieved, but she didn't dare to argue, let alone cry, she just said calmly, "I'll send it up the mountain immediately, and I'll send it myself." With these words, Hu Xueyan began to relieve his anger, but he couldn't help being sad. Looking back on the past, when was it not that he tried to cook it on the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, and asked Mrs. Hu to taste and approve it before officially starting to cook?Now no one even cares where she is!As a son, why doesn't his heart feel like a knife? At that time, Mrs. Snail had already received the report, saying, "The master was furious because he didn't deliver the Laba porridge for the old lady." Knowing her negligence, she hurried over to take care of it. In fact, when she arrived, the turmoil had passed, but Hu Xueyan was still angry, which was what she imagined.Fortunately, Liu Ma received a lot of benefits from her, so she might as well wrong her to relieve Hu Xueyan's remaining anger. Therefore, as soon as she arrived, she showed her face to Mama Liu, "Today is not the day to eat Laba porridge on the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month," she asked, "Why do you serve Laba porridge?" "I'm asking Alan, the Laba porridge is ready, do you want to try a bowl of it?" Mama Liu murmured, "I didn't want to serve it myself." "You still have to be strong!" Mrs. Snail yelled, "Of course you have to eat it after you cook it. If you don't eat it, you just throw it away. In that year, the Laba porridge was only put into the pot at night. Why are you so old? Burn out early?" "It's because I'm not working today—" "Who told you that we won't have dinner today?" Mrs. Snail rushed to ask, "If you don't have dinner, wouldn't the master stop eating? How can I take care of you? I said that today is busy and messy. I'm afraid the master won't be able to eat with peace of mind. It will be later." Open again, when did you say you won't open today?" The voice was getting louder and louder, as if she was really angry, Mama Liu didn't dare to make a sound.Hu Xueyan felt a little sorry, and when he was about to speak out to persuade him, Mrs. Wudao Snail scolded her more and more vigorously. "Also, you don't know the old rules all the year round. Every year, the old lady has to taste the Laba porridge before cooking. This year, the old lady lives on the mountain. I still can't make up my mind whether to send the Laba porridge or bring the ingredients to the mountain. Go up and cook, you can make up your own mind, and it will be cooked before the time." Then, Mrs. Luosi slapped the table vigorously, "You are so bold!" At this point, Hu Xueyan not only lost his remaining anger, but also felt deeply guilty, regretting that he should not be serious about this trivial matter, so he turned to persuade Mrs. Luoshi and comfort Liu Ma. "Okay, okay! You don't have to be so angry, you always blame me." He said to Liu Ma again, "You have nothing wrong, Mrs. Snail said something to you, don't be sad." "I can not." Aunt Zhu and Alan also came to smooth things over, one poured tea herself, the other wrung a handkerchief, and served Mrs. Snail.A turmoil disappeared in an instant. "The porridge is not bad." Hu Xueyan said, "Try a bowl too." "I'm not hungry." Mrs. Snail said with a normal face, "When I finish cooking, I will go to see the old lady with my wife." "Are you both going?" "Why don't you? Why don't you tell the old man about such an important matter at home?" Mrs. Luosi said again, "Once Auntie Dai goes, the old lady will naturally know about it, and she will remember it in her heart." This reminded Hu Xueyan that this is a great change in the family, and according to the rules, he should obey his orders. If his mother feels that he is too expert and uncomfortable, how can he be at ease? After thinking about it, he said, "I'll go too." "How can you go?" Mrs. Snail said, "If there is any important information, not only will no one decide, but everyone will go up the mountain, so they will not be able to get it." "That's true." Hu Xueyan went on to say, "I was afraid that the old lady would blame me. I didn't even tell her about such a big matter." "It doesn't matter! I have something to say." "What are you going to say?" Mrs. Luosi saw that Aunt Zhu was not in sight, only Alan was there, but it was not appropriate for her to hear her, so she immediately asked, "Where is Madam Liu?" "Go back to the kitchenette." "You ask her to come." "yes." When Alan walked away, Mrs. Snail began to speak: "I'm going to tell the old lady this. If I come to ask the old lady about this matter, I will not be able to bear it, and the matter will fail. It's better not to say it, let the wife and I Let me be the villain myself." She continued, "The gauze hat has lost its layer, so I don't know if I should tell the old lady?" Hu Xueyan couldn't help being sad when he mentioned this level, "What do you think?" he asked. Mrs. Luosi thought of a compromise, and instead of dismissing her, she only said to resign, and Hu Xueyan agreed without hesitation. At that time, A Xue came quietly and said in a low voice: "It's almost there." "Oh," Mrs. Snail asked, "where's the lady?" "I'm angry again, so I went back upstairs." "Does it matter?" "It doesn't matter. My wife said that it's because she's too tired, she'll be fine after a rest, and I'll invite her when the door is 'opened'." "Everyone is gone?" The "person" mentioned by Mrs. Snail refers to the dismissed male and female servants.There are too many people, some are receiving three months' extra salary in the accounting room, some are packing their luggage, and some have to hand over the affairs they have handled to the retainers, and they will not be able to disperse until evening. However, this has nothing to do with "opening the door", because the garden is a world of its own. After thinking about it for a while, Mrs. Snail found a problem and asked with a frown, "Has anyone ever learned how to be a coppersmith?" Hu Xueyan, who had never spoken, asked in surprise, "What do you want a coppersmith to do?" "Unlock it!" Hu Xueyan remained silent, and Ayun could understand: "Guixing, who does odd jobs in the concierge, was originally a coppersmith. However, he is also going to leave." She asked, "Would you like to go and have a look? If you haven't left yet, let him stay." "Those who want to leave don't have to." "Go and fetch a coppersmith, then." "It's even more inappropriate." Mrs. Snail pondered for a while, and said decisively, "You asked Fusheng to prepare an ax and a mace! Breaking a few boxes is nothing." It turned out that this morning, as soon as the concubines and their maids left the garden, the doors were locked and there was a key to open the door, but there was no key to the locked box in the room, and a coppersmith was needed to open it.But using such a method to seize the concubine's private savings, it's hard to hear the news, so Mrs. Snail thought twice and decided to sacrifice the box. "Master," said Mrs. Snail, "you may go in." When people went to the empty building, they had to split boxes to search for their belongings. It was embarrassing, Hu Xueyan shook his head and said, "I want to go out for a walk." "Where are you going?" Mrs. Snail suggested, "Would you like to visit Defan Terrace?" Logically speaking, it was time to see Dexin, but when he went to talk about serious business, Hu Xueyan was exhausted and did not dare to touch serious topics, so he shook his head and did not answer. "Would you like to go and see your master?" Mrs. Luoshi refers to his new in-laws, "Wang Shanren". Once Hu Xueyan left, he was very polite, and the red tape was too much for him. "I'm too lazy to socialize." Hu Xueyan said, "It's best to find a quiet place and listen to people telling jokes." "Then we have to find Zhou Shaotang." "Yes!" Hu Xueyan stood up confidently, "Go look for Shaotang." "Slow down!" Mrs. Snail said hastily, "Let's talk first."