After returning from the temple, Jia Lian had drunk a few glasses of wine with his brothers and uncles. When he returned to the residence, he opened the curtain of the carriage to let the wind blow. When he reached home, Jia Lian felt a little dizzy.
Xifeng and the others were not in the room. Jia Lian was thirsty and wanted tea, so he called for someone to serve him.
A crisp and fresh voice rang out. Jia Lian couldn't help but stand up to take a look, only to see a burly woman with a big and round waist enter in a flash. As she greeted him, she poured tea for him.
The rough woman held the tea and stood beside Jia Lian like an iron pagoda. Her voice was still as sweet as before. Jia Lian lost his appetite and felt humiliated by sticking his back out and stretching his neck. With a wave of his sleeve, he swept the tea tray all over the floor."Where's your grandmother? Why is she so late today? Do you want me to wait for her?”
"I was in a hurry to go to the temple today," the woman said."Although I arrived home a while ago, I went to greet the two ladies first. When everyone came back, the prices of the carriages and horses, those that should be put back, those that should be put into the warehouse, and the arrangements for the servants to be on duty at night, Grandma had to take care of everything before she could come back. He would probably have to wait for a long time before he could return. Second Master wants to sleep, and I'm sending people to spread the bedding?”
Jia Lian had long been impatient. He had only heard half of it when he waved the rough woman out. He closed his eyes and leaned on the couch. After some time, he heard a sound and knew that Xi Feng and the others had returned.
Xi Feng was just giving orders to Ping 'er, saying that she was very tired today and told the steward's wives to come back fifteen minutes later tomorrow morning. She stepped into the room and lifted the curtain, seeing Jia Lian leaning there, his face not looking very comfortable. Ping 'er also saw this and gestured for the servants to disperse before following into the house.
The servant girl carried the rice over, and Xifeng personally held the hot wine and Jia Lian. She asked him why he looked like this, which blind person dared to provoke Second Master Lian's bad luck.
Jia Lian was originally annoyed with Xifeng, but seeing her like this, he softened a little and said,"Today, the old lady suddenly wanted to go to the temple. It was originally a little rushed, and it was difficult for you.”
Xi Feng pursed her lips and ate a fish meatball."Thank you for understanding me and understanding my difficulties. It was not in vain that I was as busy as a top today and went everywhere. However, why did you learn to dote on others today? There must be something else, right?”
Jia Lian put down his chopsticks and sat up with a strange expression."Nothing else. Today, when I come back and drink with them, I will be scolded by the master first.”
"For what?"
"It's all because of Second Younger Sister Lin's horse abandonment today. She was a girl. Who in the capital didn't know about this? Old Master felt that he had lost his face and held me to vent his anger.”
"What did the outside say?"
"What do you mean? With Second Grandmother's ability, don't you think I know?”
"Hai, how can a woman like me listen to those ugly words? You just have to tell me in detail.”
"What else can there be? Some sad words about the family. Although she is not part of our family, we can't get rid of her even if she lives at home. Think about how to make things right. If we don't make a big deal out of it, we will lose face in the residence and everyone will be embarrassed.”
"We're eating in the same pot. If she's not good, how can I be good? What had already been done and could not be taken back, what could he do? I first went to check if he was present, but I actually didn't know anything.”
Jia Lian recounted the scene at that time, and then chose some light words to say about the bad words outside, and instructed Xi Feng to ask her to remedy it more thoroughly.
Jia Lian said," I'm not afraid of being scolded. I'm most afraid of those rumors outside. The girls in the house are young. If the old lady and the second master know, it will definitely cause another storm. You, the master, will not be able to save yourself."”
"I'm so busy today, yet I provoked you, didn't I?" Xi Feng said angrily.! If you don't say it now, the old lady won't blame me, and I'll die unjustly.”
Jia Lian patted her sleeve lightly and said,""It's not that it's your fault. It's just that since you're in charge of this, you should be more thorough. She's just an unmarried girl who doesn't know anything. You should also teach her and stop her.”
"I stopped her? Where am I going to stop her? Hmph! When did the old lady say that she wanted to go to the temple? There's no need to worry about making arrangements at home or outside. Even if I had ten hands, I wouldn't be able to do it. You don't know what the temple looks like? If the old lady wants to go, how dare I not go ahead and set up an outpost? I've covered up for what you've done. It's fine if you don't thank me, but if something happens, you'll let go and blame me.”
"Good Grandma, I just said that it's not your fault.”At first, when Jia Lian was scolded by the master, he felt that he was suffering for Xifeng, so he was not very sad. Now that he heard Xifeng say this, he quickly comforted her. "Besides, no one would have thought that Second Younger Sister Lin would act like that. Even I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat."”
This matter concerned the reputation of the family, so Xifeng didn't dare to avoid the main point and take the opportunity to take advantage of the mistakes in Jia Lian's temple. Her anger dissipated and she said,"You think I'm not afraid? I went to the temple first. When I heard the wind, my heart skipped a beat. Sigh, who would have thought that the Second Miss Lin was also a blockhead, but who knew that she would dare to poke a hole in the sky! Hmph, fortunately, the old lady was there at that time. It's not my fault whether she stopped it or not. Otherwise, if I took the responsibility, wouldn't I be dead?？”
"What's the old lady's reaction?" Jia Lian asked.”
"What reaction? Originally, they were separated by eighteen walls and came here to fight with a distant relative. At first, the old lady was thinking of the face of Young Master Lin, so she was interested in matching that with him. Now, ha!”
Jia Lian thought for a moment and nodded. After relaxing his mind, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat and drink. He said casually,"You didn't see the situation at that time. The messenger was really powerful. To be honest, if the carriage and horses were arranged more generously, I would be willing to give up one or two horses to make this favor. Unfortunately, it was originally a good thing to do a favor. If it was a girl like her who did it, she would have caused so much trouble.”
"Come on, she's got no sense. I won't say anything else, but since Second Miss Lin came to our house, which one of her food and accommodation expenses isn't ours? She doesn't know how to be polite. First Mistress and Second Mistress never loved her. This time, she gave up more than a hundred taels of silver in a moment of hot-headedness. First Mistress even called me over earlier, saying that she was too rude to be a guest and wanted me to ask her for it. How could I have the cheek to ask her for a hundred taels of silver? You broke my face for nothing."
Halfway through the meal, Ping 'er came in and whispered a few words into Xifeng's ear. Xi Feng said," She's too shameless. Don't tell me that if we starve her to death, the matter will go away?" How funny. Just go and arrange it. Don't let that spoiled girl make a big fuss and startle the old lady.”
When Ping 'er left, Xi Feng laughed and said," I just said that I'm ashamed to ask an orphan girl for a hundred taels of silver. How can I be more shameless? You're actually deducting food. Is this how the High Duke's Public House does things?"”
Jia Lian was very clear who she was referring to. Although he hated Xifeng's way of saying "your Public House", he also felt that it was out of style and couldn't refute her. In the end, it was not appropriate to talk about the elders, so he changed the topic and only discussed with Xifeng the gifts that he would send to the various sects and courtyards of the aristocratic family in the next few days.
Jia Lian couldn't figure out the ways of each mansion, and it was all Xifeng's own consideration. During this conversation, nearly 100,000 taels of silver had been lost in half a year. The couple couldn't help but sigh again.
The court should have placed equal emphasis on civil and military affairs, each holding half of the country. However, after a long period of peace, the overall power of the military was weaker than that of the civil. Especially in this dynasty, the military positions had mostly become empty positions. Therefore, when the emperor stood at the court meeting and was in a high position, he would also scold when he was worried and worried,"They are all weak officials, old and rotten, unable to use courage."”
Although the emperor had the intention to cultivate and promote generals, after the heroic generals died, the military positions that were filled were actually asked to be retired. They were supposed to fill in the gaps, but they found some lame excuses not to go. Instead, they were willing to stay in the reserve position. The emperor was furious. He wanted to kill this greedy worm, but he couldn't.
There were many emergencies at the border. In the battle with the Western Barbarians, they lost 50,000 soldiers and seven generals. General Sun, the commander-in-chief, had been mistakenly shot by a stray arrow and was on the verge of death. After submitting the request for a change of generals, the Emperor was in pain and anger. He silently drank tears, did not drink, did not eat, and sat still with his body leaking. Only then did he reply with the word "not allowed".
Soon, General Sun asked again, but the emperor still refused.
In less than half a month, there was a battle report at the border. The barbarians were massacring the city and Old General Sun was injured. In this battle, 20,000 soldiers had died. The court bulletin was eight feet long, and Old General Sun's name was at the top. When the emperor saw the report, he fainted and went to court three days later.
The battle did not stop, and time did not stop. In the blink of an eye, it was the vernal equinox. When all things revived, the emperor's illness also recovered, and when the imperial concubine celebrated her longevity, the palace held a spring banquet as usual to celebrate her longevity.
With two happy occasions, the imperial concubines and palace servants were all happy. In the midst of the jubilation, the emperor had a banquet with his brothers and officials. After drinking too much, the alcohol got to his head. He sobered up from the imperial garden and saw the flowers blooming, the silk banner fluttering, and the palace concubines dancing in the forest. It was such a beautiful scene. He couldn't help but sigh."The country is in decline, but the flowers are flourishing.”All the attendants in the palace were silent.
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