Chapter 68: The Show Girl

Beijing, Cao Mansion, and the west yard.

Because he got the letter, he knew that Cao Yong was returning home today, Zi Jing got up early with a few maids. The west side courtyard was renamed Kuiyuan as early as April. Because Cao Yong lived here, he always called the side courtyard and the side courtyard, so he thought about changing his name.

Most of the courtyards in the mansion are named after the plants and trees planted in the courtyard. For example, the Rongyuan where Mr. Zhuang Xi is located, the Lanyuan where Mr. Li lives after coming, the chrysanthemum courtyard, the Guiyuan next to the garden, the idle pine courtyard, the bamboo courtyard, and the Huaiyuan adjacent to Cao Yong's residence.

The courtyard where Cao Yong is located is pure and pure, but there are few grass and trees, and only a few banana trees are filled with screen walls at the door. Whether it is a banana garden or a banana garden, it sounds funny enough. There is a small flower garden in the yard, which was accidentally thrown away by the little maids, and a few sunflower seedlings grew. Cao Yong thought that the sunflowers were golden and beautiful, so he asked the maids not to pull them out and took care of them carefully. Therefore, the yard was renamed Kuiyuan.

"Sister Zijing, what happened between Zhao An and Qian Kang's family!" The maid Zhu'er said at the door.

Amethyst was watching a list of clothes for changing seasons in the east wing. Now the old man has been a prince companion. His identity is different from the past, and he still needs to add various clothes. He can no longer use his temperament and only chooses fine cloth materials, so that he can save his status and make people laugh.

The Zhao An family is Hui Xin, the maid from Cao Yong, also known as Dai Mao. She was originally a second-class maid next to the old lady. Later, she was accused of serving Cao Yong. She was one year younger than Zijing and was older two years ago. She married Zhao An, the son of the southern gatekeeper, and still worked in the mansion after getting married. The Qian Kang family is another maid from Cao Yong when he was a child. She was also released when she was old and married to the mansion to give birth to a son Qian Kang.

Cao Yong went to the capital and only had a few people to serve, including three maids, two followers, and one servant. Later, Cao Yong had an accident in the capital and was beaten to be "seriously injured". Li received a letter and went to the capital in person. Thinking that his son was not in enough staff, the servants in the mansion were also jealous, and were afraid that they would not be able to summon them to the fullest, so they took Zhao An and Qian Kang to accompany them.

When I heard about the matter between Zhao An and Qian Kang’s family, Zi Jing put down the clothes list in her hand and said, “Call them in!”

The house in the capital has been empty for many years, and the affairs in the second gate were originally managed by the Cao Zhong family. The Cao Zhong family was in his fifties and was not in good health. After Cao Yong entered the capital, he lived in the mansion here. Cao Zhong family was a little uneasy, but fortunately, Amethyst took over, and everything was still appropriate. Although Amethyst was a slave, he was a maid who served the old lady and was respected by Cao Yong. The managers in the mansion had to call him "girl", and the younger generation was rushing to call him "sister".

The Zhao An family and the Qian Kang family were dressed as young women. After entering, they became shorter: "Sister Amethyst!" The two of them were familiar with Amethyst in the south, but they were still called according to the old name.

Zi Jing smiled and stood up: "I'm busy all the time inside and outside the mansion. Why do you have time to be here? Sit down and talk. How can we sisters have so many rules!"

Zhao An and Qian Kang's family sat down, and then Qian Kang's family stood up first and said, "Sister Zijing, Mr. Zhuang paid another ten taels of silver to the teahouse today. This month, from the first day of the first day to today, I spent 230 taels of silver. I told him yesterday that when the old man came back today, Mr. Zhuang was still out!"

Mr. Zhuang, who was mentioned by Qian Kang's family, was hired by Cao Yin for his son and came to Beijing by Jiangning in April.

Mei Jing pondered for a moment: "Before leaving, the old man told me to not neglect Mr. Zhuang. If you use silver, you can withdraw it at will. Two months ago, I mentioned that Mr. Zhuang likes to go out to drink tea. The old man replied that he would let him go. If you do this in the future, just keep the account as usual. After all, I know it in my heart!"

"Yes, I know!" Qian Kang's family responded and then sat down.

Seeing that Qian Kang's family returned to the errand, the Zhao An family stood up and said, "Sister Zijing, the cousin of the chrysanthemum courtyard is not feeling well today. They thought they would take a break for two days before learning the rules. The nanny from the Prince's Mansion refused to obey. The person was shy and stubborn, but he looked really bad!"

When Zi Jing heard this, she frowned slightly: "These nannies are really confused. The nobleman who is waiting for the election by the palace, which is not something they can control at will. In the prince's mansion, the concubine suppresses her and dares not be arrogant. Now she is here to act as a domineering blessing in the mansion!" As she said that, she stood up: "Because she is a relative of the old lady's family, the wife specially received a look after her. If she offended her for a few ignorant nannies, then we are all guilty!"

*

Outside Andingmen, Cao Yong took Xiaoman and Wuen to the city on horseback, and the two brothers of the Wei family rode horses behind. Since they knew that the Holy Lord had arrived in Beijing today, the two brothers left the city early, guarded outside Changchun Garden, and welcomed Cao Yong back.

The two men were with Cao Yong for eight years, and they watched him grow up. They were separated for half a year and really worried them. It was not until noon this year that when they saw Cao Yong come out of Changchun Garden safely, the two brothers were relieved.

When Cao Yong saw two brothers from the Wei family, he asked about his mother Li and his sister Wang Fujin's recent situation. He learned that his mother went back to the south at the end of August. His sister had a safe birthday to her brother a few days ago. Cao Yong was a little disappointed. He originally thought that after he came back, he could stay with his mother for a few days and accompany his mother to stroll around the capital. However, he was relieved. After all, he was a family in the south, Cao Yi was young and was at his daughter's house. It would be fine if he had been in charge of ten or half a month. After a long time, he would definitely have a heavy burden.

*

West of the city, Cao Mansion, and the gate.

A blue-topped carriage was parked, and an old man with a white beard came out of the carriage.

The butler Cao Zhong stepped forward and said, "Doctor Chen, I'm sorry for you again!"

The old man waved his hand: "I have been in love with your mansion for several lifetimes, what are you doing!"

The two were greeting each other, and only the sound of "da" horse hooves heard, Cao Yong rode back on his horse.

The carriage was the family friendship of the Cao family. The Imperial Doctor Chen, who retired from the Imperial Hospital, came from a medical family. His brother was an envoy of the Imperial Hospital. He was sent to the south by Kangxi in the early years to take care of the old lady of the Sun family. Calculated carefully, the two families had a friendship for decades. Before Cao Yong left Beijing, he had seen the Imperial Doctor Chen twice, so he recognized him, and quickly dismounted, and gave a junior greeting, saying, "It turns out that it is Mr. Chen, Cao Yong has greeted you!"

Doctor Chen touched his beard, looked at Cao Yong, and smiled thoughtfully, "Brother Yong is taller and looks better and better. I heard that your mother was going to help you discuss marriage a while ago, but I don't know whose daughter is the one who is cheaper!"

Why do everyone know about this? Cao Yong was slightly embarrassed. Whenever Doctor Chen saw him, he would find a way to make fun of him. He heard that he had a granddaughter at his family who was about the same age as Cao Yong, who wanted to marry the Cao family. However, Doctor Chen should not be a gossip at the moment. Cao Yong looked behind him and a servant was carrying a medicine box.

"Uncle!" The butler Cao Zhong came over and called Cao Yong a thousand.

Cao Yong reached out to support him: "Everything is fine in the mansion. Who is sick? Why should I bother Mr. Chen over?"

Cao Zhong replied: "Reply to the uncle, the mansion is fine. It was because the cousin who was waiting to be selected in Changzhou, who was slightly ill, so he specially invited Dr. Chen to come over."

"Miss Cousin Changzhou, the daughter of the cousin who married into the Chen family?" Cao Yong heard about Changzhou and remembered a relative. The old lady had a niece from her parents' family who was married to the Chen family of the Han Army Banner. The niece seemed to have served as a Taoist in Changzhou in recent years.

"I replied to the uncle. It was the cousin of the Chen family. He came to Beijing in August. His wife was there at that time. Because there was no one in the Chen family in Beijing, he received a temporary residence!" Cao Zhong replied.

Although this relative is not far away, it is not close. Why did the mother not avoid suspicion and arrange it in her home? Cao Yong was puzzled, but with the old Doctor Chen next to him, he didn't ask much, and hurriedly said to the old Doctor: "It turns out that he is a noble person to be chosen. No wonder he has to trouble you, please come to the mansion to see the tea!"

When Dr. Chen saw Cao Yong carrying his luggage immediately after he saw that he had just come back from the outside, he asked him to take care of himself and followed the butler to see the patient.

Cao Yong rode his horse for the whole morning, and there was a lot of dust on his body. He didn't be polite to the old doctor and went back to the hospital to change his clothes. Xiaoman was a servant and did not enter the second gate. Cao Yong asked him to rest. Wu En followed Cao Yong carefully, looking very obedient and docile.

*

Cao Mansion, Kuiyuan.

The maid Cui'er was cleaning the dead leaves of banana leaves at the door. When she saw Cao Yong coming in, she said happily: "The uncle is back!"

Hearing the sound of talking, a green maid walked out of the room and greeted her with a smile: "It's really the uncle is back. I've been waiting for several days!"

Cao Yong didn't see Amethyst and was a little surprised: "Zhu'er, Cui'er, why are you two here? Are you sister Amethyst, Chai'er, Huan'er?"

Zhu'er and Cui'er were brought by Cao Yong to Jiangning, and were the eldest maids in Cao Yong's room. The Chai'er, who Cao Yong asked about, was also one of the eldest maids. After arriving in the capital, he was selected from the family of the mansion. He didn't call this name originally, so Cao Yong was too lazy to think of a name for them again and asked Amethyst to arrange it. Amethyst along Zhu'er and Cui'er's name, gave the two new names.

Hearing Cao Yong's question, Zhu'er replied: "Sister Zijing went to the chrysanthemum courtyard. I heard that the cousin there was a little unhappy. Chai'er and Huan'er were in the kitchen, watching the food for the uncle below!"
Chapter completed!