A good omen for a good person

  The old master's aunt was the younger sister of the old master, and the youngest daughter of the old old master. Before the Jin family became wealthy, she had been doted on by her brother. After the old master became a landlord, his sister naturally rose with him and married a scholar with a modest income in Linqing County. Unfortunately, her husband did not have the same good fortune as the old master and was unable to become an official or even pass the imperial examination. In the end, he could only become a teacher in Linqing County. Over the years, their family never moved away, and they had very little property.

  When the old master was still alive, he married an old lady and the family became wealthy. The older brother's aunt got married when the family's situation had just started to improve, so there were also more than a dozen acres of good land as dowry. In addition, Auntie's husband was a scholar, exempt from taxation. These years have been quite good, but Auntie has few children, only one son. However, this son did not inherit his father's will to read books and would rather bury himself in the fields, seemingly wanting to be a landlord for life. Auntie advised him, beat him, but a person's talent is like that, just like Auntie's husband, who became a scholar and reached the top. What's more, Auntie only had this one son, so she gave up and didn't bother with him anymore.

  Fortunately, although the aunt had only one son, after he got married and had children of his own, it could be said that her branch of the family was flourishing. Her daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl, a pair of twin boys, and an older girl who was about the same age as Third Master, while the twins were a bit younger, around eleven or twelve years old. Although they didn't excel in their studies, they were much better than their father, which could be considered a comfort for Old Aunt's husband.

  The mistress used to not come often, but in recent years, perhaps because her eldest granddaughter has grown up, or perhaps she misses her older sister-in-law, the mistress almost comes every year. Sometimes it's at the beginning of the year, sometimes in the middle of the year, but this is the first time she's come for New Year's like this. This makes the big madam, who thought the mistress wouldn't come, feel stifled with resentment, but also can't make a scene. Speaking of which, the mistress originally didn't have a good relationship with the old lady either. After all, she had to face a woman who made her husband spend money lavishly, even if it was her own sister-in-law. As a wife, she wouldn't be too happy about that. But perhaps because the old master passed away, or perhaps because both the mistress and the old lady looked down on the big madam's behavior, plus as people get older they start to cherish memories of the past, even if things didn't go well in the past, they start to slowly forget. The memories of playing together when they were young are still deeply etched. In recent years, the old lady who was lonely in the capital would often mention the mistress. Although the big master's mouth is not strict, he is filial at heart and also hopes that the mistress will come often.

  Linqing County is on the west side of Beijing, and it takes about two days to get there by horse-drawn carriage, so it's not too far away. As soon as the news arrived at the Jin Mansion, everyone started bustling around, from rearranging the courtyard to adding more staff, even reorganizing the furniture and bedding inside. Although Madame was not arriving immediately, the usually empty courtyard couldn't be left deserted, so the lady of the house had someone move in early to warm up the place.

  "What's she doing coming to our house during the New Year? She abandoned her whole family and now she's begging at our doorstep with a flattering face?" The old lady complained, throwing down the account book as she thought about the silver spent on the young mistress.

  Madam Chen put the things on the table aside and persuaded: "Why bother to argue with them, who doesn't have a few poor relatives at home? Just let them come, it's just two dollars, Master knows Madam works hard too."

  The madam sneered and said, "What hardship? What does he know? When it comes to taking money, they come to sell their goods. This whole family of theirs, who isn't spending my money? They're always making trouble for me, raising a house full of women and children for me to support. If I were to get really angry, I'd sell those bastards off one by one, see who dares to say anything against me."

  "Milady, you're speaking too heavily. Look at our own household, we don't even have any concubines for sale. You're just saying it to vent your frustrations, but be careful not to let some lowly person hear and tarnish your reputation. Although there are those kinds of shameful things in the capital, on the surface, they must be passable. As for the illegitimate daughters, in the future, we'll just give them a dowry and that's it, out of sight, out of mind. Even if they're illegitimate, milady, you have two sons right here, what are you afraid of? If they grow up to be useless, we can just send them away, and your reputation will remain intact." Chen's smile faltered for a moment.

  The madam thought of her own mother's good reputation, and then thought of the illegitimate children at home, and couldn't help but waver in her heart. The words her daughter Ling had said before were still echoing in her mind, she couldn't bear to see these illegitimate children being treated well, but if they were casually given away, she was afraid that others would gossip, and implicate her own child.

  "Madam, this was sent from the yamen, please take a look?" Xian Yi saw her mother give her a glance, and she quickly walked up, pulled out a note from her sleeve pocket, and smiled sweetly.

  The madam was originally a lawsuit in her mind, but after seeing the immortal clothes, she couldn't help but reveal three points of smile, stretched out her hand to take over the letter, and looked at the immortal clothes: "Still Xian Xian is lovely, today's that millet lotus porridge was made by you?"

  Xian Yi hastily bowed her head and softly said: "In response to the mistress's words, this wasn't my idea, it was what my mother taught me on ordinary days. In recent days, it has been too damp, eating some Job's tears can dispel the dampness."

  "You're such a filial one, and yet you still don't forget to take credit in front of your mother!" The madam teased, glancing at Chen Ayi.

  Madam Chen hastily lowered her head and said: "If it weren't for the mistress doting on her, she wouldn't have dared to act so presumptuously."

  "It's all because I'm spoiled!" The madam finally smiled and said with satisfaction, "But it's good to be spoiled, isn't it still my mouth that got the benefit?"

  Xian Yi's face turned red, and she hurriedly walked in front of her husband, coquettishly acting silly.

  The madam looked at Xian Yi's face with a bright red color, but thought of the letter from her daughter the other day. The smile in her eyes was suppressed, as if to cover it up. Madam lowered her head and looked at the note in her hand. With just one glance, Madam's eyes suddenly burst out with joyful light.

  "What's good about it?" Chen's nurse asked tentatively.

  The madam put down the invitation and pulled Chen's hand excitedly, saying: "Isn't it a good thing? It's the wife of Cao, the Minister of Works, inviting me to visit her house in two days."

  "That's a good thing, Madam Cao was always vague before, now that she has invited the lady to their home, it seems that young master's marriage is already settled." Chen Ayi was also surprised, previously she had been trying to find a match for young master, but since Master's official position was not high, even families of slightly lower status were looked down upon by Madam. Originally, they were considered a good match, but not long ago, the daughter of that family married into a high-ranking official's household as a concubine, which had left Madam displeased for quite some time.

  "It's not just a rumor, our old master is going to be promoted, and from now on, we'll all be addressed as 'Lang Zhong', so don't look down on us." The madam put the letter on the table, and also gained some confidence.

  "However, there is a pair of sisters in the Cao family, I don't know if madam..." Chen's nurse hesitated.

  The lady's enthusiasm also dissipated at this moment, and she couldn't help but touch the icy jade bangle on her wrist: "It's certain that our family's Lin Ge won't be matched with the eldest miss. I heard that the girl has a slender figure and is likely to participate in the imperial selection like Yan sister. However, I've seen the second miss, although she's not as beautiful as the eldest miss, she's also steady and dignified. Although Lin Ge doesn't have any achievements, he's still the eldest son, so the second miss is a suitable match for him."

  The young master's lack of official rank is his Achilles' heel. If not for the old master's promotion, he might still not be able to marry the second daughter of the Ministry of Works. However, even now, this second daughter is the best among the girls that the young master can choose from.

  Madam naturally wouldn't let such an opportunity slip away, and she hastily had Chen Mama bring out the new dress that had just been made, and also chose many suitable accessories. However, when it came to choosing someone to accompany her, she hesitated for a moment. With the New Year approaching, everyone in the Jin Manor was busy from dawn till dusk, and there was hardly any idle time. Although Madam wasn't around every day, Chen Mama was in charge of the backyard and the entire manor, but Zeng Mama was unreliable. The madam was worried that if she followed her to someone else's manor, she would lose face again. After some thought, Madam decided on Qiu Jing, leaving Dong Jing behind, and also brought Xian Yi and Xiuzhu with her. Yun Shuang and the three other maids didn't have the good fortune to follow them, and they had to stay in the manor to help Dong Jing.

  Back in the side house, Xian Yi helplessly looked at Xiuzhu's excited appearance, not knowing what this girl was thinking. As long as there were young masters in other people's households, she wanted to follow them, regardless of who these young masters were. She only had one thought: to be favored by others and taken away. However, she didn't think about it; even if the young master liked her, they wouldn't ask for a second-rate maid from the madam. This wasn't just slapping the madam's face; it would also make people in their household lose face. But this was the logic that Xian Yi couldn't clearly explain to Xiuzhu. For women like Xiuzhu who were destined to become concubines as a lifelong career, they only wanted to see the wealth and glory of being a concubine but chose to ignore the hardships and bloody future, directly avoiding it. It was detestable yet also pitiful.

  However, this was also the second time that Xianyi accompanied her mistress on a visit. The first time was when her mistress returned to her natal home, and Xianyi was still young and had a sweet mouth, so she followed Chen Ayi to pay respects to Old Lady Chen, acknowledging her as her master. Apart from this, due to her low status, she hadn't gone again, and now felt slightly nervous. She had originally wanted to discuss some matters with her mother, but unfortunately was sent by the Eldest Mistress to report to the old lady in her courtyard about the Eldest Mistress's plans to go out visiting.

  Who would have thought that on the way back, she would unfortunately run into Young Master Da and Third Young Master again? This time, however, Young Master Da was even more atrocious. He actually pushed Third Young Master to the ground, forcing him to take off his upper garment, and then crawled over it himself. Xianyi stood behind a tree, watching as the young man knelt on the ground, biting his lip in distress. For the first time, she hadn't provoked Young Master Da's attention, so she managed to get away with it. But if this happened again because of her, who knows whether Young Master Da would remember her? Even if he didn't have any malicious intentions, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't make things difficult for her in the future. At that time, Madame would naturally not take her side, and might even hold a grudge against her for witnessing her son's embarrassing situation.