[75] Zhao Yan falls into a dream

Shang Yuze

Autumn goes to winter, and it is a new year.The twelfth lunar month is the most relaxing day in Kaifeng Mansion. The people seem to be busy preparing new year's goods for the New Year and don't bother the government. Even theft is much less, and they probably go home for the New Year.

Zhan Zhao returned home with the imperial court's annual reward, and as soon as he entered the backyard, he saw Huan Ge'er and Xi Ge'er walking towards him like balls, Zhan Zhao hurriedly put down his things and greeted him. Going up, he picked up his two sons one by one and asked, "Good boy, where's your mother? Why are you playing in the yard by yourself?" The two children giggled, and their four soft little hands scratched Zhan Zhao's face. After a while, he held Zhan Zhao's face and printed two happy saliva marks.While teasing a child, Qiu'er came out of the room in a hurry, and was relieved when she saw Zhan Zhao holding the child, and hurriedly explained: "We were playing in the room just now, Brother Huan spilled water on Brother Xi I’m afraid he’ll catch his clothes in the cold, who would’ve scared me to death when they’re not in the room when I come here.” Zhan Zhao nodded after hearing this and went straight into the room with the child in his arms without saying anything. In the middle of the day, Qiu'er picked up the things Zhan Zhao put on the ground and followed closely.

Entering the yard where he lived, Zhan Zhao saw Mu Yan and Shuanger and the nanny were packing up the things in the yard, and asked puzzledly: "What are these?" Asking, he put the child on the carpet and gave it to them Take off their shoes and let them play on the blanket.

Hearing Zhan Zhao's question, Mu Yan said without raising her head: "It's not Bai Yutang, who sent a big cart of things just after noon and said it was a New Year's gift from Big Brother Bai. Don't you think this is cheating on me?" When is it time for the few people in our family to eat, I asked the nanny to divide them into four parts. One part was sent to Aunt Liu, one part was kept for myself, one part was given to everyone in Kaifeng Mansion, and one part I'll ask the girls to give it to those poor people outside the city some other day."

It took more than an hour to finish packing, the other three were easy to say, just paste them by name, and Mu Yan sent the part outside the city to the girls to buy a load of rice and a load of white flour before finishing.After the nannies and girls cleaned up, Mu Yan sat on the blanket and leaned against the fumigation cage to keep warm.Zhan Zhao grabbed her icy hands and put them into his lapel. Mu Yan, who felt warm and comfortable, just wanted to close her eyes.Seeing her laziness, Zhan Zhao chuckled and hugged her into his arms: "Are you tired? I said it earlier and let the servants do it. Don't worry about it yourself."

"No, I'm fine at home anyway, let's find something to pass the time." Mu Yan pouted.Zhan Zhao shook his head with a smile, and the two began to discuss the New Year's matter again, and they talked about the nanny's going to stay.Mu Yan felt that the child was more than one year old and could do without a nanny, and the two nanny were very used to the child and it would not be good for them in the future.Zhan Zhao can’t deny it, Mu Yan has always been in charge of family matters, and she usually doesn’t participate in opinions, but the scene of the children playing in the yard by themselves today made Zhan Zhao feel a little worried. Thinking of this, Zhan Zhao talked about today’s matter.

After hearing this, Mu Yan frowned slightly, and looked at Zhan Zhao with some embarrassment: "Then what do you think?" Zhan Zhao pondered for a while and said, "Why don't you add a few more people to the house? This way you and the girls can relax more. " Mu Yan thought about it for a while, and now there is a girl left in the family stove, and the woman's dirty hands and feet were sold by herself, and the hard work on the stove is done by ugly girls; since Chunhong married Zhang Long Afterwards, Mu Yan only let her take care of the embroidery workshop, and the embroidery workshop did the big pieces such as the clothes of the four seasons, and let Qiu'er and Shuang'er do the small ones; the cleaning outside the house was done by herself in the past. The family who built the house helped to clean it every other day; my own house, Mu Yu’s and Xing Chen’s houses were cleaned by my maid and book boy. Although the place is not big, it’s not easy to clean around. That's right, otherwise there would be no one to replace anyone who has a minor illness or disaster.

The two summed it up, and felt that if they wanted to add more people, they would add enough people at once. Anyway, it is estimated that there will not be any major changes within ten years, so just add them all at once.The two of them summed it up, and they thought that at least two or three boys should be used roughly, and then they would pick two little boys who could play with the children.

In ancient times, around the Chinese New Year was the peak period of selling people. Many poor people had to pay back the money and grain borrowed from the landlord earlier. If they could not pay back, they had to sell their children and daughters. It's time to collect people wantonly.The next morning, Mu Yan and Zhan Zhao went out together, and when they went to the gate of Kaifeng Mansion, they separated. Mu Yan took Qiu'er and went straight to the tooth shop.

I still went to the dental store where I bought Qiu'er back then.As soon as she entered, the matchmaker who hurriedly came to greet her stopped when she saw Mu Yan's face clearly. Obviously, she still remembered the time when Mu Yan forced her to buy a bunch of maids.After hesitating for a while, he came forward with a smile on his face and said hello: "Mrs. Zhan, are you here today to buy or sell?" As he spoke, he glanced at Qiu'er behind him.The impression of Yaxing in Qiu'er's heart is not good, and Qiu'er has frowned since entering this door.At this moment, seeing the prostitute staring at her with malicious intentions, she replied viciously: "Buyer."

Of course Mu Yan knew what Qiu'er was awkward, she smiled and said to the matchmaker: "Do you still remember this girl?" She said and pushed Qiu'er forward.The matchmaker looked at this little girl who was dressed in a muslin jacket and skirt, and wore velvet flowers on her head, and her face was ruddy. She couldn't help but connect with that thin child a few years ago.After a few glances, she asked Mu Yan tentatively: "Ma'am, is this girl one of the girls you bought back then?"

Mu Yan nodded: "How about it, didn't you treat them badly? I kept two of them by myself, and the rest are now learning the embroiderer's skills to support themselves. You have accumulated a lot of sin." After speaking, Mu Yan returned to the main story He talked about his own intentions.

Seeing Qiu'er's face and clothes, the matchmaker knew that Mu Yan was not a harsh servant, and she was also happy in her heart.He was just afraid that Mu Yan insisted on buying it only at the cost price, and his hard work would be in vain, so he wanted to refuse the business.How could Mu Yan not know what the matchmaker was thinking, so she smiled and said: "Don't worry, I won't push your price too much this time, but I still don't want those who have been taught, I want to buy it back and teach it myself. As long as the price is not too outrageous Just do as you say."

When the matchmaker heard this, she hurriedly agreed, saying that there were only a few girls and no boys here, but her sisters brought back a carload of more than a dozen people just a few days ago.As he spoke, he was afraid that Mu Yan would not match him, and he said that he had a friend who was in the same business as an official tooth, and he also had a group of criminal slaves who needed to be shot, or else we would take a look together.

Mu Yan nodded her head and waited in the store for the matchmaker to help her.About half an hour later, the originally empty hall was full of people. At first glance, there were thirty or forty people, divided into two groups. One side was disheveled and looked like they were brought from the countryside. These people had panic and some fear in their eyes. A vague expectation.The clothes on the other side are different, some are wrapped in silk, and some are muslin cotton gowns. Although the clothes look a little worn out, the material is not bad. It seems that they are so-called official slaves.

The matchmaker brought two women, one old and one young, to greet her and introduce them.The matchmaker and her sister are both surnamed Li, and I said that others call them Li Po, and the younger one came here on behalf of her husband. Because Mu Yan is a female family member, she asked the wife to bring someone over to avoid suspicion.

Mu Yan was a little dizzy looking at the people in the room, and turned to look at Qiu'er, the girl had already covered her mouth and began to sob softly, Mu Yan had to calm her emotions first, and waited for her to calm down before starting to choose someone.After looking around, Mu Yan felt that it was better to choose a newcomer, so she chose a family of three from the people brought by Granny Li who sold the death contract. The son of this family was in poor health and had to take medicine all the year round. In the end, the child died. Later, the whole family sold the death deed to seek a way out when they were forced to pay their debts. The couple had an 11-year-old daughter with them.

Mu Yan planned to let the couple be in charge of cleaning, and bring the little girl with her to discipline her.As soon as this meaning was revealed, the two couples knelt down to thank each other, and Mu Yan couldn't help being stunned.Later I found out that on the way they came, Grandma Li told them that Mu Yan was generous, and that the girl she bought was raised like a water onion, not like a working girl, etc.Parents who don't want their children to live better, even if they are slaves, they want to be a lenient master. Later, when they saw Mu Yan coaxing Qiu'er carefully, they knew that the prostitute was not talking nonsense. His own daughter was naturally moved by her side, and only then did she kneel down.

Mu Yan couldn't laugh or cry, it turned out that the respect that was ordinary in her mind turned out to be a kind of gift in the hearts of these suffering people.After supporting this honest couple and this girl, Mu Yan started looking for another child who could play with her son.Little Po Li has four children here, but they don't seem to be liked by Mu Yan. When she was hesitating, a sound from the group of officials and slaves next to her alarmed Mu Yan.

Turning around, there was a boy in the group kneeling on the ground supporting another boy who was lying on the ground to shake, calling young master, young master in a low voice while shaking.Mu Yan squeezed closer to see that the child had obviously passed out, she hurriedly asked Grandma Li to pour a bowl of sugar water, fed the child a few mouthfuls and then started pinching the child.After a while, the child woke up slowly, looked at Mu Yan who was supporting him, frowned and wrestled away from her arms.Seeing that the child was fine, Mu Yan got up and asked the child beside him what was the matter, but before opening his mouth, the boy shook his head slightly to signal him not to speak.

Mu Yan thought it was funny, so she turned around and asked the official, the woman said: "This family is all criminal slaves, and something happened in the family. Except for the adult men who died, the rest were exiled and exiled, and they probably lived." Can't come down, this is a young son who was sold by someone because of his relationship with someone else. Maybe he wants to leave a root for the family. This child must have been stimulated, and he has been silent or crying. The one next to him is The companion who was serving him, someone wanted to buy his companion a few days ago, the boy refused to go and even tore up with the customer and was severely whipped. The young master stood in front of him and tied the knot for him. The two children must be hungry after eating."

Mu Yan couldn't help sighing when she heard that, she went to the child who was the companion and asked him: "Why don't you want to be bought?" The child replied: "I want to be sold with the young master and serve him for the rest of my life."

Mu Yan looked at the young master's expression, and when he heard the child's answer, his body shook slightly, and then a faint smile appeared on his lips, but his eyes were full of endless despair.This desperate look made Mu Yan's heart ache. This child is about seven or eight years old, looks pale and thin, with a gentle appearance, and his expression is calm and indifferent beyond this age, as if everything has nothing to do with him. The way he went away.

Mu Yan stared at the child for a long time before she said to Guanya's house: "I want these two children." After speaking, she pointed to a six or seven-year-old child at Li Po's place and said: "I want these two children." with this child."

After finishing the formalities, she took a few people home, and along the way Mu Yan was observing the young master, it shouldn't be Shang Yuze.He walked very slowly along the way, it seemed that he was exhausted or his injury was not healed, but he tried his best to follow everyone, trying not to fall behind and not letting his companion be a little bean to help him, just followed everyone silently.

When I arrived at the embroidery workshop, I asked Chunhong to measure the length and size of the clothes for these people so that I could make clothes for them. When it was Shang Yuze's turn, Mu Yan realized that he seemed to be unable to straighten up. After measuring the clothes for a while, he straightened up, but it seemed to hurt His body trembled a little, after Chunhong measured her, he immediately hunched up, and his face showed pain, Mu Yan couldn't help being surprised.

After returning home, Qiu'er took the family surnamed Kang to the servant's room in the outer courtyard to settle down according to Mu Yan's previous instructions. When she was about to settle down with Xiaodouzi, Mengwa, and Shang Yuze, Mu Yan stopped her and let her She took Xiaodouzi and Mengwa to the front yard first, and left Shang Yuze behind.

In Mu Yan's courtyard, she and Zhan Zhao live in the main room, the east wing is where Qiu'er and Shuang'er live together, the west wing is empty, and Mu Yan asks Shuang'er to clean the west wing.He brought Shang Yuze into the main room.

As soon as he entered the room, Mu Yan pulled Shang Yuze to undress him. The child just grabbed the skirt of his shirt and looked at Mu Yan at a loss for what to do.Looking at him, Mu Yan felt like a pervert who molested a child, but seeing his unnatural movements, she still pulled him forcefully to take off his shirt.In the twelfth lunar month of winter, Shang Yuze was wearing a thin jacket with no jacket or inner jacket. Under the thin clothes, there were streaks of welts and frostbite one by one.His hands were hidden in the sleeves all the time, Mu Yan pulled them out to see, tears almost fell down, both hands were swollen like steamed buns, bruised and purple from the cold, some chilblains had festered and were bloody.And the reason why he couldn't straighten up was that there was a chilblain on his left waist that was torn by the whip and had festered and stuck to his clothes, so when he straightened his body, the glued part would be torn again.On the way back from the embroidery workshop, the thick pus and blood were frozen to stick to the clothes again.

Mu Yan looked at this seven or eight-year-old child, surprised at his forbearance.Ask softly: "Child, does it hurt?" Shang Yuze looked into Mu Yan's eyes, saw her distressed, actually smiled slightly, and shook his head with a smile.How could it not hurt, if it didn't hurt, he wouldn't tremble when I undressed him.Mu Yan took out Zhan Zhao's middle coat from the closet and asked him to change it on first, but the child held the coat in his hand but didn't move.Mu Yan asked him why he didn't wear it, he pointed to his wounds with pus and blood and those festering chilblains and shook his head again.Mu Yan snatched the clothes from his hand, put them on him and said: "Clothes are valuable or people are valuable, why is he still a bully?" Putting on the clothes, she pulled him onto the stool and went out to the kitchen .

He told the woman on the stove to make some porridge for the people who brought them back, and asked the ugly girl to bring two buckets of hot water to her bathroom.Chou Ya came in and saw Shang Yuze was stunned for a moment, then her eyes were red, she pointed to his hand and told Mu Yan that it was so painful and itchy that she wanted to chop off her hand.Mu Yan asked Chou Ya to put down the bucket and sent her to ask Mr. Gongsun for some chilblain ointment and gold sore medicine, and then went back to the house to face Shang Yuze.Maybe it was because the room was warmer, the child's face was a little flushed, and he didn't want to be so cold and purple when he came in, he grabbed the skirt of his clothes with both hands and looked down at the ground, still silent.

Mu Yan stepped forward and took his hand, took him to the bathroom and mixed warm water for him to wash his face and hands, Shang Yuze followed suit.Shocked by the slightly scalding water, Shang Yuze withdrew his hand slightly, and Mu Yan immediately reached out and pressed his little hand full of frostbite into the basin.It wasn't until the water slowly became cold that Mu Yan pulled out Shang Yuze's little hand and wiped it dry with a clean cloth, then led him to sit at the table.

The hot millet porridge and a few side dishes from the kitchen were already on the table. Mu Yan told Shang Yuze to eat quickly, but she was afraid that he would be uncomfortable, so she used the excuse to go out and see that other people had left the house to this child.I went to the other people's houses and looked at them. They had already eaten hot porridge, thick bedding was spread on the bed, and a charcoal basin was burned, making the room very warm.Seeing Mu Yan coming over, they all looked at her gratefully, except for that little bean who kept asking Mu Yan where his young master was.Mu Yan teased him and said that he sent his young master back again, and Xiaodouzi cried and lay on the ground begging Mu Yan to pick up his young master, saying that he would repay him as a cow or a horse, which made Mu Yan dumbfounded, and hurriedly picked up his young master from the ground. He pulled him up and said to him, "I can't call you young master anymore, let's call him Yuze. I'll leave him with me to raise him personally. Don't worry, I will love him as much as my younger brother." After speaking, he called again The girl from the Kang family asked for her name.The girl was called Qing Niang, and Mu Yan asked Shuang'er and the others to call her Qing'er, and told Qiu'er to bring Qing'er to her yard after dinner and wait.

About half an hour had passed since she returned to the bedroom, the millet porridge and vegetables on the table were all eaten up, and the dishes were neatly put aside, Shang Yuze was still sitting quietly by the table, seeing Mu Yan come in Politely stood up and saluted her.

Mu Yan smiled, pulled him to sit down and asked, "Are you full?" The child nodded.Mu Yan asked again: "Can you talk?" The child was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded.Mu Yan teased him to say something, but the child opened his mouth a few times but didn't say anything, Mu Yan smiled and said to him: "I want you to follow me, are you willing? Said that you are my cousin and came to join me. You can call me sister from now on, and I will send you to study with my brother when you get better. What do you think?" Shang Yuze looked at Mu Yan for a long time, Mu Yan thought When he didn't understand and was about to tell him again, Shang Yuze stood up and gave Mu Yan an upright gift, his eyes were full of water.

Mu Yan helped him up and pushed him into the bathroom. There was hot water just brought from the kitchen for him to take a bath. Shang Yuze obediently turned around and entered the bathroom. Mu Yan waited outside. There was a muffled splash and there was no more movement.