Chapter 3: Hou Mansion
Su Qing got out of bed. There was a pair of embroidered shoes at the end of the bed. She tiptoed over to them, bent down to put on her shoes, stood on the ground and stretched lazily, squinting her eyes and nodding at Cai'er with a smile.
Cai'er was stunned for a moment, then said: "I think you've gotten better after your illness. Now they won't call you Su Mutou anymore." After saying that, she turned around, opened the door and went out.
"Su Mutou?" Su Qing searched her memory. Why didn't she remember that she had such a nickname?
Pushing the door open and standing in the yard, Su Qing took a deep breath. The air in ancient times was really good. In his previous life, he lived in an old industrial base in Northeast China, a small fourth-tier city. The air pollution was not that serious, but it always made people feel foggy.
This courtyard is not big, it is specially used for living, it is square, and I live in the west wing. There are two main rooms, where the two housekeepers of the west house live, and Yu Mama is one of them.
There is a shed between the west wing and the courtyard wall, which is where everyone in the courtyard bathes daily.
Su Qing pushed open the door and walked in. It was a small room with blue bricks on the floor. A large wooden barrel was placed on the floor, and next to it were two small barrels and a shelf with handkerchiefs and small boxes on them. Inside were soaps similar to modern soaps, but they were very rough and smelled bad.
It was summer, and Su Qing tried the water in the bucket. It was neither too hot nor too cold, just right. The bucket was big, and although Su Qing wanted to soak in it to relieve his fatigue, he gave up. Who knew how many people had used it? With the level of medical care in ancient times, if someone really got sick, it would be fatal.
It was not until he reopened the door that Su Qing felt that he had completely come back to life, or rather, that he had completely accepted in his heart that he had become an ancient person.
She wiped her hair gently with a handkerchief. The original owner was a typical malnourished person, and she didn't dare to use too much force on the few dry and yellow hairs, for fear of pulling them out again.
Looking at the clothes that she and Cai'er had just changed out of, Su Qing took out a wooden basin and started washing them with the remaining water from the shower. She sat there scrubbing the clothes mechanically, and some of the things she knew about the Huainan Marquis Mansion came to her mind.
It is the 24th year of Jing'an in the Great Xia Dynasty. This is the capital Tiandu City. The Marquis of Huainan, Meng Changfeng, and his wife, Song. The Marquis's family has two legitimate sons, one illegitimate son, and one illegitimate daughter. The illegitimate daughter has never returned since she was sent away to marry. It is said that she married very far away.
Neither of the two legitimate sons has any future. Because of his status as a crown prince, the Crown Prince Meng Yuan calls his friends over every day. He is 40 years old. He goes outings in spring and enjoys the snow in winter. He has a poetry reading today and a teahouse tomorrow. Everything he does is a money-burning business.
The second master, Meng Hao, also relied on his age of 40 to get a sixth-rank tutor in the cabinet. This second master was extremely lustful. He had one wife, four concubines, and a bunch of maids at home, but he also had to go out to support some mistresses in the academy, and all of this required money. His own salary was not enough, and the household expenses in the mansion were controlled by the wife of the prince. Song felt sorry for her second son, so she subsidized him privately, which made the wife of the prince, Wang, extremely dissatisfied, and the relationship between the sisters-in-law was not good.
On the other hand, the concubine's son Meng Hai was quite promising. When he was young, he was severely suppressed by the Song family, and suffered a lot of bullying and torture. Until he was fifteen years old, he ran away secretly. When he came back, he was already a capable deputy general under the Zhenbei King. At the beginning of the year, he made great contributions in expelling the Tartars. The Zhenbei King submitted a petition for merit, and the emperor conferred Meng Hai the title of the fourth-rank loyal and martial general. This time he came back to receive the title. It happened that the Huainan Marquis was ill, so he simply returned with his wife and daughter.
There wouldn't be too many heirs in the next life. The Crown Prince Meng Yuan had two sons and one daughter, all of whom were legitimate. In fact, they should have two daughters, but the eldest daughter died before she grew up, which made Wang very sad. After she got the youngest daughter Meng Qi, she used all her motherly love on the youngest daughter, who developed a spoiled and domineering personality. Both sons were married, the eldest son Meng Shao already had two legitimate sons, and the third son Meng Weisheng had a daughter.
Although the second master Meng Hao has many concubines, he does not have many children. He has two sons, one legitimate and one illegitimate, and a illegitimate daughter. The legitimate son, the second young master Meng Ji, has a son. The illegitimate son Meng Xu is 17 years old this year and is studying in the Imperial Academy. He has not yet been arranged to marry. The illegitimate daughter Meng Xiu is 13 years old this year.
The third master, Meng Hai, had only one son and one daughter, both of whom were legitimate. His son, Meng Jing, was married and had a son, while his daughter, Meng Juan, was 15 years old and had not yet been married.
The children of the Meng family are ranked separately by gender. The girls are ranked by age. Meng Hai's legitimate daughter, 15-year-old Meng Juan, is the eldest daughter. Although Wang's first daughter was not brought up, she is ranked as the second daughter. Therefore, the 13-year-old Meng Xiu, the concubine's daughter of the second room, is the third daughter. Wang's most beloved youngest daughter, Meng Qi, is 12 years old this year and is called the fourth daughter in the mansion.
(A note for everyone, I just want to explain the characters of the Meng family. You don’t need to remember them all. You will naturally find the corresponding parts as you read the story slowly in the future.)
Just as I hung up the clothes, the gate was pushed open and a tall girl with a round face, dark skin, thick lips, and who looked like someone who was not someone to be trifled with, walked in.
Seeing Su Qing standing in the yard swinging the bracelet on her hand, she was stunned at first, then looked her up and down with some disdain, and said loudly: "Mother Yu asked me to tell you to go to the garden and wipe all the banana leaves clean." After that, she turned and left without waiting for Su Qing to reply.
Su Qing wiped her hands on her coarse linen clothes and walked out of the courtyard while agreeing. But how could this guy walk so fast? Who can tell her where the place to wipe the banana leaves is?
Looking at the shiny banana leaves that he was wiping, Su Qing sat on a rock beside him and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. He looked up at the sky. The sun had been very hot these days and it hadn't rained for several days. In his previous life, Su Qing lived in the Northeast and was used to the climate with distinct seasons. No matter how hot the summer was, he would never feel like being roasted like this.
Su Qing was shielded by the broad banana leaves, without a breath of wind, which made people feel depressed. Looking at the blazing sun through the leaves, Su Qing once again thought of his past life.
I disappeared inexplicably, and I wonder if my parents will be sad. Although they are very son-in-law, they have not given me a penny since I went to college, saying that they want to save the money for my younger brother to get married. But they are still relatives after all. Looking at the group of ancient people around me now, I sighed in my heart. I don’t know if my parents can withdraw the 4000 yuan salary I just received without knowing the password. After all, they gave birth to me and raised me, so I got some money back.