Nightwatcher

Little Douding was kicked out of the hall by his aunt and could only play alone in the courtyard.

The aunt coughed and smiled at her nephew, "Well, Ning Yan, I remember you cooked a few dishes in the kitchen last time. The styles and tastes were very unique. Well, aunt thinks that Miss Wang is the daughter of the chief minister. , I’m used to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, and occasionally try something different.”

"Oh, I'll go to the kitchen and teach the cook."

Xu Qi'an is full of expectations for the good show in the future. Now he will agree to any request his aunt makes.

On the other side, after Xiao Douding was kicked out of the hall, he played alone in the yard for a while. When he felt bored, he ran to his sister Xu Lingyue's room.

Seeing that autumn has come, Xu Lingyue is making autumn clothes for her beloved eldest brother. The material used is the brocade given by Emperor Yuan Jing.

Xu Lingyue's needlework is outstanding, and the robes she makes are more beautiful and detailed than those bought in shops outside.

Li Miaozhen brought the female ghost Su Su to help. Of course the Tianzong saint could not be a female celebrity, but when Su Su was still alive, she was a serious lady.

Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework are all necessary skills.

Over the years, Li Miaozhen's clothes and even his bellyband were all made by Su Su and the female ghosts under her.

Xu Lingyue glanced at her sister who was climbing up the table to get pastries. While embroidering patterns, she said softly:

"Lingyin, do you want to have a sister-in-law?"

"What is sister-in-law?" Xu Lingyin started eating again.

"Sister-in-law is the second brother's wife, and she will be in charge of the family's money in the future." Xu Lingyue said softly.

Xu Lingyin said "Oh". She was not yet old enough to realize the importance of economic power. Instead, Su Su sneered:

"What Miss Lingyue said, can your second brother's salary support the expenses of the Xu family? Your mother buys expensive flowers and plants for more than ten taels of silver. Who earns all the money?"

Xu Lingyue pursed her lips and said with a smile: "It's the money earned by the eldest brother."

The Xu family prospered three times. One was when Linglong went crazy. Xu Qi'an saved Lin'an and was rewarded with a fortune by Emperor Yuan Jing. The other time was when he was knighted, and he also got a lot of money and fertile land.

During her two fortunes, Xu Lingyue bought many shops, selling beauty products, silk products, groceries, etc. These shops are nominally managed by my aunt, but in reality Xu Lingyue controls them.

The third fortune came from the chicken essence workshop's profit distribution at the beginning of the year. This was an unimaginable huge sum of money, which directly gave the Xu family a golden mountain.

If there wasn't too much money, a diligent and thrifty woman like my aunt wouldn't spend money on flowers from time to time.

Of course, the Xu family's apparent property does not include Xu Qi'an's private money hidden in the fragments of the book.

The official silver, gold ingots, and the treasures collected by Cao Guogong are enough to build a small mountain of treasures.

Su Su hummed twice and said plausibly: "So, even if we have to take care of the money in the house in the future, it must be Xu Ningyan's wife who takes care of it."

A sharp light flashed in Xu Lingyue's eyes, and she said with a smile: "So, Miss Su Su, who do you think is the best match for my eldest brother among the people you know?"

Su Su cleverly avoided Xu Lingyue's death questioning and muttered:

"How did I know this? Your eldest brother is a womanizer and is willing to spend 8,000 taels to redeem himself as the oiran of the Jiaofang Si."

These words touched Xu Lingyue's sore spot.

Xu Lingyue, this girl, suspected that Su Su and his elder brother were having an affair. Her intuition was really sharp. Su Su was not bad either. She stabbed Xu Lingyue in the heart with eight thousand taels. The saint of the Tianzong sat aside, eating cakes and watching the show leisurely. .

Xu Lingyin ate cakes in her sister's room for a while. She couldn't understand what the adults said, so she felt bored, so she ran out with a ruler for cutting fabrics, waving the ruler in the yard, hehe, thick, as if she was wielding a sword in the rivers and lakes. The heroine.

Playing all the way to the front door of Xu's mansion, Xu Lingyin threw away the ruler when she saw the middle door that had been closed in the past was open, climbed up the high threshold, spread her arms, and played balancing on it.

"Sister Lingyin, go back quickly, go back quickly, there are guests coming later."

The concierge Lao Zhang waved his hand.

Xu Lingyin stood on the threshold, trying to keep her balance, tilted her head and asked, "Is she my second brother's wife?"

"" The concierge Lao Zhang was speechless and waved his hand again.

Xu Lingyin tilted her head and fell from the high threshold. She patted her butt and ran away happily.

On the other side, the wheels were turning, and Wang Simu's luxury carriage slowly stopped at the entrance of Xu's mansion.

The maid took out a stool from under the carriage and welcomed the young lady out of the carriage.

Wang Simu glanced at the front door of the Xu Mansion and nodded slightly. Although it was far inferior to the Wang family's imperial-given house, the Xu family still had considerable financial resources to buy such a large house in a prosperous area in the inner city.

Having been in charge of the palace's finances for many years, Wang Simu estimated that the house was worth at least seven thousand taels just by looking at it.

The concierge Lao Zhang knew that the distinguished guest had arrived, so he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him and led Wang Simu and his personal maid into the house.

Wang Simu took a deep breath, adjusted his mentality, and crossed the threshold.

Suddenly, Wang Simu stepped on something under his feet. When he lowered his head, he saw that it was a ruler.

The ruler symbolizes rules. The mistress of the Xu family threw the ruler at the door. She obviously prepared it for me. She wanted to set rules for me. Wang Simu's face changed slightly.

I thought that the mistress of the Xu family had a very domineering temper and was difficult to get along with.

When the maid saw her stopping, she asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Wang Simu said calmly, "I dropped the ruler here. Pick it up and send it back to others."

It may not be a beating, but it may be a test by the Xu family's mistress. After all, my father is the chief assistant, and if he really marries the second man, he is considered to be married. She was afraid that I was domineering and unruly, so she threw a ruler to test me.

If I were really an unruly and willful daughter, I would definitely be furious, but I obviously wouldn't be so superficial.

She had no intention of fighting with the mistress of the Xu family today. It is said that if you know yourself and the enemy, you will be victorious in any battle. She was here to gather information today.

First, we need to find out the methods and temperament of the Xu family's mistress before we can decide how to get along with her in the future. The mistress seems to be testing her as she thinks.

He is indeed a master.

While Lao Zhang led the distinguished guests inside, he asked his servants to inform Miss Lingyue.

Wang Simu walked through the outer courtyard and when he entered the inner courtyard, he happened to see Xu Lingyue coming out with a smile.

The younger sister of the Xu family is wearing a long pink dress and a simple and elegant bun. She has a beautiful and refined face with oval seeds, and her facial features are very three-dimensional, but she also reveals a softness that makes men cherish her.

"Sister Wang, I haven't had time to invite you to my house since the last poetry meeting. Today I finally got my wish." Xu Lingyue smiled with a clear and sweet smile.

"Speaking of which, my sister has always felt bad because she fell into the water during the poetry recital." Wang Simu smiled dignified and gentle.

The two women held each other's hands, as if they were good sisters who loved each other and had deep feelings for each other.

Entering the inner hall, Wang Simu finally saw the legendary mistress of the Xu family. She was sitting in the main seat with a smile and looking at him kindly.

She is so stunning, with a pointed face and exquisite facial features. At first glance, she doesn't look like Xu Lingyue's mother next to her, but more like a sister.

Wang Simu was surprised but not surprised at the beauty of the mistress of the Xu family, because as long as she looked at Xu Lingyue beside her and Xu Erlang, whom she admired, he could probably guess how gorgeous this mistress was.

She was surprised that the mistress was so well-maintained and she could not tell that she was a mother of three children.

"Mrs. Xu!"

Wang Simu Yingying saluted.

"You're welcome, Miss Wang. Please take a seat quickly."

With a reserved smile, her aunt motioned for Wang Simu to take a seat.

Of course she couldn't be too enthusiastic. After all, she was a daughter-in-law-to-be, so she still had to have the airs of a mother-in-law.

After Wang Simu took his seat, he looked at his personal maid with a gentle smile: "When I entered the house just now, I saw a ruler at the door, so I asked the maid to pick it up."

Wait for the maid to put the ruler on the table.

The aunt was stunned, "Hey, Lingyue, this is your ruler, why did you leave it at the door?"

Xu Lingyue took a closer look and saw that it was indeed her own ruler. She said with an ouch, "It must have been where Ling Yin threw it. She just took my ruler to play with."

Such a powerful method, I was speechless and forced a smile to Wang Simu. She can't say anything wrong about a child.

Then, Wang Simu asked his subordinates to bring gifts. Since he was going to have a meal here, he brought some expensive pastries and some jewelry for his aunt and Ling Yue.

This jewelry is no ordinary jewelry, it is the work of a craftsman in the imperial city who specializes in making jewelry for the concubines of the harem.

Of course, Wang Simu would not deliberately point out her identity as a craftsman, as that would be too low-end and would only make her appear to be a superficial woman who loves to show off.

She only said that it was made by craftsmen in the imperial city. What this means is known to all wealthy daughters and women with some knowledge.

"Miss Wang is interested."

Auntie was quite happy to receive the jewelry.

When the legitimate daughter of the Wang family saw this, she realized that her little tricks were not enough to surprise the mistress.

Outside the hall, Xu Lingyin found her elder brother sitting on a bench in the corridor, listening to something, and ran over in a hurry: "Big pot, what are you doing?"

"Brother, are you watching the show? Let's listen to the show." Xu Qian touched her head.

"I want to listen too." Xu Lingyin waved her arms.

Xu Qian picked up her sister and put her on his lap.

Xu Lingyin also pretended to listen attentively.

Is this the fighting ability of Miss Wang’s family? Well, after all, I'm not married, so it's understandable to be polite and reserved, but it's too kind to make money.

As far as I know Miss Wang, she should be a very independent and strong person. It is impossible not to test my aunt's level.

Why hasn't she taken action yet? I'm waiting for her to choke her aunt.

In the hall, Wang Simu chatted flawlessly with the Xu family's mistress and Xu Lingyue.

After a period of testing, Wang Simu was surprised to find that the mistress of the Xu family was not as unpredictable as she had imagined.

Wang Simu herself is an expert in house fighting and has a keen sense of smell for similar people, but in the Xu family's mistress, she did not find any similar characteristics.

She has a relatively straightforward personality and turns a blind eye to her own temptations, as if she doesn't understand intrigues at all. Moreover, it seemed that because of her status as the chief minister's daughter, he was particularly polite to her, as if he was afraid of not being well received.

For example, when we talk about rouge and gouache, we immediately lose the air of elders and chatter endlessly, like a little girl.

He even complained that he couldn't understand the account books of the shop outside, so he had to ask Xu Lingyue to help manage it, exposing his shortcomings.

No matter how you look at it, she doesn't look like that kind of woman with superb skills.

Wang Simu felt deeply confused.

After that, her aunt asked Xu Lingyue to take Wang Simu around the house.

Because he could not figure out the depth of the mistress of the Xu family for the time being, Wang Simu also wanted to go out to relax, change his mentality, and wait for an opportunity to fight again.

The Xu Mansion is not as large as the Wang Mansion, but it is also a large courtyard with three entrances. The inner and outer courtyards are equipped with gardens and small ponds, and my aunt is a flower lover.

There are many precious flowers, plants and trees planted in the flower garden.

As the daughter of a top aristocratic family, Wang Simu knew that only a truly wealthy family would have the leisure and financial resources to cultivate precious flowers and plants.

So I had a high opinion of the Xu family's financial resources.

In the courtyard, Little Douding was boxing, and Lina was sitting on a stone chair, chewing her elbow and instructing her apprentice.

"That's my roommate Ling Yin." Xu Lingyue introduced with a smile.

I only heard Erlang mention it, but he seemed unwilling to introduce this child more. Wang Simu nodded slightly and said: "Sister Lingyin practices martial arts?"

"Yes," Xu Lingyue sighed:

"Only the second brother in the family is a scholar, but he has a heavy workload and has never had time to teach her. She was sent to school and bullied, and my mother had no choice but to let her practice martial arts."

Miss Wang frowned, this is not good, women still have to study and be sensible. The more educated and sensible you are, the better you will be able to marry into a good family in the future.

She thought for a moment and said, "If you don't mind, I can help Miss Suzuyin gain enlightenment."

Xu Lingyue smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you sister Simu."

Wang Simu smiled slightly. If he could become Xu Lingyin's first teacher, he would surely gain some respect from Xu's family and demonstrate his talents.

Xu Lingyue added: "In this family, the most troublesome thing for my mother is Ling Yin, and there is nothing we can do about her."

Wang Simu quickly extracted the core elements of Xu Lingyin’s weakness as the mistress of the Xu family.

However, the mistress of the Xu family seemed not as "terrible" as she thought, and Wang Simu had a relaxed smile on her face.

At this time, she heard Lina scolding her disciple: "You are so stupid. You can't learn several sets of boxing skills. When will you be able to lift the stone table?"

Lift the stone table? Does such a young child have to lift a stone table?

Then, she saw Lina "pinching" the stone table with two fingers, feeling relaxed and free.

""

Wang Simu forced a smile: "That girl is"

"Oh, her name is Lina, a girl from the Gu tribe in southern Xinjiang. She temporarily lives in the house and teaches Ling Yin martial arts." Xu Lingyue said.

"He is a strict master with real abilities." Wang Simu said.

The two of them turned the corner of the corridor and saw Xu Qian and Zhong Li sitting on the eaves, basking in the sun and talking quietly.

Wang Simu's heart moved, and he tried to say: "I heard that Xu Yinluo's parents died young. In order to train him to be successful, Mrs. Xu must have racked her brains and took great pains."

"you do not say."

Xu Lingyue sighed softly and said: "When I was a child, my father insisted on letting my eldest brother practice martial arts. My mother did not agree and wanted him to study like the second brother. For this reason, my father and mother have been fighting for many years."

sharp! ! Wang Simu was amazed in his heart.

Everyone in Dafeng knew that Xu Ningyan was a scholar. Even his father Wang Zhenwen once said with emotion, "It would be great if this son was a scholar."

But because the second uncle of the Xu family insisted on letting Xu Qi'an practice martial arts, he wasted an amazingly talented scholar.

Unexpectedly, the mistress of the Xu family had a keen eye for pearls many years ago.

Xu Lingyue continued: "When I was young, my eldest brother and my mother had a bad relationship, and they quarreled from time to time. In anger, he moved out of the house and lived in a small courtyard next to it for five years. It was not until they moved to the inner city that the family continued stay together."

What? !

Even Xu Qian can't defeat the Xu family's mistress?

Even the unruly Xu Yinluo who stood in the Meridian Gate and cursed the princes angrily and killed the Duke at the entrance of the vegetable market was forced by the mistress of the Xu family to move out of the Xu Mansion at a young age.

Only then did Wang Simu realize that everything before was just a disguise, the so-called frankness, the so-called inability to fight, everything just now was deliberately revealed to him by the mistress of the Xu family.

Wang Simu's breathing quickened, and his face became more serious than ever.

PS: After taking a nap for a while, I finally wrote it.