Bondage

"Miss, there has been a lot of trouble over the Xiuyan Pavilion these days."

Heng Wu half-kneeled on the ground to put on Song Wan's shoes, while Heng Zhi waited aside with a large lacquered mother-of-pearl plate filled with a soft towel dipped in warm water.

After Song Wan cleaned his face with a towel, Fang lazily said, "Why are you so busy after being quiet for a few days?"

"I heard from Mrs. Liang that Aunt Lin gathered all the women in charge of the inner and outer courts and gave them a list."

Xiang Cao handed Song Wan a thin piece of paper, and Song Wan glanced at it, only to see that it said absenteeism, leaving early, and the degree of job completion was good but bad.

"What is this?"

Xiang Cao shook her head: "I don't know about slaves, and Mrs. Liang didn't understand. She just told them to fill in every month. Except for the yards of the masters, everyone else has it."

Song Wan watched it up and down for a long while, but didn't know what it was for.

"Forget it, left and right have nothing to do with us, it's up to her."

Crushing the thin paper into a ball casually, Song Wan said: "Master Hou hasn't returned home yet?"

"A letter came from the second watch yesterday. The maidservant didn't wake you up after the lady fell asleep."

Heng Zhi took out a note and presented it to Song Wan, who opened it and frowned slightly: "It is said that the chickens and ducks raised by the Supervision and Education Department of Shanglinyuan were sick with plague, and most of them died. He will live in Shanglin for a while. Supervisor Lin Yuan cannot return to the residence."

"This……"

Seeing what Heng Wu wanted to ask, Song Wan said: "Master Hou just went to work and this happened, so I have to do it personally to show my loyalty to the job, if I ignore it, I'm afraid I will be disrespected by others and dissatisfied with the official position, etc. Word."

For the rest of the matter about the management of the Hou Mansion, gentle exhortations and comfort, etc., she only briefly read the letter before putting it away.

"That's fine." Heng Wu said casually, "Give Aunt Lin some time to disturb the Hou Mansion."

Song Wan nodded, and started to eat breakfast with peace of mind.

The marriage of the Bai Lan family was finalized, Madam Lan invited her to her house as a guest, and wanted to thank her for being the matchmaker.Song Wan agreed in advance, and now Fang got up and started to tie up her hair, put on makeup, change her clothes and prepare for the ceremony.

"Miss, how about pairing this peach-colored silver-patterned top with a Ruyi pleated skirt?"

Song Wan nodded and asked Heng Zhi to change her clothes.

Because he was going to see an old friend, Song Wan let the green bamboo tie into a relatively simple bun, and then randomly twisted two beam-style bamboo hairpins with gold-wrapped tails on them, and was ready to go out.But as soon as he walked out of the Lan courtyard, he was stopped by Jiang Jing who was guarding the side.

Jiang Jing's eyes were flushed, and he said with tears, "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, it was Jing'er who was ignorant and misunderstood your intentions."

"Now that Jing'er knows his mistake, I hope you will forgive Jing'er."

Song Wan heard the words, and said softly: "How can there be any forgiveness? You must not lose the dignity of Miss Shifu like this."

Taking the handkerchief and handing it to Jiang Jing, she smiled softly again: "It's not beautiful for a girl to cry."

Jiang Jing wiped his tears and mustered up his courage: "I heard from my wife yesterday that my sister-in-law is going to see Mrs. Lan today? Can my sister-in-law give Jing Er another chance to see her too?"

When Lin Jiayue introduced Mrs. Chen to her, and when Mrs. Chen kept asking about the dowry in front of her, Jiang Jing realized how stupid it was to lose the marriage of the Lan family.

Aunt Lin told Mrs. Chen that she was outspoken, and in the future she would definitely not be a mother-in-law who tried to torture her daughter-in-law.Even talking about the dowry and betrothal gift in front of her, Aunt Lin was full of praise, saying that if you talk about it clearly, you won't have any worries.

Thinking about it, Jiang Jing suddenly burst into tears: "Jing'er knows that a well-behaved girl's family should not talk about marriage, let alone pick and choose her husband's family, but Jing'er has to make plans for herself."

"Only Jing'er and Aunt Zhou are dependent on each other in the Hou Mansion. If you marry into a smoky and disorganized family like the Chen Mansion, how can you make Aunt Zhou feel at ease in the future?"

"Sister-in-law..."

Jiang Jing wanted to kneel as he said that, but was held tightly by Heng Wu Hengzhi.

"Sister-in-law...Jing'er, I beg you, just ask my sister-in-law to bring me to see Madam Lan. No matter what happens or not, Jing'er will never bother my sister-in-law again."

Many servants gathered outside the Lan Courtyard. For some reason, Song Wan felt that the Hou Mansion was particularly disorganized today.It seems that everyone doesn't know what to do, one or two are wandering around, looking idle.

Song Wan frowned, saw Jiang Jing crying like a tearful person before him, and sighed: "Wipe your tears, I'll take you to Lan's house."

Only when Jiang Jing sees that the Lan family already has a bride candidate will she give up, otherwise no matter what she says, the other party will only think that she is deliberately making things difficult.

Song Wan is not afraid of being misunderstood, but she is really tired of being disturbed all the time.

Along the way, Jiang Jing was arranging her clothes and make-up with Heng Zhi's help, Song Wan sat quietly by the side without saying a word, and occasionally when Jiang Jing was uneasy and asked in a low voice, she would comfort her with soft words.

After entering the gate of Lan's house and being invited into the backyard by the master's house, Jiang Jing let go of the veil that had been held all the way, and smiled sweetly and charmingly.

"Say hello to Mrs. Hou Ye."

Madam Lan smiled when she saw Song Wan

She stepped forward to greet her, and when she saw Jiang Jing following her, she stopped and her eyes quickly swept from top to bottom.

Seeing that the little girl's eyes were red, the handkerchief was wrinkled, and the dress on her body had some creases that shouldn't appear, she knew that Song Wan hadn't brought her here on her own initiative, but she presumably begged for it without permission.

Mrs. Chen once went to the Hou's Mansion to talk about seeing each other with an aunt. She also heard that the same family often comes and goes to Beijing. Who doesn't know who?

Mrs. Lan thought about it for a while, and knew that the little girl had regretted it, and now she wanted to come to make up for it.

"Madam can just call me to hold my son, so we can get close."

After receiving the box from Hengzhi, Song Wan handed it to Mrs. Lan: "I personally made some refreshments, and I will give it to all the ladies today."

The two exchanged a few words of greeting with a smile, and Song Wan pulled Jiang Jing and Mrs. Lan into Lan's garden together.

The Lan family is rich and noble, and the mansion is also very grand. There is a warm pavilion in the garden, surrounded by glazed windows with blessing characters on all sides. When the sun is shining, the light and shadow are floating, as beautiful as haze.

Jiang Jing's eyes touched, and his heart was slightly astringent.

The Hou Mansion could not afford such expensive glazed windows.

"Greetings to Mrs. Chengyang Hou."

Mrs. Bai pulled Miss Bai's family to greet Song Wan. Miss Bai's eyes were shy and grateful.Mrs. Bai also warmly introduced several wives to Song Wan.

According to her background, it was difficult to get acquainted with a noble girl like Song Wan, but because of Song Fu's care, Song Wan took the initiative to make friends, and even arranged a good marriage for her family. Madam Bai knew how to reciprocate.

Although the few wives who came today were not as obvious as her, they were either from the husband's family who served in the official department, or their natal father and brother were quite talkative in the official department.

Song Yan accepted Mrs. Bai's kindness.

She was already mellow and sophisticated, and after a few words, the group of people became very familiar with each other, and they laughed together in a short time.Seeing this, Jiang Jing had no choice but to smile dryly at the side, and occasionally helped Heng Zhi bring tea and water to Song Wan, so virtuous.

"Where is this what ladies should do? Go and play with your sisters and sisters."

Mrs. Lan smiled and recruited her two daughters, and asked them to drag Jiang Jing away.

The two little girls were only twelve or thirteen years old, and it was time for them to be lively. Jiang Jing deliberately flattered her, so she complimented her carefully all the way. By the time the three of them reached the greenhouse full of exotic plants, they were already very close better.

Before the three of them opened the door and went in, they saw a little girl under the glazed window bending over to sniff a pot of marigold cymbidium.

Seeing this, the Seventh Miss of the Lan family covered her mouth and smiled: "This is the future Ninth Uncle, right? She looks so delicate, Wen Wenjing thinks she has a sticky personality, and she is a fair match for Ninth Uncle."

The older lady of the Lan family glared at her: "Prank the elders, let mother hear and see if you can slap your mouth."

The little girl seemed to be frightened, and shook her head to beg for mercy, but Jiang Jing felt his eyes darkened, and his heart was filled with regret.

In the Lan family, there is really a bride candidate?