Volume 1 In the Countryside Chapter 14: Attacked on three sides?
The more Zhang Shou listened, the more he realized the situation was urgent, so he had to show up.
He came out of the hall and saw Zhu Ying's face full of joy and smile, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Even if he thought that this young lady just liked to look at his face, Zhu Ying was very beautiful and her personality was not unpleasant, so he was not really indifferent.
But he soon came to his senses. Seeing that Madam Li, who was obviously a close confidant of the old lady, actually stepped forward and took the lead in kneeling to him, he politely nodded slightly to the senior servant of the Duke's Mansion, and then opened the conversation without panic.
"If we follow Madam's wishes and keep so many people, there are a few empty rooms in the house. But I have to say something a little embarrassing. We have never had any guests in the house. Even the eldest daughter shared a bed with my mother last night. Now there is not even a wooden board for a large bunk bed. But if I have to inconvenience everyone in the house to sleep on the floor, I will be too sorry."
"Besides, in the countryside, people are always looking for coolness. On a hot day, people will splash water on the ground, which makes it damp and wet. Sleeping on the ground overnight will cause backaches. Many farmers sleep on the ground in summer because they want to stay cool. They get sick before they get old. How can you bear this? If the young lady likes this place, wouldn't it be nice to ask your family to build a villa in the nearby countryside in the future?"
After hearing this, how could Zhu Ying not understand?
Well, Zhang Shou, you are still finding ways to drive me away!
However, at this time, Mother Li smiled and said, "Mr. Shou, you are too polite. If the eldest daughter can live here well, why can't others live here? I'll ask them to go to the village to buy some boards first. Since there is an empty house, it will be easy to build two large bunk beds. I'll ask the carpenter to speed up the work and make a few beds. If there is still not enough room, we can stay at a farmer's house in the village for two nights as a temporary emergency measure."
Having said this, she secretly glanced at Zhu Ying and saw that her eldest daughter was trying her best to pretend that nothing had happened, but after hearing what she said, her eyes were clearly extremely happy. She couldn't help but laugh.
Not to mention the eldest lady, even she was surprised when she saw Mr. Shou for the first time.
I never thought that such a beautiful countryside could give rise to such a handsome and immortal person !
Yesterday, Zhu Yu left the others behind and rode back at full speed, reporting to the Madam in a few words what had happened. When the Madam heard that the future grandson-in-law was elegant and refined, she immediately laughed heartily and sent her to bring people here today. No matter what, she had to arrange for the staff around the eldest lady first, so that no one would still be determined to take advantage of the eldest lady during the troubled times of the Zhu family.
Of course, in order to get the eldest lady to agree to let a few more people stay, she played a trick when she met Mother Zhao's group on the road.
She smiled complacently and said, "Madam Tai said that Mr. Shou doesn't need to worry that it's against the rules for the eldest lady to live with you. Since the master has arranged a marriage for the eldest lady since she was young, the Zhu family and the Zhang family are naturally close. Besides, Madam Wu and Mr. Shou are both polite people. There are many troubles in the capital, so it would be good for the eldest lady to come out and stay for a few days to relax."
Having said this, without waiting for Zhang Shou to respond, she bowed again and apologized sincerely.
"Before, I deliberately let Zhao go. I also wanted to see what tricks she had by instigating such a fool to cause trouble. I didn't expect that she would make a scene like a shrew. Because of my thoughtlessness, Madam Wu suffered a lot of grievances. I am really sorry. I am here to apologize to you, Mr. Shou, and Madam Wu."
Wu said she went into the kitchen, but in fact it was Aunt Liu who was busy. She hid behind the door curtain and didn't miss a word of the conversation. Seeing that Mother Li actually apologized, she hurriedly raised the curtain and went out.
"Every family has a few bad servants. It's just a misunderstanding."
Zhang Shou never expected that Wu would suddenly show up and rush to take over the conversation, which made him even more worried.
If it hadn't been for Mrs. Wu yesterday, the beautiful but willful Miss Zhu would not have been able to stay here smoothly; but today, as soon as his own mother came forward and nodded, the Zhu family sent a large number of maids and servants to fill up the house!
But on second thought, he realized that the biggest reason why Mrs. Wu was so attentive today was probably because she wanted to make this marriage happen.
With this realization, he was extremely helpless.
He has a young lady who insists on staying in his house, a group of servants who suddenly come and can't be driven away, and now a mother who is determined to bring them together. He is under attack from three sides!
Mother Li was not surprised that Wu came out of the kitchen, and she clapped her hands with a smile. The next moment, Mother Jiang, who had just escorted Mother Zhao out, came in silently with two guards. The three of them were holding a large number of brocade boxes of various sizes. At this time, Mother Li and the three of them bowed their knees with a smile.
"The eldest lady is bothering you here, and now so many people are coming. Madam Dowager knows that this has caused trouble for Mr. Shou and Madam Wu. This is a small gift from Madam Dowager, please accept it."
Compared to Miss Zhu's wet nurse who had just caused trouble, Zhang Shou had to admit that the group led by Mama Li, who represented the lady of the Zhu family, really acted like high-ranking servants of a wealthy family.
No matter how people think of this mother and son who live in the countryside, at least they are impeccable on the surface! Even when addressing Wu, they are not like Zhu Gongquan who called her Aunt Wu and Madam Wu all the time.
Seeing that Old Liu appeared out from nowhere, he pulled up Ah Liu, who had always had a low sense of presence, to receive the gift box without saying a word. Zhang Shou didn't know whether these two did it on purpose or unintentionally, so he simply didn't bother to be polite.
"Well, I won't be polite. We are in the countryside, so we don't have anything good to thank you, Madam. It's harvest season now, and the new rice has just been threshed. I'd like to ask you to bring some new rice and fruits and vegetables back to Madam. It's also a token of our gratitude ."
Although Mother Li knew that the gift boxes prepared by her own lady contained not only precious tonics, but also ten rolls of various silk fabrics, as well as exquisite gadgets such as jade combs and jade pendants, and their value was definitely not comparable to some country products, but since Zhang Shou knew how to reciprocate, she readily agreed.
Seeing that Zhang Shou was getting along so well with people like Mother Li, Zhu Ying felt relieved.
How could she not be in a good mood when she thought about being able to stay in this countryside for a while longer and take the opportunity to get to know more about this handsome young man from the country?
But she still had some rationality. While Zhang Shou was still helpless in dealing with Mother Li, she pulled Mother Jiang aside and said, "Any news from Big Brother? And what about Dad? There are so many criticisms in the court. Can he really handle it?"
Madam Jiang was not as smooth-talking as Madam Li. Her face was slightly solemn at this moment, but she replied calmly: "Madam Tai said that Miss, don't worry. Young Master is a lucky man and will be fine. As for Master, he has seen the biggest storms. This little storm is not worth mentioning. Besides, Madam Tai will take care of everything."
"That's good." Zhu Ying felt that all the pressure in her heart disappeared without a trace, and she smiled even more happily. She suddenly thought of another thing and asked hurriedly, "By the way, where is Uncle Hua? Why didn't he come? Didn't Zhu Hong and Zhu Yu tell grandma?"
Before Madam Jiang could answer, Madam Li, who had sharp ears, said, "Oh, my lady, who dares to disregard your words? Hua Qi is not Madam's man. He is the man that the master left in the capital. We don't know where he went to drill sand. Madam couldn't find him this morning and got angry. She asked someone to go look for him immediately."
Today, everything the Madam had ordered was done smoothly, and Mother Li was naturally all smiles: "Don't worry, as long as Hua Qi comes back, the Madam will definitely send him over!"
Zhang Shou didn't even have the strength to sigh. Someone was coming... He might as well just change the name to "Zhaoguogongfu Branch Courtyard"!
Gifts were given, people were kept, and all the necessary words were said. Mother Li politely declined the offer to stay for lunch, greeted them with a smile, and then took Mother Jiang away, without saying a word about how the two of them and the coachman would be able to keep an eye on Mother Zhao and the four guards.
As for the people who stayed behind, the four little girls went to tidy up the empty house. Zhan Jin asked Liu Yin to serve Zhu Ying while he went to tidy up the boxes. Zhu Hong and Zhu Yu took the guards to the village to purchase bed boards and other items.
When Aunt Liu brought up the dumplings and meat pies with a smile, Miss Zhu, who had just washed and changed into a silver-red gauze dress, came out to have lunch. However, she found that Zhang Shou was missing again!
She was about to ask him whether they should eat their own dumplings and meat patties at noon, but she didn't expect him to run away again!
