Bend Over [ 折腰 ] - Chapter 23

[Chapter 23 Mrs. Xu]

Xiao Qiao immediately rushed to the north house wing and waited to meet him.

Madam Xu had just arrived home. If she was out of disgust, she might not see her so soon, but she always had to do what she looked like. While waiting in the back room, through the window, I saw people coming in and out one after another in the corridor leading to the main room, and the sound of footsteps continued. In addition to the servants, there are also some Wei family stewards and people who look like generals in the city.

She waited for a while, it was about to get dark, and the sound of footsteps in the corridor gradually faded. A maid finally appeared at the door of the ear room and bowed to invite Xiao Qiao to pass.

Xiao Qiao suddenly felt a little nervous. After making up his mind, he followed the servant girl to the main hall.

When the Shuang Qiao sisters met for the last time in the previous life, Xiao Qiao heard something from Da Qiao’s words. The only person in the Wei family who never embarrassed her and remembered to send someone to deliver something to her room in the four seasons. Wei Shao’s grandmother was left. It is a pity that Mrs. Xu Shouyuan arrived, and Da Qiao married into the Wei family. Within a year, she died of an accident. Since then, Da Qiao’s situation has become more and more difficult.

It is precisely because of this that Xiao Qiao attaches great importance to meeting Mrs. Xu. I didn’t expect myself to be favored by her. However, as long as Mrs. Xu is different from Wei Shao’s mother, at least the next year will not be a bad thing for him.

The layout of the North House is similar to that of the West House where Xiao Qiao lives, with a larger room. But the furnishings are very simple. Simple to the point of simplicity. It is in stark contrast to the East House where Mrs. Zhu lives. In this main hall, the only person who can tell the identity of the old lady of the Wei family is a high red sandalwood couch that you can see when you go in and you need to climb three steps. There is a square table case on both sides of the high couch, with utensils on it, and behind the high couch is a long painted lacquer screen decorated with cloud patterns. Wei Shao’s grandmother, Madam Xu, was sitting in the middle of this high couch at the moment.

When Xiao Qiao came in, there were not many people inside. Only a few servants stood sporadically, with Zhong Ni on the side. I didn’t see Mrs. Zhu and Zheng Shu. Wei Shao was also there, accompanying the old lady’s arm, the long sword that seldom left her body on a daily basis, lay beside the couch.

Wei Shao’s grandmother was thin, dressed in black, with gray hair, a wide forehead and round jaws, slightly concave cheeks, and nothing special about her face. She looked like an ordinary old woman. To Xiao Qiao’s surprise, she only had one eye left. The left eye has been completely white, and it has become the color of snow, and the remaining right eye has a particularly piercing gaze, full of energy. Sitting on the high couch, when I glanced over with one eye, I was a little afraid to look at each other.

After Xiao Qiao went in, she saw Madam Xu’s single eye falling on her body, her expression hard to distinguish between joy and anger. Immediately, he lowered his eyes, walked to the high couch with several kneeling couch on the ground, knelt down on his knees, bowed his head to the opposite grandmother Wei Shao, and finally presented a pair of silk soft-soled embroidered shoes.

The room was silent, not the slightest sound could be heard.

Zhong Ni came over and put away her shoes. Afterwards, a maid brought out a red lacquer plate, and inside it was a four-spirit mutton fat jade bi and a string of jade beads inlaid with gold.

The Four Spirits Jade Bi means auspiciousness, and the jade beads are a gift from the elders to the younger ones.

“Old Madam’s wishes, ma’am accept it, get up.” Zhong Li said.

Xiao Qiao thanked him, then got up, bowed his head and stood beside Wei Shao.

After a while, she felt that Mrs. Xu on the couch seemed to be still looking at her, so she couldn’t help but raised her eyes slightly and looked at her.

…

Some time ago, when Zhong Nuo came back from Xindu, Mrs. Xu asked about Nv Qiao. Zhong Ni recounted how she was kidnapped by Chen Rui in Bingzhou on the way, and the Junhou captured Shiyi. Said that Qiao’s appearance is rare, her manners are decent, and her character is also good.

Pity.

Finally she added this sentence.

Zhong Ni has served by Madam Xu’s side for most of her life. She is cautious and doesn’t say a word easily. It is rare to express her views directly in front of Madam Xu like this.

Mrs. Xu asked again, “What a pity”. Zhong Ni said that the old lady knew it when she saw it herself.

Mrs. Xu was a little unconvinced at the time. But now, seeing this daughter of the Qiao family with my own eyes, suddenly seems to have an epiphany. I never thought that the Qiao family could raise such a rare beauty. Really illuminating. When he first came in, he was well-informed, such as Mrs. Xu, and felt that his eyes lit up.

Appearance comes second. Nv Qiao’s demeanor caught Madam Xu’s eyes.

In this life, the more you have in the first half of your life, the more complicated your experience will be. When you get older, many thoughts will gradually change, and you will prefer simple and quiet things.

As things are, so are people. So this is why the older people tend to like boys more.

When Mrs. Xu looked at Nv Qiao, she noticed that she suddenly raised her eyes and looked at herself quickly.

Madam Xu’s one eye immediately caught hers. Not timid. Just slightly uncertain. In addition, it is bright and calm.

When Mrs. Xu looks at people, her first glance is often the eyes of the other party. Judging people by their appearance is not unreasonable. The god of eyes is also one of the human features.

She intuitively had a crush on someone with such a look.

On the contrary, for some people, such as her daughter-in-law Zhu, Mrs. Xu has been unable to have a good impression of her. It also starts from the first glance.

Back then, when her husband wanted to hire Zhu for his son, Mrs. Xu was worried about her background and was a little reluctant at that time. However, her husband insisted that Zhu’s father had saved her husband’s life, and Madam Xu finally reluctantly accepted it.

The first time I saw Mrs. Zhu, although she was well-dressed and behaved like a well-trained person, Mrs. Xu was not satisfied with this daughter-in-law.

When Zhu Shi looked at her, the eyes that showed lack of confidence and eagerness to please her.

No matter how well-dressed, no matter how well-behaved you are, coupled with such a look, it will definitely fall down the class.

So this disrespect has continued to the present.

The only thing that can make Madam Xu take a high look at Zhu is that her stomach is still very good, and she gave birth to an excellent grandson to the Wei family. Mothers are more expensive than children. This is probably the reason why Madam Xu can always tolerate Zhu Shi and let her go with her eyes closed.

When Mrs. Xu took the lead and asked her grandson Wei Shao to marry Qiao’s daughter, it was naturally considered.

Outsiders, including her grandson Wei Shao herself, thought she was here for Yanzhou.

In fact, she has other considerations of her own. It’s just that others don’t know it.

…

Mrs. Xu glanced at Xiao Qiao again, and saw that she had lowered her eyes again, standing behind her grandson Wei Shao, the two of them were like a pair of beautiful people.

She opened her mouth and said the first words since Xiao Qiao came in: “Zhonglin, I have met my daughter-in-law Sun, and I like it very much. After a day’s journey, I am also tired and want to rest. You can take her back. Wei Shao got up from the couch and said respectfully, ”

The grandson has retired. Grandma rests early. The grandson will come to visit tomorrow morning.”

Mrs. Xu nodded with a smile.

Wei Shao stayed and went out. Xiao Qiao bowed to Madam Xu to say goodbye, and turned around to leave with Wei Shao, when suddenly there was footsteps in the corridor outside, and then a voice rang out: “Grandmother came back, but I couldn’t go out of the city to meet me, come here. It’s too late, it really shouldn’t be! Don’t blame my grandmother for being unfilial—”

Following the voice that Xiao Qiao seemed to have heard somewhere, a man appeared at the door, and then strode over the threshold.

Xiao Qiao looked up and was slightly startled.

It was such a coincidence that it would be the man surnamed Wei who I met in the red shop during the day! But at this moment, the man didn’t seem to see him, his eyes fell on Wei Shao who was in front of him, as if it lit up, then he smiled and walked towards Wei Shao quickly.

Wei Shao also showed a smile on his face and strode to greet the man. The two seemed to be very familiar.

Xiao Qiao stopped in place, watching the two men greet each other there, laughing constantly, just like good brothers.

“Shiyuan, I finally see you back! Grandma also said that if you want to take root in Dai County, you won’t return!” Madam Xu on the couch seemed very happy to see the man coming, and smiled.

The man’s name was Wei Yan. Hearing Madam Xu’s words, he released Wei Shao, walked to the couch and said with a smile, “My grandmother’s 60th birthday, Shi Yuan’s legs were broken, and she has to crawl back.”

Madam Xu Then laughed. Wei Yan knelt down on the pier that Xiao Qiao had knelt on just now, and bowed to Madam Xu. After getting up, she cast a glance as if she had just seen Xiao Qiao, then turned to Wei Shao and said with a smile: “Second brother, I When I was in Dai County, I heard the news of your wedding. Could this be…”

He paused and looked at Xiao Qiao.

Wei Shao returned to Xiao Qiao and said with a smile, “Exactly.” After finishing speaking, he said to Xiao Qiao, “He is a cousin, he has been leading troops in Dai County before, he is a few years older than me, and I have always regarded him as a real brother. You are called Uncle.”

Xiao Qiao glanced at Wei Yan and saw that he was standing in front of him with a smile on his face, two eyes were cast on his face, and he could not see any abnormality. Thinking of the scene when I met outside during the day, I don’t know why, and I still feel a little uncomfortable. There was no expression on his face. Just smiled and followed Wei Shao’s words, greeted him, and called out “Uncle”.

Wei Yan bowed slightly, still talking to Wei Shao, the two exchanged a few more words, and then said goodbye to Mrs. Xu. After walking out for a while, the pair of good brothers walked side by side in front, not knowing what to say, with bursts of laughter, Xiao Qiao followed not far behind, until they reached the fork in the road leading to the Westinghouse, and stopped. After coming down, Wei Yan said, “Second brother, you and I have not seen each other for a long time. We finally meet today, how can we have no wine? Let’s have a drink together, how about it?”

Wei Shao hesitated for a while, then smiled, “It’s exactly what I want.”

Wei Yan laughed: “Are you afraid to let go of your newly married siblings? It’s rare to be happy today, and I don’t care about you. Let’s have a drink first!” After speaking, he looked at Xiao Qiao again. “Brother and sister, Zhong Lin and I haven’t seen each other for a long time, and I dragged Zhong Lin to have a few drinks. Don’t worry, I won’t be at home. I’ll send him back to you later.”

Xiao Qiao was slightly embarrassed, Glancing at Wei Shao, he stood there without looking at himself, and his expression seemed a little stiff.

“Uncle is joking. You can go anyway.” Xiao Qiao responded.

“Brother and sister don’t blame me. Zhonglin, let’s go!”

Wei Shao smiled, followed Wei Yan a few steps towards the front court, suddenly turned around and glanced at Xiao Qiao.

Xiao Qiao had already turned around and went to the Westinghouse.

It

‘s very late, Wei Shao hasn’t come back yet.

He didn’t reply, and Xiao Qiao naturally couldn’t go to bed alone. Just sit and wait.

She supported Yi under the lamp, thinking about the people and things she encountered during the day.

Wei Yan really impressed her. If nothing else, just from the surname, it is also puzzling.

Since he and Wei Shao are cousins, why is he also surnamed Wei so coincidentally?

…

Xiao Qiao learned later that Wei Yan’s life experience was actually quite tortuous and secretive.

Wei Shao once had a little aunt named Qingyun, the daughter of Mrs. Xu. Thirty years ago, because of an accident, she was kidnapped by a man with a high status in the Xiongnu when she was in the border town. It was not until three years later that Wei Shao’s father took his sister back. But when she came back, she found out that she was five or six months pregnant. The family asked the aunt to abort the fetus. The aunt refused and forced her to die. Madam Xu had no choice but to let her in the end. When he did not want to give birth, he unfortunately died of a blood flow.

Mrs. Xu loved this little daughter very much, and she lost her beloved daughter, and she looked at the blood she left behind.

People at that time could accept a Han woman who was once kidnapped by the Hu people, but they would never treat a child with Hu people’s blood equally. Mrs. Xu was naturally reluctant to send the child to the Xiongnu, and she considered it over and over again to let the child take the mother’s surname and raise him by herself, only saying that his father had been married to the Wei family and had died.

Few people know about this past. Madam Xu never said a word to Wei Yan.

[End of This Chapter]