Happiness Consist in Contentment

Chapter 2 The Scholar’s Wife

In fact, when she was a child she looked adorable and cute, her skin was fair and tender.

However, after growing up, when others looked at her sisters and brothers, then looked back at her…

Well, she admitted that there would be a gap.

But it’s just not that good-looking. Wasn’t it going too far for calling her “ugly” all day long?

Besides, even if she’s ugly, she didn’t eat their rice, what’s wrong with them? ! As for the more and more outrageous rumor?

In this regard, Liu Fang just wanted to roll her eyes.

Madam Liu said: “It was good as long as my children were pleasing to my eyes, for what others words she didn’t care”

As for the “No talent and virtue”.

Oh, Liu Fang wanted to roll her eyes even more: a group of little girls gets together to write a few poems that have no connotation, was it talented?

She was just bored.

So, it was precise because of her misfit that such rumors spread.

As for the families who were seeking marriage, Liu Fang didn’t bother to inquire about them. It was just that Duke Liu Mansion had become richer and richer over the years, so they rushed over.

In fact, Liu Fang felt that it was nothing for two families to tie a knot in a marriage because of interests. After all, in such an environment as Duke Mansion, talking about feelings and not about interests. That would be a lie.

But marriage also has to be sincere.

Throwing out the garbage of your family was just disgusting.

Madam Liu was a smart person!

After these years, she has been in harmony with her husband, Duke Lui, the concubines in the mansion were obedient and respectful; the concubines gave birth to so many children and all of them have grown up healthy, and they were filial and respectful to her. ——Madam Liu was by no means a silly and gullible person, and the position of Duke’s wife was not secure just by benevolence alone.

On the contrary, she was an extremely wise and shrewd person, with a long-term vision and a broad-mindedness, which makes Duke Liu Mansion a clear stream among the noble families in the capital: the family was clean and the people were prosperous!

Therefore, those who wanted to take advantage of Duke Liu Mansion, but did not want to sacrifice the heirs that they valued, and wanted to trample on Liu Fang. All of them lose their weight and fail.

After all, what Madam Liu do was not only for Liu Fang, but for the future of the Duke Mansion: Fuck off, now all the men in the Duke Mansion have grown up, each has their own achievements, and after another one or two years later they will become an aristocratic family. Now you still regard us as upstarts? Bah!

It can be seen that Madam Liu would rather Liu Fang really not marry, stay at home, and be raised by her son, the eldest brother for a lifetime, rather than marry these bastard families.

Now it was obvious that they want the benefits of Duke Liu Mansion. But if Duke Liu Mansion was not good in the future, will it still be worth it? !

This kind of person was too snobbish and too ruthless, and Madam Liu absolutely keeps her distance: she was not afraid of godlike opponents, but she was afraid of pig teammates. Short-sighted people were not qualified to talk to her, let alone ask her to pay for the daughter’s marriage, not even the daughter of the concubine.

It’s not that she’s out of her mind.

Duke Liu also took it seriously.

Of course, the eldest brother and his wife were not stupid, they also disagree.

As for other family members, those who have brains will not agree, and those who were not smart enough know that it was enough to listen to the eldest brother.

Well, Madam Liu’s hard work has not been in vain. There were so many children in the Duke Mansion, and it can’t be said that all of them were smart, but they were all obedient, filial, and clear-headed children.

Now, Liu Fang listened to the Su Hua platitudes again, she was still very calm.

“Alright, it’s not like you don’t know how boring people outside are. What else can they do other than spread these small stories? It can’t hinder me, and it can’t hurt me. If I take it seriously and get angry, then that is what they want and make them happy. Now I don’t care, they can’t do anything to me and it can only be said behind the scenes. Nowadays, all the elder brothers are very promising, so there are so many people staring at me, if it was in the past. Heh, they don’t even know who I am.”

Su Hua remembered a few years ago the young lady went out to the banquet, and most of the noble girls didn’t know the young lady.

It was not only Liu Fang, the other young ladies of the Duke Liu Mansion used to be small and transparent when they went out

Only in recent years that the eldest master, second master, and others have their own achievements. Especially the eighth master, who went to the border to serve as a soldier. At that time only his family knew he went there. Later he became a general and became famous in an instant. The status of Duke Mansion has also risen. Only then did people pay attention to the young ladies when they went out.

Recalling it, it was a matter of the past five or six years.

The warmth of human feelings was just like that.

Su Hua sighed, and the anger in her heart disappeared in an instant, “What miss said was right. It was this servant that was impatient. “

“Since you know that you are impatient, just copy the Heart Sutra ten times to calm your mind and sharpen your temper. In the future, if I get married and you follow me but you are like this, then it will be not only me, the master who will be affected. “

Liu Fang took a sip of tea, glanced at Su Hua, got up and went to the inner room to change clothes and prepare to go to the main courtyard to greet Madam Liu.

Su Hua bowed and saluted, “Yes.” 

Shu Mo hurriedly followed. Passed by Shu Hua, she shook her head and sighed, “You…”

Shu Hua smiled at Shu Mo and watched her enter the room. Then got up and went back to her room. While copying the book, she also thought about it.

The courtyard where Liu Fang lives was actually not far from the main courtyard.

Although the Duke’s mansion was large, Duke Liu has many children, so Madam Liu spent a lot of thought adjusting the layout of the mansion, and then all the children were arranged.

After all, before they get married, they must have a yard to live in, and there must be enough servants to serve them. If the place was too small it will be inappropriate, and if the place was too big. Oh, there were not many spaces in the mansion.

Madam Liu simply separated the men and women.

Boys live in the front yard, from the age of four till ten live in one yard, and for those over the age of ten, two people live in one yard. When they reach fifteen years old and were about to get married, they lived in a separate courtyard.

Therefore, the front yard was divided into three parts. The first one was the office of Duke Liu, where he entertains guests and the residence of some guards in the mansion.

Stable, the large kitchen was set up on both sides of the corner connected to the second gate. It does not affect Duke Liu’s daily hospitality and the guests who stay overnight. It was also convenient for the daily travel and life of the master and servants. It will not affect the scenery of the mansion.

The second part was the part in front of the second gate, which also belongs to the front yard. There were several courtyards here, and then there was a row of small yards where the boys under ten years old live. The yard was not big only five and just enough for the master and the people to live together.

It was close to the guest house, the mansion study room was also close, and the martial arts field was also nearby.

Behind the second gate, there were two rows of courtyards like a modern small villa area, which were for boys over ten years old. One left and one right, each with five courtyards, a total of ten courtyards.

After that, the third gate belongs to the backyard part. The main hall for hospitality and the flower hall was in here. Across a large garden and another gate, the main courtyard was on the central axis, and the Shou’an Courtyard was directly behind the main courtyard.

There are two rows of courtyards on the left and right sides of the main courtyard, four in one row and eight on each side, for a total of 16 courtyards, which were for the girls.

Behind the main courtyard, on the left were eight courtyards where the concubines lived.

A total of two rows, each with four yards. On the right were four rows of courtyards, six in one row, for a total of twenty-four courtyards, which were for boys over fifteen years old.

There was a courtyard between the main courtyard and Shou’an courtyard. This is the courtyard where the eldest master lives, called Chengde courtyard.

There were so many courtyards scattered, each with hanging flower gates, cloisters, flowers and trees, pavilions, gardens, and lakes. Therefore, although there were many courtyards, they were not close. The closest to the main courtyard was the Chengde courtyard and the courtyard where the girls live.

There was a garden and a door between the main courtyard and Shou’an courtyard. There was another door at the back of Shou’an courtyard leading to the hill garden. Finally, a courtyard door leads to the row houses where the underlings live and the outside street.

Also after she transmigrate and became a daughter of the Duke Mansion. Only then did Liu Fang know that the houses of wealthy people in ancient times were so big that modern people could not imagine it.

Well, it should be said that for the poor her what a rich family was like, she can’t imagine it.

Let’s just talk about the current Duke Mansion, that was because she has lived here for so many years before she has thoroughly explored it. Otherwise, she may get lost at home at any time.

It was said that from the courtyard where she lives, to the main courtyard, you have to pass through two hanging flower gates, three small gardens, and several intertwined corridors.

Anyway, when Liu Fang was five years old, she often got lost and ran to the tenth eldest sister’s yard.

Thinking that the eldest sister and the fifth elder sister live in the two courtyards on the left and right side of the main courtyard, Liu Fang was very envious: it is just separated by one hanging flower door, so there was no need to always go around like them and fear of getting lost, which is great!

There were not many servants she saw along the way. In fact, in Duke Liu Mansion, except for the servants under the various masters, there were not many servants. They perform their own duties, and all of them have a job. The mansion does not support real idlers.

Also, there was no noble family who have seventy or eighty people serving one master. The people who serve her were: two personal maids, four little maids, and two rough women, who not only guard the door but also do rough work. The four little maids were also divided into classes to take care of the flowers and trees in their yard. The two personal maids were Su Hua and Su Mo. They also have to clean her room and organize her warehouse regularly.

In short, not many people, but enough.

Therefore, at present, there were fewer masters in the mansion and more vacant yards. The daily cleaning was also done in turn. The whole mansion was busy from top to bottom.

For example, Madam Liu was now sorting out the accounts of the store and fields in Fuzhong.

Liu Fang walked in and greet her. Madam Liu was looking at the ledger and said casually, “Why did Anfang have time to come here?”

Liu Fang smiled and said, “It’s nothing, I just came to greet mother.”

Madam Liu was very busy every day, either going to the banquet or taking care of the housework, although she had her daughter-in-law to help her, she couldn’t be idle. Besides, she herself has a large dowry to take care of.

Therefore, in the past, she also asked the concubines below her to greet her only on the first and fifteen of every month. The children, that is to say, it’s okay to come once every now and she didn’t mean to pull them to talk more: there were too many children. If one person asks one question, then it will take an hour, and if she talks again, she doesn’t have to do anything for a day.

Most of the time, Madam Liu likes to make surprise inspections, so as to find out whether the servants in the house were doing their best.

Just like Liu Fang’s nanny. She bullied baby Liu Fang who can’t speak and embezzled her share. At last, she was punished with a board and thrown out directly and the old maid took care of her and it was over. Anyway, she was only over a year old at that time, and it didn’t matter if she was weaned.

Now, everyone has moved out. Madam Liu welcomes everyone who comes to greet her occasionally. She didn’t care much if they didn’t come all year round. She also treated her own son like this, and for others she didn’t really care.