The Salted Fish Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

141-145

Chapter 141

After finishing two bottles of medicine, Hongzao went to kowtow to Geng Qingning. She knelt in the yard. The potato seedlings beside her had gone through the cold winter and spring, and now they had produced small fruits, and some of them had burst open, revealing the white seeds inside.

Not far away, a few inferior little maids were whispering, and the wind blew their voices into people's ears.

"You are so shameless, if it were me, I would have hit my head and died."

"Who said it wasn't true? You still have the nerve to kowtow to the master, and you think it's not annoying enough."

"The master has such a good temper. If it were somewhere else, he would have been beaten to death long ago. The guy in Song Gege's yard was the one who was beaten to death at the second gate..."

"Oh, I know, I know. The meat was beaten into the stool. Tsk, tsk, tsk, I haven't eaten meat for several days."

"Are you guys going to die? Shut up. Why are you still talking about that yard?"

Hongzao seemed to have heard nothing. She stared at the ground for a while. The orchid yard was really good everywhere. Even the potatoes were so lush. I guess the things the master wanted to plant would soon be grown.

Grape came out from the inner room, "The master said there is no need to kowtow to thank the grace. Go home quickly."

Hongzao's eyes were hot, and it seemed that clear water flowed from her nose. She took two deep breaths and kowtowed three times to the door.

Grape stood aside with her hands tied. It was all her own fault. Why should she pretend to be so?

Hongzao wiped her face and bowed deeply to Grape beside her, "Sister Grape, can you give me one of the potato fruits? It can be regarded as a souvenir."

Most of the maids who left the mansion had the grace and reward of the master. If they returned empty-handed, no one would know that they were abandoned by the master and were driven out of the mansion.

Grape's family had been bondservants for generations, and they knew what would happen next. She pulled down two fruits with a stern face and stuffed them into Hongzao's hands, "I can still make the decision on this matter. Don't bother, just go away."

*

When the weather really got hot, Geng Qingning finally finished her confinement.

Aunt Xu praised the child for being born at a good time, neither too cold nor too hot, unlike a child born in winter who was wrapped too much and learned to roll over slower than others, nor in the hot summer when the child's buttocks were pickled red.

Geng Qingning also lamented that the timing was just right. Not only was there more fruit, but the weather was slightly cool in the morning and evening, which was very suitable for her to walk, jump, and run in the yard.

Yes, weight loss was put on the agenda again.

Geng Qingning looked at herself in the mirror and saw that she was slightly overweight. She felt anxious when she heard the maid's praise. Apart from other things, her new summer shirts were obviously one size larger than this time last year. If they were originally size M, they were now at least size L.

It is indeed difficult to recover from having children too close together. The problem is that there are no good contraceptive measures at this time. Geng Qingning felt a headache when she thought about it, but she was unwilling to push the Fourth Master to someone else, and she couldn't do such a thing.