After waiting for a long time, Xu Jie finally came back.
He bowed to Mrs. Wu and then reported to the eldest lady, "I have found out that Yang Qi hosted a banquet for the eldest master of the Wu family at Yunlai Restaurant yesterday."
Hua Zhi looked at Wu, and Wu also looked at her, with bitterness in her eyes, mouth and heart. These were her family. The favors she had once received seemed to be just in a dream, something she had imagined. When she thought of those people again, she found them so hateful.
"I understand. Let's do this. From now on, the Wu family will go their way to wealth and glory, and I will be the daughter-in-law of the Hua family and cross that single-plank bridge." Wu stood up, her face surprisingly calm, as if all the resentment and hatred in her heart were fake, as if the Wu family she was talking about at this moment had nothing to do with her.
Hua Zhi stood up to see her off, and then she heard Fourth Aunt say, "Zhi'er, you can do whatever you want with the Wu family. You don't need to tell me about these things anymore."
"… yes."
Standing at the door and watching Fourth Aunt leave, Hua Zhi quietly hid the guilt in her heart where no one could see it. She turned around and looked at Xu Jie who was standing at one side with his head lowered. She slowly walked back to the desk and sat down, saying softly, "There is something I was planning to talk to you about."
"Yes, I will follow your instructions."
"When Butler Xu fell ill the other day, I remembered that he was a few years older than my grandfather and had reached the age where he should retire."
Xu Jie paused for a moment, then immediately replied, "I understand. I will take Dad to the farm later..."
"What are you thinking? Do you think I'm going to throw away someone I've used?" Hua Zhi scolded, then softened her tone, "Butler Xu has stayed in the mansion his entire life. I only regret that I can't let him retire in the old house. How can I let him leave the mansion? But I need to find a replacement, and when the time comes, Butler Xu will have to take good care of him."
Xu Jie felt relieved, but then he felt that he was being too petty, so he lowered his head even more.
"You have to take care of the business outside, and Xu Ying is still too young. The replacement can only be chosen from other people. I hope you don't have any objections to this."
Xu Jie knelt down immediately and said, "The servants dare not have any opinions. It is not reasonable for servants to have opinions about their masters."
"Now that we have explained it clearly, everyone will feel relieved. I will not treat anyone unfairly." Hua Zhixu helped him up. "Get up. Go back and tell Xu Ying that he will come to me and take orders from tomorrow. You are going out soon. I need someone to help me run around."
"Yes, I would like to thank you for your support on behalf of my brother."
"I hope I'm well, and you're all well too." Hua Zhi said meaningfully. She put people in what she thought was a good position, and tried her best to relieve them of their worries. She only hoped that they could treat her as their master with more sincerity. Even if they couldn't put themselves in her shoes, she hoped that they could live up to each other.
It was taken for granted that Gu Yanxi came over to have dinner, and everyone in the courtyard was used to it. It was not that no one noticed that the relationship between the two was unusual, but no one said anything.
In a broader sense, the Hua family needs the eldest daughter to support them. Now that she is in charge of the family, her right and wrong cannot be judged. In a narrower sense, the two of them have always been under the eyes of everyone, and there is no gossip. They just interact with each other more. Their eldest daughter even dared to smash the eldest aunt's mourning hall, so it is not surprising that she interacts more with someone.
Now even Shaoyao knows not to go near Huahua at this point in time to avoid Brother Yan's threatening gaze. Every day at dinner time, she would consciously go to the kitchen to bring her own large portion and share it with Xiaoliu, plus a Berlin. The three of them would eat and chat happily.
The only time they could be alone together was during this meal, and Gu Yanxi cherished it very much. While eating the dishes prepared by Azhibu, he could see the person dearest sitting next to him as soon as he looked up. They faced each other without any strangeness, without any guard or conflict. It was so gentle and every time they came, he didn't want to leave.
Hua Zhi put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth gently, "I'm going to a tea party tomorrow."
"It's good to hang out with different families. It's not like there aren't people worth associating with."
"This family is definitely not it." Hua Zhi's lips curled slightly, but the smile was not noticeable. "The Wu family and the Yang family have united together. I'm probably not invited to thank me for beating up Yang Qi."
Gu Yanxi did not ask why she still wanted to go if she knew that the other party had no good intentions. He understood Ah Zhi. It was not something she would do to avoid the other party knowing the other party's purpose. Even if the situation was not favorable to her, she would make the situation become what she wanted, and then fight back fiercely on the other party's situation.
This was his Ah Zhi! He just hated not being able to see it with his own eyes!
"I'll send two men to follow you..."
"No need. She can't tear me apart. If she really does, I don't know who will tear who apart."
Gu Yanxi laughed and shook his head. Yes, how could he forget that in terms of fighting power, those women were no match for Azhi. When he thought about it carefully, he realized that he could not be of any help at all.
No, not entirely.
Gu Yanxi lowered his eyes and took the last bite of his meal. He had no chance to attack women, but he did have the chance to attack men.
The next day was a grand court meeting. The dragon throne was empty, and the leader of the Seven Stars Division who had been sitting under the dragon throne for many days was still there. Some people even couldn't help but wonder if the person behind the mask was the same person.
Ever since the chief of the Qixiu Division took over as regent, there has been no more "report matters if necessary, adjourn the court if not". In his words, there is no point in holding court meetings if there is nothing to do. Now all the civil and military officials have become accustomed to his pace and have slowly worked out a set of coping strategies, such as starting with those with lower ranks when reporting matters.
After hearing a few insignificant things, Gu Yanxi waved his hand to stop, "Since you have nothing to say, then I will tell you."
Everyone's heart sank and their minds were tense, fearing that they would be named. This was not the first time, and most of the time it was not a good thing.
"Yesterday, I passed by the government office in the capital and saw a good show. Sir Wen, do you think it was lively?"
Wen Qing, the prefect of Mingtian Prefecture, was trembling all over. He calmed down and stepped out to reply, "I am very sorry. It was just that some people came to the government office because of the unequal distribution of benefits. It would take a long time to handle minor and serious cases. I didn't expect you to see it. I didn't handle it well enough."
“Oh, because of the uneven distribution of benefits?”
Wen Qing gritted his teeth and agreed.
Gu Yanxi snorted coldly and motioned Lai Fu to pass the things over. "Why does it seem to me that this is not what is written on the petition?"
Wen Qing picked up the twisted paper and knew at a glance that it was the one he had seen yesterday. But he had clearly had someone deal with it, so why was it still…
"Master Wen, do you have anything else to say?"
Wen Qing knelt on the ground, refusing to let go, "I really didn't know about this, please understand, sir."
"In that case, let's check it out."
Wen Qing didn't expect to be let go so easily. He thought he would definitely lose his position...
"As for Mr. Wu mentioned in the petition, the promotion will be put on hold for now and will be discussed later."
As soon as Wu Zhen, Shaoqing of the Dali Court, heard the leader of the Qixiu Division mention what happened in front of Mingtian Prefecture's government office yesterday, he knew that he was in trouble. However, seeing that the third-rank official position that was about to be obtained was gone because of this casual remark, his eyes turned red.
How much did he pay to finally cross that threshold and enter the ranks of the upper third-rank officials? He used everything he could, gave up everything he could give up, and even ignored the Hua family when something happened, regardless of their years of friendship, just to cross that threshold. Now it's all gone
It's just gone like that
Wu covered his chest and felt dizzy, but he didn't dare to faint. If he did, all the more than 100 people in his Wu family would be killed.
He is not Hua Yizheng, and there is no one to protect the women in his family!
PS: My son didn't have a fever when he woke up in the morning. I was so happy that I took a bath and had a good sleep, thinking that I would regain my energy to write the update. However, before I could get enough sleep, he had a fever again, and the fever reached 39.2 degrees. I was really exhausted.
Thanks for the ideas, girls. I tried the Huoxiang Zhengqi one and it worked pretty well. Thank you. Today the editor came to praise you all and asked how my readers could be so nice. I told her that all the reasonable and good readers of Migu came to me. Really, thanks very much, girls, for your understanding.
Although I cannot make up for the update, I still want to wish all the students taking the college entrance examination good luck and do well in the exam, because college is just the beginning of your life.