"Yesterday, Mrs. Ning Weihou sent someone to deliver a message, saying that the girls who had the dispute with you in Danmo Tower are the direct descendants of Shangguan when her father-in-law was in the army, because they have been living in the county with their family. , this time I came to the imperial capital to accompany my brother to take the exam."
The old man of the Zhao family has passed away, and now the senior one is Mrs. Qin. The old lady was in her sixties, and her hair, which was once full of green hair, was now gray. However, her eyes were bright, and she had an aura of being looked down upon, which made people dare not look down upon her just because she was an elder of one year.
She stopped taking care of things a long time ago, but her status in the Zhao Mansion is still that of a person who sticks to her word.
At this moment, he looked at his granddaughter below and said slowly, "When the boat passed through Bishui County before, I didn't know your identity, so I had a quarrel with you. I just arrived yesterday, and when I talked about the situation on the road with Ningwei Hou and his wife, I found out. You are a junior in my family, no, hurry up and introduce me to Mrs. Ningweihou, and come to apologize - you must remember that you will have to apologize to others then, after all, this is something you raised your head too proudly!"
It's no wonder that Mrs. Qin wanted to explain in advance. When Zhao Taozhuang heard this, she raised her two carefully drawn distant eyebrows and said dissatisfied: "It's just a daughter of the Imperial Academy! Even if she has some relationship with Ningwei Houfu, What qualifications do you have to ask me to bow down to her?!"
"That's outrageous!" Mrs. Qin's face darkened when she saw this, and she scolded, "What do you mean by bowing your head?! They are both the spoiled apples of the family. When we meet in a scene, it's just a trivial matter to say nothing and taunt each other. After that, Forget it, it’s not some sworn hatred, why are you so unyielding! My husband has taught you the saint’s teachings for ten years, but you haven’t listened to even a single word?!”
"Especially the whole story of the matter. Everyone below told me that it was originally your fault. In front of everyone, you actually argued with a little girl who accidentally interrupted. Fortunately, no one in Bishui County knew you, otherwise it would have been a complete loss. The face of our family!”
"My girl feels sorry for you and my sister said something back to you. What do you think you have wronged?! If you were to take Tao Mei (xuan) out, and they humiliated Tao Mei in front of you, what would you think and do?!"
Zhao Taomei is the youngest daughter of the eldest family member of the Zhao family and the cousin of Zhao Taozhuang. She is two years younger than Zhao Taozhuang. The old lady said happily, "If something hadn't happened to Qingzui in Bishui County, our family would be busy with Meng. The family is settling accounts, and now the child of the Sheng family has been brought to our door by Mrs. Ning Weihou. I want you to take the initiative to apologize to this girl! Now that you have taken advantage, what else can you do?!"
Zhao Taozhuang said angrily: "Grandma! How could you turn your elbows outward? You are just from the Sheng family, a small place! Even if Mrs. Ning Weihou recommended her, she would be lucky enough to enter our house. Do you want me to compensate her? I just took the opportunity to step on her when she came to the door, what can she do to me?!"
After hearing this, Mrs. Qin remained silent for a long time. She narrowed her eyes and looked at her for a moment, which made her subconsciously hold her breath and concentrate. Then she said calmly: "Those children in the Sheng family really can't help you, but if you If you dare to be such a bastard, don't stay in this house anymore. Go to the village as soon as possible and prepare to get married! My Zhao family is a recognized scholarly family in Chang'an City, and has produced ladies from generation to generation. Otherwise, why would your aunt be chosen by the late emperor? Marry King Gaomi as his concubine? Why did your eldest sister fall in the eyes of King Guangling and become his wife?"
"How many predecessors had good intentions, how many men studied hard, and how many women endured hardships, so that our Zhao family is famous today!"
"This is how my Zhao family has continued to be rich and powerful since your great-great-grandfather to this day!"
"If you want to lose your eldest lady's temper, and do things like bullying others and making random grudges because of your pampering, that's fine!"
"But don't bring down our entire Zhao family!"
The old lady's face was calm, without any trace of anger. As her lips and teeth opened and closed, the words she spoke made Zhao Taozhuang's grievances and anger turn into fear and uneasiness, "After all, the Zhao family has never treated you badly! You!" You can’t take advantage of the Zhao family and try your best to trick the Zhao family, right?”
"Old madam, the second young lady is just kissing you, so I have to say a few angry words!" Fortunately, Mrs. Qin's dowry mother Ge was by her side. Seeing the tense atmosphere, she smoothed things over, "After all, the second young lady was raped by Miss Sheng before. Danmolou was embarrassed in public. How could he not be a little embarrassed when he heard that Miss Sheng's family came to plead guilty? As for what to do then, the second young lady was someone you grew up watching. How could you not have this sense of propriety? This is not I want you to love her more by acting coquettishly with you!"
As he spoke, he winked at Zhao Taozhuang, signaling her to quickly bow her head and admit her mistake.
Zhao Taozhuang felt extremely uncomfortable, but she knew that Mrs. Qin had always been strict in raising her children and grandchildren. If she had said that she would be sent to the village to get married, she would definitely do so!
Moreover, Mrs. Qin's sons and daughters-in-law have always been filial. Even though Zhao Qiu and his wife usually doted on Zhao Taozhuang, they did not dote on her to the point of defying Mrs. Qin for her. Tears were almost falling at this moment, but in their rational mind Driven by the desire, she still knelt down at her grandmother's feet and choked with sobs: "Grandma, I know I was wrong, please don't be angry!"
Seeing Mrs. Qin drinking tea with her eyelids drooped, Mother Ge sighed and whispered in her ear: "It's the twelfth lunar month, and you don't like to use ground dragons. Even though the ground is covered with thick mulberry leaves, after all, The ground is cold! The second lady is a girl, and her body is inevitably fragile. If you kneel for a long time and the cold air enters your body, won’t you be the one who feels distressed?"
Then he said, "I know that you are not really angry with her, you are just for the sake of the second young lady, and you deliberately try to temper the second young lady's temperament, but now the second young lady is obviously aware that she is afraid - even without your painstaking efforts, you have achieved your goal. Why bother making the second lady feel anxious again?"
"You are the second lady's direct grandmother. No matter how you punish her, she will feel aggrieved at most. There is no way she can blame you!"
"But those who will come to visit tomorrow or the day after, who knows, they will be angered by the second lady!"
"After all, the second lady is still young, so just take your time. Why rush?"
"The servants are punished by kneeling, and they always kneel outside. Even if it's windy and snowy!" Mrs. Qin said with a cold face, "Now that you're back, why don't you do the same thing? Taozhuang eats and drinks well all day long. There is a pile of charcoal pots on the ground and I have to spend so much time kneeling in a warm room, what's there to feel bad about?"
However, in order to save face for his confidant, he glanced sideways at the pale Zhao Taozhuang and said coldly: "Get up!"
Zhao Taozhuang thanked her in a low voice, and when she stood up, she couldn't hold back the tears anymore.
"Do you know that you are wrong?" However, Mrs. Qin was not soft-hearted and looked at her calmly, "Tell me what is wrong?"
"Granddaughters shouldn't behave in a flamboyant manner. In Danmo Tower, Bishui County..." Zhao Taozhuang suppressed her surging grievances and choked out half a sentence. However, she was immediately interrupted by Mrs. Qin: "Confused! What kind of temper do you have? Not sure? This kind of thing has never happened before. When have I ever scolded you like this?!"
This is true. Although Mrs. Qin is strict, she is also happy to enjoy family happiness when her children and grandchildren act coquettishly and mischievously in front of her when they make no mistakes.
Otherwise, when Zhao Taozhuang listened to her grandmother's advice just now, she would not have dared to object directly.
But I didn't expect that Mrs. Qin would fall out so quickly this time and her attitude would be so harsh...
At this moment, they heard something in the old lady's words. Not only Zhao Taozhuang, but also Mama Ge next to her frowned in deep thought - after all, Mama Ge was older and had been with Madam Qin for a long time. She tasted it in an instant and suddenly said: "So that's it... "
The young Zhao Taozhuang was still confused and only glanced at her with a pleading look, hoping that she could give him some hints.
Fortunately, Mother Ge did not refuse, and said to Mrs. Qin with a smile: "I want you to tell me, this is a good thing! Madam, please think about it, if the second young lady hadn't had a dispute with the two young ladies of the Sheng family in Bishui County, what would she be doing now? How come you take the initiative to come to your door?"
Mrs. Qin did not answer immediately, but noticed Zhao Taozhuang's expression. After a while, she saw that her granddaughter still looked puzzled. She even winked at Mama Ge frequently, hoping that she would give more reminders. She couldn't help but sigh. With a cry, he thought: "This child's qualifications are far inferior to those of Ziye! It's a pity that Ziye has been too busy taking care of herself over the years, let alone her niece. After all, I'm getting older, and I'm mentally exhausted. Unfortunately, I can’t take my grandchildren with me to teach them in person!”
"Taozhuang (ran), who has become the wife of Prince Guangling, has the advantage of her age at least. Ziye and I gave careful guidance back then, so I guess there will be nothing for me to worry about in the future. But Taozhuang, who has not yet come out of the palace, Tao Mei’s scheming and vision are really not at the level that a daughter of my Zhao family should have!"
Ziye is the maiden name of Princess Gaomi.
As the only daughter of Mrs. Qin and the late Mr. Zhao, Princess Gaomi has been carefully cultivated by her parents since she was a child.
She also lived up to this devotion.
When she was young, Zhao Ziye was a famous lady from a high family throughout Chang'an.
It is recognized that she is beautiful, quiet and elegant, virtuous and talented, and her magnanimity is especially heartwarming. In the original words of a talented man who pursued her at that time: "There are beauties and talented women in the world. No matter beauties or talented women, They are all precious. Miss Zhao is not only a beautiful woman but also a talented woman. What we admire most is that she has a noble temperament but not arrogance, and is generous but not weak. Although she is talented, she does not rely on her talents to be arrogant and breeds arrogance and resentment. There is no sense of inferiority. As the ancients said, "It is virtue for a woman to have no talent."
"Be considerate in dealing with things and be able to make decisive decisions when faced with danger, but do not pride yourself on your talents and be arrogant to others because of this."
"My words are gentle and my behavior is elegant, but I don't use it to show weakness or indulge in favoritism."
"If we compare it with flowers and trees, it cannot be summed up by the wealth and grace of peonies that bloom only in sunny spring in March, nor can it be described by the cold and aloof nature of plum blossoms admiring themselves in the ice and snow."
"Only Lingtiao (tiao) seems to be a graceful and charming girl, born by climbing up, but in fact she has a beautiful heart and has the magnificence of Lingxiao!"
The common name of Lingtiao is Lingxiao flower.
When this criticism came out, Zhao Ziye had not yet had his haircut, and the people proposing marriage had already broken through several thresholds in the Zhao family.
Originally, Mrs. Qin and Mr. Zhao, who was still alive at that time, had no intention of marrying their daughter into the royal family.
The reason why Zhao Ziye became the Gaomi Princess was also affected by the dispute between the previous princes.