By the time she saw Cheng Xu, Yuan had completely calmed down.
She smiled and told the maids to serve tea and snacks, and asked in a gentle tone about Cheng Xu's food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Yuan's wet nurse couldn't help but sigh in her heart when she saw this.
She knew it would be like this.
No matter how angry Yuan was, she would lose all her temper as soon as she saw the master. So whenever Yuan said she wanted to discipline the master, none of the servants dared to take it seriously.
She winked at the maids and wives serving in the room, and they all tiptoed away, leaving Yuan's mother and son alone to talk in private.
Yuan watched, nodded secretly to the nurse's tact, then picked up a piece of melon with a toothpick and gave it to her son, saying with a smile, "They said it's no longer available on the market. You've loved eating it since you were a kid, so eat more."
Cheng Xu was the eldest grandson of the eldest son, the future heir of Jiuru Lane. He didn't need to do anything, people would come to him and pass on the news about him. But this time, Yuan immediately sent someone to call him over. He didn't know why his mother was looking for him, so he took the melon and ate it with a smile.
Yuan asked him, "I heard that you have been very close to Cheng Xiangqing these days? Don't you usually not associate with people like him? Why did you change your mind?"
In Yuan's view, Cheng Lu lost his father at an early age and was raised by his widowed mother alone, but he was so good at dealing with people and was praised by everyone. If he was not a great saint or a wise man, then he was a very treacherous and evil person. No matter whether he was the former or the latter, he was not someone who could be a friend and it was better to stay away from him.
Cheng Xu didn't expect his mother to ask this, so he said vaguely, "Didn't he pass the imperial examination? A few days ago, a friend had a banquet with him, and he was there. We were both from the Cheng family, so we talked a little more. I thought he was pretty good, and we would chat occasionally."
"If that's the case," Yuan didn't expose her, but frowned and said, "You should be on good terms with him. Why is he saying in front of others that you're making things difficult for him because of the second young lady of the fourth Zhou family... Listen to what he's saying?"
Cheng Xu was very surprised.
He knew that Cheng Lu had taken a fancy to Zhou Shaojin, but Zhou Shaojin did not have a good impression of Cheng Lu. If Cheng Lu was a decent person, he would be fine, but Cheng Lu was ambitious. For the sake of his future, when he was making things difficult for him, he actually hinted to him that he could help him get Zhou Shaojin, and even cut off his relationship with Zhou Shaojin... At that moment, he was indeed moved, but more importantly, he was deeply concerned about Cheng Lu - how could a man who could even betray the woman he liked treat his friends sincerely!
Cheng Xu wanted to know what Cheng Lu wanted to do. At the same time, he had a vague idea in his mind that if he didn't jump into this trap, with Zhou Shaojin's beauty, Cheng Lu would definitely tempt other people to jump into this trap.
Rather than having another person who likes Zhou Shaojin appear, it is better for him to deal with Cheng Lu personally.
So he acquiesced to Cheng Lu's rumor, and also wanted to see Zhou Shaojin's reaction. In addition, Zhou Zhen was about to come back, and if he heard such a rumor, he would directly deny Cheng Lu... which might not be a bad thing.
As for himself, as long as he asked his elders to come forward, these rumors would be self-defeating.
But he didn't expect that someone told his mother just two or three days after the incident.
He thought about it and immediately had an idea.
"Mother," Cheng Xu said sincerely, "there is something you may not know - Cheng Lu has always wanted to marry Zhou's second cousin." He told Yuan some of the things that happened, and said, "If he is a good person, I will naturally not care. But think about it, with his personality, how could he really want to marry Zhou's second cousin? He said that only because Zhou's second cousin also saw his thoughts and didn't want to have a private relationship with him, and he was angry and ruined Zhou's second cousin's reputation."
Although Yuan was surprised, her son's little thoughts were exposed to her.
She couldn't help but say, "Even so, why did he use you as a cover? It must be because you didn't behave properly, which made Cheng Lu feel that there was an opportunity to take advantage of you! No matter what Cheng Lu did, this matter ends here. Mother might as well tell you the truth. Your father finally got to where he is today, but the old ancestor of the second house still made many excuses and was unwilling to return the family tree to us. He now spends two or three months every year traveling around, just because he is afraid that the connections he left behind will gradually fade with the passage of time. He hopes that your cousin can pass the imperial examination as soon as possible so that he can help him in his official career. Your father has not contributed a bit to what he has today. Instead, it is because he holds an important position. In order to avoid it, your father has been wandering outside the six ministries for so many years... As long as you pass the imperial examination before your cousin, the second branch ancestor will be helpless no matter how capable he is. How many years does he have left to live? Even if he lives to be 800 years old like Peng Zu, can his former colleagues live as long as him? By then, he will have no choice but to hand over the family tree to our eldest branch... Back then, your grandfather was seriously ill, and your father and your two uncles were still young. He used this as an excuse to borrow the family tree, and he never returned it..."
Cheng Xu didn't understand, he said disapprovingly: "Mom, we are the eldest branch, everyone knows this. Even if he got the family tree, what can we do? At worst, we can just break up and we can just re-establish our branch. With our current prosperity, maybe re-establishing our branch is a good thing..."
"You don't understand this matter." Yuan's expression slowly became solemn, and she said, "I don't know the details either. You have to ask your father. It seems that the ancestors of the Cheng family have a clan rule that whoever is in charge of the family tree is the head of the family and can touch the public money and property. Look at your father, how can he support us with his salary? How can he socialize with the superiors? How can he help his colleagues and friends? If it weren't for the money from the public treasury, our family would have starved to death long ago. How can your father earn such a great reputation in the capital? It's all built up with money!"
This was the first time Cheng Xu had heard of this. He asked, "Mother, isn't Fourth Uncle in charge of the general affairs now?"
"That requires someone from the second branch to take care of the chores!" Yuan said sarcastically, "If Cheng Shi goes to manage the chores, how can he have the time and energy to take the imperial examination? Otherwise, why would your fourth uncle, a Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations twice, stay at home with such talent and knowledge? Your fourth uncle is helping your father and your second uncle!"
So grandmother, father, uncle, and even second uncle, great-uncle, and third uncle in the capital all feel sorry for fourth uncle
Cheng Xu murmured, "Didn't Fourth Uncle establish Yutai Bank? At worst, he can give all the property in the public house to the second house, and we can live separately. With Fourth Uncle's ability, I don't believe we can't survive!"
"If only things were as simple as you think!" Yuan thought of how she had suggested this when she first got married and there was no Yutai Bank. Her husband just smiled bitterly. She felt helpless and said, "You are still young. There are some things that are not yet time to tell you. You just need to listen to mother, study hard, pass the imperial examination, and bring back the family tree. Then mother will be happy."
"As long as you listen to your mother, study hard, and pass the imperial examinations, I will find you a wife who can help you in your official career, and I will be happy." His mother has told him this countless times since he was a child, but today she added a sentence: "Bring back the family tree."
He used to be very excited when he heard this, even a little complacent, thinking that his mother was the daughter of a cabinet minister, and if nothing unexpected happened to his father, he would also be able to enter the cabinet and become a prime minister. His mother was the wife of a cabinet minister, and if he could also enter the cabinet like his father, his mother would be the first person in history... He really wanted to give this honor to his mother.
But today, he had other ideas.
"Mom!" Cheng Xu smiled, "Everything has its pros and cons. My wife's family is a government official family, which can help me in my career, but there are also many playboys and troubles. For example, our family has a fifth room, right? I think you might as well find me a girl with a clean family background, simple family, and a father who is an official in the court. At least she won't drag me down... If I work hard and make progress, I may be able to earn an imperial edict for mother."
Yuan was shocked.
The conditions his son proposed were completely based on Zhou Shaojin's family background.
It seems that my son really likes Zhou Shaojin!
But she was unwilling to quarrel with her son over this matter. Not only did she not show any strange color, she also smiled and said: "I see you are talking very logically, are you interested in a girl? Tell me quickly? Who is it? What does she look like? How did you meet her?"
Cheng Xu didn't dare to say it.
He knew that if he let out a little, Zhou Shaojin would be suspected of having a secret relationship with him. He could not care what Cheng Lu said, because with Cheng Lu's status and position, as long as the Cheng family denied it, no one would believe what he said. But he could not let the elders in his family doubt Zhou Shaojin. Otherwise, even if he and Zhou Shaojin got married, Zhou Shaojin would not have a good life. Maybe it would make his mother unhappy, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would not get along...
He smiled nonchalantly and said, "Mom, am I that kind of person? To spy on other girls in private? I just said so and thought so. It's my parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. In the end, I still have to listen to my mother."
"Okay!" Yuan was waiting for her son to say this. She smiled and said, "Mother has taken a fancy to the eldest daughter of the Min family in Fujian. She is the younger sister of Min Jianxing, the number one scholar in the Renchen year. You should have heard of their family. They have one imperial tutor, two number one scholars, one number two scholar, and twelve Jinshi scholars..."
Cheng Xu's head buzzed. He could not hear clearly what his mother said, but he knew in his heart that things were going to be bad.
It must be a long time since my mother had been planning to take over the Min family. Once my mother made a decision, few people could change her mind.
He stood up suddenly.
"What are you doing?" Yuan's face darkened, and her eyes fell on Cheng Xu's face like a knife, "Mother is talking to you! Why are you so angry?"
It was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, and Cheng Xu suddenly woke up.
He kept reminding himself in his heart.
You have to keep calm, you have to keep calm, otherwise things will definitely go wrong and it will be out of control!
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What did you sisters gain yesterday
O(∩_∩)o Haha!
Today's update!
※(To be continued)