Cheng Xu pretended to be in tears and laughed, and called Yuan "mother", saying: "I have been sitting for a long time, and I just wanted to stretch my back! Why... Your temper is like a firecracker..." He approached Yuan and said with a smile, "Tell me, who offended you? I will help you vent your anger!"
"Who else would dare to offend me except you!" Yuan took the opportunity to say, "I also saw Miss Min when she was young. She was not only very smart, but also had bright eyes and white teeth, and was very beautiful..."
Cheng Xu frowned and interrupted Yuan: "Mom, it's too early to talk about this now. There are many people who are smart when they are young but become mediocre when they grow up. Don't always judge people by the old calendar..."
Although he tried his best to suppress it, Yuan, who had raised him personally, still heard a hint of impatience in his voice.
Yuan was silent for a moment.
As the saying goes, a grown-up son is no longer controlled by his mother. Now the son has not only grown up, but also passed the imperial examination and ranked first. If it were an ordinary family, he would have been the head of the family and had a say in the ancestral hall. But the son was born in the Cheng family in Jiuru Lane. Scholars and juren are nothing. Even if they are jinshi, they have to be officials of different ranks. That's why he still lets her scold him like a child. But things will turn into the opposite. He now has Zhou Shaojin in his heart. No matter what she says, he won't listen. It's better to put it aside for now and talk to him in detail when there is a chance. Besides, Zhou Zhen is coming back soon. With his personality, as long as he shows a little dislike for Zhou Shaojin, he will never marry his daughter to him... By then, there are some things that my son can't control.
Why should I be a bad person at this time, make my son unhappy, and ruin the relationship between mother and son
Yuan felt a little relieved.
"Look at you, you are even more talkative than an old woman like me. Mother says one thing, and you reply ten times, and you have to talk about me. What child is like you, who never admits defeat?" She smiled and changed the subject, "However, what Cheng Lu said is inappropriate. Others would think that you and Cheng Lu are jealous of each other. We can't let Cheng Lu talk nonsense like this. It would be fine if you were a boy, but the second daughter of the Zhou family is a girl. She hasn't reached the age of marriage yet and is waiting to talk about her husband's family. If this word gets out, who would dare to marry the second daughter of the Zhou family! But you are the person involved, and it's not good to say anything... I think you should leave this matter to me! You just study hard." She added, "Next month is your mentor's birthday. I asked the steward to prepare a set of boxwood study treasures and a pair of plum blossom vases for you. Although the things are few, they are all very valuable. Take the things and go to see your mentor in a few days.
The chief examiner for Cheng Xu's provincial examination was the then prefect of Jinling, who had now been promoted to the governor of Zhejiang.
Yuan wanted to send her son to Hangzhou.
Cheng Xu understood it in his heart, but he knew that it was not appropriate to go against his mother's wishes at this time, otherwise his mother would be determined to grab Zhou Shaojin and talk to him, and he would not be able to stop her.
It would be better for me to listen to my mother and go to Hangzhou to visit my teacher for the time being, and then talk about it when I come back.
He agreed with a smile.
Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.
My son always kept his promises, so since he had promised, he would definitely go to Hangzhou to visit his mentor. If he missed the meeting with Zhou Zhen, that would be even better.
The mother and son looked at each other and smiled. They both knew that this was not the final result, but they also knew that they could not talk any further. If they continued, it would only create estrangement between them.
Yuan ordered the steward to prepare a carriage for Cheng Xu.
Cheng Xu told Huanxi, "Keep an eye on the Second Miss. If there is any movement, send someone to send me a message through the post station. Don't be afraid to spend money. Everything will be settled after I come back."
He responded happily.
Two days later, Yuan sent Cheng Xu away, and then asked the maid to invite Cheng Lu's mother Dong to come for tea: "… Just tell her that the master sent some Lu'an Guapian from the capital, and I want her to try it."
The little maidservant responded and left.
Dong was worried when she received the letter.
She asked the maid to sit in the hall, and under the pretext of changing her clothes, she told her nurse to send a servant to deliver a message to Cheng Lu who was taking classes in the clan school: "We have no contact with the eldest branch, and Madam Yuan and I have barely spoken a word in a year. She suddenly invited me to have tea, and I don't know why. Go to the prime minister and ask for a message to see if I should go. What should I bring when I go?"
The wet nurse quietly slipped out of the main room and found Cheng Lu's personal servant Song Qing.
When Song Qing heard this, he ran towards Cheng’s Academy.
But the Cheng family was still far away from the Cheng family in Jiuru Lane. Without waiting for Song Qing's reply, Dong followed the little maid to Yunzhen Hall in the eldest house reluctantly.
Yuan warmly invited Dong to sit down, exchanged a few pleasantries with her, and then went straight to the point and talked about Cheng Lu: "… I was shocked when I heard this. I was afraid that the child had said something wrong unintentionally, and I was also afraid that someone had ulterior motives to spread rumors. I thought that we were both mothers and had the same expectations for our children. If this got to the ears of Xiangqing's mentor, how would he look at him?"
Mrs. Dong was more surprised than Mrs. Yuan.
She was stunned and speechless. After a while, she reacted and started crying with a pale face: "Madam Yuan, you have to take care of our Xiangqing! Our Xiangqing has been honest since he was a child. He knows nothing except studying. How could he say such a thing? Someone must be trying to frame our Xiangqing. Seeing that he passed the exam and ate the food, he was jealous..."
Are you jealous? If your son passed the imperial examination, wouldn't everyone look at you like a piece of gold
Yuan tried hard not to show any disdain.
She signaled the maid to hand a handkerchief to Dong, then sent the servant away and whispered to Dong, "I also heard that your prime minister is very fond of the second young lady of the fourth branch Zhou family. Is this true?"
"No, no!" Dong denied it instinctively, and then she thought of the news that came out of Jiuru Lane a few days ago, saying that Zhou Zhen was transferred to be the prefect of Baoding, and would soon go to Beijing to serve as a court official and join one of the six ministries as a vice minister. She felt that she answered a little too quickly, and her eyes flickered, with a hint of hesitation on her face.
In her opinion, her son has always valued Zhou Shaojin, and she is also happy to have a girl like Zhou Shaojin who has a good family background and a gentle temperament as her daughter-in-law. Zhou Zhen is coming back soon, and it would be great if she could marry into the Zhou family. But now people outside are saying that her son and Cheng Jiashan are jealous of Zhou Shaojin. If she proposes to marry into the Zhou family at this time, wouldn't it confirm the rumors? But if she denies it, she will never have such a good opportunity again in the future...
Yuan saw it clearly.
She sneered in her heart.
It seems that his son's words are not entirely biased towards Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin married into the Cheng family, and I’m afraid she was like a chick that entered a weasel’s nest and would never come back.
She pretended not to know. She smiled and said, "Hearing you say that, I feel relieved. I will go visit the ancestor of the second branch and ask him to teach those who are talking nonsense a lesson. Otherwise, they will think that we, the first branch, are easy to bully."
Now that things have come to this, Mrs. Dong is not in a position to mention Zhou Shaojin anymore.
She laughed dryly and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Madam!"
"What's the trouble?" Yuan said with a smile, "This also concerns our Dalang." She invited her again, "Why don't we go together? Your Xiangqing also has a role in this matter!"
Dong felt something was amiss when she heard this. What did "your family's prime minister is also involved" mean? But when she thought about it carefully, she realized that it was not wrong.
She couldn't make up her mind and just wanted to get home as soon as possible to see her son and listen to what he said before taking any action.
"My legs tremble when I see the old ancestor," Dong refused politely, "You should go by yourself! Doesn't Mr. Xu have a role in this matter? I'd better go home and wait for your news."
Hearing that Dong used her words to refute her, Yuan was furious and said with a half-smile, "Since my sister-in-law trusts me, I will take full charge of this matter."
Seeing that she didn't force herself to go to the second room, Dong sighed and said with a smile, "Of course."
Yuan nodded with a smile, invited her to have tea, and then went to the second room.
Dong hurried back home.
Cheng Lu was already waiting for Dong at home. When he heard the noise, he immediately came out to greet her.
"Mother," he said without waiting for Mrs. Dong to speak, "Let's talk inside."
Mrs. Dong nodded repeatedly and went to the study with Cheng Lu.
Song Qing was standing outside the study room while Dong quietly told Cheng Lu everything about her visit to the eldest son's house. Finally, she said with regret, "It would be great if there were no such rumors. I was planning to propose marriage to the Zhou family for you!"
Cheng Lu smiled and said, "Mom, some things are about fate. I'm afraid that the second young lady of the Zhou family and I don't have this fate."
The tone was somewhat helpless.
Dong was a widow with this son. Her son was everything to her. Moreover, her son was so promising and could support the family at such a young age. What else could she say? So after hearing what Cheng Lu said, she thought about it and changed her mind: "I think you and Zhou Shaojin are not destined to be together. Think about it, everything was fine before, but since she fell ill in March this year, she has gradually become distant from us and is not as respectful to me as before. I guess she is older and has more thoughts, and she dislikes our family's weak foundation. Now Zhou Zhen is coming back, and such rumors are spreading again." She said thankfully, "Fortunately, my son passed the examination, so it is not difficult to find a good marriage. Otherwise, I would feel really bad!"
"Mom, don't worry. I will work harder in the future and take the imperial examinations." Cheng Lu comforted his mother in a gentle voice, "Don't worry about me. Just wait and enjoy your life."
"I am enjoying my life now." Mrs. Dong was very satisfied. She held her son's hand and said, "You have taken back our property from the fourth house, and you have gained fame. From now on, I don't have to look at the faces of the Cheng family so often. We can live our own lives behind closed doors like when your father was alive. After a while, I will ask someone to find a good marriage for you. If you give me a few grandchildren, I can close my eyes in peace."
Cheng Lu's face darkened, but he softened in an instant and said with a smile, "Mom, please don't worry about my marriage. The better my grades are, the easier it will be to find a father-in-law who can help me. It's better to wait a few years."
"Mother listens to you. Mother listens to you in everything." Seeing that her son did not comment too much on her going to the eldest house, Dong felt that she should not have made any mistakes. She relaxed and said with a smile, "When did you come back? Are you hungry? I'll ask the kitchen to bring you a bowl of lotus seed soup. The weather is getting colder, and you can't drink this sour plum soup anymore..."
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I have written 100 chapters without realizing it... So many pink votes, I will continue to add more tomorrow... o(∩_∩)o
※(To be continued)