Zhou Zhen's study was not big, with two wide open rooms separated by a floor-standing shade with ice cracks. To the west was the inner room, where a small lacquered bed, a table, chairs, a flower table, and a footstool were placed. It was Zhou Zhen's temporary residence. To the east was a place for reading and writing. A large desk made of a whole piece of pear wood was placed in the middle of the room, surrounded by bookshelves that reached the ceiling, and a Luohan bed was placed by the window.
When Zhou Shaojin walked in, Zhou Zhen was sitting on the Arhat bed making tea.
"Come here!" He smiled and greeted his little daughter, pointing to the empty seat opposite him and said, "This is the Lushan Yunlin tea I brought from Jiangxi, try it!"
Zhou Shaojin thought about it, smiled, bowed to his father, and sat down opposite his father.
Zhou Zhen handed her a purple clay cup.
Zhou Shaojin saw that the tea soup was bright in color, and he smelled it. It was fragrant like orchid. He took a sip and found it sweet and mellow. He couldn't help but praise it as "good tea".
Zhou Zhen laughed and poured her another glass.
Zhou Shaojin then realized something was wrong and hurried to get the kettle, saying, "Let me do it!"
"No, no." Zhou Zhen said with a smile, "There's no one else here. I'm your father. We don't need to be so particular about this between father and daughter."
But Zhou Shaojin still felt a little uncomfortable.
Zhou Zhen just went with her.
Zhou Shaojin poured a few cups of tea for his father.
Zhou Zhen praised: "I didn't expect you could make tea." Thinking that his little daughter learned it from the Cheng family, he didn't take it seriously.
Zhou Shaojin naturally wouldn't explain.
After a few cups of tea, Zhou Zhen asked, "You wrote me that letter because you found out that your mother was once engaged to the Cheng family, right?"
Zhou Shaojin was so scared that his hands shook and the tea almost splashed on his hands.
Zhou Zhen said softly, "Don't be afraid. I don't mean to blame you. You did a good job. When there was something, you didn't blindly believe what others said, nor did you ask around. Instead, you wrote to me."
Zhou Shaojin's face turned red.
If she had not lived two lives as a human, she would definitely believe what Cheng Lu said.
Zhou Zhen said: "In the end, this is all my fault. You and your sister must have suffered a lot since you were raised in the Cheng family. But I really don't have the energy to take care of you and your sister, and I don't want to marry a woman casually. If she neglects to discipline you, it will be too late for me to regret it. Just don't hate me in your heart!"
"No, no." Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly, "I have never resented my father. I know that he gave us to our grandmother to raise for our own good."
Even though such a thing happened in her previous life, she never resented her father for letting her grow up in the Cheng family.
She knew her father's difficulties and could understand his feelings.
Not everyone would treat the children left by the previous wife as well as her biological mother did. Once the father remarried, the new wife would be in charge of the household chores. He couldn't always keep an eye on the second wife. They were still young, and if the stepmother had evil intentions, it would be easy for her to lead them astray without him being able to catch them. So the father would rather let the sisters suffer a little than let them be ignorant of the world and be bullied by others after getting married.
So when she said, "It's better at home," her sister would say, "It's okay to do this occasionally. If you do this every day, I'm afraid you will be indulged and have no rules."
Zhou Shaojin told his father about the conversation he had with his sister that morning and said with a smile, "You see, my sister also understands your painstaking efforts."
Zhou Zhen felt sad at his daughters' understanding. It took him a while to calm down and said, "Actually, the main reason I came back this time was to talk to you about your mother."
Zhou Shaojin was surprised.
Zhou Zhen nodded and said, "I know. If nothing had happened, you would not have written to me, nor would you have mentioned the Zhuang family's old house on Guan Street. I later asked someone to ask Ma Fushan, and he told me how you knew about the old house on Guan Street, how you sent him to investigate the Cheng family, and how you 'bought bones with a lot of gold' to find the servant who used to serve your grandfather... everything."
Zhou Shaojin's face felt hot.
She thought she was keeping it secret, but she didn't expect Ma Fushan to tell her father everything that happened.
"I, I didn't mean it..." she murmured.
"I know." Zhou Zhen's voice became softer, "I know what happened back then. After your grandfather betrothed your mother to me, your mother wrote me a letter and told me everything that happened back then. She also said in the letter that she felt she was not wrong, and if I couldn't accept it, it would be better to forget about it while the two families hadn't made up their minds yet. Your sister was still young at the time, and I didn't think of remarrying so early. After hearing what your mother said, I became a little curious, so I borrowed Gu's house and went to meet your mother..."
He suddenly stopped, his eyes full of tenderness and affection.
Father, do you remember the scene when you first met mother
Zhou Shaojin sighed and envied.
I sigh that my mother passed away too early, and I envy that even though my mother is gone, my father still has her in his heart.
She didn't say anything, afraid to disturb her father's memories.
After a while, Zhou Zhen came back to his senses, smiled at Zhou Shaojin with a bit of embarrassment, and said: "Your mother is a kind and honest person, but she also has her own identity. What the old beggar said is mostly true. Your mother has never done anything wrong to anyone. If someone says something bad about your mother in the future, you don't have to feel guilty. Just straighten your back and fight back fiercely."
Zhou Shaojin's eyes immediately became moist.
Being protected like this... It's great!
"I understand." She couldn't help sobbing and said, "I won't let anyone tarnish my mother's reputation."
"That's right!" Zhou Zhen looked at his little daughter with great satisfaction. He took out a handkerchief from somewhere and handed it to her, saying, "Some people do something wrong, but instead of reflecting on themselves, they think it's all someone else's fault, that others look down on them, that others despise the poor and love the rich, that others covet pleasure, and that they want to curry favor with the rich and powerful... Don't say anything to such people. Even if you do, they won't make sense. Just stay away from them. Do you understand?"
Father is talking about Cheng Bo, right
Zhou Shaojin nodded continuously.
Zhou Zhen's expression visibly relaxed.
Zhou Shaojin boldly said, "Dad, when my sister gets married, I want to go to work with you, is that okay?"
Zhou Zhen was quite surprised and asked, "Why, are you uncomfortable living in Cheng's house?"
"No." Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment and said, "Cousin Lu... seems to hate me very much... When he meets me, he seems to be very nice to me, but when no one is around, he treats me very badly... If you want to ask me what specific wrongdoings he has done, it seems that he has not done anything wrong. That's just how I feel..."
She couldn't tell the things about her past life, and in this life Cheng Lu was just ambiguous towards her, which was not enough to serve as evidence, so she could only say some ambiguous words.
Since her father cares so much about her and her sister, he will definitely not sit idly by.
Sure enough, Zhou Zhen's expression changed drastically after listening to it. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Is it okay for others to feel uncomfortable if you speak in a sarcastic tone?"
"That's right, that's right." Zhou Shaojin's goal was to have Zhou Zhen find out what Cheng Bai said or confessed to Cheng Lu before he died, so Cheng Lu hated her so much, "but it's not easy to tell my grandmother and the others."
"I understand." Zhou Zhen's expression was indifferent, but his eyes were a little cold. "I will handle this matter, don't worry about it."
Zhou Shaojin brought up the matter of following his father to take up his post again: "Then can I go to Baoding Prefecture at that time?"
"Is it just for this?" Zhou Zhen pondered, "Is your grandmother... or your aunt good to you?"
"Very good!" Zhou Shaojin said sincerely, "She's like her own granddaughter or daughter. Last time, my aunt went to the Gu family in Meihua Lane for a wedding banquet and brought me and my sister with her."
Zhou Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "If it was just because of Cheng Lu, you wouldn't have to rush to take up the post with me!"
Zhou Shaojin was puzzled.
Zhou Zhen thought for a while and said, "Do you know the status of the Cheng family among the scholars in Jiangnan?"
Zhou Shaojin shook his head: "I don't know!"
Zhou Zhen laughed, organized his words, and said thoughtfully: "In the early years, Jiuru Lane had two branches, the eldest branch was Cheng Fu, and the second branch was Cheng Bi. Cheng Fu had three sons, the eldest son Cheng Zhi, the second son Cheng Lie, and the third son Cheng Ze. Among them, the eldest and the second son are legitimate sons, and the third son is a concubine's son. The second branch Cheng Bi had two sons, the eldest son Cheng Kan, and the second son Cheng Gang. Among them, Cheng Gang is a concubine's son.
"Cheng Zhi, the eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son, was the last third place winner of the imperial examination in the previous dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Lie, he served as a scholar of the Imperial Academy and the director of the Ministry of Rites. When the capital fell, he carried Emperor Lie on his back and escaped from the capital. He also commanded the imperial guards and fought bloody battles with the founding general Lin Tiande of the dynasty several times to escort Emperor Lie south. Later, Emperor Lie was welcomed to Quanzhou by Prince Xin, Prince Guang, and Prince Wei, and the Xiangxing Dynasty was established. Cheng Zhi was appointed prime minister. Later, the court besieged Yashan, Prince Xin and Prince Wei died in the battle, and Prince Guang quietly opened the gate to welcome the court's heavy troops. Seeing that the emperor and his subjects were in danger, Cheng Zhi suggested that Emperor Lie commit suicide. Emperor Lie did not dare, so Cheng Zhi jumped into the sea with Emperor Lie and died."
Zhou Shaojin was very surprised.
In her two lifetimes, she had never heard of the history of the Cheng family.
But if you think about it, these were things from the previous dynasty, so it's understandable why no one mentions them.
Is this the reason why the Cheng family was confiscated and exterminated
wrong!
If it was because of this reason, Emperor Taizu would have confiscated the Cheng family and exterminated the clan at that time. Why would he wait until now
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but ask: "Is everything you said true?"
This is an old calendar from a hundred years ago, and my daughter grew up in a secluded place, so she probably has never heard of it.
"It's true." Zhou Zhen nodded and said, "The later dynasty will compile ancient history. I heard from your uncle Jing that the emperor has ordered the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy to start compiling ancient history, and the comment on Cheng Zhi is 'well-versed in classics and history, prudent and strategic, loyal and brave with great integrity'."
Such high reviews
Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes wide.
Zhou Zhen said: "The second son of the eldest branch of the Cheng family, Cheng Lie, was a juren at the time. He followed his brother to study in the capital. When he was only eighteen or nineteen years old, he heard the news that the court was attacking the capital, so he volunteered to join the rebel army organized by You Pushe Wang Qing. After the capital fell, he and his brother Cheng Zhi escorted Emperor Lie south, and later died in battle at Yashan."
Both brothers died on Yashan!
Zhou Shaojin was surprised and asked: "Cheng Zhi was already married at that time, right? Then his child..."
Zhou Zhen's eyes dimmed slightly, and he said, "Cheng Zhi had three sons and two daughters. When the capital fell, Madam Cheng fled to Tongzhou with her children. They happened to encounter the imperial army chasing after Emperor Lie, and someone reported it. Madam Cheng knew she couldn't escape, so she wanted to commit suicide with her children. A loyal servant named Qin Da didn't want Cheng Zhi to have no descendants, so he secretly replaced Cheng Zhi's youngest son Cheng Bei with his youngest son, and Cheng Zhi was able to leave a bloodline!"
※
Sisters, it looks like I will not only have to update to the end this month, but I will also have to "pay off my debt" next month...
PS: The pink votes will be doubled, sisters, please give me pink votes!
※(To be continued)