In Yunzhen Hall, the situation was tense.
Yuan and Cheng Xu sat facing each other.
Cheng Xu's eyes widened, and he said unyieldingly, "Why can my eldest and second sisters decide their own marriages, but I can't?"
"Because you are a man, the legitimate son and grandson of Jiuru Lane, and the one who supports our Cheng family." Yuan looked at her son coldly, "Girls live in the inner house all their lives. After getting married, in addition to having to look at the face of their husband and mother-in-law, they also have to look at the face of their sister-in-law and sisters-in-law. When they are old, they even have to look at the face of their son. Men can travel around, go in and out of the court, and they should bring honor to their ancestors and make achievements for the country. The inner house is just a place for you to rest occasionally. The court is where you should stay and where you should work hard."
Cheng Xu blushed when he heard this and said, "Is it not important to cultivate oneself, govern the family, and bring peace to the country and the world, and to keep the inner house peaceful?"
Before he finished speaking, Yuan sneered and said, "Who wants the inner house to be in turmoil? Isn't it you? You chose to go down a dead end instead of taking the good and open road. Did your grandmother or your father agree to this? Who is causing unrest here?"
Cheng Xu hesitated to speak.
He wanted to say that making great achievements and going down in history were all up to man and God. Who dared to say that he could definitely achieve great things? But marrying a wife he loved was the matter before him. He only wanted to take care of the matter before him.
But he knew better that he couldn't say that.
If these words were spoken, it would really cause unrest in the family.
Not only his mother will be disappointed, but his grandmother and his father, who had placed infinite hope on him, will also be disappointed.
Cheng Xu looked at his mother with a melancholy expression.
Yuan's heart softened.
Thinking of her son's little face that was as bright as the sun when he was a child, and his chubby little hands when he took the delicious food out of his mouth and stuffed it into her mouth... Her tone couldn't help but relax a lot, and she whispered: "Jiashan, in this world, if you gain something, you must lose something. Your responsibilities don't allow you to be so willful. Let's not talk about anything else, just the emperor. 'The whole world is big, and it belongs to the emperor'. He should be the most noble person in the world, right? He wanted to make Concubine Lin the queen, but Concubine Lin had no heirs, and the cabinet didn't agree. He could only make Concubine Wang Xian, who gave birth to the eldest son, the queen. The emperor has to follow secular rules, let alone us commoners? Shaojin is very good, but if she came from a family of officials for generations, mother would not only not stop you, but also find a way to help you marry her back. You are also very good, but if you were just the eldest son of a common family, mother would not ask you like this. You have enjoyed the support of the Cheng family, and you must repay the Cheng family. This is both your life and Shaojin's life. You can't just take care of yourself and ignore others."
Cheng Xu was unwilling to accept this. He asked, "What about my fourth uncle? He passed the imperial examination but didn't join the government, and he didn't get married when he was over 20. Why don't you take care of him? Why do you keep targeting me?"
After saying so much, my son still didn't listen to a word I said.
Yuan was so angry that her head was buzzing. She knew that no matter how much she said, it would be useless. She simply said, "If you can be like your fourth uncle, not spending a penny of the family's money, and you can set up your own family now, I won't care about you!"
Cheng Xu was inspired by what he heard, and immediately jumped up and said, "Okay, mother, let's make it like this. If I can live well without relying on my family and not using the money of my family like my fourth uncle, you will agree to let me decide my own marriage."
Yuan almost vomited blood after hearing this, but fortunately she was not completely confused by her son's anger, so she said intuitively: "You can wait, but girls can't. Girls should get married when they reach the age of marriage, I'm afraid this is just your wishful thinking, right?"
Cheng Xu knew that his mother was making things difficult for him.
But he is not so easily stumped.
His mind was racing.
The year after next is Dingyou, and there will be a list of top scorers in the imperial examination. If he passes the examination, he can gradually stop relying on his family like his fourth uncle did, right
He immediately said, "Well, let's set a limit of three years. If I no longer rely on my family after three years, you must abide by our agreement. On the other hand, if I cannot be independent after three years, I will still follow your arrangements."
Three years later, Zhou Shaojin reached the age of 15.
Yuan said "OK".
After his son passes the imperial examination, he will find out how difficult it is to enter the spring examination, which selects only more than 300 people every three years, without the support of his family.
※
Zhou Shaojin didn't know that this life and his previous life would always overlap amazingly at some point.
On the day of the Chrysanthemum Banquet, she hid in Wanxiangju and did not go out, and Cheng Xu did not find her with any excuses. She was relieved, but also a little uneasy in her heart - she didn't know when Cheng Xu would show up again.
She calmly asked Biyu and others about Cheng Xu's whereabouts in recent days.
"… I have been accompanying Master Min." Biyu said, "I heard from Huanxi that Master Min asked me to go to the Imperial Academy to study with him. It seems that Master Min agreed. Madam also agrees and has written a letter to Master. If Master has no objection, after the Cold Clothes Festival, Master will go to the capital with Master Min."
On the first day of October, the Cold Clothes Festival, every household worships their ancestors.
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
In his previous life, Cheng Xu had always stayed in Jinling.
Could it be that she was affected by her rebirth again
If so, it would be a good thing. She didn't have to be so nervous against Cheng Xu. After Cheng Xu went to Kyoto, his horizons were broadened and he might just let her go.
This is a good thing!
Zhou Shaojin was in high spirits and brought a few crabs to visit Jiying.
Ji Ying saw that the crabs were all as big as bowls, and drooled. He said, "I haven't eaten crabs this big for many years. I remember I buried a jar of Nv'erhong in the yard, so I dug it out and drank it."
"No, no, no." Zhou Shaojin hurriedly stopped her and said, "The longer the daughter's red wine is buried, the more mellow it becomes. Why don't we bury it for a few more years?"
"Who knows what the situation will be like next year?" Jiying disagreed and said, "I heard from Minghe that Nanping is packing up these days and seems to be moving to Zaoyuan. If he really moves there, I don't know how long this wine will be buried. Who will get the advantage!"
"Are you going to move to Zaoyuan?" Zhou Shaojin was very surprised.
Ji Ying shrugged and said, "That's just what I heard. I'm not sure whether they will move or not."
These words were like a huge rock, hitting Zhou Shaojin's heart heavily.
So how does she get close to Uncle Chi
Then who could she turn to to warn Cheng Jing
What should the Cheng family do
What should she do
Could it be that the second branch’s ancestor Cheng Xu did something
Zhou Shaojin became anxious and asked, "You are living here well, why do you want to move out suddenly?"
Ji Ying smiled and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Even if we have to move, I'm afraid it will be after the Cold Clothes Festival."
Zhou Shaojin said sadly: "Then, will I see you again in the future?"
"Can you please stop looking like you're about to be separated from your loved ones?" Ji Ying was both angry and amused when she saw this, and said, "Your uncle is a moody person. We might just move out and he'll move back the next moment. Think about it, he doesn't care about anyone, and he can't forget about his own mother, right? So as long as the old lady is still alive and still lives in Jiuru Lane, there's no way he won't come back."
But what if the old lady is gone
This thought entered Zhou Shaojin's mind following Jiying's words.
She couldn't help but shudder.
When did the old lady go
Zhou Shaojin kept reminiscing.
The last time Cheng Xu appeared was in the 24th or 25th year of Zhide. She couldn't remember clearly, but at that time, Madam Guo was still alive, otherwise Cheng Xu would not have gone crazy in the capital. Madam Guo passed away after the 25th year of Zhide.
In the 26th year of Zhide, she didn't remember what happened to the Cheng family. But in the 27th year of Zhide, her cousin passed the imperial examination and became a scholar-official, observing politics in the Ministry of Justice. Later, her cousin Yi came to see her... It was her cousin Yi who failed the imperial examination, in the year of Bingwu, the 29th year of Zhide. Her cousin Yi didn't mention Madam Guo, but later... The second old man Cheng Shao of the eldest house died suddenly of a sudden illness, and he rushed to Xinglin Hutong to help with the funeral.
Xinglin Hutong is where the Cheng family settled in the capital, and the second old master of the eldest house has always lived there.
She remembered that her cousin Yi had said to her at the time: "Since you don't want to have any contact with the Cheng family anymore, just pretend you don't know."
Tell her not to send anyone to worship.
Seeing that Cheng Yi was very depressed at that time, she was very worried and secretly sent someone to follow him. The person who came back told her that Cheng Yi was fine and asked her not to worry. He also said that someone from Jinling had come to report the death and Cheng Yi had to rush back to Jinling early the next morning, so he would not come to say goodbye to her.
The Cheng family has too many relatives in Jinling.
Moreover, Cheng Yi didn't rush back until early the next morning, so he was definitely not a close relative.
She didn't take it seriously.
Could it be... that it was Old Madam Guo who went there at that time!
Zhou Shaojin's temples were throbbing.
Two years later, in the second year of Tianshun, the Cheng family was raided.
All the Cheng family members were arrested.
Regardless of whether it was the women and children in his hometown of Jinling, the children of officials in the capital, or his second uncle Cheng Yuan who was sent out to work, only the fourth master of the eldest house, Cheng Chi, ran away... He even robbed the execution ground... and only saved Cheng Xu!
What if Uncle Chi left Jinling and the Cheng family in the 29th year of Zhide
Zhou Shaojin was shocked by this bold assumption.
She thought of that day at Sanzhixuan.
There was Zhu Pengju, the eldest son of Duke Liang; Gu Jiunie, who later served as the Vice Minister of Works; and Yuan Bieyun, who was possibly the eldest son of Yuan Weichang, the Prime Minister, Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion and Minister of Personnel... They talked freely about the emperor's close companion Wan Tong, the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace Chen Li, and the eunuch of the Silijian Bureau Liu Yong. These people, who could cause a stir in the court and the country with just a stomp of their feet and made the high officials shudder, were ordinary people in their eyes.
She didn't know Uncle Chi's identity at that time. Later, when she found out who rescued her, she couldn't help but wonder sometimes, Uncle Chi knew so many powerful people, why didn't anyone stand up to fight for the Cheng family at the critical moment of life and death
It can be seen that they are all drinking and eating friends!
But what if these people are only on good terms with Uncle Chi, and Uncle Chi is no longer in the Cheng family
※
Sisters, the number of votes for the pink ticket for extra chapters was wrong, it has been corrected...
PS: The update will be around 11 o'clock in the evening.
※(To be continued)