Zhou Shaojin watched Cheng Chi and Huaishan and the others quietly leave, but she couldn't make a noise because Madam Guo was leading Madam Song to greet everyone. She tried to signal Madam Guo several times but she didn't see it. She was so anxious that she turned around and was about to chase after them, but was stopped by Cheng Ji. She said sadly, "You're finally back! You don't know what kind of life I've been through in the past few months when you were away..."
Cheng Ji was the kind of girl who would talk for a long time when the pear blossoms were in bloom and there were peach blossoms in her vase. Although she looked very sad, Zhou Shaojin was not worried, but said perfunctorily: "Come to my room later and we can talk about it. I have something to do now..." But when she turned around, there was no sign of Cheng Chi and others.
Zhou Shaojin was getting extremely anxious, but Cheng Ji beside her held her hand and suddenly sobbed silently.
Cheng Ji would fly into a rage, fly into a fit of rage, and make sarcastic remarks, but he would never put aside his self-esteem and pride and cry in public.
Zhou Shaojin was shocked.
She quickly pulled Cheng Ji aside and whispered, "What happened?"
Cheng Ji stopped crying, took out a handkerchief to wipe the red corners of her eyes, and whispered, "It's nothing, I just feel a little touched for a moment." Then, without waiting for Zhou Shaojin to say anything, she turned back to Jiang's side, looking gentle and well-behaved, supporting her mother as she listened to the elders and Madam Song greeting each other with smiles.
Jiang looked at her daughter with satisfaction and pushed Cheng Ji in front of Madam Song: "This is the one from our family. The Cheng family has five branches, but only four girls. Each family can't afford one, so it's inevitable that she is spoiled. Fortunately, this child is obedient and not spoiled. She is good at needlework and can understand account books and deeds." After that, she told Cheng Ji, "Why don't you bow to Madam Song."
Cheng Ji stepped forward and saluted obediently.
Mrs. Song took the purse from the maid beside her and was about to give her a reward.
Jiang pushed and pushed again.
Cheng Ji just stood there with his head down, looking shy.
It was Mrs. Guo who smiled and said, "This is not a place to talk. Let's go sit in Tingyu Pavilion, shall we?"
Everyone then smiled and said "yes", and surrounded Mrs. Song and entered the flower hall.
Zhou Shaojin was very shocked.
Cheng Ji looked as if he had given up hope.
What happened during the time she was away from home
Would Cheng Ji think of me as a life-saving straw, but I pushed her away without caring about it...
Zhou Shaojin pulled his sister aside and whispered, "Did something happen to cousin Jia?"
Zhou Chujin looked around and said quietly without making any noise: "Let's go back and talk about it."
Zhou Shaojin nodded, and was entertaining guests in the flower hall as if he was sitting on pins and needles. He finally waited for Mrs. Guo to speak, saying that Mrs. Song had been on the boat these days and was very tired, so today's welcoming banquet should be moved to tomorrow, so that Mrs. Song could have a good rest for the night. He would take Mrs. Song to walk around Jinling City the day after tomorrow.
The rooms then dispersed.
Or maybe it was because Cheng Chi’s departure made Zhou Shaojin feel very uncomfortable, and the joy of returning home faded a lot.
When she returned to Jiashu Hall, she did not open the boxes and distribute the gifts she brought back from outside to everyone as happily as she had imagined. Instead, she looked tired and exhausted after Mrs. Guan and Mrs. Mian took her hands and asked her a few questions about what she had seen and heard on the way.
Mrs. Guan and Mrs. Mian immediately let her go back to Wanxiangju to rest, and said, "We'll talk about anything tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep today."
Zhou Shaojin didn't hesitate and took his sister's hand and went back to Wanxiangju.
Even after not seeing her for several months, Snowball still remembered her.
Before she even entered the door, Snowball ran towards her, barking.
Zhou Shaojin picked up Snowball.
Zhou Chujin hurriedly said, "Put it down quickly, put it down quickly, it just ran on the ground."
The little maid who was looking after Snowball said aggrievedly, "I wanted to hold it in the house and wait, but it suddenly jumped out of my arms and ran out desperately. I couldn't catch up with it..."
"It's okay, it's okay." Zhou Shaojin looked at the unfamiliar little maid and knew that Shi Xiang must have married. She couldn't help but feel a little sad. She handed the snowball to the little maid and asked her, "What's your name?"
The little maidservant said respectfully: "My name is Xuetao. My parents are both in the Zhou family's farm. It was the steward Ma who brought me here."
In other words, he is a hereditary servant of the Zhou family.
Zhou Shaojin smiled at her, told her to take good care of Snowball, rewarded her with two silver ingots, and then went into the house with his sister.
Zhou Chujin only asked the kitchen to make her some white porridge and a few side dishes, and said, "I heard that people who sit on a boat for a long time will feel chest tightness and shortness of breath. I was afraid that you would feel uncomfortable, so I made these light dishes. I will ask the kitchen to make something you like tomorrow."
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile, and while holding incense and setting the table, he asked about the matter of offering incense.
"Don't worry!" Zhou Chujin smiled, "She was not wronged. In addition to the public conventions, you and I rewarded her, and my father, grandmother and even Mrs. Guo also rewarded her. On the day of her wedding, Ma Fushan's family personally went to see her off. Her husband's family was a little trembling at the time, and they will definitely not neglect her in the future. She also said that when you come back, she will bring her husband to kowtow to you."
In her previous life, Shi Xiang never came back after she got married.
"That's good." Zhou Shaojin felt relieved and had dinner with his sister.
Maybe it was because she was used to the taste of her hometown, she felt that white porridge was better than outside. Zhou Chujin only ate half a bowl of porridge, and then watched her sister eat, helping her pick up food from time to time, which made Zhou Shaojin feel warm in his heart.
After dinner, the two sisters went to the inner room to drink tea.
Leaning on the large pillow of the Luohan bed, Zhou Shaojin asked about Cheng Jia.
Zhou Chujin sighed and said, "Not long after you left, Duke Liang and his son came back from the capital. Duke Liang personally asked Lord Shen Qingyun to come to ask for marriage. Although Aunt Lu did not agree, she spread the news in order to raise the value of cousin Jia. You may not know that when we went to Pukou to arrange a small engagement for cousin Gao a few days ago, Mrs. He, cousin Gao's mother-in-law, intended to marry cousin Jia to her nephew. Once the news spread, Mrs. He was so angry that her lungs exploded. She said that the third branch had been doing business for a long time and its behavior was exactly the same as that of the merchant family. No wonder several generations of people could not continue to study after passing the imperial examination. It turned out that they only wanted to take shortcuts in everything they did, even their reputations. It would be better to find an illiterate farmer than to find such a relative. At least he was honest and upright, unlike Aunt Lu, who was determined to step on others to get to the top, and was shameless and did not think he was wrong... In short, what they said was very unpleasant! Some of the prominent families in Jinling City knew about it. Not to mention proposing to cousin Jia, she didn't receive any invitations to the flower-viewing parties and crab-tasting parties in the mansion. Even the big merchants in Jiangnan invited acquaintances to test Uncle Lu's mood, wanting to marry cousin Jia as the eldest daughter-in-law. Uncle Lu was so angry that he cursed at the visitor and severely taught Aunt Lu a lesson in front of the servants. He wanted to send Aunt Lu to the family temple to practice asceticism for a few days. If it weren't for cousin Jia's plea and Li Laoan's intercession for Aunt Lu, you would have to go to the family temple to see Uncle Lu when you come back."
Zhou Shaojin had guessed it before, but he didn't expect the He family's reaction to be so intense and to turn out like this.
However, this year Jiang didn't look like she was scolded.
She said with some worry, "Will the Third House also bear a grudge against our house? And the Duke of Liang's Mansion will not let it go either!"
"Who said it wasn't true?" Zhou Chujin said bitterly, "We didn't expect Mrs. He to be so angry and say it out loud without any mercy. She is too stubborn! I don't know if cousin Gao's wife will have the same temper as her mother."
This may not be a bad thing!
In his previous life, cousin Gao respected his mother-in-law very much. After the fourth wife fell into poverty, Mrs. He not only did not show any displeasure to cousin Gao, but instead asked her daughter to use her own money to supplement the family expenses. She said, "You have money only when you have people. Without people, what's the use of having more money?" and helped the fourth wife to the best of her ability.
Zhou Shaojin asked hurriedly, "Is that what grandma wants to do with my cousin's wife?"
“Even though he didn’t say it, I think you should be a little worried, right?” Zhou Chujin said.
This incident had never happened in the previous life, and He Fengping's marriage went smoothly without any problems.
She couldn't let He Fengping leave a bad impression on her grandmother.
Zhou Shaojin said: "I'll talk to my grandmother about it when I go to pay my respects to her tomorrow."
"That's fine!" Zhou Chujin said, "A harmonious family brings prosperity. But please don't let the affairs of the third room cause unrest in our house."
Zhou Shaojin said, "Doesn't it mean that cousin Jia's marriage is difficult now?"
"It's more than a difficult matter." Zhou Chujin said, "It's become a laughing stock. Everyone in Jinling City is saying that Aunt Lu wants to sell her daughter."
If it were me, I would probably be even sadder than Cheng Ji.
Zhou Shaojin said with some guilt: "If I had known this would happen, I should have listened to what cousin Jia wanted to say to me!"
"Now that you're back," Zhou Chujin advised her, "you can go to Ruyi Pavilion anytime. There's no need to rush. The Third House now thinks that cousin Ju is like this because of Madam He..."
Is your sister afraid that she will be bullied by the third room
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "I brought you a lot of good things. When the time comes, let the maid pass on a message to her under the pretext of giving her a gift - I went to their third room and they didn't like me, so it's okay for her to come over, right?" At this point, she remembered the pair of red coral beads and hairpins. She jumped off the bed and said to Zhou Chujin, "Wait a minute!" Then she opened the box herself, took out all the red coral jewelry, and placed it on the bed. She smiled and asked her sister, "Do they look good? These are for you, your grandmother, and your aunt. Pick one, and I'll give the rest to your grandmother and aunt."
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Today's update, sisters.
Thank you Tianwaixianxian, Cadyss, Zixiao 1, and Ya Athena's spirit beast egg. I haven't been online for a few days. Today I found that there are spirit beast eggs again. It seems that I have to continue to add more. I also beg for pink votes...
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: Tomorrow's additional chapters and updates will still be at the old time.
※(To be continued)