No wonder Uncle Chi asked her "What am I doing" at that time.
Because Uncle Chi has never been the kind of person who bullies the weak!
Zhou Shaojin grabbed Cheng Chi's hand and broke down and cried: "Uncle Chi, Uncle Chi..."
"Shao Jin! Shao Jin!" Cheng Chi said in a deep voice, with the steadiness of a serious man in his voice, "Don't cry! If you have anything to say, let's talk it out. If you hide your thoughts and think about them over and over again, you will only end up in a dead end."
Zhou Shaojin understood it very well, but whenever she thought that her brother-in-law, who was as close to her as a brother, might have received favors from the Cheng family, or even used her as a bargaining chip, while her sister was still in the dark and was praying to gods for her brother-in-law to give birth to a son, and was suffering terribly, her heart felt as if it was stabbed by a knife.
"Alright, alright!" Cheng Chi held her in his arms and whispered, "Don't cry. If you have anything to say, just tell me and I'll help you."
The warm embrace, the fragrance that I smelled, and Cheng Chi's promise made Zhou Shaojin feel at ease. She slowly stopped crying, grabbed Cheng Chi's clothes, and carefully told Cheng Chi about Liao Shaotang.
Cheng Chi laughed softly.
The laughter came out from his chest, vibrating Zhou Shaojin's eardrums. The feeling was both novel and made her heart beat wildly for no apparent reason. It took her a while to calm down, and she stood up straight, somewhat embarrassed.
Cheng Chi didn't take it to heart.
Anyone who cried as bitterly as Zhou Shaojin would probably feel embarrassed afterwards.
He just shook his head helplessly and said, "What can I say about you? Let me ask you, who was the matchmaker for your marriage?"
"Brother-in-law." Zhou Shaojin said puzzledly.
Cheng Chi said: "Then let me ask you again, how old were you at that time? How old was your brother-in-law? What was he doing?"
Zhou Shaojin said blankly, "I was sixteen at that time. My brother-in-law... was twenty-three years old, still a scholar, and had just arrived in the capital for a year, studying at the Imperial Academy. He usually followed his senior brother who was the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple to do some clerical work..."
At that time, some people in the Liao family opposed my brother-in-law becoming the eldest son. My brother-in-law had a very hard life.
After helping her get engaged to Lin Shisheng, she didn't have much dowry. When her elder sister proposed to give her half of her biological mother's dowry to save face, her brother-in-law helped her sister hide it from the Liao family.
She still remembered that her brother-in-law later became an official and used his salary to pay off the debt for a long time. Later, Lin Shisheng asked him to do a business deal, and her brother-in-law finally paid back the money he borrowed when he married her.
Cheng Chi continued, "There is something I haven't told you, but I think you already have a vague impression of it. If you hadn't been going to Mount Putuo to worship Buddha, I would have left the Cheng family last autumn. I would have settled in the snowy mountains outside the Great Wall, or in Guangdong where it's spring all year round. It would take at least three or four years for me to come back, and I wouldn't stay at home for long. I would just come to see my mother and leave. After that, I would come back to see my mother every few years..."
Zhou Shaojin understood a little.
She blinked, and her dull eyes gradually brightened up: "You mean, at the beginning, my brother-in-law didn't expect that he would get support from the Cheng family?"
Cheng Chi said, "I have no recollection of the past life, so I don't know. However, considering my mother's character, if something like that happened to you, she would not have watched you leave like that. But it is also possible that you were in trouble when I left, and she was very sad, so she didn't have the energy or spirit to care about these things." He paused and said, "If I were to deal with it now, if you and Cheng Jiashan could not be together, the first thing I would think of might be to compensate you and let you have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life." But Shao Jin would rather be a fake couple with someone else than marry Cheng Xu, which shows how tense the situation was at the time. "If you don't accept it, you might think of your father. But from what you said, you were actually protected by your brother-in-law in your past life. Your brother-in-law is only a few years older than you and is quite responsible. It would be most appropriate to choose your brother-in-law as your safe haven."
His words were like a ray of sunshine shining into Zhou Shaojin's silent heart.
Her eyes became brighter and brighter.
"Uncle Chi, you're right!" She said excitedly, "After the Cheng family fell, my brother-in-law was willing to trade his status as the eldest son of the Liao family for the safety of my sister and nephew... I was wrong to judge him by my own standards."
Cheng Chi smiled and nodded.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but pull Cheng Chi's sleeve, and said a little embarrassedly: "Uncle Chi, thank you! If it weren't for you, I would definitely misunderstand my brother-in-law."
All the wonderful feelings and memories of her past life will be destroyed.
Cheng Chi looked at her childlike appearance, smiled and touched her head, and said with a bit of instruction: "Think more about it when you encounter such things in the future, don't cry easily, crying can't solve anything."
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a red face, and couldn't help but say: "Uncle Chi, tell me, in his previous life, did my brother-in-law know that he had received favors from you or the old lady?"
Cheng Chi said, "Even if he knows, so what? Even if he doesn't know, so what? People living in this world cannot be just black and white, just white and black, there is also gray. He helped you when you had a falling out with the Cheng family, and stood on the side of your sister and nephew when the Cheng family fell. He is a man of high moral character, and that's enough."
Zhou Shaojin finally felt relieved and smiled.
Cheng Chi breathed a sigh of relief and said in a gentle voice, "I'll ask Nanny Shang to fetch some water to help you wash up again. After that, you can go and greet my mother and then go back to Pingqiao Street. I'll send you to Baoding Prefecture in a few days."
Why did Uncle Chi want to send her to Baoding Prefecture
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but pout and said, "I'm not going to Baoding Prefecture. I want to stay in Jiuru Lane." At this point, she thought of what she had done when Cheng Chi was away, and she became a little proud again, saying, "Uncle Chi, my father has already written back, asking me to stay in Jiashu Hall. Even if you want to send me away, there's nothing you can do!"
"Really?" Cheng Chi raised his eyebrows.
Zhou Shaojin's heart skipped a few beats.
"Uncle Chi, you can't do this!" She jumped up. "You told me to stay in Jiuru Lane, but you didn't keep your word. I don't care. I want to stay in Jiuru Lane. If you send me to Baoding Prefecture, I will tell the old lady. I will tell you, I will tell you..."
She stammered for a long time, not knowing what to use to threaten Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi sneered and said, "I think you are only capable of reporting me to my mother!"
Zhou Shaojin's cheeks flushed, and he said shamelessly: "This is at least a skill!"
Cheng Chi laughed out loud.
Zhou Shaojin shook his sleeves and kept calling him "Uncle Chi" and "Uncle Chi".
The voice was sweet and coquettish, and it went straight into Cheng Chi's heart.
Cheng Chi had no choice but to say, "My eldest brother wrote me a letter, Cheng Jiashan will be back in the middle of next month. I have thought about your matter carefully, and I am afraid it is not that simple. Even if Cheng Jiashan is a jerk, he can't bully you... I am afraid that he really loves you, so someone has set a trap for this matter."
After living a new life, Cheng Jiashan still fell in love with Shaojin.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so humble as to chase after Shao Jin.
Shao Jin would not have rushed into Sanzhixuan just to avoid him.
"I'm very busy these days, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect you well enough, giving others the opportunity to take advantage of you."
He suspected that this matter was related to the second branch's ancestor Cheng Xu.
Shao Jin's identity and status make him the best candidate.
If Cheng Xu took action personally, and he couldn't stay at home all the time, Shao Jin would definitely suffer like in his previous life.
Whenever Cheng Chi thought of Zhou Shaojin's expression when he said "I don't hate you", his heart ached.
"If you listen to me and go to Baoding Prefecture, I..." He didn't know how to reward her. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Then I will promise you one thing.
His words reminded Zhou Shaojin.
Her eyes sparkled, and she said excitedly, "Uncle Chi, Uncle Chi, have you forgotten? When I told you that Huang Lihui and Uncle Jing were competing for the position of Minister of Rites, you said that you could promise me one thing. I don't want anything else, I just want you to promise me to stay in Jiuru Lane."
Cheng Chi was overwhelmed and said, "This one doesn't count! Change another one!"
"Uncle Chi is a scoundrel!" Zhou Shaojin kept calling him "Uncle Chi" and took the opportunity to assure him, "I am with the old lady and will never leave her side. I will ignore anyone who comes."
Cheng Chi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Biyu invited you to play shuttlecock in the yard, but you didn't go?"
Zhou Shaojin muttered in a low voice: "Cheng Xu will have to pass the imperial examination before he can get a job... What's up with you? Aren't you busy in August?"
"Cheng Jiashan is the top scholar?" Cheng Chi was startled when he heard this and whispered, "Are you sure it happened after Cheng Jiashan won the top scholar award?"
If Cheng Jiashan had known Li Yuan, given his personality, he would definitely have left more calmly.
It took Zhou Shaojin a while to understand what he was asking.
"It was like this in my previous life," she murmured, "but I don't know if there will be any changes in this life?"
Cheng Chi suddenly said: "If Cheng Jiashan is good at understanding Yuan, then you can stay."
Zhou Shaojin blinked.
She thought Uncle Chi would say, "If Cheng Jiashan passes the imperial examination, I will send you to Baoding Prefecture."
How come things are completely opposite to what she imagined
She couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Cheng Chi glanced at her and said, "Last time my eldest brother asked about Jiashan's marriage, my eldest sister-in-law said that the reason why the Cheng family and the Min family had been delaying the marriage was to let Jiashan study with peace of mind. I didn't quite understand where the word 'peace of mind' came from. Now I finally understand. Jiashan probably thought that he could marry you after passing the Li Yuan exam, but my eldest sister-in-law had already made an agreement with the Min family, so naturally she couldn't arrange a marriage for Jiashan..."
Therefore, after Jiashan understood Yuan and realized that he was going to marry a girl from the Min family, he would do whatever it took to fulfill his wish.
Cheng Chi finally felt better.
At least Cheng Jiashan is not completely bad, not to the point where he is beyond redemption.
Zhou Shaojin also understood a little.
She asked Cheng Chi nervously: "Then, what are you going to do? I, I don't want to marry Cheng Xu!"
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Sisters and brothers, today's update is announced on schedule...
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)