Li was very happy for Zhou Chujin after hearing this: "... Baoding is very close to the capital, and you can visit your parents' home more often."
Zhou Shaojin remained silent, and when he accompanied Zhou Chujin to the official room, he whispered to his sister, "Has the Liao family changed? This is different from what we said before."
And it’s different from the previous life.
In the previous life, after my brother-in-law failed the exam, the Fang family and the Liao family had a fight, and even relied on the power of the Cheng family to allow Liao Shaotang to take Zhou Chujin to study at the Imperial College in Beijing. Liao Shaotang and Zhou Chujin also lived in the Liao family's house in Beijing until Zhou Shaojin was reborn, and they did not find another place to live.
One is a stepmother, the other is an aunt, how can they compare to the sister who has been dependent on each other since childhood? Moreover, this sister is not like before, who can't carry anything. Zhou Chujin only reports good news to his stepmother and aunt, and doesn't need to hide anything in front of his sister.
"My father-in-law secretly took the public money to do business with someone, but who knew that the man ran away with the money. The Liao family didn't dare to make it public, so they could only look for him quietly, but there has been no news until now." Zhou Chujin frowned slightly, rubbing his hands with bath beans, and lowered his voice, "If it weren't for the marriage between me and your brother-in-law, I'm afraid the Liao family would have torn their faces apart long ago. But even so, this matter would have exploded sooner or later. My mother-in-law meant that my father-in-law was hopeless anyway, but we couldn't drag your brother-in-law and me into it. Let's go to the capital as soon as possible, and just pretend we don't know about what happened in Zhenjiang in the future."
Whether in the previous life or this life, this was the first time Zhou Shaojin heard of this.
No wonder the Liao family had always been dissatisfied with my brother-in-law in the previous life, and whenever something happened, they would clamor to change the eldest son.
"Where will you live then?" she asked hurriedly. "I'm afraid my brother-in-law will have to wait for another semester. What will he do with his food?"
In the previous life, the Liao family's house in the capital was supported by their brother-in-law and sister, and they were not well off. The sister even pawned her jewelry.
Zhou Chujin's face changed drastically after hearing this, and he asked, "How do you know your brother-in-law is not good at this subject?"
Zhou Shaojin wished he could sew his mouth shut.
She was used to saying whatever she wanted to Uncle Chi, so when facing her sister, who also made her trust and rely on her, she lost her usual vigilance when speaking.
Fortunately, she has encountered more things these days and gradually gained some ability to cope with them.
"With the Liao family in such a mess, how can my brother-in-law concentrate on his studies?" Zhou Shaojin said, "I just think that since my sister and brother-in-law are going to the capital, they should be more lenient with their expenses."
Zhou Chujin breathed a sigh of relief, but then frowned again.
She knew her husband's mood.
She had the same concerns as Zhou Shaojin, and felt that there was a high chance that her husband would not do well in this subject.
"We plan to live in the house that my mother-in-law gave us." Zhou Chujin said, "This way the expenses will be lower."
Zhou Shaojin nodded and wanted to give his sister some ideas, but a maid outside said with a smile: "Aunt, Second Miss, the feast is about to begin."
The two sisters had to drop the topic.
After paying homage to the Zhou family’s ancestors, they went to Jiuru Lane to pay their respects to Old Lady Guan.
When the Cheng family's first, second, third and fifth wives found out, they not only sent gifts, but also invited Liao Shaotang to dinner.
This was for Liao Shaotang, and also for the dignity of the Fourth House and the Zhou family, so Liao Shaotang naturally could not refuse.
In the next few days, Zhou Chujin and Liao Shaotang went in and out of several rooms in Jiuru Lane, and Zhou Shaojin and Li also went to Jiuru Lane several times.
But Zhou Shaojin didn't see Cheng Chi.
The banquet for the eldest son's family was hosted by Old Madam Guo.
What is Uncle Chi doing again
I don’t know if she can use this incident to get Cheng Chi to agree to one more thing.
This way, when something happens, she can raise the banner of "commitment".
Zhou Shaojin muttered to himself.
I didn't think carefully about why I wanted Cheng Chi to make another promise to me.
But in this way, Zhou Chujin and Liao Shaotang would not be able to return to Zhenjiang as scheduled.
Zhou Chujin smiled and said, "It's okay! The Liao family would like us to get closer to the Cheng family."
Zhou Shaojin saw that the maids, daughters-in-law, old women, and stewards from the Liao family who came to serve him all looked proud of themselves, so he knew that what his sister said was true, so he felt relieved.
After entertaining Cheng’s relatives, Zhou Chujin and Liao Shaotang packed their luggage and prepared to return to Zhenjiang.
After Zhou Shaojin was reborn, he met his brother-in-law Liao Shaotang for the first time.
He has a tall and thin figure, a handsome face, gentle manners, and a calm and restrained temperament. Compared to the Liao Shaotang in my memory, he is more immature and less steady.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but smile.
Liao Shaotang didn't know what his sister-in-law was laughing at. A trace of embarrassment flashed across his brows. He said a few words to Zhou Shaojin and left uncomfortably.
Zhou Chujin pinched Zhou Shaojin's face and said with a smile: "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm not laughing at anything!" Zhou Shaojin avoided his sister's hand and said, "I saw my brother-in-law, and I was happy!"
Zhou Chujin blushed and whispered, "He, he really treats me very well."
Zhou Shaojin knew it a long time ago, so he never asked Zhou Chujin whether she was living well after getting married.
Zhou Chujin was worried about Zhou Shaojin's future: "Are you planning to go back to Baoding Prefecture with your wife?"
Zhou Shaojin had the opportunity to tell her sister that old lady Guan wanted her to stay. But for some reason, she concealed the news that Cheng Chi asked her to move to the main house.
Zhou Chujin didn't trust Li in the first place, so he smiled and said, "That's good. From now on, if I need to send anything, I can just ask the Cheng family's steward to do it."
Zhou Shaojin felt a little uneasy, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "Then bring me some preserved fruits from the capital when you go there! I've heard that the preserved fruits from the capital are delicious, but I haven't tried them yet!"
Zhou Chujin was feeling sad that he wouldn't be able to see his sister for a long time, but he didn't expect that his sister's mind had already turned to eating.
She couldn't help laughing and said, "You think about eating all day long!"
Zhou Shaojin chuckled.
Zhou Chujin had to admit that her worries disappeared instantly when she saw such a cheerful and lively sister.
At night, Zhou Chujin stayed in Zhou Shaojin's room. The two sisters talked all night and only took a short nap when it was dawn.
When it was time for breakfast, the two sisters yawned one after another.
Chixiang, who was serving beside him, couldn't help laughing and said, "Grandma, please hold on for a while. You can have a good sleep on the boat."
Just like in her previous life, Chixiang will be betrothed to Liao Shaotang's follower Li Sixi after she returns.
Dong Wan will marry Ma Ci.
Thinking of the care these two couples had given her in her previous life, she rewarded Chixiang and Dongwan with a pair of gold hairpins and thirty taels of silver each, saying that she would not be able to attend the wedding when she got married, so this was a gift for them.
Chixiang and Dongwan blushed as they accepted the reward shyly.
Ma Fushan's family came in and said that the boxes and cages had been loaded onto the boat: "... The uncle is waiting for the eldest aunt to set off."
Zhou Chujin, who was originally happy, suddenly burst into tears.
Zhou Shaojin felt a pang in his heart as he watched, and his eyes became moist.
Li, who rushed over to see Zhou Chujin off, said hurriedly, "Aunt, Second Miss, the uncle is still waiting outside! Don't cry and ruin your makeup. Zhenjiang is only two or three days away from Jinling, and Baoding is even closer to the capital. Today is just a temporary farewell. If you want to see each other in the future, there will be many opportunities. Stop crying!"
After all, Zhou Chujin was stronger than Zhou Shaojin, so she quickly wiped away the tears from her eyes and smiled: "Shaojin, if you have anything to ask, remember to write to your sister, or you can ask Ma Fushan to do it. He is smart, capable, honest and down-to-earth, and a reliable person."
Zhou Shaojin nodded continuously, and with tears in his eyes, he accompanied Zhou Chujin to the Jiangbei Bridge. He only started to cry softly when Zhou Chujin's boat was out of sight.
Chunwan and Bitao comforted her for a long time before she stopped crying and returned to Pingqiao Street.
Li hadn't seen her daughter for more than three months. She missed her daughter so much that her heart ached. She wanted to pack up the boxes and return to Baoding Prefecture immediately. Unfortunately, Zhou Shaojin's matter had not been settled yet, and there was no definite news from Jiuru Lane. She was immediately anxious.
Zhou Shaojin was also a little surprised.
In her opinion, as soon as her sister left, the people from Jiuru Lane should come to pick her up. Why was there no movement
She asked Chunwan to deliver the two forehead scarves she had embroidered for Old Lady Guan some time ago to Jiashutang.
Chunwan came back with a strange expression on his face, and said, "Second Miss, Second Master Yi was punished by Master Mian, and now he is lying in bed unable to move! From what I heard from her tone, Old Lady An wants to wait until Second Master Yi can get out of bed before taking you over."
Zhou Shaojin was shocked and asked hurriedly, "Do you know why Master Yi was punished by the master? How is his injury?"
Chun Wan whispered to her, "It is said that Miss Jiying was ordered by the Fourth Master to pass a message to Old An, and she met Master Yi on the way. I don't know what Master Yi said, but Miss Jiying... immediately turned hostile, and kicked Master Yi to the ground.
"Master Yi was extremely angry and gathered his servants to go and settle accounts with Miss Jiying.
"Master Miao was so angry that he almost fainted. He pressed Master Yi on the bench and gave him fifty strokes of the cane. He said that Master Yi was a man, but he was beaten to the ground by a woman and he had no shame. He even brought people to fight back... A man would not do that. Master Yi should be taught a lesson."
Zhou Shaojin opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say.
It was not until the evening that he thought of sending some medicinal herbs to Cheng Yi. Before going to bed, he asked Chunwan to open the warehouse and pack some medicinal herbs such as angelica and gastrodia to be delivered the next day.
Who knew that before her things were delivered, Old Madam Guo sent someone to bring her into the house, saying that "Miss Sheng's wedding date has been set, and the old lady wanted to invite the second cousin to the house to instruct the embroiderer to embroider two screens for Miss Sheng."
Zhou Shaojin asked Chunwan to bring the medicinal herbs and go to Hanbi Mountain House with her.
It was quiet at Mrs. Guo's place, no different from usual.
When Biyu saw her, she even winked at her.
Zhou Shaojin didn't understand what it meant, and Biyu had already lifted the curtain to invite her in.
She went into the upper room in a daze.
Mrs. Guo was changing her clothes, and Zhou Shaojin waited in the banquet room for a while.
When Mrs. Guo came out, she took her hand and walked out: "I heard that Yi'er is not feeling well. Since you are here, you must be worried, right? Then come with me to take a look."
※
Sisters and brothers, today’s extra update!
Don’t wait for the evening update. I’m afraid there might be some unexpected situations that will disappoint you again. You’d better get up tomorrow morning and check it out!
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: There may be typos, which will be corrected later.
※(To be continued)