Old Madam Guan has always valued Zhou Zhen, her uncle. She thought Zhou Shaojin's words made sense. After instructing Madam Miao to grind ink, she said to Zhou Shaojin, "Don't delay either side. Your father's letter needs to be delivered, and your uncle's house needs to be built. Anyway, we have to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival together before we can do anything."
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief.
She stood up and took the inkstone from Madam Mian's hand - with a junior like her present, it would be inappropriate to trouble an elder to do it.
Mrs. Miao was even happier when she saw this, and said to Mrs. Guan, "Do you want to invite Gao and Yi to have lunch with you? The whole family can have a reunion dinner. They haven't seen each other for a while."
Mrs. Guan thought that Cheng Yi had been following the rules these days, so she smiled and said, "Then let them come over to keep you company."
Zhou Shaojin suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
I feel that I might as well go to Cheng Ji, at least there won’t be so many worries.
Si'er smiled and went to pass on the message.
Bitao was peeking at the door.
Zhou Shaojin's eyes lit up and he asked, "Bitao, what's the matter?"
Bi Tao came in and bowed to Old Lady Guan and Madam Mian, then said, "Xiao Tan asked the maid to bring a letter saying that Master Xu has already left for Zaoyuan."
Zhou Shaojin suddenly felt refreshed.
Old Madam Guan asked in doubt, "Why? Is today the day that Xu Ge'er goes to Zaoyuan to study? Why didn't I hear anything? Logically, your cousin Gao and his family should have gone to see him off." She asked in confusion, "Shao Jin, why didn't you go to see Xu Ge'er off?"
Zhou Shaojin then remembered.
Studying and becoming an official was a family affair. Even for a family like the Cheng family, which had produced several Jinshi scholars, they would not only check the almanac before going out to study, but also invite a Taoist monk to choose the date.
Cheng Xu must have been sent out so casually by Uncle Chi!
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile with joy.
But the smile just bloomed on the corner of his mouth and quickly disappeared.
That's not right!
If Cheng Xu was sent out casually by Uncle Chi, how could Mrs. Guo agree
She felt like she was being scratched by a cat and wanted to ask Cheng Chi.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Mian also gave her a puzzled look.
Zhou Shaojin didn't know what to say, so he just said, "Uncle Chi said I don't have to see Cousin Xu off!"
Let them ask Cheng Chi.
Anyway, this excuse was also made by Cheng Chi.
She doesn't care!
Zhou Shaojin pursed his lips and smiled.
Old Mrs. Guan and Mrs. Mian both remained silent.
Just last night, someone from the eldest house sent a letter saying that Zhou Shaojin was coming to see them... It was very hurried.
This is obviously a bit unreasonable.
When Cheng Xu went out of the house to study, the eldest son of the family must have asked a high monk to set the date.
Could it be that Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Xu conflicted with each other on the days they went out to study
This is not a good thing after all!
If Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Xu had a conflict when they went out to study, maybe her fate would also conflict with Cheng Xu's. But now she lives in the eldest house...
After a while, Mrs. Guan smiled and said, "Since it was ordered by Fourth Master Chi, he must have his considerations. It's okay if you don't send him off. Just have fun here today."
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile.
Using Uncle Chi as a shield really works.
But she had no intention of staying in the fourth room for lunch - Cheng Xu had left the house, so Jiuru Lane was safe for her.
But what excuse should I give
Zhou Shaojin was thinking about it when a maid came in hurriedly and said, "Mrs. An, Madam, Miss Xiaotan from the second cousin's room is here."
Old Madam Guan, Mrs. Mian and Zhou Shaojin were all very surprised and invited Xiao Tan in.
Xiao Tan bowed respectfully to the three of them and said, "Miss Jia and Madam Lu had a quarrel. Miss Cuihuan, who was beside Miss Jia, came over and asked my second cousin to go over and mediate. The old lady heard the news and asked me to come over to tell my second cousin and ask her to go over quickly."
All three of them were stunned.
Old Lady Guan even asked, "Is the quarrel very serious? Second cousin is just a child herself, will it be helpful if she goes?"
Xiao Tan smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know either. But seeing how confused Miss Cuihuan is, and the old lady asking me to come over and tell my second cousin, I'm afraid things are not that simple."
Old Madam Guan didn't want Zhou Shaojin to be involved in the affairs of Jiuru Lane, but since Old Madam Guo had already spoken, she couldn't force him to stay.
"Shaojin, you have to be careful." She had no choice but to remind Zhou Shaojin, "Say what you should say, and don't say anything you shouldn't say." Then she thought of Zhou Shaojin's gentle personality, and reminded him again with worry, "If you are not sure what to say and what not to say, it's best not to say anything."
Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly, feeling uneasy.
Cheng Ji told her last time that if Li Jing really valued her, he would come to the mansion to see her. Could it be because of this matter
She went directly to Ruyi Pavilion with a serious look on her face.
Cheng Ji was playing with birds under the veranda with a sigh.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin hurriedly coming in, he dropped the small branch in his hand and greeted him happily, saying: "Shaojin, I didn't expect you to come so soon! I thought you would delay until the afternoon or tomorrow? I'm so bored, I was looking forward to you coming to talk to me."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Turned around and looked at Cuihuan.
Cuihuan was bewildered, and murmured, "I was just following the young lady's orders to invite the second cousin over, but who knew that the old lady would instruct Xiaotan to go to Jiashu Hall to find the second cousin..."
Could she still say that there was nothing wrong with their young lady, she was just under house arrest by the eldest wife and it was boring, so she wanted to talk to the second cousin
This, what is going on
Zhou Shaojin opened his mouth wide.
But Cheng Ji didn't care about that.
She has been bored to death these days.
I finally got Zhou Shaojin here... I don’t care how she got here!
She took Zhou Shaojin's hand and walked into the house. As she walked, she complained, "You don't care about me at all! You don't even know what happened in our family! Mrs. Tang Laoan from the second house wanted to be a matchmaker for my eldest brother. She said she wanted to marry the second daughter of the Hong family to my eldest brother. My mother was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling for a long time. She even thought about asking my father to go to the capital in person and ask Uncle Jing to be the matchmaker. Guess what happened..."
Zhou Shaojin staggered along following Cheng Ji into the inner room, but he thought to himself: I don't need to guess, I know it definitely didn't work!
As expected, Cheng Ji continued, "Who knew that the Hong family replied, saying that their second daughter had already had a verbal engagement with the Du Hanlin family in the capital, and that the two families would propose marriage when their daughter reached the age of 15. But the eldest daughter of the fourth branch of their family was the same age as my eldest brother, so they were a good match. When my mother asked around, she found out that the eldest master of the fourth branch was a scholar who had failed the imperial examinations many times, and that the family only had this one daughter. My mother was so angry that she chased me and beat me up."
Zhou Shaojin is no longer just obedient like before, he also knows how to listen to music.
She said, "What have you done wrong? You made Aunt Lu angry!"
Cheng Ji pursed her lips and sat down on the lacquered bed with Zhou Shaojin. After the maid brought tea and snacks, she even sent Cui Huan out. Then she revealed a smug smile, raised her wrist and shook it gently, saying, "I'm not that tactless! How could you provoke my mother when you know she's in a bad mood? What's more, she banned me from going out! I've been staying in Ruyi Pavilion obediently these past few days and haven't gone anywhere!"
Zhou Shaojin didn't believe it. He was attracted by the bracelet on her wrist that looked like gold and stone. He couldn't help but grab her wrist and asked, "What is this? It doesn't look like yours."
Cheng Ji doesn't like things like wood and stone.
Cheng Ji smiled slyly and said, "How come it's not mine? If someone gave it to me, it's mine!"
Zhou Shaojin was stunned. Thinking of Cheng Ji's irrepressible joy just now, an idea suddenly occurred to his mind, and he said in a lost voice: "Could this be a gift from Li Jing?"
Cheng Ji's eyes and eyebrows were all smiling.
Zhou Shaojin stood up suddenly and asked, "How did he see you?"
"Keep your voice down!" Cheng Ji pulled Zhou Shaojin to sit down on the bed again and whispered to her, "I didn't tell anyone. Didn't my mother want to find out about the Hong family? My father doesn't know anyone and has no idea about his fate. It's not easy to ask Uncle Chi for help. My grandmother is just happy. The stewards can only find out how many people there are in the Hong family and whether they have a good reputation in the village. The Hong family is not a poor family, so it's impossible to find out about the inner courtyard. It happened that Li Jing had half a knife of Chengxin paper and sent it to my father. My father heard that he traveled all over the country and had friends everywhere, so he tried to ask him. Li Jing agreed. This matter was found out by Li Jing. My mother was afraid that others would know, so she met Li Jing in the inner courtyard... "When she came to this, she gently leaned her head on Zhou Shaojin's shoulder, and her voice was a little sad, "He said, I didn't stipulate how to meet, I just asked him to see me once, he did this, it was also considered to have fulfilled his promise to me, I have to abide by my promise to him!" After that, she laughed inexplicably, and her voice became gentle, "I have grown up, and no one has treated me as attentively as my cousin Jing. He said that he couldn't sneak into the mansion, otherwise he would be looked down upon by me, and if someone found out, it would ruin my reputation... He also said that in order to find this half knife of Chengxin Paper, he wrote letters to everyone he knew for help... His steward invited our servants to drink every day, and the prominent maids in Jiuru Lane laughed at him for currying favor with the powerful. Now he has become a snob... He finally found out that my mother wanted to inquire about the Hong family, so he went to see my father's... I was afraid that my father would not ask him to find out, that he would not be able to find out anything, and that I would not be there when he went to see my mother... I was even more nervous and scared than when I first went out to do business in the west. Shaojin, tell me, how could someone be so stupid as to take everything I said to heart? "
Is this stupid
Zhou Shaojin thought dimly.
Uncle Chi would be like that.
Uncle Chi would believe whatever she said, take it to heart, and help her get it done... She could not worry about anything, not care about anything, and leave it all to Uncle Chi... But Li Jing liked Cheng Ji!
No matter what Cheng Ji becomes, he likes her!
But Uncle Chi... Uncle Chi...
Her heart was pounding and her face was burning.
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Sisters and brothers, today’s extra update.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)