Zhou Shaojin laughed when he heard this and said, "If Uncle Chi blames you, just come with me to Baoding Prefecture!"
Ji Ying was surprised and asked, "You want to go back to Baoding Prefecture?"
Zhou Shaojin nodded and said, "Now that things have come to this, even if Cheng Xu accidentally bumped into me, it might not be a good thing if it gets out."
Ji Ying heard her calling Cheng Xu by name and knew that she no longer had any good feelings towards Cheng Xu. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart and comforted her, "The Fourth Master is there, he will definitely not let this matter spread."
Zhou Shaojin believed it and said, "But so what? Will Yuan give me a good look? On one side is me, and on the other is Cheng Xu. Won't Mrs. Guo be embarrassed? And Uncle Chi, how can I let him offend Uncle Jing because of me!"
That's true.
Ji Ying said: "I can't go to Baoding Prefecture with you unless the Fourth Master allows..."
Zhou Shaojin winked at her playfully and said, "I mean, if you have nowhere else to go, just come to my place. After all, my father is an official appointed by the court. If you don't leave your house, who dares to go to the government office to arrest you?"
Ji Ying smiled and said, "If my senior brother heard you say that, he would be very happy."
"You have a senior brother?" Zhou Shaojin said happily, "What does he look like? How old is he? What does he do? Is he married..." in the tone of a matchmaker.
Ji Ying asked curiously: "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing, nothing?" Zhou Shaojin laughed, thinking that Ji Ying and Jiao Ziyang were not going to be together, and they were getting older year by year, so he had to find a husband as soon as possible.
The two of them were chatting about this and that in the tea room.
In Mrs. Guo's green gauze cupboard, Cheng Xu drank Doctor Zhou's medicine and fell into a deep sleep.
Madam Yuan sat at the head of the bed, holding Cheng Xu's hand with red eyes, looking at Cheng Xu's face where his facial features could no longer be distinguished and sobbing, "If Jiashan's face is disfigured, what will happen in the future? Even if I risk my life, I will not let him have an easy life..."
Before she could finish her words, Mrs. Guo slapped her in the face.
The crisp sound echoed in the silent green gauze cabinet, and not only Mrs. Yuan was stunned, but also the servants in the room were stunned.
After a while, Yuan finally came back to her senses. She covered her face and looked at Mrs. Guo in disbelief. She murmured, "Mother," and said aggrievedly, "What did I do wrong? How could you treat me like this? How can I live my life in the future..."
Nanny Lu and the others also reacted, and without being told, they all rushed out of the green gauze cabinet.
Old Madam Guo sneered disdainfully: "Do you think you look good now? You can overwhelm everyone when you go out! I thought that you are also a grandmother, and you serve Dalang and his son wholeheartedly. It is your responsibility as a parent to educate your children. I will not interfere. This family will be handed over to you one day. But I never thought that you are not only selfish and self-centered, but also narrow-minded and short-sighted! No wonder your father is a cabinet minister, but the last one in your family to be appointed as prime minister is Yuan Weichang from the fifth room. Your brothers have mediocre experience in both study and official career, and are not worth much..."
Yuan was hit in a sore spot.
Her face was pale, her lips twitched, and she didn't say a word for a long time.
Old Madam Guo glanced at Yuan with disdain.
At first, she had her eyes on Yuan Weichang's sister, but Cheng Jing chose Yuan. She had a happy marriage and hoped that her children would be harmonious. She also saw that Yuan was very generous and thought that she would be able to train her and teach her. At the beginning, everything was fine, but after Yuan knew that she had her eyes on Yuan Weichang's sister, she gradually became obsessed with the position of cabinet minister. She not only hoped that her husband could enter the cabinet, but also determined to train a son who could serve as a cabinet minister.
Who doesn’t have some thoughts
If this thought can motivate people to make progress, then what's wrong with that
Mrs. Guo could understand her daughter-in-law's thoughts, so she turned a blind eye to her actions.
But unexpectedly, she went further and further down this path!
This is also my own fault.
If I hadn't focused all my attention on my youngest son, I would have noticed long ago that Yuan was very different from before!
Thinking of this, Mrs. Guo couldn't help but close her eyes. She couldn't tell whether she felt more pain or regret in her heart.
She said coldly: "There are only a few people in the eldest house, and it's just this matter. Dalang is an official in the capital, why did I call you back? Don't you understand?"
Yuan looked at Mrs. Guo in astonishment.
"The husband of Yuan Gelao's brother-in-law is now the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, Ye Yi, right?" Madam Guo said indifferently, "When Dalang was the Junior Justice of the Dali Temple, he was just a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, right? Yuan Gelao's sister brought her children to Beijing to serve her husband. You took Jiashan to the Ye family as a guest. Madam Ye saw that Jiashan had white teeth and red lips, and was eloquent at a young age. She wanted to marry her eldest daughter to Jiashan to make you closer to her. How did you refuse Madam Ye? Do you still remember?"
Yuan lowered her head.
Madam Guo said calmly: "I see that although Shao Jin is young and has a weak temper, what he said makes a lot of sense - with a mother like you, he will either be irresponsible due to your influence, or he will be implicated by you and offend his colleagues..."
"Mother!" Yuan raised her head and looked at Old Madam Guo shakily, her face paler than her white silk.
Madam Guo was not prepared to let her off and continued, "I won't talk about the past. Now let's talk about the rockery in the garden. What do you think?"
Yuan said hurriedly, "You heard it just now. Jiashan was drugged and he was unconscious. Even if he was rude to Zhou Shaojin before, it was understandable. But Zhou Shaojin beat Jiashan like this..." At this point, she thought that Zhou Shaojin couldn't have beaten Cheng Xu like this personally, and said, "Even if she didn't do it, it must have been because of her. I think that only if Zhou Shaojin hands over the murderer to us for punishment, we can turn a blind eye to Zhou Shaojin's matter for Zhou Dacheng's sake..."
Madam Guo was so angry that her eyes went dark. She asked sternly, "Is that what you think?"
Yuan was puzzled. Thinking of how Mrs. Guo had protected Zhou Shaojin before, she felt sour in her heart and said, "Mother, you are also a mother. Jiashan was beaten like this, and I have already given Zhou Shaojin a break. You can't let me give in anymore. Jiashan is also your grandson..."
"Idiot!" Mrs. Guo couldn't bear it any longer, she grabbed the teacup at hand and threw it at Yuan.
The whole cup of tea was spilled on Yuan.
The tea dripped down her hair, and her head and face were covered with tea leaves.
Yuan's face changed drastically.
My mother-in-law is too much!
First he slapped her in front of the maid, and now he threw tea at her... She was the wife of the clan leader of Jiuru Lane, so she had to tell Cheng Jing about this. Even if Cheng Jing wanted to quarrel with her, she would not back down.
Seeing that her eyes were wide open and she had no intention of repenting, Madam Guo was so angry that her fingertips trembled. She wanted to go up and slap her again: "You are really a rotten wood that cannot be carved! Jiashan is usually humble and tolerant, and he is even more friendly with his brothers and sisters at home. Who doesn't think about him? He is as humble as jade, a gentleman, and he passed the imperial examination at a young age. Have you ever thought about where the medicine came from? Who gave it to Jiashan? Why is Jiashan sitting alone in the cave? Shaojin is our child of Hanbi Mountain House, raised by me. Why did she take that road sooner or later? Who did she go to see? How did she think of taking that road... You didn't ask a word, but just knew to free Jiashan. Is your brain just for decoration?"
Yuan was shocked and her mind was in a mess.
According to my mother-in-law, someone framed Jiashan!
Not bad, not bad!
If it wasn't like this, how could Jiashan be beaten? Otherwise, Zhou Shaojin, who could be blown away by a strong wind, was served by weak girls, so how could he beat Jiashan like this? You know, Jiashan was a 19-year-old champion, and there were so many people who envied and jealous of him secretly
She calmed herself down, put aside her dissatisfaction with Zhou Shaojin, and finally started to think normally.
"Mother! Could it be the second or third wife?" Mrs. Yuan said hesitantly, "I think about it, only these two families are possible..."
"You are really imaginative!" Old Madam Guo said sarcastically, "First, you don't know where the medicine came from; second, you have no evidence, and third, you don't know what happened, but you dare to say that Jiashan was framed and that it was the second and third wives who led the charge! I think not only is your brain not working well, but your heart has also been eaten by dogs!"
Yuan's face turned red and white, and she dared not say a word.
Mrs. Guo said, "From today on, Jiashan will live with me. Don't worry about his affairs anymore..."
Yuan was horrified and said hurriedly, "Mother, how can that be possible! The Cheng family and the Min family have already exchanged engagement letters, and I'm afraid they have already offered their engagement..."
Madam Guo widened her eyes and asked, "How come I didn't know about such a big thing?"
Although she knew that Yuan had such a plan a long time ago, neither Yuan nor Cheng Jing told her when they formally proposed.
Yuan didn't dare to look into Mrs. Guo's eyes and whispered, "This marriage has been discussed for several years, but it's only now that the engagement has been formally made, so there hasn't been any fanfare..."
Mrs. Guo's eyes widened even more. She suddenly thought of a possibility and took a breath. She asked, "Did you lie to Jiashan?"
Yuan listened to his argument and said, "How can you say that, mother? I told him a long time ago that his father and I both had our eyes on the eldest daughter of the Min family, but we were afraid that he would be distracted, so we wanted to wait until he passed the imperial examination before making a move. When he was in the capital, several young masters of the Min family had some interactions with him, but he didn't say anything..."
As soon as Mrs. Guo heard it, she knew what was going on!
Her grandson, she never believed that he would block a little girl for no reason and even call her maiden name when he was unconscious!
I see!
She asked Yuan: "Do you know that Jiashan likes Shaojin?"
Yuan subconsciously wanted to answer "I don't know", but when she saw Madam Guo's icy eyes, she swallowed the words back, lowered her eyelids, and replied softly "I know".
"When did you know?" asked Mrs. Guo.
Yuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "I found out at the end of last year..." After that, she was afraid that Mrs. Guo would blame her, so she hurriedly said, "I told Jiashan at that time that this marriage was impossible..."
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Sisters and brothers, today’s update.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)