When we arrived at the Tan family, Mrs. Tan was talking to the wife of a minor official.
Seeing the two of them stop talking and stand up to greet her, she smiled and said, "What are you talking about? It's so lively?"
The wife of the petty official saw that Mrs. Tan was smiling but not saying anything, so she said, "We were just talking about Mr. Zhou's family. Didn't their eldest aunt and eldest brother-in-law come here suddenly? We originally thought that the eldest aunt and her husband's family were not getting along, and the eldest brother-in-law sent her here. Today, I went to Mr. Zhou's family to borrow flowers and found out that their eldest brother-in-law was a disciple of Mr. Cheng's second uncle. Mr. Cheng's second uncle is now a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy, and he was the second place in the Jiaxu exam in the twelfth year of Yongchang. Mr. Cheng's second uncle was ordered to compile the "Beijing Geography". Their eldest brother-in-law is close to the water and gets the moon first. It is said that he will also follow Mr. Cheng's second uncle. Together they compiled the "Geography of Beijing", and then they hurried to Beijing, and brought their eldest aunt to pay New Year's greetings to Lord Zhou. In a few days, they will live in Beijing. They said they would take good care of their eldest brother-in-law, but we are all sensible people. We want to continue to benefit from the Cheng family, so we didn't let go of the pregnant woman, and rushed to the capital from a thousand miles away, so that the Cheng family would take care of the eldest brother-in-law for the sake of their married granddaughter. This is exactly what the saying goes, it's easier to be an official if you have someone in the court. I think the eldest brother-in-law of the Zhou family is just short of a Jinshi who has passed the imperial examinations twice. I hope he won't fail the exams again and again!"
His tone was normal at the beginning, but by the end, it became sour and there was not a single nice word left.
Mrs. Huang just smiled, but secretly despised Mrs. Tan in her heart.
Always associating with such people, always likes to gossip behind people's backs. No wonder my husband is just a ninth-rank minor official today.
Mrs. Tan said, "Mrs. Zhou and the others have decided to leave for the capital tomorrow. Should we go and see them off?"
Mrs. Huang was shocked.
She didn't hear anything!
Mrs. Huang tried hard to hold back her anger, fearing that others might notice her, and said, "I will always stand by you."
Mrs. Tan smiled with satisfaction and said, "Okay, I'll bring a few boxes of snacks when we see the time..."
Mrs. Huang listened and sent her nanny to inquire about the matter. After a while, she got the news back: "Their eldest aunt gave birth in February, and Mrs. Zhou brought her second daughter to take care of her during the confinement period."
"The second young lady is going too?" Mrs. Huang was surprised.
The nanny smiled and said, "I went to ask, and I happened to meet Madam Li who was instructing the servants to move the boxes and cages. She said that the second young lady would live in the capital for a long time after she went there. It seemed that the Cheng family had arranged a marriage for the second young lady, and they wanted to go and see the couple."
Mrs. Huang was stunned.
Mrs. Li smiled happily and said to Madam Li, "Yes, you should say that. Otherwise, that weasel will have his eyes on our family."
Privately, Li nicknamed Mrs. Huang the weasel, saying that she always came with bad intentions.
Nanny Li covered her mouth and laughed.
Zhou Zhen is back.
Li winked at Nanny Li, signaling her not to say anything, and then she came out of the inner room to greet him.
Zhou Zhen said: "Have you packed everything?"
"We've packed everything." Li smiled and said, "We'll set off early tomorrow morning."
Zhou Zhen asked more questions in detail and only rested after visiting Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Chujin was filled with joy at the prospect of seeing her husband, but Zhou Shaojin felt bitter.
She sent someone to tell Cheng Chi that she would leave for the capital the next day. Cheng Chi had someone send Yi Cheng over and told her to find him in Yuqian Hutong if she had any problems. He lived in the third house from east to west in Yuqian Hutong.
It looked no different from usual, but Zhou Shaojin vaguely felt coldness and alienation.
Could it be that Uncle Chi’s business is not going well
Zhou Shaojin tried hard to control his emotions.
Women regard the inner house as everything, but for men, the inner house is just a small part of it.
She couldn't let her overthink and hesitate just because of Uncle Chi's occasional coldness.
Thinking of this, Zhou Shaojin took a deep breath and cheered himself up.
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Maybe it was a blessing from God.
The next day the wind stopped, the snow stopped, and the sun half showed its face.
Zhou Shaojin supported his sister, said goodbye to Zhou Zhen who was reluctant to leave, got on the carriage, and went straight out of Baoding City.
In her previous life, she never returned to Jinling after leaving the Cheng family, and she took the water route and got off the boat at Tongzhou Wharf. This time, she took a carriage from Baoding Prefecture to the capital. The scenery was very different. Although it was winter, Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but lift the curtain and look out.
All along the way, there were people preparing for spring plowing, working busily.
Zhou Shaojin lowered the curtain and said to Zhou Chujin with a smile: "We should have a good harvest this year!"
Zhou Chujin huddled in the carriage covered with thick bedding, with her hands on her stomach and laughing, she said, "Shaojin is actually concerned about the harvest now?"
Zhou Shaojin blushed and said, "Dad is now the prefect, isn't it normal for me to care about agriculture and sericulture?"
Zhou Chujin laughed out loud.
The two sisters played around again.
At night, they stayed in the post station.
Because Zhou Chujin was pregnant, Zhou Shaojin was afraid that she would accidentally bump into her sister after sleeping in the same bed with her sister, so she and her sister each asked for a room, and Li took Zhou Youjin to live in another room.
How can the post station be better than home
Zhou Shaojin, who had just arrived in a strange place, slept very lightly.
In the middle of the night, she felt as if there was someone in the room.
The Spring Festival Gala was underway and she was so exhausted that she didn't even know she had to get up. Zhou Shaojin held up the light and shone it around, but saw nothing.
Lying down, that weird feeling came back.
She couldn't fall asleep.
Calling softly "Madam Shang".
Nanny Shang, who was staying in the outer room, quickly came in wearing a dress and asked, "Second Miss, what's wrong?"
Zhou Shaojin felt uncomfortable and hesitated, "I always feel like there is something in my room..."
Nanny Shang did not suspect anything. She raised the lamp and looked around. She stood in front of the tall cabinet in the post station next to the boxes of Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin's usual clothes. Then she turned around and gave Zhou Shaojin a wink.
Zhou Shaojin turned around quickly and stood beside the bed.
Nanny Shang suddenly opened the tall cabinet.
The tall cabinet was empty.
Nanny Shang said, "Second Miss, look, there is nothing. Maybe you are overthinking..."
She spoke with a smile, but her hand slapped the box as fast as lightning.
The box broke into pieces with a bang, and a tall figure jumped out of it.
Zhou Shaojin saw the figure suddenly move and fight with Shang Mama. Zhou Shaojin was shocked. The figure clearly looked like a man.
Thinking that there was a man in his inner room, Zhou Shaojin became anxious and angry. He quickly turned around to put on his clothes, intending to call the security guard to come in for help after he was dressed.
Who knew that the man and Nanny Shang would suddenly separate again.
The man stood in front of the floor-standing cover, holding his chest, while Nanny Shang stood in front of her.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but look up and met the man's gaze.
"It's you!"
“It’s you!”
The two said in unison.
The man covered his chest and laughed, with a wheezing sound in his laughter, and said, "I didn't expect you to be the daughter of the prefect!" He said, blinking at Zhou Shaojin frivolously, "But where did you find this mother? She is very skilled. She is one of the best among women, but she is not my opponent. If I hadn't been seriously injured, how could she have discovered me...
Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes wide, grabbed Nanny Shang's clothes in fear, and glared at the man fiercely.
The person hiding in her box turned out to be Xiao Zhenhai.
He was wearing a dirty brown short-sleeved shirt, his hair was unkempt, and he was so thin that he was just a skeleton. Only his eyes were as bright as ever.
Doesn’t he want to harm Uncle Chi
How did he end up hiding in her box
She had just changed her clothes in the room. Although she stood behind the screen out of habit, who knew if he saw it
The thought flashed through her mind, and she suddenly became angry and opened her mouth to call for help, but she heard the urgent voice of Shang Ma: "Miss, don't make a sound. Now we can only think of a way to scare him away. Your guards are no match for him. Calling people will only hurt innocent people."
how so
Zhou Shaojin's lips twitched and then closed again, tears were about to come out.
Xiao Zhenhai smiled softly and said, "Don't be afraid, beauty. A good man doesn't fight with a woman. I won't hurt you. I was just hunted by my old enemies. I had no choice but to borrow the reputation of your family as the governor's family to leave the city. That's when I found a box to hide in. Who knew it was your box? It shows that we are destined to meet." As he spoke, he looked Zhou Shaojin up and down and said, "I haven't seen you for two years. You've become more beautiful! We only met briefly in the temple that year. I didn't expect you to still remember me..."
He was smiling and looked frivolous, but Zhou Shaojin, who had been hurt by Cheng Xu before, could feel that he had no ill will towards him and was just talking.
Zhou Shaojin felt slightly relieved.
There was a commotion outside.
"Did you hear the sound too?"
"Hmm! It seems to be coming from the second young lady's room."
“Go check it out!”
"Tell Madam Fan that it's not appropriate for us to go into the Second Miss's room."
Zhou Shaojin thought of what Nanny Shang said and said hurriedly, "Go away! I won't pursue your matter any further!"
Xiao Zhenhai was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "I didn't expect that this girl is not only beautiful, but also kind-hearted. It's a pity that I'm in trouble, otherwise I would definitely marry you back home as my wife..."
Zhou Shaojin was extremely ashamed and angry.
Nanny Shang nervously opened her arms and protected her behind her.
Zhou Shaojin was shocked.
Nanny Shang had never protected her like this before.
It can be seen that Xiao Zhenhai is really powerful.
Someone said outside her door, "Second Miss, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly, fearing that the guards would break in. "I just accidentally dropped something on the ground. I'm fine."
The guard responded and slowly walked away.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief.
Nanny Shang also saw that Xiao Zhenhai had no ill intentions, and sneered: "How can a man rely on a weak woman to escape from disaster? You're still leaving! Are you going to force us to call for guards?"
Xiao Zhenhai laughed and ignored Nanny Shang. He looked at Zhou Shaojin and said, "My beauty, how about you be a good person and lend me some money? I will repay you when the time comes."
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Sisters and brothers, catching up on yesterday’s update.
PS: The typo has been corrected.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)