"Children's affairs are always sunny and rainy." Mrs. Guan smiled and comforted Mrs. Guo, "You don't have to blame yourself. Just think of it as a lesson learned!"
Madam Guo couldn't help laughing and said, "I'm already old, I don't know how many lessons I've received, but it's better not to receive a lesson like this!"
Old Mrs. Guan also laughed.
Behind Mrs. Guo, Yuan's eyes flashed with a sharpness, and she asked Zhou Shaojin in a gentle voice, "Do you know about the eldest and second young ladies of the Wu family?"
Zhou Shaojin almost laughed out loud.
How could she forget about Yuan!
If Wu Baozhang dares to ruin Cheng Xu's reputation, Yuan will eat her.
Zhou Shaojin didn't want to get involved, so he smiled and said, "The eldest lady of the Wu family and I have only met twice, including today, so I really don't know her."
Yuan nodded, thoughtfully.
Only then did Zhou Shaojin realize that Mrs. Wu and Cheng Xian were not in the open hall.
I wonder what they were doing
As she was thinking, Old Mrs. Tang came in, supported by Jiang.
Pan Qing followed behind them.
The wife of the Duke of Liang was talking to the wife of Mr. Sun, the former Minister of Personnel, who had retired and returned to his hometown. When they heard the noise, they both turned their heads and the wife of the Duke of Liang asked, "What happened?"
Everyone in the hall looked towards them.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Pan Qing looked at Zhou Shaojin who was standing quietly beside Old Madam Guan and Old Madam Guo, and felt very uncomfortable.
It was obviously Zhou Shaojin who caused this matter, but now it seems like she is the one causing the trouble. No wonder my mother praised the old lady Guan from the fourth room, saying that she was smart but not aggressive, and generous but not timid. She just sent a little maid to call Zhou Shaojin away in advance, and then she took Zhou Shaojin away without making a sound.
Old Madam Tang glanced at Pan Qing and smiled to cover up the truth: "It's nothing. It's just a quarrel between little girls. It's all right after we talk it out!"
Pan Qing was stunned.
Jiang almost vomited blood.
With this big hat from Mrs. Tang, even if Pan Qing did nothing wrong, she would leave the impression of being narrow-minded, unable to give in, unwilling to endure, and fond of making trouble. And Pan Qing has been talking about her husband's family for the past two years...
Jiang is not the kind of person who would suffer in silence.
She sighed immediately and said helplessly: "What's wrong with young girls nowadays? They believe everything they hear, and a small matter as small as a needle hole can cause a big uproar..." She recounted the whole story. How Zhou Shaojin followed Mrs. Guo's order to help Cheng Xu get something; how Wu Baozhang had been feeling dizzy for a long time, but when Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Xu were walking together, she happened to go out for some fresh air and saw it; how Wu Baozhang confidently scolded Zhou Shaojin for walking alone with Cheng Xu, and how Zhou Shaojin was so angry that he was at a loss and had to run to Pan Qing to testify... She made it seem as if she was watching from the side, Zhou Shaojin became the one who was bullied, and Pan Qing was standing up for the weak, and if there was any fault, it was all Wu Baozhang's fault.
Wu Baozhang was not present, and even if she was there, few people would know who she was. Zhou Shaojin and Pan Qing were one weak and docile, the other dignified and generous... They were both very consistent with Jiang's description. Even if someone doubted Jiang's words, it would be difficult to doubt them when they saw these two girls.
The Lady of the Duke of Liang frowned upon hearing this and shook her head, saying, "The world is really going downhill! The world is going downhill!"
Cheng Ji looked at Zhou Shaojin in confusion, as if he was listening to a foreign language. His eyes were as big as bronze bells.
Zhou Shaojin admired Jiang very much.
This is truly saying that the living is dead, and the dead is alive.
She was a little afraid of Jiang before, but now it seems that she is not wronged.
It can be seen that the fact that Jiang was able to manage the household affairs of the third room was not a fluke.
Of course, some people also think that Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Xu were wrong in this matter.
"Girls and boys should not sit at the same table after the age of seven." The wife of the retired former Minister of Personnel, Mr. Sun, said to Mrs. Guo, "Fortunately, we are at home, with maids and servants accompanying us. If it were somewhere else, there would be a big trouble."
Yuan's face darkened and she was about to stand up with a raised eyebrow, but was stopped by a cold look from Madam Guo.
"What's the big deal?" Mrs. Guo picked up the teacup and blew away the floating leaves on the water. She took a sip and said, "The Buddha sees a beauty as a pile of dead bones, while the rich and powerful think she is a fairy. I can only take care of my own business. How can I control who becomes a Buddha and who goes to the eighteen levels of hell?"
Old Madam Sun looked unhappy.
Teacher Lin's wife laughed and said, "Madam Guo, what you said reminds me of something." She said, "A few years ago, our master had a student who had an incense shop near his home. He often saw a young and beautiful Taoist nun choosing incense in the shop. One day, the shop owner's son was watching the shop, and the Taoist nun came again. The two chatted for a while, and then a young man from the family took over to watch the shop. After almost an hour, the shop owner's son sent the Taoist nun out.
"He took note of it and would take a second look at the incense and candle shop every time he passed by it.
"This time, he discovered that the shop owner's son would be in the shop on the first and fifteenth day of every month. In the afternoon, the nun would come to their house to pick incense and candles, and then the two of them would go to the shop. After an hour, the shop owner's son would send the nun out.
“He went to report it to the authorities.
“It is said that the shop owner’s son and that Taoist nun are having an affair.
"Who would have thought that when the government investigated, it turned out that the Taoist nun was already over 40 years old, but because she was a Wudang disciple and practiced internal martial arts, she looked to be in her early twenties. The proprietress of the incense and candle shop was the Taoist nun's biological sister, who had been paralyzed in bed for several years. The Taoist nun traveled to Jinling City and knew that her sister was paralyzed in bed, so she came to give her sister a massage every first and fifteenth day of the month. The son of the shop owner was her biological nephew..."
The open hall was immediately in an uproar, with people saying all kinds of things.
Even the old lady of the Duke of Liang, who had heard many interesting stories, became interested and asked Mrs. Lin, "What happened next?"
"What else can we do?" Mrs. Lin sighed, "He is a man of honor, and the court can just say 'misunderstanding' and the case will be dropped. But that scholar still refuses to admit his fault, and insists that it is the fault of the shop owner's son. Men and women should not touch each other, even if she is his aunt, he should avoid her!"
Madam Sun said, "That makes some sense."
"What's the reason?" The young woman wearing a bright red jacket with hundreds of butterflies woven in it had been silent until now, but suddenly said, "The man who runs the incense and candle shop is just a poor family. I don't even know if he can read or write. You ask him to follow these rules, but does he understand? Otherwise, why would the court include 'enlightenment' as one of the contents of the annual examination for officials?"
Madam Sun couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and said: "Master Liu is indeed a 'capable official'. Even Madam Liu is very familiar with the officialdom."
It turned out that this young woman was the wife of Liu Mingju, the magistrate of Jiangning County.
Judging from the tone of her voice, there must be someone in her family who is an official.
Zhou Shaojin looked at her, and saw Madam Wu and Cheng Xian walking in, talking and laughing in low voices. He could still hear their conversation: "... I also think that Yu Ji's rouge is better than Xie Fuxiang's, but Xie Fuxiang's perfume is better than Yu Ji's."
Cheng Xian said, "That's right. So every year I have people bring me ten boxes of Xie Fuxiang's perfume powder from Jinling City, which I can use for myself or give to others." As she spoke, she looked up, as if she had just discovered that Zhou Shaojin and Pan Qing were in the hall, so she said to Pan Qing lovingly, "Where did you go, kid? It took me a while to find you!" Then she asked Zhou Shaojin, "Didn't you say you were with Miss Wu? Why didn't I see Miss Wu?"
Zhou Shaojin's eyes flashed slightly, and he instinctively sensed Cheng Xian's malice.
But before she could open her mouth, Madam Wu smiled and said, "I asked her to go back first. There is a guest at our master's old home. He said that he had watched the eldest daughter grow up since she was a child, and he came to pay a special visit to her."
Regardless of whether this was true or false, no one would spoil the fun by getting to the bottom of it. Everyone just laughed it off and let the matter go.
When the meal started, Zhou Shaojin sat in Wu Baozhang's seat.
Pan Qing made small talk and chatted with Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin was always taciturn. Pan Qing said ten sentences before she responded. Pan Qing was exhausted, but Cheng Ji was furious. Before the banquet was over, he pulled Zhou Shaojin aside and whispered, "Why is Pan Qing so affectionate with you? Did you speak for Pan Qing just now?"
"Why can't Pan Qing speak for me?" Zhou Shaojin said, "Why do you care what she wants to do? She's going to leave in a few days anyway."
Cheng Ji was half-believing and half-doubting.
Zhou Shaojin had never been entangled with anyone like this before. At this time, the boat was calm and seeing Wu Baozhang being despised by the elders, she did not feel the joy of victory, but only deep fatigue.
She drank two bowls of shad soup and started sweating a little, which made her feel more energetic.
After watching the fireworks and helping the second room see off the guests, Zhou Shaojin and others returned to the fourth room, and the second watch drum had already struck.
Old Madam Guan looked tired, and told Zhou Shaojin and the others, "Go and have a rest! If there is anything, we can talk about it tomorrow."
Everyone knelt and saluted, then retreated.
Mrs. Miao gave the sisters some warnings like "be careful with the candlelight" and then left with Zhou Shaojin and her sister.
Zhou Shaojin saw that there was no one around, so he asked Shi Xiang, Chi Xiang and others to follow from a distance, and quietly told Zhou Chujin what happened after he returned to Siyi Tower.
Zhou Chujin was shocked, then he felt a little amused and said, "You are so proud of yourself! You are ignorant and fearless. There are so many people sitting in the hall, who doesn't have an idea as soon as they turn their eyes? You actually dared to plot against Wu Baozhang. If this is exposed, how are you going to end it?"
As they spoke, the two of them entered Wanxiangju.
Zhou Shaojin said: "I was just very angry at the time, and I didn't think too much about it."
Looking at it now, it is indeed very dangerous.
If this happened in her previous life, given her cowardice, she would have most likely endured it.
Wu Baozhang would either use this to threaten me or to please me. No matter the former or the latter, things would be the same as in my previous life. I had no choice but to keep in touch with Wu Baozhang. Wu Baozhang would get to know Cheng Jia and Zheng, who had a close relationship with Cheng Jia...
But today, everything is different.
After Wu Baozhang was "commented" on by the lady-in-waiting of the Duke of Liang, she could no longer integrate into the circle of ladies in Jinling City. Even families with a little bit of status would not allow their daughters to get too close to her.
There shouldn't be much interaction between her and me in the future, right
※
I have received official confirmation from the editor and will be joining V next month, which is January 1st. Sisters, please help me save a few pink tickets, thank you!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)