The four of them had lunch together, drank tea and chatted for a while. When Mrs. Guo looked tired, Cheng Sheng smiled and put down the teacup and leaned in front of Mrs. Guo. He said to Zhou Shaojin, "Aunt, please chat with my mother here. I have finally come here, so let me show my filial piety and serve grandma to rest."
Upon hearing this, Madam Guo joked, "Oh! Are you attracted to something about me?"
Zhou Shaojin smiled slightly.
Qiu's heart skipped a beat.
Cheng Sheng joked, "Even if I like something of yours, it's only natural. You have so many good things!"
"Look, look," Mrs. Guo said to Zhou Shaojin and Qiu with a smile, "This is actually my fault!"
Everyone in the room burst into laughter.
Mrs. Guo finally let Cheng Sheng help her into the inner room. She then stopped smiling and said, "Tell me, what's the matter?"
Cheng Sheng stared at Mrs. Guo: "You! That's the bad thing about you. You are so powerful! No one dares to say anything in front of you! As the saying goes, if you are not dumb or deaf, you are not an old lady. Look at my mother-in-law, she only knows how to pretend to be deaf and dumb..."
Mrs. Guo was so amused that she couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing. She said, "What can I say to you?"
"Then don't say anything." Cheng Sheng said with a smile, "Listen to me."
Mrs. Guo looked at her granddaughter who was wearing a woman's hairpin but still looked like a little girl. Her heart softened. She let her granddaughter help her sit on the bed, smiled and said softly, "Okay, you talk, I'll listen."
Cheng Sheng turned his eyes slightly and said, "I heard from mother that we want to separate the family?"
"What do you mean by we?" Old Madam Guo snorted, "Your surname is Peng! What does the division of our Cheng family have to do with you?"
Cheng Sheng muttered, "I just heard my mom and dad say that they wanted to buy a house, but they didn't have enough money. I asked my mom, but she didn't want to tell me. You know she's a little confused, but she wouldn't have the guts to think about this in private without you telling her about it in person! I'm unsure, so I came to you to test the waters..."
As he said this, he glanced at Mrs. Guo with an aggrieved look.
Madam Guo laughed and said, "Don't try to fool me. How much is the house? I'll ask Madam Lu to give it to you."
"You are really rich!" Cheng Sheng was amazed and said, "Six thousand taels of silver!"
Madam Guo said with a smile: "Don't act weird in front of me. Are you dazzled by six thousand taels of silver?"
Cheng Sheng laughed, took Mrs. Guo's arm, and said, "Isn't this just to make you happy?"
"Well!" Mrs. Guo stood up and said, "Don't you want to show your filial piety? Help me change my clothes! Let's see if my six thousand taels of silver are useful?"
Cheng Sheng, with a playful smile, helped Mrs. Guo sit down in front of the dressing table and said, "It works, it works."
Zhou Shaojin took Qiu to a wing room behind her Tingxiang Courtyard: "... I asked them to clean up the wing room this morning. The floor heater has been burning all the time. You can rest here for a while. When mother wakes up, the maid will come to inform us."
Qiu smiled and thanked him.
Zhou Shaojin continued, "Second sister-in-law will come here often in the future, so I'll keep this room for you." As she spoke, the maidservant opened the door of the room and lifted the curtain. Zhou Shaojin said, "See if there is anything to add?"
Qiu saw that the wing room was filled with black lacquer furniture, pastel porcelain, lilac-colored mattresses, and bright red brocade quilts. It was clean and tidy, and the furnishings were bright. A pot of yellow wintersweet in the corner was fragrant and blooming beautifully. People felt warm and comfortable as soon as they stepped into the room. She couldn't help but say to Zhou Shaojin, "Fourth brother's sister-in-law, I'm sorry to bother you."
"As long as my second sister-in-law likes it," Zhou Shaojin said, "I'll sleep in the warm room over there. If you have anything to say, tell the maid to find me."
The two exchanged a few words, and Chun Wan ran in holding a large red gold-painted box, called out "Second Madam," and said to Zhou Shaojin, "Fourth Madam, the silk flowers are here."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and handed the box to Qiu, saying, "Give it to Ah Sheng!"
This can be considered a gift from the elders.
Qiu thought about it, then laughed and accepted it on behalf of Cheng Sheng.
Zhou Shaojin spoke to her a few more words and then left.
Qiu opened the box with a smile.
Three silk flowers, one rose-red, one pink, and one light yellow.
Qiu was in a trance for a moment.
Although the fourth brother's wife is young, she acts very steadily and treats people sincerely. If the two of them could be like this now, she would feel very satisfied.
She lay on the kang and dozed off for a while, and then Cheng Sheng came over.
Qiu immediately sat up and asked, "What did your grandmother say?"
Cheng Sheng no longer showed his innocence in front of Old Lady Guo. He took out a box from his pocket and handed it to his mother, saying, "Here are six thousand taels of silver."
Qiu sighed.
Cheng Sheng couldn't help but asked, "Can we not split up the family?"
Qiu said, "I believe your grandmother."
Cheng Sheng said nothing more and got on the kang.
Qiu pushed the box on the table and said, "Your fourth aunt sent it here."
Cheng Sheng opened the box, looked at the silk flowers inside, and sighed.
How nice it would be if the whole family could live together in harmony like this!
※
Mrs. Guo woke up after taking a nap. She asked Pearl, who was on duty, "Are the Second and Fourth Madams awake?"
"No!" Zhenzhu, who was sewing a silk thread at the side, quickly put down the silk thread in her hand and said, "You have only been lying there for less than two quarters of an hour."
Madam Guo hummed, her eyes fell on the bright red silk thread. Seeing that it was very delicately woven, something she had never seen before, she smiled and asked, "Is there a new type of silk thread that is becoming popular in the market?"
"No." Zhenzhu smiled, "I learned it from Chunwan. Chunwan said that it was the fourth wife who told her two years ago. Now everyone in the courtyard is learning it!"
In the past, Hanbi Mountain House was deserted, and everyone lived in accordance with the rules and did not dare to go beyond the rules. Naturally, they did not dare to bring these new things to Mrs. Guo. Now Mrs. Guo lived in Dingxiang Courtyard. The flowers in the courtyard were said to be evergreen in all seasons. Even in this winter, there were wintersweets and camellias in the house. Seeing that Mrs. Guo did not say anything, everyone's minds became active. Not only did they learn to tie new laces from the Spring Festival Gala, but some people would also secretly wear flowers in inconspicuous places. Everyone felt a lot more relaxed when doing things.
Mrs. Guo looked at the tent above her head without saying anything.
Zhenzhu suddenly became uneasy and was about to quietly put away the silk string when Mrs. Guo suddenly ordered her, "Go and move all the posts you sent to me a few days ago."
She hurriedly stood up and replied "yes", and instructed two maids to bring in a basket of visiting cards.
Mrs. Guo asked them to sort out the visiting cards according to their rank.
Zhenzhu and her two maids spent almost an hour cleaning up the invitations but still hadn't finished.
Zhou Shaojin, Qiu and Cheng Sheng came over to pay their respects to her.
"What are you doing?" Qiu looked at the maids who were busy and sweating, and asked curiously, "Do you want us to help?"
Madam Guo thought for a moment and said, "Sit with me for a while. Let Shaojin and Asheng help clean up."
Seeing that they were all visiting cards from friends and relatives, Qiu knew that this was a good opportunity to get familiar with the Cheng family's network. Cheng Sheng knew that it would also be good for her, so she smiled and served tea to Madam Guo, leaving Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng to clean up the visiting cards.
After everything was sorted out according to Madam Guo's wishes, she started reading the visiting cards from the wives of high-ranking officials above the third rank. She put aside the ones that required a reply and put the ones that did not require a reply back into the book basket. She asked Mrs. Qiu to tell Zhou Shaojin how to reply, and then she took the return gifts to deliver them to each family.
Cheng Sheng was whispering to Zhou Shaojin, telling her whose family this was, whose family that was, what was the relationship between this family and the Cheng family, what was the relationship between that family, what happened in which family, what imperial edict had been received by which family... Sometimes when she spoke too subjectively, Qiu would correct her.
Zhou Shaojin listened with great interest as if it were a story. Comparing it with the anecdotes that Old Madam Guo had told her when they went to Putuo Mountain in the past, plus some memories of her past life, Zhou Shaojin felt that she had never been as clear-headed as she was now. She had more or less impressions of the officials and families in the capital.
Mrs. Guo listened with a smile on her face.
They spent the entire afternoon sorting out the visiting cards, but they didn't feel bored.
After finishing dinner and seeing off the Qiu mother and daughter, Mrs. Guo picked up a few important greeting cards and wrote replies.
Zhou Shaojin asked: "Are you going to visit these families?"
Madam Guo nodded and said with a smile, "I used to have a good relationship with these people. Now that I have come to the capital and the New Year is coming soon, I should go out and visit them. You should gather up the things you have and come with me."
Zhou Shaojin agreed with a smile, prepared the gifts, and started visiting relatives and friends with Mrs. Guo.
Old Madam Guo always asked her to support her, as if she needed her care. Zhou Shaojin also became familiar with those families who had old ties with the Cheng family.
On the day of Laba Festival, Yuan and others rushed to the house in Chaoyangmen. The news from Jining also came at this time.
The expressions of several cabinet ministers changed.
Song Jingran remained silent because of Yang Shoushan.
Li Jiangling, Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall and Minister of Punishments, scolded Yang Shoushan and thought that Yang Shoushan should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.
Qu Yuan, the Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace and the Minister of Works, felt that Yang Shoushan was a high-ranking official of the second rank and the matter did not need to be rushed, and it would be better to ask the emperor to make the decision.
Several other university scholars were either drinking tea or holding the formation bars from Jining and looking at Yuan Weichang.
But before Yuan Weichang could speak, Cheng Jing smiled and said, "Anyway, this matter has been suppressed. Whether it's a big deal or a small matter, or letting the emperor decide, I think it's fine."
The air in the room suddenly stagnated.
Everyone remembered that the man who went to the rescue was called Cheng Chi, Cheng Jing's younger brother.
Cheng Jing is telling everyone not to forget to reward people according to their merits.
Several coughs, some light and some heavy, were heard in the room.
Yuan Weichang glanced at Cheng Jing, who was sitting upright, and then at Song Jingran, who had a stern expression. He then said slowly, "I think it's better for His Majesty to make the decision on this matter!"
Let Cheng Jing and Song Jingran fight each other!
Cheng Jing and Song Jingran both snorted in their hearts at the same time.
※
Sisters and brothers, today’s extra update.
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: The update will be around ten o'clock in the evening!
※(To be continued)