Yuan was so angry that she was shaking all over. She couldn't help but say, "Mother, Jining is so far away from the capital, and the river belongs to the Ministry of Works. Even if I were a god, I couldn't have known that Yang Shoushan would actually force the river workers to death, and I couldn't have known that those river workers would actually kill a Tongzhi... You are asking too much!"
Dare to contradict mother-in-law...
Frightened, Qiu suddenly stood up, with her eyelids drooping and a handkerchief clutching her handkerchief, not knowing what to do.
Zhou Shaojin was still immersed in the news he had just received and did not move for a long time.
In other words, Cheng Chi was not there to report for duty, but to come to the rescue.
That's why Song Ge Lao sent people to Baoding Prefecture to find him, and that's why he hurried directly from Baoding Prefecture to Jining... Now Cheng Chi has pacified the migrant workers, imprisoned the ringleaders who killed the Tongzhi, and the river has started to be dredged normally. This is a good thing. The River Governor's Office also has the power to mobilize the surrounding guards. There are commanders stationed in the river and clerks familiar with river affairs. He is a sixth-rank official who used to manage dredging in the Ministry of Works and has just entered the officialdom. How can he be the one to take the lead? Will this leave others with the impression that he is arrogant and disrespectful to his superiors
Zhou Shaojin suddenly couldn't sit still anymore.
She had to go to Lord Song's house to ask.
Cheng Chi would rush to Jining Prefecture to save the situation, but he accepted the invitation of Lord Song.
She believed that Lord Song would not let Cheng Chi go to Jining for no reason, and she also believed that Cheng Chi would not agree to Lord Song to go to Jining for no reason. Cheng Chi could not come back for a while. If she did not know the reason, she was afraid that she would not be able to sleep well at night!
Just as she was thinking about speaking to Madam Guo, there was a cold snort from the room. Madam Guo raised her eyebrows and said, "Indeed, Silang is just a small sixth-rank official in Jining, so you don't care about Jining's affairs. Dalang is in the cabinet, the Minister of Rites, a first-rank official. Tell me, what do you know about Dalang?"
Yuan was stunned by the question.
Old Madam Guo sneered disdainfully and said, "Lord Qu intended to marry the seventh branch of the Min family, but the seventh branch of the Min family politely declined. Do you know the reason? It turns out that Huang Li, who was competing with Dalang for the position of Zuodu Yushi of the Censorate, was transferred from Tongzhengshi of the Ministry of Public Administration to Dalisi Qing. His family recently married a daughter of the deputy director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War. The old man of the Li family in Lujiang, who was the same as your second uncle in the imperial examination and was later selected by the emperor as the third place, is about to serve as the governor-general of Liangjiang. Do you know who recommended him..."
The old lady's several "Do you know" questions made Yuan break out in a cold sweat.
Madam Guo looked at it and snorted, saying, "The Lujiang Li family is a big family in the north, a little far from us, so I won't talk about them, that would embarrass you. Just tell me whether you know why the Min family rejected the kindness of Lord Qu and why Huang Li married the daughter of the Deputy Director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War!"
How could Yuan answer this question
Especially since Lord Qu was planning to marry into the Min family, and her children were in-laws with the Min family, but she didn't hear a word about it!
By saying this, was the old lady implying that the Min family didn't consider her a relative at all and were wary of her
The sweat on her forehead became more dense.
Mrs. Guo looked at her calmly without saying anything.
Zhou Shaojin thought about how when she accompanied Madam Guo to visit relatives a few days ago, Madam Guo not only chatted and laughed with the madams, wives, wives, and grandmothers, but also spoke wittily and was humorous and interesting. It was like she had become a different person...
She couldn't help but look at Yuan.
Her eyes met Qiu who was looking at her.
Mrs. Qiu looked at Mrs. Guo and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Yuan was there weakly defending herself: "The New Year is coming soon... Jiashan is getting married again... I, I haven't been out much these days..."
Madam Guo ignored her, as if she hadn't seen or heard anything. She suddenly turned her gaze to Qiu and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Qiu was trembling with fear.
Zhou Shaojin felt anxious for her.
Seeing that Mrs. Guo didn't notice her, she hurriedly said to Mrs. Qiu in silence, "Tell the truth."
I don't know if Qiu Shi figured it out or understood Zhou Shaojin's lip shape. Her face turned red and she said after a long time: "I, I just want to know, what is the origin of the Huang family's daughter-in-law?"
Madam Guo said, "She is Zhang Junhua's granddaughter."
The old man had a blank expression on his face but a warm tone.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief for her.
The old lady hates people who pretend to know everything and refuse to admit their mistakes in front of her.
Yuan cried out in surprise.
Huang Li and Cheng Jing are sworn enemies. They are inferior to Zhong Bo in terms of resources and knowledge. In the end, Cheng Jing was able to win the battle with Huang Li for the position of Zuodu Yushi because Cheng Chi took Wan Tong's path at a critical moment. Now their family is married to the Min family, and Huang Li married Zhang Junhua's granddaughter. Huang Li is a well-known cunning old man. With Zhang Junhua's connections and Shen Minzhi's student, who knows if Huang Li, who has two cabinet ministers behind him, will be able to turn things around? Will he continue to confront Cheng Jing after turning things around
She...really neglected it!
"Mother! This is all my fault!" Yuan was not completely confused. The old lady knew all these things, and was remembered by Madam Pengcheng. She could get a name in front of the Queen. I'm afraid she had her own tricks. No wonder the ancestor of the second house, Cheng Xu, was so afraid of the old lady. My father-in-law really died early. With the old lady's skills, a cabinet boss would never be able to escape. I'm afraid this is one of the reasons why the second house has always been trying to suppress the eldest house. But she only stared at the outside and forgot about her family. If she could use the old lady's interpersonal relationships for her, wouldn't the road to Jiashan be smoother? She changed her attitude decisively and said, "You said I was right. I didn't fulfill my responsibilities as the eldest daughter-in-law and the responsibilities of a clan wife. I'll go to the Yuan family and ask my sister-in-law what's going on..." She thought of the discord between Yuan Weichang and Song Jingran, and said, "Find a way to meet my brother and let him stand on the side of the eldest master in this matter."
Although Mrs. Guo did not think highly of Yuan Weichang, Yuan did say something sensible.
Madam Guo said, "No need. The eldest master will be leaving the government office soon. There is no point in going to the Yuan family to inquire about the news at this time. We should just wait patiently for the news!"
Yuan replied "yes" awkwardly.
Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment, stood up, and whispered, "Mom, I want to go see Madam Song... The fourth master was called away by Elder Song..."
Madam Guo thought about it, then said "OK" decisively, "Let Madam Shang go with you."
Zhou Shaojin knelt down gratefully to bow to Old Madam Guo and hurried out of the banquet room.
Qiu looked at the old lady in astonishment.
Just now he didn't allow Yuan to go to Yuan Weichang, but the next moment he agreed to let Zhou Shaojin go to see Madam Song... Not to mention Yuan, even she couldn't understand it.
Madam Guo sighed in disappointment and said calmly, "Shao Jin is still young, and it was Elder Song who sent someone to call Si Lang. If Si Lang has any problems, Shao Jin would be the most suitable person to go to him. Think about it carefully!"
After saying this, he went straight to the inner room without even looking at them.
Qiu stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
※
Zhou Shaojin rode in a small sedan chair with green curtains and went straight into the Song family's hanging flower gate.
Mrs. Song was waiting for her in person in front of the hanging flower gate.
When Zhou Shaojin saw her eyes turn red before she even spoke, he called out "Mrs. Song" and began to choke up.
Madam Song's face was filled with guilt, and she hurriedly said, "Shaojin, it's okay, it's okay. Our master is very cautious in doing things. Your Lord Cheng also knows this well. Our master decided on this matter after repeated consideration."
Before Zhou Shaojin came, he was afraid that Mrs. Song knew nothing. Now it seems that Mrs. Song not only knows, but also knows a lot about this matter.
Her heart couldn't help but move.
Mrs. Song is a person who doesn't care about things. Could it be that Lord Song said something to Mrs. Song
Zhou Shaojin listened and suddenly thought of her past life when she went to ask Concubine Lin for Miss Mu's matter. The Queen Mother suddenly came and Concubine Lin was very enthusiastic about the Queen Mother... She couldn't help but hold Madam Song's arm affectionately and said, "Mother said so, but I am too worried about our Fourth Master. If I don't come to talk to you, my heart will be like hanging in the air and I will be restless..."
"I know, I know." Madam Song patted her hands to comfort her. Seeing her red eyes and her hair being blown a little messy by the cold wind, she couldn't help but feel soft in her heart. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered in her ear, "Our master said that he recommended Lord Yang. After something like this happened, he couldn't say some things. The river engineering has been in chaos for a long time. He originally hoped that Lord Yang could correct the chaos, but he didn't expect that Lord Yang would be involved before the river was sorted out. If Lord Cheng can come forward to negotiate, Lord Cheng can just transfer from the Ministry of Works to the Censorate..."
Zhou Shaojin's heart was pounding.
In her previous life, she didn't care about what was happening outside, but in this life, in front of Mrs. Guo, she learned a lot of things that she had never known or paid attention to before.
There is a rule in the imperial court for selecting officials: "If you are not a Hanlin, you cannot enter the cabinet, you cannot be a censor, and you cannot be a court official."
The officials here refer to the six ministers.
If Cheng Chi wants to move up further, he may need to become a Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy or a Censor in the Censorate.
You can enter the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi.
After Cheng Chi passed the imperial examination, he never thought about becoming an official, so he did not participate in the selection of Shujishi. The selection of Shujishi was only conducted among the newly promoted Jinshi.
He has lost this opportunity.
The best thing to do now is to start with the Censor.
The River Governor's Office is dredging the Yellow River. It is such a big matter that the emperor will definitely send the censors from the Censorate to supervise it.
All the censors had to start from the seventh rank, and with more than a hundred censors in the Censorate, it was not easy to make the top.
If Cheng Chi could be transferred to the position of Censor of the Censorate because of this incident, even if he was demoted from a sixth-rank Langwai official to a seventh-rank Censor, Cheng Chi would have a reputation and a background. If someone else promoted him, he could at least become a third-rank official.
Some things really cannot be rebuilt without destruction.
Zhou Shaojin suppressed his excitement and stayed at Madam Song's place for an hour. After politely declining Madam Song's invitation to stay for dinner, he hurried back to Chaoyang Gate.
Yuan was not there, so Qiu was there serving tea to Mrs. Guo.
Zhou Shaojin thought about Qiu's character and did not hide it from her. He told Mrs. Guo the result of his visit to the Song family.
※
Dear friends, I was afraid that I might have written something wrong, so I checked all the necessary information. It took a lot of time, and I'm sorry.
Today's update is still scheduled for around ten o'clock in the evening.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)