Old Madam Guo's eyes lit up with surprise, and she smiled, "I'm afraid this is what Silang meant, otherwise Silang would definitely not have taken such a gamble. A young man who has just entered the officialdom dares to be ignorant of the heavens and earth and take charge of the affairs of the River Governor's Office. This is not Silang's style." Then, she said to Zhou Shaojin in a gentle voice, "You should be relieved now! I will talk to your uncle."
Zhou Shaojin nodded and thanked Mrs. Guo.
A little maid came in and said that Mrs. An, the wife of Mr. Peng, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, had sent someone to bring Laba porridge to Mrs. Guo.
The Langzhong of the Qingli Division of the Ministry of Revenue is a fifth-rank official, a high-ranking official in the prefecture and county, but in the capital, he is not even qualified to cry at the royal funeral. When did the old lady get to know an old man of such a high rank
Zhou Shaojin looked towards Qiu.
Mrs. Qiu shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't know either.
But Madam Guo said to them, "You've been busy all day, you're tired, go back and rest for a while! When Dalang and Erlang come back, we'll have a good meal together."
He actually wanted to meet the people who came to deliver porridge to Mrs. Peng's family and sent them away.
Qiu and Zhou Shaojin were extremely puzzled, but they still knelt down obediently and left the main room.
Zhou Shaojin asked: "Second sister-in-law, where did the eldest sister-in-law go?"
Mrs. Qiu sighed and said, "My eldest sister-in-law said she had some things to do in Xinglin Hutong and she would come back soon. But when I sent her out, I heard her tell the sedan bearer to go to an alley."
An alley is the residence of the Yuan family of Tongxiang in the capital.
Zhou Shaojin didn't know what to say to Yuan's stubbornness.
Mrs. Qiu was worried about her and whispered, "Shaojin, I don't know what she's thinking. You see, even the origin of Huang Li's daughter-in-law was known to me after I went out for a walk. She was riding in the Cheng family's sedan chair. If I wanted to know, I would have known it long ago. I told her not to go to the Yuan family, but she insisted on going. Isn't it obvious that she is making me unhappy? She was not like this before!"
But people will change!
Everything will change depending on your status and position.
Zhou Shaojin sighed and said, "I can only promise not to tell you unless mother asks me, but if mother asks, I will definitely tell you the truth."
Before she got married, she received advice from Old Madam Guo, and she had no objection to marrying Cheng Chi. Now that Cheng Chi is her mother-in-law, she naturally has to stand on the side of Old Madam Guo.
After hearing this, Qiu nodded repeatedly and said, "I think so too!"
But in his heart, he couldn't help but look up to Zhou Shaojin again.
There are not many people who can do things so efficiently and effectively.
It's amazing that she already has her own opinions at such a young age. She is much better than Ah Sheng when he was a child!
The two went to the back room to drink tea.
Nanny Lu personally saw the old woman from the Peng family off.
Zhou Shaojin asked Aunt Lu: "How did the old lady know Lao An from the Peng family?"
Grandma Lu smiled and said, "Mrs. An of the Peng family is surnamed Yu, and her elder sister is Madam Fengsheng who passed away more than ten years ago. Mrs. An's husband's family is from the same hometown as Earl Pengcheng, and Mr. An and Madam Pengcheng have a good relationship. When Madam Fengsheng was alive, she often interacted with Mr. An, so she was also familiar with Madam Pengcheng. In recent years, both the old lady and Mr. Peng have been widowed at home and have not been around much. It was not until the New Year's Day gift a few days ago that the old lady deliberately added the name of the Peng family to it, and then the two families started to visit each other again. The old lady even went to Mr. Peng's house a few days ago."
Madam Fengsheng is the emperor's wet nurse.
Zhou Shaojin was shocked.
A few days ago, she and Cheng Sheng went to visit Cheng Jia. When they came back, they saw that the curtain of a sedan chair in the sedan chair hall was soaked by snow. She wondered if the old lady had gone somewhere, and asked the person on duty in the sedan chair hall. The person on duty said they didn't know, they had just changed shifts, and asked her if she wanted to help ask the previous shift.
She wanted to ask at that time, but the maid ran over and said that the uncle of the Li family in Jiangxi had sent people to send many New Year gifts, several carts of things. Qin Ziji had already counted the gifts, but the person who sent the gifts said that the uncle of the Li family had instructed that he must see her and kowtow to her before leaving. It was snowing, it got dark early, and the night was particularly cold. She was afraid of delaying their return to the inn, so she hurried into the inner courtyard. She never thought that the uncle of the Li family not only sent a whole sheep and a whole pig as New Year gifts, but also sent two full boxes of gold ingots. Zhou Shaojin couldn't refuse, so she had to ask Mrs. Guo for instructions. Mrs. Guo asked her to leave the things, and she dared to accept them. After sending away the Li family's mother-in-law, she went to Tingxiang Courtyard again. Mrs. Guo taught her how to "return the gift". After a few times, she forgot about it.
It seems that Mrs. Guo went out that day.
He never said a word after he came back.
But usually, Madam Guo would tell her where she went and what she did...
Zhou Shaojin vaguely felt that this matter did not seem that simple.
But if you ask her to describe her feelings specifically, she can't say it - she doesn't think that the Cheng family is very noble and that the people they interact with are all descendants of wealthy and powerful families. The Peng family is just a fifth-rank doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, and the Cheng family would lose face by interacting with him.
It can be seen that there is something she doesn't know.
Zhou Shaojin kept his confusion in his heart.
In the afternoon, Cheng Wei came back early. He told Madam Guo: "The emperor summoned several ministers to the palace. My eldest brother brought me a letter. It might be about the matter in Jining Prefecture. He asked me to tell you that he will do his best to mediate this matter no matter what, and will not let Silang get involved."
Madam Guo nodded with satisfaction and said, "Now he acts like a big brother, the head of the Cheng family, the one in charge."
Cheng Wei laughed and said, "Brother told us not to wait for him. After he comes out from the emperor, maybe the ministers in the cabinet will discuss it again... We don't know when he will be back."
Mrs. Guo was happy and said, "Then we won't wait for him. Have Jiashan and Rang'er come over?"
She asked Aunt Lu.
"They are all here." Madam Lu said with a smile, "They are changing clothes in the guest room on the east wing. They will be here in a quarter of an hour at most."
Mrs. Guo said "hmm" with satisfaction.
Yuan is back.
She greeted everyone with a smile and took out a few boxes of snacks for everyone, saying that she bought them when she passed by the pastry shop on her way back. She never mentioned anything about having been to Yuan's house.
Zhou Shaojin and Qiu couldn't help but exchange glances, and both pretended not to hear.
After a while, Cheng Xu and Cheng Rang came to pay their respects to Mrs. Guo.
Mrs. Guo asked Cheng Xu and Cheng Rang about their homework, while Zhou Shaojin hid in the tea room and instructed the maids to make tea and arrange fruits.
Cheng Xu quickly glanced at all the women standing behind Mrs. Guo, but did not find Zhou Shaojin. He couldn't tell whether he was disappointed or happy, it was a very complicated feeling.
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The next day, before dawn, Cheng Jing came.
Wearing a bright red court robe and a sable cloak, he entered the room and bowed to Old Lady Guo without even taking off his cloak, saying, "Mother, I'm about to go to court. I came to tell you something before I go. Yesterday, the cabinet discussed that my fourth brother knew about the incident but did not report it. He promoted the people of Jining Guard without authorization and was dismissed from his position as the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Works. However, since my fourth brother handled the situation properly and did not cause a civil uprising, he was appointed as the Supervisory Censor to assist the Right Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate in supervising the dredging of the Yellow River to atone for his sins. The cabinet will present a proposal today, and the eunuch Liu Yong of the Imperial Household Department has also agreed. Don't worry! This time, my fourth brother can be said to have turned a disaster into a blessing."
Mrs. Guo's gray hair was tied up in a bun, and she was wearing a plain quilted jacket. She smiled and nodded, saying, "You brothers can only break iron when you work together. When you are done with your work these few days, you can come here with your wife and children to have dinner! Mother has something to discuss with you."
Cheng Jing respectfully agreed, said goodbye to Mrs. Guo, and went to the palace.
By the time he had breakfast, Zhou Shaojin received the letter.
She couldn't help but smile with joy.
Mrs. Guo smiled slightly.
Two days later, after a court discussion, Cheng Chi was demoted to the seventh rank of Supervisory Censor.
Cheng Jing brought Yuan and Cheng Xu over for dinner.
Cheng Wei also brought Qiu and Cheng Rang along.
Zhou Shaojin prepared a menu and supervised the kitchen to cook. Pengcheng Marquis's Mansion sent someone to bring a letter to Old Man Guo: "Our old lady said that she is going to the palace in the next two days. I want to ask if you are free. Why don't you go to the palace with our old lady and sit with the Queen Mother for a while."
Mrs. Guo agreed immediately.
Cheng Jing smiled and said, "I haven't been in the capital for more than ten years. I didn't expect that the Queen would still remember you!"
Old Man Guo looked at Yuan, whose face was a little pale, and said slowly, "There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I am just more careful than others. When I came to Beijing, I went to the home of Madam Fengsheng's former sister and told her about my misery. Madam Pengcheng might have felt sorry for my experience, so she couldn't help but say a few more words to the Empress when she went to the palace. The Empress only thought of me then. What is there to be proud of?"
Cheng Jing was embarrassed and said, "It's all my fault. My mother was so tired that she should have been enjoying her old age, but she is still worrying about us, her children."
As Yuan listened, her face turned even paler and she lowered her head involuntarily.
The Min family really did not regard the Cheng family as an ally.
She went to the Min family on the pretext of having something to do and asked about the marriages of several young ladies in the Min family, but everyone kept silent, as if nothing had happened!
Fortunately, my mother-in-law didn’t know, otherwise the so-called marriage with the Min family would have become a joke.
Thinking of this, Yuan couldn't help but clench her handkerchief tightly.
But Mrs. Guo took her two sons to the warm room to talk.
When Yuan saw that Qiu and Zhou Shaojin were left out, she felt a little better.
In the warm room, Mrs. Guo went straight to the point and told the two brothers that she was planning to divide the family business.
Cheng Jing would naturally not fight for his mother's private money. He hesitated for a while and talked about the Seven Stars Hall: "... I know that because of the division of the clan, the vitality of the family has been damaged. I think I should talk to Si Lang and stop it in two years at most! In the future, whether the Seven Stars Hall gathers or disperses, it has nothing to do with us. It was originally used by our ancestors to wipe the mouths of the royal family of the previous dynasty. Now the grass on the graves of the royal family of the previous dynasty has probably grown to the height of a person. We'd better not get involved in these things. This is also our family's good luck. Si Lang can suppress the Seven Stars Hall. If we make it like the second branch, without someone who can control the Seven Stars Hall, then the Seven Stars Hall will be in chaos and dispersed. Rather than fall to that point, it is better to let go as soon as possible. If the second branch wants it, just give it to them."
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Hey guys, today's update.
PS: Tomorrow is Monday. I have to go out for something, so there will be only one update, scheduled at around 10 o'clock in the evening.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)