Yuan's face turned pale, and she could not help but complain in her heart, "This Qiu, she always pretends to be deaf and dumb every time she encounters something, she is too irresponsible, fortunately she is cowardly, otherwise she would not be able to live like this." She also thought of the time when she went to the Min family to ask about the marriage between the seventh branch of the Min family and the elder Qu, and the eldest wife of the Min family said helplessly that because the matter did not work out, it was not good to shout about it everywhere, and she could not help but clench her fists.
After all, the Cheng family does not have many descendants. Even if they want to marry into other prominent families, they do not have enough descendants.
If only Fourth Uncle had married Fang Xuan.
Thinking of this, she felt even more headache.
The eldest wife of the Min family said that Fang Xuan was about to get engaged to Min Jianxing's younger brother Min Jianyan, who was the younger brother of the eldest daughter of the Min family. In other words, Fang Xuan would become Cheng Xu's aunt-in-law. But Fang Xuan's mother, the second wife of the Fang family, blamed her for everything that happened before, and she was turned away every time she visited her.
How can this relative move around
Zhou Shaojin was reading Cheng Chi's letter with great joy.
Cheng Chi did not hide what happened in Jining from her, but spent a lot of space to tell her the whole cause and effect of the matter. However, when Cheng Chi told the story in the letter, Zhou Shaojin was not worried or afraid, but burst out laughing.
Chun Wan was just bringing in tea. Seeing this, he smiled and said, "What did the Fourth Master write in the letter? You seem so happy to read it!"
Zhou Shaojin folded the letter carefully and put it into a carved rosewood box at the head of the bed. He smiled and said, "Fourth Master said that there is a clerk in the Governor's Office of the River, who is responsible for distributing grain to the river workers this time. But this person likes to drink. After Fourth Master took over the Governor's Office of the River, he asked him to report the remaining grain in the warehouse. He may have just drunk and reported a number casually. Who knew that Fourth Master immediately asked Huaishan to force him to count the grain. As a result, when the number was counted, it turned out that there was almost five stone of grain less than the number he said. The man was so scared that he immediately stuffed five taels of silver into Huaishan and asked Huaishan to be tolerant. He would immediately find a way to buy five stone of grain. Huaishan wanted to see what he was doing, so he let him go to raise grain, and then flipped through the account book in the granary..." At this point, Zhou Shaojin suddenly stopped and asked Chunwan with sparkling eyes, "Guess what happened?"
The joy was clearly visible on his face.
The Spring Festival Gala is not blind!
She pursed her lips and smiled, following her words: "What's wrong?"
Zhou Shaojin laughed and said, "It turns out that person reported five more stones of grain!"
Chun Wan was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said, "So what happened in the end?"
"Later, that man really gathered five stones of grain. Huaishan didn't say anything, just wait and see what he would do. Who knew that until the Fourth Master settled the matter in Jining, the five stones of grain were still in the warehouse." Zhou Shaojin laughed, "Later, Huaishan found out after asking around. It turned out that this man was the son of the richest man in Jining. He wanted to be an official, but he was not a good student. He spent a lot of money to get a job as a clerk from someone else, but he didn't do his job well. He just wandered around the street in an official uniform all day, as if he was afraid that others didn't know who he was. The job he had was a mess, and even the accounts were managed by the steward of that family. Because the steward who helped him manage the accounts fell ill, he was suddenly called in by the Fourth Master for questioning, and Huaishan took him directly to the grain warehouse, and then he was exposed."
Chun Wan put the peeled apple in a small pastel bowl and handed it to Zhou Shaojin, saying with a smile: "For a man like this, the Fourth Master must kick him out of the government office!"
Zhou Shaojin used a ginkgo leaf silver fork to pick up the apple in the bowl and said with a smile, "That's why the Fourth Master is so capable - not only did he not drive the man away, he also let him work as a postmaster at the post station. This time, the River Governor's Office had an accident, and the officials from the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate, the Dali Temple, and the 24 Yamen... came one after another, and even the Fourth Master was busy and exhausted, but the clerk was like a fish in water, and he was very good at dealing with people. Not only did he entertain people comfortably, but he also arranged the accommodations for the officials from each Yamen properly, and no one complained to the Fourth Master."
The Spring Festival Gala opened its eyes wide.
The post station is an inn of the imperial court. There must be a first come first served order when staying in this inn, right? Although you came early and lived in the main house facing north and south, although I came late and could only live in the wing room, but I am a third-rank official, and you are a small sixth-rank official. I, a fourth-rank official, came, and you, a sixth-rank official, did not let me... The sixth-rank official also had some ideas. Although you are a fourth-rank official, you are the prefect, and I work in the Dali Temple. Can you control me? I came first, so I lived first. Why should I move you to another place!
Isn't this causing trouble
Apart from anything else, being able to sort out this relationship is truly remarkable!
Zhou Shaojin laughed and said, "Fourth Master is awesome!"
Chunwan kept nodding.
Zhou Shaojin smiled even more, and said, "The Fourth Master complained in the letter, saying that Yang Shoushan was obsessed with money. He said that he saw that the clerk's family was rich, and thought that Yang Shoushan had spent so much money to get a clerk, so he arranged for him to work in the granary, intending to let him slowly make up for the money he spent. But he didn't care about the money at all, and just wanted to show off. So the Fourth Master placed him in the post station. The man was very grateful and said that the Fourth Master was his mentor.
"The Fourth Master said angrily in the letter that he had chosen such a person. Even if he was a good mentor, he would probably be a poor one. It would be better not to be grateful to such a person!"
When the Spring Festival Gala thought of the hidden elegance that Cheng Chi revealed in his daily gestures, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Zhou Shaojin's mood, which had been a little gloomy just now, suddenly became as bright as a clear sky.
She smiled and placed a thumb-sized turquoise that had fallen from the letter on her palm, and asked Chunwan, "Is it good looking? The Fourth Master brought it to me!"
The stone had no regular shape, as if it had been broken off from somewhere, but its color was very beautiful, as green as grass, and looking at it made people feel comfortable for the eyes.
"Beautiful!" Chun Wan said sincerely, "I have never seen such beautiful turquoise."
Zhou Shaojin said: "What do you think if I put a hairpin on it?"
When Cheng Chi comes back, she will dress up for him.
The Spring Festival Gala received continuous praise.
Zhou Shaojin asked her to talk to Qin Ziyu and find someone from a jewelry store to help her set the stone.
Qiu came in, looked at them and praised them, and also praised Cheng Chi for being attentive and considerate, and then told Zhou Shaojin: "Mother asked you to go over, saying that although Fourth Uncle is not at home, you are at home, and you will represent the Third House. She will take advantage of the fact that Dalang and Erlang are also here, and invite Second Uncle and Master Wu, the president of the Hanlin Academy, to come over tomorrow to divide the house!"
The former is Cheng Xun's brother, and the latter is Cheng Xun's good friend. Among the three daughters-in-law, whether it is Yuan, Qiu or Zhou Shaojin, there are no relatives in the capital! Yuan Weichang and Yuan, who have always been relied on by the Yuan family, are just cousins. Because Yuan Weichang is the chief minister of the cabinet, Mrs. Guo does not want to honor the Yuan family, so she does not let the daughter-in-law's family come to preside over the division of the family.
"So fast!" Zhou Shaojin was surprised.
She thought she had to wait until Cheng Chi came back.
Mrs. Qiu said, "Such a big thing happened in Jining Prefecture, and I don't know when Fourth Uncle will be able to come back!"
But Cheng Xu is going to get married in February next year, and if they divide the family then, the Min family will be added. Madam Guo doesn't want to delay it any longer.
The three companies had no objection to this division.
Old Madam Guo asked Qin Ziyou to write the documents for the division of the property accordingly, and after Wu Xiuzhao and He Mianzhi came to sign the documents, they could report to the government.
Cheng Wei said, "Then I'll find a place to move out in the next two days!"
"There's no need to be so anxious." The two families had lived together for more than ten years, and now they were going their separate ways. Cheng Jing was quite emotional and said, "Let's move after the New Year!"
He is the eldest brother, and everyone will definitely go to his place to celebrate the New Year in the future.
Cheng Wei smiled and said, "Xinglin Hutong is a bit small to begin with. I'm moving out, so you should clean up the place where my mother lives as soon as possible."
That’s true!
Cheng Jing said no more.
The two families returned to Xinglin Hutong.
Thinking that the two families had lived together for so many years, and now that they had moved out, their home was finally spacious, Yuan felt much happier. Thinking that the two families had lived together for so many years, and now that they had moved out, they finally had their own home, and their mood became more joyful.
The next day, everyone signed the documents smoothly. Zhou Shaojin ordered a table of wine to be set up in the kitchen. Cheng Jing treated his uncle and Lord Wu to a meal and saw Lord Wu off.
Madam Guo asked Cheng Xun to tell her about the New Year: "… If the palace has a New Year's Eve dinner this year, we will eat it first. When you come back to worship the ancestors, go to the palace tomorrow morning to pay respects to the emperor, the empress, and the queen mother. If the palace has not prepared a New Year's Eve dinner this year, we will celebrate it on our own."
Cheng Shao smiled and nodded, and talked about Cheng Chi: "… A few days ago, the emperor summoned me to the palace to play chess, and specifically asked about Zichuan, asking if he was my nephew. He also asked about my elder brother. It seems that he has a very good impression of Zichuan. I have written a letter to Zichuan, asking him to plan carefully and seize this opportunity."
It is not easy for the emperor to remember the names of so many officials.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, uncle!" Mrs. Guo thanked him happily. As soon as Cheng Xun left, Mrs. Guo couldn't wait to write a letter to Cheng Chi.
Pengcheng Bo sent a letter, asking if it was okay for Mingchen to meet at Xizhimen tomorrow, and that they should go to the palace together to pay their respects to the Empress.
The third branch of the Cheng family lived in the East City and met at Xizhimen, so they had to get up early. But to enter the palace, a woman from outside the palace like Mrs. Guo could only go through the southwest gate.
Zhou Shaojin and Mrs. Guo went to bed early. Before dawn the next day, they began to dress up. They didn't dare to drink water. They quickly ate a few noodles and went to Xizhimen.
Before her daughter married into the royal family, Lady Pengcheng was just an old lady from the countryside. Even though she had lived a life of luxury over the years, the hard life in the countryside had left deep marks on her. She looked like an old woman in a red silk jacket with sleeves and emerald earrings the size of pigeon eggs.
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Dear friends, I am sorry for today. I am not feeling well and missed my appointment. I have a minor surgery tomorrow, so I will only update once, which will be around 11pm. I will try to update normally the day after tomorrow.
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: It’s the end of the month, and I found that the new ranking list is very brutal. I’m begging for the guaranteed monthly ticket at the end of the month…
※(To be continued)