Zhou Shaojin and Wu Baozhang naturally parted on bad terms.
Zhou Shaojin quickly put the matter behind him, but Wu Baozhang was a little worried. She decided to spend the New Year in the capital, and then find a way to get her father-in-law Cheng Wen to agree to let her go back to Jinling. She couldn't stand staying in the rented house every day to do the daily chores of cooking. After all, her father was a prefect of the fourth rank, and she didn't marry into the Cheng family to do business.
While Zhou Shaojin was helping Mrs. Guo pack her things, he was worried about why Cheng Chi hadn't come back yet.
After waiting for a long time, it was finally the second watch and Cheng Chi came back covered in snow.
Zhou Shaojin hurried over to him, helping him untie his cloak while sizing up his face and asked, "Have you had dinner yet? Did you have a smooth trip to see Elder Song?"
Cheng Chi looked a little grim. Hearing this, his face lightened up a little, but it was not pleasant. Instead, he took a deep breath, hugged Zhou Shaojin without changing his clothes, and said, "I'm fine! Has mother rested?"
If he hadn't rested, he would have gone over to greet her according to etiquette.
Zhou Shaojin said, "When I came, my mother was lying on the big kang by the window playing chess. I'm afraid she was waiting for you."
Cheng Chi nodded and said, "I'll go over and take a look!"
Zhou Shaojin responded, helped Cheng Chi change her clothes, and then accompanied her to pay her respects to Old Madam Guo.
Mrs. Guo smiled when she saw Cheng Chi, with unmistakable kindness in her eyes. She asked him with a smile: "Why did you come back at this time? Your eldest brother and the others have been waiting for you for a long time. Shao Jin has also been looking forward to seeing you, and he sent someone to check on you at the gatehouse every now and then..."
Zhou Shaojin didn't expect that his actions were seen clearly by Mrs. Guo. He blushed and didn't dare to look up.
Cheng Chi's gaze on her was gentle.
"Something delayed me." He smiled, "I might be a little busy these days. If I come back late next time, you can eat first and don't wait for me."
Zhou Shaojin didn't know whether he was talking to himself or Madam Guo, so he didn't dare to say anything. Madam Guo, on the other hand, laughed and said, "You guys should go and rest! I'll move to Xinglin Hutong tomorrow."
"Then we'll take you there tomorrow!" Cheng Chi smiled and talked to his mother for a few words, then took Zhou Shaojin out of Tingxiangyuan.
Seeing him walking in front of him with his tall and graceful figure, Zhou Shaojin felt inexplicably proud and honored, and his pace slowed down involuntarily.
Who knew that Cheng Chi walked faster and faster, and soon there was a distance between them.
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
This kind of situation had never happened before when she followed Cheng Chi.
What happened
Zhou Shaojin trotted to catch up with Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi looked back and seemed to realize that he had just left Zhou Shaojin behind.
He sighed and took Zhou Shaojin's hand.
Zhou Shaojin still had to jog to keep up with his pace.
She couldn't help but said, "Silang, don't be angry! Do you want me to accompany you for a walk in the garden?"
Although there are occasional snowflakes falling from the sky and the garden is very deserted, for an angry person, perhaps the cold air can calm his mood.
In her previous life, when she encountered problems that she couldn't resolve, she would walk around the fields on cold nights accompanied by her maids and old women, and sometimes that would make her feel better.
Cheng Chi suddenly stopped and said with a smile: "Can you tell that I'm in a bad mood?"
He raised his eyebrows when he said this, looking a little unconvinced!
Zhou Shaojin was surprised: "Isn't it obvious? When you are angry, your movements will be bigger than usual. When you are happy, your movements will be softer than other times. If you are very angry, you will smile warmly, but your eyes will be cold..."
Before she finished speaking, Cheng Chi burst into laughter.
He hugged Zhou Shaojin, kissed her temples, and said, "How can you be so cute!"
Cheng Chi felt that he had achieved the state of not showing any emotions on his face. It turned out that in the eyes of the person who cared about him wholeheartedly, his every move was as clear as daylight.
Zhou Shaojin was at a loss, not knowing where Cheng Chi's words came from.
Cheng Chi laughed even more happily, and even the maid following behind them couldn't help but look up and secretly look at the couple.
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Back in the inner room, Zhou Shaojin fetched some water for Cheng Chi to wash his feet.
Cheng Chi pointed to the Jinwu next to him and asked her to sit down. While soaking his feet, he said to her, "I went to Lord Yang's house today... It's in Chongyifang in the north of the city. It's half a yard, with nothing in it. The house is bare, and the lunch is porridge with two dishes of pickled vegetables that I pickled myself..."
Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes wide.
Chongyifang in the north of the city is notoriously poor.
Yang Shoushan, he was a Jinshi in two exams and the governor of the river!
Cheng Chi nodded: "He was born in a poor family and grew up eating at other people's homes. He married his childhood sweetheart from the same village. His salary was not enough, and he had to give half of it back to help the poor in the village. His two daughters were married, and he still had a son and a daughter at home... When Madam Yang came out to meet guests, she wore a half-new royal blue Hangzhou silk jacket and only a peach wood hairpin."
Zhou Shaojin added some hot water to the foot basin and said, "Why don't you help them a little?"
Cheng Chi smiled bitterly and said, "I tried my best to persuade Madam Yang to accept fifty taels of silver. This was because Master Yang was imprisoned in the imperial prison and needed the silver to take care of him."
But this won’t make Cheng Chi angry!
Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment and said, "Is there something wrong?"
Cheng Chi glanced at Zhou Shaojin, was silent for a moment, and said, "In fact, I have always felt that Lord Yang is a conservative, mean, and self-willed person, and he is very unpleasant. As for the dredging of the Yellow River, Mr. Song and I both felt that it was not the best time, but he insisted on doing it. At that time, Mr. Song was so angry that he told me that he only cared about political achievements and did not care about the suffering of the people. I also agreed. That's why he stayed in the capital on the pretext of not leaving. After he got into trouble, I sent people to check the accounts on the river side..." He paused, "and found that the accounts on the river side were full of loopholes... There were many places that could not withstand verification... I suspected that he was embezzling. I went to the Yang family to see if I could find anything... Then I made it clear with Lord Song to see if this matter had anything to do with Lord Song, and whether he knew that there was a problem with the accounts on the river side..."
But when I arrived at Yang's house, I saw such a scene.
Of course Zhou Shaojin believed Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi is very good at accounting.
Otherwise, why do others say that if he enters the cabinet, he will have the potential to become a prime minister
She said, "Could it be that he hid the silver somewhere? Didn't you say there was something wrong with his accounts? Even if it's not immediately apparent, it will be exposed when the new river governor takes over. Then people will surely suspect him. If I were him, I would probably hide the silver and pretend to be very poor..."
"No! Shaojin!" Cheng Chi sighed, "I thought the same as you at that time, and I didn't want to deal with the people of the Yang family anymore. I was going to hand over the account matter to Elder Song and let him handle it. Who knew that Elder Song was even more surprised than I was after looking at the account. He asked me a lot of questions, and when it was time to light the lamps, he sent me out without keeping me for dinner.
"I felt there was something fishy going on. So I sent someone to keep an eye on the Song family and planned to come back first before making any decisions.
"As a result, when I was halfway there, Huaishan came to tell me that Elder Song had gone to Elder Qu's house..."
Zhou Shaojin suddenly cried out "Ouch!" and stood up, interrupting Cheng Chi's words.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Chi's heart skipped a beat when he thought of her being reborn. He asked, "Did you remember something?"
Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly and said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought of it at all. Lord Qu was impeached and imprisoned when he was 23 years old. That was the third year I married into the Lin family. Miss Mu had already married into the family and gave birth to Lin Shisheng's eldest son. Lin Shisheng brought the child to me and talked about the affairs of the court. He mentioned Lord Qu... He said that Lord Qu interfered in border affairs and accepted bribes from General Xuantong... There were many charges... One of them seemed to be withholding money from river workers. Because interfering in border affairs and bribery were the main crimes, not many people paid attention to the river workers. The reason I remember it is because the farm was going to repair a canal that year..."
Cheng Chi felt a little upset after listening to this.
Shao Jin's memories of his past life are all filled with the shadow of the Lin family.
It can be seen how lonely and bleak her life was.
I must erase these memories from her mind no matter what in this life.
Cheng Chi pondered and said, "But Lord Song went to find Lord Qu..."
In other words, Lord Song might know the truth of the matter!
Cheng Chi frowned.
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly said: "I didn't pay much attention at the time, why don't you check it again?"
If it really has something to do with the River Governor's Office, it can definitely be found out.
Otherwise, how could Lord Qu have been charged with such a crime back then
Cheng Chi nodded absentmindedly.
Zhou Shaojin helped him wash his feet, change his clothes and go to bed. He still looked a little suspicious.
She didn't disturb him. She extinguished two lamps, tucked in the quilt for him, looked at him quietly, and accompanied him in a daze. She had no idea when she fell asleep. When she woke up, Cheng Chi was no longer in the bed. She was wrapped in the quilt, sleeping soundly.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but smile and asked Chunwan: "Where is the Fourth Master?"
Chun Wan helped her draw the curtains and said, "The Fourth Master got up at 1:00 pm and has been staying in the study without coming out."
Is this a tricky matter
Zhou Shaojin quickly crawled out of the quilt, washed up and went to the study.
There was a floor heater in the study, and Cheng Chi was practicing calligraphy in a green fine cloth robe.
He looked calm and no different from usual, but Zhou Shaojin felt as if there was something different about him. He stood at the door looking at him and forgot to greet him for a moment.
Cheng Chi raised his head and said with a smile: "Why are you up so early? It's just dawn!"
Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly: "I still have to send the old lady to Xinglin Hutong later..."
Cheng Chi was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "I forgot about this!"
How could he have forgotten about this
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but step forward and hugged his arm, rubbing it coquettishly.
Cheng Chi looked at her with eyes so gentle that it seemed as if water could drip out of them.
He ruffled Zhou Shaojin's hair and said, "For the first time in my life, I feel that I might be able to do something else!"
Are you going to break off relations with Lord Song and Lord Qu
Isn't it for the sake of your own future that you put aside your own wealth and glory and do something for those enslaved river workers and suffering people
Zhou Shaojin said: "Silang, I will go wherever you go. Just don't leave me behind!"
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Dear friends, today’s update!
Updated around 10pm.
PS: Then I have good news for you all. In the last Sina selection, thanks to everyone, "Jinlingchun" won the fifth place in the first and second quarter Chinese online novel rankings.
This is the link: http://..cn/nes/015/015-07-1/49670.html
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)