When Qiu held a family dinner, her style was low-key, simple and reserved, just like her. She only invited people from Xinglin Hutong and Chaoyangmen.
Old Madam Guo was very satisfied with Qiu's ability and the great things she could do. She not only brought Zhou Shaojin with her, but also brought a piece of Chengxin paper, two Duan inkstones and a box of Hu brushes as gifts for Cheng Rang.
But when Zhou Shaojin helped Madam Guo get out of the sedan chair in front of the Chuihua Gate and saw Wu Baozhang coming to greet them with Yuan, Cheng Zheng, Min Jia and others, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Min Jia smiled and explained, "I asked Sister Nuo to come along - she was lonely in the capital."
But after not seeing each other for a few days, has their relationship become so good
Zhou Shaojin smiled slightly and said nothing.
This was Qiu's banquet, so she naturally wouldn't steal the show.
After the greetings, the group went into the banquet room to drink tea, and Old Lady Guo asked Zhou Shaojin to take the gift for Cheng Rang to Qiu.
Qiu was naturally overjoyed to receive the reward from Madam Guo, and hurriedly took the menu to Madam Guo: "Please see if there is anything to add or subtract."
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly helped Mrs. Guo get her reading glasses.
Madam Guo was too lazy to look at it, so she handed the menu to Zhou Shaojin and said, "Take a look - you know what the taboos are."
After being married into the Cheng family for more than 20 years, if she didn't even know her mother-in-law's preferences, what kind of daughter-in-law would she be? Besides, Qiu had already discussed this menu with Zhou Shaojin secretly before.
She smiled as she looked through the dishes on the menu. Seeing that it was the same as what they had discussed, she smiled and handed the menu to Mrs. Qiu, saying, "Thank you, second sister-in-law. I've prepared all the dishes that mother likes."
Mrs. Guo laughed when she heard this.
Qiu was also very happy. She handed the menu to the housekeeper behind her, and sat around Old Lady Guo with Yuan and others, and talked to Old Lady Guo: "The Second Master has been in Beijing and has never left Beijing. I don't know what to bring for the Second Master. I asked my eldest sister-in-law, and she gave me a list. Otherwise, I would have no idea!"
Yuan smiled and said, "I am just copying. I didn't understand these things back then. It was my mother who told me."
Older people like nostalgia.
As Mrs. Guo listened, she started talking about some things that happened when Cheng Xun and Cheng Jing first entered the officialdom.
Min Jia couldn't help but look at Mrs. Guo differently.
Seeing Yuan's unreasonable look, she thought that the Cheng family was exaggerating, but she didn't expect that the old lady was so shrewd and capable.
The weather was quite hot, so after lunch, everyone rested for a while and then started the singing party.
Cheng Zheng and Madam Guo were commenting on the actors' acting skills, while Cheng Xiao, Yuan, Min Jia and Wu Baozhang were all listening with great interest. Yuan and Min Jia would occasionally make a few comments, which were quite insightful and it was obvious that they loved listening to opera.
Zhou Shaojin had no intention of joining in the fun, so he sat aside and listened. Seeing that her mother, Mrs. Qiu, was busy preparing dinner, Cheng Sheng talked to Zhou Shaojin about needlework: "… Cousin Xiao gave me the swaddling cloth you drew for their son Rui, and I asked someone to embroider one based on it. I'll show it to you when the time comes!"
"Really?" Zhou Shaojin almost forgot about this matter. She smiled and said, "Okay, let me see what color combination you use."
The pattern should look beautiful and the colors should be well matched.
Cheng Sheng smiled and said, "Do you have any patterns for children's clothes? I'll ask the maids to help copy a few for you."
"What kind do you want?" Zhou Shaojin still liked Cheng Sheng very much. "Shall I draw a few for you? The pattern changes every year. I did have some in the past. I wonder if you will like them."
"Aunt's embroidery has always been praised by people. Those that can be kept must be good things." Cheng Shenghe smiled, "Then this matter is settled. I will bring people to your place to take a look tomorrow."
Zhou Shaojin nodded.
Suddenly someone laughed and asked, "What's the deal?"
Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng looked up and realized that Wu Baozhang had approached them at some point.
Cheng Sheng didn't know about Wu Baozhang. She was her cousin's wife from her mother's family and was a guest at her mother's house, so she had to show hospitality. Cheng Sheng smiled and told the story again.
Wu Baozhang pinched his handkerchief and smiled, saying, "Third Aunt has found the right person. Aunt Chi was a shy girl when she was a girl. She was either reading or writing at home, or doing needlework at home. We often asked Aunt Chi to help us draw patterns."
Zhou Shaojin didn't want to have anything to do with Wu Baozhang, so she pretended to be confused and said, "When I was at home, people often asked me to draw patterns. Did I draw for my niece's wife? Why don't I remember? I stayed at home most of the time, and it seems that I only saw my niece's wife two or three times when she came to visit us..." She recalled, "What patterns did I draw for my niece's wife? Can my niece's wife remind me?"
Seeing that Zhou Shaojin did not appreciate his repeated attempts to please him, Wu Baozhang felt secretly angry. He mumbled a few words, turned around to listen to Cheng Zheng's opera review, and no longer paid attention to Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin's ears were finally quiet.
Cheng Sheng got up and went to the official room.
Seeing that she was holding her waist and moving slowly, which was very different from her usual cleverness, Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but feel a little worried. He stood up, supported her, and accompanied her to the official room.
Min Jia, who had been listening carefully to Madam Guo's story, suddenly turned around and said to Wu Baozhang with a low laugh, "I didn't expect that you have a good relationship with our young aunt?"
Wu Baozhang thought of what happened just now, his expression turned cold, and he said: "I can't say it's good - it's just acquaintance!"
Min Jia smiled and said, "That's better than me, at least she knows me. You don't know, when I saw her the other day, I found out that I have a young aunt who is three years younger than me. I thought she was the second wife of some uncle, but she turned out to be Uncle Chi's wife. Why did Uncle Chi marry such a young aunt? Sometimes I feel embarrassed to call her that."
When Wu Baozhang heard Min Jia say that Zhou Shaojin looked like one of his uncles or his uncle's second wife, he felt happy and couldn't help but say, "Who said she didn't? She used to call me sister! Now I call her aunt..."
Min Jia smiled and said, "I think this young aunt has a very gentle temperament. I'm sure she won't bother with you!"
She didn't dare to speak loudly in front of her before, but now that she was married to Cheng Chi, he acted like an elder and ignored her.
Thinking of this, Wu Baozhang felt depressed.
Min Jia turned her eyes slightly and said to Wu Baozhang with a smile: "I have to go to the official office as well."
Wu Baozhang sneered in his heart as he thought about her unreasonable intimacy when she recognized him as a relative and her enthusiastic invitation afterwards.
Although she wanted to step on Zhou Shaojin, she was not a fool. Who did Min Jia think she was? Could she be fooled by a few nice words and flattery
Wu Baozhang decided to accompany Min Jia to the official residence to see what she wanted to do.
The two of them walked out of the hall through the back door, arm in arm, and looked very affectionate.
There are several peonies planted in the corner of the backyard wall, blooming in all their glory.
The two of them walked slowly towards the official quarters.
Just a few steps away from the official residence, they ran into Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng. They greeted each other and walked in opposite directions.
Min Jia couldn't help but glance back at Zhou Shaojin and said, "You said that the brothers of the Cheng family doted on little aunt in the past?"
“Yes!” Wu Baozhang really wanted to see what kind of expression Min Jia had when her dignified face broke. “Not to mention the cousins Gao and Yi from the fourth room. They were held in our hands for fear of dropping them, and held in our mouths for fear of melting. Even Cheng Lu, a branch of the Cheng family, was the most knowledgeable of the brothers in the Cheng family. He sent her gifts every now and then… We thought she would stay in the Cheng family, but she really did stay. But she didn’t marry… well… she married Uncle Chi… But Uncle Chi was very protective of her at the time…”
Min Jia's heart skipped a beat when she heard this.
When Wu Baozhang talked about Zhou Shaojin's marriage, he did not use the term "marrying" into the Cheng family, but "staying" in the Cheng family. If Zhou Shaojin had something going on with the side branch named Cheng Lu, Wu Baozhang would not have used the word "staying".
Could it be that, as she thought, there was something between Cheng Xu and Zhou Shaojin
But if that's the case, how could Zhou Shaojin marry Cheng Chi
Or, is there an affair
Min Jia sensed Wu Baozhang's ill intentions.
But there is no way to stop thinking about it.
Her heart was beating like a drum, and she smiled and said, "Is she pretty? Everyone will protect pretty girls. This is human nature."
"That's right!" Wu Baozhang laughed, "Even if she did something wrong, everyone would forgive her quickly."
Min Jia's eyelids twitched.
She knew clearly that Wu Baozhang had set a trap for her, but she had no choice but to jump into it. She had spent the past few days trying to find out more about Zhou Shaojin's character, but in the end she found out nothing. Instead, she found out some things from the maidservant around Mrs. Fang.
Apart from being good-looking, how else can Zhou Shaojin compare to Fang Xuan
But who chooses a wife based on her appearance
It was unusual in itself that Zhou Shaojin could make the Cheng family give up Fang Xuan and marry her.
"Did something wrong?" Min Jia looked surprised and asked, "What did she do wrong?"
Wu Baozhang stammered and changed the subject, refusing to talk about it again.
Min Jia felt itchy in her heart, but Wu Baozhang's mouth was like a clam, so she couldn't ask anything.
She had no choice but to ask people in Xinglin Hutong, but there was no progress on the matter until Cheng Sheng came to share the good news that she had given birth to a big fat boy.
On a moonlit night, Min Jia clenched her fists as she stared at the dim light reflected on the window frame of Cheng Xu's closed study.
Cheng Xu either has someone in his heart or he is naturally cold to others.
They had been married for such a long time, but they had slept in the same bed only a few times.
Her mother-in-law told her implicitly to keep Cheng Xu in the house as soon as possible and have children for the Cheng family as soon as possible. Cheng Xu did not pass the imperial examination last year, so he would definitely try for the next one. After the New Year, Cheng Xu would concentrate on studying, so she'd better not "disturb" Cheng Xu.
She simply asked Su Yue to serve Cheng Xu in the study.
But Cheng Xu was very well-behaved and never even glanced at Su Yue.
If she still doesn't understand that Cheng Xu has someone hidden in his heart, she has lived all these years in vain.
But how to break this situation
Min Jia felt that apart from Wu Baozhang, she really couldn't find another person.
Although it is like trying to get the skin of a tiger, if you don’t even have the courage, it will be even more impossible to get the tiger skin!
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Hey guys, today's update.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)