"Master Chen?" Wu Baozhang asked in astonishment, "Which Master Chen?"
The messenger smiled and said, "Master Chen, who else could it be? Of course it's Master Chen Li, the eunuch of the Palace of Heavenly Purity! He served the emperor when he was the crown prince. After the emperor ascended the throne, he became the eunuch of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, which was second to none! Didn't Master Chen have no offspring? Fortunately, he had a younger brother who had two daughters. He adopted the younger daughter to Master Chen. Master Chen liked her, holding her in his hands for fear of dropping her, holding her in his mouth for fear of melting her, and his food, clothing and expenses were no more than those of the young ladies of the princes and nobles. So he thought about finding a good husband for the eldest lady of the Chen family. But Master Chen had served the emperor after all, and his vision was different. In addition to family background, he also looked at character and talent. This back and forth, didn't it delay the eldest lady of the Chen family? She is already 22 years old this year, and she hasn't married yet. Master Chen simply kept the eldest lady of the Chen family at home and spread the word that he wanted to recruit a son-in-law for the eldest lady of the Chen family.
"Your cousin is a handsome man who happened to be studying at Sanming Academy. Lord Chen came across him by chance and was very impressed by him. He also knew that his parents had both passed away and he was penniless, so he decided to marry him into the family.
"Your cousin is a man of integrity. He said that marrying a son-in-law is not an option, but after the marriage, the second son can take Master Chen's surname and continue Master Chen's incense.
“Master Chen values your cousin even more.
“The date has been set, and we’re getting married at the end of this month.
"And he sent your cousin to study at the Imperial Academy.
“The college entrance examination will be held next year.
"You said, your cousin has climbed up the big tree of Master Chen, so won't you be able to benefit from it too?"
Cheng Lu actually became a son-in-law of a eunuch.
Wu Baozhang almost fainted after listening to this.
She knew that Cheng Lu was not going to make it, but she didn't expect that Cheng Lu would actually degenerate into depravity.
Wu Baozhang grabbed the teacup and wanted to throw it at the messenger, but he thought that this person was a well-known gossip and it would not be worth it to offend such a person. He took several deep breaths and finally suppressed his turbulent emotions. He smiled and asked someone to bring a pair of red envelopes to the messenger, thanked him politely, and asked the maid to take the person out. Then he smashed the teacup on the ground.
The servants in the room were trembling with fear, and Wu Baozhang was so angry that his hands and feet were shaking.
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Zhou Shaojin also asked Nanny Shang curiously: "Master Chen? Which Master Chen?"
Nanny Shang introduced Chen Li in a simple and clear manner.
Zhou Shaojin didn't know what to say for a long while.
In his previous life, Cheng Lu chose this path when he was desperate and married a big merchant in Ningbo. But he didn't expect that he would still choose this path in this life, but with the Cheng family behind him, the "father-in-law" he chose this time was quite controversial. Even if he passed the imperial examination, it would be difficult for him to have a smooth career.
"Madam, don't worry." Nanny Shang saw that she looked worried and comforted her, "The Fourth Master has instructed that he can't have an easy life, so our people have been following him and letting him toss around. Although Lord Chen is the eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, the Fourth Master is not unable to answer him. He can make him live or die with just a word. But Huo Dongting said that this matter depends on Madam's opinion, so let me tell Madam. If Chen Li knew Cheng Lu's background, he would definitely not accept him as a son-in-law..."
Zhou Shaojin thought of what Cheng Lu said to her when he came to see her after the Cheng family was ransacked in her previous life... She couldn't just watch Cheng Lu continue to lie.
"Then let's find someone to remind Lord Chen!" Zhou Shaojin felt that since Chen Li was able to become the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, he must have his own way of dealing with people and things.
Nanny Shang smiled and agreed.
But after a few days, he told her with great embarrassment: "I'm afraid this thing won't work... It is said that Master Chen already knew Cheng Lu's background and knew that he was a descendant of the Jinling Cheng family, so he wanted to recruit him as a son-in-law..."
Zhou Shaojin's eyes widened.
Nanny Shang sighed and explained in a low voice: "Chen Li is not a gentleman. In his eyes, Cheng Lu's being stripped of his title was not a big deal..."
"In that case, let's not worry about it." Zhou Shaojin said, "If Cheng Lu gets into trouble, we just hope he doesn't regret it." At this point, she hurriedly said, "Does the Fourth Master know about this? We have to tell him. Chen Li is the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, and I'm afraid Cheng Lu will say something bad in front of Chen Li, which will be detrimental to the Fourth Master."
Nanny Shang nodded and said, "Huo Dongting has already sent people to Kaifeng..."
Before she finished her words, a little maid ran in and said, "Madam Shang, Master Huo is here."
Zhou Shaojin asked: "Is it Huo Dongting?"
"It's him!" said Nanny Shang. "I'll go see what he wants and report back to Madam."
"good!"
Zhou Shaojin was waiting for Nanny Shang in the room. After a while, Nanny Shang came back sweating and said, "Fourth Madam, luckily you only asked us to reveal Cheng Lu's details to Chen Li. Fourth Master said that he had something to do recently and needed Cheng Lu to help him with a small favor, so Cheng Lu 'coincidentally' met Chen Li. He asked us to ignore him in the future and just watch from the side."
It turned out that this was Cheng Chi's arrangement.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but feel a little scared and said, "Did I really not ruin his business?"
"No, no." Nanny Shang said hurriedly, "The Fourth Master asked Dongting to make this trip because he was afraid that the Madam would blame herself. The Fourth Master said that fortunately the Madam had someone warn Chen Li, otherwise he would have to explain to Cheng Lu if he ran into him at Chen Li's place one day. This is just right, if Cheng Lu gets into trouble, Chen Li can't blame us."
Zhou Shaojin finally put his worries to rest. When he wrote the letter, he blamed Cheng Chi: "You didn't tell me earlier. I was worried for nothing."
Cheng Chi wrote back to apologize to her, saying, "It's hard to say much about this matter. I thought he was so troublesome, so let him do whatever he wants. You just don't bother with him in the future, just let him do whatever he wants."
Zhou Shaojin has always trusted Cheng Chi, so after expressing his feelings for a while, he let the matter go.
It was Wu Baozhang, on the day of Cheng Lu's wedding, who hired a sedan chair to pass by the gate of Chen Li's house in Fuchengmen. The house was filled with guests, the door was decorated with lights and colorful decorations, the noisy flattery, and Cheng Lu, who was wearing a groom's suit and hanging a big red hydrangea, standing at the door with Chen Li to welcome the guests in high spirits, all made Wu Baozhang almost tear the handkerchief in her hand.
She sneered and ordered the sedan chair to start, "Go back to Xizhimen."
The sedan bearers didn't understand what was going on, so they carried her back to Xizhimen.
Wu Baozhang took a deep breath and got off the sedan chair with the help of a maid.
In broad daylight, Cheng Nuo was not in the teahouse greeting guests but was rummaging through drawers in the inner room.
Wu Baozhang looked at him coldly: "What are you doing? Those who know you would say you are looking for something, while those who don't would think you are trying to steal something."
Cheng Nuo's face flushed, and he murmured, "Someone introduced me to a big merchant from the west. I'm going to meet him and change my clothes when I come back."
Wu Baozhang was too lazy to care about him and asked the maid to help Cheng Nuo find clothes.
Cheng Nuo changed his clothes and shaved his face in front of the dressing table. Then he put on the small seal purse and went out.
The maid looked at Wu Baozhang, wanting to say something but stopping herself.
Wu Baozhang didn't notice the maid's eyes at all. He sat on the big kang by the window and thought about Cheng Lu.
She had lent more than one thousand taels of silver to Cheng Lu. Now Cheng Lu is the eunuch's son-in-law. Shouldn't Cheng Lu return the one thousand taels of silver to her
Then there is the 600-mile express.
With the title of the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, it would be easy for him to just stamp the letter she wrote to her.
Wu Baozhang thought about it at home for several days. He thought that the wedding had been completed and Cheng Lu should go to the Imperial College to study, so he sent his personal maid to find Cheng Lu.
After lunch, her personal maid came back with an unhappy look on her face. She called out "Grandma" with tears in her eyes: "That Cheng Lu is so cruel. I went to look for him, but he said he didn't know me and had me kicked out, not to mention returning the one thousand taels of silver..."
Wu Baozhang opened his mouth wide and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.
But before she could come to the door, Cheng Lu came to the door first and sneered at her, "I am very grateful that you could lend me money in the past. But then again, if it weren't for the letter you wrote to me and the handkerchief you gave me, you wouldn't have lent me money. Let's not play tricks on each other. To tell you the truth, I am a son-in-law, not an heir. I don't have any money, and I don't have the ability to help you. Don't think you can threaten me by knowing my background. Chen Li has long known who I am and how I was stripped of my fame. Your tricks don't work in front of me. On the contrary, you should not always run to me for no reason. Be careful that others will be suspicious and think that there is something going on between you and me. I am a man, and a prodigal son who returns is more valuable than gold. You are a woman and a child. If your reputation is ruined, you will have no way out. Don't say I didn't remind you." After speaking, he flicked his clothes, got up and left, "Don't come to me in the future, or I will end up like today."
That expression, that behavior, was as if she, Wu Baozhang, was just dust on his clothes, which he could flick off with a light flick.
Wu Baozhang was so angry that he almost suffocated. After a long time, he gritted his teeth and cursed "bastard" angrily, and tears fell from his eyes.
It's not that she had never been looked down upon before, but she had never been looked down upon like this by someone who had received her favor.
If it weren't for her, would he have been able to hold on until now
Isn't he just relying on Chen Lihen
Isn't it because Chen Li already knew his background but didn't despise him
She wanted to see whether Chen Li really didn't care about Cheng Lu's experience!
Wu Baozhang wiped his tears and told his personal maid, "Go hire a sedan chair. I want to go to Fuchengmen to visit Grandma Chen."
The maid turned pale with fear and called out "Grandma". Wu Baozhang glanced at her with a cold look. The maid immediately lowered her head and hired a sedan chair for Wu Baozhang.
Mrs. Chen was a plain-looking woman, but her eyes sparkled. After learning the purpose of Wu Baozhang's visit, she invited him to drink tea with a smile and told the maid beside her, "Hurry up and ask the steward to invite the son-in-law back, saying that his cousin from Jinling is here to see him."
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Hey guys, today's update.
There will be an inspection tomorrow morning, and the update will be posted around 2pm.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)