My cousin from Jinling...
Wu Baozhang found it very irritating and wanted to say something, but felt that it was not a good idea to say anything at this time, so he simply lowered his head and drank a few sips of tea.
Cheng Lu is coming.
He first greeted Grandma Chen with a smile: "Have you finished today's chores? I heard that my cousin from Jinling is here..." As he spoke, he looked towards Wu Baozhang. His jade-like face was calm, and there was even a hint of confusion in his eyes. After a moment, he asked in a tentative tone: "You are the eldest daughter of Magistrate Wu?!"
He actually pretended to be not familiar with her at all.
Wu Baozhang felt a breath stuck in his chest for a long time and he couldn't breathe.
Cheng Lu leaned over and said to Grandma Chen, "She is the daughter of Lord Wu, the prefect of Jinling. She married Cheng Nuo from the fifth branch of Jiuru Lane. So she is my cousin's wife, but not my cousin. Uncle Wen from the fifth branch is doing business in the capital. She came here as my cousin. I'm afraid she has something to do with me. You should get out of the way first!"
The fifth branch of the Cheng family in Jiuru Lane had fallen so far that they had to open a tea shop to make a living...
Grandma Chen glanced at Wu Baozhang with a half-smile and said, "In that case, cousin, please come sit with my husband. I will ask someone to prepare lunch."
What's the matter with her staying here for dinner
Wu Baozhang said coldly: "Thank you, grandma. I have a few words to say to Master Chen, and then I'll leave. My family is waiting for me to go back for lunch!"
Mrs. Chen curled her lips in disdain and walked away without even looking at her.
The fire that Wu Baozhang had suppressed in his heart suddenly surged up, and he stood up and said, "Cheng Xiangqing, what do you mean by this?"
But before she finished her words, Cheng Lu stood up, staring at Wu Baozhang with a sharp gaze, and said in a deep voice: "Grandma Nuo, I won't bother with your rude behavior because you are my cousin's first wife. But if you want to throw a tantrum at me, I'm not a wooden man without temper. My wife is virtuous and gave us room to speak. You should know better. If you make me angry, you won't have a good life." Then his face darkened and he said, "If you have anything to say, say it quickly! I'm going to the Imperial College soon."
Wu Baozhang was almost suffocated by anger. She felt that what she had encountered in the past two or three days was more than what she had encountered in her entire life.
First, Cheng Lu turned his face away from her, and then he neglected and despised her. Chen looked so vulgar, but Cheng Lu was still affectionate to her because of her family background... Thinking back to the past, he had also spoken to her in such a tone and manner... What was so good about Chen? Compared with Chen, Chen had nothing but family background, no, even family background was not as good as Chen's. It was just that Chen had someone to back her up, but Cheng Lu treated her as a piece of trash.
But how could she say this
The dull pain in her chest, as if someone had hit her, made her silent for a long while.
Cheng Lu became impatient.
He had finally managed to get Chen under his control and made her fall deeply in love with him. He also found a way to gain Chen Li's trust. If Wu Baozhang ruined his plans, he would rather strangle her to death with his own hands.
"What are you doing here?" he asked impatiently, his eyes becoming colder as he looked at Wu Baozhang.
When Wu Baozhang saw such a look, it was as if he was drenched with water on a hot day. His head turned cold and he woke up.
Why is she making such a fuss with him now
She should be happy that she can get rid of Cheng Lu, so why is she getting involved in this mess
Wu Baozhang took a deep breath and immediately came up with an idea. He whispered, "You think I want to come to you, but I am worried about my more than one thousand taels of silver. I also know that you don't have the silver to return to me now, but you should give me some. The silver I gave you was embezzled from the Cheng family's tea shop. If they find out, even if I am not divorced and go home, I will never be able to hold my head up in the Cheng family again. It's just a word of death, what do I have to be afraid of..."
Cheng Lu didn't believe it at all.
How could a woman like Wu Baozhang not be greedy for some money when she is in charge of the household affairs
He thought for a moment and said, "You go back first. I will find a way to get a few dozen taels of silver from Chen and have someone send it to me. Don't come to me again. I will naturally send it to you when I have the silver."
Marrying into the wife's family is indeed different from inheriting the throne. Wu Baozhang also knew that no matter how much she made a fuss today, she would not achieve anything.
She and Cheng Lu said goodbye.
Cheng Lu asked a personal nanny of Chen to see her out, and then he went to Chen's place himself.
Chen asked, "Where's your cousin? Is she really not staying for lunch?"
"No need." Cheng Lu smiled and said, "She heard that dad was the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, so she wanted me to help find a way to do business with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I know that my cousin Wen and my cousin Nuo are not good at doing business, and they are afraid of causing trouble for dad, so they declined." He added, "But she will not give up, and will come to you again in the future. If she comes, you don't have to consider my face, just send her away directly."
Chen smiled and agreed, but she didn't agree in her heart.
If Cheng Lu hadn't fallen on hard times and needed their family's protection, how could he have fallen in love with such an ordinary-looking woman like her? She didn't care about cousins at all. As long as they didn't come to her house and cause any scandals that would embarrass her, that would be enough.
As long as his father was in power, Cheng Lu would have to be humble in front of him. If his father passed away one day... Chen snorted coldly. Her son was grown up. Was he afraid that he could not defeat a son-in-law who married into her family
Chen gently helped Cheng Lu change his clothes.
Wu Baozhang returned home, but did not see Cheng Nuo.
She didn't bother to ask him.
But Cheng Nuo had been leaving early and returning late for several days in a row, so she couldn't help but become curious and asked the maid beside her: "Do you know what the master has been busy with these days?"
The maid smiled and said, "Master has received a big sale and is said to be able to earn several thousand taels of silver! Master also said that if the silver is in hand, he will give each person two taels of silver as a reward and invite everyone to a banquet."
I didn’t expect Cheng Nuo could still make money!
Wu Baozhang's mood improved a little.
But this good mood did not last for a few days. It ended when Cheng Nuo rushed into the inner room with a gloomy face and threw a silver note in her face.
"Look at what you have done!" Cheng Nuo, who was usually gentle and cowardly, was like a furious King Kong at this moment, his eyes were red with anxiety, "Who is that Cheng Lu? He can even abandon his own mother, and you met him, and you actually lent him twenty taels of silver, and no one in the family said a word? Do you know that he is a scum who has been expelled from the Cheng family! He is a person disliked by the first and second houses?"
The silver note with the seal of Yongfuleng Silver House landed lightly at her feet, but she felt as if she was soaked in cold water, feeling chilled from her fingertips to her heart.
Cheng Lu... How dare he... How dare he...
Wu Baozhang was also very anxious, but she knew in her heart that she must not admit this matter at this time. Once she admitted it, the matter would probably be reported to Cheng Wen. Once the matter was reported to Cheng Wen, Cheng Wen would definitely go to the eldest house to apologize. Last time, she had finally found an excuse to make the people in the eldest house believe that she was just passing by unintentionally. If she dragged Cheng Lu into it again, Madam Yuan would not let her go.
"Where did you meet Cheng Lu?" She said, her eyes reddened, aggrieved, "How did I know I would meet him? I met him on the street that day, and he shamelessly asked me to lend him some money. I was at my wit's end, and I thought about how we knew each other in the past, and how well he and my husband played together at that time, so I softened my heart and lent Cheng Lu the twenty taels of silver I had with me. I didn't even think of asking him to pay it back. I just thought of it as a favor to him and my husband, and I didn't think of associating with him again..."
Cheng Nuo looked at Wu Baozhang suspiciously.
Others may not know how strong Wu Baozhang's temper is, but he has experienced it personally.
Even if she is unreasonable, she can still make her say something reasonable.
If she was right, why would she act so weak
But he had always been cowardly, and although he had doubts in his heart, Wu Baozhang finally gave in. Cheng Lu was just as Wu Baozhang said, they grew up together, Cheng Lu was good at reading, and he had once taught him lessons. Although Cheng Lu had changed, he was still his cousin, so lending him twenty taels of silver was not a big deal.
Cheng Nuo asked: "Did he come to see you again later?"
Wu Baozhang saw that his tone had softened, and knew that the situation had calmed down. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, "If I see him again later, I will definitely tell the people in the eldest house... Dong is still relying on family support. Now that Cheng Lu has made a difference, he should bring her mother over to enjoy a better life."
Speaking of this, she couldn't help but think of Dong.
If Dong was brought to the capital, Cheng Lu's expression would definitely be very interesting!
Wu Baozhang was thinking about it in his heart when a little maid ran in and said, "Grandma, the master said that the fourth wife at Chaoyang Gate has started a war and asked you to hurry over there."
Zhou Shaojin is about to give birth
Wu Baozhang opened his mouth wide and asked, "What day is today?"
The little maid hurriedly said, "April 29th."
Wu Baozhang said, "She's her first child, I'm afraid she won't be pregnant so soon! Why are you in such a hurry?"
Cheng Nuo got angry again when he heard this, and said, "That's right. She was giving birth to her child. Besides the doctor, the midwife and the old lady were there to watch over her. You can't go to replace her pain or grief. I think you'd better not go. Just stay at home and do the laundry and cooking. For some people, it doesn't matter whether they go or not!"
Wu Baozhang's forehead veins popped out, and he said, "Isn't that just a talk? I didn't say I wouldn't go. You guys are trying to curry favor with the eldest son, so you use me as a scapegoat. If you have the ability, go by yourself! Why do you want your wife to show up?"
Cheng Nuo turned away.
Wu Baozhang sat there, fuming, and whispered to his maid, "Go to Fucheng Gate and ask him what he means. He took twenty taels of silver to mock me, so he's not going to return it to me?"
The maid hesitated for a long time, but seeing that Wu Baozhang had no intention of changing his mind, she had no choice but to go to Fuchengmen.
At Chaoyang Gate, Old Madam Guo had prepared the blood room early in the morning.
As soon as Zhou Shaojin started giving birth, she was helped into the blood room by the experienced midwife, and the doctor was waiting on the side, while Mrs. Qiu was in charge of the blood room and Mrs. Guo was chanting in the Buddhist hall. Even so, giving birth still made Zhou Shaojin suffer a lot.
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Dear friends, today’s update!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)