Because Zhou Shaojin was pregnant, the day Cheng Gao came was the day Cheng Chi went to the East Palace to give lectures, so Cheng Chi couldn't even take a leave. When Zhou Chujin found out, she said that she would take care of it, and she asked Liao Shaotang to pick up Cheng Gao.
Xie secretly encouraged Cheng Rang to go with Liao Shaotang to pick him up: "… After all, you are cousins. He is in Jinling and you are in the capital. He is a guest from afar, so you should at least show your hospitality. Your eldest uncle is the elder, so it is not appropriate for him to go to pick him up. Uncle Xu is in office, and Brother Yun is still young. You are the only one in the eldest house who can help run errands. If you are afraid that you can't do it well, don't you still have your uncle from the Liao family? He is now a scholar, a man of honor. With him leading you, what are you afraid of? And you can also learn some social skills from him. If there is something like this at home in the future, you can go by yourself."
Cheng Rang has always been treated like a child and it is never his turn to intervene in any family matters.
Hearing this, he hesitated and said, "Mom and Uncle Chi didn't say anything. Is this okay?"
Xie smiled and said, "Then let's go ask mother?"
She knew that her husband was a little weaker than the other brothers in the Cheng family, but everyone has his own position and strengths. Cheng Rang might not become a Jinshi, but he could be a kind and upright person and help the family with some chores, which was better than doing nothing and having unrealistic expectations.
Cheng Rang thought his wife's words made sense and went to see Mrs. Qiu.
Qiu was very happy to hear this. She not only encouraged him to go with Liao Shaotang to pick up the person, but also took out fifty taels of silver notes and quickly made a spring dress for Cheng Rang, so that Cheng Rang could wear the new clothes on the day of the visit.
His mother agreed with his idea, and Cheng Rang was very happy. He showed the fifty-liang silver note and Chunshang to Xie when he came back.
Xie personally poured Cheng Rang a cup of tea, saying it was to reward him for his hard work.
Cheng Rang lowered his head in embarrassment and said, "This is all your idea. What does it have to do with me?"
Cheng Rang should also listen to her ideas.
Xie smiled and said, "If my husband didn't agree with me, how could he agree to ask my mother? It seems that my husband also thinks so."
Cheng Rang was very happy to hear this and couldn't help laughing.
When the day to pick up Cheng Gao came, he got up early, washed carefully and went to Chaoyangmen. Then he went to Yushu Hutong with Qin Ziji to meet Liao Shaotang, and went to Chaoyangmen to pick up Cheng Gao.
Cheng Gao was very surprised to see Cheng Rang.
In his impression, Cheng Rang always hid behind people with his face blurred.
He couldn't help but thank Cheng Rang profusely.
Cheng Rang felt very embarrassed and blushed, but he said what he needed to say, and everyone went to Chaoyang Gate together.
Zhou Shaojin was waiting for Cheng Gao at the second gate.
Seeing Cheng Gao's still handsome and energetic face, tears welled up in her eyes.
In her previous life, when she met Cheng Gao in the capital, although Cheng Gao was already a scholar, his expression was heavy and depressed.
She was supported by Jixiang and walked forward to greet Cheng Gao.
Cheng Gao had already known about Zhou Shaojin's pregnancy on the way. Seeing her rosy complexion and bright eyes, without any sign of maternal depression, he knew that Cheng Chi had taken good care of her. After congratulating Zhou Shaojin with a smile, he could not help but tease Zhou Shaojin: "It seems that the climate and soil of the eldest house are still good for people. When you were in Wanxiang Courtyard, you were like a beaten eggplant, but after you went to Hanbi Shanfang, you suddenly came alive. When your sister-in-law was pregnant with Yuanyuan, she was listless every day. Now I see that you look like a beaten tiger."
Zhou Shaojin blushed, thinking of how in her previous life, Cheng Gao and He Fengping had been married for seven or eight years before giving birth to Yuanyuan. Now, not only did they give birth to a daughter ahead of time, but they also named her Yuanyuan. She asked curiously, "Why did cousin Gao give the child the nickname Yuanyuan?"
Cheng Gao smiled and said, "When your sister-in-law was little, she loved to eat and was white and plump. Her nickname was 'A Yuan'. We joked at the time that if we had a daughter, we would name her that. We never thought that we would really have a daughter."
It can be seen that some things will eventually return to their original track after changing.
Zhou Shaojin thanked Liao Shaotang with a smile, and accompanied Cheng Gao to pay his respects to Mrs. Guo.
Mrs. Guo asked about Mrs. Guan.
Knowing that everything was fine in the fourth room and that Gu Shiqigu was pregnant again, Old Lady Guo laughed and told Cheng Gao a few words, "Treat this as your own home" and "Ask Shaojin to buy you anything you need." Then she called Yun'er in to meet Cheng Gao.
It was the first time that Cheng Gao saw Yun Ge'er. He was very surprised and pointed at Yun Ge'er's eyes and said to Zhou Shaojin, "You look exactly like you when you were a child."
"Really?" Many people say that Yunger has beautiful eyes.
Cheng Gao nodded and said with emotion: "Our Yuanyuan is a chubby little girl, she feels heavy in my arms, and Fangfang is a naughty girl who can tear off the roof tiles. But your Yunge is the best, he is quiet, well-behaved and sensible."
Zhou Shaojin and Mrs. Guo couldn't stop laughing. Zhou Shaojin wanted to see what Fang Fang from Gu Shiqi's family looked like.
Cheng Gao noticed that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked a little strange, and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Is Yun Ge'er also naughty?"
Zhou Shaojin never thought that Yun Ge was naughty, and said with a smile: "He is a boy, so he is more active. But he is not very naughty."
Everyone talked about the children for a while with a smile, and then Cheng Gao stood up to say goodbye.
Zhou Shaojin sent him to the door.
Liao Shaotang and Cheng Rang sent Cheng Gao to the guest room.
After Cheng Gao washed and changed his clothes, Liao Shaotang and Cheng Rang chatted with him for a while. When Cheng Chi came back, they set a banquet to welcome him. The next day, Cheng Chi was personally taken to Cheng Shao, who examined his homework.
Cheng Shao was very satisfied with Cheng Gao's academic performance and agreed to recommend him to study at the Imperial College. He also told Cheng Gao that he could ask him if he had any questions about his studies.
Cheng Gao was naturally very grateful. Every day he would go from Chaoyang Gate to his home, and from home to Chaoyang Gate. Occasionally he would visit Cheng Shao, go to Liao Shaotang's house, and chat with Cheng Chi. The rest of the time he was focused on reading.
Zhou Shaojin looked at it and his heart finally settled down.
It is now the Shangsi Festival on the third day of March, which is also the Girls' Day.
There is a custom in Jiangnan area of picking shepherd's purse flowers and boiling eggs on this day to detoxify and stop diarrhea.
Zhou Shaojin didn't know that there were shepherd's purse flowers in the capital before, but she found out later when she found that a maid in her family boiled eggs and gave them to people. So this year, she asked the maid in her family to pick shepherd's purse flowers and give them to relatives and friends, and asked Cheng Gao to take some to his classmates. On this day, she boiled some eggs and brewed rice wine to celebrate with Mrs. Guo.
As they were eating eggs, the wife of the Earl of Pengcheng came running over.
She greeted Zhou Shaojin absentmindedly, then pulled Madam Guo to the warm room to talk in private: "Have you heard about the fight between the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince? What do you think we should do about this? The Fourth Prince sends gifts to our family every year. You also know our family, and the Fourth Prince is supposed to be our nephew. It is only natural for him to give us gifts. I didn't take it to heart. But now that something like this has happened, everyone suspects that the Fourth Prince covets the throne and framed his brothers, and his original job in the Ministry of Revenue has also been lost... With the Emperor's temper, if the Third Prince's incident was really done by the Fourth Prince, the Emperor will definitely not let the Fourth Prince go. If the Fourth Prince is in trouble, we won't be able to clear ourselves even if we jump into the Yellow River."
Even if the emperor found out that it was the fourth prince who did it, the law cannot hold everyone responsible, especially when there are scandals all over the royal family, so he will not touch these meritorious families.
As long as the Crown Prince has no resentment in his heart, it will be fine.
But Madam Guo couldn't say this in front of Madam Pengcheng, so she could only say tactfully, "The other princes should have given you gifts before, right? Since you are afraid that the emperor will misunderstand, why don't you ask the crown prince to go to the emperor to find out what he is thinking?"
Mrs. Pengcheng's eyes lit up when she heard this.
They knew the emperor's character, and it didn't matter if they offended him temporarily. The emperor was old and could only survive a few years. But the crown prince was the future heir, and under normal circumstances he would have several decades to live. They couldn't afford to wait!
Mrs. Pengcheng thanked her repeatedly, said goodbye to Mrs. Guo in a hurry, and rushed back to the Pengcheng Earl's Mansion.
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "This Madam Pengcheng is quite interesting."
Normally, such a person would hardly be able to thrive in the palace. But Lady Pengcheng was very much liked by the Empress Dowager and the Queen.
Madam Guo smiled and said, "Being straightforward also has its advantages. You will slowly understand it in the future."
Zhou Shaojin didn't take this matter to heart, and let it be.
Early the next morning, Mrs. Pengcheng came again.
She held Zhou Shaojin's hand and said embarrassedly, "Look at me, I didn't ask you if you were okay last time I came. I heard you were pregnant? Is there anything you want to eat or drink? I'll get it for you. I dare not say anything else, but if you want to talk about strange things, I have seen a lot."
It can be seen that I was really anxious yesterday.
Zhou Shaojin laughed secretly, but still thanked Madam Pengcheng respectfully and invited her into the inner room for tea.
Madam Pengcheng was not polite either. She sat there with Madam Guo and chatted with her. However, there was no longer the restlessness she had yesterday between her brows. It was obvious that the advice Madam Guo gave her was still effective.
Mrs. Guo didn't ask her what happened yesterday.
The capital city is full of twists and turns these days, so it is better to turn a deaf ear to some things.
On the day of Buddha's Bathing Festival, the palace suddenly issued an edict, saying that the Fourth Prince was making friends with court officials, and confined the Fourth Prince to his home.
Many heroes in the capital who had originally planned to go to the temple to burn incense had to cancel their plans at the last minute. The number of pedestrians on the once bustling Suzaku Street was at least half less than in previous years.
Zhou Shaojin also decided not to go to burn incense: "… I don't know why, this child is not like Yun Ge'er - when Yun Ge'er was born, I felt fine, I felt like I was born in an instant, but this child is very tormenting. Not to mention the smell of incense and candles, even the smell of incense oil makes me uncomfortable. It's been three months, and I still can't eat meat. Going to the temple to burn incense is simply torture."
"Could this baby be a girl?" Mrs. Xie was going to give birth next month. She was sitting on the bed with a big belly and eating a pear with a smile on her face.
"Your uncle and grandmother are hoping for a daughter." Zhou Shaojin touched her belly, which was still fertile, and said worriedly, "I originally wanted to have a daughter, but I didn't want to disappoint your uncle... I'm really in a dilemma."
"What's the problem?" Mrs. Xie advised Zhou Shaojin, "Aunt is still young and will have children in the future. If it's a son this time, then it will be a daughter next time. If it's a daughter this time, then it will be a son next time."
"It's not as easy as you say." Zhou Shaojin laughed and asked how Xie's preparations for the birth were going and if there was any way she could help.
A little maid hurried in and said, "Madam, Cheng Shi, Cheng Zheng, and Pan Zhuo are here to visit Master Gao, and are now heading to the guest room."
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Hey guys, sorry for being so late.
The previous chapters were overturned and rewritten, and I tried to finish them slowly.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)