This was so unexpected.
Zhou Shaojin felt heavy in his heart and he couldn't tell what he was feeling.
After hearing the boss's secret, Ma Fushan felt a little uneasy. He thought it would not be too late to see what Zhou Shaojin had to say before agreeing with him.
For a moment, the room was quiet, without any sound.
The old beggar moved his body uneasily, his flickering eyes fell on Ma Fushan, then on the central hall, and then on the ground, with a bit of cunning in his expression.
Ma Fushan looked at it and his heart moved.
How could I have forgotten about this guy
Regardless of whether what he said was true or false, the Second Miss was still young and was temporarily frightened by his words. When she came to her senses, she didn't know whether she would be sad or happy. We couldn't let this guy laugh at her here, could we
He thought about it and shouted, "According to what you said, the Cheng and Zhuang families were once engaged, how come the neighbors didn't know about it? I think you deserve to be punished. You actually dared to make up stories about the old man and the wife of the Zhuang family..."
"I'm telling the truth!" The old beggar immediately burst into tears, "At first, it was Master Cheng Bo who said that Old An was their aunt, and Old Lady Cheng couldn't say anything. Later, Old Lady Cheng heard that Miss Zhuang was the reincarnation of a fox spirit, and she was unhappy. Later, the two families broke off the engagement, and it was the Zhuang family that took the initiative, and the Cheng family would never mention it. The Gu family... and the eldest master of the Zhou family all knew about this... Originally, the old master of the Zhuang family wanted to marry Miss Zhuang to the Gu family, but the Gu family didn't have a son of the right age, so Miss Zhuang married the eldest master of the Zhou family..." He said, swearing to the sky, "The uncle of the Zhuang family also knew about it... He used this to ask for money from the eldest lady of the Zhuang family. Later, it was the eldest master Zhou who came forward and gave the money to the uncle of the Zhuang family to shut him up..."
The astute Ma Fushan immediately heard the hidden meaning and asked, "Whose money did you receive to keep your mouth shut?"
"Cheng, Cheng family..." the old beggar blurted out unexpectedly.
Cheng family
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Ma Fushan was speechless.
“It’s true!” The old beggar knew that the truth had been revealed. Even if he didn’t say anything, the Zhou family would be able to find it out if they wanted to. So he just threw in the towel and said, “The Cheng family has always regarded this as a shame. Master Cheng Bo worked hard for this and passed the imperial examination. Later, he started a business. In just a few years, he earned a fortune... He never wanted to mention this again... He gave me a sum of money and asked me to leave Jinling City and do some small business... I have no other skills except driving a cart. I spent all my money in a few years. I had no other choice but to beg...”
Who is Ma Fushan? He sneered and said, "You are blackmailing Cheng Bai, so Cheng Bai gave you money to do business, right? Otherwise, the Zhuang family is also a kind family. Since you have served Old Master Zhuang, and Old Master Zhuang has passed away, and our master has always respected Mrs. Zhuang, even if the Zhuang family does not support you, our master will support you for Mrs. Zhuang's sake. How could you end up on the streets and become a beggar?"
Being discovered, the old beggar was horrified and his face turned pale.
Ma Fushan's expression eased slightly, and he said warmly, "You traveled thousands of miles to become an official for money. Why didn't you say so earlier? You had to let me find your weakness before you behaved. I won't say anything else to you. You have to give me half of the reward from the eldest lady."
His weather was sunny at one time, rainy at another, hot at another, cold at another, and he tortured the old beggar so much that he could no longer have any other thoughts. He hugged Ma Fushan’s legs and said loudly, “Master Steward, I will listen to you in everything! I will listen to you in everything! You have a sharp eye, I will tell you everything… I used to serve Old Master Zhuang, but Old Master Zhuang’s family was getting worse and worse. I had evil intentions and stole a painting from Old Master Zhuang. Unexpectedly, I was discovered by the twelfth master of the Gu family. Old Master Zhuang gave me ten taels of silver and kicked me out of the Zhuang family… I have been a merchant, a groom, a coachman, and a porter… I don’t have a wife or children… Life is really hard to make ends meet… So I want to borrow a few taels of silver from Miss Zhuang, or at least borrow a few taels of silver from Uncle Zhuang… I never thought that Miss Zhuang was gone, and Master Bai of the Cheng family also died of illness. Mrs. Bai knew nothing about the affairs of the Cheng and Zhuang families, and Uncle Zhuang ran away to avoid debt… I originally wanted to find the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, but unexpectedly I ran into Mr. Lu from the Cheng family..."
"What did you say?" Even a man like Ma Fushan who had experienced so much couldn't help but change his expression, and asked, "The one who gave you the silver was Master Lu from the Cheng family?"
“Yes!” The old beggar didn’t realize how shocking his words were. He wiped his nose with his sleeve and said, “Master Lu said that if this matter got out, Master Yu Bai’s reputation would be damaged, so he told me not to say anything. He first gave me twenty taels of silver, and then thirty taels of silver… I originally wanted to get more silver, but the family I used to work for as a groom came to find me, and I didn’t dare to stay in Jinling City any longer… If I hadn’t had no way out this time, and I heard that the second young lady treated the maids who served Madam Zhuang in the past well, I would not have come back…” When he said this, he asked Ma Fushan worriedly, “As someone who has served Old Master Zhuang, I should be more respectable than those who have served Madam Zhuang. I can be considered a loyal servant, right?”
A loyal servant? He is clearly a scoundrel!
Ma Fushan was speechless and said perfunctorily, "It should be considered as such! I should know after asking the Second Miss."
The old beggar was overjoyed, and said with a drooling face: "Then, Master Steward, when can the second young lady's reward be paid? Look at me, a penny can make a hero fall. Can you lend me a few coins first, and I will return it to you when the second young lady's reward is paid..."
"Okay, okay." Ma Fushan said, and saw Shi Xiang coming out from the back of the hall and handing him a note.
He took a quick glance and asked the beggar, "What you said must have a witness. You said the Gu family knew about it, who else in the Gu family knew about it? Master Lu gave you silver, who can testify?"
The beggar thought for a long time and said, "The twelfth master of the Gu family... has passed away for several years. I can't tell who else in the Gu family knows... But the eldest master of the Zhou family should know... The silver from Master Lu was not given to me by him personally, but by a man named Zhao around him..."
Last name Zhao
Zhao Dahai!
Zhou Shaojin's fingertips trembled.
Zhao Dahai was Cheng Lu's follower.
A hereditary servant of the Cheng family.
He is the person Cheng Lu trusts the most.
Most of the things that Cheng Lu gave her came into her hands through Zhao Dahai.
There was no need to verify further, Zhou Shaojin was already certain that the person who gave the beggar the money to keep his mouth shut was Cheng Lu.
Cheng Lu clearly knew the grudge between the two families, so why did he still ask to marry her? No, Cheng Lu did not ask to marry her, he asked to marry Wu Baozhang! He just wanted to let his grandmother and uncle Mian think that he liked her and wanted to marry her...
Zhou Shaojin felt chilly all over.
She held on to the armrests of the armchair and managed to avoid falling down.
"Shi Xiang," she heard her own hoarse voice, "Go and ask, when did that happen?"
Shi Xiang looked terrified. She whispered "yes" and turned to leave the back hall.
"It was two years ago." The old beggar said, "I remember it clearly. The first time, it was sealed with brown paper. It was a silver cake, a total of ten pieces..."
Two years ago, she was ten years old.
It was from that time that Cheng Lu began to appear before her eyes.
Zhou Shaojin's eyes turned red, and he covered his face and said, "Give that old beggar thirty taels of silver and send him out!"
Apply incense and kneel down to pay respect.
The room soon became quiet.
Zhou Shaojin sat in the chair blankly. Feeling the light in the room gradually dimming, he stood up and said in a deep voice, "Let's go back!"
Shi Xiang responded, helped Zhou Shaojin out from the back door, got on the sedan chair that had been waiting there, and returned to Wanxiangju.
Zhou Chujin was standing under the eaves anxiously waiting for Zhou Shaojin.
Seeing them coming back, she hurried over to them and asked anxiously, "Why did you come back at this time? Grandma just asked about it. Did you buy the things you mentioned?"
Zhou Shaojin used the excuse of preparing a birthday gift for Old Lady Guan to coax Mrs. Mian into going out.
But at this moment, she couldn't even smile to comfort her sister.
"Luckily I bought the things early in the morning." Zhou Shaojin said tiredly, "I'll just give them to my grandmother when the time comes."
She stumbled into the inner room and fell on the bed.
Zhou Chujin chased after him.
"What's wrong?" She sat on the edge of the bed and asked worriedly.
"I don't know how to tell you yet." Zhou Shaojin buried his face in the pillow, "I'll tell my sister when I think it over."
Zhou Chujin did not force her. He stroked her shoulders gently and walked out quietly.
Zhou Shaojin had a sound sleep, and when he woke up the moon was already above the willow trees.
She thought about it and went to her sister Zhou Chujin.
Zhou Chujin is making lace.
Hearing the noise, she raised her head and smiled, "I thought you should wake up by now. Okay, I'll ask Dong Wan to make a pot of tea, and you can talk to me."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and sat down next to her sister, and started making lace with her.
"Mother, it turns out that you were engaged to Cheng Lu's father, Cheng Bai..." She told the story slowly, but Zhou Chujin was horrified.
The lamp on the desk swayed in the wind, and the room was sometimes bright and sometimes dim.
"So what are your plans?" Zhou Chujin held Zhou Shaojin's hand tightly. "Don't listen to those rumors. Even if mother and Cheng Bai broke off the engagement, it was because Cheng Bai was too frivolous, and it had nothing to do with mother. Even if you don't believe me, you should believe father. Otherwise, mother has been dead for so many years, and father can't always respect her like this."
Is my sister afraid that she will doubt her mother's character
Zhou Shaojin said: "I also think this matter has nothing to do with my mother. If Cheng Bai hates my mother because of this, it can only be said that he is narrow-minded and cynical. Grandfather was right not to marry my mother to him. I just can't forgive Cheng Lu. How could he frame me so despicably..."
Zhou Chujin was afraid that Zhou Shaojin would take revenge on Cheng Lu because of this. She advised her sister: "You already know about this matter, let's just ignore him. There is no need to delay yourself for him."
But sometimes, even if you don't offend him, he won't let you go.
For example, previous life.
She had already hidden in the farm in Daxing, barely lingering and waiting for death, but Cheng Lu chased her and coaxed her to elope with him... What kind of grudge was this? It was not enough to kill her, he had to send her to the eighteenth level of hell!
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Sisters, tomorrow's update will still be around 3pm... I find that I feel less pressure when updating at this time... O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)