Xi Fuwei smiled when he heard this and said, "Sister Fu, do you think I stopped Mr. Zou just to flirt with him? Do you think I am such an unwise person?"
"You don't need to explain to me." Fu Chuoxian retracted his hand holding the door and took a step back, as if he didn't intend to say more. "You just need to be able to explain to the old lady and the others tomorrow."
"What's so difficult to explain?" Xi Fuwei said disapprovingly, "The only male heir in the Zou family is Mr. Zou. Even if the head of the family and his wife both teach their children to be strict, no parent would want their child to be infamous. ? However, Mr. Zou is young and ignorant. We have tolerated him once last night, but he is still stubborn and wants to do it again tonight! If we don't do anything in this situation, aren't we even more indulging in his mischief? Go down? If we make a fuss, even if Young Master Zou is still young, what good will it do to the Zou family if the only male heir of this generation of the Zou family has the reputation of being naughty? "
"So I went to give him a beating in private and asked him to retreat. This not only calmed the matter down, but also prevented it from making a big fuss... Should the old lady and the others still blame me?"
Fu Chuoxian said sarcastically: "So the old lady and the others still want to praise you? But don't think too easily of the old lady and the others. Who doesn't know that you have such thoughts? It's just a matter of time." Marriage matters are all about being well-matched. No matter how outstanding you are, who told your parents to leave early? Now you only have a clan brother and no one to rely on? "
Xi Fuwei took a step forward, held on to the door frame, tilted his head slightly to look at her face, smiled lowly, and said: "Sister Fu, are you really afraid that I won't be able to cope with it tomorrow by sparing no effort in attacking me, or are you? , jealous?"
"What crazy words are you talking about?" Fu Chuoxian's long eyelashes trembled slightly, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he said expressionlessly, "I'm just afraid that your cleverness will be mistaken for you, and you will end up in an embarrassing situation. We, Fenzhilou, are all regarded as people with ulterior motives!"
"The master of this house is not an unreasonable person, how can he not understand what is good and what is good?" Xi Fuwei smiled, "Sister, I really think too much."
With the light behind her, Fu Chuoxian's expression could not be seen clearly. In the dimness, only her eyes were bright and twinkling. After a moment, she said lightly: "That's good."
Take a step back and close the door.
After closing the door, she listened quietly to Xi Fuwei's movements.
The man seemed to pause at the door for a moment, chuckled, and then returned to his room unhurriedly.
Fu Chuoxian held his breath and listened to her locking the door and walking into the inner room. Then he breathed an inexplicable sigh of relief. Thinking about what happened tonight, he frowned and subconsciously raised his hand to hold it down. , sighing silently, but he didn’t know why he was sighing
… Nothing else happened that night.
The next morning, Xi Fuwei finished teaching Zou Qiongruo and others, packed up her things and went back to the back hall to rest. She saw a thirty-year-old housekeeper waiting here.
When he saw her, he came up to salute and said very politely: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Shen! Madam, I have some free time today. I remembered that Mr. Shen has been here for some time. I would like to invite him to have tea and chat for a while." .I wonder if sir would like to move?"
Xi Fuwei agreed with a smile, put down some things in her hands, and followed her to Mrs. Shang's yard.
Mrs. Shang had obviously made preparations for a long time. There were two or three confidants waiting on her inside and outside. She very kindly invited Xi Fuwei to sit down and serve tea. After some greetings, she asked some serious questions about Zou Qiongruo and the others. situation, and then gradually turned the topic to the frightening two nights in Fenzhilou: "Qiongruo and the others have always been well-behaved and sensible. To be honest, I'm not very worried! The most worrying thing is Yiang. This child has always been a bit naughty! Over the years , his father and I have given him some rules. However, he has been beaten and scolded, and it is always a habit that is hard to change, which really makes me sad and worried!"
Xi Fuwei said politely: "Madam, you are serious. Mr. Zou is still young after all, and he hasn't tied his hair yet! When he grows up in the future, he will definitely become sensible! To be honest with you, Madam, Mr. Zou and I At this age, I often give my parents a headache!"
This is a lie. Her biological mother died early, and she helped Xi Zongwang take care of the family business at a very young age. She also understood things early and was almost never naughty.
However, Mrs. Shang was willing to believe it and sighed: "It would be great if it was true! Otherwise, looking at him now, I am really afraid that if this continues, when the girls in the family need support from their parents, if his father and I are not here Now, what are the girls going to do?"
As Mrs. Shang talked about her dissatisfaction with Zou Yiang, Xi Fuwei tried to persuade her. After a while, Mrs. Shang finally asked: "It is said that Yiang went to Fenzhi Tower to cause trouble in the past two days?"
"The little mischief is over." Xi Fuwei smiled dignifiedly, "I thought Madam was busy with all kinds of things, so I didn't dare to bother her. I planned to come over in two days to tell Madam about the girls' homework. I mean, if you don’t want to, I’d better ask Madam to bother.”
Mrs. Shang said neither softly nor hard: "Yiang is my child, and it is my duty to worry about him. How can I be called intrusive and troublesome?"
Xi Fuwei's expression remained unchanged, and she nodded and said, "Madam thinks this is what you should do, and we also think this is something we should be considerate of."
After a pause, he added, "Everyone in Fenzhi Tower thinks so."
"..." Mrs. Shang narrowed her eyes, looked at her for a moment, and said, "You are all considerate, but there is no need to be too outspoken. We don't do empty politeness in our house. If you have anything, just say it directly. .”
Seeing that Xi Fuwei agreed very meekly, without saying anything else, she euphemistically gave the order to expel the guests. When leaving, she also ordered the maid to pack two boxes of snacks for the people in Fenzhilou to share.
After watching this "Mr. Shen" leave, Mrs. Shang pinched her brows and sat motionless on the chair. However, a man slowly walked out of the back hall. His head was wrapped in a soap towel, and he wore an indigo robe and hat. The emperor's restraint on merchants was simple, but he wore a emerald-colored jasper-inlaid gold finger on his thumb to show his wealth and status.
"Is this the matter?" Zou Zhihan asked somewhat displeasedly before sitting down opposite Mrs. Shang.
Mrs. Shang didn't care about her husband's attitude. She took a plate of torreya from the fruit plate at hand and slowly peeled it. She said calmly: "Otherwise? She asked her sharply if she had any evil intentions towards Yiang, and then kicked her out. ?”
She raised her eyes and glanced at her husband, with a slightly raised corner of her mouth, half-smiling, "Don't you know where this 'Mr. Shen' is from? He was specially put in there. It's because we made up our mind to choose a side. Otherwise, do you think it is a good idea to drive people out for such a small thing?"
Zou Zhihan frowned: "But Yiang..."
"It's impossible for her to take it seriously!" Mrs. Shang interrupted her husband and said calmly, "If she had simply come into the house to be a female teacher, like that Fu Chuoxian, I would still be on guard like this! But! Since she is here under orders and has ulterior motives, how can she hook up with people in our family? If she does, if we don’t do anything, the people behind her will be the first to show her off!"
"Yi'ang is the only male heir in our family." Zou Zhihan was still worried, frowning and said, "During this period, because of the dredging of the canal, he has been greeting our family a lot overtly and secretly. Who knows what will happen? Will you start with Yiang?"
I couldn't help complaining, "Why is this kid so ignorant? I just beat him up a while ago, just to scare him and make him stay in school with Mr. Ouyang and stop running around. , so as not to get into trouble... Why doesn't he listen?! I am his biological father, how can I harm him?!"
Mrs. Shang said lukewarmly: "It is precisely because I know you are his biological father that you cannot beat him to death, so I am not afraid of your threats!"
"This kid..." Zou Zhihan sighed helplessly and said sadly, "We have to find a way to make him behave better! Otherwise, someone might take advantage of his eyes now that they are attached to the bone!"
"Actually, I don't know why you are hesitant about this matter?" Mrs. Shang put the peeled torreya on the table and motioned to her husband to take it. She wiped her fingers with a handkerchief and asked casually, "This person today Although His Majesty has only been on the throne for less than ten years, he is already known to be ambitious! He is not the kind of weak king who will be suppressed by his ministers! So, he is determined to move the capital and dredge the canal... Why should we go against him? "
"After all, although we have some respectability in Yanzhou, it is not worth mentioning in court, let alone making His Majesty displeased. Just saying that this matter itself is not without benefit to us?"
When Zou Zhihan heard this, his face became a little ugly. He was silent for a while and then said: "The Zou family is just a mere merchant, how can they have the courage to go against His Majesty? The question now is not at all whether we support moving the capital or reopening the canal, but whether we support moving the capital or reopening the canal. The question is, among the boats of support, which one should we go on?”
Knowing that although Mrs. Shang was the matron of the house, because there had been no officials in the two generations of Zou Mansion, she was not very clear about the temple affairs, so he explained to her in detail, "Shuntian Mansion is your Majesty's place of Longxing, not to mention now. The north is not at peace, and His Majesty himself is still marching in the north at the moment! Therefore, most of the direct descendants who have followed His Majesty for many years, the group of heroes who have followed the dragon, will support it!"
After all, most of their hometowns are in the north. After moving the capital to Shuntian Mansion, the center of gravity of the entire country has moved north, which is a good thing for them.
"In addition to these ministers, the royal guards who were restored after His Majesty ascended the throne, and the servants in the inner court... These people all agree with Your Majesty, but approval does not mean that they can cooperate closely!"
"You must know that the reason why Your Majesty wants to reopen the canal is to prepare for water transportation! Madam, you should also know how profitable water transportation is!"
"Besides, Jining's location is considered a big port in the entire canal. As a prominent family in Jining, our future financial prospects are simply unimaginable!"
"With such benefits, why wouldn't the nobles and nobles be tempted?!"
“Who doesn’t want to make preparations now before construction starts so that they can share in the pie later?!”
Zou Zhihan exhaled and narrowed his eyes, "So at this time, if we make one wrong move, our family will be shattered into pieces... Do you think I can make decisions easily?"
"In my opinion, the ministers of the previous dynasty are more reliable." Mrs. Shang thought for a while and then said, "These people are either from official families and got into official positions under the influence; or they were named on the gold list and entered the officialdom. Therefore. They cherish their feathers somewhat, so they are more trustworthy! On the contrary, Jin Yiwei and the Inner Court...these two offices mostly deal with private matters, and it is common for them to burn bridges and disown people when they cross a river. Our Zou Mansion has been based in Jining for many years, and our family has a clean reputation. You must have something to do with this dirty place!"
Zou Zhihan's tone was helpless: "I do think so! But just because Jin Yiwei has done so many secret things with the inner court, and is unscrupulous at all costs, can we offend him?"
"Didn't you send a letter back earlier, saying that you received news that the Minister of Industry is now making a private visit along the old site of the canal?" Mrs. Shang raised her eyebrows, "Why don't you get involved with this person? After all, this person is appointed by His Majesty. He is the master responsible for reopening the canal. If he likes our Zou family, even if the Jin Yiwei and the inner court are not angry, it will be hard to argue with him, right?"
When Mrs. Shang was thinking about Song Li, Song Li was also thinking about Zou Mansion.