In fact, Mrs. Shang didn't quite understand why her husband wanted to congratulate Mrs. Zhuang on her birthday at this time: "Didn't you just say before that you haven't made up your mind about which side to choose, so you want to take it slow? Why do you want to do it now? Are you celebrating your mother’s birthday with great fanfare? What if someone makes trouble at the birthday banquet... in public? Our Zou family is just a businessman after all, and we cannot disobey those nobles! "
"Putting it off is not an option." Zou Zhihan's eyes flickered and he said, "We might as well take this opportunity to test out all parties."
Mrs. Shang frowned: "What if the trouble gets so bad that I can't get off the stage?"
"Your Majesty is still marching in the north, and now you are ordering the canal to be dredged. I am afraid that it is not only for the future water transportation of Shuntian Prefecture, but also for the issue of military equipment in the north." Zou Zhihan said, "In that case, then this Obviously, things cannot be delayed. In this way, as long as we don't go too far, the nobles will not act too randomly in order to explain to His Majesty. Those small families may be in danger of being exterminated. We are a big family in Jining and have deep roots. Unless absolutely necessary, they will not expend effort, and most importantly, time to cultivate new noble families.”
Mrs. Shang was not very satisfied with this answer because she placed all her hopes on others.
The Zou Mansion is strong in Jining, and it is also considered prestigious in the entire Yanzhou Mansion.
But if you get it above the temple, it means nothing.
Rushing to test the bottom lines of those parties seemed to Mrs. Shang to be too risky.
What's more, according to her understanding of her husband, Zou Zhihan is not such an innocent person.
Mrs. Shang had doubts in her heart. She tried several times but failed to find any real flaws. She could only suppress it and follow Zou Zhihan's wishes to prepare for the birthday banquet.
Not even Mrs. Zhuang knew about these conversations between the couple, let alone other people in the Zou family.
For Fen Zhilou, the most intuitive impact of this birthday banquet is that Mrs. Shang is asking for leave for her daughters again.
Because the Zou Mansion has been based in Jining for many years, it can be said that it has a wide network of contacts in the Yanzhou Mansion. When they learned that they wanted to congratulate Mrs. Zhuang on her birthday, neighbors from far and wide rushed to the door to congratulate her.
Some people also brought their young children, boys as well. As for girls, Mrs. Shang and Mrs. Zhuang would always ask their girls to go out and greet them as a sign of friendship, and also to help Zou Qiongruo and the others to hone their worldliness.
Naturally, it would be impossible to attend class.
Fenzhilou felt very relaxed for a while, so Yao and his daughter moved two rose chairs to the yard to bask in the sun and do some needlework.
Fu Chuoxian and Xi Fuwei had nothing to do, so they went over to join in the fun with some work.
"Aunt Yao's craftsmanship is so good!" Both of them have been held in the palm of their hands, and they can pick up piano, chess, calligraphy and painting at their fingertips. This female celebrity has never really thought about it seriously. Now she can't help but be clumsy when doing it, and she often gets stuck. Although Yao didn't speak much, he couldn't stand it anymore. He gave some advice a few times.
This move made Fu Chuoxian and Xi Fuwei, who were originally concentrating on chatting, notice the embroidery in her hand. It was a picture of green pines and a white deer. The embroidery was lifelike and penetrating, especially the white deer's eyes, which looked forward to seeing you. God, so lifelike, seems to be ready to step off the silk cloth at any time.
The two couldn't help but admire, "We have never seen such exquisite embroidery skills... Is this for the old lady?"
Yao smiled a little shyly, but Yao Zhuosu, probably because of his age. After getting along for a while, he felt that Fu Chuoxian and Xi Fuwei were not the kind of domineering people. They became much bolder and pursed their lips after hearing this. He said: "Yes, we, mother and daughter, have come all the way here and have nothing to offer, so we can only take advantage of this to show our gratitude to the old lady!"
"That said, among the four of us, no matter what happened before, who can be unlucky with birthday gifts now?" Fu Chuoxian said with a smile, "Sister Yao, your embroidery looks exactly the same as Aunt Yao, I think it is Aunt Yao taught you step by step?"
Yao Zhuosu shook the embroidery in his hand against the wind, and said with a smile: "I'm clumsy, and my mother doesn't dare to ask me to embroider a big piece right now. She just used some leftover materials to practice my skills."
Xi Fuwei said: "If you say that, I think if I take the needle again, it will be a waste."
"Sister Shen, please don't say that!" Yao Zhuosu said hurriedly, "Actually, our mother and daughter were not very popular in the early days. After my father passed away, the tribe kicked us out because I was just a girl. In order to To make a living, I can only make some embroidery to sell. But in this world, which woman doesn’t know how to do embroidery? If she doesn’t put in some effort, she won’t be able to sell it at all. So she spends her days and nights thinking about it... My mother’s eyes will There is something wrong with me, it’s just that I was exhausted at the beginning.”
So the topic naturally turned to asking questions about Yao.
In the next two days, Xi Fuwei still went down to do acupuncture with Yao and her daughter in the sun every day, but Fu Chuoxian did not show up. Hongzhi who served her said: "Mr. Fu took leave and went back to Fu's house." .”
Xi Fuwei asked with concern: "Sister Fu, are you taking advantage of the girls' school to be closed for the past two days to go back and see your family, or is there something going on at home?"
Hongzhi shook her head and said, "I don't know. Mr. Fu didn't tell me when he left."
But after thinking about it, he added, "I didn't hear from my disciples what news the Fu family sent to Mr. Fu. I think he went back to visit relatives, right?"
These words reminded Xi Fuwei that she also claimed to have relatives in Jining, the clan brother played by Shen Diolan. The Yao family and their daughter came all the way from afar. They had no relatives in the local area except Mrs. Zhuang. The girls' school had stopped classes, so they just stayed in Fenzhi Building. Now Fu Chuoxian has gone back to visit his family. If I were still indifferent, wouldn't it be arousing suspicion
So the next day, he left the Zou Mansion and went to the back alleys to look for Shen Diaolan.
This time Shen Diaolan met her in the main hall. After meeting her, Xi Fuwei looked at him a few times with some uncertainty before stepping forward to greet her. She noticed that his aura was getting stronger.
It is not the kind of majesty that comes after being promoted, but the evil spirit that comes naturally after killing people, and not just one or two people.
She would definitely not be able to distinguish this change when Xi Fucui and Xi Zongwang were still there, but on the way from Dongchang Mansion to Yanzhou Mansion, Xi Fuwei had not seen blood in her hands before, but she recognized them at a glance.
"It seems that Shandong has been very uneasy recently." Xi Fuwei thought to herself and explained to Shen Tiaolan, "The Zou Mansion is holding a birthday banquet, and the ladies have to greet the guests who have arrived in advance, so they all took leave. Then. Mr. Fu Chuoxian Fu has already gone back to visit his family, and I thought that if I didn't come over for a visit, I'm afraid they would become suspicious."
Shen Tiaolan asked noncommittally: "How are you doing lately?"
Xi Fuwei would never interpret this as concern, and automatically listened to it as "Is there any progress in the recent mission?", pursed her lips, and said: "Then Fu Chuoxian should have bumped into him at this time by mistake." Entering the Zou Mansion."
She whispered her conjecture, and when she saw that Shen Tiaolan was just listening quietly, with no expression on his face, and could not tell whether he was happy or angry, she felt a sense of powerlessness in her heart. She asked Xi Jiao, "How has my nephew been lately?" how?"
Shen Tiaolan said nonchalantly: "I haven't asked recently, so it shouldn't be a big deal, otherwise the people below will report it."
Xi Fuwei suddenly felt a lump in her heart: "Didn't you promise me that you would protect my nephew and let me just do my work in Zou Mansion? Why didn't you ask me now?!"
"You have been in Zou Mansion for so long, and you have only achieved so much." Shen Tiaolan sneered when he heard this, and said, "I have almost forgotten you about so many things in my hands, do you still have to spend so much time on them? Why don't you keep an eye on your nephew?"
Xi Fuwei was speechless for a long time after saying this, and then said: "I know my mistake. However, I think Zou Mansion is an outsider who has just entered the house. It is related to the future of the Zou Mansion family. How could it be so short-term?" Just let your subordinates know in time?"
Shen Taolan said calmly: "This is your business."
He added, "If the people under me are as stupid as you, I won't be around anymore."
Xi Fuwei lowered her head and let him scold her. She was thinking about whether there was any chance to make some achievements recently. Not only would it be useful to let Shen Diolan know that she was at least ensuring Xi Jiao's treatment.
Suddenly I heard Shen Tiaolan say: "For the birthday banquet of Zou Mansion, I have something to entrust to you."
She suddenly became energetic: "Sir, please speak!"
"Miss Xu, the sister of Ding Guogong, is likely to go, as well as Miss Song, the beloved daughter of the Minister of Industry." Shen Tiaolan said this without moving, but a hint of boredom flashed in his eyes, "If this When you two arrive at the birthday banquet, you should take more care of them."
After a pause, he said, "Especially Miss Song. This young lady is said to be relatively innocent and doesn't quite understand the priorities of things. If there is any disturbance or the like, you will handle it. In short, don't let their reputation be damaged. "
Xi Fuwei was surprised when she heard this and said: "The young lady from Dingguo Palace! And the young lady from the Ministry of Industry? How could these two people come to Jining and congratulate the old lady of Zou Palace together? ?!”
Shen Tiaolan said expressionlessly: "Just do your work."
For the rest, don’t ask!
Xi Fuwei heard the implication. Although she still had doubts in her heart, she didn't ask any more questions. She lowered her head and said, "I understand."
After asking Shen Tiaolan if he had any other instructions, he resigned.
After she went out and was about to leave, she saw a young man in green standing at the corner of the corridor waving to her.
"But what are your orders?" Xi Fuwei walked over in confusion, followed him to a secluded corner at the back of the house, asked cautiously, and then discovered, "It seems that your Majesty is not the one who served the Lord before?"
In fact, she hadn't paid much attention to Shen Taolan's personal attendant before, but she had met him once or twice, and she still had some impressions.
"That one has gone back to Yingtian Mansion due to some matters." The young man gave her a toothy smile and said, "The young one was originally a substitute in the guard house. Thanks to the respect of Master Baihu, now he is running errands with you."
Xi Fuwei vaguely speculated that the boy might have done something wrong before, but she didn't know exactly what he did wrong, and she didn't want to know. At this moment, she just smiled and said without saying anything: "You want me to come over here. I don’t know where it is here?”
"There are some things that Miss Xi may not know, so I'll tell you." The boy also smiled and whispered, "Do you know why the young lady from Duke Dingguo's Mansion and Miss Song went to the Zou Mansion for the banquet? ?”
Seeing Xi Fuwei shaking his head, the smile on his lips grew stronger, "After all, it actually has something to do with you, Miss Xi!"
"Me?" Xi Fuwei was startled, "What you said is strange. I have never known such a noble lady!"
"However, these two young ladies have been friends with Miss Xi for a long time." The young man did not beat around the bush and said straightforwardly that the Song family and the Shen family were interested in getting married. Song Jianiang was also very interested in Shen Taolan, but she had no choice but to accept the gift from the old servant. When she came over, she bumped into Xi Fuwei, so she became suspicious. "Originally, Shangshu Song knew the righteousness well and had been advising Miss Song not to be jealous. After persuading Miss Song, she also felt that she shouldn't doubt Miss Xi! But after Miss Xu arrived, , but I can’t help but think that Miss Xi must be uneasy and kind-hearted, and she is probably trying to trick the adults of the hundred families! No, they say they are going to the Zou Mansion for a banquet to celebrate the birthday of the old lady, but in fact, they are going to you! "
Xi Fuwei: "... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...!!!"
She calmed down for a while and then asked, "Then Master Shen just wanted me to take good care of these two ladies?"
Shouldn't she be allowed to let her vent her anger? !