The Beautiful Land

Chapter 50: Night talk

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"What are you going to do?" Zou Yiang saw her coming back and knew that this method was effective. He immediately became arrogant, raised his head and said, "Then it depends on what you do next..."

Before she finished speaking, Xi Fuwei turned around decisively and quickly changed her words, "Hey, hey, do you need to say this? Nowadays, anyone who comes to see my father will talk about it. In addition to the imperial court moving the capital and opening a canal, there are also Anything else?"

Xi Fuwei Quan pretended not to hear and continued walking without looking back. Zou Yiang could only catch up and said while chasing, "What are you doing? You don't believe I know what they talked about? You look down on me too much! Although I Dad doesn’t want me to be present when he talks to them, but I still don’t know how to eavesdrop?”

"You are very good at eavesdropping!" Xi Fuwei answered, glanced at him sideways, and said, "How else did you know that we were talking in a girls' school?"

She sneered, "I just don't understand why you want to tell me the news you overheard?"

Zou Yiang said: "Isn't it that you don't want money?"

"You are also twelve years old." Xi Fuwei stopped, turned around and looked at him, and said calmly, "You are no longer an ignorant child, and the two of us are not very close. For such an important matter, you are Why did you come to tell me, a female student?"

"Is this important?" Zou Yiang said, "What is important? Who is not discussing along the canal, especially the section that leads to the river? Our ancestors of the Zou family relied on the canal to prosper. The canal was blocked before. It is said that the ancestor of the family cried bitterly at that time, and thought about discussing with the people downstream to raise some funds for dredging, so as not to destroy the roots of the family. But at that time, the war was in chaos, and there was really not enough money. Without manpower, money and food, we can only watch a good canal go into waste. Now that the court is willing to open a river, who can not be interested?"

Xi Fuwei narrowed her eyes, looked him up and down, and suddenly asked: "Did Madam ask you to come here?"

"...What do you mean?" Zou Yiang shrank his head and shouted in a low voice with a bit of sternness, "Didn't you just run back when you heard that I was going to tell you about what my father was going to do recently? Why are you so suspicious now? Don’t want to hear it? Then I’m too lazy to blow the wind here in the middle of the night... I’m leaving!”

He walked for a while with his head held high, but when he saw that Xi Fuwei had no intention of calling him back, he came back angrily and said, "That's why I hate you the most among the female gentlemen of my sisters!"

"You do hate me the most. It's a pity that Sister Fu has always thought that she is the one you hate the most." Xi Fuwei sneered, looked down at him and said, "So now I see you and the mouse seeing each other. Like a cat, I’m afraid I’ll run into you!”

Zou Yiang was a little angry and didn't say anything for a while.

After the two were silent for a moment, Xi Fuwei slowed down and said, "You can't blame her for this. After all, who would have thought that the reason why you took the initiative to trouble her again and again was not because you didn't like her, but quite the opposite. Yes, which one do you like the most about her?"

"... You know it, why doesn't she know?" Zou Yiang pursed his lips, and after a while, he whispered, "Is this a fan of the authorities, or does she simply hate me?"

Xi Fuwei was speechless for a moment: "If Sister Fu's father was still alive, she might have thought of it a long time ago. But her father is gone and her family is in dire straits. How can she come to your house to be a female teacher to you, the young master of the Zou family?" Not a little careful? When being challenged at this time, the first thing people think about is whether they can still keep this job? If they can't keep it, what will they do? What will happen to their family? Who has such romantic thoughts! Not to mention you should too Do you know that the old lady summoned me before, right? With such a clear example, don’t say Sister Fu didn’t notice it, even if she did, she would never go too far!”

He added, "And to put it bluntly, although you are the only male heir of the Zou family so far, it is not your turn to be the head of the Zou family! You are interested in Sister Fu right now, which is not a good thing for her!"

In fact, she didn't know that Fu Chuoxian had always kept a respectful attitude towards Zou Yiang, and whether she could see what Mr. Zou was thinking. However, according to Fu Chuoxian's intelligence, even if he knew, he would definitely pretend not to know and try his best to follow him. Zou Yiang kept his distance.

After all, although Zou Yiang is the perfect son-in-law of Yanzhou Mansion, before he can take charge of the family, it can only be a tragedy for him to fall in love with a girl like Fu Chuoxian who is not from the same family as him.

How could Mrs. Zhuang or Zou Zhihan and his wife agree to him marrying a wife who was four years older than him and whose family was in a poor family

"...Actually, I don't even want to marry her." Zou Yiang scratched his head a little distractedly and said, "On the day she revealed the list and entered the house, my mother wanted to test her piano skills in person. I have nothing to do. I had nothing to do, and I watched her from behind the screen. She was wearing a goose-yellow shirt and a light green skirt, sitting in the hall playing the piano... It was probably what my husband said, looking forward to the glory, right? Then I just wanted to talk to her more. But. She doesn’t seem willing to pay attention to me?”

Xi Fuwei said: "I don't even want to ask you. I also know how you talk to her. It's nothing more than all kinds of picky and belittling...Who would care about you like this?"

Zou Yiang sighed in frustration: "I understand now... She still has some character after all. She doesn't want to be like a maid. Even if she is scolded, she will get up to her immediately!"

After saying this, Xi Fuwei frowned and said, "No matter how downcast Sister Fu is, she is still a good family member. She was a eldest lady in the past. Isn't it too much for you to compare a maid to her?"

"I said the wrong thing." Zou Yiang was not in a high mood at the moment and didn't want to quarrel with her, so he admitted his mistake directly, pondered for a moment, and said, "Forget it, don't talk about this, I will tell you about my father's affairs. Well... Two days ago, several wealthy families from Yanzhou Prefecture came to visit my father. The reason was... Well, I forgot the reason. It's not important anyway, it's just a cover. In the final analysis, they came to discuss the imperial court's opening of the river. of."

Xi Fuwei said "hmm" and said, "What next?"

"Then I overheard a few words during their conversation. They felt that the Wen family in Dongchang Prefecture has been soaring recently. Dongchang Prefecture is adjacent to our Yanzhou Prefecture. Who knows if the Wen family will be greedy? "You are not satisfied with being everywhere in your own house, and you want to reach out to Jining?" Zou Yiang said, "Otherwise, why did you instigate the darlings of Dingguo Gongfu and the Minister of Industry to come to our house last time?"

Madam Zhuang's birthday has passed for some time. Xi Fuwei originally thought that the entanglement between herself and Wen Xianyun, which led to Madam Xu Jingyuan's trouble on the day of her birthday, would soon come out. Who knows, but there has been no movement. Apparently, the Zou Mansion A severe seal.

"It turns out that the Zou Mansion didn't know anything about Song Jianiang and Shen Pilan." After listening to Zou Yiang's words, Xi Fuwei thought to herself, "So the arrival of Xu Jingyuan, Song Jianiang and Wen Xianyun was considered to be Wen Xianyun's fault. Leader, Xu Jingyuan and Song Jianiang came here as helpers at his instigation?"

After all, the Zou Mansion has been in Yanzhou for many years, and there is no reliable backing in Yingtian Mansion. It is naturally difficult to understand the relationship between the powerful.

And from Xu Jingyuan's side, he would rather the Zou Mansion, or the guests who came to Mrs. Hezhuang that day, would think so, in order to preserve the reputation of the two eldest ladies.

"If it was not an accident, but intentional, then Xu Jingyuan must be thinking that if the matter is leaked, the Wen family will be used as a scapegoat." Xi Fuwei thought, "I don't know if there is any possibility here. Find an opportunity to make a fuss?"

Shen Tiaolan is unreliable. It would be great if Xu Jingyuan and Song Jianiang could be used to kill the Wen family.

However, these are all speculations at the moment, and she has no way of knowing the specific details. She can only think about it.

"These are the ideas of the wealthy people in Yanzhou Prefecture. What about your father?" She pondered for a moment and asked Zou Yiang, "Do you agree? Or does he have other ideas?"

Zou Yiang frowned and said, "My father has been prevaricating... In the end, everyone left very disappointed."

"Prevarication?" Xi Fuwei asked in surprise, "Why?"

It would be fine if ordinary people living along the river didn't take a stand on such a major event... because there might not be a chance to take a stand at all.

But for a deep-rooted canal family like the Zou Mansion, every word and deed can affect the entire Yanzhou Mansion. Not taking a stand at this time, or not looking for a backer, is simply asking for death: it is true that the country is not at peace now, and Emperor Yongle himself is currently He is still marching in the north!

Therefore, when it comes to moving the capital and opening a river, the upper management definitely hopes to proceed as smoothly as possible without causing unnecessary complications.

However, this idea is just to prevent those who are specifically responsible from taking the initiative to cause trouble.

Rather than making them afraid of trouble!

Since the emergence of the imperial examination and the decline of the nine-level Zhongzheng system, when has the serious court ever been afraid of the local wealthy families

In particular, although the Zou Mansion is wealthy, it is far behind the dominating aristocratic families in ancient times... At that time, every famous family would have a bunch of private soldiers, and there would be farms with trenches and arrow towers. Sometimes the royal family would decline a little, and the imperial guards would all There may not be elite soldiers from the big clan.

After other wealthy families, especially the Wen family of Dongchang Prefecture, which is not far from Jining, have chosen a backer, what will happen to the Zou Mansion without a backer

Anyone with a bit of brains knows that it must be a piece of fat.

The kind that has no owner.

Everyone wanted to take a bite.

With the concerted efforts of several parties, is it difficult to replace Jining with a prominent family

It's not difficult at all.

Therefore, neither Mrs. Shang nor Xi Fuwei can understand Zou Zhihan's vague approach so far.

"How do I know?" Zou Yiang said matter-of-factly, "I was still young, and I eavesdropped on their conversation in the study, and they didn't let me listen in! How could I know what my father was thinking? If I had known, I would have told him My mother told you, why are you here to tell you?"

Xi Fuwei glanced at him and thought that it was indeed Mrs. Shang's intention.

Otherwise, her identity has been exposed. No matter how magnanimous Mrs. Shang is, she will never let her only son come to find her in the middle of the night.

"Mrs. Shang did this. Apparently she couldn't bear Zou Zhihan's delay and prevarication. Did she plan to use Jin Yiwei's hand to force her husband?" Xi Fuwei thought about it and said to Zou Yiang: "I know about this. It's not early. Now, go back and take a rest!"

Zou Yiang said: "Don't you have anything to say?"

Does Mrs. Shang want an answer? Xi Fuwei thought so and said, "It will take two days."

She had to discuss it with Shen Tiaolan.

"...you." Zou Yiang wrote it down and wanted to leave, but after taking two steps, he looked back at her with a confused look on his face, "Are you really not interested in Mr. Ouyang?"