It is said that the most popular families in the capital are none other than the four surnames. As for the other noble families, they dare not be too arrogant because the emperor does not like noble families. Some noble families who stood on his side in the fight for the throne have been purged by the emperor's iron-blooded policy. Even if there are descendants left, they are like the Yang family, who have all been forced to serve the outside world and are not close to the other family. They have all been exiled or transferred to other places. In addition, in the capital, the princes have not grown up yet, and the struggle between the princes has not started yet, so the capital is still peaceful.
Mrs. Du said, "There are currently four aristocratic families in the capital that people avoid, namely the Ren family, the Shen family, the Qi family, and the Yao family. These four families have children serving as concubines in the palace, and they all gave birth to princes, that is, the eldest prince, the second prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince. Speaking of which, all these years have passed, and no princes or princesses have been born in the palace."
Sister Du said: "Everyone is also speculating that the emperor has been on the throne for a few years, but there are no princes or princesses born in the palace."
Mrs. Du's tone was condensed: "Shut up, how can you say such a thing? You have no sense of propriety at all. What if it gets out?"
As someone who knows the plot, Yang Haiyan knows why no princesses or princes are born in the harem, and she also knows that no princes or princesses will be born in the harem in the future. Because the emperor has experienced the pain of fighting for the throne, and knows that he has many sons and the throne is very difficult to fight for, he does not want his sons to kill each other. After he ascended the throne, all the women in the harem drank medicine and became concubines, and the women in the harem did not know this. Besides, the emperor already has four princes, and he is not worried about not having heirs. These four princes, including the second prince who will become the emperor in the future, were all born when the emperor was still a prince. It turned out that those women were made pregnant just to gain support from their families. Of course, those were his own sons, and he taught them with all his heart and soul. Although his sons were born for the purpose of gaining his own power, how could he not feel sorry for his own sons
However, people are biased, and in his heart, his favorite son will always be the second prince.
Sister Du hurriedly said, "Don't worry, mother, I'll just talk about it at home. I know that these things can't be said outside." Sister Du is also a smart woman, so she won't gossip too much at home. After all, who dares to discuss the emperor's affairs outside? Unless you are looking for death.
Mrs. Du also knew her daughter's personality, so she didn't say much about her and continued, "So, in the capital, there was no Shen family. After the emperor ascended the throne and Empress Shen became queen, everyone thought that Concubine Ren would become the successor, after all, she was the successor to the princess, but no one expected that she would be named Imperial Concubine.
As for the Shen family, after all, Queen Shen had passed away, so they were very low-key. Even if they were the harem family, without the queen and the princes in the harem, the harem family was just a title, without any real meaning. But who would have known that later there would be a second prince, who was said to be a daughter of the Shen family. Not to mention, her appearance was indeed quite similar to that of the Shen family members, so the Shen family was different in everyone's mind, and it seemed that they were on par with the Ren family. However, compared to the Shen family, the Ren family was much more high-profile. "Then, Mrs. Du talked about the Qi family and the Yao family. The Yao family was a family of military generals, and the Qi family was a family of noble character. When the current emperor was still a prince, the two families were not particularly prominent. Needless to say, the Qi family was a noble family. Although it had some background, the officials of the family were not high-ranking, and none of them were higher than the fifth rank. Later, when the emperor ascended the throne, the Qi family made a comeback.
The Yao family was also like this. Before the emperor ascended the throne, even though the Yao family was a military family, their official positions were not higher than the fifth rank, and their official positions in the capital were not very prominent. However, they did not know that in the fight for the throne, the Yao family played a very important role. They knew that when the capital changed, military force was the most important thing. When the emperor ascended the throne, the Yao family was conferred the title of marquis.
Yang Haiyan listened to some of Mrs. Du's words and learned some things. These four families are the ones that are most reluctant to offend. Similarly, the Qin family has the Du family behind them. Under normal circumstances, these four families will not offend the Qin family and will not disgust the Du family. If Master Du has many students, then perhaps Qin Fang cannot represent the Du family, but Master Du has only one student, which is no different from the only son of some families. Moreover, Master Du's eldest son is not in the capital, and Master Du is a dandy boy, so Qin Fang can really represent Master Du. Therefore, normal people with brains will not go to Qin Fang to cause trouble.
Furthermore, the matter of Huoyao was already known to the world, and the Huoyao ore was discovered by Qin Fang, so this matter was also known to the world. Going to cause trouble for Qin Fang was totally unacceptable.
study
Du Ke was drinking tea with his two sons-in-law, his son and his students. Grandpa Du Xi was not there. The patriarch of the Du family was now in charge of Du Ke, and Grandpa Du Xi was no longer in charge of things.
Du's brother-in-law is called Wei Jin. He is from Qingcheng Marquis' Mansion. He is the eldest son of the second branch of the mansion. His father and the current Marquis of Qingcheng are brothers from the same mother. Logically, given Du's status, she could marry the prince of the mansion, but Du Ke and Mrs. Du only wanted their daughter to live a happy life and had no plans to let her marry out, so they chose Wei Jin, who has outstanding character. Wei Jin has a calm personality, was a graduate of the imperial examination system, and now works under Du Ke in the Ministry of War.
Du's second brother-in-law is called Hua Wenchu. He was born in a poor family. Just like the ancients, Hua Wenchu went to Beijing to take the imperial examination and was noticed by Du Ke. The Hua family was also well-off, and they were a landlord family. Du Ke was very satisfied with such a clean family background. Hua Wenchu worked in the Hanlin Academy.
There is no need to say anything about Du Xing, he has been a city defender since then.
He said that in the Du family, Du Ke was the only one who trained him. If a family had too many promising sons or marriage partners, it would inevitably arouse the emperor's suspicion, but he did not have this idea. He was very satisfied with his eldest son. Even if he passed away in the future, the Du family could continue with his eldest son, and the eldest son would not treat the second son badly.
Du Ke drank a sip of tea and asked Qin Fang: "You entered the palace yesterday. Does the emperor have anything to say about your official position?"
Qin Fang shook his head: "No, the emperor just told me to take a rest and not to think about it. Master, what do you think the emperor meant?"
Du Ke said: "The emperor's thoughts are always difficult to guess, but since the emperor has said so, you don't have to worry or bother, just rest at home. If you go somewhere else to use connections, it will be bad. Of course, I won't use connections for you, so as not to catch the emperor's eye and arouse suspicion. Maybe the emperor is polishing your character." Du Ke meant that he should avoid risks himself, so that the emperor would use him. If you use connections to get the position, the emperor will think you are impatient and not stable enough.
Qin Fang said: "I'm not in a hurry. I never cared about these things. Now I'm at home with my wife and son." Qin Fang had a very positive attitude, and he was really not in a hurry.
Du Ke was quite satisfied with this student.
…
The Qin family had lunch at the Du family, and after the meal, the family left without saying a word.
At the gate of the Du family, Qin Linyang's friend held Yuan Zhanxiu's hand and refused to let go: "Brother, come to my house and play with big cars." Yuan Zhanyun is the second son of Sister Du.
Yuan Zhanyun's friend also missed his brother, and he looked at his mother: "Mom..."
Sister Du couldn't help laughing: "How about this, we are tired from being outside today, tomorrow, let mother take you there? Ask your Aunt Yun if she welcomes you."
Yuan Zhanyun and his friend looked at Yang Haiyan: "Auntie?"
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "You are welcome. Come early tomorrow with your brother. I will cook and play with you brothers at home." Then, she said to the girl from Du's second sister's family, "Ying'er should come too, bring your second uncle's sisters with you."
They chatted for a while and then went home.
The Qin family didn't have many servants in the capital. Except for the first batch of servants who came to clean the house, there were only the group that came with Yang Haiyan and the others. They had already been settled here, so they just waited for the rest of the group to come. As for the capital, they didn't plan to buy servants. The original servants in the general's mansion were enough. Besides, the servants in the general's mansion had lived together for many years, which made them more trustworthy.
"Aunt Lian, please go ask around in the capital. I want to renovate the courtyard here. See where this team can be found." Yang Haiyan was late in building an amusement park for her son and wanted to give him a happy childhood.
Nanny Lian said, "Well, I'll go and find out right away."
Nanny Lian went to inquire and found out that there was a place in the capital that specialized in introducing this kind of work. She came back in just half an hour. After reporting the matter to Yang Haiyan, Yang Haiyan decided to have someone come the day after tomorrow, after all, there would be guests at home tomorrow.
There was no one else in the Qin family, and the host was alone, so the house was very quiet.
During dinner, Yang Haiyan asked about Qin Fang's official position. When she learned that the emperor asked him to rest first, she was not worried. Without an official position, he would be a rich man. Anyway, the money at home was enough for them to spend. Wouldn't it be good to rest at home every day
Qin Fang didn't care. He didn't care about the officialdom. He took a rest when the emperor asked him to. After dinner, he played with his son for a while.
However, Qin Fang said that he has only one worry at the moment, because he has just moved to a new place and his son has to sleep with them again, which makes him distressed.
the next day
Today, eldest sister Du, second sister Du and Mrs. Qu will come with their children. Yang Haiyan got up early in the morning to prepare food for the guests. When the guests arrived, Aunt Lian greeted them at the door.
"Sister, that facial paint you gave us is really useful." Seeing Yang Haiyan, Sister Du couldn't help but say.
Sister Du: "Of course, after applying it, not only is my face smoother, but when I wake up the next day, my skin is healthier."
Qu also followed up and said, "Sister, I heard you say yesterday that if you make this thing yourself, it will be very complicated."
It’s true for women. From ancient times to the present, there is no woman who doesn’t like skin care products.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, sisters. If you run out of it, I'll send you more later."
Sister Du said, "Sister, I won't take advantage of you. I have some top-quality fabrics that I'll send back to you. You can't buy them anywhere else."
Second Sister Du also said, "My husband's family's fields produce a lot of things. When the cherries are ripe next month, I will send some more to you, sister."
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she was overjoyed: "Second sister, does your husband's family grow a lot of cherries?"
When Du Erjie heard this, she knew that she liked it and was a little happy: "Of course, my husband's family is a landlord. We have a lot of land, but we don't trade. We grow a lot of food on the land and sell it. Cherries are the most popular. Every year everyone rushes to pick them."
Yang Haiyan said, "I wonder if my second sister could give me two of the cherry trees at home. I will provide her with facial cream and lip balm for 20 years." She didn't say she would buy them, as that would seem too unfamiliar. Even if she said she did, Second Sister Du would definitely not charge her.
When Du Erjie heard this, she was not dissatisfied at all: "Then I won't be polite."
Sister Du joked: "It seems that the girl is also a foodie."
Qu also joked: "Of course, I just don't know whether you like beauty or not. I can't provide fabrics or food, but I have a jewelry store as part of my dowry. The things in it are quite innovative. If you contract me to make face creams and lip balms for twenty years, I will contract you to make jewelry for twenty years. How about that?"
As everyone talked, they couldn't help laughing.
When Qin Linyang's friend heard that his brothers and sisters had arrived, he hurried over to greet them: "Come on, come on, let's go play with cars."
Yang Haiyan's wife said, "Take the young men and young ladies out to play, and don't let them bump into anything."
Mother-in-law: "."
The old woman took the children out to play, and the children themselves had personal servants who also went along.
The children were playing in the yard. It was a nice warm day outside. There were a lot of toys in the yard, including a big car, a children's bicycle, a cloth ball, a leather ball, and some snacks, including cakes, French fries, potato chips, and chicken strips. These snacks were placed on a low table with a stool next to it.
The children saw the food, but they had no interest. These children usually had enough food and the food at home was not bad. They were only interested in playing.
Qin Linyang's friend called his friends over: "Come here, come here, this is delicious." As he said that, he picked up a piece of potato chips, took a bite, and a crisp sound came out.
Seeing this, his companions also sat down and watched Qin Linyang and his friends eat. They also started to eat. Originally they were just passively eating, but after eating one thing, they started to eat the second and the third.
Sister Du's eldest son is five years old this year. Wei Zhanlei said: "It's delicious. It's really delicious."
Hearing his brother's words, Wei Zhanyun also said, "Enjoy it." He liked eating French fries, and he could eat a whole bunch of them in his hand.
In the room, when the women get together, the most they talk about is gossip.
But at this moment, they were not chatting because someone had arrived. A guard at the gate came to report: "Madam, there is a maid at the gate, claiming to be from the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion, and wants to see you."