Cui Ju hasn't been home so early for some days. Mrs. Xu heard the news in the back house, and hurriedly ordered the kitchen to fix the food for him. She also peeled a few crabs with her own hands, poured green and clear chrysanthemum wine, and brought it to him.
Cui Ju had no appetite, and reluctantly grabbed the peeled crab roe, put down his chopsticks, and asked, "Did you arrange for someone to send a monthly routine to Brother Xie?"
Mrs. Xu smiled slightly, and replied in a low voice, "I have already called Cui Ming to go. Brother Xie lives in the county, and it is inconvenient to send rice, vegetables, clothes and bedding, and so on, so I asked Cui Mingzhe to exchange it for silver. Yes. I also told him to go to Zhuangzi and instruct him to send a copy of the Mid-Autumn Festival gift list to Brother Xie. Master, what else do you want to give to Brother Xie?"
Cui Ju said with a sullen face: "He lacks something! Even if he lacks, Jin Yiwei also sent it to him, why should I be meddling in my own business!"
Jin Yiwei? ! Mrs. Xu's heart trembled, her eyes wandered, and she asked with a guilty conscience, "Jin Yiwei? What's the relationship between our brother Xie and Jin Yiwei?"
Cui Ju's smile flashed in front of Hou Yongkang's eyes, his heart was depressed, and he didn't want to mention the matter of the emblem any more, so he just said perfunctory: "I, Cui Jiageng, read the family heirloom, and have a clear family, what does it have to do with Jin Yiwei. After contacting the clan, neither I nor them... Forget it, you don't need to inquire about the outside world, next time you send something to Brother Xie less, and grind his temper better!"
Madam Xu heard his indifference and disgust, her heartbeat gradually slowed down, she covered the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled softly, and said softly, "Brother Xie, he is only young, it would be good for the master to teach him more. Come on, let's go. When it's time to send a monthly report, I send an old man from the family to teach him the rules, so that he can be sensible and come back for the New Year."
Cui Ju snorted coldly: "Tell him to come back, even the ancestors don't celebrate the New Year. Tell him to reflect on his life in the old house, and come back when the people in Beijing forget about it!"
Mrs. Xu was full of joy and served him diligently to eat. She only ate a small bowl of tea and rice, and two pieces of steamed red shad.
After eating, Cui Ju went to the backyard. This time, she didn't feel sour as usual, but couldn't wait to call Di's mother, and said with a spring breeze: "These days have restrained my brother Heng, you go tell him, you don't have to pretend to be sick in the future. Now, just don't make too much trouble at home for his father to run into."
Di's mother smiled and said: "Amitabha, it's fine. That one will never be able to make waves again."
Mrs. Xu didn't even care about the master, she just looked forward to Cui Ming's return every day, and brought her back the good news that Cui Xie was in ruins, and she didn't dare to go out to meet people in her hometown. But they waited and waited for good news, but only waited until the driver brought a letter from Cui Xie, informing the family that Cui Ming had been imprisoned by Qian'an County magistrate and sentenced to hang for stealing and selling his monthly cases.
Madam Xu was in a cold sweat instantly, the letter in her hand fluttered to the ground, and she seemed to have a noose around her neck, making her breathless.
She threw out several foster mothers and servants from the room, grabbed Di's mother's hand tightly and said, "This little slaughtered embryo who has suffered thousands of knives, he hates me! Where is he suing Cui Ming, he It's killing chickens to warn monkeys, and show them to me!"
Di's mother comforted: "Madam, don't watch him make a fuss, can he still jump back to Beijing? Our master is the most serious official, and the one who sent Cui Ming to the official office would lose the family's face, and the master must hate it in his heart. He is ignorant, doesn't it show that our young master is obedient and sensible?"
Mrs. Xu picked up the letter and waited for the master to come back and complain. But there are people who are one step ahead of her—the chief of the Criminal Department personally informed Cui Ju that his servant was sued by Cui Xie for scolding the master and stealing and selling the owner's property. Qian'an County sentenced him to prison by hanging, and Yongping House has handed over the file to the Criminal Department. .
The two Lang Zhong who worked in the same room and the member outside Lang who came to submit the dossier were all ears.
Cui Ju was so ashamed that he couldn't stay any longer, so he immediately took leave, and went home and asked someone to copy Cui Ming's house, copying hundreds of taels of silver, as well as gold and silver jewelry and white bars for lending.
He asked someone to bring Ren Yazi and sold the family away from afar. He returned to the house and sat for a long time without any relief. Go to the county office to file a complaint.
The ugliness of the family cannot be made public, how could this unworthy son send Cui Ming to the government office just for a small example... It would be better to kill him on the spot!
He was upset at the thought of Cui Ming at home, but when he went out, he heard people talking about his own evil servants cheating on the master. He happened to call Gao Liang, the eunuch who awarded the county's eunuchs, and Xie Ying, the Jinyiwei guard, to run into the legend of justice for his son on the spot. Pissed off. Just as he was not at ease, his mother, who had been ill for many years, suddenly called him and his wife to the upper room.
Cui Ju has always been a dutiful son, and he went straight to the room without even changing his clothes.
Grandpa Cui was lying on the bed, and when he saw him coming in, he turned his face to him, and said "Ah" a few times. He also didn't dislike the smell of sandalwood, medicinal odor and old man's body odor in the room. He first greeted his parents and asked thoughtfully, "What's the matter with the mother calling her son? If the two adults are unwell, the son will ask for a seat. The doctor is here."
Mrs. Xu was also beside her with tea and water diligently, and asked the old maid how to eat and sleep well, and whether the medicine was effective, helping to show off his filial piety.
Mrs. Cui shook her head: "I didn't call you here today for this, but because I'm getting old and your father is ill again, we two immortals won't be able to catch our breath someday, there's something If I don't, I'm afraid I won't be able to close my eyes."
This was a serious statement, and Cui Ju hurriedly said: "The mother said this not to shame her son! Although the son is incompetent, he will definitely ask for medicine and let the two adults have a good life."
The old lady sighed: "What's the use of living for so long? It's not that people can be fooled by being old and confused, and they can't even protect their grandson. I couldn't control him when he was studying, and I couldn't protect him when he was beaten. Now he's gone out. , and some people think that he is too good outside, and they have to send someone to toss him... "
Cui Ju's eyes flashed, and he forced a smile: "What is the mother talking about..."
"You've already copied Cui Ming's house, and the whole street is talking about our family's scandal, who can't hear it? Do you think I'm not breathing with your father!" The old lady slapped the table heavily: "If it wasn't for you A good daughter-in-law asks someone to go to the countryside to bully your son and harass him with junk, can honest children like Brother Xie go to the yamen to file a complaint?"
Madam Xu knelt down with a "bang" and repeatedly defended: "I really don't have a concubine body, that's all because Cui Ming, the wicked servant, has a bad heart and stole things from our family. The concubine body is Brother Xie's mother, how can I harm her? he!"
Mrs. Cui had a seizure just now, and she was also exhausted. She gasped for a long time before she could even breathe, and said coldly, "It didn't come out of her own intestines, so I don't blame you for not getting close to me. But Brother Xie is the eldest son and grandson of our Cui family. In the future, he will give his grandfather and me the care of his father and me. I have to make a way for him to survive this old face, otherwise who will throw the pot and beat the flag for us in the future
The old man was also panting, his head trembling slightly, as if he was nodding.
Madam Xu was lying on the ground whimpering and crying, Cui Ju sighed irritably: "What did the mother say, who is going to harm him! He beat and scolded his brother and disobeyed his parents. The son just asked him to go back to his hometown to reflect for a while. ."
But he didn't think about it. Otherwise, how could he send Cui Ming to the yamen for a few village money, and tell Jin Yiwei and the eunuch about it
The old lady glared at the couple, her chest heaving for a long time before she sighed: "Do you blame him for not putting Cui Ming in prison and losing your face as an official? But why don't you think about it, Cui Ming is outside the old house. If you scold him for being unfilial and untidy, do you still want his face as a villain? You can't even keep a bowl of water in a bowl, you can only see Brother Heng in your eyes, and you still blame him for being a child who is not thoughtful?"
"He's different from Brother Heng and the others. When he was in Liu's womb, his father was ill, and after he was born, he killed his mother. Later, after his mother raised him for a few years, he fell ill... If it weren't for the single-family hospital these years With him, I don't know if I can give birth to Brother Heng and Brother He!"
Cui Ju's voice contained uncontrollable anger, and it got louder and louder. Hearing the old lady's head hurt, the old lady was so anxious that she almost poured out phlegm.
She rubbed her temples, gritted her teeth and said, "What do you mean by saying this! I know that you are married to a lady from the official family and have a concubine full of gardens, so you don't look down on your eldest son. I don't ask you to take him Take it back, the two old men of us can't protect him, so I'll ask you one question - do you still listen to your parents?"
"As long as you still think about our two old bones, don't let him beg for food in the hands of your daughter-in-law, and give him the things and shops that his mother accompanied him."
Mrs. Xu cried bitterly in grievance: "Does my mother think I am the kind of person who covets the dowry in the front room? Our Xu family did not marry me naked, and I have never touched any of the things that Sister Liu's family accompanied me. But According to the law of the Great Ming Dynasty, the escort of the mistress should be divided equally among the concubines and concubines, our brother Heng does not want him, so you won't love your little grandson and sister Yun?"
Cui Ju also said: "What kind of dowry can Liu's family have? The Zhuangzi that his family escorted is still outside the city. When he entered Beijing, he thought that Zhuangzi was inconvenient to go back and forth, and asked people to sell it? Then there is a bookstore, last year. It was also called a flood, and the books inside were all washed into paper, which cost our family a lot of money."
The old lady closed her eyes, leaned her whole body on the back of the chair, and said tiredly, "I know that you are a master and a wife, and you don't look down on me as a sick old woman, so I don't care what I say. But Brother Xie is ours. The great-grandson of the family, the successor and the descendants cannot be compared with him. I have discussed it with your father, the rest is in your hands, I can't control it, but the house deed of the old house and the escort of his mother are mine. I'll give it to him, so don't rob him of any of you!"
"Mother, Brother Xie, what does he know! If you give him this, wouldn't he let him squander—"
Cui Ju cried out in anger and helplessness, and Madam Cui opened her eyes abruptly, staring at them with cloudy eyes, and there was a frightening light: "I've asked Madam Zhang to send things home, and you are not allowed either. Come back again, otherwise not only your son will sue, but your mother, I can also send someone to the yamen to sue!"