Zhu Shenzui and his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin chatted for a long time that night and drank a lot of wine. The next day, Zhu Shenzui rarely got up late. When he woke up, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
After leaving the room, there was a bowl of noodles on the table in the main room outside. Needless to say, this must have been prepared for him by his sister Zhu Xiuer.
Zhu Shenzui sat down and used it. After eating, he put away the dishes and went to the courtyard to get some water to wash them with, and then took them to the kitchen by familiar routes.
The eldest nephew Zhou Chong has gone to a private school to study, and the little boy Zhou Bin is in the house with his sister Zhu Xiuer.
Zhu Xiuer was sitting on the kang doing needlework, and Zhou Bin was not far from her, happily playing with the rattle Zhu Shenzui gave him yesterday, giggling while playing.
"Sister, where is your brother-in-law?" He raised the curtain and entered the house. Zhu Shenzui went to the kang to tease Zhou Bin for a few times, then picked up the little guy and put him on his lap.
"The distinguished guests from the south courtyard left early in the morning. Your brother-in-law went out after seeing off the distinguished guests. He said he was going to do some errands. He didn't ask where he went specifically." Zhu Xiuer said while doing needlework.
Zhu Shenzui nodded slightly. If his guess was correct, Zhou Anmin went to help him inquire about Li Hu.
The two siblings were sitting and chatting, nothing more than talking about household matters.
Who wanted to talk about Zhu Shenzui? Zhu Xiuer raised her head and said to Zhu Shenzui: "You are the only male in the family now. You are now the eldest son. Your father is no longer here. You can't delay your marriage like this." Come on, why don't you find someone to find one for you?"
"Sister, why are you getting involved in this matter? This matter is not urgent." Zhu Shenzui shook his head.
Zhu Xiuer's expression suddenly became serious, and she said a little sternly: "Why are you not in a hurry? How old are you this year? Your brother-in-law is as old as you. Besides, you are the only male in our family now, and there will be more in the family in the future. I have to count on you, is it possible that we have to drag it out like this? I haven't told you about this before, how long do you plan to delay it?"
As she said that, Zhu Xiuer suddenly thought of something, and her face changed slightly: "Brother, tell me, you won't be with Ms. Zhang...?"
"Sister! What are you thinking about? Mrs. Zhang is your sister-in-law, she is my sister-in-law! How could we do that!" Zhu Shenzui did not expect that Zhu Xiuer would suddenly drag Mrs. Zhang in, and quickly shook his head in denial.
Seeing that Zhu Shenzui's expression didn't look fake, Zhu Xiuer's expression softened a lot. She sighed and advised Zhu Shenzui: "Don't say what I said today is inappropriate, but you also have to think about yourself. . In the past two years since my eldest brother and father left, a young widow from the Zhang family and Qiaoer have been living with you in the old house. Even if you are upright, how can you guarantee that others will not tell you? "
"Little brother, people's words are terrible! When the time comes when people throw dirty water on you, you won't be able to explain it with all your words. Moreover, our family is a clan. Once things in the clan come out, won't you consider it? The consequence of this?"
"I am bringing this up now, not only for your sake, but also for Mrs. Zhang's sake. Think about it, if there are any rumors, you may be okay in the end, but what will happen to Mrs. Zhang? A widow has such a reputation. , is it possible that you let her die? My brother, listen to your elder sister’s advice and get married early. When you have a family and have your own children, let’s not talk about continuing the family line. No one will talk about Zhang and Qiao’er. ah."
I have to say that Zhu Xiuer's words are reasonable. Let alone the Ming Dynasty, even in the modern era, if a young sister-in-law without her husband lives with her brother-in-law and her children, there is no guarantee that no one will say anything.
Moreover, a woman's reputation is more important than her life. Once her reputation is gone, she might as well be dead. Moreover, Zhang's character is soft on the outside but strong on the inside. Zhu Shenzui knows this very well. As Zhu Xiu'er said, if someone really uses the topic to make things worse, Zhang's only option is to commit suicide to prove her innocence.
For a moment, Zhu Shenzui was silent. He admitted that what Zhu Xiuer said was right.
At the same time, in Zhu Shenzui's heart, he had to leave Zhang and his niece alone. If this is the case, how can Mrs. Zhang and her niece survive? Furthermore, over the years under the same roof, Zhu Shenzui also had a hidden affection for Mr. Zhang in his heart, but Zhu Shenzui never expressed it to the outside world.
After thinking about it, Zhu Shenzui nodded: "Sister, I understand what you mean. Let me think about this matter carefully. Let's wait until next year. I will find time to handle this matter next year."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Xiuer's face showed joy. My younger brother finally came to his senses and was willing to start a family.
You must know that Zhu Shenzui is not young this year. A man is sixteen years old. Logically speaking, he should marry a wife after becoming a boy. In some places, it is not uncommon for people to marry wives at the age of fourteen or fifteen.
Because something happened at home, Zhu Shenzui's marriage has been delayed. But now seeing that Zhu Shenzui has already established a lintel, and the situation at home is much better, it is not appropriate to delay it any longer.
Although Zhu Xiuer hoped that her younger brother would find a suitable wife and start a family immediately, she also knew Zhu Shenzui's character and temper. This matter could not be rushed or forced too much. Since Zhu Shenzui promised himself today, at least he gave himself a promise, which was enough.
A stone suddenly dropped from her heart, and Zhu Xiuer felt much more relaxed.
Looking at her younger brother, and thinking about her father and eldest brother who have passed away, Zhu Xiuer couldn't help but feel sad.
Zhu Shenzui quickly sensed his sister's emotional changes and understood what she was thinking. He quickly changed the subject and chatted with Zhu Xiuer about other things. After chatting about some interesting things in daily life and talking about Qiaoer's liveliness and cuteness, Zhu Xiuer temporarily forgot about those melancholy, and the smile gradually appeared on her face again.
Brother-in-law Zhou Anmin came back after noon. When he returned to the inn, he had some words with the innkeepers. The inn was relatively free today and there was nothing much to do. The distinguished guests who came yesterday left early in the morning, so everyone just cleaned up as expected. That’s all.
After settling down in front and walking around again, Zhou Anmin returned to the backyard.
Zhu Shenzui came out of the room after hearing the commotion. When he saw Zhu Shenzui, Zhou Anmin nodded slightly at him and winked at him.
Zhu Shenzui understood and followed Zhou Anmin to the main room. After entering the room, the two of them sat down. Zhou Anmin glanced outside. Zhu Shenzui told him that his sister and nephew were in the main room. Zhou Anmin felt relieved. He lowered his voice and spoke to Zhu Shenzui.
Just as Zhu Shenzui thought, Zhou Anmin went out early today precisely because of Li Hu's business. He entered Pingshun City and went to Jinyiwei's stronghold in Pingshun to inquire about Li Hu.
As luck would have it, someone happened to know about this matter. Zhou Anmin invited him to a restaurant in the city for a few drinks, and he took out the information without much effort. After asking for details, he returned without a moment's delay. Station.
According to the information Zhou Anmin inquired about, Li Hu's situation is basically true. Li Hu is indeed the servant of Deng Guozhong, the former deputy guard of the left guard of Datong Town, and has a military position with a small flag on his body.
After Deng Guozhong died in battle, he took the blame. Li Hu complained about Deng Guozhong and was implicated. Not only did he take away his military post, he was also sent to Wuxiang to work as a miner.
Speaking of this matter, Zhou Anmin was also a little bit sad. The Ming Dynasty was now noble and military, and even if the Jin Yiwei knew the truth of the matter, there was nothing they could do. It was the decision of all parties to take the blame for Deng Guozhong. What would happen even if Wanli knew about it?
Could it be that the emperor could fall out with a dead deputy guard and a group of civil servants? I can only turn a blind eye and feel wronged by the Deng family.
As for Li Hu, he was a complete disaster. If he hadn't been complaining about Deng Guozhong's grievances everywhere, people would not have taken action against such a little shrimp like him.
After being deprived of his military commission and sent to Wuxiang to work as a miner, Li Hu stayed in the mine for several years. Not long ago, there was a mining riot in the mine. Li Hu led a group of miners and killed several miners in the conflict. The miner was in charge, and then a group of people robbed some more things and ran away without a trace.
This matter was originally considered a big deal. After all, the miners killing the miners and stewards were tantamount to rebellion, not to mention the people they killed were the mine supervisors.
At first, the mine supervisor was furious and rallied his miners to arrest Li Hu and others who had escaped. However, Li Hu, who had never thought of being a low-level officer, actually evaded pursuit and hid in Tibet without being caught. He also did not know how to escape. Where did it go.
At that time, people from Jinyiwei were also dispatched. This was because the mine supervisor requested assistance. However, Jin Yiwei didn't pay much attention to this matter. Jin Yiwei and the Mine Supervisor originally belonged to two organizations. They were just doing errands for the sake of face. They randomly sent a few people to understand the situation, walked around a few times and then went back. , otherwise with the ability of their Jin Yiwei, how could Li Hu and others run away so easily?
In this way, the whereabouts of Li Hu and others were not found for more than three months, and the matter became an unsolved case. Although the mine supervisor was angry, there was nothing he could do.
Although the mine supervisor could make this matter bigger and directly ask the magistrate's Yamen or even the magistrate's Yamen to arrest Li Hu and others, once he did so, the nature of the matter would completely change.
First of all, the civil service group was extremely dissatisfied with Emperor Wanli's setting up of mine supervisors in the local area. It would be different if the prefect Yamen and even the government envoy Si Yamen learned about this matter. When the time comes, the civil service group would not only not help, but would use the topic to their advantage. , wrote directly to the emperor accusing the mine supervisors of harming the people and provoking a popular uprising.
Secondly, as a mine supervisor assigned by the emperor, once he was caught by a civilian official for this matter, let alone whether Li Hu could be arrested and brought to justice, the mine supervisor would definitely not benefit anyway. At that time, not only will he have to withstand attacks from civil servants, but even the emperor will be unable to protect him. Maybe he will lose his job as a mine supervisor, or he will be in bad luck.
Taking this into account, the mine supervisor also tried to suppress the situation, so he had no choice but to suppress the matter. Anyway, the few miners and supervisors who were killed were all mine supervisors. These people were not official officials. If they died, they should die. As long as the errands were still there, the miners could have as many miners as they wanted. Without Li Hu and others, People, it’s okay if you don’t directly raise the flag to rebel and make a big fuss. It’s okay to turn big things into trivial things and let them pass by vaguely.
