"Aunt Hao, why did you give the Shu family a thousand taels?" Grandma Guiliu asked anxiously.
Among the Zheng family, Grandma Guiliu is the poorest. She usually fawns over Mrs. Gu the most. She also wants to find a job and take advantage of it. Now that she hears the Shu family crying about being poor and being able to get so much money, she is also moved. He was thinking, so he asked Li Shu for confirmation.
Li Shu nodded: "Yes, I heard that when Sister-in-law Yu gave birth to a child, the old lady who died in the seventh room said that men could not enter the women's bedroom, so they were not allowed to ask a doctor. Elderly people are always very polite. At that time , I heard that everyone is asking about the baby and the baby. It’s my uncle, although he is young, but he knows to invite the doctor. If after Wen Po rescues the fetus, let the doctor treat Sister Yu, wouldn’t it be the best of both worlds? "
Even Mrs. Tan did not expect that things turned out to be like this. It was not Zheng Hao who asked people to protect Shu when she gave birth, but Zheng Hao asked people to come over specifically to save Shu.
Then she heard Li Shu continue: "I didn't know that the doctors were here, but the Wen woman said that the fetus had been in the belly for too long and was very big. It was caused by the mother taking too many supplements before and she couldn't give birth. The seventh old lady Then she reluctantly agreed to let the doctor go in. She told the doctor that she would give him an injection to induce labor, and also prescribed two bowls of inducing labor medicine. After seeing the situation, the doctor said it was not good, saying that Sister-in-law Yu could no longer give birth because the baby was too big. Maternal hemorrhage can easily kill two people. Even after taking inducing labor medicine, the baby was stillborn after landing. The old lady Qi said to let the baby come down first, so the doctor gave the injection. Who knew it was a stillbirth? I even heard that Sister-in-law Yu Du fainted, and it was only thanks to the doctor our uncle found that he came back to life."
After she finished speaking, everyone looked at Shu, as if saying that this was not what we heard.
Whether it is Qifang or Shu, Zheng Hao is deliberately trying to protect the big ones but not the small ones.
At this time, the elusive Sixth Old Lady came over. She snorted coldly and said: "Yes, Brother Yu's daughter-in-law, back then my old lady said that Brother Hao saved you. Your mother-in-law yelled every day, but I later exposed it." You don't have the guts to say anything. It's good for you, you've even started blackmailing."
Lishu looked at the Sixth Old Madam and thought to herself, could it be that when Old Madam Zheng was alive, no matter how weird the Sixth Old Madam was, she still treated her well.
This guy is really knowledgeable and helpful.
Therefore, she said to Mrs. Shu: "My mother-in-law knew about Sister-in-law Yu's situation, and thought of the grievances between the two families, so she thought that it was a blessing to suffer a loss. Who knew that Sister-in-law Yu was still dissatisfied, so I often said that rice is worth the price of rice, and rice is the enemy of rice."
The sixth old lady didn't expect Li Shu to be so powerful. She didn't come to offer condolences or visit at all, she came to call for punishment.
Shu didn't expect Li Shu to suddenly get angry. Li Shu looked at Tan again. Tan was always smart and understood immediately: "Sister-in-law Yu, now that you are well, don't think so much. Look at you like this Nao, if someone treats you so well, if you are involved in the imperial censorship, then our master and senior officials will have nothing to do, and the official career of Brother Yu, Brother Ze and others will be damaged."
…
Although Li Shu was smiling, her eyes were as cold as ice. Shu finally realized that what she had done and that her fig leaf had been almost completely torn off today.
At this time, she said nothing, which was a good thing.
But those who originally sympathized with the Shu family now all turned towards the clan. Even Mrs. Gu's second wife did not expect that the situation would take a turn for the worse. She originally thought that when the clan clan came to visit, she should feel guilty and fearful, fearing that Shu would commit suicide again and leave Liu at a loss, but she didn't expect that she was so powerful. Wasn't she afraid that Shu would commit suicide again?
Zheng Hao also asked Li Shu the same question: "Are you really not afraid of her committing suicide again?"
"So what, good words can't save a dying ghost. Besides, I don't like people threatening me with death. It has no effect on me." Lishu never thought that blind compromise was good.
If you don't set the rules and just rely on means, you won't be able to go far in the long run.
Zheng Hao glanced at Li Shu and said, "What if you become the target of public criticism for doing this?"
Li Shu smiled and said: "The brave one wins when we meet on a narrow road."
"Okay, okay." Zheng Hao always felt that the dark clouds and haze above his head were swept away. He looked at Li Shu and sighed deeply: "What would I do without you?"
Everyone has their own fragile moments and their own inner demons, including Lishu, so she can understand Zheng Hao very well and does not think he is weak, which just shows that he is a very kind-hearted person.
Just like in her previous life when she came back from Wusun, she had many things to say to Zheng Hao. Zheng Hao also comforted her with gentle words and never looked down on her.
Shu has been recuperating for half a month and is already in good health. She used to live in seclusion, but now she is even more confined to the house. Mrs. Ju Er is still in charge of the family affairs, but Mrs. Zheng thinks her daughter-in-law is too harsh.
"She looks like a cruel official. She doesn't know what it means to be quiet. Young people are not afraid of tigers when they are born. But sometimes being too powerful may not be a good thing."
In fact, Li Shu also felt that she and Mrs. Zheng had different views on many things. Generally speaking, in Beijing, the Zheng family had a small number of people and only a few relatives, so it was okay. Now that she has returned to this place where everything is about interpersonal relationships, She could tell the difference.
Mrs. Zheng hopes to take into account the interests of everyone, and everything must be done without leakage and coordinated from top to bottom. But Li Shu is very principled, has a clear sense of right and wrong and a sense of justice, and will not resort to any means to deal with people who have problems. Indulge.
If they were evaluated as political figures, Mrs. Zheng would be conservative and moderate, while Li Shu would be bold and radical.
In this case, Mrs. Gu Er was still in power even though Mrs. Zheng did not support her, and she was relieved.
As for the Shu family, no one cares about it anymore. Even Mrs. Rong, who never speaks ill of others, said to her daughter-in-law Cui: "She is really serious. After all these years, Uncle Yu has already had a son." I don’t know what she is angry about. She looks decent, but she wants to blackmail the clan, but fortunately Brother Hao’s daughter-in-law reacts quickly.”
Mrs. Cui was also filled with indignation: "Who says it's not the case? Sister-in-law Hao said she is not used to this, but my aunt gave her a thousand taels and she can't get it back."
Mrs. Rong Er said: "Your aunt had an excellent reputation when she was young and was a good person, but I heard that the late Mrs. Zheng did not have a very good relationship with her. She said that she always squandered the Zheng family's money, and scolded her most She’s the one who’s slick.”
"Even now, Sister-in-law Hao still has to give the second bedroom a double monthly payment." Ms. Cui pouted.
Mrs. Rong'er thought for a while: "This is really a scripture that every family has a hard time reciting."
She did not get the rights of the clan wife, and Li Shu did not complain to Zheng Hao. The family of four was sitting on the couch soaking their feet in one foot basin. Li Shu put mugwort, ginger, pepper, safflower, and white vinegar in the basin. It can activate blood circulation and relax muscles.
This is Zheng Hao's favorite part, because he and Li Shu sleep in separate rooms and have not been close to each other for a long time. Now that they have time to soak their feet, the couple can whisper, which is what he wants.
Lishu knew that Zheng Hao kept records all year round and foot bathing was good for his legs and feet, so she was very concerned about his health.
In his previous life, he died at the age of forty-four.
After soaking his feet, Zheng Hao was about to leave. Li Shu brought him a cloak: "Don't catch a cold."
"You too, have a good rest." Zheng Hao reluctantly left.
Just when Lishu was neither arrogant nor impatient with the housekeeper, news came from the capital that Queen Chi had passed away and the national mourning had begun. Although there was a national mourning, Li Shu received another letter from the Zeng family in Beijing. It turned out that Liwan had given birth to a son.
Thinking of this, Li Shu thought of Aunt Yan's child. She heard that he was named Brother Ding. The word "ding" means stability, peace, and more importantly, calming down the storm.
The mother is gone, so what if he is the eldest son?
It's easy to change a country's nature, but it's hard to change it. Liwan will remove all obstacles. I don't know how long that child can live, and I don't know if my words will have any effect.
Nowadays, the country is filial and the family is filial. Fortunately, the Zheng family does not have a title, but local officials, especially those of high rank and above, must observe filial piety for the queen. Li Shu thought of her cousin Minglun and wondered what happened to him.
The Fu family didn't have a deep foundation to begin with. Cousin Minglun was the Fu family's greatest hope, but now that he has become the consort, the Fu family is finished.
When she came back to her senses, she heard Chengxin send a message to Lishu to come over. Lishu didn't know what was going on, so she asked Chengxin: "Why did Madam call me over at this time? But what's the matter?"
"It's a good thing," said Chengxin.
Li Shu wondered what good things would happen?
Of course Mrs. Zheng had been hanging on to her daughter-in-law because of her power as the patriarchal wife. When she saw that her daughter-in-law had become silent, she was afraid that her daughter-in-law would blame her in her heart. No matter what, she was of course very satisfied with Li Shu. Although Li Shu was a bit fiercer, she did not have second thoughts about her son. If she really made her daughter-in-law feel resentful, her daughter-in-law might not be sincere to her in the future.
Therefore, Li Shu was a little surprised when she heard what Mrs. Zheng said, and even declined: "I am still young, and I am not as good at handling things as Mrs. Ju Er. I am afraid that it will be bad if I fail."
"Are you asking her to be corrupt again? To be honest, she does have problems, and everyone with a discerning eye knows that, but her parents-in-law were really very honest and self-sufficient in the clan in the past. If not, they would not be able to organize the funeral." Mrs. Zheng What I mean is that this is not an ordinary relationship. You want to come forward and you can't go back to old scores and cause trouble.
Lishu couldn't agree directly because she knew very well that just like when she was a housekeeper, she could remain silent when facing someone like Mrs. Zheng who only acted differently but had no fundamental mistakes.
But if there are issues of principle, she may not be able to speak out.
Therefore, she still declined, and Mrs. Zheng was anxious again. She was also afraid that Li Shu would have any hatred towards her. This daughter-in-law was not an ordinary person.
She once heard her son mention that although her daughter-in-law was already a wife, even if she reconciled and remarried, there would probably be many people who would marry her, and besides, she still had her mother-in-law's family being so kind to her.
This is what her son said when she asked why he was so kind to his daughter-in-law. He also said, so what if Lishu had given birth to a child? The children she gave birth to are so beautiful, cute and smart. I don’t know how many people want to marry her and give birth to a smart child. If you think Lishu is amazing, that’s because she is indeed very powerful. There are not many people who have the ability. Have a temper?
Finally, the son also said, if you think about it differently, if I were Tan's housekeeper today, would she also support her brother-in-law's family, who is already healthy, and not say anything about the monthly schedule?
"Just promise mother, I will rest assured that I will leave the family to you in the past few years." At least Mrs. Zheng will not worry about the restlessness of the family. Lishu is very strict about people coming in and out.
Lishu didn't know what Mrs. Zheng was thinking, but taking care of the family affairs was what she wanted to do from the beginning. Now that it was all said and done, she agreed.
Mrs. Ju Er was originally secretly happy that the matter between Lishu and the Shu family was such a big deal that she could continue to exercise power, but she didn't expect that a bolt from the blue came.
Mrs. Zheng looked at her and said: "I know you have always worked hard, but Brother Hao has to keep her grandfather's filial piety. You know that sooner or later, I will hand over the family to her."
"Okay." Mrs. Ju Er gritted her teeth and swallowed the bitterness. She didn't expect that after Shu's card was played, nothing happened to her. Zheng Hao didn't act like a man, and he actually turned a blind eye to his wife being so powerful.
Mrs. Zheng thought to herself that it was a good thing that I didn't expose your affairs, but you still showed your face to me. If you were so self-conscious, you should have paid it back a long time ago.
Once the rights are given, what needs to be handed over must be handed over, such as the clan's sacrificial fields and clan fields, various supplies in the clan, and the Zheng family's clan property.
Mrs. Ju Er came back and saw her husband coming back with a cage. The cage contained a precious oriole with a clear and melodious cry. On a normal day, she would have given her a few compliments, but today she was very angry.
The reason why she has not handed over her rights for so long is not because the men in the family are useless.
The reason why she didn't dare to reply to Mrs. Zheng was also because her husband was incompetent.
It was precisely because of her husband's incompetence that she had to find more money to spend. Once something was swallowed, she could not spit it out again.
"Stop arguing. With such a big thing happening, it's better that you don't think about me, but are still playing with this nonsense." Mrs. Ju Er wiped her sweat, took several sips of water, and still didn't feel thirsty.
The second master Ju has a round face, and his youthful handsomeness can still be vaguely seen in his appearance. He has a good temper, so he advised Yang, "In recent years, our family's life has been much better than before. This is all It's your credit. Now that they want to go back, you just have to go back."
Yang frowned: "Our family has worked hard to take care of the family for more than ten years and worked as a cow and horse for so many years. When my parents died, we still owed a lot of debt and paid for the funeral. None. Now, it’s easy to turn around. Look, they have to take everything back. Last time, for Mrs. Zheng’s Anji point, I took care of everything for the prefect Hedao Yamen, and these money clan houses also Don’t take it seriously.”
"So the clan clan is a bit ruthless." Master Ju Er said.
Yang said bitterly: "No, if you weren't ruthless, Grandma Yu would have been forced to commit suicide, and the girl from the clan even scolded her. As the saying goes, if you climb high, you will surely fall. She is now the wife of the eldest son, No one will say anything if you have a prominent position, but that may not be the case in the future.”
Mr. Ju Er murmured: "But I heard that Mr. Shu wanted to extort money, so he pretended to be dead." He also said to Mr. Yang: "Don't think so much. Our house had many relations with the clan house in the past." Okay, or else it’ll be the same as before.”
Mrs. Yang was even more angry with her lukewarm husband: "I know it would be better if the clan clan was headed by Mrs. Tan. She has short-sighted eyes and looks restless, but Mrs. Liu is the most annoying."
As the saying goes, listen to the words and listen to the sound, which means very annoying means very difficult to deal with.
Although Mr. Ju Er is confused, he has also heard about Brother Qing's several cases of substandard goods being discovered and remedied at once.
Yang was also speechless. If it weren't for this person's personality, she would be a weirdo. She formed cliques to get everyone in the clan to side with her. Liu was unmoved. When Shu's incident happened, she scolded Shu instead. After a while, she was really upright, and many officials wanted to follow Zheng Hao's path. In the past, of course Yang had to accept door packages, and also accepted some people's gifts for the four seasons and eight festivals, but she didn't accept them either. Especially the valuable ones, return them all.
Bah, you really think you are the great master of Qingtian!
He treats people harshly, but no one rebels.
This made Yang really frustrated.
No matter how much Yang procrastinates or doesn't want to, she still has to explain things to Li Shu when Li Shu comes over in person. And she had to bite the bullet, because she took out all the monthly money she gave to various places this month to use as loan sharks, and she didn't even issue the monthly payment.
Li Shu first looked at the clan's property. She had never thought that the Zheng family was so rich, especially with so many sacrificial fields. This was no exception, because many of the Zheng family's children served as officials, and these clan members voluntarily donated forty-seven places. A random look at the fields revealed that there were 156,000 acres in Shangqing County, 220,000 acres in Gonglin County, and 7,500 acres in southern places such as Songjiang.
No wonder Yang didn't want to spit it out. These sacrificial fields were a huge amount of income, especially since Zheng Hao's grandfather had received fifty hectares of sacrificial fields from the emperor.
In addition, the Zheng family does not have much business, only two pawn shops in Beijing.
Yang said: "Your mother-in-law is in charge of these two rooms, and the account books are not with me."
Li Shu nodded. She knew why Mrs. Zheng was so generous in taking action. It turned out to be because of this. But the mother-in-law of these two pawn shops did not hand it over to herself, and she hid it really deeply.
The clan property is divided into parts, namely the cemetery field, the righteous field and the righteous school field. Cemetery fields are used to bury deceased clan members, while charity fields are donated by scholars or officials, who are generally very happy to donate. This practice is not only beneficial to the development of the clan, but also increases the family's local prestige. The righteous school field is specially designated for members of the clan to study. Generally, family property may also include houses and buildings. In addition to ancestral halls, there are also charity houses and school buildings. The voluntary homes are used to house and adopt clan members who are unable to make a living on their own, while the schools are large and small family academies or private schools.
"Do you have a fish scale album here?" Li Shu asked.
Yang nodded: "Yes."
These were her achievements in the past few days. She read the land booklet every day, and asked Zheng Hao to teach her how to read the fish scale book, almost to the point of obsession. Therefore, as soon as the fish scale book of these lands was taken out, she knew where these lands were.
Yang, of course, cried: "Don't look at all this land. There are many old people in our tribe, and one old man passed away last year. If you want one person to have a cemetery, and there are children who died in infancy, they also need to occupy an area. There are also ethnic studies, Our Zheng family has Chu Clan Academy, and some clan members use it to open academies, but you see, they don’t even pay rent.”
"Yes, the family is big and the business is big, but there are many people, and everyone needs money." Li Shu agreed.
Yang smiled and said, "You still understand this. Others don't believe it when I tell it to them."
In addition to the clan pawn shop, the Zheng family also has more than a dozen tea and raw silk shops, but these are not very profitable, so Li Shu glanced at Yang.
Mrs. Yang had already prepared her excuse: "Our official families generally don't allow their children to visit, so these business owners are hired from outside or are relatives of ladies and grandmothers everywhere. Even I can't call them."
"Are these the private property of our clan?" Lishu asked.
Yang didn't expect her to ask this, so she simply said: "I don't know about that. I took over these and they said they were the shops that your clan master was an official in Fujian back then, so he asked his disciples to buy them."
Lishu is now in charge of the Zheng family. She knows that the Zheng family's private property is actually very considerable, but it is not to the extent of making a sudden fortune. She did not expect that all of it is left in the clan.
Speaking of the big picture, the rest is the clan population list and many other things, which are all controlled by men.
Lishu asked someone to carry the account books back to the room. Yang was sweating and was really shocked. She thought she would ask her about this month's monthly payment.
But Li Shu just went to ask Mrs. Zheng about private property: "Are the dozen or so shops in this family owned by the clan, or are they the private property of our clan?"
Mrs. Zheng squinted her eyes for a long time. Lishu thought that Mrs. Zheng was still middle-aged when she first got married, and her mother-in-law was dazzled in just a few years. After she saw it clearly, she said: "This is our private property. At first, I thought that your great-uncle's family was poor, so it was somewhat filial to let them manage these shops. Now that you have taken it back, take care of it yourself."
"Mom, I heard from Mrs. Ju that although it is private property, it is now regarded as public property, and many relatives from the clan are packed in. I am afraid it is difficult to move here. There are more than a dozen tea shops, and the profit is only one thousand Two more."
Mrs. Zheng smiled and said: "The tea shop can only make ten taels a month, which is enough for food and clothing. Fifty taels is a lot, and there is only so much profit."
Li Shu nodded: "What you said is that there are still two pawn shops."
Although I know that it is the mother-in-law who is very likely to have an affair, as the person who takes over the matter, she cannot not ask. If I don't ask now, she will be blamed for the problem later.
Mrs. Zheng was very calm about this question: "When you go to Beijing next time, I will give you the seal." She also has a younger son Zheng Qing. Zheng Qing is a medicine pot. Where does the money come from for taking medicine all the year round? Thousand-year-old ginseng and Tianshan snow lotus are worth thousands of taels of silver.
Li Shu also expressed her understanding and said, "Don't worry too much. It was only Mrs. Ju Er who told me that I said more."
Mrs. Zheng showed no displeasure on her face and couldn't help but nod, because she knew very well that Li Shu was not greedy for money at all.
That night, Li Shu, Zheng Hao and their two sons sat in a row to soak their feet again. Zheng Hao was the first to congratulate her and said: "Congratulations to you, you will make great achievements in the future."
Li Shu looked at him with a smile: "Congratulations to me. Mrs. Ju Er has made a lot of noise with me. I am one of the two elders. Did you do it on purpose? Seeing other people messing with me, why do you want to show off your ambitions? .”
Zheng Hao thought to himself, anyone who wants to punish you will be punished by you, I can guarantee this.
But he smiled and said: "I just like your fiery look."
Lishu was still a little embarrassed, but she said proudly: "I'm not a fickle person, I'm resolute, smart and capable -"
Brother Qi and Brother Shu said in unison: "The Nine Heavens Fairy descended to earth, the smartest fairy in the world.":,,
