In this situation, Lishu didn't know why someone could be so thick-skinned. Zheng Hao saved her out of sympathy for women. Unexpectedly, he failed to save her and would be blamed in return. Zheng Hao was kindhearted in not retaliating immediately. Shan, she really thinks Zheng Hao is stupid!
Sure enough, Zheng Hao shook his head, and the fire of survival in Shu's eyes was instantly extinguished.
Master Zheng personally wrote a letter to Zheng Yu who was far away in Nanjing. Zheng Yu had no feelings for the Shu family for a long time, especially when he heard that she had committed murderous acts and colluded with the vassal king. He immediately wrote a letter of divorce and came back.
Mrs. Shu has been locked up in the ancestral hall for a long time. The New Year is over, and the only person she has seen is the old servant who delivers food.
There was a glimmer of hope in her heart, in case King Ji missed the kindness, and Zheng Yu was married to her after all. Even for the sake of the love between husband and wife and their dead child, she must be saved, otherwise she would be guilty, Zheng Yu His official position is also unstable.
Unexpectedly, after opening the door, the first thing she saw was a letter of divorce.
Zheng Yu actually divorced her. Shu felt dizzy. After reading the divorce letter again, she collapsed on the ground. Seeing her like this, Li Shu couldn't help but said: "You don't think you are some big shot, do you? Let me tell you, one of King Ji's servants has come out to accuse you of bribing him to drug our uncle. Do you still think Did you die a grand death? In fact, no one cared about you even after you were hanged."
"It's like this..." Mrs. Shu began to panic. If she died as Grandma Yu, her death would be spectacular. For thousands of years, the clan would know that Zheng Hao was obstructing other people's heirs.
Now, she is a divorced woman even after she dies. When people outside hear that she was divorced, no matter whether she is at fault or not, it becomes her problem.
Li Shu came here not to ridicule her, but to ask more about her accomplices. How did the Shu family control Rong Xi's family when she usually lived in seclusion?
Shu always shook her head: "I did everything myself. I have lived in the Zheng family for several years and have been paying attention to it for a long time." She was not doing it for Mrs. Ju Yi, but for Sister Ling. She loves Sister Ling so much, why? It would make her homeless.
In May of the following year, the Shu family was resentful of the Zheng family because they were divorced. She bribed a male servant of Prince Ji's house and poisoned Zheng Hao. Zheng Hao almost died. The Shu family was sentenced to death by hanging. Rong Xi, the fake doctor and the male servant were all accomplices, beaten eighty times, and then exiled to the border area.
After all this, the Dragon Boat Festival was over, and Li Shu was really relieved.
In the past few months, Zheng Hao realized why Li Shu was so cautious. He praised Li Shu: "I often say that you are too careful in doing things, but now I know what the anger of a common man is. These people are obviously small people. I got up, but it almost killed me.”
"You don't have to be like a frightened bird. Things in this world have their own destiny and are beyond human control. Now that you have encountered such a disaster, it is probably a good thing whether you will be very peaceful in the future. In some things, it is not just caution that can quell the disaster. Anyway, we When husband and wife face things together, they have nothing to fear." Li Shu advised.
Zheng Hao smiled and said, "That's right."
He has moved next door to Li Shu, and the couple can see each other all the time. Since Li Shu rescued Zheng Hao, he has become more and more dependent on Li Shu.
This made Mrs. Zheng a little dissatisfied. She was not stingy, and she even liked Li Shu very much and the two grandchildren she gave birth to. She also wished that Li Shu and Zheng Hao had a better relationship, but her and Li Shu's personalities were completely different.
Lishu is good at discovering things early, nipping them in the cradle, and speaking out directly if something is wrong, and she likes to solve problems in a smooth way. Moreover, when the daughter-in-law loses her temper, she doesn't care about anyone's face. She has a very bad temper. Even if someone of hers commits a crime, although she doesn't deal with it for a while, she often beats her up.
She even didn't understand that it was normal for people to have greed and laziness, just like the officials in the world, and how many truly honest officials there were.
It's useless if you can only do it yourself. Under such high-pressure rule, it is easy to collapse. Just like the leader of the Qin Dynasty, he used strict Qin laws to control the people of the Six Kingdoms, and finally died in just one life.
However, the eldest son obeyed her words again. He used to show off in front of her, but now he doesn't even show up.
Li Shu may not have noticed this subtlety between women, but she thought it was probably because a mountain cannot tolerate a tiger. Her mother-in-law had only been given power for a few years, so she naturally still cared about rights. But Li Shu thought she had given in, especially when it came to dealing with Yi Fang. Zheng Qing was already in good health, so she kept her monthly routine as usual just for the sake of her mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law said she had the power of the housekeeper. For her, she actually still holds the two most profitable pawnshops in her own hands. Fortunately, she knows how to calculate carefully and doesn't care, otherwise she would have reason to blame her for this matter.
But now that she is in power, she will not give in anymore. She may follow Zheng Hao to Beijing next year, but if she can manage it for a while, she must manage it well.
Just like so many officials coming and going, like the river her father built during his tenure in Henan, it is enough to be famous throughout the ages.
There is also good news about clan studies. Since Zheng Hao rectified clan studies, Zheng Qing implemented a reward system, and Zheng Hao, the Hanlin scholar, personally mentored his children when he had time.
This time, a total of five students from the Zheng Family School were selected as scholars, and two failed the academy examinations, but they were also born as children.
Compared with before, it can be regarded as fruitful.
Zheng Hao also chose two sons of his family, Zheng Miao and Zheng Chang. He had inspected these two people and found that they were both quite motivated and decent students. As for Zheng Miao, I heard that Zhu Tongzhi's wife took a fancy to him.
In fact, in terms of conditions, Zheng Chang's conditions were much better than Zheng Miao's. Zheng Miao's parents were both dead. Although his uncle studied politics, it was already a huge favor to help him get married. Zheng Chang had both parents. Zheng Chang's father became an official and taught yoga in a neighboring county. His mother came from a famous poet and calligrapher, and her family was very well off.
But in terms of appearance, Zheng Miao was much more outstanding, so Mrs. Zhu took a liking to Zheng Miao at a glance.
Especially after Zheng Miao became a scholar this time, Mrs. Zhu felt that the time had come, so she directly made this request to Zhu Tongzhi.
"Sir, now that my aunt is dead in battle, the Chi family has to keep filial piety. Our daughter can't afford to wait any longer. I just happened to fall in love with a young man from the Zheng family that day. He was born with great honor, but he was selected as a scholar at the age of fourteen. I think it matches our daughter very well.”
Zhu Tongzhi looked at her: "What do you mean? Didn't the old lady already agree that she would marry Sister Xuan to her sister's house? Why have you changed your mind now?"
Madam Zhu said: "Our daughter is seventeen years old. In the past, Wuyang Marquis Mansion always said that she had that intention, but after all, she didn't say much. It is a bad idea to keep this girl. If she stays, she will become an enemy. In this case, it is better to marry Zheng Zheng. Family, although Zheng Miao's parents are dead and he was raised by his uncle, he is well-educated and is even accepted by Zheng Xueshi as his disciple. Do you think, if such a talent is not committed to our daughter now, how can we wait for him to go to Beijing? ? If he really reaches high school and is born into a family like this, why would he care about us getting a daughter? Even if we try to catch a son-in-law at the bottom of the rankings, we can't catch anyone else."
In fact, as a scholar himself, Zhu Tongzhi certainly hopes that his daughter can marry into a well-established family. If the conditions are really good, people will not look down on the Zhu family. Just like Zheng Hao's wife, she married the daughter of the Liu family in Jinghu. Her father was the governor of Jiangxi and her uncle was the commander of the Jinyi Guards.
This kind of family's own daughter couldn't compare with him. Zhu Tongzhi found an opportunity to meet Zheng Miao again in official school, and saw that he really had a handsome face, a graceful demeanor, and was worthy of being a descendant of a noble family.
He asked again about his talent without any trace of it. Seeing that Zheng Miao answered fluently, he immediately agreed.
Mrs. Zhu came over again, this time to ask Mrs. Tou to talk about Zheng Miao's marriage. Zheng Miao lived in the fifth house, but his aunt followed his uncle to take office, so the matter came to Li Shu.
After all, Zheng Hao is now Zheng Miao's husband, and Li Shu is his mistress, so he can still have half the say in the marriage.
Li Shu and Zheng Hao had no objections. Li Shu smiled and said, "Although Mrs. Zhu seems to have a bad temper, she dotes on her daughter. I have seen Miss Zhu, and her appearance, temperament, and behavior are pretty good."
In fact, people like Mrs. Zhu are easier to get along with. Her emotions and sorrows are written on her face. Unlike Mrs. Ju Yi, Lishu is sure that Mrs. Ju Yi may not be behind the Shu family's back. But somehow, in the end, Shu family didn't. Give her up.
Zheng Hao nodded: "Liu Lang (Zheng Miao)'s brothers are all married and have separate families. It would be good if he gets married early and has someone to take care of the house for him. Although the Zhu family is from a poor family, Zhu Tongzhi has a good official reputation, and his old lady is still Are you a relative of yours? Of course no one is perfect, as you said, if the Zhu family is good in everything, then they may not like Zheng Miao."
In fact, Zheng Miao was not keen on this matter. He was still young and just wanted to learn more, but getting married tied him down.
However, Zheng Hao's half-agreeable state was completely approved by his uncle. Knowing that Zheng Miao had entered Zheng Hao's family, he asked the clan to organize the wedding for him and sent back three hundred taels of silver.
When Zheng Miao's biological father passed away, he was the youngest, and his brothers had already taken what they could. Although he looked well-fed and well-fed, he was actually not as good as others.
Li Shu gave one hundred taels to the housekeeper of the fifth house and asked him to paint the new yard and prepare a new set of furniture. Thinking of preparing a betrothal gift, Li Shu personally had someone prepare an eight-carat wedding box, which contained a Sets of jewelry, cloth, candied vegetables, dried vegetables, wine, meat, and raw chickens and geese.
But when the betrothal gift arrived at the Zhu family, Zhu Tongzhi and Mrs. Zhu were fine. They all knew that Zheng Miao's parents were dead and he had several older brothers. He would definitely not be rich if he got married now, but they were looking at the future.
Aunt Dong never thought it would be like this: "Why is the bride price only two hundred taels? You read that right."
"That's right, there are only a few, but the eight-lift wedding box looks quite a lot. I heard that it was the eldest grandma of the Zheng family who took care of it, but it was inconvenient for them to come out during the mourning period, but the name of the Zheng family is very bluffing. Ah. That's the Zheng family in Xingyang!" the maid muttered.
Aunt Dong let out a "poof": "Shit, what kind of rich family, I have never seen anything with my sharp eyes. Those who look golden on the outside are often ruined inside, and I know that nothing will happen. Madam, it's true , it would be great if she could get married to the Wuyang Hou Mansion. The Chi family is in need of important positions now, but she regretted it so quickly, preferring that her daughter endure hardship. If the eldest lady can get in touch with the Chi family, my brother can also get in touch with the Wuyang Hou Mansion. It’s about relationships.”
The maid thought to herself, why does your aunt ask the wife of the wife to listen to you? Who do you think you are?
This is indeed the truth. Although Mrs. Zhu is not favored, she is the principal wife and comes from the Yang family of Hongnong. Even if Mrs. Zhu scolded her daughter-in-law for being short-sighted, it would not help.
Zhu Lingxuan had just met Zheng Miao. Although he felt a little shabby because of Zheng Miao's poor family background, his appearance was very good. Especially unlike the Wuyang Hou Mansion. Although many people envy her aunt, Zhu Lingxuan also envied her when he was a child, but now as a woman, the person waiting to be married, if the man has been married three times before and was driven away by his mother-in-law, think of it. All afraid.
But my mother said that Zheng Miao has no father or mother, and his brothers have no fame, but she can't control Zheng Miao. She married and became the head of the family, with no restrictions.
Zhu Lingxuan watched her father doting on his concubines and killing his wife for so many years, and her mother cried very sadly. Therefore, she always heard her mother say that it was not good for her to marry into a poor family, because there were no rules in the poor family. People like the Zheng family were originally like their grandfather. With relatives at home, she felt more at ease.
After the marriage was settled, Li Shu felt relieved.
But Mrs. Ju Yi was on high alert. Thinking of Shu's tragic death, Mrs. Six was sent to a Taoist temple. Everything stopped her, even her usury was cut off.
She was very greedy, but not so greedy that she even risked her life.
Anyway, she left not long after that. That Mr. Tan was not a selfless person. If he let others lure her into trouble, Mr. Liu might not dare to waste her money.
Lishu knew that she could not catch Mrs. Ju Yi during this period, so she was very patient. In the past year of her management, Lishu also gained a lot of experience, but at the same time, she also made mistakes. She also made these mistakes Keep it in mind and remind yourself not to do it again.
After tidying up the house, Li Shu lay on the couch to rest when she had time. When Zheng Hao came in, he saw her lying on the couch and asked his servants to come over and drive away mosquitoes for her personally.
Brother Qi and Brother Shu held hands and passed by the door. Zheng Hao put his index finger on his lips and said, "Keep your voice down. Don't disturb your mother."
Brother Qi came in quietly, Brother Shu dragged his brother's clothes, and they came together.
Brother Shu wanted to climb up on the couch and sleep with his mother, but Zheng Hao stopped him, "You sleep with your mother every day, haven't you had enough?"
"I just miss my mother." Now my brother is being taken by the wet nurse to rest in the ear room. He is still young, so he sleeps with his mother.
Brother Qi asked Zheng Hao: "Dad, mother is sleeping, let's go out and play. My son has been very hot these days, and the room is too cold. Why don't we go to the shade of the tree over there to enjoy the coolness."
"I want to accompany your mother. You two little brats, let the wet nurse take you to play, but you are not allowed to play dangerous things." Zheng Hao smiled.
Brother Qi had no choice but to take his younger brother out to play. He had been raised very strong since he was a child, but the two brothers were very measured and only played in the shade of the trees in the yard.
Brother Shu raised his head and said, "Brother, are you so tired from studying? Why don't you take a break at noon."
Brother Qi shook his head: "My mother said that I am a good student, so I am not tired from reading. My father taught me how to read and write, and I learned it quickly. But I think my life will not be so easy in the future. Have you seen that Brother Wei Chang?"
"Of course I remember." Brother Shu remembered that he was very generous and would buy toys for him every time he came to their house. The chicken bus was a gift from him.
Brother Qi said unnaturally: "My mother went to his house the day before yesterday, and you and I were playing hide-and-seek. I happened to hear that Brother Chang is actually very lazy. He doesn't like studying at home, and he likes to sleep. As long as the adults tell him, he will kneel down. Come down and slap yourself in the mouth. My mother said that he is different from brother Miao Liu. Brother Miao Liu is talented and hard-working, and he is enterprising at a young age. Brother Chang San is more talented and happy-go-lucky. If I enjoy it every day After being at ease for a long time, I wish I was stuck at home. I have no enterprising spirit. People who are too lazy will get sick from laziness."
Brother Qi now understands a lot of truth. In this world, no matter how powerful your mother's family or father's family is, if you can't stand up on your own, you are worthless and you will end up being a head lower than others.
Just like Dad, he is famous and respected by others not because he is the eldest son of the Zheng family, but because he is the number one scholar of Zheng. If he were white, others would respect him for his grandfather's sake, but this respect did not come from their hearts.
When Li Shu woke up, she saw Zheng Hao fanning her and looking at her sleeping face tenderly.
"What's wrong? When did you come?" she asked.
Zheng Hao smiled and said, "I've been here for a while, and I saw you sleeping, and I was afraid that there were mosquitoes here, so I kept them away for you."
Li Shu sat up and put her hands around his waist: "Although your health has already recovered, you can't ignore it. I heard that you haven't slept well these past two nights. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just a little hot." Zheng Hao looked at Li Shu and said.
Of course Li Shu understood. After being together for so long, both husband and wife were a little moved, but they really couldn't do this now. Otherwise, let alone Li Shu, Zheng Hao himself wouldn't be able to get over the hurdle in his heart.
But it was not that there was no other way. Li Shu put on her shoes and bolted the door. Now it was Zheng Hao's turn to panic: "Shu'er, it's not good to have clear sky and daylight now, right? It won't work."
"You fool, you don't have to do that. You can just use your hands..." Li Shu untied her hair with a charming look on her face.
Zheng Hao originally just wanted to express his mood, and then read a book and talk with Li Shu, and his mood would calm down a little, but he didn't expect Li Shu to still be like this.
…
After finishing, Lishu complained: "My hands are sore, I'll pull up my hair, and you open the window to let some air out."
Zheng Hao followed the instructions one by one and looked a little shy. He quickly put on his clothes and squatted beside Li Shu's couch. For some reason, his face turned slightly red.
Li Shu looked down at him and felt that Zheng Hao had become very, very dependent on her since she saved him.
The husband and wife looked at each other for a long time, feeling that they couldn't get enough of each other. Lishu asked him about his revolt: "We will go to Beijing next year, and dad and you will revolt? If dad is appointed as an official in the capital, do you have to be an official outside?"
This is very helpless. Generally, father and son are in the same court, or brothers are officials in the court, but rarely both are in Beijing. Just like when Liu Chengxu was in Beijing, Liu Chengzong invited himself to go on business trips. When Liu Chengxu was an official abroad, Liu Chengzong was in Beijing.
This is the case now. Liu Chengxu is an official in Jiangxi and Liu Chengzong is a commander in Beijing.
Zheng Hao shook his head: "How could I be expelled from the Hanlin Academy? Unless I made a big mistake, I would go from a clear stream to a turbid stream."
"That's true." Li Shu nodded.
Zheng Hao said: "If I am not mistaken, my parents will not go to Beijing again this time, but you have to pretend not to know at all. Only then will they rest assured about you. Have you found your replacement yet?" "
"Actually, my sister-in-law is trying to find out what I am saying, but of course she is a person who cannot be said to be bad, but she has a criminal record. In the past, she was defrauded of money by the Wang family because she was greedy for profit. Later, she came back to the family. Revenge is not that simple. I let her be The female gentleman can do it, but let her take care of the family affairs. I'm afraid I've just fed her appetite. So much money comes through my hands, if I don't move for a month, a year, ten years, I don't know when we will I will come back, but I still don’t trust." Li Shu shook her head.
Zheng Hao also gave her some advice: "Then you put a few people in charge, one in charge of this, that in charge of that, to check and balance each other. You see, the emperor also has a chief assistant and three secondary assistants in the cabinet, right?" The same goes for the important affairs of the clan, and they don’t need to be left to one person.”
"Hey, that's right. But it would be better if they all check and balance each other, but it would be bad if they all work together." Li Shu frowned.
Zheng Hao nodded: "Yes." At the same time, he sighed: "I didn't expect that housekeepers are quite troublesome."
Li Shu smiled: "That's natural. Wherever there are people, there will be rivers and lakes, but won't there be disputes? Otherwise, colleagues are all enemies, everyone wants a piece of the pie, and no one really wants to think about the clan. Don’t just think about making money. In fact, it’s nothing to enrich your own pocket casually. I’m afraid that if you are too greedy, there will be problems in the future.”
Zheng Hao thought of what happened to him, as well as Mrs. Ju Yi's casual report of 80,000 taels, and the refugees who disappeared...
These people are not officials yet, they are just in charge of clan affairs, but they have already reached this point.
Mrs. Tan is also thinking about this problem. She now teaches girls' studies, and her husband is in charge of clan studies. They and their husbands make more money in the clan than in Beijing.
In half a year, the eldest brother and the others will all go to Beijing. My father and mother may also go to Beijing together, but my husband has told me that he is not willing to go to Beijing. Furthermore, Mr. Tan also intended to take over the family affairs after his sister-in-law left.
She is not coveting this position, but there is no one else who can take it over except her.
We can't let a greedy person like Mrs. Ju Yi take over.
After taking care of the family business, she would take care of her body and give birth to a son. Although Ningxiang had a good relationship with her and gave birth to a son, she also said that she regarded her son as her own son, but he was not the child born in her belly, so she could not trust him.
Mrs. Tan has met her eldest sister-in-law's two sons. The eldest is over seven years old and can already compose poems. Even if the eldest brother fails in the future, the eldest sister-in-law will be born again in a few years. And because of her filial piety, she is still unable to have a child. It would be great if she could have another child.
"Grandma, this is the high-quality Shu brocade given by Mrs. Ju Yi. She said she wanted to thank you for accepting Sister Ling." The maid came from outside and said.
Although Mrs. Tan doesn't like Mrs. Ju Yi, she still feels pity for Sister Ling because she is not easy to raise in other people's homes at a young age, so she takes a little care of her. How could she know that Mrs. Ju Yi is so polite.
But the Shu brocade was too valuable, so Tan waved his hand and said, "There is no need for such an expensive gift. I will not be rewarded for my merit."
The maid said: "Mrs. Ju Yi is afraid that you won't accept it. She said this is a gift from her own sister. She can't wear such a pattern. If you return it, she will put it in the warehouse and waste it. You won't accept it." Next, she is also worried about Sister Ling."
Seeing that the maid was in trouble, Mrs. Tan had no choice but to say: "Then send it to my warehouse.":,,
