The father-in-law and his son-in-law were having a drink in the front hall. Liu Chengxu returned to Beijing to report on his work this time and did not want to get up so quickly. What's more, Mr. Liu was not in very good health. He also wanted to be able to serve his parents in Beijing, so when he saw Zheng Hao, he offered to help him move around. , Liu Chengxu refused without saying a word.
Zheng Hao is also a considerate person, and he only stays with him to chat, drink and eat, which is exactly what Liu Chengxu wants.
Little Fu said to Li Shu: "Your father is so happy. No one has been drinking with him for a long time. Your second brother Yin Guan has joined the Ministry of Works to take charge. Your eldest brother is jealous, but at least your second brother can still do things. Yes, but with his temperament, being an official would only cause trouble, so the family was troubled."
Li Shu nodded: "Daddy, I have to thank you very much. You gave birth to two such smart sons for him, and you raised them with your own hands. Shurui has already stood out, and Shulin is also a student this year. Everything is different."
"What's different?" Little Fu's face changed slightly.
Of course, Li Shu couldn't say that she was different from her previous life. She took the initiative to change the topic. Little Fu talked about Liwan's daughter's first birthday again: "You prepare the gifts first, and then come with me."
"Okay." Li Shu thought that maybe she hadn't been to Zeng's house for a long time.
Although Mr. Zeng is still supporting him in the court, he has no successors. Zeng Yunfang, the only one who passed the imperial examination, did not dare to return to the capital at all due to the influence of his mother-in-law, Princess Longchang.
But Lishu is not that kind of ungrateful person. She always remembers the time when she went to Zeng's house to study. Every meal, every meal, and classmates are all carrying her memories.
After sending away her drunken father and worried mother, Lishu asked people to remove the table, but she was a little tired.
Zheng Hao came in against the light. He bent down and touched Li Shu's face: "Finally tired?"
"Well, my shoulders are a little sore, and I also had a headache after drinking wine." Li Shu said coquettishly.
Someone pinched her shoulder, neither gently nor hard, and Li Shu's head was lying on his lap. She raised her head and tried to deliberately tease him with her hands, but Zheng Hao stopped her, and then Li Shu fell asleep.
Zheng Hao was left to look at the reward from the East Palace, which was indeed very generous, but it was obtained by a silly girl like Li Shu who sacrificed her life. They said he was a perfect person, but in fact he was not. If he could help it, he didn't want Li Shu to be harmed in any way. Sometimes it's also very selfish.
Lishu turned over in her sleep and fell asleep carelessly.
three days later
Li Shu was wearing a jade-colored emerald leaf and cloud-patterned splendid dress, which looked elegant and beautiful. In the past, her mother-in-law prepared the Four Seasons and Eight Festivals and various gifts, but now she prepares them herself. Since she came back, all the profits from the pawnshop in Jingli have been given to her, and the shop and village where Lishu was once married have also expanded. The income is several times higher, and the income is considerable, so I don’t feel the same embarrassment I felt when I first got married.
Zheng Hao smiled and said, "Do you think you have a wealthy family and are willing to do business?"
"That's right." Li Shu turned around and saw him and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that I married a rich man."
After she finished speaking, she hung her arms around his neck again: "It's so easy for you to rest. I'm going to Zeng's house again. I really want to get tired of being together today, but I can't bear to leave."
Zheng Hao said softly: "Silly girl, I have been at home all day, what are you afraid of? When you come back in the evening, I will take you out for a walk on the street. I have been back in Beijing for a long time, but I have not taken you out to play. But I remember that someone is greedy That's right, we were on the way before, so if you don't want snacks, you can go out and have fun today before coming back."
Hearing this, Li Shu was very happy.
Zheng Hao personally saw her off, so he stopped going to Zeng's house. Li Shu also knew the reason. Now he was the minister of the Ministry of Personnel and was in charge of the selection, while Mr. Zeng was the minister. Although they were all relatives, they had to avoid suspicion.
And he just promised: "Xiu Mu will take you to ride a horse next time. I was afraid that you wouldn't know how to ride a horse before. Now that you know how to ride, I will take you for a ride."
But Li Shu didn't expect it: "You are so busy. If you have serious things to do, I don't dare to ask for it."
"It's my serious business to accompany you!" Zheng Hao looked into her eyes with a smile.
Lishu was so embarrassed that she ran into the carriage and sat in the carriage, her face flushed, and the two maids beside her couldn't help but snicker.
Lamei also whispered to Zhulan, "Our uncle really loves grandma."
Zhulan smiled and nodded. In fact, it was best to do things next to her grandma. She just did things. Although she was busier, she didn't have to worry about anything else. Zhulan has a good appearance. She has always been worried about being taken away from her house. This is normal. They are all dowry maids sent by the Liu family.
Fortunately, the eldest grandma did not mean this, and the uncle was not lustful at all.
The second wife of the Zeng family was very wealthy, and the first birthday banquet was held in a grand and luxurious manner. But Lishu took a look at the guests who came, and found that the people who came were not as rich or noble as they were a few years ago.
Lishu seemed to be able to see the decline of a family of officials. If there was no next successor, she might go home and become a country squire.
Fortunately, Li Shu sat down and listened to someone discussing: "Their eldest son is not old, but he seems to be smart."
"Yes, although he is a commoner, he is very smart and can understand books as soon as he reads them. I heard that he paid a lot of money to teach him. I think this generation of the Zeng family may rely on him."
…
Lishu knew that they were talking about the brother born to Aunt Yan, who seemed to be named Brother Ding. I don’t know if this is good or bad for her?
Soon she met her niece, Liwan's daughter Sister Xian.
The one-year-old girl has no hair yet, and looks a bit like Liwan with her big black eyes. Li Shu held her in her arms. She didn't even recognize her, and she looked very cute.
"Sister Xian's child is really well-born." Lishu said with a smile.
Liwan was very happy after hearing this, and even advised Lishu: "Now that you are pregnant, you will have another daughter. You and your wife are both beautiful, and the daughter you give birth to will be even more beautiful."
Another one? Li Shu wanted to have a daughter, but it was not her decision to have a boy or a girl.
Therefore, Li Shu just said: "When you are pregnant and whether you have a boy or a girl, it depends on God's will. Yes, why don't you see Brother Xin? He is three years old this year."
Liwan didn't show any favoritism on her face and said with a smile: "Three sisters must have met Brother Ding before. Brother Xin is with his brother right now! I just asked them to come over and say hello."
"Oh, that's good, I just happened to have prepared gifts for them." Li Shu smiled.
After a while, two little brothers came in. The older one was smart and handsome, and the younger one was tough-headed. Liwan pulled her to her and introduced her to Lishu.
Lishu gave each of them a copy of the Four Treasures of the Study, as well as two exquisite peach wood swords, which had already worn away the thorns on the wood.
Zeng Ding spoke clearly: "Thank you, Third Aunt."
Zeng Cong on the side was a few years younger and not very clever, so he seemed a bit dull. Li Shu thought to herself, things turned out to be true. Although Aunt Yan died, the son she left behind was very smart. , very smart, much smarter than Liwan's son.
Li Shu asked him a few questions casually, asking him what books he had read. Zeng Ding puffed up his chest and said, "I have already read "Three", "Hundred" and "Thousand", and now I am also writing in big and small characters."
"That's very good. You have to study hard. Reading is the only way to be good if you are inferior to others." Li Shu said with a smile.
Zeng Ding likes this third aunt very much. Her mother has several sisters. The only ones she has ever met are the third aunt and the fifth aunt. The fifth aunt is Mrs. Hou, and she is cold and indifferent to him. Unlike this third aunt, who listens to her. When he read so many books, he still praised him.
Li Wan narrowed her eyes and smiled as she complimented Li Shu.
Lishu changed the topic to Brother Cong, praising him for his strong head and strong brains. It seemed that he would be smart in the future. She also said: "We have two demon kings in our family. Now we pray for Brother Cong to study, and Brother Shu is short of playmates at home. Next time, my sister will take care of him." Brothers, let’s go play.”
"That's natural." Of course Liwan knew how much Zeng Yunxi had a baby, Ding Geer, not because the child was born to that woman, but because he showed intelligence.
Especially that Jin Ying, I don't know why I heard that Aunt Yan passed away before, and was later sent in by the Yan family. With her here, I couldn't interfere at will. Besides Zeng Ding Conghui, her husband valued this son very much.
He would send a lot of people to protect him if he valued her very much. Now he has moved to the front yard. Liwan knew that even if an aunt died ten times, it would be nothing, but children, especially sons, were different.
Li Shu ate half a cup of tea. The Zeng family was full of good things. She saw Zeng Yingdan coming over and asked someone to bring a lot of elephant flowers on a tray. There was a most exquisite flower crown on it.
Zeng Yingdan smiled and said: "I knew that my third cousin was here. When I saw this flower crown, it seemed as if my name was written on it."
"I've long heard that your craftsmanship is excellent, and the jewelry shop you open is the most popular among the female relatives in Beijing." Lishu praised.
There are really 360 people in the industry, and Zeng Yingdan is the number one in the industry. I am afraid that few people can match Zeng Yingdan's business skills, and the reason why they treat her like this is probably because of Zheng Hao behind her.
Zeng Yingdan said: "My family used to ask my husband to teach me how to paint, but I just didn't want to learn. Now when I draw jewelry, I ask my husband to teach me specifically. Do you think this means I won't hit the wall and never look back?"
Liwan immediately took over the conversation and said: "If you really want to learn, there are already teachers here, our wife and Lishu."
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Zeng Yingdan again.
Little Fu thought that merchants were just like that, they would climb up any pole they saw. Zeng Yingdan had an average relationship with her daughter before, but now she still wants to cling to her.
In fact, it is enough for the two sides to move around as relatives now. The Liu family has never stopped moving around because of what happened to the Zeng family. However, being too close to each other in this way will damage the reputation.
But she was an elder and it was difficult to speak. She looked at Li Shu. Li Shu knew what they wanted to do, so she yelled: "Don't say that you are not sir, we don't dare to trust you. Third sister, I am Yingdan." Just a few words of humility, but you still take it seriously."
Liwan was shocked. She knew that Lishu was not only a sister now, but also had a status gap. Like Lizhen, she had gradually stopped coming to such occasions.
It was all because of her own reputation that she was able to invite Li Shu. She almost broke the relationship. What a risk! :,,
