The old lady didn't know the consequences once the scandal in her family was exposed, but besides relying on Liu Shirui and her son, what other choice did she have?
"I know that no matter what, Zi Heng is with us now. As long as we get through this stage safely, at least the Hou Mansion will have a successor. Even if I commit evil, I will be worthy of the Liu family if I go to Jiuquan in the future."
Then he sat on the bed and thought for a while, and finally made up his mind: "Go and take out the 10,000 taels of silver notes from my box. I'll go see that Zhou Wenbin. As long as he is willing to leave Shi Rui, everything will be easy."
...
"Master, the old lady went out just now."
Not long after returning to Yonganju, Xiao Ma came in to report.
Zhang Yuhang put down the account book in his hand, raised his head and said, "Let's go out for a walk. Speaking of which, I haven't fully appreciated the capital city of Noda yet."
The two took a carriage all the way to an alley not far from Renfang Temple, where they parked the carriage and walked there.
Aunt Zhou found a wing not far from the temple and gently tapped the door. After a while, a scholar wearing a brocade robe opened the door.
Xiao Ma saw the man who opened the door and asked curiously: "Master, why did the old lady come to the temple to meet this man? Who is he?"
Zhang Yuhang looked at the scholar Zhou Wenbin in front of him calmly. In his previous life, this man had united with the beasts in the Hou Mansion to keep him in the dark for decades, so that he not only raised children for others in vain, but also lost himself. life.
In this life, if I don't torture these people to the point where life is worse than death, how can I deserve the chance to do it again?
After Lai Taijun entered the wing, he carefully looked at the environment of the wing.
"Old lady, why are you here?" Seeing the old lady from the Hou Mansion coming over in person, even though she knew everything about herself and Liu Shirui, she still couldn't help but feel uneasy.
The old lady glanced at Zhou Wenbin disdainfully, then looked at the things on the desk, and said: "Zhou Wenbin, I only came to you today for one thing. Tell me, what do you want to do before you are willing to leave my house, Rui'er?" I will try my best to satisfy your requirements."
Speaking of this, the old lady couldn't help but sigh, not only for Liu Shirui, her granddaughter, but also for what she had done.
Zhou Wenbin's expression changed when he heard this: "Old lady, Shi Rui and I truly love each other. Besides, we even have children. How could I abandon my beloved woman just because of some extraneous things?"
"Old lady, I have been working hard to study the articles. I will definitely be able to pass the imperial examination this year to high school. When the time comes, when the time comes, I will be able to..."
"What can you do when the time comes? You can come to my Marquis Mansion to propose marriage and be with my granddaughter?" Before he could finish his words, he was ruthlessly interrupted by the old lady, "Don't forget, my granddaughter is already married. , she has a husband."
"Once something goes wrong between you, the public opinion in the world alone will be enough to ruin the reputation of our Marquis Mansion and leave you two dead without a place to die, not to mention what kind of actions Yongchang Marquis will do at that time. , I’m afraid when that time comes, even death for you will be a luxury.”
Zhou Wenbin clenched his fist tightly: "No, Rui'er said that Zhang Yuhang is not welcome at all in the Yongchang Marquis Mansion. They will not stand up for this concubine, as long as you... ..."
"Ha..." The old lady was so angry that she couldn't speak. However, after thinking about the purpose of her visit today, she suppressed her anger.
"Do you know what is the difference between our Hou family clan and your humble family? This does not mean Zhang Yuhang's origin, whether he is a concubine or a direct descendant. He originally married into our Xingyong Hou Mansion as the Marquis of Yongchang. It doesn't matter. As for other aspects, Zhang Yuhang represents the face of the Marquis of Yongchang just by marrying our Marquis."
"When the bad thing between you two is exposed, it will be like a slap in the face of Yongchang Hou, and he even spit in his mouth before leaving. If he can bear this, then From now on, there will be no place for the Yongchang Marquis in Kyoto, so no matter what, they will never give up easily when the time comes, but when that time comes, what about us?"
The old lady stamped the crutch in her hand vigorously: "Our Hou family has been in decline since what happened that year. Without Zhang Yuhang's help, we can't even maintain our current life. How can we compete with Yongchang, which is now prosperous? Is it up to you to arm wrestle?"
Faced with such persecution by the old lady, Zhou Wenbin was extremely angry. When he and Liu Shirui made a private decision to be together for life, the Xingyong House had not yet experienced the catastrophe, so naturally he looked down upon him, who was still a white man from a poor family. .
When something happened in the Hou Mansion, he thought he had an opportunity. However, Liu Shirui was in a coma due to having a child out of wedlock. At that time, the Hou Mansion was undergoing great changes. Not only did they not dare to expose this matter to the world, but they also wanted to take the opportunity to win over an ally. This Only then did Zhang Yuhang get married.
"No matter what, I will not leave Rui'er because of these things. I hope the old lady will forgive me."
He has read so many books, and he still understands the simple truth of whether a meal is full or a full meal.
If you agree to the old lady's conditions now, you may get a lot of compensation now, but what about in the future?
Even if he succeeds in the imperial examination this year, according to his current family situation, he still has to start from the bottom step by step, but if he seizes the Qingyun Ladder of Xingyonghou Mansion here, it will be a different situation.
There are still three nails in the broken ship, not to mention such a once-mighty Hou Mansion. No matter how bad it is, it is much better than struggling alone.
"Excuse me, how can I forgive you? You were already eighteen years old when you and Rui'er were together. It was an imperial examination that was held every four years, and you failed. Now, four years have passed, and you are still white. Even the so-called "hard study in a cold window" in this monastery, what kind of appearance have you made. You come twice a month to pray to the Buddha for more than ten days. Are you like "study in a cold window"? Answer me? "
The old lady simply can't bear it anymore. If you don't listen to her nice words, I won't hold it in anymore, so as to save myself from sulking.
A poor scholar with no merits, whose expenses in the past few years have been subsidized by the Marquis Mansion, is not worthy of talking about his integrity in front of him.
"Old lady, I don't allow you to say that to Zhou Lang. Zhou Lang and I really love each other. If you hadn't stopped my marriage to Zhou Lang, I would have married Zhou Lang a long time ago. If I really wanted to do that, everything is happening now. It’s all legitimate, and I won’t be in a coma due to childbirth, let alone be in this situation now. Besides, I support Zhou Lang because of my own will, and I also believe that Zhou Lang will definitely be able to go to high school this year.”
Suddenly, Liu Shirui barged in from outside the house. While talking, she walked up to Zhou Wenbin and held each other's hands tightly, for fear that her husband would be wronged.
