In addition to the main house where Shen lived, Qinghengyuan also has several wing rooms on the east and west sides.

Rong Shu lives in the wing on the east side. The house she used to live in in Yangzhou Mansion was called Yilanzhu, and now the wing in Qinghengyuan is also called Yilanzhu.

There is a piece of Xiangfei bamboo planted under the corridor of Yilan. Rong Juan is sitting on the stone bench next to the Xiangfei bamboo, staring at the green bamboo in a daze.

"Why is the second sister looking for me?" Rong Shu said calmly.

Rong Juan's eyelashes trembled slightly, he stood up, frowned and said: "I came here to tell you that I will get married from Qinghengyuan. Not because of the dowry, but because... I am willing to get married from here. "

The last time they met was on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Compared with before, Rong Juan had lost a lot of weight, and his complexion was not that good. He did not look happy at all as a girl to be married.

He obviously looked sad, but he probably didn't like to admit defeat in front of Rong Shu since he was a child. His mouth was pursed tightly and his waist was straight.

Rong Shu pursed her lips and smiled and said, "Sure."

Her smile didn't have any meaning of teasing or disdain, she just thought Rong Juan looked funny.

Because of their respective mothers, the two of them had never dealt with each other since they were young. Both of them looked like gentle-tempered people, but in reality one was stubborn and the other was arrogant, and neither had a very good temper.

When he first came back to the Hou Mansion from Yangzhou, Rong Shu had some thoughts of parting ways with Rong Juan because of the Shen family.

At that time, everyone said that the second daughter of Marquis Chengan was well-educated and talented.

In order to prevent others from laughing at his mother-in-law, Rong Shu studied etiquette, chess, calligraphy and painting in Yangzhou. When I returned to Shangjing, I tried hard to gain some fame among the ladies in Shangjing.

But she later discovered that no matter how hard she worked, no matter how well she learned the rules, or how beautifully she played the piano, as long as she was A Niang's daughter, she would never be known as a talented woman.

It is impossible for those noble families to agree that a merchant's daughter is as good as the rich daughter they carefully raised.

But so what?

Titles such as the Three Beauties in Shangjing and the most talented girl in Shangjing are just used by the wealthy families to enhance the unmarried young ladies in the family.

These false names can give them a little more confidence when discussing marriage, so that they can add some face to their husband's family in the future.

Rong Shu found it ironic that a man who had studied hard for more than ten years could have a bright future once he gained fame. But young ladies study this and that day and night, but in the end they just want to bring some face to their husband's family when they get married.

Not to mention that after getting married, you have to take care of your family, have children, and serve your parents-in-law. The things you learned in the boudoir gradually fell into the dust in the day-to-day grind, and they are no longer as colorful as they were when you were young.

Rong Shu doesn't like to play the piano, nor does he like playing chess. It's really not worth it to force himself to do things he didn't like since elementary school just for a little face when he gets married.

If you have some free time, you might as well do more things that make you happy.

After Rong Shu figured it out, he completely stopped thinking about competing for those false reputations. He didn't want to compete with Rong Juan to see who was better at piano or painting.

Rong Juan thought she was giving up, so he became even more proud in front of her.

Yesterday's incident with Jiang Shenglin was the first time she had lost face in front of Rong Shu, and today's announcement that she wanted to get married from Qinghengyuan was also the first time she had bowed her head in front of this sister.

Rong Juan thought that Rong Shu was going to make some mockery today, but he didn't expect that she would simply respond with the word "cheng".

Rong Juan raised his eyes and looked at Rong Shu and said, "Are you laughing at me in your heart?"

Rong Shu asked strangely, "Why are you laughing at me? You are not the one who is wrong. If I want to laugh, I am not laughing at you."

Rong Shu asked. Zhuan stopped talking.

"You don't have to think that the Jiang family is a good home, and you don't have to be grateful because Mr. Jiang took care of you and your mother. When your grandfather was in trouble, Mr. Jiang was the student who was carefully cultivated by your grandfather, but Choose to be wise and protect yourself, and have your mother's Geng Tie returned impatiently. If not, your mother would probably not be sent to Yeting to be a palace slave. The Jiang family's noble reputation would have been damaged in that turmoil. The marriage between the Jiang family and you is not about compensation or atonement."

Rong Shu looked at Rong Juan and said seriously: "He is trying to clear up his name, or in other words, he is using you to make up for the reputation of the Jiang family. People are saying that Mr. Jiang was forced to watch your mother suffer because of his father's fate. You'd better not believe it. After Jiang Shenglin gets engaged to you, the protection accumulated by your Pei family for generations will also be transferred to you. Bringing it into the Jiang family, think about it, who will benefit more from this marriage? "

Prince Qiyuan listened to the evil slander, and when Dayin was in trouble, he made a lot of money to build an alchemy room, and even used virgins as virgins. Refining elixirs with his blood.

Pei Shangshu was angry and remonstrated, but in the end he couldn't even find the whole body.

The Jiang family was afraid of the anger of Prince Qiyuan, so they cowered and watched with cold eyes. Now marrying Rong Juan can turn his former cowardice and incompetence into a last resort. What a good deal.

Pei Shangshu successively served as the Imperial Academy's Jijiuer, Hanlin University Scholar, and Minister of Rites. During the period of Jiande, he also presided over three imperial examinations, which can be said to be full of talents all over the world.

Nowadays, there are many ministers and ministers in the court who have received favor from Pei Shangshu.

The Pei family and the British Duke are family friends, but is it really because of old friendship that the old feudal lord of the British Duke looks at Pei Yun and Rong Juan in a different light?

The third girl from the British Duke's palace married the eldest prince as his concubine. The old prince treated Rong Juan and Rong Qing well, which was able to win over some people from Pei Shangshu's faction.

The emperor had only two sons and one daughter. The eldest prince's mother was Concubine Xing, and his maternal grandfather was Xing Shicong, the chief minister of Wenyuan Pavilion. The second prince is the only legitimate son of Empress Qi, and his uncle is Qi Heng, the former chief governor and now the left governor of the Chinese Army Governor's Mansion.

The biggest contributors to Emperor Jiayou's successful ascension to the throne were Xing Shicong and Qi Heng. Xing Shicong and Qi Heng are now the head of the civil servants and the other is the head of the military generals. They can be said to be evenly matched.

The ministers of the civil and military factions have always been at odds with each other. The eldest prince and the second prince, one has the eldest son, and the other has the eldest son. Which prince ascends the throne in the future will determine the distribution of power between the civil and military factions in the court.

The British Duke is a military general, and Concubine Xing proposed to marry Song Yingzhen on behalf of the eldest prince in order to win over the veteran military general family represented by the British Duke and try to break the Qi family's dominance in military power.

Emperor Jiayou had been a potion of medicine since he was a child. Rong Shu remembered that Emperor Jiayou's body had deteriorated greatly in the past two years, and by the time he was twenty-three years old, he was no longer in good health.

Unexpectedly, the emperor was seriously ill and refused to establish a prince. As a result, there is always a stalemate between the eldest prince and the second prince, the Qi family and the Xing family, and the civil servants and military generals.

Shangjing seems to be calm at the moment, but in fact it is treacherous.

The Jiang family has probably wanted to side with the eldest prince for a long time. Now, through Rong Juan's marriage, not only has his previous reputation of being irresponsible and greedy for life been washed away, he has been accepted by the civil servants, and he has also established contacts with the British government. , can be regarded as a lineage of the eldest prince.

Speaking of which, the twists and turns behind the Jiang family and the Cheng'an Marquis' Mansion were all explained to her by Gu Changjin in her previous life. It was the third year of their marriage. After Emperor Jiayou coughed up blood in the Jinluan Palace, Gu Changjin would occasionally mention the situation in the court to her.

It was precisely because he knew the situation in the court that Rong Shufang could understand the Jiang family's motive for marrying Rong Juan.

Rong Shu knew that Rong Juan might not listen to these words.

She took so much time and effort to say this, just to remind her of Rong Juan in her previous life, who lowered his head and said to her, "Sister, I was not sensible before."

After Rong Shu finished speaking, he didn't bother to care whether Rong Juan listened or not, and went straight past her to the house.

"Wait a minute." Rong Juan suddenly said.

Rong Shu looked back and heard her say: "I will be a good wife of the Jiang family, and I will also help my brother and Qing'er in the future. If you are wronged in the Gu family, just send someone to tell me. Jiang Shenglin marries me I don’t know what your intention is. But since I want to marry you, I will definitely become the source of strength for the Marquis of Chengan.”

The little girl turned her back to Rong Shu, her back straight when she said this, and her posture was extremely proud.

Rong Shu laughed.

It is rare to hear such words from Rong Juan's mouth.

"Sure." Rong Shu smiled and said, "If I am wronged, I will come to you to support me." Rong Juan hummed

softly, raised his head high, and quickly walked out of Yilanzhu, the figure who fled in a hurry There is always a sense of running away.

On February 28th, Rong Juan officially got married from Qinghengyuan. Mrs. Rong, Rong Xun and Mrs. Shen sat at the top. After Rong Juan kowtowed to the three of them and served tea, he bowed solemnly with Aunt Pei and then stood in front of everyone. They left the Hou Mansion amidst the noise.

When he got on the sedan chair, the corners of Rong Juan's eyes were red. He just remembered what he said to Rong Shu a few days ago, and pursed his lips again, suppressing his tears.

At the wedding banquet held at the Jiang family that night, Shen didn't go, and neither did Rong Shu.

Mother and daughter were packing things in Qingheng Courtyard. Shen was going back to Minglu Courtyard tomorrow, and she didn't want to stay at the Cheng'an Marquis Mansion for a moment longer.

In the half month since he came back, Rong Xun had visited Qinghengyuan several times, but Shen sent him away with a cold face.

Rong Xun didn't come here just for the money. He never cared much about public affairs. Shen said that he didn't care whether it was true or not. Now the expenses of He'antang and Qiuyuntang have to be paid out of the old lady's purse.

It is said that it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. The old lady sent people to ask Shen to go to He'antang again and again, but Shen always used her body as an excuse to shirk.

The old lady was angry, but it was the time when Rong Juan was getting married, so she didn't dare to make a fuss.

"Tomorrow, grandma will go back to Mingluyuan and close the door. Grandma can't find you even if she wants to find you." Rong Shu said with a smile, "They should be allowed to live in poverty. I really think grandma's money is blown by the wind." Come on."

Mrs. Shen poked her forehead and said, "You're the only one with a bad mouth. I'll go back to Mingluyuan tomorrow, so you should go back to Wutong Lane quickly, so that Yun Zhi won't miss you anymore.

" After Chang Jin and Rong Shu went to Minglu Courtyard, Mrs. Shen decided that the young couple were happy with each other, so she urged Rong Shu to go back.

Rong Shu naturally didn't want to stay in the Hou Mansion. Tomorrow was the first day of March, which was exactly the same date as Gu Changjin said.

After going to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Gu Changjin was too busy to go home.

If she went back to Wutong Lane earlier, she could go to Shuntian Mansion earlier to get the official seal affixed.

Thinking of this, Rong Shu hugged Shen's arm and said coquettishly: "My daughter will go to Mingluyuan to find my mother in a while. My mother is not allowed to drive me away."

Shen said with a smile: "Why are you driving you away? Come if you want, it's best to come together on the day when you can take a bath together."

Rong Shu smiled and said nothing, thinking that by then, she and Gu Changjin were already separated.

...

On the second day of Rong Juan's wedding, two canopy carriages left Qilin East Street at the same time.

The results will be released tomorrow after the examination. Every year on the days when the results are released, all the yamen in Beijing must be very careful to be on guard against possible troubles.

Rong Shu originally thought that he would not see Gu Changjin today, but unexpectedly, Gu Changjin came just after returning to Songsi Courtyard.

Rong Shu knew in his heart that he always went to Songsi Courtyard for nothing, and he came here probably because of the matter of reconciliation, so he hurriedly asked Mrs. Zhang and others to go down.

As soon as they left, Gu Changjin took out the He Li Shu from his arms and said to Rong Shu: "Miss Rong does not need to go to Shuntian Mansion in person, I have already gone to find Mr. Zhu, and the He Li Shu has been stamped with the official seal. "

Because of Xu Li'er's case, the people in Shuntian Mansion, from the governor Zhu'e to the government officials and concierge, were all very friendly to him. Knowing that he wanted to make peace, he had to give Rong Shu a few words of advice.

She probably won't like it.

Gu Changjin didn't want this.

Therefore, he went to look for Zhu E in person yesterday.

Although Zhu E was a little surprised, he didn't try to persuade him.

He only asked, "Have you thought clearly?" and stamped it with the official seal of Shuntian Mansion.

Rong Shu didn't know the twists and turns, and just thought that Gu Changjin was like her, impatient to end this mismatched marriage.

There were two copies of the letter and the letter. She took the document from Gu Changjin, bowed her knees and said with a gentle smile: "Thank you for taking the time to make this trip. I will leave Wutong Lane tomorrow. The people in this house Someone will transport the gifts to Mingluyuan as soon as possible. As for your betrothal gifts, I have put them all in the shop on Xingping Street."

She said and took out a wooden box from the Bainiaozhaofeng Liuhe cabinet on the side . He picked up the box and said: "This is the house deed and key to the shop on Xingping Street. This shop is a gift I prepared for your lord and Miss Wen when they got married. Miss Wenxi's name is already on the house deed. All the past events , it’s all my fault, Rong Shu is here, thank you sir and Miss Wen for your understanding.”

Rong Shu will not come back after leaving Wutong Lane. She will probably have left by the time Gu Changjin and Wen Xi get married. Go to Beijing. Even if he doesn't leave, she will definitely not come.

Even if they are reconciled, no one should disturb anyone.

Today's shop is both a congratulatory gift and an apology gift from Rong Shu to Wenxi. The Gu family is not a wealthy family, and a woman must have some money with her, whether she is married or not.

Miss Wen...maybe she wouldn't want this shop. She thought for a moment and then said: "If Miss Wen doesn't like to manage the shop, Mr. Gu and Miss Wen can do whatever they want with the shop. Even if they donate it, that's fine." A good deed."

Gu Changjin looked at her.

She probably didn't know that she really couldn't hide her emotions.

When he handed the He Li Shu to her, the moment of relief and relief in her expression could not be hidden at all.

It's as if this marriage has become a shackles for her. Now that the shackles are gone, people are relieved.

The moment Heli handed over the book, the emotions that had been suppressed for many days came back again, and the dense pain spread from the heart to the whole body.

Gu Changjin knew very well that once they reconciled, he and she would be dead forever.

For a moment, he even wanted to tell her that he had never liked Wenxi and would never marry Wenxi.

As soon as these words came to his lips, his mind came back to him in an instant, and he suddenly closed his lips.

Knowing that she felt guilty about Wenxi, Gu Changjin took the box from Rong Shu and whispered: "Thank you very much. Don't worry, Miss Rong. Wenxi will be fine and I won't blame you."

In this way, she should not Just feel guilty.

His voice was suppressed, and it sounded like he was impatient. Rong Shu raised her eyes and looked at him. Seeing that his expression was as usual, she thought that he might be tired from the busy work of late.

Thinking of this, she said warmly: "The results of the general examination will be released soon. I think you are very busy. Now that the matter is over, Rong Shu will not waste your time."

This is to chase away guests.

Gu Changjin nodded. When he went out, he probably held it too tightly, and the corner of the box hurt his palm.