Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 67: The Origin of the Engagement
Who said that outsiders are not allowed to stay in the house?
After having dinner with the seemingly amiable lady at Qing'an Hall, Zhang Shou looked at the east wing, which had three rooms connected and was now brightly lit by the maids and servants who were busy hanging countless lamps. He couldn't help but ask this question.
Of course, considering the age of the lady, she seems to be old enough to be his grandmother, not to mention his great-grandmother. Even if he is allowed to live in Qing'an Hall, no one in the Zhu family will blame him for not respecting the strict rules between men and women.
He waited until all the women in the room finally left one by one. When they were about to leave, there was still laughter outside. He glanced at Qi Liang and Deng Xiaodai who didn't know what to do with their hands and feet, and then he coughed.
"Xiao Qi, how much do you remember about the essay you wrote in the previous exam? Try to recite it to me as much as possible."
Qi Liang was just stunned, and all the complicated emotions that he had just felt when he entered a wealthy family disappeared in an instant. He took a deep breath and said calmly, "In addition to the first round of the examination on classics, the prefectural examination consists of two essays on current affairs and three essays on current affairs. Oh, and there is also a math question. The prefectural examination subjects have just been adjusted this year. I heard that it is the new policy of the prefectural governor..."
Deng Xiaodai sat quietly by the side, listening to Qi Liang racking his brains to recall the articles he had written a few days ago. Thinking of his non-stop work after entering the household registration office of Shuntian Mansion, he twisted his fingers unconsciously and frowned slightly.
There were countless marriage certificates in the archives of the entire household, and the marriage certificates of the top dignitaries were not something that a petty official of his level could easily access. However, hard work paid off, and he finally found an opportunity and retrieved the case files of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. It can be said that he had even checked the origins and origins of the first and second wives of Duke Zhao Zhu Jing, but Zhu Ying's marriage certificate...
The household department of Shuntian Prefecture Yamen does not have Zhu Ying’s marriage certificate at all!
But looking at the attitude of the lady towards the young master just now, it was clear that she treated him like a younger generation of her own family, much warmer than the attitude of an ordinary grandmother towards her grandson-in-law.
Could it be that the so-called arranged marriage was just a verbal agreement back then, and there was no time to issue the marriage certificate?
In the east wing, Qi Liang was reciting his own article, and outside the door of the east wing, Ah Liu was standing there. No one asked him to do so, and Zhang Shou even asked him to go in with him when he entered the room just now. However, he insisted on standing outside the door, ignoring the peeping eyes of the maids and servants in the corridor and the yard.
In the main room, the lady was still sitting in the middle, spinning the Buddhist beads between her fingers, but her eyes were a little dull. It was not until Mother Li came in that she got rid of her dazed mood.
"Madam, the eldest lady has gone back. Before I left, she repeatedly told me not to neglect Mr. Shou. She also mentioned that Mr. Shou saved her on the night of August 14th..."
"Stop talking!" The lady suddenly interrupted Mother Li, and then sighed softly, "Hua Qi said it when he sent the letter. I can also see that he is a good child with a lot of courage and strategy. Thinking back to the past..."
When Madam Li heard the words "Think of the past", she turned around and saw Madam Jiang standing at the door like a door god, just like Ah Liu in the east wing. She had just hurried back and didn't care about being rude. She complained in a low voice: "Madam, why are you still thinking about those old things? It's been so many years."
"I can't help but think about it."
The lady's eyes were blurred and she smiled bitterly.
"At that time, Concubine Yu and Jiu Niang were close friends, and they became pregnant one after another. As a result, they were too quiet and wanted to do something. That day, they persuaded the emperor and Jing'er to go to burn incense together in disguise and pray for a safe delivery. Who could have thought that the common people would find out about this and take the opportunity to collude with the Maitreya bandits to cause chaos. Concubine Yu and Jiu Niang forced Jing'er to take people to escort the emperor first, and the two women fled to the servants' courtyard."
Mother Li had a complicated expression on her face and whispered, "The master has been feeling guilty about this all these years. It is said that the emperor feels guilty too, otherwise Concubine Yu would not have only one daughter, Princess Yongping, but she is the most favored one in the harem."
The lady seemed not to hear anything, but her knuckles turned white from the force with which she was holding the Buddhist beads.
"Concubine Yu and Jiu Niang met the scholar's wife, Widow Zhang, who also fled here with a big belly. Widow Zhang also took a bloody sickle and said that she had injured a rebel. Jiu Niang knew a little martial arts, Concubine Yu was not a weak woman, and with Widow Zhang who was determined to protect her posthumous child, the three women tricked a few rebels to come here, killed them together, took away their weapons, and escaped through the side door."
"The three men exchanged their bloodstained clothes for monk robes they found in the temple. They hid in the widow Zhang's house, which was not far from the temple, but unexpectedly, they had labor pains. It was widow Zhang who desperately knocked on the door of the midwife next door, but she happened to be drunk. If it weren't for the maid Wu who stayed in the widow Zhang's house, the three men would not know what would have happened."
Mother Li wanted to continue interrupting: "So every Mid-Autumn Festival, when it's the eldest lady's birthday, doesn't the master always do his best to prepare for it?"
The Madam Tai had no intention of stopping and continued to talk to herself, "Nine Lady and Concubine Yu's child was born smoothly. The midwife just said it was a girl and put it aside. But Widow Zhang couldn't give birth, and Mrs. Wu was so scared that she was in a panic. Nine Lady and Concubine Yu were weak and couldn't help. Widow Zhang was also cruel. She told the midwife to leave her alone and perform the operation directly. After the baby was born, she fainted when she heard that it was a boy."
"All three children were born prematurely, just a tiny teen. If it hadn't been for the hot autumn weather that year, I'm afraid they wouldn't have survived."
"When Hua Qi brought people over, they found three children in the house, one boy and two girls. Concubine Yu and Jiu Niang were healthy and survived, but Widow Zhang had just died of heavy bleeding, and Wu was crying bitterly. But the two girls couldn't tell who was who. The midwife, who had regained consciousness, was frightened and terrified by Hua Qi's interrogation. She didn't know anything. Wu didn't even have time to cry for the mistress, so how could she know this?"
Thinking of the chaos of the past, the old lady felt her temples throbbing, as if she remembered the past when she mobilized the servants and generals in the mansion to search for her daughter-in-law and Concubine Yu. And the subsequent disputes made her sigh deeply.
"The matter was reported to the Queen Mother, and she was troubled about how to raise these three children. I originally wanted to bring the boys home, but Jing'er told the Emperor that the three children were born on the same day of the same month of the same year. The boys could be raised in the Zhu family, or even in the royal family, but if they were seduced by villains with their backgrounds in the future, rumors might spread everywhere. It's better to leave him outside and find a good teacher to teach him."
"As for the girls, no matter if they are princesses of the royal family or daughters of the Zhu family, we can pick any one of them and raise them in any way we want. If the widow Zhang's son is handsome in the future, no matter which girl we marry him, it will be a good marriage. It can also be regarded as repaying her and Jiu Niang Yufei for escaping together, taking them in, and hiring a midwife. As for honoring widow Zhang, we will wait until the child is an adult."
"Mrs. Wu insisted on raising the boy because of the great kindness that widow Zhang had shown her, and she also said that widow Zhang had already named the child Ah Shou. Because the turmoil had just subsided at that time, some people in the court even took the opportunity to criticize the empress dowager. Jing'er asked the emperor for permission to send some veteran soldiers to protect them, and also sent the shrewd old Liu and his wife, and arranged for Mrs. Wu to pick up Ah Liu."
"Fortunately, she didn't know the identity of Concubine Yu, and she just thought that they were all members of the Zhaoguo Mansion."
As the lady spoke, she shook her head and laughed, "Besides Jing'er and Jiu Niang, the only people in the mansion who know about this past are you and A Jiang."
"A Shou had been sickly since childhood, and Mrs. Wu was like a hen protecting her chicks. Jing'er knew that she was also the daughter of a scholar, but had suffered misfortune and ended up living with Widow Zhang, so he pretended to be a peddler and sent some books to her. I heard that the child could read quickly, but her health was too bad. When Grand Tutor Ge passed away that year, A Shou did not come out. From then on, Jing'er never mentioned the marriage in front of me."
"If I hadn't thought about it this time, I would have taken it to the grave. When the time is right, I will tell Ah Shou everything. But regarding the commendation, I need to discuss it with Concubine Yu first, and then speak to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor."
