Chapter 229 Cousin (Two chapters in one)

Two days later, Aunt Ji came over with her husband to cook. As soon as she reached the entrance of the alley, someone called out to her, "Excuse me, auntie, do you live here?"

Auntie?

Aunt Ji frowned and looked up and down at the person in front of her. His face was full of wrinkles and he looked older than her father. How dare he call her aunt?

"Who are you calling aunt? When did I ever have a nephew as old as you?"

That person...why is he still cursing?

"Big sister..."

“Who is your eldest sister?”

"Big sister!"

Aunt Ji rolled her eyes. At least she has some upbringing. She is so old, how come she doesn’t know anything?

"What's up?"

"If you live here, you must know that there is a scholar here. He is tall, handsome, and generous."

Aunt Ji said angrily: "There is no such person, you remembered it wrongly."

"How could I be wrong? The sedan bearer said that the man lives here."

Aunt Ji suddenly realized: "You are talking about Master Sun, right? What's the matter? Are you trying to find out how much money Mr. Zhu has at home so you can steal it?"

"Young Master Sun?" The man automatically ignored the last two sentences. What he feared most were the aunts and ladies in the capital. You say they are tight-lipped, but no one talks faster than them. You say they are not careful with their mouths, but they are very vigilant and always talk about spies and spies.

As expected, Aunt Ji asked, "Why are you asking about Young Master Sun? I know. Young Master Sun's uncle is a general guarding the border. You are not a spy sent by the Tartars, are you? Come on, arrest the spy!"

The leader: “Woof woof woof!”

Several old ladies appeared out of nowhere and said, "Spies, there are spies! Sister Ji, wait, I'll go back and get the gong!"

Aunt Ji: "Hey, why are you running? I'm talking to you, spy, don't run!"

......

Zhen Wuduo was sitting in the yard chatting with San Qianliang. Hearing the noise outside, the old man immediately took his stool and small teapot and ran out to watch the fun, but he was a step too late and the fun had already ended.

The old man felt extremely regretful and felt that the new tea that he had bought for fifty taels of silver was no longer fragrant.

"Sister Ji, you are disloyal. You didn't even let the gang leader come in to call me when there was a lot of fun."

Aunt Ji felt very embarrassed. She didn't expect the man to run so fast.

"I don't know where this greenhorn came from, asking about scholars. He's a generous and tall scholar. There are only five scholars in our area, your Xiaoye, my debt collector, the two from Mr. Jin's family, and then there's Young Master Sun. But if he wants someone who's generous and tall, then it can only be Young Master Sun. Your Xiaoye is only eight years old, and the two from Mr. Jin's family are eleven and nine years old, and my one is fifteen, but he's not tall. Who else could he be looking for but Young Master Sun?"

Zhen Wuduo thought to himself, they are looking for a scholar, not just those who study in school. Jin Juren is over forty years old, so he is also a scholar.

However, he suddenly thought of someone.

On that day, Xiao Zhen, that unfilial son, who knew he had some kind of epilepsy, came over dressed up as a scholar to annoy him.

That’s right, that kid doesn’t usually dress like that. But that day, he wore a scholar’s ​​robe and bought a lot of candies. He hasn’t finished eating those candies yet. In the eyes of others, isn’t this generous?

Could it be that the person was looking for information about his unfilial son?

"What does that man look like?" the little old man asked. He was looking for that unfilial son who had come here. Damn it! If that unfilial son implicated his precious granddaughter, he would be skinned alive!

Aunt Ji: "He's not young anymore, his face is as old as elm bark, he speaks Mandarin, but you can tell he's from out of town. There's no one in the capital who is so shameless."

Zhen Wuduo, okay, here we go again.

"There are many outsiders who have lived in the capital for decades. So, are they from the capital or outsiders?"

Aunt Ji: "Of course he is an outsider. No matter how many years he has lived here, he is still an outsider."

Zhen Wuduo: "So, are the royal family from the capital or outsiders? When Grandpa Taizu came to the capital, he was already forty years old. His ancestors were not from the capital either. Oh, and their ancestral tombs are not in the capital either."

Aunt Ji: "Oh, old man, aren't you just being argumentative? How can the Great Ancestor be the same as us ordinary people? The whole world belongs to him, the capital is his, everything belongs to him."

Little old man...

"I won't argue with you, Gangtou. Come here, I'll get you some dried meat."

Aunt Ji went to the kitchen, and the old man took the pole to the backyard. With a wave of his hand, a guard jumped down from the roof.

"Go check who is asking about the scholar."

As soon as the guard left, Zhao Shiqing jumped out: "Grandpa, what scholar?"

The old man did not hide it from her. He had to tell his precious granddaughter about this and let her know that Xiao Zhen was causing trouble again and had called people to his house.

The old man would never miss any opportunity to sow discord.

Zhao Shiqing also felt that the scholar that person was talking about was Xiao Zhen.

Unfortunately, the man who came today was frightened by Aunt Ji and ran away too fast. The guards searched for him but couldn't find him.

However, this incident has made everyone more vigilant. There are many hidden talents in the capital, so we must be careful and cautious.

But from that day on, people would occasionally wander around the alley. The guards secretly caught one of them and asked who asked them to come. The man didn't say anything at first, but after being praised by the guards, he told the truth.

The guards quickly found a man named Li, who was the owner of a candy shop. It was he who ordered people to keep an eye on the place and to find out which family the young scholar belonged to if they saw him.

Yes, Manager Li spent some money to find out the situation of every household in Tianjing Hutong from the village head.

The young master Sun that Aunt Ji mentioned that day did meet these conditions.

A scholar, young, tall, handsome, and generous.

But Shopkeeper Li had personally checked and confirmed that Young Master Sun was not the customer who bought candy that day.

However, none of the other families living in Tianjing Hutong met these conditions.

So Shopkeeper Li suspected that the guest did not live here, but was a relative of a local family.

But he had no choice but to use this stupid method and let people wait here.

When Zhao Shiqing heard that the person behind this was actually the owner of a candy shop, she thought of the candies Xiao Zhen brought that day.

Miss Zhao Er had eaten and seen these before, and she knew at a glance that they were not ordinary candies. That day, she was so busy arguing with the old man that she forgot about this matter.

She asked the guard, "Have you found out anything about that shop? Who owns it?"

The guard said in a deep voice, "I've checked and found out that the shop belongs to the Meng family."

Zhao Shiqing thought of Concubine Shu and asked, "Concubine Shu's family?"

The guard shook his head and said, "It's the family of Empress Meng, the Empress Xiaokang's mother. The shop was originally the store for Empress Meng's dowry. After Empress Meng passed away, the shop was returned to the Meng family."

Zhao Shiqing remembered, yes, the former Crown Princess’s surname was Meng.

Queen Meng's surname was Meng, and Concubine Shu's surname was also Meng. Outsiders thought they were from the same clan, but that was not the case.

The ancestor of Concubine Shu was an orphan who was adopted by a beggar named Meng, so he also took the surname Meng.

As his descendants produced promising children, the family gradually prospered, but it has only been a few decades so far.

However, Queen Meng's family was a well-established and prominent family with deep roots. Among their ancestors were great scholars, and their family could be traced back hundreds of years.

From this we can see that the retired emperor had high hopes for Emperor Xiaokang, and Queen Meng was the wife that the retired emperor carefully selected for his son based on the standard of the empress.

Zhao Shiqing was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of another shop.

It was an antique shop. She had once seen Yang Shengqiu and Princess Huiming having a tryst outside the shop.

"Go check again to see if the Meng family gave this candy shop to the two princesses Huixin and Huiming."

The antique shop was given to the two princesses by the Meng family, and maybe this candy shop is also given by them.

If the candy shop now belongs to the two princesses, it makes sense that the shop would have candies that are not available on the market.

The news soon came back that the Meng family had indeed left several shops, including this one, to the two princesses as dowries.

Queen Meng did not leave any offspring, so the Meng family probably wanted the two princesses to be grateful for Queen Meng's kindness, so they would burn incense for her during every festival.

Zhao Shiqing muttered to herself, "So this shop really belongs to those two princesses. Princess Huiming went to Ci'en Temple and may never leave again. Now the only owner of this shop is Princess Huixin."

The guards found out that Manager Li was from the Meng family. Zhao Shiqing did not think that investigating Xiao Zhen was the Meng family's idea.

Although the Meng family is a famous and prestigious family, the bigger the tree, the more complicated the internal situation is. It is normal for the different branches and courtyards to fight with each other.

Otherwise, why would Queen Meng entrust Xiao Yue to Princess Jiayi instead of her own family?

Princess Jiayi is the head of the Princess's Mansion. Even though she wants to stick to Prince Consort Xiao, Prince Consort Xiao will never go back on her word. When she brought Xiao Yue home to raise him, Prince Consort Xiao threw dirty water on herself and would rather be ridiculed by the world than not help Princess Jiayi settle her nephew.

Princess Jiayi can do this, but the Meng family cannot. Not to mention the many branches of the Meng family, even Queen Meng's brothers would have different opinions when faced with such a major event that might lead to the confiscation of property and the extermination of the entire family. They might even turn against each other and become enemies. In that case, the one who would be in the most danger would be Xiao Yue.

And this kind of big family is best at seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune. This can be seen from the fact that the Meng family left the capital after Queen Meng's death.

Therefore, the matter of Manager Li investigating Xiao Zhen was definitely not done by the Meng family.

If it's not the Meng family, then either Shopkeeper Li is too bored, or someone asked him to do this.

Zhao Shiqing prefers the latter.

Shopkeeper Li works for others.

Who is this person?

About to come out!

Zhao Shiqing snorted coldly, Princess Huixin, why is she investigating Xiao Zhen?

It’s all written in the storybook, cousins, make the bed and cover the quilt.

You are so good, Xiao Zhen. Even after your death, you still want to flirt with other women.

However, Zhao Shiqing quickly remembered another thing Xiao Zhen had said. The reason why Princess Jiayi ignored the two princesses was not because she was cruel, but because she simply looked down on the sisters and their mother.

Their mother was strangled to death by Queen Meng's order before her death.

That woman has no good intentions.

If that woman didn't die, Xiao Yue wouldn't be able to get out alive.

Queen Meng kept the sisters not because she was soft-hearted, but because they had the blood of Emperor Xiaokang in their veins.

It would be fine if Princess Jiayi didn't know about this, but she was given the task at a critical moment, and Queen Meng told her all the crises that had happened and had not happened. Since she knew about it, the most decent and least suspicious thing to do was to ignore her two nieces.

Princess Huixin didn't know the role Princess Jiayi played in this matter, but Xiao Zhen knew.

Since Xiao Zhen knew this, it was impossible for him to act like cousins ​​with Princess Huixin.

Miss Zhao Er just sat there without saying a word and convinced herself.

Xiao Zhen is innocent and has no affairs with other women.

Zhao Shiqing felt sweet in her heart and subconsciously looked around, hiding her love in her heart. She had not yet recovered from the hurt caused by Douyacai.

She asked Xiuxiu to put on makeup that made her look like she didn't recognize any of her relatives, and then she turned around in front of the old man and asked, "Grandpa, who do I look like?"

The old man: "It looks like nothing, nothing at all!"

Zhao Shiqing felt relieved. Now when she walked on the street, Wei Wubing would not recognize her.

Although she was not afraid of Wei Wubing, she did not want to cause trouble. Wei Wubing was a weirdo and looked like he had a messy brain. His good looks were wasted.

Zhao Shiqing brought a few friends and went to Ruyi Boat in a grand manner.

Xiao Zhen had just come back from outside. As soon as he saw Zhao Shiqing as soon as he entered the door, a smile appeared on his face.

Unfortunately, he was wearing a fake face, so the smile looked very fake. Zhao Shiqing couldn't bear to look at it and quickly got to the point.

She talked about Manager Li and her own guesses. When she mentioned Princess Huixin, the smile on Xiao Zhen's face disappeared completely.

"That day I did feel someone was looking at me, but when I turned around, there was nothing. Now that I think about it, Huixin must have seen me."

Zhao Shiqing asked, "What's your relationship with her?"

Xiao Zhen: "I'm not familiar with her."

Zhao Shiqing: "You are cousins, has she never given you a purse or handkerchief?"

Xiao Zhen was shocked. How could his little girl even know about this?

He even forgot about it himself.

"When we were young, we all studied in the palace. We were young and all relatives, so there was no distinction between boys and girls in the school. The third prince, the fourth prince, the fifth prince, along with Princess Jiarou, and several children from other palaces, including Huixin and Huiming, we all studied together.

I forgot which year it was, but one time Huixin gave me a purse, or maybe a fan cover, anyway, it was an embroidered thing. I said I didn't want it, but she forced it on me and ran away. It happened that I twisted my ankle while riding a horse those days and was limping. Before I could catch up with her, she ran away.

I had no choice but to give the thing to Princess Jiarou. Princess Jiarou is my aunt, and no one would say anything if I gave it to her.

As for whether Princess Jiarou threw that thing away or kept it for herself, I don’t know.

Really, although she and I are cousins, we are not really familiar with each other. The only time we met was that time. I can't even remember what she looks like now, and maybe I haven't looked at her carefully since the beginning."

Zhao Shiqing's eyes widened. "Ah? You're such a hottie at such a young age?"