"Greetings, great aunt." When the doorman saw that it was Yu Yuanzheng who got off the carriage, he immediately stepped forward to greet her.

"Uncle Zhao, what happened?" The doorman was Zhao Changsheng, the dowry that Madam Zhao brought from her natal family, and the husband of Nanny He in Madam Zhao's courtyard.

"Nothing." Uncle Zhao hesitated and didn't know what to say.

When Yu Yuanzheng saw his hesitation, she knew that he was too embarrassed to say it.

Take two steps forward in three steps.

Although the house has three courtyards, it is not very big. However, it is enough for their family to live in the first room.

After passing through the outer courtyard and entering the main courtyard, I saw my mother standing at the door of the main hall, about to punish a maid.

"Madam, I was wrong. I will never do it again. Please forgive me this time. I will behave myself in the future and never have any wrong thoughts again."

A maid was kneeling on the ground and begging.

"Hit me." Zhao Yuejiao didn't want to say more and gave the order directly.

Nanny He stepped forward and ordered the two maids to press the man down on the bench and started beating him with a stick.

Yu Yuanzheng had never seen her mother so angry.

The board made a "crackling" sound.

She didn't rush forward, but waited until the thirty boards were beaten before she appeared from behind the pillar.

"Zheng'er? Why are you coming back at this time?" Zhao Yuejiao immediately put on a smile when she saw her daughter coming back.

"Mom, I came back because I missed you." Yu Yuanzheng walked over and helped Zhao Yuejiao into the hall and sat down.

"Mom, what happened?" Yu Yuanzheng glanced at the maid who was still lying on the stool and had fainted.

Of course she knew that maid, she was the head maid who served her mother.

He is also a servant of the Bo family.

The maid who came with the dowry is already old and married.

Those who serve Zhao Yuejiao now are all the sons of the wealthy families who were later chosen to live in the Bo's Mansion.

"Ah, this division of the family has made her so bold. She even dared to seduce your father and wanted to be his concubine."

"What?" Yu Yuanzheng didn't expect this to be the reason. No wonder her mother was so angry.

"When she was in the Bo's Mansion, she still had the hope of becoming Guan Xi's wife and could control her ambition. With the division of the family, we are only eighteen slaves. She feels that she has no way out, so she has set her sights on your father."

Zhao Yuejiao said this angrily.

"Then just sell it directly." Yu Yuanzheng hated this kind of woman the most.

"Well, considering that she has served me, I'll beat her up and send her back to the uncle's house to be taken care of by her parents. I guess your aunt won't let her go either." Zhao Yuejiao didn't want to be too harsh on her.

After all, their first wife had just separated, and they only had so many servants. If she went too far, what would the other servants think? If she showed a little mercy, the remaining servants would be more loyal.

"When you manage your servants in the future, you must also pay attention to the balance between relaxation and tension. Only then will they be more loyal to you instead of being overly tough." Zhao Yuejiao took the opportunity to teach her daughter.

In the past, when she was in the Earl's house, she was not the mistress of the household and had to make a living under the old Earl's wife and the Earl's wife. Most of the time, she restrained herself just to make life easier for her mistress.

Now that the family has been divided, she is the mistress of the household, and the way she does things is naturally different from before.

"My daughter has learned a lesson." Yu Yuanzheng didn't expect that her mother would change after the separation of the family.

As expected of a businessman, he knows how to manage.

Her six dowry shops were all managed by her in an orderly manner, and each of them made a profit, although not much, but that was also the reason.

"Where's Dad?" Even when Mom was so angry, Dad didn't show up.

"He and your brother are both studying in the study, and your sister went to play at the neighbor's house. There happened to be a girl of the same age next door, and the two of them got along very well."

"Then I'll go talk to dad first. I want to eat at home at noon." Yu Yuanzheng started by doing the formalities.

"Okay, I'll ask the kitchen to make you your favorite puff pastry."

Yu Yuanzheng came to the study room in the outer courtyard and shouted loudly before entering the door: "Dad, big brother, I'm back."

The father and son, who were reading seriously, put down their books and opened the door immediately when they heard Yu Yuanzheng's voice.

"Big sister is back." Yu Qingsheng was very happy when he saw big sister.

He had a very comfortable life during these ten days, because his family had left the eldest house and he didn't have to look at anyone's face.

When he was in the Bo's Mansion, he had to pay his respects to the old lady every day, and every time he was met with a cold face. Even the servants in the old lady's courtyard would give him a cold look.

He had had enough of this kind of life. Now he was finally free from it, all thanks to his elder sister.

Now, the eldest sister is a hero in his heart.

Yu Yuanzheng patted her brother's shoulder. The fourteen-year-old boy was already much taller than the sixteen-year-old girl.

The three of them went into the house and sat down.

"Dad, is there going to be a provincial examination in the fall of next year?" Yu Yuanzheng asked Zheng Xian directly.

"Yes, Dad wants to sign up and try, and your brother also has to take the college entrance examination, so recently we father and son dare not delay at all. We review our lessons at home every day and try our best to pass." Yu Yunzhi said this, but he did not show any joy on his face.

He hasn't read so seriously for a long time.

Over the years, although he also read books and studied, he did not study so hard because he knew he had no chance to take the imperial examination.

"Dad, how did you perform when you took the exam?"

Hearing this question, Yu Yunzhi fell into memories.

That was more than ten years ago.

At that time, he was only sixteen years old, but he passed the examination for the scholar. The teacher praised him as a good seedling and said that if he continued to study, it would be no problem for him to pass the examination for the Jinshi.

Unfortunately, his stepmother refused to let him continue to take the exam and arranged for him to do something else early on.

His father even had a quarrel with his stepmother over this, but was unable to win him another chance.

Later, he finally found out that his stepmother threatened him with death. If he continued to study, she would die with her eldest son.

This shows how much she hated her biological mother at the beginning.

For the sake of family harmony, he gave it up.

From then on, I became my brother's assistant and took care of the household chores.

But he loves books and will buy his favorite books as long as he has some money.

Yu Yuanzheng looked at her father's unreal expression and knew that he was recalling the sad past.

It took a long time for Yu Yunzhi to come out of his memories, but his eyes were already red and his nose was sore.

"At that time, Dad got the first place in the exam." The sour voice made people feel extremely melancholy.

"Dad, I came here today to bring you good news." In order to relieve the depressed mood, Yu Yuanzheng did not beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose.

"Oh? What good news?" Yu Yunzhi was surprised.

"Grand Scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Lord Jin is willing to test your and your brother's knowledge. If you can pass his test, he is willing to accept you as his students." Yu Yuanzheng said with a smile.

"What did you say?" Yu Yunzhi couldn't believe it. With his identity and situation, he was simply not worthy of the attention of Mr. Jin.

Master Jin also accepted students from poor families, but they were also outstanding students from all over the country. At the same time, they would not be involved in family conflicts.

If we accept him, it means we are competing with the current Earl of Yong'an. Every upper-class family in Beijing knows about their family's wealth.

But no one would care about the future of a bastard.

Every family is suppressing illegitimate sons, openly or covertly. For the sake of the family, which father would not turn a blind eye?

Yu Yuanzheng nodded in affirmation.

"But Mr. Jin is seriously ill. I heard it's a cough caused by fatigue. This disease is contagious." Yu Yunzhi thought of another thing and suppressed his excitement.

Many people knew about this. He had heard his eldest brother mention it before the family split up.