Chapter 112 Chapter 112 Chapter 112

The Xiao family had not held official positions in the capital for several years, so the number of people who came to offer their congratulations was only enough for three tables. Their own relatives filled two tables, and their neighbors filled one table, making a total of no more than six tables.

Liu was dumbfounded and extremely disappointed; she had thought that many high-ranking officials and dignitaries would come today.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, is this all the people you have?" she asked, still unwilling to give up.

Miaozhen laughed and said, "This isn't our hometown. Back then, your fourth brother had many classmates who were students and took the provincial examinations. Now that he's an official in the capital, there aren't many of them he still keeps in touch with."

The Xiao family is not a particularly well-established scholarly family. It has only risen to prominence in recent years, after several generations of connections. Miaozhen doesn't care for such superficialities; she values ​​her daughter's practical gains more than anything else.

Liu was very disappointed and hesitated to speak. She took a moment to go to Fu'er's place, pulled her daughter to sit next to Fu'er, and said that her daughter was stupid and asked Fu'er to help her. She even gave her a gold phoenix hairpin. She thought that Fu'er was young and that a few nice words would surely make her plan for her daughter in the future.

Little did Fu'er know that she always thought her parents were too easygoing. People like Liu Shi really let her climb up by stepping on her shoulders. In the future, Liu Shi would be the first to deal with them.

She accepted the items as if they were just adding to her luggage, but ignored Liu's requests.

That's just how people are; they themselves are vindictive, yet they expect others to be kind and forgiving.

After the luncheon, it soon became afternoon. Zhao Rui arrived with a group of attendants. The Xiao family brothers were guarding the gate. The Zhao family members' eyes lit up when they saw Zhao Ge'er.

It is said that the bride and her brother are twins, a boy and a girl. Xiao Zhaozhi was so learned and handsome that with such a jewel by his side, all the men felt somewhat ashamed of themselves.

Zhao Ge'er had Zhao Rui compose a few poems to urge the bride to get married, and Zheng Ge'er had his brother-in-law shoot arrows in the field. After they both did a few token things, Zhao Rui brought the bride over. When Miao Zhen got married years ago, Xu Erpeng was very reluctant to let her go. Now that it was her own daughter's turn, looking at the perfect couple before her, Miao Zhen felt both gratified and reluctant to part with them.

But no matter how reluctant she is, this is a path her daughter must take. If her daughter is willing to remain unmarried for life, she will support her. But if her daughter wants to get married and have children, she also hopes that her daughter will live a good life.

"Auspicious smoke rises from the beaded curtains and embroidered screens, as the wedding ceremony marks a hundred years of auspicious union."

After the ceremony, Zhao Ge'er carried Fu Jie'er out the door. Miao Zhen resolutely refused to splash water and breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the wedding sedan chair disappear into the distance.

Now that their daughter was married, they were about to prepare for their return journey. From now on, Fu'er's path would be hers to walk alone. Xu Erpeng then asked Miaozhen, "We're still going back with the Xiao family's ship, what about you?"

"Anyway, the boat will go from Jining to Kaifeng. I'd like to invite you to meet your son-in-law in Kaifeng, and then I'll take you to Luoyang to enjoy the flowers. We can discuss it with your parents then, as they haven't seen Jing Shi in a long time. Also, Zhao Ge'er will be going back with you, since he'll be taking the provincial examination this year," Miao Zhen said.

Xu Erpeng stroked his beard and smiled: "I never thought that at my age, I could still travel to so many places. Luoyang peonies are the best in the world, so I might as well go and take a look."

The most important thing was whether or not to arrange a job for his youngest son. He had planned for his two sons: the eldest son would take the imperial examination, and the second son would manage the family business. But now the eldest son continued to pursue the imperial examination, while the second son, although he had not succeeded in his studies, was not content to work in the fields and was eager to go out and make his own way in the world.

What place could be better than his sister's? Her son-in-law is a third-rank official, in charge of grain storage, military farms, military affairs, postal services, water conservancy, and the people's welfare. It would be good for his younger son to gain some experience there. Presumably, Master Xiao Er is also thinking of this, and Xiao Jingtang's hard work is probably for this reason.

But he didn't ask for much. He didn't need any official position. He just wanted his youngest son to help him write some documents, so that he could gain some experience, become more worldly-wise, and know how to deal with the government in the future.

When Miaozhen saw that Xu Erpeng had agreed, she went to talk to Master Xiao and his wife, and after some initial reluctance, they also agreed.

As parents get older, they naturally want their children to enjoy life to the fullest. Miaozhen told Xiao Jingheng this and asked him to make the arrangements. Xiao Jingheng replied, "Sister-in-law, I'll have your sister-in-law go back with you. I plan to look at the business around here in the capital."

Back then, because of their relationship with Marquis Yunjian, the Xiao family dared not expand their business. It was only when Fu Jie'er was about to get married that Miaozhen asked the clan to help Fu Jie'er purchase tea in the capital. During this process, Xiao Jingheng discovered many business opportunities, and of course he would not miss this opportunity.

Miaozhen said, "Then Second Brother, you must help us arrange the boat first."

"Don't worry about that, it's only right. Sister-in-law, do you know anyone from the Han family?" Xiao Jingheng used to think that his younger brother would change his mind, but in the past few months, he has seen that his sister-in-law is indeed capable and outstanding. Not only does she manage the household affairs well, but she also has connections with princesses, grand secretaries, and even the hidden crown prince, Prince Yu. He is already convinced of her abilities.

"Are you referring to the family of the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion?" Miaozhen asked.

Xiao Jingheng nodded: "Exactly."

Miao Zhen smiled and said, "I'm not exactly familiar with their family. It's just that some of their family members have come to me for treatment, and I've met Madam Han a few times. Second Brother, do you need to see them for something?"

"Since we're not very familiar with your sister-in-law, let's just leave it at that." Xiao Jingheng thought that it was already good enough to have the heir of the Marquis of Yunjian, so there was no need to try to get close to just anyone.

Miaozhen was worried that he would ask her to curry favor with the Han family. The two families were still somewhat awkward when the marriage proposal failed back then. Now that he said this, Miaozhen breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Jingheng stayed behind to handle some matters, while Han Yueyao had to serve her parents-in-law and also missed her son who was at home. Miaozhen then had everyone pack their luggage, and they would set off after Fu Jie'er returned to her parents' home.

Just then, someone delivered two jars of "Golden Stem Dew," a royal wine. In addition to the two jars of wine, there was also a box of goose meat slices to accompany the wine.

She sent some to her parents-in-law and parents-in-law. Xiao Jingtang was having a meal at Mr. and Mrs. Xiao's place when he saw the wine Miaozhen sent. He clicked his tongue twice and said, "This is homemade wine. How come you have it, sister-in-law?"

Madam Ren said, "I heard it was sent by an eunuch. He adopted a nephew who was on the verge of death. It was thanks to your sister-in-law's treatment that he recovered after more than a month. No wonder they sent a congratulatory gift yesterday and another one today. I would say it's really too much to send as much as they could."

Xu Erpeng didn't like drinking, so he delivered the wine directly to Master Xiao. Master Xiao took a sip and chuckled, "This wine is really good."

"Master, please drink less alcohol. You've been drinking too much these past few days," Madam Ren advised.

Master Xiao laughed and said, "Don't even mention me, all of you eat and drink quite a lot."

Xiao Jingtang poured wine for his father and couldn't help but say, "Although Fourth Brother and Fourth Sister-in-law are not usually around, they are very filial to you. I heard from Zhao Ge'er that Sister-in-law went out to see a doctor, but the carriage couldn't go, and she didn't want to offend the officials in the Ministry of Personnel, so she went alone in the wind and snow. When she came back, she was frozen stiff, but she didn't say anything because she was afraid you would worry. These days, she has really troubled us with food and drink, as well as Eldest Sister's marriage."

In Xiao Jingtang's view, seeing more of other people's good points wouldn't be a bad thing, especially since his parents wanted him to join his fourth brother this time. Even if he didn't achieve great things, he could at least be like Xiao Qing, who, because of his expertise in sweet potato cultivation, was recommended to be the county magistrate of the Shandong Prefecture and then promoted to the top county.

He had been resistant to the idea, and even now he wasn't particularly interested, but regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he had to remember the favors others had done for him. In particular, his family had always treated him well, whether it was introducing him to the heir of the Marquis of Yunjian or making this special trip to Kaifeng for his sake.

Ren was pleased to hear her youngest son speak like this. Living with her elder brother and sister-in-law was different from living with her parents, where everything was done as they pleased. Parents always dote on their sons and will unconditionally forgive them even if they make mistakes, but her elder brother and sister-in-law might not be so forgiving. Look at Liu, she's so immature that Gao doesn't even want to get involved in her affairs anymore, and Liu doesn't seem to notice at all. It's just that Gao's actions are not obvious to others.

It's also said that when Miaozhen was looking through the gift list at home, she discovered that Commander Lu had also sent a generous gift—two Ningxia blankets. She thought about it and decided to give these blankets to Sister Fu to take back. Xiao Jingshi, that jealous man, is always stirring up trouble!

Next year, Xiao Jingshi will finish his term in Henan. I don't know where he will go next, but no matter where he goes, the family will be together.

On the third day after her return visit to her parents' home, Fu Jie'er looked to be in good spirits, and Zhao Rui was also in high spirits. Miao Zhen had already taken her daughter's hand and hurriedly asked her, "How are you? Has anyone made things difficult for you?"

“Mother, with the young master around, he has always protected me. My mother-in-law and eldest sister-in-law are both very kind. As for second sister-in-law, she doesn’t dare to do anything openly, but she has a sinister look in her eyes,” said Fu’er.

Miaozhen said, "If someone really dislikes another person, it's impossible to hide it. You must be patient, lure the snake into its hole, and then strike decisively when the time comes, understand?"

Fu Jie'er thought that only her mother would tell her such heartfelt words. Fu Jie'er thought to herself that she had grown up eating ginseng since she was a child, and her pulse was as strong as an ox. Her body was like that of a strong adult man, so she had nothing to be afraid of.

At noon, the table was full of dishes that Fu-jie loved. She ate two bowls in one go, enjoying her meal immensely. Madam Mei thought that Fu-jie was tall and slender, with a well-proportioned figure and rosy complexion, clearly a woman with the appearance of a man. However, she couldn't say this in front of Miao-zhen, as Miao-zhen hated hearing about such things and had even said that the sex of a child was not a woman's problem, but rather determined by the man.

After the meal, Miaozhen called Zhao Rui over and said, "I just told Sister Fu that we are going back soon. You two are newlyweds, and you must have many habits or temperaments to work out. Even teeth sometimes clash with the tongue. I hope you can trust each other during this time."

Many couples who are too close to each other end up being the target of jealousy and gossip. Miaozhen, who spends her years wandering the inner quarters of the household, has seen far too many such cases, hence her saying.

Zhao Rui smiled and said, "Mother-in-law, please rest assured."

Seeing her daughter's shy expression, Miaozhen said nothing more. She filled two carts with the wedding gifts and had them take them back. The next day, they set off from Tongzhou Port.

Before, it was just the mother and her children, and they were a little scared. Now that they are traveling with a large group of people, they are more courageous and have time to enjoy the scenery of the mountains and lakes along the way, which makes them feel much more relaxed.

Madam Ren thought that Madam Xu was indeed a carefree person. She was very reluctant to part with her daughter before, but after everything was done, she completely let go. Han Yueyao asked from the side, "Aren't you worried about Fu'er?"

"It would be a lie to say we're not worried, but we also need to learn to let go," Miaozhen said with a smile.

If adults always protect them, children will never grow up.

In just over a month, they entered Henan province. Miaozhen first sent her servants back by small boat to inform Xiao Jingshi that once they arrived in Kaifeng, a troop of soldiers would soon come to meet them. Master Xiao, who had always wanted to be an official, was very satisfied with the impressive display of force.

Miaozhen was eager to see Xiao Jingshi. When they met at the riverbank, Xiao Jingshi found his wife smiling at him. He clearly had so much to say, but his mind went blank, and he could only say, "You're back."

"Silly boy, of course I'm coming back. I'll set off after my daughter's three-day homecoming. I was just worried that you might have forgotten me since we've been apart for so long," Miaozhen teased him with a smile.

Xiao Jingshi said, "I spend my winters painting plum blossoms in the temple. It's so quiet and lonely at home, there's no point in doing anything."

“Then I must see your plum blossoms,” Miaozhen said softly.

The couple walked ahead, and Zhang looked on with great curiosity. Her sister-in-law usually looked very approachable, but she was actually quite serious, especially when there were too many patients; her face would often be expressionless. However, in front of Xiao's husband, she was completely relaxed and playful.

The food had already been served by the cooks at the government office. When Master Xiao arrived at the office, he pretended to be calm, but he was also very pleased. He said to Xiao Jingshi, "We can say that we are finally eating government food."

"Father, I specially ordered someone to prepare Yellow River carp. It's a specialty of Henan, so you must try it," Xiao Jingshi said with a smile.

Master Xiao nodded repeatedly.

Since everyone is a relative and they are all familiar with each other now, there's no need to put up a screen. After everyone finished their meal, Miaozhen arranged accommodations. However, the government office was not very big, unlike what they had in the capital. Fortunately, a councilor from the Provincial Administration Commission was leaving office, so they could arrange for Xu Erpeng and his wife, as well as the Ren couple, to stay there. That made sure they had enough room.

In the stillness of the night, Xiao Jingshi embraced Miaozhen: "Finally, it's quiet and peaceful, just the two of us."

“It’s been more than half a year since last Mid-Autumn Festival. I don’t want to be separated from you anymore. You have no idea how many relatives I had to entertain, patients I had to treat, and Fu’er’s wedding I had to take care of. I don’t know how I got through it. I was so irritable back then. I thought how good it was when we were together. We could discuss everything and help each other.”

Xiao Jingshi shared the same sentiment: "Those political affairs weren't particularly difficult for me, but we used to talk about everything. After you left, I had no one to talk to."

Husband and wife are the best allies. Sometimes you can tell your partner things that you can't even tell your parents.

The two recounted what had happened in the past few days. Miaozhen thought for a moment and then told him about Commander Lu. Xiao Jingshi thought that most men would avoid suspicion, and that Commander Lu's enthusiasm might be suspicious. However, seeing that Zhenzhen's eyes were clear, he tried his best not to be jealous. He then mentioned something: "The newly appointed Imperial Inspector has arrived, and I anonymously had someone send over Zhang Shihua's incriminating evidence."

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have reminded you: Grand Secretary Yan in the capital mentioned his relative Ouyang Bijin, and the Emperor is quite displeased with it,” Miaozhen said.

"This is a lucky accident." In officialdom, the slightest movement can happen very quickly, and Xiao Jingshi thought that Grand Secretary Yan was probably already losing the Emperor's favor.

Miaozhen couldn't help but say, "If this person continues to move upwards, it means that Yan's faction is not in trouble for the time being. If this person is investigated and punished, it means that Grand Secretary Yan is too busy to care about anything else."

Xiao Jingshi gave a thumbs up: "A wise man."

"It's not easy to get a compliment from you, let me be happy for three days!" Miaozhen said with a grin.

The two then talked about going to Luoyang to see peonies. Xiao Jingshi disagreed, saying, "Most people simply don't have the ability to appreciate them. These people are just talking nonsense."

"You think it's like this? They want to send one to us from each side. My father hopes my second brother will come and learn some manners and experience, not for any official position. Your parents want your sixth brother to work under you so he can get an official position later. I thought they were both family, my brother is a student of the Imperial Academy and your brother is a student of the Imperial Academy, and they are both of good character, so I decided to bring them both over," Miaozhen explained.

Xiao Jingshi grunted and said, "Sixth brother is quite good at socializing. He will be in charge of all the travel. As for second brother-in-law, I will have him stay by the clerk's side."

"You can arrange it." Miaozhen had no objections. Her second brother was clearly not as good at studying as her eldest brother. If he couldn't take the imperial examination in the future, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to work under someone else's patronage.

The most pressing matter is still Zhao Ge'er's provincial examination. Xiao Jingshi whispered, "The chief examiners for the Southern Zhili provincial examination are Wu Qing and Hu Jie. This Wu Qing is quite good; he was the third-place scholar in my previous examination. It is said that he was originally the top scholar, but because of his name, he only became the third-place scholar. He was a bit unlucky. As for Hu Jie, he is the same year as me. I was thinking of writing him a letter, but I feel that Xu Jing's experience is a lesson to be learned."

"Then let's not do it. I'm just afraid that if there's a cheating scandal in the imperial examinations, even if our son passed with real talent, people will say he got in through connections," Miaozhen said.

Xiao Jingshi liked Miaozhen's principled nature: "I've been in the Hanlin Academy for three years, so I know a little about what kind of articles they like. Besides, there are many such articles in bookstores nowadays. Let's just send our son directly from Henan to Southern Zhili. When it comes to studying, it's hard to pick up a book if you're too comfortable. I'll teach him myself."

Miaozhen agreed and then smiled, "That's good."

The two talked until almost dawn, and then they felt hungry. When Miaozhen realized that there was no food in the room when she was gone, she had to take out the dried fruit from the chrysanthemum petal lacquer box to eat. In the end, there were only some melon seeds and peas left. The couple ate and ate, but they were hungrier and hungrier, as if they had just been released from a starving prison.

"Why isn't it dawn yet?" Xiao Jingshi complained.

Miaozhen covered her mouth and laughed, "Let's take a nap. If we sleep for a while, it will definitely be dawn when we wake up, and the cooks will have breakfast ready."

Xiao Jingshi embraced his wife and whispered in her ear, "It's so good to have you back."

Just as Miaozhen was about to close her eyes, she saw Xiao Jingshi sit up from the bed and get dressed. "I can't wait any longer. I know there's a wonton shop two alleys in front of the official residence. It's run by people from Anhui, and business there is always very good. I'll buy some right away."

Before she could even react, Xiao Jingshi had already dashed off. Miaozhen was both amused and exasperated; her husband was truly an impatient man. However, she realized she really did seem hungry.