The General's Mansion is located on Qinglong Street to the east of the Imperial Palace. It has seven courtyards and is very grand and generous.
No matter who saw him, they would praise the great favor of the royal family. After all, the people on this street were either dukes, princesses, or princes. The emperor valued and trusted the general.
But people have forgotten that keeping a lion by your side is a sign of trust and reliance, but it may also mean caution and surveillance!
In the general's mansion, the middle-aged general's wife sat in the main seat in the main courtyard. Her dress was simple, and she even had only a few simple hairpins and rings on her head, but these could not diminish her beauty.
She is dignified and beautiful, generous and steady, and what is rare is that there is a bit of determination between her eyebrows.
At this moment, her two sons and daughter-in-law were sitting on the chairs on her left and right, and they all looked unhappy.
The eldest son, Zhao Ye, who was twenty-five or twenty-six years old, was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works. He married Jiang, the daughter of his superior. The couple got along well and acted more steadily.
At this moment, the eldest daughter-in-law Jiang was whispering to her mother-in-law, "Don't be anxious, mother. We can take a long-term view on this matter. There will always be a way."
Zhao Zhi also nodded, "Yes, mother. Father is doing something big. Not to mention that our family has some financial resources, even if we don't have any, we should still find a way to support him."
But the younger son Zhao Qiong disagreed.
Because he was the youngest son and had no father to discipline him since birth, he inevitably learned a lot of playboy habits. He was best at eating, drinking and having fun, but he had no sense of the overall situation and backbone.
He retorted impatiently, "Brother and sister-in-law, you say that so easily, as if you have the final say in this family!"
His wife, Chen, came from a family of minor officials and was famous for her beauty. He had to cry, make a fuss, and even hang himself to beg his family before they were finally able to marry her.
Although Chen was beautiful, she was also narrow-minded, greedy and calculating. She was not liked by her mother-in-law, but she shared the same hatred with her husband.
Just like now, Chen immediately echoed in a sarcastic tone, "Yes, big brother and sister-in-law, even if you are the eldest son and the eldest daughter-in-law and will inherit this general's mansion in the future, we are still part of the family. It's not right for you to do favors and we suffer losses. This doesn't make sense!"
Zhao Zhi frowned when he heard this, but he couldn't scold his sister-in-law, so Jiang spoke up, "What are you talking about, second brother and second sister-in-law? Mother is still here, and naturally she has the final say in the family.
"Although my father is away guarding the border, he has given us instructions, and as his children, we must obey..."
"Hmph!" Zhao Qiong snorted coldly, interrupting her sister-in-law and sarcastically saying, "Sister-in-law, you're always pretending, but save your energy today! If you keep listening to that stubborn guy, I'm afraid you'll have to pawn all your family fortune!"
"Bang!" The general's wife, who had been silent all the time, smashed the tea bowl directly, and the tea splashed all over her youngest son's face. The tea bowl hit the pillar behind her and fell and shattered.
Chen jumped up and screamed, pulled a handkerchief to wipe her husband's face, and wanted to blame her mother-in-law, but was frightened by the anger on her mother-in-law's face and swallowed her words.
"Zhao Qiong, who gave you the guts to disrespect your father? He endured countless hardships at the border for the sake of the Wei Empire and the peace of the people. He was your father who gave birth to you and raised you! This is how I taught you, and you actually told him to be so stubborn?"
The General's wife also came from a military family, though not as prominent as the Zhao family. For so many years, the General was away from Kyoto, and she had been the sole proprietor of the General's Mansion. Without a bit of shrewdness and ruthlessness, she couldn't have succeeded.
At this moment, she was really angry. Zhao Qiong was also afraid and timidly defended herself, "I just said it casually... Why did Mom get angry? Besides, I have only seen him two or three times since I was born. I am afraid he doesn't even remember what I look like.
"It's fine that he can't take care of the family on a daily basis. It's fine that we feel bad for Mom's hard work. But why is he still dragging his feet? Every time he writes back, he asks for money!"
As he spoke, he felt that he was right, and his tone became angry again.
"Our family fortune was inherited from my grandfather. My mother worked hard to build this huge general's mansion. Why would he use it all to support the border troops? He doesn't care about our lives at all!"
"Shut up!" Zhao Zhi saw his mother's bad face and quickly scolded his brother, "There are no parents in the world who are not wrong. Second brother, you must not disrespect father! Father is far away at the border, he must not know the difficulties at home.
Moreover, the military power of the border defense army is the foundation of our family's livelihood. The court... In short, Dad must have some considerations and arrangements before writing this letter home!"
"That's not necessarily true," Chen curled her lips and muttered softly, "The family has no money, no food to eat, but I'm afraid Dad doesn't care at all. He only cares about guarding the border and doing that thankless job!"
"Get out!" The general's wife couldn't hold it in any longer and kicked out her youngest son and daughter-in-law. She had originally come to discuss things with them, but she didn't expect them to disappoint her again.
Zhao Qiong and Chen stood up, bowed in disgrace, and then left.
As Chen Qiong stepped out of the door, she still shouted, "Mother, I don't agree to sell the property to give money to that man! I have a share of this property, and even if you sell it, you can't touch my share!"
Unfortunately, the answer he got was a tea bowl, which scared Chen, who wanted to join in, so much that he ran away in panic!
Jiang reached out to pat her mother-in-law's back to calm her down, and whispered, "Mother, my second brother is still young and naive. He will be fine when he grows up!"
"He's already married and has children. If he were in another family, he would have already established his own family!" The general's wife regretted it deeply. "I felt sorry for him because he had no father to teach him since he was a child, so I spoiled him a lot. Now I think it was a big mistake.
"I originally wanted to marry a good wife who could help him with some advice, but ended up marrying this petty-minded thing who wants to keep her eyes in the warehouse all day long, afraid of being taken advantage of!
"Oh, I really can't face your father. He must be so sad to be treated like this by his son!"
The general's wife's eyes were red and she tried hard to hold back her tears.
Chen Zhi quickly spoke up and said, "Mother, how to teach my brother is a matter for the future. The current matter is to collect these three thousand taels for Dad."
"According to Father's arrangement, if we successfully cultivate high-yield crops next year, we won't have to worry about military rations anymore. Even if the court is unhappy, they won't punish us severely for the sake of saving military rations."
The general's wife nodded and replied solemnly, "Your father's considerations are undoubtedly more far-sighted than ours. Even if it's a little difficult for us, we must lend him a helping hand. Our small farm in the suburbs has one hundred acres of fertile land, twenty acres of horse pasture, and a hilltop. It's a rare and excellent place. Why not spread the word and sell it? If the buyer is kind, three thousand taels should be more than enough."
"Don't worry, mother. I will arrange for someone to take care of it myself. You just need to prepare clothes and other things for Dad. When the time comes, bring the banknotes back and send them back to the border immediately on horseback." Zhao Zhi stood up and was about to get busy.
The general's wife warned, "Be careful and don't let outsiders talk about it. At this time, the fewer people who know, the safer your father will be."
At this time, Jiang stopped her husband.
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