Chapter 34
In fact, not only did she remember these things clearly, she also recovered the chip memory before it was corrected.
The senior leaders of the Time Administration were all cold and inhumane "monsters", and they took great pains to cover up the "work injury" she suffered when she first traveled to the Ming Dynasty.
Because the "Time Management Law" has always prohibited living people from participating in historical research-related projects as time travelers, and the T001 project is not only to obtain those precious historical research materials, but also to prove that living people as time travelers will not cause irreparable damage to their physical and mental health.
Judging from the various mental illnesses she developed after returning to the modern era after her first time travel, this experiment of the T001 project was a failure.
However, the Space-Time Administration forcibly tampered with the experimental results and modified her chip memory in order to amend the "Space-Time Management Law".
Before being pushed into the operating room for the chip memory correction surgery, she contacted the surgeon, Dr. Wan. Because she and Dr. Wan were very good friends, Dr. Wan set an validity period for the chip memory correction surgery at her request. After the validity period, she will be able to automatically recover her memory before the correction.
She remembered everything, which led to her "unspeakable" response to Zhu Mingji after the beating in court in the fifth year of Huiyuan.
After re-examining the history of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xihua knew that she would have to leave the Ming Dynasty sooner or later. As a time traveler, she did not belong here, and her life span had already been determined as recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
*
Two streets away from the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Xihua on horseback was stopped by a group of eunuchs.
When she learned that the emperor had summoned her, she changed to a sedan chair carried by eunuchs.
About a quarter of an hour later, she boarded the imperial boat docked at the ferry south of the city.
Zhu Mingji sat behind the desk in the cabin and admired a painting of "Auspicious Crane". The crane in the painting was lifelike and seemed to be flapping its wings and flying out of the paper. Next to the scroll was a stack of neatly stacked memorials.
After Zhang Xihua bowed, he raised his eyes and stared at her for a few breaths before saying, "I think the feng shui of Nanjing City is more nourishing. You've grown taller and look well. Do you usually take those nourishing medicines?"
"I take a bowl of medicinal soup every morning and evening, without skipping a day." Zhang Xihua said.
"It's good that you know how to cherish your life." Zhu Mingji rolled up the scroll. "I think the time is almost up. When the cabinet position is vacant, you should still return to the capital with your family. I'm getting bored reading all the official language in the memorials you write all day long."
The two of them talked about current affairs for a long time. When the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiang Chunfang, and several other cabinet ministers said outside the cabin that they had something to report to the emperor, Zhang Xihua got off the imperial boat, took a detour to the fruit shop, picked up a basket of fresh loquats and took them home.
As soon as he returned home and changed out of his official robes, Mrs. Jiang sent a maid to invite Zhang Xihua to meet a guest in her courtyard.
In the main hall, Cui Susu was wearing a plain white dress and only two silver hairpins in her hair. She sat on an armchair below Madam Jiang and her mother Zhang Mingzhu.
Wan Yuru was talking to Cui Susu.
Zhang Xihua first greeted Mrs. Jiang and Zhang Mingzhu.
Zhang Mingzhu hurriedly called her daughter over to greet Zhang Xihua.
Cui Susu came forward and bowed to Zhang Xihua, timidly calling her "cousin".
Mrs. Jiang couldn't help but frown.
Zhang Mingzhu said, "Erlang, you are promising now. Your aunt is asking you to take care of my Susu. A fire in Susu's husband's house burned down all the property. Not only did your cousin's husband die in the fire, but Susu's mother-in-law was too sad to die of illness a month after your cousin's husband's death. Your aunt thought that you and your niece's wife have been married for three years without having any children, so it's time to think about taking a concubine. Susu is your cousin. Your aunt believes in your character and will not treat her badly. So, bring Susu back and let her be your roommate."
With a loud "clang".
It turned out that Wan Yuru dropped the teacup in her hand, and the tea stained the pomegranate skirt she was wearing today.
When Zhang Xihua saw Wan Yuru winking at her, she left the main hall on the pretext of accompanying Wan Yuru to change her skirt.
The two moved to the west wing to talk.
Wan Yuru: "It's not that I can't tolerate my cousin Susu, but my cousin Susu is of noble status. It would be unfair for her to be my husband's concubine."
Zhang Xihua: "There's no need for us to speak up. Mother is always sensible and will refute what Aunt said for us. But Yuru, you still have to take care of the external affairs. After all, you are relatives with Aunt and cousin. Don't let them find fault with you."
Wan Yuru felt relieved when she saw that Zhang Xihua had no interest in Cui Susu.
"My dear husband, I will definitely take good care of my aunt and cousin Susu."
After Wan Yuru changed her skirt, Zhang Xihua went back to the main hall with her.
Cui Susu's eyes were red, obviously she had just cried, and Zhang Mingzhu's face did not look good either.
"Niece-in-law." Zhang Mingzhu smiled at Wan Yuru, but the smile was a little stiff and cold. "Come here, your aunt has something to discuss with you."
Madam Jiang said hurriedly, "Aunt, I'm the most shameless daughter-in-law. Please don't make things difficult for the younger generation. We are all blood relatives, and it's not a big deal for the Marquis's Mansion to have two more people. Aunt and Susu can live here peacefully for the time being, and don't mention anything about taking a concubine. If a good child like Susu really becomes a concubine in Xihua's room, the old lady and the old man in heaven will be very worried."
Zhang Mingzhu said with a stern face, "I know that it's unfair for my Susu to be Erlang's concubine. There's no such thing as a mistress being the daughter of a merchant and a concubine being the daughter of an official. Even if we talk about first come first served, it was my Susu who got to know Erlang first. My niece-in-law just took advantage of her father's wealth to get married to Erlang—"
Zhang Xihua couldn't bear to listen any longer and interrupted Zhang Mingzhu.
"Aunt, you've got it wrong. My nephew got a great deal by marrying a beautiful, virtuous woman like Yuru. If you're still willing to stay with my family, please feel free to stay here. I'll have Mother and Yuru look for a good match for my cousin. If you insist on trying to match me up with my cousin, I'll have no choice but to disown you."
Zhang Mingzhu was furious and pointed at Madam Jiang, Zhang Xihua and Wan Yuru one by one.
"Very well. You've just seen my father and mother pass away, and now you're talking to me about your family and my family."
"Jiang, my last name is Zhang, and the last name comes from the 'Zhang' of Yongjia Marquisate. You, a Jiang, cannot be my master."
"Ms. Wan, you're just a merchant's daughter. Don't be too proud of being a marquise. Erlang is unlucky to marry you. How many people will laugh at him for having a wife of such a lowly background."
When it was Zhang Xihua's turn, Zhang Mingzhu couldn't say anything bad about him.
Mrs. Jiang was so angry that her chest was heaving. Wan Yuru hurriedly stood behind Mrs. Jiang and patted her back to help her calm down.
Cui Susu felt ashamed and tugged at Zhang Mingzhu's sleeve, begging her mother to stop talking.
Zhang Xihua snorted coldly, "Since my aunt wants to break off relations like this, how can this relative continue?" Then he ordered the servant to come in and ask Zhang Mingzhu and her daughter to leave the house.
While being pushed out, Zhang Mingzhu kept cursing and saying bad things about Madam Jiang and Wan Yuru.
Cui Susu followed her mother crying.
Although Mrs. Jiang was angry, she still felt pity for the mother and daughter, and asked people to send more money to help Zhang Mingzhu and Cui Susu.
A month later, Zhang Mingzhu brought Cui Susu to apologize to Mrs. Jiang and said a lot of heartfelt words to Mrs. Jiang.
Madam Jiang did not bother with the mother and daughter and let them live in the mansion with peace of mind.
Wan Yuru generously arranged accommodation for the mother and daughter, as if she had not heard the scolding Zhang Mingzhu said to her.
They lived in peace for some time.
However, on May 13th, after Mrs. Jiang drank a bowl of milk and bird's nest that Wan Yuru gave her, she vomited blood and passed out.
When Zhang Xihua returned home from work, he heard from the doctor that Mrs. Jiang was poisoned by arsenic, but the dose was not large. After drinking the emetic soup, Mrs. Jiang's life was no longer in danger. She just needed to pay special attention to her health in the future.
Mrs. Jiang was still lying in bed, sleeping. Cui Susu stayed by her bedside and took care of her attentively, while Wan Yuru was dragged to the yard by Zhang Mingzhu and scolded.
Zhang Xihua ordered Qingque and Feiyue to send Zhang Mingzhu and Wan Yuru back to their respective courtyards.
She walked to the bedroom, took out a confession from her sleeve and threw it at Cui Susu.
"This is the confession of a servant named Li Yang from your husband's family. He was your lover, and at your instigation, he set fire to your husband's house. After the fire was done, you hired someone to kill him to silence him. When the people I sent found him, they offered him a chance to live, and he confessed everything."
Cui Susu was very calm. "If my cousin wants to hand me over to the authorities, then don't blame me for making the story of that idiot Wan Yuru poisoning my mother-in-law known to everyone. Anyway, I, Cui Susu, am going to die, so it's just right to have the Marquise accompany me on my journey to the underworld."
"I've been waiting for you to show your hand. You didn't let my mother eat the bowl of bird's nest with milk that you had added arsenic to in the kitchen." After Zhang Xihua finished speaking, Mrs. Jiang on the bed opened her eyes and slapped Cui Susu in the face.
Cui Susu sneered a few times, her eyes full of hatred.
"I used to be a person who was afraid of blood, but you guys made me like this. Cousin, you refused to marry me back then and forced me to marry into the Chen family. The mother and daughter tortured me to death. I had to stand outside the old woman's house at midnight, waiting for her to get up and help her comb her hair, dress, and go to the toilet and eat. And that bastard treated me even worse. He abandoned me a month after we got married. He has more than a dozen concubines and maids in his room. If I say anything bad about him, he beats and scolds me endlessly. I've had enough of that kind of life. It's all because of you. Cousin, how am I inferior to Wan Yuru?"
Zhang Xihua did not want to talk any more with Cui Susu, so he ordered his men to tie Cui Susu up and send her to the authorities for trial.
As for Zhang Mingzhu, she was sent to a remote village and kept under guard.
After this incident, Zhang Xihua was afraid that Wan Yuru would be deeply in love with her and end up like Xu Baoyin, Cheng Ying and Cui Susu in the future, so she simply talked it out with Wan Yuru.
*
"Are you a girl?"
Wan Yuru was surprised, confused for a few breaths, and then showed a look of heartache.
"You've been pretending for so many years. It must be very hard."
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