However, after the prince said these two sentences, he no longer mentioned Zheng Ren, and turned around to continue chatting and laughing with Xue Mian. It seemed that those few words just now were just casual conversations after dinner.
The prince stayed in Hao Yetang for more than half an hour, then stood up to say goodbye.
Xue Zhi and Zheng Xiu personally saw him off to the door, watched him get on the carriage, and led people to the direction of the palace.
After watching them go away, Zheng Xiu stroked her chest and said, "If you come two more times, my heart will jump out."
Xue Zhi couldn't help laughing, "Your Highness is very approachable, you really don't need to think so much."
The two of them walked towards Hao Yetang while talking.
Zheng Xiu asked the maids and servants to stand a few steps away and said, "Your
Highness just mentioned my father. Does he have any thoughts?" Xue Zhi said, "My father-in-law is a talented writer. He is a rare talent. It is reasonable for Your Highness to have a crush on him."
"But my father, he is not interested in the temple..."
"It's a different time now. I heard some things after returning to Beijing. I was thinking of finding a suitable opportunity to tell you."
It was not convenient to talk outside, so Xue Zhi said that he would tell her in detail after returning.
When they arrived at Haoye Hall, Zheng Xiu asked the maids and servants to wait outside, and he followed Xue Zhi into the inner room.
Xue Zhi did not beat around the bush and told her what he heard after returning to Beijing.
Many years ago, Zheng Ren got married in Beijing after he passed the imperial examination. He married the daughter of an aide under Shuntian Prefecture.
The aide's family was poor, but also a family of scholars. Because they valued Zheng Ren's talent, they betrothed their daughter to him.
After marriage, Zheng Ren and his wife lived in harmony, and soon gave birth to Zheng Xiu.
But unexpectedly, when they went out on the street by chance, the young master of the Loyal and Brave Marquis Mansion fell in love with Zheng Xiu's mother. In this dynasty, people who passed the imperial examinations could become officials, but most of them were candidates for minor officials. Zheng Ren's official rank at that time was not high, so naturally he could not compete with them. After several tricks and robberies, not only did they cut off Zheng Ren's path to the imperial examinations, but they also angered Zheng Xiu's grandfather to the point of sudden heart disease and death.
After several years of maneuvering, Doctor Yu Shi of Yu Shitai reported the House of the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery several times, but to no avail. Instead, the House of the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery really hated Zheng Ren, making things even more difficult for them. Zheng Ren and
his wife were disheartened, so they resigned and returned home. Zheng Xiu's mother was also upset because of her father's early death, and she died of illness a few years after returning home with Zheng Ren.
"So my father-in-law is not really not interested in this, otherwise he would not have studied the books of sages for more than ten years. It was really the situation many years ago that forced him to do so." Xue Zhi couldn't help but sigh when he said this. If he had known that he would like Zheng Xiu so much in the future, he would have tried his best to help Zheng Ren out at that time.
However, he was less than ten years old at the time. Even if he could see the future, his ability was limited.
Zheng Xiu never knew that there was such a past in her family. She could not help but say angrily: "How dare the Loyal and Brave Marquis' Mansion do such a thing under the emperor's feet?! It is really unforgivable!"
Xue Zhi reminded: "The current queen mother is from the Loyal and Brave Marquis' Mansion."
No wonder the Loyal and Brave Marquis' Mansion dared to be so bold and presumptuous. Zheng Xiu suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
Xue Zhi hugged Zheng Xiu's shoulders and comforted her in a gentle voice: "It's good now, your father-in-law doesn't have to worry about anything. The emperor has been sitting on the throne for many years, and the prince has grown up. And with my Duke of Qing's Mansion, your father-in-law and you don't have to be afraid of anything anymore."
Zheng Xiu nodded, with mixed feelings in her heart. This is the capital city, where all power is determined. The emperor had just ascended the throne and was still somewhat jealous of the empress dowager, so he allowed the Loyal and Brave Marquis's Mansion to do such lawless things.
"That man from the Loyal and Brave Marquis's Mansion..."
Xue Zhi said: "The emperor later issued an edict to dismiss him from his official position, and now he can only be a commoner forever. I heard that he had a quarrel with someone in a brothel a few years ago, and died not long after returning home."
Finally, he got the retribution he deserved.
Zheng Xiu was counting the days in her heart. Not long ago, her father wrote a letter home, saying that he would be ready to leave for the capital after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. After
the eighth day of the eighth month, it is the New Year, and the month of Ram is coming to an end soon.
Before the Chinese New Year, Zheng Xiu took out money from Xue Zhi's private vault, gave everyone a big red envelope, and made new clothes for each of them. Although the public will also have red envelopes and new clothes, the public belongs to the public and the private belongs to the private. This is her compensation for the monthly salary that was previously fined by Princess Guihe.
Everyone in Hao Yetang received double the bonus, so they were naturally happy and worked harder.
This was also the most leisurely year that Zheng Xiu had spent since she traveled through time. She didn't have to clean or prepare a New Year's Eve dinner.
But she also felt lonely wandering outside, and she was always thinking about her family.
Fortunately, Xue Zhi and Xue Shao were very considerate of her, and they tried every means to make her happy during this period.
On New Year's Eve, Xue Zhi took Xue Qin, Xue Shao, and Xue Mian to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors, and the family gathered together in Changfeng Garden to have a New Year's Eve dinner. Zheng Xiu also asked someone to invite the old lady, but the old lady did not come out, and still chose to stay alone in the small Buddhist temple.
Although Princess Guihe did not like Zheng Xiu and Xue Shao, she did not embarrass them.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone stayed up in Changfeng Garden.
Xue Zhi said to Princess Guihe: "Sister-in-law, while I'm thinking about it, I want to record A Shao in the family tree."
As Xue Shao was nominally the eldest son of Xue Zhi, it was natural for him to be recorded in the family tree. Xue Zhi had come back for so long without mentioning it, naturally because he felt guilty for his elder brother towards Princess Guihe. But Xue Shao would be eight years old in the new year, and he couldn't bear to see the child remain nameless and without status.
Princess Guihe's eyebrows jumped, and she was naturally unwilling in her heart, but she didn't think of how to refuse for a moment.
After a moment of silence, Princess Guihe said: "Then record him as a concubine of the second house."
Princess Guihe and Xue Shao both knew who Xue Shao's biological mother was, but no one else knew. In the eyes of others, he was a child whose mother was unknown.
Xue Zhi was naturally unwilling and said, "I want to register A Shao under A Xiu's name and make him the eldest son of our second house."
Princess Guihe looked cold and turned to Zheng Xiu, "Are you willing?" She didn't believe that Zheng Xiu would be willing.
Xue Zhi also thought of this during the ancestor worship in the afternoon and did not inform Zheng Xiu in advance. But Zheng Xiu didn't think it was a big deal and immediately expressed her opinion, "I am willing."
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