The rumors were getting more and more true. Zhu had contributed to it, and the Feng family had also helped to spread it.
Mr. Feng had been in the business world for a long time, and he knew that people's words were scary, and could make people live or die.
At first, he wanted to marry Zheng Xiu as his daughter-in-law, but he did not act rashly and directly ask a matchmaker to come to his house to propose marriage. Instead, he used Zhu's words to find out that Zheng Xiu was unwilling to marry. He did not continue to pester her, but lay low and wait for the opportunity. Anyway, Zheng Xiu was carrying the reputation of "unlucky husband", and it would be difficult for her to get married for a while.
And now, it was the "good opportunity" that Mr. Feng had been waiting for for a long time.
People like him either did not take action, or they would definitely get something if they took action.
First, let Zhu's family smear Zheng Xiu everywhere, and then add fuel to the fire, and force Zheng Xiu to the extreme.
Mr. Feng also knew that with Zheng Ren's intelligence, he would sooner or later find out that his family was interfering, but that didn't matter. Anyway, when Zheng Xiu really married into the Feng Mansion, Zheng Ren would not do anything to the Feng family for the sake of his daughter.
So, to make it happen, Mr. Feng gave a heavy gift to the dean, asking the dean to stop Zheng Ren's class in the name of "poor personal morality."
Although the rumors outside were about Zheng Xiu, it is the father's fault if he raises a child but does not teach him. How can Zheng Ren be a role model for others after raising such a daughter?
The students in the academy pay the most attention to character, and they are very aloof, so naturally they are unwilling to accept such a teacher again. Even those who were determined to protect Zheng Ren would not dare to rashly disobey the dean.
Of course, Zheng Ren did not tell his family about these things. He still went out every day as usual and did not return home until dark.
"What happened to my father?" Zheng Xiu asked nervously after hearing what Master Feng said.
Master Feng smiled and said, "Uncle has been suspended from teaching, but it is only temporary. Uncle is still a teacher at Qingzhu Academy. As for the future..."
Zheng Xiu could not help but shudder. Scholars love reputation the most. If his father was expelled from Qingzhu Academy, the news would soon spread throughout the county and the state capital. It is very likely that this would become a lifelong "stain" on his father's reputation.
Master Feng seemed to have expected that the Zheng family was unaware of this, and pretended to be regretful and said: "Uncle has lofty ambitions and has taught for many years. I didn't expect that he would fall into such a predicament now..."
Zheng Xiu didn't want to listen to his nonsense anymore, so she pulled Old Lady Zheng and said: "I feel a little uncomfortable, grandma, let's go back quickly."
Old Lady Zheng was also in shock and nodded hesitantly.
The two of them no longer paid attention to Master Feng and went home.
Master Feng saw that his purpose of beating Zheng Xiu had been achieved, and he showed a satisfied smile, waved his hand, asked the servants to withdraw, and let them go.
After returning home, Old Lady Zheng asked Zheng Xiu in a panic: "What should we do with your father? He has been running Qingzhu Academy for almost ten years. Is it really..."
Zheng Xiu shook her head and said, "Don't worry, grandma. We don't know the specific situation yet. When dad comes back in the evening, I will ask him about it."
Old Lady Zheng wiped her tears again and said, "What should we do?"
Zheng Xiu herself was also in a dilemma. She comforted Old Lady Zheng, put down the vegetable basket, and went back to the house. She needed to calm down and think carefully.
The Feng family used both soft and hard tactics to force her to marry Master Feng. Not to mention that she looked down on people like Master Feng, just this kind of tactics made her feel disgusted. Besides, even if she got married, her reputation would be ruined, and people would still say behind her back that she had an affair with someone before marriage.
Zheng Ren was also very worried during this period. The dean suspended his classes and even helped the Feng family to act as a matchmaker.
After all, the dean was not someone else, he was equivalent to Zheng Ren's boss. Zheng Ren couldn't refuse too much and lose face.
Even some students who wanted to help Zheng Ren were secretly made difficult. Those whose families were in business encountered resistance in the market. There were also poorer students who used to do some groceries in the academy to pay for their tuition, but now they even lost their jobs because of him.
Zheng Ren didn't want to implicate others anymore, so he thought about resigning from Qingzhu Academy.
But this would be very unfair to those students who came here because of his reputation, and those who worked hard for him. Secondly, the family depended on his tuition to make a living. Zheng Ren asked himself that he had no other skills to make a living except that he was better than others in academics. No matter from which perspective, walking away was the most irresponsible behavior.
In the evening, Zheng Ren came back from outside and found that Mrs. Zheng looked strange. He was about to ask, but Zheng Xiu came out of the house and said to him, "Dad, your daughter wants to tell you something."
Zheng Ren nodded and followed her into the house.
Mrs. Zheng was worried, so she also quietly went to the window to listen.
Zheng Xiu had been worried the whole day and didn't want to beat around the bush with her father. "I went out to buy vegetables with grandma during the day and met Master Feng. He said that it was not good for dad in the academy?"
Zheng Ren originally wanted to hide it, but he couldn't hide it anymore, so he said, "Some things did happen in the academy, but they are all temporary. Ah Xiu, you don't have to take it to heart. It will be fine after a while."
No matter how stupid Zheng Xiu was, she knew that simple rumors could be quickly forgotten. But in this case, someone was fanning the flames and it was not something that could be easily fooled.
"Dad, do you really not want me to marry Xue Zhi?" Zheng Xiu asked, "Do you want me to marry Master Feng?" She had thought too simply before, that she could just accept the reputation of being a 'husband-killer' and never marry again. But now that something like this had happened, if she didn't marry, she didn't know what the Feng family would do to her family based on this rumor.
"Nonsense!" Zheng Ren shouted, "If you can't find a good one, you don't have to get married. Dad has raised you all your life! At worst, we can just move away. The world is so big, is there no place for us to stay?" When
Mrs. Zheng heard this, she couldn't stay any longer. She pushed the door open and said, "Boss, what are you saying? If Xiu girl doesn't get married, do you still want to be a human being? What will people say about our family? You said we should move away, but your father and I have been rooted here all our lives. We are both old. "You're not going to move out, do you want us to die in a foreign land? Or do you want to take the two children away and leave me and your father alone?"
Old Mrs. Zheng shed tears again, "In order to support you to study, your father and I have worked hard for most of our lives..."
In order to cultivate Zheng Ren, the family gave him all the good things first. Old man Zheng worked in the fields during the day and went out to help others at night. Otherwise, his health would not be so bad when he was old. Old Mrs. Zheng sewed and washed for others day and night. Until now, she gets frostbite on her hands every winter.
Zheng Ren was ashamed to face his elderly mother's words.
"Dad! Sister!" Zheng Yu shouted and pushed the door in. He usually went home in the evening, but it was already late this day.
He did not come back alone, and Xue Zhi and Xue Shao followed him.
As soon as he came in, Zheng Xiu noticed a dark circle around his left eye.
"Ah Yu, what happened to you?"
Zheng Yu still said angrily: "Nothing!"
"Did you fight outside?" Zheng Ren asked with a frown.
Zheng Yu said: "They said bad things about my sister, I was so angry that I fought!"
Children have poor ability to distinguish, and they believe everything adults say. Zheng Ren was not surprised that such a thing happened. He didn't say anything this time.
Xue Zhi was going to pick up Xue Shao home, and then he saw two children fighting with others at the gate of the school. Although Xue Shao knew how to fight, the other party had more people and more power. The two of them fought against five or six children and suffered a lot.
After Xue Zhi pulled the people apart, he sent Zheng Yu home. He wanted to help Zheng Yu explain a few words, but he didn't expect to hear the argument inside when he was outside the house. Since it concerned him, he did not avoid it and followed Zheng Yu into the house.
Her father's job was lost, her grandmother felt ashamed to face people, and even her brother was bullied outside. Zheng Xiu felt heartbroken and said, "If this is the case, Dad might as well send me to a nunnery to be a nun. I will be clean, and my family will not be implicated because of me!"
"No!" Xue Zhi and Zheng Ren said in unison.
Everyone in the room couldn't help but look at Xue Zhi.
Xue Zhi was not a person who would just avoid it. The rumors outside were ugly, and he, a grown man, found them unbearable to hear, let alone Zheng Xiu, a girl. He said immediately: "If Mr. Zheng trusts me, please let the eldest girl marry me. I promise to treat you with courtesy in the future, and when the storm subsides, I will give the eldest girl freedom!"
Zheng Xiu also said: "The customs of this dynasty are open-minded, and divorce is not uncommon. It is also normal for widows to remarry. Dad, look at the White Widow, isn't she..."
"Don't say anymore!" Zheng Ren closed his eyes, looking tired, "Let me calm down."
After saying this, he pushed the door and went out to his room.
Old Mrs. Zheng wiped her tears and followed him.
Zheng Xiu and Xue Zhi looked at each other in silence, she smiled faintly, "I'll take you and A Shao out."
Xue Zhi nodded. The three of them left the house together.
When they reached the door, Xue Zhi stopped and turned to her and said, "It's a matter of discretion. Please forgive me for being rude." The girl he liked said she was going to become a nun. How could he not be anxious?
Zheng Xiu nodded and said, "You go back first. I'll talk to my father."
The atmosphere between the two of them changed subtly and was a little awkward. Xue Zhi then said no more, bowed, and took Xue Shao away.
On the way back to the village, Xue Shao couldn't help but asked his father, "Dad, are you really going to marry my sister?"
This sounded a little strange.
Without waiting for his father to come back, Xue Shao said to himself: "My sister is being bullied now. If she marries me, I will help her and she won't be bullied anymore."
Xue Zhi didn't answer him and asked: "Doesn't your back hurt?" He remembered that when he felt it, his son protected Zheng Yu in front of his chest, and his back was wide open, and he was hit by several punches from those children.
Xue Shao was in a good mood and immediately said: "It doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt anymore." Thinking that he and his sister might become a family in the future, he felt comfortable and relaxed, how could there be any pain? !
Children's thinking is the simplest and most direct.
Xue Shao thought so, and Zheng Yu had almost the same idea.
After Zheng Xiu sent Xue's father and son back to the house, she went to the stove and took an egg for her brother to rub his eyes.
Zheng Yu pulled her sister and said, "Sister, I think Uncle Xue is much better than Master Feng! Will you marry him? Don't become a nun. I can't bear to part with you."
"Silly child." Zheng Xiu rolled her eggs gently on his eyes, "Don't think too much."
Zheng Yu pouted, "But I don't want to hear people outside say that about my sister. What they say is so unpleasant, but my sister is so good, not at all like what they say." "Anyway,
don't fight anymore. Dad didn't say anything today, but I'm sure he will teach you a lesson next time."
Zheng Yu didn't care, "It's okay for Dad to beat me, but whoever dares to say that about my sister, I will definitely not forgive him!" Zheng
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