You Qi led Zhao Hao into the living room to sit for a while, ordered someone to serve him fragrant tea, and then he hurried to the inner house to report.

This made Mr. Zhao a little uncomfortable. In the past, he would just walk through the hall and his wife would not avoid him. But he did not think about it. Now he is 18 years old. Can people still treat him as a child?

Soon, Zhang Juzheng's eldest son Jingxiu and second son Sixiu came out to greet him. After all, they were still teacher and student, so they saluted him with a slightly awkward look.

Zhao Hao was no longer arrogant and quickly stood up and returned the greetings to his elder and second uncles.

"Sir, my father told me that you bewitched my Xiaojing?" Zhang Jingxiu frowned and looked at Zhao Hao with a look of inquiry, "Is this true?"

"That's right, we are in love with each other." Young Master Zhao laughed awkwardly. He didn't expect that he would be given a show of force so soon.

"Hey, you, we regard you as our teacher, but you set your sights on our sister." Zhang Jingxiu sighed with frustration. He had a lot of brothers, but only that one sister, who was as beautiful as a fairy and extremely intelligent... He couldn't think about it anymore. He was so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe.

"Isn't this a mess of things?!" Zhang Jingxiu said with great sorrow.

"It's okay, let's talk about our own things." Young Master Zhao hurriedly suggested: "You call me sir, and I call you brothers..."

"Have you heard what others say?" Zhang Jingxiu shook his head and sighed. "Is it reasonable? Is it reasonable?"

"Sir, are you going to let my sister be your mistress?" Si Xiu summoned up his courage and asked timidly. Before he finished speaking, the sandalwood ruler hidden in his sleeve fell to the ground with a clang.

"As a scholar, it's reasonable for me to carry a paperweight with me, right?" He quickly picked up the big wooden stick that could kill people.

"Make sense, make sense..." Zhao Hao's forehead was covered with sweat. He caught a glimpse of a figure swaying behind the screen, as if there were assassins lying in ambush. It should be Mao Xiu and a few other brothers-in-law. If he didn't handle it well, they would jump out and fight him.

Mr. Zhao suddenly thought of a saying: Don't marry a woman who has brothers, there is a high probability that you will meet a brother-killing demon; don't marry a woman who has many brothers, otherwise you may be beaten to death...

"Sir, you haven't answered yet." Sixiu played with the paperweight in his hand, as if he wanted to polish it to bring out the patina.

"How could that be? In my heart, Xiaojing is the greatest." Zhao Hao knew as soon as he heard it that this was a question that had been designed long ago. If he didn't give a satisfactory answer, he probably wouldn't see the next level.

"Is it true?" Si Xiu was immediately overjoyed. This Mr. Zhang was indeed easy to fool. This was also a common problem in families where the father was too strict. The sons were too obedient and easily believed whatever was said.

"What about Princess Lanling? Do you want to break up with her completely?" Zhang Jingxiu asked suspiciously. As the eldest brother, he was mature and prudent and not so easy to fool.

"Why do you want to break up with the county lady?" Zhao Hao opened his eyes wide, as if he had heard something incredible. "Am I only allowed to marry one wife in the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's not the case." Zhang Jingxiu said helplessly, "But we can't let the county lady be a mistress, right? She is the emperor's niece."

"That's another question." Young Master Zhao said meaningfully, "You just need to worry about your own sister. The county lady's brothers will worry about her."

"That's true..." Zhang Jingxiu nodded, but felt something was wrong, but couldn't put his finger on it.

"Sir, you are taking the overall problem one-sidedly." Si Xiu suddenly said excitedly: "You are mistaking a white horse for a horse. You have made a metaphysical mistake!"

"Good boy, you have a solid grasp of logic." Young Master Zhao once again shot himself in the foot, and gnashed his teeth with satisfaction and said, "Then let me ask you, which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

"Well, of course the chicken came first. Where would the eggs come from without the chicken?" Si Xiu blurted out.

"Then where do the chickens come from without eggs?" Young Master Zhao asked with a sneer.

"This, that means the egg came first..." He then modified his words.

"But you also said, where would the eggs come from without chickens?" Zhao Hao spread his hands.

"This, that..." Zhang Sixiu, who was very fond of logic, was so caught up in this classic paradox that he could not extricate himself. He no longer cared about who was older between his sister and the young county lady.

"He has understood it. Do you have any questions?" Young Master Zhao said with a smile, then looked at Zhang Jingxiu.

"No, no more." Zhang Jingxiu waved his hands quickly, fearing that he would also fall into this cycle of terror. "My mother asked the gentleman to come in and talk."

"Okay, brother." Master Zhao smiled and nodded, secretly breathing a sigh of relief, as he had passed the first hurdle.

~~

Jingxiu asked Zhang Sixiu, whose brain was broken, to go back to the study first. He took Zhao Hao into the backyard and went to the main room to meet his mother.

As he walked, he complained to Zhao Hao, "Oh, you are such a fool. Why did you write so many erotic poems before coming here? You made my sister unhappy, and my mother has a bad impression of you. She thinks you are a playboy."

"It has spread to the capital so quickly..." Young Master Zhao was dumbfounded. "And I just sent you a poem, and there was no other in-depth communication."

"Oh, I understand. As a man, you can't admit it even if you kill yourself." Zhang Jingxiu nodded in understanding.

"I am really innocent..." Young Master Zhao was so aggrieved that he almost cried. Well, he himself didn't believe it, although it was the fact.

"Anyway, my mother hates unfaithful men the most, so you'd better be careful later." Zhang Jingxiu felt sympathy and gave him a warning.

"I understand." Zhao Hao nodded, and forced a smile, saying, "This time, I asked Lu Zigang to carve a pair of seals for me, and also brought some local products from the south of the Yangtze River, such as pens, inkstones, and paper."

As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized rosewood box from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Jingxiu.

As the saying goes, gifts must be given in the right way. With Xiao Zhuzi as an insider, Mr. Zhao's gifts will naturally hit the spot.

As expected, Zhang Jingxiu's eyes lit up immediately. He liked this. He couldn't wait to open the box and saw a pair of Hetian jade flower and bird seals on the red silk lining.

"It is indeed the work of Lu Zigang!" Zhang Jingxiu could not put it down and commented: "This kind of seal is not only hard to find, but also requires thin carving and shallow relief to echo each other, which is natural. The button is even more difficult. The two seals are in opposite directions, but no matter the height, shape and size are the same, which requires a very deep skill. This pair of seals is worth a fortune in the hands of collectors!"

"Not to mention, this was specially engraved for me..." He almost fainted with joy. He didn't want to take a closer look at it all at once, so he hid the seal box close to his body, tightly grasped Zhao Hao's arms, and thanked him incoherently: "Thank you, thank you, sir, you are so kind to me, but it's a pity that I only have one sister..."

"As long as I like her." Zhao Hao smiled with a look of satisfaction. He thought to himself that marrying this one would almost make him suffer. How dare I marry another woman from the Zhang family? Are you tired of living?

"I like you, I like you to my heart's content." Zhang Jingxiu nodded repeatedly, and put his arm around Zhao Hao's shoulders, no longer showing his cold and hostile attitude. "Sir, please don't misunderstand me. I am just a mouthpiece. If it weren't for my parents' orders, I would never make things difficult for you."

"Understood." Zhao Hao nodded and asked in a low voice: "Ling Yan and Ling Ci didn't let Xiao Jing come out to see me?"

"It was my father's idea. My mother is a gentle person and she wouldn't do such a bad thing." Zhang Jingxiu nodded at Zhao Hao again and said, "But she doesn't like men to be unfaithful. It's not that easy for you to get her approval."

"Well, I understand." Zhao Hao nodded. In fact, he was not very worried about this. Isn't it said that the more the mother-in-law sees her son-in-law, the happier she will be? Mr. Zhao still has confidence.

"Oh, by the way, this is the great trick my sister gave you." Zhang Jingxiu took out a piece of paper folded into a square from his sleeve and said, "If you can't deal with my mother, use the trick on it."

Zhao Hao thought, "Okay, you won't release the eagle until you see the rabbit. If you don't give me the gift, you won't send me the message." He took it and unfolded it. There was only one word on it: "cry."

"Uh..." Master Zhao smacked his lips, feeling so embarrassed.

"She also said that if your father scolds you in the future, please be patient for her sake and don't act on impulse," Zhang Jingxiu added.

"I understand. Tell her that I'm here today to be willing to serve you as a servant. Even if your father hits my left cheek and makes it swollen, I will offer my right cheek and continue to pull the plow." Zhao Hao said with a determined look.

"Well, where there is a will there is a way." Zhang Jingxiu looked at Zhao Hao with admiration, thinking that the gentleman was so determined, no wonder he could kill two birds with one stone.

Mourning!

~~

As they were talking, the two of them came to the inner hall of the back house. The maid lifted the door curtain and a warm feeling came over them.

Zhang Jingxiu asked Zhao Hao to wait outside the inner hall, went in to report, and then came out and said with a smile: "Sir, mother wants you to come in and talk."

"Thank you, brother." Young Master Zhao nodded, straightened his clothes and stepped inside, respectfully bowing and greeting the dignified woman sitting at the mahogany carved dragon square table in the hall.

"Get up quickly." Gu's voice came from the hall.

"Thank you, aunt." Young Master Zhao got up from the ground, half-rested his butt on the guest seat below, straightened his back, and sat opposite Zhang Jingxiu, who was accompanying the guest.

Zhao Hao and Gu had met several times before and even had meals together. But at that time, he had no ulterior motives and was frank and honest, naturally neither humble nor arrogant. But now, he was at the mercy of others, so he had to act in a fearful manner.

After asking about her well-being, he presented a list of gifts and said with a smile, "I heard that you like the paintings of the Four Masters of Wu School. I happened to be in Suzhou, so I collected some. They are not very valuable. You can make do with them to amuse yourself."

Jingxiu quickly got up and handed the gift list to Gu.

When Gu opened it, he was surprised!

Shen Zhou’s “Elegant Gathering at Wei Garden” and “Interesting Views of Cangzhou”;

Tang Bohu’s “Chicken Eating Rice”…oh no, “Sunset and Solitary Wild Goose”, “Spring Mountain Companion”, “Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu”;

Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace" and "Fisherman's Retreat at Lotus Creek"...

Wen Zhengming's "Moonlit Courtyard" and "Flowing Valleys"...