In another time and space, Mr. Zhao saw a vivid record of the only daughter of Mr. Zhang in Shen Defu's "Wanli Yewai Bian":

'Kan's courtesy name was Yuanding, and I was on good terms with him. His wife was the beloved daughter of Jiangling, and she was as beautiful as a fairy.

He was not very willing to talk or laugh, and he would just sit in silence or silently recite sutras and mantras. When asked what the sutra was called, he gave no answer.

After several years of marriage, he sat cross-legged one day and passed away, as if he had shed his body. He never talked about quilts and clothes with Suo Tian, ​​and he died as a virgin.

Considering Mr. Shen's broad knowledge, harsh writing style, and contempt for Mr. Zhang, he could actually give such a high evaluation of Xiao Zhuzi. It is obvious that her beauty has reached a level that transcends prejudice and hostility.

Anyway, after Zhao Hao finished reading that passage, he couldn't stop thinking about this beautiful woman, and Yongxi couldn't forget her. Just like Chen Gongzi's Xiao Guanyin, Wang Daren's Xu Miaojin, Shen Heiquan's Sanniangzi... How happy it is to be able to cross time and space to meet Yan Ruyu in the book, and to be able to "stop the car and sit and enjoy the maple forest in the evening" with the beauty?

So Mr. Zhao believed that he was Liu Mengmei in The Peony Pavilion. Xiao Zhuzi, the "Du Liniang", was "infatuated with him without knowing why, but deeply in love" because she secretly agreed to spend her life with him in her dream. Although she married Mr. Liu at the behest of her parents, she refused to talk or laugh, and would not allow him to touch her. She spent her days in front of the Buddha and died of depression within a few years...

Well, that must be the case, no objection accepted.

~~

The clock in the main room rang, waking up Gu from her dream.

Many years later, Zhang Jingxiu, who was sitting with his mother, still didn't know what his mother was thinking that day.

He only saw that when the mother came to her senses, tears were in the corners of her eyes, and her face was filled with an expression that was a mixture of adoration, helplessness, and even a little bit of resentment.

"Do you really love Xiaojing?" Gu asked with a slightly hoarse voice.

"Love." Young Master Zhao nodded without hesitation. There was no other answer at this time.

"Well, as long as you give up the county princess, I will agree to marry Xiaojing to you." Gu said quietly.

"Uh..." Young Master Zhao almost fainted. Well, all this trouble was in vain. If I only want to marry one, do I need to go through so many trials and tribulations here, and treat myself like a grandson? Wouldn't it be better to just let the matchmaker come to propose marriage and be a decent son-in-law?

"I'm asking you a question." Gu repeated.

Zhao Hao just shook his head and said nothing.

"Since you compare yourself to Liu Sheng, Liu Mengmei never let Du Liniang suffer any injustice!" Gu snorted. No matter how literary she was, she was still a man's natural enemy - the mother-in-law. "If you are really responsible, you should be with one person for your whole life, and not play two boats at the same time!"

"This is Mingyue." Zhao Hao raised his left hand first, then his right hand. "This is Xiaojing. Which one do you think I will cut off?"

"Mother, it seems that my sister is more important." Zhang Jingxiu touched the seal box in his sleeve and couldn't help but whispered, "That's enough."

"Shut up!" Gu glared at her son who was leaning against his elbow. "Is there any brother like you?"

"Alas..." Zhang Jingxiu felt bored. He gave Zhao Hao a helpless look and stopped talking.

"I think you are a playboy and you are not Ryousei at all!" Gu raised her eyebrows and said with a cold face.

For a moment, the main hall fell into silence again.

Master Zhao saw that there was no other way, and he could only use the killer move taught by Xiao Jing without caring about whether it was embarrassing or not. He lowered his head and wiped his eyes with his sleeves. When he raised his head again, the mother and son of the Zhang family saw that his eyes were red and he was crying.

"Why are you crying?" Gu had a problem with shallow eyesight. She hated to see people cry. Even when she saw people crying in a play, she would cry along with them. Not to mention a seven-foot-tall man, who was so sad that he cried like a tearful man.

"Wow, I just want to cry..." Mr. Zhao couldn't stop crying, tears falling down. "Whenever I think about giving up one of them, I feel heartbroken, it feels more sad than killing me..."

As he said this, he quickly took out his handkerchief and covered his face tightly, as if he didn't want people to see him crying so hard. But in his heart, he secretly screamed, "Sister Ma put Wasami or Fengyoujing on my sleeve. It's so spicy that it's going to kill me!"

"Alas, he is also a very passionate person." Seeing him crying so hard that he was twisted, Gu couldn't help but cry with him. While wiping his tears with a scarf, she said in a muffled voice: "Jingxiu, quickly help your... brother-in-law up..."

"..." Mr. Zhao's trembling shoulders paused for a moment before continuing to shake.

Zhang Jingxiu hurried forward, helped Zhao Hao up, and said with a smile: "Sir, don't cry. Didn't you hear that my mother promised you?"

"Ah, really?" Zhao Hao then raised his head and looked at Gu with his red and swollen eyes.

Then Gu sighed and said helplessly, "Forget it, it's all injustice. I won't be the villain in the book, I will just let you evil creatures be..."

"Thank you, mother." Young Master Zhao immediately took advantage of the situation and changed his words on the spot: "I will take good care of Xiaojing in the future and never let her suffer any grievances again!"

"Uh..." Gu had never seen such a shameless person before. She was speechless for a long time before she said, "Don't rush to change your words. I just said that I won't stop it. But this kind of thing has to be decided by my master."

"Call me first." Young Master Zhao did not blush at all, and said with admiration: "I lost my mother when I was young, and I feel it is a blessing to be able to call her one more time."

Zhang Jingxiu was shocked when he heard this. Don’t you have a godmother? Why are you still in need of a mother? Is it fun to be a son?

Little did he know that his mother, a female intellectual, could not stand innocent little boys the most... As long as you were handsome enough and had innocent eyes, she would follow your appearance. If you shed tears again, she would immediately turn on the other person's "he was still a child" forgiveness mode... It was like a murderer could be whitewashed, otherwise Xiao Zhuzi would not have given Zhao Hao this trick.

Sure enough, instead of wondering why, Gu was so moved that she burst into tears again.

"Alas, poor child..." Gu wiped her tears and said, "Call me if you want."

"Mom." Zhao Hao called out affectionately.

"Oh." Gu also responded kindly.

Zhang Jingxiu, who was standing by, almost vomited out his overnight meal, thinking to himself, how could Mr. Zhao be so shameless when he is an old man?

Perhaps, this is why Mr. Zhao can marry five wives, but he only has five girls to accompany him.

"Mom, can I see Xiaojing?" After the mother and son adapted to the new relationship, Master Zhao asked pitifully.

"Sorry, kid, not yet. The master told us before he left that Xiaojing cannot be released until he comes back." Gu said apologetically.

"Is that so..." Young Master Zhao sighed, thinking that the second level had been passed, and there was still the last level. He said, "Then let's wait a little longer."

"Since you have nothing to do, bring us the painting of Dead Trees and Strange Rocks. Let's appreciate it..." Gu finally couldn't hold back and said, "This is a masterpiece by Su and Mi. There's no other painting like it in the Ming Dynasty, right?"

As expected, literary youths can never resist the great charm of literary works...

~~

Gu was indeed very talented, with a high artistic vision and appreciation. Fortunately, Mr. Zhao had been with Xu Wei and Ma for a long time, and his level had greatly improved. Moreover, he had collected all these paintings. Of course, the most important thing was that he was good at flattering. His little mouth was like honey, and he had already coaxed Gu into a trance, thinking that he was his own son.

On the contrary, Zhang Jingxiu had no say at all and became a tool for taking, hanging and collecting paintings...

But thinking of all these valuable paintings, all of which belonged to his family, he had no dissatisfaction at all. The future young cabinet minister felt that it was a blessing to have such a rich and capable brother-in-law...

When Zhang Juzheng returned, the mother and her two daughters had already appreciated several famous paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties and began to appreciate the works of the Four Masters of Wumen.

After hearing the maid's report, Gu reluctantly withdrew her gaze from the painting "Spring Morning in the Han Palace". But she immediately thought that these were all hers and she could look at them every day, and her mood immediately improved.

"Son, don't worry and stay here. I will speak for you." She comforted Zhao Hao and stood up.

"Well, with what mother said, I feel much more relieved." Young Master Zhao nodded happily. He seemed to have said this three times since he entered the room.

Gu asked Jingxiu to accompany Zhao Hao, and she went to the back to see Zhang Juzheng.

In the inner room, Bu Gu was changing clothes with the help of a maid... It was changing clothes in the traditional sense, not the extended meaning of "changing clothes temporarily".

The maid first untied the belt of his official robe, carefully took off the scarlet robe with a crane patch on it, hung it on the hanger, and then changed him into his homely robe lined with Yuanqing Japanese satin velvet.

Then he brought a steaming pinewood basin, knelt down to take off his shoes and socks, and put Zhang Juzheng's feet into the basin one by one. Beijing was already very cold, and although the cabinet was warm as spring, he was still frozen in the sedan chair on the way back and forth. Zhang Juzheng drank hot tea and soaked his feet, and then he felt his body gradually warm up.

He was holding a teacup with his eyes closed when Gu walked in and called him "Master".

Zhang Juzheng then opened his eyes, put down his teacup and asked, "I heard from You Qi that the boy had already arrived."

"I just put down my job and came here." Gu said softly.

"Have you met him?" Zhang Juzheng asked again.

"Jingxiu brought him to see me." Gu nodded slightly.

"I knew his brothers were useless. They were defeated by that kid in just two moves." Zhang Juzheng snorted. He was always proud of his son's intelligence and understanding. But Jingxiu and Zhao Hao were the same age, so the difference was really big.

"What do you say?" He glanced at Gu, whose face was filled with joy, and said, "You were also captured, weren't you?"

"That's what the master said." Gu said awkwardly, "I just talked to him and felt that this child is loyal and polite. Besides, doesn't the master know Xiaojing's temper? If she is determined, no one can change her mind. If we insist on breaking them up, I'm afraid she will be unhappy."

"Oh?" Although Zhang Juzheng was pleased with his wife's change of attitude, he was also a little unhappy. It seemed that the boy had conquered his backyard in just one afternoon. How could the male owner of the house feel?