The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 226

The little maid was still arguing with Ning Tong earlier, trying to get cheap.

But being threatened by Mrs. Zhu Hu of Cheng Guotai, she showed a posture of resisting death. Even if she was held there to be beaten, she would not say a word.

It is obvious to tell the old lady, I know, but I will not tell even if I am beaten to death.

This made Zhu Hu very angry: "Drag out, beat!"

The little maid didn't beg for mercy, and was just dragged out of the door by the two women, and then there was a muffled noise outside. At first, the little maid could hold back, but she also yelled out because of the pain.

"Grandmother, why bother with a little girl?" Zhu Lin couldn't see it.

Mrs. Zhu Hu was still flipping through the books, and she was so angry that she said, "It's because these ignorant girls brought such unsightly vulgar things to my mistress that my mistress's mind went astray. .”

While talking, the woman outside came in and said, "Mrs. Tai, Mrs. Er Shao has something to tell you."

"Hmph! Let her come in, and let her see what the girl I have made looks like!"

……

……

Ning Tong was brought into the back hall.

When Ning Tong saw that her little maid was beaten to death, but she still didn't betray herself, she felt angry, and she didn't even kneel when she entered the back hall.

"Mrs. Tai, you are the matriarch of the family, and you bully a little maid beside me like this? What kind of skill is it?" Ning Tong also gave up.

Can't make up.

Better to die.

Give Zhu Hu's face?Then who will give me face?
Zhu Hu was furious, and the woman next to her wanted to push Ning Tong down, but she still didn't dare to be cruel. In the eyes of these servants, they are not afraid of beating up the little maid, but the second young lady Although she is ignorant, she is Uncle An Bian's wife and mistress.

"Where did these books come from? Also, who are you outside?" Zhu Hu held back his anger and asked sharply.

Ning Tong said: "This has nothing to do with Mrs. Tai. Zhu Feng has already given me He Li's letter and asked me to take it to the government. I have nothing to do with your Zhu family! I don't need to tell you this!"

"you!"

Although Zhu Hu was angry, he couldn't really do anything to this granddaughter-in-law.

She quickly came up with a plan: "Take this pair of disobedient masters and servants to the woodshed, and put them under custody. They must not be released until their masters and servants reflect on their own mistakes!"

"Mrs. Tai, what kind of skill is bullying a woman? You might as well kill me and let me guard your grandson's life, you might as well kill me! Anyway, you have a great career in the Duke's family, and you don't have to pay for it if you kill someone!"

Ning Tong's stubbornness also caught Zhu Hu's by surprise.

Up to this point, it was an ordinary woman who had already begged bitterly, but Ning Tong seemed not even afraid of death, so she had to fight her to the end.

Originally, according to Zhu Hu's temperament, it would be fine to find someone to beat Ning Tong up and then lock him up, but now that his grandson is still leading the army in Liaodong, what if he keeps his grandson's wife in the capital... If this affects his grandson leading the army to fight mentality, then this responsibility may be great.

After all, Zhu Hu is the daughter of Shangshu, she looks fierce, but in fact she is talented and wise, and she will not do anything to Ning Tong just for a moment.

"Take it off!"

Zhu Hu didn't bother to say anything.

With Ning Tong's master and servant being taken away by the mother-in-law, Zhu Hu should be angry or angry.

Zhu Lin said from the side: "Grandmother, this matter...forget it?"

Your old lady and granddaughter-in-law had a quarrel, but it ended peacefully like this in the end?and I?Even though I'm an outsider, you are criticizing me badly, old lady?

Who am I provoking?

Zhu Hu stared at his grandson and said: "If something happens in the house and affects your younger brother leading the army, let's see how I deal with you!"

After speaking, Zhu Hu stood up and greeted: "Are the presents ready?"

"Yes, Mrs. Tai." The servant replied.

Zhu Lin asked: "Grandma, what are you..."

Zhu Hu cast a glance at him and said, "Follow me to Zhang Zhou's mansion, don't let people think that we do not understand the rules in Cheng Guogong's mansion."

Take care of the inner courtyard in advance, the old lady will have to complete the friendship with people outside the courtyard, and it is also because Zhu Fu and Zhu Feng, two nobles in the family, are not in the capital, this time it is her, the old lady's turn. up.

……

……

"Miss... I... I didn't say anything."

Inside the firewood room.

After the little girl woke up, she saw her daughter hugging her and weeping, so she couldn't help but say something pitifully.

Ning Tong wiped away her tears and said, "You silly girl, you should say it, it's not worth keeping a secret."

The little maid asked: "Did the young lady say that?"

"I didn't say anything either." Ning Tong said bitterly, "They can torture me however they want, I have nothing to do with this family."

The little maid pouted and said, "Then I won't say anything."

The master and the servant have been dependent on each other for many years, but at this time they are also hugging tightly.

……

……

When Zhang Zhou returned home, he was still arranging his court clothes.

Others issued one court uniform at a time, and had to order the rest by themselves, but Zhang Zhou had several sets of official uniforms and ordinary uniforms. The emperor was afraid that his clothes would not fit him, so he asked people to measure them for him in advance. cut out.

Here he was still trying on one by one, and Wang Mingshan, who was helping him dress behind him, had been taken advantage of several times by him.

After all, tonight is going to be...

At this moment, Xia Zhi came in and passed on the news: "Master, there are guests outside, they say they are from Duke Cheng's mansion. They also brought gifts."

Jiang Pingyu came out from the inner room and asked curiously, "Is it from the Duke's Mansion?"

Jiang Pingyu had heard about her father doing business with the British government before, and also heard about the old man Jiang being detained by the British government, so she was still very wary of the government.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It's okay, this country's Duke is Zhu Zhijie's family, it's different from the British Duke."

joke.

Zhang Mao and him can be regarded as a "cooperative" relationship at most, but now Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu and Zhu Feng Ye are counting on him to eat. If you don't mention Zhu Feng, just say Zhu Fu... the ministers of the court and the central government have impeached him so much If it weren't for his help, it is estimated that Zhu Fu might have to be resigned and escorted back to the capital to live idle.

……

……

The Zhang family is in the main hall.

Zhang Zhou met Zhu Hushi, followed by Zhu Lin, which Zhang Zhou did not expect.

The Zhu family has done quite well in terms of etiquette, and he was also thinking, finally no longer sending someone to inform me to have a banquet at the house, but if he knows to send something to my house, why not come in person?

"Mrs. Tai, you are being polite, how can you be ashamed?" Zhang Zhou said with a smile.

Zhu Hu said with a smile on his face: "Both Quanzi and Zhijie are under the care of Mr. Zhang. Although the old man is not in the capital, he has heard a lot about Mr. Zhang's deeds when he was in Nanjing. Mr. Zhang is the top student in high school and will be a general in the future." It's easy to get in touch."

Zhang Zhou thought, these words sound familiar.

Zhu Lin also smiled and said: "In the letter to the capital, my father also mentioned that he should thank Mr. Zhang for his cultivation, especially for those who know the festival..."

Zhang Zhou asked them to sit down.

Only then did he politely say: "I am friends with Zhijie. He was the one who worked so hard at the beginning to come to the capital to offer medicine to the princess. When I was in my infancy, he also took care of me a lot. This is just between friends. It’s just due morality.”

While talking, Zhang Zhou was also curious.

Didn't it mean that Zhu Feng had already sent Heli's documents to the capital?Isn't your Zhu family restless at home now?Looking at you like this, you can't see it at all.

Then Zhu Hu asked someone to bring the gift in.

The box after box of things is obviously much richer than when I gave Zhang Zhou a gift in Nanjing before, but it only seems to be worth 500 taels.

Zhang Zhou is good at calculating the value of gifts, and Zhang Zhou doesn't know where his talent comes from.

"Mr. Zhang, don't be disgusted." Zhu Hu said.

"Prepare the banquet." Zhang Zhou pondered, since the gift was given, let's treat him to a meal.

"No, I still have a lot of things to do. I just came to visit Mr. Zhang, and then I will leave."

Zhu Hushi is also very interesting.

We all know that you, Zhang Bingkuan, are stingy, so what good food can we eat at your house?Besides, if you, Zhang Bingkuan, are really interested in having a banquet, you won't have to prepare in advance.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Then prepare tea."

Zhu Hushi smiled.

This host is really stingy, even drinking tea at your house is not easy.

……

……

In the main hall, Zhu Hushi and Zhu Lin sang together. While expressing their gratitude to Zhang Zhou, they also euphemistically expressed their hope that Zhang Zhou would continue to help Zhu Fu and his son to settle matters.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The war in Liaodong has not yet come to fruition, but it is expected that there will be a result before the end of the month. As for Yansui's case... oh, I didn't say that, the ministers of the court and the central government are quite critical of the fact that Cheng Guogong has been standing still. There are not a few memorials for impeachment."

Zhu Hu obviously knew this.

That's what she came for.

She hurriedly said: "Duke Cheng was always in Nanjing in the past, and he has not taken over the position of Duke for a long time. It is difficult to force others to make achievements in the three sides."

"That's what I said, but since His Majesty has used him, he should show the responsibility he should have as a duke of the state. Sometimes it's useless to rely on me to speak." Zhang Zhou meant.

You should be more sensible, let your son and grandson listen to me more in the future, and don't make up your own mind.

Zhu Hushi nodded, probably thinking that the gift to Zhang Zhou was not enough, and Zhang Zhou thought it was too little.

"Master, Eunuch Xiao from the Supervisor of Rituals has come and said that there is an imperial decree to convey." Liu Guili said at the door.

Zhang Zhou is quite busy this week.

Xiao Jing ran to Zhang Zhou's house when he had nothing to do.

When Zhu Hu heard that Xiao Jing was coming, he thought it was a big deal, so it would be superfluous for him to be here.

Zhang Zhou said: "You two, I'll go out to meet Eunuch Xiao first, and I'll be back in a while."

"Entertainment?"

Zhu Hu didn't understand.

A person of Xiao Jing's status is here, shouldn't you be polite and invite him in?If you don't give Xiao Jing face, you also have to give the emperor face!People said it, but it was for the emperor to convey the imperial edict.

But Zhang Zhou obviously didn't take Xiao Jing too seriously, mainly because Xiao Jing came here too frequently recently, and also because he won the first prize, Xiao Jing felt that it was only natural to disturb Zhang Zhou in the future, and came to visit if he had something to do , As for whether he sent the imperial decree... Maybe Liu Gui was talking nonsense there.

Zhang Zhou also gave Liu Gui a blank look when he went out.

This kid...talks to people when he sees people, and talks nonsense when he sees ghosts. He is a good candidate for his family, but Zhang Zhou is afraid that this kid will go astray, and it will be bad if he makes his house look like Cheng Minzheng.

……

……

"Grandmother, shall we go out to meet him too?" Seeing Zhang Zhou going out, Zhu Lin couldn't help asking.

Zhu Hushi sat upright and said, "He doesn't need us to see him, he has his own arrangement, so just wait here."

Zhu Lin said: "Then what did he mean before?"

Zhu Hu rolled his eyes at him and said: "You really don't look like Cheng Guogong. His words are not clear enough? In fact, he is asking us for money! He is greedy for money, haven't you seen it?"

"Grandmother, my grandson doesn't know what to say..." Zhu Lin wanted to remind the grandmother.

Let's not look at Zhang Bingkuan with old eyes.

This kid only looks greedy on the surface, but in fact he is not greedy at all, and he is a very measured courtier. Otherwise, he would not be able to gradually gain the emperor's favor. Don't think that there is something wrong with giving gifts.

Zhu Hushi said impatiently: "I don't know if it is appropriate to speak, so don't speak!"

……

……

When Zhang Zhou came back, the grandfather and grandson didn't say a word, and the atmosphere was still a little awkward.

"Mr. Zhang, I don't know why Eunuch Xiao came here?"

Seeing that Zhang Zhou didn't have any imperial edicts in his hands, Zhu Hu believed that he was here to pass on oral instructions.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It's just daily chores, where did we talk about just now?"

Zhu Lin reminded: "Speaking of asking Mr. Zhang to help my father and brother-in-law speak in front of His Majesty."

"This..." Zhang Zhou said, "Say what should be said, and what should not be said should not be said. I can't mess with the rules."

"Yes." Zhu Hu nodded with a smile.

She pondered for a while, and the rules probably meant that the money given was not enough.

Zhang Zhou asked: "By the way, Mrs. Tai, I heard... something happened in your house recently... Zhijie told me that he wanted to have a relationship with his wife... Uh, what's the situation now?"

When Zhang Zhou saw that Zhu Hu came here as if nothing had happened, he felt that the old lady must have used some thunderous means to convince Ning Tong.

As for Ning Tong's temper, Zhang Zhou could feel it.

The demeanor of women in this era is most clearly reflected in this woman. Married to the Duke's mansion, dare to divorce her husband, what kind of courage is this?This also shows that Ning Tong has indeed endured enough!

If a "hard-hearted" woman like Ning Tong meets a strong and unreasonable old lady like Zhu Hu, then Ning Tong will be the one who will be unlucky.

Since the matter of He Li was brought up by Zhang Zhou unintentionally at that time, he felt that he had to help Ning Tong.

"This is a family matter of Duke Cheng's." Zhu Hu also frowned.

I was thinking in my heart, grandson really told outsiders everything, wouldn't it be embarrassing to tell this kind of thing?If Zhang Zhou speaks out again, Cheng Guogong's mansion will really lose face!
Zhang Zhou nodded: "It's supposed to be a family matter of Duke Cheng, but I have something to say, I don't know if I should say it or not."

Zhu Lin was startled.

I also said this just now, Zhang Bingkuan, you better stop talking about it, my grandmother doesn't like to hear it.

Zhu Hu said with a smile: "Sir, please tell me."

Got it!
Only then did Zhu Lin realize that he was the only one who was not welcomed by the old lady.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Before Zhijie went to Liaodong, let me take care of his family affairs. This time, there are some... conflicts between the husband and wife. As a friend, I also think it is necessary to remind him that everything should wait for him to return to the capital. Afterwards, let’s sit down and talk about it in detail, if the relationship becomes stalemate, it will be bad for him to lead troops in Liaodong, and it will also be bad for Daming.”

What Zhang Zhou meant was to remind the old lady of the Zhu family.

Don't punish Ning Tong too much, otherwise you are not dealing with family affairs, and it may affect the war in Liaodong of Ming Dynasty, and also affect the fate of Ming Dynasty.

"Mr. Zhang reminded me that I know about it."

……

……

Zhu Hu accompanied him with a smile, and took his grandson out of Cheng Guogong's mansion.

When she returned to the door of the house in a small sedan chair, she got off the sedan chair. Zhu Lin, who had helped the sedan chair in the past, could clearly feel that the grandmother's face was completely different when she got off the sedan chair and got into the sedan chair.

"Is it a lack of understanding to know integrity? Why do you always have to mention it to outsiders about family matters? If Zhang Bingkuan tells His Majesty...then my Zhu family will become the laughing stock of the whole world!" Zhu Hu said.

With an expression of "whoever you love, let's destroy it earlier", Zhu Lin turned his head to the side and said, "Grandmother seems to have forgotten that the second brother likes to let his wife come out to deal with the second wife. When he was in Nanjing, his younger brother and sister knew Zhang Bingkuan. They have also met after Beijing."

"what?"

When Zhu Hu heard this, he could already hear some bad signs.

Ning Tong and Zhang Zhou also know each other, and they have a personal relationship... quite enough?

Just as he was talking, the woman in the mansion ran out in a hurry, and said in Zhu Hu's ear: "Mrs. Tai, I have asked the servants in the mansion, as well as those who are usually good friends with the Second Young Madam's yard. It seems that the book , it’s a son surnamed Zhang, who came to the house once, and it’s for the second young lady.”

"what?"

Zhu Hu couldn't stand anymore.

"grandmother?"

Zhu Lin hasn't figured it out yet, what's wrong with the old lady?
Zhu Hu stared at Zhu Lin and said, "Recently, who has the surname Zhang visited the house?"

Zhu Lin said: "Grandmother, my father is guarding the capital, so he is not allowed to see outsiders. The surname Zhang... there is no one else except Zhang Bingkuan!"

"cough……"

This time, Zhu Hu not only had to be supported by his grandson, but also had to support the edge of the sedan chair with his hands, so that he could barely stand still.

Zhu Lin said as if he had nothing to do with himself: "Grandma doesn't mean to say that Zhang Bingkuan has something to do with the younger siblings, right?"

Zhu Hu stared at his grandson and said, "You knew that earlier?"

"No." Zhu Lin replied very simply, "Second brother never said that, but it is impossible to say that there are siblings outside. I... never ask about the second room."

He seemed to be saying between his words, why are you asking me about your business?
Ask your second grandson yourself, ask your second grandson's wife.

"Old Madam, the Ning family has arrived and said that they can enter the mansion to see the Second Young Madam at any time." Another servant came to report.

Earlier, when Zhu Hu found out that his granddaughter-in-law was hopeless, he could only ask someone to call the Ning family to put pressure on Ning Tong.

"No need, let them all go back!"

Zhu Hu's heart is in a mess now.

"Yes."

The servants rushed to inform the Ning family.

Zhu Lin asked: "Then if the book was given by Zhang Bingkuan, the matter of reconciliation was also mentioned by Zhang Bingkuan, and even the outsider of the younger brother and sister...is Zhang Bingkuan, and the second brother may still know about it and even intend to fulfill it... What should we do?"

"Shut up! Zhiyi, why are you so useless?" Zhu Hu yelled at his eldest grandson, "Both father and younger brother are not in the house, so you don't even look down on the family?"

Zhu Lin seemed to have expected that he was a punching bag, and said with a calm expression on his face: "Grandmother calm down, next time my grandson must correct me."

(End of this chapter)