The Guo family was grateful for the kindness of the eldest master and the Xu family; the Shenli family learned about the second wife's marriage partner, and while being happy for Shen Rui, she also secretly sighed.
In the officialdom, how could he not see the taboos of Mr. Shen?
It's just that Xie Qian was his teacher and his father-in-law. He rose to a high position at a young age because of his status as Xie's son-in-law. Even though he knew that several cabinet elders were now too popular, he was helpless.
Fortunately, today's saints are benevolent, and several cabinet elders are real pillars of talent, and they will not affect state affairs through overt and covert fighting. During the Tongchenghua period, the disputes between cabinet ministers led to confiscation of their homes and exiles. Nowadays, these cabinet elders can be regarded as "gentlemen" by fighting against each other. .
It's just that if a person has no long-term worries, he must have immediate worries.
As the three pavilion elders become more and more powerful, the conflict will also escalate.
There were so many disputes in the "Beijing Procuratorate" this time. Shen Li was in the middle of the situation and looked at it with fear.
The second wife of the Shen family stepped away from the incident. Although Shen Li felt a little awkward, she still understood the elder's approach.
Nowadays, the second wife of the Shen family is the backbone of the Songjiang Shen family in the officialdom. There is no need for the Shen family to become a vassal of the Xie family.
Just seeing the determination of the eldest master, Shen Li knew that he had to make a decision here. Even if he was really close to Shen Rui, it would be difficult for the clan brothers to get too close to each other in the future.
Shen Rui is the heir of Shangshufu, and his words and deeds do not only represent himself. Being close to him as a die-hard "Xie Dang" will not do him any good.
But before alienating him, he still wanted to do something for Shen Rui.
He sat in the study for a while, then leaned over to open the drawer door, took out a small box from inside, turned around and left the study.
The inner house and the upper room are brightly lit.
After Mrs. Xie finished washing her hair, she put her hair down and sat crookedly on the kang. She looked at the invitation in her hand, with annoyance on her face, and complained to the maid next to her: "What does this mean? I just talked about it a few days ago. , just booked it over there?"
The maid said: "Perhaps there has been a plan over there for a long time."
"In such a hurry to get engaged, I thought I had climbed into someone else's family, but she was just the daughter of a fifth-rank official... After all, she is not my biological daughter. I don't want a daughter-in-law of the right family. I have to choose a low-class one, but I am afraid that my heir-in-law will not be submissive in the future. , unable to hold back, yet he doesn’t even care about Shen Rui’s future..." Ms. Xie threw the post on the kang table and said.
The maid said: "After all, I have let down my wife's kindness. The young lady of Shangshu Mansion, let alone being promised there, can even marry into a prince's family."
Mr. Xie frowned and said: "If I don't have a capable in-law, I will have to rely on our master in the future. It's really endless. But our master is kind and has given us a few taels of silver in favor over the years..."
Before he finished speaking, the curtain opened and Shen Li strode in.
Mr. Xie's face froze, and she quickly stood up and came forward. While flicking the snowflakes off Shen Li's shoulders, she said coquettishly: "It's snowing outside. I don't even wear a cloak, so I just come back..."
Shen Li said: "It's only a few steps away, I'm too lazy to bother..."
The maid was obedient, knowing that Mrs. Xie didn't like them coming forward to serve her when the master was around, so she hurriedly stepped aside.
Mr. Xie glanced at it, still feeling it was an eyesore, and said, "Why don't you go and heat up the ginger tea..."
The maid withdrew in response, and Shen Li sat down by the Kang. He put the box in his hand on the Kang table and said, "Tomorrow, go to Uncle Cang and give this to Auntie..."
Mrs. Xie served tea to her husband and sat on the other side of the Kang table.
The date posted is five days from now. Why do you need to go there specifically tomorrow?
Xie was a little curious, took the box with a smile and said, "What is this?"
While she was talking, she had already pulled out a box in her hand, which contained only a few house deeds and land deeds.
The house is a house in the inner city. It is in the southwest of the capital, not far from Shen Ying's house. It is a three-entry courtyard. It is a red deed registered by the government, and Shen Rui's name is directly on it. There is also a land deed, which is also registered. The name of Shen Rui is a small village in Tongzhou with 80 acres of land.
Xie felt that the smile on her face was a bit unbearable, and the fire in her heart was raging. She reluctantly said: "Master, this... this..."
Although Shen Li came from the Shen family, a wealthy family in Songjiang, he was just a side branch of the Nine Houses and had no ancestral property. He had been an official for more than ten years, except for the three years when Ding Naijian returned to his hometown, and he had been serving in the Hanlin Academy.
Although the Hanlin Academy was noble and noble, it was not as popular as the Liubu Yamen, and it received less respect.
In addition to his salary, Shen Li's other income was nothing more than the "hometown gift" from Songjiang foreign officials when he came to Beijing, and some money to polish his writing. Part of it was handed over to Xie's hands, and part of it was left in the small account in the study. Sometimes Shen Li If you like to buy some antiques and jade, you can use this money.
This year's "Beijing Prosecution" led to the dismissal of many Beijing officials and the sale of properties in central Beijing.
Mrs. Xie had already attracted people's attention and took the opportunity to purchase several properties. Shen Li had spent a large sum of money from the accounting office a few days ago. She knew about it. She thought her husband had bought something valuable in exchange for it. The small accounting office I don’t have enough money. Now that I’ve looked at these land deeds and house deeds, I don’t know why?
This is for Shen Rui to buy a property.
How long will this kindness be repaid? Do your children have to drink from the northwest wind when they grow up?
Not to mention the half of the dowry left by the Sun family, there is only one heir in the Shangshu Mansion, Shen Rui. How can we lose him in the future?
Xie gritted her teeth and felt like her eyes were about to burst into flames.
Shen Li picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said calmly: "It is said that a drop of kindness should be repaid by a spring. I lost my father when I was five years old. My uncle used the excuse that our family was not mature enough to deprive our family of dozens of acres. The land was occupied, and no one from my uncle's family came forward to make the decision. Aunt Hong was kind-hearted, and knowing this, she gave me three taels of silver and one stone of rice every month until I won the election, and gave me money to go to Beijing...Perhaps in the eyes of the lady, This is just a favor of a few taels of silver, but it is a gift of rebirth to me. I will never forget it..."
Mrs. Xie couldn't sit still, her face turned red, she stood up and said anxiously: "Master, I...I didn't forget my aunt's kindness..."
Shen Li sneered lightly: "I know, you just don't want me to be nice to Brother Rui..."
Mr. Xie hurriedly shook his head and said, "Master, you misunderstood me..."
Shen Li raised his head and looked at his wife, his eyes cold.
Xie's voice became smaller and smaller, and she lowered her head and said, "I just feel wronged for Brother Lin... I taught Brother Rui more carefully than Brother Lin..."
Shen Li looked at his wife steadily for a long time and said: "It's my fault. I owe you a favor. I'm here to repay you. I shouldn't have delayed you..."
After hearing this, Mrs. Xie only felt panic in her heart. She didn't care about being angry. She kept saying: "I was petty for a moment. Don't be angry with me. You and I are one husband and wife. I am also grateful for my aunt's kindness..."
The alienation between the Shangshu Mansion and the Shangshu Mansion this year is not only due to Mr. Xie Ge. Shen Rui has been in Beijing for a year, and Shen Li has also moved around the Shangshu Mansion, but Xie is getting more and more coping with it. Shen Rui said: After two encounters, Ms. Xie deserved to be treated well, and she still treated Shen Rui lukewarmly when she looked back.
It's not that Shen Li never thought of giving this house and small village to Shen Rui privately, but after thinking about it, he still felt that it was an obvious choice.
Although he is the number one scholar and is now a bachelor's degree student, his family is poor. In addition to the two newly purchased properties, he also has a small village and a house purchased in his early years. The other family properties are not Xie's. The Xie family's dowry is the property acquired by the Xie family after using the income from the marriage.
It can be said that this house and village account for half of Shen Li's real wealth. For Shen Rui, although this is just the "icing on the cake", for Shen Li, it is a full-scale effort.
Mrs. Xie always wanted to ask about such a large amount of money. Instead of making her feel unhappy afterwards, Shen Li wanted to inform her in advance, but unexpectedly he heard his wife's "truth".
Seeing her husband's cold face, Xie burst into anxious tears: "Master..."
Shen Li sighed and said: "Don't cry, just this once, wait until Brother Rui gets engaged, don't move around in the future... We usually socialize, so just push if you can..."
Mr. Xie was stunned when he heard this: "What are these words..."
"Just treat it as an ordinary clan relative..." Shen Li lowered his eyes and said.
Mrs. Xie wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She didn't know whether she should be relieved or confused. She whispered: "How could it have come to this? If outsiders saw it, they would think that the master is ungrateful..."
"It's Aunt Hong who is kind to me, not Uncle Cang. Aunt Cang will educate Brother Rui from there. No matter how busy I am, I won't be interested..." Shen Li said.
There is no need to talk about kindness. When Shen Rui needs him, he will naturally stand up for Shen Rui. But there is no need to tell Ms. Xie this. She is a woman who lives in the back house, and all she can see is this small family.
Ms. Xie felt a little at ease, and her previous reluctance was all forgotten.
It's not that she is evil-hearted or ungrateful, it's just that she has such a huge debt of gratitude on her head and seeing that her husband is closer to Shen Rui than her own flesh and blood, she really can't be generous.
If she could repay her kindness with money, she would have paid for it long ago.
Nowadays, even if the real estate is given away to the small village, which may give her husband peace of mind, Mrs. Xie is not as reluctant as before, but feels a little unable to make a move, saying: "Is it too thin? The village that I asked the housekeeper to buy a while ago also has a place in Tongzhou. , one hundred and fifty acres, how about adding that area as well?”
Shen Li shook his head and said, "No need. That's fine..."
Shen Zhai, Jiuruju, study room.
Even if five sticks of wax were lit on the candlestick in the study at the same time, Shen Rui did not dare to strain his eyes too much. There were no myopia glasses at this time, so instead of looking for crystals to grind lenses after becoming myopic, it was better to take good care of his eyes.
Reading is not a matter of day and night, so Shen Rui doesn't read at night. In addition to practicing Chinese calligraphy, he silently writes down the articles he memorized during the day.
It wasn't until today's homework was finished and twenty large letters were written that Shen Rui blew out the wax and left the study.
Dong Xi and Liu Ya heard the commotion and hurriedly called for hot water and helped Shen Rui wash up.
After all, the academy was no warmer than at home, so Shen Rui soaked his feet in a high-waisted wooden basin every night.
After he cleaned his face, he sat by the kang and soaked his feet.
Liu Ya smiled and said: "Second brother, my wife will go to Yang's house in a few days to have her hair inserted. Can you take Sister Dongxi with her?"
Shen Rui opened his eyes and looked at Dong Xi. Seeing the surprised look on her face, he knew that Liu Ya had made the decision on his own. It was just that Liu Ya didn't like to go out because of his leg disease, so he pushed Dong Xi out.
Shen Rui didn't argue with her and nodded: "Okay, I'll talk to my wife tomorrow..."