"The daughter of a salt merchant?" Shen Li frowned even though he had long known that Shen Yuan was unreliable.
Previously, I was thinking about Shen Jin's marriage and not letting the elders of the fourth house make random decisions. It was just a precaution, but I didn't expect that it would actually become such a situation now.
"How much money did the fourth house take from the Yan family? How willing is the son of a number one scholar to become a merchant's son-in-law?" Shen Li sneered.
"Number One Scholar" Shen Ling and Shen Zhu both stood up in shock.
"You haven't heard the news yet? The new number one scholar in the new subject is none other than Shen Jin. The people from the province and government who announced the good news should have arrived in the workshop early..." Shen Li said.
Shen Zhu said: "I went to Nanjing in early March, and I only knew that Brother Jin was Xie Yuan..."
Shen Ling said with joy on her face: "That's great, that's great...Brother Jin is really up to date...Haha, if nothing else, even the He family would never have thought that our Shen family would have another top pick..." But she thought of it The He family was not targeting the fourth room but the third room, and the fourth room seemed to be on the side of the He family, so the smile on his face froze.
The new wife of the Fourth Fang is a daughter of the He family. The Master of the Fourth Fang had previously disregarded the favor of his clan members and persecuted his relatives after his son won the title of Xie Yuan. Now that he has his son who is the number one scholar to rely on, his arrogance has become even more arrogant.
Shen Zhu obviously thought of this too, with a gloomy look on his face: "The Yan family took out one hundred thousand taels of silver to buy a marital property for the future Grandma Jin in Songjiang. Not only did Uncle Yuan come forward to buy the three-bedroom land deed, but I also bought a Zhuangzi from the He family..."
Shen Li looked solemn: "With so much fuss, isn't the news of the marriage between the fourth house and the Yan family known to all?"
Shen Zhu nodded and gloated: "It's a big matter of marriage. My parents have ordered a matchmaker. I'm afraid Brother Jin won't be able to become the grandson-in-law of the Prime Minister..."
Although Shen Ling has no personal relationship with Shen Jin, she knows how important the help of in-laws is in the officialdom. She paused and said: "Uncle Yuan's vision is really too short-sighted. Why did he arrange a marriage for Brother Jin in such a hurry? Even if the Yan family The richest man in Yangzhou is just a businessman... If he gets married from the Li family, Brother Jin will be much smoother in the future.
Shen Li's face was dark. Even if the Li family wanted to get married, they couldn't get past Shen Yuan, his biological father. Now Shen Yuan not only arranged a marriage for Shen Jin, but also made it known to everyone. Even if Li Ge always cherishes talents, If you are optimistic about Shen Jin, you must also weigh your reputation.
Shen Yuan is a scholar himself, doesn't he know the importance of fame to a scholar? Back then, he was just a small official, but he felt guilty for marrying Sun, who was a merchant. Now, even if he didn't wait for the palace examination, Xie Yuan's son is almost the same It is equivalent to a prospective Jinshi. Why would you want to do such a hindrance?
There seems to be something wrong with this.
"The wealthy He family has always only bought land, why are they selling it?" Shen Li asked with a sudden thought.
Shen Zhu said angrily: "I heard that the masters of the Yan family and the second master of the He family are close friends. Even the marriage of the fourth bedroom is the thread that the second master of the He family leads to...Uncle Yuan is now married to the wife of the He family. Where? I still remember my first wife who passed away long ago, and the calculations Master He Er made in his early years are probably forgotten by Uncle Yuan...
Shen Jin's high school student, Xie Yuan, and the He family arranged for Shen Jin to hire a business woman. Shen Li didn't believe it if the He family didn't do it on purpose.
Thinking of Mr. He Er's intention behind this, Shen Li couldn't help but gritted his teeth and said, "Even with these unflattering means, the He family is really planning for a rainy day."
In this "debt collection" drama, the He family's plot was not limited to the third and fourth bedrooms of the Shen family, but the entire Shen family was also involved.
But if you live in the same hometown, you must earn a living. The He family's people's hearts are not right. Although Shen Li hates the He family, he is most disappointed with his own people.
Shen Yuan came forward for money, thinking that he was taking advantage, but he was losing his most promising son. Although the number one scholar sounds glorious, it only lasts for a few months in the spring. After the spring, he still has to enter the Hanlin Academy and become a editor. Let’s start. After the Ming Dynasty, there was no shortage of number one scholars who were awarded the title of Prime Minister. Now Xie Qian, one of the “Three Pavilion Elders”, is one of them. However, he failed to make any achievements. From then on, there are also many people who are unknown.
"This is a housework in the fourth room. Shen Jin is already in his prime and has been officially appointed as an official. This matter cannot be ignored by him. Let's call him over tomorrow and see what he says." Shen Li glanced at Shen Zhu. Said calmly.
Shen Ling said: "Brother from the Six Clans is exactly what he said, so I'll ask Brother from the Six Clans to make arrangements."
Shen Zhu was stunned and wanted to speak, but Shen Ling stopped her with a look.
When the two clan brothers arrived in Beijing, even though they had no previous friendship, Shen Li asked someone to prepare a small banquet to cleanse the two clan brothers. However, Shen Rui and the two clan brothers were very different in age, almost the same as two generations apart. , sat with him for a while and then went to the study, leaving his eldest son Xiao Lin to accompany him.
Brother Xiao Lin is fifteen years old this year. He looks like the eldest son of his parents. He is already a handsome young man and is still studying at Chunshan Academy. According to his wishes, he has long wanted to return to his hometown to take the boy examination, but Mr. Xie did not allow it.
If you go back to Songjiang to take the Tongzi Examination, you will have to go back to Nanjing to take the Autumn Examination in the future. I don’t know how hard it will be to travel back and forth. If you are a candidate for the Imperial College, you can directly take the Shuntianfu Autumn Examination. Not to mention staying at home, it will be much easier than taking the exam in Nanjing. .
Mrs. Xie wanted her son to succeed, but she also had the heart of a loving mother. Since there was a shortcut, she was reluctant to put in the hard work for her son. Shen Li knew that his eldest son was very talented, but he didn't know if he had been forced too much since he was a child, so he had to be casual about studying. Many, but they are not as attentive as other children from scholarly families. They just deal with their parents' homework. Even if the boy's exam is fine now and he is still far from the hometown exam, he will not rush him.
Shen Lin had met the two clan uncles in his early years, but he was not familiar with them, so he accompanied them politely.
Shen Ling has been making a living outside the home since she was a child, and she is the best at talking. Even though she and her clan nephew had not had much friendship before, they became a happy couple after a meal and became much closer to each other. On the other hand, Shen Zhu, even though she lacked the previous pride and arrogance, still had the spirit of love in her bones. He is somewhat aloof and can't stand the flattery of his cousin to his younger nephew. He also feels that Shen Li, the number one scholar in the clan, does not personally accompany the guests because he looks down on his fellow Songjiang clan members and treats him lightly. In addition, after learning that Shen Jin was the number one scholar in high school, With complicated thoughts, he started to drink too much, and he turned out to be extremely drunk.
Fortunately, Shen Zhu's wine was acceptable. When she was drunk, she was helped back to the guest room without making any noise. Even so, Shen Ling had a headache. Shen Li's family was not the only one in the capital. Since their cousins came to Beijing, they were with Shen Li. Now that we have talked about business, we still need to meet the elders of the second and fifth bedrooms. Now that we are so drunk, how can we meet people tomorrow morning?
Sure enough, when Shen Zhu was woken up the next morning, she looked sluggish, smelled faintly of alcohol, and looked very embarrassed.
Shen Ling knew that it was not appropriate and wanted to leave Shen Zhu behind and go to meet her clan relatives. Shen Zhu had already yawned and stood up and said, "Is it time to go to Shangshu Mansion? Oh, no, the Shangshu clan uncle is gone. Now The two-bedroom mansion can no longer be called Shangshu Mansion..."
Hearing Shen Zhu's strange expression, Shen Ling frowned and said, "Ninth brother seems to be in low spirits. If he feels tired, just rest for half a day. I'll just go and see the elders of the second room..."
Shen Zhu shook his head and said: "You are an elder after all, how can you be so rude? I can't go anywhere else. I must go over to the second room to have a look. Shen Rui was the heir of the minister, and passed the boy test at the age of fourteen. Isn't he proud of himself? Now he is a concubine. My brother, Shen Rui, the number one scholar in high school, must also be extremely proud..."
Shen Ling said with a frosty look on her face: "What a sin? It seems that you have wronged the Ninth Young Master by going to Beijing with me."
Only then did Shen Zhu realize what he had said. With an embarrassed look on his face, he said urgently: "Second brother, I didn't mean you..."
Shen Ling sneered and said: "Although Brother Jin's biological mother is not the legitimate daughter-in-law, she is a good concubine from a scholarly family. Now she is officially named in the name of the legitimate mother-in-law. Even the Ninth Young Master disdains her status as a concubine. You really have stained your eyes." After saying that, he threw up his sleeves and walked away.
Shen Zhu's face turned pale for a while. She regretted her mistake and blamed Shen Ling for making a fuss. However, she knew the importance of love and knew that she was not welcome in the second and fifth rooms. Shen Ling was still needed to deal with her relatives. , so he followed it with resignation.
The two cousins went to the second room first.
By the time Shen Rui got the news and knew about Shen Zhu and Shen Ling, they had already been led to the living room to have tea.
If Shen Ling came here alone, Shen Rui would not have to worry about whether something happened to the second master. Since she brought Shen Zhu, it is not Nanjing's business. As for whether there is any difficulty with the third room, it is not Shen Rui's fault. Within the scope of concern.
After hearing the reason why the two cousins came to Beijing, Shen Rui realized that it was not only the housework of the third room, but also the fourth room. But since Shen Li only said that he would ask Shen Jin to come over to discuss the matter in the afternoon and did not call Shen Rui, Shen Rui Of course Rui himself would not participate.
Since these two guests came to meet their elders, Master Shen Rui was not allowed to take them to the upper room to meet Mrs. Xu and the third wife.
Xu's meeting with Shen Zhu was just normal, but she was much kinder to Shen Ling. She asked a few questions about the second master. Knowing that Shen Zhou had just arrived in Nanjing not long ago and settled down, Shen Ling started to go north. Xu's expression It faded away.
Hearing that Shen Ling was going to take Shen Zhu to the fifth room to pay her respects, Mrs. Xu didn't leave any food, and just said: "I'll come over and talk when I have some free time..."
Shen Ling agreed and took Shen Zhu to leave, while Shen Rui sent him out.
In the main room, the third wife smacked her tongue and said, "It's only been a few years, but people can't even recognize this Zhujiu... Although she was a bit arrogant back then, when she stands with Brother Quan and the others, her appearance and demeanor are beyond compare." Going over to the other side, it looks ordinary now..."
Xu frowned and said: "Brother Ling seems to be enthusiastic and considerate in his actions, but sometimes he is too careful. Fortunately, the second brother can see clearly, otherwise there will be trouble in the future. It's just that Songjiang is so far away from the capital, so there is no chance. I won’t send people here without any reason. Since I didn’t say it directly, I’m afraid there is some reason that I can’t tell, so I’ll tell Brother Rui...”
At the gate, Shen Ling whispered to Shen Rui about the disputes in Songjiang, and then said: "Second Uncle Zhou has just arrived in Nanjing and is busy with everything. I should have been around to do my best, but Songjiang sent people to Nanjing to find someone. Second Uncle Zhou asked for help, but Second Uncle Zhou could not ignore it, so he sent me to accompany Brother Zhu to Beijing..."
Shen Rui nodded and said: "Second brother Ling is a capable person who works hard. Second uncle will know how hard brother Ling is working. The elders in the family are thinking about second uncle. Second brother Ling is busy with his business, so he has time to come over and talk to his mother about Nanjing. My mother can also feel more at ease..."
Shen Ling nodded hurriedly and said: "Of course, of course, as long as Brother Rui doesn't dislike my brother for disturbing your studies..."