Counting several generations upwards from the fourth house, there are no side branches. The fewer in-laws there are, the people who can call Shen Jin "big cousin" are just a few families. There are Zhang Laoan's natal Zhang family and Shen Jin's biological mother. Zheng's natal family is the Zheng family. As for Shen Jin's nominal maternal family, the Sun family, because Sun is an only daughter, the inheritance has long been cut off and there is no one else.
The brother-in-law of the Zheng family is an official in Zhili. He has cousins in the family, but they are all a bit younger than Shen Jin. They are not so similar in age. The only ones left are the cousins of the Zhang family.
Shen Jin felt her heart tremble, and her face felt a little uncomfortable.
Back then, Mrs. Zheng adopted two unmarried ladies from the Zhang family as adopted daughters and then sold them off. This was the trigger for the breakup between Mrs. Zheng and Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan left his concubine in anger, while Mrs. Zheng left her parents and children and returned to her parents' home. It was because of Shen Yuan's quarrel with Zhang's sisters. Although Zheng wanted to clean up the trouble for her son's future reputation, in the eyes of Zhang Lao'an and Shen Yuan, she was a cruel and cruel woman.
Even Shen Jin was only sixteen or seventeen years old at the time. Even though she knew that her biological mother loved her son, she did not agree with this method. It is against the rules to sell good people for cheap. Moreover, even among them, Fourth Sister Zhang and Shen Yuan Even if she is having sex with Shen Yuan, it is mostly Shen Yuan's fault. Everyone else can blame Zheng, but Shen Jin This biological son was not qualified, but he still sent people out to inquire in private, hoping to find the Zhang sisters to redeem him, but they only found out that he was a buyer on a passing ship, and the ship had already left Songjiang.
Fourth Sister Zhang has been used to seeing the world in Fengyuechang in the past few years. Shen Jin's face was uneasy and slightly ashamed. Her eyes immediately turned red and she said with tears: "It took only four or five years for my eldest cousin to recognize me." Are you a slave?"
"Fourth Cousin... what are you..." Shen Jin saw clearly that Fourth Sister Zhang was dressed in snow-green trousers, a dark blue skirt, a loose bun on her head, and a silver hairpin with small pearls on it. She was actually a widow. People are dressing up and don't know how to ask questions for a while.
Fourth Sister Zhang came here to seek refuge. Thinking of the grievances she had endured in the past few years, she burst into tears.
Shen Jin was so confused because of guilt before, but now she calmed down and realized something was wrong. The fourth sister Zhang came at the wrong time, she came in the middle of the night, the key is that the housekeeper was not suspicious, and Mo Xiang also placed her here Guest room. What exactly did she say?
Shen Jin did not rush out to ask the housekeeper and maid, but frowned and asked: "My fourth cousin came late at night, but what difficulties did she encounter?"
Fourth Sister Zhang was already looking at Shen Jin with her eyes. When she saw his calm expression, she couldn't help but cursed in her heart, "He is indeed the son of a poisonous woman, he is always hard-hearted." Her hatred deepened, but she also held back her tears and choked with sobs. He said: "I was back at my cousin's house. I thought about my third sister who was gone. I couldn't help but feel a little rude. I ask my cousin for your forgiveness."
Shen Jin's expression condensed and her brows furrowed even more tightly: "Why is the third cousin missing?"
Of course, I couldn't bear the humiliation of being ridden by thousands of people and being straddled by tens of thousands of people. I was so depressed that I died of it.
Fourth Sister Zhang remembered her sister's death, her face covered with a handkerchief looked ferocious, and she almost told the truth. But what she said next would inevitably go wrong, and she had to take refuge in the fourth room of the Shen family.
Fourth Sister Zhang thought for a while and then said: "Third Sister was already weak, and she was far away from her relatives and parents. She cried day and night. She died on the boat before it reached Sichuan..."
Songjiang is famous all over the world for its white cloth. Even in Sichuan, which is famous for its Sichuan brocade, there are also merchants who go to Songjiang by boat to sell cloth. The fourth sister Zhang concealed the past of living in the world, but it was in line with what Shen Jin had inquired about in private before.
Thinking of that docile and gentle woman, Shen Jin felt sad and became less wary of Fourth Sister Zhang. She said, "Fourth cousin has settled in Shuzhong in the past few years. When did she return to Songjiang?"
Fourth Sister Zhang lowered her head and said: "The owner of the chartered boat happily sent away his third sister and left the slave as his adopted daughter. Last year he was seriously ill and knew that the slave was thinking about returning to his hometown, so he gave the slave to a businessman from Songjiang. Last winter, the slave set out from Shuzhong back to Songjiang with the officials, but the slave family's life was miserable. The officials caught wind and cold on the way and died when they arrived in Songjiang. The slave wanted to be guarded by the officials, but his grandmother didn't allow it and even sold the slave. , I really had no choice, I happened to hear that my eldest cousin was returning to Songjiang, so I avoided him."
Just a few words made Shen Jin understand the rough life of Fourth Sister Zhang in recent years. The so-called adopted daughter is just another name for a maid and concubine. It can make the husband feel at ease even before his death, which also shows the harshness of the mistress. Strict and intolerant; when she was betrothed for the second time, she was still a concubine, and her husband died, and she once again had to live under her mistress.
The Zhang family was in a state of decline, but because she was the fourth in-law of the Shen family, she received help from the fourth brother of the Shen family in her early years. She was also from a middle-class family. It cannot be said that the fourth sister Zhang was raised in a pampered manner, but she was still a little girl. If she had not had an affair with Shen Yuan, there would have been no Zheng family to take action. , already married and having children, may not be rich but can be peaceful.
Although Shen Jin is a scholar, he shouldn't believe in karma, but he has experienced a lot in these years and has a lot of respect for karma. The tragedy of the Zhang sisters is certainly related to their frivolity and lack of self-love, but Shen Yuan is the culprit. And Mrs. Zheng, I can’t say that she has been fasting and chanting Buddha’s name all her life, but she is not a bad person. The most vicious thing she has done in her life is this.
Thinking of this, Shen Jin felt a little compensatory and said, "What are your plans for the fourth cousin in the future? Do you want to go home?"
Seeing Shen Jin's soft attitude, Fourth Sister Zhang felt proud. She smiled bitterly and said, "What are you going to do when you go back and ask them to sell you again? Cousin, I don't tell lies. I hate my cousin and Aunt Zheng. It's true." , but what they hate the most is Nu’s mother... If they hadn’t seen Nu Tong’s sister grow up and wanted to ask for betrothal gifts to sell our sisters at a good price, our sisters wouldn’t be frightened and scared, and shamelessly want to stay. In the fourth room of the Shen family... At that time, the slave was still young and could still wait; the third sister was already seventeen years old, and they had already negotiated a price. The other party was an old widower in his fifties, and the previous two wives were beaten to death. . The slave really had no choice, so he wanted to ask his cousin for protection. Unexpectedly, the cousin... The slave had no choice. He thought that as long as the third sister had a good ending, the slave would follow his cousin and admit it without any reason, but it was It's an eyesore to Aunt Zheng, and even the third sister has been dragged down. In the final analysis, it's our sisters' fate..." At the end of the sentence, he was gritting his teeth.
Fourth Sister Zhang has been thinking about these grievances day and night since she was sold, and today she finally found an opportunity to say them out. She was only a girl of fourteen or fifteen at the time. Even if she was lazy and greedy for wealth, how could she have any bad intentions? It was her. She followed Shen Yuan secretly. Wasn't her delicate age not worthy of an old man? But Zheng, a smiling tiger who was kind and cruel in front of others, never gave her a chance to defend herself or look back.
Now that the half-truth and half-lie were told, Fourth Sister Zhang herself had red eyes. Her little thoughts back then were of course true, and as for hating her family more than Shen Yuan and Zheng, it was of course a lie. No matter how greedy her parents were, they only wanted to ask for betrothal gifts. She didn't think of selling the sisters to a dirty place; but Zheng didn't hesitate to trick the sisters into selling them. Even if she hated her for robbing men, she shouldn't have sold her third sister along with her. A passing bastard bought it She is a grown up girl, where can I find a good place to sell it?
Good people will be rewarded with good things, and evil people will be rewarded with bad things. If God doesn't repay her, Fourth Sister Zhang will repay it herself.
Zheng herself was just a concubine. After her mistress died, her son also changed from the eldest son of a concubine to the eldest son. Even if she left the Shen family, she still had brothers who were officials to rely on. And Shen Jin, with parents like that, with that How can he become the number one scholar in such a glorious way and have a good future in the future? Every time he thinks that the third sister was thinking about Shen Jin just now, the fourth sister Zhang’s hatred for Shen Jin increases. Now, revenge on the father and son of the fourth room of the Shen family has become a matter of course. Understood Fourth Sister Zhang’s obsession.
When Shen Jin heard about her father's affair, her eyes were a little evasive. Even if she noticed that the tone of the fourth sister Zhang's words was wrong, she would think that she was remembering the past and feeling resentful. After all, the tragedy of their sisters was caused by the fourth brother. If she really didn't complain at all, He becomes a saint.
At this moment, Shen Jin has made a decision in her heart. The deceased is gone and Third Sister Zhang can no longer take care of her. Fourth Sister Zhang might as well make up for it by helping her buy some land and find an honest man to marry. People take care of them and live peacefully.
It's just that there are differences between men and women, so it's not easy to leave Fourth Sister Zhang here to entertain. It seems that the vagueness she said before caused the housekeeper to misunderstand, thinking that she was taking the people back to Songjiang, so she placed them in this yard, which almost caused a misunderstanding.
Thinking of this, Shen Jin said to Fourth Sister Zhang, "It's already late tonight, so I won't keep my fourth cousin here. I'll let Mo Xiang take you to the guest room. We'll talk about anything tomorrow."
Shen Jin was wearing mourning clothes, and she knew everything about her. Fourth sister Zhang didn't even think about having sex, and just followed Mo Xiang down and settled down.
However, Shen Jin was completely out of sleep. She sat in the tea room and had a few cups of strong tea. Thinking of the events of the past few years, it felt like a world away.
The rooster crows the dawn, and the east is white.
Shen Jin went back to her room, washed up briefly, and thought of Fourth Sister Zhang, she told Mo Xiang, "Haosheng, look over at the customer's room and ask the kitchen to make some Jiang Xian and send it over."
Mo Xiang asked curiously: "Uncle, that Jiao Ke was really brought back from the capital by the uncle. Do you want to avoid some people? How does she know the name of the slave? The uncle said it before?"
Shen Jin paused and said, "Is it because of this that the housekeeper let the person in?"
Mo Xiang nodded and said, "Isn't that right? Otherwise, if Sangen comes to the door in the middle of the night, no one, even a woman, would dare to open the door."
Shen Jin said: "He is a distant relative of the family. He has been to our house in the early years. There is no need to avoid him. He is just treated as a normal guest."
After hearing this, Mo Xiang nodded in agreement, feeling relieved in her heart. It wasn't that she was talkative, but that the housekeeper asked her to inquire. She was worried that there was something wrong with him without any elders at home. He was the number one scholar, I haven't gotten married yet, so if there is any scandal about being a widow during the wedding, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to my reputation.