Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

She didn't go back to her room for two days, and on the third day Mrs. Ma sent someone to find Cao Zhen and try to persuade him. "It's common for couples to quarrel; men always give way. If you refuse to go back to your own room like this, others will criticize you for being too narrow-minded. Take my advice and let your wife go now." According to the rules of the old family, when encountering such a thing, you can only try to perfunctory, and you cannot disobey orders in person; so Cao Zhen replied with a smile: "Yes! I will go back in a while." "when?"

"There's a guest coming right now; I'll go as soon as we have a guest." "Okay!" Madam Ma nodded, expressing her satisfaction. Cao Zhen decided to follow Confucius' old wisdom of worshiping Yang goods, and asked Zhen to go back when his second grandmother was away, which saved Madam Ma's face; so as soon as he said his words, he called Xing'er: "Go in and have a look; is Second Grandma here?" .” "Not here." Xing'er replied, "Second Mistress is at my wife's place." I see!Cao Zhen thought to himself, this is not a perfect opportunity; immediately he strode forward and went back to his yard, the little girl passed each other: "Second Master is back."

When Jin'er heard about it, she came out to meet him; she didn't smile, she didn't speak, she just closed the door curtain, waiting for him to enter the house.Cao Zhen smiled and said, "What? Are you still angry with me?" "Dare there!" "Where is Second Grandma?" "Come back soon!" "Oh," Cao Zhen said immediately, "So I'm not at home. I won't sit down either; I have a guest waiting for me! When she comes back, tell her that I've been in." After speaking, he left in a hurry. Jin'er was puzzled; she wanted to call out to him, but couldn't speak, and stared blankly at his disappearance from behind.Then, Second Grandma Zhen came back.

"What's going on?" she asked, "Looking at your eyes, you seem to be in a daze." "Second Master has come in." Jin'er recounted what happened just now, Daoming was stunned, "I don't understand what he means." "He's supposed to have passed Mao." Grandma Zhen also called Mrs. Ma to Cao Zhen, and told Jin'er what she had said to him, "It was said that he came only to meet guests; but he played such a trick. Forget it! What does it mean for a couple to do this?" Jin'er had no words to comfort her, but in fact she was full of resentment and needed comfort, so she unconsciously sighed.

"Cheer up!" Grandma Zhen still refused to admit defeat, and whispered: "The day before yesterday, there was an incident with the official Long; I put a note in the bill for him, asking him to go there to avoid it. Today he sent Someone sent a prayer box; it was the four gemstone rings I entrusted him to re-set, and there was such a piece of paper in it." I took the note written by Cao Shilong from Second Grandma Zhen, and there were only eight words on it: "Go to Yangzhou after the festival, and return next month." "Tear it up! Why do you keep this kind of note?" Jin'er tore up the note, twisted it into a ball, and threw it into the spittoon.

"There are still six days left for the festival. After these six days; look at me, let's take care of those things." "I think," Jin'er said, "Aunt Ji is——" "Don't be so naive. You know people, you know their faces, but you don't know your heart; besides, she is famous for being a gossip." "At least, Xia Yun is not someone who doesn't know the importance." "That depends," Second Grandma Zhen thought for a while and said, "See if he comes back later. If he really doesn't come in, you go." "I go?"

"That's right." Second Grandma Zhen said, "Let's see, what kind of heart do you have?" Jin'er was reluctant, "I'm not that cheap. If he doesn't come in, why should I go outside?" She said, "It's like how much I care about him." These words have multiple meanings, one is to express protest against Second Grandma Zhen's use of her; the other is to silence Second Grandma Zhen, "You asked me to go; don't say sour things tomorrow." Another is to retreat and make threats. Second Grandma Zhen was really using Jin'er, so she had to persuade her, "No one will gossip." She said, "Even if he is wrong; let's stick to our principles, no one will laugh at you."

Jin'er hesitated for a while before saying, "Okay! I'll just go there. However, I can't go secretly." "Why?" Second Grandma Zhen laughed and said, "Why do you go secretly? Could it be that he wants to write a post for you; he brought you a sedan chair to pick you up." "Who cares about him posting? He wants me to go, so I won't go-." "I know, I know." Second Grandma Zhen quickly said, "It's for me." When she said this, Jin'er didn't need to confess; she thought for a while and said, "During the day, people come and go there, how can I go?"

"Naturally, at night." "Then we have to ask someone to inform him first." Jin'er said again, "I still need to find a topic." "It's easy to find the topic, and it's getting cold; I told him to change the bedding and bedding." Second Grandma Zhen said, "It's okay to ask someone to inform me first." So, someone called Xing'er, and Second Grandma Zhen personally explained that after dinner, Jin'er would change the bedding for "Second Master"; there was something else to say. "What are you going to say?"

"It depends. In a word, what's on his mind; what's he going to do?" "That's not a matter of few words." "Of course, now that you're gone, you have to talk to him more; if it's late, you can sleep with him." "I won't do it! Send him to the door to accompany him, and treat me as someone." "Okay, okay, as you like! It doesn't matter how soon or late you come back; I'll tell someone to wait at the door." With these few words, Jin'er dressed up generously; when he arrived at the moon, he took two little girls with him, and with a lantern, he went out of the middle gate, led by Xing'er who was there, to the Cao Zhen's residence.

Cao Zhen lives on the rockery in the West Garden, and climbs up the steps along the rain corridor next to the wall; to the east, there is a small plaque hanging in the Sanying Abode, inscribed "Jianxin Mountain House"; there is a huge terrace in front, left and right Two osmanthus trees are in full bloom; where the west wind passes by, the fragrance can be smelled from a long distance.At this time, the moon had already risen; but the room was lit with huge candles, the sound of chess was tinkling, Jin Er looked in from the window, and saw Cao Zhen was concentrating on playing music. So she coughed first, and when Cao Zhen looked up, she said calmly, "You've become more refined." "I was waiting for you to pass the time; otherwise, I would have played with Master Lin and the others." Cao Zhen asked, "Why did you remember that you want to make my bed?" "Second Grandma called me here." "Hmph!" Cao Zhen snorted, "Does she still remember me?" "Don't you remember her too?" Jin'er confronted her, "Otherwise I wouldn't have come in." "That's a perfunctory wife's face." Jin'er realized that the words were not congenial, so she kept quiet; she ordered the little girl to go into the inner bedroom to add a mattress for Cao Zhen on the bed, and put on a clean quilt cover, but she smelled the smell of osmanthus oil on the pillow. After returning to the outside room after the incident, Cao Zhen continued to write scores without raising his head.This kind of indifference made Jin Er annoyed; she said coldly, "I shouldn't come here to be a nuisance; anyway, there are people waiting for me, so why bother to be a nuisance? I should have avoided it long ago!" "What did you say?" Cao Zhen looked up at her and asked, "Who are you avoiding?" "Hmph! If people don't know it, unless they do it themselves, do you think I don't have a long nose?" "The sweet-scented osmanthus blooms so profusely that even people without long noses can smell it." Cao Zhen asked, "What's the matter?" Hearing that there was a loophole in his words, Jin'er caught hold of it; "How did you know I meant the smell of osmanthus?" she said, "There are not only osmanthus, but also osmanthus oil. So what?" It's okay for Cao Zhen not to argue, "What's the matter?" He asked, "Are you here to see me, or are you here to argue with me?" "I came to see you; now I want to argue with you. Seeing you like this, you obviously hate me! I'll go." As she spoke, she grabbed a handful of chess pieces and threw them on the board. "Oh," Cao Zhen said with a smile, "So you are upset about this! Then you misunderstood; I was thinking about an important move, and I didn't hear your voice. Come, come, let's go outside to enjoy the moon." Then he shouted: "Xing'er!" When Xing'er came, he asked Mama Zhu to go to the small kitchen on the middle door to see if there were any ready-made side dishes.The sooner the better. As soon as Xing'er turned around, he stopped him again and said, "Let Zhongmen Shang go to Shuangzhi Xianguan to have a look, and say that I invite Qin Guan to watch the moon." Jin'er was ordered to dig out his concerns; it was inconvenient to have official Qin around.Want to stop, but don't know how to word it?During this hesitation, Xing'er had already descended from the rockery, so he had no choice but to let it go. There is not much time, and when Qin Guan comes, it will be inconvenient to say a lot of things!She was thinking in her heart: If you want to live here, it is a very good excuse, just say that Qin Guan is here first, and when Qin Guan returns after watching the moon, it will be midnight!I can't come here for nothing, so I have to live in "Jianxin Shanfang" to have a deep talk with him. When you want to make up your mind, remember the sweet-scented osmanthus oil on the pillow; you can't help feeling tired, so you hesitate again.At this time, the little girl had already brought out the chair; there was a square table ready on the porch, where tea sets could be placed.After the arrangement was finished, Cao Zhen sat down and said, "August Festival is coming soon." Then he sighed and read a sentence: "'The moon bends to shine on Kyushu'!" "'The moon bends to shine on Kyushu'," Jin'er went on to read: "'How many families are happy and how many families are sad! How many families——'," she stopped suddenly, and then said after a pause, "It doesn't have to be Only couples can set up tents together!" She was mocking the sweet-scented osmanthus oil on the pillow; Cao Zhen had no intention of understanding it, and immediately said, "You're right! Jin'er, let me ask you, do you really know about her?" Jin'er didn't expect that he would go straight in like this, piercing deep into the bottom of her heart at once, but her mind was also very fast, knowing that if she hesitated for a while, nothing could be washed away, so she said in a decisive voice: " There is no such thing!" Cao Zhen was taken aback, and said bluntly, "You are really her best friend!" "What kind of dead party, living party?" Jin'er took the opportunity to say: "If you make trouble like this, I'm afraid that even the old lady will not be able to live safely in the coffin. I really don't understand what you think?" "You don't understand what I'm thinking? For so many years, she's been crawling on top of me, making me so cheap that I don't look like a man anymore. If she behaves rightly and sits rightly, no one dares to say that she A gossip is fine; I don’t want her to secretly put a green hat on my head.” Cao Zhen unconsciously dropped a sentence: “It’s tolerable, what’s unbearable.” "It's not to persuade you to be patient!" Jin'er probed cautiously: "It's to persuade you not to make things difficult for yourself. Could it be that you have been living here and never go in." "My own home, my own house, why don't I go in?" "So when is it?" "Yes, it's time to go in." "What do you mean when it's time to go in?" Jin'er followed closely: "You tell me! Explain it clearly." "When you figure things out, it's time to go in." This means that although others are in the Jianxin Shanfang, they are still secretly investigating this matter; Jin'er thought to himself, this revealed a very important piece of news, so she was extra vigilant against him. Thinking like this, he pretended to be confused and said, "I don't know what I don't know; I don't know what you want to find out? It's like walking at night and hitting a wall with ghosts!" This sentence made Cao Zhen a little annoyed, and had a provocative effect: "Is it my ghost hitting the wall, or is she groping her head and doing something wrong to her Ma family? There will always be a day when the truth comes out! When the time comes, hum! Hmph! Let's read the libretto on a donkey, and we'll see; anyway, I'm going all out." The last sentence made Jin'er tremble with fear!The so-called "go all out" means that you don't care about everything, and you don't care about tearing up face; while saying "I'm sorry for her Ma family" means that there will be means to humiliate the Ma family.Could it be that he is really planning to divorce his wife? This is too serious!Jin'er couldn't help being worried; but it was inconvenient to say it out, lest it would become an irreversible predicament if it became a reality.I had no choice but to answer like this: "Your suspicion is really serious; I really hope to get to the bottom of it and figure it out. Everyone still lives peacefully; otherwise, I will suffer in the middle." Cao Zhen remained silent; staring at the moon in Dongshan, his eyes kept flickering, it seemed that he had many things on his mind.Jin'er watched coldly, waiting intently for him to speak again; because what he said was probably a very important sentence that could read his heart. "Actually, not only do you not have to suffer, but you can also enjoy good fortune. There is no way out of misfortune and good fortune, only people call for themselves; it just depends on how you change your mind?" Sure enough, there was something hidden in the words; Jin'er naturally would not miss the opportunity, and immediately asked: "Tell me, how should I change my mind?" "You should think more about me and yourself." Cao Zhen turned his face and looked at her closely, "As it is now, even though you are loyal to her, you will still be unable to get ahead for the rest of your life." Jin'er thought for a while, then shook her head and said, "I don't understand your words; I also don't know how to call out your head?" "That's not easy to understand, sooner or later you will have a reputation; please come down with a seal, that's the beginning!" "It's not in the head, it's in the head." Jin'er replied immediately, "I don't have this kind of erotic dream in broad daylight." Cao Zhen hesitated to speak; after being silent for a while, he opened his mouth: "I can't tell you now; whether you believe it or not, you will see the truth anyway. But there is one thing I have to say. , What I say at this moment, heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know; if you really protect me, just keep my words in your heart." Judging by his calm tone, it can be seen that he has already thought through it, and it is imperative; if he just pretends not to believe him, it will not be sincere enough.And if you want to trick him, you have to say something. So she said: "Who am I going to tell; if I say it, it is a big right and wrong. However, I advise you to be cautious; wishful thinking will not work; don't ask for trouble." "This matter is of course my wishful thinking; could it be possible to have wishful thinking, and she nodded? As for whether it will work or not, I dare not say. Some things can be done; some should be done; some must be so Do it. Since it must be done, there is no need to think about it." "Why?" Jin'er couldn't help being concerned, "Why do you have to do this?" "Don't ask now! If you are willing to help me, I will tell you again." "You don't want to tell me, how can I help you?" Jin'er said again, "If you have a reason to do so; I heard it well, maybe I can help you." Cao Zhen pondered for a while, and finally shook his head and said, "I can't tell you yet. I didn't do this just to vent my anger; the whole family benefits." "Is it good for the whole family?" "By the way, the whole family is good. The words can only stop here; if you say more and let her get on guard, things will go bad." Jin'er was still thinking about it, but saw two gauze lanterns approaching slowly in the distance; knowing that it was Guan Qin who had arrived, she got up to greet her.After taking a closer look, I realized that not only Qin Guan and Xing Er, but also Chun Yu and the other two old women followed behind, carrying food boxes. "Why, you're here too!" "I'm here to accompany you." Chun Yu replied, "It's Qin Guan's intention; I think it's not bad." "Thank you, thank you!" Jin'er smiled, "Thank you both." Qin Guan smiled without answering, and walked over to greet Cao Zhen; Jin'er and Chun Yu arranged the cups, plates and side dishes, but only two pairs of cups and chopsticks were placed.When Cao Zhen saw it, he said, "This is not at my wife's place; there are not so many rules! Sit down and drink together." "Stay for a while!" Jin'er and Chun Yu had reached a tacit understanding, and the two of them wanted to talk together, so they said honestly: "We haven't seen each other for a while, first let us sisters make out, make out." As he spoke, he poured wine for their brothers, and sat with Chun Yu on the stone bench under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree far away, whispering quietly. "I've always wanted to see you, but I was afraid that my second grandma would be overwhelmed, so she thought I was going to find out." Chun Yu frowned and said, "And Officer Qin, I heard that there was such a turmoil, and I was so anxious that I couldn't sleep at night. "I want to comfort and comfort Second Grandma Zhen, but I don't know how to say it properly? You know that Qin Guan and Second Grandma Zhen are called uncles and sisters, and they are like siblings in terms of affection. When you meet this kind of situation, you can't mention it, Tell me about things you can’t ask, how awkward and useless you feel!” "Yes! Everyone has such a feeling in their hearts." Jin'er stopped; she sighed unconsciously. Chun Yu also hesitated for a while before asking: "What's going on? How did Second Lord Zhen come here? He would put a shit bowl on his head. Everyone can't figure it out after much deliberation." Jin'er was dejected and speechless; there seemed to be infinite unspeakable secrets in her depressed eyes.Chun Yu couldn't help being surprised when he saw it. "Why?" She asked with great difficulty, "Could there be something to say?" "What else can I say? You can tell by looking." "That said, it's—" Chun Yu suddenly understood, and it was not appropriate to ask any more; he forcibly swallowed the following three words "really". But there is a question that you have to ask; and it is not taboo, you can ask, "Where is Second Master Zhen?" She said, "It's not the same thing to be frozen like this!" "Yeah! That's why I came here. I want to find out what's going on in his mind?" "Have you figured it out yet?" "I hope I'm mistaken—" Jin'er shook her head, and didn't say any more. Obviously, the situation is not good; Chunyu pretended to be puzzled: "I don't understand your words." "I'm afraid there will be a big fight, maybe the Ma family and the Cao family will have a lawsuit." Chun Yu turned pale with shock, but she was also puzzled, "Why are you going to sue?" She said, "How could there be a lawsuit! No way?" "Tell me, what's going on that makes your mother's family sue her in-law's family?" Click on this sentence, the words are easier to understand, but more alarming.Chun Yu thought to herself: the in-laws become enemies and the fight is often caused by the daughter-in-law being tortured and committing suicide in her husband's house.For Second Grandma Zhen, abuse is naturally out of the question; but if Cao Zhen can produce evidence to make Second Grandma Zhen shameful, it is very likely that she will be forced to die. But there must be very clear evidence for this. Could it be that Second Mistress Zhen already has something in her husband's hands?Turning to this idea, Chun Yu was not only deeply concerned, but also deeply curious, eager to reveal the truth; however, this is another sentence of "don't ask too much". With an idea, he turned the words upside down and turned it into a question: "This is not a joke! There is no proof, Second Master Zhen can't do such nonsense; Second Mistress Zhen can't be so easy to bully." "This is one thing I haven't figured out." Jin'er was depressed for a long time, and couldn't help but talk to Chun Yu deeply, "He seems to want to find some evidence; and it seems that he is quite sure." "How do you say it's quite sure?" Since Jin'er didn't shy away from talking about it, Chun Yu finally asked, "You mean, he is sure that he can find such evidence." "That's right! That's what it means." Chun Yu thought about it for a while, then shook his head and said, "This kind of evidence is not counted if you find it, only if you catch it." This sentence reminded Jin'er, "You said this at a critical point, it doesn't count if you find it, but you count it if you catch it!" She was thinking in her heart, and she planned to stop dating;Maybe Cao Zhen would set up a trap for Second Mistress Zhen to take advantage of, but as long as he was careful in every step, what would he do? Just talking about this, I saw Xing'er calling Jin'er; it turned out that a letter just came in at the door, it was Cao Fu's family letter, and I entrusted the postman to deliver it; the postman delivered it to Jiangning post station as usual. It's okay to send these letters the next day; in order to curry favor, Yicheng specially sent someone to deliver them at night.In this way, there must be a big reward; there was no one in the outer tent at this time, so Cao Zhen asked Jin'er to go inside to get four taels of silver and send it to someone. Waiting for Jin'er to bring Xing'er into the house to do errands; Chun Yu took care of the table, first went into the house to fetch the candlesticks, and lit them so that Cao Zhen could read the letter. A thick letter, folded open to find a letter, on the cover it says "Tang'er is reading", it is purely a "letter from home"; there is another copy; a memorial written by Zhu Zhu.Naturally read the memorial first. The memorial is one pass: "Cao Ning, a weaving slave, knelt down and entered the order." There are four items in total: one is "a hundred pairs of plaques with single characters." Four hundred pieces." Zhu commented: "It's not necessary to use so many, and buy less." The third is "four hundred lake pens".Zhu Pi: "The pen is well used." The fourth is "one hundred brocade fans." "Finally, it's still as good." Cao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, and handed the tribute slip to Officer Qin to read; he then read the copy himself. The copy is the original performance and Zhu Zhu's commentary by Sai Leng'e, Governor of Shandong Province.The original note was directed at the three weaving places including Hangzhou, saying that the delivery of dragon clothes, passing through Changqing County and other places, in addition to the husband horses stipulated in "Kanhe", also harassed many parties at the post station, asking for Jiafu horses; Cheng Yi; Self-employed long-term mules, discounted prices and so on. Zhu Bian reprimanded him, saying that he had repeatedly issued decrees that imperial officials and human servants were not allowed to harass post delivery; and the three weaving places were still harassed as before, which was extremely abhorrent. Next, he commended Selen's forehead, saying that he "has no preconceptions, participated in the performance according to the facts, and knows my heart well, which is really commendable." He ordered the Ministry of Communication to discuss.And taking Selen's forehead as an example, he warned the minister: "If everyone can do this, everyone will know what to be vigilant about, and no one will dare to betray public interests." The last thing is to investigate the responsibility, saying that in Shandong, "it is so necessary to ask, and there must be similar cases in other passing places. Why didn't the governor report it according to the facts? The Ministry will investigate and discuss the performances one by one." As for "weaving officers, Now the capital is in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Officials will conduct a thorough investigation of all the items that Selen E has participated in, and plan to play them." After reading this transcript, Cao Zhen was already in a state of turmoil; because although he said "Hangzhou and other places", it seemed that it was not Jiangning and Suzhou who caused the trouble this time, but it was Cao Zhen who caused the trouble in Changqing and other places. This time, returning to Shandong will impose an additional burden on the post station, and I am afraid that it will not be related. Therefore, I hurriedly read Cao Fu's letter again, saying that it was a seven-rank pen post style sent by Sun Wencheng of Hangzhou weaving to escort the dragon clothes, and he was under the strict supervision of the Department of Punishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; he was also invited by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to question him. As I said, although there is Pingjun Wang Tuo Shangzhi Xiao to take care of him, and his attitude is very polite; but the power of the sky is unpredictable, so I don't know what to do?Sun Wencheng, weaving in Hangzhou, is old and weak, and it is inevitable that he will "lose his family early" and withdraw from his post.Therefore, I solemnly warn Cao Zhen to be cautious in everything, and not to cause trouble, and to blame yourself.As for his return date, it was originally set after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but now because of the involvement of Sai Leng's forehead, three weaving places have been implicated; the case can only be closed when Gao Bin arrives in Beijing to investigate clearly.Originally, according to this situation, he could go to the concert and ask for permission to return to his post first; but he was afraid that he would just offend the emperor, "For relatives and friends of Shang, it is better to wait quietly."If the case can be closed around the Double Ninth Festival, we can still reunite at the end of the year; otherwise, we have to spend the New Year in Beijing and return to the south after the spring thaws. Seeing that he had to wait for Gao Bin to come to Beijing before he could close the case; Cao Zhen couldn't help worrying about Gao Bin saying: "The Dosov horse in Changqing is for Cao Zhen to return to Jiangning." It's bad, but even if you criticize it: "The member understands the answer"; if you allow him to explain, there will be a lot of trouble. So he shook his head and handed the letter to Guan Qin to read, seeing that Jin Er had gone and returned in a blink of an eye, he handed the letter in the letter to her. "Do you think Aunt Ji is asleep? Send the letter from the fourth master. If Aunt Ji is still awake; you tell her: the fourth master has business in Beijing, so he may not be able to come back for the New Year." Jin'er took the letter and put it in her bosom; "I'll deliver it early tomorrow morning." She said, "If the fourth master may not be able to come back for the New Year, tell Aunt Ji right now, won't it make her sleepless all night?" "That's fine. Whatever you want." Cao Zhen suddenly said to Chun Yu, "Come on! Come on! Sit down and have a drink with me. I'm very annoyed." Hearing this, Chunyu looked at Jin'er; Jin'er gave him a wink and perfunctory him once.So the cups and chopsticks were added, and Chun Yu and Jin'er sat down. "Why can't fourth master come back for the New Year?" Jin'er asked. "Didn't I tell you? There is business." "Looking at your demeanor, it doesn't look like it's for business." "Of course it's business. But it's not a good thing." Cao Zhen said impatiently, "Don't ask. The more you ask, the more annoying I get." "Second Master Zhen," Chun Yu raised his glass and said, "I don't know how to drink; please drink a glass, and get drunk to relieve your worries." "What a drunk to relieve a thousand worries!" Cao Zhen raised his glass and raised his neck, and took a glass after drinking. "Thank you, Second Lord Zhen, for showing your face. But that's the way it is, it's not good to be drunk; drink slowly!" Chun Yu said again: "If Fourth Master doesn't come back, Second Master Zhen will have to be busy for a while next year; fortunately There is the Second Grandma Zhen inside. The family is in harmony and everything is going well, Second Master Zhen, if you are willing to listen to my advice, I will toast you again. This time I will do it; please do as you please." "No, no! I know you can't drink fast wine; drink it slowly." He raised his glass and took a sip before turning to talk to Qin Guan. This was obviously because she didn't want to listen to Chun Yu's persuasion; she felt very boring in embarrassment, and said to Jin Er mockingly: "I really 'I can't see myself from the Zhangba lampstand', and I think I have too much face." "Our second master," Jin'er also took advantage of the topic, "only loses his temper and refuses to listen to persuasion; when he loses his temper, he doesn't even care about the overall situation." So Qin Guan also put down the letter and said: "Fourth Uncle is afraid that he will be in trouble in Beijing; if he knows that the family is not at peace, his worries will add to his worries, and he will be sick suddenly, but it is a serious matter." The three of them were making side-effects, trying to persuade the couple to reconcile; Cao Zhen thought to himself, if there was a real breakup, even if he could stand on his own grounds, the timing was unfortunate and no one would sympathize.At that time, it was difficult to get off the tiger, and maybe it would be disgraced again. But it was so easy to seize such an opportunity, and the downwind flag was also hoisted; it was unwilling to close the awning and lower the sails without making a sound.After thinking about it over and over again, there was no good solution; when I was depressed and difficult to solve, I couldn't help but sighed silently. At that time, Qin Guan and Jin'er were chatting face to face, their voices were extremely low; but Chun Yu could guess that it must be Qin Guan asking Jin'er to pay respects to Second Grandma Zhen, so don't worry about it.However, the changes in Cao Zhen's face are worth paying attention to; seeing how helpless he is, he sighed sadly, and he probably guessed it in his heart. "You," Cao Zhen patted Jin'er on the shoulder twice, and waited for her to turn around before taking care of him: "Tomorrow, I will go to Aunt Ji's place, pretending to be casual, and inquiring about the fourth master's letter. nothing?" "You don't need to ask Aunt Ji about it, I'll just ask Xia Yun." Jin'er said again, "The fourth master won't talk about official business in the letter to their mother and son." "It's not bad, but you still have to figure it out before you can rest assured. I'm most afraid that Aunt Ji will cry and cry, come with me." "So you're also afraid of trouble!" Jin'er rolled his eyes at him, "Then why are you always looking for trouble for yourself?" Cao Zhen didn't say a word, but there was a look of disbelief on his face; Qin Guan was afraid that they would quarrel face to face, so he said to Chun Yu, "We should go too." "That's right! You have to go to school tomorrow." Jin'er still wanted to keep him, and after hearing what Chun Yu said, it would be inconvenient to waste his time; but because there were still a few words left to say, she said, "I'll send you down." "Are you coming back or not?" Qin Guan immediately interjected, "If you are still coming back, why not walk with me; otherwise, you don't have to be polite." "Of course I'll be back." Chun Yu hurriedly said, "The table hasn't been collected yet!" So the little girl lit a lamp to illuminate the road, and Jin'er walked with Qin Guan all the way, still talking in low voices; they walked very slowly, Chun Yu simply stopped behind, and said a few words to Cao Zhen. "Second Master Zhen, I'm begging you on behalf of Officer Qin, can you give him a face and let him tell his wife: Persuade you two to make peace." She didn't allow Cao Zhen to express anything, and then said, "However Conscience says Second Grandma Zhen is a bit too strong; of course she should be asked to give in. If Second Master Zhen has anything to say, he can tell me, as a wife, Second Grandma Zhen has to listen." Cao Zhen's heart moved; he thought about it: not bad!Since you can't make a fuss, why not accept it as soon as you see it?It's rare to gain the upper hand once, and you should really make good use of it. "Second Master Zhen knows, Guan Qin thinks that Second Grandma Zhen is not a sister-in-law, but a sister; Second Master Zhen, for his brother's sake, make peace with Second Grandma Zhen!" Hearing this, Cao Zhen was a little moved, and blurted out: "Okay! Let me think about it, and let Jin'er tell you tomorrow." "Yes!" Chun Yu exhorted, "Second Master Zhen only said that Official Qin wanted to persuade the Second Grandma to make peace; if you have any words for Second Mistress Zhen, it is your own opinion. Anyway, we have tacitly agreed to do so." "I understand, thank you for your trouble." "Second Lord Zhen doesn't dare to take that. I'm also an officer of Qin; he is so worried that he can't sleep because of the discord between you and your mother." "Tell him," Cao Zhen replied without thinking, "Just because of this letter from Beijing today, I can't ignore the overall situation. But whether or not we can make peace depends on others." Chunyu saw Qinguan and Jin'er waiting at the place where they were going down the stairs, so she said in a hurry: "As long as you give in to each other, we will make it up." Then he hurried up and accompanied Qinguan back to Shuangzhi Xianguan. At this time, Cao Zhen already wanted to stop, and when Jin'er came back, he made a request: "Don't go back tonight; let's have a good chat." "No! I can't bear the smell of your pillow." "What?" Cao Zhen smiled and said, "Is there a sour smell on the pillow?" "By the way, it's sour." Jin'er said with a sullen face, "Don't do this with me! You always say that people like to drink vinegar; don't think about your own behavior. You just lived here alone for two or three days , I can’t stand it any longer; no matter it’s fishy or smelly, just pull it.” Seeing that Jin'er was angry, Cao Zhen didn't dare to say any more; he just asked humbly, "Then, can you sit here with me for a while?" "That's fine." Jin'er sat down on the armchair without hesitation: "If you have something to say, just say it!" "Chun Yu told me that Officer Qin wanted to persuade us to make peace. I have to discuss this matter with you." "Officer Qin wants to persuade you to make peace? Why didn't he tell me?" Jin Er immediately realized, "It must be Chun Yu's intention. But it's the same, she is no better than me; she can make decisions for Official Qin." There were thorns in the words, Cao Zhen said more cautiously: "I am also discussing with you; please make the decision for me?" "How dare, how dare!" Jin'er's unhappiness disappeared, "Since he has such a good intention, of course he has to accept it. I don't know what kind of persuasion he is trying to do?" "I think he always talks to his wife and asks her to come forward." "My wife has already persuaded her once; you will give her a hard time. Are you willing to show up this time?" "Officer Qin is the one to say it, why doesn't your wife agree?" "You have to be willing to listen." "That's the point. You all force me to make peace, but I can't. However, if you want to make peace, you must really make peace; if you talk about reconciliation for a while, it's just a perfunctory account. That kind of peace is worse than discord." Jin'er thought for a while and asked, "What do you mean by real peace talks?" "If it's still the same as before, she wants to step on me in everything; she only cares about her own private house, regardless of other people's life and death, I don't want to live that kind of life again!" "Greatly, you're planning on the second grandma's private house!" Jin'er blurted out; she immediately felt that the words were too harsh, and quickly said in a sympathetic tone: "It's no wonder you! Husband and wife, I don't want to live through this if it's different. Seed the day." "It wasn't my idea to hit her private house." Cao Zhen also had an excuse, "Where did she get it from her private house? Isn't it the money from the public office? The two years of errands have not been smooth, and all I have done is to make up for the shortfall of public funds. Please be able to cope with the past; not to mention beautiful and outstanding. Now the superiors are not good to the fourth master, and if something happens, they will be held accountable; the fate of the Li family is there, as miserable as it is! Now that there is strength to fill this hole, Only her. She should understand what I mean." Jin'er thought to herself, isn't this the idea of ​​shocking Second Grandma's private house?And the lion opened his mouth wide, asking her to make up for the shortfall in public funds, what a delusion!But if I tell the truth at this time, the turning point I just found will disappear immediately.So Jin'er's answer was very cautious. "I have to persuade her slowly; she's not a person who doesn't care about the overall situation. If she really can't explain her job, she won't ignore it. However, her strength is also limited." "Don't help her hide it! As long as she understands the saying 'if you keep the green hills, you won't be afraid of running out of firewood' and look farther away, this loss is nothing to her!" "So how much is the shortfall?" "No more than one hundred thousand." "Hmph! Your tone is really not small. A hundred thousand silver is only a 'nothing'!" Jin'er was afraid of making a mistake again, so she quickly turned away, "Okay, you are doing this for the public; let's talk about yourself. " "As for myself, that's all; don't stare so hard all day long! Like you—" "Hey, hey!" Jin'er interrupted immediately, shaking her hands and said, "Don't get involved with me!" "Okay! It's these two points." Cao Zhen said again, "How should Guan Qin tell his wife about this, you and Chun Yu are thinking about it. You don't need to tell her first; as long as the wife tells her, she will definitely listen. If she can listen to her wife, she will be fine." Amazing!Seems like a non-negotiable condition.Jin'er thought to herself that Mrs. Ma couldn't be as wishful thinking as him; when the time comes, what will happen to him if his words are discounted? Thinking of this, he immediately said: "The words will definitely reach the wife; but if the wife is willing to say that, no one dares to promise. If you can't do what you want, what will you do?" "Then it's the same as it is now, frozen there. Anyway, leave her and mine, sooner or later there will be a settlement." Jin'er thought to himself, according to what he said, it would be a dead end; the only thing in front of him was to play it perfunctory, and let the matter cool down before making sense.This matter is too big, Second Mistress Zhen must decide for herself; there is no need to talk to him now.
“哼！亏空不过八九万银子；他说十来万，先就加了帽子，还说是为公家。亏空是怎么来的，还不是他跟四老爷两个人闹的吗？” “现在也不必去追究这些了！”锦儿劝道：“花钱消灾。俗语说得好：财去身安乐。” “花钱要看花在什么地方？公家的亏空，凭什么要我来填补。别说我没那么多钱；就有也不能拿出来。倒像我犯了什么充军的罪，花钱赎了回来似地。你说，是不是这么个味道？” “话是不错，二奶奶，你也该体谅人家的一番苦心。” “春雨为了芹官，出这么个主意，我不怪她忘了自己的身分，敢来干预这件事。不过，太太绝不会交代什么我办不到的话。”震二奶奶又说，“既然他叫你别跟我说；我就装作不知道。你还是照他的意思，跟春雨商量着，把话转到太太那里；太太自然会来问我。” “问到你，你怎么说呢？” “这会儿还不知道。等我想想再说。”震二奶奶又说，“反正他是让赌债逼急了；没有什么大不了的事。” 话虽如此，她暗中却另有盘算。大家都说，当今皇帝好抄人的家；万一曹家真的落个像李家那样的悲惨下场，自己多年心血积聚，白白葬送在里面，岂不冤哉枉也！ 于是她又想起鼎大奶奶的见解，人无远虑，必有近忧，应该早留退步。办祭田那件事，该当加紧；自己的私房，更宜作个万全的安排。就这样一个人在灯下想了又想，直到三更天方始上床。 第二天并无动静；第三天还是没有消息，向锦儿问起，说是早就将曹震的条件告诉了春雨；并且据她所知，春雨亦已陈明了马夫人。然则何以竟无影响，岂不可怪？