Dong Mansion, the main house. ()

Guozun's wife Li Si'er sat on the kang, wearing a red flag suit, and her skin was as white as snow. But her beautiful face did not have the flamboyance and pride of the past, but with a touch of sadness.

She held a ledger in one hand, looked to the left, and then to the right, and the more she looked at it, the more her brows furrowed.

Seeing the end, she sighed, tossed the account book aside, and looked at the window.

It was getting dark, and the maid waiting next to her was clever and said softly: "Madam, can you hold the lamp?" ”

Li Si'er nodded chaotically, stood up, and walked to the window, there were ice flowers on the glass window, which made people unable to see it really. With her thumb, she dissolved a piece of ice and looked through it into the empty courtyard outside.

"Master......" Li Si'er whispered.

I don't know how long she stood there, but the candles in the room went off twice, and it was already pitch black outside, so she walked to the kang in a trance.

After a while, she remembered something, and instructed the maid: "Send someone to the girl's room, and tell Mama Shen, just say what I said, the girl is not allowed to work at night, so as to save 7 eyes." Yumin's wedding date is set for February next year, and now Yumin does the needlework for marriage every day.

The maid went down in response, and as soon as she walked to the door, she was stopped by Li Si'er again: "Forget it, if she is obedient, she doesn't need me to follow me all these years." Go to Chen Xing's house, take two boxes of honey mites and send them over one by one" As she was talking, she heard footsteps in the yard.

She immediately stood up and walked to the door, and the one who came in with the curtain was Roncodo, who was wearing a cold air.

"Master, why don't you take a sedan chair, it's thirty-nine days now?" Li Si'er didn't care about the maid beside him, grabbed Long Keduo's hand, and said, "It's so icy, how can it be good if your body gets into the cold?" Long Keduo looked tired, patted Li Si'er's hand, and said, "It's okay, let people set the meal."

Seeing that he didn't want to say much, Li Si'er pursed his 8 lips, didn't say much, only passed the word to set the meal, and then served her husband to change his clothes with his own hands.

Four, five, eight bowls, more than a dozen dishes, but the husband and wife didn't have anything to eat, but they took two bites and put down the chopsticks.

"If the master is tired, lie down first, and I'll pinch it for you." Li Si'er saw that the atmosphere was calm, and her husband was depressed, sighed in his heart, and said with a forced smile: "The family affair has not been accomplished, and then I will find a good daughter-in-law for Yuzhu." Mrs. Fu is not a good stubble, the girl in his family is exempt from being selected, if the body is really not strong, it will delay us to hold our grandson. ”

Long Keduo shook his head and said, "Fu Nai agreed...... It's just that it's not the third girl in her family, it's the second girl in her family......"

When Li Si'er heard this, her eyes immediately widened, and she said in surprise: "Second girl? The one who came out? How dare he r111111111"

She felt like she was going to explode her lungs, her face was flushed, and she couldn't help but scold. But seeing her husband's frustration, she swallowed the words that came to her lips again.

Long Keduo pulled her to sit beside the kang, and said in a low voice: "I can't marry you a daughter-in-law with a long face, I have wronged you." ”

Li Si'er's eyes turned red, and his anger turned into infinite bitterness, and he said: "If there is any grievance, it is because I have a bad background and have affected him." Whoever let him be born to me, and he can only suffer.

It's just that I can't live with the master, but as long as I have a noble background, I won't make the master so compromised. ”

Long Keduo sighed and said, "It's not that there is no better family than the girl of the Fu family, but Fu!" \} is a close minister who was with him when the emperor opened the mansion, and his feelings are different...... If something is wrong, the Fu family will always take care of it......

When Li Si'er heard this, he felt a little shocked in his heart.

Although she didn't understand why her husband was depressed, she could also see that something was wrong from the "charcoal tribute" and "New Year's gifts" sent everywhere this year.

Now, she didn't even think about whether she would lose face in the powerful people in the capital, but fell to the ground with a stone in her heart, breathed a sigh of relief, and said in a loud voice: "The master loves the jade pillar so much, it is all the blessing of our mothers......

Long Keduo was afraid that she would be angry and disappointed, but seeing that she was so reasonable, his face also added a gentle color, and said, "How are those things in the storehouse prepared?" In two days, I will send it to the boss with the New Year's things, which will also save the eyes. ”

Li Si'er hesitated for a moment and said, "Master, I'm still waiting for two more days...... Ming'er sent someone out to exchange some gold, in addition to her sister's dowry, and sent two more boxes of gold over......"

Long Keduo was very relieved when he heard this, nodded his head, and said: "It's better, Yuzhu is his own brother, Yumin is his sister-in-law, and he can take care of it more or less in the future." ”

Li Si'er said with a smile: "Uncle is afraid that he will be scared, and everyone outside says that I took my sister's dowry and added a dowry to Sister Min." It's all old things, who is rare? I first deliberately detained him to make him angry, who made him treat me as an enemy. He hated us for half his life, what could he do in the end? A family, in the end, a family...... "The matter of the Tong family and the Fu family getting married was handled very quickly. By the time the Cao family heard the news, the State Government had already made up its mind.

Jinghui is the adopted daughter of the Fu family, and on the day of the decision, the Fu family also made a special trip to the Cao family to pick it up. The second girl who said goodbye to the Tong family, although she was the second line, was Fu Nai's eldest daughter. Just because he recognized Jinghui, the ranking was postponed by one place. Cao Xuan was stunned for a long time when he heard the news.

Fu Nai, who took over Yi Duzhi's errand two months ago, was promoted to the squire of the military department, which was the spring breeze. His eldest son, Changling, was selected as a scholar last year, and after the museum was disbanded this year, he stayed in Hanlin to accompany the review.

As an old man of Qiandi, Fu Qi's career in the past two years has been mediocre, far less eye-catching than others. However, no one dared to underestimate him.

Because he is a Manchurian noble, he was born as a guard of the Three Banners, and he has been by the emperor's side for a long time, which is not the same as other slaves in the palace. Cao Xuan really didn't expect that Fu Qi would be so unwise and marry Long Keduo at this time.

Although Long Chongduo still has the Nine Gate Admirals, the real power has been hollowed out. Everyone can see that the emperor's affection for this "uncle" has faded.

This family business is too utilitarian. However, it can also be seen that Long Keduo is stoic, and he can put down the shelf and end this mismatched family affair.

Although Cao Xuan and Fu Qi have been in contact with relatives over the years, they are only passable on the surface, and they actually don't have much affection. He could only sigh at this. However, when Li heard about this, he was very curious, and inquired a few more words.

It is not a secret that the Tong family has the heart of the lord. Now that this princess has been replaced by a maid from the Lang Mansion, the gap is too big.

On the twentieth day of the lunar month, the capital was in trouble, and the officers and soldiers who had been on vacation to supervise the standard also returned from vacation, and Cao Mei left the capital and returned to Zhili.

The New Year's goods sent from the capital to Zhili have already been sent by horse-drawn carriage.

Hurried along the way, and finally returned to Baoding Mansion on the day of the New Year.

In the city, the smell of the New Year is already very strong.

The governor's yamen has been "sealed", except for the official clerks on duty, most of the others have left the house.

After Cao Xuan came back, it took two days to deal with the backlog of official affairs for half a month in the official office, and then he breathed a sigh of relief and began to rest.

The fatigue of the journey, coupled with the fact that these days in the capital, are bad enough to socialize with people everywhere, which makes him physically and mentally exhausted.

As for the local officials who came to the governor's palace every day to give New Year's gifts, or the nephews of the officials, Cao Xuan made Jiang Jian and Song Hou meet. But someone couldn't see him idle, and when he heard that he finished handling official business, Feng Chuan came to the door.

"My lord, those old friends are interested in coming over to take a look, but this Lotus Academy only has three houses and more than sixty rooms, which is too small." Feng Chuan said with a little helplessness: "If you want to benefit the Zhili scholars, you have to ask the adults to help." ”

"If you use the land, it's easy to say. There are a lot of open spaces on the opposite side of the pool, and when the seal is opened, let people go to the yamen of Baoding Mansion to ask, if they can buy it, they will buy it. Cao Mei said: "If you use silver, I also have it here." But it is limited by identity, and it is not easy to use too much, otherwise there is a suspicion of inviting names. Didn't you say that the local gentry should be mobilized to donate silver? Why is there no movement again? ”

Feng Chuan sighed and said, "Xu Shanchang came forward and visited a few houses, and most of them were on the sidelines. There are a few who have a quasi-letter, but it is only a few stones of rice, a few taels of silver, a drop in the bucket, and it is not of great use.

Cao Xuan seemed to have an understanding, looked at Feng Chuandao, and said, "Mr. won't come to me to complain, right?" The gentleman has seen extraordinary, and he already has a good idea. ”

Feng Chuan was broken by Cao Liang, coughed twice, and said: "The old man has a suggestion, that is, to borrow the power of the adult. Although the Lotus Academy is not famous now, as long as the news of the governor's son entering the school spreads, I am afraid that there is no need to ask for money donations! ”

When Cao Xuan heard this, he smiled and said, "It's indeed a good idea, but you can't just think about the silver of the local gentry." When I first arrived in Zhili, they didn't dare to show their wealth, and it was normal for them to be afraid of being remembered. Not everyone has a good heart, but you have to donate willingly. Since the Lotus Academy is a righteous school, it only accepts children from poor families who cannot afford to go to school, so Tianyou can't be cheap in vain. I, as a father, will study for my son and donate 500 taels of silver as a public assistant, not only God blesses, but also my younger brother and two righteous sons, who will also be sent to the academy next year. In this way, five hundred taels for one person, a total of two thousand taels. In the future, other scholars who do not adhere to the status of the poor family want to enter the academy, and they can also follow the example.

Feng Chuan listened, his eyes lit up, and he already understood Cao Liang's intentions.

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!" He touched his beard, squinted his eyes, and said, "In this way, Lotus Academy, I'm afraid that I will be famous." Not to mention the gentry, it is a civil and military official, I am afraid that I will squeeze my head to send students to the academy. ”

Cao Xuan said: "Scarcity is precious, Mr. can discuss with Xu Shanchang, and set a ratio between the children of the poor family and the students who are sent in with the bursary.

Feng Chuan nodded and said, "That's right, the academy is the academy after all. If they all accept students from outside, students from poor families will not be allowed to enter the door, but they will lose the original intention of running the school. ”

The old man was in good spirits, and after talking to Cao Mei, he couldn't wait for a moment, so he went out to find Xu Shanchang of the Lotus Academy to discuss......