Chapter 182: Jade cannot be used until it is polished

At the beginning of winter, several heavy snowfalls have fallen in Beijing. In this weather where drops of water turned into ice, crystal clear ice crystals formed under the eaves of every house. Early that morning, the servants in charge of sweeping the front yard of the Zhang family mansion were busy.

He was diligently cleaning the corridor in the middle with a broom. The butler Gao Quan was guiding a group of boys to hang red lanterns at the door, and his face was also beaming with joy.

The old lady Gu has been in charge of the British government for several months. She just rushed back today because of her grandson Zhang Ji's birthday. Only Feng and Dongfang and a few people know that this is true in name, but in reality

The reason she came back from the Gu family's visit was because she had Zhang Qing's good faith. Otherwise, even if it was the eldest grandson's birthday, she still wouldn't be able to let go of Mrs. Wang's side.

At this time, there were only dots of snowflakes floating in the sky. Sister-in-law Feng and Dongfang were standing side by side in front of a hanging flower door, surrounded by many girls. Aunt Luo Zhang Yi was lagging behind. Because of the cold weather, Feng

Dongfangshi was wearing a cape with a gorilla felt face and white fox lining, Dongfangshi was wearing a cloak with lotus green, rich and auspicious patterns, and both of them had snow caps on their heads. Although they were all wrapped tightly in coats, they still

A confidant girl was holding an oily umbrella behind the two of them.

"The weather is really cold!" Dongfang stamped her foot twice, and then smiled at Feng next to her, "Sister-in-law, I really envy you for having such a capable daughter! Qing'er was in the Baoding Marquis Mansion.

Her husband loved her father-in-law and her mother-in-law doted on her, and her brothers, sisters, and sisters-in-law all got along well with each other. Even when the princes and uncles from every family mentioned her, they all praised her. The most rare thing is that after she got married, she still cared about her family.

I don’t know what kind of marriage I can find for our Yi’er this time!”

Mrs. Feng loved her eldest daughter Zhang Qing so much that she couldn't say anything. She was happy to hear Dongfang's words. However, she was a little dissatisfied with the fact that Zhang Qing even worried about the marriage of his second wife and concubine. She sighed: "This child was born to be a lover."

Although he has given birth to the eldest grandson of the Baoding Marquis Mansion, the more children the better. But there is no movement between the young couple. They are capable, and it is very important to serve their parents-in-law and husband at home.

"

Dongfang was the most shrewd person, so why couldn't she hear something in Feng's words? But she was really satisfied with Zhang Chao's marriage, and this morning she just got news that her daughter-in-law, Li Yun, was happy.

Thinking that she was about to have grandchildren, she didn't have to worry about the concubine's marriage, and she was naturally happy and carefree.

However, her husband is still in Jiaozhi. Her uncle Zhang Xin was demoted to Jiaozhi and has not yet been recalled. On the contrary, Zhang Zhuo was actually sent to Jiangning County magistrate, and Sun followed him to take up the post. She was inevitably a little unhappy.

Aunt Luo stood a few steps behind Feng and Dongfang. She was only wearing old home clothes, without a cloak to protect her from the snow. On the contrary, Zhang Yi had just made a new outfit a few days ago and was now wearing an eggplant-colored velvet plate collar.

He was wearing a small coat and a green-gold banana cloth cloak. He looked a little more energetic and a little less shy than usual. Brothers Zhang Qi and Zhang Jiu had already arrived at the door to pick up Gu, so they were not here at this time.

.

"First lady, second madam, the old lady is here!"

The steward's daughter-in-law came to report, and everyone immediately cheered up. After a while, they saw a small green satin sedan slowly passing by. The sedan bearers were four young boys of seventeen or eighteen years old, and next to them were

Zhang Qi, brothers Zhang Ji, and several housekeepers, wives and maids followed behind. When the sedan came down, the boys all lowered their hands and backed away. A daughter-in-law was busy opening the curtains, and an older girl carefully helped Mrs. Gu.

come out.

Mrs. Gu stamped her feet first. Seeing that her daughter-in-law and grandchildren were busy coming up to salute, she smiled and waved her hands: "There is no need to worry about these etiquettes in this cold weather. You can just wait inside. Anyway, it's already done."

Brother Qi and Brother Ji went to meet me. It has been snowing for several days in a row, and I heard that many houses outside were collapsed by the snow. How is our home?"

Mrs. Feng hurriedly stepped forward to hold Mrs. Gu's hand, and said with a smile: "These houses in our house are either newly built or renovated. Gao Quan checked each house in the first few days, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Hearing that a house outside had collapsed due to snow, he went to visit our various properties and went to the farm outside the city to have a look. He rewarded the tenant farmers on the farm a lot of money to spend the winter. In short, he

Don't worry, madam, our family's rules have always been to treat others seriously."

"That's good." Mrs. Gu felt satisfied after hearing this. Seeing that Li Yun was missing, she couldn't help but frowned and said, "Brother Chao and his wife are not here?"

Upon hearing this, Dongfangshi immediately beamed: "The good old lady learned that she was sore this morning. I looked at him and muttered, so he invited the doctor. As soon as the doctor checked the pulse, he made a conclusion:

She was really happy, but she was young and needed to take good care of herself for a few days in this cold weather, so I took it upon myself to let her wait in the old lady's room."

"Brother Chao really has a wife?" Mrs. Gu was overjoyed when she heard this, and her initial displeasure was immediately thrown out of the sky. In the past, she always felt a little sad when she thought about the difficulties faced by the heirs of the British public family. Now she suddenly knew that she would

If she wanted to have a great-grandson or great-granddaughter, she couldn't help but clasping her hands and chanting Buddha's name. After a long time, she smiled and said, "If you have a body, you really need to take good care of it. When the time comes, let Lingxi look through the warehouse to find some tonics for her."

After saying this, Feng and Dongfang looked at each other, and the latter immediately said cautiously: "Old lady, it has been several months since Lingxi followed Brother Yue to Shandong to take office."

Mrs. Gu was startled then, because she casually ordered a girl to change the subject. At this time, the snow on the corridor in the inner courtyard had long been swept clean, and it had anti-slip patterns carved on it. Although Mrs. Gu was wearing

Tang Mu walked steadily with the support of Feng and Dongfang. After entering the main room, a eldest girl helped her to go to the back room to change into outer clothes and shoes and socks, and the others were waiting outside.

When she came out wearing a mink fur warmer and a sky-blue flowered long coat, she saw Zhang Qing had arrived at some time and was waiting at Feng's head.

"Our housekeeper is back so early!"

After saying this with a smile, Mrs. Gu sat down on the east end of the kang, and asked Feng, Dongfang and Zhang Qing to sit down as well. Then she asked Zhang Qi and Zhang Ji a few questions. Zhang Qi said that he also wanted to imitate his elder brother Zhang Chao.

After entering the military position as soon as possible, she frowned and thought for a moment, and then said: "Your father is now a general under the command of Marquis Fengcheng, a third-grade general. It is not difficult for you to take the military position. There are many children from aristocratic families in the army.

But most of them have learned from their parents, and if you learn from them in the future, I won’t forgive you!"

This was what he meant to say yes. Zhang Qi was immediately overjoyed. He knelt down and kowtowed, swearing that he would never dare to be lazy after joining the military. Zhang Jiu on the side thought that he failed again in the entrance examination for scholars this fall, and he suddenly felt a little worried.

Sadly, this expression could be hidden from others, but it could not be hidden from Gu, who had lived for decades.

"Brother Ji!"

Zhang Jiu reacted in a flash. When he saw his grandmother waving for him to come forward, he hurriedly took a few steps forward. Only when his grandmother stretched out a hand to pull him and sat down on the edge of the kang did he finally wake up.

When he came over, his face felt a little uncomfortable. Although he was the eldest grandson of the eldest family member, except for those days when he first arrived in Kaifeng, his grandmother treated him like any other grandson. These days of sitting together on the kang have become

How long has it been since?

"You are both older brothers. Although you have a younger brother below, he is still young after all, so now I am worried about only you." Mrs. Gu looked at Zhang Jiu's face, which looked exactly like Zhang Xin. At the same time, it also resembled her late husband's face.

My heart suddenly tightened, "You can't force things in the imperial examination. Your third brother has been able to get to where he is today step by step. In addition to true talent and practical learning, opportunities are also indispensable. You must not lose confidence in yourself. You are only ten years old now."

You are in your early four years and you are just starting out. Nothing can be accomplished without polishing it. It will not hurt you to experience a few more setbacks!"

When Zhang Qing heard Gu's words, she couldn't help but think of Zhang Yue who was far away in Shandong, so the words her father-in-law mentioned before came to mind again. She originally thought that Shandong was very close to Beijing and not a barren land.

There was a place, so she didn’t worry too much, but who knew that there was such an intricate relationship? But she couldn’t say these words in front of her mother and second aunt, so she changed the subject and made a joke, and then glanced at the transparent person.

Normally Aunt Luo and Zhang Yi talked about the most important thing today.

Since Concubine Zhang's mourning period had long passed and it was Zhang Ji's birthday, the family not only gathered together for a lively family banquet, but also invited an opera troupe to perform at Dongfang's suggestion.

While watching the play with great interest, Zhang Qing saw Mrs. Gu waving to her, so she got up from her seat. She walked over and sat down on the small table next to Mrs. Gu.

"The grandson of the uncle of Yingcheng you are talking about is Sun Han, who is on good terms with Brother Yue? You know the temperament of your second sister. If it is a big family, it is difficult for her to take care of it. I am afraid that she will

I kept it in my heart when I was wronged."

"Grandma, although the Sun family is a big family, they didn't live together in the past. Besides, Sun Han's mother personally mentioned this to me, saying that Sun Han had a good relationship with his third brother. I heard that there is such a person in our family.

, she took it seriously. People don’t care that the second sister is a concubine, and Mrs. Sun is a kind-hearted elder. I feel that the second sister will not suffer hardship when she gets married, otherwise I wouldn’t mention it to you."

Mrs. Gu felt relieved, nodded and said, "In that case, let someone go and take a look."

However, Zhang Qing still had something to say. She looked around and asked the girls to step back a few steps. Then she told Mrs. Gu exactly what her father-in-law had mentioned, and then said worriedly: "

After all, the third brother is still young, I am only worried that he will not take care of that place thoroughly. If possible, should we let him come back?"

"It's hard to recover from overflowing water. No matter how difficult it is, he can't come back now." Although it was the first time for Mrs. Gu to hear these things, her expression only changed slightly before returning to normal, "As the same saying goes, jade cannot be used without cutting, and the wind and waves outside are

If he can survive it, he will be able to cope with it when he comes back. He has so many people to help him and take care of him. If he still doesn't take care of everything, what will those Jinshi from poor families do?"

Having said that, Mrs. Gu was holding tightly the string of beeswax Buddhist beads that had just been delivered from Qingshou Temple and had been consecrated. Thinking of what happened to Zhang Futi last night, she felt a little uneasy.
Chapter completed!