After Qin Youzhen returned to the capital with her husband and children, she first lived in the Chengenhou Mansion, and then accompanied the relatives of the long room and the third room for a day, and only on the third day did she pack a fairly rich gift, and took her eldest son Chu Ming, under the guidance of the servants of the long house, to take the car to the house in the second room to say goodbye to her mother-in-law.

She did not bring her husband Loop, nor did she bring her eldest daughter and youngest son. It was enough to have the eldest son of fifteen years old accompany him on this trip. She knew that her mother and brother had never had a good impression of her, and she went to Beijing this time, and the second room also ignored it. She only wanted to be courteous and not let her mother and brother have an excuse to accuse, but she didn't plan to bring her husband, daughter, and young son, so that they could accompany her to bear her mother's cold words. The reason why I brought my eldest son was because I didn't bring a single child, and I couldn't say anything about the etiquette.

However, the treatment she had expected to receive was miraculously not befell her. She entered the second-room house, but she couldn't see her mother and brother. They were busy dealing with two big troubles that suddenly came, one went to the idle children of the powerful families they knew before to inquire about the news, and the other went back to her mother's house to ask what was going on on the other side of the business, but they were not at home, as if they had completely forgotten that the post she had handed over in advance had written the fact that she had come to the house to ask for peace today.

Only the wife of her brother-in-law, the eldest sister-in-law Xiao Xue, came forward to receive her when she was ill.

Xiao Xue's was originally Xue's maiden niece, Qin Bofu's cousin, and Qin Youzhen's cousin. Because the Xue family had the intention of marrying her as a daughter-in-law, they often took her to live at home when she was a teenager, so Xiao Xue and Qin Youzhen have known each other since childhood. It's just that because the Xue family dislikes the relationship between concubines, the little Xue family was influenced by her and did not form a deep friendship with this cheap cousin, and the relationship was not close. But both of them have relatively mild temperaments, so they have always gotten along quite well, and when they meet, they are polite and will not blush.

Qin Youzhen asked her eldest son to give a gift to her aunt, and Xiao Xue also praised the child a few words, and gave a good meeting gift, even Lu Yueniang and Lu Chuliang's share was not left behind. Although the two sides were not cordial and polite, this meeting was much stronger than Qin Youzhen originally expected.

She couldn't help but ask why her mother and brother were not at home. Xiao Xue's recuperation for days, and he was disheartened, and he didn't care about the affairs of his family as much as before, so he simply mentioned that Qin Bo's re-evaluation was not good and he might lose his official position, so he went out to do some work, and talked about the troubles that the Xue family had encountered recently.

Although Xiao Xue is also the daughter of the Xue family, the semicolon of the accident is not owned by her room, and she does not listen to her orders, so she is also indifferent, and has a casual comment: "I persuaded them that business should be based on integrity, and they should not cut corners, they just don't listen." Now that I have suffered a loss, it is too late to regret it. But this is not a bad thing, as long as they settle down in the future, and don't make that small trick that can't be used on the table, sooner or later they can revive the semicolon. The money lost today is only to buy a lesson. ”

Qin Youzhen was a little surprised. She noticed the coldness in Xiao Xue's tone, and wondered what happened to the eldest sister-in-law, and how did she sound different in temperament? If it was when Xiao Xue was young in the past, she must have been worried about whether her mother's business would have a big problem, instead of mentioning it lightly as she is now, as if she was an outsider.

However, Qin Youzhen is more concerned about his brother-in-law's evaluation: "How could the eldest brother have such a fork? He has always been enthusiastic about his career, so he shouldn't make any big mistakes in the official affairs of the yamen, and how can he only get a middle or lower grade in the evaluation?" This year, he got the "middle and lower", there must be reasons that she doesn't know. Could it be that the brother-in-law offended a high-ranking official with real power, or did he offend the emperor?

In this regard, Xiao Xue's still said lightly: "Uncle is now keen on drilling camps, and he is not very attentive in official affairs, and he does not get along well with his colleagues in the yamen, and his popularity is not good." Although I have admonished him, where can he listen? I'm not in good health now, and I'm powerless, so let him go. ”

Qin Youzhen felt even more that there was a problem: "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you? Could it be that there is some misunderstanding with the eldest brother?"

"We were not mistaken. Xiao Xue changed the topic, "Does my aunt and grandmother live in the long house now? Every time I sent someone to see her, she said that she was fine, so I should not worry about it. But I was worried that she was just reporting good news and not bad news. Since my aunt and grandmother live in the long house, I must have seen the four girls?

Qin Youzhen actually felt that Qin Jinchun's sojourn in the long house was strange, and when she heard this, she hurriedly said: "The four girls are fine, I only saw her yesterday, she was joking with her sisters, her complexion was very good, and she didn't look sick." Is she sick? If she is sick, why don't she recuperate at home, but borrow a longhouse?"

The smile on Xiao Xue's face relaxed: "It's okay if she's fine." The long room is quiet, and it is much better to be able to invite a doctor to recuperate there than to be idle at home. I couldn't be by her side to protect her, and I asked my aunt and grandmother to take care of her more. Although everyone in the long room is very kind, but our wife just made a fuss in the long room, and those of us who are juniors also feel that we don't want to go, for fear that the four girls will be too careful, and they are always making trouble to come back. ”

Qin Jinchun is clamoring to go home, so let her go home. Why did Xiao Xue stop his little daughter from coming back? Moreover, there are many people in the long room and many servants, so where is it "quieter" than the second room?

Qin Youzhen felt even more strange in her heart, and tried to ask for more news from Xiao Xue's mouth, but Xiao Xue's showed tiredness and served tea to the guests. Qin Youzhen is a person who keeps etiquette, so she had to say goodbye with humor when she saw this. When she went out with her eldest son, there were more and more questions in her heart, and she suddenly remembered that her brother obviously had two daughters and a son, and if the concubine didn't come to see her aunt, why didn't she see Qin Bofu's eldest daughter Qin Jinyi appear?

Back at the Chengenhou Mansion, Qin Youzhen immediately told her aunt Xu about her experience in the second room, and then asked her bluntly: "Auntie, what is going on?"

Xu didn't think there was anything to hide, and seeing that Lu Chuming had already retreated, he told Qin Youzhen the beginning and end of the conflict between Qin Jinyi and Qin Jinchun's sisters, and then said: "Jinyi girl didn't come out to see you, probably because she was grounded recently, and it was also to recuperate from her injuries. As for your sister-in-law, she has been angry with your brother all these years, and your mother used to be able to protect her, but now even your mother is becoming more and more cold to her. She was in a bad situation at home, and she had a pair of daughters to worry about, but Jinyi's girl broke her heart. She doesn't care about anyone except Jinchun now. You should be more considerate of her, she is not easy. She is still sick at the moment, most likely because of heart disease, but heart disease is the most difficult to treat. ”

Qin Youzhen was very surprised: "How could Sister Yi do such a thing?! In the past, when I received a letter from home, I only said that although she was a little small, she was also a child who had read poetry and books since she was a child, and knew etiquette and etiquette, how did she become like this?"

Xu sighed: "There are still many things you don't know." How can these things be mentioned in letters? Now that you live at home, I'll talk to you more about it in my spare time. Sister Yi can't be saved, your mother raised her crookedly, and she committed the left-handed sex again. I just hope that when your mother will wake up, stop daydreaming, and just want to marry Sister Yi to a wealthy family all day long. If she can get a kind family and live a peaceful life, it can be regarded as her creation. If you continue to pick and choose, you will be delayed for the rest of your life! There is still Jinchun at the bottom. Jinchun's child is destined to have a better future than her sister, and your mother shouldn't have left her little granddaughter aside for the sake of her eldest granddaughter. ”

Qin Youzhen pursed her lips and was silent for a while before continuing to ask: "Sister Yi'er, it's really her fault, no wonder sister-in-law and Sister Chun are angry." But what's going on with my brother's evaluation? Is it really because he made a big mistake in his official duties? Otherwise, how can he get a balance?"

Regarding this matter, Xu Shi really couldn't say clearly: "I haven't heard anyone talk about his evaluation. I haven't paid attention to it in the past few years, but the yamen will not give him such a comment for no reason, presumably when he made a mistake, or he was too proud on weekdays and offended Shangfeng, right? Recently, I haven't heard of any trouble in his family, but a few days ago, the Keyong couple of the sect went to Beijing and had a quarrel with your mother and brother. She briefly mentioned that Huang Yiqiu's entry into Nianhui Nunnery and the detention of the Huang family were detained, but she didn't think that this was the reason for the current situation of the second room.

The reason is very simple, the Qin family clan does not have such a ability, and it can exert force from the six departments to attack Qin Bofu. Qin Keyong and Xiao Huang's husband and wife did not. Therefore, the person who does it must be someone else. But judging from the usual behavior of the mother and son of the Xue family and Qin Bofu in the second room, it is difficult to say whether they offended the real power figures without knowing it, so the Xu family discussed this issue with their sons and daughters-in-law, but they never knew the point.

Although Qin Youzhen is not on good terms with her mother and brother-in-law, she clearly knows that she is still the daughter of the second room. If the brother-in-law is too troublesome and the person he offends is too good, she doesn't know if it will affect her husband Lupu's promotion, so she hopes to get things straight. She asked everyone in the long house about the recent news in the capital, and asked her subordinates to go outside the market to collect information. was so busy, but only to hear that the Huang family's branch and the second room had a conflict because of the detention of Uncle Huang's family. But for the sake of an unscrupulous child of a side branch, did the Huang Jiayan branch openly influence the evaluation of officials in the ministry?

The Huang family has always been cautious, because they are still relatives. And the relatives will inevitably receive special attention from the imperial historians. There is not enough reason, there is no need for them to take action against the second room of the Qin family for the sake of Uncle Huang's family, and ask the imperial historians to criticize them for their personal vendetta. The Huang family's attitude towards Qin Bofu now seems to be quite tough, and they don't allow him to have any room to do anything, and they will definitely ask him to go home and eat himself. They've never been so serious before.

Qin Youzhen didn't get any useful news from the long room, until Qin Jinchun inadvertently mentioned something: "My grandmother is so confused that she dares to teach the girls of the Huang family to imitate the queen mother." At this point, the emperor didn't attack her in person, but the emperor was magnificent. Now it's just for my father to sit idle, what's the point?"

Qin Youzhen's heart was shocked, and she hurriedly asked, "Fourth girl, where did you hear others say this?"

Qin Jinchun blinked: "The third sister told me in private." ”

Qin Youzhen suddenly felt that she was always spinning around in the long room, and I was afraid it would be useless. She should go to the third room.