Those who came were all nephews of the Shen family, not relatives and friends with foreign surnames, and the reception banquet was set up in the upper room of the inner courtyard.

However, before everyone entered the table, the Xu family sent Wu's mothers to take the sons of the Shen family to the southwest courtyard to meet the second master.

Everyone thought about the scene of the second wife's appearance, and they didn't know if they would see the plain white eyes, but fortunately, the decoration of the southwest courtyard and the service of the subordinates, although it was not a bright color, but it was not white in the end.

The second master was helped out of the small hall by the little guy, dressed in clothes, although he was not as thin as the eldest master, but his face was pale and difficult to hide his sickness, but he was kind to the clansmen, and he also casually talked about family life, asking about homework and so on.

Seeing this, Shen Jue, Shen Quan and other kind-hearted people couldn't help but feel worried, only feeling that they were "living the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain", and they suspected that the second master was pretending to be sick, which really shouldn't be; For example, Shen Zhu thought more and more, only feeling that Xiao Erfang was crazy and sick, and the pain of losing a child seemed to have not been alleviated.

When answering the question, Shen Zhu was a little less restrained and a little more comfortable and casual, which really attracted the second master's sideways.

Hearing that Shen Zhu had passed the hospital examination, the second old man looked more and more loving, and praised it several times.

The second master didn't notice Shen Rui at first, until he stepped forward to ask for peace, and when Mother Wu pointed out that he was born as a fourth-room sister-in-law, Fang was a little distracted.

Four-room sister-in-law? The son of Shen Yuan in the fourth room? Son of Sun

The second master's expression was a little stiff, and when he looked at Shen Rui's eyebrows, he only felt familiar and strange.

It's been too long, thirty years have passed, and the second master thought that he remembered it in his heart, but when he saw Shen Rui, he found that his memory was a little vague. The figure seemed clear and shrouded in a fog, or he had never remembered it clearly.

The second master raised his arm, asked Shen Rui to get up, looked at him and asked gently: "Your parents are the same age as me, you can do two, then is your eldest brother already married and has children?" ”

When Shen Rui heard this, he was surprised in his heart, this second master didn't know anything about the situation in the fourth room.

Shen Rui replied: "Because I was in the service before, the little nephew and brother have not yet discussed marriage. ”

"Serving?" The second master was very surprised and said, "Is it your father or you...... Mother ......"

It seems that the second master really doesn't know anything about the fourth room, Shen Rui wondered in his heart, if Mrs. Sun and the third master were close friends before their deaths, then it shouldn't be only the Xu family and the Sun family, and several masters in the second room should also know the Sun family. Looking at the demeanor of the eldest master and the third master, they also knew about the death of the Sun family, why didn't the second master know anything here?

"It was Jiaci who passed away three years ago due to illness." Shen Rui replied softly.

When the second master heard this, he was a little dazed, and sighed: "Good boy, the young man lost his mother, and I suffered you, but fortunately, I still have my brother to protect you." Your grandfather and my grandfather were friends of life and death during his lifetime, and you don't have to go outside when you come here. ”

Shen Rui knew that he had misunderstood, thinking that the brother above him was also from the Sun family, but it was not easy to explain. After all, Shen Jin has already been named, and from the patriarchal point of view, he is indeed Shen Rui's brother.

Shen Jue knew that the heir selected by the Xu family might be Shen Rui, so he no longer left, and wanted to help Shen Rui facilitate this matter, so he left the fourth room.

Seeing that the second master had misunderstood, Shen Jue came over and said in a "low voice": "If Second Brother Rui really has a sibling brother, Aunt Yuan will not be at ease, for fear that Second Brother Rui will hinder the eyes of others, not only will he record the eldest son in his name, but he will not even dare to leave the dowry to Second Brother Rui, and he will divide half of it alive...... Rao is like this, there is a small child raised in front of the Lao An people, clever and sensible, at the age of fourteen in the eldest brother of the eldest brother, Rui second brother is clumsy, and will not please people, naturally not as pleasing to others, beating and scolding and starving are light, if it is not for the elders of the clan to take care of it, I am afraid it will be gone long ago......"

Shen Rui's chin pressed against his chest, and his face only felt hot.

I only thought that the mother and son of the fourth room were white-eyed wolves and ruthless, and I didn't think about how I was, but these words came out of the mouths of others, and my identity was like a "little cabbage" in the field.

Not to mention how the second master listened to these words, Shen Zhu was beside him, and he felt that the root of his teeth was itching.

Before Shen Rui stepped forward to sell his belief, Shen Jue was busy, this is to "show weakness" and arouse the second master's pity?

Beat and scold and starve?

It was true that there was such a fuss back then, but after the deception and sale of the Sun dowry industry came out, the four-room Lao An people and Shen Juren were still disgraced. Shen Rui has been out for three years, and he has been close to the brother of the champion clan, and he was brought out by the Xu family after going home for more than half a month, what grievances can he suffer?

came out of Shen Jue's mouth, as if he had been tortured for several years.

The second master lost his son, how can he not feel pity for such a motherless son?

Shen Zhu can't interject to explain, otherwise if Shen Jue talks about the fact that Sun's dowry was deceived and sold three years ago, the third and ninth rooms will also be fishy.

Shen Zhu looked at the second master, and the second master's face really turned heavy, and his face couldn't tell whether it was pain or regret.

No one needs to say it in detail, just Shen Jue's few words can already make people think of a lot.

If Sun is in his forties, but his son is only in his early tens, and he has been married for more than ten years without children, how difficult life is for a woman whose family is gone. Later, although he had a son, he couldn't wait for his son to grow up. If it is arranged, it is all for the sake of preserving flesh and bones. As long as there is a mother's family who can be entrusted, he will not let his son-in-law suffer such hardships and grievances.

The second master remembered that after the third master wrote a letter of resignation, he wanted to beg Mrs. Sun, but was stopped by the eldest brother.

The eldest master once asked him: "Second brother, have you figured it out?" Uncle Sun is because there is no successor, so he entrusted Minniang to my family...... If you go like this, you will embarrass Uncle Sun and trap your father for injustice......"

How did he answer?

At that time, he recognized his mother's words in his heart, and felt that the Sun family's sending their daughter to the Shen family was "coercing for retribution", and he was also worried that he would be ridiculed for such an undignified wife in the future, so he acquiesced to his mother's appointment of another family affair for him.

Even if Sun Min was sent to the Shen family when she was a teenager, and the Xu family, who was born in the Prime Minister's mansion, personally taught, there was nothing wrong with her words and deeds, but when she thought of her background and the Wanguan family wealth she would bring, the young and vigorous second master felt like a thorn in his heart. Even he could imagine how others would point fingers after he got married, laughing at him for marrying a merchant girl because he coveted his wife's dowry.

He replied to the eldest master like this: "Since Uncle Sun is like a brother to his father, he will not be willing to make our family uneasy because of the Sun family......"

He was so brazen and blamed the cause of the chaos in his family on the father and daughter of the Sun family.

He knelt down in front of Mrs. Sun again and said something heart-wrenching: "It's not that my mother is treacherous, it's really a loving mother's heart." Because of the little nephew's sister, Fang did this, not intentionally disobeying his father... I'm sorry for Uncle Sun and Sister Sun's sister, and the little nephew will bear it. I also asked Uncle Sun to read that my mother gave birth to my eldest brother and me for my father, and raised my third brother and third sister, and there was no loss of women's morality, so I don't want my mother to return, so that my brother and others lose their mother......"

Mrs. Sun looked at him straight for a while and asked, "Min Niang has been in your house for five years, don't you know about the marriage contract?" ”

The second master disdained to lie, and said confidently: "The little nephew and cousin have similar interests, and they can't help themselves, and they also ask Uncle Sun to fulfill it." ”

He chose his thirteen-year-old little cousin and gave up Sun Minniang, who had been married for five years, and there was no guilt in the local area at that time.

He was a young man, and he should have matched the daughter of the eunuch, and he raised his eyebrows; When you marry a merchant girl as a wife, do you have to sit together and plan to calculate the amount of copper?

In his opinion, even if he gave up this marriage contract, with the Sun family's wealth, Sun Min would not worry about marrying. His father regarded Sun Min as his own daughter, so he would naturally take care of him in the future, and there was no need to marry into the family.

Marriage is a major event, and it is better to be the right person. Why bother knowing that my mother doesn't like it, and forcing her to do family things, making everyone unhappy.

When Mrs. Sun heard this, he went to the Shen family, retired from this family business, took Sun Min away, and "fulfilled" him.

He didn't have time to rejoice in his heart, so he was slapped by the third master.

"Unfilial piety and injustice", his father only scolded him, and then he never looked at him directly.

He was full of grievances and went to complain to the eldest master.

The eldest man mentioned one thing, and he learned that the marriage contract between the two families could be traced back even earlier.

It turned out that when he was three years old, Mrs. Sun had lived in the capital, and the third master planned to give him to Mrs. Sun as a son, but Mrs. Sun was difficult because of the heirs of the Shen family, and the third master only had two sons at that time, and he was afraid of wronging the second master in the future, so he said that he wanted him to be half a son in the future.

The second master was very dumbfounded when he heard this, knowing that his father could give up his own son, and he knew that he was grateful for the kindness of Mrs. Sun in his early years, and his withdrawal from his relatives really angered his father.

He didn't dare to feel wronged anymore, and devoted himself to studying, wanting to become a talent early and let his father value himself again. If you don't want to hurry, you can't reach it, and a cold wind before the end of the game made him delay the spring.

He is being lost, and the third master has already ordered him to start working for him.

At that time, he thought that his father felt sorry for him, and in order to relieve himself, he let himself get married earlier to make up for the loss of not being able to take the exam. After all, Cousin Qiao was only fourteen years old at the time, and she was not yet in the age of marriage, so she should have waited another year before mentioning the marriage period.

He married the wife he liked, and when he went to thank his parents the next day after he got married, the third master saw them in the ancestral hall.

After eating his daughter-in-law's tea, the third wife immediately asked the housekeeper to send the account book, and immediately divided the house.

He was confused by the thunder, and together with his little wife, he was separated by the "big branch of the tree".

The third master didn't even wait for his daughter-in-law to "return to the door in three dynasties", which shows that he not only complained about his wife and children, but also complained about the Qiao family.

If the third old lady gave her son a girl from someone else's family, the third lady would not be angry; But the Qiao family is the in-laws of the Shen family, and the third old lady and Mrs. Qiao are siblings. To say that the Qiao family didn't know that the second master had a marriage contract on him would be a lie.

The third master did not accuse the Qiao family of how it was, but he also did not mean to meet the Qiao family.

The second master was only seventeen years old at the time, and with his fourteen-year-old little wife, he was sent by the stewards to a three-entry mansion in the southwest of the city.

The third master seems to be really tired of this son, the Shen family is in the north-east direction of the capital, and the second master's new house is sold in the southwest corner of the city.

The second master was indignant with shame, refused to beg for mercy, and was determined to make achievements in fame, and the next subject ended up in the same subject as the big master, and he would try to be Yayuan, and the palace test was the second class, which was higher than the big master's ranking.

The second master proudly returned to the old house, hoping to get a word of praise from the third master, and also hoped that the third master could forgive him for his sake and let them move back.

The third master only said: "To be an official is to be a man, you can't be a man, and you can't be an official, but it is also a blessing for the world to add a sour Confucianism to the Hanlin Academy, so that you will not be able to bear the king and the people."

The second master was just when the spring breeze was proud, and he only felt a basin of ice water splashing in his face, and his heart trembled.

He was not convinced at the time, he only felt that he was not necessarily worse than his eldest brother, and he was worried about sealing the pavilion and worshipping the prime minister, but more than 20 years later, as the third master said, he was still mixed in the Hanlin Academy, and he had never been a palm seal official.

A few years later, Mrs. Sun passed away in the south, and the steward of the Sun family respected the master's will to help Ling go north......