After Shen Cang's funeral, Shen Zhou also had to prepare to leave Beijing.

The emperor was benevolent, and approved Shen Zhou's leave before, allowing him to stay in Beijing for funeral, but now that the funeral is over, there is no reason to delay it any longer. As for spending the New Year on the road, for the vast Ming Dynasty, this experience is not uncommon for foreign officials.

Before Shen Zhou left Beijing, he had a sincere conversation with his eldest sister-in-law Xu.

Liang's incident has happened, and now it is impossible to erase the traces, in fact, the best remedy is Qiao's "death" and Liang's rectification. In this way, even if there was Liang as a concubine before, and Qiao's "illness" in front, it can also be regarded as an expedient measure.

It's just that Qiao's stroke is a stroke, and only the spirit is chaotic, but the body and bones are unhindered.

It is not a difficult choice to change to other people's families, but for the Xu family and Shen Zhou, they can't take the initiative to harm the Qiao family. Xu's temperament is dictated, and his actions are clean and neat, not such a ruthless style; Shen Zhou is indecisive, in the end, two aunts and cousins, childhood sweethearts grew up, even if the relationship between husband and wife has been broken, there is still family love, brother and sister love, and they can't take her life.

I have to say that it is really her luck that Qiao's family can marry the Shen family. It's just that she is going to drag it down like this, and it's impossible to tell whether this is "lucky" or "unlucky".

After the uncle and sister-in-law talked about the worst, Xu said: "Since this matter has happened, there is no need to hide it, but it seems to be a ghost...... Since the year before the fight, the second aunt returned to Beijing for the funeral, and has been 'recuperating' since then, and she also knows about it outside. When you are in a foreign office, there is no one to preside over the feed, and it is not uncommon to accept a noble concubine to serve and live. Although it is a generational difference, it is only a small loss...... It's just that you have a preparation in your heart, if you really want to be revealed, even if you won't be dismissed, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to continue the position of sacrificing wine, and you must know where to go next, and you will have no clue when the time comes......"

Shen Zhou smiled bitterly and nodded, only feeling that he was fascinated at that time. Why did you think that the Liang family was stubborn and cute, and he had the shadow of the Sun family on his body?

Sun is the daughter of Mrs. Sun, and she was personally raised by Xu, soft on the outside and arrogant on the inside; Liang is arrogant, she is really a girl with self-esteem and self-love, how can she run to a man at night?

Shen Zhou originally planned to completely alienate the Liang family in his heart, even if he didn't dispose of the Liang family, he would be kept far away, but after listening to the words of the eldest sister-in-law, he also knew that it would look sneaky.

Now not only does he live up to his eldest brother's hard work and can't sit still, but he is really going to make trouble, ruin his reputation, and implicate his brothers and nephews. Because of this scruple, Shen Zhou had to be careful to deal with it.

After Shen Cang's death, as the head of the men, Shen Zhou knew that he should be a support portal and protect his brothers and nephews, but now that he is standing up, he is in danger, how can he not feel guilty?

As an elder brother and uncle, before leaving, Shen Zhou had to teach the third master and Shen Rui a few words, but it was a cliché. The third master is a good student, take care of his body, don't let the eldest sister-in-law worry; Shen Rui is here, so that he can be filial to the Xu family, and he should also study well to prepare for the next township exam.

These are all scenes in front of his family, and in private, Shen Zhou said to Shen Rui: "No matter what the grievances of the elders are, the relationship between you and Shen Jin cannot be torn apart in front of people, and there is no need to shy away from it...... Just be polite, don't have to be too close. In the end, he is the elder, and you are the youngest, if you are too close, you may be bound by the dignity of the elder and the young, and act in the way......"

This remark is a rare understanding, and it is also in line with Shen Rui's plan.

Shen Rui was surprised by Shen Zhou's rare clarity, but he also received this kindness, and said: "My nephew knows, thank you for mentioning the ......second uncle" Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment and said: "The matter of the elders is not the turn of the juniors, but the future of the second uncle of the Liang family, the nephew is really not at ease......"

Shen Zhou said with a little shame: "It's all because I acted inappropriately, but the tired Rui Ge'er is uneasy with it...... I'll be careful in the future, so don't worry......"

With Shen Zhou's departure, the third master also began to join.

Because of the large number of people in the two houses, the third master is very idle in his usual errands, even if there are occasional errands, it is also some clerical work, and the third master does not need to run in too much to adapt.

The rest of the Shen family began to keep filial piety behind closed doors.

Because at the end of the year, the relationship between each family cannot be broken, but because Shen Rui is filial, Shen Quan was entrusted with help in this matter. Compared with previous years, it is different in the end, and the New Year's gifts sent by the officialdom cannot be said to have been broken all of a sudden, but also reduced a lot. However, among relatives, most of them are examples from last year, such as the New Year's gift sent by Wufang and Shen Li, which is thicker than in previous years.

Knowing that the Shen family was guarding filial piety, they didn't come to the door easily, but Zhu Zhishan and Wei Xiao have been more and more diligent these days, for fear that the Xu family will be lonely, and come to relieve them of their companionship.

Xu's spirit is still sluggish, but he has received the filial piety of his nephews. It's just that there are only two months left until the spring of next year, and at the most critical time, she really doesn't want to delay the future of her two nephews because of herself, so she sent a message to ask the two to go back, and the two are not allowed to come again before the year.

Zhu Zhishan and Wei Xiao had no choice, so they could only honestly go back to prepare for the exam.

Zhu Zhishan and Wei Xiao are both people from Nanzhili, and as early as this year's Luming banquet, they have seen Xinke Xie Yuan Shen Jin. Now that I'm in Beijing, I'm in touch with fellow villagers, the same year, and the like, and I've seen them all.

Through Shen Jin, Zhu and Wei also met with Shen Qi.

By the time Shen Rui heard the news, these people were already in and out together, often dismantling papers together.

Thinking about the fate of Zhu Zhishan's ten falls, Shen Rui also hesitated, whether to talk to Zhu Zhishan for a few words, and finally chose to shut up. Zhu Zhishan has talent, family learning is also originated, and he has been down a few times before, and he has already had his own experience and summary, if Shen Rui is to point fingers, he will be smiling and generous.

As for Wei Xiao, there is no need for Shen Rui to be verbose.

Wei Xiao is not a newcomer, he is the leader of the last Nanzhili Township Examination, only because he was not very old at the time, and his relatives were afraid that he would fall into the top three, so in order to be safe, he let him wait for a subject. He is twenty-two years old this year, only one year older than Shen Jin, both of them are full of poetry and books, young talents, but they fell in love at first sight and became good friends.

Hearing that Shen Jin is still unmarried, Wei Xiao was surprised, and then said to Zhu Zhishan: "Ziyu's character and talent are all here, why didn't anyone rob him to be a son-in-law?" When did Xie Yuan get treated like this? ”

Zhu Zhishan heard about this for the first time, and he was quite surprised: "I haven't even set a family affair?" ”

Wei Xiao nodded and said, "Exactly." Because he didn't live in his relatives' house, nor did he live in the guild hall, he lived in the courtyard of Nancheng, I thought he brought his wife and children over, and after mentioning two sentences, I realized that not only did he not get married, but he also hadn't even booked a family affair yet......"

Zhu Zhishan said: "Xu is Ziyu's eyes are high...... Ordinary looks like a kind ......"

Wei Xiao sighed: "It's a pity that the fourth sister is a concubine, otherwise I really want to be cheeky and mention family affairs......"

Zhu Zhishan glanced at him and said, "Shen Ziyu is so good?" ”

Wei Xiao nodded and said: "He is a good person, and his stomach is also full of economy, before I was too proud of myself, I looked down on others, and I was really a frog at the bottom of the well......"

When Zhu Zhishan heard this, he shook his head and said, "Why bother to depreciate yourself? Even if Shen Ziyu is talented, he may not be better than you. Although you are not Xie Yuan, you are also a Jingkui, and you ended up three years earlier than Shen Ziyu......"

Wei Xiao shook his head and said, "You can't say that. Shen Ziyu is a child exam that has passed Hongzhi for eight years, and if it weren't for the delay in the previous two subjects, he would have passed the township exam long ago. I'm still a little worse ......."

Next year is the year of ****, no matter how far or near the road is, before the year, most of the candidates have arrived in Beijing.

Not only does the Shen family have relatives, but the He family also has clan relatives who have taken the exam to Beijing, including He Dongsheng's younger brother He Beisheng, the fifth master of the He family, and He Pingsheng of the seventh room of the He family.

Both of them are new recruits this year, and they are taking the Ministry of Rites exam for the first time.

He Dongsheng didn't hide his selfishness, not to mention his experience in taking the exam that year, and also found a Confucian of the Hanlin Academy to comment on the article for his two younger brothers.

In the past ten years, compared with the endless stream of children of the Shen family, the He family is much worse in the imperial examination. He Dongsheng's four younger brothers, three of whom were in the middle of the lift, this achievement is not unsatisfactory.

"Jin Juren, Yin Jinshi", such a family of four brothers are all employed, even the Shen family can't do it, but it seems that the good luck has been used up in the township test, the third master He died of illness, the second master He took over the family affairs, and now only the fifth master He Beisheng is still studying.

He Dongsheng has great expectations for his younger brother, but the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. This personally taught his younger brother homework, and He Dongsheng sensed that something was wrong.

He Beisheng's article is dull and boring, obviously not enough, or the level of Xiucai, how did he pass the township test?

On the other hand, He Pingsheng is decent, and the article is in the middle, but it can also correspond to the ranking in the middle and upper grades of the foreign test.

The more He Dongsheng thought about it, the more wrong it became, and he broke out in a cold sweat on his back when he thought about it, and immediately called his younger brother over.

The two brothers went to the study and sent the little guy down, He Dongsheng said with a straight face: "Old Five, what's going on with this township test?" ”

He Beisheng's eyes flickered, his expression was a little stiff, and he snorted heavily.

He Dongsheng frowned and said, "Do you think this is fun?" There are many talented people in Jiangnan, the imperial examination is a major event, everyone in the world looks at it, if there is really any fraud, it will always be revealed! ”

He Beisheng said: "Big brother, don't worry, I haven't cheated......"

He Dongsheng snorted lightly: "Didn't cheat? With such an article, if you want to hang at the end of the township test list, it is not enough, and you can rank twenty-three? Are you a fool to be a big brother? ”

I knew that this younger brother's qualifications were ordinary, but He Dongsheng still had hopes earlier, so he took the trouble to find a Nanjing Confucian and arranged for his younger brother to study in Nanjing, thinking that diligence could make up for the shortcomings.

This time, when he heard the news of his brother's promotion, He Dongsheng was very pleased, thinking that he would finally open his mind to a famous teacher, but he didn't want to have another strange ......