In the upper room of the inner courtyard, Qiao's sister-in-law and brother-in-law persuaded her to stop her tears and asked about the aftermath of Mrs. Qiao.

Mrs. Qiao said with gratitude on her face: "At that time, the family was in a mess, your eldest brother had just dismissed the official, and the relatives were all cold, as if they were afraid of dragging them down, but they sent the steward to pay their filial piety." Fortunately, your uncle and his family came over, and they contributed to support the scene, and the monks and nuns were all invited, and the 7749 days of water and land dojo finally let the old lady go. ”

Qiao Shi listened, but frowned.

Over the years, the Qiao family has been sunset, not as good as the Shen family, and now it is even more unbearable.

In the year she went out of Beijing, she didn't seem to know her husband. She was under house arrest by her husband for a year, and she was not allowed to enter and leave freely, but she did not even have a grievance.

In the past, there was an old lady in her mother's house, who could be her leaning on to some extent; Now that the old lady is gone, the Qiao family wants to tie up the Shen family, and there is no one to protect her.

Thinking like this, her tears began to fall again.

Second Mrs. Qiao and Third Mrs. Qiao glanced at each other, both unhappy.

Second Mrs. Qiao is aggrieved for her husband, when the old lady is dead, Master Qiao is sick, ignoring everything, inside and out, it is Qiao Second Master Zhang Luo, and he was sick after that, and now it is all the credit of the Shen family?

Mrs. Qiao San thought of the rumors she heard last night that Mrs. Qiao's private room was stolen by the big house, and the old lady was angry when she found out.

Even if she knew that Mrs. Qiao favored the fifth brother of her grandson who was raised by herself, the old man's private house would definitely account for the majority in the future, but the third master was also her biological son, so would she not be divided at all?

The eldest lord was angry with the old lady and ruined the future of the third master, and now he is still like a person who has nothing to do, how can he be so shameless?

The concubines had different thoughts, but they all coincidentally concealed the matter in front of Qiao's family.

Whether it is Mrs. Qiao, who married in later, or Mrs. Qiao, Mrs. Qiao, and Mrs. Qiao, who entered the door early, they all know that their aunt and grandmother look soft and weak, and speak softly, but they are not informed and know the severity

If you really want her to know the secret story of the old lady's death, she has to ignore the trouble.

After a morning of hard work, Qiao's cried intermittently several times.

Mrs. Qiao is still patient, and every time she persuades each other softly, Mrs. Qiao Second and Mrs. Qiao San are worried about the separation of the family, and their expressions are a little impatient.

fell into Qiao's eyes, and he felt more and more cold.

In the living room of the front yard, because "words are not speculative", Shen Rui has fewer words. Shen Jue watched his cousin's face between actions, and his response was vague.

Master Shen San only came down from the officialdom, and he also brought a bit of official authority, and he felt that he was very polite to deal with his two nephews in his later life.

Shen Rui heard that Brother Shen Yan was slapping his face in front of his elders, and he was really rude; There is also Shen Jue, who is usually high and high, and there is no one in his eyes, but he is so obedient in front of his cousin, and he does not help the Qiao family speak at all because the Qiao family is a foreign family, which can be seen from relatives near and far.

Master Shen San was also annoyed in his heart, his expression faded, and he ordered someone to call his nephew to come over to accompany the guest, and went back to the room by himself.

The eldest brother of the Qiao family went out to visit friends, and he was not at home at this time; The second brother is a concubine, and his cowardly temperament is not allowed to be on the stage; The seventh brother is young, and the people who were called out to accompany the guests were the fifth brother Qiao Yongde and the sixth brother Qiao Yongshan.

Qiao Yongde traveled out of Beijing for several months, and felt that he had seen the city government for a long time, and when he saw the Shen family brothers, he no longer had a nose that was not a nose and eyes like before, even if he was still a little cold, but the etiquette was considerate.

Qiao Yongshan is much more familiar with Shen Rui and Shen Jue's brothers, and there is a sincere closeness between his words.

He had already heard that the Shen family had helped the Qiao family in the past few months, and he was also grateful to the Shen family. Even if he didn't resent his grandmother's partiality with his cousin, he was just thinking about it, and he was still saddened by his grandmother's death.

However, considering Qiao Yongde, for fear of touching his scales, Qiao Yongshan still avoided the imperial examination, and only mentioned some common words such as the elders are okay and the fourth brother is catching Zhou.

Shen Rui could sense Qiao Yongshan's closeness, and replied one by one, but he looked at Qiao Yongshan twice.

Compared with Qiao Yongde, Qiao Yongshan is much more sensible in life, and he heard that reading is not bad. The younger generation of the Qiao family can't say that it will depend on this person's achievements in the future.

Shen Rui's thoughts were the same as Shen Cang's, and he didn't want the Qiao family to collapse from now on, in that case, it would not become a burden on the second room. It is best that the Qiao family can stand up by themselves.

Master Qiao and Second Master Qiao, relatives have been in contact in the past two years, Shen Rui has seen them many times, Master Qiao is just a big gentleman, he likes pleasure, but he is mediocre and talentless; Second Master Qiao has a bit of calculation, but he has no intention of career.

When Master Qiao San first saw him today, he was a protégé of Confucius and Mencius, and he was willing to reason with others, but he didn't act simply, from the beginning to the end. If you want to be comprehensive, you want to take care of one thing and lose the other.

After Qiao Yongshan chatted a few words, he thought of Shen Yan and Brother Shen.

Master Qiao San did not mention the relationship between Shen Yan and the Shen brothers and the Songjiang Shen family to the family, but the two brothers are from the Songjiang Mansion clan, and their names are from the jade character, so that Qiao Yongshan, Qiao Yongde and others can also inquire whether their brothers are from the Songjiang Shen clan.

Master Qiao San denied the matter, and only said that it was the same surname.

Qiao Yongshan didn't think much about it, just thought that Shen Rui and Shen Yan were similar in age, so he said: "It is said that Jiangnan people are outstanding and spiritual, and the land of Su Song has a rich literary style, which is really true." Not to mention the heads of your Shen family, even the surnames of the poor families are also reading seeds...... My brother-in-law's brother Shen, who is sixteen years old this year, also lived in Songjiang Mansion earlier. ”

Shen Rui thought for a while, nodded and said, "I know, but I don't know each other." ”

Shen Jue quipped: "My cousin hasn't gone out yet, why did she call my brother-in-law now?" I heard that Shen passed the hospital examination, and it was not good for him to take the annual examination in the south, so what did he do when he went to the capital? Don't want fame? ”

Qiao Yongshan said: "The wedding date was originally scheduled for this month, and most of the six ceremonies were gone, but it was delayed because I caught up with my grandmother to go west." I was also puzzled before, and I heard that it was the eldest brother-in-law. The eldest brother-in-law said that Shen Xue's homework was not solid, and he had precipitated and precipitated, and he had studied in the capital for a few years, and it was not too late to wait for five years. ”

Shen Jue raised his eyebrows and said, "This insight is similar to the meaning of my five-room big brother." The third brother is also studying in Beijing, and he will only go back to take the college exam next year. Although the annual examination is counted from this year, if you want to take the township exam, you will miss the annual exam, and there will be a make-up exam before the township exam, and it is not the only way to take the annual exam. ”

Qiao Yongshan hesitated for a moment and said, "Isn't the third brother older than us?" He only took the hospital exam next year, and his family didn't think he was late? ”

Shen Jue said: "Is it late?" The eldest brother of their family was earlier that year, and the second brother seemed to have passed the college examination in their twenties. ”

Not only did Qiao Yongshan secretly breathe a sigh of relief, but even Qiao Yongde's heart was a little more settled.

really knew that the Shen family was too demonic, Shen Luo passed the hospital examination at the age of fourteen, and was lifted at the age of sixteen; Shen Rui passed the hospital examination at the age of fourteen; The eldest and second masters of the Shen family were also young talents and talents; The champion of the Shen family is a mid-year jinshi in the year of the weak crown.

is Shen Yan and Shen brothers, although they are not from the Shen clan, but they have the word "Shen", they are also good, one is twenty years old, and the other is sixteen years old. Speaking of which, the late grandfather was born, and the late father was a scholar, and he was also a scholarly child.

Even Qiao Yongde, who was arrogant, was faintly ashamed of himself when he thought of the Shen family.

In fact, being able to become a child at the age of sixteen is still decent, but compared with the Shen family, there is too much difference, and the two brothers set their goals too high before, which made the two cousins lose their normal hearts.

Shen Rui was a little aware of the subtle changes in the atmosphere in the hall, and slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Qiao Yongde is a year older and has learned to restrain himself, which is not bad.

After all, it is a relative's family, if Qiao Yongde still puts on a bear child's face, and he doesn't even want to maintain his face, then Shen Rui won't bear it. In that case, it would be difficult for Shen Jue to say it.

Mrs. Gu returned to the door, Shen Rui came over to give a thank you gift again, and Shen Jue, a cheap "nephew", came over, and the Qiao family naturally stayed here. At noon, a rich banquet was prepared, but because of the filial piety, no wine was served.

Needless to say, the wives were no longer happy in their hearts, so they could only pinch their noses and coax Qiao's.

Tribulation sees people's hearts, no matter whether they are divided or not, the Shen family can't be lost.

Here in the front yard, Master Qiao did not come forward, Second Master Qiao went out to socialize, but Third Master Qiao came out and took his two nephews to accompany Shen Rui's brothers to dinner.

Guest house, north room.

The Bai family tossed and turned all night, and he didn't sleep well, so he was a little lacking in spirit, just thinking about the guests, he couldn't keep the wives of the Qiao family invited, so he got up early.

As for the uneasiness of living in the guest house, Shen Yan comforted her, only saying that after finding a suitable academy, she would rent a house nearby and move out of Qiao's house.

Bai's mind was halfway over, and he finally felt much more relaxed. She took her jewelry box and picked it up.

When I went to Qiao's house yesterday, because of the sadness of the three old men and his wife, and the fatigue of the journey, Qiao's family did not hold a reception banquet.

Bai's mother and son, except for Mr. and Mrs. Qiao and Mr. and Mrs. Qiao, the other juniors in Beijing have not officially met, and they will have to prepare a ceremony at that time.

On the way to Beijing, the Bai family inquired with the mother-in-law of the Qiao family about the population of each house, and knew it in his heart.

Everything was ready, and the Bai family themselves picked it up refreshed, but until noon, the mother-in-law sent the banquet, but they did not mention that the lord's family asked each other to give their mother and son a reception.

was so sluggish that Bai only felt that her heart hurt badly, but in front of her son, she didn't dare to say a word, for fear that what she said would make her son sad.

Shen Yan didn't think much about it, the reason why he didn't go out to look for a house now was because he thought that Master Qiao San had just returned to Beijing, and he would be busy for a few days, so he wouldn't go to make trouble.

As for Shen, thinking about the ear that he accidentally heard outside the study in the morning, he also thought that he knew the inside story because the Qiao family did not have a serious host to entertain guests today.

Although he was full of curiosity about the follow-up of the disputes between the masters of the Qiao family, because of Shen Yan's teaching, Shen also extinguished the gossip heart, and after the family of three had a meal, they consciously went to study.

Although he is now traveling in Beijing and does not plan to take the next subject of the township examination, in this way, it is naturally better to be more sure of that subject in five years.

Shen is no longer the reckless young man who cares about his ancestors' surnames and is full of resentment, but knows the importance of fame and fame.

The origin of the Shen family in Songjiang originated from the ancestors Shen Du and Shen Cang brothers, and the second room of the Shen family now occupies the first place in the nine rooms of the Shen family, which comes from the late third master of the second room and the two old fathers and sons of the three jinshi.

As a side branch, Shen Li even had to help his relatives when he ate in his early years, and once he became the champion, he could marry the daughter of a high family and enter Hanlin as an official.

Seeing his brother so diligent and conscious, Shen Yan's face was full of relief.

lost his father at a young age, and Shen Yan's brother who was also his father and brother taught him to grow up, and he was afraid that he would be stubborn, stubborn, and biased, but now seeing that his body was gloomy and dissipated, and his temperament became more and more cheerful, Shen Yan was also deeply relieved.

However, the fame of the imperial examination is a matter of the future, but the current thing is to plan the life in Beijing.

When the mother and son left Songjiang, the family savings were almost used, and they were only able to settle down when they were in Nanjing.

However, there is a lot of money, Shen wants to go to school, and Shen also wants to write to meet friends, in order to prevent sitting and eating empty, Shen has helped the young master of the landlord's house, and sometimes ghostwrites Runwen and the like.

The landlord's family is a merchant family, and there were five or six girls in front of him, and he only gave birth to this son in middle age, and he is doted on in every way, and the companions he invited are all scholars with a reputation for showing talent, Shen Yan is quite important, and he can also have a few taels of silver every month.

During the township test, Shen Yan just had the idea of trying, but he didn't expect luck to come, and the question he came out of happened to be what he had done before, and Shunshun passed the township test locally.

As for the landlord and his wife, when they saw that Shen Zhong was lifting, they gave a generous sum of silver.

When Shen Yan and Qiao's family and daughter's relationship were decided, the landlord even pulled his son and said that he would let his son worship under Shen Yan's name as a disciple.

Speaking of which, the young master of the prison is only three years younger than Shen Yan, and he can't say that he can't learn and have no skills, but he doesn't look like he can take the imperial examination.

Shen Yan naturally refused to accept it, but the landlord was sincere, and the two of them came to the door in turn, and the gifts became more and more generous each time.

Shen Yan was really unable to be entangled, and the mother and son had been taken care of by this family in Nanjing for more than half a year, and the other party also had the grace to help, so he reluctantly recognized the student.

This family's "apprenticeship" is generous, in addition to a two-entry house near the tribute courtyard, there are five hundred taels of silver.

Shen Yan pushed it a few times, but he had to accept it, but he was uneasy, and he was a little serious about the cheap student. Thinking that there is always a point of teaching and grading, it is not in vain for teachers and students.

However, after half a month of strict discipline here, the parents of the students over there came to the door.

The two also know their son's virtues, but they are not reading materials, and they are not reluctant. It's just that the two of them are currently buying and selling this stall, and they don't plan to let their son take over in the future, they have already bought a few Zhuangzi, and they just want their son to change their doors and become a squire of the peace.

The husband and wife had to let their son worship under Shen Yan's door before, because they wanted to ask Shen Yan to shelter their son in the future.

Merchants are cheap, even if they have a few in-laws, they all look at the money to do things. If you don't prevent them from encroaching on the property, it's almost the same, where can you point to it when you encounter something?

The reason why he trusts Shen Yan so much is that Shen Yan's behavior is in the eyes of both husband and wife.

As a son, his mother-in-waiting is filial piety; As an eldest brother, treat his brother patiently and lovingly; Even if they are scholars, they don't have those poor sourness, and they can be polite to their merchants. took the invitation of their family and accompanied their son, unlike the helpers who pampered their son to eat and drink, spend all day drinking, and fool a few coins, but secretly reminded them of the husband and wife a few times.

Such a character gives the husband and wife hope.

Shen Yan listened to the original intentions of the husband and wife, and felt uneasy, he was just a small person, and he was not enough to protect himself, where could he have the ability to protect others?

But in the eyes of the landlord and his wife, lifting people is already an official body, let alone a young man who has become a son-in-law of a school? It must be as others said, the future is bright, and sooner or later it will be the first.

Shen Yan couldn't make sense with them, so he could only smile bitterly, but from then on, he no longer forced the young master to study.

On the contrary, when he was socializing with several people in Nanjing at home in the same year, he slacked off this cheap disciple on his side, making him familiar with several of them in the same year, and he recognized several uncles and uncles.

This time, Shen Yan went to Beijing with Qiao's family, and the landlord and his wife prepared a rich ceremony, and the cheap student hired a boat and sent it to a hundred miles away, and sent it to each other, but he was sincerely reluctant.

The several gifts from this family, plus some personal contacts between Shen Yan and Master Qiao San, will also be a thousand taels of silver. When he went north, except for a hundred taels of expenses, he was exchanged for gold and carried cheaply.

In addition to renting a house, the two brothers needed to prepare for the lazy.

He is already in the age of the crown, and the lady of the Qiao family is also sixteen years old, and after a year of filial piety, he should handle family affairs, which is still an expense.

It is said that it is not easy to live in the capital, even if there is money to spare at the moment, Shen Yan does not dare to feel at ease, after Qiao's father died, the three of them lived a few years of embarrassment, he didn't feel anything, but he was reluctant to let his mother and brother endure hardships, and he had already calculated what way to make money......