On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Li Shi and Shen Shi, the chief housekeepers of Shangshu Mansion, finally arrived in Fangshan and saw that the capital was imminent. Because it was already afternoon, they couldn't get to the city before closing the city gate in the afternoon, so the group rested in Liangxiang for a while.

At this time, the south is already warm and cold, but the north is still the ice and snow world.

Getting off the carriage and stepping on the "crunch" and "crunch" sound of the snow is Shen, and looking at the snow scene in the four places also brings a few novelties, not to mention the accompanying servants.

How many people have not even gone out for a hundred miles in their lives, but they have walked more than two thousand miles, and they are about to reach the feet of the Son of Heaven.

Although Shen has been taking care of the affairs of the clan on behalf of his father for many years, he often goes out, but most of them are in the territory of Nanzhili, and the farthest is also in the area of Fujian and Zhejiang, so it is the first time to go north.

He was very intolerant of the dry climate in the north, and began to cough as early as half a month, and for this reason, he was delayed on the road for two days. Because I was young, I took two pairs of cough medicines and got better, but my throat was still dry, and I had to drink several pots of tea every day to relieve the discomfort of my throat.

A group of people rushed to the road after the New Year, and even said goodbye to the old and welcomed the new on the road.

Because he was holding his breath and feeling heavy before, the casual servants and servants were also careful, and they didn't dare to laugh and be presumptuous. Even if it is a group of more than a dozen people, it is silent for many times, and the team seems to be deserted.

Seeing that the capital was imminent, Shen's mood gradually stabilized, although he was still sad in his heart, he didn't continue to put on a face, and began to talk to the chief housekeeper Li Shi to inquire about the news of Shangshu Mansion.

Although Shen had heard a lot about the situation in Shangshu Mansion, except for the Xu family and the second old man and his wife, the other elders had not seen it. Others are okay, but Shen Cang is the head of the family.

Now that Shen Zhou is not in Beijing, Shen wants to move his brother's bones back to the south, so he wants Shen Cang, the head of the family, to nod

Since Songjiang came out, the chief housekeeper Li Shi had already sent someone in advance to take the first step and send the letter to the capital as soon as possible.

Regarding the matter of the arrival of the sect, Shen Cang and the Xu family both knew about it, and they were thinking about the days in their hearts, and they also knew that it was almost time before and after the Lantern Festival. On the other side of the house, even the guest rooms are ready.

Although Li Shi's sect room had only stopped for three or four days, he also saw the attitude of the patriarch. Zongfang has a suspicion of the second room, but it is not easy to resolve it. As for the matter of letting the deceased Shen Jue return to the sect, it is a bit unruly, but it is also the love of his parents. In the final analysis, it is still the second room that is at the expense.

On the way north, Li Shi knocked on the side, trying to resolve Shen's resentment, but it didn't have much effect. Seeing that Shen's attitude was a little softened now, Li Shi naturally cooperated, and he couldn't say that he would answer all questions, but those who could say it were all carefully said.

"Our lord is busy with official business, and he doesn't care much about family affairs. The housekeeping was led by our wife earlier, and in the past two years, my wife had a spring and autumn season, and her energy was not good, so the third wife took the eldest sister to take care of the housekeeping...... It's just that our third master is not in good health, the fourth brother is young and young, the third wife is also lacking in skills, and the atmosphere in Beijing is not as simple as outside, and the subordinates are also tricky. But there is no way, there is really no other manpower. When Li Shi talked about the worst, he exposed his shortcomings, and there was a little helplessness on his face.

When Li Shi was in Songjiang, even if he talked about the cause and effect of Shen Jue's death, he was biased in the end, and deleted and reduced. Now that he sees Jingzhong, if Shen asks what is going on, with Shen Cang and Xu's people, he will not hide it. In order to prevent the resentment in Shen's heart, the chief housekeeper revealed his words in advance, wanting to blame all the blame on the second wife.

Although Li Shi didn't know that Qiao's was paralyzed and bedridden, he also knew that since Shen Jue's death, Qiao's second wife had gone and there was no hope of turning over. Even if she is the wife of the second master and has fertility contributions to the Shen family, she can't offset her fault.

Shen listened with some disbelief and said, "How can this be? Can't you pick out other housekeepers? ”

Li Shi smiled bitterly: "Who else? Our house is no better than other houses, and we can easily pull a bunch of side branches out, and our grandfather entered Beijing alone before his death...... Don't hide it from the young master, don't say that the third wife is now a few people by herself, it is our second young master, although she is only a teenager now, but in the past few years, she has also taken on half of the foreign affairs......"

Hearing this, Shen raised his head and glanced at Li Shi.

Why did you mention Shen Rui and not Brother Jue? Jue Ge'er and Shen Rui are generally old, even if they leave Beijing twice in the middle, they still spend half of their time in the capital in the past few years. If Shangshu Mansion is indeed understaffed, wouldn't it be Shen Rui and Shen Jue's cousins to train together?

He was suspicious in his heart, but he didn't ask directly, he only shook his head and said: "Is what the big butler said seriously, in the end, there is a difference between respect and inferiority, even if the subordinate is cunning, can he still fool the master?" ”

Li Shi hesitated and said, "The situation in our house is a little different from that of other people......

"Huh? What's the difference? Shen's heart moved, his face showed a little curiosity, and asked.

"Our house has three bedrooms to live together, in the eyes of outsiders, it seems that several masters have a good relationship, and no one mentions the matter of separating the family, in fact, as early as thirty years ago, when our grandfather was still alive, the two masters were separated from the house......" Li Shi held back for a while before he said vaguely.

I said it at the beginning, but there's nothing to hide from the rest.

"In addition to the industry, the family also divided the house, and a few wives married each to their own house, but are there several groups? Now, even if they live together, it's not easy to be restrained through the house...... Not to mention that our second wife is a sister-in-law, the third wife is a younger sister, and the third wife is also embarrassed when she is a housekeeper. Li Shidao.

Shen has been by his parents' side for many years, and he is also a housekeeper director, so he knows that it is tiring and complicated, so he nodded and said, "The third aunt is really hard......"

As for what he didn't do for Brother Jue, he didn't need to ask. If the second master's room has been separated, it is now just a guest residence in Shangshu Mansion. The housekeeper doesn't use the second wife, so it's not good to go over the second wife to arrange the affairs of the heir and nephew.

Shen went north angrily, but he could preside over clan affairs for more than ten years, and he was not a reckless person in the end. The more he arrived in the capital, the more he thought about it, and he couldn't help but think of Shen Ji's words. He didn't care about the future of his children and had selfish intentions, but he wanted to be more thoughtful, and the province fell into other rooms, as if the sect was making trouble on his side

He looked down at the plain clothes on his body, and after thinking about it in his heart, he said to Li Shi: "When I arrive in the capital tomorrow, I should immediately go to the elders of the second room to ask for peace, but I have two filial pieties on me, and the month of the Great Month is really not good to collide, and I am still placed on the first brother's side, and I will write a letter of worship later, and ask the big housekeeper to convey it on my behalf." ”

Although Shen Jian returned to his hometown, Zongfang's house in Beijing was still there. Although Shen was the first time to return to the capital, there were old men who were in the capital earlier among the attendants.

In addition to the second room in the capital, there are also five rooms Shen Ying and nine rooms Shen Li. If Shangshu Mansion does not agree to Shen Jue's return to the sect, Shen will go to those two families to say please.

Shen Jue knew that most of the people in these two houses were now in the capital, and most of them were closer to Shangshufu, but he and Shen Ying were of the same age, and the brothers of the small clan also grew up in the clan together, and their feelings were also deep. If Shangshu Mansion embarrasses him, he will inevitably go to Shen Ying to ask for favors.

Shen Li's place, although the relationship is a little farther away, but when Shen Li helped Ling to return to his hometown to worry, the patriarch also took care of him. If it really doesn't work, you have to bring out your deceased grandfather, and you can also ask for personal favors from Shen Li.

Li Shi hurriedly said: "The second young master is too foreign, how good is it to go directly to the house?" If we knew that the second young master was coming, our lord and wife would be happy. ”

Shen said lightly: "The left and right are not bad for these two days, don't dare to lose the courtesy." ”

He had already made up his mind, and Li Shi persuaded him several times but didn't see him change his words, so he could only let him go.

After returning to the room, the old housekeeper had a bitter face. This Shen looks kind and smooth, but he has an idea in his heart. After all kinds of persuasion along the way, Shen didn't change his mind, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to change when he arrived in the capital.

Could it be that the third young master really wants to return to the sect?

It is not uncommon for children to die, after all, children are difficult to raise; But the return of the bones of the deceased heirs to the sect is inevitably a little appalling. When outsiders heard this, they had to inquire about the reason, and under all kinds of speculation, it would affect the reputation of Shangshufu.

If you change to someone else's family, even for the sake of fame, you will definitely not nod your head, but your own lord and wife are generous people.

This time, the old housekeeper really felt embarrassed.

Coincidentally, no book was written, just when Li Shi and Shen were resting in Liangxiang, the family letter of the second master Shen Zhou also arrived at Shangshu Mansion.

It was not someone else who returned to Beijing to deliver the letter, it was one of the stewards around Shen Zhou, Mao Chang, the eldest son of Mao's mother.

The yamen has not yet been sealed, and Shen Cang is at home.

Before reading the letter, Shen Cang called Mao Chang to him and asked, "How was your master a few days ago?" ”

Mao Chang replied: "Since I got the news of the death of the third brother, the old man felt uncomfortable, and he took ten years off and did not go to the Yamen......"

Shen Cang frowned and said, "No one around you to persuade you?" ”

"Young Master Ling and Young Master Lin both persuaded me, but the old man didn't have the spirit to see people, so he locked himself in the study and came ......out for several days," Mao Chang replied honestly.

Shen Cang said again: "When did you move from Nanchang?" I sent two letters here a few years ago, and you lords have read them......"

Mao Chang said: "It came out on the fifteenth day of the lunar month." This villain happened to know that the master had read both letters, and he was furious about it......"

Shen Cang waved his hand and sent Mao Chang down, but he sighed in his heart.

Although the small second room is not scattered now, it is almost the same as being scattered. Although Shen Zhou's younger brother has many inconsistencies, as the eldest brother, he has today, and Shen Cang is not reluctant to bear it.

After a long while, Shen Cang took the paper cutter and came out and opened the second master's letter. Looking at it, he couldn't help but furrow his brows for a while before putting down the letter in his hand and sighing heavily.

After dinner, Shen Cang mentioned the second master's letter to his wife: "The second wife refuses to let the second wife recuperate in Beijing, and still wants to send it to Beizhuang ......"

Xu frowned and said, "This, won't it be too unkind......