Shemulin had a splitting headache.

In the midst of indescribable pain, she had a glimpse of a young girl's short and complicated life in her mind.

This girl is the object she is crossing now, named Xie Yingzhen, who is twelve years old this year. She is the daughter of Xie Pu, the prefect of Kaizhou, and her mother Wen, that is, the "second wife" in the mouth of Xie's mother, is also the young woman who hugged her and cried after she was rescued from falling into the water.

However, the "eldest wife" in Xie's mother's mouth is not Xie Yingzhen's aunt. In this family, the relationship between the "eldest wife" and the "second wife" is a little complicated.

They are all Xie Pu's wives, but in terms of etiquette, they are not a wife and a concubine, but a concubine on an equal footing.

Wen was originally Xie Pu's childhood sweetheart's fiancée, and he had a marriage contract with him since he was a child. Her father was famous during his lifetime, and he and Xie Pu's second uncle were classmates and friends for many years. After the death of her parents, she took the dowry and was taken into the Xie family to support her. This marriage was jointly decided by Xie Pu's father and his second uncle, and it stands to reason that there is no possibility of change.

However, these two elders passed away one after another, but Xie Pu's mother, Mrs. Xie, did not get along with the clansmen and moved out of her hometown early. And when Xie Pu was admitted to the second-class jinshi at a young age, the Wen family, who was originally quite passable, became a daughter-in-law candidate who was "not worthy of her son" in Mrs. Xie's mind.

At this time, when Empress Xie's maiden sister fell in love with the young and handsome Xinke Jinshi with a bright future, she didn't care that he had a marriage contract, and repeatedly asked her brother Cao Sanye to come to the door to propose-

And that's how it happened.

Mrs. Xie couldn't resist the temptation of becoming a relative of the emperor, and almost forced her son to quit the Wen family's family affairs, and even went to the Wen family in person to say that she was willing to choose another family business for her, and even prepared a candidate. However, both Xie Pu and Wen were resistant to this.

Xie Pu knew that his mother had already agreed to the marriage of the Cao family, but he still used the excuse of returning to his hometown to worship his ancestors, secretly brought the Wen family back to the clan, asked the elders of the clan to make the decision, and completed the marriage for them. It's just that considering his mother's face and the power of the Cao family, he made the Wen family a flat wife, not the original partner of his own house.

The second uncle, Xie Zechuan, was the first official in the clan to be a jinshi, and he was also Xie Pu's mentor on the road to studying for the imperial examination. He only has a daughter under his knees and has no heirs, so he has already agreed with his brother to let his nephew Xie Pu have two rooms, inherit the incense, and everyone knows it. It's just that Mrs. Xie left her hometown with her son and cut off contact with the clansmen, and no one mentioned the matter again. Now that Xie Pu is marrying the fiancée set for him by his second uncle, inheriting the incense of the second uncle's house, and there are clansmen to testify, even Mrs. Xie has nothing to say.

Xie Pu thought that the daughter of the Cao family would retreat after getting the news, but she didn't expect her to be so infatuated - Cao Sanye personally found the Xie family and told Mrs. Xie that his sister was willing to accept the existence of a wife and make a harmonious relationship with the Wen family. Mrs. Xie was very grateful for this, and no matter what Xie Pu said, she refused to withdraw from her family.

Xie Pu had no reason to refuse to marry, and married another wife with a strange mood. After marriage, the two wives are safe and sound, and it seems that they are really harmonious. Both wives gave birth to a son and a daughter for him, and the Cao family was even more virtuous in accepting several concubines for him, and a concubine was born. Xie Pu was still a little wary, but after a long time, he gradually let go.

Since the Cao family did not do anything superfluous except for asking him to support his brother Cao Sanye more in terms of money, Xie Pu and the Wen family both felt that the Cao family insisted on marrying for money.

Although the Cao family is a prominent descendant, the queen is the heir of Cheng'en Gong, and the current Cheng'en Marquis who inherited the title of Duke of Cheng'en is also the eldest son of Yuan's son. The third master of Cao and the Cao family from the step-family are actually not very harmonious with Queen Cao and Chengenhou.

According to the news that Xie Pu heard, the title of Earl Pingnan was originally passed down by the ancestors of the Cao family, and when the eldest son of the Cao family was destined to inherit the higher Duke of Chengen, this title became vacant. If he can't snatch this title before he dies, Cao Sanye is likely to succumb to the second master Cao, and watch the latter become Ping Nanbo - just because the other party is from Yuanpei's henchman maid, and he has always been close to the elder and older than him.

At this time, the Cao family chose to marry Xie Pu in exchange for Mrs. Xie's contribution of a large amount of dowry. I don't know how their brother and sister operated, not long after the Cao family passed the door, Cao Sanye successfully obtained the title of Earl of Pingnan. Even after the death of Chengengong, he was quickly divided and set up a separate door, but he was also regarded as one of the few noble families in the capital.

Xie Pu's deceased father was a wealthy businessman, and his family still has many silk and satin cloth villages, large cotton fields, mulberry gardens, and weaving and spinning, with an annual income of at least 60,000 or 70,000 taels of silver, and a family fortune of one million. Even if the Cao family has to take the opportunity to preside over the feed every year and secretly get a lot of benefits for Pingnanbofu, they are still quite polite to Xie Pu's husband, and the Cao family is also willing to plan for his sister-in-law in his career. Xie Pu turned a blind eye to what the Cao family did, and only spent money every year to make some connections.

Xie Yingzhen is her father's second daughter, the second of the two siblings, and there is also a sibling brother Xie Jinzhi, half-brother Xie Xianzhi, and half-sister Xie Yinghui - that is, the girl in red she saw when she first walked through.

Below her, there are several younger brothers and sisters, two men and two women, respectively from three aunts - a pair of sisters given to her brother-in-law by Pingnan Bo Cao Sanye, Da and Xiao Jin, and Cao's maid Wanqin, among whom Aunt Xiao Jin has been dead for many years. The three girls that Li'er has complained about repeatedly are none other than Xie Yingrong from Aunt Dajin.

Xie Yingzhen used to be the closest to Xie Yingrong, although they were nominally cousins in the next room, they went in and out together almost every day, making female red needles and chisels together, reading and writing together, learning piano, chess, calligraphy and painting together, and if there was any whispering in their hearts, they were willing to confide in each other.

Of course, the same is true for Xie Yingrong.

Xie Yingzhen is not close to the other siblings.

My brother is frail and devoted himself to studying.

The eldest brother Xie Xianzhi has never had much contact with their second room.

As for the eldest sister Xie Yinghui, she is very impatient with the second room and the younger siblings who are out of the house, but at the request of her mother, she just maintains face with them. She even gets along with her brother Xie Xianzhi very well.

Further down, the two cousins have different temperaments, and they have lived in the outer courtyard for many years, and they are not very close to the sisters.

As for the youngest Xie Yingfen, her biological mother Wanqin manages her very strictly, and she has always disliked her for having too much contact with people in the second room.

Xie Yingzhen can communicate frequently every day, and only the third sister Xie Yingrong is the third sister. Xie Yingrong is also very close to her, and the sisters have been good since childhood. Before Xie Yingzhen fell into the water, he talked and laughed with Xie Yingrong. Suddenly, Xie Yingrong left her in the water and went to save a strange Xue Si girl. This, not to mention Xie Yingzhen herself, even Xie Mulin, who just knew about her experience, felt very strange.

However, Xie Mulin does not think that Xie Yingzhen has really lived a stable and happy life in the past twelve years, and everyone in the second room and the big room have been safe.

After she fell into the water, the housekeeper Qian Mother under the eldest wife Cao's treated Wen and Xie Yingzhen's mother and daughter with contempt, and knew the clue.

As the queen's sister and daughter, the Cao family may not be able to accommodate a flat wife even if they can accommodate three concubines.

Considering the so-called sisterhood of Xie Yingrong, the big housemaid, who has been disguised for many years and made everyone believe it, but suddenly turned her face today, Xie Mulin really wanted to say to Xie Yingzhen, a little girl:

Kid, you can have a snack!