Zhou Ma had a belated lunch at his sister's house, and complained happily about his stepmother-in-law, and then got up happily and said goodbye.

Ma had nothing to say about his eldest sister's blind optimism, but he still kindly reminded her: "Eldest sister hurry up and send the deed of Ma Li's family over." Even if your mother-in-law and brother-in-law are really angry with you and want to take out their anger on your people, you can't poison your relatives' servants. ”

Zhou Mashi responded with a smile, and said: "Now I will give Ma Li's family to you, and I can still lie to the old man that I want to block your family's mouth." The lord will not blame the amount for losing the family's property, and maybe he will say that the amount is good! ”

Anyway, if the news doesn't leak out from the Hai family, it can also leak out from the old military division, and Zhou Ma really doesn't feel that he is in much danger. A few words of understatement, she didn't take it to heart yet, she was used to it anyway.

When she left the Hai family, she went to the East House again to see the needlework of her niece and granddaughter Begonia, and saw that Begonia embroidered a few magnolia flowers vividly, and praised it: "I embroidered so well at a young age, and when I grow up, I must be a virtuous lady with a good reputation!" My aunt's maiden name is Magnolia, can you embroider a magnolia handkerchief for your aunt as a gift? ”

An embroidered handkerchief was just a trivial matter to Haitang, she readily agreed, pretending not to hear Zhou Ma's conversation with Ma's at all, and said to Zhou Ma's in an innocent and lively tone: "Auntie, is she leaving?" We have good food at home tonight, why don't you stay and eat? ”

Zhou Ma happily refused: "No need, no need, let's talk about it later, there is still something going on at my aunt's house." Gai Ming'er will follow your grandma to your aunt's house to play. ”

Ma sent his eldest sister out, and did not forget to remind her of another thing: "Today, the old military advisor has exposed the conspiracy of your mother-in-law, and it is estimated that she will not care about plotting your marriage for a while." When you are free, remember to urge the eldest brother and sister-in-law more, let them set a date as soon as possible, and take the children to see the eldest brother. It's been seven days since I came back, and I haven't seen my eldest brother yet, and if it drags on, my relatives don't look like it, and I don't know what gossip will come out of the New Year! ”

Zhou Ma waved his hand: "I know, I know!" Then before walking out of the gate of the Hai family, he adjusted his expression to a worried look before leaving.

Haitang now recalls the situation at that time, and can't help but say to her brother Haijiao: "I see that my aunt and grandmother talk and act on weekdays, and they don't look like some scheming people. I didn't expect her to pretend now, knowing that no matter how good she is, she has to put on a worried expression in front of outsiders, so as to fool outsiders and her in-laws. From this point of view, I underestimated her before, thinking that she would be bullied by Mrs. Ma for more than 30 years, what kind of fool is it to coax! ”

Haijiao sighed: "I'm not stupid, but I'm not a smart person. She even has to defend the five masters to this day. Doesn't she know that if it weren't for the connivance of Master Wu, Mrs. Ma, an old lady who has been widowed for many years, would not be able to do many things at all?! ”

Mrs. Ma's high prestige and good reputation largely rely on the fame of the old lady in the third room during her lifetime, as well as the good reputation she has gained over the years by raising her stepson and helping her down-and-out relatives. She created a decent and loving character for herself, which made public opinion biased in her favor and forced Zhou Shigong, the son, to be filial and respectful to her stepmother, otherwise she would be questioned by her clan relatives and friends.

But such a good character also has great limitations.

For most outsiders who will favor her because they believe in her good personality, if she does something good to help the weak, or uses relatives and connections to find an official position for her children and grandchildren, it is harmless and commonplace, and everyone will be willing to help her a little favor. But once she does something bad that doesn't conform to the good person's design, everyone's reaction will definitely not be blind obedience.

Some people who are kind-hearted and close to her will think that she is confused for a while, and they are kind enough to dissuade her; the other part of the people who have a relatively flat relationship will feel that her temperament has changed drastically, and since then they have been estranged and deviated, and they have watched coldly; There are also some people, who are simple and strong-hearted, believe in black and white, and will no longer believe that she is a good person, and the good things she has done in the past have become disguises, and her good reputation and good image will also become a deception, and they may try their best to publicize her true colors, so that the world will not be deceived by her again.

Mrs. Ma is old and mature, and if she wants to keep the benefits of a good persona, she will never let a third person threaten her good reputation. Therefore, if she wants to do something bad, she can't borrow the power of outsiders. Only her own people will stand on her side for her own selfish interests, no matter whether she does good or bad things.

For example, this time, she wants to dig the foot of the border army, and normal people will hate it like the fourteenth old lady. If Zhou Shigong was not greedy and aided in the abuse, but resolutely refused from the beginning, then whether it was abducting people from the Chang'an glass workshop or forcing Zhou Ma's to transfer the property, it would be impossible for Mrs. Ma to succeed, let alone the son of his family who had achieved nothing.

Regardless of whether Zhou Shigong acted under the banner of "filial piety", his greed and support were the basis for Mrs. Ma's smooth operation. She was just one step away from a real plot. It is precisely because the old military division saw through this that he directly approached Zhou Shigong, the key responsible person.

As a result, Zhou Ma still felt that her husband was very innocent, and he was forced by his stepmother-in-law, Mrs. Ma, to cause criticism, isn't that confused?

In this regard, Haitang can only say: "My aunt and grandmother are married highly, and I have no confidence in my heart, and I have been fooled by my husband and mother-in-law for more than 30 years, and I am used to it, how can it be so easy to see the truth?" But now that grandma has returned to Chang'an, with her persuasion, grandma will wake up sooner or later. In fact, she has now given birth to children, and even has grandchildren, and she has gained a firm foothold in the third room of the Zhou family as early as possible, and it is no longer an existence where her mother-in-law can be abandoned at will if she says a few bad things about her. She should have more confidence in herself. If her husband is really unreliable, it's a big deal to live with his children and grandchildren, and it's not that he will starve to death if he leaves the Zhou family's third room. ”

Haijiao said with a smile: "My aunt and grandmother only have two Zhuangzi in their hands, and their income is not very rich, and they have to help their children, so they live a tight life on weekdays." Although she will not starve to death if she leaves her in-laws' house, she will definitely not be as rich as she is now, not to mention that she will lose face. It is human nature that she does not dare to annoy her husband. ”

Speaking of this, Haitang was still a little puzzled: "What is going on with Mrs. Ma?" She has a huge inheritance from her adoptive mother, and she has controlled the Zhou family's three rooms for 50 years, will she still lack money in her hands? My aunt's dowry is not much, why did she catch her aunt and grandmother with a sheep's hair? If she deliberately did this when she saw that her aunt was not pleasing to the eye, why did she promote the marriage between her aunt and the fifth grandfather back then? Her attitude towards her aunt and grandmother does not seem to be looking for a daughter-in-law who is inclined to her. ”

Haijiao didn't understand this, and he also laughed: "Maybe she has already squandered her private money, and it's not good to do anything about the money in the Zhou family's three-room account, for fear that the clan will see it, so she has to calculate the daughter-in-law of her aunt and grandmother." Although my aunt's Zhuangzi can't bring a lot of income, it is good enough in the place, and the location is good, and it is worth a few taels of silver on the territory of Chang'an. No matter how small the mosquito meat is, it's still meat! ”

Begonia doesn't believe it. Doesn't it mean that Mrs. Ma's daughter, Zhou Shuyi, married many capable shopkeepers and is well-known for her wealth in the capital? She has money to spend casually, can't she help her mother?

How much is a small grange worth? The annual profit of ordinary shops is several times that of it, right? Wouldn't that be faster than Mrs. Ma's wool to get money from her daughter-in-law?

(End of chapter)