To be honest, Mrs. Ma's approach is very good.

The Queen Mother wants to show grace to the mother's family, and the whole family happily accepts the Queen Mother's kindness, only she is the only one who pours cold water and lives up to the Queen Mother's grace, and she is somewhat unsure of what to do.

But she played the banner of caring about her stepson's reputation in the imperial examination, and the old lady of the third room had no intention of stopping it, even if there were all kinds of gossip in the clan, they were quickly suppressed.

Under the deliberate guidance of Mrs. Ma, the third room gradually became estranged from the long room. There was no estrangement between the old lady and other clansmen who served in the army, but the relationship between Mrs. Ma and the clansmen and daughters of powerful houses such as Changfang was much weaker, and the exchanges were not intimate.

Over time, even if the Empress Dowager Zhou gave things to her relatives, she would generally send them to the Chengenhou Mansion in the capital, and the Chengenhou Mansion would send people back to Chang'an, instead of directly sending palace envoys to Chang'an, and often skip the female dependents of the three-room room, and only give gifts to the father and son of the old lady in the three-room. And the interior of the third room also thinks that Mrs. Ma doesn't like the production of the palace and the inner house, and she only likes to use her own shop to wear the clothes she wears, or the things produced by time-honored brands in Chang'an City.

But now, in the dressing box of Mrs. Ma, who is known to not accept the reward from the palace, there are two combs that are suspected to be products of the inner house?

Zhou Ma said hesitantly: "Strange...... The things that the Queen Mother appreciated in her early years should be given to the A family with a set of red gold inlaid lapis lazuli heads, as well as some silk satin. At that time, the women of each head of the house received the same head, but the style was slightly different. Aya Luo satin and not mentioned, the head of the A family has always only been worn every year on the Chinese New Year's Eve to worship the ancestors, and it will never be on the head on weekdays. I haven't heard of any ebony combs......"

After she entered the door, she stayed up for many years, and gave birth to her son Zhou Jinlin, just in time for the Queen Mother last week to reward the mother's family again, and this time she also got a set of red gold and coral-inlaid heads, as well as a few silk satin. The clothes have been used for a long time, and the head is still there, and there is also the mark of the inner house on it.

Zhou Ma immediately instructed Cai Juan to take the set of head noodles and open it for his sister and a few children to see. The box with the head, as well as the inconspicuous place on the back of each piece of jewelry, are indeed marked with the mark of the inner house. It is slightly different from the mark painted by the begonia, but the similarities can be seen.

Haijiao guessed: "Depending on the year, the imprint of the inner house will also change, right?" Jin Jiashu has a box of gold in the inner house, which was rewarded by the emperor to the relatives of Concubine Xian when his aunt was a concubine. The mark on the top is similar to this one, but it is more different. ”

Haitang said: "I have also seen the inner house mark on Jin Jiashu's box of gold ingots, and I feel newer than this one." The pair of ebony combs looked very old, and the marks on them were probably many years old, and they were older than the time when the Queen Mother had rewarded them. ”

She looked up at everyone: "How did Old Madam Ma have such a thing?" Inside products, outside generally can't be bought, right? ”

"Can't buy it." Zhou Ma frowned and said, "Although it may be a private gift, it must be quietly and will not be publicized." After all, this kind of thing is not in accordance with the rules...... "But the step-mother-in-law has this thing, why doesn't she know about it?" When she was young, she made rules in her step-mother-in-law's house, and she also waited for her step-mother-in-law to make up, but she didn't see this thing in the latter's dressing box. At that time, Mrs. Ma once showed off her jewelry and gold and jade combs to her, as well as ebony jewelry boxes and white jade powder boxes or something, but she never let her see any ebony combs.

To be more precise, Mrs. Ma will only let the personal girl comb her hair, and when she asked her daughter-in-law to come forward and wait, the usual comb has been put away, and she only asked Zhou Ma to take a grate to give her hair.

But is it necessary? Even if it's a comb made inside, it's nothing out of the ordinary, right? Zhou Ma's own internal jewelry, but he can't wear it when he is idle. With two internal combs, is it necessary for the step-mother-in-law to hide it from her?

Zhou Ma pursed his lips disapplausively.

Haijiao looked at his aunt's expression, and thoughtfully put away the drawings drawn by his sister: "I'll go back and ask my cousin if he has seen this kind of mark, and maybe he can find out the origin of the pair of combs." We can also talk to Tu Tongzhi to see if he can find the record of this pair of combs from the other end of the inner mansion. I think that if this pair of combs really fell into the hands of Mrs. Ma fifty or sixty years ago, maybe we can find out her life experience! ”

When Zhou Ma heard this, he suddenly came to his senses: "Then check it quickly!" If there is no problem with her origin, maybe it is really only at the becest of Mrs. Wang that she will have something to do with this kind of thing. Then they will be saved in three rooms! ”

Haijiao smiled in response. Zhou Yijun thought about it, so he asked him for a drawing, copied a picture by himself, put it away carefully, and planned to go back to the long room to ask the Duchess of Zhenguo about the seal of the inner mansion.

Zhou Ma has finished dressing up and can go to the fourteenth room. And Ma, who was the reason for her grandparents and grandchildren to go out, naturally could only leave with a pair of grandchildren.

However, before going out and getting into the car, Ma did not forget to tell Zhou Ma: "Sister, remember to send a letter to me as soon as you have news." Don't drag! Eming'er will come to see you again. ”

Zhou Ma also needs a person who can discuss things seriously, so he naturally will not refuse his sister's help: "Don't worry." Even if the master wants to stop him, he will try his best to send you a message! After that, he smiled bitterly, "Except for you, I can't find anyone else to discuss this kind of thing." The sister-in-law is afraid that she won't even go to the door of their house. ”

Ma shook the eldest sister's hand with a heavy heart, turned around and got into the car. Haitang was a step behind and reminded Zhou Ma and Zhou Yijun: "Auntie, sister Yijun, there is one thing you must beware of." I don't know if the letter is true or not, but Mrs. Ma must know what the letter is about. If it worked, why did she put it off until now? But if it didn't work, why did she take it out at this time? Shouldn't she be thinking about taking something specious out first, coaxing others to investigate, and then taking this opportunity to do something herself? Although her henchmen have been taken away now, there are still people around her after all, and she is not short of silver in her hands, so it is not difficult to buy new people. You'd better keep an eye on her, and don't let her get out of the way. ”

Zhou Mashi was suddenly awe-inspiring: "Yes, you can't let her escape!" If she escapes, you won't be able to tell! ”

Zhou Yijun pursed her lips: "At this point, don't say that she escaped, even if she is dead, our family can't tell." Make sure she stays home well! ”

Seeing that their grandparents and grandchildren were enlightened, Begonia got into the car with confidence. Haijiao said a few words to Aunt Ma, and turned around and got on the horse. Aunt Ma was temporarily left in the third room of the Zhou family by the Ma family, once Zhou Ma had any new news, she could go back to the Hai family at any time to run errands and pass the word, and she didn't have to worry that Zhou Shigong would stop people.

The carriage and horse of the Hai family left the three-room mansion of the Zhou family. Zhou Yijun hugged Ma and stood in front of the door for a long time, as if he was watching his relatives stay away. But when they turned around, they walked directly to the fourteenth room next to them, and did not return home. The porter sensed something was wrong, and when he rushed out to see what was going on, it was too late to stop it. Zhou Ma said a few words to the porter of the fourteenth room on the door, and the latter welcomed their ancestors and grandchildren into the door.

(End of chapter)