After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 165 The limitations of good characters

Zhou Ma had a belated lunch at her sister's house, complained about her step-mother-in-law, and then stood up and left happily.

Ma had nothing to say about her eldest sister's blind optimism, but she still kindly reminded her: "Sister, please hurry up and send the body deeds of Ma Li's family. Even if your mother-in-law and brother-in-law really take their anger out on you, they still have to Even if you take it out on your own people, you can't do anything to the servants of your relatives."

Zhou Ma agreed with a smile, and said: "Now that I'm giving Ma Li's family to you, I can also deceive the master and say that I want to stop your family's mouth. The master won't blame me for damaging the family's property. Maybe He even said it was a great gift!"

Anyway, if the news doesn't leak out from the Hai family, it can also leak out from the old military advisor. Zhou Ma really doesn't feel that he is in much danger.She didn't take the slightest scolding to heart, as she was used to it anyway.

When leaving Hai's house, she went to the east room again to see her niece Haitang's needlework. When she saw Haitang embroidering several magnolia flowers vividly, she praised her profusely: "You can embroider like this at such a young age. Well, when you grow up, you will definitely be a well-known virtuous lady! My aunt’s maiden name is Magnolia, why don’t you embroider a magnolia flower handkerchief as a gift for my aunt?”

An embroidered handkerchief was just a trivial matter to Haitang. She readily agreed, pretending not to hear the conversation between Zhou Ma and Ma at all, and said to Zhou Ma in an innocent and lively tone: "Auntie, I want it right now." Are you leaving? We have delicious food tonight, why don't you stay for dinner?"

Zhou Ma declined cheerfully: "No, no, we'll talk about it later. My aunt has something to do at home. I'll come with your grandma to play at my aunt's house tomorrow."

When Ma sent her eldest sister out, she did not forget to remind her of another thing: "Today, the old military advisor exposed your mother-in-law's conspiracy. I guess she won't be able to think about trying to seize your marriage property for a while. You When you have time, remember to urge your eldest brother and sister-in-law to make a date as soon as possible so that you can take the children to see your eldest brother. It's been seven days since you came back and you haven't seen your eldest brother yet. If you delay it any longer, your relatives won't be able to see you. It’s funny, I don’t know what gossip will come out during the Chinese New Year!”

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

Haitang now recalled the situation at that time and couldn't help but said to her brother Hai Jiao: "I see that my aunt doesn't seem to be a scheming person when she talks and acts on weekdays. I didn't expect that she would pretend now, knowing that no matter how good she is, she can't She has to put on a worried expression in front of outsiders so as to fool outsiders and her husband's family. It seems that I underestimated her before, thinking that she would be bullied by Mrs. Ma for more than 30 years. What kind of fool is she?"

Hai Jiao sighed: "Although she is not a fool, she is really not a smart person. She is still trying to defend Mr. Wu today. Doesn't she know that if it weren't for Mr. Wu's connivance, Mrs. Ma, who has been widowed for many years? Old lady, can’t many things be done at all?!”

Mrs. Ma's high prestige and good reputation are largely due to the reputation of the third-fang old lady during her lifetime, as well as the good reputation she earned over the years by raising her stepson and supporting her relatives and clan members who were in need.She created a decent and loving persona for herself, which caused public opinion to favor her, forcing Zhou Shigong, the prince, to be filial and respect her stepmother, otherwise he would be criticized by relatives and friends of the clan.But such a good character also has great limitations.

For most outsiders who are biased towards her because they believe in her good character, it would not be a big deal if she did something good to help the weak, or used her relatives' connections to find official positions for her descendants and acquaintances. It's commonplace, and everyone will be happy to help her with a little help.But once she does something bad that is not consistent with her good character, 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 will try to dissuade her with good intentions; some people with relatively smooth relationships will think that her temperament has changed drastically, and they will distance themselves from her and look on coldly; there are still some people who are simple-minded. And Gang Lie, who believes in black and white, will no longer believe that she is a good person. The good things she has done in the past have become a disguise, and her good reputation and image will become a scam. They may even try their best to spread her true identity everywhere. , lest the world be deceived by her again.

Mrs. Ma has become a mature woman in her old age. If she wants to keep the benefits brought by her good character, she will never let the third type of person threaten her good reputation.Therefore, if she wants to do something bad, she can't borrow the help of outsiders.Only her own people will stand by her for their own selfish interests, no matter whether she does good or bad.

Just like this time, if she wanted to poach the border army, normal people would be as disgusted as the fourteenth old lady.If Zhou Shigong had not been greedy and aided the tyrants, but had resolutely refused from the beginning, then whether it was abducting people from the Chang'an glass workshop or forcing Zhou Ma to transfer his marital property, it would have been impossible for Mrs. Ma to succeed, let alone Not to mention the son of his who has accomplished 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 actually succeeding in her conspiracy.It was precisely because the old military advisor saw through this that he went directly to the key responsible person, Zhou Shigong.

As a result, Ms. Zhou Ma still felt that her husband was innocent and that he was being criticized because of the persecution of his step-mother-in-law, Mrs. Ma. How could that not be confusion?
In this regard, Haitang could only say: "My aunt married into a high position, and she has no confidence in her heart. She has been deceived by her husband's mother-in-law for more than 30 years. She has become accustomed to it. How can it be so easy to see the truth? But now that grandma has returned to Chang'an, there is She persuaded her from the side that her aunt would wake up sooner or later. In fact, she now has children and even grandchildren. She has already established a foothold in the third room of the Zhou family. It is no longer just her mother-in-law who says something bad about her and she can be taken care of. Xiu abandons her existence. She should have more confidence in herself. If her husband is really unreliable, the worst she can do is live with her children and grandchildren, and it’s not like she will starve to death if she leaves three rooms with the Zhou family. "

Hai Jiao smiled and said: "My aunt only has two villages in her hands. Her income is not huge, and she has to support her children. She lives a tight life on weekdays. Although she will not starve to death after leaving her husband's family, she will definitely not be as rich as she is now, let alone She said it would hurt her face. It is human nature for her not to dare to offend her husband."

Speaking of this, Haitang was still a little confused: "What happened to Mrs. Ma? She received a huge inheritance from her adoptive mother, and she has been in charge of the three houses of the Zhou family for 50 years. Will she still be short of money? My aunt's dowry is not much. Why did she catch her aunt and pluck out the wool from a sheep? If she did it deliberately because she didn't like her, why did she promote the marriage between her and Mr. Wu back then? Her attitude towards her aunt didn't seem like she wanted to find someone who was inclined towards her. Like a daughter-in-law.”

Hai Jiao didn't understand this either, and he joked: "Maybe she had squandered all her private money a long time ago, and she couldn't do anything with the money on the Zhou family's third-bedroom account. She was afraid that the clan would find out, so she had to plot against my aunt. She is a daughter-in-law. Although my aunt’s village does not bring in huge income, it is good because it is large enough and in a good location. It is worth several taels of silver in Chang’an. Mosquito meat is still meat no matter how small it is!”

Haitang doesn’t believe it.Didn't it mean that Mrs. Ma's daughter Zhou Shuyi married off many capable shopkeepers and was famously wealthy in the capital?She has money to spend randomly, so why can't she help her mother?
How much can a farm with a small output be worth?The profit of an ordinary store in a year is several times that, right?Wouldn't that make money faster than Mrs. Ma harvesting her daughter-in-law's wool?
(End of this chapter)