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

Chapter 169 Message
Zhou Ma was shocked to hear the secret in her family. When she returned to the yard, her head was still buzzing.

It was obviously Mrs. Ma who had done something wrong and poached the Bianjun. How come the Bianjun now owed the third house of the Zhou family money? So, is it natural that the third house of the Zhou family should now take advantage of the Bianjun?

It was obviously Mrs. Ma who was unreasonable and wanted to take away the marriage property of her daughter-in-law Zhou Ma, but now she has become the daughter-in-law of the third wife of the Zhou family and should pay for her husband's family?
She has been wronged for more than 30 years, but is she taking advantage?There is no such truth!

Zhou Ma was so distraught that he didn't sleep well that night. When he woke up the next day, he felt a splitting headache.Turning around to look at her husband Zhou Shigong, he also had two big dark circles on his face and was listless. He was sending someone to spread the word that his stepmother was ill and his wife had to stay sick. The house was closed to welcome guests, whether they were foreigners or relatives and friends. Don't even let them in.

He himself has to ask for leave from the Yamen.

Unexpectedly, when the family member who was sent to take leave came back, he brought back a message from his cousin Zhen Guogong, telling him to have a good time at home to recover from his illness for two months, to settle the family affairs, and to go back to work after the new year.If the matter of poaching people to build a private glass workshop cannot be properly handled and the public anger is calmed, he will no longer have to join the army.If you love money so much, why not stay at home and plan money-making activities?What kind of official do you want to be?

Zhou Shigong suddenly had a headache.Unexpectedly, this incident alerted the eldest cousin of the eldest brother, and even threatened him with an official position.

He was originally an official through the imperial examination, but because he only passed the examination and was born as a Jinshi, he was always despised in the officialdom.He couldn't stand the anger, so he simply resigned and went home. Relying on the Zhou family's connections in the northwest frontier army, he found a casual position in the army. It sounded respectable, but in fact there was no official work to do.But if he loses even this idle position, it will be difficult for him to think about getting it back in the future.After all, he is also the eldest son of the general. How can he be willing to stay at home?Or did you lose your official position because you made a mistake? !

Regarding the glass workshop, he had the same idea as his stepmother, and he did not feel that it was a treasonous act for his family to take a share of the good business of the frontier army.But there are some things that are okay for you to think about in your mind, but hard to say out loud. Once you say it, you just don't care about it.

My father subsidized military expenses, supported veterans and wounded soldiers, and emptied the family's fortune, but outsiders didn't know it at all.If his stepmother hadn't shown him the account book, he would have thought that his family was still wealthy!Unexpectedly, Sanfang's ancestral property was only an empty shell, relying entirely on his stepmother's dowry to support his appearance.He does have a dowry left by his biological mother, but it has been used up in pieces over the past few decades, leaving some conspicuous farm properties that cannot be sold off and must be kept to earn interest slowly.

My stepmother suggested building a glass workshop, which turned out to be a good thing.The glass business is now very profitable.The glassware produced by the Chang'an workshop became famous and attracted many wealthy businessmen from the capital, Jiangnan and Sichuan to purchase goods. However, the glassware produced by the workshop was not that much at all. Even the glassware produced in Suzhou and Ganzhou, Demand is still in short supply.If Sanfang builds a glass workshop, as long as it can produce glassware, it can be sold directly to merchants in Chang'an without having to worry about delivery. It is a good business with a guaranteed profit.

If the government of the town really doesn’t allow it, it would be best if the glassware produced in the small workshop can be sold for a sum of money, which can make up for the shortfall of the three houses, and some of the surplus can be used to buy another property and maintain the household expenses. Once we get to Jinpu, it doesn't matter if this small workshop is closed.

Zhou Shigong actually knew that this kind of thing would be taboo. As long as his family's situation was acceptable, he didn't want to get into too much trouble with the Zhenguo government.Even if he felt that the border army owed him something, he was embarrassed to openly take advantage of the border army.After all, only his family knew about the good deeds his late father had done during his lifetime, and if he told them, it would go against his original intention.

If you can't tell the story of your late father's life, it doesn't make sense for the three houses of the Zhou family to poach the frontier army.Money is just a trivial matter. After all, he and his brothers, children and grandchildren will still have to hang out in the army. If Zhou Jinpu wants to live a good life in Chang'an in the future, he will also need the care of his tribe and the frontier army...

With this in mind, Zhou Shigong told his stepmother, Mrs. Ma, the message from Duke Zhou Shiding, saying: "My mother has been wronged this time, but my eldest cousin has already spoken, and it is really difficult for our family to anger him again. Mother said Let's pretend to be sick at home for a few months, and wait until things change next year. The son has set up a Buddhist temple for his mother in the backyard. The mother goes there every day to read sutras and pray for blessings, just to relax. In a few days, the son will Just tell your eldest cousin that you already know that you were wrong and ask him, for the sake of his father, not to argue with you anymore..."

Mrs. Ma sneered: "Are you trying to put all the blame on me? Why?! I didn't come up with this idea at the beginning, it was Apu's idea. He told us, and you personally After nodding, I helped come up with the idea to find a place to build a workshop and poach craftsmen from the border troops... Why is it that when something goes wrong now, both you and A Pu escape unscathed, but it's me who takes the blame? ! Is this your filial piety?!" Zhou Shigong whispered: "Mother, my son is the head of the third house family. If you bear the crime, everyone in the third house will not be able to hold their heads high in the clan! And Jinpu...he The weight is too light. How can you convince the public by asking him to come forward and confess his crime? You have always loved your son and Jinpu, and you must not be able to bear to see our futures ruined because of this matter, right? Just think of it as your second brother's and It’s for my little sister’s sake. If the third wife is looked down upon by others, they won’t look good on their faces…”

"If their biological mother is guilty of the crime, will they look good?!" Madam Ma raised her chin, "Don't expect me to take the blame for you! It's okay to pretend to be ill for a few months, but I will never admit my mistake! I was originally That’s right! The border army spent so much money from our family, so what if I ask for some interest?!”

Mrs. Ma firmly insisted on her point of view.She cooperated and pretended to be sick, but refused to go to the Buddhist temple to clean up the temple, and even refused to allocate money to repair the temple.

Zhou Shigong had no choice but to let his wife Zhou Ma take over the housework temporarily and clean up the Buddhist hall.It doesn't matter whether Mrs. Ma is willing to go or not. The key is to let the eldest daughter-in-law Zhen Guogong and his wife see that their third daughter-in-law has truly sincerely repented and admitted her mistake.

When Zhou Ma got the right card for the first time, he was quite pleasantly surprised and felt that he could finally exhale and raise his eyebrows.

Unexpectedly, only one day later, she regretted it.

What kind of power does a housekeeper have?This is a pit!
She had a pair of cards, but she didn't get the key to the warehouse at home. Even if she sent people out to buy vegetables and rice for the day, she took the pair of cards to the cashier's office to pay the money, but the cashier refused to give her money. She had to ask Ma The old lady doesn’t mean it.Mrs. Ma would only nod her head towards daily purchases. She rejected all other expenses, whether it was the cost of materials for building a Buddhist temple or the expenses for giving gifts to the town government to make amends.If Mr. Zhou must spend money, he would have to pay out of his own pocket.

Zhou Ma was so angry that he went to find Zhou Shigong, but Zhou Shigong said: "What do you want from me for such a trivial matter? When have I ever taken care of general affairs? Just let the money be allocated to the account. If mother does not allow the accountant to give money, you can pay for it yourself first , after mother calms down, she will replenish the money to you."

Zhou Ma was already past the age where he could easily be deceived. He sneered: "When did my family give me money? The master can only coax a three-year-old child with his words, so he won't be fooled! When did the master come out with the money?" When will I do something for you? Don’t fool people with empty words!”

Zhou Shigong had no choice but to dig through his private money, but he could only come up with a hundred taels of silver, which was not even enough to build a Buddhist temple, let alone prepare a generous gift to apologize.Seeing this, Zhou Ma didn't even take the money, stuffed the pair of cards into Zhou Shigong's hand, went back to the house, and pretended to be sick.

Then, she sent a confidant's maid to deliver a message to the Hai family, inviting her sister to visit her.

It was difficult for her to go out, so she had to ask her sister to help her figure out what to do next.

(End of this chapter)