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

Chapter 179 Absent-minded Lunch

Ma could tell that her eldest sister was in a state of confusion and could not continue a good conversation at all.

She didn't want to waste time, so she got up and left: "Well, let's go now. Sister, think about it carefully and find a chance to talk to your brother-in-law. If he can't understand, you can come back to me. Let our master go and talk to you. He said!"

Let Hai Xiya, who once helped the old man of Sanfang manage the military accounts, talk to Zhou Shigong. The latter should be more convinced, right?

Zhou Ma quickly grabbed her sister and said, "Yumei, don't leave yet. I'll go talk to the master later. You and your brother-in-law may as well stay as witnesses. If the master doesn't want to believe it, you have to count on the brother-in-law to persuade him."

Ma sighed: "Sister, have you and your wife reached this point now? Without you and your wife by your side, wouldn't your brother-in-law be able to listen to you? Just like this, you still tell me that your brother-in-law is very good to you!" Who can be coaxed by these words?!"

Zhou Ma said sarcastically: "The master is quite good with me... It's just that he is too filial and is always coaxed by his stepmother, so he gets angry with me..."

Ma sneered, not even bothering to expose her sister's dream.If Zhou Shigong really respected his wife, he would not have allowed his stepmother and his eldest son to seize his wife's marriage property!If the eldest sister hadn't been married for more than 30 years, and her grandson was about to get married, it would be impossible to separate from her husband. Mrs. Ma really wished she had left the third-bedroom house of the Zhou family early, so as not to be dragged down for a lifetime, including her children and grandchildren. Being dragged down.

Mrs. Zhou Ma was pretending to be ill, and there was no suggestion that it would be inconvenient for the patient to entertain relatives who came to visit her for a meal. She immediately ordered Caijuan to go to the kitchen, prepare two tables, and then invite her husband Zhou Shigong and her brother-in-law Hai Xiya, let’s go to the upper room of the main courtyard to have lunch together.

There were two tables set up in the main room. In the bedroom, Zhou Ma and his sister Ma were sitting at both ends of the kang table. Haitang was sitting beside her grandmother. At the other end of the main room, Zhou Shigong and his brother-in-law Hai Xiya were sitting opposite each other. Hai Jiao, who is about to turn 14, will accompany her at the table.

Zhou Shigong was full of worries and wanted to chat with his brother-in-law for a while. Even Haijiao thought he was in the way. He wanted to drive this half-grown child to the women's banquet. Naturally, he would not call his eldest son or eldest grandson to accompany him.Zhou Jinpu actually sent someone to the main courtyard to inquire. When Zhou Shigong saw it, he sternly drove him away. He didn't know if Zhou Jinpu would make trouble at the main courtyard gate again after he found out.

This lunch was prepared in a hurry. The food could not be said to be very elaborate, but it was quite rich.However, Zhou Ma's food didn't taste good, Zhou Shigong was absent-minded, Hai Xiya and Ma had their own concerns, and Haitang and Hai Jiao, brothers and sisters, also had their own thoughts. Naturally, no one was picky about the taste of the food.

After eating and drinking, Caijuan Cailuo removed the table, served tea, and quickly left.

Zhou Shigong reluctantly showed a loving smile and found a somewhat crude excuse to send Hai Jiao to the back room to talk to the women.As soon as Hai Jiao walked to the door, Zhou Shigong couldn't wait to whisper to Hai Xiya: "Brother Hai, about the glass workshop... I was confused and did something wrong for a moment. I wanted to repent, but I didn't. I know whether the Duke will believe it, and whether the people in the army will believe it... Can you ask my brother-in-law to say a few kind words for me in front of the Duke? As long as you agree, I will be grateful to my brother, and I will give you a big thank you!"

Hai Xiya looked at him in surprise: "Brother-in-law, why did you say this? The Duke of Guo is my brother-in-law's cousin. Not only do they come from the same clan, but they are also close to each other. I am just a pawn under the Fourth General. How can I stand in front of the Duke of Guo? What can I say? Even if my brother-in-law wants someone to speak in front of the Duke, shouldn't it be me?" "But you know the ins and outs of the matter best!" Zhou Shigong said hurriedly, "I was confused for a moment. Now I feel very regretful and will never do it again in the future! But in the final analysis, this idea of ​​building a private workshop was neither initiated nor led by me. The biggest mistake I made was that I never stopped my stepmother and eldest son from poaching the frontier army. . But in my private heart, I really have no intention of competing with the border troops! I originally thought that sooner or later, more and more glass workshops would open. Instead of letting outsiders benefit, it would be better for me to share a piece of the pie and earn money. At least it can still be used on veterans. Later, I saw that my stepmother and eldest son were acting more and more excessively, and I wanted to dissuade them, but it was already too late..."

Hai Xiya listened with a smile, but didn't believe a word in his heart.He actually figured out what this brother-in-law's temperament was like 30 to [-] years ago. If he didn't have a guilty conscience and didn't dare to face the Duke of Zhen directly, why would Zhou Shigong need to ask him, an outsider, to come forward?

However, Hai Xiya also understood the meaning behind Zhou Shigong's words.As he expected, Zhou Shigong just wanted to put all the responsibility for the matter on his stepmother, Mrs. Ma. Even his eldest son Zhou Jinpu had no intention of continuing to cover up.Although he had previously questioned Mrs. Ma's real intention in building a private glass workshop when he was in the study, he did not expect Zhou Shigong to be provoked so easily. In less than an hour, he had completely switched sides.

What did Zhou Shigong think?
However, Zhou Ma in the room became more and more excited as he listened, and walked out directly: "Master! You really want to understand! What did you say before? You can't believe Ajia! She is not a good person at all, and she even lied to you. Hey!" After saying that, she recounted everything Ma told her to expose Mrs. Ma's lies.

Zhou Shigong's expression changed greatly when he heard this, and he quickly looked around the room. Only his wife, his wife, and the four descendants of the Hai family were there, but there were too many people there!My wife must have revealed this to her sister before, so why couldn’t she keep it a secret? !

He quickly stopped his wife from continuing: "Shut up! Didn't I tell you a long time ago not to tell anyone these things?!"

But Zhou Ma didn’t feel that she had made any mistake in discussing secret matters with her sister: “Well, my sister and brother-in-law are not outsiders. They know what to say and what not to say. What’s more, when the old man was still here, At that time, I asked my brother-in-law Hai to take care of the accounts for six years. If he really spent all his family wealth to support the border army, he would definitely know about it. Even the old man trusts his brother-in-law Hai, so why shouldn't I?"

Zhou Shigong choked, and he really wanted to tear out his wife's mouth.But now is not the time for husband and wife to quarrel. He has to find a way to let his brother-in-law know the seriousness of the matter first, and not to reveal the secret of the third bedroom to the outside world...

"Spend all your family wealth to support the border troops?" Hai Xiya asked with a strange expression, "What is this statement? Is it talking about what happened during the old general's lifetime?"

Zhou Shigong hesitated to speak and glared at his wife to prevent her from saying anything. Ma became impatient and took the initiative to clear up her husband's doubts: "Mrs. Ma told her sister and brother-in-law that she wanted to build a glass workshop privately. In order to earn money for the family, because the wealth of their third family was spent to supplement the frontier army when the old man was still in charge of logistics in the frontier army. No one in the frontier army knew about this, not even the family members. I don’t know. Only Mrs. Ma knows, and in order to support the old man, she used her dowry to support the family!"

Zhou Shigong closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he no longer had the energy to glare at his wife.I don’t know how many people would be offended if such an important secret was spread out. Why didn’t my wife understand the importance and spread it out randomly?No matter how close she is to her sister, they are still two families.There are several major generals from the Zhenguo Palace behind Haixi Cliff. Who knows that he will not betray the third house and inform the chief?

Hai Xiya was already speechless: "How could Mrs. Ma say such ridiculous rumors? When the old general was in the border army, his accounts were clear and he never did anything. He was never greedy. Naturally, he would not secretly add anything to the treasury if he had spent a penny in the army. If he had not been honest and upright and could withstand careful inspection, how could he have won the respect of everyone in the army? Mrs. Ma talked nonsense, but the old general was still alive. Where to put his name?!"

(End of this chapter)