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

Chapter 516 Small talk
Hai Jiao didn't know what his little sister was thinking. He was also lamenting that Mrs. Ma died so simply.

He sighed: "Perhaps Mrs. Ma had to wait for her son to come back to see her for the last time, hoping that this son could help her, but she didn't expect this to be the result. The biological mother and son have been so emotionally estranged, which shows that she has treated her so much over the years. She doesn't care about her son. I'm afraid she is focused on Zhou Shuyi in the capital, right?"

Haitang no longer wants to discuss the topic of Madam Ma: "Anyway, she asked for it. Since she was a teenager, she has chosen the wrong path again and again, selfishly and unrepentant. She ended up where she is today. She deserves it. We don’t need to pity her, she may not be resentful of us.”

Hai Jiao muttered, "What does this have to do with us? We were just watching the excitement." Speaking of this, he looked at his younger sister thoughtfully, "Maybe Mrs. Ma is a little resentful of you. Yes. You exposed her lies several times that day in the west courtyard. Although I think her lies were full of mistakes, she might have thought that she would have gotten away without you talking too much. "

Haitang curled her lips and said: "She may really be spoiled by the old man from the third room of the Zhou family. She thinks that she is extremely smart and will not be discovered if she does any bad things or expose any lies she tells. In fact, it is just someone protecting her. That's all. The old aunt of the Ma family helped her leave the capital, and the shopkeepers who stayed behind did a lot of things for her. The old man from the third room of the Zhou family also protected her for decades. Even after she died, she still left a lingering shadow, which made people wonder. I have even the slightest suspicion about her. If it were anyone else, her true colors would have been exposed long ago! Only she would regard other people's kindness as ordinary and think that everything is her own credit."

Hai Jiao smiled and said: "Little sister, I find that you seem to be particularly disgusted with her. Just like today, you didn't need to see her when she was fed poison. But even if you didn't go into the house to see her when she was fed poison, Despite the situation, you still stepped forward to watch her being laid to rest. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

"What are the dead people to be afraid of?" Haitang raised her head, "Our family came back from a border town, and we have seen a lot of dead people. But I went to see her today mainly because I really can't stand her shamelessness. I You have to watch her confess her crime before she can express her feelings. Otherwise, when we think about the disgusting things she did after we returned to Chang'an, she tried to turn the glass workshop that grandpa finally built into private property. I've made my aunt so miserable... Thinking of this, aren't you angry, brother?"

Hai Jiao suddenly realized and said with a smile: "That is indeed very annoying. But she has not been able to achieve anything at all, and she has been trapped at home for a long time, unable to do anything. Look at her desolate look, what else do I have? What about the angry ones? They're just lost dogs. "To be honest, he had met more shameless people in his previous life. What is Mrs. Ma like this?

However, the younger sister was just fighting for her aunt, Zhou Ma. As an older brother, he can still understand this little child's temper.

He smiled and said: "Now that Mrs. Ma is finally dead, how are the third family members of the Zhou family planning to hold the funeral? It won't be a big one, right? Can we set up a mourning hall? When will our family go to express condolences?"

Haitang said: "Grandma plans to go tomorrow, but it's fine if I go later. It's best to go early. People who are in-laws should show all the etiquette, but you don't need too much silk money. My aunt and grandma have already fought with Grandma. Just say hello and mean it. The family planned to only have a three-day mourning hall at home, so they took the person to be buried outside the city. There was no water or land ashram or a banquet. The tomb site had been selected long ago. I will try to be as simple as possible. I will only say that it is because of the hot weather and the bad smell. Anyway, the Zhou family should have received the news in the past few days. As for relatives and friends... Mrs. Ma. The closest ones are the Ma family, who acts as my natal family, and several in-laws, none of whom are troublesome. "

As for the ladies in the city who had been friends with Mrs. Ma, since the Tang family found out that the nun introduced by Mrs. Ma was a spy planted by the Sun family, they immediately became alienated from Mrs. Ma. On weekdays, The party no longer mentioned this former distinguished guest. If you are nostalgic for old feelings, you might rush to the third room of the Zhou family to burn a stick of incense; if you don't want to cause trouble, you might just send a steward to give you a piece of silk money, and that's it, right? At this time, no one would be too troublesome, and no one would jump out to investigate, how did Mrs. Ma die?

She had been ill for half a year, and she was an old man in her late teens, so it was normal for her to die. Even a family’s biological son has no objections, so why do outsiders have so much trouble?
Haitang also heard some news from Zhou Yijun: "The male and female servants who used to serve Mrs. Ma, I heard that the Dusi Yamen trial has been completed, and the guilty ones will be sentenced one after another. Those with serious crimes will either be executed after the fall, or sent to the border town. Go to the death row camp. Those who are not guilty will be released soon. My uncle does not intend to keep these people at home anymore and will not allow them to leave. I guess he will let them guard Mrs. Ma's grave? It is said that the group of people who were recently arrested and brought to justice were originally driven out by the Yingchuan Hou Mansion. Zeng Qingxi made the decision. If the Dusi Yamen released these people, he would send them all back to the Yingchuan Hou Mansion. "

As for what kind of treatment people will face after returning to Yingchuanhou's mansion, it depends on Yingchuanhou's wishes. I heard that the children and grandchildren of those people who were assigned to serve in the army would also be transferred away and uniformly transferred to the Chang'an vanguard commander Zeng Qingxi, under his control. Instead of expelling people directly from the army, it was already an extra mercy from the Zhenguo Government. As long as they work honestly in the military and don't care about Mrs. Ma, their future can still be saved.

Hai Jiao shook his head and stopped asking about Madam Ma's minions. He was a little curious: "My little sister just said, did Zhou Shicheng rush back from the Minzhou Guard after handing over his official duties? Did he resign directly? Next, he has to observe filial piety. Where will he go after his filial piety?" Are you going back to Minzhou Wei?"

Who could know such a thing? Haitang thinks that he may not go back to Minzhou again, right?
Zhou Shigong, the head of the third room of the Zhou family, was originally serving as a casual civil servant in the army. Mrs. Ma made mistakes one after another, and he was also responsible for his negligence. The Duke of Zhen has already hinted that he wants to resign and serve as an official. Although he has not resigned yet, observing the filial piety and obedience system has the same meaning. Even if he resigns, he will not relapse.

Zhou Shigong's eldest son, Zhou Jinpu, has been abandoned by his father. He has no fame, no talent, and no ability to support the three-bedroom Zhou family.

Zhou Shigong's second son Zhou Shilin also wanted to return to Chang'an to observe filial piety, but he had been in Ningxia Zhongwei for many years and was said to have done well. As the only one of the two brothers to develop in the army, he will most likely continue to be stationed in the border town in the future. Even if he is transferred from Ningxia Zhongwei, he will not leave the army.

As a result, the three members of the Zhou family in Chang'an would have no one to take care of them in the officialdom, and their reputation would surely decline.

If Zhou Shigong didn't want to see this happen, he would have persuaded Zhou Shicheng to stay in Chang'an or find a military position near Chang'an so that he could take care of his family more conveniently. Zhou Shicheng, considering the future of his children, is very likely to stay in the area around Chang'an. When he returned to Minzhou Wei, he had neither good development prospects nor opportunities to make meritorious deeds, so why bother?
Hai Jiao also felt the same after listening to the younger sister's analysis. To be honest, the third family of the Zhou family has been tormented by Mrs. Ma for decades, and the descendants have been somewhat neglected, and the decline has been obvious. If there hadn't been a war on the border and Zhou Jinlin hadn't made great contributions, it would have been really difficult for his family to get up.

I just don’t know if the next generation of Zhou Jinpu and Zhou Jinlin have any talent that can be cultivated?
(End of this chapter)