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

Chapter 745 Promise
Haitang looked at Jin Jiashu in silence, and after a long while she said, "Just keep these words in your heart, why say them out loud?"

Jin Jiashu just smiled and said, "I won't tell anyone else. Sister Hai, you are not someone else. I won't hide anything from you."

If he really had nothing to hide from her, why didn't he just tell her the truth and let her know that Concubine Xu was actually his biological mother?

Haitang smiled and didn't take his words seriously.

Jin Jiashu didn't know if he saw through her thoughts, and said seriously: "I am speaking from the heart. Whether Sister Hai believes it or not, you... and your brother, your grandparents... your whole family are all different to me. You treat me sincerely, and as long as I can tell you something, I will not hide it from you."

He had a tragic fate. Since he was born, he had received little love and care, but a lot of abuse and bullying. Among his family members, the only one who really cared about him was probably his wet nurse. But the wet nurse also had her own son. When she saw him, she actually regarded him as a substitute for her dead son. The rest of them looked after her son for the sake of her former master, Jin Xu, in order to repay her kindness in taking him in and saving him. From beginning to end, the number of people who were friendly to Jin Jiashu just for his own sake could be counted on one hand.

And the Hai family was right on this slap.

Even if he didn't have a crush on Haitang, he would still consider the Hai family his real family, right? They didn't know who his mother was, or what his future would be like, but they helped him out simply because they saw that he was alone and helpless. Jin Jiashu felt that he would never forget this kindness.

If he could choose, he would rather be a neighbor of the Hai family for his whole life, and live next to the Hai family. In that way, he could always enjoy the care and love of the Hai family, and it seemed that he could deceive himself that he actually had elders as loving as Grandpa Hai and Grandma Hai, a brother as friendly as Hai Jiao, and a younger sister as smart as Hai Tang. He just lived in a place separated from them by a wall, but in fact, they were still a family. Even without his parents around, his life was stable and happy.

Compared with the real and present warmth of the Hai family, the "aunt" and the prince's "cousin" far away in the capital, Mammy Ma and Guard Lin sent to him by the palace, and the future wealth and honor promised to him by everyone, all seemed to be illusory and ethereal things, out of reach and far away.

This thought flashed through Jin Jiashu's mind, but he didn't say it out loud. He just said to Haitang solemnly: "If possible, I want to become a family with you, and live together forever... forever. In my heart, no glory and wealth is as good as this real little life."

Haitang understood what he meant, but she just looked at him deeply and said, "You haven't seen the real glory and wealth, and you haven't experienced the high and mighty life. You have only heard others say everything, so you can say such things. When you really experience the taste of wealth and still want to live such a life, it won't be too late for you to tell me this again."

Jin Jiashu said hurriedly: "I have also been to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and know what it is like to be rich and powerful. I really don't think that kind of life is better than my current life!"

Haitang smiled: "You just visited the Zhenguo Mansion as a guest and listened to his grandson's daily gossip, but you didn't really experience anything. Okay, Brother Jin, you don't have to rush to convince me. These are all things for the future, let's talk about it later." Jin Jiashu looked at her: "I also know that it is not the best time to talk about these things now, but I am afraid that when I want to talk about it in detail later, some things will be too late. I can't help myself now, but when I can make decisions for myself, you... will your Hai family still wait for me?"

What he wanted to talk about was actually Haitang's marriage, but Haitang thought he was talking about her family's move to Beijing, so she avoided the topic and said, "My grandfather is expected to move to Beijing in the second half of next year. You will take part in the next provincial examination in three years. By the time you pass the examination and move to Beijing, our family should have settled down there. If you have nowhere to stay, you can live with us. With our friendship, how could we not take care of you?"

Jin Jiashu paused for a moment before saying, "Sister Hai, a girl's marriage affects her whole life and is very important. I hope... after you come to Beijing, if Grandpa Hai and Grandma Hai want to find a marriage for you, you can be more cautious and don't rush. You are not too old, so it won't matter if you get married two years later. Staying at home for two more years, you can relax for two more years, right?"

Haitang suspected that if she said, "What if I'm too old to get married?", he would answer, "There's still me." That would be too embarrassing. There was nothing between them, so how could there be any promises? Besides, Jin Jiashu couldn't decide his own marriage, so how could she? Even if she could coax her grandparents and brother, she had to find a good excuse!

With this in mind, Haitang did not respond to Jin Jiashu's words, but instead changed the subject: "Brother Jin, when you mentioned Mammy Ma earlier, was she saying that... Madam Xu had already found a marriage for you in the capital, which would be very helpful for your future, so she hoped that you could pass the imperial examination and come to the capital to marry that noble lady as soon as possible? In this case, Madam Xu really considered and took good care of you, her nephew."

Jin Jiashu's confidence was immediately lost when he heard this, knowing that he was in the wrong. He lowered his head and said, "My aunt has her own considerations, but in my heart, I really don't want to further increase my status as a relative of the emperor. I have already suffered a great loss in the provincial examination with this so-called relative of the emperor. If I marry into a relative of the emperor again, how can I hold my head up among the scholars in the future? My aunt is looking forward to my future success, but she doesn't understand that the closer I get to the nobles, the more difficult it will be for me to pass the imperial examination. With the precedent of the Sun family, all officials in the court will only be more wary of relatives of the emperor, so how can they tolerate the promotion of relatives of the emperor again?!"

Haitang seemed to be thinking about something. Judging from the few words Ma Shangyi revealed and Jin Jiashu's guess, the family that Concubine Xu had her eyes on was most likely the Zhang family.

The maiden family of Empress Zhang of Emperor Yongchang and the maiden family of Concubine Zhang De of the previous emperor also had a Concubine Zhang Gong in the harem of the current emperor, who gave birth to two princesses in succession. If one of these two princesses was a prince, the Zhang family would definitely not be as low-key as it is now. These two princesses are now married, and the second princess married a member of the Zhang family. Therefore, Jin Jiashu said that his family already had a prince consort and it was impossible for him to have another queen.

However, Prince An, born to the late Emperor Zhang Defei, was also a hot candidate for succession in the last years of the late Emperor's reign, but he was not as popular as Prince Ji, born to Concubine Chang Guifei. The winner in the end was the current emperor who recognized Queen Mother Zhou as his mother. He would be wary of his former rival Prince Ji, so how could he be close and friendly to another rival Prince An? Prince An and Prince Ji were both oppressed princes of the royal family, but Prince An had children and grandchildren, and he was not as flamboyant as Prince Ji's son, so everything was hidden in the dark. But if they want to get rid of the current oppressive situation, they must find a way to break the deadlock. Since Concubine Zhang Gong failed to give birth to a prince, the Zhang family was powerless. Since it was impossible for the next generation to produce a new monarch and concubines, it seemed to be a good choice to marry the younger generation of the future Queen Mother's family to get closer to the new monarch.

In the previous life, the Zhang family married the daughter of a branch to Jin Wu. They were not a good match, but they were happy with it. Wasn't it for this reason? It was just that the second branch of the Jin family was stupid and cut off its own foundation. Empress Dowager Xu was decisive and cruel to the younger generation of her ex-husband's family who had no blood relationship with her.

In this life, they finally found the real culprit, and maybe there is hope of success.

(End of this chapter)