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

Chapter 799 Marriage
Zhou Xuejun was well-informed at home. People in the Zhenguo Mansion generally would not hide anything from their children.

But if you really encounter a situation where you have to hide something from your juniors, it is definitely not a trivial matter.

Zhou Xuejun was very smart since she was young. She lived in the mansion of the Duke of Zhenguo and was with her family day and night, so it was impossible for her not to notice the problems that Haitang could detect. But she believed that her family would not hurt her, so the elders did not mention it, and she did not force it when she asked to no avail.

Since her grandparents are urging her to go to Beijing as soon as possible, she will probably know the answer when she arrives in Beijing and meets her parents and brothers.

Although she was reluctant to leave her family in Chang'an, she was still optimistic: "Although I am destined to miss Sister Yijun's wedding, after entering Beijing, I can still catch up with Sister Wanjun's wedding in Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion, which is not a loss."

Haitang had not heard anyone mention Zhou Wanjun from the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion for many years. Now that she suddenly heard about it, she couldn't help but think of the old things five years ago. At that time, the wife of the Cheng'en Marquis's son and his two children went on a long journey in the twelfth lunar month, under the banner of returning to Chang'an to visit relatives, but in fact they were escorting three survivors of the Wu family to Chang'an for refuge. On the way, she had a lot of trouble with Mrs. Gui of the Wu family.

At that time, Madam Gui hoped to marry her daughter Wu Qiong to Zhou Hengjun, the grandson of the Cheng'en Marquis, but Zhou Hengjun himself did not want to, and the wife of the Cheng'en Marquis's son could not tolerate it. Zhou Wanjun had some unclear feelings for Wu Ke, but Madam Gui was not enthusiastic about it, and the wife of the Cheng'en Marquis's son was unwilling. When Zhou Wanjun returned to the capital with her mother and brother after the New Year, the matter was left unresolved.

Haitang originally thought that she had been married a long time ago, but she didn't expect that it would take five years before the wedding was held.

However, considering that Wu Ke and Wu Qiong's marriage has not been settled yet, Zhou Wanjun's wedding date is not too late.

Haitang didn't plan to ask Zhou Xuejun why Zhou Wanjun had waited until now to get married, she was just curious about what kind of family she married into. When the emperor and the Zhou family had a grudge a few years ago, the Cheng'en Marquisate was isolated in the capital, and it was not easy to find a suitable marriage partner for their children and grandchildren. I wonder if the situation has improved now?

Zhou Xuejun certainly knew who Zhou Wanjun was marrying. This marriage was actually controversial within the Zhou family's legitimate branch: "He is the second son of the Marquis of Yingchuan, but he is not a legitimate son. I heard that he is very talented and has a close relationship with his legitimate mother and brother. The aunt of the Marquis of Cheng'en was originally unwilling to let her daughter marry a bastard, but the great uncle thought that this was a rare good marriage and should not be missed because of the difference between legitimate and illegitimate. Now that the Queen Mother has come forward to act as a matchmaker, everyone in the Marquis of Cheng'en is very optimistic, so the aunt can't say anything more."

The half brother of the Marquis of Yingchuan, named Zeng Shuming, is one year younger than Zhou Wanjun. He is said to be more talented than his brother and has already made a name for himself in the imperial army at a young age. In the future, he will probably go to the border to gain experience. He will not stay in the safe rear like the Marquis of Yingchuan, but will go to the real frontier to seek merit. The Marquis of Yingchuan has expectations for this son. By telling him to marry a daughter of the Zhou family, it is obvious that he wants to use the power of the Zhou family to pave the way for his son in the northwest.

Once this marriage was concluded, the rift between the Zhou family and the Zeng family of Yingchuan Marquisate over Zhou Shuyi's affair no longer existed. The two families officially reconciled and from then on they became friendly and harmonious relatives, working together for the emperor.

Zhou Xuejun had privately heard her grandmother discuss this marriage with her aunts and aunts. Although there were some unsatisfactory aspects, the result was good enough. Moreover, the future sister-in-law was Peng Yuqi, the daughter of General Peng, an old subordinate of General Zhou. She was Zhou Wenjun's close friend. Zhou Wanjun had been with her and they got along well. It was said that Zhou Wanjun was also very satisfied with her fiancé. The two began to exchange letters last autumn. Her brother Zhou Hengjun also became good friends with Zeng Shuming.

Zhou Xuejun was packing up her collection of books while muttering these trivial gossips. Haitang was beside her helping her, but her mind was no longer on the books.

Zhou Shuming, the illegitimate son of Marquis Yingchuan, seems to have become the heir of the Marquis Yingchuan Mansion after his elder brother died in his previous life? He seems to be the confidant of the new emperor, and will inherit his father's position and become the commander of the imperial guards in the future. This person seems to have no major problems in terms of talent and character, at least not before Haijiao was killed and reborn. Zhou Wanjun should be able to live a stable life by marrying him, right? However, what does the marriage between Marquis Yingchuan and the Marquis Cheng'en Mansion mean?

The marriage between the emperor's trusted general and the relative of the newly won over old general in the army meant that the relationship between the Yingchuan Marquisate and the Zhou family became closer, and the relationship between the emperor and the Zhou family also became closer.

Considering that Zhou Wenjun's husband is about to be transferred to the Beijing Guard, and that Zhou Shigong, the third branch of the Zhou family, was reinstated and came to Beijing to be a "mascot" last year, does the emperor want to... bring more members of the Zhou family and their relatives and friends under his command in order to strengthen the military power in his hands?
Could it be that the fact that only Marquis Yingchuan was in charge of the imperial guards and General Zhou was a senior official in the imperial guards could no longer provide the emperor with a sufficient sense of security? Did he want more members of the Zhou family to participate in the task of protecting the crown prince and ensuring his smooth succession to the throne?
Is the situation in the capital really that bad?
To be honest, Haitang couldn't understand what the emperor was doing. He ascended the throne with the support of the Zhou family's military power, but after ascending the throne, he was suspicious of the Zhou family and tried to take away the Zhou family's military power. But when he encountered difficulties and needed someone to protect his crown prince, he could only ask the Zhou family for help. So what has he been doing for more than 30 years? ! If he hadn't been petty and had to make things difficult for the Zhou family, and instead put all his energy into the government and people's livelihood, would the situation in the court have developed to the current situation? Would he have allowed the Sun family to grow and become powerful without being able to fight back?

The emperor now knew he was wrong and knew how to re-employ the Zhou family, but the power of the Sun family and the power of the royal family was not so easy to suppress. All the difficulties he was facing now were the backlash of his irrational behavior during his more than 30 years in office.

But it's fine that he himself suffered retribution for his wrongdoings, but how innocent are the other people implicated? !

Haitang sighed secretly, but she didn't show any strangeness on her face. She helped Zhou Xuejun pack two boxes of books. Before she finished the work, Mrs. Zhou Liu sent someone to invite her back. She said goodbye to Zhou Xuejun and went home with her grandmother Ma.

Three days later, she followed her grandmother Ma, her second aunt Hu, her cousin Zhou Yajun from the third branch of the Zhou family, and her cousin Zhou Huajun and her sister from the Zhenguo Mansion to the city gate to see off Zhou Xuejun and Madam Gu.

After Zhou Xuejun left, Zhou Yijun began to prepare for her wedding.

This matter was presided over by the latter's mother, Zhou Jinlin's wife, Lin, who loved her daughter very much and naturally would not be stingy with the dowry. She also allocated most of her original dowry to her beloved daughter. In addition to the dowry that Zhou Ma had prepared for her granddaughter before coming to Beijing, Zhou Yijun's dowry was quite generous, and even among all the daughters of the Zhou family, she was ranked first.

Zhou Jinpu's two daughters have already married, but their marriages were not very good, and their dowries were just average. When Zhou Ma prepared their weddings, she followed all the rules and did not let them suffer any loss, but she did not treat them well either. Zhou Jinpu kept his deceased mother's dowry and did not give any benefits to his own daughters, so Zhou Ma naturally would not worry about them.

In recent years, Zhou Jinpu's daughter had not dared to complain in front of Zhou Ma, but now seeing that her cousin had a generous dowry, she felt uncomfortable and could not help but gossiping outside. She ran back to her parents' home and instigated her mother Chen to make trouble with her aunt Lin, who was in charge of the household, and demanded that they make up for the "missing" dowry for them.

Zhou Jinpu was unable to go to Beijing with his father, and his imperial examinations were not going well. Naturally, he disliked his younger brother's family and started to make trouble as well.

The third branch of the Zhou family is in turmoil again.

(End of this chapter)