Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 161 Family Matters
"Sister-in-law!"

"Uncle is finally back. My brother-in-law sent someone to our house a few days ago and left a message that if uncle is back, he should go to the Jinyiwei Yamen to report it." As he was speaking, Qiao'er ran towards Zhu Shenzhui, her face flushed with excitement. She hadn't seen Zhu Shenzhui for a long time.

"father!"

"Hahaha, come here, let father hug you!" Zhu Shenzhui squatted down, and Qiao'er threw herself directly into his arms. Zhu Shenzhui hugged her and lifted her up. After weighing her, he smiled and said, "It's been less than two months since you went out. Qiao'er has grown taller and heavier."

"Hehe, Father, have you brought a gift for Qiaoer? Qiaoer has been missing you at home." Qiaoer happily hugged Zhu Shenzhui's neck, her voice soft.

"Of course, no matter what, I will never forget our Qiao'er."

"Thank you, Father!" Qiao'er said with a giggle and kissed Zhu Shenzhui on the face. Zhu Shenzhui was smiling happily. He picked up Qiao'er and played the old games with her. He lifted the little person up and tossed her twice. Qiao'er laughed and shouted happily, and both of them were in high spirits.

After playing for a while, he put Qiao'er on the ground, touched her head and told her that he and Zhang wanted to talk for a while, so he asked her to go and play by herself first and he would give her the gift after he had packed it up.

The obedient Qiaoer nodded and ran to the side of the yard to play by herself. After Qiaoer left, Zhang looked in the direction where Qiaoer ran.

"Uncle, Qiao'er has grown up. She will be five years old in a few days. She is no longer the little kid she used to be..."

"Five years old is still a child!" Zhu Shenzhui said seriously, "Whether Qiao'er is five or six years old, even if she is older, she is still a child in my eyes. Sister-in-law, I understand what you are worried about, but have you forgotten what I said before? No matter what happens in the future, we are a family after all."

"Qiao'er is not only my niece, but also my daughter. Big brother is gone, and you and Qiao'er are my closest relatives. This will never change, whether in the past, present, or future!"

"I..." Zhang hesitated and lowered her head slightly, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

Zhu Shenzhui's words touched her heart, but the facts told her that these words were just words after all. Although Zhu Shenzhui had always done this, he was very good to both her and Qiao'er, especially Qiao'er, who was no different from his own daughter. What Zhu Shenzhui did for them, let alone a brother-in-law, was rarely done by ordinary couples.

Sometimes when it was late at night and Zhang couldn't sleep, some strange thoughts would come to her mind. She even thought, how great it would be if she had married Zhu Shenzhui instead of Zhu Shenzhui's elder brother! The family of three lived in harmony, and even if life was a little difficult, they were still happy.

Unfortunately, all this is impossible. She is Zhu Shencui's sister-in-law, and Qiao'er is only Zhu Shencui's niece. In this family, they are actually outsiders. No matter how well Zhu Shencui treats them, this fact cannot be changed. This makes Zhang feel sad.

"I understand..." Zhang said this hesitantly, but before she finished speaking, she heard Zhu Shenzhui speak to her seriously.

"Sister-in-law, you don't understand!"

Zhang raised her head and looked at Zhu Shenzhui in confusion.

Zhu Shenzhui looked at Zhang's face with a look of pity, as well as a hint of anger and blame. This look made Zhang feel a little guilty. Her fingers couldn't help but pinch her collar and she looked away.

"Uncle, what are you saying? I understand how good you are to us..."

"Sister-in-law, why are you still saying this? Isn't this what you should do?" Zhu Shenzhui was a little angry. He lowered his voice and asked Zhang: "We are a family. You and Qiao'er are my closest relatives. Isn't this the truth? If this is the case, then why are you doing this?"

"Which?"

"What are these people doing now? Have you forgotten what I told you before?"

"I..." Zhang was speechless for a moment. She pinched her clothes with her fingers and twisted them vigorously. She lowered her head and said softly, "But uncle's good days will be over in a few days. You are the head of the family. This family is originally run by uncle. No matter what Qiao'er and I say..."

"That's enough!" Zhu Shenzhui lowered his voice and stopped her. He looked at Zhang and really wanted to scold her. He had explained it to her before, so why did she have this idea again? But when the words came to his lips, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't curse and sighed helplessly.

"Sister-in-law..." Zhu Shenzhu sighed and said to Zhang: "Since you entered our Zhu family, you are a member of our Zhu family. As for Qiao'er, it goes without saying that she was born as a daughter of the Zhu family. You also said that I am the head of the family now. If so, as the head of the family, can't I arrange for you to live anywhere?" "Yes, I will get married next month, but even if I get married, what does it matter? Do we become two families after I get married?"

"Sister-in-law, just listen to me. Continue to live peacefully and don't think about other things. It will remain the same as before. As for the bride, you are my sister-in-law! I have the final say on this matter, so listen to me!"

After saying that, without waiting for Zhang's reply, Zhu Shenzhui shouted to the people who were still busy, "Everyone, stop what you are doing. There is no need to move the things inside. Everyone can move the things that were moved out back. You will not be paid less. Thank you for your hard work!"

After saying this, without paying any attention to those people looking at each other in confusion as to what had happened, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and signaled them to repack, then took his things back to his room, sorted them out, took out the gifts he had brought for Zhang and Qiao'er, and went to find them with a smile.

Because of Zhu Shenzhu's unexpected return and his insistence, Zhang's original plan to vacate the main house for Zhu Shenzhu as his wedding room was still unsuccessful. At Zhu Shenzhu's request, his wedding room was still placed in the wing room, and the main house was left to Zhang and Qiao'er.

Although this may seem inappropriate to outsiders, after all, Zhu Shenzhui is the head of the family, and how can the head of the family live in the wing room? It would have been fine if Zhu Shenzhui had not married before, but he was about to get married, so it seemed unreasonable to do this.

But Zhu Shenzhu didn't care about that at all. In his opinion, this was the most appropriate thing to do. It was just one room, so why bother to move around? Besides, Zhang had been living in that room since she married into their family. What was the point of asking Zhang to move to the wing room just because he was getting married? Zhu Shenzhu didn't want Zhang to be wronged because of this.

As for the new wife, Zhu Shenzhui had never considered what Xu Jingqiu would think. He felt that there was nothing wrong with treating his sister-in-law and niece well. Even if it was a little inappropriate to do so, he was not wrong in terms of logic.

If Xu Jingqiu was a sensible and kind person, she would definitely support him and would not be so serious about such a small matter. But if he misjudged Xu Jingqiu, and this woman put family affection behind interests, then Zhu Shenzhui's marriage would be meaningless.

Besides, it was unclear how many years the Zhu family could live in this courtyard. In fact, with Zhu Shenzhu's current conditions, he could have bought a bigger house a long time ago. Not only would it be easy to build a high wall and a large courtyard, but even to employ more than a dozen servants and maids, but Zhu Shenzhu didn't want to do that.

But then again, we will definitely move to this courtyard in the future. When there are more people in the family, we can't still squeeze into this small courtyard, right? The ancestral house will continue to be kept, and when the new house is built, we will add a few more entrances. When that time comes, everyone will live in the main house, isn't it the same?

After returning to Pingyang and staying at home for one night, the next day, before Zhu Shenzhui could go to the Jinyiwei Yamen to deliver the message, Zhou Anmin came to his door.

Seeing that Zhu Shenzhui had returned, Zhou Anmin, who had come to visit, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His brother-in-law's wedding date was approaching, and he would be welcoming the bride in a few days. This was a big deal. According to the rules, Zhu Shenzhu had to go to Pingshun City in advance to welcome the bride back, and then officially hold the wedding. Pingyang was not close to Pingshun, and even if he took the official road and a carriage, it would take three or four days.

The wedding process was complicated, and Zhu Xiu'er had already gone to Pingshun to prepare for the past few days. Zhou Anmin came this time to find Zhu Shenzhu to arrange the wedding. The Zhu family had no elders, and not to mention the royal family, Zhu Shenzhu's branch had only one man, Zhu Shenzhu.

Zhou Anmin is his brother-in-law, and can barely be considered an elder, so naturally his sister and brother-in-law would be concerned about such a big matter, which is why they came here early.

When he met Zhu Shenzhui, Zhou Anmin told him about this matter without saying anything, and took out a gift list for him to see, which was filled with many gifts that had been prepared, all of which were needed for the wedding. He asked Zhu Shenzhui to see if there was anything missing, and if there was anything wrong, he could do it now, there was still time.

Looking at the gift list and listening to the arrangements Zhou Anmin had made, Zhu Shenzhu was quite touched. His sister and brother-in-law were so concerned about his affairs and had done so much work, which really troubled them.

After hearing this, Zhou Anmin said unhappily, "Why bother? Isn't it their duty to contribute to their family's affairs?" In addition, he asked Zhu Shenzhui to take time to go to the general's mansion and settle all the matters before the wedding, so as not to be too late.

After all, Zhu Shenzhui was a member of the royal family, and there were rules for royal family marriages. One of the rules was that there had to be a record on the clan side. This had been taken care of before, but because the wedding date had not yet arrived and some things had not been completed, this time this matter had to be dealt with first.

There were also many other things to deal with, such as how to invite the royal family in Pingyang, how many people to invite, how to arrange the banquet, etc. Even though there was still some time before the scheduled time, these trivial matters would take time to complete, and the schedule was quite tight.

Zhu Shenzhui's head was a little confused when he heard Zhou Anmin's non-stop chatter. It wasn't so troublesome to marry Tana in the grassland, but it was beyond his expectation that there were so many things to do when he returned to Daming to get married.

However, none of these procedures could be skipped, so Zhu Shenzhui had to remember them one by one and complete them one by one.

The conversation lasted from morning to afternoon. Seeing that it was getting dark soon, Zhu Shenzhui remembered another important matter. He put his mouth close to Zhou Anmin's ear and whispered a few words to him.

(End of this chapter)