Ink Burns

Chapter 118 A Big Banyan Tree
Before Zhu summoned Shanyue, Shanyue met Xue Chen first.

Seven or eight days after the marriage, the ancestral hall is opened for the new bride to recognize her relatives and kowtow to them. According to custom, they should return to their hometown, but the Xue family has been away from Zhenjiang Prefecture for a long time and has worked in the capital for five or six generations. Then, they also followed the example of other families from other places who had served as officials in the capital for a long time and set up ancestral halls in the capital to facilitate their descendants to perform filial duties and kowtow to them.

All the members of the Xue family in the capital were present. Shanyue, standing behind Zhu, recognized at a glance "Xue Chen, the second son of the Crown Prince's Guardian" from the night of the Fushou Mountain fire.

The eyebrows and eyes are slightly different from what I remembered, but generally similar. The mouth and nose have not changed much. The only change is the round single eyelids from childhood to the slightly narrow and restrained double eyelids now, just like Xue Xiao.

This was the youngest devil that night.

He talks the least.

The little girl with the wisteria teardrop mole made several ambiguous jokes, but Xue Chen didn't say a word.

That night, in the firelight, Xue Chen was always timid and cowardly. He was about ten years old and was pushed and shoved by the older group, and just went with the flow.

It seems that he has no right to choose and appears very innocent.

But this is not a reason to be forgiven.

Anyone who appears in a place of great evil is an accomplice of evil.

The second grandmother of the third room introduced with a smile: "This is the youngest brother in our family, Chendi, your head of the family's younger brother."

Mrs. Liang is the most friendly person in the Xue family towards Shanyue.

The first wife, Xue Huaijin, was Xue Changfeng's eldest brother, who was forced to death in prison by Xue Xiao's complaint; the second wife was Xue Xiao's biological father, Xue Changfeng; the third wife was Xue Changfeng's half-brother, Xue Huaide, who was not talented and was granted an idle official position of the fourth rank. His son was hardworking and passed the imperial examination at a young age. Although he did not have Xue Xiao's official luck, he achieved the same level of official position as his biological father by himself.
——Mrs. Liang is the wife of his ambitious son. She was originally the one with the lowest social status in the entire Xue family. Now that Shan Yue has arrived, there is someone at the bottom. She has been promoted from the last to the second to last, which is really cause for celebration.

Therefore, in the entire Xue family, even though Xue Xiao was getting married, she was the most excited and kept jumping up and down with joy: she was also the one who reminded the newlyweds to pick out the veil on the wedding day.

Shan Yue's neck shrank back, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and he lowered his voice and said, "Brother Chen."

Xue Chen nodded in return: "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law!"

His attitude was reserved, his voice was strained, and even his eyes revealed a hint of timidity and timidity.

A little cowardly.

He doesn't look like the son raised by Zhu.

Zhu came up from behind and asked in a serious tone, "Why are you still lingering here? Don't you have class today?"

Xue Chen turned around hurriedly, bowed deeply and said, "Mother, today the teacher saw that the weather was very good these days, so he gave us two days off to encourage our classmates to go to Xiangshan Mountain to collect folk songs or go boating on Zhuan Lake."

Zhu frowned, "Master, you are a man of understanding. You should also be a man of reason. Collecting folk songs should be accompanied by poetry and prose to express your feelings. Boating should be accompanied by allusions and knowledge of the past and present. It is definitely not a place for fun and rest. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the two days of vacation that Master gave you?"

Xue Chen hurriedly bowed again: "Yes! After my brother and sister-in-law have finished offering incense and candles to our ancestors, I will go back to my room and continue studying!"

What are you waiting for!

They are all dying people, and in a few days they will go down to have tea and chat with their ancestors!
What a waste of time!

She failed the exam twice and couldn't even pass the exam. How could she have the nerve to go to the Chang family to propose marriage without any honors? His damned brother, who was thrown into a Taoist temple where no grass grew, could pass the exam with a second-class degree just by studying!

Why?
Zhu was able to keep her emotions under control in many situations and act like a respectful doctor, but when it came to the matter of her "son", she became anxious and angry every time she thought about it, and the gums on her back teeth became swollen, painful and red.

There were many people coming and going, and there was a tactless Second Madam Liang standing nearby and refusing to leave. Zhu had no words to say, so she could only put on a sullen face and lower her voice to scold, "Go! If you learn more, others will learn less! Originally-"

Mrs. Liang's eyes were shining, waiting to hear how she would scold her son.

Zhu swallowed the word "dull" back into her throat and said, "Why don't you work hard to improve yourself? Do you still want to participate in this year's autumn recruitment?"

Xue Chen bowed and nodded repeatedly.

But he just didn't leave. He just waited for his eldest brother Xue Xiao to come out of the ancestral hall with a majestic horse and a golden sword, and then he immediately greeted him with a smile on his face like a flower.

Liang Er Niang smiled with her sleeves tucked into her sleeves: "Our Chen Geer really respects his brother. His relationship is better than that of many brothers who are born of the same mother - Second Aunt, don't you agree?"

Second Aunt Zhu’s face turned pale.

Liang Er's grandmother glanced back and said "Huh" in surprise, asking, "Where is that short and fat Zhenjiang mother who is as big as a kettle that you often see around you?"

The person being asked is He Wuma.

Zhu's face looked even uglier.

"She has something going on at home, so she has to go back and rest for two days." No matter how unhappy she was, she still had to play the role of the gentle aunt. But she couldn't help it. Zhu said with a sullen face, "If Second Madam misses her, she can go to the back building to visit her."

Master and servant, how could the master go to the servant's place?
As if she didn't understand, Liang Er's wife shook her head again and again: "That won't do. I came here empty-handed, I can't just take the fruits and tea leaves from my aunt's room and use them as gifts, can I?"

Where does Buddha come from?

No matter how close He Wu Ma was to her, she was still a servant. Why did she use the term "borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha"?
This is such an inexplicable weird feeling!

It's so irritating that I can't even tell why I'm angry!

Zhu stood in the hall for a while clutching her handkerchief, then smiled at Liang Erniang, then turned to Shanyue and said coldly, "Come to the main courtyard to find me later."

Shan Yue seemed to come back to his senses in a hurry and bowed hurriedly in response.

Zhu didn't want to get entangled with the youngster any more, so she turned around and left.

As soon as Zhu turned around, Shanyue was instantly grabbed up by a huge force.

Second Madam Liang smiled and said, "Don't be too submissive and respectful to your mother-in-law. You are a good mother-in-law who saves face. On the surface, you treat your stepson equally. You are not too close to your stepson, nor do you favor your own son too much. Instead, you have won the reputation of being 'generous', 'courtesy' and 'kind' in the capital. In fact, you are indulging your father-in-law to be a bad guy and instigating the relationship between father and son to become worse and worse."

This is too profound.

Shan Yue responded timidly and vaguely.

Liang Er Niangniang herself was not of prominent origin, but her husband was very capable, so she was very firm in her stance: "Don't think I'm trying to sow discord between you two, your mother-in-law is always good at acting!"

Shanyue was frightened after hearing this and backed away, trying to find an opportunity to escape, but was grabbed by Liang Er's wife.

"Her Zhu family's hometown and my family's are both in Xiashantou Village under the jurisdiction of Zhenjiang Prefecture. The neighboring villages are very close. I heard that she was in poor health when she was a child, so she lived with her ancestors in the countryside. My father passed the imperial examination and received an official title when I was in my teens. I also grew up in the village with my grandfather when I was a child. So, we grew up in the same place, right?!" Liang Ernainan was in a talkative mood and kept talking about Shanyue.

Shanyue refused, saying, "My mother asked me to go find her," but his lower body was very stable, as if his heels were rooted to the ground.

Liang Er Niang waved her hand and said, "Don't panic! Just listen to me! I'm so suffocated! There hasn't been a new daughter-in-law in the family for a long time. I have to have an outlet for what I want to say!"

Shan Yue gave two more symbolic pushes.

"The Xue family has such a high status that I really had to be blessed to marry into the family! I'm new here and I only heard that your mother-in-law also lived in Xiashantou Village for some time, so I naturally wanted to get close to her. When there were people around, she was easygoing and friendly, and she would respond to whatever I said with a smile. When no one was around, she pretended not to know what I said, and her attitude was cold and indifferent.

Liang Er's grandmother covered her chest and said, "It really breaks the girl's heart!"

Shan Yue: So the girl rose up in resistance, attacking by gossiping behind Zhu's back, vowing to make Zhu suffer the consequences?

"I didn't notice it once or twice, until one day I mentioned the big banyan tree growing next to the ancient well at the entrance of our village!"

Liang Er Niangniang was indignant: "I spoke too quickly and said big apricot tree instead of big banyan tree. But Second Aunt also responded casually, following my words and saying when the big apricot tree bloomed and when it bore fruit, and what color and shape the flowers were. It was only after I got home that I remembered my slip of the tongue and realized that Second Aunt didn't listen to me at all!"

Ok?
Shanyue raised his eyebrows secretly: Hmm?

(End of this chapter)