Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 29: Old Lady, Aung's Relief
Outside the gate of Li Mansion.

The servants guarding the gate saw the middle-aged man approaching and made way for him. Even the servant who had been talking to Grandpa stepped aside.

"Alas! I don't want to see someone, but that person is here!"

When Aung saw the man in silk clothes, he frowned and sighed helplessly.

Seeing the puzzled look on Fu Zihou's face, A Weng whispered to Fu Zihou that the middle-aged man was Li Jingjie, the second son of Li Gang.

At the beginning, the fourth daughter of the Li family who was agreed to marry the Fu family was his, Li Jingjie's daughter. Later, he sent people to the Fu family and said that he would replace his daughter with his niece.

"In the early years, I heard that among all the sons of Li Gang, he was the only one who stayed at home all year round. He said he studied the books of sages, but in the end he didn't have much ability! He spent all day thinking about finding a suitable husband for his daughter, and he had to choose a son from a prominent family, huh!"

Under Aong's messy hair, he still had a stern face and his eyes were full of displeasure after he finished speaking.

"Uncle! Uncle!"

Li Jingjie walked out of the gate and bowed before anyone arrived. Then he walked quickly to the old man with a smile on his face and bowed to greet him.

"Uncle Fu! Why are you here today?"

When Li Jingjie first heard the report from the servant, his face was full of surprise and he couldn't believe it. It was not until he saw Mr. Fu and the whole family a few steps away that he believed that the Fu family really came to Xin County with their entire family.

"Have they neglected my uncle?"

Li Jingjie asked with concern on his slightly plump face, looking at the attendant guarding the door.

The six servants who were guarding the gate were all terrified at this moment. Listening to Li Jingjie's questions, they never expected that this old man and this young boy could make Li Jingjie pay so much attention to them.

Fortunately, they didn’t chase us away just now!
"No, everything is fine! Come on, come on!"

Aong waved his hand and didn't waste any words with Li Jingjie. He motioned Li Jingjie to take two steps forward, then he carried the servants behind his back and grabbed Li Jingjie's hand.

"Uncle asks you! Does the original engagement between your Li family and the Fu family still count?"

Aong felt the cold weather, looked at Li Jingjie, frowned and asked softly.

Upon hearing this, Li Jingjie looked at Aong in surprise, and then nodded without hesitation.

"Uncle, of course it counts!"

Li Jingjie spoke in response.

Looking at Mr. Fu in front of him, Li Jingjie knew clearly that his father and Mr. Fu had been friends for many years, and his parents had received favors from the Fu family in their early years. If he had not acted on his own initiative, Mr. Fu would not have been out of contact with his father for so many years.

Because of this incident, my father is still dissatisfied with me. Over the years, even if I occasionally visited my father, he never gave me a good look.

Seeing Mr. Fu coming to inquire about the marriage proposal in person, Li Jingjie thought back to the time when he had to send someone to the Fu family. Thinking of his father's furious look afterwards, he took a step back with a wry smile on his face.

"Uncle! Please forgive me! I saw my father being targeted by villains in the court that year, isolated and helpless, so I acted on my own! I hope you won't blame me! My father has been brooding over this matter for many years and doesn't even want to meet me!"

Li Jingjie looked at Mr. Fu, bowed and apologized to him, his tone full of sincerity and guilt.

aside.

Fu Zihou, who was standing next to Aung, was somewhat surprised to see Li Jingjie, a man in his forties, being so humble in front of Aung.

In particular, the way Li Jingjie apologized and explained was something Fu Zihou had never expected.

You have to know that it was Li Jingjie who personally sent people to the Fu family!
Logically speaking, if it were an ordinary person, they would be very resistant to the Fu family just for the sake of face. It is not an exaggeration to say that they would even be hostile to the Fu family.

But when Li Jingjie saw Aweng just now, he not only ran out of the house quickly, but also apologized to Aweng in front of the servants and the Fu family, admitting his past mistakes.

Only by experiencing the fickleness of human nature can one understand how rare Li Jingjie's current behavior is.

And when Li Jingjie mentioned Mr. Li, his eyes showed bitterness.

This also made Fu Zihou curious about Mr. Li, whom he had never met before.

Although people have attached great importance to a person's filial piety since the Han Dynasty, and after hundreds of years of turmoil and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, in many families, "filial piety" has begun to be more important than "loyalty to the emperor." However, looking around the world, except for prominent families, not everyone is like this.

No wonder Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty asked Li Lao to assist Crown Prince Yang Yong of Sui Dynasty at the beginning.

"According to what my dear nephew said, your father has retired and is no longer in the court! Nephew, are you willing to marry your daughter to my Fu family?"

After hearing Li Jingjie's explanation, Aong smiled and asked back.

"uncle……"

Li Jingjie was speechless for a moment.

Seeing Li Jingjie's wry smile and embarrassed look, Grandpa was furious.

"What kind of personality did you have when you were a child? Can't I see it? You're playing tricks on me. You look down on my Fu family! That's all you need to say!"

Aong frowned and scolded impatiently.

"Uncle! I dare not..."

Li Jingjie recalled that when he was a child, he was taken care of by Mr. and Mrs. Fu. Now seeing Mr. Fu’s angry look, he felt guilty and wanted to continue explaining, but saw Mr. Fu waving his hands impatiently.

"It's good enough that it can be considered an engagement! I don't ask for too much!"

Seeing Li Jingjie's smiling face, Aong couldn't help laughing, so he looked at Fu Zihou and said, "Hou'er, meet your uncle!"

When Fu Zihou heard what Aweng said, he raised his hand and saluted Li Jingjie.

"Zihou, meet your uncle!"

Fu Zihou spoke.

Unlike Aweng, who knew Li Jingjie, he was angry because of Li Jingjie's behavior. But Fu Zihou was different. Not only had he never seen Li Jingjie, he had never even heard of him before. His impression of the Li family has always been that the Li family looks down on the Fu family.

Therefore, when I arrived in Xin County just now, I thought of the Li family and had already made the worst plan.

However, seeing Li Jingjie's actions and his respect for his grandfather, Fu Zihou actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Fu Zihou knew clearly that the people who had a close relationship between "Fu and Li" were Grandfather and Old Li, not the people from the Fu family or the Li family.

This is equivalent to demanding that an unrelated outsider treat you in a certain way.

The other party did not prevent the marriage between Fu and Li, but was unwilling to marry their daughter to himself and wanted to marry his daughter to a better family. Fu Zihou was not a child, he could understand and knew that this was normal.

Moreover, in fact, watching the conversation between Uncle Li and Grandpa and their actions, Fu Zihou also felt that Uncle Li did not look down on the Fu family like the Lei family did, but just wanted to use his daughter to marry into those prominent families.

"Good nephew!"

After hearing what Fu Lao said, Li Jingjie looked at the young man next to Fu Lao.

Upon learning that the young man in front of him was the Fu family member who was supposed to be engaged to his daughter and was supposed to be his son-in-law, Li Jingjie couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed on his slightly fat face.

"My dear nephew, you are truly a handsome man!"

Li Jingjie praised and looked at Fu Lao who was standing beside him. Worried that Fu Lao would talk about him again, he quickly looked at Fu Zihou.

"My dear nephew, you have come to Xian County now. Your uncle has collected many books in the mansion over the years. You can read them at will when you have time! In the future, your uncle will introduce some outstanding people from the gentry to you so that you can make more friends! When your nephew wants to become an official in the future, you can tell your uncle and he will find a job for you!"

Li Jingjie said with a smile, looking at Fu Zihou with a kind face.

"Zihou, thank you, uncle!"

Fu Zihou bowed his hands in gratitude. He had a concrete impression of the uncle in front of him.

Aweng also heard that Li Jingjie was trying to make up for Fu Zihou, and his expression softened when he thought of the various benefits that Zihou would gain from making friends with the children of the aristocratic families.

"Uncle, you have come all the way here, please come in. I will have someone prepare a banquet right away!"

Upon seeing this, Li Jingjie quickly invited Fu's family to come into the mansion to rest, and sent someone to the government office to arrange a residence for the Fu family.

"As long as you have a place to stay, you don't have to bother with preparing a banquet. Just finalize the marriage and that'll be all!"

Aong shook his head.

Seeing that Mr. Fu didn't even want to go into the Li Mansion anymore, Li Jingjie smiled bitterly and was about to continue begging.

At this time, in the Li family mansion, an old woman, accompanied by several young women, was limping over with a cane.

"Liyang! Liyang!"

The old woman looked at Fu Lao and shouted.

Fu Zihou noticed that when Aong saw the old woman coming, a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes, and then more, a little anger. When he saw the old woman coming, he turned his head and looked to the side. "Mother!"

When Li Jingjie saw his mother coming out, he quickly bowed.

The old woman didn't even look at Li Jingjie, and walked straight to Fu Lao. Looking at Fu Lao's messy hair and wrinkled face, her eyes couldn't help but redden.

"Li Yang! Are you still resentful of me? Resentful that I didn't stop my rebellious son?"

The old woman asked softly, looking at Fu Lao with guilt in her eyes.

When Li Jingjie heard his mother scolding him, he didn't dare to refute. He felt a little strange when he saw his wife looking at him. He thought his wife was worried about their daughter. Li Jingjie then moved his lips slightly to signal her not to worry.

"Li Yang! Back then, Yang Su, Su Wei and others were all powerful and wanted to kill Wen Ji. This rebellious son's behavior was indeed inappropriate, but at that time, our Li family really had no other choice, so I turned a blind eye! Afterwards, when Wen Ji resigned, I immediately sent someone to the Fu family, but I never received your reply! Now that you have come to the Li family, if you can put aside the past grudges, my Li family will still marry our fourth daughter to your Fu family..."

The old woman wiped the tears from her eyes with one hand, then looked at Fu Lao with tears in her eyes and made a promise.

Listen to the old woman.

Everyone present, whether it was Fu Zihou or Old Liu, Mrs. Tao and others not far away, saw clearly that Li Jingjie and his wife's faces changed, and they all looked shocked and panicked.

"In the early years, Wen Ji and I were both favored by the Fu family, Li Yang~! You know that if there is a way, how could I ignore the reputation of the Li family!"

The old woman said pleadingly.

Seeing the old woman crying, Fu Zihou noticed that Aong's expression had eased a lot.

At this time, Aong frowned and looked at the old woman.

"When did you send someone to the Fu family? Why didn't I know about it?"

Aong asked.

When the old woman heard what Mr. Fu said, she was stunned and a little confused. Then she obviously realized something and immediately turned her head to look at the second son, Li Jingjie.

"Is it you, you rebellious son..."

The old woman was trembling all over. She looked at Li Jingjie with her eyes wide open. She raised her walking stick but did not move forward. However, the disappointment in her tearful eyes gradually turned cold.

"Mother, it's not the child! It's really not the child!"

Li Jingjie quickly denied it, saying that the matter had nothing to do with him.

Li Jingjie knew better than anyone that if he really did something like that, his father would probably be the first one to kick him out of the house.

This was completely different from the matter of sending people to the Fu family. He did not allow his daughter to marry into the Fu family because he wanted to help his father by marrying into other prominent families. This was why his father was angry and even unwilling to see him, but did not drive him out of the house.

Li Jingjie never knew that his mother had sent people to the Fu family.

"Call the butler!"

The old woman looked at her son's expression, which did not seem to be fake. She began to breathe rapidly and kept hitting the ground with her cane. Her tear-stained face was filled with anger.

Seeing the old woman's appearance and listening to her voice full of resentment, not only was Li Jingjie frightened, but even Fu Zihou, Tao, Zhang and others were all startled.

It was also the first time for the women in the Li Mansion to see the old woman so angry.

Soon, hearing the old woman's order, the two servants hurriedly ran into the mansion.

"Li Yang, I will give you an explanation for this matter!"

The old woman turned around, looked at Fu Lao, and made her assurance.

As soon as the old woman finished speaking, Li Jingjie's wife suddenly knelt down trembling all over.

This sudden scene caught everyone off guard.

"Mom...it's me!"

Li Jingjie looked at his wife in surprise.

Under the gaze of everyone, the old woman slowly turned her head and looked at Li Jingjie's wife, Zhou.

"Mom, I was wrong!"

Zhou looked at the old woman's cold and heartless eyes, with a sad face, shedding tears while kneeling forward and begging.

As Li Jingjie's wife, Zhou had lived in the Li Mansion for so many years, but this was the first time she saw the old woman look at her with such an emotionless look.

Fearing that she would be kicked out of the house, Zhou quickly looked at Mr. Fu: "Uncle Fu! Uncle Fu, it's my niece's fault! My niece's fault!!!"

"Alright, alright! I came here today to escape, not to watch you Li family quarrel! Don't blame her first. Let me ask you, is what you just said true? To marry the fourth daughter of your Li family to our Fu family?"

Aong looked at the old woman with an impatient look on his face, then asked curiously, questioning whether what the old woman said was true.

Looking at Zhou and realizing the misunderstanding, Aong breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to see the Li family get into any scandal because of him.

Fu Zihou, who was standing by, saw that Aweng's face had relaxed and knew that Aweng's long-standing worry had finally been resolved at this moment.

When he was in the village in the past, Fu Zihou was very curious about why Grandpa was so angry and even cut off all contact with the Fu family after the Li family did such a thing to the Fu family, but never mentioned a word to him about this matter, and never let his parents, or even his uncle and aunt, tell him.

Now looking at this old woman, Fu Zihou finally understood the reason.

Aong always remembered Li Gang and his wife in his heart!

I didn't say it because I didn't want to hate the Li family, and I didn't want this matter to spread.

As for Zhou.

I can only say that this is the drawback of this era. Because of the lack of information, it is easy for mistakes to occur and people to take advantage of them.

Zhou didn't want her daughter to marry into the Fu family, so she privately found the housekeeper and asked him to go against the old woman's decision.

Although I don’t know what method Zhou used, I’m afraid that the housekeeper will be in trouble.

A butler who betrays the master of the house will, no matter where he is, at best be driven away.

"I'll deal with you when I get home!"

The old woman seemed to realize what Grandpa Weng meant, and her expression softened a little. She did not ask Zhou to stand up, but turned to look at Grandpa Weng.

"Of course it counts, come into the mansion first! In the past, you could beat and scold Li Yang, but today, no one in the Li Mansion will complain, but you can sit in the mansion first and take a rest! As for the marriage, it's all up to you!"

The old woman looked at Fu Lao and said softly.

Looking at Mr. Fu, the old woman couldn't help but recall the days when she and her lover lived in the Fu family.

"Okay, then ask your son to buy a mansion for my Fu family. It has to be a good one!"

When Aung heard the old woman's words, he finally smiled at this moment. Looking at the old woman's red and tearful face, his eyes became moist as he smiled.

"Okay! We'll go to the largest house in the city. If we can't find any, we can just stay at Li's mansion!"

Seeing this, the old woman cried with joy and said with a smile.

It was only at this time that the old woman looked at Fu Zihou and then at Aong.

"Erlang's son, Fu Zihou!"

Aong smiled and introduced the old woman.

Upon seeing this, Fu Zihou hurriedly bowed to the old woman. At this time, the other women and maids in the Li Mansion, as well as Zhou who was kneeling on the ground and crying, realized that the young man next to Old Fu was Fu Zihou, who was engaged to the Li family.

"Good good!"

The old woman looked at Fu Zihou as if she was looking at her own grandson, and raised her hand to tell him not to be polite.

　Fu Zihou's impression of the Li family was revealed from A-weng's resentful description.

　　Li Gang had a bad character and poor family education, so he would not have been chosen by three emperors.

　　Choosing Li Gang's family is also because everyone hopes that their mother's family, although not all of them are good people, at least they don't want any bad people.

　　This chapter is a bit messy, but the reasons for many things are in it. When you see Li Gang later, you will know many of the origins.

　　Daidao will work hard to update the new book period. I beg those who have monthly tickets to give them to Daidao.

　　Because I was always being scolded, Dai Dao often secretly read the comments and didn’t dare to reply!

　　Thank you to the readers who have been sending monthly tickets to Daidao!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)