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

Chapter 1045 Rumors
Haijiao came home a little late, so he didn't disturb the elders in the main courtyard. By the time Haitang knew about her brother's experience with Wu Ke, it was already breakfast time the next morning.

When she heard that her brother had also lent Wu Ke three thousand taels of silver, she couldn't help but be surprised: "Why did my brother also borrow money? Where did you get this money?" She was able to lend three thousand taels of silver to her friends because her grandmother Ma gave her the silver she had saved, but her brother didn't have such a good thing. Where did he get this money from? !
Hai Jiao told her, "Since I was promoted to a centurion, Grandpa said that I was already an adult and an official, so I would have to socialize with people and spend money. I can pay small amounts myself, but I can only get big amounts from my family. Grandpa thought that he was busy with official duties and might not be able to support me in time when I needed it, so he gave me three thousand taels of silver first, just in case, and then asked grandma to increase my monthly allowance to twenty taels. When I get married, this amount will double again.

"I am now a popular figure in the Imperial Guards. I am more or less respectable in front of the emperor. I have no intention of currying favor with any important person, so I don't need to spend a lot of money on gifts. The monthly salary is enough for me to treat my colleagues and subordinates to wine and entertainment. The three thousand taels of silver are just sitting there for nothing, so I might as well lend it to Wu Ke and ask him to remember my favor. Before he pays me back, if I really need to spend money, I can just ask Grandpa for it."

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that his younger sister Haitang was planning to lend Miss Wu three thousand taels of silver, he wouldn't have thought of such a thing. But since his younger sister had already lent the money, it wouldn't hurt for him to lend her another one. The brothers and sisters of the Wu family had all received the favors of their brothers and sisters, so this favor would naturally be more secure.

After the Wu family's financial difficulties were alleviated by the loan of 6,000 taels of silver, the Wu family, the Kang Wangfu, and even the Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager Xu, and the new emperor behind the Wu family would only feel happy. If they had a good impression of the younger sister Haitang and treated her better after she married Jin Jiashu, Haijiao would think that the 6,000 taels were worth it - the Wu brothers and sisters would always pay it back anyway.

Haijiao said to Xiaomei, "You can lend three thousand taels, which is the limit. If you give more, you will be scolded by grandma. But what can three thousand taels do for the Wu family? It's okay to give Wu Qiong a decent dowry, but I'm afraid it's not enough to rebuild the Wu family's house. Don't think that three thousand taels is enough to build a five-story house, it's more than enough to build a three-story house - can the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion be an ordinary house? The craftsmen have to spend a lot of effort. The Wu family is in a hurry to move into the house. If they want to rush the work, they have to hire more people and ask them to work in shifts day and night. The money spent is not comparable to that of ordinary house construction. I thought, since we want the Wu family to owe us a favor, we might as well give twice the silver, monopolize their gratitude, and let them get the job done neatly without having to think of other ways to borrow money from others. How much trouble can that save?"

Haitang smiled and said, "Alright, it's just some spare money that we don't need to spend. If brother is willing to lend it out, just go ahead and lend it. The Wu brothers and sisters are all proud people, they won't deny their debt."

"Of course Wu Ke wouldn't do such a thing." Hai Jiao smiled crookedly, "He wrote me a promissory note yesterday and even put his fingerprints on it with red mud. I repeatedly told him that I didn't need it and that I trusted him, but he still insisted on stuffing the promissory note into my arms. He even thought about how to pay back the money and how much to pay back every quarter. He also planned to endure two or three years of hardship with his new wife, reduce his own expenses, and pay off the debt owed to us first. He even accepted the money you lent to his cousin and said he would pay it back for his cousin.

"I advised him not to mistreat himself and his new wife just to pay back the money as quickly as possible, and let her family laugh at the Wu family. Besides, he is not young anymore. After getting married, he will naturally have to take care of his health and have children as soon as possible to comfort his ancestors. If he and his wife ruin their health and affect their children in order to save money, wouldn't that be a shame to our ancestors? It would also go against the original intention of my brother and sister to borrow the money. After listening to my advice, he changed his mind and said that he would never force himself and would definitely pay back the money without affecting his daily expenses."

Hai Jiao was very happy to see Wu Ke was so proactive in making plans to pay back the money. This proved that he had not made a mistake in choosing the person and that his favor was not in vain. Even though he had lost a large sum of money and it would be somewhat inconvenient for him to do things in the future, he was happy in his heart and would not regret his generosity today.

Haitang smiled and nodded, and served him a bowl of hot porridge: "Brother, eat quickly, it's getting late, grandpa and grandma will be here soon."

Haijiao buried his head in eating the delicious hot porridge and buns. He looked into the inner bedroom and saw that his grandparents had not yet appeared. He lowered his voice and asked his younger sister, "What we said before... to drum up some support in front of Xiao Jin and hint that he should mention what happened to Cousin Fang to Empress Dowager Xu. Should we continue?"

Yesterday, he accidentally heard in the palace that a newly promoted young general of the Imperial Guard wanted to ask for an imperial decree for his stepmother. It happened that the wife was remarrying, so the Ministry of Rites deliberately delayed the process, causing the young general to repeatedly ask people about it. Hai Jiao immediately remembered what he had heard in his previous life, and asked someone about the name of the young general of the Imperial Guard. Sure enough, he was the stepson of the remarried widow that Empress Dowager Xu had advocated for in her previous life.

That should have happened a few years later, but because the imperial guards made repeated mistakes, the Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager Xu, the new emperor and the cabinet were worried that there were still unexposed rebels among them, which would bring danger to the royal family, so they decided to find a reason to purge the imperial guards. In order not to cause major turmoil, the imperial guards in charge of the main hall of the imperial palace a year ago would be replaced with the Shangzhi Qinjun under the command of Yingchuan Marquis and General Zhou Si. The replaced imperial guards would be dispersed in batches and assigned to the 26 guards of the Shangzhi Qinjun. Even if someone among them had ulterior motives, without their familiar companions, they would be unable to do anything big on their own.

The newly promoted young general of the imperial guards was originally promoted from the imperial guards outside the capital. He was of ordinary origin, but he had great skills and was highly regarded by his superiors. After the new emperor summoned him, he was left with a good impression. Now he is considered a new noble in front of the emperor, and he is more favored by the emperor than in his previous life. If he insists on asking for a title for his stepmother, as long as the palace does not object, it will probably be easier to do than in his previous life.

When Haijiao saw him, he tried to meet him, but they had not yet officially met. However, both of them were on duty in the palace, so there would be plenty of opportunities for them to interact in the future. Once they were familiar with each other, it would be much easier for him to win him over and make a fuss about the "widow remarrying for justice". With this idea in mind, Haijiao originally wanted to go to Jin Jiashu after leaving the palace. Even if he couldn't bring up the matter directly, he could lay the groundwork and talk about the gossip he had recently heard in the palace.

Unfortunately, Jin Jiashu was not at home today, and Ma Shangyi was also out, and it was unknown whether she went to Jiyuan or to the Prince Kang's Mansion. Haijiao had no choice but to return home, and was drafted into the army by his younger sister Haitang.

He planned to go to the Jin family again after leaving the government office today, so he wanted to ask his younger sister whether he should continue with the previous plan.
Haitang hesitated for a moment before saying, "You don't have to mention it deliberately. Just talk about the rumors you heard in the palace as a casual conversation. For now, don't mention the matter of your cousin. It seems that it aroused Brother Jin's suspicion last time. I had a hard time explaining it away, but we can't cause any more trouble. I thought it was too simple. Anyway, my cousin seems to have calmed down and is no longer sad. Let's observe for a while before we make any decisions."