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

Chapter 1098: Recognize
Zhang Yingfeng told her mother without reservation what happened in the palace today, especially her miserable and helpless situation in front of the palace gate and her touching feeling when Haitang rescued her.

Mrs. Zhang was so angry that she was shaking all over. "How dare they... When I asked them just now, they didn't say that!"

My daughter clearly did not offend the Queen Mother. It was Concubine Zhang Gong who offended the Queen Mother. There was no saying that Concubine Zhang Gong punished her niece to avoid the Queen Mother's anger on the Zhang family. This is completely a black pot on my daughter's head! My daughter was kind enough to persuade Concubine Zhang Gong, but she was retaliated against in this way. She almost lost face in front of the whole palace. If it weren't for the kind help of Miss Hai, my daughter would have been exposed to the cold wind at the palace gate for half a day. It's hard to say whether she could return home safely. In less than two days, the news will spread. When my daughter marries into her husband's family, how can she save face? !

Mrs. Zhang was angry and sad: "They just bullied us, an orphan and a widow. They took advantage of the fact that I seldom go out and have no way of knowing the news outside. I could only let them control me! I actually thought your aunt and her family were good people and believed their words... If I had known this, I would have sent the carriage to pick you up. I would not have listened to your aunt's words and sent a carriage to pick you up in half an hour, so that the Queen Mother would calm down and avoid future troubles..."

Mrs. Zhang cried for a while, and Zhang Yingfeng persuaded her for a long time before she stopped crying, but her mood was completely depressed.

Her daughter had good intentions, but was treated so harshly by Concubine Zhang Gong, and had to rely on outsiders to avoid a humiliating fate. One can imagine how the legitimate branch treated their second branch with contempt. What else did she expect the legitimate branch to help her daughter? I'm afraid the legitimate branch is not willing to contribute to her daughter's dowry, right?
Zhang Yingfeng was very calm about this: "My daughter is marrying into the Wu family of the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion. Everyone in the capital knows that their family is a poor family that has made a comeback after falling into poverty. Our second branch is also a shameless branch of the Zhang family. My daughter has always been a foil to her cousin. Who would believe that she will marry with a grand wedding? The Wu family will not be picky about her dowry. Now my daughter has the dowry accumulated by my mother over the years, the calligraphy and paintings and antiques prepared by my father for her, and half of the boxes and cages that you, mother, have reserved from your own dowry. According to the rules of the clan, the public office must give my daughter at least 3,000 taels of wedding silver, which is almost enough.

"As long as the dowry is not too out of the ordinary and makes people laugh at it, my daughter will be satisfied. After marrying into the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion, my daughter will be the head of the family and won't have to worry about having no money. The Wu family is small, and Miss Wu will soon marry Prince Kang. The dowry will be prepared by the clan affairs office, so there won't be much for my daughter to worry about. By then, my daughter will have the dowry and the Wu family's property in her hands, and the family's expenses are not large. Will she still be afraid of having a bad life? At worst, she can go to Prince Kang's Mansion or the Zhou family to ask for money!"

Zhang Yingfeng sincerely felt that her family no longer needed to rely on the eldest branch of the family. She and her fiancé even reached a tacit understanding through correspondence about the elderly care of her widowed mother. After they got married, there were no parents-in-law or elders in the family, so there always needed to be an experienced and knowledgeable elder to give guidance. She could use the excuse of preparing for the marriage of her sister-in-law to take her mother over for a "short stay", and as time went by, it would become a "long stay". She wanted to be filial to her mother, and her husband had no objection, so could the eldest branch of the Zhang family stop her? !
In this way, she and her daughter no longer need to look at the face of the eldest branch of the direct branch, always listen to their words, and do things against their will. The direct branch is now worried about the marriage of the cousin, and who knows how much trouble it will cause in the future. If their second branch is involved, who knows what will be implicated? Can't you avoid it if you can't afford to offend? !
After hearing what her daughter said, Mrs. Zhang II was panicked and didn't dare to make a decision: "Can this really work? Although the direct lineage is abominable, if we fall out with them, it will be easy for them to cause trouble for us! Even if you don't care about the amount of dowry, you have to think about the future! Cheng Enbo is different from Jin Jiashu. He grew up with the Zhou family, unlike Jin Jiashu who can rely on the Yue family to climb up the Wu family's connections. Although his grandfather is the mentor of those Wu family's old students, he doesn't recognize any of them. After getting the title, he can't take the imperial examination and can't borrow the connections of civil officials. In the future, he can only hang out in the circle of our royal relatives. If he offends the direct lineage's eldest house, how can you and him gain a foothold in the capital in the future?!"

Zhang Yingfeng just wanted to sneer: "The direct branch may not have much ability. Mother only thinks about how glorious the direct branch was in the past, but forgets that a new emperor chooses new ministers. As early as Prince An lost the battle for the throne, the Zhang family was destined to go downhill and no longer have the former dignity! Think about it, three ladies should be elected as the queen of the new emperor at the same time. The daughter of the Grand Secretary and the granddaughter of the Zhenguo Gong have many people supporting them. Has anyone said good things for my cousin?! She was defeated from the beginning. The direct branch thought it was just bad luck and not as meritorious as the Zhou family. They also wanted my cousin to please the new emperor, enter the palace as a concubine first, give birth to the royal heir before the main queen, and then plan for the future... When have the new emperor and the queen mother in the palace ever looked at my cousin?! What happened at the New Year's banquet was known to everyone in Beijing in a few days. The palace let it go. When did they ever consider the face of the Zhang family? Doesn't this make mother alert?!"

Mrs. Zhang was shocked when she heard this, and after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be true.

The Zhang family had no one in the court, nor did they have many connections in the military circle, but they always had a good reputation in the royal family circle. But when the new emperor was choosing a queen, the royal family had just experienced the palace turmoil of Prince Ji and his son, and it was time to be low-key and obedient. Prince An, the Zhang family's nephew, did not say a good word for the Zhang family's daughter, so how could other royal family members say anything? !
As for the royal relatives... there are not many royal relatives who can have a say in front of the new emperor now. The Zhou family behind the Empress Dowager has a daughter who is eligible to be selected. The late Queen Wu's family has only two orphans left, and Queen Dowager Xu's family has only one nephew. These three families are basically of the same mind and will only support Zhou Xuejun. As the number one foreign relative, the Sun family has already done bad things. The Zhang family has produced three generations of concubines and married princesses. They are the royal relatives second only to the Zhou and Sun families, but they have a mediocre relationship with the new emperor and his mother, and do not have much weight in front of the emperor... Who else can be the remaining royal relatives? After Concubine Sun's tossing, there are only a few concubines left in the harem of the previous emperor. The Chang family has been implicated by Prince Ji's Mansion. The several eldest princesses and the eldest princesses' mansions have their own considerations and it is impossible for them to help the Zhang family with all their strength...

The Zhang family looks prosperous now, but in fact they don't have much leverage. The biggest support is only Prince An and the two princesses, but the former is now the dog of the new emperor, and the latter has a distant relationship with the new emperor... All of this is just a facade and is of no use at all. The wealthy families and princes in the capital are all snobbish. When they see the weakness of the Zhang family, will they continue to treat the Zhang family with courtesy?

Perhaps, the Zhang family's direct lineage will not be as respectable as the Cheng Enbo Mansion in the future! Although the Wu family has fallen, at least they have the support of the Empress Dowager and the Zhou family, and the help of Prince Kang. Even if the old students of the Wu family are not familiar with Wu Ke, they will still remember some incense...

When the Zhang family realizes their true situation, they might even turn around and beg the orphans and widows of the second house, asking Zhang Yingfeng to use her husband's family's power to do things for them!

Mrs. Zhang Er took a deep breath and tightly grasped her daughter's sleeve: "Feng'er, we really have to stay away from the legitimate branch in the future. No matter how much they say good things, you can't easily agree to their requests. You still have a long way to go in the future. You have to live a good life with your husband and don't worry about your cousin. She has her parents to rely on, and the concubines in the palace to help her. Why should we, an orphan and a widow, worry about her?!"