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

Chapter 1110 is approaching
After that, no one knew how Haijiao got the news or how he communicated with Zhou Yijun. There was no bad news coming from Chang'an, and naturally there was no decree from the palace to allow the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo to come to Beijing to retire.

After the fourth branch of the Zhou family moved into the new house, they lived a low-key and peaceful life. They did not advertise that they were going to take care of their mother, nor did they tell anyone about their father's illness. Zhou Xuejun stayed in the new house for three days, accompanied by her parents and siblings, and then returned to the Cining Palace with Wu Qiong. As for what she talked about with her cousin Zhou Wenjun during her stay at home, Haitang did not know. She only vaguely heard that Zhou Wenjun sent someone to send an urgent letter to her mother's home in Chang'an, but she did not know what the content of the letter was.

Apart from the fourth branch of the Zhou family, the Hai brothers and sisters had no other way to get the relevant news. It was only after ten days that the cousin uncle Xie Wenzai heard some rumors from his good friend Tao Gelao. It was said that the condition of the Duke of Zhenguo was not optimistic and he might not last long. Miss Xuejun of the Zhou family missed her grandparents, so the new emperor comforted her and said that he could take the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo to live in the capital in the future. In this way, when Miss Xuejun wanted to see her relatives in the future, she could summon someone to the palace to meet them at any time.

Zhou Xuejun was brought up by her grandmother and mother since she was a child, and she has deep feelings for them. Although she can reunite with her mother now, they live separately in and outside the palace, and they don't see each other often, not to mention that they are separated from their grandmother by thousands of miles, and it is very likely that they will never see each other again in this life. The new king is worried about his fiancée, and wants to bring her grandmother to ease her feelings of missing her family, which is also his love for Zhou Xuejun. It's just that this arrangement may not be what the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo or other people in the Zhou family want.

Xie Wenzai said: "Lao Ge Lao Tao once advised the new emperor, but many people in the cabinet think this is a good idea. The wife of the Duke of Zhenguo is living in Beijing, and I think the Zhou family's several major generals guarding the border will act more cautiously."

It was just a matter of saying explicitly that the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo would be kept in the capital as a hostage.

Although Tao is now the chief minister in the cabinet, he cannot have the final say. The composition of the cabinet members is complex, and each has his own considerations. Sometimes it is inevitable that they will disagree with Tao. People have their own reasons, and Tao cannot refute them at will. He can only mediate as much as possible and strive for the best result. For example, this time, the new monarch may not necessarily want the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo to come to Beijing as a hostage, but simply wants to make his fiancée's life easier. He did a bad thing with good intentions, but the cabinet thought this was a good opportunity, which made the Zhou family embarrassed.

Xie Wenzai didn't agree with the Duke of Zhenguo's wife going to Beijing. First, the Duke of Zhenguo was still alive, and it was too cold to think about taking his wife to Beijing as a hostage before he died. It was not strange to do so when the previous emperor was alive, but after the new emperor ascended the throne, he should show leniency and let the world know that the new emperor and the previous emperor had different styles of doing things, so as to prevent the officialdom from continuing to corrupt; second, the Duke of Zhenguo's wife was not young anymore, and she had been living in Chang'an. If she moved to Beijing, not to mention the fatigue of traveling, could she bear it? What if she couldn't adapt to the climate after entering Beijing? She was the wife of a meritorious official, the eldest sister-in-law of the Empress Dowager, and the grandmother of the future Queen Zhou. She was an elder of the royal family and had always been virtuous. Why bother her for no reason?
Xie Wenzai also advised Tao, and Tao felt the same way. Unfortunately, the cabinet could not reach a consensus, and the Wu family members who had stood on the side of the Zhou family in the past could no longer openly support the Zhou family as they did before since they returned to Beijing. Now that the Sun family has fallen, the Zhou family has made great contributions in supporting the emperor and saving him. There are no more obvious political enemies in the court, so the Wu family members have to distance themselves from the Zhou family to avoid arousing suspicion from the palace and the cabinet. Many times, it is not convenient for them to speak directly for the Zhou family.

At present, the new emperor has not publicly issued an edict to summon the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo to the capital, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion has not explicitly stated that it will split the family, and General Zhou Si has not mentioned a single word about bringing his mother to the capital to take care of her. All parties are quietly waiting for further news from Chang'an and the palace. From what position can the old students of Wumen speak up and make suggestions?
Xie Wenzai was worried about this and felt that it was far less convenient to get things done after coming to Beijing than in Chang'an.

Haitang and Haijiao went to comfort him and used school matters to divert his attention, asking him to worry more about school construction and enrollment, which made him forget his worries.

The school jointly run by Xie, Cao, and Lu, because it was based on the houses of the outer courtyard of the Wu family and the structure was relatively simple, was the fastest in the series of projects started by each family after the spring. It has basically taken shape now, and only the interior decoration remains. Since Cao Gengyun sent his children and grandchildren away, he has been running to the construction site every day. He occasionally goes back to the Cao family house to sleep. At other times, he simply moves back to keep Xie Wenzai and Lu Bainian company. Under his leadership, Lu Bainian also often goes to the school. On the contrary, Xie Wenzai, because he has many other things to worry about, goes to the school less often than his two friends. But even if Xie Wenzai has many things to worry about, he can't just leave the school alone. Now Haitang and Haijiao took out the admission regulations and course arrangements to ask for his opinion, and asked him how to arrange the schoolhouse where he would teach and the private house where he would live in the future, so he also thought about it seriously.

Most of the construction of the school has been completed, and the east wing where Haijiao lives in the main courtyard has been completely finished.

The whole house, with two rooms inside and outside, had its tiles and walls repaired, carved glass windows replaced, the kang rebuilt, and the walls painted white. Now the house looks brand new inside and out, and all they need is for the banker to deliver the dowry furniture and furnishings, so the newlyweds can move in right away when they get married!
On the day of completion, Haitang took her brother Haijiao and her grandparents to visit the new house. They found any deficiencies in time and made corrections to ensure that her sister-in-law Zhuang Minyi would live comfortably after moving in. To this end, Haitang often acted as her brother's messenger, sending letters to her future sister-in-law Zhuang Minyi, who was temporarily living nearby, asking her about her requirements for the furniture and furnishings in the new house, so that she could decorate the new house to her sister-in-law's preferences from the beginning, so as to avoid the trouble of changing the furnishings in the future.

Although Zhuang Minyi was shy, she had known the Hai family for many years and had gotten along well with them, so she was not shy anymore. She told Haitang a lot of her ideas about the new home in private, and took Haitang to see the dowry furniture that her father and grandfather had hired someone to make for her. Haitang took the opportunity to measure the size of the furniture and drew the blueprints at home, so that Haijiao could figure out how to arrange the new house.

The dowry furniture prepared by the Zhuang family for Zhuang Minyi is basically ready, and they can move into the Hai family as soon as the auspicious day comes. However, the dowry furniture prepared by the Hai family for Haitang has just been painted with the first coat of paint, and it will take some time to be truly completed.

Although Haitang participated in the selection and design of these furniture, and had asked Jin Jiashu about the size and layout of the main courtyard of the Jin residence in advance, there were still many variables before completion, and Haitang did not dare to be careless.

It's a pity that she can't send anyone to the main courtyard of the Jin family's house to measure the dimensions. She wanted to ask Jin Jiashu, but he was still recuperating at the hot spring villa. He also took away his confidants who were familiar with the Hai family and had not returned yet. Haitang had no place to look for him.

However, with the completion of the east wing of the Hai family's main courtyard and the increasing preparation of the Zhuang family's dowry, the wedding date of Hai Jiao and Zhuang Minyi is getting closer. The Hai family sent a letter to Jin Jiashu, inviting him to their home to watch the ceremony and have a banquet. It is time for Jin Jiashu to return to Beijing.

The closer it gets to the end, the harder it becomes to write.