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

Chapter 1131 Public Opinion
The disrespectful behavior of the women of the Zhang family at the wedding banquet at the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion became a hot topic among the royal family and nobles in the capital in the days after the wedding banquet.

On that day, many people saw that the third young lady of the Zhang family had a different attitude towards the sisters-in-law of the Zhou family. Many people did not say anything at the time, but after discovering the ugly faces of the Zhang family, they laughed about it in private.

At this time, the Zhang family was on the decline. Even the Luo family, the imperial merchant family that they had built up, stabbed them in the back and turned to a new owner. However, they were just helpless and furious. Apart from taking back a few shops that they had rented to the Luo family, they did nothing. It was obvious that the Zhang family had become extremely weak and no longer had the power it once had.

The Zhang family is like this, and they still continue to act like royal relatives, looking down on others. Who would tolerate them? !

As a result, all kinds of mocking and jokes started to spread among the royal family. At first, everyone would avoid the Zhang family or their relatives. Later, when they found that Prince An's Mansion turned a blind eye to the relevant remarks and seemed to have tacitly approved them, everyone started to talk more freely, and even didn't mind being known by the Zhang family. The Zhang family was certainly very angry, but what could they do? At most, they could only curse a few words in front of their family or relatives and friends, and they couldn't even use any means that could really threaten the other party. Seeing this, outsiders became more and more convinced of the Zhang family's weakness, and acted more and more without scruples.

Of course, this is all later. When public opinion mocking the Zhang family just started, the third young lady in the Zhang family was the most unlucky. Her father had retired and had no hope of returning to work. Her family was obviously in decline. She was not the gentle and kind type. On weekdays, she was not very polite to anyone except her mother-in-law and the princess's sisters-in-law in her husband's family. She had a very bad relationship with people. Now she was despised by her parents-in-law and the princess's sisters-in-law. How could she be so proud? Within a few days, there were rumors that she was "sick" and she never appeared in front of outsiders again, let alone going out for banquets. Her family also accepted this statement and turned a blind eye to their daughter's situation. How long will she be "ill"? Only God knows.

Outsiders who heard the news from the Zhang family could vaguely guess what the "illness" of the third young lady Zhang was. Some people even recalled with a sigh the glory when she married into the Zhang family. The daughter of the old man, married into a family of the patriarch, with the princess as the sister-in-law, and the support of the empress in the palace, how glorious! ! However, after only a few months, the old concubine in the palace was gone, and the Zhang family has been getting worse and worse since then...Now that the third young lady Zhang has made a fool of herself outside, the Zhang family said that she would be confined to her house, and they confined her to her house without any mercy. Thinking back to the situation when the third young master of the Zhang family begged to marry the daughter of the old man, how can people not sigh?
The outside public opinion was full of rumors, saying that the daughter of the Zhang family saw her cousin from the second room marrying into the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion with great fanfare, and that there were many distinguished guests at the wedding banquet, which was extremely grand and magnificent. She broke down and cried to her parents, saying that if she was not as glorious as her cousin when she married the Prince of Ping in the future, wouldn't she be laughed at? The head and wife of the Zhang family loved their daughter, but they could not agree to her wedding banquet being more grand than that of the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion. The Zhang family could not control the Prince of Ping's Mansion, and if she married as a concubine, wouldn't it be a slap in the face of the principal wife if the wedding was too grand? The Princess of Ping was the aunt of the Princess of Ping, and she would not allow her son's concubine to overshadow her niece!

The gossip about the daughter of the Zhang family also attracted the attention of many people. The various royal families, princes, and nobles looked at the behavior of the Zhang family and felt that they were getting more and more out of tune. It seems that the daughter of the Zhang family, even if she is said to be of royal blood, noble, talented, and well-educated... cannot be married. Once you marry a girl from the Zhang family home, and the other party is arrogant and rude, and makes a fool of himself, then it is his family that will be laughed at!
Not to mention how the people in the powerful circle of the capital mocked and belittled the Zhang family, the second branch of the Zhang family was not affected much. The second branch was originally small, with only a pair of orphans and a widowed mother. After Zhang Yingfeng married into the Chengen Marquis's mansion, she had always behaved properly. She accompanied Wu Ke to meet relatives and friends and to the palace for audiences. She was always polite and without any mistakes. Wu Ke's relatives and friends generally believed that she was gentle, well-educated, and had no intention of favoring her natal family. She was a good daughter-in-law who could live with Wu Ke wholeheartedly, and they all had a good evaluation of her. When the news came out, when outsiders gossiped about the Zhang family again, they would subconsciously kick her out of the range of ridicule.

When the Zhang family's head and his wife were troubled by their daughter's crying, Zhang Yingfeng took the opportunity of returning home for the third day to claim to her relatives and friends that her mother had become a punching bag for the direct lineage and had been bullied by her sisters-in-law. She felt sorry for her mother, so she discussed with her newlywed husband and took her mother to stay at the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion. The Zhang family's head was worried about the rumors and his daughter's worries, so how could he care about anything else? So he didn't stop her. So, Mrs. Zhang II successfully moved to her daughter and son-in-law's home with her valuables and confidants, and no longer had to look at the faces of the direct lineage.

Zhang Yingfeng had fewer worries, and her relationship with her new husband Wu Ke was harmonious, so her life was going smoothly. She couldn't even wait for her honeymoon to be over, and quickly took over the power of the household of the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion, and also began to worry about the newly recovered and newly acquired properties of the Marquis's mansion.

Among them were the shares that the Wu family obtained from Jiyuan and Luojia Trading Company.

When Zhang Yingfeng began to let go and manage her husband's family business, Haitang learned that Zhou Wenjun was preparing to leave Beijing, so she immediately sent a letter and went to visit her in person to say goodbye to her.

Zhou Wenjun has been living in the mansion of the fourth room of the Zhou family recently, instead of staying in Cheng'en Marquis Mansion. Unfortunately, after the wedding of her cousin Wu Ke, Zhou Xuejun was taken back to the palace by the Empress Dowager, and was not at home at this time. Haitang visited her but was unable to see her.

But Haitang came here today for Zhou Wenjun, so she was satisfied to see the real person and was not too depressed.

Zhou Wenjun entertained Haitang in the courtyard where he lived, and ordered people to prepare her favorite tea and snacks for her. He said calmly: "I have been in the capital for a long time, and there are still many things waiting for me to deal with at home. I can't delay it any longer. Now there has been no bad news from Chang'an, and Yijun and Wu Ke's marriage has gone smoothly. I feel much more at ease. It's a good opportunity to go home and take a look. Later, when you and Sister Qiong get married, maybe I will come to the capital again to drink your wedding wine, and then we can meet again."

Haitang hesitated for a moment and said, "A few days ago, there were some bad rumors outside. I know that some people were arrogant and rude and offended you. I was also very angry."

Zhou Wenjun smiled and said, "That incident? I almost forgot about it. I know why that person looked down on me, but I didn't take it to heart. My grandfather is ill, but his reputation is still there, the glory of the Zhou family has not been diminished in the slightest, my father is still serving in the army, and my husband is still favored by the emperor. Anyone who thinks that my status has fallen because of my grandfather's illness is just a self-righteous fool. What should I care about with a fool? As long as outsiders know what she did, she will be in trouble without me having to send it. I have the leisure time to give advice on cousin Wu's dowry, so I don't have time to care about irrelevant people!"

Haitang laughed when she heard it.

That's true. Zhou Wenjun never cared about the quarrels among the women in the harem. She had plenty of serious things to worry about.