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

Chapter 421 Clues to the Fourteenth Room
It is not too late.

Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian decided to catch up with Xie Wenzai immediately and tell Duke Zhen Guo about their and others' suggestions. They must seize the initiative as soon as possible and must not let Duke Zhen fall at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Tu Rong.

This idea came from Haijiao, so he also wanted to accompany the two elders on the trip to avoid any omissions in the communication.

Haitang suggested that they take a car to the Zhenguogong Mansion, which is faster than walking, and take Cui Dazhuang with them to drive. If there is any unexpected change, there will be someone who can call on them.

After seeing off the three people, Haitang was about to return to the main courtyard when she saw her grandmother Ma and Uncle Cui and Aunt Cui coming out. The Cui family and his wife only said hello to Haitang and left in a hurry. Seeing that the front yard was almost empty, Mrs. Ma asked in confusion, "What's going on? I heard that your cousin went out and Lao Cao just came back. Why are all the people gone now?"

Haitang told her: "My cousin went to Zhen Guogong's Mansion, and Grandpa Cao and Grandpa Lu also went there. They all attached great importance to my uncle's case. My brother was worried that they were too impatient and would be late for business on the road, so he accompanied him Went together."

Mrs. Ma only thought that everyone really went out to run for the case of her eldest brother-in-law's family, and a look of emotion suddenly appeared on her face: "Thank you for their hard work. Well, I will tell the kitchen to add more dishes tonight, so that everyone can make up for it!" "

Haitang thought that it was getting dark now, and it was hard to say whether everyone would be able to go home for dinner tonight. They might just use it at the Zhenguo Palace, so it was better not to bother, so she said: "What's this?" Is it time to go to the market now? Why don’t we wait until tomorrow to prepare some of their favorite dishes?

Ma thought so and accepted her granddaughter's proposal.

She pulled Haitang back to the main courtyard and said: "Well, we have already sent people to the Ma family to find the eldest brother and sister-in-law. If everything goes well, there will be news tonight. I will go find some older elders of the Ma family tomorrow. Maybe There are still people who remember what happened more than fifty years ago..."

The grandfather and grandson passed by the main room of the second courtyard. Haitang tugged on Ma's sleeve: "Grandma, do we want to talk to Brother Jin? Take a look at the mark on his box of gold?"

Ma hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, "We'll wait until your brother comes back. It's easy for them to talk, but as an elder, it's hard to ask people for their property, lest Brother Jin misunderstands..."

Haitang had no choice but to give up and help her grandmother back to the main courtyard to go to the bedroom.

After sitting down in the room, Ma couldn't help but start talking about her eldest sister Zhou Ma: "I wonder how she talked with the old lady in the fourteenth room of the Zhou family? That old lady is not easy to get along with. In the past, she always shared her anger with Mrs. Ma, and she never looked good when meeting the eldest sister. Now that she knows Mrs. Ma’s true face, she may not be happy with her..."

Haitang said: "If my aunt tells the truth to the fourteenth old lady, this is related to the reputation of their third family, the fourteenth old lady should still be able to communicate well. No matter what, we can't let the old lady Ma continue to ruin the three of them. The fourteenth old lady has been a widow for many years and hopes that her children and grandchildren will live well. No matter how dissatisfied she is with her aunt, she will work together with her to overcome this difficulty. "

"I hope so." Mrs. Ma sighed, thinking of her eldest sister's current situation and her brother-in-law's look of lying down and accepting his fate, she couldn't help but worry about her eldest sister.

As expected, Hai Jiao and the three elders Xie, Cao and Lu failed to come back for dinner, while Hai Changan's family of three were invited to visit relatives. Ma and Haitang had something on their mind, so they had a hasty dinner. After the meal, Haitang stayed in the house to talk to her grandmother, waiting for the return of her brother and others. However, Hai Changan's family is back, Uncle Cui and Aunt Cui are back, and Aunt Ma is back, but there is still no sign of Hai Jiao and the three elders. Mrs. Ma knew that they had gone to the Zhenguo Palace, so she was not worried. She first called the Cui family and Aunt Ma to talk.

The Cui family and his wife went to the Ma family. It was a pity that they were at Uncle Ma's house and could not see him in person. It was said that his leg hurt so much today that he went to bed without even eating dinner. They only saw Mrs. Ma Uncle, and Mrs. Ma Uncle knew nothing about the third room of the Zhou family. When she heard the whole story, her expression immediately changed and she wished she could kick the Cui family out immediately. Although she didn't really drive them away, she did show that she wanted to draw a clear line between her and her eldest sister-in-law's husband's family, and asked Aunt Cui to send a message to her sister-in-law: "The third brother of the Zhou family is responsible for his own misfortune. Why does the second aunt and his wife get involved? It's up to them." Let his family fend for itself!"

Aunt Cui said to Mr. Ma embarrassedly: "Madam, I didn't handle the matter well. My uncle and wife said that their family would not get involved in this kind of thing, and we were not allowed to go to the Ma family to inquire, saying that if the clan members wanted to get involved in this kind of thing, , just don’t go to their house to fight in the autumn breeze, she won’t give you a penny..."

Ma sneered: "In the past, when nothing happened to the third room of the Zhou family, she was eager to climb up. When the Ma family members were in trouble, she was not so generous. Now she has the nerve to threaten?!"

Although she was angry, if her brother and sister-in-law really didn't want to get involved in this matter, Ma couldn't force her. However, she still had to find a way to contact and inquire about the Ma clan. Mrs. Ma's origins are a mystery, and even the Ma family didn't dare to relax after they couldn't confirm that she was a member of the clan.

As for Mrs. Ma, what will she do after her identity as a clan daughter is confirmed? The royal family didn't take care of its own female family members and made her commit the serious crime of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country. Does it have the shame to blame the Zhou family who have been kept in the dark for decades? ! No matter what, the Zhou family has never had an unfilial daughter who had an affair with her husband and was expelled from the family for being disobedient and making mistakes. If the girl makes a mistake in her husband's family, then of course the mother's family is more responsible for the poor teaching.

Mrs. Ma asked Uncle Cui and Aunt Cui to leave first, and called Aunt Ma in. She and her grandparents were the only ones left in the room.

Madam Ma lowered her voice and asked, "Sister, I went to the fourteenth room. Did you get any useful information?"

Aunt Ma nodded solemnly: "Yes, the fourteenth old lady was shocked, and she really remembered some clues."

The old lady from the fourteenth room of the Zhou family had always been her loyal follower before Mrs. Ma started poaching the frontier soldiers. She went to the third room every day to flatter her, hoping that her children and grandchildren would benefit more. Mrs. Ma may have never taken her seriously, but she has been with Mrs. Ma for a long time, and many things cannot be hidden from her eyes. In the past, she had often felt that Mrs. Ma did something inappropriate, but at that time she could not speak out to remonstrate, but now she has no scruples when speaking.

For example, Mrs. Ma used to accept requests from other officials and help each other with other officials. Mrs. Fourteen remembered clearly who was involved at that time. Mrs. Wang from Liangzhou Wangjia Food Store is naturally one of them, but she and Mrs. Ma actually had a quarrel twenty years ago. After that, the two of them only interacted with each other for face. Mrs. Ma is It is impossible to do anything for the businessmen under Mrs. Wang.

The reason for the rift between the two seems to be that Mrs. Ma met a merchant from the Western Regions and accepted his request to help with some road guides and documents. She also helped introduce the big merchants from the Central Plains, so that the merchant from the Western Regions could The goods in hand are sold at a very high price. Mrs. Wang happened to see the merchant from the Western Regions and privately advised Mrs. Ma not to deal with him: "This man has a suspicious origin. He may be a spy from somewhere. Madam, it's better to ignore him."

Mrs. Ma didn't say anything at the time, but later became estranged from her. Mrs. Wang also complained about her weird temper and stopped approaching her. She only focused on going to Beijing to cling to the powerful.

After hearing Aunt Ma's words, Haitang immediately thought: There must be something wrong with the merchants from the Western Regions. How could Mrs. Ma be ignorant? Is she afraid that Mrs. Wang will really reveal the identity of the merchant from the Western Regions as an enemy spy? !
(End of this chapter)