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

Chapter 611 Worry
Haitang didn't expect things to turn out like this.

She asked Ma about people who were good at sewing in the past, and kicked out the women in Ma Li's family first, because their sewing style did not meet her requirements. It was a surprise to find out about Mei Niangzi later.

She was actually not sure about Lady Mei's origins, but she sounded good-looking, well-spoken, and well-mannered. According to rumors, she was from the capital, with a mysterious identity, and she looked like she was from the palace. She had no children, no relatives, and was very convenient to make a fuss about. Moreover, even if Ma Shangyi found out that Lady Mei was not from the palace, it would not matter. Didn't she work in the family of a nobleman in the capital? The nobleman's family might have had a maid from the palace, and she learned some needlework from her, which was also normal, right?

Anyway, Haitang only needed this Mei Niang to act as a tool to conceal the origins of the needlework techniques and etiquette rules she mastered. She didn't expect that Mei Niang might really come from the palace and be an old friend of Ma Shangyi. This was too unexpected.

Is it really such a coincidence?

Haitang frowned and decided to make up for the lie: "Why does this sound like a dream to me? Are there really such coincidences in the world? It's too early to be sure now, right? It's too early for Mammy to recognize Grandma as a junior. Can't we wait until it's confirmed? Otherwise, our family has recognized an elder before the fate is even settled. What if it turns out that Madam Mei is not her old friend? Wouldn't Grandma have suffered in vain?"

"Isn't it? I also think it's unreasonable." Ma sighed, "I told her that Madam Mei's age doesn't match, and she may not be her sister. But she insisted that Madam Mei changed her name and disguised herself and hid in Shanhaiguan. She must have changed her age as well, so it can't be accurate. I think she seems to be stuck in a dead end. Thinking about how much she wants to find the old sisters who disappeared that year, and now she finally has a clue, if I insist on telling her that she has found the wrong person and that her sisters have actually died a long time ago, it sounds too hurtful. So I didn't say anything more. I accepted everything she said. I just told her the news about Madam Mei and let her send someone to investigate. When she found out that Madam Mei was indeed not the person she was looking for, she would give up."

It was impossible for her to recognize her as her aunt. She had called Ma Shangyi her elder sister for so long, how could she suddenly be a generation inferior to her? But Ma Shangyi insisted on giving her the jade bracelet. She wanted to refuse, but Ma Shangyi held her hand and insisted on putting it on her. She could not refuse. Now she could only accept the jade bracelet temporarily. When Ma Shangyi found out the identity of Madam Mei and confirmed that she was not her old friend, she would return the jade bracelet.

Ma took off the bracelet with great effort, and looked at it in the candlelight for a while, sighing, "It's a good thing. Ma is worthy of being someone who came from the Empress Dowager's side, and she is also a female official of a high rank. The things she casually took out are so valuable. But I am not a person who has never seen the world, so I won't be greedy for her wealth. She is now an old person, childless, and has been separated from her family for so long. She doesn't know any of her nephews, nieces, and grandchildren. Now she has to live in Xiao Jin's house and take care of her nephew for Xu. When Xiao Jin passes the imperial examination and settles down in Beijing, she will have to move back to her own home. I don't know what to do with her old age in the future. Even if her nephews and nieces are willing to support her, she should have saved more. Without money and feelings, which young generation will really respect her? If she has such a good thing, she should keep it well and not give it away casually!"

Ma was really worried about Ma Shangyi. Although she didn't plan to acknowledge her as her aunt, she was at least a new friend with whom she got along well, who spoke nicely and was generous to her. How could she not worry about Ma Shangyi's future life? But she was an outsider after all, and there were some things she couldn't say. If she mentioned it, it would seem like she was trying to sow discord between people and relatives. But if she didn't say it, she was afraid that Ma Shangyi would be confused and suffer in the future.

Haitang glanced at the jade bracelet for a few times, and smiled when she heard it: "Grandma is worrying too much. Even if the younger generation of the Ma family is not good to Ma Ma, can the Zhenguo Mansion let Ma Ma suffer? After all, she is an old lady next to the Empress Dowager. If the Ma family doesn't care about her, the Zhenguo Mansion will let her spend her old age in peace." Having said that, the Duke of Zhenguo is old. If he and his wife die, the head of the Zhenguo Mansion will be replaced. The character of several young generals is trustworthy, but most of them are stationed in border cities, and few of them stay in Chang'an. General Zhou and his wife have also gone to Beijing. Who will be the head of the Zhenguo Mansion in Chang'an in the future? Can he take good care of Ma Shangyi? When the Queen Mother Zhou dies, then people will really forget about her. Even if the master is very polite to Ma Shangyi, what about the servants below?

Ma grew up in Chang'an and had heard all kinds of gossip about the Zhou family since she was a child. She never thought that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion was a peaceful and trouble-free paradise. It was just that the successive heads of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion had always been upright, so the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion never acted too abnormally, and there were also black sheep in private.

Therefore, Ma believed that Ma Shangyi should think more about her future. Even if she had a lot of good things in her hands, she should be cautious and not give them away everywhere, and she should not easily show off her wealth in front of outsiders.

Haitang said, "That's true, but Ma Shangyi is not a young girl who has never seen the world. She has experienced so many hardships and dangers in the palace, and witnessed so many conspiracies and intrigues. How could she still hold on to naive ideas and not be on guard against the ugliness of human nature? I think she has already made proper arrangements for her future. She rashly gave you such a valuable thing today because she believes in your character, and secondly... maybe she attaches great importance to the disappearance of her old friend. Even if there is only a specious clue, she is willing to find out at all costs, right?
After hearing this, Ma couldn't help but sigh again.

There were some things that she had never paid much attention to before, and she had only vaguely heard some rumors. Today, with the explanation of Ma Shangyi, a person who had experienced it firsthand, she realized that Queen Mother Zhou had suffered so much injustice before she became the Queen Mother.

No wonder the Zhou family holds such deep resentment towards the Chang family!
She used to think that the Zhou family was too harsh on Hai Changan and his father. They had no grudges against them, but they suppressed their future just because they were descendants of the Chang family. Now she finally understood why. In Changan, not only did the Zhou family have old grudges with the Chang family, but there were also others who had blood feuds with the Chang family!

Ma lowered her voice and told her granddaughter about Ma Shangyi's past: "I heard that among the eight maids who were married into the palace from Chang'an, several died tragically, and some were driven out of the palace and their whereabouts are unknown. Those girls were the daughters of the servants of the Zhenguogong Mansion. Their fathers and brothers were very hardworking. They had earned military merits for decades, became officials, became generals, and established their own families. They were far away from the capital and could not save their own daughters. How could they not vent their anger when they saw the nephews and nephews of their enemies coming to Chang'an? If it weren't for the Zhenguogong's prior instructions, I'm afraid your second uncle's father would have died long ago, and even your second uncle would not have been able to live well until now. Now your second uncle's future is only limited, but at least he has a job, and he doesn't have to worry about food and drink with our family, and he has successfully married and had children. But other people's daughters can't come back, and even their bodies can't be found. How can people complain?"

If I have to complain, I can only complain about the Chang family's lack of human nature. Concubine Chang Gui was too ruthless in her fight for favor and succession, and she died too easily, leaving no place for people to vent their anger. I can also complain that the Chang family pushed the children of the side branches out to be used as punching bags, while the family itself enjoyed wealth and prosperity in the capital, and didn't care about the life and death of the side branches at all.

(End of this chapter)