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

Chapter 619 Eavesdropping
Haijiao sat in the study in the west wing, feeling a little restless.

Although he was holding a book in his hand, he couldn't read a single word. All he could think about was what his second uncle would say to his grandmother.
Shortly after dinner, his second uncle Hai Changan came to the upper room of the main courtyard to see his grandmother Ma. Ma drove his brother and sister, as well as Aunt Cui, out of the room. He wanted to know the conversation between the two elders, but there was nothing he could do. Aunt Cui, who might have received instructions from his grandmother, watched him all the way into the study, picked up a book to review, and then left. If he wanted to go back to the upper room, he had to get past Aunt Cui who was sitting in the corridor outside the upper room door. He couldn't be invisible, so how could it be easy? !
Even if he wanted to sneak up to the upper room and eavesdrop, there was no back window in the west wing for him to escape. And once he stepped out of the door, Aunt Cui would be able to see him, so what should he do? !
Now he can only count on his younger sister.

The younger sister went back to the backyard. There were no people in the backyard at the moment. The wall between the backyard and the main yard was not high. The younger sister often climbed over the wall to play. It should not be difficult for her to get close and eavesdrop? If she got the news, she should not forget that her brother was still anxiously waiting!

Just when Haijiao was anxious, there was a knock on the study door.

Haijiao had not heard the footsteps approaching, and he was startled when he heard the sound: "Who?!" The answer from outside the door surprised him: "Brother, it's me. I brought you some snacks so that you won't be hungry while studying at night."

Haijiao quickly got up to open the door and welcomed his younger sister in. Before closing the door, he glanced in the direction of the upper room. Aunt Cui was still sitting in front of the door, holding a sewing basket in her hand. It was unknown whether she was doing any work.

The lanterns under the corridor were not very bright, and the wind was cold in the winter night. Why did she make things so difficult for herself?

Haijiao closed the door and complained softly, then hurried back to the kang and asked, "What's up? Did my little sister hear anything?"

Haitang smiled at him and placed the snack box in front of him. Even if it was just a pretext, she would do her best to keep it simple.

She didn't keep the secret and lowered her voice, "I climbed over the back wall to the base of the wall behind the upper room, and then I moved to the window and eavesdropped for a while. Grandma and Second Uncle were very careful when they spoke, so I could hear some of their louder conversations, but if they lowered their voices to talk about something secret, I couldn't do anything, so I only heard a few words here and there."

"That's enough!" Haijiao whispered, "What did Second Uncle say to Ma Shangyi? Did Ma Shangyi really promise not to embarrass him?"

Haitang nodded and gave him an affirmative answer: "It's basically the same as what the second uncle told us. Ma Shangyi actually knew that the second uncle was of the Chang family bloodline. After she returned to Chang'an and met the families of those old sisters when they were young, someone told her the news. In fact, these people all knew it in their hearts. Even if they had been angry before, they had vented it as early as when the second uncle's biological father first came to Chang'an. But when they found out, even if they made things difficult for the second uncle's biological father and suppressed his future, it was meaningless. Because the one who suffered was the second uncle's biological father, Chang Gengxing. He had never done anything wrong. He was just a victim pushed out by the family, and because he was too outstanding, he was considered to be the kind of person who would steal the limelight from the direct descendants. Those victims suppressed and tortured him, which did not harm the guilty people in the direct descendants of the Chang family at all, but made them happier."

After that, those victims stopped doing such meaningless things. They didn't want to help their enemies eliminate dissidents. But Chang Gengxing was already depressed and died of illness not long after.

Before he died, he wrote to his family, hoping to return to his roots and take his young son back with him, so that he could live in a more normal and friendly environment and grow up to be able to take the imperial examinations and pursue a career as an official like his ancestors. When he wrote to the court to beg for his remains, no one stopped him, whether it was the Northwest Frontier Army or Chang'an Prefecture. They also accelerated the delivery of the documents because they were worried that he was too ill to travel, so that the court could approve his request as soon as possible. But the documents were intercepted when they arrived at the court.

The Chang family still had influence in the capital at that time. They thought that Chang Gengxing was in his prime and it was impossible for him to be really sick and dying, so they did not allow him to resign. With him as a punching bag in Chang'an, the other members of the Chang family could enjoy wealth and honor in the capital. Moreover, it was the time when the head of the Chang family was replaced. The eldest son of the direct branch thought he was excellent, but he did not even pass the imperial examination. He could only rely on patronage to enter the Imperial College and slowly gain experience to seek an official position. He thought he was suppressed by the emperor, but everyone thought he was not as good as Chang Gengxing. He was afraid that Chang Gengxing would come back and compete with him for the position of head of the family, so he intercepted the other party's letter.

Chang Gengxing never waited for the hope of returning home until his death. Since then, he completely gave up on the family and entrusted his only son to his friend Hai Xiya. He would rather change his name and become someone else's son than let him be trapped by the family for his whole life like himself. Those who had oppressed him may have felt that they had treated him unfairly in the past, so they turned a blind eye to his arrangements and allowed Chang An to become Hai Chang'an and follow the Hai family all the way to the border town. As for the problem that Hai Chang'an couldn't find a job after returning to Chang'an, it was not because they were behind it. It's just that the Chang family had offended too many people in the past. Even if the relatives of the maid who married the Queen Mother Zhou did not take action, there would be people who disliked the descendants of the Chang family.

However, the Duke of Zhenguo said that Hai Chang'an should go to Chang'an to teach archery at the Wei School, which was actually a statement. Although Hai Chang'an's promotion space in Wei School is not big now, basically no one will deliberately embarrass him. He met some students in Wei School who came from families that had a grudge against the Chang family, but they never looked at him differently. When the families of the maids who came with the dowry told Ma Shangyi the news, they actually made it clear that they did not intend to embarrass him.

What Ma Shangyi said in front of Ma showed that she truly hated the Chang family, but it did not mean that she would take revenge on anyone with the surname Chang.

This time Ma was really overthinking.

Upon hearing this, Hai Jiao breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little amused: "So this time it's Grandma who is asking for trouble? Fortunately, Second Uncle was decisive and went to Ma Shangyi to talk it out in person. Otherwise, if he really listened to Grandma and hurried back to his hometown in Zhili in the middle of winter, wouldn't he have lost a good job, offended the Zhenguo Mansion, and asked for trouble again?"

Haitang said, "It's not all bad now that things have developed to this point. Second Uncle used to hide from people all the time. Apart from teaching at the Wei Academy and occasionally accompanying Second Aunt to visit her relatives and friends from her mother's side, he hardly went out. He had no socializing and no entertainment. His life was too depressing. Now that he has talked it out with Ma Shangyi, it can be regarded as settling his grievances with the enemies of the Chang family in Chang'an City. He should be able to live a more relaxed life in the future, right?"

She moved closer to Haijiao and lowered her voice, "Second Uncle and Grandma said a few words. I didn't hear clearly, but I guess they meant that Ma Shangyi would arrange his future. He probably won't be able to stay in the military school for a few more years, and he will probably have to officially become a military household."

Hai Jiao was surprised: "What do you mean?!" Hai Chang'an is the son of an official, his father and grandfather all took the imperial examinations to become an official. If he becomes a military household, his descendants will be affected in the future. This is not something that can be decided lightly!

Haitang shook her head. She couldn't hear clearly at the time, and couldn't guess why Ma Shangyi did this. But judging from Ma's reaction, she suspected that Ma Shangyi might want to take revenge on the Chang family and use Hai Changan as a pawn.

And Hai Chang'an also agreed.

Haijiao couldn't help but let out a "tsk" and scratched his hair in annoyance.

However, this was Hai Chang'an's own decision, so what could he say?

(End of this chapter)