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

Chapter 999 Dispute
Madam Zhou felt that her sister's words hit the nail on the head: "Isn't that the truth?! I wanted to teach him a lesson, just to teach him to be a good boy. I had good intentions, but I was afraid that my brother and sister-in-law would misunderstand me as heartless and blame me for not helping my nephews and nieces, so I felt embarrassed!"

Ma sneered, "Brother and sister-in-law are not in the capital, they don't know what the situation is like here, they just know how to complain. Don't pay attention to them, sister. They are two thousand miles away anyway, and they can't come to scold people. It takes several months to write letters back and forth. At most, you can let the children read the letters for you. If there is nothing good in the letter, you don't have to read it, so you don't have to feel bad. When Ma Lusheng has made progress and stands out as a polite and sensible person, he will not worry about his future when he returns to Chang'an in the future. Don't brother and sister-in-law understand your painstaking efforts? If they still blame you at that time, they will be old and confused. If they don't talk about family affection first, what else can you say, sister? Leave them alone until they are sensible. With the current glory of the Zhou family, this day will not be too far away. Sister, just rest assured."

The more Madam Zhou listened, the more she felt that her sister was her confidant: "You are so right! We sisters are really thinking about our nephew, so we let him suffer a little. Only those who endure the most hardships can become superior people. Ma Lusheng has not made any progress even at his age because he was spoiled by his family since he was a child. His parents couldn't do this, so we, as his aunts, did it for them. We must let the child experience and become a talent, and that is what we really care about him. As long as we can make the descendants of the old Ma family become talents, what does it matter if the ignorant brothers and sisters-in-law complain a few times? I will be worthy of the ancestors of the Ma family!"

After hearing this, Ma couldn't help but turn around and look at her granddaughter Haitang, with an expression on her face that was hard to describe.

Haitang lowered her head and held back her laughter. She used her sleeve to cover her grandmother's hand with her right hand to comfort her.

Both the grandparents and grandchildren could hear that Zhou Ma had long been annoyed by what Ma Lusheng and his wife had done, and was looking for an excuse to leave him alone for a while to teach him a lesson. Ma's words gave her a perfect reason, and from then on she could refute her brother and sister-in-law and nephew with confidence. Even if she returned to her hometown in Chang'an in the future and met her relatives and friends from her mother's family, she would still be the one who was right. It was Ma Lusheng and his wife and her brother and sister-in-law from her mother's family who could not understand her good intentions and failed her sincerity.

Ma Zhou's frown had relaxed, and she held Ma's hand and said, "I will be a bad guy for the sake of my nephews. If Ma Lusheng is still a hopeless person, I will not care about him anymore. Everyone has their own destiny! The Ma family already has Ma Luyuan, who has a bright future and lives a good life. He can support the Ma family, which is enough. If Ma Lusheng is not lucky enough to make a name for himself, he can just continue to rely on his brother and sister-in-law. Why force it? My brother is old and only wants his children and grandchildren to live in harmony. He knows that his sister-in-law is partial, but he refuses to say more. My sister-in-law is even more confused. She has ruined our good life. I can't follow her wishes even though I know she is wrong, right? It's better to stay away from her and have less contact with her. When the Ma family really falls into poverty one day, we sisters can still lend a hand if we are living well in our husband's family."

Ma heard that Zhou Ma had already made up her mind, so she said nothing more: "Big sister, just do what you want. I have already fallen out with my sister-in-law, and I don't plan to go back. No matter how she complains, I can't hear her."

Madam Zhou lowered her voice and said, "It's clear that my sister-in-law is not in the right! She even wrote a letter to me complaining about you! Her words are trying to sow discord between us sisters, and I don't believe a word of it!"

Ma smiled and looked at Haitang again.

Haitang knew what was going on. Mama Zhou might not have been unaffected by reading the letter from her uncle Ma's wife. But Zhou Jinlin and his wife were very clear-headed and even wrote a letter to the capital to defend their aunt Mama. Mama Zhou would naturally listen to her son and daughter-in-law and would not take her sister-in-law's letter to heart. Now that Mama Zhou and Mama only have one sibling in the capital, they will naturally be more inclined to her emotionally, so they would cover up the previous matter. Mama knew all about this, but she pretended to be confused just for the sake of sisterly love.

There are some things in this world that you can't care too much about. Ma followed Zhou Ma's words and complained about her brother and sister-in-law. She also praised Zhou Jinlin and his wife for being fair and decisive and not being implicated by their uncle's family. This hit Zhou Ma's point. She was very happy to hear it, and her face was full of smiles. She began to praise Ma's grandson for his promising future and her adopted son for repaying his kindness.

Madam Zhou also heard about Haitang's marriage, and took the opportunity to ask her sister: "I heard that Haitang was also arranged to marry by the late emperor? It was arranged to the nephew of Empress Dowager Xu, right? The child has been in Chang'an for a few years, and I haven't seen much of him. I only heard that he is a very gentle scholar. I don't know what kind of person he is. How did this marriage come about? You didn't even reveal a word. When I first heard about it, I was shocked!"

Haitang looked at Zhou Ma's gaze and lowered her head shyly. Ma smiled and said, "Xiaojin has a very good character. He has been a neighbor of ours for several years. He interacts with Baoshun the most. He also studies under cousin Xie, Lao Cao and Lao Lu. He often comes to our house and is very respectful and polite. This marriage was also a pleasant surprise. I thought the Empress Dowager would find a good marriage for him. Who would have thought that he and our Tangtang would have such a fate?! When I heard that the late emperor granted the marriage, I was also shocked! It's a pity that the imperial edict has not been delivered to my house, otherwise I would have brought it to you, elder sister, to see."

Madam Zhou wanted to say that her family had also received the imperial edict, but when she thought about her granddaughter getting married early and her grandsons still being young, none of whom had seen the Zhou family's wave of children being granted marriages, she couldn't help but feel sour in her heart: "Well, I heard that Empress Dowager Xu's family only has this one youngster, and she loves and cares for him very much. Logically, she should have found a noble marriage for this nephew, right? Why did she grant the marriage to Tangtang? Tangtang is certainly a good girl, but your family is only a fifth-rank family after all..."

Ma took a deep breath and said, "Sister, what's wrong with the fifth rank? The Jin family is not a wealthy family. At most, they have a scholar. How can our child not be worthy of him? You have to know that this is a marriage granted by the late emperor! Do you have any objection to the late emperor's will?!"

Madam Zhou couldn't help but slap her: "Are you trying to kill my elder sister?! Why are you accusing me of such a serious crime?! I'm just worried that Tangtang won't be liked by the Queen Mother, and she will suffer after marrying into the Queen Mother's family. Why don't you understand my painstaking efforts?!"

Ma dodged her elder sister's slap and said disapprovingly, "Even if the Queen Mother doesn't like it, what can Tangtang suffer? The Queen Mother is not Xiao Jin's biological mother, but just an aunt. If she is not satisfied with Xiao Jin marrying the granddaughter of a fifth-rank official, the worst that can happen is that Tangtang will not come to the palace to see her again. It's just for the sake of kinship, and Xiao Jin doesn't rely on the Queen Mother for his life. He is a good student and will take the imperial examination in the future. As long as the emperor and the officials in the court value him, why should he look at the Queen Mother's face?!"

Madam Zhou glared at her sister and said, "Even if you really think so in your heart, don't say it out loud! After all, she is the Empress Dowager, the biological mother of the Emperor! It's rare for your grandson-in-law to have such a noble relative. You shouldn't try to curry favor with him. Are you going to let the child deliberately alienate him? Even if your grandson-in-law wants to take the imperial examination and become an official, there is no need to offend the Empress Dowager! Isn't that pushing away the ready-made wealth and honor? Isn't that stupid?!"

Madam Zhou turned to Haitang and said, "My dear, don't listen to your grandma's foolish words. Even if the Queen Mother doesn't like you for the time being, you will be able to please her sooner or later with your temperament and talent. But don't ignore your good relatives and deliberately endure the hardship of studying for ten years, and think you are noble. That is just forcing yourself to endure hardship!"

Haitang could only smile awkwardly and couldn't even say "Oh, yes, yes, yes".