Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 804: Quite a Gap [Thank you! Thank you again! 7K chapters owed]

Madam Chai didn't take it seriously: "I heard that Jing'er went to the palace yesterday. Perhaps he asked for a favor."

"Oh."

Chai Zhengzheng took a sip of the porridge and nodded a few times, clearly satisfied with the taste.

Then Chai Zhengzheng looked at the empty space and said, "Why is he in such a hurry?"

The room fell silent immediately after these words were spoken.

The maids and servants standing to the side couldn't help but exchange glances, suppressing their laughter.

"Yes! Why is she in such a hurry!" Madam Chai stirred the white porridge in her bowl with a small spoon. "She couldn't hide her joy."

Upon hearing this last sentence, Chai Zhengzheng paused, realizing that Madam Chai was referring to her. She quickly waved her hand and said, "Mother! I didn't mean it!"

Madam Chai curled her lips into a sneer and then ignored Chai Zhengzheng.

I ate breakfast for a while.

Chai Zhengzheng then said, "Mother, I suppose the Rong family knows about this as well?"

Madam Chai looked at her daughter, nodded, and said with certainty, "Of course! It must have been the Imperial Concubine who sent someone to inform us."

South Lecture Hall Lane, Rong Family Residence, Huixue Courtyard.

In the morning light,
Rong Feiyan was taking a walk in the courtyard with her maid.

suddenly,

Someone peeked out from the gate and looked into the courtyard.
Below this person was a small head, which was also looking into the yard, mimicking the adults.

After seeing Rong Feiyan in the courtyard,

"aunt."

"Rongxiu called out in a childish voice."

Upon hearing this, Rong Feiyan looked over and immediately smiled, "Brother Xiu? What brings you here?"

Seeing his sister's smile, Rong Xian also came out from the door and walked towards Rong Feiyan with his son.

The maids standing to the side all bowed.

"elder brother."

After picking up her nephew, Rong Feiyan called out to Rong Xian.

"Mm." Rong Xian nodded.

Looking at the scenery in the courtyard, Rongxian said, "I know about what my sister sent to inform you."

"Oh!" Rong Feiyan responded, then continued to tease her little nephew with a smile.

"Wulang is too impatient." Looking at Rong Feiyan, who seemed a little embarrassed, Rong Xian continued, "The time for preparing the dowry is quite tight. Your sister-in-law said that if you need any help, just let her know."

Looking at her nephew in her arms, Rong Feiyan shook her head and said, "Sister has taken care of all these things. Brother, please thank your sister-in-law for my sake. She's pregnant, so it's not good for her to overwork herself."

Rongxian nodded, looked at the son in his sister's arms, and said, "Dalang, get down! You're not a little kid anymore, and you're so heavy. Don't let your aunt carry you all the time."

"Yes, Father." Rong Xiu glanced at Rong Xian, then twisted her body and slid off Rong Feiyan's arms.

After getting off, Rongxiu looked at Rong Feiyan with eyes full of affection.

When Rong Xiu saw Rong Feiyan looking down at him, he quickly grinned.

As Rongxian's eldest son born out of wedlock, his stepmother, Lady Dou, naturally disliked him, and his half-sister was also not very close to him.

As grandparents, the Marquis of Fuchang and his wife couldn't show too much affection for their illegitimate son, Rongxiu, lest they displease their daughter-in-law, who came from a duke's family.

Therefore, ever since Rongxiu became aware of things, it was his aunt Rong Feiyan who bought him small toys one day and had new clothes made for him the next, showing him the most love and care.

However, Rongxiu had few opportunities to see her aunt in the past two weeks, naturally because Rong Feiyan was embroidering her dowry in the courtyard.

Looking at Rongxiu's sensible smile, Rong Feiyan, who hadn't seen her nephew for some time, touched his little face with a pang of heartache.

Rong Feiyan had heard from her maid, Xibu, that her nephew, Rong Xiu, did not cry or make a fuss after learning that he was going to get married.

Instead, he opened his clear, bright eyes and asked in a low voice how he could reassure Rong Feiyan so she could marry him without worry.

Rongxiu, who lost her mother, is so sensible that it breaks your heart.

Looking at his silent sister, Rongxian thought about what to say.

Upon seeing the maidservant beside him, Rongxian smiled and said, "Sister, why don't you add a few maidservants to your courtyard?"

"The Chai family has been wealthy for generations since the founding of the country; I wonder how extravagant they are. We shouldn't compare ourselves to them, but we also can't be too presumptuous."

Rong Feiyan glanced over with obvious disinterest, and Rong Xian gave an awkward smile before quickly changing the subject: "By the way, sister, I heard from your sister-in-law that the Kang family in the capital is currently disposing of their assets!"

"The Kang family?" Rong Feiyan was somewhat surprised.

“Yes! It’s the Kang family! They said they’re going to dispose of their assets in Beijing and return to their hometown,” Rong Xian said.

Seeing Rong Feiyan's interested expression, Rong Xian quickly said, "I heard that the Kang family lord is going to get rid of all his concubines and maids in his courtyard!"

Upon hearing this, the maids in the courtyard exchanged surprised glances.

Earlier, there were carriages speeding past the Kang family's gate, blood flowing out, and they were rushing towards the Yu family.

Many people have witnessed this scene.

After making inquiries, many people in the capital learned that something big had happened to the Kang family.

Those who know the inside story know that the Kang family parents brought this upon themselves.

Those unaware of the inside story assumed that Kang Wangshi's scheme against Xu's relatives had been exposed, and she had been severely punished by someone with ulterior motives.

With such a disgraceful incident, coupled with the previous misdeeds of Kang Yuan'er, the Kang family truly has no face to stay in Bianjing any longer.

Rong Feiyan asked in confusion, "Brother, didn't you say before that the Kang and Wang families would part amicably? Now that the mistress is gone, who is in charge of this matter?"

"It is said that she was a concubine of the Kang family. Her daughter entered the Kang Prince's mansion and became the favorite concubine of the old Prince Kang."

After Rong Xian finished speaking, Rong Feiyan shook her head, thinking about the fright she had suffered at the Feng family's house: "What about Kang Yuan'er?"

Rong Xian pondered for a moment and said, "He said he was frightened and has been bedridden ever since."

"Oh!" Rong Feiyan nodded: "Brother, let's not talk about these unlucky people anymore."

“Yes, yes, my sister is right,” Rong Xian said with a smile.

"The investiture ceremony is in two days, brother, you..."

Before Rong Feiyan could finish speaking, Rong Xian quickly said, "Don't worry, little sister, I will remember everything and tell you all about it when I get back."

Xiguozi Lane, the Kang family residence.

The main hall inside the courtyard,

Dressed in light silk brocade, Jin Xiaoniang sat behind the table with the air of a mistress, with her maidservant standing beside her.

After glancing at the two gold ingots, each the size of a fingernail, on the table in front of her, Jin Xiaoniang then looked at Su Xiaoniang standing in the hall.

Su Xiaoniang was not favored by the emperor, so her clothes were naturally just ordinary.

“Sister, I know about your life in the Kang family all these years. When did you accumulate such a large sum of money?”

As she spoke, Jin Xiaoniang glanced at Kang Zhao'er and the other two, who were standing timidly behind Su Xiaoniang.

"If that thieving woman were still in charge of the household and knew you had so much money, you probably wouldn't even be able to survive if she were here with me!"

Su Xiaoniang glanced timidly at Jin Xiaoniang: "Sister is right! I only wanted to secure a future for Zhao'er!"

"Speaking of which, Zhao'er is also a descendant of the lord. Selling him directly to a brokerage firm would damage the Kang family's reputation."

"Why don't we, the four of us, find our own way out?"

Having experienced the assassination attempt on Wang Ruoyu and escaped death at the hands of Old Madam Wang, this daughter's mentality underwent a significant change after entering the Kang Prince's Mansion as Jin Xiaoniang.

The hall was quiet for a moment.

"Sister, these two gold ingots aren't quite enough to buy your and Zhao'er's future!"

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoniang looked up at Jin Xiaoniang in disbelief: "Sister, this, this isn't enough? Then I will..."

As she spoke, Su Xiaoniang pulled a worn-out silver hairpin from her hair bun: "Then, will this be enough?"

"Hmph." Jin Xiaoniang snorted coldly, glanced at Su Xiaoniang, and said in a cold voice, "Someone come here." "Xiaoniang." A maidservant beside her responded.

"Search me thoroughly! Don't miss a hair or underwear."

"Yes."

Upon hearing Jin Xiaoniang's words, Kang Zhao'er trembled and looked fearfully at the approaching maid.

"You!" Su Xiaoniang looked at Jin Xiaoniang behind the table: "Why are you making things so difficult for us?"

"Making things difficult for you? You've embezzled the Kang family's money, so how can I be making things difficult for you!"

While they were talking, the servants were already preparing to subdue Su Xiaoniang and the other three.

Chaos erupted in the hall.

During the struggle and wrestling,
"Snapped!"

A maidservant slapped the struggling Kang Zhao'er across the face: "You greedy little hussy, behave yourself!"

Just as Kang Zhao'er was stunned and covering her face after being slapped, the maid had already roughly torn off Kang Zhao'er's hair.

quickly,

The servants then found four more gold ingots in the soles of Su Xiaoniang's shoes, in Kang Zhao'er's hair bun, and in the lining of the other two children's clothes.

"Tsk tsk tsk"

Jin Xiaoniang shook her head as she looked at the six gold ingots in front of her, and smiled contemptuously: "I didn't expect that you, Sister Su, would have such abilities!"

"Did you steal Wang Ruo and that thieving woman's dowry and sell it? Or did you bewitch the lord and get him to secretly reward you?"

Seeing Su Xiaoniang and the other three lying on the ground in a disheveled state, their clothes in disarray and their heads bowed in silence, Jin Xiaoniang's face hardened: "Won't talk? Keep beating these three bastards! Beat them until this bitch talks."

"Little Mother!" Kang Zhao'er, whose cheeks were a little swollen, called out loudly while protecting her younger brother and sister-in-law.

When the fierce-looking servants around her rolled up their sleeves and crowded around, Su Xiaoniang quickly protected her children.

"what--"

"Little girl!"

"Father, mother!"

Kang Zhao'er, who was being protected by Su Xiaoniang, was alright; being the oldest, she tried her best not to cry out loud.

But the two younger ones couldn't handle it. After being hit several times, they were so scared and in pain that they couldn't help but cry out.

Subsequently,

Su Xiaoniang was pulled aside by the servant.
A maid grabbed Kang Zhao'er's disheveled hair from behind, while another slapped him across the face.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

Seeing Kang Zhao'er being beaten, Kang Yan struggled to rush to Kang Zhao'er's side: "Sister, please don't hit my sister!"

"Waaaaah—" The little girl on the other side was also frightened and started crying.

"Get out of the way!" The maid pushed Kang Yan aside with force.

After falling to the ground, Kang Yan, who landed on the back of his head, also covered his head and started crying.

Seeing this scene while being escorted, Su Xiaoniang closed her eyes and shouted with all her might, "I'll talk! I'll talk!"

“That’s more like it. If we had done it this way earlier, the children wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.”

After raising her chin to signal the servants to release Kang Zhao'er and the other two, Jin Xiaoniang looked down at her fingernails, which were stained with flower juice, and said, "Speak."

Holding her children protectively in her arms, Su Xiaoniang first comforted the two younger ones before speaking softly, "These six gold ingots were given to me by the Yongchang Marquis's mansion."

You could hear a pin drop in the hall.

The maids who had just hit someone exchanged a surprised glance.

Jin Xiaoniang stopped looking at her fingernails, paused for a moment, and then gave a stiff laugh: "I didn't expect that you, little sister, would also use someone else's name to make a big deal out of nothing."

"I've never seen you act like this before, using your position to bully others."

"The Marquis of Yongchang's mansion? How could a concubine like you be associated with the Marquis of Yongchang's mansion? Of all the mansions to drag into this, why did you have to bring up the Marquis of Yongchang's mansion! It's absolutely laughable!"

"Hahahaha!"

Jin Xiaoniang smiled, and the servants and maids in the hall also chuckled a few times in response.

But seeing Su Xiaoniang's seemingly genuine and resolute expression, the laughter quickly vanished.

"Three years ago, in the dead of winter, I went back to my parents' home for a funeral. On my way back to Beijing, I rescued a young man who had fainted from hunger by the roadside."

"Unexpectedly, that young man was actually a relative of Madam Wu's personal mother."

"That day, Mama Jin sent a box of pastries to the Kang family. These gold ingots were at the bottom of the food box."

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoniang recalled some memories of the incident.

The old woman standing beside Jin Xiaoniang said, "Xiaoniang, I remember this. It seems that after Mama Jin came, Liang family's sixth son started playing with Jin Ge'er."

"The lord's hometown and the Wu family's ancestral home are only a dozen or so miles apart."

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoniang's eye twitched slightly.

Even if Jin Xiaoniang is favored to the heavens, she is still a concubine and can never become the mistress of the Kang family.

Wu Da Niangzi's brothers are high-ranking officials in the current court.

Given the current situation where the Kang family has offended the Wang family, if they were to offend the Wu family's steward as well, they might be targeted and killed when they return to their hometown.

Having figured this out, Jin Xiaoniang took several deep breaths. Just as she was about to speak, an old woman hurriedly walked in from outside the door.

“Young lady, there is a steward outside the door who claims to be from the household of Lady Wu of the Marquis of Yongchang and requests an audience.”

Jin Xiaoniang, somewhat impressed by the Wu family's extensive network of information, was momentarily speechless.

"Please."

As she spoke, Jin Xiaoniang stood up and went outside to greet them.

Su Xiaoniang and Kang Zhao'er's eyes lit up upon hearing the conversation.

After half an incense stick,

With a smile on her face, Jin Xiaoniang walked back into the house and said to Su Xiaoniang and the others, "Sister, the Liang family is truly repaying kindness tenfold! Jin Mama is grateful for your help to her relatives, so you and Zhao'er should go together."

"They don't have to travel such a long distance like us poor folks."

Yongchang Marquis's Residence

At the main gate,
Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Madam Wu looked at Liang Han with admiration in her eyes and said, "Sixth Brother, after raising you for so many years, I've finally seen you do something worthwhile."

"Mother, what are you saying!" Liang Han asked, looking at her mother.

"Sixth Brother, by saving Su Xiaoniang and her two daughters, it seems like you're helping the Yuan siblings repay a debt of gratitude, but in reality, you're keeping the matter of Fifth Brother in mind."

"Once Goro finds out about this, you will definitely be even closer to him."

"Seeing you like this, I'll find you a wife later, and then I can finally let go of everything."

"Mother, what are you saying!" Liang Han shook her head and said, "I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart!"

"Besides, that kid Yuan Feixing keeps asking me about the Kang family's daughter! Maybe by doing this, I can even help them find a good match!"

"I'm just following your example!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Wu smiled and shook her head: "You're so good with words!"

A few days later,
morning,

The Great Zhou Imperial Palace

In the main hall,
The high-ranking officials, nobles, and ministers lined up on both sides.

Sheng Hong, who was standing near the door, looked at Chang Bai across the way with great pleasure, and then smiled at Gu Tingye, who was nodding to him: "We are all juniors I know."

While searching for his son-in-law Zai Zhang, Sheng Hong saw Xu Zai Jing waiting outside the hall.

Looking at the embroidered emblems on Xu Zaijing's formal attire, and then looking down at his own official robes, Sheng Hong shook his head helplessly: The difference is too great!
(End of this chapter)