Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 116 This is a fucking surprise!
Ten days passed in a flash, and the New Year was over. The people who made a living did not dare to rest, and they all took out their food to earn food for the next year.

In the streets and alleys, firecrackers are blasted again to celebrate the start of work in the new year.

Just after noon that day, a carriage slowly stopped at the door of "Yipinxuan".

"Madam, we are here."

The coachman shouted respectfully from inside, and then the curtain was opened by a pair of jade hands. A girl dressed as a maid walked out first, and then Zheng Xier came out with her slender waist bent.

She got off the carriage and glanced at the door of the store. A handsome boy about fourteen or fifteen years old was inside the door, peeking out.

"Sister, didn't you say that it's cold today and it's enough to have our father and us here?" Seeing Zheng Xier, the young man hurriedly picked up a snow-white mink coat and walked out, complaining as he walked.

The young man was Zheng Xier's younger brother, Zheng Erhu.

After Zheng Xier gained power, she thought about the hard life her father and brother were living in her hometown, so she simply brought them to the capital to take care of them.

Zheng Xier smiled and took two steps forward, took the mink coat from her brother, put it on, rubbed his head, and said softly, "Today is the opening of your new store, how can I not come?"

"Where is your brother-in-law? Didn't he come with you?" Zheng Erhu looked back and a trace of disappointment appeared on his face.

"He is a very busy man. There's no need to trouble him with such a small matter." Zheng Xier smiled, grabbed his arm and walked into the store.

The shop is very large, with five bays on the outermost side alone. Rows of cloth are neatly arranged in the sales area, with a full range of styles and colors.

Walking further in, there is a small corridor with four separate small rooms on both sides, which are used for customers to try on clothes and measure clothes.

Further inside is the reception room for guests to rest.

"Where is our father?" Zheng Xier looked around and didn't see her father, so she turned to ask her brother.

"Go out." Zheng Erhu asked his sister to sit on the soft couch, ordered the maid to serve tea, and waved his hand, ordering the maid to go down.

"Huzi, how long have you been here? You've already learned to order people around?" Zheng Xier couldn't help but tease her brother, glancing at his long green robe with gold threads and his gentlemanly demeanor. "If you were to walk down the street now, I wouldn't even recognize you."

"Sister, if you walk on the street, I won't dare to recognize you." Zheng Erhu pursed his lips and then laughed.

The brother and sister made a simple joke, and Zheng Xier got straight to the point: "Huzi, you are also fourteen years old this year. Our family was poor before, and you had no chance to go to school. Now our family is rich."

"Let's ask your brother-in-law to go to the Imperial College and get you a donation. After the Lantern Festival, you don't have to come to the store to help. You can go to the Imperial College to study hard and pass the exam to get a good degree."

Zheng Erhu's forehead wrinkled into a big pimple, and he cried out in pain: "Oh, sister, please forgive me, you know that when we see those nonsense, our heads are about to explode.

When I look at the account book, I don’t feel dizzy or blurry, I just feel like I’m looking at white money.”

"Besides, we make money here, so can't we live a good life?"

"Stupid!" Zheng Xier twisted her eyes and cursed, "Since ancient times, the people have never fought against the officials. Don't you think you can do that? Shopkeeper Hao of Qicaixia, he has a big business, right?"

"When you meet an official, you either put on a smiling face or act like a Maitreya Buddha all day long."

"But I'm not cut out to be an official."

"How do you know if you don't try? If students of the Imperial College perform well, they can become minor officials without taking the imperial examinations." Zheng Xier saw that her brother's tone was loosening, so she struck while the iron was hot and said, "Go and try first. If it doesn't work, come back."

"Your sister is right."

A powerful voice was heard, and a slim middle-aged man came in from the corridor, steaming.

The two looked back and shouted at the same time, "Dad."

This is Zheng Xier’s father, Zheng Yongfu.

"Dad, where have you been so early in the morning?" Zheng Xier quickly stood up and gave her father a seat, then asked.

"Mr. Zhao from the east of the city has ordered twenty pieces of cloth from our family. We will deliver it to him personally." Zheng Yongfu sat down and smiled at his daughter.

"It's just a small matter, can't you just ask the servant to deliver it? Why do you have to do it yourself? It's freezing cold now, if you fall or get cold, people will scold me." Zheng Xier pouted, and a hint of annoyance appeared on her pretty face.

Zheng Yongfu waved his hands and explained to his daughter carefully: "He is an old customer of ours, and we just took over this store, so we don't want people to gossip about him."

"Look." Zheng Xier smiled and pointed at her father, then looked at her brother and said, "Our father is destined to be a hard worker. Unlike Huzi, he has only been here for a few months, but he has already learned all the styles of the rich young men in Beijing."

Zheng Erhu scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, while Zheng Yongfu glared at his son fiercely, then looked at Zheng Xier and said, "Xier, if Huzi can really go to the Imperial College to study, it would be a great fortune for him. If he dares not to go, I will break his legs myself and send him there."

After saying that, Zheng Yongfu turned around and roared at his son: "Did you hear that?!"

"I heard it." Zheng Erhu nodded and agreed.

"Also, you are not allowed to hang out with those bad friends in the future. If I see you hanging out with those bad friends and going to shady places again, I will kick you back to Suzhou and let you live a hard life again."

Zheng Yongfu reprimanded him with a stern face, while Zheng Xier, who was standing beside him, put on a polite face and said softly, "Huzi, when you go to school in the future, you must study hard. If you are useless, not only will our father and I lose face, but your brother-in-law will also lose face."

"You also know how our family can be in this situation and how you can wear this kind of clothes."

"understood."

Zheng Erhu nodded his head and then left the living room.

In an instant, only the father and daughter were left in the hall. Zheng Yongfu looked at his daughter and said with satisfaction: "Xi'er, the most successful thing in my life is giving birth to you."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Zheng Xier felt a little embarrassed.

"Dad is not talking nonsense. Our family has been ordinary people for generations, but you are the wife of a wealthy family. Now, when we go to bed every night, we dare not sleep too long for fear of waking up. This is all just a dream." Zheng Yongfu said, with two bright lights flashing in his shrewd eyes.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Xier looked up at her father and said in a trembling voice, "Dad, I seem to be pregnant."

"This, this is great news. Does our son-in-law know about it?" Zheng Yongfu jumped up from his chair and asked with flushed cheeks.

"He doesn't know yet."

Zheng Xier stroked her belly with a complicated expression. She was just a concubine. If she gave birth to a daughter before the mistress came into the family, it would be fine. If she gave birth to a boy, she would be criticized by the mistress in the future.

"Then what are you going to do?" Zheng Yongfu understood his daughter's concerns, so he couldn't help but ask.

"I, I don't know." Zheng Xier shook her head repeatedly.

"How about telling your husband? Let him decide the life or death of this child?"

Zheng Xier didn't say anything when she heard that.

Zheng Yongfu took a deep breath and continued, "I can see that although you are a concubine, our son-in-law still has real feelings for you, otherwise he would not let you take care of such a big thing."

"This kid, he will probably be able to stay."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for him. The Xu family is quite powerful. If the mistress makes trouble, it will embarrass my husband."

"Silly child, are you planning to get rid of this child?" Zheng Yongfu's mouth twitched as he expressed a bold idea.

"I can't do it, wuwuwu." Zheng Xier's eyes turned red, and she threw herself into her father's arms, crying bitterly, "This is a human life after all, I can't do it."

"Then go and talk to him. You have to choose one eventually." Zheng Yongfu gently patted his daughter's shoulder and advised softly, "Besides, the Xu family is a big family, so what? When Xiaohu has achieved success in his studies, Xiaohu and I will be your support."

"father."

"Xi'er, it's a gift from God that you can get pregnant with this child. If you abort it, it will be difficult to get pregnant again in the future."

The father and daughter continued like this, one comforting the other sobbing, for nearly half an hour.

It was not until after noon that Zheng Xier wiped her red and swollen eyes, looked up and said, "Dad, I've made up my mind. I'll go talk to him tonight."

"now it's right."

Zheng Yongfu stamped his feet, patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, Dad will help you with business matters if he can, just rest assured and take care of your baby."

"Ah."

Zheng Xier responded timidly with a red face, a girlish shyness revealed on her fair face.

The father and daughter talked for a while before Zheng Xier hurried back home.

That evening, Zhang Yunxiu received a message from Zhang Fu, saying that Zheng Xier wanted to discuss an important matter with him.

Zhang Yunxiu didn't delay and went straight to the small house.

The two met in the small hall of the bedroom. Zhang Yunxiu saw that her eyes were red and swollen, obviously she had been crying, so he couldn't help asking: "What's wrong? Did someone bully you?"

"No." Zheng Xier shook her head.

"What's the matter?"

Zheng Xier hesitated for a while, her eyes dodged, and finally bit her red lips, as if she had made some important decision, and whispered: "I think I'm pregnant."

"What?" Zhang Yunxiu didn't hear clearly, so he raised his voice and asked again.

"I am pregnant!"

Zheng Xier mustered up the courage to say another sentence.

Now, Zhang Yunxiu heard it clearly, and he was in a state of extreme excitement. Xier was pregnant, Xier was pregnant, and he was going to be a father.

This is his first child.

He was so excited that he couldn't speak for a long time.

Zheng Xier, who was standing by, thought that he just didn't like the child, so she held back her tears and choked up, "I know how hard it is for you. I will use medicine to kill the child tomorrow."

"Ah? What do you want to do?" Zhang Yunxiu was startled.

"Don't you dislike this child?" Zheng Xier asked, tilting her neck.

"Who said that?"

"Then you kept silent."

"I'm just happy. Do you understand me?" Zhang Yunxiu pinched Zheng Xier's nose hard and threatened her in an angry tone, "I'm telling you, you are not allowed to do anything bad to our daughter."

"Otherwise we won't let you go!"

Sure enough, does he also hope to have a daughter?

There was a hint of bitterness on Zheng Xier's face.

"Xier, when did you get pregnant?" Zhang Yunxiu didn't notice Zheng Xier's mood changes and just kept asking.

"It's been more than three months now, almost." Zheng Xier replied with a red face.

"So, the birth is only seven months away? Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Zhang Yunxiu muttered to himself, then suddenly turned to Zheng Xier and ordered, "Xier, from now on, you will let Zhang Fu take care of the business matters. Just focus on your pregnancy and don't make any mistakes."

"Husband, what if I give birth to a boy?"

"You don't have to worry about the Xu family. If it's a boy, we can leave the shop you are in charge of now to you and your mother as private money." Zhang Yunxiu signaled him to rest assured.

"Aren't you afraid of Miss Xu?" Zheng Xier glanced at her husband and asked timidly.

"I'm afraid of her before she even gets married. What will happen in the future?" Zhang Yunxiu said majestically.

(End of this chapter)