hairpin flower support temple Chang'an step

Chapter 426 Disrupting a pool of muddy water

Under Mu Jiaojiao's insistence, Cui Pu reluctantly agreed to the invitation of the head of the Zhang clan even though he was unwilling, and returned to the Zhang clan with Mu Jiaojiao for a dinner.

In fact, they are not familiar with the Zhang family.

Zhang Jiuling was born in the Zhang family in Lingnan. Although he had been an official in the capital for several years, he was arrogant. The selection of talents for saints has always been based on their ability and not favoritism.So when he was in Chang'an, he only brought his family with him, and basically didn't support his own family much.That time when Cui Pu and Mu Jiaojiao came to visit, the only Zhang family members they saw were him and Mr. Zhang Dalang.Later, he was demoted to be the governor of Jingzhou. He only brought Mr. Zhang Dalang there, and all the other family members returned to their hometown in Lingnan.

But now because he was still in the filial piety period, none of the people in Zhang Jiuling's room showed up.Cui Pu's eyes were even darkened, and he could only forcefully smile at the people with the surname Zhang in front of him.

Mu Jiaojiao was not much better either.

At the beginning of the banquet, she was surrounded by a group of women from the Zhang clan and took the upper position.Up to the patriarch's wife, down to the little lady, they all complimented Mu Jiaojiao outrageously.While talking, they pushed Mrs. Zhang Shiliu towards her from time to time.

"Come to think of it, Mrs. Cui, you and the prefect Cui have been married for more than ten years, right?" the patriarch's wife said suddenly.

"Well, it's been 11 years." Mu Jiaojiao replied.

She doesn't like to say much to her own people.Facing these strangers now, he cherishes words like gold even more.

Seeing her cold appearance, the Zhang family's female family members felt a little dissatisfied in their hearts - anyway, they are all members of Zhongshuling's clan!You are juniors again, and now you come to pay respects, shouldn't you look a little junior?

But just now, they said that the visitor was a guest, and asked her to sit on the upper seat, and she sat on it without any refusal!They racked their brains to talk to her, and she responded lightly, at most succinctly, and then fell silent.

How can such a temperament be qualified for the post of magistrate's wife?Apart from a pretty face, what else is there to praise her for?Compared with the past, the sixteenth lady of their family is more obedient and sensible, longer-sleeved and good at dancing!
Feeling a sense of superiority inexplicably in my heart, the patriarch's wife's attitude became even more kind: "11 years? That's really a long time! Seeing that Cui Langjun still takes good care of you today, it can be seen that your husband and wife are deeply in love How far. By the way, how many children do you have?"

"One young lady, two young gentlemen." Mu Jiaojiao replied.

"Ah, there are only two young gentlemen? This is too little!" A woman exclaimed, "But whoever is a big family wants to have more children and blessings? You and your wife have been married for 11 years, and you have only had three children." Children, and there are only two young gentlemen, it is too little, too little!"

The yin and yang over there were screaming non-stop, and the people below all turned their eyes to Mu Jiaojiao.

As they said, Cui Pu is almost 30 years old and has only three children, which is not many.Especially since there are only two sons, among the friends of his generation, he can't do anything.It should be known that Lu Jiu in Chang'an City already has five sons, and the concubine Wei Wang Shizi also gave birth to several sons in succession like a hen laying eggs. The young couple also gave birth to two sons and two daughters, which was far faster than them.

But so what?
Mu Jiaojiao pursed her lips and remained silent, just watching what tricks this group of people could come up with.

Sure enough, the woman soon said: "There are no outsiders here, so I won't hide what I say. Mrs. Cui, you are young and well-born, so you can naturally hook Cui Langjun now and make him obedient." Listen to what you say, but have you thought about the future? What will happen when you grow old and look bad? This man is a greedy thing. You have been controlling him like this. He may be unhappy now. What! If you give him a chance, and he brings back a little lady to make you angry, you really won’t be able to cry!”

"That's right! My man is not as capable as Cui Langjun. He also said to listen to me, but he ran outside when he had nothing to do. Later, I made the decision and gave him two concubines, so he calmed down. Now, Those two concubines have given birth to him, he is satisfied, and now he is very polite to me!"

Then, a group of women jumped out one after another, using themselves as an example to tell Mu Jiaojiao.Mu Jiaojiao listened solemnly, and quietly remembered their names in his heart.

When they had finished speaking, it was the turn of the patriarch's wife.

She thinks she is more high-end than those people.So after a while after everyone finished speaking, she said to Mu Jiaojiao earnestly: "Mrs. Cui, don't blame us for speaking harshly, but in fact we are all for your own good! The older this woman is, the less valuable she is." Especially since you will soon be over 30... To tell you the truth, after I was [-] years old, my master seldom went to my room, and just hang out in my concubine's room. But men are different, Especially for someone like Cui Langjun, who is young and promising, and has a handsome face, there must have been many young ladies falling in love with him, right?"

Mu Jiaojiao nodded.

"That's why!" The patriarch's wife slapped her thigh, "Instead of letting those foreign goblins occupy the position, it's better for you to take the first step and insert your own people beside him. When you can't serve, let yourself In this way, no matter what, his person and heart are with you. As for whether the concubine will have children, and what the children will be up to, isn’t it up to you to decide? However, as someone who has experienced it, I I still advise you to leave some children for him anyway. Anyway, we are also regular wives, so we shouldn't be so narrow-minded, right?"

The corners of Mu Jiaojiao's lips hooked slightly. "That's right!"

After going around for a long time, they are brainwashing her - when you are old, you will immediately look old and look bad.Instead of dominating a man like this and making him unhappy, you might as well give him a few concubines and have more concubine children. It will also make you look virtuous, right?

But what is the use of this virtue for her?

Seeing this, the patriarch's wife and the others thought she had figured it out, and all of them were immediately overwhelmed with excitement.

The group leader's wife quickly changed her tone: "However, we are only giving you some references from our own perspective. As for the final choice of what to do, everything is up to you. If it is not because your husband and wife are sincere to my third uncle, Come to worship at this time, we wouldn't say so much to you with all our heart and soul."

Mu Jiaojiao curled her lips slightly again, and then turned her gaze to Mrs. Zhang Shiliu.

Everyone was excited immediately, and Mrs. Zhang Shiliu even held her head high, facing her pretty face directly, so that she could see her beauty clearly.

Mu Jiaojiao paused for a long time before slowly opening his mouth: "The sixteenth lady in your mansion was born really well, much better than I was at the beginning. If you want to take concubines for my husband, you have to take some concubines like her. Only those who are talented and good-looking will do."

This is exactly what they want!

A group of three aunts and six wives were happier, and they despised Mu Jiaojiao more and more in their hearts - she really was a merchant's daughter without a mother's upbringing, and her brain seemed to have grown up.They just said a few words casually, and she actually believed it?And foolishly slipped into the trap they set up.Hey, this kind of sense of accomplishment that can be earned casually is so boring!

Saying that, Mu Jiaojiao said to Madam Zhang Sixteen again: "Miss Sixteen, what do you think of my husband?"

Mrs. Zhang Sixteen's face was flushed, and she said shyly: "Cui Langjun is good-looking, young and talented, he is a rare good man in the world."

"Then, if I say that I want to help him take you as a concubine, will you be willing?"

"My... Marriage, how can I, a little lady, be the one to decide? Everything still depends on the elders."

The patriarch's wife can't wait to agree now!However, as a woman, you have to be more reserved.If you send your daughter away like this, the child will be worthless.

Therefore, a group of women exchanged glances with each other, and began to carry the sedan chair for Mrs. Zhang Sixteen.

Mrs. Zhang Shiliu's aunt first said: "Miss Sixteen is the youngest and most beautiful lady in our Zhang family. We all look forward to finding a good family for her. Her grandfather said many times, With our Zhang family's family status, and her character and appearance, it is more than enough to be the magistrate's wife!"

Others echoed one after another, and every word you said and me praised Mrs. Zhang Shiliu so much.

Mrs. Zhang Sixteen became more and more shy, but the concubine kept looking at Mu Jiaojiao secretly.

Mu Jiaojiao smiled and listened to them talking nonsense for a long time, and finally took the initiative to help them conclude: "So you didn't intend to let her be a concubine? I'm sorry, but I thought too much. I said, I All the sisters close to me are already married. I don’t believe in others. I really can’t find anyone to take care of my husband with me. Now that I see Miss Sixteen, I feel very kind. If we are together, we will definitely Can get along well. Who knows... Hey, I was thinking too much. After all, she is also the wife of Zhang Zhongshu's family. If Zhang Zhongshu is alive, how can he allow his grandniece to be someone else's concubine?"

After saying this... the faces of all the people present became weird, and they felt even weirder in their hearts.

Mu Jiaojiao's words sounded like they were just expressing feelings, but it was not the same thing in their ears.After all, Mu Jiaojiao just came here, so she doesn't know what happened here.But they themselves knew that the patriarch had already sent out countless young ladies to be concubines!

Therefore, Mu Jiaojiao's seemingly unintentional words were like a hard slap on their faces.

Could it be that she already knew their purpose?The patriarch's wife panicked, but immediately calmed down again.

They just came, where do they know where to go?And even if you know, so what?This kind of thing is what you love and what I want.The little ladies in their family are good-looking, and some of them are wanted by powerful people. This is something to add luster to their faces.If Cui Pu could accept the Sixteenth Lady, he would become brother-in-law with those people, and he would have someone to help him in Lingnan in the future.Kill two birds with one stone, if they have a little brains, they will know how to choose.

But now, how should they get back the words to Yuan and let Mu Jiaojiao know that they are still very willing to let the sixteenth lady be Cui Pu's concubine?

The patriarch's wife coughed twice, and the sixteenth lady was secretly anxious.

Really, it's clear that Mu Jiaojiao has already reached that point, if everyone goes along with the flow, then the matter will be settled!But these people insisted on talking nonsense, saying that they wanted to raise her status, but what happened?The cooked duck just flies!

She can't wait!
She would rather marry Cui Pu as a concubine than fill in the house for the magistrate in Shaozhou in his seventies and eighties. At least he is good-looking, young and promising!What's more... Mu Jiaojiao is the only woman beside Cui Pu.In other words, as long as you marry him, you have only one opponent.And this opponent has been sharing the bed with Cui Pu for 11 years, and Cui Pu is probably tired of sleeping with her long ago!
She is young and beautiful, and has Cui Pu's most respected Zhang Jiuling behind her as a backer. She doesn't believe that Cui Pu dare not treat her well after marrying her!
As for Mu Jiaojiao... Hehe, this woman is already old!When I get married, as long as she obediently abdicates to the virtuous, I will at least give her some dignity that a regular wife should have.

The more she thinks about it, the more she feels that this is a business that is sure to make money without losing money, so she took the initiative to answer shyly: "Grandmother said that because she loves me. It's just that I know myself. Now the third uncle is gone. Our Zhang family is in Qujiang. There is also no strong support. Although I can marry the county magistrate as a wife, I am afraid that officials above the county may not be able to climb up."

The implication is that it is just right for her to be a concubine for the magistrate.

But Mu Jiaojiao said: "Although we say that, we absolutely dare not let the daughter of the Zhang family be a concubine. By the way, I think the seventeenth lady and the eighteenth lady are not bad! Although the appearance is slightly smaller than yours It's a bit weaker, but this status is just right. Moreover, the upbringing of the Zhang family's wife must be guaranteed."

The seventeenth wife of Zhang and the eighteenth wife are all concubines.

They were originally arrested to serve as a foil for Mrs. Zhang Shiliu, and they remained obediently as green leaves during the banquet without saying a word.But who knows, Mu Jiaojiao suddenly mentioned them and said that they are very good!
The two young ladies couldn't help their hearts moving suddenly, and Cui Pu's handsome and resolute face appeared in their minds by coincidence.

All of a sudden, a little deer in my heart started running around.

Miss Zhang Sixteen's heart sank when she heard this.Looking at the reactions of the two concubines, her face sank, and she immediately cast a vicious look over her.

A little lady got up quickly: "I'm not feeling well, let's go for a walk first."

The other immediately found an excuse and left.

Needless to say, they must have gone to their aunt to discuss a solution.

After all, given the opportunity to be a concubine to the prefect of Guangzhou, who wouldn't want to take it into his own hands?What's more, they just heard from Mu Jiaojiao that Cui Pu is still the city's envoy now!Just think that every ship from the Hu merchants will bring all kinds of exotic treasures from abroad for them to enjoy, and they will be even more excited!

Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, these two little hoofs suddenly betrayed the water, and the faces of the ladies at the banquet became extremely ugly.He wanted to bring these two little girls back, but because Mu Jiaojiao was here, he couldn't act without authorization.But let them go, lest they cause some trouble.

After all, in such a family, it is definitely not a good thing to be able to survive until now.Everyone knows this.

Mu Jiaojiao smiled lightly—very good, the real excitement is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)