♂?，，

  Mrs. Meng said so, and at the same time gave a wink to Miss Meng, who understood and smiled, knowing that unmarried girls shouldn't hear such things. She politely but reluctantly escorted the girls out the door. Two of them wanted to stay and watch the commotion, but Ding Rou voluntarily left with Miss Meng, bidding her farewell. Miss Meng said: "Sister Ding, you must come visit again another day."

  Ding Rou knelt down and bid farewell, smiling brightly as she said: "I'll come to bother Sister Meng again."

  The maid from the Zhou household led the way, and Ding returned to the carriage. Those two young ladies who were waiting to see what would happen would definitely be scolded by their parents when they got back home. Ding Yu tightened her cloak and stroked the hand warmer, she was also curious about why Madame Meng was making such a big fuss, being blocked at the gate of the mansion. She didn't believe that there wouldn't be any rumors spreading inside the Zhou household. Madame Meng had lost face in front of the guests, who would they blame for leaking the news?

  Before long, a commotion was heard outside the carriage, "Sixth Miss, the old madam is almost here."

  Ding Rou put down the hand warmer and got off the carriage to welcome Mrs. Li, she didn't dare to sit inside the carriage with a big smile on her face, Ding Rou hadn't expected that the first person she would meet was Mrs. Li, the carriages of the Ding and Li families stopped at the same place, Ding Rou knelt down and said: "Mrs. Li."

  "Miss Ting Liu?"

  Mrs. Li stopped in her tracks, her eyes fixed on Ding Rou's smiling face. Ding Rou really didn't know what she was paying attention to - her looks were only delicate, she had no particular talent, and she was clumsy by nature. What was there about herself that was worth looking at? Wasn't it just because she ate too much rich food? It wasn't that Ding Rou was being self-deprecating, but any of the young ladies from good families in the house were more beautiful than her. Even though Ding Rou felt like a mature woman on the inside, her body hadn't developed yet and she still looked like a little girl. And Mrs. Li wasn't some kind of pervert who would be staring at her all the time, so what was she looking at?

  "May I know what's going on at Zhou's place?"

  Ding Rou smiled and said: "The weather outside is cold, I think it will snow heavily again. You should be careful when returning to the mansion, the wheels of the carriage are easy to slip."

  Is this what you didn't want to hear? Madame Li's eyes flashed, and she sighed to herself: "A famous courtesan wants to enter the Zhou household? Does she think that just because she gave birth to a son, the Zhou family will acknowledge her?"

  Ding Rou's smile remained unchanged, as if she hadn't heard Mrs. Li's words. Since there was no granddaughter by her side, only two maidservants, Ding Rou took the initiative to step forward and support her arm, "You slow down a bit."

  After sending Mrs. Li into the carriage, Ding Rou left, during which she didn't say a word more than usual, her expression was normal. Mrs. Li sat in the carriage and took a look at Ding Rou who came to welcome her, tightened her cloak for her, smiled cleverly and said that there was hot tea in the carriage. Mrs. Li withdrew her gaze, "Return to the mansion."

  Ding Ruo sat together with Tai Furen in the horse-drawn carriage. After taking a sip of the hot tea offered by Ding Ruo, Tai Furen asked: "Have you spoken to Li Furen?"

  Ding Ruo first told the coachman to slow down, then put a piece of silver carbon in the hand warmer and handed it to Madame Wang. The fluffy pendant outside swayed gently as she spoke softly, "Speaking of the Zhou family's affairs."

  The old lady's expression solidified, "How did you get back?"

  "Zhou's family is not our mansion, she is the madam of Li's mansion, and has only met her granddaughter once, does her granddaughter need to go back?"

  Old Madam poked Ting Ruo's forehead with her finger and thought to herself, "Little devil."

  She never forgot her roots and didn't think about climbing high branches. In front of Mrs. Li, she showed off her talents or differences, "I have seen the King of Xinyang."

  Ding Ruo found a fur coat on Tai Fu's knees and smiled: "Grandmother, the granddaughter is a commoner, can't be compared with someone of that status."

  Madam Tai and Ding Ruo exchanged a glance, then leaned back in their seats. "It's not just him, the entire Ding Manor isn't worthy."

  The horse carriage left the Zhou's residence, and Ting Ruo lifted a corner of the curtain to look out. In front of the gate, a woman dressed as a servant was kneeling, holding an infant in her arms. On such a cold day, what if the child got frostbite? Was this another romantic entanglement caused by Second Master Zhou? Was that woman a courtesan? Although Ting Ruo couldn't see her face clearly, she vaguely felt that it should be a beautiful woman.

  The great Qin officials and dignitaries have been promoting the famous courtesans, and in recent years, it has become popular for them to invite singing girls to gatherings. Dinger heard that on the banks of the Qinhuai River, there were many painted boats gathered together, with music and dance filling the air, and every night, the candles lit up the river. The literati and scholars who lived in the Qinhuai River area had promoted four famous courtesans, and it was rumored that Zhou Erlao's workplace was not far from the Qinhuai River...

  "She was one of the four famous courtesans, Liu Ruyu. Also known as Meiying Jushi, she referred to herself as Plum."

  "Uh-huh."

  "The child can stay, but the Zhou family will never let her in. Just now, Mrs. Meng taught her son a lesson about the importance of family reputation. She's also foolish to believe that just because she's reformed, the Zhou family would welcome her into their home? A courtesan is still a courtesan, and the Zhou family would rather take in an ordinary-looking concubine than a famous courtesan like her. Once you've entered the pleasure quarters, who can look up to you again?"

  "Uh-huh."

  The old lady patted Ding Ruo's hand, "I say these things for two reasons. Firstly, it's because I understand the situation, and secondly, to teach the mistress of the house how to handle this matter. It was Meng Erniang who knelt down and begged Meng Lao Tai Tai to forgive her husband, saying that if she had taken care of him properly, he wouldn't have made mistakes. Seeing Meng Erniang's actions, I felt a bit moved. Liu Ruyuan has become a virtuous name for her. Meng Tai Fu will eventually come around after punishing her son and nursing his wounds. As they go back and forth, the feelings between husband and wife will deepen. A beautiful concubine can never compare to a virtuous wife. As long as the legitimate wife's heart is in the right place, even if a heavenly beauty were to appear, Zhou Da Ren wouldn't dare to favor the concubine over his wife."

  Ding Rou nodded, "It's just a pity that Liu Ruyuan was born as a child, even if she took the surname Zhou, in the Zhou household it would be extremely embarrassing."

  "Who gave him a ruthless mother, with such an origin, when he grew up, he didn't know how to resent his birth mother." The old lady sighed as usual: "It was recorded under the name of the legitimate mother, it was originally legitimate, and Mr. Zhou had no children. It's good that it can be used as a legitimate son, but now it's known all over the capital city, and the Zhou family can barely keep the child. In three days' time, the imperial censor will have something to say again, and Mr. Zhou's moral character cannot escape. Originally, the Ministry of Justice's assessment was excellent, but now... wanting to get promoted is even more difficult, and if things go wrong, it may also implicate his older brother."

  His elder brother was the Minister of Official Personnel, in charge of officials' promotions. His younger brother caused such a big commotion and still managed to get a good deal. He had to explain it well to the Emperor. Ding Rou turned her head and suddenly said: "This famous courtesan won't have a grudge against the Zhou family, will she?"

  The Madame, who had just shown a hint of fatigue, suddenly straightened up, "Is there an enemy?"

  Ding Rou picked up the fur that had slipped from Tai Furen's knees, without disturbing her train of thought. "It was you who said it might implicate Servant Lang Zhong."

  Ding Ruo just thought along the lines of what Tai Fu Ren had said, stroking the pelt in her hand. Ding Ruo lowered her head and curled up the corners of her mouth. As for who could have told Liu Ruoyu about the news of Zhou Manor's banquet for the noblewomen of Beijing today, apart from the servants of Zhou Manor, it was possible that it was a political enemy of the Zhou family or someone from another circle.

  It's not surprising to think of this year's imperial examination, the scholars from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are renowned for their talents, that official Zhou who caused trouble has a certain reputation among the scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, his moral character is not cultivated, which undermines the morale of the scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, when the emperor selects the top scholar, he will take this into consideration, moral character is more important than talent, cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, and bringing peace to the world, cultivating oneself means cultivating virtue, if one's family is not at peace, how can one bring peace to the world?

  "Sixth sister, there's a grudge, and it can't be settled."

  Mrs. Li knew more than Ding Ruo, and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang faction was also fighting for power and profit, everyone wanted to become the party leader. Originally, Mrs. Li favored Servant Lang Zhou, due to his mother, Madame Meng's reason. The Meng family had produced a fourth imperial concubine, today seeing Miss Meng being virtuous and talented, Mrs. Li seemed to have taken notice, leaving behind the Snow Plum painting saying it was for an old friend to appreciate, even though she didn't explicitly say who, but everyone knew that Princess Consort of Xinyang liked paintings.

  Xinyang Wangfu...

  "In fact, the granddaughter thought that according to Xinyang Wang Taifei's temperament, choosing a daughter-in-law wouldn't listen to anyone's opinion." Ding Rou said softly: "I heard my mother say that the lady of Lanling Houfu chose a husband for her eldest daughter, and she was also very close to Xinyang Wang Taifei, besides having the scripture given by Third Sister."

  The Queen of Xinyang is hotter than any position, the prominent position is the volcano mouth, without sufficient ability to shake off the surging magma, Madam Ta's gaze at Ding Rou brought a hint of comfort, "Take another look."

  "Father has been appointed by the Emperor as a deputy, to assist the chief examiner in presiding over this examination. As long as he handles it properly, given the importance the Emperor attaches to this examination, he will certainly be reused and promoted. If he does his job well, no one can find fault with him, and when the time comes for promotion, there will be people who will actively help him."

  Ding Dong is the assistant, helping the chief examiner. If he relies on his backstage influence too much, it will easily cause the chief examiner's resentment. At a sensitive time like this, being too closely tied to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang factions will make him suspect in the eyes of the superior officials. Today, with the incident at the Zhou residence, if there is another unexpected event during the exam, Ding Dong may be implicated. Ding Ruo guessed that the emperor suddenly transferred Ding Dong out of the Hanlin Academy for a reason. The Ding family belongs to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang circle, but has been out of touch for a long time and is not deeply involved. Ding Dong's identity makes him the most suitable person to use in this situation.

  The lady leaned against the cushion with her eyes closed, the carriage swaying gently as it moved forward. The pearls and jade on Lady Tai's head sparkled, and the pearl earrings on her ears flashed several strands of silver light. Ting Ruo said no more, bowing his head to look at the jade hand warmer in his hands, as if studying the structure of the jade. Lady Tai opened a slit in her eyes, and a thread of brightness flashed through.

  "We've arrived at the mansion, please get down from the carriage, Madame."

  Ding Ruo jumped down from the carriage and was about to help Madame Ding down when she saw, under the light of the lanterns, Ding Min being supported by Li Mama as she got down. Ding Min's hands and feet were stiff, as if she couldn't walk, her eyelashes had snow on them, and her face was as white as an ice sculpture, frozen through. Ding Min's suffering was too great.

  Madam Li ordered the preparation of a sedan chair, and had Ding Min carried back. When she saw Ding Rou, Madam Li knelt down, her lips frozen stiff: "Six...Miss..."

  Ding Ruo could see that Li Mama was frozen stiff, and as an elderly person, she couldn't take the cold. A hint of resentment flashed in her eyes, directed at Ding Min. Not only had Ding Min suffered, but she had also offended the person Grand Madam trusted the most. Why must things always go against her wishes, never changing?

  "Mrs. Li drank some ginger tea with brown sugar, warming her body."

  Ding Rou supported and escorted Mrs. Ta down to the garden, accompanying her back to Cheng Song Garden. A simple sentence that anyone would say, but Li Mama remembered Ding Rou's kindness, she was also freezing cold and needed warmth.

  /br

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