The Second and Third Branches
Madam Xie patted her daughter's hand and asked, "When are we moving?"
Xu Yongyi pondered for a moment, "Let's hurry. When we get back, I'll find a middleman and have him choose a family of servants for us, preferably a middle-aged couple with a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child. That way, the boy can stay with Chongwen, and the girl can be Xiaoxue's maid. The couple can help us prepare the dishes."
He turned to look at Xu Chongwen: "But buying people can't be rushed. If we can't find a suitable one, we'll have to wait. Chongwen can't be delayed. Tomorrow morning I'll deliver vegetables to the restaurant in the capital and bring him over. In the evening, I'll have him hire a mule cart to go back. We'll do this for now. Once we buy someone, we'll have someone else come along to cook, so he won't have to run back and forth."
Xu Xue glanced at her brother and suggested, "Dad, I thought Tenth Madam Zhao was quite amiable earlier, and the old lady even suggested we share a meal. Why don't you have my brother talk to her family and offer them some money so they can cook a meal for him when they cook? That way, he won't have to run back and forth. He can just live alone in that house..."
She asked, "Brother, are you scared?"
Xu Chongwen rolled his eyes at her. "Do you think I'm like you? I'm all grown up, and I'm still a boy, what's there to be afraid of?" He turned to Xu Yongyi and said, "Dad, let's do as my sister says. You were too rushed to take me this morning, there wasn't enough time."
Xu Yongyi also thought his daughter's idea was good.
The restaurant needs cold dishes for lunch or dinner, so there's no need to rush to deliver them early in the morning. However, my son has an early start time for school, and I doubt he can make the dishes in time, which would be very tight. If Xu Chongwen were to stay and eat in Beijing, we wouldn't have to interfere with each other.
As for whether Xu Chongwen was afraid to live alone in a large house in the capital, or whether he was eating well at Tenth Madam Zhao's place, he wasn't considering that for the time being.
Boys need to have a spirit of enduring hardship. Besides, this is only temporary; their whole family will move in within half a month at most. He's not freezing or starving, so it's really nothing.
"Let's do it that way."
As he spoke, he touched his daughter's head with deep emotion, feeling even more grateful for Zhao Ruxi's advice to send Xu Xue to the academy.
At the Earl of Suiping's Residence, after seeing off the Xu Family, Zhao Ruxi followed Lady Zhu into her courtyard and asked, "Mother, did anything happen at the manor today?"
She felt something was off about the atmosphere at home today.
"Alas, Lady Wei has been executed," Lady Zhu said. "Your second uncle took four children to collect her body at Wushi, hastily buried her in a makeshift cemetery in the suburbs. After returning, he kowtowed to your grandmother before going back. Jing'an wasn't well to begin with, and now he has a fever and is talking nonsense."
Although Zhao Ruxi went to the Court of Judicial Review today, Zhang Changshen probably didn't want to disturb her peace of mind with such a matter, so he specifically instructed Zhong Shengrong not to tell her about it. Therefore, Zhao Ruxi knew nothing about it.
Zhao Ruxi's heart suddenly felt heavy.
No matter how despicable Lady Wei, the fact that someone who was causing such a ruckus just a few days ago was suddenly beheaded makes me feel uneasy.
She herself had this feeling, let alone the old lady, Lady Zhu, who had been with Lady Wei for many years, and the people from the second branch of the family.
She looked up at Zhao Yuanxun and asked, "Father, has the third branch of the family made any moves lately?"
Zhao Yuanxun had never liked Lady Wei. This woman caused trouble all day long in the mansion, making a huge fuss for his mother and wife. Thinking about the suffering his daughter had endured, he felt no sympathy whatsoever.
He had no prior contact with Lady Wei, so he wasn't particularly affected by her death.
Mentioning Zhao Yuankun, he sneered, "Just as you said, your third uncle has ingratiated himself with the Office of the Grand Steward of Imperial Sacrifices. He also got an official position for your second uncle, but not in the Office of the Grand Steward of Capital Military and Police Commission. He even wants your third aunt to arrange a marriage for your second uncle with the widowed daughter of a colleague in the Office of the Grand Steward Sacrifices. In this way, your second uncle will be firmly under his control."
Zhao Ruxi immediately perked up. "Then what do you plan to do, Father?"
She knew that she didn't need to personally eliminate Zhao Yuankun.
Although the old lady may be a little confused at times, she has managed to keep Zhao Yuankun under control for so many years, which is no accident.
Although Zhao Yuanxun was sickly, he was also very clear-headed. The fact that he had survived until now without being killed by the scheming Zhao Yuankun meant that, while he might not have been able to control him, he was at least capable of protecting himself. Not to mention the methods that Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu used to deal with the Lady Wei.
There are definitely more than one spies around Zhao Yuanliang and Zhao Yuankun, who are actually the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun. Even after the family split up, the second and third branches of the family couldn't cultivate their own trusted confidants in a short time, and they didn't know which of their accomplices were treacherous, so they had no choice but to rely on the existing ones.
In this way, their every move could not escape the eyes of the eldest son's family.
Moreover, the incident at the Marquis's residence wouldn't happen for three years. In three years, how much could she possibly accomplish? Even if her abilities were limited and she couldn't stop the situation from unfolding, they could still use the people the old lady had planted around Yuankun Zhao Yuankun kill or cripple him. After all, the Crown Prince's rebellion was sudden, and she knew the timeline; it wouldn't be difficult for the Earl of Suiping's Residence to extricate itself from this quagmire. She didn't want to dirty her hands until things reached that point, nor did she want the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun to think she was a ruthless person.
She cherishes having such a family in her life. It's completely unnecessary for her to be disliked and alienated by her relatives for the sake of Zhao Yuankun. It's like killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own.
Therefore, she had only given some pointers to the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun, and had not done anything to Zhao Yuankun, intending to wait and see how things went.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Yuankun was even more unruly than described in the book. After all, in his previous life, the family hadn't split up, and at that time, he was still being suppressed by the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun. Now that the family had split up, he was acting up ahead of time, and things were developing in the direction she had hinted at, which aroused the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun's attention and vigilance towards him.
This way, she wouldn't have to worry too much about Zhao Yuankun's affairs; she could simply leave it to the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun.
To protect her son and keep the family together, the old lady was ruthless enough to do anything. Although Lady Zhu was kind and gentle, she was equally capable of ruthless acts for her husband and children. Zhao Yuanxun was also not someone who didn't know what was important.
From Zhao Yuanxun's journey to Jiangnan to find a midwife and then leveraging that power to handle the Wei Family's affairs so well, it's clear he's a decisive and capable man. During the family division, Zhao Yuankun deeply hurt him. If necessary, Zhao Yuanxun likely wouldn't consider brotherly affection, because like his wife, he has family to protect.
With such family members around, she basically no longer needs to worry about the affairs of Zhao Yuankun and Zhao Yuanliang's two branches.