A farmer's daughter who traveled through time: Marrying a sickly man

My aunt chatted for a few minutes and then went to arrange the banquet.

Xia Tian chatted with the old lady of the Cui family, her fifth aunt, and Aunt Shen Nian.

"Xia Xia, how long have you been married?" asked Shen Nian's aunt Cui Biyun.

"Three years." Xia Tian also replied with a smile.

"So how many children do you two have now?" Cui Biyun continued to ask.

"We don't have any children yet!" Xia Tian smiled a little embarrassedly.

"No children yet?" Mrs. Cui asked in surprise.

"Well, the mansion was not very stable during those two years, so I was not in a hurry to have a child." Xia Tian did not hide anything. Seeing the curious looks in the three people's eyes, he told them all about the persecution Shen Nian had suffered at the hands of the Liu family over the years.

Xia Tian had a selfish motive in saying this. He just wanted the Cui family to know how difficult Shen Nian's life has been over the years, and not to feel bad about not having any contact for all these years.

In addition, although the Cui family does not have many high-ranking officials in the court, the Cui family has scholars all over the world and has a great influence among scholars. With their help, Shen Nian's future path will be smoother.

"That bastard!" Old Madam Cui slammed the table. "My grandson!"

She was angry and started wiping away tears.

Cui Bijun was also angry. "That damn woman is always putting on airs, but Marquis Wu'an is too blind to understand."

The old man of the Cui family and the two uncles of the Cui family, who were questioning Shen Nian, also looked over when they heard the noise.

Seeing how angry Madam Cui was, Mr. Cui asked in confusion, "What's going on?"

"You don't know anything. Nian'er has suffered so much over the years." The old lady wiped her tears and complained to Mr. Cui.

Shen Nian glanced at Xia Tian, feeling quite helpless.

He didn't expect her to tell the Cui family about that.

The old man was stunned by what the old lady said, and didn't know what was going on.

Cui Bijun quickly repeated what Xia Tian had just said.

Mr. Cui had a gloomy face and was silent for a long time without saying a word.

Cui's uncle was a little annoyed. "It's all my fault. I should have insisted on bringing the two children back."

"What's the point of saying that now? If you hadn't resigned and were still in the capital, would the Shen family dare to treat my two grandsons like this?" The old lady was displeased with everyone at this moment.

"Yes, mother taught me a lesson." Cui's uncle bowed his head and admitted his mistake, blaming himself in his heart for being too angry.

Seeing that the old lady was upset because of his affairs, Shen Nian quickly comforted her, "Grandma, it's over now. Please don't blame your uncles anymore. After all, it was your grandson who was ignorant and disappointed your uncles."

"You kid, you've encountered so many things, but you didn't even write a letter to your family. They are your uncles, how can they really turn against you?" The old lady complained while waving for Shen Nian to sit over.

When Shen Nian came over, he pulled her and rubbed her again and again, muttering "I've suffered, I've suffered."

Shen Nian's originally distant heart gradually became warmer.

After my aunt arranged the banquet, she came in and saw that everyone in the room looked a little strange. She asked curiously, "What happened?"

Fifth aunt quickly pulled her aside and whispered to her about Shen Nian.

The eldest aunt was silent for a moment, then smiled and comforted everyone, "What's past is past. From now on, with our Cui family here, no one will bully them anymore."

Then he turned around and comforted the old lady, "Mother, don't be sad. Nian'er has returned and is now the governor of Linzhou. No one can bully him anymore. Don't worry."

The old lady then forced a smile.

Xia Tian didn't expect that her words would bring so many tears, and she felt a little embarrassed.

However, it can be seen from what was said just now that the Cui family really treats Shen Nian as a relative and does not rush to curry favor with him just because he is now a high-ranking official.

Then this relative can continue to be a long-term friend in the future.

Seeing that the old lady was feeling better, the aunt-in-law quickly asked the maid to bring warm water and a handkerchief and asked the old lady to wipe her face.

He then began to invite everyone to go to the hall for dinner.

The atmosphere at the table was quite harmonious, and no one adhered to the rule of "no talking while eating or sleeping".

The uncle even asked Shen Nian curiously, "I heard that the kang that people in Linzhou want to build in their homes now is the one you promoted?"

"Yeah." Shen Nian nodded. "I saw that some people were poor and had thin clothes, so I thought of building a kang in the north to make winter easier for them."

"That's a good thing," Mr. Cui praised. "Although the south isn't as cold as the north, it's still cold and damp in the winter. The kang in the north is indeed much warmer in the winter."

Old Master Cui used to be an official in the capital for several years. Later, when he got old, he resigned and returned home. He had slept on that kang, so he knew all this.

When they talked about official affairs, they began to talk more.

Mr. Cui and his two uncles also told Shen Nian in detail about the situation in Linzhou.

Following the conversation, Shen Nian asked about the situation during the disaster, "Grandpa and Uncle, do you know why Governor Luo did that?"

"Governor Luo probably feared that the Emperor would blame him for his incompetence after the plague was reported, so he wanted to control it himself.

But the plague spread quickly, and without a proper response, it quickly spread and became uncontrollable."

Cui's uncle was also very anxious at the time. Many students in the academy were infected, and they went to see Governor Luo.

Governor Luo only ordered the infected people to be isolated and did not find a doctor to treat them. Fortunately, the emperor later sent an imperial physician to control the plague.

Otherwise, we don’t know what a hell on earth Sangluo City had become, and many people died at that time.

"Then why weren't other officials implicated?" Shen Nian couldn't figure it out.

It's impossible that such a big thing is the responsibility of Governor Luo alone, right?

"The Emperor probably did this for the sake of the people of Linzhou." Old Master Cui stroked his beard. "The drought and plague have just passed. Linzhou cannot afford to continue to experience unrest and cause instability. Who knows what will happen in the future."

Shen Nian ate his meal silently, thinking about his future.

Xia Tian had a good chat with Mrs. Cui, her two aunts and her aunt Cui Biyun.

At first, the Cui family was a little surprised to know that she came from the countryside, but later they felt that she was well-spoken and had considerable knowledge and experience, so they temporarily put their minds at ease.

All in all, this meeting with the Cui family was quite pleasant, and we agreed that the two families should have more interactions in the future.

After Shen Nian and Xia Tian came back, Shen Nian devoted himself to his work again, while Xia Tian concentrated on preparing New Year gifts for several families.

After the gift was prepared, Shen Nian found a reliable person to send it to the capital.

In the summer, we also received holiday gifts from many families including Mr. Cao, Mr. Li, and Mr. Wang.

He was busy preparing return gifts for each family.

This had never been prepared so formally before, and to avoid any mistakes, I simply called Nanny Zhang over to give me some advice.

Since returning from the Cui family, Aunt Zhang has been in much better spirits.

Xia Tian asked her to take charge of the affairs of the mansion, and she naturally agreed and did a great job.

Xia Tian was also very happy to see her spirited appearance. It seems that even when people get old, they still need to be needed in order to be in a good mood.