Chapter 157 Chapter 157 The finale is double...

"Let your son-in-law write a letter back to Daming Mansion to inform your parents-in-law of the good news. I'll let your brother and sister-in-law take care of it for you, so you can enjoy it for a few days." Jinniang said to her daughter.

Sister Yun held the copied Jinshi pass record, and finally felt relieved: "My daughter doesn't know what to say, it's like a dream."

Jinniang smiled and said, "It's all like this. When your father won the first prize in Kaifeng Prefecture, I felt like I was floating in water. I didn't know what was true and what was false. You may not know that because I was doing needlework for a long time at that time, one day my eyes shed a lot of tears, and the corners of my lower eyelids and mouth twitched intermittently. I was afraid that I would have facial paralysis, so I felt helpless, but I had to do it. Otherwise, if your father passed the next exam, he would have to spend money on socializing. So, when I heard the news, it was like a long drought finally coming to an end."

"My uncle is smart and easygoing, needless to say. Even if the Wei family doesn't hold official positions, they are still a wealthy family. You will definitely get a large sum of money when you divide the family in the future. But I think if a person doesn't have the ability, he may not be able to protect it even if he owns a mountain of gold and silver. Fortunately, your father listened to me and was not afraid of offending my uncle. He forced him to study. Now he has finally reaped the rewards of his hard work. Mother is happy for you."

Sister Yun hugged her mother with tears in her eyes.

Meng Jiasanlang who lives next door also won. His ranking was slightly lower than Wei Qilang, but they were also in the top three. Sun Shichen helped his brother-in-law to get a good position, as a military officer in the Lin'an Prefecture, and he took office that same day.

Since Wei Qillang and Meng Sanlang are now neighbors and classmates, Yun Jie'er and Sun Da Niang were also talking together.

"I wonder what official position your husband has been assigned to?" Miss Sun was very happy. She had finally made it through and was not afraid of anything anymore.

Sister Yun said, "The magistrate of Wu County."

Wei Qilang already held an official position in the Taichang Temple, and now he had passed the imperial examination and became a local official. This was also a coincidence. Jiang Xian once served as a county lieutenant in Wu County. He knew very well that Wu County was very prosperous. He originally thought about arranging a post in Pingjiang Army, but Jinniang said that if you love someone, you cannot harm him, and training a person starts with being a parent official.

Even Ning Ge'er started out as a magistrate.

Without the experience of serving in foreign posts, we will not fully understand the sufferings of the people, nor will we become more mature through experience.

Miss Sun smiled and said, "That's great, we're on the way."

Sister Yun also responded with a smile.

They each had their parents’ advice. Jinniang told her, “The Gu family is the leader of the local gentry. Although it is not as strong as before, we have a long-standing friendship. In addition…”

She told her daughter all about her relationship and wrote a few letters, asking her daughter to help take them over.

Yun Jieer was naturally absorbed in listening, and then she heard her mother say, "I have another thing to entrust to you. I have a farm and a shop in Wu County. You knew this when you were at your mother's house. Please help me check out the shop. If Manager Yao is not a good person, write to me and tell me. Remember, you must tell the truth."

Fan Zhuangtou is okay. Although his son is not as capable as Fan Si, he is an honest person. Manager Yao might be afraid that he would be out of reach in the future, so he might as well deal with it now while he still has the power.

Yun Jieer nodded, and she went back to pack her luggage, but she saw her husband sitting in the room in a daze, and couldn't help but ask: "You didn't make a sound in the room, who are you trying to scare?"

Wei Qilang sighed: "I never thought I would pass the exam. Before the exam, my mother-in-law even hung the Wenchang Emperor she embroidered in my room. Although I am very happy, I still feel reluctant to leave like this..."

He lived at his aunt's house, which was really like his own home. His aunt also secretly gave him pocket money every year and helped him decorate his room. Alas!

"So this is why you're being so nagging. Wouldn't it be better if you just do your job well? You can also make some achievements. Then you and Ning'er can support each other in the court in the future. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?" Yun Jie'er said with a smile.

Wei Qilang then nodded slowly.

Not to mention that Jinniang sent her daughter and son-in-law away, and personally used her private money to invite her family to have dinner at Huixianlou. In the past two years, Jiang Xian and Ning Ge'er have spent a lot of effort on Wei Qilang.

On Jinniang's birthday in June, Ning Ge'er and Lu Qionghua gave her a pair of crystal Ganoderma lucidum hairpins and a rosewood screen. The crystal hairpins were rare, and the enamel on the rosewood screen was extremely beautiful. I'm afraid these were prepared by Lu Qionghua. Jinniang nodded slightly, thinking that her daughter-in-law's care for her was not in vain.

After Mrs. Wei learned that Wei Qilang had passed the imperial examination, she specially gave Jinniang a pair of gauze cabinets made of fragrant wood on her birthday to thank her. Inside was a glass lamp, and underneath were two boxes of exquisite jewelry, one box inlaid with gold cat stones, and the other box with white jade and pearls.

Not to mention that there were many people who offered bribes under the pretext of celebrating birthdays, but Jinniang returned all of them. She only accepted valuable items from relatives, and would not accept them from strangers, as she was not short of money now.

Jinniang had a total of 4,000 strings of cash in stock from the house she sold in Luoyang last year. She simply took out 3,000 strings of cash and set up a one-stop wedding shop with three large rooms and two entrances. She provided everything from wedding dresses for the bride, dragon and phoenix quilts on the bed, and supplies for making the room, and even wedding candies. It goes without saying that the colorful satin is skillfully crafted.

She had tasted the sweetness of running a wedding shop before. It was really profitable and she could also cooperate with local matchmakers.

Thinking of this, she found Minzhi and said, "I want you to be the female manager of this shop. Are you willing?"

Now Aying is the housekeeper, Qingrong is in charge of her yard, and although Minzhi is a needleworker, she is of little use. So, Jinniang asked this question. Of course, if Minzhi didn't want to, she had a substitute.

Minzhi agreed immediately, and Jinniang made a so-called "planning document", which stipulated how to recruit embroiderers, how to arrange accommodation, and what themes to choose.

He gave her two hundred strings of cash as capital to hire an embroiderer to purchase silk threads and fabrics, and asked her to keep accounts on a daily basis.

The master and servant discussed the matter for half a month, and Minzhi found an intermediary to recruit two masters of Suzhou embroidery and two masters of Sichuan embroidery, and then recruited four apprentices, and bought two servants to serve these embroiderers specifically and not let them do rough work.

Minzhi followed Jinniang's previous arrangements and first arranged the furniture, spread out their embroidery, hung the wedding dress on the shelf, and so on.

Originally Minzhi was just a seamstress and a maid, but now that her wife said that she would give her a tenth of the profit from the shop, she took the courage to step out. She also bought some wedding candies for Jinniang to taste and told her which ones to buy, and then she would bargain with others. This was the first time she had done this, but she felt that the obstacles to getting out were not as great as she had imagined.

Chen Xiaolang also joked: "My wife made her fortune by doing embroidery. She is the best at it. Now that it is handed over to you, you can't be careless."

"Don't you know this yet, Manager Chen?" Minzhi snorted coldly.

The shop opened in August. Jinniang went to see it in person and gave some advice. She also said, "I heard that next year is the Year of the Dragon. Many people plan to get married this year and have dragon babies next year. So you should prepare some patchwork clothes and children's clothes for the children. The rest is fine."

Jinniang already has a draft for the flower and bird part, and the master who made the dragon and phoenix quilt is also an experienced craftsman.

The master chefs are paid two taels of silver per month, which increases to one tael after three years of work and five taels after ten years of work. Apprentices are provided with food and lodging in the early stages, and receive two cents of silver per month, and their wages will increase gradually over time.

Don’t underestimate this kind of wedding shop, it can be run forever and the cost is very low.

Jiang Xian said, "My wife, you just lost 4,000 taels last year, and this year you took out this much money again. I thought you would save it."

"Money is something that you have to save when you have less. If you have more, you can give it a try without touching the foundation. Besides, the business I run is in my own field, so I won't lose money anyway." Jinniang said with a smile.

If the silk and velvet shop business fails in the future, it would be nice to rent it out since it is located in a prosperous area.

So, she is not worried.

At least Wei Yang was promoted to the sixth rank Langzhong of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Works this year. Of course, this was also because of his brother-in-law's face. Otherwise, it would not be easy for an official to be promoted by one level. Jiang Xian had to endure for twenty years before becoming a Hanlin scholar.

Zhang Pingjun invited relatives to celebrate, but Jiang Xian could not go, so Jinniang took Ning Ge'er and his wife and Ding Ge'er to go together. They changed their house from two courtyards to three courtyards, and also brought Luo Yu'e and his wife to live with them.

However, Luo Yu'e and Wei Xiong have renovated the manor in the past few years. Even Jinniang rarely comes here and lives in the manor, which is very comfortable.

"Sister is here, Brother Ning's wife, please come in and sit down." Zhang Pingjun entertained her and asked her daughter Ziyi to come over.

Lu Qionghua followed Jinniang and served her. When at home, Jinniang didn't have to make her daughter-in-law follow the rules and let them live in their own house. But they still had to pretend to be well behaved outside, otherwise people would not blame Jinniang, but only say that Lu didn't serve her mother-in-law.

Because Jinniang was coming, Wei Yang's superiors also sent a gift.

The food, fruits and vegetables were very rich, and Zhang Pingjun wanted to keep the guests. Jinniang smiled and said, "My uncle's daughter is getting married these days, so we have to go over."

Zhang Pingjun knew that Jiang Yan had gone to Jiangning to serve as the prefect. It was said that Xu had been ill recently and had a tumor on her arm. She was weak and did not look like she was capable of doing anything.

Besides, Jiang Fang is too arrogant now, and Jiang Yan may have a chance to make a comeback, so it is not easy to keep him.

After leaving the Zhang family, Jinniang and Dingger rode in the same carriage. She used to focus all her energy on her eldest son and daughter, but now it is almost all on her youngest son.

She was just asking, "I heard someone call you 'Jade-faced Rakshasa' today. This nickname was given to your grandmother. How come you also have it?"

"Mom, you don't know, even the provincial school is a cannibalistic place. At first, I was like my brother, wearing inconspicuous clothes. Some people wanted to bully me, but I revealed my identity and they all obeyed me. Also, my son learned lower body kung fu. Last time, someone tried to plot against me, but I kicked his leg black." Ding Ge'er told Jin Niang.

Jinniang thought that when a girl is in seclusion, she is spoiled by her parents and most of them are unaware of the dangers in the outside world. Men, however, have long known how to oppress each other, how to suppress others, and how to deal with others.

Especially someone as well-born as Ding'er. He was the youngest in the family and was so handsome. Jinniang was afraid that he would be bullied, so she always brought two servants and four guards with him. ,

Unexpectedly, his counterattack ability was quite strong. Jinniang was relieved: "As long as you can handle it."

When Ding'er was a child, he mostly wore his brother's clothes. Now that he has grown up, Jinniang sees that her youngest son is handsome and is more willing to make clothes for him, making him look even more outstanding.

"Mom, I heard that Dad is going to be promoted. Is that true?" Ding Ge'er asked.

Jinniang said, "Not really. Your father wanted to ask the court to suppress the uprising, so he became the envoy to Xuanfu, so it is inconvenient for him to come these days."

Ding Ge'er suddenly realized.

When Jiang Xian was not at home, Jinniang's life was pretty good. Her daughter-in-law would often bring her grandson over to talk. The men are not at home during the day, and the women just chat and drink tea together.

Lu Qionghua came over early this morning. Jinniang smiled and said, "I just need to have breakfast. Come and eat together."

"Okay, your daughter-in-law is grateful to you today." Lu Qionghua sat down.

But considering that Lv Qionghua has a weak spleen and stomach, he asked someone to buy her porridge at Liulou: "I rarely went to our Liulou in Jinliangqiao before, but I went there once and found that it really has everything and the food is delicious."

Different from most scholars who like to live in villas and retire to the countryside, Jinniang likes to live in bustling cities. There is everything to eat and drink, it is popular and convenient, and she is not a quiet person.

After the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law finished their meal, the ladies in charge came over. Jinniang did not shy away from her daughter-in-law, saying that she was here to give an account to Minzhi today. She said, "These days, the orders are all booked until next month, and the shop has hired two more assistants."

Jinniang smiled and said, "Although the shop is busy, we must remember not to let the embroiderers stay up late, and not to rush through the work. The most important thing is to collect the drafts once they are finished, and not let anyone take them out."

She flipped through the account book and was very satisfied. In the past, there were only two or three embroiderers in Jinniang's shop, and only Zhu Xiu Niang, who specialized in making wedding quilts, earned a lot of money, not to mention that there are eight embroiderers now. In just this month, we received orders worth nearly five hundred strings of cash.

Jinniang would be satisfied with the embroidery shop's revenue of about two thousand strings of cash, so she gave the account book to her.

After Minzhi left, Luo Da came over. Lu Qionghua couldn't sit down anymore, so she went downstairs first. Luo Da came to talk about the affairs of the Luoyang manor. After all, Luoyang's manor was the largest, and Jinniang had always paid attention to management issues. Tenants could not be oppressed, and crimes could not be committed at will. Otherwise, no matter how great the contribution was, she would be driven out or handed over to the government.

After Luo Da left, Manager Liang came over. Jinniang asked Aying to give him two thousand taels to sell raw silk, and asked him to put his fingerprints on it. Only then were the morning's affairs completed.

After taking a nap, she did needlework for an hour and began to design and organize the drawings. In fact, the clothes she designed before were quite creative, and she might not be able to think of such matching now. However, several years had passed and the paper had turned yellow, so she had to finish it again.

When she drew the design, she went to the flower pavilion, where there were flower beds and the weather was comfortable.

After painting for two hours, when Ding Ge'er came over, she realized that she was actually a little hungry for dinner.

When the mother and son dine together, they only have four dishes and one soup. The Jiang family rarely has the habit of wasting food. Jinniang has taught her children since they were young to eat as much as they can.

"Mom, Han Dalang asked me to play polo tomorrow. My son will be there tomorrow, so he won't be at home for dinner." Ding Ge'er said.

Jinniang smiled and said, "Go out and have fun. Do you want your brother to pick you up?"

Ding Ge'er quickly shook his head: "Stop it now, people will laugh at me."

Knowing that the child is older and cares about his reputation, Jinniang did not stop him. He has attended many such gatherings and is not afraid of them. Jinniang asked Ziteng to find his riding clothes, ironed them herself, and tidied them up before returning to her room.

The next day, because Madam Lu came to Bian Jing, Lu Qionghua took her child back to her parents' home. Jinniang was completing the design draft in the flower pavilion when she saw Madam Zhou San coming to her house.

Whenever she saw Madam Zhou San in the past, she would see her dressing herself up nicely and rarely doing anything ungraceful. But today she looked very haggard.

"Sister-in-law."

Seeing this, Jinniang asked her to sit down: "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

Mrs. Zhou San shook her head: "During the years when I was demoted, life was hard and I contracted a stubborn disease. I know my condition. I don't know how many supplements our master has taken, but there is still no improvement."

But what to tell her? Could it be that he is entrusting an orphan to someone else?

If it was a request for the care of an orphan, Jinniang would not agree. Jiang Xian could not forgive Jiang Fang emotionally, and they were political enemies. There was really no need for him to do such saintly actions.

So, she just said, "I have some ginseng supplements here, would you like to take them back and have a look?"

Mrs. Zhou San waved her hand and said, "I am not here for these reasons today. You know, the political situation is unstable now, and the only thing I am worried about is my four sons. If in the future..., I would like to ask my sister-in-law to help take care of them."

Of course Jinniang avoided the question. Why?

Mrs. Zhou San coughed violently several times, as if she was going to cough out her lungs. Tears welled up in her eyes: "I was too abrupt."

"Now that the second brother is the left prime minister, he is second only to the emperor and above everyone else. It is better for sister-in-law not to have any extravagant thoughts." Jinniang said.

Mrs. Zhou San sighed and walked out of the Jiang family's door. She said to her confidant, "This man has a heart of stone. It's useless to say anything. Forget it, I'd better go back."

"Why don't you go to Fourth Aunt Sun's place?" asked the confidant.

Madam Zhou San shook her head when she heard this. Her fourth sister was timid and not very capable. Her own life was a mess, so how could she be trusted? Besides, if one family prospers, all prosper, and if one family suffers, all suffer. If one family gets into trouble, the Sun family may not be in good shape either.

In fact, after Zhou Sanniang left, Jiang Fang's position was not affected much. Jinniang only told Ning Ge'er about it and didn't make a fuss.

Ning Ge'er said, "Maybe he deliberately exposed his flaws to us so that we can lower our vigilance."

"That's true." Jinniang shook her head.

By September, the sweet osmanthus flowers were blooming more and more vigorously, and it seemed that they were about to decline. Jinniang thought of her husband. Every year at this time, Jiang Xian would collect sweet osmanthus flowers, dry them, and make sweet osmanthus yogurt for himself. Now, three months have passed, and there has been no letter from him.

However, there was a letter from my daughter, Sister Yun.

Fortunately, Manager Liang returned the raw silk intact and arranged for the shop assistants to dye it. By the end of the year, Jinniang received 20,000 taels from him. The business of the Tafang family was finally revived this year, and the dividend reached 5,000 strings of cash. The shipping company received 1,000 strings of cash, and the official store received almost 1,500 strings of cash. Not counting the shop in Jinliang Bridge, rents from tenants in various places, and the official store, the total amount was more than 100,000 strings of cash.

To be honest, when you desire that goal, you will try every possible means to achieve it, but once you reach that goal, you will still feel a little empty.

The key is that it is difficult to share such things with others. She rarely talks about her money with her children, and it is not time to divide the family property yet. As for her own parents, they were so startled that she was afraid to listen, and she didn't want to talk about it either.

There is only one person I can share it with, and that is my husband, but unfortunately my husband is not at home.

At this time, she missed Jiang Xian a little.

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she heard someone calling her name at the door.

Jiang Xian came back late at night. He originally wanted to see if his wife was asleep, then he would go to the side room and sleep there for the night. If she was awake, he would sleep with her.

I had no idea that we were in sync, Jinniang was actually awake.

But before he could say anything, his wife pulled him to the bed and tried to vomit it out for him as if she had eaten hot wontons. After he heard it, he suddenly realized, "That means we are now both wealthy people with a fortune of 100,000 guan."

"More than that, it's hundreds of thousands of strings of cash." Jinniang said with a smile.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Xian couldn't help but kiss her: "You can't sleep because of this? I thought it was because you missed me."

"I miss you too, but I wanted to tell you earlier." Jinniang smiled.

Jiang Xian gently covered her eyes: "You haven't slept very well for many years. I woke you up in the middle of the night today. Go to bed quickly."

After her eyes were covered, Jinniang's eyes turned dark and she actually fell asleep.

Jiang Xian was appointed as the Deputy Privy Councilor and Co-Prime Minister because of his previous participation in quelling the rebellion. This time, because of his proper performance in quelling the rebellion, he was promoted to the position of Co-Prime Minister and Grand Scholar of the Jixian Hall.

However, Jiang Fang failed in the fight for the throne because of his collusion with the concubines. Now that the crown prince has been established, his original radical behavior has been attacked by many people. He was demoted to Fang County, and the government ordered that his descendants would never be allowed to serve in the court. Even the Jiang clan expelled him.

Jiang Fang was not afraid at all. When he left Bianjing, he laughed loudly and sang: "I laugh loudly at the sky and go out. How can I be a weed man?"

However, Jiang Xian said, "I'm afraid this person will never come back to Beijing in his lifetime."

Jiang Yan, who was far away in Jiangning, died in office.

…

The Jiang family was very lively today, with many guests coming to congratulate them. Ning'er and Ding'er were helping to entertain the guests, and many people were flattering Jinniang. Although Jinniang responded to them with a smile, she was also filled with emotion.

After the noise died down, she and Jiang Xian drank together, both of them were very sad.

“When I went to the capital that year, I never thought that a little maid would become the wife of a first-rank prime minister.” Jinniang said with a smile.

Jiang Xian took a sip of wine and said, "I never thought that I, a boy from a side branch, would become the prime minister."

Neither of them was a pretentious person. After a few sighs, Jiang Xian said, "You said Sister Yun sent a letter. I wonder how they are doing?"

"I heard that the girl from the Jiang family who used to be at odds with her became the wife of the Chief Justice of Liangzhe Road. I was a little worried, but now that you have become the prime minister, I will not say that children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. As long as the son-in-law does his job normally, no one will make things difficult for him." Jinniang said with a smile.

Jiang Xian laughed.

It was a dark night, the lights were dim, Jinniang and Jiang Xian both went to bed to rest, and the room was filled with warmth.

——End of text