Chapter 90 Chapter 90 Two chapters merged into one

In March of the spring, Jinniang received a letter from Luo Da at the post station. When she opened the interlayer of the letter, she found the rent of the Jinliangqiao shop and silver from two farms, a total of 600 strings of cash. The rent for her shop in Tianshui Lane could not be collected until May, so she only had money from two places now.

But this was enough. Jinniang asked Jiang Xian to go get the money first: "I originally had 400 taels of silver in my hand, and now my family has given me 600 strings of silver. Why don't we use some of the money to build a farm here and buy some good fields and orchards."

"How come we have so much money again?" Jiang Xian wanted to ask Jinniang. Didn't she say before that he only had more than 200 strings of cash to last a year? It was only at the end of last year that she bought him a pair of leather boots. Now he has another 1,000 strings of cash this year.

Jinniang nodded: "Yes, and there is more. My painting of the Buddha statue of Guanyin sitting on a lotus pedestal is finished, and I also embroidered a Buddhist scripture underneath. I asked Chen Xiaolang about this painting, and he said it can be sold for more than 200 strings of cash. In addition, my shop in Tianshui Lane still has more than 200 strings of cash that have not been delivered."

Jiang Xian thought of the salary he had just received and couldn't help shaking his head, "My wife, now that I am an official, I still have to rely on you for support."

"Nonsense, the four hundred taels I earned were given to me because I'm your wife, right?" Jinniang blinked.

Jiang Xian sighed: "My wife is much richer than me."

Jinniang smiled and said, "Then you have to accompany me to see the fields. Although I have learned a lot, I always feel that it is just talk on paper."

Selecting land is an important matter and cannot be done casually. Besides, Jinniang said, "Now that you are an official close to the people, don't you also have to understand the sufferings of the people?"

"Okay, I will definitely support whatever my wife says." Jiang Xian raised both hands in support.

Buying land is not a one-time thing, and it requires careful examination. Jinniang cut a few feet of satin to make herself a new shirt. The satin was given by the Gu family and it was the most fashionable satin.

As for Yun Jie'er and Ning Ge'er, they each made two sets, and then Minzhi did it. Minzhi was pregnant now, so she didn't have to go out. Jinniang just asked her to take good care of herself and do some needlework.

She first made a bodice with a light yellow background and a dark orchid pattern, and then a long double-breasted jacket with a sky-blue satin collar and embroidered magnolia flowers, and paired it with silver-red trousers and a white gauze skirt.

This is the most fashionable way of dressing in Wu County now, light yellow with sky blue. She has good skills and can save the money of the embroiderer.

Jinniang didn't like to squander her money. Her parents had only a little money back then, but she was able to read and write and worked as a pawnshop owner in Bian Jing. She was also better than others in learning embroidery and craftsmanship. However, in the end, she didn't have much dowry and she had a hard time. Now Jinniang also hopes to save some dowry for her daughter so that she won’t have to live too hard in the future.

Of course, now she is also doing this for the sake of her and her husband. She doesn't want to invest her money in anything too risky. Although the profits can be huge, they can easily be wasted. It would be more economical to buy some land and houses.

Ah Ying said, "My lady, why don't you make a golden crown?"

"You don't know how expensive the gold crown is. Even the one that Madam Tian owns, which weighs eight taels, costs four hundred strings of cash. When I made mine, it cost forty-two strings of cash. I have to save the spare money for emergencies." Jinniang shook her head.

Thinking of this, Jinniang was doing needlework in her hands. To be honest, she was tired and bored from doing it every day. But after doing it once in a while, she felt a little excited. Jinniang began to embroider the collar.

Someone outside handed over a letter from Meihong. When Jinniang opened it, she found it was from the wife of the magistrate, inviting her to Zhaode Temple to appreciate the flowers.

"It's rare that they invited me. The military commander returned to Beijing at the beginning of the year to report on his work. Now the Pingjiang Army is represented by the Tongpan. Madam Wei can be said to have taken the lead." Jinniang said with a smile.

Ah Ying loved to dress fashionably, and she quickly urged Jin Niang, "Madam, if you don't want to make a golden crown, you should at least make some fashionable crowns and belts, right?"

Jinniang thought so too, so she had someone harness a carriage and went to Juanhua Lane. She didn't plan to make gold and silver crowns anymore, but wanted to make a crown that looked like living flowers. I went into a few of them and felt they were all too complicated or old-fashioned. Fortunately, there was one store that made excellent lotus crowns.

Ah Ying hurried forward to ask the price: "I wonder how much this lotus crown costs?"

"Look, there are two circles of pearls around the base of our lotus crown, and there is also a pearl on the top of the lotus. I'll tell you a fair price. The minimum is six strings of cash, otherwise I can't afford it." The shopkeeper saw a young woman wearing a veil hat coming in, accompanied by servants, and immediately called out a price.

Although Jinniang liked it, she was not going to take advantage of it: "I bought this round little bead in Bianjing before, for fifty coins each. Pearls are produced in Huzhou on the Liangzhe Road, and you businessmen may buy them cheaper. With this little bit of silk and yarn, three strings of coins and six coins, I will buy it directly."

The shopkeeper wanted to cry but had no tears: "Madam, you are very knowledgeable, but the price you offered for this crown is too high."

"My price is already very fair, and I am buying from you sincerely." Jinniang saw that the beads were not famous ones, but just ordinary ones.

Just as the shopkeeper was about to speak, a young woman came out. She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a few silk flowers pinned on her hair. She was very simple and elegant, and had a very tall figure, which made her very beautiful.

"Boss."

It turned out that this woman was the boss. She had a nonchalant expression on her face, as if she was accustomed to seeing customers bargaining with her. But I didn't expect to see Fang's mother, and I immediately stepped forward and said, "Fang's mother, I never thought I would meet you here, what a fate."

When Fang's mother saw her, she was a little embarrassed: "It's Madam Lin."

After saying that, he whispered a few more words into Jinniang's ear.

Jinniang then realized that this was the daughter of the wealthy businessman who was abducted by kidnappers during the Lantern Festival this year. At that time, she was asked to prepare her own dowry and marry Jiang Xian as his second wife. Jiang Xian was so scared that he quickly tried to stop her.

Mother Fang introduced: "This is our wife."

Madam Lin quickly invited Jinniang to sit in the inner room. After Jinniang and Jiang Xian got married, her husband was a few years younger than her and was so handsome, so how could such a thing not happen? But most people knew that he was already married, so they gave up. Now that Jiang Xian has become an official, there will definitely be many more people who want to marry a second wife and send beauties to him.

Some people even think that if a family does not have concubines or maids, it will bring bad reputation to women, and instead advise women to accept it.

But in this matter, Jinniang doesn't believe Jiang Xian but herself.

Therefore, she was quite normal to Madam Lin: "I never thought that you are the capital of your family. As the saying goes, misfortune often brings blessings, and blessings often bring misfortune. Madam Lin, after this experience, you will surely have good fortune in the future."

Madam Lin was very embarrassed. She had been promised a marriage in her early years, but the man died early. So this year during the Lantern Festival, she originally wanted to light lanterns to pray for her lover, but she never expected that she would be kidnapped by a kidnapper. The moment she was abducted, she was completely desperate, but she never expected that something unexpected would happen and she would be rescued by the county lieutenant.

It is said that County Lieutenant Jiang comes from a prominent family, was a young Jinshi, and is handsome. Although he has a wife, it is common for their sons to have three wives and four concubines. Madam Lin did not take it too seriously. Who would have thought that there really are such infatuated men in the world who only treat their wives well? Madam Lin didn't know what kind of person County Magistrate Jiang's wife was, but today she happened to meet her on the road.

She never expected that the other person would start by comforting her. Madam Lin first praised her for her good heart, and then secretly looked at Jinniang. She was in her twenties, with a light layer of makeup on her face, her skin was whiter than snow, her eyes were sparkling, and her face seemed elegant and lovely, with a scholarly air. But her body was full of breasts and a slim waist, which was completely opposite to her appearance. She had all the features that a man could desire.

Madam Lin felt a little ashamed of herself and could only laugh dryly: "You are right. I also hope to accept your good words."

Jinniang was not a life mentor, but she was afraid that she would suffer psychological trauma after being abducted, so she could not help but give her some advice: "Ms. Lin is young, healthy, and wealthy. You are such a bright and beautiful person, and you will definitely have a bright life in the future."

Madam Lin was stunned for a moment, then a smile spread across her face.

Jinniang was about to say goodbye, but Madam Lin immediately wanted to give her the pearl lotus crown that she had taken a fancy to. But Jinniang would not accept it for free and had to pay for it, otherwise she would not want it.

After much persuasion, Madam Lin was only willing to accept three strings of coins and refused to accept any more.

After buying the lotus crown, Jinniang went to Xiuxiang again, as this was her old profession after all. Suzhou embroidery is truly a treasure. Jinniang was so engrossed in her shopping that she didn't want to leave. She saw that some people were embroidering double-sided embroidery. She hadn't had the time to study it before, but now, under the pretext of buying embroidery products, she watched others embroider and it seemed to her that it was not difficult.

She saw that the commonly used needle techniques for double-sided embroidery include winding needle, grabbing needle and rolling needle. When the embroiderer started to stitch, she trimmed the thread ends, pierced from the top, and started to stitch again two or three threads away from the needle, leaving a small amount of thread ends. When she started to stitch officially, she pressed down the thread ends, connected the threads with several short stitches, and hid the thread ends so that no thread ends were exposed on both sides.

In addition, they are used to holding the needle vertically when embroidering so as not to pierce the embroidery thread on the reverse side, ensuring that no stitches, threads or needle marks on both sides are exposed, so that both sides are consistent and seamless.

Jinniang was naturally not stingy and bought a double-sided fan embroidered with two sides and a double-sided fan embroidered with different colors. It turns out that the most important thing about double-sided embroidery is hiding the needle.

After leaving Xiu Lane, Jinniang went to a nearby fruit shop and brought two servings of cherry pancakes for the two children, and bought some lychees, fresh walnuts, jiayingzi and kumquats for herself.

She didn't know how other people's children were like, but when she was a child, if her parents went out, she would always look forward to them bringing back something new every time they came back.

Therefore, whenever she went out, she would always buy some food for the children, and she even remembered her husband and bought a few boxes of snacks, which meant she returned home with a full load.

Soon the day to go to Zhaode Temple arrived. This time they would take a boat. Jinniang was wearing the lotus dress she had made a few years ago. When she made it, it was completely based on the lines in "Li Sao" that read "I made clothes out of lotus and skirts out of lotus."

The tube top is a lotus-petal-shaped pink, with a lotus-leaf green double-breasted blouse outside. The bottom is a lotus color that is slightly darker than the light pink. With so many layers of layers and a lotus crown on top, even Ning Ge'er is clamoring to be hugged by Jin Niang today.

But it was still a little chilly outside, so Jinniang wore a pair of cotton trousers inside and draped her mink raccoon sleeves outside.

Madam Bao had never seen such clothes before. It was obvious that they were very valuable and not something that an ordinary embroiderer could make. Even the clothes that Tian was wearing today were inferior to hers.

When Jiang Xian first came, Jinniang was low-key and cautious. But now that Jiang Xian has solved several big cases and received praise from the higher-ups, things are different. Jinniang is still low-key, but she is not too cautious.

They were sitting on a pleasure boat, where they could enjoy the scenery along the coast. There were fruit plates and snacks on the small table. Willows swayed on the bank, and Jinniang suddenly seemed to have an idea. She could also make a willow leaf gauze robe for Jiang Xian.

It’s better to come out, you will get some inspiration.

On the pleasure boat, Madam Bao was playing backgammon with Madam Tian. Jinniang suddenly discovered that although Madam Tian had many good things, she had no income from the shop or the fields, and most of the money seemed to come from her boxes.

She had heard Jiang Xian mention that Mrs. Tian's husband, Han Zhubu, also came from a noble family and had some ability to do things, but he was just a banker who did not want to offend anyone. He used his status as a son of a noble family to collect taxes on a daily basis. The county's river relief work was handled by Jiang Xian and Mei County Wei.

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw the woman next to Madam Qi holding a glass of wine and coming over: "Madam, please have a drink."

When Jinniang took a look, she found that it was actually County Magistrate Hou's sister, the third sister Hou. It is said that this girl is her mother's posthumous child, twenty years younger than County Magistrate Hou. Now she has reached the age of marriage. According to Madam Bao, she has brought all the boxes with her, and she might be thinking of going to Wu County to look for someone to marry.

She then said with a smile: "How can I let the girl hold the cup for me? Please sit down and let's talk."

Sister Hou San sat down shyly.

Jinniang knew that she was a girl and it was not appropriate to talk too much, so she tried to talk to her about some family matters.

As we were talking, we arrived at Zhaode Temple, which is also an ancient temple. Everyone took the sedan chair and went up to a large hall. Jinniang followed suit and paid another ten taels of money for incense. The judge's wife invited everyone in to sit down. Jinniang thought that it would be the same as before. She would just serve as a foil and she would have to slip out and go for a walk on her own later.

Unexpectedly, the wife of the Tongpan was very courteous to Jinniang. She said to her, "The county lieutenant's wife and county lieutenant Jiang are a perfect match in terms of talent and appearance."

Jinniang smiled and said a few humble words, then the wife of the magistrate asked, "I heard you have a pair of children, have you arranged their marriages?"

"The child is too young, not yet." Although Jinniang did not feel flattered, she thought it was probably because of Jiang Xian. However, she was unwilling to get married now. Marriage is a union of both parties, and the children must also be willing.

When the magistrate's wife saw that Jinniang had finished talking and stopped, her words became more heated. Of course, she had heard that Jiang Xian was Liu Jixiang's nephew, and his aunts were from the Dou family of Yangzhou and the Zhou family of Hangzhou, so he had relatives everywhere. Of course, these are secondary. The most important thing is that Jiang Xian is a Jinshi and her family is well-off. She has met Jinniang five times, and each time she wears completely different clothes and jewelry, which all look extremely valuable.

Even if Jiang Xian's career is mediocre in the future and his in-laws are not helpful, it is definitely a good idea to marry him based on his wealth.

I don’t know if it was because of the favor given by the wife of the Tongpan this time, but from then on, the county government called her the wife of the county lieutenant, and directly denied the title of Mrs. Bao, who was also the wife of the county lieutenant.

This Madam Bao is always making trouble even when there is nothing to do. Originally, she had a good relationship with Jinniang, but later they both became the wives of the county lieutenant, and she was really inferior to the other woman in every way.

Especially when Yang Dutou's wife quarreled with her, she would yell, "You are so petty with us and boss us around. Look at the county lieutenant's wife. She is a real county lieutenant's wife. She never beats or scolds us. She is polite to us and pities the poor and the elderly. She is not like some people. Even if they wear dragon robes, they are not princes and cannot go up on the high platform."

Madam Bao slammed the table and said to Qiao'er, "If I don't subdue her this time, she will really think I'm easy to bully."

Qiao'er also didn't like Yang Dutou's wife and was bullied when she first came. The master and servant slowly made a plan.

At the end, Madam Bao said, "It all comes down to Madam Wei. She is really something. She always wants to suppress others and be better than others."

It would be great if she could make Wei look bad for once.

**

After Jinniang came back from Zhaode Temple, she saw Jiang Xian at home and told him what the magistrate's wife had meant. Jiang Xian heard her mouth moving, but he didn't hear what she said. He just wanted to kiss her because she was so beautiful today, like a fairy who had descended to the earth on a lotus platform.

He thought so and did so. Jinniang was carried to the inner room by him in broad daylight and was speechless: "Pervert."

The two of them made love for a while, and Jiang Xian finally fell deeply in love with her. He remembered that Jinniang didn't want to be pregnant, so he finally pulled out...

Afterwards, he said to Jinniang, "You are right. Although the Tongpan is in a higher position than me now, things will be different in the future. Besides, we have to wait until the children grow up before getting married."

For example, after his eldest brother married Xu, Xu always felt that the name did not live up to his reality, and she urged his eldest brother and nephew day and night.

If my son fails in the future, won't he have to endure the wrath of those women? Even my wife is being bullied. What a dream.

He thought so far ahead. Jinniang shook her head and said, "I was thinking that the new military governor hasn't come yet, and the wife of the Tongpan seems to have the intention that everyone should obey her. I don't know what will happen when the new wife comes in the future?"

"That's right." Jiang Xian agreed.

Jinniang asked him again: "How are you getting along with the county magistrate now? Including this year, he has been the magistrate of Wu County for five years. He will not continue to serve any longer."

Even if there is someone above you, there is no way to do this.

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "I don't care about his other things, he won't do anything. Besides, now that I have revealed my trump card, he won't dare to do anything to me."

In official circles, big fish like to eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimps, but he is not a small shrimp.

Jinniang was relieved then. This was the reason why she agreed to Jiang Xian. The Jiang family still had connections everywhere, and it was impressive enough to just talk about it. Otherwise, if she had found a poor scholar, she would have married him long ago.

The two talked about the land purchase from the officialdom. Jinniang said, "I had planned to go out during this ten-day break, but the wife of the magistrate interfered. Let's make an appointment for the next ten-day break."

Jiang Xian nodded: "Okay."

During this ten-day period, Jinniang would first be in a daze for a while when she got up early, then lie on the couch to read a book, and then start to embroider double-sided embroidery. By the way, she cut some light green silk to make a cross-collared shirt for Jiang Xian, and embroidered willow leaves of the same color on the white collar. She wore a dark green pleated skirt underneath, and the hem of the skirt was embroidered with willow leaves with golden thread. She wore a white crepe double-breasted jacket on the outside. The left collar of the jacket was embroidered with green willow leaves, and the right side was embroidered with white leaves with some green embellishments, which was so fresh and natural.

But she couldn't go this time because the second daughter of the Gu family got married early, and Jinniang, as her blessed wife, had to attend the wedding.

Officials and bailiffs from the county government were also invited to the wedding banquet. This time, Jinniang wore the new dress she had made last time, and a necklace of agate beads given by Madam Dou Er around her neck.

Mrs. Bao just said to Huang Yasi's wife: "She is a rich lady, and we are poor girls."

There are two bailiffs in the county government office. Qin's wife has a good relationship with Jinniang, so Madam Bao promotes Huang's wife. Huang's wife was originally bullied by Yang Dutou's wife, and Madam Bao helped her vent her anger several times, and the two have a good relationship.

Huang Yasi's wife had a shrill voice. She was also a woman who liked to tease others. After listening to what Bao Niang said, she smiled softly: "Don't be angry. If you want to be angry, shouldn't you be angry with someone?"

Of course, the person he was talking about was Madam Qi. Madam Qi was overshadowed.

Mrs. Bao shook her head: "She never cares about these things."

Madam Qi had also been provoked by Madam Tian before, but their relationship became better and better, but they were only targeting her.

During the dinner, Old Madam Gu also asked Jinniang if she wanted to buy land. Jinniang knew that the Gu family had a huge business, so she asked the broker herself. The Gu family must have known about it. Jinniang did not hide it, she just said that since Wu County had fertile soil and water, she wanted to buy some farmland so that when her husband retired to the countryside in the future, he would not have to worry about food and drink.

Madam Gu smiled and said, "I have a relative who has settled in Changzhou. He has a few acres of land that he wants my family to help sell. Madam County Lieutenant, would you like to take a look?"

"That's great. Let's go and have a look during the next ten-day break. If it works, I'll give you 10%. Don't think it's too little." Jinniang said with a smile.

Madam Gu was planning to give it to Jinniang, but seeing what she meant by that, she wanted to do it impartially. She also wanted to see whether this county lieutenant's wife was truly honest or had big ambitions and was corrupted so quickly.

After the second daughter of the Gu family got married, Jinniang and Jiang Xian went with Old Madam Gu to take a look. It turned out to be a three-hectare farmland with both fish scale books and farm management methods. Jinniang originally planned to buy only two hundred acres, but she never expected that the three hundred acres could be used to build a large manor with three entrances.

There were also chickens, ducks, fish, geese, waterfowl, fruits and vegetables raised there. Jinniang and Jiang Xian looked around and both thought the land was good. Besides, the Gu family was sincere in making friends with them, so they would not deliberately sell the land at a bad price.

So two hectares of good land are worth two guan per mu, and one hectare of good land is worth three guan per mu, for a total of seven hundred guan. In addition, the manor is worth one hundred and fifty taels, for a total of eight hundred taels.

Madam Gu and Madam Gu both said, "It's just a small token of our appreciation."

Jinniang smiled and said, "That's not the case. I appreciate your kindness. Since I want to buy the land, I must have prepared money. We should give and take. This is the only way to have a long-term relationship."

When Mrs. Gu heard this, she felt that Jinniang was a trustworthy person, so she gave her 850 strings of cash, minus a small amount, and gave her the indentures of a dozen farmers as a favor.

Jinniang had someone bring over gold and silver, a total of eight hundred strings of cash, which were counted on the spot.

Jiang Xian, who was standing nearby, was the county yamen worker. He completed all the formalities in the yamen and the red deed was in Jinniang's hands. Jinniang was naturally not someone who would take advantage of others. When the second Miss Gu returned home, she gave her a Japo mat, which was given to them by the eldest uncle of the Jiang family. It was a very high-quality mat from the Japo country.

The favor was returned, and Jinniang breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they had spent so much money, their family had to tighten their belts for a while, but she was stupid and timid, and she couldn't and didn't want to lend money at high interest, invest in merchants to get dividends, or buy salt and tea permits. The rent for the land is a little less, but it is more reassuring.