Chapter 117 The Scumbag's True Heart (Part 1)

"Yeah. I've always advised him that this business is quite safe, but he shouldn't be too risky."

Xiao Yan had warned him many times, but Liu Xing didn't listen.

Doctor Hu originally agreed to invest 100 taels, but now it has become 150 taels.

Lu Qiniang said, "We've tried to persuade them, but there's nothing we can do if they don't listen. We can only help them keep an eye on things in the future. We've done that."

"Um."

"What's wrong with Yun Ting? I think he seems like a different person today."

"He's fine. He'll be fine tomorrow."

"That's fine." Lu Qiniang sighed, "I don't know what the new official at the banknote customs is like. I hope he's a good one and can help us make some more money."

"Go to sleep." Xiao Yan said, "Let's go house hunting together tomorrow."

"good."

Lu Qin's mother was tired after a day of work and went to sleep right away.

Xiao Yan listened to her breathing and felt at ease. He moved slightly towards her and then closed his eyes.

His sleep is much better than before.

But some people have just returned home dragging their tired bodies.

"master!"

"The master is back!"

Zhang Heyao, wearing a round-collared official robe, walked through the courtyards expressionlessly and came to the main courtyard.

The main courtyard was extremely quiet. Even though there were five or six servants standing in the corridor, no sound of conversation could be heard.

Only the wind blew the lush sycamore leaves, causing the branches to rub against each other and make a rustling sound. However, the absence of human voices made it easier for people to make random associations in the dark.

It's too quiet.

This is the feeling every time Zhang Heyao comes back.

The courtyard in his memory was not like this.

Although the low earthen walls and simple tiles could not compare to the white walls and black tiles of today, there was life in that yard.

The silly girl would wait for him at the door with a lantern, and when she saw him she would call him "Brother, brother, brother" repeatedly, carry his schoolbag for him, and chatter with him about how she had earned some extra money that day.

She would touch the chicken coop, scaring the chickens so that they couldn't sleep.

She said that she had to pick up the eggs at night to prevent them from rolling out and breaking.

If she couldn't touch it, she would mutter that she would definitely find it tomorrow, and her tone was somewhat disappointed.

If she could touch it, she would be very happy, and sometimes that warm egg would become his midnight snack.

Zhang Heyao doesn't like that kind of day.

At that time, he was bent by the ridicule of others and was unhappy every day.

He hated the smell of chicken shit in the yard, even though she would clean it every day because she disliked it.

He hated her lack of vision, the way she spent her days hanging around pigs and chickens, and how happy she was for small profits.

But he would also be soft-hearted and bring back food from the academy for her to eat, because sometimes there would be meat.

He would buy her a red hairband, because two cents could buy her happiness.

Life was so hard, he himself no longer had the energy to laugh, and he wanted to see her laugh...

"The master is back." A maid with a pretty face and excellent manners called out softly from the corridor.

Zhang Heyao finally came to his senses and realized that he had been standing in the yard for a long time.

These people wouldn't even remind him to come in, much less come forward to chatter and ask about his well-being.

They know the rules, are sensible, boring and cold.

Zhang Heyao treated them without any courtesy.

They are just a group of servants.

He stepped in, as if entering a luxurious world that did not belong to him.

The gilded Suanni censer was steaming ambergris, and the hem of his official robe swept across the lychees scattered on the Persian carpet.

Just now, Princess Zhaoyang felt that the fruits and vegetables kept in the ice container had lost their fragrance, so she "accidentally" knocked over the fruit plate.

The maid was kneeling on the ground, holding a plate of red fruits and picking them up.

Another grape from the Western Regions rolled down to the edge of Zhang Heyao's black boots. The maid knelt on the ground and said, "Master, be careful with your steps."

Zhang Heyao recalled the time when he and Lu Qiniang passed by a fruit shop and saw the lychees in the ice jar. When they heard that each one cost two taels of silver, Lu Qiniang was shocked and asked, "Brother, can I become an immortal if I eat this?"

He felt ashamed at that time and hurried away with her.

Now he wanted to tell her that since he couldn't become an immortal, he didn't think the cake was very delicious. It was even not as good as the small box of Zhuangyuan Cake she had exchanged for silver cloves.

She bought the Zhuangyuan Cake for him to eat when he entered the examination room.

But in the end, he didn't make it.

The Zhuangyuan Cake was so delicious that he remembered it for ten years and could never find the same taste again.

"Heyao, you're back?" Princess Zhaoyang put down the scroll in her hand and said in a sweet voice, "I asked someone to prepare a midnight snack for you."

"I've already eaten at the Ministry of Revenue." Zhang Heyao smiled, naturally opening his arms for the maid to help him change clothes. "Why are you disobeying me again? Didn't I tell you to go to bed first?"

The maid respectfully helped him take off his official robe and boots, and put on his casual underwear and soft shoes.

When he took off his clothes, the maid's fingers accidentally brushed against his chest, and he was startled.

But when she saw that he didn't react, she was obviously relieved.

Zhang Heyao was thinking about what Lu Qiniang had said.

She said, "Brother, I heard that the wives of wealthy families don't have to do their own needlework. But do their men's underwear also need others to make it?"

She was taught by her mother since she was a child that she had to make her own men's underwear, and she felt that the whole world had to be like that.

At that time, Zhang Heyao already knew a lot of things.

But he was too lazy to explain to her that the wife of a wealthy family did not have to do everything herself, including serving her husband.

"I can't sleep without you," Princess Zhaoyang said. "Go wash up? Look, do the new soft smoke curtains I had replaced look good enough for the Qingluan Lantern?"

This sentence means that she wants it.

Zhang Heyao lowered his eyes and said, "I'm tired. Let's wash it tomorrow."

"oh."

"Brother, do you know? When I brought you food, I heard Gao's maid bragging that her windows were all covered with gauze. Why didn't she say that cows were flying in the sky?"

For Lu Qiniang, it was unbelievable that people could not even cover their bodies with clothes, and yet use precious gauze as window paper.

Princess Zhaoyang asked her men to leave.

The maids lowered their heads and filed out, closing the door considerately.

Princess Zhaoyang climbed onto Zhang Heyao's back like a beautiful snake, reached out and touched his Adam's apple, and whispered in his ear: "Husband, I miss you——"

Zhang Heyao smelled the familiar lily scent on her body, smiled, and said in a doting tone: "You, you, I really can't do anything with you. Do you really want to seduce me and squeeze me dry? Tell me, are you worried that I won't get any food?"

"Yes, you've exposed me. Go wash up quickly—"

"If you don't go, I'll make you dirty."

"Hate!"

"I lied to you. I thought you were asleep before I came home. I was afraid that my shower would wake you up, so I showered at the Ministry of Revenue before returning."

After the flirting sounds, the noises in the room began to become sticky, making the maids outside blush, their mouths dry, and - they felt longing.

My brother-in-law has excellent physical strength.

He was able to make the princess willing to marry a man of lower status, which showed that he had some real skills.