Before you know it, a month has flown by.
The two workshops of Chenji in the east of the city were closed for a whole month. Even the mulberry paper workshop, which had always been very profitable, was covered with a large piece of oil paper. One could only hear the "clatter and clang" sounds from inside, but no one knew what was going on.
For a time, rumors were flying all over Xuancheng Prefecture. Some said that Chen Ji had a prodigal son who did all kinds of evil in Jing County. He gambled for three days and three nights and lost all the family property. Now his mother can only use his assets to pay off the debts.
Chen Fu: You might as well just tell me my household registration number, thank you.
Some said that the Chen family had obtained a secret book of papermaking and was now practicing in seclusion. When the time came, a peerless treasure that would dazzle everyone would appear. Then they would crush Hengji to the ground with one foot, beat Baiji to death with both fists, sweep across all the mountains, and become the bravest shop in Xuancheng Prefecture.
The first half of this story is in the style of martial arts, while the second half is in the style of deification. The style is disordered and Xianjin declined to comment.
Others combined theory with practice, saying that the Chen family was planning to sell their ancestral property, giving half of it to the second son of the eldest son to go to the capital to study under a teacher, and the other half to ask the second son of the eldest son to marry the daughter of a fourth-rank official in the capital in order to get good help from his father-in-law.
Regarding this rumor, Madam Qu said that except for the part about selling the ancestral property, she was very satisfied with the rest. At the same time, she wanted to ask a profound question, "Where did the legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank official in Beijing come from? I will give him some more money, and I would like to ask him to introduce one to me."
The whole November was spent in a state of confusion caused by rumors. During this period, Xianjin unexpectedly received a post from a very impressive source - it was sent from Taixiong Mansion in Xuancheng Prefecture.
Xiong Youyou invited Qiao Baozhu and Xianjin to her house to appreciate the plum blossoms.
After receiving this note, Mrs. Qu almost cried for joy. She hugged Baozhu and Huahua and kept calling them "darling, baby, good girl". She knew very well in her heart that the Chen family was able to get this note mostly because of Qiao Baozhu.
Madam Qu took out a hundred taels of silver from her private vault and gave it to Qiao Baozhu to buy some jewelry. She also specifically told Xianjin, "...dress up! Although you are still in mourning, it has been two years. Even if you can't wear red or green, at least wear something other than brown, gray, and indigo!"
Therefore, when Xianjin appeared in front of Mrs. Qu wearing a shit-yellow suit, the old lady felt as if she had seen the mud deep in the forest, with a sense of joyful and fragrant emptiness - in short, it was a bit earthy.
The little old lady hesitated to speak, "Your mother never taught you how to dress?"
It shouldn't be like this!
He Ainiang had a slender waist and a silver skirt with dark patterns, which made the first wife, Sun, look like a refugee!
Xianjin looked down at his cuffs in confusion, "I think it's quite bright."
Later, when we come back from the Xiong Mansion, we don’t need to change clothes when we go up the hill to spread the hay. We can just roll up our sleeves and blend into the dry grass all over the mountain. It saves a lot of time.
Old Madam Qu pursed her lips and glanced at the clepsydra. She could only focus on checking Qiao Baozhu. After seeing the light crimson skirt that Qiao Baozhu was wearing and the pink and red gold jewelry that matched her head and ears perfectly, she nodded with satisfaction: That's right. This way we can see that the Chen family has never treated the Qiao family's girls badly. Even though the mentor is guilty, the Chen family is doing their best to take care of the mentor's young daughter.
etc.
The legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank official in Beijing?
If Erlang marries the girl from the Qiao family...
Old Madam Qu glanced at Qiao Baozhu again. The little girl was fair and solid, but her eyes did not show any intelligence. It was said that she was not very smart and was not good at speaking.
If her father were still alive, it would be a great marriage for the Chen family that they would never be able to ask for. Now that the Qiao family has fallen, keeping this girl can preserve their good reputation. If they really marry her home, it would be a waste of Erlang's face.
"Go ahead." Madam Qu retracted her gaze, avoiding the yellowish color of shit. "Xianjin, please look after Baozhu, so that she can have more fun."
As soon as they got on the mule cart, Baozhu Huahua leaned against Xianjin's side and pouted, "Sister wants to have fun too! You've been working hard for a month! Baozhu is grown up now, so why would she need any care?"
Xianjin rubbed Huahua's little head and said, "What she said went in one ear and out the other. There's no need to delve into it."
Huahua mumbled and nodded.
Xianjin looked at Baozhu with gentle eyes.
Xianjin and Baozhu arrived very early. Xiong Youyou met them at the door. When she saw Xianjin, she tiptoed with a look of joy and waved to him, "Is this the sister of the Qiao family?"
Baozhu blushed and called out, "Hey, sister."
Xiong Youyou's eyes smiled like crescent moons as she handed over a beautifully decorated brocade bag. "I've heard of your great name for a long time. My uncle and your father are of different years. The chief examiner was the Minister of Personnel, Xu Maoyuan. We are not from the same year or the same exam, but we are from the same school. Whenever my uncle talks about your father, he always calls him Junior Brother."
Baozhu glanced at Xianjin.
Xianjin took the sachet and said with a smile, "What's the point of being in the same class, year, and school? It's better to give us a pot of sweet tea."
Xiong Youyou nodded repeatedly with a smile, speaking in a gentle and calm voice, "Yes, yes, yes, how could there be no?" He led the two into the courtyard, took out a four-color box to fill Baozhu's stomach, and whispered to Xianjin when no one was around, "...I heard earlier that the Chen family had robbed several stores, and my uncle even asked me about it. Is there something wrong?"
Xianjin was holding a teacup in his hand.
Xiong Youyou knew that she didn't like hot tea, so she specially prepared some cold tea made of orange peel, rock sugar, hawthorn and dried berries for her.
"Nothing else, just closed the door and made paper." Xianjin smiled and asked in a low voice, "Any news about Principal Qiao?"
Xiong Youyou shook her head, "I didn't hear from my uncle." After a while, she continued, "It was my idea to invite you, but it was my uncle's idea to invite Miss Qiao. I secretly thought that the matter of the Qiao family would probably be resolved soon."
This was guessed by Xianjin.
If the Qiao family's affairs still had no clue, even if Magistrate Xiong was a person of psychology, even if he felt pity for the Qiao family's unexpected misfortune, he would not have taken the initiative to send a letter to Baozhu - for the entire year before this, the Xuancheng prefect had not asked a single question about Baozhu's current situation.
"What about your marriage?" Xianjin lowered his voice even more. "Isn't it said that when a girl is getting married, she will invite the girl she likes to her home to drink tea and chat? Is this the purpose of today's plum blossom viewing banquet?"
Xiong Youyou smiled and said generously, "It's settled. It was settled last month, and it's still with the Cui family."
"Didn't Magistrate Xiong say that he would only marry his daughter to Lord Cui if he became the county magistrate?" Xianjin was surprised. He had never heard his cheap father, who wrote to his family every month, talk about this!
Xiong Youyou's expression remained unchanged as she smiled and poured tea for Xianjin. "The appointment and dismissal order also came down last month. Lord Cui finally got what he wanted and entered the rank of seventh-rank official."
Xianjin said "Oh".
Xiong Youyou continued, "Speaking of this matter, it was quite complicated. In the middle of spring this year, my uncle had already received the appointment letter of the new magistrate of Jing County, and he was just waiting for the person to arrive. However, after waiting for a long time, he did not arrive, but received a document revoking the appointment, and then another imperial decree of appointment and dismissal from Lord Cui."
"What a coincidence! Together with Lord Cui's imperial edict of appointment, there was also an imperial edict of exile and punishment issued by the prefect of Anyang Prefecture next door."
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