Chapter 35 "Let her be more obedient."
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the markets are prosperous.
According to previous years, Xiu Cui Tower would entertain people with flower balls, singing and dancing on the fifth day of the New Year, but today the door was closed and it was unusually quiet.
Xiucui Tower, Dingfeng Tower.
Fan An personally led the way for the nobleman. He walked slowly and in small steps, waiting for the nobleman who was unable to move to catch up.
In order to prevent the noble from noticing the concession, he explained as he walked: "Master, this is an attic on the top floor of Xiucui Tower. The view outside the window is excellent. You can see Chongjiang River in the distance. It was not used to welcome guests. It is very clean and quiet. You can open the window to enjoy the view when you are free."
The nobleman in the purple brocade robe said nothing along the way. Only when he reached the attic and sat on the chaise longue to admire the view did he say lightly, "Well, you are thoughtful."
"No, no, this is what I should do." Fan An was already soaked with sweat, and he suggested hesitantly: "Master, you have been tired all the way, I have prepared some programs to welcome you, I wonder if you would like to rest first or..."
"I can't let your hard work go to waste." The man raised his hand, and a servant immediately took the red sandalwood cane from his hand. "I heard that you also hired a famous zither player for me. If I don't take care of it, Lord Fan might be so worried that he can't sleep at night."
Fan An was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and almost fell to his knees: "I dare not! I absolutely dare not!"
"Alright." The man on the chaise longue closed his eyes slightly, "Go ahead, I'm not tired, Lord Fan has prepared everything carefully, I can prepare everything one by one, I've been very bored along the way, it doesn't hurt to find some fun."
Fan An quickly stepped back: "Yes, yes!"
"That's right." The person who was resting on the chaise longue said, "You and I are both officials. You are not my slave, so you don't have to call me master."
"Yes." Fan An thought for a moment and then changed his tone and called out, "Your Highness the Prince of Qi."
The King of Qi curled his lips slightly and raised his hand to let Fan An go out first.
There were not many people who followed him up to the attic. In the blink of an eye, they all quietly retreated. When everyone left, the attendant next to the King of Qi said, "Your Highness, there is nothing wrong in the building. The Zheng family must have made arrangements and did not leak the news."
"The Zheng family hasn't contacted me for many years. I didn't expect that they would be so attentive to me when they learned that I was going back to Beijing. It seems..." The King of Qi placed his fingertips on the end of his eyebrows and gently stroked them twice. "The Zheng family has been bullied by the Xie family for many years."
The attendant whispered, "They are the prince's maternal family, so it is natural for them to be loyal to the prince."
"Mother's family? Ha." The corner of King Qi's mouth curled up, and he smiled coldly: "When they pushed my mother to death, they never thought that they were my mother's family. If they hadn't been the only one to rely on, they would have dug up my grave many times."
The attendant remained silent. He had followed the prince for many years, so he had naturally seen what had happened in the past. He also knew about the humiliation and hardships that the prince had endured.
Now it is the Zheng family that owes the prince.
"Okay, Zhong, since the Zheng family has already made all the arrangements, why not see how much sincerity the Zheng family has shown."
Ah Zhong lowered his head and said, "Yes."
Xiu Cui Lou had been preparing for today for a long time. As soon as Fan An gave the order, the musicians, dancers, meals and pastries were all ready.
Fan An had long heard about how the King of Qi had saved his life by breaking his leg. He also knew that although he appeared to be approachable and never lost his temper, he was actually a very unpredictable person.
It was just a greeting, but the cold sweat in his underwear never dried up.
It goes without saying that he couldn't sleep every night during this period of time.
But this is another opportunity.
The King of Qi suddenly did not recall the capital. He must have his own plans. It is hard to say whether the situation in the capital will change.
He had always been suppressed throughout his life as an official, and this was his only chance.
He clenched his fists and whispered, "Is everything okay?"
The nanny was also nervous. She didn't know who the noble person in the room was, but she knew how serious the matter was.
Nanny hurriedly said, "It's all settled, don't worry, sir."
Fan An nodded, wiped the cold sweat from his face, turned around, went upstairs, and pushed open the attic door.
He stood at the door and said respectfully: "Your Highness, shall we start?"
The person leaning on the chaise longue suddenly opened her eyes slightly: "Then let's get started."
As soon as the King of Qi finished speaking, servants came in one after another and brought up all the food and pastries in their hands.
Ah Zhong stood by and checked each one with a silver needle.
At this time, Pei Chao also entered the room with his zither, and the dancers followed behind him. They were the ones trained by Ju Lan herself.
Although it is an attic, it is very large and can accommodate nearly ten people dancing.
Pei Chao sat sideways in front of the door, just looking at the piano in front of him.
The dancers stepped forward, nodded slightly, and stood not far from the King of Qi to salute.
King Qi glanced at them calmly and said, "Let's get started."
The dancers responded, "Yes."
The sound of a piano suddenly rang out, and the dancers danced to the rhythm of the music. In the warm room in winter, the dancers were dressed very coolly.
The dancer is wrapped in a veil, and her figure is enchanting.
These people were selected by Fan An himself. He stood aside and secretly observed the expression of King Qi, but he did not expect that King Qi did not change.
He just drank some fruit wine and seemed to be intoxicated by singing and dancing.
But his eyes did not fall on the dancer.
Fan An was a little anxious.
These were all beauties that he had carefully selected, and he was only waiting for one to please the King of Qi and speak for him after bringing him to Kyoto.
But I didn't expect that these mediocre women didn't even look down on my expectations!
Fan An was observing all the time, but when the song ended, the King of Qi just clapped his hands and said, "Not bad."
Fan An said boldly: "Your Highness, these girls are all daughters of honest families selected by me. If Your Highness doesn't mind, why not keep one to serve Your Highness?"
"You don't need to do that. Your singing and dancing are also very good. However, I feel that..." King Qi said, pinching a piece of pastry with his fingers. He looked at it carefully from left to right: "This pastry is exquisite. I wonder which cook made it?"
Fan An didn't know that it was just a small piece of cake and the King of Qi hadn't even taken a bite, so why was he so interested in it?
He turned to look at Mammy.
The maid quickly stepped forward and replied, "Your Excellency, this cake was specially ordered outside, and the cook is not in the building now."
"Oh?" The corner of King Qi's mouth curled up slightly: "I wonder how far away the cook lives?"
Fan An said, "Not far, not far! I will invite him here immediately."
After saying that, he pulled the nanny out.
The King of Qi was still smiling playfully at the cake, his narrow and long almond-shaped eyes full of inquiry.
--
The fifth day of the New Year brings good luck to the business.
Song Jin ran out of Xiucui Tower with Que'er, and soon forgot his fear.
Although it was a bit of a pity that Song Jin would not get any reward money, it was not bad either. After all, she didn't want to get any closer to the scary and depressing atmosphere.
If the reward is gone, it’s gone.
The two girls first found a small tea stall to sit down. Song Jin checked the balance given by Xiu Cui Lou and found that not only was there no less, but there was even a little more, so she made it a whole amount for her.
Song Jin smiled so much that her round almond-shaped eyes narrowed. She said to Que'er, "Que'er, what do you want to eat? Sister Xiaojin will treat you today!"
Que'er waved her hands repeatedly: "I don't need to eat, Xiao Jinjie, you should keep the money to open a shop, this is a serious matter."
"Of course you need money to open a shop, but you can't waste money on food! So, let's go eat pickled duck. I've been wanting to eat it for a long time!"
"Duck in soy sauce?" Que'er smacked his lips. "I haven't tried it yet."
"Okay, this is it!" Song Jin took her to pay the bill and walked towards the pickled duck shop.
The streets on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year are sometimes even busier than those before the Lunar New Year, with more young people walking around the streets, and some young men and women who want to see each other also make appointments on this day.
It is not easy to book a private room in a better restaurant, and it is not easy to wait for a table outside.
Song Jin and Que'er waited for nearly an hour before they were finally able to line up and go in.
Before going in, Que'er was a little shy and nervous: "Sister Xiaojin, my clothes..."
"Don't worry, no one is watching!" Song Jin was wearing ordinary clothes today.
In fact, if you look closely, most of the people in the shop are dressed in ordinary clothes. Even if they were reluctant to go out to eat in the past, they are willing to spend a lot today during the New Year.
After finally queuing up to get in, Song Jin ordered two marinated ducks, one to eat here and one to take away, as well as one meat dish, two vegetarian dishes and two desserts.
After the meal, the two little girls enjoyed it very much.
After Song Jin finished eating, he picked up the packed duck in soy sauce, thinking that the duck would not get cold anyway, so he might as well go shopping with Que'er without any worries.
Que'er hadn't been so happy in a long time. She lowered her head and replied, "I will accompany Sister Xiaojin to do whatever she wants."
The two little girls were selling things as they walked, but the people buying things were all Song Jin. Que'er was afraid that she would be beaten again when she went back, so she just looked around.
But it’s fun to watch.
But unexpectedly, when they were halfway through their stroll, someone suddenly walked up to them and stopped them.
Looking at the two young men in front of him, Song Jin was startled: "May I ask why you stopped me, big brother?"
A man said, "Miss Song, please come back with us to Xiu Cui Tower. The county magistrate wants to see you."
"Mr. County Magistrate?" Song Jin pursed her lips, her face full of confusion: "Did I break the law? Why does Mr. County Magistrate want to see me?"
"Not really." The man said, "It's just that the cakes that the young lady sent to the building today made the distinguished guest very satisfied. The distinguished guest wanted to reward the young lady in person. Please move on."
tips?
Do you really want to give a reward?
...But Song Jin always felt something was wrong.
She looked carefully and found that the young man next to her had not spoken the whole time, but he was the one who stopped her from entering at the back door of Xiu Cui Tower in the afternoon.
Song Jin was a little scared. She whispered, "Big brother, I have something to do at home. I wonder if you can just give the reward money directly to the maid in the building. I won't go to see you, so as not to lose etiquette. Or..."
"I am ashamed to accept your reward, sir. I am extremely happy to receive your praise."
Seeing that Song Jin didn't want to go, the two men were obviously a little unhappy: "It is a great blessing for you that the noble wants to see you, and you can't just say no, so you'd better go quickly!"
Song Jin bit her lip in fear.
She really didn't want to go, but now it seems that she has no choice but to go!
Annoying!
If she had known this, she wouldn't have put so much effort into it!
"Okay." Song Jin agreed obediently.
Que'er was so frightened that she didn't know how to speak, but when Song Jin followed those people, Que'er suddenly grabbed Song Jin's hand.
Her hands were cold and trembling: "Sister Xiaojin, I'll go with you."
Song Jin was actually afraid of being alone, so she nodded.
The two girls squeezed together and followed the people in front of them towards Xiu Cui Tower.
Song Jin had already thought about this along the way.
If someone died from eating her pastries and had to take her to pay for their lives, she should have been arrested just now instead of being invited so nicely.
Maybe the noble person really wanted to give her some reward.
And no matter what, it was she who made the pastries, and it had nothing to do with Que'er.
The two girls were nervous all the way until they returned to the back door of Xiu Cui Tower, and the depressing atmosphere came over them again.
Que'er was so frightened that her legs went limp. She grabbed Song Jin's sleeve and said, "Sister Xiaojin..."
Song Jin shook his head: "It's okay. Even if you kill someone, there must be a method for killing. We are all good citizens. We haven't broken the law. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Que'er nodded: "Yeah."
But he didn't expect that as soon as he arrived at the back door, the county magistrate was waiting there.
Fan An looked Song Jin up and down and said, "Are you Song Jin?"
Song Jin lowered his head and replied, "Yes, I have met you, sir."
"Yes." Fan An said to the person next to him, "Bring him in."
Upon hearing this, the maid next to her took Song Jin in.
Unexpectedly, Song Jin suddenly said, "Sir, my sister's mother is fierce. If she returns home late, she will be beaten. I made the cakes today. Why don't you let her go back first?"
Fan An was originally only looking for Song Jin. He didn't even like the freckled girl following her, not to mention the one inside.
He waved his hand: "Let her go back."
Que'er was startled: "Sister Xiaojin!"
Song Jin shook his head slightly at her, signaling her not to follow in: "Go back quickly, or your mother will beat you."
Que'er bit her lip and paused before she responded, "Okay."
"Okay, don't make the noble inside wait anxiously, it's not a life-threatening matter!" Fan An urged impatiently. The follower next to him listened and carried Que'er out.
Que'er watched the back door of Xiucui Tower being closed, she could not move at all.
Song Jin, who was inside the door, was also taken away by the maid and went up to the attic.
Fan An whispered to the person next to him: "Tell her to be more obedient."
The attendant replied, "Yes."
Fan An looked at the figure going up the stairs, his eyes slightly darkening.
He also didn't expect that none of the mediocre women he had originally chosen could be relied upon.
What I didn't expect was that the King of Qi would be so interested in a piece of cake.
Fortunately, this girl is pretty. If she is favored by the King of Qi, it will be her good fortune.
Fan An waved his hand: "Have you found out about this girl's background?"
The attendant stepped forward and whispered, "Your Excellency, I have already inquired. This girl is a steamed bun seller in Chunliu Lane. She has no relatives at home and is an orphan. She married a stranger a few months ago. I heard that her husband is in poor health and has been at home for a long time and cannot go out. He used to make a living by copying books. But I heard that he is good-looking."
"A poor scholar who is also a sickly one, no matter how good he looks, what good can he do?" Fan An snorted coldly, "I have seen many such poor scholars. If you give them some money, they would probably be willing to sell even their own mothers, let alone a young lady."
Fan An glanced at the flickering light in the attic and said, "If this young lady is really famous, then I will thank her husband for some money and send her away."
"If that poor scholar doesn't know what's best for him..."
Fan An's eyes were full of contempt: "Of course there is a way to make him sensible. It depends on whether he wants his wife or his life."
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