A late spring breeze, laden with the fragrance of peonies, swept through the Meridian Gate. Su Jinli raised her hand to brush her hair away from her forehead, her fingertips touching the cool, red-gold, and jade-emerald hairpins. She gazed at the vines slanting up the vermilion palace walls, the sunlight filtering through the leaves creating dancing golden specks on the blue bricks. Suddenly, she remembered the dusty window lattice by her sickbed in her previous life: a similar sunlight, yet it couldn't even warm the chill.
"Mother," Siyan's little hand tugged at her sleeve. The cuffs of her moon-white gown were still stained with the porridge that had been spilled this morning. "Isn't the Emperor more powerful than the Justice Bao in the opera?"
As Su Jinli crouched, her white gauze shawl brushed the moss on the blue bricks. She pinched her son's chubby cheek, her fingertips touching the delicate skin. "No matter how powerful you are, you must be reasonable." Sunlight fell on Siyan's dark eyes, reflecting her smiling features. "Siyan is upright and honest, so any evildoers will naturally not get close to us."
Jiang Yan stepped forward, his wide sleeves brushing across Su Jinli's shoulders as he straightened her slightly tilted shawl. He looked at the abacus his son clutched tightly, its beads gleaming warmly in the sunlight. "Remember this? Don't panic when things get tough. Your parents will always be there for you."
Si Yan nodded vigorously, the tassels of the abacus swaying in front of his chest like a small red ball. "Yes! I will make a lot of money in the future and buy new clothes for the children in the charity cemetery!" He suddenly remembered something and frowned. "But last time, Aunt Zhang said that buying rice is more important than buying cloth..."
Su Jinli and Jiang Yan exchanged a glance and couldn't help but smile. She watched her son's serious calculations, and suddenly remembered last winter, when the boy had secretly slipped his New Year's money into her hands, saying he was going to buy her a heater. Back then, he'd held the change in his little hand just as tightly.
"Okay," she scratched Siyan's nose, "but you have to settle your accounts and study hard. When your father was the top scholar, he didn't spend all day with an abacus."
"I'm better than Dad!" Si Yan raised his little face in dissatisfaction, "I can recite the Analects and use an abacus at the same time!"
Jiang Yan shook his head helplessly and reached out to hold Su Jinli's hand. The mutton-fat jade bracelet on her wrist touched the hook of his jade belt, making a clear sound. The shadows of the three people were stretched by the sunlight, casting them on the blue bricks of the palace corridor, like a moving fine brush painting.
- [Imperial Decree from Heaven: Gold and Silver]
Just as she was about to board the carriage, she heard hurried footsteps behind her. Su Jinli turned around and saw Eunuch Wang from the Yangxin Palace trotting after her, the gilded tray in his hand dazzling in the sunlight.
"Lord Jiang! Madam Jiang!" Eunuch Wang stopped three steps away, panting. A smile lingered in his shrill voice. "Your Majesty has decreed—"
Si Yan subconsciously shrank back behind Su Jinli, the abacus beads clattering in his arms. Su Jinli felt her son's slightly trembling little hand and pulled him into her arms, her fingertips touching the spine beneath his straight robe.
As Eunuch Wang unfolded the bright yellow imperial edict, auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes rippled in the wind. He cleared his throat, and his shrill voice echoed through the palace corridors: "By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Jiang Siyan, only twelve years old, has a kind heart and has donated twenty taels of silver to help orphans. This is truly a rare act. I grant him the title of 'Minor Charity Official' and a reward of one hundred taels of silver as an encouragement. I decree!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
As Su Jinli pulled Siyan down to her knees, her knees bumped against the warm blue bricks. She heard Siyan gasp, followed by Jiang Yan's steady voice of thanks. Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the imperial edict, casting tiny specks of light on Siyan's trembling shoulders.
"Young Master, take this." Eunuch Wang handed the tray to Si Yan with a smile, "This is the hundred taels of silver awarded to you by His Majesty."
Siyan's outstretched hand paused mid-air, his eyes wide as the bells of the throne room. Ten ingots of snow-white silver sat on a tray, each inscribed with the words "official silver," gleaming coldly in the sunlight. He suddenly remembered seeing his father use just this ingot of silver to buy his mother's favorite Shu brocade last month at the silk shop—enough to make three new dresses.
"Take it, Siyan." Su Jinli pushed his back.
The child finally woke up, taking the tray with trembling hands. The coolness of the silver ingots passed through his fingertips. He counted the ridges on them, muttering quietly, "One ingot is ten taels. Ten ingots is a hundred taels... enough to buy a hundred copies of 'Essentials of the Way of Commerce' and twenty new abacuses..."
Eunuch Wang was amused by his appearance and tapped the edge of the tray with his whisk: "Young Master is really good at calculating."
Jiang Yan stepped forward to thank the eunuch and stuffed two ingots of silver into his hand: "Thank you for making this trip."
Eunuch Wang accepted the silver with a smile and bowed before leaving. Su Jinli couldn't help but laugh as she watched Si Yan clinging to the tray, unwilling to let go. This boy, truly, was her son; his love for money was ingrained in him.
- [Carriage Secrets: Abacus and Polygala]
The gilded carriage rolled over the bluestone pavement, the wheel axles creaking. Si Yan carefully placed the silver ingot into the small wooden box he carried with him. The box was made of pearwood and had the four crooked characters "Si Yan Money House" engraved on it.
"Si Yan," Su Jinli teased him, her fingertips tracing the marks on the wooden box, "When are you going to donate this hundred taels of silver to the charity cemetery?"
"No, no!" Si Yan immediately hugged the box in his arms, as if protecting some rare treasure. "This is a gift from His Majesty! I'm going to save it and open the largest bookstore in the capital!" His eyes sparkled as he spoke, and the abacus beads clattered at his waist. "It's just like my mother's 'Jinxiu Pavilion', but I want to sell lots and lots of profitable books!"
Jiang Yan laughed and reached out to straighten his son's crooked hair. "Your Majesty is rewarding you for your kindness. You can't just think about making money."
"I know, Dad!" Si Yan raised his little face and sighed like a little adult, "I make money so that I can donate more money. Look, the twenty taels I donated this time can buy five dan of rice. If I make one thousand taels in the future, I can buy two hundred and fifty dan of rice, enough for the children in the charity home to eat for a whole year!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
