Chapter 97 A Letter from the Capital
After the ship sailed for several more days, when it reached the second stop for resupply, Min Qiao received a letter from Wei Jia.
In her letter, Wei Jia mentioned that Wu Cheng had resorted to his old tricks and deliberately approached her.
Min Qiao frowned as she looked at it.
She had barely left when Wu started causing trouble again.
Fortunately, Wei Jia quickly explained the whole story in a letter.
It turns out, it was all Aunt He's doing!
She controlled the household affairs of the Marquis's mansion. The monthly wages of the servants, their daily food and clothing for all four seasons were all under He's control.
Since the He family was wealthy, they were naturally happy to spend a little money to win over the servants in their household.
Compared to the stingy and penniless Wu, He gained the love and respect of the entire household with almost no effort.
Even the Wu family, the servants Wu trusted most, were bought off by He.
Whether it was to annoy Min Qiaoshi or to get Min Qiaoshi to deal with Wu Shi, He Shi bribed the Wu family with a large sum of money and had Wu Cheng seduce Wei Jia.
If it succeeds, Wei Jia will be a pawn in the hands of the He family. If it fails, Wu Cheng is ostensibly a member of the Wu family, and it is the Wu family that has offended Songhetang. The He family will not be implicated at all.
However, Min Yuexi keenly perceived He's sinister intentions, brought the matter to light in advance, and publicly punished the Wu family.
Afterwards, they even went to Songhetang to give the money and valuables that He had bribed Steward Wu to Weijia, saying it was a small token of their apology.
In the end, He gave up her money, and her scheme failed.
For this matter, He was reprimanded by Min Rong.
Because of this incident, no one in the Marquis's mansion dared to look down on Miss Min Yuexi anymore.
Madam Min handed the letter to Granny Fang, who quickly glanced at it and said angrily, "Madam, what's wrong with Madam He? Why can't she just live a peaceful life? Does she have to cause trouble before she's satisfied?"
Min Qiao was also curious about this question.
In her previous life, He Shi was suppressed by her as soon as she entered the family and had no chance to turn the tables. With Min Yuexi's assistance, He Shi did not make any waves.
She abandoned all responsibility for this life, while Madam He was quite enthusiastic about making trouble.
It's unclear what He's purpose is in constantly making these moves.
"Thanks to the eldest young lady's intelligence, she saw through the scheme early on. Otherwise, the Lady of the Marquis might have been ruined by Madam He."
Granny Fang sighed, "The Lady of the Marquis is still lacking in wisdom. To actually relinquish the power to manage the Marquis's household for money is truly foolish!"
Min Qiao smiled but did not reply.
Min Yuexi did indeed act in time; otherwise, Madam He might have been able to use the money in the Wu family's hands to completely bring down Madam Wu, the Marquis's wife!
Wei Jia mentioned in her letter that the valuables Min Yuexi had given her exceeded one thousand taels.
Would it really cost a thousand taels of silver to bribe a steward who only earns a few taels a month?
Even if the He family were very generous, two or three hundred taels would be enough.
One thousand taels, more than Wu's dowry!
On the surface, it appears that He used this money to bribe Steward Wu and make the Wu family work for her, with the aim of instigating a conflict between the Wu family and Songhetang.
But what is the reality? If the matter is exposed, He could easily turn the tables and say that Wu instructed the Wu family to steal the money!
At that point, Wu will likely find herself unable to defend herself, even if she has the right to do so.
Fortunately, Min Yuexi brought the matter to Min Rong's attention first, causing He Shi to lose the initiative.
The boat traveled for another half month and was about to enter the Jiangnan region.
On this day, the merchant ship docked at a nearby pier. After sitting on the ship for almost a month, Madam Min Qiao was really tired, so she and her entourage disembarked and prepared to stroll around the nearby town.
The group entered the city, first found a restaurant to eat at, and then wandered around the city.
Of course, the first to be visited were clinics and pharmacies.
Whenever the merchant ships docked, Madam Min would send people to various clinics and pharmacies to collect medicinal herbs. Throughout the journey, Ajiu never ran out of medicine.
After visiting the pharmacy, Madam Min Qiao and her entourage bought some local specialties and famous local delicacies. They also picked out a few bolts of light and thin fabric at a clothing shop.
After a month of travel, it was already March, and the further south we went, the warmer the weather became.
Although everyone brought clothes for all four seasons when they went out, you can never have too many clothes. Making a new outfit for everyone to wear certainly lifted everyone's spirits, didn't it?
The group happily finished shopping and headed back. When they reached the dock, two brightly dressed young girls brushed past them.
Madam Min hadn't paid them any attention at first, but as she walked over, she suddenly heard the two girls mention "Yimei".
Leaning on an eyebrow?
Isn't this Wei Jia's nickname from her past life?
No! Wei Jia said that her younger sister's name is Yi Mei, the Mei of plum blossom!
Therefore, Yimei's name in her previous life was actually a change from her younger sister's name, Yimei.
Madam Min Qiao immediately took it to heart, stopped in her tracks, and had someone invite the two girls over to talk.
The docks are bustling with people; it's not a place for conversation.
So Min Qiaoshi brought the person directly to the ship.
The two girls were initially terrified, but when they saw Madam Min smiling kindly and telling them that she only wanted to ask them about local customs, they breathed a sigh of relief. After Madam Min had someone give each of them a silver coin worth about one tael, the two girls immediately beamed with joy.
“Madam, please ask whatever you wish. We will answer to the best of our ability,” said one of the girls with dimples, smiling.
Another round-faced little girl nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes."
Madam Min Qiao casually inquired about their ages, occupations, and hometowns. Only then did she subtly ask, "I overheard you talking about 'Yimei' at the dock just now. Is that her name?"
"That name sounds quite nice. Is she also one of your girlfriends who does business with you?"
Min Qiaoshi already knew from the two girls that they were both girls from the Wan Hua Lou brothel in the city, and that they had specially asked the manager of the brothel for permission to come to the dock to see their friend off.
Upon hearing Min Qiao's question, the round-faced girl nodded: "Yes. We were sold to the Wan Hua Lou together."
The dimpled girl quickly chimed in, "But Yimei is much luckier than us. She was bought as soon as she was sold to the brothel. They said they'd take her to the capital."
"We just came to the dock to see her off."
"I see." Madam Min Qiao nodded, then confirmed again, "Yimei, the 'mei' in 'meiyan' (eyebrows)?"
The round-faced little girl looked at Min Qiaoshi with a blank expression, clearly unable to read.
The dimpled little girl took a moment to think and shook her head, saying, "The 'Mei' in 'plum blossom.' Yi Mei said her older sister was named Lin Xiang, and before she was born, her mother happened to be admiring plum blossoms, so her mother named her Yi Mei."
“Yimei, Linxiang… they sound elegant. But they don’t seem like names that wealthy families would give to their daughters,” Madam Min Qiao muttered deliberately.
These words were indeed heard by the dimpled girl.
She chuckled and said, "Yimei said that her mother was a courtesan who was eventually bought by an official to be his concubine, and later gave birth to the two sisters. She thought she would live a good life for the rest of her days. But then her family's property was confiscated."
"The two sisters ended up in brothels just like their mother. She even said that her mother really gave her a good name, so she didn't need to change her stage name."
"Then, what is Yimei's surname?" Madam Min Qiao finally confirmed.
"Let me think," the dimpled girl said uncertainly after a moment's thought, "I think the surname is Cao. Yimei only mentioned it to me once, and I don't know if I remember it correctly."
Cao Yimei! Cao Linxiang!
Sure enough! Found it!
Min Qiao was overwhelmed with emotion.
After seeing the two girls off, Madam Min Qiao hurriedly wrote a letter and had it sent to the capital, instructing Wei Jia to keep an eye out for them in the capital and, if necessary, to ask the shop assistants in various places to help look for them.
If the person is found, she is allowed to redeem them at any cost.
If you encounter trouble, you can go to the Duke of Jin's mansion to ask Madam Zheng for help in a critical moment.
After the letter was sent away, Ayi came in with three letters. "Madam, these are letters from the capital. One is from Sister Weijia, one is from the eldest young lady, and the other is from the Marquis."
Min Qiao was taken aback. Why were there so many letters this time? Usually, it was only Wei Jia who received them.
What happened?
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