Zhao Shenghao's crying melted Mrs. Cao's heart, especially when she saw the scars on his face, she felt even more distressed.
"Don't cry, my dear grandson. Grandma will let your father pawn his fine clothes and give you the tuition tomorrow so you can go to school. I won't let you carry heavy bags and beg for money."
Hearing Zhao Shenghao's tears, Mrs. Cao, who had been clinging to the robe tightly and reluctant to let go, immediately stuffed the robe into Zhao Ningsong's arms. "Take Hao'er with you tomorrow. Once you've pawned the robe, help him pay his tuition and send him to school."
Zhao Ningsong curled his lips and responded perfunctorily with his fancy clothes, thinking to himself: "My son is really amazing!" With just two shouts, the old lady surrendered.
The next morning, he took Zhao Shenghao and the gorgeous clothes and went straight to the pawnshop.
I originally thought that the gorgeous clothes that my mother treasured so much could be worth at least one hundred or eighty taels of silver.
But when the pawnshop owner took the fine clothes and looked at them, he saw the footprints from yesterday. His expression changed immediately and he said, "This dress is so old, it's not worth much. I'll give you ten taels of silver at most."
"Ten taels? This dress might not even cost a hundred taels when it was newly made. You think you can get rid of me with just ten taels of silver? You're running a shady business!"
Although he didn't know the true value of the clothes, when he was in the mansion, their room was extremely luxurious. Everything they ate, wore, and used was the best.
Nothing on my mother's body was ordinary, let alone this gorgeous dress that she kept until the very end.
The shopkeeper didn't give him any face and threw the clothes at him, "You also said that it was newly cut, but it's already so worn out and dirty. Even ten taels of silver is too much for me.
Do you think clothes become more valuable as they age like jewelry and jade? Let me tell you, worn clothes are still old, no matter how good they are.
It's just ten taels of silver, not a cent more. If you want to pawn it, then pawn it. If you don't want to, then forget it."
"You are going too far..." Zhao Ningsong was furious. Ten taels of silver were not enough to pay Zhao Shenghao's salary.
The shopkeeper, however, was not accustomed to him and taunted him, saying, "It's just a pawn. I named the price, so if you want to pawn it, go ahead. Why are you saying that this is too much?"
Seeing the shopkeeper's impatient attitude, Zhao Ning relented. "Ten taels is too little, please add a little more."
The shopkeeper's behavior was just a common business tactic. Seeing Zhao Ning soften his stance, he didn't hold back and held up a finger, saying, "I'll give you an extra ounce of silver."
"No, at least..."
After some bargaining between the two, Zhao Ningsong finally had no choice but to give the final bottom price. After paying Zhao Shenghao the rent, he only had one or two taels of silver left.
After sending Zhao Shenghao to the college, Zhao Ningsong walked dejectedly on the street.
As the crowd surged, he caught sight of a familiar figure, "Xu..."
Aunt Xu was talking to the shopkeeper when she suddenly heard Zhao Ningsong's voice. She was so scared that she quickly told the shopkeeper something and walked into the crowd without looking back.
Seeing this, Zhao Ningsong hurriedly chased after him.
But just when he was about to catch up, the person in front suddenly ran into an alley, and when he caught up, the person was gone.
Zhao Ningsong couldn't believe that such a big person would suddenly disappear. He searched back and forth in the alley several times, but couldn't find even a piece of clothing.
"Damn bitch." Zhao Ningsong cursed hatefully.
He knew that Aunt Xu must have silver on her. Aunt Xu was his concubine. If he found Aunt Xu, then Aunt Xu's silver would be his silver.
Zhao Ningsong seemed to see hope, turned around and walked towards the previous shop.
He had never been in charge of household affairs before and had no idea that this shop was the one that Aunt Xu had embezzled from Wang. He just thought that Aunt Xu came here to buy something, so he asked the shopkeeper about Aunt Xu.
But the shopkeeper and the waiter here had long been replaced by Aunt Xu. Aunt Xu had just told the shopkeeper in a hurry that if anyone asked about her, she should just say she didn't know.
Seeing that he could not get any answers from the shopkeeper, Zhao Ningsong had to give up. However, he was penniless now and had no intention of letting go of the fat piece of meat, Concubine Xu. His mind was full of thoughts about how to find Concubine Xu.
At this time, Aunt Xu was still in the alley. She breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Chi Wei in front of her: "Thank you, Master Chi Wei, for your timely rescue."
Just now, when she was about to be caught by Zhao Ningsong, Chi Wei appeared from nowhere and suddenly pulled her into the alley, and carried her directly over the wall. That's why Zhao Ningsong couldn't find her.
"Miss Shuhua is the mistress's apprentice. It's just a small favor. Madam Xu, there's no need to thank her.
However, Zhao Ningsong is penniless at the moment and lives in financial difficulty. He happened to run into his aunt today, so he probably won't let her go easily. His aunt had better be careful in the future.
Chi Wei still has official business to attend to, so I won't bother you any further. Goodbye."
After Chi Wei finished speaking, without waiting for Aunt Xu to speak, he turned and walked into the crowd, and his figure was soon submerged in the crowd.
After this incident, Aunt Xu didn't dare go back to the shop today. She stood there thinking for a while, then turned and walked towards the Duke Zhao's mansion.
But he didn't know that Zhao Ningsong was walking towards the Maternity and Child Health Hospital at this time.
The capital city is neither big nor small. If Concubine Xu really wants to avoid him, he really doesn't know where to find her. But he can't find Concubine Xu, so it is much easier to find Zhao Shuhua. If he finds Zhao Shuhua, Concubine Xu will be easy to catch.
The opening of the Maternity and Children's Hospital is known to everyone in the city, and Zhao Shuhua, as Tian An's apprentice, must be among them.
He really regretted not thinking of this earlier. If he had thought of it earlier, he wouldn't have had to work so hard these days.
Thinking of the bland soup he had been eating these days, he couldn't help cursing Zhao Shuhua, "This unfilial daughter is an ungrateful wolf. She eats delicious food and drinks spicy drinks, but she doesn't care about her father..."
After arriving at the Maternity and Child Health Hospital cursing all the way, he was about to step through the door, but was stopped by the guards outside.
Because Yaoyao lived there, after the free clinic at the maternity and child hospital ended, the emperor specially sent a team to be responsible for the security of the maternity and child hospital. However, they could only guard the periphery, and the security inside still had to rely on the female guards.
These guards used to guard the imperial palace, so they are naturally not comparable to ordinary guards.
Zhao Ningsong, relying on the fact that he was Zhao Shuhua's father, was about to force his way in regardless of the consequences. He was immediately pushed aside by them and said, "Get out of here if you know what's good for you. If you dare to cause trouble, you'll go to jail."
Seeing that the other party didn't look like he was trying to scare him, Zhao Ningsong quickly put away his arrogance and spoke politely, "I'm here to look for my daughter. Please be kind and let me in!"
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