The so-called "New Year's money" is the original form of red envelopes. In the days before paper money, handkerchiefs or sachets were often used instead.
Ordinary people would choose handkerchiefs, like the Zhang Xianglian and Zhang Qiu'an couple, to wrap some copper coins—that would be quite something.
Those with some status would choose sachets, like Manager Hao, but these sachets were just ordinary ones costing two coins each, containing only a little loose silver, less than half an ounce.
Looking at the sachet in Bian Wenxuan's hand, its exquisite craftsmanship is truly stunning. Not only is every stitch embroidered with exquisite detail, but the bulging purse also indicates that the amount involved is not small.
Zheng Ruqian's eyes shone brightly, and his right hand rose and fell uncontrollably several times, leaving only clear saliva lingering at the corner of his mouth.
Xu Mo remained calm, but his gaze towards Bian Wenxuan held a more scrutinizing quality.
"If it's silver, there are fifty taels." Chang Yan observed for a moment, then whispered to Wen Zhiyun and Jiang Sheng.
Both of them gasped, and their gazes toward Bian Wenxuan changed.
Xu Mo worked hard all year and only earned a hundred taels of commission. For him to give away fifty taels of silver as a gift was simply outrageous.
This is equivalent to having an annual salary of 80,000 yuan and your boss giving you 40,000 yuan as a New Year's gift. Would you dare to accept it?
Fang Heng dared not.
He frowned at Bian Wenxuan and declined softly, "Your Excellency is too kind. We are about the same age, and I cannot accept your New Year's money."
Bian Wenxuan looked at himself, then at Fang Heng, and rolled his eyes.
He was the magistrate of Bian County, and he was twenty-five years old.
He, Fang Xiaoheng, is twelve years old.
Where did this talk of similar ages come from? Where did this talk of being almost the same age come from? Bian Wenxuan felt that with a little effort, he could have given birth to a Fang Heng.
"I didn't give it to you." The magistrate lost his patience and rudely shoved it at you. "She gave it to you."
Fang Heng paused in his refusal, and the heavy sachet fell into his arms.
This "she" must be my aunt.
I just don't know why she didn't give it to him herself, or come to him in person?
Bian Wenxuan didn't linger; after paying the New Year's money, he got into the carriage.
Fang Heng ultimately didn't voice the question that was on his mind.
After Bian Wenxuan left, Zheng Ruqian was the first to rush over, sniffing the fragrance of the Shu brocade. His mouth was watering. "Third brother, third brother, quickly check how much money is inside. I heard from Xiao Wu that it's fifty taels."
Two carriages carrying 500 catties of dried green beans only amounted to 25 taels, while this purse contained a full 50 taels of silver.
So this is what a wealthy family looks like?
For the first time, Zheng Ruqian hated his ordinary background and his lack of a wealthy destiny.
Fang Heng was both amused and exasperated. He reached out and opened it, only to be blinded by the golden color inside.
Chang Yan frowned, only then realizing that he had guessed wrong.
It wasn't that the numbers were wrong, but rather that the product category was wrong.
This is not fifty taels of silver, but fifty taels of gold, which, according to the exchange rate, is a full five hundred taels of silver.
It's equivalent to Xu Mo being a clerk for five years, Wen Zhiyun prescribing medicine for ten years, Zheng Ruqian selling vegetables for eight years, and Jiang Sheng needing food for ten lifetimes.
This was also the first time the six siblings had ever seen such a large amount of gold.
Not to mention Zheng Ruqian, even Chang Yan was taken aback for a moment.
Fang Heng held it in his hand as if it were a hot potato. He hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to return it to Bian Wenxuan, but found that he couldn't even see a carriage in sight.
"It seems that Magistrate Bian fled because he was afraid you would return to him," Xu Mo said softly.
Fang Heng put the gold back into the sachet, his doubts growing.
"Don't overthink it. Maybe your aunt is just trying to support you." Zheng Ruqian patted his shoulder, wishing he had an aunt like that.
“It’s Third Brother. If you really have any doubts, you can ask your aunt when you see her later,” Changyan said.
That's all we can do.
Fang Heng pursed his lips, his desire to dethrone the Sun family from their position as prefect growing stronger.
After discussing it carefully, they decided to stay in the prefectural city for the time being and not return to Xieyang County.
Zheng Ruqian asked Pang Dashan to deliver two New Year's gifts: one to Manager Bai of Youranju in Xieyang County and the other to Magistrate Pang of Yunshui County.
After observing for half a month, they figured out the Wang family's situation.
The Wang family has two legitimate sons and one legitimate daughter. The son is Fang Heng's deceased maternal uncle, and the daughter is Fang Heng's biological mother.
It's not important that the concubine's daughters are all married off; what's noteworthy is that the Wang family has three concubine's sons.
At first, with the legitimate sons and daughters keeping them in check, the illegitimate sons dared not act recklessly, remaining obedient and docile, and the entire Wang family lived in harmony.
After the eldest son and daughter passed away one after another, their minds began to stir. They believed that the Wang family needed male members to support it, and that Sun (Madam Wang) and Miss Wang were both women and not qualified to manage the Wang family.
This is the source of the Wang family's conflict.
In order to maintain the glory of the main branch of the Wang family and suppress the restless illegitimate sons, Madam Sun was willing to sacrifice Fang Heng's life in order to continue to receive the support of the Fang family.
But the illegitimate sons of the Wang family were not happy. They wanted the power of the Wang family, so they couldn't watch the Sun family join forces with the Fang family, nor could they watch the power of the Sun family's maternal family grow stronger step by step.
In fact, the Wang family's illegitimate son and the Sun family had long been at loggerheads, but they were just waiting for an opportunity to ignite the fuse.
After much deliberation, the choice for this great and crucial person fell to Wang Mingyu, the eldest son of the Wang family, who had previously driven his carriage recklessly in front of You Ran Ju.
He was the beloved legitimate son of the second branch of the Wang family, and also the hope for the second branch of the Wang family to "seize the throne".
Most importantly, he's stupid.
Zheng Ruqian was just pretending to be a small businessman who spent money like water. He met Wang Mingyu by chance and inadvertently revealed his "close relationship" with Youranju. Wang Mingyu then treated him as a good brother.
The two were having drinks at Youranju when they "coincidentally" ran into Miss Wang. Zheng Ruqian encouraged Wang Mingyu to greet his cousin, so Wang Mingyu went to say hello.
Of course, they didn't get a friendly reception and were even mocked.
Wang Mingyu was unhappy, but it was inconvenient for him to take action against his own people, so he could only vent his frustration elsewhere.
As luck would have it, Miss Wang was standing next to a younger cousin from the Sun family, who, out of protectiveness of his sister, said a few words.
Thus, a great battle unfolded at Youranju.
When Wang Mingyu and the young master of the Sun family were separated, both of them had bruises on their faces and neither was willing to give in.
"He bullied people first. He's just a family that leeches off women. Who's afraid of who?" Wang Mingyu shouted at the top of his lungs.
The illegitimate son of the Wang family already looked down on the Sun family, so it's not surprising that he would have such thoughts after Zheng Ruqian added a few more provocations.
Miss Wang and Young Master Sun's faces were ashen, and they said firmly, "You were the one who went crazy first, we can't let this go!"
He then hurriedly returned to the Wang family to complain.
In the crowd, Zheng Ruqian quietly slipped back into the private room, poured out the tea that could affect his temper, and made a successful retreat, bringing the event to a perfect close.
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