Qin was incredulous, "Embroidery can cure diseases?"
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "It should be possible. Lord Min's insomnia is mainly caused by overthinking the complicated affairs of the court and family, but deep down he yearns for a free and easy life. The scenery in this embroidery should be something he likes, which can relax his body and make him feel happy..."
Qin looked at Xu Lanyin's eyebrows. Only if she looked closely could she see the faint red dot. She smiled and said, "Okay, mother, start embroidering. This picture may look large, but it actually takes less time and effort than embroidering a small flower bear."
Xu Lanyin also talked about what colors to embroider the flowers from which places, and what colors to embroider the butterflies. Not only should the green color change in sequence, but the color of the white clouds should also change... The best embroidery thread should be used, and she bought a lot of it in the provincial capital.
After Xu Lanyin's explanation and description, Qin imagined the scene and smiled again, "Even though it hasn't been embroidered yet, I think the scenery must be very beautiful."
Xu Lanyin smiled. Only when you like something can you devote all your passion to it.
Now, she started thinking about what furniture to make for her new home. Since she wouldn't be living there long, the furniture didn't need to be overly elaborate, just practical.
That night, Zhao Wu returned to his own home, picked up a pen and wrote the word "smooth" on a small piece of paper, then put the paper into a small bamboo tube and released Ma Zi, who was carrying the bamboo tube, from the west wing window. The two men successfully entered the Xu family shop and the Hong family, and the other person also successfully went to the county government office.
After completing this important task, Zhao Wucai came to the living room of the Xu family and told them about his visit to the Zhang family to pay tribute to Zhang Gangdan.
Zhang Gangdan died of drunkenness. His wife had gone home that evening, and he was in a bad mood and drank a lot that night. It was Zhang Tongdan who helped him to bed. Seeing he hadn't gotten up this morning, his family, assuming he'd been drinking too much, didn't call him and even asked someone to get him some leave from the government office. But by the time the 9th hour came, he still hadn't gotten up. When his mother went to wake him for dinner, she found him dead. A doctor was called in, and he said he'd drunk too much.
Captain Zhang is still the captain, and Zhang Gangdan is a fast horseman. Almost everyone in the yamen went to pay tribute, including the highest leaders of Nanping County, such as the Min County Magistrate, Wang County Magistrate, and Sun County Lieutenant. Captain Jiang also went.
When Constable Zhang, Zhang Tongdan, and Zhang Tiedan saw Constable Jiang, their eyes turned red. They accused Constable Jiang of forcing Zhang Gangdan to death. They rushed forward to attack him, but were pulled apart. Constable Jiang, feeling somewhat guilty, hurried away.
Zhao Wuxing said gloatingly, "Everyone says Zhang Gangdan died at such a young age. It was because Captain Zhang had done too many bad things, and the retribution fell on his son..."
Because he was happy, Zhao Wu drank several cups of wine in the evening.
Xu Lanyin thought about Zhang Manniang, who had visited her home twice. She was a really nice girl. But she still didn't want to get involved and didn't go to visit her at Zhang's house.
At noon the next day, Ma Zifei came back.
Xu Lanyin took the small bamboo tube without reading what was written inside and locked it directly in the kang cabinet. Zhao Wu came back in the evening and gave it to him.
That morning, Xu Lan went to Tian's carpentry shop in the county town and asked Tian, the carpenter, and his three apprentices to make furniture for her house. She also asked them to make some toys for the children, as well as checkers and chess pieces.
Checkers pieces resemble little people, with small heads and long bodies, about an inch and a half long. Fifteen of each color are brushed: red, yellow, and green. Make thirty of each color, enough for two sets of chess. You could make six colors, but I didn't want that much trouble.
Chess pieces are also made in two sets, black and white.
They were not asked to make the chessboard, but only to make four smooth wooden boards, which she took back and painted herself.
Carpenter Tian looked at so many adults and children and thought they were children's toys.
Xu Lanyin gave Ding Gu's wife, Lu, one guan (a string of coins) for food, asking her and Zhangqi to cook for the carpenters. One guan (a string of coins) would last at least half a month and provide good food, so she gave him more to see what kind of people Ding Gu and his wife were like. Ding Gu would visit his own fields every few days and then help out with the carpenters.
Xu Lanyin would visit the new house every day, and Mrs. Lu would report on how much money had been spent and the profits she had made playing chess. Xu Lanyin liked Mrs. Lu very much. She was gentle and capable, but she was worried, perhaps about her son who had been sold to the provincial capital. Xu Lanyin understood that this was human nature.
On June 19th, Xu Yuan came over and said that Uncle Zhou would be back today, and his great-grandfather and great-grandmother asked the second wife and Uncle Zhao to go to his house for dinner.
Xu Lanyin had originally wanted to invite the old couple to her house for dinner today and talk about buying a house. After hearing this, she went to the town to buy a carp and a piece of pork to send to the eldest wife.
In the evening, Xu Lanzhou and Zhao Wu came back together, and the people from the second house and Zhao Wu went to the first house.
After eating and drinking, only Xu Lanzhou stayed from the second house, while the others and Zhao Wu returned to their own homes.
Seeing that Xu Lanzhou seemed to have something to say that he didn't want them to hear, Xu Mingqing and his wife had no choice but to take their grandchildren back to the east wing.
With no one around, Xu Lanzhou told them about a house he'd bought in the county town for two hundred taels of silver. As soon as he finished speaking, Old Man Xu slapped him, hitting him several times on the head.
"I'll beat you to death, you unfilial, prodigal son! You didn't tell me until you bought the house. You have all that money, but instead of saving it for later use, you're using it to buy a big house in the county town. You're a peasant family, and you don't have a house like this in the countryside, but you're running off to the county town to act like a rich and powerful person. Did Qin and Yin goad you into buying this?"
Even swear words came out.
Old Mrs. Xu felt sorry for her grandson and quickly grabbed Old Man Xu and said, "Why don't you say it nicely? Why hit someone? Now that they've moved to the county town, they're no longer peasants. When Dashi makes more money, he'll buy a house in the county town too. Then our descendants will all be city dwellers, and others will envy us. You should be happy, old man."
Old Man Xu thought about it and asked hurriedly, "Whose name is written on the house?"
Xu Lanzhou touched his head and said, "It's my name."
Old Man Xu nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, just write your name on it. If they want to get something for free, no one else can take it away."
Xu Lanzhou didn't want others to say that about his mother and sister. He defended himself, "Even if they didn't buy a house, my mother and sister wouldn't use our money to give away cheap things to others."
Old man Xu cursed, "You know shit! I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice. Your family was so poor because of that girl. Remember, you have to keep the remaining money and work hard, and don't cause trouble anymore."
Xu Lanzhou had improved since Qin's lesson. He said, "My mother and sister won't cause any trouble if I don't have to work hard." He added, "That money was earned by my sister and mother. When I become successful, I'll earn more and honor my grandfather and grandmother. I'll also give my sister a generous dowry."
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