It started to rain again at night.
With the arrival of autumn, the weather gradually becomes cooler.
On the afternoon of August 6th, Xu Qingyan returned, bringing with him an official document from the Ministry of Rites conferring the title of fourth-rank consort on Qin.
Ma Zi brought back the letter two days ago, and Xu Lanyin and Qin already knew about it.
Xu Qingyan was exhausted, so the first thing he did was to go to the bathroom to take a shower. After coming out, he let Xu Lanyue get close to him for a while, then sent the girl away.
Blushing, he said to Qin and Xu Lanyin, "I must hurry back to Xiaozao Village tomorrow to place the imperial edict conferring the title of Imperial Conferment on Yanmei in the ancestral hall. Then I will ask someone to find an auspicious day and bring the imperial edict conferring the title of Imperial Conferment on Zhou into the ancestral hall."
"Let" and "please" have very different meanings.
Xu Lanyin learned that during this era, only officials of the third rank and above were appointed and granted titles by the emperor himself. There were also some special cases where the emperor personally issued an imperial decree, such as Xu Qingyan and Zhou Xin, who had made contributions to the court. Officials of the fourth rank and below were directly appointed and granted titles by the Ministry of Personnel, while imperial decrees were issued by the Ministry of Rites.
Xu Qingyan was at his wit's end. The imperial power and the imperial edict were above everything else. Xu Qingyan would never dare to allow the imperial edict and official documents to enter the ancestral hall on the same day. He placed the imperial edict behind the official documents.
He had no choice but to ask for the imperial edict on the pretext of an "auspicious day" and put the official document conferring the title on Qin into the ancestral hall first.
Qin didn't express her opinion, she stood up and said, "Brother Yan, please sit down. I'll go to the kitchen to check."
Xu Qingyan felt very guilty and always wanted to make up for his debt to Qin, but things always went against his wishes and hurt her heart. He looked at Xu Lanyin with drooping eyebrows and said, "My daughter, I am sorry for your mother and for making her sad again."
Xu Lanyin was also helpless. The emperor had intervened, and Xu Qingyan had done this to avoid Qin's embarrassment to the greatest extent possible.
She said, "No matter how many times I say 'I'm sorry', it's useless. The key is to prevent my mother from being hurt again. Dad can't do anything about the imperial edict and the documents, but you can't let my mother be bullied in vain when it comes to life and family affairs. My mother has already recognized her with my cousin Qin, and her background is very clean. My grandfather can't bear to talk nonsense. Dad, if my grandfather really has the evil intention of wanting to anger my mother to death, please be kind and divorce me. If I let my grandfather continue like this, even if my mother doesn't die of anger, she will be heartbroken and ask to be divorced..."
She told him about how Old Man Xu had asked Qin to take Xu Qingyan as a concubine, how he had scolded Qin for being unclean, how she had become ill from anger, and of course, how she had hanged herself because she couldn't understand why.
Xu Lanyin not only informed Qin about the "hanging" incident, but also informed Zhangqi. Qin's hanging was a scandal, and only she and Zhangqi knew about it.
Xu Qingyan's face flushed with anger. He said, "You're my daughter, so don't talk about 'marrying out' again. I'll never leave your mother in my life." He slammed his hand on the table again, shaking the tea bowls on it and shouting in a low voice, "Think about me going out to explore the world at the age of thirteen. I've been doing a job that's on the edge of a knife. I've suffered countless knife and arrow wounds and killed many people. Build them houses and buy them land, so that they can live a good life and be worthy of their parents and brothers. If you really want to anger my wife to death, take my life first. If we die, they will be at peace."
Then he stood up and walked out, saying, "I'll go and explain things to them now."
The tall figure disappeared behind the hanging flower gate in a flash.
Xu Lanyin twitched the corner of her mouth. No matter what method Xu Qingyan used to negotiate with Old Man Xu, he had to suppress the old man and tell him not to offend anyone again. He was also not allowed to make a fuss about the difference between "imperial edict" and "official document" to elevate Zhou and suppress Qin.
Over the past few days, Xu Lanyin had noticed that no matter how angry Qin was, she hadn't considered separating from Xu Qingyan. One reason was, of course, for their children, another was the ancient moral code of faithfulness for women, and perhaps also because she was reluctant to let go of the relationship she had cherished for so many years.
Qin came over from the backyard and asked, "Where is your father?"
Xu Lanyin said, "I went to discuss something with my grandfather."
Qin added, "Mother doesn't want to go back to the countryside tomorrow."
Xu Lanyin said, "Mother is not in good health and cannot go, so let Lanting go back in her place."
Xu Qingyan returned at the end of the hour of Hai.
Xu Lan was awakened by the sound of knocking on the door and footsteps. She tilted her head and fell asleep again.
At the beginning of the morning hour the next day, Xu Qingyan, Qin, and Xu Lanyin woke up, and also woke up the sleepy Xu Lanting and Xu Lanyue. They would all go to the countryside, one representing Qin and the other representing Zhou.
After seeing off the father and his two sons, Xu Lanyin discussed with Qin about opening a snack shop in the capital. This shop was the property of the second branch of the Xu family, and it would be funded by the money Xu Qingyan gave to Qin.
A decent shop at the capital's port, a two-story building with a courtyard, would cost nearly two thousand taels of silver at its cheapest. Add to that the cost of renovations, equipment, hiring, and working capital, and all that would have taken up the three thousand taels Xu Qingyan had given him.
Find two skilled chefs from the shops in Ningzhou Prefecture to be the master chefs. Xu Lanzhou also participated in the planning and operation of the Nanping County dim sum shop and knew what to do.
Qin has a natural talent for business, and she's quite good at it. She hadn't thought about these things before, but now she's starting to, and she can offer a lot of good suggestions. She's also planning to build her own cosmetics shop, and the decor and products are all her ideas. Xu Lanyin helped come up with the name: "Lady's Shop."
At the same time, Xu Lanyin also wrote a letter to Wang Sanni.
When Xu Qingyan returned, he brought a letter from Wang Sanni, saying that the teahouse was almost finished and the final result was even more stunning than the pictures.
Xu Lanyin wrote down some strategies for running the teahouse, and then had Xu Qingyan bring two thousand taels of silver. The teahouse in the capital was a high-end boutique, using the finest tea and chess. The staff they hired also had to be of good character and appearance, and naturally, the wages would be higher. Furthermore, Ding Xiaoran would be assigned to train chess students. Ding Xiaoran had already established a certain reputation in the Ningzhou chess world, earning him the nickname "Mr. Ding."
Almost all the money earned by the Ningzhou Prefecture Teahouse was invested there, and the department store has not yet distributed dividends, so Xu Lanyin is a little short of money.
Xu Qingyan and his two sons returned on August 18th. On August 10th, the official document conferring the title of Fourth Rank Concubine on Qin was placed in the ancestral hall, and on August 12th, Zhou's tablet and the imperial edict conferring the title of Lady of Loyalty and Bravery were brought into the ancestral hall.
Old Xu and his wife, along with Xu Qingming and his wife, also returned. Because of the pressure from Xu Qingyan and the old lady, and because Qin Shi almost hanged herself, Old Xu didn't dare to act like a demon again.
That evening, Qin Che and his son, Min Hu, and the Zhao Wu brothers all came to the Xu family for dinner. This time, the men ate in the upper living room, chatting privately while they ate. Not wanting to disturb them, Qin and Xu Lanyin took the children to eat in the west wing.
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