Chapter 257 I am innocent
"Wasn't Miss Cao sold to a brothel a while ago?"
"I heard that this young lady was forced by her stepmother to marry an old man. She didn't want to marry him, so she ran away from home, only to be sold to a brothel."
"Oh dear, don't talk nonsense. I heard he didn't go to a brothel. Apparently, he went to hide at a relative's house in the countryside."
"Anyway, Madam Cao is no good. While Cao the eldest was away, she found an old man for her stepdaughter. Miss Cao is really pitiful."
"..."
When these words reached Cao Defu's ears, he slammed his fist on the table in anger, causing the teacup on the table to fall to the ground.
He turned and grabbed Meng's collar: "Tell me, did you intercept the letter?"
Madam Meng shook her head frantically: "I've placed all the letters Madam sent on Master's desk, not one is missing. It was Madam herself who concealed the matter of the eldest young lady; it has nothing to do with me..."
Steward Sun came over and said, “I just checked the correspondence records. Madam sent a total of seven letters during this period, and they were indeed all placed on the master’s desk.”
Meng breathed a huge sigh of relief.
But Steward Sun continued, "There was another letter from Hekou County, signed by Cao Yingying, but that letter is missing."
"No, it wasn't me!" Madam Meng's face paled again. "My lord, I'm truly innocent! I didn't see this letter..."
Cao Defu sat down in the chair: "It was Madam who sent you to my room back then. It seems you are still working for Madam. In that case, I can't keep you here any longer..."
"Master, spare me!" Madam Meng knelt on the ground. "I had no choice. Madam threatened me, saying I had to do this, or else she would target my brother. I was forced into it..."
Cao Defu kicked him: "So, you really stopped Yingying's letter?"
Meng cried with tears streaming down her face: "I ate it..."
"Since you like eating paper so much, then let you eat your fill!" Cao Defu roared. "Old Sun, feed her paper until she throws up!"
Meng cried out as Steward Sun dragged her away.
"Sorry, I've made you laugh." Cao Defu pinched the bridge of his nose. "I really didn't expect Qi Shi to do such a thing. She has always been gentle and magnanimous. I thought she... Never mind, never mind, I'd better not talk about the mess in the backyard and offend your ears."
Madam Qi, also known as Madam Cao, was his second wife after his first wife passed away. Over the years, she gave birth to two sons and a daughter for him, and he also took seven or eight concubines. The concubines had three children, all of whom were raised under Madam Qi's name. Madam Qi educated these children very well; they were knowledgeable, reasonable, and sensible. He thought the Cao family was very harmonious.
Only at this moment did he realize that he had been living in a false harmony created by the Qi family.
Cheng Wanwan led the two boys back to their room and casually said, "Where there are many women, there is trouble. If you two are to amount to anything in the future, you'd better avoid such troubles."
Zhao Ergou immediately said, "Even if I become rich in the future, I can't possibly marry so many women. It's too complicated."
Zhao Dawang nodded in agreement: "The main problem is, with so many wives and so many people in the family, how much food would they need to eat every day to fill their stomachs? It's such a waste of money..."
Cheng Wanwan burst out laughing.
The saying "Men with money become bad" is an age-old truth. Hopefully, these two boys will retain their innocent minds even after they become truly wealthy.
After eating something simple, the three of them went back to their rooms to rest. The merchant ship swayed on the river, and soon the night was over.
The next day, just as dawn broke and before the sun had fully risen, the boat docked at the pier in Hekou County.
"Finally back!" Zhao Dawang shouted excitedly. "It's so comfortable at home, everything looks nice here!"
Zhao Ergou said irritably, "This is Hekou County, not Ping'an County. We're not home yet."
"It's about the same anyway." Zhao Dawang chuckled as he pushed the cart. "Let's go, off to sell porcelain!"
The two boys had slept on the boat all night and were full of energy. They pushed the cart very fast, with Cheng Wanwan following behind.
The three set up a small stall on the main street and started selling porcelain. The porcelain mainly consisted of bowls, plates, teapots, teacups, and a small number of vases. Because of the long journey of a day and a night, there were bound to be some damage along the way, which is why most people would not easily do this business.
These items are quite expensive in Ping'an County. A simple small plate costs more than ten coins, and decorative vases are even more expensive, usually seventy or eighty coins each. Vases with some patterns or designs can cost four or five hundred coins.
Bowls, plates, and teacups are selling very quickly, and some are even out of stock.
The vases sold for quite a while, but fortunately, they didn't stock much, only ten. Cheng Wanwan planned to take the remaining seven back with her.
After deducting costs, the cartload of porcelain brought in a profit of six taels of silver.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "From purchasing to transportation and finally selling, it was all done by the two of you. I didn't put in much effort; I was just an investor. So, the money we make will be split equally among the three of us, two taels of silver each."
Zhao Dawang's eyes widened in surprise.
He went to Nanyang with her, and his aunt gave him five hundred coins, which he used to buy embroidery thread for Xia Hua.
Unexpectedly, they gave me another two taels of silver.
Even Grandma might not have that much money!
He hesitated to accept: "Aunt, I'd better not... If my mother finds out, she'll beat me to death."
“If your mother hits you, come find me,” Cheng Wanwan said gently. “This money is yours to keep. Take it and let your mother save it for your wedding.”
Zhao Dawang blushed, and the words of refusal he had prepared were instantly forgotten.
Zhao Ergou burst into laughter: "Dawang, you don't have a girl you like, do you? Tell me quickly, and I'll help you find out about her character."
"No way!" Zhao Dawang exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Grandma said the most important thing in the family right now is to find a wife for Er Gou!"
Zhao Ergou: "..."
He turned and left; he didn't want to discuss the topic.
Cheng Wanwan was about to go home with her two children when she saw two constables posting notices at the city gate, attracting a large crowd of onlookers.
She glanced at it from afar and was somewhat surprised.
It turned out to be a notice for a talent competition. During the autumn and winter off-season, in order to enrich the leisure life of rural people and stimulate the development of commerce in the city, the magistrates of eight nearby counties and towns jointly organized a talent competition, and anyone could sign up to participate.
"There were embroidery competitions, cooking and arithmetic competitions, and even strength and wrestling competitions."
"There is also a grain identification competition specially set up for rural people. This talent competition is very interesting."
"The winner will receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver! My goodness, one hundred taels!"
"The second place prize is fifty taels of silver, which is quite a lot of money!"
"..."
Cheng Wanwan felt that this competition was quite interesting. It was clear that the government had put a lot of thought into preparing it, and with such attractive prizes, there must be a lot of participants.
Zhao Dawang asked excitedly, "I want to sign up. Do you think I can do it, Auntie?"
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "The notice says that each village should register with the village head. Each village can select a maximum of three people to participate in the competition for each project. Are you confident that you can be one of those three people?"
Zhao Dawang nodded: "Of course!"
Zhao Ergou clenched his fists: "I want to sign up too! I want to win the abacus competition!"
The three of them talked as they walked home.
Meanwhile, Cao Defu also returned to the Cao family home.
He stepped down from the carriage and immediately saw Madam Qi, who was standing at the gate of the Cao residence to greet him.
He strode over, raised his hand, and slapped her hard across the face. Caught off guard, Madam Cao was knocked to the ground.
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