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Seeing that Tang Tong accepted Liu Rushi, Chen Yuxian felt a pain in her heart, but this pain was more of an inferiority complex. She knew that she was a woman with a child, and she could not expect to become Tang Tong's wife. She did not dare to have such extravagant hopes, but she always hoped to become Tang Tong's woman in her heart.
Seeing Tang Tong accept Liu Rushi, she felt that she was further away from this hope, so she couldn't help but feel a pain in her heart. She didn't want to cry in front of Tang Tong and disturb Tang Tong's mood, so she left in a hurry.
Tang Tong turned around and saw Chen Yuxian leaving. He realized that he had ignored her feelings. After saying sorry to Xu Si, he followed Chen Yuxian. Seeing this, Xu Si felt a little embarrassed.
Chen Yuxian turned around with tears on her face. Seeing Tang Tong following her, she couldn't help but look a little flustered. She wanted to wipe away the tears from her face, but it was too late.
"Look at you, you're crying on the first day of the New Year. This is not normal. Are you unhappy because I accepted that girl? Don't worry, Yu... Yuxian, things are not what you think. Although I, an official, also want to have three wives and four concubines, what kind of person am I? You have followed me for so long, don't you know it? There are some things I can't do. The girl's name is Liu Rushi. Because of her name, I took her in. As for the reason, I can't tell you. Some things will make even me feel like a lunatic if I tell them." Tang Tong held Yuan'er and approached Chen Yuxian, explaining to her. He hesitated for a moment, but still called her Yuxian affectionately.
Although there was a hint of affection between the two of them, Tang Tong had never called her in such an intimate way before. Tang Tong felt a little embarrassed before calling out the name Yuxian, but after calling out the name, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. When Chen Yuxian heard these two words, her heart first felt slightly sweet, and then a blush appeared on her face.
She knew that Tang Tong didn't need to explain anything to her about this kind of thing, but Tang Tong still came over and explained it to her. She knew that it was because Tang Tong cared about her, so the pain she had felt before had long disappeared.
"I didn't cry at all. It was just that the wind blew my eyes. You are a high-ranking official. It's only natural for you to have concubines. Why do you need to explain anything to me about this? If others knew about this, they would laugh at you and call me nosy. From now on, as long as you have any... any... don't ever explain anything to me like this again." Chen Yuxian really couldn't say what was in her heart. Even though Tang Tong had been counseling her all this time, saying that they were equals and she could say whatever she wanted, and even resolutely forbade her to call herself a concubine, some concepts were deeply rooted. She could not say the word concubine, but she could not forget the moral standards of being a woman in this era.
"It's okay. Even if it's the wind that hurt your eyes, let's not talk about this. After we send these visitors away, I'll take you out to play." Tang Tongzhi thought that in front of a gentle, graceful and intelligent woman like Chen Yuxian, only one sentence of explanation would be enough. Explaining too much would make the atmosphere awkward, so he changed the subject.
"Hey, hey, uncle, take Yuan'er to listen to those sisters singing." Although Yuan'er didn't understand what her mother and Tang Tong were saying, she was very moved by Tang Tong's last sentence, so she clapped her hands and called out.
The sisters singing that Yuan'er mentioned refers to a song and dance troupe run by Tang Tong. The several opera troupes that Tang Tong had hired in Jinling are now employed by Tang Tong for a long time. As those salesmen advertise the products of Tang Tong's factory in various places, Tang Tong selected several musicians and several women with beautiful voices from them, and recruited a dozen girls with beautiful voices and good looks from the refugees to form a song and dance troupe to perform for his workers and soldiers. On the one hand, it provides everyone with some entertainment activities, and on the other hand, the content of the song and dance troupe's performances can increase the cohesion of his people.
Tang Tong naturally doted on Yuan'er and agreed to her request immediately. Chen Yuxian went downstairs to prepare a banquet to entertain the guests, while Tang Tong carried Yuan'er back to the lobby and asked Xu Si for Liu Rushi's indenture contract.
Liu Rushi's indenture wasn't worth much now, but in ten days, it would be worth a fortune. Tang Tong took it in his hand, glanced at it, and then handed it to Liu Rushi: "I'm giving it to you now. From now on, you'll be free and can do whatever you want. You can choose to go home, or you can stay and study at the school I run. If you go home, I'll give you fifty taels of silver for travel expenses. If you stay and study at the school, I'll cover your living expenses until you graduate. It's your choice."
Tang Tong handled the matter in front of Xu Si, not because he had any opinion on Xu Si. Tang Tong just wanted to show Chen Yuxian that he actually cared about her. Another reason was to reassure Liu Rushi and show that he would not force her. Tang Tong could see that Liu Rushi was a very stubborn person.
Xu Si was very surprised by Tang Tong's decision. He thought to himself that this Lord Tang was bored. How could he let this woman go after he accepted her? Otherwise, Lord Tang was afraid that the woman next to him would get jealous. He would have to pay attention to this matter in the future. As Xu Si thought about this, his eyes rolled around a few times.
Liu Rushi was also surprised. Although she was young, she already understood many things. Holding her indenture in hand, she listened to Tang Tong's words of willingness to release her. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. But Liu Rushi was a very smart person. Although she was young, many adults were not as flexible as her. Smart people often think of simple things in a complicated way. She thought Tang Tong was testing her, so she said, "Master Tang, Master Xu has already given me to you. I am yours, Master Tang. How can I leave?"
Although Liu Rushi said this, she clutched the indenture contract tightly. Tang Tong didn't care to think about the complicated thoughts of such a young girl. He nodded and said, "It's okay if you don't want to. Since your family sold you, they must be in a very difficult situation. It's better not to go back. Just go to school in the future. It's always good to learn something."
Tang Tong ordered a maid to take Liu Rushi away. When Xu Si saw how Tang Tong treated Liu Rushi, he became more and more certain that Lord Tang was afraid that Chen Yuxian, who was beside him, would be jealous. He secretly thought that he should try to curry favor with Chen Yuxian in the future. After the banquet was served, Tang Tong pulled Xu Si to sit down. At this time, more people came to pay their respects to Tang Tong. He just apologized to Xu Si and had a chat with the guests.
Xu Si knew that Tang Tong was a third-rank commander-in-chief, so he naturally had a lot of guests at this time, so Tang Tong could not accompany him. Xu Si did not care. The guests who came to visit him were endless, making Tang Tong tired of dealing with them for a while. He could not help but admire the other officials in his heart. They could enjoy entertaining such people without getting tired of it. They were really extraordinary.
Tang Tong was unable to get away on the first and second days of the Lunar New Year. On the first day, Tang Tong had to ask a song and dance troupe to perform in front of his house to meet Yuan'er's request. It was not until the third day that he was free, so he took Chen Yuxian, Yuan'er, Liu Rushi, who was specially brought over by Chen Yuxian, and called Yagyu Saburo, and the five of them went out for a trip.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Tang Tong got up in the morning and was about to go and greet his subordinates when Song Yingxing came running in excitedly. Song Yingxing could be said to have become a science maniac and a workaholic. In order to complete the perfume trial-production task assigned to him by Tang Tong, he did not even take a break and devoted himself to the laboratory. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he finally made the perfume that Tang Tong mentioned. Early in the morning of the next day, Song Yingxing, who was too excited to sleep, came to Tang Tong's house with several bottles of the perfume he had made.
The bottles used to hold perfume are small porcelain bottles for the time being. When the perfume is mass-produced, glass bottles will have to be made. When Song Yingxing came in, Tang Tong was washing his face. Seeing Song Yingxing coming to him so early, he felt a little ashamed. He thought that he was now a bit too good at being an official and was used to enjoying himself. This was no big deal.
Song Yingxing held up the perfume bottle in front of Tang Tong and uncorked it. "Boss, what do you think of the scent of this perfume?"
Tang Tong sniffed it and found the fragrance of the perfume elegant and pleasant. It was indeed very good. He couldn't help but sigh: "Haha, Lao Song, great! You made it so quickly, and the fragrance is pure, elegant and pleasant, much better than Westerners. You are worthy of being a famous technology expert. There is a prize, there is a prize. I will give you a bonus of 1,000 taels of silver. I hope you can quickly make the glass for me. By the way, those research materials cannot be seen by those Westerners. They are all money."
"Don't worry, Boss. You have told me before, so how can I not be careful? They are not of our race, so their hearts must be different. We need to use them, but also be on guard against them. I will not be careless about this matter." After spending some time together, Song Yingxing and Tang Tong were less polite to each other, and they spoke more casually. His eyes blinked, and he looked a little proud.
Song Yingxing put the bottle of perfume in Tang Tong's hand, and then took out something mysteriously from his arms.
"Owner, what do you think this is?"
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