Chapter 124 is really a bit like it (please give me a monthly ticket)
Adian was also surprised: "Little Ali... where did you get so many beautiful colorful ropes!"
Chang Suining turned her full wrist and thought it was beautiful: "They were all given by the young ladies."
Ah Dian was surprised: "Then you will have to cut your hair later!"
The custom of tying a colorful string on the wrist during the Dragon Boat Festival in Beijing is to wait for the first rain after the Dragon Boat Festival to cut the colorful string with scissors and put it into the river to let it float away with the rain, in order to pray for blessings and ward off disasters.
"Then this rain needs to last a little longer." Cui Jing took one last look at the girl's wrist and said, "Otherwise, when the rain stops, I'm afraid Madam Chang won't be able to finish her haircut."
Chang Suining was not worried: "It's okay, just prepare a pair of sharp scissors. Whether it's one or a hundred, it's just a matter of using a pair of scissors."
It’s not like she can’t cut it anyway.
The implication is that even if there are more, it can still be tolerated.
"..." Cui Jing listened to the insatiable words of accepting everyone who comes, and then looked at the bald hair on his wrist, feeling that it seemed to make him look shabby.
It seemed that this shabby feeling was not just his illusion. Even Adian couldn't stand it anymore. He tied another one for him as a consolation and said a little indebtedly, "Xiao Jing, I can only give you one more. The rest have to be shared with Uncle Chang and the others."
Hearing these words, as if he was afraid that he would cry about this, Cui Jing withdrew his hand: "...Senior, please go."
Seeing that he didn't make a fuss, Ah Dian felt relieved and ran upstairs to meet them.
Chang Suining rolled down his sleeves to cover his overly rich wrists.
Xier said: "With so many colorful ropes, they will surely help the girl to drive away all those evil villains!"
"Evil spirits are easy to get rid of." Chang Suining said casually, "But villains are always difficult to deal with."
Upon hearing this, Cui Jing asked, "Do you suspect that there is someone else behind Xie's actions today?"
"Well, although what I did was enough to make Xie gradually pay attention to me, it took a lot of effort and time to find out that I had a relationship with Zhou Ding and get the painting -"
Cui Jing looked at her: "That painting..."
"That painting is indeed related to me." Chang Suining said, "But it was not given to Zhou Ding by me. It should have been in Bingzhou."
"Bingzhou?" Cui Jing frowned slightly. That was the area under his jurisdiction.
Chang Suining nodded.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Cui Jing asked naturally - after all, they were already friends, right?
Chang Suining also said naturally: "We haven't sorted out this matter yet. If there is any need, I will trouble Grand Commander Cui again."
She even had to ask Xier carefully why A Li's painting was in Bingzhou and why it was in the "coffin".
"Although Xie had reasons to regard me as an alien before, she had never met me before, so she didn't spend so much time on me." She said, "What she did tonight, including the secret code coordination with Zhou Laoer, seemed more like she was sent by someone to destroy my so-called reputation."
After hearing her clear and logical speech, Cui Jing nodded in agreement: "Do you already have someone you suspect?"
"It's not hard to guess." Chang Suining said, "It's clear who I've offended. If I count them on my fingers, the only two people I've beaten are worth mentioning."
Cui Jing: “…”
Three, to be exact.
Facing his silent expression, Chang Suining understood instantly, and could not help but look apologetic as he added, "...I meant there were only two people who were enemies."
What this means is that friends naturally don't count.
Cui Jing found what he said inexplicably pleasing, but he didn't say anything else.
After all, dwelling on the fact that he had been beaten did not do his reputation any good.
"Then only the Yingguo Mansion is left." His voice was not loud, but firm.
Chang Miao made a fool of himself in the Imperial College only three days ago, and the Chang family did not have enough time to plan for this matter.
Ming Jin was beaten in Dayun Temple two months ago, so the timing and motive match.
"The one who has close ties with Xie and can control Xie, and has such means, must be a woman." Chang Suining said bluntly: "The wife of Duke Ying, Chang, is the most suspicious one."
As luck would have it, she not only beat Chang's son Mingjin, but also beat his nephew Chang Miao - the other party's actions tonight were probably due to both new and old grudges.
The painting was real, and Xie’s prestige was also real, so the other party should have been determined to get it—but they happened to run into her, who was fake.
Cui Jing said: "Xie obviously intends to take over everything, and I don't think she will easily betray the wife of Duke Ying."
"Hmm." Chang Suining said without much hope: "Even if we follow the trace of the painting, it's just a small matter. After such a long time, we probably won't be able to find any useful evidence."
The wife of Duke Ying is relatively clean in her conduct, as can be seen from the fact that she uses Mrs. Xie to do things.
But try to check it out, at least you will have an idea of it. Even if you can't settle the account today, there will always be a chance to settle it in the future.
Cui Jing: "But the lesson of Xie's time will not stop here."
"Yeah." Chang Suining looked at the street where the lights were gradually dimming.
Xie is destined to lose more than just his face.
"But that's because today's incident has become a big deal. With this painting hanging in Dengtai Tower, the saint in the palace can't turn a blind eye to it. It's not because of justice."
Cui Jing looked over and saw that the girl's eyes seemed to flicker with the lights gradually going out.
After a moment, he said, "There have been many cases of defaming women's reputations, but if you want to use today's incident to add this to the law, it is still not enough."
Chang Suining looked at him with some surprise.
Has he seriously thought about the feasibility of this? "Of course I know." She smiled: "It's far from enough."
Although the current saint is a woman, she cannot represent women. Instead, this saint needs to try her best to eliminate the disadvantages brought to her by her female body.
She could wield her sword against the nobles in order to consolidate her throne, but she did so because she had the support of the common people behind her.
But if she tries to shake the "balance of yin and yang between men and women" that has stood for thousands of years, then she will be opposing the entire huge and solid patriarchy that does not distinguish between the gentry and the common people.
Can't we just take it step by step?
Maybe it is possible.
But it is impossible for this saint to take risks for such a "trivial" matter.
What she wanted was the throne, and her original intention was to seize power for herself. She would not take anything else into consideration. The fact that the other party had tacitly approved the existence of Xie, the female teacher, over the past decade explained everything.
Everything Ming Hou does will only be centered around her own interests. She will not and has no reason to do anything that will make her enemies and is meaningless.
Since they could be considered to know each other well, Chang Suining was particularly confident.
Moreover, leaving aside the other party's original intention of becoming emperor, his current situation does not allow him to do things to fight for the interests of women.
In this seemingly stable and peaceful capital, the game of power has never stopped for a moment.
The controversy over the Ming Empress's enthronement has never really disappeared, and as the current puppet prince grows older, this controversy will only become more and more difficult to suppress.
It is far from enough to just eliminate the Pei family.
In this game, the Ming and the Empress had no way out, the nobles had no way out, and the troops that were swept up by various forces had no way out either.
This country will be in chaos.
It remains to be seen how chaotic it will get.
In times of chaos, those little bits of justice are not worth mentioning.
A pack of wolves takes care of themselves, who cares about ants?
Chang Suining looked at her own shadow under her feet, and also at the two beggars standing beside the carriage waiting for her in front of her.
She is very weak now and there is really little she can do.
But she's going to try to empower herself to do more.
Her gaze shifted slightly and fell on another shadow beside her - that was Cui Jing's.
He was also silent, wondering if he, like her, was thinking about the overall situation of the world from this small piece of justice.
All parties have camps, either overtly or covertly. Chang Suining suddenly became curious at this moment. Which camp was he in?
Is he loyal to the Queen?
Or is he loyal to someone else? Or...to himself? At this moment, the young man's voice sounded: "Anyway, if you need my help one day, tell me."
Chang Suining came back to his senses, smiled and nodded: "Sure."
"It's worth the trip today." Cui Jing looked at Yuan Xiang who was waiting with his horse not far away and said, "I should go back now."
Was it worth the trip? Her apprenticeship banquet was indeed wonderful.
Chang Suining smiled and said, "Go slowly, Commander Cui."
She watched the tall young man leap onto the horse.
Before the young man rode away, he turned back and nodded slightly to her.
Then, without waiting for her response, he rode his horse and disappeared into the night on the long street.
In the hall at the backyard of Dengtai Tower, Chang Kuo and Mr. Meng had finished drinking a cup of tea, and the shopkeeper brought over the bill book.
Mr. Meng took it and the shopkeeper left.
Chang Kuo put down his teacup and yawned as he stood up.
Meng Lie also stood up, bowed and smiled politely: "Sincerely, I will give you three thousand three hundred and twenty-eight taels of silver."
Chang Kuo stopped yawning and looked at him askance: "Where is the painting?"
Meng Lie smiled sincerely: "Didn't General Chang just say that he didn't need these little things from me?"
"So you want to get it for free?" Chang Kuo glared at him, "What are you daydreaming about?"
He pointed at the bill book in the other person's hand and said, "More than three thousand taels? How dare you ask for that! You don't even give me a fraction. I think you have gone crazy doing business. Are you still one of us?"
There were only two people here, so Chang Kuo spoke without any scruples: "You have no children, and you earn so much money, don't you think it's too much to burn?"
"That's not right." Meng Lie lowered his voice and corrected, "Whether I earn a lot or a little, it's not mine. In the final analysis, I am just following orders to guard the Dengtai Tower for His Highness."
"Don't use His Highness as a pretext." Chang Kuo snorted, "Everyone knows that this Dengtai Tower belongs to you, Meng Lie, now."
Meng Lie's voice lowered and his tone became slower: "When Your Highness left fifteen years ago, I promised to wait for Your Highness to come back, so I will keep my promise to the end."
Chang Kuo originally wanted to retort him, but when he saw his expression, he swallowed his words back.
The two of them suddenly fell silent for a moment.
Finally, it was Chang Kuo who spoke, his voice a little hoarse: "Stop talking nonsense."
Lao Meng was different from him. He was used to fighting on the battlefield and had seen many life and death situations. He had a very clear understanding of the boundary between life and death and never had any unrealistic ideas.
Meng Lie returned to his usual demeanor and said with a smile, "Your Highness always keeps his word."
Chang Kuo stared at him and suddenly asked, "Old Meng...are you hiding something from me?"
Meng Lie put his hands into his sleeves and said, "What can I hide from you?"
Even if there is, it is not something he wants to hide. In Wu Jue's words, this is called the secret of heaven that cannot be revealed... Can it be called hiding something that belongs to God?
"The sincere offer is three thousand three hundred and twenty-eight taels of silver." He said again.
"Okay!" Chang Kuo nodded happily, and then said generously: "I'll give you four thousand taels of silver for that painting!"
Meng Lie: “?”
"Your jade pendant is quite good, it can be used to exchange for 100 taels!" Chang Kuo casually took off the jade pendant from his waist, turned around and left: "Put the rest on the account first, and leave it for my daughter to have a snack when she comes to your place!"
Meng Lie was so angry that he chased after him: "...You Iron Pixiu, this Dengtai Tower should have been handed over to you to manage in the first place!"
After Chang Kuo led Chang Sui'an and A Dian out of Dengtai Tower, the purse on his waist filled with silver bills was not deflated at all, but instead contained a jade pendant.
"Ningning's painting is left here today, so Daddy can't spend the banknotes he prepared!" Chang Kuo looked at his daughter with relief: "My daughter's painting is worth a thousand gold coins!"
Chang Suining was surprised: "All the food and drinks are free?"
"Yes." Chang Kuo smiled and nodded, and said helplessly: "This Mr. Meng is also a real businessman. Not only did he waive the wine bill, he also gave me a jade pendant. I had no choice but to accept it!"
Meng Lie, who had just chased outside the restaurant, heard this and resisted the urge to curse.
But seeing Chang Kuo's children looking at him, especially the silly son, whose eyes were full of "Meng Dongjia is a good man", and several passers-by were attracted by Chang Kuo's words, Meng Lie could only force a smile and raised his hand to Chang Kuo: "General Chang, take care..."
Tomorrow he would have someone hang a new sign next to the no credit sign in the lobby, and on it would be written - No one from the Chang family or robbers are allowed to enter!
Chang Suining: “…”
Will she be able to come to Dengtai Tower next time? ...
When I returned to Chang Mansion, it was almost midnight.
Ah Dian had fallen asleep in the carriage long ago. When getting off, Chang Suining shook him. He said in a daze, "Little Ah Li, I'm so sleepy. Carry me on your back..."
Chang Suining glanced at his mountain-like figure, feeling inadequate in heart and even more inadequate in strength: "...wait until I can lift Zhan Xiu first."
Then he went to shake the man again: "If you don't get up, I'll just let you sleep in the carriage. No one will take care of you when there's thunder at night."
Hearing the word thunder, Adian opened his eyes hazily, but suddenly moved his nose and moved close to Chang Suining to sniff.
"What?"
"Little Ah Li..." He said with a hazy and somewhat curious look in his eyes: "Why do you seem to smell like the sun? You smell just like His Highness."
Chang Kuo, who had just dismounted, heard these words and turned to look at the carriage whose curtain had been opened by Xier.
The girl in the car raised her hand and sniffed her sleeve: "It's just the smell of alcohol. Is your prince a drunkard?"
Chang Kuo looked at the girl's hazy silhouette in the car and suddenly frowned in surprise.
At first glance...
It really looks a bit like him? Why didn't I notice it before?
But if I were to ask where they were similar, I couldn't really tell why...
Just as Chang Kuo was wondering, Chang Suining had already dragged Ah Dian down from the carriage. Seeing that Ah Dian was standing there in a daze, he asked, "Father?"
Chang Kuo recovered and smiled: "Go in!"
It was already very late, but Chang Kuo still took his two children to the study to talk.
Chang Kuo also had doubts about the origin of the painting of the girl with red beans.
Chang Suining motioned Xier to speak.
She was also curious as to why the painting was originally in the coffin.
I'm asking for monthly votes at the end of the month! I'll try my best to see if I can move up in the monthly vote rankings. What if I can get into the top ten? (づ￣3￣)づ╭ (End of this chapter)
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