Chapter 351 Master (Part 1)

After returning to the Xu residence, Xu Lingyi asked Shiyi Niang tactfully, "Did you go to see the Gan family's Madam Dowager and see Madam Gan?"

"Yes!" Eleventh Lady said calmly. "She was very unhappy when she saw me bringing flowers and trees. But, no one is perfect. How can anyone please everyone?"

She smiled and changed the subject: "Is there any news from Tongzhou yet?"

"Not yet!" Xu Lingyi said, "Manager Zhao has sent a manager and four waiters to take turns guarding the dock, so they shouldn't miss anyone."

Shiyi Niang temporarily felt relieved and waited for another two days, but no one showed up. However, Jinju from Gongxian Hutong came to see her.

Normally, when there was something going on, it was always Mother Hang who came over. Even if Mother Hang had something going on, she would definitely not ask a little maid to come to the Xu family.

Shiyi Niang calmly called Jinju in.

Jinju had only heard in Luo's house that the eleventh aunt was a blessed woman. When she saw the grandeur of the Xu family, she immediately felt a little embarrassed and didn't know where to put her hands and feet. Although there was no one in the house, she trembled for a long time before speaking: "Auntie said to let Madam go back."

"What happened?" Eleventh Lady grabbed a handful of candy and gave it to her.

Jinju took it tremblingly, and said tremblingly: "I don't know either. My aunt just told me in front of the grandmother that she sent me out to buy some brown sugar. Please give me a bag of brown sugar when I go back to report."

Eleventh Lady asked Amber to take Kumquat away, said hello to the lady, and went to Gongxian Hutong.

"It's Master Jian who wants to see you," Fifth Aunt explained. "She wants to see you before entering the Xu Mansion. She is now staying in a Gaosheng Inn next to our alley."

Eleventh Lady went to the guest inn.

After not seeing him for several years, Master Jian has not changed much. He is of medium height, thin, fair and clean, with a gentle and calm look.

Qiu Ju also came with Master Jian.

As she bent her knees to salute Eleventh Lady, tears fell from her eyes.

"You came with us?" Eleventh Lady picked her up.

She nodded with tears in her eyes: "I have accepted the Master's orders and will serve Him."

In other words, Qiu Ju will be the true successor of Master Jian in the future.

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded.

Zhu Xiang hurriedly pulled Qiu Ju outside to talk.

Shiyi Niang and Master Jian sat on the bed holding hands and talking.

"Qiu Ju is hardworking and serious, and she has some talent. You have introduced me to a good apprentice." Master Jian said with a smile, "I have already made an agreement with her family. She will follow me from now on. Her family will have nothing to do with marriage and death. Just treat her as a daughter I adopted."

"It is her blessing to be the successor of Master Jian." Shiyi Niang asked about Master Jian's health: "Are you still strong?"

"Not as good as before." Master Jian said with a smile, "My eyes don't work very well anymore!"

"Then come to Yanjing to enjoy your old age!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "I dare not say anything else, but I can still afford to support you with a meal."

Master Jian showed a gentle smile, and instead of answering her directly, he asked about her situation. Knowing that she was doing well, he nodded slightly: "You have had your own ideas since you were young. You can survive adversity." Then he talked about his own affairs: "I was originally planning to come at the end of the year. But the eldest prince of the emperor got married, and Jiangnan Textile wanted to contribute wedding clothes. In the past, these businesses were all done by Xianling Pavilion. In recent years, Caixiufang has also begun to get involved in the embroidery business, intending to compete with Xianling Pavilion. Xianling Pavilion was afraid that I would work for Caixiufang, and sent people to ask my intentions many times. I didn't want to be involved in the dispute between the two families, so I came to Yanjing in advance."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh when she heard this.

Master Jian is actually an honest craftsman. Even so, he managed to avoid trouble.

"So what are your plans?"

Master Jian asked her, "Are you in any trouble?

Eleventh Lady was puzzled.

Master Jian explained, "Yanjing is under the emperor's feet, and the Yongping Marquis' Mansion is a royal family, so how can there be a lack of needlework?" He added, "That year, Master Chen asked me to teach his concubine embroidery. If you hadn't helped me out, he would have smashed my embroidery studio. Although I didn't say a word afterwards, I have always kept this incident in mind. Although I am just a little embroiderer, I also know how to repay kindness. If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Master Chen's concubine was a good woman who had been married off to a prostitute in a brothel, and Master Tong didn't want to ruin her reputation. At the time, she just used the Luo family's name to scare people away. And even if she hadn't come forward, Master Jian might not have had a way to get out of it. Afterwards, Master Jian didn't mention it, and she didn't say anything either. Unexpectedly, Master Jian still remembered it.

Eleventh Lady hurriedly told Master Jian about the Madam's intention: "...she thought my needlework was good. That's why she wanted to meet you."

Master Jian was very surprised.

Eleventh Lady also told Xu Lingyi about sending someone to pick her up: "I didn't expect that he missed someone!"

"No one was missed!" Master Jian said a little embarrassedly, "I saw that posture... I didn't think it was the Marquis who sent someone to pick me up, so I deliberately avoided it!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but laugh, and assured Master Jian again: "I'm fine. Nothing happened. I brought you to Yanjing just to ask you to help train the people in the training house."

Qiu Ju, who was outside, heard Shiyi Niang's hearty laughter and whispered to Zhu Xiang, "Don't tell Madam what I told you. Madam will be sad if she knows." As she spoke, she sighed softly, "Thinking back then, Madam treated Dongqing so well!"

Zhu Xiang's eyes darkened: "Don't worry, I won't tell my wife!"

Qiu Ju listened and said, "You can't tell Bin Ju! She is a straightforward person. She will definitely tell the lady when the time comes!"

"I won't tell you anything." Zhu Xiang promised, "And remember not to say anything."

"I know." Qiu Ju nodded. "If anyone asks me, I will say that I have been following Master Jian and have never been back to Yuhang. I don't know that Dong Qing has returned to Yuhang!"

Zhu Xiang nodded and asked Qiu Ju: "Are you going back to Yuhang?"

Qiuju told about the agreement between Teacher Jian and his family.

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Shiyi Niang coming out supporting Master Jian.

They both stood up quickly.

Master Jian told Qiuju: "Pack your things, we are going to the Yongping Marquis' Mansion."

Qiuju agreed, and Zhuxiang hurriedly called the maid who followed the car to help carry the things, and the group went to the lotus flowers.

Seeing that Master Jian had a clear gaze, steady behavior, and a balanced attitude, the Madam knew that he was not a person who had gained fame for nothing, and she was very impressed. She ordered Shiyi Niang to clean up two rooms in Lijingxuan for Master Jian and Qiuju to live in.

"Just treat me as a guest. Give me five taels of silver per month to help teach Zhenjie her needlework."

Master Jian thanked the lady and went to Zhen Jie'er with Shiyi Niang.

When Zhen Jie'er knew that she was Shiyi Niang's master, she naturally showed her respect even more. Master Jian was relieved to see that Zhen Jie'er was not a spoiled person. When Bin Ju saw them, her eyes filled with tears: "I have been thinking about you since I heard that you were coming. I didn't expect to see you in person!"

Qiuju pulled Binju and called her "sister", unable to say anything else.

Xiaoli and others came forward to persuade them and fetched water for them to wash their faces.

"Once you are settled, come to my house and play for a day!" After the initial excitement, Binju invited Master Jian and Qiuju, and then looked at Zhuxiang, Xiaoli and others, "You can also go and keep me company."

"We know that sister Binju is married, but we haven't met brother-in-law yet!" Qiuju said with a smile, "Of course we have to go and meet him." Binju blushed.

Zhu Xiang sighed inwardly, and Qiu Ju's words came back to her mind: "...I saw her coming back from Beijing, wearing a gold hairpin and silver bar, and silk and satin. She was personally sent home by Wu Da Zongguan. She didn't look like a down-and-out person. Her sister-in-law confiscated her bag that night, and took away the clothes and jewelry that the lady usually gave her as a reward, as well as the three hundred taels of silver. On weekdays, she was either shouting that she had run out of salt and wanted to buy, or that she had run out of oil and wanted to make a fuss. She only ordered her around, but didn't give her a penny. If Dong Qing was unhappy, she would point fingers at her, and she was not a face, and her nose was not a nose. Not only did she make Dong Qing's mother and father restless, but she also spent all the few small coins in Dong Qing's hand.

Dongqing's mother was looking for a matchmaker for her.

The better families, seeing that she was so old and had no one to marry and was sent back by her master, guessed that she had bad behavior and refused to marry. Eight or nine out of ten of those who agreed were playboys in the countryside, who not only had no money but also could not afford the bride price. It happened that there lived a silk merchant from Suzhou next door. Seeing that Dongqing had some potential, he sent someone to propose marriage. He said that his wife died early, leaving only a young daughter, and he wanted to marry a successor. Dongqing's father and mother saw that although this man was the same age as them and was short, he was willing to pay a bride price of fifty taels of silver, so they agreed.

A few months later, their family found a house in the county. Her sister-in-law took her nephew to borrow some money from Dongqing and go to Suzhou for fun. When they arrived in Suzhou, they found out that the merchant's wife was not dead. Not only was his wife alive, but he also had three sons. In front of outsiders, they just said that Dongqing was a concubine who was sold. Dongqing's sister-in-law came to the house and was scolded. The man also ordered the housemaid to beat Dongqing's sister-in-law out with a stick. Her sister-in-law found out after asking around. It turned out that the merchant was not at home all year round, and the eldest wife had the final say in the family affairs. This eldest wife was also a well-known fierce woman in the neighborhood. If she was not happy, she would beat the maids and scold the servants. She would drag the concubines to the yard and make them kneel all night. The concubines in the family were like mice seeing a cat when they saw her. Dong Qing had just entered the house, and the eldest wife was punishing her. Now she has been tortured to the point of being unrecognizable and no longer has the same color as before..."

Others didn't know what was on Zhu Xiang's mind. After Master Jian and Qiu Ju settled down, Shiyi Niang and several maids from Zhen Jie'er's side went to Bin Ju's house together. They ate and drank for a long time. Daxian asked Bin Ju to play cards with him while he was busy washing dishes in the kitchen, sweating profusely.

Qiu Ju was very moved by this, but she couldn't say a word. However, because of this, she and Zhu Xiang became closer and closer.

However, Master Jian was very interested in the embroidery that Binju placed on the kang.

Bin Ju hurriedly explained with a smile: "I helped some of the Xipu in Yanjing to embroider some things, and exchanged some small change to supplement the family income."

"It's well embroidered!" Master Jian asked her, "How much can a curtain like this sell for?"

"I can sell the fabrics and needlework for two to three taels of silver. The fabrics and needlework in Xipu can be sold for one or two taels of silver."

"It's even higher than what Hangzhou Prefecture offers!"

"They like Su Yi here. They think our styles and designs are newer."

Just then Qiu Ju came in with a bowl of lotus seed and osmanthus soup, and the two of them dropped the topic.

When they returned home in the evening, they did not see Shiyi Niang.

"Tenth Aunt's father-in-law passed away, and the Marquis and his wife both went to the Duke of Mao's mansion."