Chapter 236 Woodblock Printing
The fourteenth day of the first lunar month, sunny!
After breakfast, Shen Ning was about to go for a walk outside the hospital when she saw Xiao Daiyu holding something. She came over quickly and said, "Aunt~"
The little girl's eyes were shining, and her cheeks were red, probably because she ran too fast. She was very cute.
"Slow down."
Shen Ning hurriedly caught it, "What if you fell? Where are your maids? Why can't you see any of them?"
"They went to the flower hall."
The little girl smiled and said, "Don't worry, auntie, I'm running steadily."
The teacher teaches both literature and martial arts.
What's more, she also watched Coach Wen teach Xiaodong, Xiaonan and others martial arts.
Although she cannot practice martial arts, after watching them many times, she may learn a trick or two.
At worst, you won't fall after running a few steps.
"You went to the flower hall?"
Shen Ning blinked, "I remember now, this should be the time for you sisters to go to the flower hall to manage the housekeeping affairs, right?" She teased her, "Why? Do you want to be lazy and take a walk with your aunt?"
"Hehe, no! Daiyu smiled and raised the cloth bag in her hand, "Aunt, I have something to give you, guess what it is?"
What is it? It is rectangular in shape, and feels as big as two books.
When she was helping Daiyu just now, she touched it a little, and it was quite hard.
Shen Ning touched the little girl's face and asked, "Golden Page?"
Daiyu: “…”
She was confused. Why was it a golden page?
How big is this golden leaf? Can she hold it? "Aunt~~~"
The little girl was not happy, knowing that her aunt was teasing her again. "You are bullying me again. I will tell the old lady and my mother when I get home."
"Haha, my aunt is wrong."
Shen Ning smiled and squatted down, "Then tell me, what do you want to give as a gift?"
“Look!”
Daiyu opened the cloth bag and saw many characters carved densely on the wood, but the characters were in reverse order...
Shen Ning took a look, his expression becoming more serious, "The engraving of The Legend of the Condor Heroes?"
She had considered doing this. After all, once the engraving was done, she would be done with it once and for all.
But carving the plates took too long and she couldn't wait.
"Where did you get it? What made you think of making this?"
Shen Ning was really surprised.
"The bookstore is in urgent need of help again."
The little girl straightened her chest, and her pair of bright black eyes seemed to be filled with bright stars. "The shopkeeper said that the advance sale has been extended to 20 days later. For selling books, woodblock prints are definitely better. Then, my cousin Mei and I went to look for my uncle."
Jia She?
Shen Ning was shocked.
The last time Xing came to visit, she heard her say that Jia She was obsessed with bronze, stone and carving, and that the things he made were often so expensive that he couldn't even keep the money he had paid for them.
The tone at that time was both proud and funny.
Shen Ning was also very pleased.
Jia She in the Dream of the Red Chamber was very fond of antiques.
But at that time he bought it with silver.
He worked hard to get money out of the public treasury and bought antiques to make them his own.
Even if the antique was not originally worth that much silver, he would do it as long as he could get some silver from the public treasury.
Nowadays, being fascinated by gemstones and carvings is really much better than buying those flashy antiques everywhere.
So when Xing said that, she was also very happy.
People who have money and free time should cultivate some elegant hobbies.
Even if you lose money from the work, it's better than spending money recklessly and sleeping with a concubine, right?
So at that time, she asked Qingzhu to go to the warehouse to look for it.
When the old Duke of Ning was fighting outside, he brought home a lot of things, including Shoushan stone, Qingtian stone, Changhua stone, and Balin stone.
Considering that he was a beginner, Shen Ning specially asked Qingzhu to find the ugly one and give him two pieces.
He didn't expect that Minmei and Daiyu would let him do woodcutting.
"Your uncle's handwriting..."
Shen Ning checked it anxiously, fearing that what he carved would be unusable, a waste of time and emotion.
"I asked my mother to write it, and then my uncle made a copy of it."
Shen Ning: “…”
Wow! She is indeed the most talented woman in the Red Mansion. She has a good brain! She even asked Jia Min and Jia She to help her with the work.
“Well done!”
Shen Ning couldn't help but hug the little girl and kiss her, "Does your mother want any money for writing?"
"You also want a fee for writing?"
Daiyu was a little embarrassed to be kissed, but she forgot everything when she heard about the writing fee. "Isn't she my mother, Cousin Mei's aunt? Aunt, are you overthinking it?"
"Yes, yes, I overthink it."
Shen Ning patted his head and said, "A good woodblock engraver wouldn't need anyone else to write. It's mainly because your uncle is not very good."
"So my uncle made it for us for free."
Daiyu had heard her grandmother say many times, "Once he finishes this engraving, he will be able to carve anything he wants in the future."
“…”
It seems so.
Shen Ning touched the first and twentieth pages of the engraved version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "What kind of wood is this made of?"
It smells a bit fragrant, and the oily feel of the wood is also very nice.
"My uncle found it himself in the warehouse. It seems to be a wood called small-leaf red sandalwood."
No wonder?
"We have to pay for this wood."
Although the current small-leaf red sandalwood is quite expensive, it is far from as outrageous as it is in later generations.
"Hmm~"
Daiyu nodded, "Cousin Min has already gone to the lumber store and bought a lot for us."
In fact, my uncle wants to take charge of everything.
He also likes "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and said that it was a great honor for him to be able to make woodblocks for it.
But cousin Mei said that her uncle was a little stupid, and as his nieces, they couldn't bully him just because he was stupid.
It doesn't cost money, it's fine to improve the skills, but if he continues to work by sticking wood together, my uncle will be laughed at again.
Daiyu knew that her cousin Mei didn't want her uncle to be laughed at again.
She wanted her eldest uncle to become a master of bronze and stone even more than her second cousin Yingchun.
"Aunt, do you like this gift?"
"I like it. I like it very much."
Daiyu is the best and most caring little cotton-padded jacket.
Shen Ning smiled and rubbed her little face, "Leaving this matter to you is the most correct thing your aunt has done this year."
“Hehe~”
The little girl is also very happy.
Jiangnan is so far away, and she wouldn’t be able to see her aunt for a long time, so she couldn’t bear to leave before her aunt left.
Today, Xiao Daiyu finally went for a walk with Shen Ning.
The mother and daughter strolled all the way from the garden to Tianxiang Tower to see the hustle and bustle of the back street.
In the flower hall, Min Mei had no choice but to take care of the affairs that needed to be taken care of for her sister.
As the older sister, she had no choice but to bear the brunt of her cousins' cheating.
However, when she saw her little cousin coming back, she still tapped her little head with her finger and said, "You will take my place the day after tomorrow."
Although my cousin is still young, she is very smart.
Min Mei wasn't worried at all, she made things worse.
Since the eldest sister is not around, Yingchun and Tanchun will help out.
“Tie, tie, tie!”
Daiyu smiled, "Cousin Mei, my aunt said she really likes woodblock printing."
"I just said that my uncle did a good job, right?"
Min Mei immediately became delighted.
She will never forget that when she was most desperate, it was her uncle who brought people to her home to avenge her mother.
"Then I won't need you to do my job. Go home and get two jars of the good Huiquan wine that my uncle sent me, and we'll take them to my eldest uncle together."
"Yes, yes!"
There was nothing Daiyu couldn't agree to, since she was young and not allowed to drink.
"Count me in, I want to come along too."
Yingchun smiled with her lips pursed.
If they don't get together, Cousin Mei will take her father away.
"And me and me."
Tanchun hurried to follow.
Her father and stepmother became ordinary people outside the city, and it was her uncle who took care of the family.
Tanchun could clearly feel that her aunt was better than before.
In the past, my aunt wanted to argue about everything and was always nagging, but now she will say that this dress looks good, this handwriting is good...
Therefore, although she lived with the old lady, she often went to Rong Xi Tang with her second sister.
"Where are you going?"
Shi Xiangyun, who was taking extra lessons from her teacher, came in skipping and jumping, "No matter where you go, you have to take me with you."
When Zhan Xue and Baochai came in, they saw the girls laughing and giggling.
Baochai guessed that they were probably talking about housekeeping matters. Her brother had to go to school early in the morning and do homework when he got home in the evening. He was very busy, so her mother could only discuss matters in various places with her.
She was so busy with her own family affairs that she had no time to worry about the affairs of Ningguo Mansion.
So I always do it on time.
Listening to my sisters laughing and playing, I felt envious but not jealous.
When it comes to doing business, it’s useless for a mother to be just kind.
Just yesterday she had dismissed a shopkeeper who was always making losses for her mother and brother, and asked Sister Feng to lend her Wang'er, so that she could take people to raid the old man's house.
Wang'er and his friends were busy for a long time and brought back more than three thousand taels of silver.
Baochai was very angry.
On the spot, he gave Wang'er and others twenty taels of silver each for their hard work, and also gave Fengjie another eight hundred taels.
Without the help of the Jia family, they would have no way to deal with that old man who relied on his many sons, neighbors and connections with the government.
The more she came into contact with this side, the more she understood how powerful the Duke's Mansion was!
Wang'er only needed a token from the Jia family to get the Five Cities Army to help arrest someone.
"Okay, from today on, we will talk about the Dazhao Law every three days."
Zhan Xue glanced at the students who had become quiet since she came in. "On the surface, the Dazhao Law has little to do with the women in the harem, but... in my opinion, the law is something that we women should be familiar with."
Having said this, she seemed to glance at Yingchun and Baochai inadvertently.
The Dazhao Code had already been known to many people in the Jia family.
But before, Mrs. Shen didn't let her tell it to the children.
now……
Mrs. Shen clearly stated that the Dazhao law should pay special attention to Yingchun and Baochai.
"Understanding it and being familiar with it, we will know what we can do and what we cannot do. While using it to correct our clans, families, and people, we can also reasonably protect the rights of our women."
The Jia family is a clear example!
In Zhan Xue's opinion, Mrs. Shen's ability to gradually revive the Jia family's reputation was also related to the Dazhao Law.
Reorganizing the school is the first step, paying back the debt owed to the treasury is the second step, and dealing with the rats at home is the third step...
Every step is solid.
So, Shen Ning asked her to teach this lesson, and Zhan Xue was also happy to hear it.
In this capital city, there are too many women who are exploited by their husband's families after marriage.
Many of them died without knowing that their husbands' families had violated the law in many places.
The first empress of the former Ming Dynasty fought for the rights of women and also clearly stipulated in the Dazhao Code that they should be protected.
"Now, let's turn to the first page!"
The maid had already distributed the books to each of their desks.
Baochai opened it curiously.
My father also has a copy of the Dazhao Code.
But after my father passed away, my mother sent all the books he often read with him.
Baochai once wanted to buy it and asked her brother for help several times, but her brother always forgot about it.
Later, gradually, she forgot about it.
On the other side, Jia Zhen and Youshi hurried into Shen Ning's yard.
"Mother!"
Jia Zhen looked anxious, "Just now the Qin family sent a message that the Queen summoned Qin to the palace."
"Yes, I know."
Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival.
The Queen summoned many ladies from other courts today.
Jia's mother, Xing Shi and Jia Min were also among them.
"Didn't I tell you the last time I came back from the palace?"
The emperor and empress could not recognize Qin Keqing openly, so they wanted to use their family to give her benefits.
It's just that something else happened last time, which delayed it until now.
"Don't worry, it must be a good thing."
Shen Ning said, "Just ask someone to find out. As for the Qin family, Zhen'er, go take a look and help Lord Qin calm down."
"……yes!"
Jia Zhen was not very worried at first, but the Qin family was particularly worried, so he became anxious as well.
Now that his mother was stable, his heart also calmed down.
"Youshi, please stay with your mother for a while. I will be back soon."
He left in a hurry.
When I came back in the evening, the news had already been brought back by Jia Mu and others.
The Queen summoned the ladies from outside the court, and when she saw Lady Jia, she brought up Shen Ning. Because she was in mourning for her husband, she simply ordered the female official around her to summon Qin Keqing, who was about to become the daughter-in-law of the Ningguo Mansion, in front of everyone.
I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and wanted to adopt her as my daughter right there and then.
In the end, although the adopted daughter did not accept him immediately, she gave him an excellent dowry.
When Qin Keqing returned home, she brought with her enough stuff to fill ten carriages.
The emperor has confiscated the homes of so many people and is now extremely wealthy, so he is really generous to his poor niece.
It is said that the ten carriages were packed full.
Everyone knew it, but Grandmother Jia was very happy.
This means that the royal family has not forgotten the prince's daughter.
Their brother Rong was not insulted.
However, Shen Ning only told Qin Keqing that she was the prince's concubine, so the old lady could only be happy alone.
Of course, she was so happy that she couldn't help herself and had someone prepare a sedan chair so that she could come directly to Shen Ning to celebrate with her.
"Where's Rong'er? His wife got a reward, but he didn't even come over to celebrate with us."
"He is still training martial arts with Jiao Da."
Shen Ning personally served the old lady a cup of tea and said, "Don't worry, when he gets married, he will definitely bring her over to kowtow to you."
"Is that what I mean?"
Grandmother Jia said something to her, waved her hand to let the maids go out, and then lowered her voice, "Does Qin know her own life experience?"
"……have no idea."
Shen Ning shook her head.
She really didn't know this. "I don't think Lord Qin would tell her about this."
"You don't know?"
Grandmother Jia sighed, "It doesn't matter if we don't know. As long as we treat her well, nothing else matters." She asked, "Didn't you say that we would let the child come to school?"
"Well, Qin Ye is quite old."
Shen Ning nodded and said, "Everyone else's house is bustling during the first month of the year. That child said he will come over after the sixteenth day."
"Is the yard ready?"
The old lady was concerned, "How about arranging it at my place?"
"Isn't it crowded there?"
Shen Ning smiled, "Since she is here to look after the house, she will naturally live in my yard."
The future mistress of Ningguo Mansion.
Before getting married, it would be best to live in her yard.
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