Huo Jincheng's official role was the commander of the guards in the prince's palace, but secretly he also held another role: the prince's finance minister, in charge of the prince's purse. The prince might only have a rough idea of his assets, but Huo Jincheng knew them all.
The prince was very confident in Huo Jincheng, knowing that he was tight-fisted and would never spend a penny carelessly. This was also the reason why Huo Jincheng had a prejudice against Jian Ning because he thought she was greedy for money.
Over the years, he had helped the Crown Prince manage affairs outside the palace, and he knew that nothing could be achieved without money, so he was extremely sensitive to anything involving money. Since there was money to be made following Jian Ning and Ding Youtian, there was no reason for him not to do it, and he even high-fived Ding Youtian to finalize the cooperation.
He said, "Give me the drawings, and I'll find a carpenter. We'll build one first. If it works as a carriage and is easy to learn, we'll build a hundred more. I'll cover all the expenses. But I have to tell you, if it turns out to be just a decoration, you'll have to pay the carpenter's wages yourself. I won't cover anything."
Jian Ning and Ding Youtian had no objection to this. In her previous life, Jian Ning knew that someone had built a wooden bicycle. After seeing the drawings sent by Ma Fuquan, she knew that it would definitely work.
"It's settled. Let's go to the government office and take care of the house first. I'll go find the carpenter later."
Ding Youtian nodded. "Okay, I'll go to the government office with you first, but do you still need to go to the Taifu Mansion? You promised me yesterday, you didn't forget it, did you? It was my wife who sent Man'er there for you this morning."
With Erniu and Sanniu accompanying her to study at home, Ah Man is much more motivated. Erniu and Sanniu are both social experts. Yesterday, they got along better with Ah Man's half-brothers and half-sisters than Ah Man did with them. After practicing martial arts with Jian Ning early in the morning, they all clamored to go to the Taifu Mansion with Ah Man.
Since the kids were not at home, Jian Ning went to the yamen with the two of them. The three of them went directly through the villa without going in or out through the main gate. The main reason was that Huo Jincheng did not want people to see him and Jian Ning having close contact with them. This way they avoided Yunniang, but they ran into Meixiang who was coming back from buying vegetables.
When she suddenly saw Huo Jincheng, Meixiang habitually moved aside, lowered her head and slightly bent her knees.
Huo Jincheng glanced at her coldly. After several people approached her, she realized that she was no longer a maid in the Taifu Mansion, so why was she still bowing to Huo Jincheng?
She was so angry that she secretly cursed herself for being such a jerk.
She walked forward a few steps with her basket in hand, then suddenly thought of Yunniang. She paused, thinking, and then turned around and walked to the front yard of the Huo Mansion. She looked around and saw Yunniang squatting at the foot of the wall next door, looking like a lost dog.
Meixiang rolled her eyes secretly, thinking back to when she first entered the Taifu Mansion. At that time, every time Yunniang brought A'man to the Taifu Mansion, she would not even say hello when she saw her, but would look up at her with her eyes.
I didn't expect that you would have this day.
Meixiang walked towards her with a sense of superiority, "Why are you still guarding here, uncle? Your uncle has already gone out with that vicious woman and Brother Ding."
Yunniang got anxious when she heard this and stood up to chase after her. Meixiang took a sideways step to stop her, "You're so stupid! With that vicious woman around, why would your master pay any attention to you? If you chase after her now, aren't you just asking for trouble?"
"Then, what should I do?" Yunniang pressed her belly, glanced at Meixiang with embarrassment, and lowered her eyebrows. "My dear sister, can you, can you lend me a few dozen coins first? I'll ask the master for it later and return it to you immediately."
Meixiang was startled when she heard her ask to borrow money from her. "I came here with good intentions to tell you something, but you asked me to borrow money instead. How could I lend you money? Even if I did, I wouldn't lend you any. Now that I've kicked you out, how could I give you money? I lent you money, but what are you going to give me back?"
Really, why did you ask her to lend you money? Meixiang didn't want to lend her any money. She twisted her body and said, "Good intentions are really not rewarded. I'm leaving now."
Yunniang was so embarrassed by her words that she wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground, but compared with being hungry, face seemed less important. She grabbed Meixiang and said, "My dear sister, you can't just stand by and watch me die. If I hadn't asked the old lady to intercede for me, you wouldn't be able to enter the Taifu Mansion..."
It would have been fine if she hadn't mentioned the Imperial Tutor's Mansion, but once Meixiang was mentioned, she was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Before she could finish her words, she interrupted her and said, "How dare you mention this? If I hadn't entered the Imperial Tutor's Mansion, I wouldn't have followed Ah Man to the countryside, and I certainly wouldn't have married a fool..."
Meixiang realized she had spoken out of turn, but it was too late. Yunniang pulled her over and asked, "Why, you've been married before? And to a fool?"
"So what? Don't think you can use this to blackmail me into lending you money." Meixiang shook her off and was about to leave. She didn't bother pulling Meixiang anymore, but followed Meixiang for a few steps while saying, "If you really want to watch me die, that's up to you. If I can't survive, no one else will be able to survive!"
"Your mother has always been a stubborn person. She always gossips to the neighbors. Whenever there's something wrong in someone else's family, she'll tell you everything! Since my brother-in-law got into trouble, my sister and her two children have returned to her parents' home to make a living. During that time, your mother was constantly meddling in our family's affairs. How many times did she scold my sister and the children for no reason?"
"Now, her own daughter has been deflowered by a fool, and she probably doesn't even know it. I want to see how she can face talking about other people's affairs in the future!"
Yunniang had been a housewife for many years and she was very eloquent. She bombarded Meixiang with a barrage of words and really stunned her.
Seeing Meixiang stop, she turned around and left. This time, Meixiang pulled her back because Meixiang thought that if her father was not Pei Xiyuan's brother, she would still have to stay in the capital. If her reputation was ruined, how would she live in the future?
"Look at you, I was just joking with you. I don't have much money, but I still have a dozen or so." Meixiang reluctantly took off the purse hanging on her waist and counted out ten coins to her. "Remember to pay me back. This is the money left over from buying vegetables. I don't know how to explain it to my boss when I get home."
She hated Yunniang in her heart and regretted coming to look for her. She turned around and walked a few steps, then spat in anger! She cursed Yunniang in her heart. At this moment, she didn't know that because of her quick words, she had caused herself a huge trouble. Yunniang had her in her control and almost lost her life.
Yunniang spent all her ten cents on buying a coarse grain steamed bun. She hadn't eaten this stuff for many years. When she bit into it, she felt a hard crumb in her mouth, which choked her and made her neck stiff.
But having something to fill her stomach is better than nothing, so after filling her stomach, she sat there peacefully waiting for Huo Jincheng.
She waited until it was almost dark before Huo Jincheng showed up, and she almost fell asleep. If Huo Jincheng hadn't picked up Ah Man and the other three and woke her up with their laughter when they got off the car, she would have missed it.
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