Chapter 46 A Letter Home The spring water has melted, and I look forward to your return.
It was past noon when we left the teahouse.
The sun shone brightly on the Chuhuai River, and the floating waters sparkled and danced like golden scales. Dozens of light boats were floating by, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
No wonder this place attracts a large number of merchants and literati from the north and south.
But there are always people who come uninvited and destroy the comfortable and leisurely atmosphere.
"Miss Gui, here's a letter from the master." The camel-clothed attendant appeared mysteriously, bowed slightly, and held up the letter with both hands.
The letter was in an envelope made of plain paper and sealed with red wax.
It is almost the same as what Guizhier left in the braised food shop before leaving.
But the handwriting is a hundred times more beautiful.
"Hey, I've already said I have my own place to live, so there's no need to trouble you, Lord Liu." Guizhier sighed in annoyance, frowning.
She was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Perhaps his whereabouts were exposed during the Lantern Festival dinner in Laicheng, and the secret guards kept harassing him all the way.
He invited her several times to stay at the Chunhe Jingming Inn in the towns along the way.
"Who knows if you are running a black shop?" Guizhier acted like a rogue.
As she said that, Guizhi'er simply tore open the seal of the letter. She wanted to see what the prefect wanted to say.
The first thing that pops out is a small portrait of a person.
Snow-capped mountains stretch across the country.
A woman in a scarlet cross-collared cotton robe, holding a wooden stick and stepping on a wooden board.
It kicked up a shower of ice and snow as it slid down the hillside.
When carving the facial contours, use iron wire to outline them, which is strong and powerful.
The colors are not heavily rendered, and large areas of white space are left, as if bringing out the howling cold wind from the north.
The image of the heroic female hero comes to life on the paper.
"He said he would draw a picture for me as a thank you gift, and he actually kept his promise." Guizhier looked at it carefully and became more and more delighted.
Once I feel better, I don't feel as resistant to reading letters anymore.
What's more, when you compare Liu Shanyuan's handwriting with Gui Zhier's charcoal scribbles, the difference is obvious.
His handwriting is as thin and strong as a person, but it has strength and vitality.
The traces of Titon's operation are as clean and bright as cutting gold and jade.
“Say hello to the young lady.
I haven't heard from you for a long time, so I'm sending you this letter from afar. I hope you'll feel like I'm right beside you when you read it."
There was no questioning, no reprimanding. Gui Zhi'er seemed to see Liu Shanyuan's calm and composed look when he put pen to paper.
Next, Liu Shanyuan briefly talked about the recent tax and fee reforms in Zhenbei and the plan to pave the road with cement, just like chatting with his family.
By the way, I'd like to ask Guizhier for her opinion.
"The spring water has melted, and I look forward to your return."
At the end, the writing is heavy, and a hint of tenderness that remains lingering is faintly revealed.
"Is the prefect angry?" Liu Qianjin couldn't help but ask secretly.
After all, they used the name of Liu Shanyuan to redeem themselves from Yaoyue Tower.
If the prefect gets angry and orders them to go back, things will be difficult.
"No, my Lordship is adopting a conciliatory policy." Guizhier closed the letter with a smile.
They probably wanted to lure the person back through peaceful means first, and then lock him up in a small dark room and torture him severely.
Guizhier has never hesitated to assume the worst of her opponents.
The letter still needs to be replied.
Gui Zhier took out a charcoal pencil from the space without telling anyone, then borrowed a wooden table from the letter-writing stall on the corner of the street, gritting her teeth and thinking.
“If you want to get rich, you should build roads first, there is nothing wrong with that.
But Zhenbei is the border. If the Danu cavalry were to invade, wouldn't it be convenient for them to march straight in?"
Guizhier was too lazy to talk nonsense and expressed his thoughts directly.
She believed that Liu Shanyuan was a smart man because he was able to develop concrete technology in such a short period of time.
When dealing with smart people, you can understand things at a glance.
So she threw out all the measures such as building civil defense fortifications and digging tunnels in preparation for war.
Although it may seem like plagiarism, it is still the first of its kind in Daliang.
"Being a teacher is a disease and needs to be treated." Gui Zhier couldn't help but sigh that being a teacher has developed an occupational disease for her.
As for the land and poll tax, she had no new ideas.
Due to the limitations of the times, it is not easy to have a people-oriented mindset.
The difficulty lies in policy implementation and enforcement.
In this regard, I believe that the old hands who have been immersed in officialdom for a long time are more knowledgeable than her.
Finally, Guizhier bit the pen in her hand with a sad face.
"Should I flatter the prefect or say a few words to him personally?" She looked embarrassed.
The cold teachings throughout the article seem a bit inhumane.
In the end, Guizhier added a symbolic sentence.
"It's still cold in early spring, so adults, please keep warm."
She regretted it as soon as she finished writing it.
I put down my pen and slapped my forehead, feeling that I was so stupid.
"First, he criticized, then gave pointers, and finally expressed concern." She shook her head. "It sounds more like a letter from a father to his son."
He then picked up his pen and crossed out the sentence to avoid adding unnecessary details.
Guizhier sealed the letter and then called the camel-clothed attendant over.
"Just a quick question, could you please help deliver messages to others along the way?"
"Madam, please give your orders." The camel-clothed attendant saluted respectfully.
"That's great. Please wait a moment." Guizhier smiled, her eyes bright as stars.
She wrote very quickly, and in a few seconds she could finish several pages.
After everything was arranged, Gui Zhier took Liu Qianjin straight to the nearest Huitong Money House.
Entering the manor, the hall is spacious and clean.
The floor is paved with clear slate, and the mahogany counter is waist-high with fine grain, which is definitely not ordinary stuff.
The guys behind the counter all wore navy blue robes and melon-shaped hats.
"Crackle, clack." Their fingers moved the beads nimbly and methodically.
"Ma'am, are you checking money or depositing silver?" The receptionist greeted her with a smile.
Guizhier took out a string of pendants.
The old gold coins are engraved with numbers and patterns, and inlaid with small pieces of jadeite, which are lush green.
The guy's eyes widened for a moment.
"Please wait a moment, I'll go and ask the shopkeeper." The waiter bowed slightly.
A moment later, the shopkeeper in a dark grey robe came over.
After greeting Gui Zhier, he checked the gold coin code and took her to the basement.
"Young lady, do you have any secret code?" The shopkeeper looked sharp.
"Braised pork with rice and edamame and loofah soup." Guizhi'er spoke awkwardly, following Luan Shuangbai's instructions before he left.
The shopkeeper turned the key and the vault door swung open.
The walls are made of huge gray stones, which are solid and tightly fitted together. There is an oil lamp embedded at regular intervals.
The flame of the oil lamp flickered, casting a dim and soft light, illuminating the wooden box in the center, which contained stacks of gold and silver ingots.
It looks like "gray-yellow gold coins".
Guizhier just wanted to see how much balance was in the account opened for her by the young general.
Unexpectedly, I got a rather shocking number.
"This is not just a small business." Gui Zhi'er said with a mixture of laughter and tears, "I'm afraid it would be enough to buy out a street in Hangzhou."
But there is no need to wait until we reach Beijing.
Just now, when she heard the traveling merchant and Young Master Xie talking, she thought of the pearl milk tea made in Laicheng, and an idea came to her mind.
The first spring tea from Lingnan is fragrant and mellow with tender leaves.
Most people only know how to brew and drink tea, but they don’t know that tea leaves are also a top-quality food ingredient.
Tea-smoked chicken, Longjing shrimp, tea-flavored spareribs...
Guizhier swallowed her saliva.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
