As soon as the first month of the lunar year begins, plum blossoms in Quecheng begin to bloom in various mansions and courtyards.
The wealthy families in the imperial city liked to appreciate peonies, but the truly powerful families liked to appreciate plum blossoms, probably because plum blossoms are inherently elegant and bloom in the cold, making them truly precious.
Plum blossoms have been a fixture of gardens since ancient times. Today, there are hundreds of varieties, but the rarest of these is the "Yingshui Chonglou" (Paleopeda Mirroring Water). A single branch of this tree, with three buds, can fetch a hundred taels of gold at the official market. Literati and scholars alike yearn for its blood-red color, silk-like stamens, and shape reminiscent of towering towers. A single bloom fills the city with fragrance.
Rumor has it that across all of Chizhou, the place with the most Reflecting Water Towers is Quecheng, and within Quecheng, the most numerous is Prince Xuanyuan's Palace. Unfortunately, the palace's walls are too high for ordinary people to admire. Besides the palace, the only place where ordinary people might be able to see the Reflecting Water Towers is Xiaomeizhuang on Danling Street.
Xiaomeizhuang sounds like a place where women buy rouge and powder, but in fact it is the largest gold and silver shop in Tiancheng. It not only circulates silver bills and currency for shops in various states, but also pays gold and silver salaries to officials below the third rank. It can be said to be half a government store.
The origins of Xiaomei Manor's name are as ancient as the priceless, priceless Reflecting Water Tree in its courtyard. Though a single tree, it boasts a magnificent spectacle of blossoms, flourishing beautifully. Every Lunar New Year, the manor's doors are flooded with visitors, driving the manor's business to a frenzy.
Legend has it that when Tiancheng was first built, a minister objected to the frivolous name of a place where government salaries were paid. He petitioned the emperor to rename it, but was ultimately dismissed by General Mei Zixu, then General of the Northern Frontier. The Mei family, a family renowned for their righteousness and integrity, had served in the military for generations. Mei Zixu remarked that the word "plum" symbolized a naturally proud character, unbending in the face of winter, a spirit that should be upheld by the government treasury. Emperor Suiyuan readily agreed, and the name Xiaomeizhuang was finally preserved.
Of course, these are elegant things that scholars and poets like to discuss, and warriors and rough men know nothing about them.
As a minor official who came from the military and worked hard to save money, Xiao Nanhui was only anxious to confirm the amount of his newly received salary every time he went to Xiaomeizhuang, and he had no other thoughts.
To her, the fat shopkeeper standing behind the ebony counter at this moment is much more important than the flowering tree in the yard.
"What did you say?"
Xiao Nanhui widened his eyes because he couldn't believe the number he heard.
The fat shopkeeper glanced at her, as if he was already used to seeing people who were greedy for money. He smiled, turned the jade abacus in his hand in a circle, and pushed it in front of her.
"Mr. Xiao's account shows three thousand taels of silver for this month. Adding the amount just entered yesterday to the previous savings, the total is three thousand seven hundred and eighty-four taels and nine cents of silver and one hundred taels of gold."
Xiao Nanhui stared at the jade beads on the abacus and felt that he was almost unable to count.
"Is this a mistake? Although I was promoted a month ago, I am only a fourth-rank official. My salary shouldn't be this much..."
"My Lord, this is money allocated directly by the Supervisor and has nothing to do with the salary."
"Superintendent?" She was filled with questions. "Isn't the Supervisor only responsible for the palace's internal affairs? Why would he give me so much silver?"
"Ah, the eunuch who handled this matter was Lord Shan in front of the emperor. He specifically left a note saying..."
The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes as he spoke, searching for the line of small words among the densely packed annotations in the account book. Xiao Nanhui couldn't help but narrow his eyes as well.
"Ah, I found it." The shopkeeper's short, thick finger tapped a spot on the mosquito-thin account book. "It says that His Majesty previously broke a jade hairpin belonging to Master Xiao, and the governor has ordered this money as compensation according to palace regulations."
Hosta? Her hosta?
Not to mention that she had worn the hairpin for many years and it was bound to have cracks and bumps from being dropped and beaten, just looking at the carving and quality, it was only worth a few dozen taels of silver. How could she have been allocated three thousand taels of silver?
Who are the people working in the palace right now? If they are not confused, they must be blind.
"Ahem." She coughed lightly, moved closer and lowered her voice. "Thank you, boss. I wonder if the money on this account will be taken back if it's wrong..."
The fat shopkeeper still had a smile on his face, but his voice also lowered: "In reply to Master Xiao, I have been working as a clerk for more than 30 years and have never heard of such a thing."
Xiao Nanhui let out a long sigh, and suddenly felt a little at a loss. He took the wooden deed for checking his salary from the counter and hurried out the door.
I lifted the thick cotton curtain and the north wind blew towards me, bringing with it a hint of the smell of roasted sweet potatoes and hot sugar cakes, and it seemed not so biting anymore.
It has been three days since she returned to Quecheng, and her life seems to have returned to its original track.
The sunlight, the smell, the streets, and the faces surging on the streets were all familiar to her, but there was clearly something different.
She squeezed the wooden contract in her palm, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Could this be considered a case of success in officialdom but failure in love?
She repeated the shopkeeper's words in her mind again, and suddenly realized something: as long as she accepted the silver, did it mean that she could not get the hairpin back from the emperor?
What should I do?
Logically speaking, she is not a greedy person, but... it's really a lot of silver.
Xiao Nanhui was tormented by this contradictory feeling and looked miserable. He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Why did you just come out? You've been gone for so long."
Her thoughts were interrupted. She looked up when she heard the voice and saw Wu Xiaoliu sitting on the side of the road, holding two salted duck legs in his left hand and a stack of sesame oil pancakes in his right hand, the oil paper still steaming.
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