Chapter 3: Wealth is not easy to obtain
After knowing that Song Qianzhao was a person who overestimated his own abilities, He Jingyi lost interest in him.
He didn't want to continue talking with Song Qianzhao, so he said directly: "Since you have agreed to this matter, I will tell you the rules. From now on, your grandfather and I will not assist you. Any problems must be resolved by yourself."
Song Qianzhao was stunned for a moment, then hesitated and asked, "Including the whole story and the cause of the incident?"
He Jingyi nodded: "You need to find out for yourself."
Song Qianzhao twitched the corner of his mouth, "It has increased a lot of difficulty for no reason."
He Jingyi smiled and said, "Just think of it as a test from your grandfather. If you pass, you will be the young master of the Song Mansion. If you fail, you will return to Ruzhou with your father."
Song Qianzhao raised the corners of his lips, "Can I put forward three conditions?"
"Just tell me, but I can't promise you anything."
Song Qianzhao pointed at Xunjiu behind him, then at his own clothes, and smiled: "After entering the capital, whether my grandfather recognizes me or not, I am still a member of the Song Mansion. Wearing this outfit will also bring shame to the Song Mansion. Can we take a bath and change into fresh clothes?"
He Jingyi looked at what Song Qianzhao and the other man were wearing, and they were indeed shabby.
"You're right. No matter what, your last name is Song. When you're out in public, you can't lose the dignity of the Song family."
"Butler Huang, please take the young master to bathe and change clothes later."
"Yes, uncle."
Song Qianzhao said, "I want to see my father. I just arrived in the capital and I haven't been able to pay my respects to my grandfather. I have already failed in filial piety. If I don't go to see my own father, won't I be criticized?"
"I, Da Sui, govern the world with filial piety, and you prioritize filial piety and brotherly love. How could I not agree?"
He spoke beautifully, but his smile was playful.
Song Qianzhao said he wanted to meet Song Fu, and he knew exactly what he was thinking.
He couldn't get any information from Song Fu about what he had done, so he had no choice but to go meet the person involved.
He knew what Song Qianzhao was thinking, but he still agreed to it.
The reason why he agreed to Song Qianzhao was simply because he thought that even if he went to see Song Fu, he would not get any useful information.
"I also want to withdraw some money from the mansion."
Seeing that there was something wrong with the look in He Jingyi's eyes when he looked at her, Song Qianzhao immediately added something.
"It doesn't need to be too much, twenty taels will be enough."
Twenty taels is a year's expenses for an ordinary family, but it is just a drop in the ocean for the Song family.
He Jingyi thought he was going to ask for a huge sum of money, but he didn't expect that he only asked for twenty taels.
He paused and said, "I'll give you forty taels."
Song Qianzhao did not refuse, and said with a bow, "Thank you, uncle."
"You call me uncle, so as an uncle, I naturally can't be stingy. Let me remind you, you still have three and a half days."
He was stunned for a moment, then bowed to express his gratitude.
He Jingyi waved goodbye and turned to walk out the door.
Steward Huang did not follow him. Instead, he bowed and stepped forward, saying to Song Qianzhao, "Young Master, please follow me to the inner room to bathe and change clothes. Afterwards, I will take you to see Young Master Song Fu."
She did not continue to wait for Song Jian.
The appearance of He Jingyi represents Song Jian. When she negotiates terms with He Jingyi, she is actually negotiating terms with Song Jian.
The terms have been agreed upon, so there is no need to stand here in the wind and rain for a long time to bow to Song Jian and show filial piety.
In fact, in Song Qianzhao's mind, she would not kneel down to anyone if she could avoid it.
The reason why she insisted on standing at the door of the central hall and refused to give up until she saw Song Jian was simply because she wanted to find out Song Jian's attitude towards her.
Manager Huang took Song Qianzhao and the other two into the corridor.
Outside a wing room at the end of the corridor, Manager Huang stopped, ordered several maids to light a fire and boil water, and then took Song Qianzhao into the wing room.
Xunjiu wanted to go along, but was stopped by Manager Huang.
"The servants' bathing place is in the woodshed in the southwest corner of the mansion. I'll have the steward of the outer courtyard take you there later."
In this regard, Song Qianzhao saw the clear hierarchy in ancient times.
Song Qianzhao said a few words to Xunjiu, and then he obediently followed the steward of the outer courtyard to the woodshed.
Song Qianzhao entered the side room and drank two cups of tea under the humble service of Manager Huang.
The carved wooden door was pushed open, and six maids in indigo bodices lowered their eyes and held their breath, carrying copper basins in their hands and passing through the screen like a fish.
Hot water was quickly prepared, and white mist curled up from the huge wooden basin. The maids stretched out their hands to test the water temperature, then turned to Song Qianzhao and saluted, saying, "Master, the water is ready."
Song Qianzhao stood up and waved his hand, saying, "You guys go out first!"
The maid paused, first looking at Song Qianzhao, then at Manager Huang.
Steward Huang smiled, a rare moment. "These maids were personally trained by retired maids from the palace. They serve tea, comb hair, and change clothes. The master just raises his hand and they know whether to hand over a handkerchief or a cup of tea. Do you really not need to keep two of them by your side to serve?"
Song Qianzhao tilted his head and smiled playfully: "Is this a test?"
Manager Huang's smile froze, and he lowered his head and said, "I am the old servant who said too much."
After saying this, he immediately left the room with the maid.
Song Qianzhao watched the door close, and the smile on his lips suddenly disappeared.
After she made sure the door was closed tightly, she took off her clothes and soaked in the hot water.
"The splendor of this wealthy family is truly not so easy to enjoy. Trouble has arisen before even entering the house. If one had not experienced this in a lifetime, one might not be able to see the ins and outs of this."
She leaned back in the bathtub, water droplets sliding down her neck, her eyes fixed on the beams above her head, all kinds of thoughts lingering in her heart.
The Song family's immense wealth is a blessing that ordinary people cannot even ask for.
However, she was not Song Jian's biological granddaughter, so her status was inferior.
Whenever trouble arose, Song Jian would solve it without mercy.
Her cheap father is an example. She doesn't want to be controlled by others.
She didn't like this feeling.
Song Qianzhao sighed softly, "I only wanted to be a rich and idle person, a carefree playboy, but it's hard to achieve my wish."
While Song Qianzhao was washing, He Jingyi returned to the pavilion in the rain.
Seeing He Jingyi coming and going, Song Jian sat up and pretended to be indifferent and asked, "How is it?"
He Jingyi walked into the pavilion and said with a sigh, "He is quite clever, but he is a young man who is not afraid of tigers. He is a little overestimating his own abilities."
Song Jian suddenly glared, "You're not going to test him with the Song Fu incident, are you?"
He Jingyi paused, then nodded and said, "If you don't use these cunning tricks, I'll let him try his hand."
Song Jian's face turned pale with rage after hearing this. "How could you leave such a matter to a child? You know how treacherous the capital is. He's just a child, how can he handle the affairs of the imperial court?"
He Jingyi was startled when he heard this, and asked in surprise, "You care about him?"
Song Jian feigned disdain and frowned, "I'm just worried that he's not an official by any means, and might be doing more harm than good."
He Jingyi felt that something was wrong with Song Jian. "I did this because you agreed. Besides, it's not like I didn't help him. I agreed to his three requests."
"What do you want?"
He Jingyi informed him of the three requests made by Song Qianzhao.
Upon hearing this, Song Jian didn't pay attention to the three conditions proposed by Song Qianzhao. Instead, he frowned and said, "You mean, this time when he enters the mansion, he only has a young attendant with him?"
"I didn't find any other servants."
When He Jingyi met Song Qianzhao just now, he only focused on him and did not pay attention to the people around him.
It was only when Song Jian mentioned this matter that he remembered it.
Song Jian sat still and said nothing.
After a moment, he glanced at it coldly, pointed at the empty tea bowl, and said with a curled lip, "Break tea."
He Jingyi smiled and began to help Song Jian make tea.
He could guess a little about what Song Jian was thinking.
Song Jian looks down on Song Qianzhao on the surface, but he still cares about him.
Although he is not a biological grandson, we are of the same bloodline. Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected!
He Jingyi added two scoops of water to the copper kettle. The fire crackled, and white steam soon emerged from the spout. He grabbed a handful of broken tea leaves and dropped them into the coarse earthenware bowl. As the hot water poured over them, the fragrance of tea wafted out.
He handed the tea to Song Jian.
At this time, Steward Huang appeared in the pavilion and replied, "Young Master is very well-behaved and doesn't like women."
After hearing this, he nodded approvingly. Suddenly, he caught sight of He Jingyi's half-smiley eyes, and hurriedly pretended to clear his throat. He put on a serious face and said, "Arrange two old ladies to serve him."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "Go get my brocade belt and give it to the young master. Then send someone to Ruzhou to find out why he has no one to escort him to the capital."
"I understand."
Front compartment.
Song Qianzhao stood before the bronze mirror, adjusting his slightly oversized indigo gown. The cyan brocade belt around his waist looked old, even slightly whitish at the edges. But upon closer inspection, a few strands of gold could be seen through the frayed fabric. Not to mention the smooth, white jade inlaid on it. Though small, it shone brightly in the candlelight, clearly no ordinary item.
The two maids looked at Song Qianzhao's eyes falling on the brocade belt and couldn't help but smile and said, "This was given to the master by the late emperor in Fengtian Hall when he passed the imperial examination."
Song Qianzhao was stunned, his eyebrows raised slightly, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.
"Thank you both, thank my grandfather for me."
The two maids laughed and said, "We are old men in the mansion, so it would be awkward to say such things."
After tidying up his clothes, he said goodbye to the two maids and walked out of the room, only to see Xunjiu already waiting outside.
Xunjiu washed and changed his clothes, putting on a suitable servant's uniform, and he immediately looked capable and energetic.
"Young Master."
Xun Jiu saw Song Qianzhao and couldn't help but step forward and call out.
Song Qianzhao nodded to him, and then said to Steward Huang who was slowly approaching, "Please take me to the ancestral hall to see my father."
Steward Huang leaned slightly aside and said, "Young Master, please come this way."
After passing through two moon gates, Manager Huang stopped at the stone steps in front of the ancestral hall.
Because he was just an outsider, he was not qualified to enter the ancestral hall with Song Qianzhao.
Song Qianzhao pushed open the vermilion-lacquered door of the ancestral hall and saw a man kneeling on a cushion in the middle of the hall without turning around.
When the door of the ancestral hall was pushed open, the wooden hinges made a low "creaking" sound, and a ray of bright sunlight slanted into the dim room, but he did not even flutter his eyelashes, and still knelt motionlessly.
Her gaze stayed on the middle-aged man, with unspeakable emotions surging in her eyes.
This is Song Qianzhao’s adoptive father.
Her soul traveled to another world and occupied this body, taking over the memories of her previous life.
But after searching through all the memories of my previous life, I couldn't find any trace of this father.
Ever since I can remember, my father was just a noun, and he was always away on a journey and never returned.
She didn't think this irresponsible father would have any impression of his son, so she was not worried that he would notice that she was a completely different person.
She took a few steps forward, knelt on the mat beside her, and called softly.
"father."
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