Chapter 125 Chapter 125 Two Chapters in One
After spending the third day at home, Jinniang went to visit Academician Fan on the fourth day, and it was not until the eighth day that people rested. She just did nothing and lay at home.
Only when I have some free time will I have time to review what happened in these days.
Cheng Daizhi's family is a good candidate and can be included in the list. Besides, the price of gold seems to be much cheaper this year, so I can take advantage of the cheap price to make a gold crown for my daughter.
These are things that need to be done. Also, we need to look for a few good men this year and arrange their marriages after observing them for a year or two.
Otherwise, even Xu's family is plotting against her family. This is the annoying thing about relatives. It's impossible to cut off contact with them, but it's disgusting to visit them.
"Madam, the lady from the neighboring county has sent a visiting card." Aying took the card over.
When Jinniang saw that it was the Princess of Le'an County who wanted to visit her, she just accepted the invitation but said nothing, which meant she had no intention of inviting anyone in.
"Although it has been a hundred days, she still wants to remain faithful to her late husband, and I am afraid of ruining her reputation."
Ah Ying nodded: "You are right, we will return the things they give us next time."
"It's better not to have any contact with her. She is in mourning now, but she keeps coming over. I don't know what her intention is. I'm afraid that either there is something difficult or she has other intentions." Jinniang said.
Ah Ying didn't understand: "What do you mean by ulterior motives? She is the county lady, it's impossible for her to be a concubine."
Jinniang smiled and said, "It's impossible to be a junior. What if she wants to be a senior?"
"Ah? You are still here, how dare she think about it." Aying thought it was impossible.
Jinniang said, "Why should we be afraid of this? As long as we hit it off, everything will go smoothly. Of course, the master is clear-headed and will not make mistakes. I also have to guard the door well, otherwise it would be bad if someone did something wrong."
To be honest, having few people in the family has its disadvantages. If her parents lived here, how would Xu dare to come and stir up trouble so blatantly?
Seeing that the invitation she sent had fallen on deaf ears, Princess Le'an was a little discouraged. Her mother said, "Princess, we don't have to ask officials for help. We can ask the Zongzheng Temple. As long as they speak for you, everything will be easy."
In fact, Princess Le'an was not unaware of this idea, she just had such a stupid idea in her mind. When she saw Jiang Jun at a glance that day, she saw how handsome he was. She wanted to come over and make some acquaintance, but to her surprise, the lady next door, Mrs. Jiang, refused to associate with her at all. No matter how expensive the gifts she gave her were, she would return them the same amount and would not take advantage of her.
In this way, the people in my husband's family are getting more and more anxious, and there is nothing else I can do.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, Jinniang rested for several days and finally took her two children out to see the lanterns today. Most of the women on the street wore white clothes, and Jinniang was no exception. She wore a white silk jacket with pink raccoon sleeves, a pearl white pleated skirt underneath, and pearls and jade on her head. Her daughter was dressed similarly, but as a young lady, she also wore ornaments such as moth and snow willow on her head.
Both sides of the Imperial Street were bustling with activity, with people performing sword swallowing and tightrope walking. Ning Ge'er was watching with rapt attention.
Jinniang was watching people telling the history of the Five Dynasties, and all she saw was a prosperous scene.
As they were strolling around, Jiang Xian happily came forward to greet them and introduced them to Jinniang, "Madam, this is Brother Shen."
It turned out to be Shen Zijia, the younger brother of Shen Zhijun. The two had met at Wei's house in the third grade of junior high school. Jinniang saw that Shen Zijia had a nice name, but he was fat. Fortunately, she had seen the young lady of the Shen family and she was quite pretty.
After Jiang Xian finished his greetings, Jinniang asked him, "It seems that Prime Minister Jixian is not on good terms with Lord Shen Ziqi. When the new monarch took office, Lord Shen went to Pingjiang. Later, the new monarch died. Now that the crown prince has ascended the throne, Lord Shen is the crown prince's teacher. I wonder what will happen in the future..."
"My lady, you are indeed able to see the big picture from the small details." Jiang Xian walked with his hands behind his back.
He did not take sides with anyone in the officialdom and regarded himself as a useful person. As a result, no matter which faction or party disputes he belonged to, he remained invincible.
However, Jinniang said to him, "It's good that you said that, but as long as you are a human, how can you not have preferences? Unless you always follow the most wise master, otherwise, no matter how capable you are, you will easily be infamous for thousands of years. Do you think that all the treacherous ministers in history are those who are greedy for money? Of course not. Selection is also very important."
She knew very well that Jiang Xian was a man who would waver and be shaken very quickly, so she had to steady his heart first.
Jiang Xian came back to his senses and smiled awkwardly: "My wife is right."
"When it comes to being an official, my husband is a hundred times better than me. It's just that our family now has 800 acres of land, and the two shops in Tokyo and the shop in Wu County are all making money. My husband and I will work hard until we are forty years old, and then we can spend our days gardening and tending to the grass, instead of always working so hard on paperwork. My husband, don't be anxious. No matter what you do, you must always maintain your human dignity." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian nodded: "My lady is right."
After the first month of the lunar year, Jinniang went to the largest gold and silver shop in Tokyo and spent 160 strings of coins to make a nine-liang gold crown for her daughter. She herself spent 24 strings of coins to buy a pair of hollow gold gilded bracelets, and 17 strings of coins to buy a gold tassel necklace.
After buying these, she came back and put the jewelry away before she breathed a sigh of relief.
February is Yun Jie'er's birthday. After her birthday, news of the marriage between the Wei family and the Shen family came.
Jinniang hurriedly went to congratulate them wearing her newly bought jewelry. She didn't expect that Wei Qilang's marriage would fall into the Shen family. When he was in Daming Mansion, this child was very popular.
But I didn't expect that when I went to congratulate Mrs. Wei, Mrs. Wei smiled and said, "You are wrong. It's not congratulations to me, but congratulations to your second sister-in-law."
"What does this mean?" Jinniang still didn't understand.
Madam Wei said, "This Miss Shen is engaged to Balang."
Jinniang was a little confused, and Madam Wei said, "It's because she and Qilang don't get along well."
Such statements generally indicate dissatisfaction with the marriage. Jinniang thought that the Shen family was now a rising star in the political arena, so why was Madam Wei like this? In fact, Mrs. Wei was also confused. In terms of age and appearance, her son was more suitable, but the Shen family did not choose her son. She did not feel disappointed, but relieved instead.
Jinniang learned the reason from Jiang Xian. It turned out that Shen Zhijun's youngest daughter, Shen Wuniang, was arranged to marry a very prominent man. Shen Wuniang was good at poetry and often produced excellent works in her boudoir, which was why the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were at odds with each other.
Originally, when the Wei family proposed marriage, Wei Daxueshi did not put on airs and even brought his son and Balang from the next room with him. The Shen family felt that such a wealthy family had many rules, and there was also the matter of the Fan family, so the Shen family chose Balang from the Wei family.
Wei Qillang is handsome and always smiling, which makes him seem unreliable. Wei Balang, on the other hand, is honest and steady. Wei Balang's father is also a secretary and a very honest person, unlike the extravagant first wife.
So, Jinniang went to the second room to congratulate. Madam Wei held Jinniang's hand and said, "I am impatient with chores. I will need your help when the time comes."
"It's what he should do." Jinniang actually felt quite unfair for Wei Qilang.
There are many men in this world, good-looking ones will cheat, and ugly ones will cheat too, so it’s better to find a good-looking one.
But these were not her business. At most, she would come back and say a few words to Jiang Xian. However, Jiang Xian said aggrievedly, "My wife, what are you talking about? I have never betrayed you."
Jinniang felt a little guilty and said, "I just said it casually, don't take it to heart."
"What comes out of your mouth is the truth. My lady, you make me so sad. I am the most loyal to you." Jiang Xian kept teasing Jinniang.
Jinniang refused to apologize to him and only did what he said once before he let her go.
"You did this on purpose. You are so easy to talk to normally, but today you deliberately don't listen to me." Jinniang pointed at him and said.
Jiang Xian did not deny it, and Jinniang thought that this guy was becoming more cunning.
When the two of them got up, the children came over with their homework. They said that Ning Ge'er was good at poetry and had a rich imagination, and his poems were very fresh. During the New Year this year, Jiang Xian was afraid that Jinniang would say that he was showing off his treasures, so he secretly took it out to show everyone, saying that it was written by a friend he knew. After hearing others praising it, he said it was written by his eldest son.
Compared with her son, the daughter is better at writing policy essays. She is a person who can solve problems very quickly. She also buys Cheng ink to read privately, so the articles she writes are incisive and logical.
Jiang Xian thought it would be better if his daughter was a son, but his wife was right, daughters should also be brought up well.
After Jiang Xian finished checking the homework, he took Ning Ge'er out for horseback riding, while Jinniang taught her daughter to start double-sided embroidery with different colors. This was almost a daily routine for the family.
The mother and daughter were doing needlework. Jinniang was embroidering the white-robed Guanyin while giving instructions to her daughter.
In the afternoon, she and her daughter had lunch together. The family ate seasonal dishes, such as shepherd's purse dumplings, scrambled eggs with wild leeks, and braised meat with spring bamboo shoots. When Yun Jie'er was little, she didn't eat vegetables. But when she grew up, she liked to eat them. She even said to Jin Niang, "Mom, there seems to be nothing that my daughter can't eat."
"This is a good thing. People who can't eat anything lose a lot of fun." Jinniang said with a smile.
Sister Yun nodded, "Seventh cousin is very picky about food. Last year, on mother's birthday, he came to give gifts. Mother first asked him to talk to his younger brother and sent some tea and food over. He wouldn't even eat chicken wings with bones, only chestnuts, and he wouldn't eat vegetables. I happened to go there and saw him wasting so much, so I scolded him. I told him how hard it was for the farmers to grow these, and sister Juxiang even cooked in such hot weather, but he still wasted it. I told him to tell you if he didn't eat it, so he stuffed all the food in."
Jinniang gave a thumbs up and said, "You're right. We won't waste anything. You see, I always tell Juxiang not to make too much. Just make as much as we can eat."
Although life is better now and Jinniang occasionally indulges in luxury, her living habits have not changed much for the most part.
After Yunjie finished her meal, she asked Jinniang to accompany her for a walk, and Jinniang naturally went with her. In fact, my daughter is very beautiful and her dowry is quite generous, but nowadays those who come to propose marriage are all second sons and youngest sons, and almost all of them come for the dowry. If Jiang Xian had not been driven out of her family, she would have had to endure Xu's bullying for the rest of her life.
As long as their parents are still together, the couple will have to go back even if something happens at home now, otherwise they will be labeled as unfilial.
Therefore, Jinniang wanted to wait until her husband's official position was slightly higher. As for Wei Qilang, she had completely stopped considering him. Mrs. Wei said that. If she really wanted to get married, she would not let her son be eliminated and would probably choose someone better.
Their daughter also wants to marry a man who is talented, good-looking and wealthy, and this requires the efforts of parents.
After taking a walk with their daughter, it was already late when the mother and daughter returned.
In March, another year had passed. Village head Fan and shopkeeper Yao came here together. This time, shopkeeper Yao sent some wood and four hundred taels of silver. It turned out that there was a good harvest this year, and the farm had a lot of fruit trees, poultry, and eggs for sale. When Jinniang knew that her youngest son was going to get married, she rewarded him with two pieces of red satin, four silver-gilt hairpins, two brand new sets of men's clothes, and a set of satin clothes.
Mr. Fan thanked him profusely and said that they had fifty acres of mulberry fields and fifty acres of orchard next door for sale, both of which were close to the river and the land was extremely fertile. So Jinniang gave him two hundred strings of cash and asked him to buy the goods.
The shopkeeper Yao congratulated him first, "I heard that the master is now the junior minister of the Imperial Household Department. I am here to pay my special respects to the master and his wife."
Jinniang flipped through the account book and said with a smile, "Manager Yao, you have managed it very well."
"I hired a famous chef and had someone write a few articles for the tabloids. As a result, our business this year is better than in previous years." Shopkeeper Yao said with a smile.
Jinniang saw that he gave her seven hundred strings of cash this year, and also gave her something else as a gift to honor him.
She only said, "I only have two requests. The first is that you cannot bully others by taking advantage of your power. If I find out, I will never tolerate it. If anyone damages my husband's reputation, I will not tolerate him first. The second is that I don't want to see a decent store become a black shop where good and bad people mix together."
"Don't worry about that." Shopkeeper Yao said immediately.
Jinniang said seriously, "I'm not joking with you."
Shopkeeper Yao was sweating coldly.
Only then did Jinniang feel relieved. Shopkeeper Yao, as usual, smuggled silk on the road and sold it to merchants he was familiar with in Bian Jing. Zhuangtou Fan took the silver and prepared to go back quickly to buy mulberry fields and orchards.
Jinniang earned more than 1,100 strings of cash, plus last year's income of more than 1,900 strings of cash, which makes a total of about 3,000 strings of cash. Of course, I also spent two or three hundred strings of cash on jewelry and clothes.
But they still had some working money, and they didn't have much to spend.
The county lady next door seems to have sold her house and I heard she went back to the palace. The new family that moved in recently is the family of a newly appointed military official. Coincidentally, this family also has the surname Li and is said to be a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty.
The Li family has only one daughter, and her son-in-law is a child prodigy that Doctor Li spotted when he was the magistrate. The child is only thirteen years old, and it is said that he will take part in the child prodigy examination next year.
Yun Jie'er had met the Li family's daughter twice and invited her to come to her garden. Doctor Li's wife, Lady Shi, was also asking Jin Niang, "I wonder if your daughter has been betrothed to someone?"
"Even if we don't have it, we are still looking for it." Jinniang said with a smile.
Erlang from Cheng Daizhi's family is indeed good, but after observing for a long time, Jinniang always feels that this child has an older brother and a younger brother. Mrs. Cheng may not even realize that she is biased, but Jinniang can see it clearly.
So, the couple had to keep looking.
Madam Shi was reluctant to talk about other people's family affairs, so she just talked about the son-in-law she had chosen: "He is very smart and hardworking. Our master likes him very much. Sometimes you don't have to look too high, you can lower your requirements a little."
"I think so too." Jinniang said this, but she thought to herself that she would never lower her requirements for a son-in-law. Why can't such a good daughter be matched with a better man?
Jinniang would not even consider Wei Qillang anymore.
Some people might advise her that this is enough, but Jinniang doesn't think so. Back then, she would rather be single than have someone with something bad, let alone a daughter. Her daughter is only twelve years old now and is not very old.
After seeing off Madam Shi, Jinniang returned to normal.
Feeling as if she was possessed by a demon during these days, Jinniang waited until March, and while Jiang Xian was resting, she took the children to the suburbs to welcome the spring. Spring is the most comfortable season. It is neither hot nor cold. Put on a light spring shirt and prepare some snacks. It is very comfortable.
Two children were flying kites not far away. Jinniang said, "No matter what others do, our family still has to survive. Otherwise, if we find someone who is not good enough, we might as well keep our daughter at home."
"My wife is right. Our daughter is still young and there are many men who want to marry her." Jiang Xian said with a smile. He thought that his wife was indeed a person who would not change her mind once she had made up her mind.
He has his own ideas and is very persistent.
The two children flew kites for half a day. Jiang Xian helped his daughter and son make a wreath, and finally helped Jinniang skillfully make a wreath as well.
"When did you learn it?" Jinniang put it on her head, very happy.
Jiang Xian raised his eyebrows: "I know a lot, but some people just don't believe me."
Jinniang chased after him and wanted to hit him, but Jiang Xian dodged nimbly. The two children were stunned. They rarely saw their mother so lively. Normally, my mother is the mistress of the house. All the servants in the inner and outer courtyards obey her. She is very powerful, but now she is quarreling with my father.
Of course, she had to recuperate for seven or eight years because of a dislocated lumbar vertebra she suffered when giving birth to a child. Now that she has given birth to this little boy, she has taken better care of her body and rarely makes big movements. Now when she goes out with her husband, somehow she seems to have found her long-lost girlhood.
No, it should be about making up for my girlhood.
After all, she had spent her entire teenage years working, being forced to deal with many people and focusing on making money.
Jiang Xian also felt that after all the hard work of paperwork, he felt much more relaxed after having some fun.
After playing a game, the couple stopped worrying about finding a son-in-law and felt much better. But one thing came that disappointed Jinniang, that is, the examination for child prodigies has now been relaxed to include children under the age of fifteen, and the original examination content has been expanded to be almost the same as the real imperial examination.
"Forget it then. Our son should study hard and take part in the imperial examination in the future." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian looked at his wife and said, "Are you just going to let it go? This is something my wife has been looking forward to for several years. I don't know how much effort she has put into it."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Ning Ge'er is the one who learns, and the teacher is the one who teaches. I didn't have to put in much effort. Don't worry, I'm not disappointed. I've said before that even if my son can't take the child prodigy exam, he has learned a lot. As adults, we shouldn't put too much pressure on children."
"Madam, why are you so peaceful?" Jiang Xian was puzzled, because he usually thought that although his wife was open-minded, she was also very competitive.
Jinniang hugged Jiang Xian's arm and said, "That's because my life is already very good now. Occasionally there will be some shortcomings, so that 'water overflows when it is full, and the moon wanes when it is full'. Besides, my husband is handsome and talented, so he can be an official. Most importantly, he treats me very well. Our children are obedient and sensible, and I am in good health. There is nothing better in the world, and I am very satisfied."
The couple gave up on the child prodigy exam, but did not give up on their son's studies.
Ning Ge was also happy.
"I was afraid that I would really become an official when I was ten years old. How could I be an official? That's something adults do."
Jinniang poked her son's forehead and said, "They will definitely wait until you grow up before giving you a real job. Well, since you don't have to prepare for the child prodigy test, just relax. Let Xiaoyun, the waiter, make your favorite 'Ting'er' today, okay?"
Ning Ge'er hugged Jin Niang's waist and said, "My mother is the best in the world."
Jiang Xian quickly separated the mother and son, and naturally stood beside Jinniang while they were talking: "I'm tired of the food at home, let's change the taste, let's ask someone to send a banquet over."
Of course these ladies agreed.
However, Ning Ge'er did not take part in the child prodigy exam, and the person who was most disappointed was Mrs. Wei. Last time, she saw her son and Cheng Jia Erlang being reluctant, so she naturally inquired about it. She thought that her son liked Yun Jie'er, after all, they grew up together, so she was happy to see it happen.
So he postponed the marriage with the Shen family, hoping that if Ning Ge'er passed the test for child prodigy and was also granted a birthright, the master would surely be happy to see it happen. But now that Ning Ge'er is not participating, it is unknown how many years it will take for Jiang Xian to be promoted. The Jiang family still has to rely on the Wei family, so it is better to choose a stable marriage. However, she soon changed her mind.
…
Jiang Fang arrived in Beijing at the end of March. His adoptive parents were very worried about his future and suggested to her, "Your elder brother is very familiar with Prime Minister Jixian. Do you want to ask him for help?"
"It was me who abandoned my family and now I can't ask them for help. It would be fine if I could make it up to them, but why should I ask them for help? Besides, Prime Minister Jixian has been attacked by the censors recently and he can't take care of himself. It would be bad for my son to ask him for help." Jiang Fang also had his own ideas.
The news that Prime Minister Jixian was going to step down had been heard for some time even by women like Jinniang in the inner court of Beijing. She had previously advised Jiang Xian to wait until the other party left before changing his allegiance, and not to change his mind too quickly, otherwise people would think he was a fence-sitter.
However, Jiang Xian agreed very well, but he had already visited the Shen family privately, which was something Jinniang could not persuade him to do. Just like Jiang Xian said, if you don’t build good relationships in advance, others will think you are not from this faction, and you will be the first to be eliminated.
For Jiang Xian, he did not want to leave his name in history, as that kind of life was too tiring. He just wanted to be an official and protect his family.
Jinniang can also understand that some people think of work as a way to support their families, while others invest huge ideals in their work. There is nothing right or wrong about this.
Just after the Cold Food Festival, Prime Minister Jixian, who had been in power for nearly ten years, stepped down and prepared to go to Yingtian Prefecture to edit books. Jiang Yan immediately resigned from his post and followed him. Shen Ziqi came to power as Vice Prime Minister, and at the same time, Jiang Xian was promoted to the fifth rank of Secretary Junior Supervisor.
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