Chapter 138: Old Friend Bai Zhi
Jiang Jiu frowned, looking resentful: "It's an old friend from my hometown. Her name is Bai Zhi. She came to Beijing to look for her relatives. I happened to run into her and saw that she had nowhere to go, so I took the initiative to bring her back."
"Sister-in-law, all her expenses will be deducted from my side. When I help her find her relatives, it will be considered a good deed."
Shen didn't care about money, she just didn't like people of unknown origin entering the house.
After hearing what Jiang Jiu said, he nodded.
"Okay, Miss Bai, who are you looking for? Do you have any keepsakes? I know more people in the capital than Xiaojiu, so I can help you find it."
When Bai Zhi heard this, she immediately knelt down in gratitude.
"Thank you very much, ma'am. The story all started three years ago."
"Three years ago, our Bai family had a clinic in the capital and lived there for decades. Suddenly one day, the clinic caught fire and my parents and my brother and sister-in-law all died."
"Luckily I was out delivering medicine that day and didn't come back all night, so I was spared from the disaster. I packed my bags and returned to my hometown in Suzhou."
"Later, the more I thought about it, the more I felt something was not right. I always felt that the fire had started in a subtle way. I was afraid that I had offended someone unintentionally..."
"But our Bai family is just a small doctor who has saved countless lives and never killed anyone. After thinking about it, I want to go to Beijing to find out the truth."
Shen nodded slightly. Such incoherent things happened frequently in the capital. There were too many powerful people in the capital, and it was hard to explain the dirty things involved.
If you really want to investigate, it is not impossible to find out clearly, it just depends on who the offender is.
"You are a weak woman with no power in the capital. How are you going to investigate? Or you can say you have someone you are looking for..."
When Shen asked this, Bai Zhi blushed and took out a jade pendant and a letter from her arms.
"To be honest, I was engaged when I was in the capital, but it was a secret engagement, and my parents didn't know about it. Plus, I was young and timid, so when things got bad I just wanted to find my relatives to take shelter from the bad."
"Now that I've grown up, I realize that I need to seek justice for the death of my parents and brother and sister-in-law. This is the young man I'm secretly engaged to, and I have a letter he wrote to me. If he's willing to help, that would be great. If he doesn't agree to help, even if I die in the capital today, I'll definitely seek justice for my parents."
It seems that Baizhi came to the capital for her parents and family, and she was determined to die.
Little did she know that when the maid handed Bai Zhi's jade pendant and letter to Shen, Shen's face changed drastically. She opened the letter with trembling hands, took a quick glance, and felt a chill rising from her spine.
"Oh, then, you can stay here. We can take our time in finding the person, and there is no rush to find out the truth. It's been a long journey from Suzhou to Beijing, so take a good rest for a few days. I believe Xiaojiu will definitely help you."
Just now he said with good intentions that he would help.
But now she changed her mind and asked Jiang Jiu to help. Jiang Jiu looked at Shen's face turning pale, pursed his lips, did not say anything, and stood up and saluted.
"Thank you, sister-in-law, for taking me in. Xiaojiu is very grateful. I will take her back to her room now."
Wait for Jiang Jiu to take Bai Zhi away from the main hall.
Only then did Shen realize that her fingernails had pierced the palm of her hand.
The maid carefully touched the medicine for her and couldn't help wondering: "Madam, the jade pendant that girl is holding looks like our young master..."
Who knew that the jade pendant was actually the one her brother had lost.
There was also a letter full of affection, also written by her brother.
She never knew why her brother had developed feelings for a female doctor.
No, she had to go back to her brother as soon as possible to ask for clarification.
"Go and tell Zi Lan to keep an eye on the movements of Miss Bai and Xiao Jiu. If they leave the house together, she must report to me. If I am not at home, she must stop them and wait for me to come back."
The maid understood that things might not be that simple.
Of course, things are not simple. None of the eight concubines that Zhao Zhuoxi had a simple identity.
Bai Zhi, although nominally his concubine, he got intelligence that the murderer who burned Bai Zhi's family to death was related to Shen
Shi's elder brother Shen Zerui cannot escape the connection.
Originally, Zhao Zhuoxi didn't want to delve into it, but when he learned that the Shen family and the Zhou family were getting married, Zhao Zhuoxi was unwilling to give up any clues.
Unlike Shen, Jiang Jiu was delighted to see Bai Zhi.
"If I had known you were coming, I would have been so happy. Look, I found a sunscreen recipe from an ancient medical book. Please prepare it for me right away."
"If the effect is good, send the detailed recipe to Jiao Niang. If Suzhou and Beijing jointly launch this sunscreen set, they will definitely make a lot of money."
When Bai Zhi was in Xiang County, Jiang Jiu knew that she was a female doctor and knew medical skills.
She was transferred to Jiao Niang's rouge shop to study the formulas of rouge with various effects.
There are moisturizing, whitening, and freckle removing products, but sunscreen didn’t sell very well in ancient times.
This is because girls in ancient times never went out of the house, so they didn't need sunscreen at all. Moreover, the clothes they wore covered their skin, so sunscreen was unnecessary.
It was different in the capital. Jiang Jiu discovered that the noble ladies in the capital wore cool clothes even in the hot summer.
Then I thought maybe I could do some sun protection.
Bai Zhi smiled and said, "Madam has so many ideas. Okay, let's give it a try."
Jiang Jiu took Bai Zhi's hand and walked into the west room of her courtyard: "This is the Zhou family, not the prince's residence, nor the Chang family. In order to avoid your identity being revealed, you will live with me temporarily. Don't call me Madam anymore. Just call me Miss Jiu like them."
Bai Zhi blinked her innocent eyes: "I heard from the master that now you are the second daughter of the Chang family, not your wife. The master also said that if he wants to marry you, it will take three years, and you need the consent of Lord Chang, Lord Zhou, and the emperor, and you need to go through three matchmakers and six betrothals, and ten miles of red makeup. Alas, when I see the master's resentful look, I wish I could fly to the girl's side right away."
In front of his own people, Zhao Zhuoxi did not hide his love and affection for Jiang Jiu.
Jiang Jiu also used his talents to make other women submit to him.
"Well, why bring him up? It's really a letdown. Tell me about Sucheng. How's the business going with my wife?"
"And Peony, Peony, and Begonia, have they made any money?"
Bai Zhi sighed heavily: "Don't mention it. We are all so busy that we don't have time to meet. We only get together during the Chinese New Year. When I was leaving, everyone asked me to bring you gifts. On weekdays, everyone is busy with their own things..."
"The busiest one is Mudan. She said her hair has turned white from all the accounting. She is only in her early twenties... However, Mudan seems to have someone she likes..."
"Who is it? Who is it?" Jiang Jiu hadn't spoken yet, but Aunt Qian was already quite gossipy.
Bai Zhi smiled softly: "If I mention it, you all must know it..."
Jiang Jiu's eyes rolled: "Could it be Gu Chengyan?"
Bai Zhi's eyes widened in shock: "How did you know that, young lady?"
Jiang Jiu rolled his eyes speechlessly: "I'm not blind, I can see it, last year I brought Mudan and you all from Xiang County to the palace, when Gu Chengyan saw Mudan, his eyes almost sunk into his head."
"I just don't know when he will think of chasing after me. Now it seems that he has the will but not the courage. He will probably start after the prince and I leave Sucheng."
Bai Zhi gave Jiang Jiu a thumbs up and said, "You are really smart, girl."