Chapter 29
Chapter 29
If it weren’t for the third grandmother of the Xie family, Mrs. Zhou really wouldn’t have known his identity.
Last time regarding the armory incident, Prince Jing's Mansion owed the Yang family a favor, and this time he has finally repaid it.
In addition to the grain donated by Wen Shuse, Madam Zhou also gave fodder for horses. More than ten thousand stones of this stuff could not be delivered to Luoan with the few soldiers brought by Wei Dujian.
Madam Zhou personally selected half of the soldiers in Fengcheng and gathered them at the city gate to help with the escort.
Although Dongzhou is under the jurisdiction of the prince, if the war breaks out, the people of Dafeng will suffer. Transferring food and fodder there will solve the immediate problem. As for the future, we will wait for the prince to return and discuss it with the court slowly.
The troops were ready to go. Any delay would be torture for the soldiers in front. Madam Zhou did not drag him to talk in detail, but urged them to get on the carriage, "Let's set off quickly."
As soon as Chief Supervisor Wei got into the carriage, Zhou Kuang, along with Xie Shao and Pei Qing, walked up to Madam Zhou.
Watching the team slowly setting off, the three of them dismounted. Zhou Kuang walked in front and asked Madam Zhou with a puzzled look on his face, "Mother, why is this happening?"
Mrs. Zhou also saw the three people, and her eyes stayed more on Xie Shao. It was already midnight, and the three of them had been running all the way, and they were all exhausted, but Xie Shao had a resolute look on his face.
She knew the names of several people in Fengcheng, but who wasn't frivolous and willful when they were young?
She and the prince had long seen that the third son of the Xie family was no ordinary man, and had tried to lobby him more than once to arrange an official position for him in Fengcheng, but he had refused each time.
They say he is used to being free and unfit to be an official.
He also asked Xie Pushe, but Xie Pushe could do nothing to help. "When I left Dongdu, I made an agreement with him that he can do whatever he wants in the future, and I will not interfere."
Madam Zhou vaguely knew that the father and son seemed to have had a dispute over the issue of resigning from office. At that time, the young man was full of high spirits, and his passion seemed to put the mountains and rivers under his feet. Suddenly, Xie Pushe resigned and returned to Fengcheng. It was like a thriving seedling being pinched off by someone. Who would not be hit?
As for why Xie Pushe resigned, even she and the prince did not understand. These were Xie's family affairs, so she could not ask too much.
I was feeling regretful at first, but now I see that God has already made arrangements. No matter how you try to escape, you will eventually return to the right path. When Zhou Kuang asked, he replied, "The war between Luoan and Xijing has been prolonged, but the Crown Prince's food and grass have not arrived yet. The soldiers in the front have no choice but to ask for food along the way. Yesterday, General Yang's grandson arrived in Fengcheng."
Zhou Kuang was stunned, "General Yang?" He turned around and looked at the carriage.
The matter of the armory was entirely resolved by the Yang family this time. They should help, but his palace couldn't afford so much food. "So much food, was it donated?"
Madam Zhou looked up at Xie Shao behind him, "We should thank the Third Young Master for donating the food."
When Xie Shao saw the grain, he became suspicious. If he had known that Wen Er was hoarding grain, then the grain on the carriage tonight must have taken away 80% of Fengcheng's grain, and Wen Er's grain must be among them.
Mrs. Zhou's words cleared up his confusion, but Xie Shao was not very moved. He had just returned from Qingzhou, and he knew that the war in Luoan was indeed very serious.
It's normal to donate some money, but it's surprising that someone like Cui Nian, who is obsessed with money, would be willing to donate this time.
After greeting Mrs. Zhou, Zhou Kuang planned to return home first, but he was still shocked and asked Mrs. Zhou, "Did my sister-in-law donate all these?"
The official position that Third Grandma had just bought was still hot. If there were any opinions, it would be best for the family to sit down and discuss slowly. Mrs. Zhou did not draw the fire on herself, ignored Zhou Kuang, changed the subject, and asked knowingly, "Where are you going again?"
The people have returned safely, and Zhou Kuang did not hide it, "Qingzhou."
Madam Zhou glared at him, "Are you going to die? You're even betraying your own brothers. They're unlucky to have you."
Mrs. Zhou finally said something fair. Xie Shao and Pei Qing were thinking the same thing at the moment, but Zhou Kuang had a thick face and didn't feel embarrassed at all.
Madam Zhou asked again, "Any news about the prince?"
Xie Shao then interrupted, "Junior and Pei Qing happened to meet the prince on the road. Three days ago, the prince was rushing to Dongdu to ask for an audience with His Majesty. He asked this junior to bring a letter to Madam, so there is no need to worry."
I guess he went to the capital to meet the emperor after hearing about the armory incident and the war in Luoan.
Madam Zhou already knew the outcome of the armory incident, so she was not worried. She glanced gently at Xie Shao and Pei Qing and said in a gentle voice, "You have worked hard on this journey. Go back and rest quickly."
It was indeed getting late, so Xie Shao and Pei Qing said goodbye to Madam Zhou.
Zhou Kuang's mind was still on the grain just now, "Mother, these grains are from my sister-in-law..." Madam Zhou grabbed his arm and pulled him to the carriage in front. Zhou Kuang was even more confused and asked, "Mother, what's wrong?" Fearing that he would yell again, Madam Zhou whispered, "The third grandmother of the Xie family used the grain to buy an official position for your brother Xie."
Zhou Kuang exclaimed, "Buy an official position?" For Brother Xie?! He turned his head and looked directly at Xie Shao who had just mounted his horse.
Mrs. Zhou pulled the person back in time and only let go after pushing him into the carriage.
Zhou Kuang couldn't help but look at Madam Zhou in confusion, but he couldn't help showing excitement, "Did sister-in-law really buy an official position for Brother Xie?"
Mrs. Zhou knew that he was impatient and that it would be useless to talk to him again and again, so she gave up and replied, "Master."
Zhou Kuang was stunned.
In the past, I tried every means to persuade him to give him an official position so that he could legitimately make suggestions for the royal palace, but he refused every time and was unwilling to do so.
Now things are better. I used grain to exchange for a wealthy man.
Yuanwai was a sinecure, but fortunately after the emperor ascended the throne, he included it in the system. Now it is barely at the bottom and has an official rank of ninth grade.
Seeing that he was about to drop his jaw in shock, Madam Zhou added, "He also serves as a military prosecutor." Although it is only a ninth-rank official position, it is a real job and can help handle cases and assist in government affairs.
It took Zhou Kuang a long time to recover. It didn't matter that his official position was low. As long as he was willing to be an official, he could be promoted slowly in the future.
But the problem is...
"Will he?"
Madam Zhou smiled and said, "Third Madam is the one who makes the decision. I'm afraid it's not up to him whether he is willing or not this time."
Zhou Kuang: ...So, once this man gets married, there will be many unexpected changes in his life.
After all the food in the mansion was moved, it was already late in the evening.
After washing up, Wen Shuse lay on the bed and took out the document again.
Nanny Fang knew that she had sold grain today. Although she didn't know the exact price, judging from her expression, it must have been good.
Seeing her holding those pieces of paper, turning over from time to time, unable to fall asleep, he couldn't help but joke, "What treasure is in your arms, madam? Why can't you close your eyes?"
Wen Shuse didn't answer, but turned sideways and asked, "Mammy, when will my husband come back?"
Before Xie Shao left, he said hello to Wen Shuse and Old Madam Xie, saying that he was going on a long journey. It had been seven or eight days since today, and Nanny Fang didn't know when he would be back. She couldn't let down Third Madam, who was in front of her, so she replied, "Soon."
Wen Shuse didn't ask any more questions and ordered, "If he comes back, report it in time. I have a surprise for him."
The two of them have been married for almost a month. Although they are getting along better than she expected, they usually live their own lives. It is not the case that they do not care about each other. Hearing her say this suddenly, Nanny Fang happily agreed, "Yes, I will remember it."
It was already late at night when Xie Shao returned home, and Wen Shuse finally turned over and fell asleep.
It was Nanny Fang who was on duty tonight. When she heard the noise in the yard, she got up and rushed out.
Seeing that it was Xie Shao who came back, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. After greeting him, she reported, "The Third Young Master has been away for a long time. The Third Madam has been talking about him every day. Tonight, she kept waiting for him and refused to sleep. She finally closed her eyes now."
Xie Shao looked surprised. Was she talking about him?
On the day he left, he went to say hello to her. She was sitting at the round table, staring at the abacus in her hand. She responded hurriedly, "Hmm," without even raising her head.
It should be about donating grain, I need to report it to him. Now that I have gone to bed, I will talk about it tomorrow.
There was a natural disaster of drought in Gyeongju and a war in Luoan. The road from Fengcheng was full of refugees. Many shops and inns along the way were closed for fear of being looted and smashed by the refugees.
He and Pei Qing had been living in the wild for the past few days, so now that he was back, he should treat himself well. After washing up, he told Min Zhang, "Go to Zui Xiang Lou and book a private room tomorrow, and invite Pei Qing along."
I haven't had Zui Xiang Lou's wine for several days, and my stomach has felt a lot weaker.
Min Zhang agreed.
I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as I got into bed. I didn't wake up at dawn and heard the young lady's voice in a daze.
"Are you still sleeping?"
"He didn't come back until midnight last night? Then I'll wait a little longer. If he wakes up, tell me."
Without opening his eyes, Xie Shao continued to sleep until the sun was high in the sky. He then got up from the bed and called out to Min Zhang who was outside. As he was putting on his shoes, the door to the outer room was suddenly pushed open, and the young lady's voice came in, "My dear..."
Seeing that she was about to break in behind the screen, he was only wearing an undershirt with a wide open chest, as thin as a cicada. He rarely panicked, so he pulled his feet back into the bed and pulled up the quilt.
The young lady quickly came to the bedside, looked at the man half lying on the bed, and did not feel embarrassed. She asked him softly, "Are you awake?"
Xie Shao raised his eyes.
The young lady seemed to have always been full of energy. Her eyes were bright and she had her hands hidden behind her back. She looked at him with a smile, as if she had some great news to share with him.
Xie Shao couldn't help but complain in his heart, didn't Mrs. Zhou say last night that the grain was donated? Could it be that she was given money in return?
He guessed in his heart and looked at her doubtfully, but she kept him in suspense, "My dear, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear?"
Xie Shao: ...
Not taking her bait, Xie Shao asked directly, "Is there no food left?"
The young lady was not too surprised. Moving the grain made such a big noise, he must have heard about it when he came back yesterday.
Since she wanted to hear the bad news first, she had to tell him with a distressed look on her face, "I think that soldier is so pitiful. My dear, you didn't see it. For a bite of food, the iron-blooded soldier of Dafeng actually knelt down to the people, but even so, he didn't get a grain of rice. As a citizen of Dafeng, I really couldn't bear to see it. I thought that even if I starved to death, I would not let the soldiers down."
He was somewhat surprised to see when she had such a sense of justice.
She added, “So, I donated all the food.”
After saying that, she glanced at the man opposite her, who seemed to have no reaction. It seemed that he had not understood what she said yet.
It was indeed a little hard to accept, and she continued, "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. No matter what happens in the future, I will never despise my husband."
What's wrong with me that I need her to not despise me?
Xie Shao hadn't put on his clothes yet, so he didn't want to waste time with her, so he took the initiative to ask her, "What's the good news?"
Having said this, the distress on the young lady's face disappeared instantly, the corners of her mouth slowly raised to both sides, and she actually took a few steps forward and walked towards his bed.
Xie Shao subconsciously stepped back, but the young lady didn't treat him with any formality at all. She sat down on his bed. Before he could say anything, she suddenly reached out with her hands from behind her back and handed him a piece of rice paper, "My dear, open it and take a look."
It was like a rare treasure specially prepared for him.
Xie Shao was still holding the quilt in his hand, with a look of suspicion on his face, but the young lady looked at him eagerly and insisted that he open it with his own hands. Finally, he tucked the corner of the quilt, freed his hands, took the rice paper, untied the red silk rope that bound it, and slowly pulled it open.
Appointment Letter
Xie Shao's eyelids twitched, and his pupils gradually narrowed. His eyes swept over every word, and the young lady began to explain in his ear, "Yuanwailang, a ninth-rank official."
"I specifically asked Madam Zhou, and she said that it was part of the system, and there was a salary, although it was only five strings of cash a month, but there was also another position given to me, a military prosecutor, with ten strings of cash a month. If I did a good job, I could be promoted to a staff member..."
Xie Shao's head felt a little swollen, and there was a faint throbbing on both sides of his forehead. He raised his head and stared at her for a moment, "Who gave it to you?"
Wen Shuse didn't see the expected joy on his face and looked surprised.
He doesn't like it?
That's right, the dandy young man who used to live a life of luxury would reveal more than that. Guessing that he must be dissatisfied with the salary, Wen Shuse tried his best to encourage him, "My dear, don't be dissatisfied with the low salary. After all, we have an official position. From now on, you will be an official. With your ability, I believe you will be able to move up in the future..."
Finally, he understood what good news she was talking about. He was not lucky enough to enjoy it. Before she could finish, he stuffed the document back into her arms, and said in a rather arrogant manner, "I have plenty of money, so I don't need to be an official."
Wen Shu was stunned and looked at him blankly. He probably didn't understand the current situation in the mansion.
How to say it.
Forget it, I'd better tell the truth, "My dear, we have no money."
The man opposite him paused, still not understanding.
Wen Shuse looked apologetic and started from the beginning. "That day Aunt Gu came to me and said that Qingzhou was suffering from a serious drought and Luoan was going to fight a war. She asked me to stockpile some food. I asked my husband and he agreed. Since we had to stockpile, with a big family like us, wouldn't it be in vain to stockpile dozens or hundreds of dan? We had to stockpile more. I casually used all the money from the Xie and Wen families to buy food, and even put in my own dowry. I emptied the Cui family's granary. I thought we could make a lot of money. After the price of food rose a few days ago, we did make a lot of money. But who knew that Luoan was short of food and came to us to ask for it. What could I do? The Xie family is a family of meritorious service. My grandfather was once the left prime minister and was concerned about the people of the world. My Wen family is a family of scholars. My grandfather was once the emperor's teacher and both of us received salaries from the court. Now that our country is in trouble, we can't just sit back and do nothing."
He took a breath and said, "I will donate it."
He continued, "Since ancient times, there have been examples of people donating grain to get an official position. We have no grain and no money. We can't just starve to death for nothing, right? Madam Zhou and I talked a lot and got three official positions. One for you, one for my father and one for my brother. From now on, the three of you will be officials, and you will have a fixed salary of 15 strings of coins every month. The monthly expenses of an ordinary family are 3,000 coins, and one string of coins is 1,000 coins..." He counted on his fingers, frowned first, and said without any confidence, "In fact, if you are frugal, you can survive."
Xie Shao: ...
So all the food that was pulled out of the city last night was donated by her?
Xie Shao's expression changed then. He suddenly lifted the quilt and stood up. He didn't care whether his thin inner clothes were exposed or whether the young lady would take advantage of him. He called out "Min Zhang" loudly. The master and servant took the clothes and put them on respectively. They didn't pay any attention to the young lady behind them. After getting dressed, they hurried out.
Wen Shuse held up the hem of her skirt and followed him with a "rustling" sound.
The group went straight to the warehouse and stopped in front of the door. The man in front looked back and without waiting for him to say anything, the young lady, who was very good at reading people's expressions, quickly took out the key and opened the door.
The warehouse door was opened, and the inside had been razed to the ground and was empty.
How much silver did he have the last time he came? There seemed to be more than a dozen boxes of gold alone, which should be at least 20,000 taels, plus silver and silver notes, and loose goods.
There should be hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
Now it was empty, the boxes were gone, his vision went dark, and he took a step back. Min Zhang held his arm in time and called him worriedly, "Sir, calm down first."
Don't talk, he has a headache.
"My dear..."
"Don't talk either."
Wen Shuse closed his mouth, but after a while, he couldn't help but muttered through his teeth, "My husband said last time that if we lose everything, we lose it all, and we can make more money."
That's because he is bewildered and doesn't know people well.
I didn't know she was so brave at such a young age, and she was even more generous than him, spending hundreds of thousands of taels of silver...
Xie Shao gritted his teeth, endured the dizziness from the blow, and slowly calmed down.
The things are gone, what can I do? I can't just go and ask others to recover the food. Anyway, I still have the Second Madam who can make money. The money is gone, so it is gone. I can rely on those rouge and powder shops to support myself, and it is not impossible for me to make a comeback.
He turned his head helplessly. The young lady stood behind him. She didn't dare to look him in the eye. She lowered her head in a hurry, looking very guilty.
He was the one who asked someone to be in charge of the accounts, and she had reported to him about the purchase of grain. The grain was not wasted but donated to the soldiers. Her heart of justice was evident to all, so why should he blame her?
He felt dizzy and just wanted to go out for a walk and calm down.
Seeing him staggering, Wen Shuse persuaded him, "Don't worry, my dear. You have a mole of wealth. You will definitely be promoted and make a fortune in the future. As long as you work hard..."
He walked out faster and faster.
The young lady stretched her neck and cheered him up from behind, "General Yang was once poor and destitute, but now he is in a high position among the ministers. Therefore, a gentleman's efforts become stronger day by day, his wishes become stronger day by day, and his strength becomes stronger day by day..."
The babies are coming~
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