Chapter 177 Chapter 177 Update.
Different from the bustling scene in Sangshu Lane, there was a big commotion at the Li family in Maoling Town. All kinds of precious antiques in the room were broken into pieces on the floor.
Even the high-legged dining table and the so-called stools were knocked over by Li Quanye. He sat in his wheelchair, feeling angry and furious.
"Nonsense! My grandfather is one of the Nine Ministers, why should we be afraid of him, a subordinate of the Guanglu Xun?"
The steward who answered was also covered in tea foam, kneeling there and saying:
"Young Master, don't be angry. That General captured the Xiongnu King Outuo alive, so I had to show him some respect. However, I am deeply concerned about you, and I will definitely send that girl from outside the pass to serve you in the future."
The old steward did not tell him about the official affairs, but advised him as the master said, and also proposed a plan:
"At the Weishui Wharf, Supervisor Lin said that Tian had been bribed with wine and food recently, and had stolen a lot of small groceries.
The day after tomorrow, a shipload of valuable gold will be shipped out of the country. Tian Shi will surely be eager to get her hands on it. Then we'll send the bandits over and catch her red-handed. We'll have new evidence against her. Even the General of the Interior won't be able to keep pleading for her. That would be tantamount to shielding her, and the Master won't give him face. Then, there's no need to worry about a gold-dwelling girl not coming to us to plead for her."
Mulberry Lane,
Ji Xu sent Youlu away, talked to the neighbors, and went in. He saw the four beans lined up there. He finally felt relieved. Except for Yindou who was a little cold, the other three were all smiling.
"You've suffered a lot recently, and you've been busy all day. Go eat lunch now. I'm here for you, Mother."
They looked at each other and rushed into the kitchen. It was the same as before, with all kinds of delicious dishes prepared by Ji Xu in advance: mutton, chicken, naan...
The family didn't have enough money to buy groceries recently, so they had to spend every penny carefully. They didn't dare to eat as much as they wanted. Now they can finally have a meal with good food and meat.
Tiandou grabbed a chicken leg in advance, and Jindou said:
"You have the sharpest eyes."
Tiandou snorted at her across the food table, while Candou grabbed a piece of chicken butt, which she loved the most.
There was laughter and chatter here. Jindou took a cup of wine and said:
"We've shared both good and bad times here. From now on, we'll be sisters. This will be a different relationship. We must never quarrel or argue again."
"Eh? We were both sold by our families and are now orphans that no one wants. How about we take advantage of this great day and become sworn sisters? If we tell others about it in the future, no one will dare to bully us."
Tian Dou made the suggestion, and all three of them agreed.
As he said this, he put down the meat in his hand, faced the pottery stove, and bowed to the cooking lady.
"Grandma is here first, I'm Yindou."
"I'm Tiandou."
"I'm broad bean."
"I'm Jindou."
The golden bean here is the most mature, but it is also the smallest.
"Today we become sworn sisters, my elder sister Yin."
"My second sister Tian."
"I am the third sister of Silkworm."
"My little sister Jin."
“I don’t ask to be born on the same day, month, and year, but I ask to die on the same day, month, and year.”
As he spoke, he kowtowed four times to the people below, and then toasted each other with wine according to their age.
In the hall, Tian was drinking the white wine from Guanzhong for the first time and was really drunk. When Ji Xu and Ji Feng helped her into the house, she was still mumbling happily:
"Great, great! My daughter is capable and has even made friends with a high-ranking official. Our family can finally turn things around..."
Ji Zhu picked up her shoes from behind and brought them to the edge of the kang.
The three sisters worked together to place her on the kang and took off her outer clothes. Ji Xu then went to the stove to get a basin of warm water, wrung out a handkerchief, and wiped her face, hands and feet.
Tian was born with big hands and feet. When she was a maid in her mother's family, she collected grass for pigs, chopped firewood and farmed, and spun cloth and wove coarse clothes. She worked from childhood to adulthood, and the joints of her hands and feet were thick. In the past, when making clothes, she had to cut off the dead skin, soak her hands in water to soften them, or wrap them with cloth strips.
Life in Chang'an has gotten better, and I'm doing well now. I've been working at the dock lately, and things are back to normal.
"White wine lasts a thousand days, and mother will probably be drunk until night. Let her sleep."
After settling here, the three sisters returned to the main room and put away the various food tables and wine cups used to entertain the guests.
"Sister, Xiaozhu and I can cook these. Sister, you've cooked these dishes and we just drank some wine. You should take a break. Your face is red."
Ji Xu touched it and found it was indeed hot. She had just had a small drink, but she was not able to handle the alcohol and felt a little dizzy.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you two little brats."
As she said this, she went to lie down in the room. When Ji Feng cleared the table where Tian had eaten, she licked the remaining drop of liquid from the ear cup that Tian had eaten from. It was so spicy that she wanted to drink more water.
"Xiaozhu, bring some water!"
Ji Zhu brought some water and gave it to her, "Second sister has a child's intestines, drinking alcohol will burn her intestines."
"Hiss, it's not tasty at all. I see that both my mother and that Youqilang like this wine. It's not as good as the sour and sweet Jiujiang drink."
Accompanied by Tian's snoring, Ji Xu fell into a drowsy sleep, feeling cool and comfortable. When he woke up, he realized that it was Xiaozhu who was fanning them with a palm-leaf fan, while he himself was sweating profusely due to the heat.
This is because Xiaozhu has recently learned the word "filial piety". After listening to the stories of Tan Zi feeding his parents with deer milk and Zhong You carrying rice for a hundred miles, she has become more determined to be a filial child.
She would wait for her mother and sisters to start eating, and would come to her room to shoo away mosquitoes before going to bed. This was very thoughtful, but Ji Xu also taught her not to always put others before herself. After all, filial piety in this dynasty was often more like a bondage. He sat up, wiped the sweat off her face, and said:
"Xiaozhu is very considerate of us, but you can't be wronged. Look, your face is sweating, you should fan yourself to cool down first."
While they were talking, he took the palm-leaf fan and slapped her twice. Then he heard Tian mumbling drunkenly:
"Jindou, move the cargo. Hmm, this cargo is good. Take it, take it... someone is coming!"
Ji Xu stopped fanning himself with the palm-leaf fan. The next morning, Tian Shi, who had slept too long, stood up and put on her shoes, shouting:
"Golden Bean, Silver Bean, fill the bamboo tube with water and get me a cake. It's time for us to go."
When he opened the door, he saw Sidou kneeling behind Jixu. Jixu, Bingfeng and Zhu were all on the couch. Breakfast was ready, but it was untouched.
"Mom slept through the night, but you're all hungry now. Come eat first, eat quickly. The four of you too, what are you still standing here for? Why don't you have breakfast and follow me to the dock to work?"
As he spoke, he took the cake and started to eat. Ji Xu said:
"Mother is confused. Now that everything in our house is unsealed, we don't have to go to the dock to work."
Tian then remembered everything and said:
"Yes! Mother was drunk and forgot!"
However, she rubbed her hands on her thighs, thought for a moment, and said:
"I'd better do it the day after tomorrow. I promised the overseer, and if I don't go, it won't be right in front of him."
In fact, she couldn't leave the valuable gold items on the ship. If she stole one, she wouldn't have to worry about the tax. Even if her family could make money from the stall now, what was the difference between that and picking up something for free? Besides, she had already made arrangements.
"Mother, there's no need to coax me anymore. I know everything. What happened the day after tomorrow was just to steal that shipload of gold. Not only did you steal it yourself, you also taught Erfeng and the maids to steal. This is all against the law."
Tian looked at Sidou who lowered his head and Jifeng who was evasive, and knew that they had confessed, so she said:
"It's the hottest day of the year, and I'm sweating like it's raining, soaking from head to toe, and I only get fifteen coins. I should get thirty, but the ship's officer takes ten, and the supervisor extorts five. They say someone in our area just got sick from the heat a few days ago and collapsed in the sun. If I work hard, I'm afraid I'll die of exhaustion and still earn nothing.
My daughter, you are just too kind-hearted. There is no one like you who has a heart as kind as a bodhisattva. Your mother is sharp-eyed and skillful. She stole it without anyone noticing. Don't worry."
Ji Xu felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, but he still hardened his heart and said:
"Whether it's the day after tomorrow or today, mother can no longer go to the dock."
Tian had been doing well recently, and now she was feeling confident. She muttered:
"How can a daughter control her mother? If you stop me, you are being unfilial."
"Mother, filial piety isn't foolish. Even if I have to bear the reputation of being unfilial, I won't let you leave this door. The dock work is really unfair. We can't do anything to them. But if you steal the goods, if you get caught, you will be beaten and put in jail. As a daughter, it would be unfilial to let you take this risk without trying to stop me."
Her eyes turned red as she spoke. Seeing how anxious she was, Tian no longer dared to mention going to the dock. After all, in her family, the daughter was in charge of the mother.
After staying at home for half a day, there was a knock on the door, and Tian, who was free, went to open the door.
The visitor was none other than Lin, the supervisor at the dock. He came quietly to tell her about the ship carrying the gold items, what time it would dock the day after tomorrow, how long it would dock, and in which cabin it would be stored.
Tian Shi felt that this was all the result of her prior arrangements, and she was tempted again. However, when she heard someone calling for her mother in the yard, she was afraid that her daughter would be upset, so she gave up the idea and said:
"No, my stall is open for business now, and I have to tidy up a few things over the next two days. I won't be working at the dock anymore."
"Well, you get the wine and I'll eat it. I've already found out for you!"
"Don't mention it anymore. I only gave you some wine because I felt sorry for the warden's hard work. Don't mention anything else. It's just the squealing of a pig without any sense and nothing to do."
Tian was determined not to steal and would not admit it, but she couldn't let anyone catch her.
After saying that, he closed the door, went in, and said to Ji Xu:
"No one else, the wind just blew the door crooked, I'll go close it."
Then she said, "Call the girls, let's go to Ping'an Restaurant and clean it up so we can reopen it. Mother can't wait."
But Ji Xu said:
"We can clean up now, but we still have to wait and see about the opening of the business. Brother You told me before he left yesterday that there have been two or three cases of epidemic disease in the area around Hangu Pass. It will be fatal.
I'm afraid there are also examples inside the Great Wall. The weather is hot now, which makes it easy for epidemics to spread. The air from the mouth and nose is connected to the weather. Restaurants are crowded with people every day, so it's just you spreading the news to me and I spreading it to you."
"Is there such a thing?"
Tian was shocked. Which mortal is not afraid of the plague? Nowadays, every family believes that eating bean porridge during Laba Festival can get rid of the plague. Every year, there are various sacrifices to drive away the plague, and people pray that the plague will stay away from them.
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