Chapter 204: Contradiction
Shi Ershou was carried on his back. In the year of drought, other people had a hard time, but he followed the right master and lived a leisurely life. Every night when he returned home, he couldn't help humming a little tune and heard his son's words.
The ditty stopped.
"What does it have to do with us?" After saying that, he seemed to recall something and glared, "Are you interested in the fourth lady of the Yang family?"
"Dad, what did you say?"
One had just become a commoner from a poor man, and the other was the daughter of an official whose grandfather was a censor and whose father was a censor. Shi Xiaoer didn't even dare to think about it.
"Then why are you so embarrassed to say that, Lord Yang?"
Shi Xiaoer also felt strange: "Dad, Lord Yang gave grain and salt to that poor scholar who had taken the exam for thirty years."
Wenshan Street is different from other places. Dongshan Academy is located halfway up the mountain, and the small town at the foot of the mountain was built around the academy. Most of the goods on the street are related to literati supplies, and even the homeless people on the street may be down-and-out literati.
Shi Er was living a comfortable life and was not interested in these trivial matters. "Maybe he is someone I knew before, why are you meddling in his affairs?"
Too.
Shi Xiaoer was just saying this casually. It was already late at night and he was feeling sleepy. He was tired after a long day and didn't have the energy to think about irrelevant things.
The next day, the weather was still very hot.
After the morning market, after ten o'clock, the shop was not so busy. Su Ruojin sat down at the counter and took out a small notebook. Ye Huaizhen and Hua Ping stood on her left and right, busy with the accounts while paying attention to what the young lady wanted to ask.
Su Ruojin started from the first page, asking questions as she read. When she turned to the eleventh page, she unexpectedly met an acquaintance, "Did Yang Yushi live in the same alley as your family?"
Ye Huaizhen glanced at the lobby. There were no guests. The hired workers had finished mopping the floor and moved to the back. At this moment, there was no one else except the counter. She replied, "Yes, before Yang Yushi got married, he lived with his parents in the alley where my house is. After he got married, he couldn't live in the Yang family, so he bought a house and lived somewhere else."
"Your notebook says that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when your father went to the post station to invite foreign envoys, he met Yang Yushi near the post station and asked him what he was doing. He replied that his former classmate was living in poverty and came to give him some living silver and take him to see the lanterns."
Ye Huaizhen nodded, "Yes, that's what my father said when he came back."
Su Ruojin said with emotion, "It turns out that Lord Yang's love of sponsoring people is his usual style!"
Hua Ping clicked his tongue. "Lord Yang spared no effort in supporting people, especially scholars and minor officials, but as a censor, he also spared no effort in impeaching officials, causing many people to wish him dead."
I don't know how he is still alive.
If Su Ruojin had not been a neighbor of the Yang family, then when she heard the story of Yang Yushi, she might have said that the country and the court needed censors who dared to speak out. He was like a pair of eyes for the emperor and the common people, impeaching hundreds of officials, clarifying grievances, supervising various regions, and working for the people of the world.
But she had seen the life of the Yang family with her own eyes. Lord Yang's words and actions towards his children at home did not behave like an outstanding censor at all. She really could not agree with his values in life and the education of his children.
As the sage said, if you can't even clean your own house, how can you clean up the world? If he treats his wife and children just like that, how can he impeach hundreds of officials? Su Ruojin seriously doubted whether the officials he accused were really like what he "advised" them to be?
Su Ruojin hesitated to turn the page. "Aunt Ye, have you checked this classmate?"
In order to find out who was behind the false accusation against his father, Ye Huaizhen checked everything he knew. "I checked it out. Lord Yang did give him ten taels of silver that day and also invited him to watch the lanterns together."
"Ten taels? That much?"
Su Ruojin recalled that she heard from Yang Si Niang that the ancestor of the Yang family was a duke, but by the generation of Lord Yang, the rank had been reduced to an earl, and he was not a legitimate son. In order to have a good future, he studied hard and passed the imperial examination, but he failed the imperial examination again. As he was about to reach the age of marriage, the Yang family somehow became relatives with the Mansion of Duke Zheng. The Mansion of Duke Zheng married their concubine's daughter to the Yang family, and Duke Zheng used his connections to secure the post of Censor for his concubine's son-in-law.
Since the Censorate was in charge of impeaching all central officials, participating in the trials of the Dali Temple and hearing major cases assigned by the emperor, there were many complicated tasks. There were many censors like Lord Yang in the Censorate. The Chief Censor would divide the tasks, and each censor would have different division of labor.
Yang Yushi was mainly responsible for minor Beijing officials between the ninth and seventh ranks. Of course, he was not the only one in charge. It was said that there were at least six people in charge of the same job. In other words, if one just wanted to collect a salary and wait for death, that was fine and no one would say anything.
Obviously, Duke Zheng's intention was to let his son-in-law live a life of idleness and wait for death in normal times, and only need to use his status at critical moments. Unexpectedly, Yang Yushi actually made a name for himself and became famous in the capital, and there was no official in the capital who did not have a headache seeing him.
Su Ruojin became the head of the family at the age of six. When Su Yanli was a minor official of the eighth rank in the capital, his monthly salary was six shi and six dou, which was equivalent to about 11.7 taels of silver. Since Lord Yang entered the Censorate, he has been a seventh rank official and has not moved for all these years.
The seventh rank was one level higher than the eighth rank, and the monthly salary was eight shi, which was equivalent to 14.4 taels of silver, less than even fifteen taels. He took out ten taels to give to his classmates all at once. It was the first month of the year, when people were busy with social interactions, and he still had less than five taels left. Was that enough for him?
This is another convenience for the neighbors. According to Yang Si Niang, Lord Yang got married and moved out to live separately. Since he was a censor, the two shops he was allocated were given to Madam Yang to support the family. In other words, in addition to his salary, the money from his official land and materials was all used to help others.
Although he was a man of high moral character, Su Ruojin always felt that Lord Yang's behavior was contrary to common sense. On the one hand, he tried his best to impeach the minor officials in the capital, and on the other hand, he spared no effort to help the down-and-out literati and low-level clerks. Did he want to squeeze out the unqualified minor officials in the capital and promote the down-and-out literati and low-level clerks?
Because Hua Ping's job is special, when Su Ruojin was confused about the ten taels, he also thought: "It's a lot. If this little money is used to help a few people, he won't be able to eat."
It happened that Shi Xiaoer came in and gave the shopping list to Ye Huaizhen.
The three were concentrating on their discussion, so they didn't notice Shi Xiaoer coming in. He glanced at the name "Yang Yushi" written on the notebook, and without thinking, he interrupted and said, "Yesterday I saw Lord Yang helping a poor scholar."
The three of them were startled and looked up. This was the wrong place to discuss. When Su Ruojin was about to shut up and prepare to talk in detail in the evening, she heard Shi Xiaoer's words and asked in surprise, "Master Yang is here at Wenshan Street?"
Shi Xiaoer nodded. A few years ago, when his employer held a New Year's Eve dinner, he had been to the yard rented by the Su family and met the Su family's neighbors. He knew what they looked like.
Su Ruojin subconsciously looked towards the backyard. Yang Siniang was catching butterflies with Su Sanlang and others in the backyard. They had been out of the city for almost ten days. Could it be that Madam Yang was worried about Yang Siniang and asked Lord Yang to come and pick them up?
But he clearly came yesterday, why hasn’t he come yet?
Su Ruojin closed the book and said to Shi Xiaoer, "Lord Yang is a man of high moral character. We are preparing to learn from him, so recently we have been fetching water from the well and transporting it to the village below to help the elderly and widows."
Shi Xiaoer was three parts flattery and seven parts sincerity, "The young master is also a man of high integrity."
Su Ruojin smiled and said, "Go get busy."
"Yes, young boss." Shi Xiaoer came out of the shop and brought the purchased items to the kitchen.
Su Ruojin turned around and said, "Uncle Hua, go quietly to see what Lord Yang is doing and whether he is planning to take Yang Si Niang back to the capital."
"good."
Unexpectedly, Hua Ping went out and didn't come back until dark.
Su Ruojin asked Yang Si Niang to go to bed first. "I'll ask Shopkeeper Ye about the price increase of food ingredients in the past two days. If it increases again, I'm going to close all the elegant rooms and only sell simple steamed buns and steamed corn bread at the door."
Yang Si Niang didn't know that Ah Jin was hiding something from her. Anyway, she had known her since she was a child and knew that she was a worrier. She pouted and said, "Then come back and sleep early."
"good."
Su Ruojin went to the guest house to look for Ye Huaizhen, "Uncle Hua hasn't come back yet?"
Ye Huaizhen shook his head, "I have asked Mangzhong to find someone."
What will happen?
Su Ruojin was worried and anxious.
After searching for the real culprit for many years, Ye Huaizhen was calm. "Second Madam, it's getting late. Go back to sleep first."
Su Ruojin thought she was going to look for someone, and asked worriedly, "What about you?"
"I'm going to walk around the streets."
Sure enough, Su Ruojin guessed it right. She was worried, "Aunt Ye, you should wait at home."
Ye Huai really wanted to say it was okay, but seeing the young lady's worried look, he nodded and agreed: "Okay."
"Uncle Hua is not an ordinary person. Don't worry, he will be fine."
"Um."
Ye Huaizhen advised her to go to sleep. Su Ruojin thought about it and thought, okay, she couldn't help anyway if she stayed there, so she might as well go to sleep.
Perhaps because she was thinking about Hua Ping, Su Ruojin slept uneasy that night.
After getting up in the morning, Cheng Yingzhen came over to remind him, "Your father said he would come to visit us once every ten days. It's been ten days, Ah Jin, don't go to the shop today. Stay at home with mother to make something delicious for your father and elder brother."
Su Ruojin was just about to close the elegant room and sell steamed buns and steamed dumplings. Well, since Dad is coming, let's talk about it tomorrow. Let Mao Ya tell Ye Huaizhen that she will not go to the shop today.
After she finished speaking, she realized that she hadn't asked an important question yet, "Sister Ya, is Uncle Hua back?"
Mao Ya shook her head, "He didn't even come back during the Grain in Ear Festival."
Hey, is there really something wrong with Lord Yang? Yang Si Niang was with her, so she couldn't say anything, so she suppressed her doubts and uneasiness, "Then you tell Shopkeeper Ye, and if Uncle Hua comes back, come and tell me."
"good."
Ye Huaizhen went to the shop before dawn every day, so Mao Ya went to the shop too.
After breakfast, Su Ruojin and Cheng Yingzhen started preparing lunch and waited for Su Yanli to arrive before eating.
The mother and daughter were busy and happy, but until one or two o'clock in the afternoon, Su Yanli still didn't show up.
Cheng Yingzhen had already left the courtyard door worriedly and walked to the street. She looked far away but did not see the familiar carriage. "Ajin, your father is not in trouble, right?"
Today's official road seems different from before. On the wide official road, apart from pedestrians and horse and mule carts going from north to south, there is no carriage going from south to north, and only a few pedestrians.
Seeing that her daughter ignored her, Cheng Yingzhen reached out and pulled her, "Ajin, did you hear what your mother said?"
Su Ruojin turned to look at her, "Mom, it's probably not just Dad who's in trouble."
“(⊙ o⊙)Ah!”
Is the city gate closed? Otherwise, there is no explanation for why there are no carriages coming from the capital. You know, it is very hot during this period, and many dignitaries have left the city to escape the heat, so this main official road has been very busy.
Su Ruojin realized that something big might have happened in the capital. Was it because of the water shortage that caused unrest? So the city gates were not open?
Thinking that something bad had happened, Su Ruojin hurriedly pulled Cheng Yingzhen home, "Mom, look, not only did we not see Dad's carriage, there were no other carriages heading towards the capital. It was probably too hot, and the guards forgot to open the gates to cool off. Maybe tomorrow, my dad will come."
"Like this?" How could the city gate be forgotten to be opened? Cheng Yingzhen was half-believing and half-doubting.
Su Ruojin asked her to look for the direction of the capital city by herself.
There really was no carriage coming. Could it be as my daughter said? Since no one came out, Cheng Yingzhen was relieved, but the other half was still worried. "It's a day off today. If he can't come today, he probably won't come tomorrow."
"If Dad doesn't come, he will definitely send someone to bring a letter. Don't worry, Mom."
Cheng Yingzhen always believed her daughter's words. She nodded and walked home with her daughter. When they passed by the morning tea shop, Su Ruojin asked Ye Huaizhen, "Is there any news about Uncle Hua?"
Ye Huaizhen shook his head.
Did Uncle Hua follow him into the city? So he was also imprisoned in the city?
What exactly happened in the city?
Wenshan Street seemed to smell something from the capital city. For the first time, Su Ji Breakfast Shop had no customers in the afternoon.
Shangguan Yu looked at the huge morning tea shop. He felt embarrassed to stay and prepared to go back to the inn.
Su Ruojin thought for a moment and asked Qiu Shan to take Shangguan Yu to the Su family's villa. "You go first. Shopkeeper Ye and I will pack up and then go back."
Shangguan Yu refused and wanted to stay and help clean up together.
There were no customers in the afternoon, so Shi Er said to the shopkeeper, "Young master, go back and have a rest. We are here to stay."
Su Ruojin didn't say anything, but walked out of the hall, stood on a higher place, and looked towards the capital. Suddenly, she remembered that the emperor of Dayin Dynasty seemed to have been ill for a long time. Could it be...
Suddenly, she said, "Uncle Shi, Aunt Shi..."
When the Shi family heard the unusual voice of the young master, they hurried over and asked nervously, "What's the matter?"
"Hide all the belongings in the shop in the cellar, seal the entrance to the cellar and don't let outsiders see it."
Shi Er was so frightened by Xiao Dongjia's words that his face turned pale, "What's wrong with Xiao Dongjia?"
Su Ruojin pursed her lips and said in a low voice: "I hope my guess is just a false alarm."
Shangguan Yu looked in the direction Su Ruojin was going, toward the capital. His heart sank when she reminded him, "Madam Su Er, what do you mean...?"
"Nothing." Su Ruojin came back to her senses. "Just now I went to the intersection to wait for my father. I found that there were more and more refugees. It would be too conspicuous for us to keep a shop like this open. We will close it for a while."
The weather was getting drier and drier, and there was chaos outside. Shi Er knew it, so he listened to his young boss and quickly sealed all the things in the shop in the cellar.
Shi Er and his family were also called by Su Ruojin to the Su family's villa. After they returned to the villa, they stayed at home and rarely went out.
That very night, Zhao Lan sent someone to bring news that confirmed Su Ruojin's guess. The emperor had indeed passed away, but the reason why the city of Bianjing was closed was that the Prince of Qi had rebelled.
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