Chapter 52: See Huaping go outing
Shu Tong wandered around for several days before he saw Hua Ping again. He was sitting at the window of a teahouse drinking tea and looking at the scenery. Shu Tong saw him and ran up to him: "Little brother Hua, where have you been?"
Hua Ping smiled and asked him to sit down, "Something happened at home."
Since the other person had something going on at home, Shu Tong was too embarrassed to ask about the shop and hesitated several times to speak.
Hua Ping smiled and said, "Just ask if you have any questions."
Shu Tong asked cautiously, "Brother Hua, you didn't hire someone to burn down the Qi family's house, did you?"
"Of course not."
Shu Tong patted his chest and said, "Oh, I was so scared. I thought it was you who burned the house and hid away because you were afraid of being investigated by the government. I didn't even dare to mention it in front of Second Lady."
"Even if I mentioned it, I don't think your second wife would believe it."
"ah?"
Hua Ping looked at the somewhat dazed servant and replied nonchalantly, "I won't do anything illegal. I don't mind living a long life."
That's true; even a hanger-on wouldn't be that bold.
Shu Tong seemed to have let go of a heavy worry and asked again, "You hired that Taoist priest, right?"
He nodded, "Yeah."
"How much does it cost? I'll give it to you." Shu Tong took out his purse to take out the money.
Hua Ping stopped him, "I'll give it to you all when you get the shop."
Shu Tong looked at the other party in surprise, "The shop has been closed down by the government, how can we get it?"
Hua Ping smiled mysteriously and did not give a direct answer. Instead, he said, "If your young lady is not in a hurry, just wait. The government will return the Qi family's yard to them in May at the latest. Then you can ask the Taoist priest to come out and it will be almost done."
It was not in vain that I met this bunch of idlers. They turned out to be so capable. Shu Tong smiled happily and said, "Then I will thank Brother Hua on behalf of Su Ji." After that, he was about to pay for today's tea. Hua Ping said the same thing, "After the matter is done, the reward will be settled together."
He didn't let him spend a penny, which once again proved that Hua Xiaodi was not a liar. Shu drank tea and chatted with the happy Hua Xiaodi, and they sat for half a day before leaving the teahouse.
Hua Ping saw the Su family's servant leave happily through the window and shook his head, "That's it. If I hadn't met him, I would have been cheated into nothing."
Shu Tong ran all the way home in joy and told her about what he saw Hua Ping, "Do you think Brother Hua really has some skills to be able to give us the shop?"
After all, Greater Kyoto is different from other places. The street urchins on the market might not be simple hooligans but might be hangers-on kept by some powerful families to gather information. When Su Ruojin met Hua Ping for the first time, he could tell a little from his clothes, sitting posture and speech, but he didn't tell Shu Tong because he was afraid that he would feel restrained and unnatural when dealing with Hua Ping again.
So they don’t think that the burnt yard of Qi family was done by Hua Ping. Why?
First, from the Su family's own analysis, Su Yanli is just an official of the eighth rank in the capital, with no power or money, so no one would want to take advantage of him. Hua Ping did not intend to get close to Shu Tong, and he would not burn down the house to frame the Su family.
Secondly, from Hua Ping's perspective, when Shu Tong talked to him, he asked someone to play tricks on him and the money he got was only a dozen taels of silver at most. Hua Ping would not be stupid enough to burn down the Qi family's yard for a dozen taels of silver. If he was discovered, he would go to jail.
That's why Su Ruojin was certain that the burning of Qi's house had nothing to do with Hua Ping. Whether it was an internal conflict among the three brothers of the Qi family or someone committed the crime with ulterior motives was the government's business and had nothing to do with her, Su Ruojin.
She smiled.
Shu Tong was made uneasy by the young lady's laughter: "Second Lady, do you think it's taking too long?"
It took nearly two months from March to May for the results to come out, which is neither long nor short.
"If you meet the right one, you won't have to wait. Just tell him in advance." Let's talk about it if you haven't met him yet!
"Oh." After drinking tea with Hua Ping for a long time, Shu Tong felt that Hua Ping was a reliable person. Hua Ping asked the young lady to wait until May, but the young master didn't want to wait, and he felt a little sorry for him.
Before meeting people, I feel that nothing is reliable. After meeting people, I feel that everything is hopeful. This is the thinking of ordinary people. Shu Tong still needs more experience!
Things like finding a shop depend on chance. Maybe you can find it tomorrow. If it's unlucky, it may take a year or two. All kinds of possibilities are possible. It's not like Su Ruojin had encountered this before in her previous life. So she calmed down and did what she had to do.
On the last day of March, the sun was shining brightly and the spring breeze was warm. All officials of the Dayin Dynasty took a day off, and almost all officials in the city went to the suburbs to enjoy the spring.
The neighbors of the Su family are the family of Xue Zhushi of the Ministry of Works and the family of Yang Da, the Censor. It has been almost a year since the Su family moved here. The three male owners are busy with their own careers and rarely visit each other. Except for the New Year greetings, they made an appointment to go out for a spring outing together this time.
The adults have some interactions, and the children who usually play together in the alley are even closer.
Usually, Su Ruojin only knew how many children the Xue family had and how many children the Yang family had. Except for the youngest one who played together in the alley, the rest of the older children were either studying in academies, Imperial College, or Imperial College, or they never went out of the house, so they were rarely seen. This time, because of the outing, Su Ruojin basically met all of them and got to know all the neighbors.
Mother Dong still stayed at home to take care of Su Silang this time. In addition to these two people, all the servants and helpers of the Su family went out for a picnic and flying kites. There were so many people that the Su family specially hired a horse carriage and also took their own mule cart. The two carts were full of people and belongings, and they set off with the neighbors.
On the official road, there were horse-drawn carriages one after another, and it was really lively and bustling with cars flowing like water and horses like dragons.
Bathed in the bright spring sunshine, with the air filled with refreshing fragrance, and looking up at the deep blue sky, all worries are swept away.
Along the way, the grass is lush and verdant at the roots of trees, in the bushes, and under the feet of pedestrians; in the distant valley, the stream is swirling, galloping, jumping, tinkling, and splashing silver mist.
The fireworks in March are so beautiful!
Finally arriving at the destination, the children jumped off the carriage cheering, jumping and running with great joy.
All Xianggui saw were dignitaries dressed in silk and brocade. She had never experienced such a scene before and was so frightened that even her hands and feet became stiff.
Mao Ya had been to the Duke Zheng's Mansion and had seen many scenes, big and small. She was very calm, and she and the brothers Shu Tong and Er Shi moved the things from the car down in an orderly manner.
Su Yanli asked Shu Tong to come over and said, "Come with me to say hello to the teacher first."
Shu Tong quickly straightened his clothes and picked up Su Sanlang.
Su Yanli was holding his daughter in one hand and holding his wife in the other, and was about to go to Lord Fan's place. Xue, the head of the department, quickly came over with his son Xue Wulang, "How about I go with Dr. Su?"
Su Yanli subconsciously looked towards his neighbor on the right, Lord Yang.
Lord Yang smiled and walked over with his eldest son Yang Mingyu, "Since we are all here together, let's go over and pay our respects to Lord Fan."
Su Ruojin realized that Master Xue had made up his mind to go with her father, and Lord Yang was afraid that her father would be embarrassed, so he acted as a peacemaker.
(End of this chapter)
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