Chapter 67 Idle Talk
Leisurely days passed by one by one.
Although the Duke of Dingguo's mansion was no longer as noisy as before, it was a rare moment of tranquility.
Even the guard dogs were leisurely lying in the yard, enjoying the autumn sunshine.
Shangguan Jin was sitting in the courtyard.
A small table was brought out, on which were placed the account books of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion for the past few months.
As Shangguan Jin looked at the account books, she listened to Dongmai and Aunt Xin talking quietly.
Since Shangguan Jin took Dongmai to Aunt Xin's place last time, Aunt Xin has stopped staying in her own courtyard as before.
"Why don't you just stop embroidering? I've already asked around, and the embroidery shops are only willing to accept five coins for the finished product."
Dongmai sighed as she looked at the handkerchief with the red plum blossom pattern embroidered on Aunt Xin's hand.
It's drawn very well, just like the real thing.
How could the embroidery be so bad!
Those clusters of red plum blossoms looked as if they had been battered by wind and frost.
Forget about the proud spirit of the red plum blossoms; even a glance at them makes the winter wheat worry that the flowers will fall off.
Aunt Xin paused, a little embarrassed.
"Well... at least it can sell for five coins! Even if it's less, it's still money!"
"Yours will only sell for ten coins," Aunt Xin muttered softly.
Winter wheat was even more speechless.
“Yunniang, you should do the math. It’s true that it can sell for five coins.”
But aren't these materials worthless? Aren't embroidery threads worthless?
More importantly, these items could fetch at least twenty coins once they passed through the hands of other embroiderers.
Why don't you think about how much money it costs to eat a bowl of bird's nest?
"How many of these things you embroidered could you buy with that?" Dongmai asked angrily.
Oh, Yunniang was Xin Yiniang's name before she entered the Duke's mansion.
At first, the two of them addressed each other as Aunt Dong and Aunt Xin.
Later, Dongmai found it troublesome and asked Aunt Xin to call her by her name.
Aunt Xin was also very generous in letting Dongmai call her by her name.
Aunt Xin remained silent, continuing to embroider the red plum blossom handkerchief in her hand.
I'm just a little more serious now.
"How about you don't learn embroidery? I think it's a bit of a waste," Dongmai kindly suggested.
"Then what should I do? How about this, you teach me how to make desserts!"
"The winter melon jelly you made last time was quite good, can you teach me how to make that?" Aunt Xin's eyes lit up immediately.
Upon hearing this, Dongmai quickly shook his head.
Forget it. Last time I took Aunt Xin into the small kitchen, we not only made a mess of it, but we both choked on the smoke and had to leave.
Aunt Xin seemed to recall her embarrassing moment last time, and smiled sheepishly again.
"How about... I play the zither for Madam to help her relax?" Aunt Xin said softly.
Shangguan Jin, winter wheat...
"Just focus on embroidering your handkerchief. You've only been learning for a few days."
To create a presentable embroidery piece, it takes more than a day or two to complete.
"Just like Sister Yu, she couldn't embroider before, right? It took her more than a year to learn before she could embroider a little better." Shangguan Jin quickly refused.
The household is still in mourning; how could they possibly allow any music?
Aunt Xin also realized this and quickly offered an explanation.
"Madam, I'm sorry, it was just that Yun Niang was confused for a moment."
"I know you spoke rashly, so be more careful in the future. Think twice before you say anything."
"Consider whether those words are appropriate to say," Shangguan Jin advised.
Aunt Xin nodded seriously and agreed.
Aunt Xin continued to consult with Dongmai on how to stitch the red plum blossoms to make them look more vibrant.
Dongmai's maid, Muxu, and Aunt Xin's maid, Xuancao, each carried a bag of pastries in.
Dongmai sent the two of them to Taoyuanxuan to buy some snacks.
Recently, as autumn approached, the old lady suddenly craved osmanthus cake from Taoyuanxuan.
However, Taoyuanxuan only sells twenty servings of osmanthus cake each day, and each person is only allowed to buy one serving.
So Dongmai sent the two maids to queue up to buy osmanthus cake.
"Were the snacks served late today? Why are you so late coming back?"
Dongmai glanced at the perfectly packaged osmanthus cakes in the two people's hands and asked with a smile.
"Hehe, it's cooked at the same time as before."
"We watched the excitement for a while," Clover said with a smile.
"Lively? There's something lively outside?"
"What? Is someone getting married? Or is someone marrying off their daughter?" Shangguan Jin asked with a smile.
When Muxu and Xuancao heard Shangguan Jin ask, they quickly handed all the snacks they were holding to Dongmai.
“Madam, it’s not a wedding ceremony for anyone,” Clover said.
"It's not like anyone's daughter is getting married," Xuancao added.
"What is it?" Shangguan Jin asked casually.
"Isn't it autumn now? Didn't a group of prisoners sentenced to autumn executions just the other day?"
Today, those prisoners who committed serious crimes but whose crimes did not warrant the death penalty were escorted out of the capital.
Those who were exiled or were to perform hard labor were all leaving today.
"Everyone's watching from the city gate, there are so many people," Clover continued.
"Yes, there are a lot of people! The officials didn't stop them."
Many people were throwing rotten vegetable leaves at those people!
"We're holding osmanthus cakes in our hands; we can't bear to throw them away," Xuan Cao continued.
Shangguan Jin breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the two intact packets of osmanthus cake.
Not bad, you even know what's important.
“They are all evildoers, and they deserve this,” Shangguan Jin said.
Both alfalfa and daylily nodded.
"Yes, they are all people who did bad things, and they deserve what they got."
Especially that former Vice Minister of Revenue, Lord Mei, who has done all sorts of bad things.
They not only embezzled our Duke's salary, but also the funds allocated for river management.
Oh, and they also embezzled a lot of disaster relief funds!
This has harmed so many people!
"Sentencing him to exile for three thousand miles is already an act of imperial mercy," Clover said.
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Jin, Dongmai, and Aunt Xin were all taken aback.
"Lord Mei was sentenced to exile three thousand li away?" Shangguan Jin asked.
"Well, I heard that the imperial family is merciful and doesn't want to commit too much killing, so they sentenced him to three thousand miles."
"However, with Lord Mei's physique, can he really travel three thousand miles?" Xuan Cao asked curiously.
Shangguan Jin was stunned for a moment.
Unexpectedly, all I did was ask Emperor Xiao Jing for the three years' worth of owed salary, which led to the exposure of Lord Mei, a fish that was neither too big nor too small.
The Crown Prince and Prime Minister Xu's faction must have put in a lot of effort here!
But the sentence was only exile for three thousand miles?
It seems that Duke Anguo's side has also put in a lot of effort!
"And what about Lord Mei's home?"
Didn't they say they had already raided Lord Mei's house?
"What about the family members? Were they all sold off too?" Aunt Xin asked curiously.
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