Chapter 97 Returning Home
After descending the mountain, Meng Guanqi did not rush home. Instead, he took a few people for a stroll in Luzhou City, bought gifts for his family, rested at the inn for a day, and set off home early the next morning.
Zhao Jian was rushing to catch the train, and A Sheng sat beside him chatting. Meng Guanqi and Li Xiaoxiao sat in the carriage.
Li Xiaoxiao was fiddling with the two hairpins she had just bought from Luzhou: "So the hairpins from our county sell so well in Luzhou. No wonder the manager of Jinxiu Pavilion insisted on thanking me and even gave me a big gift."
While the group was shopping, Li Xiaoxiao immediately recognized that these hair ornaments came from Jinxiuge. Some of the styles were even ones she had never seen before in Biyang County. They must be new designs by Manager Guo, which sold very well in Luzhou.
Hearing from Li Xiaoxiao that this was a style she had never seen before in Biyang County, Meng Guanqi bought her two.
Meng Guanqi watched her fiddling with the two hairpins on the carriage table and suddenly said, "Let me put them on for you."
Li Xiaoxiao was taken aback for a moment: "But I'm dressed as a man right now."
Meng Guanqi took the flowers from her hand and gently placed them in her hair: "It's okay, there's no one else here."
Without a mirror, Li Xiaoxiao didn't know if it looked good or not. Seeing Meng Guanqi looking at her with a smile, she rolled her eyes and stuck the remaining flower in his hair.
Meng Guanqi obediently let her put it on.
In Dawu, there was a custom of men wearing flowers in their hair. Meng Guanqi, with her fair skin and stunning beauty, looked even more beautiful than a woman with flowers in her hair.
Li Xiaoxiao thought, "Luckily there are no mirrors now, otherwise it would be so frustrating to compare myself to others. She's a woman, and she's not even half as good-looking as him, a man. Is that reasonable?"
Meng Guanqi wore the hair ornament for a while and then casually took it off: "So now the hair ornaments from Biyang County are selling well in other prefectures. Has my father tried selling them in Lin'an Prefecture?"
Li Xiaoxiao perked up: "Of course! The magistrate has been paying close attention to this matter lately. The hair ornaments are selling well, so Manager Guo needs to buy large quantities of dye and many skilled hairpin makers. Now, young women and wives throughout Biyang County are learning to make hair ornaments. Many people are also selling dyes gathered from the mountains by the locals, especially a dye called turmeric, which I hear is also a medicinal herb. It's scarce and very expensive. The magistrate says the more hair ornaments he sells, the better life will be for the people. He's currently trying to contact his superiors in the capital to see if he can promote the hair ornaments there..."
Meng Guanqi smiled and said, "This matter is also thanks to you. If it weren't for your vigorous promotion, the manager of Luzhou Cloth Shop would not have discovered that our Biyang County has such outstanding hair ornaments, let alone have the opportunity to sell them to the capital."
Li Xiaoxiao didn't care at all: "I just mentioned it casually. It's only because Manager Guo's hair ornaments are so well made that people are interested. But what I don't understand is that Manager Guo is already overwhelmed. There aren't enough hair ornaments to deliver to Luzhou and Lin'an Prefecture. Why do you still want to push them to the capital? What if the quantity is too large and you can't deliver them?"
Meng Guanqi smiled slightly, leaned back comfortably on the carriage, and stretched out his long legs: "Give me a leg massage and I'll tell you."
Li Xiaoxiao reached out and pinched, and Meng Guanqi almost jumped up on the spot: "Stop, stop, stop! Do you want to break my leg?"
Zhao Jian thought Meng Guanqi was calling him, so he pulled on the reins and stopped the carriage: "Young Master, what's wrong?"
Meng Guanqi's face turned red with pain, but she gritted her teeth and said, "It's okay, you can keep going."
Li Xiaoxiao covered her mouth and laughed, "You told me to pinch it."
Meng Guanqi was annoyed: "I told you to squeeze it, but did you need to use so much force?"
He complained angrily about her inaction: "Besides, isn't it normal for a personal maid to massage her master's legs and shoulders?"
Li Xiaoxiao clenched her fist, her knuckles cracking, and grinned, saying, "Tell me, whichever part of the body you want to pinch or punch?"
Meng Guanqi's ears twitched, but his expression remained unchanged: "It's nothing, I just said it casually..."
He pulled his leg back, sighed inwardly, and straightened his clothes: "If I'm not mistaken, my father wants to try to get the hairpins from Biyang County listed as tribute items through my third great-uncle."
Li Xiaoxiao was moved: "Tribute?"
Meng Guanqi said, “That’s right. The same hairpin sells for twenty coins in Biyang County, thirty-five to forty coins in Luzhou City, and fifty to sixty coins in the capital. But if it becomes a tribute, the price for the royal family might be only twenty coins, but it can sell for one hundred, one hundred and twenty, or even one hundred and fifty coins outside. Moreover, the production is definitely not the current three to five thousand per month, but may even be thirty to fifty thousand. This is the power of tribute.”
He smiled slightly: "Therefore, many imperial merchants who produce tribute goods would rather not take a single penny from the Imperial Household Department, or even lose money, in order for their goods to become tribute goods, because this means unimaginable wealth."
Li Xiaoxiao sat up straight: "If the hair ornaments really become offerings, then the people of Biyang County won't have to go hungry anymore?"
Meng Guanqi looked at her: "What do you think?"
Li Xiaoxiao murmured, "If it's really as you say, with Jinxiu Pavilion receiving endless orders every month, then there must be a huge demand for hairpin makers and dyes... The girls can earn money with their skills, and the men can earn money by selling dyes, instead of struggling to stay on that barren land, and they can even pay taxes with silver..."
Meng Guanqi interjected, "This is only one aspect. If the hairpins really become tribute items, they will surely attract a large number of merchants. Their clothing, food, housing, and transportation will bring considerable income to the inns, restaurants, and stalls in Biyang County, and will also increase the county government's tax revenue... Moreover, if the production is too large and Biyang County is short of manpower, it will also attract migrant workers. As long as there are people, it will definitely bring opportunities to make money to Biyang County. As long as the people are willing to work hard, they will not be unable to fill their stomachs like they are now."
Li Xiaoxiao said anxiously, "Since there are so many benefits, let's get started quickly—" She looked at Meng Guanqi's reaction and paused for a moment: "Isn't this difficult?"
Meng Guanqi's gaze deepened: "It's very difficult, extremely difficult."
This was Li Xiaoxiao's blind spot, and she looked at Meng Guanqi with a blank expression.
Meng Guanqi said, "The number of tribute items each year is limited. If we try to get on top, someone else will inevitably have to step down. Faced with such enormous profits, who would give up easily? Besides, we make good hair ornaments, but don't others have excellent hair ornament makers? They might even be able to make more elaborate hair ornaments. Moreover, these are tribute items. Without connections, how can we get them to the imperial court?"
Li Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up: "We have connections, Your Highness. We can go to Your Highness and put in a good word for him. He's the Crown Prince now, surely he can't even do without this much power?"
Meng Guanqi gave her a warning look and said softly, "Don't say such things again. Forget about the Crown Prince."
Li Xiaoxiao was taken aback: "Why?"
Meng Guanqi said, "The royal family has bestowed so many gifts upon us, and we are now even. We must never harbor any thoughts of having done the Crown Prince a favor and try to get anything from him. This is a grave taboo, do you understand?"
Li Xiaoxiao gave a frustrated "oh," thought for a moment, and realized that it made sense. After all, they had already given so much money, and it would be a bit much to ask for more benefits.
Meng Guanqi glanced at Zhao Jian, who was driving the carriage outside the curtain, and Asheng, who was sitting beside him, and said in a low voice, "There's another reason why I don't want you to ask the Crown Prince for help anymore. The Crown Prince's situation is far from good as we think... He's also struggling now, and we can't trouble him at a time like this..."
Li Xiaoxiao was taken aback: "Didn't he already return to the capital? Why is he still having difficulty moving around?"
Meng Guanqi whispered, “The bloodshed in the capital was no less intense than a real assassination attempt. Moreover, those powerful figures are all incredibly cunning; sometimes a single careless remark can change the entire political landscape… Although the Crown Prince returned safely to the capital, and His Majesty sent the Imperial Guards to Tianjin to welcome him, and ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince seemed to have the upper hand at the time. However, within just half a month, rumors spread throughout the capital that the Crown Prince possessed the aura of a true dragon, and that he was able to summon lightning to kill ten assassins in a dilapidated temple in Luzhou. The excellent situation the Crown Prince had gained by escaping death was completely destroyed by this one remark, and he ultimately had to go to the palace to apologize to His Majesty. Although His Majesty outwardly believed it was just an auspicious omen and comforted the Crown Prince to recover well and not worry too much, he turned around and sent the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to attend to other matters. The investigation of the assassin was entrusted to a junior official in the Ministry of Justice, and there has been no progress to date…”
Li Xiaoxiao's eyes widened suddenly, and she exclaimed, "What?! This is simply outrageous!"
This was the crown prince of a country, who almost died at the hands of an assassin and returned to the capital after going through countless hardships, only to have his life ruined by a mere rumor?
And to my shame, she was the one who set off the lightning; she was the one who ignited this whole mess.
Meng Guanqi's eyes flickered, and his voice lowered even further: "In the imperial family, there are no fathers and sons. Before imperial power, the affection between parents and children cannot overcome suspicion, especially since the Emperor is nearly fifty years old, while the average lifespan of the Holy Ancestors throughout history was only fifty years. At this time, such words are spread precisely to sow discord between the father and son. The Emperor and the Crown Prince are well aware of this, but they still have no choice but to get involved..."
Li Xiaoxiao broke out in a cold sweat. Was the relationship between the Tian family father and son really that fragile? Was the life of his own son less valuable than a mere rumor?
Meng Guanqi said, "So we shouldn't bother His Highness the Crown Prince unless it's absolutely necessary. We saved his life, and it's easy for people to categorize us as part of the Crown Prince's camp. But our family's position within the Meng family is awkward. If we really get into trouble, I don't think the Meng family will step in to protect us..."
He looked at Li Xiaoxiao's innocent face and swallowed the rest of his words.
He also had a guess: the person who could grasp the emperor's heart so accurately was probably the emperor's bedmate. Whoever this person was, they couldn't afford to offend them, so it was best to keep their distance.
Li Xiaoxiao suddenly grasped his hand and sighed, "After you pass the imperial examination, you should find an opportunity to be appointed as an official in a remote area. The capital is too dangerous... I would rather you find a poor place like Biyang County to be a county magistrate than get involved in the endless suspicions surrounding the succession of imperial power..."
Meng Guanqi grasped her hand in his long, slender palm and solemnly promised, "Don't worry, I will be very careful."
Li Xiaoxiao suddenly froze, realizing what she was doing. Little Cabbage seemed to have grown up, and she couldn't hold hands like this anymore. She smiled awkwardly and quickly let go.
Meng Guanqi released her without hesitation, as if the scene had never happened.
In fact, his vest was already slightly damp with sweat from what he had just done.
He pretended nothing was wrong, leaned against the carriage, and closed his eyes.
Li Xiaoxiao seemed to suddenly remember something: "By the way, weren't you studying on the mountain? How did you know about what happened in the capital?"
Meng Guanqi didn't open his eyes: "Don't underestimate our Headmaster Gu. He is not only from a prominent family, but also a graduate of the Imperial Academy. His information network is impeccable."
How could a renowned academy like Luzhou be so well-informed? Moreover, Headmaster Gu only revealed what he could tell the students; there are probably many more unspeakable secrets to come.
The carriage moved slowly forward. When it passed Jinglei Temple, Zhao Jian unconsciously slowed down. Li Xiaoxiao asked, "This temple is named Jinglei, and its incense is very prosperous. Would you like to go in and take a look, young master?"
She told Meng Guanqi about the origin of Jinglei Temple as if it were a joke, thinking that Meng Guanqi would definitely want to go in and take a look.
As a result, Meng Guanqi lifted the curtain, glanced at it from afar, and said with a deep look in his eyes, "No, let's go. We're not going to join in this fun."
Ah Sheng really wanted to go back and take a look. He simply couldn't imagine that the temple, which was so dilapidated before the New Year, had been rebuilt to its current size in just a few months.
Unfortunately, Meng Guanqi did not get off the carriage.
Meng Guanqi hung up the carriage curtain, and the carriage slowly passed by the bustling Jinglei Temple. Seeing that a carriage was passing by the temple without entering, the worshippers couldn't help but turn around in surprise and started discussing his carriage.
Meng Guanqi's heart sank. Were there too many worshippers at Jinglei Temple?
In this remote place, more than a hundred miles from Luzhou City, how could it attract so many people? Did they come spontaneously, or was someone encouraging them to come?
If they came spontaneously, why would they point fingers at someone who passed by without entering?
This is illogical.
It seems there's a hand stirring things up from behind the scenes.
Meng Guanqi's intuition told him that the more famous and popular Jinglei Temple was, the more detrimental it would be to the Crown Prince. The Emperor had stopped investigating the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince based on a mere rumor; now that he knew the temple was so popular and revered by the people, and considering the rumors that the Crown Prince possessed the aura of a true dragon, would he really not mind?
It seems the Crown Prince's situation is far more difficult than he imagined.
This is the most helpless situation. If the competitor for the throne is one of the crown prince's other brothers, the crown prince can still think of a way to deal with it. But what if that person is the emperor himself? How can the crown prince confront the person standing at the pinnacle of power?
Meng Guanqi sighed slightly and decided to put all these things out of his mind. As a mere scholar, even if he could see the current situation clearly, it was not something he could change in the slightest. It was more important to focus on participating in the provincial examination.
When Meng Guanqi returned home after being away for more than half a year, the house was naturally filled with laughter and joy. However, Liu knew that Meng Guanqi would be fighting a major battle in a month, so she did not dare to delay her son's time too much. Therefore, after returning home, Meng Guanqi immediately went into his study.
Magistrate Meng spent two days preparing an exam for Meng Guanqi. After Meng Guanqi submitted his answer sheet, he pondered for a long time before a smile appeared on his lips: "It was not in vain that your father shamelessly sent you to Wanshan Academy. Your foundation is much more solid than it was half a year ago. As long as you can perform at this level, the provincial examination will not be a problem."
Before his son went to Wanshan Academy, he already had the potential to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination). However, Magistrate Meng thought his ranking might be low. But after half a year, Meng Guanqi's progress was unexpectedly great, and he could now try to compete for a higher ranking.
Although Magistrate Meng had no ambition for a high rank, he was still very happy that his son was ranked so high.
Seeing that her father was in a good mood, Meng Guanqi finally spoke up after holding back his thoughts for a long time: "Dad, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Magistrate Meng was in a good mood and said gently, "What is it? Tell me."
Meng Guanqi said, "I want to remove Xiaoxiao's citizenship and restore her to her commoner status."
Magistrate Meng was taken aback and looked at Meng Guanqi in surprise.
Meng Guanqi said, "I remember that when Xiaoxiao sold herself into our family, it only cost eighteen taels of silver. But in this year, she saved me from dire straits time and time again, and also saved our whole family from dire straits. Because she unintentionally saved the Crown Prince, most of the rewards given by the palace went to our family... She is free-spirited, straightforward, and unconcerned with trivial matters. She never cares about personal gains or losses, but I often feel guilty. Why can I take advantage of her so easily? Is it just because she is easy to talk to and doesn't care about anything?"
He looked at Magistrate Meng with a serious expression.
Magistrate Meng pondered for a moment: "This is just a small matter. You can bring it up after the provincial examination. Why bring it up now?"
Before Meng Guanqi could figure out how to answer, Magistrate Meng had already seen through him: "Are you afraid I'll refuse? That's why you brought it up before the provincial examination. I was considerate of your feelings, so I certainly wouldn't dare refuse you for fear of affecting your mood?"
Meng Guanqi looked at him nervously: "Father!"
Magistrate Meng shook his head and laughed, "In your eyes, is your father really that shameless? Actually, even if you hadn't mentioned it, your mother and I had already planned to release her from public life. In the six months you've been away, she's grown a high-yield crop, which she gave to the villagers as seeds. She also brought all the harvested rice back home in case of another disaster and food shortages. In addition, she sold our hair ornaments to cloth shops in Luzhou. Although it was unintentional, it truly opened up a new path for the people of Biyang County. You're right, how could our family continue to take advantage of her with a clear conscience? We originally planned to tell her after your provincial examination, but we didn't expect you to have the same idea as us and even brought it up beforehand..."
Meng Guanqi breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that his parents also had this idea. He was worried that they would disagree, but he insisted: "I want to get it done for her in the next few days."
Magistrate Meng was taken aback: "Why are you in such a hurry?"
Meng Guanqi pursed his lips and remained silent, staring stubbornly at Magistrate Meng.
Magistrate Meng was very familiar with this expression on his son's face. From childhood to adulthood, whenever his son had made up his mind about something but didn't want to explain why, he would look at Magistrate Meng or Liu with this stubborn gaze until they softened.
Magistrate Meng's gaze became meaningful, mixed with a hint of shock and disbelief, but he said nothing: "If that's the case, then you should tell her to come to the yamen to cancel her registration at some time."
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