Chapter 103 Unlucky Years
After Ning An finished drinking, he talked to Concubine Shu about today's martial arts training:
"I've already learned the second move of spearmanship today, and they haven't even chosen their weapons yet. General Yuan said their basic skills are still not solid."
"Murong Ming complained of a stomachache right as class began, went to the bathroom, and then disappeared. Murong Wan took a leave of absence for several days and I heard she was practicing swordplay at home..."
Concubine Shu glanced at her daughter and asked, "Do you want Murong Wan to come to the palace and play with you?"
Ning An shook his head: "No. I can't play with her."
"Mother," Ning An played with the cup in his hand, "but I don't want her to be better than me in swordsmanship."
"She's already better at studying than me, so I don't want her to be better at kung fu than me too."
Concubine Shu extended her index finger and tapped Ning An's forehead:
"She's dancing with a sword, you're learning spearmanship, they're two completely different things, there's no comparison."
Ning An covered his forehead and pouted: "Humph, anyway, there must be something better than her."
They had an argument when they first entered the Lihe Hall to study, and Murong Wan gave her a hairpin as a gesture of goodwill.
Ning An accepted it, but after bringing it back to Yaohua Palace, Concubine Shu asked Ning An to return it.
So Ning An later returned the hairpin to Murong Wan.
The relationship between the two children is so indifferent, no one annoys the other, but there is also a subtle sense of competition.
Ning An knew that Murong Wan's status was not as good as his, she was only a princess, but the Seventh Prince had only one daughter, Murong Wan, and he doted on her very much.
Although she was a princess, her father had several daughters and so many sons. Even if her father doted on her, he would not care about her as much as the Seventh Uncle cared about Murong Wan.
She hoped that she could do better and be more outstanding so that her father would think of her often.
Concubine Shu sat next to her daughter, hugged her in her arms, wanted to say something, but only sighed.
…
He Mansion.
The servants cleared away the snow in the yard.
After the wind and snow, the warm winter sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and Chang'an City finally saw a sunny day.
Murong Wan was wearing a white fox cloak and dancing in the garden with a sword in her hand.
The body turned around and the corners of the clothes fluttered.
She was still small and not familiar with some of the movements, but she already had the rhythm of sword dancing.
"Well, Wan'er dances with the sword very well." Mrs. He kept praising her granddaughter.
He Yan laughed beside her: "Mom, Wan'er has only been practicing for a short time, don't praise her too much."
The two uncles and aunt of the He Mansion praised it even more:
"Wan'er's movements are nimble, and she dances with her sword like a butterfly."
"Wan'er is smart, but she's different from other children."
"My sister and the prince are so lucky."
He Yan smiled more amiably as she received the praise.
During the first month of the year, although He Yan was busy dealing with social interactions in the palace, she still took two days off to bring her children to stay at the He family for a few days.
Murong Xun also came yesterday, but left after dinner.
Today the family is making tea and chatting in the garden.
When Mrs. He heard that Murong Wan was learning sword dancing, she asked Murong Wan to perform.
Murong Wan had the same idea originally, so she brought all the swords she usually used.
The palace hired a famous sword dance master to teach her, and she was willing to learn and learned very quickly.
But the master would sometimes tell her, "Don't be impatient. Don't learn too fast."
But Murong Wan thought, how could she not be happy? She needed to learn a few more dance moves so she could perform them during the New Year.
Murong Wan danced even harder in the garden when she heard the praise from her grandmother and uncles.
In two months, she will make a new sword and inlay it with gems shipped from the Western Regions. It will surely sparkle beautifully in the sun.
Before Murong Wan finished dancing with the sword, she saw out of the corner of her eye that her brother Murong Ming had actually run away, and she immediately felt unhappy.
My brother is so stupid. Not only does he not know anything, he can't even appreciate it.
Murong Wan looked around at the crowd again and saw that her grandfather and third uncle were not there either. The joy in her heart faded a little.
…
He Ting was looking at the account book in the study with a frown on his face.
The housekeeper's account book of the He Mansion is in the hands of Mrs. He, while the account book in He Tingfang's hand is his private treasury.
Originally, his private treasury was full of gold and silver, but the numbers in the account book now clearly showed that the amount of silver and money in the private treasury had dropped sharply.
The past two years have been really weird, with bad luck happening all the time.
First, they lost Lu Feng and his Qingshe Village, and some things became more difficult to do.
Later, because private salt in Lingnan was investigated, the court conducted strict inspections in various places, which led to the suspension of several other private salt lines under He Tingfang.
Later, when the Song family fell, he hoarded high-quality pine soot ink to drive up the price of ink. As a result, Black Mountain Ink suddenly appeared and lowered the price of ink to a lower level than before.
He received news in advance that the Qianzhong Dao would ask the court for cloth, so he specially asked people to stock up some cloth, hoping to seize the opportunity to sell it, but he didn't expect someone to stand up and talk about Black Mountain cloth.
In official circles, favors are needed everywhere, and the expenses in the mansion are extravagant. Without huge income, the current wealth of the He Mansion could not be supported.
Ever since defeating Pei Dingli, He Tingfang has been doing well for a long time.
But now his luck is not good and everything is going wrong, which makes him feel a little restricted.
He has worked hard for decades to reach his current high position just to be superior to others and live a stable life of wealth and glory.
It is impossible to rely solely on the emperor.
Although he had been a knife in the emperor's hand and knew some secrets, he knew that the emperor and he were essentially the same kind of people.
Selfish and ruthless.
But precisely because of this, he could understand the emperor's thoughts.
When the late emperor was on the verge of death, He Tingfang promptly joined the army of the Third Prince, Murong Yu. This was the boldest and most correct decision he had ever made in his life.
Later, the crown prince died suddenly and the second prince disappeared. To everyone's surprise, Murong Yu ascended the throne and became emperor.
He Tingfang took advantage of this favorable situation and rose rapidly to the top.
He originally thought that he would be satisfied with a high position and a generous salary, but when he got to a high position, he realized that the more people have, the greedier they will be, and they will never be satisfied.
He wants more wealth, a constant supply, and an endless supply.
"Lingnan, Xunzhou, Black Mountain Ink, Black Mountain Cloth."
He Tingfang half-closed his eyes, tapped the table with his knuckles, and chewed a few words over and over in his mouth.
There seems to be something interesting about Xunzhou.
If he could get Black Mountain Ink and Black Mountain Cloth into his own hands and control them, the profit would not be less than that of the previous smuggling of salt.
"Someone come."
"Master." Someone answered from outside the door.
"Let Minghe and Mingshui take people to Lingnan."
"Yes, sir."
After He Tingfang finished giving instructions in the study, he walked out of the study and crossed the corridor to have lunch.
As he walked along the road he felt something was not right.
Turning to look at the pavilion by the pond, I saw that the curtains hanging on the four corners were blown to and fro by the wind, and the pavilion was empty.
Usually, the third brother, He Yanqing, would be in the pavilion brewing tea, painting, reciting poetry, and doing other things that made him feel bored.
But I haven’t seen He Yanqing leave the yard recently.
Even yesterday when He Yan brought her children home for dinner, He Yanqing was nowhere to be seen.
He Tingfang and He Yanqing, father and son, had another fight some time ago. Everyone felt that Sanlang was still angry and was stuck in the yard.
He Tingfang didn't indulge him either: "If he doesn't come out, let him stay in the yard alone. There's no need to come out and get in the way."
But today He Tingfang noticed something unusual.
He turned around and went to He Yanqing's yard, and told the servants:
"Go and call this evil boy out!"
The servant said, "Master, Sanlang said today that he wanted to concentrate on fasting and practice, and he didn't want me to disturb him. He locked the door from the inside."
He Tingfang's expression turned even worse: "Go break the door open."
Seeing that the master was so angry, the servants had no choice but to break the door open.
Bang!
The bolt on the inside broke and the door was wide open.
The servants went in and came out hurriedly holding a piece of paper:
"Master! Master! Sanlang is missing!"
He Ting's face instantly stiffened. He took the paper and looked at it, furious.
There was only one sentence written on the paper:
I cannot find peace in Chang'an, and I wish to follow Zixin's footsteps to fulfill my life's long-cherished wish.
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