Chapter 49: Releasing Slaves from Their Registers and Clearing Debts
Seeing that her expression was off, Zhang Ting hesitated and asked, "Sister Li... what's wrong?"
This is not a respectable matter. Zou Yueru pulled her aside and whispered, "Your sister Li wants to take a concubine, but her husband won't allow it, and they're still making a fuss about it."
Zhang Ting had just thought something major had happened. Upon hearing this, he simply said "Oh," and then ignored it, as he still had to go to Magistrate Niu's place. He then bid farewell to Zou Yueru.
Today happens to be a day off, and I happened to run into County Magistrate Niu at home.
"Junior Sister, how have you been?" Magistrate Niu smiled and led the woman inside, inquiring along the way about Zhang Ting's exploits in the capital. What he heard was quite remarkable.
He befriended many sons of officials in the capital, all of whom were exceptionally talented. This made it much harder for them to work together in the same court in the future.
County Magistrate Niu clicked his tongue and exclaimed, "Junior Sister truly has the countenance of a noble person." He was extremely envious of Zhang Ting's good fortune and pulled her to his study, as if he was determined to have a long talk over wine.
Zhang Ting told Li Ruilian and Zheng Er to stay outside, while he followed County Magistrate Niu inside.
Only the two of them remained in the room. Zhang Ting sat in a chair with a slight smile. She had come with a purpose today, and now that the groundwork had been laid, she would get straight to the point.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Niu frowned. "Junior Sister, if you want to free your family's servants from the register, you can do so at the yamen. Why come to me...?"
Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Zhang Ting doesn't seem like such a foolish person.
"That servant's identity is sensitive, so he came to ask Senior Sister for help." Zhang Ting then revealed Zong Suyi's background. With the emperor far away, there were fewer concerns, making it easier to get things done.
Startled by her words, County Magistrate Niu stood up and paced around the room. Even if Zhang Ting was truly outstanding, he was only a minor scholar now, but this matter was too risky and not worth her taking the risk.
"Junior sister, I'm afraid I'm incapable of handling this matter..." She turned her head to refuse Zhang Ting, but then she saw a five-hundred-tael silver note lying on the table. Her eyes widened, she swallowed hard, and swallowed the words she was about to say.
That's five hundred taels of silver! Her annual salary as a county magistrate was only thirty-nine taels.
County Magistrate Niu tried to look away, but his eyes seemed to be glued to his head, and he couldn't look away no matter what he did.
She swallowed again, looked at Zhang Ting and sighed repeatedly, pointed at her with her finger and then put it down. Her mouth moved, but in the end, money could make the devil turn the millstone. She picked up the silver note and put it in her pocket, saying, "I am in charge of the household registration in this county. It is in accordance with the law of the court for a master to register his slave. I will have someone take care of this matter later."
The more Magistrate Niu spoke, the more he felt that his words made perfect sense. Yes, since it was only a demotion to a slave, then the slaves could be released. She was just acting in accordance with the law, so what was the problem?
Zhang Ting bowed deeply to her, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Senior Sister."
County Magistrate Niu also resented her for testing him with money, so he didn't even keep her for tea and waved her away.
Having settled Zong Suyi's household registration, Zhang Ting breathed a slight sigh of relief and left the study.
Upon going outside, she found only Zheng Er there and asked her in confusion, "Where is Master Li?"
Zheng Er replied, "Just now, a servant said that the horse at home has a poor appetite, but its diet is normal and there is nothing wrong with it. He asked the eldest brother to go and take a look."
Zhang Ting couldn't help but wonder, why was the horse in the Niu family looking for a veterinarian instead of Li Ruilian when it had a poor appetite?
But then Zheng Er suddenly said, "Master, the eldest brother is back."
Zhang Ting turned her head and saw Li Ruilian walking over with a worried look on her face. Zheng Ershou put his arm around her shoulder and teased her, "What kind of trouble has the county magistrate's horse gotten into?"
Li Ruilian shook her head, not wanting to say more, only saying, "It's not a horse, it's a mule."
Since the Niu family has no horses, it's good that Li Ruilian has returned. As for the other male relatives, Zhang Ting trusts her character.
Taking the two back with her, Zhang Ting suddenly remembered that she had promised Uncle Wang to repay the money in the spring before she went to Beijing.
Now that summer is almost here, she is more than two months late. For the sake of her future reputation, she has to personally apologize and settle her debts.
However, it would be fine to let Li Ruilian go with her. She still needs to purchase property when she returns to her hometown. Since it is only late afternoon, she should send Zheng Er to collect information on properties for sale in the county. She can then select some to purchase property for her family when she returns.
Zhang Ting led Li Ruilian to the money exchange to exchange silver, bought melons, fruits and pastries as an apology, and then took a carriage to the village.
The carriage was exquisite and rare in the countryside, attracting a lot of attention along the way. Zhang Ting directed the driver to drive according to his memory, and finally stopped in front of a house.
Zhang Ting got out of the car and looked around. Five months later, the village was lush with green trees and birdsong.
The scenery is beautiful, making it a suitable place to live for a long time.
Zhang Ting knocked on the door, and Li Ruilian followed behind, carrying an apology gift.
Who is it?
The voice was full of energy, but the person emerged from the kitchen next door.
Uncle Wang looked at the elegant and beautifully dressed woman in front of him, feeling a sense of familiarity mixed with strangeness. He couldn't help but shrink back, afraid of offending someone important, and cautiously asked, "What brings you here?"
Zhang Ting instructed Li Ruilian to deliver the apology gift to Uncle Wang. "I, Zhang Ting, promised you I would repay your debt as soon as possible, but I had to break my promise due to the distance. I have come today to apologize." He then handed him three silver ingots.
"This thirty taels is a token of my gratitude."
Uncle Wang thought to himself, "No wonder she looks so familiar. It turns out to be that damned girl Zhang Ting." He felt a surge of resentment, remembering how those people had thrown him out last time. However, seeing that Zhang Ting seemed to have made it big now, with servants, carriages, and silver ingots, he dared not get angry. He forced a smile and invited her into the house.
Uncle Wang opened the door, placed what he was carrying on the table, and picked up the silver ingots one by one, biting into them. They were real! Wow, what a stroke of luck!
He carefully tucked the note into his pocket, then turned to Zhang Ting with a beaming smile, "You're too kind, young man. Please sit down, I'll get you the note."
He had barely stepped into the room when his daughter, Wang Daniu, ran in, carrying a hoe. "Dad! I heard that a distinguished person has come to our house!" Her eyes darted around and she saw Zhang Ting sitting upright to the side.
Wang Daniu also felt that she looked familiar, but she had a deeper impression of Zhang Ting than Uncle Wang, and asked hesitantly, "You are... Sister Zhang?"
Zhang Ting smiled and nodded, then cupped her hands and said, "Sister Wang."
Wang Danu recognized the person, walked over, and grinned: "It really is you. I thought it was some important person."
"It's been almost half a year since I last saw you. Where have you been? You've become so successful." As he spoke, he wanted to put his hand on Zhang Ting's shoulder, but he couldn't bring himself to do it because of her clean and gorgeous gauze robe.
Zhang Ting said she went to Kyoto and relayed some of her observations to her.
Wang Daniu clicked her tongue, sitting on her own stool, feeling inexplicably awkward.
Soon, Uncle Wang came out with the note and handed it to Zhang Ting.
Zhang Ting took the document and examined it carefully. Seeing that it was her own handwriting, she put it in her sleeve pocket, stood up, and said goodbye to the two of them.
Uncle Wang was very solicitous and even wanted Zhang Ting to stay for dinner. Wang Daniu, who was standing to the side, wanted to agree, but she immediately closed her mouth after opening it.
Zhang Ting declined the invitation, saying that she still needed to visit the wealthy Liu Dacai and the village chief.
Wang Daniu watched Zhang Ting's departing figure, feeling very down. Just five months ago, she was so poor that she couldn't even afford to eat and even had to rely on her family for help. Now, she could easily take out thirty taels of silver. How could the difference between people be so great?
After retrieving the IOUs from the village chief and Liu Dacai's homes and refusing their invitations to stay for a meal, Zhang Ting took Li Ruilian and returned home.
......
Inside the house, Zong Suyi instructed the servants to pack their luggage and found a box in the side room of the main house. Inside were Zhang Ting's old clothes, a brand new tea set, writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and a handkerchief embroidered with green bamboo.
Zong Suyi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Zhang Ting always used plain white and clean handkerchiefs. Where did this handkerchief come from?
He pulled the handkerchief aside and examined it carefully. Finally, he found the two small characters "Little Green" embroidered in white silk thread in a corner on the back. His pupils suddenly contracted.
That was actually a boy's nickname! He suddenly stood up.
Suddenly, I realized I hadn't inquired whether Zhang Ting had someone he liked. Could it be... could this person be...?
He gripped the handkerchief tightly, feeling as if his heart was being squeezed, filled with unease.
It was already dark when Zhang Ting returned home. The kitchen staff had prepared a meal for her separately, which she ate with Li Ruilian, chatting as they ate.
After the meal, Zheng Er handed her the information he had gathered that day. Zhang Ting glanced at it indifferently and then went back to the inner courtyard to find Zong Suyi.
His room was right next door, making it very convenient to chat.
When Zhang Ting arrived, he was lying on the table, staring blankly at something. Due to his limited field of vision, she couldn't see what it was.
"Xiaoyi".
Startled by the sound, Zong Suyi stood up abruptly, instinctively hiding the handkerchief behind her back, and stammered, "Miss, you...you've arrived."
His movements were quite dramatic, but Zhang Ting only caught a glimpse of what it was—a handkerchief. She couldn't understand why he was reacting so strongly.
She shook her head, sat down, and spread out the papers Zheng Er had compiled. "In your opinion, which ones should we choose?"
Zong Suyi thought Zhang Ting hadn't seen it, so she quickly stuffed the handkerchief into her sleeve while Zhang Ting sat down.
To cover his guilty conscience, he cleared his throat, walked up to Zhang Ting, took the papers and looked at them carefully. After a while, he pointed out a few names.
Following his gaze, Zhang Ting saw two estates and two shops, totaling about six thousand taels of silver. The location was quite good, and one of the estates was famous in the county for its lychees. Without looking any further, he decided to take all four.
However, after buying the shops, the estate, and the cost of building the house, the money they brought back was really tight, and they were just waiting for Keyinglou to transfer the accounts for April.
Zong Suyi heard that she agreed with her opinion, but her mind was not on this. She frowned, clenched her sleeves, and opened her thin lips slightly.
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