Chapter 093 Chapter 93
Shen Linfeng slept late last night and had to get up early in the morning, which was really painful. Yao Niang also felt quite sympathetic towards him. God knows how comfortable Yao Niang was when she took a nap every day.
But this guy, he was so tired yesterday, and the couple talked so much. After he finally dried his hair, he still had time to think about that kind of thing. He didn't seem tired at all. I really don't know what Mrs. Shen ate when she was holding him. He was so energetic.
I slept until noon and woke up. The servants were doing their own job and didn't dare to say anything. But Rong An came back and said that Shen Linfeng wanted to invite her to have dinner at Chunfeng Manyue Tower in the evening.
Yao Niang was very happy and immediately asked the maids to prepare new clothes and earrings.
In the past, when she followed her mother to inspect stores, she came and went in a hurry. At that time, Xie told her that she should be the head of the family. Now, it has come true just a few days after she got married.
After Shen Linfeng reported to the emperor today, he could no longer hold back. After leaving the court, he flew out like an arrow from a bow. The dean of the academy pointed at the afterimage and asked the people around him, "Who is that?"
"It seems to be Editor Shen." someone said.
The dean of the academy said, "Young people are extraordinary. They just came back from Jiangxi yesterday, and they are running so fast today. They are very healthy."
"Of course not. Editor Shen is also good at writing imperial edicts. Among the new batch of young people, his imperial edicts are the best." Huang Shijiang said with a smile.
Huang Shijiang is a classmate of Mr. Shen Er. Mr. Shen Er asked him to recommend Shen Linfeng more often. Huang Shijiang is very good at doing favors. Anyway, the dean seems to appreciate him very much.
Being a Hanlin scholar was very hard and poor. If you didn't have a family background, you wouldn't have a good life in Beijing. But for someone like Shen Linfeng who passed the imperial examination at the age of 19 and the imperial examination at the age of 20, it was different. His future was very bright.
But it is said that Shen Linfeng went home specially to pick up Yao Niang, and he met Shen Bangyan at the door of his house. Shen Bangyan hurriedly stepped forward and called out, "Brother."
Shen Linfeng thought of what Yao Niang said yesterday, and naturally he was very wary of the second house, and even the couple were ready to investigate. But on the surface, Shen Linfeng was still the same as before, and he was quite concerned about him and asked: "Isn't the second brother studying in the Imperial College? Why are you back?"
"Everything is fine, but my father recently hired a famous teacher to teach me how to study well, so I have to come back to ask for advice. Brother, you must have worked hard on the journey, where are you going?" Shen Bangyan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Shen Linfeng had no change of expression.
Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "I'll take your sister-in-law out. I'll be away for a few months, and I'll have to thank your sister-in-law for staying at home."
Shen Bangyan was stunned for a moment, then said, "Yes, a lot of things happened during this period. Fortunately, my sister-in-law was able to turn the bad things into good things."
"Well, you go back." Shen Linfeng nodded.
Yao Niang heard that Shen Linfeng was waiting for her outside, so she walked out quickly. Shen Linfeng still stretched out his arms to her as usual. She ran over quickly, and Shen Linfeng tried to hold her up quickly: "Slow down, are you hungry?"
Yao Niang nodded heavily: "Ever since I heard that you were going to take me to Chunfeng Manyue Tower in the evening, I drank a bowl of porridge at noon."
"You really..." Shen Linfeng wanted to touch her belly to see if she was crazy.
She would not be so polite to Shen Linfeng. Yao Niang immediately slapped his hand away. Shen Linfeng got into the carriage behind her and saw Yao Niang drinking a sip of brown sugar water. He asked hurriedly, "Is your day coming today?"
"Yes, just before I went out. I was always a little wet before, but now it's much better. I used to like staying up late to read, but now that I'm with you, I go to bed at the same time every day, and I have become much more regular without realizing it." Yao Niang was also deeply touched.
Shen Linfeng probably knew what dishes he would order later. Thinking of this, he started playing with Yao Niang's hand.
Yao Niang sat next to him and always felt that he smelled very good. Even though he changed his clothes hastily after leaving the government office, he still had a very clean fragrance. Shen Linfeng was afraid that she would be shaken by the carriage, so he kept protecting her with his hands.
The two of them were still holding hands even after they got out of the car. Yao Niang still felt that it was not good, so she said to him, "Don't hold hands outside. It would be bad if someone you know saw us."
"I was afraid you'd be sad if I let go of your hand, but I didn't expect you to be more carefree than me." Shen Linfeng certainly felt it was awkward to hold hands in public, but if he let go, Yao Niang would probably be very sad. Unexpectedly, she would break away first.
Yao Niang covered her mouth and laughed.
The waiter at the door had sharp eyes. When he saw Shen Linfeng, he immediately stepped forward and said, "Mr. Shen, the private room is ready."
"Thank you." Shen Linfeng took Yao Niang upstairs and introduced: "There will be singing and dancing, and sumo wrestling, which are all very interesting."
"Yeah." If Yao Niang wanted to explain why she liked Shen Linfeng, it was probably because he was truly handsome like a god, but he was not the kind of person who was superior or self-righteous. He was really like herself and found the little things around him very interesting.
The two of them ordered a large table of dishes. Shen Linfeng specially ordered wolfberry stewed chicken for Yao Niang. He was also worried that the dishes in the restaurant were not clean, so he asked for hot water to wash them for her again.
Drinking a bowl of hot soup in late autumn makes my heart warm. Chunfeng Manyue Tower is indeed the largest building in Beijing, with all kinds of fresh dishes, some of which I have never eaten at home.
This drunken fish dish is better than the fish cooked at home, and it doesn't have that strong smell of wine. Instead, it has a fermented aroma, which gives it a unique flavor.
"You eat too." Seeing that he only fed himself, Yao Niang also served him a bowl of soup.
Shen Linfeng shook his head: "I'm fine."
As the two were eating, they saw someone dancing in the hall. Yao Niang watched intently. She felt like a little monkey in the mountains. Now she came out to see everything that was new and exciting.
As soon as Shen Linfeng saw her expression, he knew that she must have been pushed too hard at home. Her mother-in-law status was not legitimate after all. He had rarely seen her in the social scene before. She was obviously more talented than her second sister, but she had no fame. He would take her out to play more often when he had time in the future. Seeing her happy would make him happy too.
The couple had dinner here. Shen Linfeng saw that it was getting late. Considering that they had been intimate for a long time yesterday and his wife was having her period again today, he had to keep warm and go back to rest early.
However, he didn't expect to meet Zhou Lingguang when he went downstairs. Shen Linfeng nodded to him slightly before taking Yao Niang back.
Zhou Lingguang looked at Shen Linfeng's high-spirited look and thought that if his father had not been framed, he would be like Shen Linfeng. Unfortunately, there is no if, Shen Zongxian has already resigned, which can be regarded as a lesson. It is said that the incident of his father was reported to the Taiwan Censorate by the current Shen Jijiu, who collected evidence. The Taiwan Censorate, that is, Shen Yushi, presented it to the Taiwan Censorate, which caused the disaster.
After lying dormant for so many years, Zhou Lingguang certainly knew that he did not have the capital, and if he acted rashly, he would fail miserably.
My elder brother was exiled in place of my father, but he couldn't bear it and has passed away. My father also passed away two years ago. The prosperous Zhou family almost ceased to exist, and even my nephew died of an illness because he had no money to treat it.
He must pass the imperial examinations repeatedly so that he can avenge the Zhou family.
Before that, he had to stay calm and wait until he passed the imperial examination before looking for a good in-law family, because he found that people don't have to be too rigid. After seeing this Miss Yan married Shen Linfeng, they were so affectionate and didn't feel sorry for their elder sister at all. Not to mention Shen Linfeng, since he was going to marry a lady from the Yan family, it seemed that any one would do.
In life, there is always gain in loss. When he was in the Yan family, he lived there for several years but was looked down upon. It seemed that no one mentioned that Yan Yingqi was actually their father's disciple. They all thought of him as a poor beggar.
**
Yao Niang had been having a hard time for seven days, and after all the troubles, she felt much better. After Shen Linfeng came back, he personally visited Yan Mai and others, and learned that Li Shilang was going to move to Luoyang because of his unsuccessful career, so he sent a gift to him.
This incident also made Yao Niang feel that the so-called marriage, after all, cannot be based entirely on family background and official position. Look at the Li family. At the time of the marriage, the minister was still the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Now Minister Li was reported and left the capital in disgrace. My brother is still nothing, and the Li family hoped to get a noble son-in-law, but my brother was exiled.
The mountains that were once numerous will eventually become flat. Nothing is constant. Only by relying on yourself can you carve out your own world.
In the autumn, the farm that came with her as a dowry sent her a lot of fruit and grain, as well as many free-range chickens and a few pigs raised on the farm.
Yao Niang couldn't finish all of it, so she discussed with Shen Linfeng: "Should I open a grocery store and sell these there?"
Shen Linfeng was drinking water, and almost coughed up the water after hearing this: "Madam, cough, cough, your idea is very good, but have you ever thought about the fact that your farm does not produce much, and the grain and oil store not only sells one kind of rice, but you also have to hire a shopkeeper who is proficient in these. If you just want to deal with the excess, you might as well store it in some stores and sell it."
"So do you also consign the leftovers to the store?" Yao Niang asked.
Shen Linfeng waved his hand and said, "There are hundreds of people in our family. Sometimes we can barely feed ourselves. If there is any extra food, I will store it so that we won't have nothing to eat in the disaster year."
In fact, Yao Niang hasn't thought about these things. She thought that if the rice is stored, people will have to move it around, so it is better to stockpile it. She has never thought about what to do in a year of disaster.
"Then I'll stockpile them too. If we're not in the capital anymore, I'll sell them." Yao Niang said.
Shen Linfeng nodded: "Okay."
Yao Niang looked at Shen Linfeng with admiration: "You really know a lot, but there are so many things I don't understand."
Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "That's nothing. I can't be idle and not know the difference between grains."
"But you really know a lot." He also taught her. Yao Niang got married at a very young age, and had to figure out many things on her own. Shen Linfeng often gave her advice and would talk to her no matter how busy he was. Yao Niang became more and more dependent on him.
Shen Linfeng thought that since he was a man, he should protect his wife.
In the evening, the two of them were intimate. Yao Niang remembered that firewood, rice and flour were expensive in winter, so she wanted to discuss with Shen Linfeng to buy some first. The adults were not here this year, but Yao Niang, as the eldest wife, had to invite relatives and friends to come over for dinner and wine.
Shen Linfeng propped up his head and listened for a long time, then buried his head in the pillow: "My wife, I'm sleepy and want to sleep."
Yao Niang laughed. She had forgotten that her husband had to fall asleep at a certain time, so she couldn't help but smiled and said, "Go to sleep."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Linfeng fell asleep.
The next day, Shen Linjiang went to Shen Linfeng's house to make peace and apologize for what happened a few months ago: "She was pregnant and didn't know the rules at the time, so she offended my sister-in-law. Dalang, this is our fault. My husband and I have also prepared a small gift to ask for your forgiveness."
Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "It's just a small matter, why worry about it? Second brother even brought a gift, isn't that a separation between my husband and me? My wife is a broad-minded person, she never cares about these things."
In fact, in Shen Linfeng's opinion, Yao Niang was setting the rules, not targeting others, not to mention he was there at the time, why didn't she include him? Why did it seem like only his wife was targeting him on purpose? Doesn't this mean that his wife is petty?
Shen Linjiang naturally knew that when giving something to others, no matter what, if others accepted your gift, it meant that they were sincere in making peace with you. If they refused to accept it, it meant that they were unforgiving. He always felt that Shen Linfeng was a little different from before. In the past, Shen Linfeng was like a picture hanging on the wall. Everyone knew that he was unrestrained, good at riding and shooting, and knowledgeable in music, like a heartless child. These subtle feelings were almost absent. Now it feels different.
There was actually some sharpness and calculation in his words and actions; he could even hear that Shen Linfeng was protecting the Yan family.
But Shen Linjiang was more cautious: "If you don't accept it, your sister-in-law will definitely blame me. Besides, your sister-in-law was not feeling well last time, and your brother-in-law also sent her a lot of supplements. It is normal for relatives to interact with each other. If you don't accept it, you will be expressing resentment towards my husband and me."
Seeing that Shen Linjiang said that he was resentful and not talking about Yao Niang, Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "Since Second Cousin has said so, it would be unkind of me not to accept it. Let's talk about this today and don't mention it again in the future."
Shen Linjiang also breathed a sigh of relief, and then said that he had to take care of the Shao family, and went back first.
Here, Shen Linfeng waited for him to leave before he took a box and handed it to Yao Niang. It turned out that Shen Linfeng saw that Yao Niang was really afraid of having children, so he asked his friend to buy these contraceptives. They soaked them all day and could only be used at night. In this way, the two of them were comfortable and did not have to suffer the pain of childbirth now. Shen Linfeng also felt that Yao Niang and himself were in crisis now. The person behind them had not been found out yet, and they were really inseparable now.
Seeing the box, Yao Niang couldn't help but smile: "I can't handle it anymore."
"If we can't handle it, then we don't need to do it. Go to bed early."
"That won't do."
…
This year is the first time that Yao Niang is in charge of the family. She also has to prepare sacrificial items, such as how to store the latest glutinous rice and what to do. She wrote all these down on paper.
This is the daily life of the mistresses, very trivial and ordinary, and the death of my grandfather's subordinate Xu Han was finally judged as suicide. This Xu Yuanwai had always followed my grandfather, but those people were holding his son hostage. He was unwilling to betray my grandfather, and he didn't want those people to really harm his son, so he deliberately committed suicide when the lobbyists left.
Yao Niang then realized that Shen Linfeng had once told her that drastic reforms were actually very difficult. This also sounded a wake-up call for her when investigating the affairs of the second house. If she was not absolutely sure, she would harm innocent people instead.
She just didn't believe that the second house would never make any mistakes. She and Shen Linfeng were both alert and knew that they would find clues sooner or later.
Mrs. Shen II was still unaware of this, and was waiting to see a joke. Mrs. Shen went back to her hometown this year, and the first wife still had to take charge of the sacrifices, which was not easy.
As for the third wife, Lu Shan'er had come up with a lot of ways to save money, but unfortunately the first wife of the Shen family was going to give out porridge, and the third wife's grandmother Qing couldn't help but say, "Third Madam, in the past, it was always the eldest aunt who gave out porridge and medicine on behalf of the three families. This year, the first wife set up a porridge stall on her own, and the sign was also the Shen Bianxiu Mansion. So should our family also give out porridge or medicine on their own?"
Lu Shaner frowned: "What did the second wife say?"
"The second wife hasn't said anything yet. Madam, do you want to discuss this with the second aunt?" asked Grandma Qingda.
Lu Shaner said, "We have to ask Second Sister-in-law for her opinion first. If she agrees, we can do it together."
Madam Shen Er was willing to go with them, but she had a request: "We have set up several porridge stalls, one of which should be managed by Qingge's daughter-in-law. If you stay with us, you can get to know more wives of officials, which will be a good thing for you."
"Okay." Lu Shaner agreed.
Even though they were distributing porridge together, the amount of food requested by Second Madam Shen was quite a lot, 50 dan of rice and 200 bags of flour. I heard that this was still not enough.
Therefore, Lu Shaner went to Yao Niang to inquire.
Yao Niang was in charge of the internal accounts, while Shen Linfeng was still in charge of the external accounts. He was the eldest son, and he was also quite knowledgeable about general affairs, especially in business. He could come up with an idea as soon as he thought of it. Last time, he saw Yao Niang looking at the account book, and he gave her a difficult question and deliberately made false accounts, but Yao Niang didn't even notice it.
It is actually very difficult to detect when a true expert is cooking the books. It is easy to find problems in the accounts of the kitchen staff and the housekeepers at home because they only know a few words and are not proficient in the subject.
Shen Linfeng is truly a very professional person. He even regrets that he was not assigned to the Ministry of Revenue but stayed in the Hanlin Academy. He is very arrogant.
So she read the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. Every day Shen Linfeng would give her a few questions. To be honest, she also did some math at home, so how come she didn't realize it was so difficult to learn it in depth?
Just as she was yawning, she heard that Lu Shaner was coming, and Yao Niang stood up to greet her.
Lu Shan'er saw the account books piled in front of Yao Niang. She had also heard that the eldest branch had the most money, otherwise the third branch would not have divided the property at that time. But usually the three branches did not split up and stayed together.
"My nephew's wife, let me be frank. I heard that you have been giving out porridge to the public recently? I wonder how many days you have been doing this and how much porridge rice you have prepared?" Lu Shaner did not beat around the bush and asked directly.
Yao Niang asked back: "But do you also want to give out porridge here?"
She deliberately did not live with the other two wives. She had discovered long ago that no matter how high their careers or how much money those two wives had, the eldest wife would always suffer if she lived with them. So she discussed it with Shen Linfeng and they set up a porridge stall directly, which was located in the residence of Shen Bianxiu. The couple even personally served porridge to the victims.
Lu Shaner said, "Yes, I just got married and don't know how to handle this porridge, so I want to ask for your advice first."
Yao Niang smiled and said, "There are many wealthy families in the capital. To be honest, my master is only a seventh-rank editor. We only provided him with porridge for three days, about three shi a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It was all thick porridge. In addition, we also prepared pickled mustard tuber, steamed buns, and baked cakes. About ten shi for three days."
"Only ten stones?" Lu Shaner suddenly felt that her fifty stones were too much.
Yao Niang smiled and said, "We just have a small porridge stall, and we mainly feed the children and women."
In fact, distributing porridge is also very particular. For example, the location is not suitable for places with mixed groups of people. No one comes to remote villages. It is best to set it up in a temple or in the middle of the road. The stove for cooking porridge should be a brick stove, which is durable and less dusty. But the most important thing is that children are the hardest to maintain order, so usually five people are allowed to take porridge together. As for beggars, they find the beggar leader to organize and not disturb other hungry people.
Not long after the Yan family came to Beijing, Yan often went out, but she would not take Xie and Yao Niang with her. Yao Niang still listened to what Shen Linfeng told her about these things.
Then, they also gave tribute to the Five Cities Military Department to help maintain order. In short, the cost was not small.
But she would not tell others these details.
Lu Shan'er herself had been poor before, so she was naturally willing to give out porridge, but fifty dan was too much. One dan of rice was usually worth one tael, but in the disaster year, one dan in Beijing was worth four or five taels, which meant at least fifteen taels a day, not counting the rest of the noodles and side dishes, which was more than twenty taels a day. They followed Madam Shen and had to give out porridge every day for ten days, so the total cost was two hundred taels.
There is only one month left until the Ramadan, and there are more places where we will need money during the Chinese New Year.
Therefore, Lu Shaner directly said to Madam Shen Er: "You and Zhao Cifu's wife are distributing porridge together, and I am not one to stand in the public eye, so why not I do it myself."
Among her three daughters-in-law, Lu Shaner found that Grandma Qing was not spoiled in her work and was a nice person. She was her right-hand man, unlike Shao who was always spoiled, and Han Ruohua who always shook her head and knew nothing when asked.
Therefore, she called Grandma Qing, who was indeed resourceful, and said to Lu Shaner, "In fact, we don't have to use our own money. I remember that there were several business wives who asked for a visit before but were not seen. Now let them donate some money. Madam, you only need to invite them to sit in the outer hall during the New Year. They will be very willing to do so."
"Is it really so?" Lu Shan'er suddenly felt that this backyard was actually full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, but on the surface everyone seemed to be the same.
Grandma Qingda smiled and said, "If Madam trusts me, I can do it all, and you don't have to spend any money from the family."
Lu Shaner breathed a sigh of relief.
Qingda's grandmother did a great job this time. Yao Niang said in front of Shen Linfeng, "She is indeed a talented person. I heard that she even asked some well-dressed disaster victims to help cook porridge. She did her part and it didn't cost her a penny."
"Do you also want businessmen to donate?" Shen Linfeng asked tentatively, because he felt that Yao Niang had a rather noble character.
Yao Niang said to Shen Linfeng, "I was thinking that this method is a good one if they can come up with it. But as a clean official, you should be more careful about your reputation. We may lose some money, but if they know that we invited the business wives into our house and took their money, how are you going to repay us in the future if we don't know the details?"
Only then did Shen Linfeng smile sincerely: "My wife is the one who understands me."
At the same time, Yao Niang also said: "The third room did not cooperate with the second room. I heard that the relationship between the second aunt and the third room is a bit strained."
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