I go to the ancient imperial examinations

Chapter 231 Mrs. Wu

Wu House.

"Ma'am, the master is back." The eldest servant girl said in a low voice, her eyes quickly swept across the dressing table, the whole body of the jade bracelet was green, and the salt merchant Jin's family was really generous.

"It's so early today?" Mrs. Wu smiled brightly, and quickly put the bracelet on her wrist. The snow-white skin and the green bracelet really complemented each other beautifully.

The maid restrained her thoughts and straightened the skirt for Mrs. Wu, "The people who went to Liu's house to express their condolences have left Huai'an mansion one after another, and if you want to come, the master can take a rest."

Hearing the sound of footsteps outside the door, Mrs. Wu stepped forward to greet her, with a warm smile on her delicately made-up face, "Master, it's hot, please go inside to cool off, Lian'er, go to the kitchen and bring a bowl of white fungus soup."

Wu Tongzhi let his wife wait on him. He took off his official boots and washed his face. Only then did he feel refreshed. "Madam is in a good mood."

When Lian Er brought the chilled white fungus soup, Mrs. Wu waved her away, and then said in a low voice; "Master, the old lady from the seventh room of the Liu family came over this morning, and besides the eight gifts, she also gave me an extra gift. A silver ticket of 1000 taels."

Needless to say, the direct line of the Liu family, Mrs. Wu would not dare to put on airs as an official wife, and the collateral line also depends on whether it is useful in the Liu family, otherwise Mrs. Wu would not even see her.

"Being courteous, people must ask for something. What does Mrs. Liu want to do?" Wu Tongzhi put down the spoon, his long and narrow eyes gleamed with greed. If it wasn't for a major event, Wu Tongzhi would definitely be beautiful as an adult.

Mrs. Wu did not expect that not only did she help Jin Baozhen get a valuable green jade bracelet, but Mrs. Liu also came to her door. It happened to be the same person, and the deal was a good one.

"It's no big deal. Mrs. Liu's eldest grandson is not smart. I heard that he fell in love with a maid, but the master of the maid is a strong one. He doesn't even give the Liu family face. Old lady Liu is not good at the Liu family. During the funeral, there were a lot of people who did not leave the Huai’an mansion, so I asked the master to help me find a way to get that maid over.”

Madam Wu would still think about it if she wanted to rob people's daughters by force, but since the Liu family has taken a fancy to a maid who sold herself into slavery, it's not a big deal if she has her own help.

Hearing that it was a maid, Wu Tongzhi didn't bother to ask, and patted Mrs. Wu's hand, "It's not convenient for me to contact the Liu family, so I will trouble Mrs. Wu."

The prefect of Chu has always been very cautious in this regard, and has never had any contacts with merchants. This has also caused the officials of the Huai'an government to be fair and honest on the surface, but in private, they all know it well.

"The master is still being polite to me." Mrs. Wu giggled, and the atmosphere in the boudoir was harmonious for a while.

1000 taels of silver can still make Liu's Qifang owe a favor. What Wu Tongzhi is most satisfied with is Mrs. Wu's ability. Even if liking gold and silver seems a bit vulgar, she will judge the situation.
Occasionally, Wu Tongzhi helped to deal with the aftermath if there was something incomprehensible. In the future, if the incident happened, they would not be able to find out the fault of the couple. Three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflakes in silver.

On the other side, Chu Mansion.

Unlike Mrs. Wu who was capable and shrewd, Mrs. Chu was a sick beauty. It was only autumn, and Wu Tongzhi wanted to drink iced white fungus soup to get rid of the heat. Mrs. Chu had already changed into autumn clothes, but even so her hands were still cold.

"Master, don't worry, I have a cold body, and it will be like this as soon as autumn comes." Madam Chu leaned on the beauty's couch, her face was pale but she smiled peacefully and beautifully.

Holding Mrs. Chu's cold but soft hands tightly, the prefect of Chu took advantage of the opportunity and sat down on the edge of the beauty's couch, "The affairs of the Liu family have come to an end. In a few days, I will accompany my wife to Qingxia Valley."

Every autumn in Qingxia Valley, the forests are fully dyed and colorful, and there is water in the valley, which pours down from the mountainside to the deep pool at the bottom of the valley.

It is rumored that when the weather is fine, the sunset glow from the sky is reflected in the pond, which may be the reason why the pond water is green, but the glow in the water is blue, reflecting golden light faintly, which is so beautiful that it is named Qingxia Valley.

"By the way, Mrs. Wei sent a greeting card yesterday." Mrs. Chu raised her eyebrows and looked at the prefect of Chu with anger and anger.

Mrs. Wei was born in the Jin family of salt merchants. The reason why she was able to marry Deputy Wei Qianhu was to fill in the house. The two children of the Wei family are now in the army. The name Mrs. Wei is actually not very useful, otherwise she would not Hui brought his nephew and niece to Huai'an Mansion.

"I'll take a rest in three days and let the Jin family visit the mansion." The prefect of Chu patted Madam Chu's hand comfortingly. Whether the family can achieve satisfactory results is another matter.

Mrs. Chu withdrew her hand and straightened the broken hair around her ears. She was over thirty, but she still had the beautiful eyebrows Chunshan and Qiushui cut the pupils. It's time to talk about marriage."

"Could it be that the Jin family is still interested in Chen'er?" Chu Zhifu sat up straight, and a coldness flashed across his handsome face.

Mrs. Chu is in poor health, so the two only have their only son, Chu Weichen, who is sixteen years old and is studying in the academy. Mrs. Chu specifically mentioned Jin Baozhen. I was wrong.

Master Jin is a shrewd master. His younger sister was able to marry Deputy Wei Qianhu because she was going to fill in a house.

The prefect of Chu was stunned for a moment, met Madam Chu's eyes full of smiles, and helplessly scratched her pale cheek, "When I proposed to Lord Taishan that day, I promised to be a couple for the rest of my life. With Chen'er, even if she has only one daughter like Zhang Chengli, she will never forget her promise as a husband."

Before leaving the court, Mrs. Chu and Mrs. Kong also met each other. Although they didn't have much contact with each other, they were both daughters of a scholarly family and had similar temperaments. put.

The two hadn't been in contact these years, but they knew a little bit about each other from their own husbands. Compared with the Kong family, Mrs. Chu was most fortunate in that she gave birth to a son. .

Mrs. Chu didn't mention Jin Baozhen because she was jealous, after all her son was about to get married, so how could she pay attention to the daughter of a merchant's family, she just let the prefect of Chu know about it.

There are endless ways for women in the back house, especially merchants, who behave the most unruly, and they may even do something like throwing themselves into their arms after drugging.

"By the way, it's not that Gu Xueshi's young disciple has arrived in Huai'an Mansion." Mrs. Chu's eyes brightened when she mentioned Zhan Feiyu.

If it wasn't for her weak health, why would Mrs. Chu not want to study for the imperial examination? It's not for fame and fortune, but just to let the world know that women don't have to stay in the back house, and they can do a lot.

Thinking of Zhang Changsong and Qiu Dingsi who were leaving, the prefect of Chu could only say, "Zhan Feiyu has already left Huai'an Mansion. She came to Liu's house to express her condolences just to pay back a favor. She is here for a study tour."

For people like Liu Hefeng, Zhan Feiyu was able to go to the mourning hall to burn incense sticks because the dead were the greatest.

Mrs. Chu's face was full of disappointment. It's a pity that she still wanted to meet that little girl, the little Sanyuan from Nanxuan Mansion, who was only nine years old, and Chen'er was only 14 years old when she got the honor of a scholar, and she was only No.3 in the college examination.

The prefect of Chu comforted Mrs. Chu again, but neither of them thought that Zhan Feiyu did not leave, but stayed in the prison of Huai'an Mansion.

Fortunately, Ma Laotou and the others are also smart. Apart from not daring to let people go, the dishes for three meals a day are not the same, and they can buy what they need, and Zhan Feiyu is also generous with money.

"Wanbi Sangrou, who is in the next week, picks up his Liu, and saves the people..." The clear and clear voice of reading echoed in the cell.

Zhan Feiyu's cell is in the innermost cell on the left side of the prison, and the front cells are all empty, otherwise she would get up early to read in the morning and write with candles late at night, and the cellmates would probably protest.

"Ma Tou, this girl is really hardworking in her studies. I heard from Wang Er that it was too late last night. This girl hasn't turned off the lights yet, and she is sitting there writing." The jailer was carrying an empty food box, his face full of admiration.

Although they were low-level officials in the government, they still respected scholars in their bones. Of course, Zhan Feiyu was generous, and the jailers made a lot of money in the past few days.

"Okay, keep your mouth tight. You can buy what this girl wants in person. Don't let Wang Er and the others come over, but the money must be shared equally." Ma Laotou, since he saw He Nuan pinching the silver ingot into a ball, has been thinking this way. He was hanging in his heart, worried that people would talk too much, so he arranged for his confidant Liao Xiaodong to be in charge of Zhan Feiyu's affairs.

Although Liao Xiaodong was reluctant to part with the money, he listened to Ma Laotou's words the most, "Matou, don't worry, I know what to do."

Nodding, Ma Laotou listened to the clear recitation, and said in a low voice: "I won't harm you, don't lose your life for money, Wang Er and the others, I will go over and warn them again, if there are prisoners in the past few days Put them all in the cell on the right."

Fish have fish ways and shrimp have shrimp ways. Although the jailers are greedy for money, they will occasionally vent their anger on prisoners and do some things like extorting money. Dare to offend in the slightest.

Not to mention that this little girl spends money like running water, the key is to study hard every day, she must be a daughter of some noble family, let alone them, probably even the prefect of Chu can't afford to offend her.

The head of the prison here just walked out of the cell when he heard the little official say, "You mean people from the Liu family? All right, I'll go over and have a look."

Outside the side door, an old man with the appearance of a housekeeper was standing in the shadow and waiting. The sun had already set, and no one usually came to the alley on the side of the government office cell, so he was not worried about being seen.

"Master Ma." Hearing the footsteps, the old butler raised his eyes, then walked over, clapped his hands and politely, and then explained the purpose of his visit.

"To tell you the truth, my young master has been making a lot of trouble these days, and it just so happens that the maid is very similar to the girl who died next to the young master back then. The old lady is suddenly ill, so this old man has the cheek to let Master Ma do it for him. "

The prefect of Chu and Wu Tongzhi didn't know much about the seventh house of the Liu family. Even if the Liu family was an imperial merchant, only the direct descendants could talk to the government. Fortunately, the surname is Liu, otherwise even Ma Laotou wouldn't bother to pay attention, one is an official and the other is a businessman.

The figure of He Nuan appeared in Ma Laotou's mind. He glanced at the old housekeeper who took out the 50 taels of silver note. Maid, a real Lianjiazi.

Don’t want the money delivered to you for nothing, it’s 50 taels, the Liu family is really rich, Ma Laotou took the bank note and laughed, “Let me ask one more question, how does my brother know that the maid is locked in prison?”

If the jailer under his hand slipped his mouth... the head of the prison had a sharp flash in his eyes.

The old butler didn't know what Ma Laotou was thinking, so he didn't need to hide it, "Yesterday, the salt merchant Jin's family came to visit at home, and this happened to be the time to talk about this with my old lady."

Mrs. Liu's second daughter-in-law's eldest sister's brother-in-law is brother-in-law of the Jin family. Although the relationship is a bit tight, they can eventually get along.

If it was Mr. Jin who came, of course the head of the Liu family would receive him, but the only ones who came were the married daughter of the Jin family and two juniors. This would make Mrs. Liu come forward, after all, they were related.

It's not the news leaked by those little bastards. The smile on Ma Laotou's face deepened a little, but he spoke in an official tone, "Although she is a maid, the contract of sale is still in the hands of her master. If the old lady is not so anxious, I'm going to check it out tonight, if it doesn't work bro, you can come up with a solution, my old horse is just a prison boss and I don't have much ability."

The old butler was very disdainful of the prison boss who took the money but did nothing. But as the old saying goes, the yamen opens to the south, so don't come in if you have a reason and no money. If you enter the yamen, you have to spend money.

"Then please trouble Master Ma. My old lady will thank you very much after the matter is completed." The old housekeeper did not urge him, and left after some politeness.

Ma Laotou is greedy for money but also seeks stability. The prefect of Chu doesn't care about being elegant and dignified, but acts swiftly and decisively when he can solve the case. None of the officials in the Huai'an government government dare to be greedy for money. As for privately, the prefect of Chu will turn a blind eye Close your eyes.

In the prison, Liao Xiaodong hurriedly put down the bowl and chopsticks, and greeted him with a swipe of his mouth, "Ma Tou, why are you back again?"

"Go and eat your meal, keep an eye on it, someone let me in." The prisoner left a sentence and strode inside, turned a corner and walked through a few empty cells before arriving at Zhan Feiyu in front of the cell.

After half an hour.

Hearing Ma Laotou's words, Zhan Feiyu laughed, his fleshy cheeks puffed up because of laughing, at first glance she looked like a cute little girl, "Thank you for letting me know, Ma Laotou accepts money, if someone from the Liu family comes , Let them come in, with the cell door on the left and right, safe."

Without this cell door, not to mention the two guards in the opposite cell, but this maid is also a ruthless character, if the Liu family dares to do something, they can only enter vertically and exit horizontally.

"Girl, don't you need to report back to Master Chu?" Ma Laotou asked tentatively.

Although this matter was ordered by Madam Wu, the prefect of Huai'an is still in power after all, and Ma Laotou thought that he should not offend Wu Tongzhi.

But now that the Liu family has intervened, Ma Laotou would rather offend Wu Tongzhi than tell the prefect of Chu about the matter, otherwise there will be a big trouble, and if he is charged with not reporting what he knew, he will definitely not be able to eat and walk around.

"Your Excellency Chu is busy with official duties and has a lot of time to deal with, so you don't have to bother him with such trivial matters." Zhan Feiyu waved his hands with a smile, looked at Ma Laotou, who still didn't give up, and said meaningfully: "I promise that the prefect of Chu will not Investigate, Ma Laotou and relax."

"Young one understands, and the young one will definitely not talk too much." Ma Laotou smiled wryly. It seems that this girl deliberately wanted to hide the truth from Mr. Chu. Everyone has been locked in for a few days, and Ma Laotou can only walk to the dark all the way. .

(End of this chapter)