Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 475 Everything happened by chance
On the Yunqiao at the street entrance,
Zhang Jinyu didn't leave in a hurry. She took the oil paper bag handed over by the vendor and put it in the horse's bag. After putting it away, she looked at the embarrassed old woman and found it quite interesting. If she still couldn't say anything, she asked ,

"Then where are you planning to go?"

"My lord, to tell you the truth, this old woman came from the countryside and wanted to go to Ningrong Street, which seems to be the Duke's Mansion, to find an old acquaintance, get married, and find a fate."

Grandma Liu didn't want to say anything at first, but when the noble man asked, she didn't dare to hide it, so she could only reply vaguely.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Jinyu suddenly raised his head and looked with wide eyes. What a coincidence, Rongguo Mansion, Ban'er, this person's surname is Liu, isn't he the same as Grandma Liu?

Then we came to the city. It seemed that this peasant woman saved Wang Xifeng's daughter Qiao Jie. She was unintentionally kind and received a huge favor.

It seemed that he hadn't found the way yet. Zhang Jinyu, who had just entered the city and wanted to go to Rongguo Mansion, changed his mind and asked,

"So, you are Grandma Liu? The person beside you is Ban'er, a descendant of the Wang family."

Grandma Liu was also surprised when she heard the Marquis ask this. How did the Marquis know? Could it be that they knew each other? She felt a little happy and said hurriedly,

"Back to your noble family, it's true. However, something happened to our ancestors. They moved out of the city and went to the countryside. After that, they moved less. Now we are in trouble. There is not enough rice at home, and the price of rice in the rice shop has risen. The old woman is gone. The solution is to go to the city to get married with a shameless face."

To be honest, Zhang Jinyu also knew that everyone in the capital was scrambling for food. It was really not easy to buy food at this time. Looking at the figures of an old man and a young boy, he said to the soldiers behind him,
"Come here, go to the Chamber of Commerce and send a few stones of food to the old man's home. This is what I said."

The soldiers behind him immediately took orders,

"Yes, Lord Marquis, I will make arrangements right away."

Grandma Liu saw this and expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you for being alive, noble man. Thank you, sir."

"By the way, you can arrange for a carriage to come over and take them to Rongguo Mansion."

"Yes, my lord,"

When Grandma Liu saw this, she didn't know how to thank her. She just said, "Blessed be the noble man."

Zhang Jinyu didn't waste any time and rode away. After crossing Yunqiao, Shen Zhongxin felt emotional inside the carriage and said,

"Master Hou is indeed kind and righteous. He can help even people he has never met. Shen was a little ashamed before."

"You, there is no need to be ashamed. I can save one or two people, no matter how many, but if there are tens of millions of people, it will be beyond my ability. For those hundreds of thousands of refugees earlier, I am even more helpless. If there are people outside the customs, Without the support of the imperial court, it is impossible to accommodate so many people. As the Minister of Household Affairs, you are in charge of the official warehouses of the world. This is a merit that can save countless people's lives. Therefore, I don't want to get involved in this matter, but I can't see you. In vain. Those corrupt officials have suffered unjust injustice."

Zhang Jinyu looked at the haggard-looking Minister Shen in the car. He had been running around for several days and was pitying those corrupt officials who had nothing to do.

Only Shen Zhongxin looked grateful,

"Thank you Lord Marquis for your upright words. Shen Ziyu will remember it in his heart and will never forget it. It's just that the fire in the Jingcang warehouse was caused by a low-level official with little talent and little knowledge. He has no clue and is unable to investigate."

"Ahaha, you are just pedantic."

Zhang Jinyu laughed, and really didn't care about this matter. The reason why corrupt officials are called corrupt officials is naturally because they are greedy for money. Where does the money come from? It's all about power. It's easy to think about it this way.

"Master Shen, think about it. I went to Jingcang today not to investigate the case. I want to confirm whether the guarding officials of the official warehouse are corrupt. If they are really greedy, then these people have long been colluded. I The Hou's ruthless actions will make him feel less guilty. If not, then someone was wrongly accused, and someone was obstructing it, so the handling method is different. As for whether he admits it or not, Mr. Shen, do you think the emperor will care? I think, Your teacher, what you care about is how to make up for the shortfall."

"Ah, this!"

Here, Grandma Liu took Baner with her. After waiting for a while, a guy from the Chamber of Commerce drove a carriage over. The soldier rode on the horse and said,
"Old man, just go there in the carriage, and you can sit there even when you go back. The food is in the carriage. When you get there, don't worry about the man. He will leave on his own."

Grandma Liu thanked her profusely, and then she got into the carriage with Ban'er in her arms. Seeing this, the soldiers caught the horse's belly and chased after the Marquis.

When Zhang Jinyu arrived at Rongguo Mansion, she didn't delay and asked the concierge to come over quickly and bring the things she bought to Lin Daiyu.

"It's understandable that you send these things to Miss Lin's courtyard."

"Yes, Lord Marquis, I understand,"

"Go quickly."

"Yes, Mr. Marquis, the young one will go right away."

The steward nodded in agreement and almost knelt down.

After seeing the people leaving, Zhang Jinyu did not stop, and then led the people to continue running towards Jingcang without interfering with the matters here.

Not long after leaving, Grandma Liu's carriage arrived. She asked the waiter to wait here, and then got off the carriage with the board.

Not far from Rongguo Mansion, there was still a short distance, so I took Ban'er's hand and walked over.When they came to the stone lion at the gate of Rong Mansion, they saw clusters of sedans and horses lined up along the wall. They were obviously from a high-ranking family, so Grandma Liu didn't dare to go there. She dusted off her clothes and taught Ban'er a few lessons. He said a few words, and then walked cautiously to the corner door. He saw a few gesticulating people sitting on big stools, chatting about various things. Although they didn't know each other, they knew they were the people in charge of the concierge.

Grandma Liu had no choice but to walk forward a few steps and asked:
"Thank you for your blessing!"

Everyone looked at her for a while and saw that she was from the countryside. They also understood that a poor relative had come to visit her. Another concierge asked where she came from.

When Grandma Liu saw someone talking, that was it. Just talk, she said with a smile:
"The old woman comes from the countryside, and her ancestors are related to the Wang family. Today I am looking for my wife's roommate, Uncle Zhou. Can any of you please ask him to come out for me?"

When those people heard this, they didn't even pay attention or believe it. The Wang family was a powerful family in the capital. How could they have such a poor relative? They were afraid they didn't believe it, so they didn't pay attention. They talked for a while, but the steward hadn't seen anyone yet. Walk.

Banri Fang said:
"You wait under the corner from a distance. Someone from their family will come out soon."

There are also many old people who have retired from the care of the concierge. One of them is an old man who looks at several young men with some reproach;
"You guys, why are you so arrogant? If she comes, something will happen. Don't miss her. Why bother playing tricks on her?"

Yin sighed helplessly to Grandma Liu and said:
"Don't wait. The uncle Zhou you are looking for has gone south and has his own house. He lives in the area behind the Duke's Mansion. His wife should be at home. If you really want to find him, go around to the back street from here. , just go to the back door and ask."

After hearing this, Grandma Liu really said thank you.

After thanking the old man, he took Ban'er with him and started to walk towards the courtyard wall of Rongguo Mansion. He walked around to the back door and saw a wide alley with people coming and going, so he thought this was where he came.

Looking inside the alley, it was also lively. It turned out that all the adults were inside, as if they were carrying something. Everyone was carrying bags and smiling happily. This was a food distribution. As expected of the Duke's Mansion, it took care of the people. After every cart of food was distributed, Just one car left. Large cars kept leaving from the alley. Looking at the entrance of the alley again,

I saw some business people resting in front of the door, some selling food, some selling toys, and a few tea shops with shacks. They all looked enviously into the alley, surrounded by thirty or twenty small shops. The children were making noisy noises there.

Seeing that there were not many people around, Grandma Liu thought that all the adults had gone to collect food. How wonderful this was. Looking at the children around her, she grabbed an older child who was playing around and asked:
"Hey, let me ask my brother, is there an Aunt Zhou living here in Rongguo Mansion?"

I don’t know whose child is not afraid of birth. When he saw the person, he replied:
"Which Aunt Zhou are you asking about? We have a lot of Aunt Zhou here. They are all from the Duke's residence, and some are older. I wonder which profession they are in?"

Grandma Liu was a little confused after hearing this. After thinking about it for a while, she asked her name and asked:

"There's no one else there. I'm asking about my wife's companion, Zhou Rui."

"It's easy. It's on the back street. Come with me."

As the child spoke, he led Grandma Liu into the back street with a little jump, turned a late turn, and came to the wall of a courtyard. He pointed to Grandma Liu and said:
"Here we are, this is Butler Zhou's yard."

He shouted again:
"Aunt Zhou, there is an old woman who is looking for you, and I brought her here."

After saying that, he stopped talking and ran away in a hurry. Grandma Liu wanted to give him some candied haws as a thank you, but she didn’t know that before she took it out, the little brother left. She wanted to catch up. At this time, the concierge behind him opened, and housekeeper Zhou's wife came out. Looking at the new and familiar person, she asked,
"Who are you?"

Grandma Liu clapped her hands and shouted,
"How nice of you, Sister-in-law Zhou!"

The mother-in-law of Zhou Rui's family looked at it carefully and looked at it for a long time. Then she remembered who it was and said with a smile:

"Who do I think you are? It turns out to be Grandma Liu! Tell me, over the years, I have forgotten your appearance. Come and sit at home."

The mother-in-law of Zhou Rui's family did not refuse Grandma Liu and let her into the house. Grandma Liu opened the door and followed her in, smiling as she walked.

"Hey, you are a noble and forgetful about things. Now that you have entered a wealthy family, how can you still remember us?"

"Looking at what you said, why don't you recognize me when you come?"

As he spoke, he came to the room.

The wife of Zhou Rui's family ordered the little girl she hired to pour tea and brought some pastries over for Ban'er to eat. She looked at the child and asked a few questions about the child. Anyway, they just chatted a lot. .

Seeing that Grandma Liu had no intention of leaving, Mrs. Zhou knew that there must be difficulties.

"Grandma Liu, may I ask, are you still passing by today, or are you here specially?"

When Grandma Liu saw that Mrs. Zhou finally asked about this matter, she did not hide it and said,

"I came here today specifically to see you, sister-in-law. Secondly, I would also like to say hello to my aunt. It would be better if you could let me meet you. If not, I would like to pay my respects to my sister-in-law. I have been thinking about it for many years. I come here to express my gratitude to the head of the royal family for your kindness.”

After hearing this, the wife of Zhou Rui's family looked at Grandma Liu's face and already guessed the purpose of her visit.

This matter is easy to say, because her husband Zhou Rui had a quarrel with others over the purchase of land in the past, in which Gou'er's father and that boy secretly contributed. Seeing Grandma Liu come here like this, there must be something wrong. Yes, it was difficult in my heart but I couldn't bear to refuse. Secondly, I also had to show my dignity, so that my family could keep their word.

I have a plan in mind!

(End of this chapter)