Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 196 Going North

In the carriage, Li Weijian and Wang Fang looked at each other.

This was the first time in Li Weijian's life that he had seen someone blocking the road to complain. Looking at Wang Fang's situation, it was probably the first time in his life. Li Weijian was happy. Then he thought about it, that's not right. Although he had the royal flag, he had never shown it. How did the little brother outside know about it?

A soldier from the Forbidden Army had already stepped forward to stop the man. Wang Fang blinked and said awkwardly: "Master Li, this is not far from the Yinchasi Yamen. Maybe the civilian stopped the wrong carriage? I will send him away later." ”

Wang Fang stood up and was about to get out of the car. At this time, Wu Haining had already turned around and was talking to the man: "Did you stop the wrong carriage? My master is an official of the inner government and has no control over the illegal affairs of the people."

The young man was startled, and then he raised his feet and raised the paper and said, "Sir, the common people have been wronged! Shunhe Bank owes the common people 6,000 taels for goods, but they claim that the barbarian merchants have breached the contract and refuse to pay the common people. Please forgive me." It’s the people who make the decision!”

Li Weijian knew the general idea as soon as he heard it. It was probably another cross-border lawsuit. Today, there are four major bank checkpoints in Dashunnan, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Songjiang, and Mingzhou, with an annual tariff of about one million taels.

The customs duties in Dashun are variable, ranging from 40% to 10%. When foreign merchants come to trade in Dashun, they must pay taxes in advance.

What to do if you have no money? Go find a dental store as a guarantee! If something goes wrong, Chaoguan will ask Yahang to pay the money. Communication capabilities these days are calculated based on the year, and it is inconvenient to travel between the East and the West. If there are really barbarian merchants cheating, it will inevitably drag down a dental shop to close down.

Shunhe Shop is one of the eight major dental shops in Guangzhou. According to this person, it should be that the foreign merchants broke the contract and the dental shop was fined and confiscated, which led to the default in payment to the supplier?

Although he knew it in his heart, Li Weijian was too lazy to intervene. He was doing the sugar business, and he really couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.

At this time, Wang Fang had already gone down, walked to the little brother and persuaded him: "This little brother, this is the carriage of the inner government. You have reported to the wrong place. Follow the instructions and go north."

It’s so easy to meet someone who speaks kindly, so how can I give up? He just begged again and again: "Please have mercy on me, the common people really have no way to ask for help. Besides, the inner government has the responsibility of supervising the banknote..."

This is true. Chaoguan is not affiliated with the local government, but is considered a branch of the Ministry of Household Affairs. During the reign of Emperor Taishang, corruption and fraud continued in the four major bank offices in the southeast. After Jinshang ascended the throne, he learned from the painful experience and dispatched inner government supervision on the basis of the original supervisory censor.

And the Eight Great Dental Stores are registered at Chaoguan. Logically speaking, the inner government can really control Shunhe Bank.

Wang Fang was annoyed and said: "You little brother, why don't you listen to my good advice? That's all, send him away. Don't block the carriage of the master."

Two imperial soldiers came forward and dragged the young man to the side. Seeing Wang Fang returning to the carriage, the young man became anxious and shouted: "Xiaomin's ancestor is Ziweishe, and the big house in Xiaomin's family is still an imperial merchant. We are from the same family as the inner government!"

The carriage just started and then stopped. A young and handsome face leaned out of the window, glanced at the little brother up and down, and said, "Is your surname Xue?"

The younger brother was overjoyed and shouted: "Come back to me, my lord, I am a humble citizen."

Li Weijian nodded slightly, whispered a few words to Wang Fang in the car, then turned around and ordered: "Haining."

"master!"

"Put a name card with him."

Wu Haining smiled and took out a name card from his sleeve, handed it to Xue Biao and said: "This young man is really lucky. My master has never been nosy, I don't know why he did it this time."

Xue Biao reluctantly took the name card and heard Li Weijian say: "It's late tonight. Come to the post office early tomorrow morning. I'll ask carefully and see if I can make a decision for you."

Xue Biao was immediately overjoyed, clasping his fists and bowing his head: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"

Li Weijian ignored Xue Biao, the carriage turned into the inner square, and arrived at the post house in a blink of an eye. Li Weijian saw a rice noodle stall nearby, so he called for two portions, said goodbye to Wang Fang, and then went to look for himself in the small courtyard at the back.

Just after entering the courtyard, I heard shouts from the main room: "Where to go, look at the thorns!"

By the light of the candle, I saw a fit figure dancing and moving, with the Emei thorns spitting out back and forth in his hand. Li Weijian stepped inside and said with a smile, "Why are you still practicing?"

"master?"

Xiu Ying flicked her eyebrows, leaving behind a dark shadow, then she stared with lingering fear and said: "Sir, this cockroach in Guangzhou has become a sperm. Look, it is almost as big as a thumb!"

Li Weijian suddenly frowned. Is there an invasive species now? Cockroaches of this size are all native to the Americas and are not found in Dashun. Maybe Jinling is far away, and there have never been such big cockroaches in a while.

Unexpectedly, I saw it as soon as I arrived in Guangzhou. It would be useless to mention species invasion to the saint at this time. Li Weijian stepped forward and kicked the wriggling cockroach out of the door, pretending to be out of sight and out of mind.

Xiu Ying dropped her Emei thorn and said, "There's more. I went down to eat today and saw a mouse as big as an arm coming out of the kitchen. It was so scary!" After a pause, she added, "It's really true. Weird, everything in Guangzhou is one size larger, but strangers are one size smaller. My stature is considered short in the capital, but here I am considered average."

Li Weijian Shishi sat down, and Xiu Ying came over to rub his neck. Li Weijian closed his eyes and enjoyed it and said: "Maybe the soil and water support a person." After a pause, he said again: "Xiu Ying arrived in the capital, and she can't say that she has recovered her stature. Where’s the president?”

Xiu Ying immediately beamed and said, "With the Lord's blessing, I don't ask for anything else, I just want to be taller than Qingwen."

Among the women around Li Weijian, Fu Qiufang was well-proportioned, Hongyu and Xiangling had slim figures, and looked half a head taller than Qingwen and Xiuying.

Xiuying was fed up with talking to people with her head raised all day long, so she longed to grow taller.

After a while, the postman brought in two portions of rice noodles. The two of them took a bite and then washed up and went to bed. Xiu Ying regained her energy today and suddenly became bored and dishonest.

Li Weijian certainly knew what Xiu Ying was thinking. He had been on the road for more than ten days, how could he endure it now? He immediately used his hands and mouth together, and in a moment he and Xiu Ying rolled into a ball.

It's late at night and people are quiet, but Xiu Ying is so happy that she can't help it. She wakes up and returns to unconsciousness. She throws it away several times, and it's as silky as spring silkworms, as if she's drunk. Afterwards, without asking for help, Li Weijian took away his magical powers, washed themselves and fell asleep hugging each other.

Turning around, maybe he worked too hard yesterday, and Li Weijian didn't get up until three o'clock in the morning. After washing up and arriving at the post house, Xue Biao hurriedly came to greet him.

"grown ups--"

Li Weijian nodded slightly and said, "Does Brother Xue have a cousin?"

Xue Biao was flattered and hurriedly held his hands and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, I'll fight with you in words below."

"Wen Dou? Tadou Dou Bird Trace? That's a good word."

Li Weijian smiled and invited Xue Biao to sit down. Seeing that he was still trembling, he thought for a moment and realized that Xue Biao still didn't know who he was at this time.

Thinking about it, I have just dealt with the eldest house of the Xue family this year. The eldest house and the second house are not close to each other. Aunt Xue and Baochai will definitely hide it from the second house because of their royal business background, so how can they be in the house? Mention yourself in your correspondence?

Yesterday, I heard that this young man claimed to be Xue Biao. Li Weijian unexpectedly came to Guangzhou and met the characters in the Red Mansion. I vaguely remember that in the TV series, this Xue Biao is still a good person? He was wondering why Xue Biao came to Guangzhou now, so Li Weijian gave him a famous invitation.

The postman served him refreshments. Seeing his embarrassment, Li Weijian smiled and said, "I don't know what I am doing when Wen Dou wants to come."

"This... brat is so abrupt. I really don't know. I only know that your Excellency is the doctor of the Kuaiji Division of the Inner Palace."

"Oh, speaking of which, I have a connection with your Xue family."

"Oh? Please give me some advice, sir."

Li Weijian looked at Xue Biao in front of him and saw that he should be younger than himself, but he was quite experienced in speaking and doing things, and his face was somewhat similar to Baochai. If the girls in the Rongguo Mansion saw it and decided that Xue Pan was Baochai's brother, then Xue Pan must have been picked up later.

Li Weijian said: "My cousin married into Rongguo Mansion and is now the eldest grandma of Rongguo Mansion."

"Ah?"

"More than that, I've met before? I went to Beijing last year to take the exam, and happened to save your aunt's family on the way."

Just as Xue Biao was about to hand over his hand and say thank you, Li Weijian changed his subject and said: "Turn around, Xue Wenlong started to rise up in Longyang, and he started to have discord with me."

"Uh-" Xue Biao said seriously: "I don't know, sir, but this boy is the second member of the Xue family and doesn't have much contact with the eldest member."

Li Weijian laughed suddenly: "Hahaha, yes, yes. That's all, I won't tease you anymore. Please tell me what kind of lawsuit it is. If you can help, I will help you."

"Yes. Sir, please—"

Xue Biao spoke briefly and explained the underlying reasons. But it is said that Baochai's second uncle, Xue Biao's father, was a merchant, and he traveled all over the world, reaching as far as the West Sea. What is the West Sea? According to today's parlance, it is the west coast of the Indian Ocean.

In fact, the second wife of the Xue family makes a living through re-exporting. When foreign merchants came and went, when the ship arrived at the port, they first found Yahang as a guarantee, and Yahang came forward to pay the customs duties, and then sold the goods on the ship on the spot. At the same time, the Yahang civilized barbarian merchants needed it and recruited merchants to buy from all over the world.

The father of Xue Biao is one of the buyers who relies on the Eight Great Tooth Shop to make a living. Last year, Xue Biao's father was entrusted by a dental shop to purchase a batch of Shu brocade and shipped it to Guangzhou. He was supposed to pay for the purchase together with the barbarian merchants when they returned in September. However, misfortune may come, and the ship sank in the Indian Ocean. Got it!

Shunhe acted as a guarantee, not only paid the customs duties in advance, but also advanced the purchase funds. In September, buyers from all over the country came to our door one after another, so Shunhe Bank had to pay according to the price.

During that time, Xue Biao's father's funeral had just been held, his sister Bao Qin was young, and his mother was too sad and couldn't afford to fall ill. Xue Biao had to press his schedule and take care of his mother at home. It was not until the new year that his mother's condition improved and his sister Bao Qin repeatedly persuaded Xue Biao to come to Guangzhou to ask for payment.

However, Shun Hexing's vitality was greatly damaged. Seeing that Xue Biao was young and weak, he began to think of cheating. After his father died, there was a lawsuit. Xue Biao begged everywhere, almost all the money was spent, but he never got the money back.

Yesterday I heard that the new inspector had taken up his post, so I thought of stopping the car and complaining. Unexpectedly, he stopped the wrong carriage, but he made the wrong move and stopped Li Weijian's carriage.

After hearing this, Li Weijian thought for a moment, then called the postman and asked: "So Shunhe Bank is going to close down?"

"My lord, I'm joking. The Pan Dong family behind Shunhe Bank has a lot of wealth. Even if we don't join in for a while, it will take two years to recover and it will definitely not go bankrupt."

Li Weijian nodded and looked at Xue Biao: "How much money do you need?"

"Six, six thousand taels."

Li Weijian said: "Jia Yun, take my name card through the bank check and say that it is only right to pay back the debt."

"Yes, my nephew will definitely take care of it."

Li Weijian nodded slightly at Xue Biao, stood up and said, "I have other important matters, so I won't accompany Wen Dou."

Xue Biao hurriedly stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Master, just go about your business."

Li Weijian glanced at him again before walking away. Xue Biao watched Li Weijian go away, and Jia Yun came over and said, "Uncle Xue, please, let's go to Chaoguan together."

The two of them compared their ages, and then they realized why they called him Uncle Xue. The two of them immediately left the post house and headed towards Chaoguan. On the way, Xue Biao was in a state of confusion. He couldn't hold it back any longer and said, "This... Mr. Li is a doctor in the inner palace. He is not involved with the household department. We have taken the master's name card. Can the household department buy it?"

Jia Yun was happy: "Second Uncle Xue only knows one thing but not the other. Although Fourth Uncle Jian is just a doctor in the inner palace, the saint on this trip is the one who gave the king's order flag. This time he is not looking for Chao Guan, right?" Why should I be a villain in vain?"

"That's it." Xue Biao was shocked.

I think that Li Weijian was only fifteen or sixteen years old. Not to mention that he had obtained the title of the second rank. Now he was promoted to the fifth rank. He was even given a royal flag when traveling. These people are the emperor's loyal ministers! There will definitely be great success in the future!

Xue Zhu suddenly became interested in making friends. Jia Yun is a good person, and you can tell what she is thinking just by looking at her expression. On the way, he said without leaving a trace that Li Weijian had made millions just by relying on water services, which made Xue Biao speechless.

Millions! He asked his grandfather and grandma for six thousand taels of silver. Even if he got the money back, what would he do to make friends with Mr. Li? If you give more or less, I'm afraid Mr. Li will look down upon you.

Xue Biao fell silent immediately, thinking hard in his heart, but to no avail. The two of them went all the way to Dechaoguan, talked to the clerk, and were immediately led to Tiju.

Dashun's chaoguan was copied from the former Mingshi Bosi earlier, because it was this chaoguan that was responsible for the promotion of the fifth grade. Not only did Li Weijian reach the fifth rank, he also had the title of second rank, so how could he dare to neglect his promotion?

After meeting the two of them, Jia Yun said her request in an understatement, and she agreed without hesitation. He turned around and ordered the clerk to take care of it, and within a moment, he brought the big shopkeeper Shun Hexing in front of him.

Master Tiju made a lot of official power in front of the two of them, which frightened the shopkeeper so much that he broke out in cold sweat and couldn't help but kneel down to beg for mercy.

When the money came out, the shopkeeper hurriedly counted the banknotes and paid off the debt. When they parted, he even smiled and said annoyed: "Hey Mr. Xue, it's really a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple... It's also my fault that the people below don't know the real person. If there is any contact in the future, Mr. Xue will just go to the old man to handle it. , I guarantee that nothing like today will happen again.”

After exchanging brief greetings, Xue Biao walked out smoothly with the banknotes in his pocket, and suddenly felt mixed feelings in his heart. No wonder everyone in the world says, "Everything is inferior, but reading is the best." But the Xue family doesn't know if the feng shui of their ancestral graves is wrong. Since the death of their ancestor Ziwei, the Xue family has spent money in vain, but their children have made no achievements in the examination room.

Now that Erfang has lost his royal business background, it has become increasingly difficult to make a living. Nowadays, even Yaxing can be bullied to the extreme, so there is no need to say anything else. For the current plan, we can only rely on marriage to support the second wife of the Xue family...Eh? Mr. Li doesn't know either... It's a pity that my sister Bao Qin is still young. Otherwise, as a noble concubine, the second wife of the Xue family would not have declined. After thinking about it, I met Jia Yun and exchanged pleasantries again. Jia Yun said goodbye and left. Xue Baoshi returned to the inn, but felt troubled. He didn't know how to thank Li Weijian. This thank you gift requires a lot of thought.

............................................................

Sugar factory.

Li Weijian didn't think about Xue Biao at all at this moment, only staring at the rapidly rotating centrifuge. The steam engine pressure gauge showed seven standard pressures. The centrifuge was rotating rapidly driven by the flywheel, but for a while, the situation inside was unclear.

When making sugar, you probably use activated carbon to remove the color first, and then throw it into a centrifuge and pass it through a sieve?

Wang Fang stood by and was covered in sweat from the steam engine stove. After a long while, he said, "Sir, this machine has been spinning for quite some time. Would you like to stop and take a look?"

"Ah."

Li Weijian personally stepped forward and closed the valve, and the steam engine immediately stopped. The released water vapor instantly filled the entire factory. Many craftsmen gathered around, laughing and talking in words that Li Weijian could not understand.

The centrifuge slowly stopped. Wang Fang hurriedly stepped forward to take a look, and then caught some small crystal reddish-brown particles from behind the sieve: "Sir, there is indeed sugar."

Li Weijian looked at the reddish-brown sugar and frowned, thinking to himself, what went wrong? I bought high-quality bamboo charcoal, grinded it into powder, stirred it in the syrup and clarified it. It looked like a lot of the floating color had faded, but why is it still the same color?

Could it be that the stirring and resting time was too short?

Looking inside the centrifuge, there was still more than half of the sugarpaste that had been put in earlier. The screen seemed to be completely blocked by the sugarpaste. No wonder there was so much left after being dumped for an hour.

Li Weijian didn't believe in evil, so he ordered someone to scrape the screen with a knife, start the machine and throw it away again. This trial lasted for two days.

Li Weijian obviously didn't know that in this sugar making process, activated carbon is first used to remove the floating color, and then it has to go through three centrifuges to separate A, B, and III sugars, so that soft white sugar can be obtained.

Among them, the centrifuge used for the first sugar must be started intermittently, while the second and third malonose need the centrifuge to rotate continuously.

He had turned it on and off in the past two days, but he had produced first-sugar. Then he had to use the first-sugar as a primer and use the gap to throw out the second-sugar.

Modern sugar-making technology has been explored by generations of predecessors. Li Weijian, who knows how to do it but doesn't know why, can only try everything.

On the fourth day of the experiment, a craftsman was lazy and scraped the screen randomly without carefully scraping off the sugar crystals hanging on it. When the centrifuge was started again, pure white sugar came out!

Li Weijian was immediately overjoyed. He quickly stopped the machine, gathered several craftsmen together, and asked carefully through Wang Fang's translator. It happened again and again, and it wasn't until the seventh day that I figured out the reason.

It was enough to know the reason. Li Weijian told Wang Fang to watch the steam engine carefully and not let Xiyi steal it. He went back to the post house to write and draw, and handed a thick stack of manuscripts to the delivery shop the next day. , made an expedited journey of 600 miles and hurriedly sent him to the capital.

A complete set of sugar factory equipment is designed here, from sugar cane juice extraction to final sugar production.

It was already mid-March, and Li Weijian was becoming increasingly anxious. If he waited for the equipment to be shipped back, it might take two months. How could he afford to wait?

If he misses this battle in Qinghai, if Dashun loses, then everything he thinks will be in vain. After thinking about it for a while, he called Jia Yun and said, "In the urgent document I sent, I have added a bookkeeping errand for you."

Jia Yun was overjoyed. Although the secretary office had no rank, it could still be regarded as an official status, which was better than being told by a lowly official. He immediately bowed and said, "Thank you so much, uncle."

"Don't be too busy thanking me. I'm leaving for the north in the next two days, and I plan to keep you here to take care of the sugar production. It will take about two or three months for the equipment to be delivered. At that time, you will be responsible for keeping an eye on the machine, especially We cannot let Xi Yi see the details. If this matter is handled properly, I will definitely recommend Brother Yun in front of the prince."

Jia Yun bowed her head solemnly and said, "Don't worry, fourth uncle. If you run an errand, I don't need to tell you, my nephew can just wipe his neck by himself."

Li Weijian immediately couldn't laugh or cry: "Just finish your errands. Why did I ask you to wipe your neck?"

Later, Li Weijian called Wang Fang to come and give instructions on Jia Yun's stay. Wang Fang promised that he would take good care of her.

After everything came to an end for the time being, Li Weijian was thinking about setting off northward in the near future. She turned around and spoke to Xiu Ying. The silly girl didn't say anything, but she immediately grimaced at the thought of taking a sea ship this time.

Early that morning, Li Weijian packed his bags, thinking about going to the street to buy some earthenware rituals at noon, and then left for the north after noon. Wu Haining suddenly came over and said with a strange expression: "Master, the man named Xue is here and he brought a gift of thanks."

"With just one glance, Li Weijian knew that this thank you gift was strange, so he said: Huh? I'll go take a look."

When I got out of the small courtyard and turned to the front hall of the post house, I saw Xue Zhu pacing uneasily, followed by an old family member, and behind him was a woman with a bamboo hat covering her face.

Seeing Li Weijian, Xue Biao hurriedly came over to greet him.

After a brief exchange of greetings, the guests and the host were seated, and Xue Biao smiled and said: "I'm here to watch you, Lord, keep your carriage simple. I'm afraid it will be inconvenient, so I specially sent a maid. I hope Lord Li will accept it."

Li Weijian felt secretly happy, it was not easy, someone finally gave him a girl. With this thought in his mind, he said with a sullen face: "I think Wen Dou is quite upright, how come he behaves like this? Do you think I am a coward who is greedy for sex? Take it back quickly!"

Xue Biao blinked and said, "Master Li is overly concerned. She is indeed just a maid." As he spoke, he waved quickly, and the old man brought the woman forward.

Li Weijian said: "That's not necessary. I helped you that day just to see that you were in trouble. This woman... um——"

The woman suddenly took off her gauze bamboo hat, revealing a face that was very different from that of the Central Plains. She had chestnut hair and white skin, one gray-blue pupil and one green pupil. She looked like a paper figure!

This woman looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, and her appearance was quite gentle.

Li Weijian was surprised for a moment, and Xue Biao breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly took out a letter of deed from his sleeve and said, "To be honest, this girl is owned by a Buddhist merchant who was defeated because of her selling poisonous homespun cloth." With his family's wealth, he sold out his servants.

I thought that it would be wrong for you not to have a messenger around you, so I took it upon myself to buy it on your behalf. "

Li Weijian was very puzzled. He couldn't figure out where this woman was from, so he asked, "Does she have a name?"

The woman opened her mouth and said in a slightly awkward Dashun Mandarin: "Bitong."

"Where are you from?"

"Sir, I was born in Mogadishu and have been in Haojing since I was a child."

After asking a few more questions, Li Weijian learned that Bi Tong was actually a white slave! What is a white slave? Don’t think that there are only black slaves these days, in fact there are also many white slaves.

Although Ottoman was much weaker now, he was so skinny that a camel was bigger than a horse. He secretly funded the Barbary pirates, plundering white slaves and selling them to North Africa. What's more, white slaves who cannot be sold for a while will be raised and bred with better-colored slaves, so that they can give birth to white slaves with better colors.

Bi Tong is the daughter of a white slave. From birth, she only knew her mother and had no idea who her father was. When he was six or seven years old, he was bought by a merchant from Xiaofo Langji, and he immediately went to live in Haojing, where he learned to speak both authentic vernacular and awkward Mandarin.

Last year, the businessman lost his capital. Not only his ship, but also his property and his slaves were mortgaged. Bitong's heterochromatic eyes were regarded as unknown by Xiyi, so they could only be sold in Guangzhou.

Dashun did not say so. The Persian cat with heterochromatic pupils was rare, so Xue Biao took a fancy to it and spent a full six hundred taels of silver to buy it. He named it Bi Tong. Sent to the post house.

Li Weijian thought for a moment and then asked, "What can you do?"

"Cleaning, organizing, and frying steaks...yes, I can also make cheese."

cheese? Li Weijian suddenly thought of pizza, and then looked at Xue Biao and said, "I accepted this woman, and I will ask someone to calculate it for you."

Xue Biao suddenly said with joy: "Sir, this coin——"

"Eh? As you just said, you are purchasing on my behalf. I accept this favor, but it is better to calculate the money clearly."

Xue Biao thought about it for a moment, then simply said the truth: "I dare not hide it from Mr. Li. I have spent six hundred taels on this maid."

"Okay." He waved Wu Haining forward to pay the bill, and Li Weijian immediately said: "I will leave for the north today. If Brother Xue comes to the capital in the future, he must come to find me. I see Brother Xue acting like this With character, it is a pity to only make a living.”

The meaning of the words was beyond words. Xue Biao was overjoyed and thought about it non-stop for a long time, and then led his family to retreat.

As soon as the person left, Bi Tong stepped forward nervously and said, "Master, do I want to change my name again?"

"No, just Bitong is fine. Just come with me."

Li Weijian turned around and led Bitong into the small courtyard. Xiu Ying, who had just tidied up, was surprised when she saw Bitong and asked quickly: "Master, who is she?"

Li Weijian stepped forward and took Xiu Ying's hand and said: "The maid I just bought has to take a boat to go north this time. You will definitely be vomiting by then. Master, I am used to being served. Where can you serve someone? After thinking about it, I just bought a maid to serve you."

Xiu Ying blinked, her eyes red with gratitude. It was wrong that it was still daytime, so I had to make a fool of myself before leaving.

Bi Tong stood aside with her hands down and her eyebrows submissive, complaining in her heart that this new master is also a scumbag!

............................................................

Jinling, beside Mochou Lake, the Li family.

Wu Haiping led Qingwen and Xiangling into the main hall and saw an old man with a slim figure sitting upright, accompanied by a woman in her forties.

Qingwen and Xiangling did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to see the gift. The old man opened his mouth and spoke in a measured tone. He briefly asked a few questions and then sent the maid to settle the group.

The woman winked at the old man repeatedly, but the old man just pretended not to see her.

When Wu Haiping, Qingwen, and Xiangling retreated, the woman scolded: "Li Shouzhong! What can I do if you say a few more words? Brother Jian is so old, he finally made a fortune in the capital, how can he still be here with you?" Not welcome?"

Li Shouzhong said with a straight face: "Exotic and skillful skills are just a trick after all——"

"Bah!" the woman scolded: "It's a minor thing. Brother Jian made millions of silver and was knighted. What about you? You're just offering wine, but you're not much higher than Brother Jian."

"What do you know about women's opinions?"

The woman was annoyed and said: "I don't understand? My daughter married into the Jia family and was bullied to death. It was not Brother Jian who made the mistake. I'm afraid that in less than two years, the white-haired girl will give away the black-haired girl. You don't think so. I understand, but what else do you do besides drinking?"

"You...this..." Li Shouzhong broke his defense, stood up and flicked his sleeves: "It's unreasonable!"

The woman refused to give up, chasing his back and cursing: "Every time you can't win an argument, you run away. Li Shouzhong, I'm waiting for you to grow up!"

With a soft hum, the woman called over to the maid and said, "Go to my room and bring me two gold hairpins."

The maid muttered: "Madam, those two girls don't have status yet."

The woman immediately said happily: "How can I not be a lustful man? Look at the colors of Qingwen and Xiangling. There will definitely be one of my aunts in the future." After a pause, he said again: "Really Zhen'er doesn't dare to think that in a blink of an eye Brother Jian has reached the age of proposing marriage."

The woman watched Li Weijian grow up, and she regarded him as her own son. She had mixed feelings when she mentioned this matter.

After a while, the maid returned and brought two gold hairpins. The woman put them away and estimated the time to go find Qingwen and Xiangling.

After talking to the two women for a long time, the woman became more and more happy. That Qingwen can speak, but has no scheming; Xiangling is beautiful and has poetry and books in her belly.

A girl like this, even a young lady from an ordinary wealthy family could do it, but now she is thinking about being a aunt to Brother Jian...Brother Jian, this brat, really has some tricks up his sleeve.

Coming out of the small courtyard where Qingwen and Xiangling were staying, the maid came to report: "Madam, the two young ladies heard that the Fourth Master's family has arrived and are clamoring to meet them."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw two teenage girls holding hands and looking for him. The older one said: "Auntie, I heard that the fourth brother's family members have arrived? I don't know when the fourth brother will come back?"

The young man on the side said: "Yes, yes, the fourth brother said he would take us to visit the Confucius Temple. This time, we can't let the fourth brother break the promise again."

(End of this chapter)