Taohuaxi

Chapter 15
My palms felt warm.

I lowered my head and saw it was a hand stove.Red copper in color, the furnace cover is engraved with twining chrysanthemums. It is smooth, round, smooth and plain.The body of the furnace is engraved with two characters in Yangwen small seal: Yueming.

He still didn't say anything.

I watched him turn around and leave, and said, "You and I have only been on the same boat, we have no friendship. You don't have to be so nice to me. I told you that I never want to owe others."

There was a thin layer of Meng Lang in his eyes.

That Meng Lang looked like a veil he wore intentionally.

He followed my tone and said: "I'm just helping you with a little money. You don't have to take it to heart. I once said that even if we meet by chance, we should help each other when in danger."

I still insisted on handing over the silver to him.

He looked up at the sky and said, "Do you know who bribed my young boy when we were on the boat?"

Snowflakes fell on his shoulders. He reached out to brush them away and said: "My fifth aunt colluded with the caravan and bribed my personal servant. While she was causing trouble on the goods escorted by the Qin family to the two barbarians, she also sent killers on the way. Pretend to be a robber and attack me. If this happens, even if I die, I will be stigmatized. My father will replace the second brother born by my fifth aunt as the head of the family. I am afraid it will also harm my mother and make her old. There is no peace in the house. She has never fought with anyone in her life. However, fighting has never been far away from her."

"What happened next?" I couldn't help but ask.

"later?"

Snowflakes fell on his face, and there was a cool joy in his eyes, as if something dirty had been dusted off.

"All dead."

It turned out that he had done such a big thing without knowing it.

The last time Guidao went to the Qin Mansion, he saw everyone in the manor looking at him with fear in their eyes.

I felt a chill in the cold wind.

As Wu Bi said, Qin Mingxu's tactics were quite dark.

Perhaps it was because his mother was not familiar with internal disputes.His father had many concubines.Ever since he was young, he has needed to protect what he wanted to protect. It had to be this way.

"Now, do you still feel you owe me?"

He looked at me and said: "Without your identification, it would have been dangerous for me to eliminate the disaster in time. After helping me so much, just a few dollars is nothing."

The wind blew the trees on the roadside.

The cold moon seemed to be smashed into pieces, pouring down densely.

He calmly told me these many family matters in order to appease my feelings of debt.

I don't know what to say.

He waved his white robe and mounted his horse again.

Horse hooves tread on the white snow and the shadow of the moon.

He said, "This year the imperial court sent Mr. Liang from the Ministry of Revenue to the south of the Yangtze River to select tribute tea" and left.

I held the stove and got into the carriage.

When I got back to my mansion, dinner was over.

The old lady specially ordered duck soup and stuffed dumplings to be left for me.

The lights in the north courtyard have been turned off.

Many people left the Cheng Mansion, and it suddenly seemed empty.

Xiaoyin fell asleep.

I asked He Hua to sit down and drink soup with me, but she refused. She only waited for me to finish eating, then sat on the porridge and ate hastily, and then helped me wash up.

The snowy night is especially quiet and bright.

I lay on the couch and tossed and turned.

Across the curtain, He Hua asked softly: "Second Young Mistress, can't you sleep? Do you want to light some incense?"

I shook my head and said, "No. I don't like the smell of craftsmanship in the house. Please talk to me."

"it is good."

He talked about some things in the house in detail.

I asked her when she came to Cheng Mansion.She said ten years.

I said: "It seems that Shopkeeper Wu has been in Cheng Mansion for ten years. Are you familiar with him?"

"Not...unfamiliar..."

Her tone changed.

"Today, I see that the child is very cute. How can you be willing to let others raise him?"

She choked up: "Second Young Madam, my maid is a woman who was divorced by her husband's family. It is always not good for him to follow my maid. He will be looked down upon in the future. The woman in the tea shop is the girl from my natal family. . The maid asked her to help raise her. The maid works here every month, and the monthly money she receives is exactly what she received. The maid always thinks... that the child can live a better life." The monthly money given to the servants by the Cheng family counts. It is abundant.

But Hehua is extremely frugal.

She doesn't apply rouge or gouache, or wear hairpins or utensils, and she doesn't even participate in the occasional maids and servants pooling their share to buy dried chestnuts and other market snacks.

Come to think of it, all her money was saved for her children.

"Since you gave birth to a son and achieved something, why were you divorced?" I asked in surprise.

Her voice cooled down inch by inch.

"If the husband changes his mind, no matter what, he can find a way to divorce his wife. I have been living in the house for two years, and I have never had any faults. But my husband, together with my mother-in-law, made me guilty of adultery and immorality." The terms and conditions are clear evidence of guilt. Within a month of driving me away, he married someone new."

"He Hua, shopkeeper Wu has no family now. Last time, I met a bandit in Guanyin Mountain, and I saw him treat you..." I said slowly.

But He Hua begged me softly: "Second Young Mistress, don't mention it. I am not worthy of this. I am not worthy of it."

There was already urgency in her words.

I suddenly discovered that Hehua's indifference was just her coat.She is such a shy and timid woman.Her last marriage had left her with too many sores to heal.

She couldn't hold her head up.

The only weapon is to pretend not to care.

The face is covered with frost all year round.

Marriage is the biggest bet in a woman's life.

The snowy light reflected the bed, and I sighed for a while, then went to sleep at the second watch.

The twelfth lunar month arrives quietly in the snow.

During the Chinese New Year, the business at the counter is booming.

Over at the Huizhou Tea Garden, people also came to withdraw money.

In addition, etiquette should be prepared to deal with all parties.

There were many people coming and going in the house.

The old lady has cold symptoms in her legs and doesn't go out much.All matters big and small are left to my discretion.

Even though things are going as usual, I am still very busy.

However, I always remember one of the most important events: the court wants to re-select the merchants of tribute tea.

Wu Bi said, in previous years, it was Mr. Zhong who came.Mr. Zhong has some friendship with the Cheng family master and takes good care of him.Since the second year of Wanli, Cheng's tea has been selected as tribute tea.

That day I heard from Qin Mingxu that the person coming this year was Mr. Liang from the Ministry of Revenue.I don’t know what kind of character he is.

No matter what, Cheng's tribute tea cannot be thrown away from my hands.

One day, I was reading "Twelve Principles of Financial Management by Tao Zhugong" in the courtyard.

The wintersweet trees in the courtyard are blooming against the snow, and linger in the cold weather.

"Able to recognize people: know the good and evil of people, and help people live up to the burden. Able to use people: because the money and tools are convenient, you can rely on them to do things. Able to know opportunities: be good at storing them at the right time, so as not to lose money. Able to organize: the goods are neat and attract people's attention. Able to be agile : Hesitant, nothing will happen until old age. Able to accept: courtesy and justice, many customers. Able to settle down: abandon the old and embrace the new, merchants are seriously ill..."

I read it, memorized it silently, and meditated.

"Second Young Mistress—"

Wu Bi walked in from outside.

"What's the matter?"

"I heard that there is an endless stream of merchants in front of the official residence where Mr. Liang is staying. Others have already started to take action. How about we also prepare some generous gifts..."

I raised my head and asked, "Has Mr. Liang accepted any gifts from others?"

Wu Bi said: "Take it."

"Oh?" I put down the book and stood up.

Wu Bi said: "It is said that Mr. Liang does not reject anyone who comes! Everyone goes to send it off. If we don't go, wouldn't it be disrespectful? Otherwise, let the old lady write a letter to Mr. Zhong to make peace... "

I pondered for a moment and said, "We don't give gifts. We don't write letters either."

Wu Bi was anxious: "Then, Second Young Mistress, what should we do?"

At this time, the young man reported that official messengers were coming.

I quickly left the house to greet him.

The official asked: "Who is the person in charge of Cheng Mansion? Please come with me."

(End of this chapter)