Chronicle of Farming in Muxianfu

Chapter 457

Mu Ai smiled lightly, and said, "Eunuch Shen is polite, it's been a long journey, so let's announce the decree first, and then invite Eunuch to enter the hall to serve tea."

"Yes, Your Highness." Eunuch Shen straightened his waist, walked back to the incense table, unfolded the imperial decree made of golden brocade in his hand, and shouted loudly, "Mrs. Hu Guoxian, Ouyang Jingwu, a righteous man in Rongcheng, accepts the decree!"

Mu Ai glanced at Ouyang, and the two of them took the lead to kneel down together. Behind them were shopkeeper Seventeen and a few servant girls. As for people from Jianghu, such as Ren Baiyi and Mr. Jin, they had already avoided going to the back garden to drink tea. They disdain Those who kneel down to worship a piece of yellow satin, in the eyes of the Jianghu people, can kneel down to the world, their benefactors, and their parents, but they cannot easily kneel down to the court or officials.

Ouyang one was from the secret camp of the Hou Mansion, and the other married Mu Ai, the prince, so it was inevitable that he would have entanglements with the court, but he was not as conflicted as Ren Baiyi and others.

Eunuch Shen raised his voice and read for almost a quarter of an hour. It was nothing more than praising Mu Ai for helping the disaster relief. The title could no longer be promoted, so he rewarded as many treasures as he could. He only mentioned her marriage in the last few sentences, avoiding the fact that she hadn't done it beforehand. Repaying the contemptuous crime of Honglu Temple, bluntly saying that Ouyang has contributed to the disaster relief, and he was named the king of Yijun. Although there is no hereditary succession, he is much higher than the fathers and brothers of those concubines, and even the princess's husband-in-law.

Such a generous reward, in the eyes of outsiders, is a kindness, but in fact, intentionally or unintentionally, it aroused a lot of invisible hatred for Mu Ai. She made up her mind that she would not go back to Huadu after she made up her mind, and it was inevitable even if she was so far away. Being affected by the undercurrent, wouldn't it be even worse if you get stuck in it.

Mu Ai and Ouyang looked at each other, and after Eunuch Shen said "Here!", he took the imperial decree with both hands, and Xiao An helped Mu Ai to stand up, Eunuch Shen laughed, "Your Highness has done a great job in disaster relief this time, Your Majesty and All the courtiers praised it, so the imperial decree was a little longer, and your Highness’s knees are not numb, it’s all because the old slave read it slowly.”

"Eunuch Shen, you're being polite, let's go to the living room and have a cup of tea." Mu Ai smiled lightly, and led him in together with Ouyang.

Mu Shiqi stepped forward to hand over the gold-armored guards, unloaded all the rewards on the car, and invited them to the small hall in the west wing to have some fruit snacks, and inquire about some trivial matters in Huadu by the way.

The Muxian Mansion now has a prince, a Xiaoyao Wang, two county kings, and a county owner. Looking at the entire Baihua family, it is difficult to find a second one. Taking the guest seat, drinking tea, and explaining everything in Huadu clearly, Mu Ai could hear the flattering intention in his words, and also thought of the many good friends in the palace, who are always the eyes and ears , even if they don’t have the heart to fight, they still have to guard against other people’s intention to hurt them, so they smiled and said, “Thank you, Eunuch, for clarifying the confusion today. Although I don’t often live in Huadu for a long time, the most powerful shopkeeper There, if the father-in-law is useful to our house in the future, feel free to send someone to the food to speak for the sky."

Eunuch Shen got this promise, and was so happy that he couldn't see his eyes. He stood up and saluted, and said, "Your Highness really flattered this old slave. From now on, His Highness can give orders to this old slave whenever he needs to run errands."

Mu Ai nodded with a smile, waved to Xiao An to bring an autumn-colored brocade purse, and said, "This is for my father-in-law, save it to buy a bowl of tea on the way."

Eunuch Shen guessed that there must be some gold, silver and jewelry items inside, so he quickly refused to accept it, and finally seeing that he couldn't refuse, he smiled and saluted again, and said, "Your Highness also knows that the old slave usually goes in and out of various houses. Mansion, there is no shortage of money for moistening hands. If His Royal Highness really wants to reward the old slave, he can give the old slave a jar of honey to take back. The old slave is getting old and his internal organs are weak. Every morning, he feels a little sad when he goes to the toilet. pity."

Mu Ai knew that he was constipated, but after taking a look at his round belly, she didn't think it was because of old age, but it should be because of eating too much greasy food.So he took out a jar of honey from the space with a wave of his hand, motioned Xiaoan to pass it over, and said, "My father-in-law's stomach is probably weaker than ordinary people, drink some honey water in the morning on an empty stomach, eat more vegetables and fruits for three meals, and eat less meat, and you will be fine within half a month." many."

Eunuch Shen happily took the honey, and said repeatedly, "Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward." Then he said goodbye and wanted to leave, Mu Ai thought he would stay for a day, and even ordered Mu Shiqi to prepare a banquet, but he did not expect him to be in such a hurry, after asking After a while, I found out that he had brought another imperial decree with him, and he was rushing to the government office of Rongcheng to read it out.

Mu Ai had always been concerned about ransacking the Miao Mansion's home that day, and always regretted being too ruthless as a last resort. Now that the imperial court finally came down with a decree, she asked, "Then the family members of the Miao Mansion will be imprisoned?"

Eunuch Shen shook his head, "Your Majesty is benevolent. Except for the men who were sent to the Stone Fort for hard labor, the female relatives have not committed any crimes. They are allowed to return to their natal families to settle down."

Mu Ai breathed a sigh of relief, compared to the fate of those criminal officials who were confiscated into the Jiaofang Division and sold into slavery, His Majesty is indeed lenient this time, and it also made her finally evaluate him, in addition to being treacherous, utilitarian and weak , I finally have some good feelings.

Thinking of the fruit wines she had brewed in the past few days, she smiled and said, "The king has made some good wines from various fruits in his spare time these days, and opened a small winery in this city called Xian Ting Luo Hua, After a while, I asked the seventeen shopkeeper to install ten altars, and asked my father-in-law to take them back and present them to the palace. If your majesty can still drink them, it would be best to reward one or two names. Of course, there are also two altars of purple jade grape wine. The good wine made is for the father-in-law, and he will have a drink or two in his spare time."

When Eunuch Shen heard the word fruit wine, his eyes were three points brighter than seeing honey. Now, no one in Huadu knows that the best wine is not made from Qinglian, not from Zhuangyuanhong and Zhuyeqing, but from the Muxian Mansion. The fruit wine has a mellow taste and a fruity aroma. After taking a sip, it feels like the internal organs have been washed, and the whole body is refreshed.

But this wine is very little, even he who is a celebrity around His Majesty has only drank it twice, and it is still in the hands of the two old masters, An Bohou and Wu Bohou, because the Muxian Mansion I don’t sell the good wine, I only add three or five jars to the gift list during the New Year’s Day, and give it to relatives and friends. Even the palace can’t keep a few jars. Only at the time of the group of officials will they take out two altars and distribute them to everyone.

There are also people who don't believe in evil, and pester the shopkeeper to intercede, but the shopkeeper said that a hundred fruits may not be able to make a jar of fruit wine. The altar wine only costs 500 taels, and if it goes out, the world will scold them for the waste of money in the Muxian Mansion. Besides, this wine is brewed by Mrs. Xian herself. Even if others can afford the fruit, they cannot brew the fairy spirit inside.

So no one bothers about food, instead, a few ministers who are good at wine will visit the two marquis' mansions and the newly joined Sun's mansion every New Year's Eve, and then they will definitely be able to drink the long-awaited wine. The world of mortals is drunk, and sometimes even new wine appears.

Now that he came to proclaim the decree, he actually got ten altars of good wine and went back. His Majesty must be extremely happy. Not to mention the reward, his position in the palace will definitely be more stable, not to mention that Mrs. Xian gave him two altars to wait in the halls When the manager gets together, he will definitely make them jealous.

Eunuch Shen was about to salute, but was stopped by Mu Ai, and after a few more gossips, he sent him out the door who was a little too happy to find him.

Seeing them walk away and rush to the government office, Mu Ai half leaned on Ouyang and said with a smile, "If His Majesty bestows a name, it will be difficult for our small winery not to get rich in the future."

Ouyang saw her look like she was succeeding in a trick, and his eyes were full of amused, "You, even the king of a country dares to plot."

"I didn't ask him to give the name in vain, didn't I also give him ten altars of good wine as embellishers?" Mu Ai refused to admit to using Shangguan Yufeng as an advertisement, and returned to the backyard with Ouyang with a smile, and changed out of the heavy court clothes , and asked Xiao An to compare the set of county royal clothes rewarded to Ouyang, and said with a smile, "The size of the clothes fits so well. It seems that An Bohou must have entered the palace to plead guilty to His Majesty."

Ouyang nodded, "It's impossible to hide such a big event."

Mu Ai didn't want him to think of the days in the secret camp. She had read a few novels in her previous life, and all the training processes about killers and hidden guards were bloody and cruel. She just thought of Ouyang's ten-year training and felt a throbbing pain in her heart. , So he threw down the court clothes, and ordered Xiao An and others to count the rewards in the carriage.

After Mu Shiqi settled the chores, he came in to see him. Mu Ai never believed that an obedient and sensible child like Dayu would disobey her wishes, and find a woman to be a concubine to send back. It would be best if it was a misunderstanding, but if He really loves this woman, so he is sorry for Lan'er in Huadu.

Mu Shiqi knew that his mistress must be worried about the woman who came to the door, so he quickly told the story in detail.

It turned out that early this morning, Mu Shiqi was bringing a few young men to clean the countertops and place snack boxes, when he saw a pair of master and servant walking in from outside the door. The master was a young woman about 20 years old, The appearance is very delicate and beautiful, and there is a charm in every gesture. Although the water-green gauze is good in style and material, it is a little undignified. The little maid is black and thin, wearing a half-worn cotton dress , stood next to the master, making the woman in green even more beautiful.

Food for the Heaven's dim sum is very famous in the whole Baihua. On weekdays, all the rich and powerful families, even middle-level families with some financial resources, buy dim sum for the food for the sky, and there are often ladies who live in the backyard. I begged my mother to go out for a walk, taste a little bit in the store, and then buy a few boxes of delicious ones to go home, which is a rare and easy thing.

Therefore, Mu Shiqi was not surprised when he saw the two masters and servants, and signaled the boys to keep busy, he went forward to salute and said, "Miss wants to weigh some dim sum. If you don't have a favorite taste, you can try a few first. The chestnut cake just baked this morning is very soft, do you want to try it?"

Ruyan's gaze swept across the shop, and seeing all kinds of snacks filled her eyes, her heart itched unbearably. She had eaten a few yuan in Zuihonglou before, and it was because she won the favor of a rich businessman. The boy bought it back, and she still remembered that only six or seven pieces of snow-white beef tongue cake cost a tael of silver, which was outrageously expensive. Although she herself had savings, it was all saved by hard work, and she was absolutely unwilling to spend it A few taels to buy some snacks.

At this time, I saw the dazzling array of snacks in this shop, and the sweet smell filled my mouth and nose, and I remembered that I would be the proprietress of this shop in the future, eating whatever I wanted, counting gold and silver to play every day, what a day like a fairy.The little maid next to her swallowed her saliva stealthily at the box of Butterfly Crisp in front of her, and after being pinched by Ruyan with her wide sleeve covering her hands, she immediately lowered her head and didn't dare to look at it again.

Ruyan stabilized her mind, tried her best to show a dignified and gentle smile, and said, "Excuse me, the shopkeeper, is your shop under the name of Mr. Ouyang Yu?"

Seeing that she didn't taste the snacks or ask the price, Mu Shiqi mentioned the name of the eldest young master when she opened her mouth. She was puzzled, and quickly turned around in her mind twice, leaving room for her to speak, and said with a smile, "Why is this young lady asking so much? Our young master has gone out to run some errands, if Miss has something to do, you can leave a message, and when the young master comes back, the younger one can tell it for you."

Although Ruyan didn't ask whether the shop belonged to Dayu, she confirmed her guess when Mu Shiqi mentioned the word young master, so she suppressed the excitement in her heart and continued to say with a smile , "This shopkeeper doesn't know something. The little girl came to the shop just because he listened to Mr. Ouyang's words."

Mu Shiqi was taken aback, not knowing why his young master sent a girl to the shop, so he asked as tactfully as possible, "Oh, the young one didn't receive the letter from the young master, why are you negligent, please forgive me. However, I would take the liberty to ask, who is Miss and our young master..."

Ruyan knew that he was asking about her relationship with Dayu when he didn't finish the sentence, so she pretended to be shy and lowered her head, and gave the little maid a wink. She signaled, she was annoyed in her heart, so she had to secretly pinch again, the little maid suddenly felt pain, woke up, and blurted out, "Our young lady is Mr. Ouyang's concubine!"

Her voice was clear and crisp. In the morning, there were no customers in the shop, and the shop was a little empty. The word "concubine" took the opportunity to reverberate in the shop, and the guys were so surprised that they put down the snack boxes in their hands. Looking at it, I was puzzled. When they sold themselves into the mansion, the first thing they did was to memorize the family law. The third rule was that men should not take concubines, and women should not be concubines.

Why is the eldest young master violating the family law and coming back with a concubine, isn't he afraid that the mistress will be angry?
As soon as Mu Shiqi heard this, Ruyan's face changed, half puzzled, half surprised, just not flattering, Ruyan was surprised that the young master of a rich family accepted two women as concubines. Usually, is there something wrong with Mr. Ouyang's family? I knew she shouldn't be in a hurry to come to the door, and I should inquire carefully.

She half covered her face with her handkerchief, and said in a low voice as if she was extremely shy, "The little girl was bullied in Qingping County a few days ago, and it happened that Mr. Ouyang passed by and rescued the little girl with his help. The little girl got along with Mr. Ouyang for a long time Day and night, they admired each other, but Mr. Ouyang was in a hurry and couldn't take the little girl with him, so he specially hired a carriage to take the little girl to Shiweitian, saying that the shopkeeper would naturally bring the little girl into the house."

Mu Shiqi grinned secretly, and said in his heart, "The eldest young master really thinks highly of him, how could he entrust such a family violation to him, and listening to the woman's tone, getting along all day and night, can't it be already..."

He was annoyed in his heart, but he still asked with a smile on his face, "Since the young lady was sent back by our young master, do you have any tokens or letters?"

Ru Yan's face froze, and then he put on a embarrassed look and said, "At that time, the young master was in a hurry and didn't leave any tokens. He only said that Shi Weitian was his shop, and the little girl didn't dare to stop him."

When Mu Qiqi heard it, his face was even more bitter. The young master didn't even give him a token, so he couldn't have eaten it up and wiped it off. He might have cheated the woman's heart and ran away. After all, he has also been with the young master for a while, so he is very clear about the young master's gentle and steady temperament.If what the woman said is true, there must be some mistake in the middle, if it is false, then you should be more cautious.

He made up his mind and said, "I don't know that the young lady is a guest of the young master. I was really negligent just now. Since the young master invited the young lady to come, the young lady will go to the backyard with the young one to rest for a while, and wait for the young one to report. After leaving our master, we will naturally send someone to pick up the lady into the mansion."

When Ru Yan heard that the shopkeeper believed her, her heart was filled with ecstasy, she nodded quickly, and followed Mu Shiqi to the small hall in the east wing of the backyard.

Mu Shiqi called a little girl to come in with hot tea and snacks, then said with a smile, "Miss, sit down, I'll report to the master right now."

Ruyan nodded slightly, and thanked very reservedly, "Please trouble the shopkeeper."

"Don't dare, Miss is too polite." Mu Shiqi saluted again, winked at the little girl serving tea and left the door, and soon the little girl made an excuse and backed out.

Mu Shiqi frowned and thought for a while, then said, "Liu Li, the master and servant in the house claim to be the concubine's room that the young master took back in Qingping County. Take care of them in the hall, remember not to talk too much, and by the way, check out their masters and servants."

This girl Liuli wore a water-blue cotton dress, her jet-black hair was combed with double maids, tied with ribbons, her features were clear, she looked clean and tidy, she was also the most popular in the shop on weekdays, and she had a good sense of humor in everything she did and said. Clever, that's why Mu Shiqi entrusted her with such an important task today.

Liuli replied with a quick smile, "Don't worry shopkeeper, even if I can't find out their details, I won't let them get out of the way."

Mu Shiqi nodded, gave a few more instructions, and left in a hurry.

Liuli entered the hall and saw that the master and servant had already eaten half of the snacks on the plate, so she raised her eyebrows, covered the mocking eyes, stepped forward and poured a cup of tea for Ruyan, and said with a smile, "Miss, do you like the taste of the dim sum in our shop? You don't know, the butterfly and horseshoe cakes were made last night, and they are not as crispy and delicious as when they were just baked. If Miss stays here for a long time, you must try them." Try something new."

Ruyan rushed here without eating in the morning, but her stomach was so empty. Just now, she ate a few pieces of butterfly cakes. When she saw Liuli coming in, she was afraid that she would look down on her, but listening to her talk like this now Naive and young, she was relieved and thought about finding out some details from her mouth.

She smiled slightly, put on the posture of the master, stretched out her hand to take a snack and handed it to Liuli, and said, "We are in a hurry, and we haven't eaten in the morning. I just ate two snacks to pad my stomach. It tastes really good. You should eat one too. Desserts are very expensive, and it's rare for you to eat them on weekdays."

Liuli pretended to be happy to accept it, and thanked her with a smile, but in fact, she had already slandered thirty or fifty sentences in her heart. Their wife is so lenient, not to mention these ordinary dim sum, even those good dim sum with extremely precious ingredients, they are also very good. After eating one or two yuan, this woman would still come to bribe her to please her, it's really ridiculous.

Ruyan watched her break off half a piece and put it in her mouth, eating with a smile on her face, so she asked, "In your shop, the dim sum is so delicious, and there are so many customers, you must be making money every day, right?"

Liuli swallowed the dim sum in her mouth, and said with a smile, "Miss is really smart. Our shop is famous for hundreds of flowers. Of course, we earn a lot of money, but it's not as much as outsiders think. There are many traditional dim sum shops in other cities, too. A lot of business. By the way, where does the lady come from?"

"Qingping County."

"Ah, Qingping County," Liuli said with a look of joy, "I know Qingping County, because our young master once said that there is a time-honored dim sum shop in the east of the county, and the golden cakes and thousand-layer cakes are very delicious. , it seems to be called 'Old Chen Ji'. Since the lady lives there, she must often eat dim sum there, right?"

Ruyan was slightly taken aback by the question. She followed the reckless man to Qingping County, and only stayed for two days before meeting Dayu. She had no time to inquire about these things, so she had to perfunctorily say, "Yes, that shop The dim sum here is also good, but not as delicious as our shop."

Liuli proudly raised her head and said, "Of course."

Ruyan thought it was perfunctory, and breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't see the cold light flashing in Liuli's eyes.She was afraid that Liuli would ask something again, which would make it difficult for her to answer, so she began to ask about Dayu's situation. Unfortunately, Liuli didn't just enter the shop because she said that she didn't know much about the master's affairs, but she twisted her handkerchief shyly. Zizi praised how handsome and kind their young master was, and he gritted his teeth secretly with hatred, and finally gave up.

Liuli took the teapot and went out to refill water, and ran to the front to talk to the shopkeeper. Mu Shiqi also felt strange, and was discussing to investigate their details again, when Eunuch Shen came to the door with the imperial order, so he began to rush to receive the order again .

After hearing these words, Mu Ai turned to look at Ouyang, smiled suddenly, and said, "I guess this woman was not sent back by Dayu, she must have something to do with Dayu for some reason, and wanted to come to be a concubine , and I don’t know the details of our family, even if I have heard some rumors, and adding Dayu’s surname, I am afraid that he was mistaken for your child or junior.”

　This chapter has just been coded. My stomach is so hungry. I haven’t eaten for a day. Now I can’t wait to eat a cow!

　　Haha, exaggerated, thank you for supporting the genuine version, continue to work hard!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)