Blessed

Chapter 45 Filigree Inlays
"We are really not liars. We lost our luggage on the road. We just need to find the baby's father... shopkeeper, please, please do me a favor..." The woman knelt on the ground and looked extremely frightened. Her face was tightly pressed into her arms, preventing her from seeing these mocking and sarcastic eyes.

In any era, it is all about looks. If this is a beautiful woman, at least most of the people around will help, and it will not be the case now, no one is willing to help.

Yu Zhu'er looked at the woman and the child carefully, the two were met with such sneering words, the little girl was only disturbed, there was no anger or unwillingness in her eyes, the same was true for the woman, her eyes were full of pleading.Yuzhu sized her up for a while, then pulled Xie Che's clothes, "Brother Che, let's help her."

Xie Che didn't stop him, and said with a smile, "It's all Yijiaojiao."

Seeing that Xiaoer called the people in the inn, and was about to drag the woman to the government, Yuzhu shouted crisply, "This little brother, wait a moment."

Xiao Er heard the voice, looked back, and saw a little doll carved in pink and jade waving to her. The skin of this little girl was like that of an egg that had been peeled off its shell, with red lips and white teeth. He couldn't find any words to describe it. The girl's heart can soften.Moreover, this female doll is wearing a crescent-colored satin embroidered Baidieru skirt, a light purple sweetheart collar embroidered with plum blossoms, white silk embroidered shoes with delicate patterns embroidered on it, and a silver ruyi cloud pattern around her neck. She is wearing a double-bud bun, and there is no headgear in her hair, only a pair of pearl flowers wrapped around the two buds.

The boy holding the baby girl is also a delicate figure, clean and elegant.

The two looked like nobles at first sight, the waiter in the shop couldn't be sloppy, bowed his waist and bowed forward, "Greetings to the little nobleman, what's the matter with the little nobleman looking for a young one?"

Yuzhu pointed to the woman, "How much money do they owe you?"

"It's not much if you go back to the nobleman." The waiter replied, "It's just over 400 Wen." They are not the more prosperous inns in Shangjing. It's only two or three hundred cash, and the cheapest one is only four or fifty cash. When this woman came, the house was full, and she begged to stay. She said she had a place to cover her body, and she didn't mind sleeping in the backyard, but their shopkeeper It's disgusting, I can't really let people sleep in the backyard, and the guests who come and go see how decent they are, so they find a utility room for them to live in.

The utility room was only a small one, full of sundries, and a rotten bed, so they lived in it. They were given ten cents a day, and when they were thirsty, they went to the well in the backyard to fetch water for two. It only takes two sheets of the cheapest cooking cakes in the inn, and it only costs more than 400 Wen for half a month.

Yu Zhu'er took out a piece of broken silver from Xie Che's body, turned it upside down, and it was only about two taels, and handed it to Xiao Er, "This silver is given to you, it is considered as the accommodation expenses for their mother and daughter, don't make things difficult for them again." , let them continue to live with the rest of the money."

The woman was overjoyed, knelt down and kowtowed to Yuzhu, "Thank you nobleman, thank you nobleman, and may I ask which family you belong to, when the woman finds the child's father, she will definitely return the silver."

"No need, you just need to stay here. If you find the child's father earlier, the family will be reunited." Yuzhu waved her hand and tugged at Xie Che's sleeve, "Brother Che, let's go, we will go to Duobaozhai later. Look, there is something interesting."

"Okay, let's go to Duobaozhai to have a look."

There are all kinds of things in Duobaozhai, inkstones, pens and inks, jewelry, rare stones and jade, calligraphy and painting books, you can find very good things.

"Thank you, noble." The woman knelt on the ground and refused to get up, tears streaming down her face.

When the two of them left the alley, the onlookers suddenly realized, "I seem to know this little girl, isn't this the Fourth Miss of the Jiang Mansion?"

Someone asked, "Which Jiang Mansion?"

There are hundreds if not thousands of famous aristocrats in Shangjing, and the aristocratic families with a little background do not have the name of Jiang family. No wonder no one knows about the Jiang family.

The man continued, "It's the fourth girl from the Jiang family who won the lucky lottery and was granted the title of Lord of Fuchang County by the Holy Grace."

When he said this, everyone suddenly realized that in Shangjing, you said that few people in Jiang's house knew about it, and you said that Fuchang County Lord is a deed that everyone knows.

"It turned out to be the Lord of Fuchang County. With such a good heart, it's no wonder that he was able to draw a lottery."

There was echoing sound all around.

When Xiao Er heard that it was this girl, she held the money in her hand and was so happy that she couldn't see her teeth. She turned around and said to the woman, "Since the Lord of Fuchang County has paid the money for you, you can continue to live."

The woman stood up holding the child, and looked at the place where Yuzhu left, her eyes were full of gratitude.

Yuzhu'er just did a small favor and didn't think much about it. She went back to the carriage and went to Duobaozhai in the east. Xie Che gave the money, Xie Che glanced at the titles of several books, 'Shan Hai Jing Lu', 'Zhai'an Essays' and 'Shanren's Travel Notes' are all kinds of books, including many types.

Xie Che smiled softly, showing dimples, "Jiao Jiao understands?"

Yuzhu was a little guilty, hugged Xie Che and acted coquettishly, "No, brother Che taught me Thousand Character Classic again, and I can know a lot of characters. Jiaojiao just wanted to buy some books and come back to see if she could understand."

Hearing what she said, Xie Che didn't ask any more questions, and picked out a few books for himself, and the two of them went back to Jiang's mansion in a carriage.

Yuzhu's helping the woman was just a kind act, and for her, it was a matter of little effort, and she could help as long as she could.Let’s talk about the woman’s situation. Because Yuzhu paid for her accommodation, there is still a lot left. She wants to continue looking for her man in Shangjing, so she stays in the inn. In the meantime, eating biscuits that cost two cents apiece.

However, the shopkeeper changed her to a lower-class house in front of Fuchang County Lord, and only charged her ten Wen a day, which was very cheap.

The woman's name is Qiu Erniang, and her family name is Qiu, Xinger. In the countryside, the name is more casual. The eldest girl is called Da Niang, and she has the name of Erniang. Her family lives in a small village hundreds of miles away. There are only 15 or [-] families in the village. She was engaged to Chen Dalian in the village since she was a child. She got married at the age of [-] and gave birth to her daughter Chen Yue'e two years later. She served her parents-in-law at home.

Originally life was not bad, Chen Dalian went to the town as a helper, and he could earn hundreds of pennies per month. Qiu Erniang has a good handicraft, she can make jewelry, and works as a craftsman in a jewelry shop, and she can earn hundreds of dollars a month. Wenqian is enough for the whole family to chew, and there is still some leftover.

I don't want to think that when Yue'e was two years old, Chen Dalian saw a villager from the same village go to the capital to make a lot of money, and he was jealous, so he insisted on going. This trip lasted for eight years, and in the first two years, he always brought back letters and silver. , There were fewer and fewer letters in the following years, and there was no letter from home in the past two years. She struggled to guard her daughter and in-laws at home.Four months ago, her parents-in-law passed away one after another. She sold the family property and brought all the money to the capital to find her husband.

It was the first time for her to travel far away, and her luggage was stolen in the capital city. Qiu Erniang begged the innkeeper to stay. She searched hard for half a month, but found nothing, and was almost driven away. Fortunately, the little nobleman helped her.

Staying at the inn again, Qiu Erniang continued to search for half a month in the capital, and asked everyone she met if she knew a thin man named Chen Dalian.

It has never been two days before I was actually asked by a person, it was an old woman surnamed Liu in her forties, when she heard her looking for Chen Dalian, she smiled and said, "I know the Chen Dalian mentioned by the young lady, but he doesn't look like that." He is thin, thin, and quite rich, and he runs a jewelry shop next door to my house, and his family is quite rich."

Qiu Erniang hesitated for a while, and didn't know whether the Chen Dalian that Aunt Liu was talking about was her child's father, but after searching for a month, she finally met such a man named Chen Dalian, and she felt uneasy if she didn't go and have a look, so she said, " Please, sister, take me there."

"Okay, just follow me for a while." Aunt Liu asked curiously, "What are you doing with Chen Dalian?"

Qiu Erniang smiled wryly, "I brought my children to look for our head of the family. The head of the family came to Beijing eight years ago to find work, but there was no news after that. The parents-in-law passed away, so I had to bring my daughter to find someone."

Aunt Liu opened her mouth wide, "I'm afraid it's..." She hesitated, "Little lady, I told you that Chen Dalian has a family."

Qiu Erniang was stunned, "Then, maybe it's not him."

"However, I heard that Chen Dalian also came from elsewhere. The eldest son of the family is only five or six years old, and his wife is still pregnant. I often see her go to the shop to help settle accounts." "Here, do you want to go and see, little lady?"

How could Qiu Erniang not be able to figure it out, her face turned pale, she stood there in a daze for a long time, "Go, go and have a look." She must take a look.

Along the way, Aunt Liu saw that Erniang Qiu's expression was not very good, so she didn't say a word, and soon arrived at the place, Aunt Liu pointed to a jewelry shop, "Little lady, here, this is the shop, my family sells buns next to him Yes, my steamed stuffed buns are delicious, why don't you take some back home so that your daughter can taste them." Seeing Erniang Qiu staring at the person who entered the door, the aunt sighed, "That person is Chen Dalian, little lady , don't be too sad, no matter what, you are the big one, and the one he married later was just a concubine, so you can't take advantage of them."

But Erniang Qiu couldn't hear anything, only the man in her eyes, he was a bit rich, fat, with a kind smile, and was walking towards the shop, Erniang cried out with tears streaming down her face, "Da Lian!"

The man turned his head when he heard the sound, and the moment he saw Er Niang, his expression changed drastically, and he wanted to come over. A pregnant woman with a big belly came out from the jewelry store. Silk satin, seeing Chen Dalian standing at the door, said with a smile, "Master, why don't you go in."

Qiu Erniang suddenly burst into tears, feeling miserable.The fat pregnant woman frowned, walked a few steps and took Chen Dalian's arm, "Master, where did this beggar come from, why did he come here, let someone chase him away."

"Da Lian, how could you treat me like this!" Qiu Erniang cried loudly, shaking like chaff, she staggered a few steps to Chen Da Lian's side, firmly grasping his arm, "Where have you been all these years, I took Yue'e to serve my in-laws at home, and I have been waiting for you for eight years, you, you..." She looked at the pregnant woman, tears streaming down her face.

Chen Dalian gritted his teeth, "Where did you come from, I don't know you!"

The face of the pregnant woman on the other side of him also changed drastically, she gave Chen Dalian a hard look, then turned her head and shouted at Qiu Erniang, "Where did you come from a shameless bitch, a husband who pesters others, I have been married to my master for six or seven years Never seen you."

Erniang Qiu cried so much that she couldn't even see the figure in front of her, she just grabbed Chen Dalian tightly, "Dalian, how could you treat me like this, my parents passed away, I brought Yue'e to look for you..."

Chen Daliang stared at the birthmark on Qiu Erniang's face, remembering how happy he was in those poor days, now he could only deny it, "My lady, I don't know you at all, please don't mess around."

Aunt Liu, who sent people here, was dumbfounded when she saw this big show.

"Da Lian, Da Lian, follow me to see Yue'e, she's been talking about looking for her father all day..."

"You woman, why are you acting like a rascal?" The fat pregnant woman couldn't take it anymore, she went to Erniang Qiu and pulled her, "Hurry up, or we will report to the police."

Erniang Qiu couldn't hear anything, her mind was buzzing, she didn't care about the pregnant woman who was pulling her, she just kept pulling on Chen Dalian, when suddenly there was an ouch in her ear, she subconsciously turned her head to look, and the pregnant woman fell on the ground On the ground, clutching his stomach, he wailed in pain, "Master, my stomach hurts so much, please save me, Master, this wicked woman pushed me, trying to murder our son."

Chen Dalian's complexion changed drastically, he threw away Erniang Qiu, squatted down and hugged the pregnant woman in a panic, "Ma'am, ma'am, are you okay, come, come, hurry up and call the doctor, hurry up and call the official, this wicked woman hurt my wife Son, arrest her and take her to the government."

Some craftsmen came out from the jewelry shop, some went to report to the official, and some went to call the doctor.

Qiu Erniang stood there helplessly, muttering, "No, I didn't push her, I didn't..."

Soon the doctor and the official came. Chen Dalian carried the pregnant woman to the shop, followed by the doctor. The official got Xin'er and arrested Qiu Erniang to go back for interrogation.Only then did Erniang Qiu regain her senses, and grabbed Aunt Liu who was next to her tightly, "Auntie, please help me, go to the Yuelai Inn to find my daughter Yue'e, and ask her to beg the fourth girl of the Jiang family, Auntie, please help me." ..."

Before he finished speaking, he was dragged to the government by the official.

Aunt Liu was dumbfounded, "How could this be..." Then she went to look at the busy people in the jewelry store, and muttered, "What a cruel heart, it was obviously not pushed by this little lady..." But she didn't mind at all. Dare to say, this Chen Dalian's wife heard that she has some relationship with Duke Zhen's mansion, no one would dare to bully her.

She sighed, thinking about which aristocratic family the Jiang family was mentioned by the young lady just now.

Soon after going to the Yuelai Inn, Aunt Liu found the daughter Qiu Erniang was talking about in the backyard, a thin and weak little girl, sitting alone on the railing under the eaves. The little girl said it over and over again, "Your mother asked you to go to Jiang's mansion to find the fourth girl to save her, if you know which fourth girl in Jiang's mansion it is to save her, hurry up and beg her, I'm afraid your mother will be beaten into a trick if it's too late. "

Chen Yue'e wiped away her tears, kneeled on the ground and kowtowed to Aunt Liu three times, "Thank you for your kindness."

Aunt Liu was so distressed that she quickly pulled him up, "Hurry up and find someone, I can't help other aunts."

Yuzhu finished the remaining thousand-character literature in the past half month. Xie Che checked her homework and found that she was indeed able to read characters very quickly, and could recognize these characters too. It takes a few years to see it.

After eating breakfast that day, Yuzhu led two fat rabbits to walk around the courtyard, and went back to the house to practice calligraphy on the desk under the window lattice. Just after writing a few words, Baiji came in and said, "Girl, the concierge said the house A little girl named Chen Yue'e came to you at the door, and she said that she was a mother and daughter that you helped at the Yuelai Inn half a month ago."

Yuzhu put the pen on the amber-carved mountain-shaped pen holder, Bai Shao gave her a hot handkerchief to wipe her hands, Yuzhu turned around and sat on the couch beside her and asked Baiji, "Is that little girl alone?"

Bai Ji nodded, "She's not the only one, her eyes are red, she looks like she's been crying."

Yuzhu thought for a while, "Let her in."

Chen Yue'e quickly followed Baiji into Fuyun Courtyard, not daring to look around, went into the wing room, walked around the mahogany inlaid shell and flower screen, and saw the jade doll sitting on the imperial concubine's couch, it was the one who helped them that day Little nobleman, she knelt down and kowtowed.

"Don't." Yu Zhu'er asked Bai Shao Bai Ji to pull her up, "If you have something to say, you can tell it directly, but what happened to your mother?" She doesn't like people always kowtow to her to thank her.

Chen Yue'e was pulled up by Bai Shao Bai Ji, bent over and choked with sobs, "I beg Fuchang County Lord to save my mother, my mother was dragged away by an officer."

Yuzhu asked, "What's going on?"

Chen Yue'e recounted what she heard from Aunt Liu, and cried, "I beg the Lord of Fuchang County to save my mother. Aunt Liu said that my mother didn't hit the pregnant woman. She wronged my mother."

Yuzhu frowned, she didn't expect that such a thing would be involved afterwards, that Chen Dalian is also a wolf, he abandoned his wife and son because of his wealth, and even slandered his first wife, it's really abominable.

Chen Yue'e saw the jade man frowning, she couldn't figure it out, she was a child, how could she have to kneel down again when she was caught by Bai Shao Bai Ji, she cried, "I beg the county lord to save my mother In the future, my mother and I will make cows and horses for the county lord, and my mother can also make jewelry. By the way, my mother can also make filigree inlays. Stay at the mansion to make jewelry for nobles."

The bletilla striata behind her was restless, she gasped, and the jade beads were also surprised, inlaid with filigree?That is a craft that is almost extinct, because of Mu's shop, she has some knowledge about it.

Filigree is drawn from gold, silver and other raw materials into filaments, braided and formed, and then gold and silver flakes are hammered into shape, and pearls and gemstones are embedded. Filigree inlaid handicrafts are mostly in the hands of aristocratic families and royal families.Originally, there were two old craftsmen who knew how to inlay filigree in the palace, but they disappeared after leaving the palace. I heard that only the Sheng family in Qizhou had a craftsman who knew how to inlay filigree. Become a famous family in the capital.

Qizhou produces jade, and the Sheng family is mostly in the jade business. They deal with these jewelry all the year round, and it is because of such a filigree inlay craftsman that they become the richest man in Qizhou.This craftsman is also very tempered, he only makes ten pieces of filigree-inlaid handicrafts every year, four pieces are shipped to the capital as a tribute to the Holy One, and the other six pieces will be sold to those aristocratic families at a very high price.

Craftsmen like this are respected by others, Yuzhu couldn't figure out how that country woman knew how to craft filigree inlays, maybe there was something hidden?
She thought for a moment in her heart, and said to Chen Yue'e, "I'll let the servant girl go to inquire first, and you and Bai Ji go to the inn to pack up your things first, and stay in the mansion for now, when your mother comes out, how about you discussing other matters?"

Chen Yue'e was about to kneel down to thank her again, Yu Zhu'er hurriedly asked Bai Ji to take her to the inn to pack up her things.

The Ministry of Criminal Justice in Shangjing is different from the local governments in other places. There are many cases every day. Generally, if someone commits a crime, he will go to the Ministry of Criminal Justice and close for a few days before it is his turn to try the case. Yuzhu also happens to have time to plan.

Of course, she is still an ignorant child, and it is not easy to come forward for such things, so she told Jiang Ansu about the matter during dinner at night, "Father, I helped a mother and daughter in the Yuelai Inn a few days ago After paying the rent, I never thought that the little girl would come to the door today and beg me to save her mother." Briefly explain what happened.

Mrs. Mu frowned when she heard this, "The husband is too cruel."

Jiang Po swallowed the food in her mouth and taught Yuzhu a lesson, "Jiaojiao, why are you running around again?"

Yuzhu'er coquettishly said, "Brother Che took me out to play."

Xie Che brought some food for Jiang Po, and said, "Don't eat or sleep, eat well."

Jiang Po kept his mouth shut. In this family, besides his father, he was also afraid of Big Brother Xie and his biological big brother Jiang Jin. They liked nagging him the most, which was very annoying.

Jiang Ansu worked in Dali Temple and had frequent contacts with the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Hearing what his daughter said, he said, "Jiao Jiao, don't worry. I'll go to the Yamen tomorrow to ask. It's not a big deal. It shouldn't be a big problem." After saying that, he ordered Xie Che, "Ah Che, go and find out about the situation at Chen Dalian's house tomorrow."

"Master, don't worry, disciples don't worry."

At night, Chen Yue'e slept with Baiji, who was not on vigil, and Baiji said to her, "Don't worry, our girl is the best-hearted, and she is a lucky one. If you ask our girl, your mother will be able to turn danger into good fortune." Yes, but." She paused, "What are you going to do when your mother comes out? Do you still recognize your father?" She wanted the mother and daughter to stay with the girl, but it was a filigree inlay technique, but It's hard to come by, this is also the blessing of her girl.

(End of this chapter)