The daily life of the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, thick black

Chapter 62 Carp in the Pond

In fact, thinking about it, it is really not an easy task to fight wits with an old fox like Mingzhu.

But Zhang Tingyu is very calm now, and he can't tell where his calm comes from, a kind of calm that radiates from the inside out.Maybe it's the mediocrity for too long that gave him the mediocrity for too long in the eyes of the world, so he knows himself when he drinks water, and he tastes it by himself.

Ade followed by Zhang Tingyu's side and didn't speak much.

Gu Huaishu has been very busy recently, and has just taken over the affairs of the mansion, and many things are still unfamiliar.

However, there is no one in the mansion who can give her advice, Wu's side is all tired, and Chen's has been in cultivation,?Just a few more words about Gu Huaixiu, I can't help you with other things.

In such a large Zhang mansion, Gu Huaixiu was required to run it almost inside and out, and only Zhang Tingyu gave her advice at night.

The mothers-in-law and maids in the mansion still complained somewhat, after all, how long has Gu Huaishu only been in the mansion?

But no one dares to stand up and find fault. Huanhua and Chang'an are two things, one is too deterrent, and the other is too mysterious.

What happened in the mansion, the people below are kept in the dark.As for those who know, they are all secretive.

Zhang Tingyu asked: "Is young mistress still in the mansion today?"

"Yes, but it's the Chinese New Year, and he said he would send a few people back to greet you, and the young mistress even asked someone to make you a cloak." Ade's mouth was sweet, and he only asked the question of whether the young mistress was in the house, but he got involved in something else.

Originally, Gu Huaishu had received an invitation from Miss Li Guangdi's family today, but he couldn't get away from his busy schedule, so when he was sleeping last night, he only said that he was too polite.It seems that she is really determined to straighten out Zhang's house from top to bottom.

Zhang Tingyu only laughed when he heard it, and when he looked again, Mingzhu Mansion was already in front.

The master and the servant handed over the invitation card, and a special person inside brought Zhang Tingyu in.

As for Gu Huaixiu, he was still troubled by a lot of complicated things in the mansion.

What is Gu Huaishu's greatest ability?
No matter how much you look at the account book, you can see a lot of bad debts at a glance.

It's only been two days since I've been in charge of the affairs of the mansion, and this year's books are piled up, at least two feet long.

Gu Huaishu started reading it the night before yesterday, and it basically counts as one book in two hours.

To understand the situation of a large family, it is the fastest from the ledger.

There is an accountant in the mansion to keep accounts, and there are maids in the inner courtyard to keep accounts. Each room has its own account book, and the account books that Gu Huaishu got are from the account house and the inner courtyard.

Comparing was originally a very difficult thing, one month's expenses were not bad, and slowly corrected, but now it was moved to Gu Huaixiu's hands for a whole year.

The accountant's memory is relatively simple, and the general account book is particularly complicated.

Mrs. Chen said that when such account books were handed in in previous years, most of them were put down after a glance. If there were any major problems, it was impossible. After all, there was an account on both sides. If there was a mistake, it would not be correct. .

Since Mrs. Chen said so, Gu Huaixiu didn't care at all, but she just flipped through it that night, and unexpectedly found a series of questions.

Yesterday, there was a large group of servants standing in the corridor in front of her house, all of whom were called in by Gu Huaishui for questioning.

Everyone stood calmly on the surface, a little apprehensive when they went in, and expressions of concern when they came out.

If you want to ask what Gu Huaixiu said to them, it's all about him.

It's not that Gu Huaixiu is acting on his own, it's because there are not many clean people in this mansion.

Looking at the accounts and checking them carefully, there are too many people who have problems.

After all, these maids in the back garden, or the little maids who are in charge of purchasing, are not all educated and literate, let alone some accountants who specialize in making fake accounts, right?Too much will smooth out the temporary accounts, and it is easy to see the problem in the subsequent accounts.

"I heard that the accounts of previous years were checked by Chang'an and Wang Fushun's family. I asked someone to invite the old lady's Wang Fushun's family to come."

Gu Huaishu dialed the last bead with his left hand, made a note on the paper with his right hand, and then sent a message.

The maids inside and outside the house have calmed down in the past few days. Before, they thought that the second young lady was just a girl in the boudoir, so they would not expect to play tricks.

At first, it was fine to ask someone to bring the abacus, but after fiddled with it for a while, the maids thought she was just playing, but the Second Young Mistress kept dialing the abacus all morning, and the sound of the abacus beads in the whole room was not heard at all. stopped.

In the morning, I set up the abacus, and in the afternoon, I found someone to settle it, and then continued to make the calculation, and after I finished the calculation, I found a group of people to talk.

Originally the Second Young Mistress was the housekeeper, so many pairs of eyes were staring at Zhang's house, they dared not say anything, they all hoped that she would make a fool of herself.

Unexpectedly, it was Miss Gu San who made them dizzy with fright.

Qing Dai already sighed, what on earth would her young mistress do, even this plan can make everyone in the house panic.

Anyway, those who were called by Gu Huaixiu were quite normal when they came, but they were almost ashen-faced when they went out.

Hearing that Gu Huaixiu was already going to invite Wang Fushun's family, Qing Dai was also taken aback, but now she had no choice but to call for someone.

As the saying goes, "new officials take office with three fires", Gu Huaishu is the housekeeper just now, and he always beats and beats these people.

How can you gain prestige without killing a few people?
No one in the big house cares about Gu Huaixiu, and the old lady Wu just quit. The people below will be unlucky whoever is passed on by Gu Huaixiu.

It's just that no one expected that the head of Wang Fushun's family could be found.

Wang Fushun's family has been serving Wu's side for many years, and they are very senior old people in this mansion.

When she was notified by Qing Dai, she had just come out of Wu's house, and wanted to tell the maids that the old lady had to take the medicine for a longer time, but she saw Qing Dai head-on.

Qing Dai said with a smile that Gu Huaixiu invited her to go, but Wang Fushun's family didn't think much about it.

After all, she is the person next to the old lady, and she is afraid that she still thinks that the second young lady will find her because of some unsolvable problems.Along the way, she was still trying to get in touch with Qing Dai, speaking as if she was an old man in the house, telling Qing Dai to be careful, and talking about the preferences of several masters in the house.

Qingdai answered all of them, but didn't insert a word.

When Wang Fushun's family entered the room where Gu Huaxiu worked, they were stunned.

"Snapped."

The ledger was thrown by Gu Huaishu on the smooth terrazzo floor in front of him. There was no carpet in that place and it was cold.

Gu Huai didn't even raise his sleeves, and then picked up the abacus for a while, and his voice was very calm: "If I remember correctly, mom can still read the account book and read a few big characters, right? If you are not old and dim, just read it After reading this account book, if mom has any ideas, please tell me slowly."

Wang Fushun's family felt a chill in their hearts, bent over to pick up the ledger, and found that there were several expenses circled with a light ink pen.

How could Wang Fushun's family not be familiar with these expenses?
"This is the cost of buying makeup for the maid next to the old lady last year. What's wrong?"

Wang Fushun's family only thought that Gu Huaixiu's check at the end of the year was a blind cat who ran into a dead mouse, and there was no reason for him to be found by such a coincidence.

She was still talking hard, but Gu Huaishu was already smiling.

The finger of the plan didn't stop, and Gu Huaishu pinched a certain place on the ledger with his right hand, so as not to interrupt his plan, but his mouth was still talking.The ability to focus on two purposes is revealed at this time.

"How many servant girls are there beside the old lady?"

Wang Fushun's family is still thinking about it, and seems a little uncertain.

Where can Gu Huaishu give her time to think?
She sneered, and had already urged her: "How many are there? You don't even know who is serving the old lady, but you are the most capable mother in the back. With your forgetfulness, you can still serve the old lady." people?"

This frightened Wang Fushun's family, and she quickly knelt on the ground: "Second young lady, you are joking, the old lady has eight maids and three women, and without Chang'an, there are only 12 people in total. .”

Finally, he showed his feet.

Originally, the things recorded in this account book were a bit outrageous, but Gu Huaishu really didn't even need to calculate, he knew that there was something wrong with this account.

"Crack, crack, crack, crack..."

The abacus continued to be moved, and Gu Huaishu's voice was mixed with the sound of the beads, which was extraordinarily clear and cold: "There are only twelve maidservants in total, even if you count the original one who doesn't have long eyes, it's not that bad." Thirteen? Rouge and gouache, which girl doesn’t like to use it? But after all, she’s a maid, so there’s no saying that a maid needs to use three or five boxes a month. I only use one box of powder a month for Tianfu. I don't know how big the maid next to the old lady must be, and they can use five boxes a month."

Many maids inside and out laughed sullenly, but Wang Fushun's family couldn't.

At that time, I paid money to go shopping, but I embezzled it when my money was tight. Afterwards, I casually credited this amount to the maids’ cosmetic money. Caught out?

Wang Fushun's family was really afraid and hated, and suddenly they were so anxious that they didn't know what to say.

She just kept arguing: "It seems that this account was reported wrongly by the old slave...it was wrongly reported..."

"Oh, I made a mistake."

Gu Huaisu's movements stopped, and he looked up at her with some pity.

"Mom, why don't you go back to the front again? Eleven months have passed this year, can you make a mistake in one month, can you still have this mistake in two months? Besides, if you remember wrongly, don't There must be a lot of mistakes. The book is flat, if there is no mistake in this sum of money, where did the missing money go? It can’t be that you made a mistake all of a sudden, right? "

"In my opinion, maybe there is a maid with a big face next to the old lady, who spends dozens of taels of silver on her face all day long. Do you think so? Or, let's go to the old lady's side to look for it? It's a waste of our family's money to keep a maid. How much do you think it costs to buy a maid? Why do you need dozens of taels to raise her makeup? There is no such thing in the world."

Sarcasm, sarcasm, who has the big face?
Gu Huaixiu's words were absolutely perfect.

She squinted her eyes and was extremely friendly to Wang Fushun's family.

How can Wang Fushun's family not feel the knife on his neck?

No one expected that the housekeeper Gu Huaixiu would start with checking the accounts, wouldn't they usually go down to check their own affairs?She was even prepared, but Gu Huaixiu was so unexpected and concealed her surprise, how could their brains turn as fast as Gu Huaixiu?

After checking the accounts, although you can't know everything, it is a good opportunity to catch everyone.

Who has the ability to dare to challenge Gu Huaishu who is holding the account book?
Wang Fushun's family didn't have the guts either. If she dared to offend Gu Huaishu at this moment, she would be sold out the next moment.

The suffering of Wang Fushun's family is as if his face has been soaked in Coptis chinensis.

She finally knew that she had run into something hard, and she had listened to Wu Shi's hint a while ago, and wanted to trip up the second young lady and give her a blow.It's just that the shaming on their side didn't go out, and Gu Huaishu's side had already put people on fire, and they were about to be roasted.

Wang Fushun's family knew that they couldn't beat Gu Huaixiu, so they just went down tremblingly and kowtowed to Gu Huaixiu: "Old slave...Old slave...Old slave begs the second young lady to show her high hands. I hope that the second young mistress will let the old slave live because of the old slave's care for the old lady for so many years! The second young mistress is a kind-hearted..."

Ha, yes, kindhearted.

Gu Huaixiu likes others to praise herself, so she flicked her abacus: "You are smart, Second Young Mistress, I am not good at anything, but kind-hearted. No wonder people say that your Wang Fushun family is good at seeing people. I especially like people with vision."

If Wang Fushun's family really wanted to be dealt with, Gu Huaishu would never call her over, and took people directly to the old lady's side to scare her off.

At that time, Gu Huaixiu said, I want to find out if there is a maid with a big face next to the old lady, who wasted money in our house and increased the expenses, is that okay?It's not good for us to do this, so we should be more frugal.If the maid with a big face has no skills, it's better to throw her out of the house.

At that time, the old lady was still so angry?
But Gu Huaishu didn't do that, the business still has to go in the long run.

After all, this mansion is an evergreen tree, so it is meaningless to play all the chess to death at once.

If there is a reason, it is not impossible for Gu Huaishu to kill Wang Fushun's family, but what happens after he is killed?That's useless.

Those who can use it should still use it.

After checking the account book and shouting for beatings and killings, she was very prestigious, but she threw out all the handles in her hand, what else is there in the future?If we continue to check the accounts next year, we may not be able to see so many interesting things.

Not to be missed.

Gu Huaixiu calculated carefully, and even used these handles well.

Just looking at how many maids she has met recently, she can tell that Wang Fushun's family is just the most respectable maid she has ever seen in the mansion.

Gu Huaishu especially likes people with vision?

Wang Fushun's family has been able to serve the old lady in charge of the affairs of the house for so many years, and it is not for nothing that their ears are full of eyes.

The meaning of these words is already very clear.

She raised her head, looked at Gu Huaishu who was smiling all over her face, and then slowly lowered her head.

It was still early, the sun was out, and the snow had just begun to melt.

When Wang Fushun's family walked out of Gu Huaishu's room, they were a little uncertain about their mood.

She went down the steps, looked back, and felt that she was kneeling on the floor just now, and her kneecaps were a little cold.Even with that coldness, it passed through her knees and reached her bones.

It's not that Gu Huaishu has any conspiracy plans, it's just that this unexpected scheming really surprised her...

Originally, Zhang's mansion was handed over to Gu Huaixiu's management, that is, the old lady was submissive to the master, and she seemed to feel that she was wrong, and she shouldn't be so stiff with the second room, but there was still a knot in her heart that couldn't be solved.Mrs. Chen can't meddle in the affairs here...

Even if she drives the ducks to the shelves, she can turn them into such a flourishing situation.

Wang Fushun's family sighed secretly in their hearts, knowing that they had already been caught by someone, and it would not be so easy in the future.

When she went back to the old lady, she was asked what she was doing at Gu Huaixiu's side. Wang Fushun's family didn't change their face and heartbeat. They beat Mrs. Wu's legs while smiling and said: "After all, he just came out of the cabinet not long ago. Where did you deal with the affairs of our big family in the Gu Mansion before? I was still in a hurry, and I encountered a few problems by chance, so I asked the old slave to ask about the way it was handled in the past."

Mrs. Wu snorted, and looked up lazily: "This time, she gave me some winks. Our mansion is different from other mansions. It would be best for her to be careful. If something goes wrong ……Humph!"

There was nothing wrong with the main house, and Wang Fushun's family went back to Wu's place, and there seemed to be nothing wrong.

Gu Huaishu yawned in her own room. She looked at the pile of ledgers in her hand, rubbed her eyes, and asked Qing Dai to come over and help her up: "My waist is as hard as a rock. Come here and help me, let's go out for a while, I've been sitting for two days and it's no different from the punishment."

Qingdai came over and smiled: "It's still snowing outside, you'd better sit inside. The second master said when he left, don't go outside if you have nothing to do, it's messy."

I don't know if the word "chaotic" refers to the Zhang family or the court.

Gu Huaixiu thought about it too, it's no fun to go out in the cold weather.

She waved her hand: "Then let's go for a walk around the house, and ask someone to see who will send some gifts back. Last time, my sister-in-law sent a lot of things and helped a lot. Our people, Let's go with the people from the uncle's side."

The person who saw Chen's doctor last time was found by Sun Lianqiao. Zhang Tingzan only thanked the doctor, but he didn't have time to thank Sun Lianqiao.This time, it happened that Gu Huaishu wanted to ask someone to come and have a look, Zhang Tingzan made a decision, and the people on both sides should leave together.

Now Chen's body is still being taken care of by Shangguanyuan, except for the doctor of Xinglin Medical Center, Zhang Tingzan doesn't bother to talk to anyone.

Seeing that everyone was about to set off to go back, Gu Huaishu remembered the group of people who were still in Gu's mansion, she sighed, and was about to speak.

Duofu ran up from behind, and said, "Second young lady, Master Shifang in the kitchen said that he was in a hurry and left a set of specially made knives in the mansion. He wants to go back with him to pick them up, and then come with him."

knives?This too.

Gu Huaishu remembered that Xiao Shifang's knives all had their own uses, and it was not easy to make them after coming here.

At the beginning, those were all ground out one by one, so he should have thought about it.

Gu Huaishu said: "He can take it back if he wants to. Just remember to come back with others when the time comes. We are still waiting for him to make food in the evening. Tell him not to forget the time."

"Yes."

Duofu hurried down to communicate.

Gu Huaishu took a look at the sky, checked the time, but said, "Second Lord must be sitting in Mingzhu Mansion."

They were indeed sitting, but the atmosphere was not very friendly.

Zhang Tingyu himself had guessed this result a long time ago, but Mingzhu didn't expect it.

Nalan Kuixu didn't expect it when he came in.

He just saw that Zhang Tingyu had been in for a long time, and his father hadn't given any orders yet, so he couldn't sit still, so he came to the study and knocked on the door.

Mingzhu's wrinkled face trembled, and she only squeezed her voice out through her teeth: "When did I ask you to knock on the door? Stand away from me."

"This……"

Although Nalan Kuixu is not as capable as Nalan Xingde, but at least he is the second son of the mansion, and he will inherit the family business alone in the future. Mingzhu still cares about Kuixu now, and has never said such serious words .Nalan Kuixu only thought that Mingzhu had taken the wrong medicine, but he didn't dare to refute anything, so as not to lose face in front of outsiders, he bowed and hurried away.

"Retire, child."

The person left, but Zhang Tingyu's expression did not fluctuate in any way.

Mingzhu said sadly: "Your Zhang family is really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's not common to be singled out by one person. But Heng Chen has already boarded the boat, and when he disembarked, the surroundings are full of water. The boundless river surface , the waterway is very wide, but the water is deeper. Have you thought about it, my nephew?"

"Tingyu is not talented, but I want to ask Ming Xiang: Why did Tingyu get on the boat?"

He just rescued an old man who was about to die, how dare he say that Zhang Tingyu is going to board their boat?
Zhang Tingyu found it interesting.

He poured himself a cup of tea, and he didn't even have the respect he had for his elders during the previous conversation.

Zhang Tingyu said: "My lord Mingzhu, Tingyu is just a kid with no fame and only wants to extract benefits from you. If you want to bet on me, you will only lose more than you gain."

If he had known that meeting this time would not be so simple, he knew that there are tigers in the mountains and he would prefer to go to the mountains.

Mingzhu was rescued by such a little-known Mr. Zhang Er. She felt uneasy and wanted to settle this matter early, but Zhang Tingyu is not a vegetarian?

The two old men went around in a circle like this, and they returned to the original point.

Mingzhu touched her beard, but snorted twice: "You are not polite when you speak, you don't meander like your father, and you haven't said a word for a long time. But the truth you said is not true. ? Yes, on this point, it comes from Zhang Ying and is better than Zhang Ying. After all, there are no different types of people in the same nest. The men of the Zhang family are all difficult to deal with. I won’t play around with you anymore, just talk about it , you have done me such a great favor, what do you want to get?"

To put it bluntly, it is similar to Caishikou.

Zhang Tingyu smiled: "Master Mingzhu, your boat is unstable, and I dare not take it. Tingyu is just an ascetic who is still walking on the shore. Why do you force me to choose sides?"

"You help me, if you say you have no plans, I don't believe it. You just open your mouth, and I will solve your problem, so that there will be no future troubles."

Mingzhu knocked on the table, raised her eyes, with the look of an old fox.

The old man was there, suddenly remembered something, picked up the tea and put it down, looked at Zhang Tingyu: "That's not right... Could it be... Could it be that ghost Zhang Ying also wants to..."

Suddenly, as if she understood something, Mingzhu's eyelids twitched.

He himself has worked hard for their family. He supports the elder brother himself, but at the same time, he also wins over Zhang Ying. Although the two of them are at odds with each other, everyone can get along, even the prince. Ascend to the throne, even his pearls will not fall.What's more, now that Lord Kangxi is in good health, and the princes below are beginning to grow up, there may be better candidates.

The current elder brother has gradually shaken Mingzhu a little.

But after all, throughout the ages, it was either the establishment of the heir or the establishment of the head. After all, it is more likely to be the eldest brother, not to mention that the eldest brother still has the blood of their family...

If you don't support Big Brother, who will he support?

But Zhang Ying was different, the old man was a Hanchen, and he seemed to be working beside the prince, but he obeyed the emperor's orders very well.

He looked like a prince, but the prince scolded him all day long.Those who say that Zhang Ying is the prince are a little different. It is true that he listens to the emperor more.

But his son Zhang Tingzan was different. He worked in Zhan Shifu and got very close to the prince, which clearly put his bet on the prince.

Now Zhang Tingyu suddenly helped him?
Ouch, this is amazing!
When did Zhang Ying learn to bet on both sides and become a banker?
In Gu Huaixiu's words, Mingzhu bought double insurance for herself, and now she turns around and suspects that others also have double insurance like him.

So now Mingzhu looks at Zhang Tingyu a little differently.

He calculated.

"Anyway, you don't have any fame yet, so let's talk slowly. After all, no one can tell what will happen in the future. I think, your old man Zhang Ying is a shrewd person, and the following young masters are basically not confused. People. Although your father values ​​the first son more now, but the second son is not an ordinary person. There will be a township examination in the next year, and the next year will take the exam... If you are interested, I will work hard..."

Mingzhu smiled, regardless of Zhang Ying's attitude, it's always good to win over Zhang Tingyu first.

Zhang Tingzan couldn't win him over, after all, he was already by the prince's side.

There is Zhang Tingyu, talk is better than nothing.

Dare to say that their boat is unstable, this is the first time Mingzhu has seen it.

For the crown prince and elder brother, the chances of becoming the throne are all [-]-[-].

Zhang Tingyu shook his arm and was silent for a while.

When he walked out of Mingzhu Mansion, his steps seemed to be very easy.

"This son is definitely not something in the pool..."

Mingzhu looked at Zhang Tingyu's back, and suddenly sighed, the tea was cold, and he was sitting in the room, seeing his second son poking his head over, he was immediately out of breath.

If you compare people, you will die, if you compare goods, you will have to throw them away.

Nalan Kuixu didn't know that he had been rejected, so he came up curiously and asked, "What did Ama promise him?"

"I wanted to promise, but he didn't want to."

Mingzhu secretly thinks that the Zhang family is difficult to deal with, but she thinks that this favor is really hard to repay. On the one hand, she cannot get rid of Zhang Tingyu, and on the other hand, she can't repay the favor to clear the debt between the two. Mingzhu feels really aggrieved.

Nalan Kui said: "What kind of thing is he not in the pool? I think he is just ordinary."

Mingzhu knocked on the table angrily, and gritted her teeth: "You are so short-sighted! The jewels are hidden in the box, who can see their jewels? If you can see, I will give you a chair to sit on! "

Hearing this, Nalan Kuixu quickly silenced, very cautiously: "Ama taught you the right thing."

"The lesson is right, where is the 'yes' again? You just talk about it, can't you tell?" Mingzhu really wanted to hit him with a shoehorn, but when she looked back at Zhang Tingyu, she felt that the road for the second son of the Zhang family was too difficult. , and immediately sighed, "Things that are ineffective are really far from your elder brother... Sigh, if you look at the sky, it will be dark before dawn."

It was dark before dawn.

Nalan Kuixu turned his head to look at the sky, isn't it broad daylight?
The sun is just right, and the snow is about to start melting outside.

Zhang Tingyu has been sent outside the door by the servants of Mingzhu Mansion.

He bent his lips slightly, and was about to get on the horse, but when he saw the snow piled up on the wide street outside, he suddenly threw the rein away, and walked forward along the long street.

Not long after the sun came out, the snow-covered street was still very cold, and there were few people there.

Zhang Tingyu walked forward step by step with his hands behind his back.

The warm sunshine and the white mist between breaths in winter are intertwined.

The magnificent Forbidden City is swaying in the sky, clouds and shadows, and the streets of the capital are covered with white snow, which is very gratifying.

On both sides are the courtyard walls of high-ranking families, and the street in front is very long and straight, submerged in the thick winter fog.

At this moment, he suddenly stood still, the ice and snow were beginning to melt under his feet, but his eyes were still as calm as water.

He refused to stand in line, and ignored Mingzhu's various requests.

Mingzhu said: According to your father's heart, it doesn't matter if you don't take the imperial examination, even if you go, there will be countless people waiting to trip you up, and Zhang Ying can't help you in the slightest.

But so what?
Daqi, late bloomer.

Zhang Tingyu closed his eyes slightly, and continued to walk forward.

He wants to keep this moment in his heart.

One year, two years, three years...

At this moment, Zhang Tingyu didn't know how he felt standing on this street again eight years later.

At that time, crouching dragons and leaping horses, I still remember the lofty ambitions of those days; the sound and books were lonely, but today's wealth is overwhelming.Things changed and people changed, and Mingzhu Mansion plummeted.

And he, like today——

His face was frosty and cold, and his blood was hot.

(End of this chapter)