in spring

Chapter 340 Hot Potatoes
Huanhuaxuan has changed a lot, probably repainted before the owner got married. All the rooms in the courtyard have been rebuilt. There are three main rooms, and now only Li You and Fan Xiru are in use.The other girls and women all live in the front yard or the back room.The place where the big girls usually work and chat has been moved to the corner of the veranda in the front yard.

Seeing Li You brought people in, the maids got up to greet him one after another, chatting about their health, some poured hot tea, some brought snacks, some took off their coats, some reported what happened in the courtyard during the two hours he left, and some glanced at him. Xiang Chunying and Shi'er had scrutiny in their eyes.Li Xia, who was the leader, combed the hairstyle of a woman, and was obviously dressed more gorgeously than the other big girls. He recognized Chunying and Shi'er at a glance, and walked forward with a smile: "Why are the two sisters coming back today when you are free? ? Sister Chunying hasn't seen you for many years, how is this going?"

Chunying couldn't say that she was intimate, so she just smiled reservedly, Shi'er chatted with her, and asked Xia He again, Li Xia said: "Miss He sent a letter from her home, saying that her mother was ill, so she came here early this morning. So I went home, and I'm afraid I won't be able to come back until night." Shi'er was a little disappointed: "I thought she must be there, if I had known, I would have waited outside."

Chunying asked Shi'er with a wink, and Shi'er told her in a low voice: "Xia He opened his face at the end of last year." Chunying frowned, and looked at Li You with a somewhat unfriendly gaze.

It's unreasonable that such an innocent and lovely baby was harmed by this kind of horse!

Li You got rid of Yingying and Yanyan with a wave of his hand, turned around and said, "Ten'er, catch up with them, Chunying will come with me." Then he walked straight to the backyard.

Chunying felt dozens of cold lights coming from all directions, sneered, and said indifferently: "Third young master is so confused, what is your identity now, what is my identity? I am a guest at the house today, you have something to do, thank you very much." Fang Fang said that’s it, just ask me to come into the house with you, what are you doing?!”

Li You was stunned for a moment, and then realized that she was no longer his girl, and she was married again. It seemed a bit inappropriate for her to be a widow.However, what he wanted to tell her was not easy for others to hear.Frowning, he said: "Follow the matter urgently, you come in with me, the worst thing is to open the door for people to watch. Li Xia is here to guard the door!" After walking two steps, Chunying still stood there with a straight face. Moved, he sighed: "This matter has something to do with your Hu Wangshan, don't you really listen to me?!"

Chunying's heart moved: "What's the relationship?"

"Just come in, and I'll tell you slowly. You know what he does, do you want me to say it here in front of the girls?"

He spoke as if what Hu Fei had done was shameful.Chun Ying curled her lips, seeing Li Xia came to persuade her, she said: "Since there is business, why did the third young lady only invite me in the post? If I knew it was related to Wang Shan, I would have asked him to come with me. I don't care about his official affairs, even if you tell me, I don't know the details, do you?"

"It's not like that." Li You thought for a while, "There are too many people involved in this matter, and if it is leaked out, it will be bad for everyone. That's why I called you here, because you are half of yourself. Don't you There are too many worries, and the people in this courtyard are all family-born children, so they won't say anything that shouldn't be said." He glanced at the girls, and everyone quickly bowed their heads obediently as a sign of obedience.From the conversation just now, they also know that Chunying is not a vixen who intends to seduce her master, of course she won't mess around, if she annoys the third young master, it's not for fun.

Chunying smiled, and said in a "polite" tone: "Third young master, don't blame me for being careless. Speaking of which, I was originally the third young lady's guest. Because of the old friendship, I just said a few words to you, but now The Third Young Mistress is not here, and you don't allow others to accompany me. It's so difficult for me. I really don't know how to deal with it. Although our Hu family is not as noble as the Hou's family, it is also a decent family. I have to take care of my husband's face. Please be more careful. There are many villains in the world nowadays, who are used to watching people’s momentary negligence, fabricating some invisible things to spread, and bad people’s reputation for fun. Although I am an insignificant However, if I am criticized, it will not only damage the face of the Hu family, but also tarnish the faces of the old ladies and wives of Wenjun Palace and Dongfu, and also damage the reputation of the third young master. You are angry, you have to take care of the face of the family, if you offend, please don't take offense."

In her words, she pointed out three meanings. One is to warn Li You not to treat her like a married girl, and to do whatever she wants. The second is to remind him to control the mouths of the people around him. Two backers came out, indicating that neither the Hu family nor Chunying herself could be manipulated by him at will, and told him to be careful.But in addition to these three meanings, there is another meaning, that is: I have changed my identity to put on airs and prestige in front of the old master, I have no choice but to do it for your own good.

Li You was originally a clear-headed person, although he had always regarded Chunying as half of his own, and there were fewer taboos in speaking and doing things, but now that he heard what she said, he also understood, and couldn't help feeling secretly annoyed.However, what she said made sense. If he didn't say anything else, he couldn't ignore Dongfu's uncle's face alone, so he could only grit his teeth and say, "Young lady, I'm not rude." The maids who were working in the inner courtyard were all driven out, and even Yanzhi was sent to the old lady to say hello, so Lixia welcomed Chunying into the study to accompany her to talk, and opened the window facing the courtyard so that everyone could see the inside However, he was far away and couldn't hear a word, but he still didn't call Shi'er in.

Shi'er didn't care, and gave Chunying a comforting look, and cheerfully dragged a few acquaintances to talk to the old sisters.Seeing that Li You's arrangement was acceptable, Chunying followed Li Xia into the study without haste.Li Xia asked her to sit on the first chair on the right.She thought to herself, in this court, the left is the most respected, and the guests should sit on the left, and in her original identity, it is appropriate to sit on the right, but she just talked about that, why are you pretending?So he simply sat down on the second chair on the left, and smiled at Li Xia: "Miss, you are welcome." Li Xia blushed slightly, smiled and sat down on the right, seeing Li You coming in, immediately got up and respected Stand by.

Chunying stood up slowly and said with a smile, "Master Third, you are too polite." Li You looked at her seat, didn't say anything, but called someone: "Hongye, pour tea!" There was a girl poking her head outside Responding, he glanced at the study for a few more times before leaving.Chunying noticed that she was still wearing the hair style of an unmarried daughter, but she looked like a big girl.

After a while, Hongye served the tea and quietly stared at Chunying for a few times, but Chunying ignored her and slowly turned the lid of the tea bowl to blow air.Li You became impatient: "Go down after serving tea, what are you doing here?!" Hong Ye hurriedly retreated, and before leaving, she gave Li Xia a reluctant look, her eyes rolled around, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

It seems that this is another girl who wants to climb up, but it seems that she is not so innocent...

Li You asked for tea meaningfully, then gave Lixia a wink, Lixia smiled at Chunying very cooperatively, took out two cotton balls from his sleeves, plugged his ears, then turned and walked to the next door Study the dust on the shelves in front of the bookshelves.Chunying was dumbfounded, and said to Li You with both laughter and laughter: "The third young master is really good at managing people, and the girls under him are as clever as each other."

Li You disagrees: "Do you think it's easy for me to be here? She can be trusted, but there are some things that are not easy for her to know." Otherwise, why am I so troubled? There are no trustworthy girls, but they are only smart about small things. When encountering big things, they can understand my words and know the seriousness of the matter. Except for you, I have never met the first one. Two! But you ran away again!"

Chunying almost rolled her eyes: "Third young master, it's useless to say these words, even if I want to stay by your side to serve you, my wife won't tolerate it. I have nowhere to stay in this mansion, so I have no choice but to go to the East mansion Go, you said it was mine!"

Li You sighed helplessly, turned around and went to the opposite bookshelf, took down a set of thick scriptures, put them on the table, opened them, and took away the top two books, revealing the hollowed-out holes inside.Chunying watched him take out a booklet with yellowed paper from the hole, and thought in her heart: I often see this kind of small mechanism appearing in ancient TV dramas, but now I have seen the real thing!Although the safety factor is a bit low, it seems to be very interesting, and it is not too much trouble. Do you want to try to make one after you get home?
Li You picked up the booklet and flipped through it, then sighed: "It's all your mother-in-law, now this place to hide things is no longer used!" After looking out the window, he turned to her: "You are literate, take a look This, I know what's going on." After saying that, he handed the booklet to her.

Chunying hesitated, this thing seems to be a trouble?If it was a secret, she would be an insider as soon as she took it over, wouldn't it be difficult to refuse?

Li You was impatient, so he stuffed it to her: "What are you dawdling about? With your temperament, are you still afraid that I will force you to do something?!"

Chunying carefully held the booklet, glanced at the cover, and there was a line of small characters written on it: Seven years of Shun'an.There is also a word "Kang" written below.What does it mean?She hasn't worn it for seven years in Shun'an, so what does the word "Kang" represent?She looked at Li You in puzzlement, seeing that he had no intention of explaining, she had to turn to the first page.Seeing this, she was startled.

This is the secret account book of Prince Kang, another very low-key and stable clan prince of this dynasty. According to the above records, at least in the seventh year of Shun'an, he once sent a large amount of property to both Prince Ke's Mansion and Grand Master Liang's Mansion. These properties come from the tribute of more than 40 officials from other provinces. Among them, the lowest civil official is the county magistrate, the highest is the chief envoy of a province, the lowest military officer is the thousand households, and the highest is the Xuanfu of the Zhenfu side. Soothe.Judging from this account book alone, the power of King Ke's Mansion and Liang Taishi's Mansion was greater than imagined.

Chunying suddenly remembered that whether it was King Kang or the officials recorded in the account book, more than half of them were not on the list of criminals a few years ago. Doesn't that mean...

She took a breath, and quickly looked at Li You: "Third Young Master, this thing...is amazing! If the emperor had acted a little slower back then..." It was precisely because the emperor's extermination actions were fast enough to contain it before its influence expanded. Only when the principal culprit was found, these provincial forces were not alerted, otherwise it would be hard to say who would win.

Li You nodded: "If it weren't for this, I wouldn't be in a dilemma." Looking at Chunying, there was a hint of relief in his eyes: "I knew you would be able to see it, so I don't need to waste my time talking. Talk to a smart person Just save trouble."

Chunying didn't have time to pay attention to his compliment: "Where did you get it?!"

"When the second sister-in-law moved to the small courtyard behind the mansion, I found it in her luggage." Li You said indifferently, "At that time, the second sister-in-law was helped away by the women, and the girls were restrained, and the second brother yelled It is bad luck to renovate the yard, so the house is messy, people are everywhere, and the second sister-in-law's softness has been touched a lot. I just went to watch the excitement, and saw a big box, half-worn It was new, and it didn’t look like it belonged to our family, so I asked others what it was. Chen’er, who used to work in this courtyard, was in charge of that courtyard at that time, and told me that the second sister-in-law’s natal family quietly sent it over after an accident. Yes, because there is a big iron lock and the box is made of iron, so no one knows what is inside. Only then did I know that it was an iron box, but the outside was covered with wooden boards, so I couldn't tell. I was fascinated at the time I asked Chen'er to call a few people, and quietly moved the box away. It took more than half a month to open it. There were mostly jewelry, property, land deeds, and the Liang family's secret account. I handed everything over to my father, and I didn’t pay attention to this booklet, which was sandwiched in a pile of ancient calligraphy and paintings, and I only dug it out not long ago, and discovered the secret inside.”

Holding the thin booklet, Chunying felt heavy: "If this thing is sent up, it will be another bloodbath..."

"This is just an account. I'm afraid the Liang family kept it as a handle. There must still be King Kang's Mansion! Then there will be more people involved. In fact, most of the people here are not the best friends of the rebels. They escaped. It doesn't matter. If it was handed over at that time, the emperor would also find it difficult." Li You suddenly felt a little annoyed, "But the current situation of our family, if we can't come up with something to let the emperor know that we are loyal, we will be punished. I stepped into the mud! So I can't care less, these people are not good people anyway, since they attached to the rebellious party back then, they didn't do less to search for the people's fat and anointing, and they deserved it."

Chunying glanced at him: "Why didn't you hand in such an important thing right away? Although I have only been back to Beijing for a few days, I have heard a lot of rumors. The sooner this thing is handed in, the Hou Fu will be out of the way sooner. What are you still dawdling about?!"

Li You became even more irritable: "If you look carefully, you will know who are the people in it...Fan family... Xiru's father's name is on it! There are several other families, all of whom are family friends of ours. , if I really hand it in, I will offend too many people! I am afraid that from now on, the situation of the Hou Mansion in the capital will not be much better than it is now!"

Chunying's eyes widened: "Master Fan is also on it? But the third young lady..." She was very happy and gracious to invite herself here? !
"She doesn't know this." Li You frowned. "I just told her that this thing could save her father's life. So she believed it."

Chunying stood up abruptly: "How could you do this?!"

"Why can't I do this?!" Li You took back the account book impatiently, "I never lied! Her father was accused of embezzling a large amount of money for disaster relief in the early years, and he was the first offender. There is absolutely no escape from death. This thing It can be proved that he is only one of more than a dozen accomplices, and the principal culprit is his boss, who was forced to participate. With the help of Prince Jing's House, her father will at most lose his job and die!"

Chunying breathed a sigh of relief, but she immediately thought, even the Hou Fu thinks this thing is troublesome, why ask her to do it?Immediately said vigilantly: "You...couldn't you be thinking..."

Li You nodded: "It's not difficult to send it up, but the difficulty is to let the emperor know that it was sent by our family, and not let others know it. Doesn't your Hu Wangshan know the inner eunuch in the palace? I want to entrust him to send it in." , our family will be grateful to you and your husband afterwards."

Chunying gasped, something that the Hou Mansion dared not do, let alone her and Hu Fei?Immediately, he flatly refused: "Isn't there a way to Prince Jing's mansion in the mansion? Why do we need to find a small person like us? The Marquis mansion dare not take risks, we don't have the guts. You'd better invite someone else, I will accept your hospitality today, It's getting late..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li You interrupted her: "I have already sent someone to invite Hu Wangshan. With you here, I will persuade him to help."

Chunying was stunned for a moment, then she flew into a rage: "What do you mean?! Are you threatening?!"

"I didn't intend to force you!" Li You walked back and forth irritably, "It could have been kept secret, but now, at least the people at my mother's place already know that I invited you here, and you have to ask afterward, the things in my house, How many things can you hide from her? If you can't cut through the mess quickly, there will be more troubles in the future!"

Chunying sneered, gritted her teeth and said: "Third young master, I used to think that you were a smart person, but you were just a little foolish, but today I found out that you are not only not smart, but also very confused. It doesn't even make sense!"

Li You's face darkened: "What do you mean?!"

(End of this chapter)