Aspirations

Chapter 64 Seeing the gentleman, Yun Hu is not happy?
"Did Miss Lian have a crush?" Xiao Jia came in quietly, stood behind Lian Ruohan, his eyes showed admiration, Lian Ruohan's words were delicate and soft, and if you look carefully, the softness also implied strength and tenacity.

The poem speaks the heart, and Lian Ruohan's poem comes from the Book of Songs "Guofeng·Zhengfeng·Wind and Rain", which is to say that a woman can not be happy when she sees the person she loves.

Lian Ruohan smiled brightly, and put down the pen: "Is there anyone I like, but I just thought of this poem and wrote it casually. Miss Xiao, how is the lacquerware of the Xiao family recently?"

Xiao Jiaying smiled: "Xiaojia lacquerware is now the most famous lacquer shop in Shangjing. The newly launched lacquerware is very welcome. The first batch of thousands of lacquerware has not been sold, and it is urgently dispatching goods from Quanzhou. "

Xiao Jia has been busy with the expansion of Xiao's lacquerware recently, and has already picked three stores, which have been negotiated, and they just need to choose a day to open.An Ziru returned to Quanzhou and was in charge of the supply and allocation of supplies. She took care of several stores by herself, so she was naturally too busy.Li Dingshan lives in King Jing's mansion and is busy with court affairs, so it is impossible to help her with her business.She is looking for someone who can help her take care of it recently, otherwise, after all three stores have opened, she will not be able to handle it.

Although he is busy, he always cares about Xia Xiang.After learning that Xia Xiang failed the exam, she was extremely anxious, but there was nothing she could do.Fortunately, Li Dingshan helped Xia Xiang deal with this behind the scenes, so she felt a little more at ease.If Xia Xiang fails the ranking, what should he do in the future?Besides, with Xia Xiang's talent and learning, even if he doesn't win the first prize, he can still be a candidate. How could Wen Changju be so shameless and insist on taking Xia Xiang's fame?

Li Dingshan didn't talk to Xiao Jia about the cause and effect of Xia Xiang's success by Wen Changju, and it would be better for Xiao Jia to know less about the court affairs.In the future, Xiao Jia can follow Lian Ruohan to make some achievements in business, and he does not need to intervene in court disputes.

Xiao Jia naturally listened to Li Dingshan's words, and never once asked Li Dingshan who Lian Ruohan was. Li Dingshan also didn't know, and only guessed that if Lian Ruohan was not a member of the four great families, he was a force secretly supported by the Fifth Prince.Just because among the four princes, the eldest prince, King Jing, is the most low-key and calm, secretly laying out the golden armor camp, and did not cultivate business power.Li Dingshan knew King Jing the best, and knew King Jing's focus.

Most of the focus of the Three Kings and Star Kings is in the court, and he is in charge of the official department and the Shangjing government. Every detail is reported to the Three Kings.According to Li Dingshan's speculation, Lian Ruohan is not a man of the third prince.

The fourth prince Qing Wang was devoted to Buddhism and Taoism, and he was fascinated by painting and calligraphy. Lian Ruohan has nothing to do with the Fourth Prince.

Then there is only one fifth prince left.

Among the five princes, Prince Yun is the youngest and has the lowest sense of existence. Few people think of his existence.The outside world has the least rumors about the Five Princes.However, Li Dingshan is clear that the five princes who have neither rumors nor likes, even though they are the youngest, are the most incomprehensible.With the five princes at the age of the year, either indulging in landscapes, indulging in martial arts, obsessed with painting and calligraphy, or sensuality, no matter good or bad, it is human nature to always have a hobby.If there is no hobby at all, there is only one possibility - to love the country.

Therefore, Li Dingshan believes that if Lian Ruohan is not a member of the four great families, he is a force secretly cultivated by the Fifth Prince.

Since the Tang Dynasty, the four aristocratic families are no longer as prominent as before, but their power is still astonishing, and the remaining prestige is still there.It's just that he has changed from the previous prominent world, he is quiet among the people, he no longer shows his face, let alone participates in court battles, and he keeps his own place and becomes a rich man in a prosperous age.It's just that those who are interested know that the four great families seem to have disappeared, but they are actually accumulating strength in secret, waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback.

Xiao Jia didn't care much, it didn't matter whether Lian Ruohan was from the power of the fifth prince or from the four great families, she only valued Lian Ruohan's character and ability.

Fortunately, Xia Xiang is auspicious, with an auspicious character in his name.Even at the bottom of the list, it's better than falling off the list.Hearing about this matter, in addition to the secret promotion by Mr. Xia Xiang, Xia Xiang also planned a lot of his own life to fully use all forces for his own use. While Xiao Jia secretly admired it, he also strengthened his own opinion. It's bound to shine.

Now that the business is expanding at a critical juncture, she is very busy.After learning that Lian Ruohan and Xia Xiang knew each other, Xia Xiang also acted with the help of the good times. She was very happy. Xia Xiang's thoughts coincided with hers. It's rare to have a business acumen.

"Quanzhou has a long way to go, and it takes a long time to transfer goods to Beijing, whether it is a convoy or a fleet. It is better to find a suitable place in the north and build a workshop specializing in making lacquerware. Supplies the needs of several lacquerware firms in Shanghai." Lian Ruohan admires Xiao Jia's talent and intelligence, and with Xiao Jia's help, she not only has the confidence to further expand the scale of the good times, but also believes that Xiao Jia can become her one of his right-hand men.

"It's a good idea. Where should we build it?" Xiao Jia pondered for a while, "The land in Shangjing is expensive. If it is built in Shangjing, the cost will remain high."

"It's better to build it in Zhending Mansion..." Lian Ruohan only thought about it and began to worry, "Zhending is more than six hundred miles away from Shangjing. The canals are connected to facilitate shipping.”

"Why is it built in Zhending Mansion instead of Xijing?" Xiao Jia has his own opinion, "Xijing Henan Mansion is more than a thousand miles away from Shangjing, although it is far away, it is closer to Quanzhou, and it is more convenient to transport horse teams. In contrast, Los Angeles is more prosperous than Zhending."

There were originally four capitals in Daxia, namely Kaifeng House in Tokyo, Henan House in Xijing, Yingtian House in Nanjing and Daming House in Beijing.After sweeping the north, the capital was settled in Beijing, and it became Wujing.Except for the Kaifeng House in Tokyo, also known as Lin'an, the rest of the capitals still retain their original names.

"Just choose Zhendingfu, Xijing is still far away from Shangjing." Lian Ruohan chose Zhendingfu, with his own far-reaching intentions, but it was inconvenient to tell Xiao Jia.

Xiao Jia is also a smart woman, seeing that Lian Ruohan has made up her mind, she naturally didn't say anything more.

"Xia Langjun and his party live in Guanxin Pavilion..." Lian Ruohan's eyelids lowered slightly, and his eyes fell on the verse she just wrote, and a flash of brilliance suddenly flashed in his eyes, "There are still many spare rooms in Guanxin Pavilion. If Mrs. Xiao wants to live, she can move there."

"Thank you little lady Lian for your kindness, but I don't need it anymore. I'll use my own accommodation. Besides, I live in Guanxin Pavilion, which is too far from the paint shop." Xiao Jia's heart moved, and Lian Ruohan's slightly absent-minded demeanor caught her eye. , she couldn't help but speculate secretly, could it be that even the little lady and Xia Xiang have been in love for a long time, secretly in love?
Xiao Jia lived in a remote and quiet courtyard, which was arranged by Li Dingshan for her.She is not inconvenient to show up too much now, so as not to cause trouble for Li Dingshan.In fact, she really wanted to meet Xia Xiang at this time, but Mr. Nai He refused.Mr. said, this time is not yet ripe.

Don't know when the time will be ripe?Xiao Jia sighed in her heart, she knew that her husband had foresight, and he must be thinking about Xia Xiang and her, but Xia Xiang is now in crisis, but he is rising step by step, and she is gradually drifting away from her, she feels helpless and powerless. .

Saying goodbye to Lian Ruohan, Xiao Jia returned to her residence.The residence is not too far from Lianxuan, and it is windy and rainy. Fortunately, she has a carriage.Originally, Lian Ruohan kept her here, but she still insisted on going back.

Xiao Jia's mind is like the wind and rain in a dark night, ups and downs, unsteady.Sitting in the carriage, she swayed from side to side as the carriage shook, from time to time thinking of the three years she and Xia Xiang spent together in Zhongshan Village.How much laughter and beauty, how many memories and nostalgia.Xia Xiang has been deeply imprinted in her heart, no matter how hard it is to eradicate.It's just that my husband said that she cannot marry Xia Xiang. There is an unreachable gap between her and Xia Xiang that cannot be bridged.

A gust of wind blew, driving the curtains, the curtains flew up, and the light from the outside shone into the car.Xiao Jia woke up abruptly, looked up, and saw that the carriage was passing by a brightly lit mansion, with two big characters on the plaque of the mansion: Wenfu.

Wenchang is the mansion of Wen Shangshu.

A carriage was parked at the door, and someone was getting off.The lights were dim, and the people who got off the bus lowered their heads and got off, half of their faces were hidden in the darkness, and half of their faces were illuminated by the lights.Although he only looked at half of his face, Xiao Jia recognized at a glance that this person was Gao Hai, Minister of Rites.

What was Gaohai's visit to Wenfu late at night?Xiao Jia didn't know that there was an oolong in the ranking list today. She had seen some senior officials in Beijing with Li Dingshan secretly, so she recognized Wen Changju, Gao Hai, Chen Feng and others.

After Gao Hai got off the car, he avoided the water on the ground, carried his robes up the steps, turned around and saw Xiao Jia's carriage just flashed past and disappeared into the vast darkness.Because Xiao Jia's carriage was neither luxurious nor fragrant, and it was an extremely ordinary color, it didn't attract his attention.

Under the leadership of the butler, Gao Hai hurried to the guest room.He received Wen Changju's call in the middle of the night. Although he was reluctant, he still rushed over, knowing that Wen Changju was for today's oolong.

Wen Chang stood with his hands behind his back, with his back to Gao Hai and facing the main hall.On the wall of the main hall, there is a picture of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains.

Gao Hai stepped forward and bowed with his hands crossed: "Your official has seen Wen Shangshu."

Wen Changju didn't turn around, his shoulders trembled slightly. After taking off his official hat, his head was full of flowers, and his back was hunched a bit.

"Gao Shilang, when you look at this official from behind, have you ever seen that this official has a rebellious character?" Wen Changju's voice was three-pointed and seven-pointed.

Gao Hai was slightly startled, a playful sneer flashed across his mouth, but his tone was very respectful: "Xiaguan dare not offend Wen Shangshu."

"You still don't dare?" Wen Chang raised his shoulders trembling more intensely, he turned his head suddenly, his eyes widened, and his beard trembled violently, "You, you, you made your own claim and added Xia Xiang to the list. In your eyes, Do you still have this official, King Qing, and the emperor?"

If it was before, Gao Hai fell to his knees with a "thump" at this moment, burst into tears or confessed his mistakes with sincerity and fear, and then defended himself again, and finally Wen Changju believed and forgiven him.Today, he unhurriedly bent over to give salute again, and laughed dryly: "Wen Shangshu doesn't know something, the lower official did not make a presumption to add Xia Xiang to the list, but selected talents for the emperor and His Royal Highness Qing, and served Wen Shangshu. Correcting mistakes and filling up vacancies, picking up omissions, so as not to have any regrets. Chen Shilang and Zhang Xueshi both know this and agree with the lower officials. They think that Xia Xiang's talent should be admitted. ."

Wen Chang raised his finger to Gao Hai's nose, his whole body trembled, and his lips wriggled for a long time before he could speak: "Gao, Gao, Gao Hai! You colluded with Chen Feng and Zhang Zeshi in private, and this official has always regarded you as a confidant..."

Confidant?A sneer of disdain flashed across Gao Hai's mouth, the servants were almost the same, but he still kept the proper smile on his face: "Wen Shang is serious, what is collusion? The lower officials receive the royal salaries, and they should be worried about the country and serve the emperor. As one of the examiners, Xiaguan doesn't even have the vision and power to admit a candidate?"

Wen Changju sat back on his seat slumped, and said weakly: "Hasn't Xia Xiang's test paper been destroyed?"

"Wen Shangshu deliberately took out Xia Xiang's test paper and ordered the subordinate officer to smear and destroy it. The subordinate officer forgot about it when he was busy at the time, and put the test paper aside. Later, when the list was released, Chen Shilang was surprised to see it. Zhang It was amazing to see Xia Xiang’s article after the bachelor’s list was released. After the three of us discussed it, we decided to change the list and add Xia Xiang’s name to avoid missing out on a great talent.” Gao Hai said it easily, but in fact, the reason why he did not listen to Wen Chang’s decision at that time Yan smeared and destroyed Xia Xiang's test paper, but also hesitated again and again.After all, this is a big matter. Although Wen Changju covered the sky with one hand in the Gongyuan, and with the help of the three kings, taking down a small Xia Xiang was just a little effort, but in case something happened, it would be him, not Wen Changju, who was to blame.

It was Gao Hai's consideration, and in the end he left Xia Xiang's exam paper.Until the incident of Heibang and Cao Yongguo's visit to Gaofu at night, after having a secret talk with him, he was even more fortunate that he did not destroy Xia Xiang's examination paper at that time. Lu Xiaxiang, in his opinion, is simply a stroke of genius!
"You..." Wen Changju was so angry that he couldn't speak. He couldn't believe that Gao Hai, who had followed him for many years and obeyed him in every way, was on top of such an important matter. He stabbed him in the back, his eyes widened. , beard and hair all stretched out, seemed to be violent, but in the end he just waved his hands sadly, "You, you go!"

"Xiaoguan retire." Gao Hai lowered his eyebrows and pleasing to the eye, still full of respect, "Wen Shangshu must take care of your body, the court is now hiring people."

After Wen Changju waited for Gao Hai to leave, he sat alone for a long time, his eyes were dull, and he murmured, "What should I do? Cai Bei stole the beam and copied Xia Xiang's test paper...Come here, send it to Cai Bei quickly. No , Come back, let Cai Bei meet on the painting boat under the Tonghui Bridge on the Anding River."

The wind and rain are dark, the cocks croak endlessly, the night is deeper, the rain is bigger.

(End of this chapter)