: Picture

Jiangning, weaving house, diagonally opposite the teahouse.

Li Ding sat in the private room next to the window on the second floor, holding a cup of tea, looking at the gate of the weaving house not far away. He came to Jiangning to deliver a letter to Cao Yin and greeted his aunt Li by the way.

Today, he got off the boat and was about to arrive at the weaving house. Li Dingfang found that he was not wearing proper clothes. Because he was in a hurry and did not wear plain clothes, it was rude to come to the door like this.

He wanted to find a ready-to-wear shop to change his clothes, but he happened to see an official sedan chair coming to the weaving house. Looking at the word "Du" on the chest of the accompanying soldiers, he was a little curious, so he walked over the teahouse here to watch.

Looking at the middle-aged man wearing a white crane tunic, Li Ding squinted his eyes slightly. Did he take the newly appointed governor of Liangjiang He Shou? Speaking of which, he had also seen him. He Shou had been an official in Jiangnan for two years and had previously served as governor of the grain transport industry.

The Governor of the Grain Transportation Office is in Huai'an Prefecture, more than 300 miles away from Jiangning and more than 600 miles away from Suzhou. In the past two years, Heshou was ordered to hear the case of Gali and Zhang Boxing, and he often went in and out of the two places. Even the Li family was in the limelight the year before, he often went to Suzhou Weaving Mansion and had a lot of personal relationships with Li Xu. However, later, Li Xu was scolded by the emperor and Heshou sought profit and avoided harm, so his relationship with the Li family became weak.

As Cao Yin went out to greet him in person, He Shou smiled and greeted him, and the two entered the weaving house together. Li Ding looked upset, snorted coldly, called the waiter, paid the money, and took the servant to find the ready-made clothing shop.

As soon as I turned a street, someone called me, "But Mr. Li?"

Li Ding looked up and saw a man in mourning clothes getting off the horse and walked towards him. He looked familiar, but he couldn't remember which one it was.

Not only was the man wearing mourning clothes, but he also followed a carriage behind him, revealing half-piece of Quan Xiao's body through the half-removed curtain.

"If you want to be pretty, you will be filial" is really true. Just half of the pink noodles with pear blossoms and rain make people feel sad.

Although Li Ding has not gotten married, he is already twenty-four years old this year. How could he be a young boy who is not polite? Although he is very serious in front of others, he is considered a veteran in the romantic field. At a glance, he can see that although the woman is a good family, she is three-pointed.

But he was not invisible at all. Li Ding looked at the man who was coming with a little kindness. The man approached, clasped his fists and said, "Bai Dexi has met Mr. Li! In the early summer of the previous year, he had the honor to drink with the master on the Qinhuai River and listen to Rong Niang's wonderful voice. He didn't want to meet the master again, which is really a blessing!"

When Li Ding heard this, he had a little impression. At the time of the spring and summer of the previous year, he came to Jiangning to send birthday gifts to the Governor's Office. Gandu once invited him to eat flower wine on the Qinhuai River. There were several sons of wealthy businessmen at the same table. The reason why he brought these playboys was just to pay someone for money. The person in front of him was one of them. Bai Dexi, the second young master of the Bai family of the "Zhenbao Pavilion", was also the son-in-law of the Yang family of the Bihelou.

The Rong Niang was still a sacrificial servant at that time, with a bright and good voice, and she was very good at singing the song. Li Ding was so excited that although he was still the future son-in-law of the Governor's Office at that time, he did not pretend to be serious in the entertainment venue. In the end, he still made the decision to redeem Miss Rong and gave Li Ding a warm bed.

It’s nothing to be happy outside, but there are so many rules at home, so where can I accommodate a woman in the dust? As Li Ding was eager to build a tea garden and wanted to make some money with jasmine tea. He was interested in a mountainous area outside Suzhou City, which was suitable for growing flowers.

It was a real estate property of a salt merchant in Yangzhou who deliberately curled up with the Li family and wanted to give it to Li Ding for free. At that time, Li Xu was also in charge of the salt administration of Lianghuai. Li Ding knew that some favors could not be accepted in vain and thought about what to give back the gift. Later, when he was drinking, Rong Niang was ordered to come to offer the song. The salt merchant saw that he was a little interested, so Li Ding transferred Rong Niang to him.

Now that I think about it, the little lady in the carriage was more elegant than Rong Niang. Because Li Ding wanted to cherish his reputation, although he had taken several girls at home, he had no wives or concubines. Now he went to Jiangning to act as a messenger for his father. He was bored. Seeing such a good-looking woman, he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Thinking about this Pihelou again, it cost more than 100,000 taels of silver to beat the Cao family to buy a prescription for pearls. Thinking of asking someone to inquire about the news, the Cao family has made a lot of investments in selling beads in Guangzhou in the past two years, but Li Ding was jealous for a long time, but he couldn't help asking the Cao family for a long time. If he could beat the Yang family and get the prescription, this trip to Jiangning would not be in vain.

Thinking of this, Li Ding was a little polite to Bai Dexi and bowed, "It turns out it's Mr. Bai, this is a noble relative..." At this point, he pointed to the filial piety clothes on his body, with a little concern on his face.

Bai Dexi was already full of joy before, but when he heard Li Ding say this, he showed a little sad expression and said, "Hey, my family's mother has been ill for a long time. I passed away a few days ago. Today, my brother and my son are going to see my father-in-law attend the funeral!"

Li Ding couldn't sigh again and said a few words of sadness. Bai Dexi was a little disappointed. He originally thought that he would ask for a flower wine to meet the cousin of the Weaving Mansion to make a living, so that the Cao family would not be able to stand up for the Zheng brothers and sisters in the future, and this perfect building would not fall into his hands. But when he thought of Xiaozhong, let alone a flower shop, even drinking, it would be inconsistent.

Just as he was depressed, Bai Dexi accidentally saw Li Ding looking towards the carriage. He was all veterans of the fun. Although Li Ding still looked hypocritical, what else could he not understand when Bai Dexi's eyes fell?

He immediately felt all kinds of feelings in his heart. He was a little annoyed at first, and then he felt a little happy. It would be easier to know what Li Ding liked. Later, he would ask his wife to come out and give him some ecstasy soup. It would not be a big deal. If he could hook up this second young master Li, there would be no benefit in the future.

He was really not concerned about his cousin and his wife. Although he was the one who said it was the only one at home, she didn't dare to care about sleeping in the flowers and sleeping in the willows, but she could cry and wipe her tears every time she encountered a little bit of trouble, so she was so tired of it. He thought she was a waste, but now this waste was still useful, which was a surprise.

The two of them had their own ulterior motives, and when they spoke, they became more and more polite. This insisted on asking the other one to come to the door to fulfill the friendship of the landlord; the other one refused repeatedly, but in the end it was really hard to refuse, so they followed.

*

Weaving house, living room.

Cao Yin and He Shou greeted him, one was an old minister and the other was a new high. Both of them were cautious in behavior. They came and went there politely, but they also said it was a bit lively.

Although in terms of official positions, Heshou, the first-rank governor, is much higher than Cao Yin; in terms of titles, Cao Yin, is much higher than Heshou.

Before they knew it, they had reached a delicate balance. Although Heshou had visited him several times before, this was the first visit during the Governor's tenure. Although the two of them just talked about two cups of tea, they were both satisfied with each other.

There are major events in the court and the country, and where will the two of them raise the previous lawsuit? It is nothing more than the birthday of the emperor and the son of Jiazi next year, the birthday arrangements of Jiangnan, and the birthday of the letter requesting a birthday visit to Beijing, etc.

After seeing off Heshou, Cao Yin felt a little heavy. Zhang Boxing stayed in office and Gali was dismissed. Although this was in line with public opinion, for the Li family and the Sun family, it was probably not a loss.

As early as when Li Xu took over as the Jiangnan General Secretary, Cao Yin repeatedly reminded him not to get too close to Gali to avoid being implicated, but the results were minimal.

When Li Xu was scolded and Sun Wenqi gathered the stall, Cao Yin also politely advised him. Sun Wenqi and Li Xu were different in character. He was the master of "not seeking merit, but seeking no mistakes". He was not like Cao Yin, who was a partner since childhood, and sometimes he was too cautious.

For example, when Gali and Zhang Boxing were involved, Sun Wenqi originally had something on the other side, but because Gali framed Zhang Boxing, there was a "Han officials formed a clique". In order to avoid suspicion, he refused to speak for Zhang Boxing. Instead, he turned to Gali and listed Zhang Boxing's "evidences" of Zhang Boxing.

Although it is not easy to guess the person above, it is not difficult to know his temper and nature. Cao Yin has been with his king and his ministers for more than fifty years, and he also knows how much he wants to be upset when asked about it.

Although Sun Wenqi wanted to avoid suspicion, he forgot that his duty was to act as the emperor's eyes and ears. He acted in this way, being cautious is to cover up the emperor's eyes and ears.

Although this emperor who governs the country with "benevolence and filial piety" is more lenient, he will have to pay attention to the time.

Next March, Jiazi Shenghou! Cao Yin pondered, wondering whether he would discuss with Li Xu, handing the letter to the capital, and requesting to go to Beijing to celebrate his birthday.

With heavy official uniforms on his body, Cao Yin returned to the inner courtyard.

Kaiyang Courtyard, main room.

Li was asking the servant to take all kinds of clothes and materials, carefully select them, and prepare a hundred-day ceremony for his grandson. Seeing Cao Yin coming back, he stood up to greet him and served Cao Yin to change his official uniform.

Seeing that the clothes were luxurious and some of them were made of internal creations given by the palace, Cao Yin frowned slightly, feeling something was inappropriate, and advised: "I know you love your grandson, but Tianyou is still young, so you must cherish your blessings!"

After hearing this, Li smiled and said, "The master misunderstood. These pieces of materials were not for Tianyou, but for his wife! Yizhou is a bit remote. Not to mention clothes, cloth, even rice, grain and food, there are fewer high-quality ones. In the mansion, there are always Beijing delivering rice to the other side. There is no business in the capital, so it is not convenient to buy these clothes. There are only a lot of them in our mansion, and it is useless to keep them. It is better to clean up and send them to my wife for use!"

Cao Yin thought that the marriage of his children in this house was ready, and there were six nieces and nieces on the second house, so he said to Li: "If you have time to count the warehouse these days, be more careful. When you encounter good things, don't worry about your son and daughter-in-law! When the second brother is filial, the two nieces are not in a hurry. Xiang'er and Fu'er can wait for another two years. However, Song'er and Shuo'er are both old and they will be hired by appointment at that time, and they will also need some good things!"

Li was silent for a while and asked, "Master, except for the fourth sister and Wu'er, the other old ladies have left the marriage money for these young women! Even the fourth sister and Wu'er are the two, let's get together! But the money in the accounts in the family is mostly the money sent back by the royal family. This... how much is the right thing to prepare for Brother Song'er?"

Cao Yin thought that he had sold his ancestors' remaining funds almost the same. Although he now had titles and official positions, he did not even have enough expenses in the mansion, and he had to rely on his son to give him money to subsidize. Thinking of this, he remembered that he had lived two young lives and was all relying on his son's filial piety to support his family, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Thinking of this, Cao Yin sighed and said to Li: "Look at the savings in the family's accounts! If you can have extra money, prepare some for the Song'er and Shuo'er brothers. After the filial piety period is over, in addition to getting married, they should also find an errand, and they still need to use money!"

Although Li felt sorry for his son's hard work, he was not a stingy person. It would be fine if Cao Quan, the second wife, was alive, and it would not be their turn to worry about these people. Now that my brother-in-law has gone, there are only a few nieces and nieces who can I rely on if I don't rely on the long house? Although I have nothing else, I finally lost the interest in picking things and sighed with my husband.

*

Although Cao Yong thought of leaving Beijing as soon as possible, he was finally dragged down.

The Han minister of the Ministry of Revenue was a sensible person. After receiving the words of the Shangshu, he happily approved the accounts in the Shandong Provincial News. When he arrived at the Shangshu, he naturally had no delays and did it on the same day.

Cao Yong received the receipt from the Ministry of Revenue and had completed the job. He was blocked by the Sixteenth Prince and the Seventeenth Prince.

It turned out that the sixteenth prince had shown off his hot spring farm to the seventeenth prince, and the two of them had visited him. Although when the two opened their palaces in the future, the Interior Government would inevitably send the imperial village down, but who knows which year and month it would take? You should know that the Twelfth prince and the Thirteenth prince were two, but the Twenty-year-old mansion was opened in the fiftieth year of Kangxi, and both were in their twenty years.

Although the Seventeenth Prince has no external favor, he thought that if he was tired of living in the palace after getting married, he could take his wife to the village, which wouldn’t it be even more pleasing to him? Besides, he also had other hopes in his heart.

It’s not that he is unfilial and hopes that his father will die soon, but that he is an old man from Jiazi after all, and no one can say that... If the day the new emperor ascends the throne, all the concubines in the harem will follow their son to the mansion. If he can be a hot spring farm in Changping, he can save the pain of rumors in the capital.

It would be fine if I didn't ask for it, but I was shocked when I asked for it. Although the springs were all in the mountains and were not worth much money, they have been bought by people in recent years, and they were bought by the Cao family.
Chapter completed!