“Lotus flowers are on all sides and willows are on three sides, one city is full of mountains and half is a lake!” What I’m talking about here is the spring city of Jinan.
Jinan City is adjacent to the Yellow River to the north and Mount Tai to the south. It belongs to the core hinterland of the Qilu region and is a choke point extending vertically from the north to the south. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times!
At noon, Liu Ruyi and his party finally arrived at their destination, Jinan City.
Looking at the majestic and towering city wall in front of him, Liu Ruyi even felt as if he was in another world. Five hundred years later, he actually set foot on this land again. I wonder if the water of Daming Lake is still clear?
"Young Master, Young Master? Should we go into the city and find an inn to settle down, or should we go directly to Mr. Jia's house to pay a visit?" Uncle Fu looked at Liu Ruyi, who was in a daze, and quickly reminded him carefully.
"Let's settle down first. The visit is not urgent!" After Liu Ruyi finished speaking, he helped his mother down from the bullock cart beside her and said with a smile: "Mom, are you okay?"
It has been more than ten days since Liu Ruyi, mother and son, escaped from the Liu Mansion. These more than ten days have really made Zou, who has never been so tired, suffer a lot. Fortunately, after all the hardships, the rewards come. After some exercise, Zou's body is better than before.
Looking at the noisy crowd not far away, thinking that she would be able to find a good background for her son soon, Zou's mood instantly became much brighter.
Reaching out to straighten Liu Ruyi's clothes, slightly afraid of knocking off the dust on the skirt, Zou glanced at Liu Ruyi dotingly and said with a smile: "Ruyi, these days have been really hard on you! I will do this for my mother today. Dong, let’s go to the city to find a better restaurant to replenish my son’s health!”
"Just follow mother's instructions!" Liu Ruyi was in a good mood and naturally refused to go against her mother's wishes.
A few people packed up, paid for the rental car, walked through the city gate, and walked straight towards Jinan City.
Although it is already the end of the ninth year of Chongzhen, there are natural and man-made disasters, and bandits are everywhere, but at this time, the chaos has not spread to Jinan City in the hinterland of Shandong, and it is still as prosperous as ever.
After entering the south gate and walking forward for a few miles, the streets were crowded with people, and small vendors selling various items could be seen everywhere. Their hawking voices with strong local accents dispelled the winter chill a bit.
Half an hour later, Liu Ruyi and his entourage arrived near Daming Lake, which is the most prosperous area in Jinan City. There are many restaurants and brothels, and there are many prostitutes in heavy makeup soliciting business on the street corners.
"If you wish, let's go to this one!" Zou pointed to a restaurant not far away and said: "In the past, my mother and your father came to Jinan. Every time, your father would take my mother to visit here. Let's go shopping and eat some snacks, but, but your father..." As Zou spoke, tears were about to fall again.
Liu Ruyi could understand her mother's difficulties. She was originally a weak woman who could only rely on her husband's side. She was far from as strong as those strong women in later generations. When her husband died, she had nothing but herself.
"Mom, as long as the child is here, everything will be fine! We still need to look forward! If you break down crying, what should the child do?" Liu Ruyi held her mother's hand tightly and whispered comfort. road.
Hearing what Liu Ruyi said, Ms. Zou quickly wiped away her tears and showed a smile, "Yes, yes! It's all my fault, she always says disappointing things! Come on, Ruyi, this restaurant is owned by a Yangzhou native." Yes, the taste is similar to ours in Suzhou, let’s go in quickly!”
Hearing this, Liu Ruyi hurriedly raised his head and glanced at the plaque of the restaurant. Sure enough, the big gilded characters "Yangzhou Restaurant" came into view.
Liu Ruyi couldn't help but secretly complain in her heart. This was not because of anything else. It was just that in her previous life, Liu Ruyi was an out-and-out northerner. Although she had lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, she really found it difficult to adapt to those sour and sweet southern dishes.
, and Liu Ruyi in this life, because of her mother Zou, her mother had developed her appetite since she was a child, and she has always had a special liking for southern cuisine.
This restaurant is quite large, with three floors. The decoration inside is quite exquisite, with a strong Jiangnan water town charm. Because Uncle Fu and Xiao Liu'er are the slaves of the Liu family, they are very close to Liu Ruyi's mother and son, and Huo Lang is also a slave of the Liu family.
He is Liu Ruyi's new younger brother. He has lived and died together and shared hardships for the past ten days, so Liu Ruyi did not pay too much attention to the rules and let a few people sit at the same table with his mother and son.
It was already afternoon and there were not many customers in the restaurant, so the food was served quickly.
Nearly ten kinds of exquisite side dishes, such as fried rice cakes with rock sugar, braised vegetarian chicken, mushrooms and tofu, crystal steamed dumplings, etc., were served quickly, which will make people's appetites whet their appetites just by looking at them.
However, apart from mother Zou and Uncle Fu, Liu Ruyi, Huo Lang and Xiao Liu'er are all great young men. Just eating these small dishes is definitely not enough, so Liu Ruyi specially ordered the waiter to cut a few kilograms of cooked mutton from outside.
, and added a few more vegetarian chickens, so that it could barely satisfy the appetites of a few people.
"Ruyi, it's a pity that there are no Taihu white shrimps here. When our mother and I can return to our hometown in Suzhou, mother will definitely take you to try the authentic Suzhou cuisine." Mrs. Zou looked at Liu Ruyi's devouring look, with a hint of softness in the corner of her mouth.
With a smile on his face, he couldn't help but take out the handkerchief in his arms and wipe the grease from the corner of his son's mouth.
Liu Ruyi understands her mother's mood. Nearly twenty years have passed since she was born. Her mother has never returned to her hometown, so you can imagine how much she misses her. But now, Liu Hu has passed away. This kind of return home
The loneliness is even stronger, that's why Zou is like this.
"Mom, I will! We have plenty of time to go back in the future! I will definitely take my mother to Taihu Lake for boating to see what it was like where my mother lived when she was a child!" Liu Ruyi gently held her mother's hand,
But he made a promise in his heart.
…………
After lunch, Fu Bo found a clean inn not far away and booked a small courtyard in its backyard, where the group temporarily settled down.
Originally, the Liu family had some properties in Jinan City, but those have now fallen into the hands of Liu Jianwu and his son, the Qi family. Although Liu Ruyi has eliminated the Qi family's biggest supporter, Qi Meng, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse.
It was easy to find a moment of peace, and Liu Ruyi didn't want to cause more trouble.
In the guest room in the middle of the courtyard, Ms. Zou closed the doors and windows tightly and asked Uncle Fu to guard the door. Then she placed a package she had been carrying close to her in front of Liu Ruyi.
"Ruyi!" Mrs. Zou pulled Liu Ruyi to her side and carefully unwrapped the package. Inside was a delicate carved wooden box. When she opened the lid, she found some gold and silver jewelry and a thick stack of silver notes. "
Ruyi, this is the savings my mother has accumulated over the years. In addition to these jewelry, there are about seven or eight thousand taels of silver notes. Take all of these! Although my mother has not had much contact with Master Najia, she has also heard from your father.
Speaking of which, he is very greedy for money, so you still need to be careful when the time comes!"
After Zou finished speaking, she handed the thick stack of banknotes into Liu Ruyi's hands.
Liu Ruyi held the banknote that still contained her mother's body temperature, but she couldn't help but shed tears. This was because her mother had lived frugally in Liu's house for twenty years and suffered all the blame from her eldest mother Qi.
The life-saving money she had saved, at this moment, for the sake of her son's future, she herself refused to leave any of it.
"Mom," Liu Ruyi took a deep breath and tried to calm down her emotions, "I can get one thousand taels of these banknotes, which is enough! If we really give Mr. Jia more, that will make him
I'm suspicious, and besides, my father has already gone. Whether he can get the job done after collecting the money is another question! We, mother and son, can't put all our treasures on him!"
Liu Ruyi took out a thousand taels of silver notes and handed the rest back to her mother, "Mom, these banknotes are life-saving money for us two. Don't use them lightly unless you have to. Master Jia, I have a plan in mind.
!”
"But if you wish, if the gift is too light and Mr. Jia doesn't like it, then..." Ms. Zou was still a little worried.
"Don't worry, mother! There are many giant Buddhas in Jinan's temple. If this road doesn't work, let's find another way!"
…………
It was getting dark, so Liu Ruyi changed into a clean white silk robe, rented a dilapidated carriage from the inn, and took advantage of the darkness to slowly drive towards Jia's mansion.
In her previous life, Liu Ruyi had been up and down in the business world for nearly ten years. She had experienced countless entertainments, so she had some experience in asking for help! However, this time it was a big deal, and it related to the future fate of mother and son. Liu Ruyi actually had some thoughts in his heart.
Looks nervous.
Jia's Mansion is located in the middle of Jinan City, probably around the Quancheng Road area in later generations. This area is also an area where high-ranking officials live, and most of the top houses in Shandong are located nearby.
The Jia Mansion is not very big, only about four or five acres. It is located on the outermost edge of these wealthy mansions. It looks a bit stingy and shabby. After all, Mr. Jia is just a magistrate of Jinan Mansion, and there are also prefects, governors, and inspectors above him.
He did not dare to covet high-ranking officials such as the Censor.
However, Liu Ruyi knew well that Mr. Jia had served as an official in various places in Shandong for many years and had great energy. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a local snake. It would be more effective to work with him as long as the benefits were sufficient, rather than with the prefect of Jinan Prefecture.
.
This time, Liu Ruyi did not bring Xiao Liuer and Huo Lang, but only Uncle Fu, a master and a servant, which made Liu Ruyi more scholarly.
"Stop! Who are you?" The janitor of the Jia Mansion is a man in his early thirties, short and stocky, with a black mole the size of a soybean on the left side of his face, and a rather ferocious appearance.
"Oh!" Liu Ruyi smiled and bowed her hands, "Can you please let me go in and inform you that the son of an old friend of the Liu family in Zhangqiu is here to visit!" After Liu Ruyi finished speaking, he calmly bought more than one yuan or two.
The scraps of silver were handed into the hands of the servant.
The seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door, although the person in front of him is just an evil slave of the Jia family, Liu Ruyi deeply understands that the king of hell is easy to give away, but the little devil is difficult to deal with.
This kind of person may not be successful enough, but he is very capable when it comes to failure. Liu Ruyi is determined not to allow this kind of capsizing in the gutter to happen to him!
Sure enough, the servant gently weighed the broken silver in his hand, and a smile instantly appeared on his somewhat ferocious face, "Young Master is the second young master of Liu Hu's family in Zhangqiu? I just said, you should come here these days.
Got it!"
Liu Ruyi's expression changed when he heard this, but he instantly suppressed the doubts in his heart and asked with a smile: "Oh? This eldest brother has good eyesight. The student is Liu Ruyi! I just don't know how this eldest brother knows..."
"Haha!" The servant laughed, put the money into his sleeve, but said nothing.
Liu Ruyi understood, and hurriedly took out another piece of broken silver, about three or four taels, and handed it to the servant.
"Okay, Master Liu is such a wonderful person!" The servant gave Liu Ruyi a thumbs up, then pulled Liu Ruyi aside and whispered: "Master, our master knew about Master Liu a few days ago.
Moreover, I am afraid that Mr. Liu’s position will be reserved for the eldest son, so the master concluded that you, the second master, will definitely come back here in the next few days! Haha, the master’s concubine in the thirteenth room is a girl from a certain family. This is a certain family.
I overheard the master talking about it! Okay, Master, a certain family will go in immediately to inform you!"
After the servant finished speaking, he stopped talking and quickly ran towards the inner courtyard of the mansion.
Looking at his leaving figure, Liu Ruyi fell into deep thought, 'It seems that Mr. Jia is not that simple!'