Wu Botang suspected that Meng Ying had ulterior motives. Meng Ying kept her face calm but felt a little flustered in her heart, thinking about how to respond.
Wu Botang stared at Mengying sharply, trying to see some clues in her eyes.
Mingzhu next to her couldn't bear it anymore and sarcastically said: "Don't be a royal guard for a few days and just pretend that everyone else has ulterior motives. If you want to drink tea, drink tea. If you don't drink tea, just do what you want. Don't make a nuisance here!" p>
Wu Botang coughed twice after being choked by his cousin.
"Third Master likes to tell jokes, so it's okay." Meng Ying said pretending not to mind.
Wu Botang just wanted to deceive. Seeing that Mengying's expression was as usual, showing no sign of timidity, he also murmured in his heart: Could it be that he guessed wrong?
Seeing Meng Ying being so generous, Xiao Mingzhu felt even more embarrassed and stared at her cousin with a straight face, as if "If you talk nonsense again, get out of here".
When Mengying saw this, she lowered her head and snickered.
This made Wu Botang very embarrassed. He barely drank two sips of tea and stood up to leave.
Mengying stood up to see her off, but was stopped by Xiao Mingzhu: "Don't pay attention to this kind of person. If I knew that he was learning like this, I would never bring him to you."
Xiao Mingzhu was a little annoyed, not only blaming herself for being careless and trusting the guy's words, but also hating Wu Botang for not giving her face.
On the contrary, it was Meng Ying who explained: "Now I am fighting against a rock, but I still win. Not to mention the third master, others will also wonder what I am planning and who is the powerful person behind me. The third master is blunt, I think he is outspoken.
."
"Don't give money to that bastard. He used to be an eagle and a lackey. Later, he joined the Jinyi Guards and caused trouble everywhere. Now, after studying with the yellow-haired Taoist priest for a few days, he is still suspicious. I will definitely report it in front of my grandfather.
She's the same!"
After hearing this, Meng Ying smiled slightly, but her palms became sweaty. She thought to herself: From now on, it is better to stay away from this Wu Botang!
"Have you heard about the Xie family?" Mingzhu changed the subject.
Xie Chong was impeached by the imperial censor because he was not strict in running the family. The emperor reprimanded him in the imperial study. Concubine Xie was also punished by the queen for copying Buddhist scriptures.
Xie Chunlian was ridiculed repeatedly when he went out again, and his close friends were completely changed again. He cried all day long, and he became even more surly and vicious.
I don’t know what considerations the Xie Mansion had, but Xie Chunlian finally got engaged to Hu Xida, the nephew of Hu Liangyong, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard.
Meng Ying nodded, indicating that she understood.
"Well, Hu Xijing's wife died two years ago and he is a widower. Now Xie Chunlian is just a house filler and a stepmother for three children." Xiao Mingzhu gloated about Xie Chunlian's marriage to Mengying.
When Meng Ying first heard the news, she was surprised for a long time. According to the time of his previous life, that Hu Liangyong would definitely be promoted to the commander of the Jin Yiwei within two or three years.
But then she thought about it, Mrs. Wu might live a long life if she wasn't angry with her, but she couldn't be happier.
Looking at the smiling Xiao Mingzhu in front of her, Mengying thought of the person who fell from the building in her previous life.
If you change Xie Chunlian's fate, can you also let the person in front of you have a good death?
Meng Ying was so lost in thought that she accidentally spilled tea on her clothes.
It made Mingzhu laugh again.
Mengying laughed at herself and said: "That's the only thing about me, I can't do two things at once. If I think too much when I'm doing embroidery, I prick my finger; if I think too much when I'm making wine, I pour more wine. It's really useless."
."
"As long as you can do one thing well, you see, my grandfather devoted himself to cultivating the prince, hoping that he could cultivate a wise king. If it goes as he wished, if not, it would be worse..." The following is disrespectful, Mingzhu put the second half of the sentence
Swallowed it back.
Mengying seemed to say casually: "I once knew a merchant girl named Men. According to her, she is a descendant of Lin Xiangru."
Mingzhu became interested and said: "It's nonsense. The descendants of Lin Xiangru should be named Lin, why should they be named Men."
"I didn't understand either, so I asked her this. According to her, Lin Xiangru made great contributions to the State of Zhao back then, but later the State of Zhao was defeated, and Prince Xi was sent to the State of Qin as a hostage, with Lin Xiangru accompanying him.
Unexpectedly, the two of them traveled to Lishan together, and the prince died suddenly of an emergency. Lin Xiangru was convicted and sentenced to death, and his heart was ripped out by the king of Zhao. Later, the clan members surnamed Lin changed their surname to "Lin" to "men"."
After hearing these words, Mingzhu lowered her head and said nothing, thoughtfully.
"As the saying goes, accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. In the emperor's family, if there is a dispute, one's own blood cannot bear to be parted. The unlucky ones are always the people around him."
Mengying thought about the prince's rebellion in the past life, which was suppressed by the current emperor and the prince was exiled. However, Taifu Xiao's family was exterminated. It was so tragic. She wanted to use this story to warn Mingzhu.
Xiao Mingzhu was lost in thought at first, but after a moment she raised her head and smiled heartily, pointed her finger at Mengying's forehead and said, "If Jin Yiwei hears it, even your ten heads won't be enough to cut off."
Mengying pretended to be scared, which made Xiao Mingzhu laugh again.
Only this time, she didn't drink too much and returned home early.
Mengying knew that Mingzhu Bingxue was smart and hoped that she could persuade Taifu Xiao to leave the prince.
*
The days are passing by like a white horse, and spring is here again in a blink of an eye.
Mengying has been in the capital for more than two years, and her embroidery business is very prosperous. It is not an exaggeration to say that she is making a fortune every day.
Under Xiao Mingzhu's instigation, the two opened a restaurant together and named it Shangchun Restaurant. They only sold peach blossoms, pear blossoms, apricot blossoms, and fruit wine. The restaurant had private rooms and only entertained female customers.
Xiao Mingzhu also formed a poetry club and regularly invited handkerchiefs to meet at restaurants, and she was quite famous in the capital.
Qiu Yan is also pregnant, and her husband's family keeps a close eye on her, so they can only get together with them occasionally.
On this day, Qiu Yan quietly came to Meng Ying again and said to her: "Next spring, many of our Qingzhou graduates have arrived in Beijing in advance. Tomorrow, as usual, the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce will cleanse the dust for these graduates. You can now be regarded as a merchant in the capital.
, if these people are lucky enough to go to high school, it will be a good idea for you to make some friends."
Meng Ying nodded. She had heard a little bit about this matter. Now when she heard what Qiu Yan said, she said, "I'll go tomorrow too. Making friends is the second most important thing. It's also good to be able to help a poor family get closer."<
/p>
Qiu Yan was overjoyed. She was actually planning for Meng Ying's life-long events. Meng Ying was already fourteen years old and had been sent out of the clan again. Meng Ying regarded herself as a confidant, and she also regarded Mengying as a sister. If she could do it this time
Isn’t it a good thing to meet your beloved at the dust-cleaning party?
It is said that Meng Ying wore a sky-blue men's dress and came to the Chamber of Commerce. She saw a crowd of people in front of the Chamber of Commerce. All the well-known merchants from the capital came, which shows that they attach great importance to these actions.
Outside the Chamber of Commerce, people are draped in red and colorful, and even the stone lions are tied with red silk.
Now that I have not yet won, I am so public. What would it be like if I were in high school? Meng Ying shook her head in her heart.
Meng Ying had been in the capital for two years and had some family assets. Her original intention was to help the poor children. But when all kinds of "gods of wealth" came, she felt that she was doing something unnecessary.
I felt annoyed and said: How could I have forgotten? It is always easy to add icing on the cake, but difficult to provide help when the time is right.
But now that we have arrived at the Chamber of Commerce, there is no reason to turn around and leave. After hesitating for a moment, we still walk into the door of the Chamber of Commerce.
Entering the banquet room of the Chamber of Commerce, what Mengying didn't expect was that the Chamber of Commerce looked unremarkable from the outside, but there was something special inside.
The walls of the banquet hall are covered with calligraphy and paintings made by previous governors, covering three walls. There are thirty or forty square tables in the hall, and four-color pastries, fruits, tea, etc. are placed on the table.
Object.
At the table in the middle, several young scholars who looked like scholars were dancing and writing, which must be Chunwei's example. A group of people gathered outside, some were cheering, and some were "tsk-tsk" praising. Those young people, after listening to others
With such praise, a look of pride appeared on his face.
Different from Meng Ying, these merchants just want to make friends in advance. If these people have official status in the future, they will take care of themselves. These moves are like goods, being sold at a price. What's more, they are to catch someone off the list.
My son-in-law is here.
Meng Ying walked closer, took a look, and felt that it was really boring. Then she found a table in the corner and sat down. Lin Xiao and Hongying stood behind her, drinking tea as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly, a scholar came up and said with surprise: "Mr. Cai, it's really you. It's really easy for Luo to find you!"
Meng Ying raised her head and saw that it was none other than Luo Yu, the scholar she met when she was in Guanpu, Qingzhou.
Meng Ying stood up and saluted, saying: "Young Master, you have recognized the wrong person. I am not a man, and my surname is not Cai."
After hearing Meng Ying's words, Luo Yu was stunned and glanced at Meng Ying's neck. As expected, there was no Adam's apple. His face turned red with embarrassment, he bowed his head and saluted, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I offended the girl." "No problem." Meng Ying stood up and returned the courtesy.
Lin Xiaoze was beside her, snickering. Hongying was puzzled. Lin Xiaoze whispered in her ear, and Hongying suddenly realized.
At the beginning of the banquet, everyone exchanged glasses and called each other brothers and sisters. From time to time, a glance drifted towards Meng Ying's table.
Meng Ying met the man's gaze openly, but the man quickly dodged.
Halfway through the banquet, Meng Ying asked Hongying to tell the leader that she had to leave, so she left a hundred taels of silver notes to express her feelings. The leader came over to say a few polite words to Meng Ying, and then sent Meng Ying to the banquet.
At the door, we said that we are all from Qingzhou, and we will take good care of each other in the future.
Meng Ying went out and got on the carriage. As soon as she sat down, Hongying lifted the curtain and pointed at the door of the Chamber of Commerce. Meng Ying followed Hongying's hand and saw a young man looking towards her. This person was none other than someone secretly at the banquet.
Look at your own Luo Yu.
Hongying said, "This person is really difficult to deal with, and he actually chased her out again." Hongying treated Meng Ying like an old hen protecting its chicks. In his opinion, Luo Yu had ulterior motives.
"Girl, do you want Lin Xiao to find a few people to remind him?"
Meng Ying shook her head and said: "No need, I was the one who deceived him in the first place. This is my fault. Now, just ignore him."
After hearing that Meng Ying had returned from the Chamber of Commerce, Qiu Yan's maid came to send a message for her master and asked her if she had made friends with the Chamber of Commerce. Meng Ying told the truth.
Qiu Yan was greatly disappointed after hearing this. She said that those people were ignorant and that no one had a discerning eye in front of such a good girl.