"Second Master!" Mrs. Shang called softly, walking to Duan Mingjing's side, intending to comfort her husband.
Duan Mingjing turned around and said seriously: "I'm going to pack my things and go find my mother!" After saying this, he rushed out of the main hall regardless.
"Second Master!" Shang shouted and chased after him.
The sadness in the house lingered for a long time.
That night, several members of the Duan family gathered together again and went out to find a candidate for the old lady to discuss for half the night.
Several people wanted to go, but they had to leave someone at home.
Duan Mingjing has always been very determined. He wants to go out, and he cannot stay at home.
As for the rest, he doesn't care, no matter who is guarding the house.
Duan Mingchen thought for a while and prepared to give this opportunity to Duan Mingqing. After all, the third brother was much more flexible than him and knew how to adapt.
Just when everyone was almost finished discussing, Wang followed into the main hall.
It was only two hours before dawn, and everyone had stayed up most of the night.
No matter how sad Mrs. Wang is, she cannot fall down, let alone go directly to the house to grieve. She is in charge of the inner courtyard and has to support the family.
When Mrs. Wang entered the house carrying a lantern, she dismissed the servants around her and held an account book in her hand.
Wang: "I have something to show you."
Wang said and brought the account book forward.
Duan Mingjing and others gathered around, looking at the booklet in Wang's hand with confusion.
However, Mrs. Shang and Mrs. Liu were a little surprised when they saw it, and Mrs. Shang said directly: "Isn't this the booklet in my mother's house?"
Shang often went to Qiao Lan to see the accounts at Duan Mingjing's chicken farm. He also saw the account books in Qiao Lan's house many times. There was a wooden ring on it, which was different from other books.
Wang nodded: "Exactly."
"When I went to my mother's house to pack things, I discovered this. There was something wrong with the accounts before my mother left..." Wang added.
Wang didn't pay attention to this matter at first, and only planned to go to Qiao Lan's house to pack some clothes.
There is a tradition in Beijing that if a person dies outside and cannot be found, bring some of his clothes there and the ghost can find them back by smelling the familiar smell.
I don’t know if the dead soul can be recovered. If my mother is still alive, it will be useful to bring her clothes.
With such a mood, Wang entered Qiao Lan's yard and received the account book handed over by the maid.
When the maid handed the account book to Mr. Wang, she said that the old lady had told her before she left that if anything happened at home, she should give the account book to Ms. Wang.
Mrs. Wang had no intention of looking at the account books, but felt sad when she heard this.
Many places in the account book were written by Qiao Lan herself, so Wang planned to take a few glances at her mother-in-law's handwriting to soothe her thoughts, but then she discovered something wrong in the account book.
The maid who was guarding the account books was illiterate and had no idea what was written in the account books.
But Wang was literate and vaguely knew the accounts in Qiao Lan's warehouse.
She discovered that her mother-in-law had sold all the valuable antique calligraphy and paintings in the warehouse, converted them into silver, and put them in the warehouse.
Wang shouldn't have cared about what happened in her mother-in-law's warehouse.
However, the account books in the past two months are all about selling things, saying how much income was earned, and even including the income from Zhuangzi.
What does your mother-in-law want so much money for?
Along with the account books were the keys to the warehouse. With this idea in mind, Wang took the key and opened the warehouse. She found that it was empty except for a small box the size of a palm. Inside was a box of broken silver and some silver.
There is a note from Qiao Lan.
The money has been used up, and this is all that is left to share with you.
Mrs. Wang looked at these account books and boxes and felt strange. Why did her mother-in-law empty out her warehouse?
Where was the money used?
With this idea in mind, Mrs. Wang came to the main hall with the account books and took out the small box from her arms.
"This is the remaining silver in my mother's warehouse. My mother took the rest of the money with her," said Wang.
The Nujun's family has a big business, and a box of broken silver is nothing.
But Qiao Lan only emptied the money from his warehouse, not the Duan family's money, nor the public money.
From Wang's point of view, it didn't mean that he was short of money, but rather that he wanted to pack up his property and take refuge.
Thinking that her mother-in-law's body had not yet been seen, Mrs. Wang couldn't help but feel happy.
Perhaps it was her mother-in-law's long-awaited plan to leave the capital, but Mrs. Wang didn't quite understand. The family had gone through a lot of hardships to return to the capital and have everything they have today, but what was the purpose of her mother-in-law?
So Wang came over with the account books.
Duan Mingjing looked at the account book for a while, and after listening to Wang's words, he couldn't help but ask: "You mean, my mother went on the road with a batch of money. Is it because of this money that the thief was interested in my mother?"
Duan Mingjing wondered, why else could the thief be so bold and dare to intercept the officials in the court?
After reading it, Duan Mingqing expressed his thoughts. "Second brother, I think Niangxu knew something and took the money away in advance."
Having said this, Duan Mingqing added a few more words: "Second brother, do you still remember the last time my mother broke up the money and gave it to us?"
Hearing this, Duan Mingjing tried hard to think about it for a long time, broken money, broken money!
He really didn't use scraps of silver that much. He used to use banknotes before, and after his house was ransacked, he spent his days counting coins.
Broken silver, corner of clothes!
Duan Mingjing's eyes lit up: "I remember! On the way our family was escaping, my mother gave us some money and sewed it on the inside of our clothes!"
More than ten years have passed, and the clothes are already very worn, but Duan Mingjing has not discarded them yet, and treasures them at the bottom of the cabinet.
"Is it possible that mother means to let us take the money and escape again?" Duan Mingjing asked.
But if you run away, you will run away. Why didn't you tell them directly? You had to beat around the bush like this!
Duan Mingchen thought for a while and did not speak in a hurry. Instead, he counted the pieces of silver in the box.
Sitong got married, and the second wife got married, and the amount of money was not too much, not too much. It was just right for the size of the family.
One pill per person.
But what does this mean?
Duan Mingchen thought for a while and said: "Second brother, third brother, things have already come to this. All the children at home know about it. I think they can't study anymore. Why don't we go south to find our mother together as a family."
"We have no official status, no errands, and it is convenient to go out..." Duan Mingchen said a little decadently.
Duan Mingqing's eyes changed slightly when he mentioned the matter of official status.
When he asked Qiao Lan for his opinion during the imperial examination, Qiao Lan told him not to take too many exams, as taking too many exams would be useless, and to keep a low profile.
Could it be that my mother planned everything at that time and was ready for them to leave Beijing directly without taking the exam?
"Let's go find mother together?" Duan Mingjing looked at several people and asked, some different emotions welling up in his eyes.
"Yes! We are a family and no one can be left behind!" Duan Mingqing affirmed.
He already thought of the answer.
Most of the people in the capital knew about Qiao Lan's death at the hands of bandits.
When many people heard the news, they were extremely sad. They also heard that the Duan family did not believe that something had happened to Qiao Lan and refused to hold a memorial ceremony for her.
Also, the entire Duan family relies on Qiao Lan's title of queen, and none of their children or grandchildren can live up to their expectations. Once the queen leaves, the family's wealth and splendor may not be preserved!
I didn’t keep my green horse, I haven’t had a computer these days, and I don’t have a mobile phone charging cable. I didn’t keep my full Qin...