Shen Xiu went on the road with him. After arriving in Fucheng, he brought some snacks to see Mr. Meng.
Mr. Meng had a good impression of Shen Xiu and even let her taste the chrysanthemum cake made by the chef.
"This chrysanthemum is selected from the best white chrysanthemums. In order to get the fragrance of chrysanthemums, these white chrysanthemums are picked when they are half-open."
Mr. Meng told Shen Xiu and Wei Yan how to make this chrysanthemum cake in detail.
"Unfortunately, there are not many white chrysanthemums in the flower garden, so I have only made chrysanthemum cake twice this year. Today, the cook has just finished making chrysanthemum cake, and you are here, so you can see that you are in good luck."
Shen Xiu tasted this carefully crafted chrysanthemum cake. It was delicious, but it was too expensive.
However, Mr. Meng loves food. In his opinion, spending a few months planting chrysanthemums and then making cakes when the chrysanthemums bloom is the joy of life.
Shen Xiu only stayed in Fucheng for two days, and by the way, she also sent Yu Shuya's dowry to the Yu family.
Yu Shuya now looks like a bride waiting to be married. Like Lu Caiwei, she doesn't go out much now and stays at home every day.
She was very happy to see Shen Xiu and held her in conversation for a long time.
Before Shen Xiu left, she gave her a pair of jade gourd earrings as a gift.
On the wedding day, Shen Xiu would definitely not be able to attend the wedding banquet. She and Yu Shuya met once and had similar temperaments, so they wanted to keep in touch for a long time.
The earrings are not worth much, but they are a little bit of her heart.
Yu Shuya was very happy after receiving the things. She didn't value the things. What she valued most was Shen Xiu's thoughts.
Shen Xiu came out of Yu's house and went to see Mi Xinzhi.
It has been a month since Mi Xinzhi came back from Zhuangzi, and her spirits are much better than before.
Mrs. Tao is now planning to find a marriage for her.
Mi Xinzhi is one year older than Yu Shuya. Now Yu Shuya is about to get married, but she has not even decided on her marriage.
In the past, it was because she was in poor health, and Tao didn't have such thoughts. Now that her health is slowly getting better, Tao's thoughts have come to life.
She also asked Shen Xiu to help find out if there was a suitable young man named Junxiu.
Shen Xiu laughed a little at that time. Somehow, everyone seemed to think that she had a talent for matchmaking, and one by one they asked her to help introduce suitable candidates.
No matter what she thought in her heart, Shen Xiu agreed happily. If there was a suitable candidate, she would definitely tell Mr. Tao.
After seeing Yu Shuya and Mi Xinzhi, Shen Xiu wanted to meet Li Miao'er, but she didn't know that Li Miao'er had already led the caravan to the south, so Shen Xiu had to give up.
When she returned to the county seat, she still hired people from the escort agency to escort her.
But when they came, it was she and Wei Yan, chatting and laughing all the way. When they went back, she was the only one, but the female escort who escorted her this time was not Mrs. Cen from last time. Therefore, this journey was quite boring.
Today we are only one day away from the county seat.
Shen Xiu saw that it was getting late, so she discussed with the escorting female escort and decided to find an inn to stay in the nearby Qingshui Town.
Qingshui Town is not big, with only two inns in total.
Every time Shen Xiu passes through Qingshui Town, she always stays at the relatively clean Jixiang Inn.
However, when they arrived at Jixiang Inn this time, they were told by the waiter that the room was already full.
Shen Xiuwei really didn't want to think about another inn. The bedding in that inn seemed to have never been washed, and just smelling it was nauseating.
In order not to sleep in the open air, Shen Xiu took out a piece of silver from her purse and asked her assistant to help them think of a solution.
Why did the waiter say: "There are really no vacancies in the inn. A gentleman came and asked for six rooms."
Shen Xiu saw that the waiter was telling the truth and was a little disappointed. She was about to turn around and leave when someone on the second floor suddenly said, "Wait a minute."
Shen Xiu followed the source of the voice and saw the white-faced scholar he had seen at the noodle stall last time talking to a servant on the second floor.
After a while, the servant came down and said: "Our master said that of the six rooms originally reserved, two can be freed up for this young lady."
The waiter said: "That would be perfect."
However, Shen Xiu raised his head and glanced at the second floor, and happened to meet the gaze of the white-faced scholar.
The white-faced scholar was none other than the newly appointed Magistrate Zhen Liangzhen of Huaian County.
Magistrate Zhen came out this time to visit Fucheng. He originally felt that the room was stuffy, so he went out to walk around, but he never expected to meet Shen Xiu.
When he saw Shen Xiu looking towards him, he smiled and nodded.
The other party gave up the room and acted so politely. Shen Xiu didn't want to be too cold and nodded.
To Shen Xiu's surprise, apart from saying hello to her, Magistrate Zhen did whatever he was supposed to do after that. He neither took the initiative to strike up a conversation nor created any chance encounters.
This made Shen Xiu breathe a sigh of relief. She was still worried that this white-faced scholar would pester her.
It seems that I really overthought it.
When Shen Xiu fell asleep in the room, Magistrate Zhen was still processing the case files in the next room.
The entourage came to change the candle and poured Magistrate Zhen a cup of tea.
"Master, after reading the case files for so long, it's time to take a rest."
Magistrate Zhen held up his pen and said: "Don't worry, wait until I finish reading the case file. The security in Huai'an County is pretty good. At least when Magistrate Zuo was here, there weren't many cases accumulated."
"I heard that the original Zuo County Magistrate was very diligent and had to deal with large and small cases almost every day."
Magistrate Zhen took a sip of tea and said, "I heard that the deposed Magistrate Shi was once a subordinate of Magistrate Zuo. If he had been half as diligent as Magistrate Zuo, he would not have ended up like this.
"
The master and servant talked about business for a while, and Magistrate Zhen suddenly changed the subject and said, "Have you heard about the young lady next door?"
Lai Sheng had already inquired about it clearly, and was just waiting for his question.
"Replying to the master, this young lady is from Huai'an County, and the two people following her are the bodyguards hired by the bodyguard bureau."
Laisheng was very careful in his work, "I also asked the clerk to find out that this young lady's surname is Shen, and her husband is studying in Fucheng. This time she went to Fucheng just to send her husband to study there."
After Lai Sheng finished speaking, he took two steps back and waited for Magistrate Zhen's reply.
Magistrate Zhen did not speak for a long time. Just when Laisheng thought he had no instructions, Magistrate Zhen suddenly said: "Since she can afford to hire an escort, it means her family is in a good situation. After you return to the county seat, help me find out.
Now, I want to know everything about her."
Laisheng responded softly, knowing that his master still couldn't let go of the original wife.
Now that I meet a young lady who looks similar to my wife, I can't help but feel a little shaken.
Laisheng hoped that Magistrate Zhen was just out of curiosity and wanted to inquire about the other party's situation.
After all, the other party is already married, and Magistrate Zhen is the local magistrate. If he really robbed her, it would be detrimental to his official reputation.
Lai Sheng withdrew with various thoughts.
Shen Xiu was sleeping soundly here.
When I woke up early the next morning, Magistrate Zhen and his party had already left.
At this moment, Shen Xiu let go of her worries and ordered a sumptuous breakfast. She also asked the waiter to make some steamed buns and soy sauce meat to eat on the road.
The journey went smoothly and we arrived at the county town safely.
Shen Xiu was not in a hurry to go home. Daya stayed in Weijia Village. She was alone when she went back, so she simply came to the shop directly.
The shop was very quiet, Lonicera was cleaning the table.
Shen Xiu asked who had been here in the past few days and what orders the shop had received.
Ling Dong said: "The young mistress of the Yuan family came yesterday and left when she heard that my wife was not here."
"The young mistress of the Yuan family?" Shen Xiu thought for a while and then realized that it was Lu Yuhan who had been here.
"Madam, the business of the shop has not been very good recently." Liandong said: "Since Madam can embroider on both sides, why don't you embroider a few more pieces?"
Shen Xiudao: "I know how to embroider on both sides, so don't tell others about it for now. I don't want too many people to know about it."
Shen Xiu wanted to use double-sided embroidery as her last trump card, so that when someone caused trouble for her, she could deal with it calmly.
"There's no need to be too anxious about business matters." Shen Xiudao said, "With the orchid brochure and peony embroidered screen, there is no problem in supporting the two of us."
When doing business, it is normal to have losses and profits.
Business was deserted during this period, not only because Shen Xiu had been closed for a long time, but also because Shen Xiu had focused her energy on Fucheng since spring.
Now that Wei Yan has moved to Fucheng, she is the only one left in the family.
Shen Xiu decided to put her mind at ease and put all her thoughts into the store.
Last time Qu Huan suggested transporting peony embroidered screens to the capital, and the sales were indeed good.
Qu Huan also told Shen Xiu that he wanted her to draw similar patterns again.
It's just that Shen Xiu has no time to spare. Now that she has time, she plans to draw a picture of wisteria flowers.
This spring, when she was living at Yu's house, she saw a wisteria in Yu's garden. It was blooming so brilliantly that it left a deep impression on Shen Xiu.
She happens to like purple again, and now she plans to paint an oil painting of wisteria flowers.
After Shen Xiu finished painting the wisteria flowers, she handed the pattern to Huaihua and the other three, asking them to embroider a sample first.
At this time, Magistrate Zhen also returned to the county seat from the capital city.
Lai Sheng remembered his instructions, and the first thing he did when he returned to the county town was to inquire about Shen Xiu.
Soon, Laisheng told Magistrate Zhen everything about Shen Xiu.
Magistrate Zhen heard that Shen Xiu was very good at needlework and ran an embroidery shop, so he said: "It just so happens that the tents in the backyard of the county government office are old. You can go and make some custom-made tents for me. Remember, don't make this matter too public.
Let your identity be known."
Lai Sheng responded, not knowing for a moment what Magistrate Zhen was thinking.
However, since Magistrate Zhen gave the order, he came to the embroidery shop the next day.
Shen Xiu was in the shop at that time, but she didn't have a deep impression of Lai Sheng and didn't recognize him. She just regarded him as an ordinary customer.
When Laisheng expressed his intention, Shen Xiu asked him what pattern he wanted to embroider on the tent.
Laisheng looked around the shop and suddenly fell in love with the embroidered screen with wisteria flowers.
The embroidered screen was driven out by Huaihua and the others. It was originally intended to be shown to Qu Huan, so it was placed in the shop. Unexpectedly, it was chosen by Lai Sheng.
"The tent is embroidered with wisteria flowers. Our master likes wisteria flowers the most."