When Zhu Ping'an returned to Linhuai Marquis Mansion from Zhang Siwei, it was already dark. He calculated the time to return before the curfew. As a minor official of the sixth rank, it was better not to challenge the curfew.
Wang Shizhen was also traveling with them, and as the two of them were on the same route as they were returning home, they could go back together.
“Zihou, please bring more pickled cucumbers made by my aunt next time you come. They are crispy and delicious, even better than the meat dishes made by the chef at Ziwei’s house. It’s so delicious, but Zihou only gave us a little bit. He is really stingy.” Wang Shizhen held a small jar of pickled cucumbers as if he had found a treasure.
Just now, when Zhang Siwei and his three friends were drinking, Zhu Ping'an shared the local specialties he brought from home with the two of them. The smoked rabbit was fine, but the pickled cucumbers immediately won them over. They were used to eating big fish and meat, and when they first tasted the pickled cucumbers, they were instantly amazed and complained that Zhu Ping'an was not authentic, hiding such a delicacy until now and sharing it with them.
"I'll share with you everything I brought from home..." Zhu Ping'an stretched his arms, glanced at the small jar Wang Shizhen was holding, and pursed his lips with some reluctance.
Hearing this, Wang Shizhen hugged him even tighter, thinking about going back to try the way of eating pickled cucumbers with rice porridge that Zhu Ping'an highly recommended.
Of course, Zhu Ping'an did not return empty-handed. Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen also gave Zhu Ping'an gifts in return, which were all "local specialties" they brought from home. Wang Shizhen was born in the Wang family of Taicang. Knowing that Zhu Ping'an liked calligraphy, he specially brought Zhu Ping'an a rare copy of his collection of "calligraphy copybooks" from home, which included a copy of Mi Fu's calligraphy in the Song Dynasty, which was very valuable; Zhang Siwei was from a family of salt merchants in Shanxi. The "local specialty" he brought was a Jiangzhou Chengni inkstone, which was a treasure made by Mo Lao, a famous master of inkstones in Shanxi at that time. Jiangzhou Chengni inkstone is one of the four famous inkstones in history (Jiangzhou Chengni inkstone, Duanxi stone inkstone in Gaoyao County, Guangdong, She inkstone in Anhui, Tao stone inkstone in Lintao, Gansu), and Mo Lao is a rare master of Jiangzhou Chengni inkstone. If it were not for the Zhang family's favor to Mo Lao, this inkstone would be priceless.
Such a specialty, the more the better...
Zhu Ping'an put the things on the saddle and smiled with a hint of evil humor.
Along the way, Wang Shizhen tirelessly reminded Zhu Pingan not to take it lightly. He had just met Li Panlong of the Ministry of Justice not long ago, and they only exchanged poems and wine. Moreover, Li Panlong was only a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice, and he was also an insignificant role in the Ministry of Justice, so he did not find out much inside information. However, it was not completely without any gains. He found out that the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice seemed to have a close relationship with Zhao Daying, so he asked Zhu Pingan to be especially careful when he went to the Ministry of Justice to petition.
They walked together to Wang Shizhen's mansion, said goodbye to Wang Shizhen, and Zhu Ping'an rode his black horse straight back to the mansion.
"My uncle is safe and sound."
When the two maids in Tingyuxuan saw Zhu Ping'an coming back, they knelt down in unison and greeted him in unison.
I go
Zhu Pingan was shocked when he suddenly came to Tingyu Pavilion. He was not used to the queen of a young master from a prominent family!
"You guys just go about your business, don't worry about me." Zhu Ping'an looked at the two maids who were kneeling and bowing, smiled helplessly, waved his hand, and signaled them to stand up.
Having said that, the two maids were still busy. One maid went to the bedroom to make the bed, and the other maid made tea and poured water, and also prepared water for Zhu Ping'an to wash his feet.
"I can do it myself." Zhu Ping'an politely declined the girl who was squatting on the ground to wash his feet, and started washing them himself.
"Son-in-law, have a bowl of honey water to sober you up. Sister Zijuan asked someone to bring it here." The maid who had just made the bed brought in an exquisite porcelain cup of honey water, which exuded a faint rose scent.
"Put it there, I'll drink it later. Please thank Miss Zijuan for me." Zhu Ping'an was washing his feet and had no hands free, so he asked the maid to put it on the table beside him and he would drink it later.
"Sister Zijuan told me to drink it while it's hot. Let me serve you, sir." The maid said as she stretched out her small, white hands to pick up the porcelain cup and brought it to Zhu Ping'an's lips.
Well
Zhu Ping'an just opened his mouth, ready to refuse, and the maid beside him, who was very experienced in serving, poured the honey water in the porcelain cup into Zhu Ping'an's mouth.
It had a light aroma, sweet and delicious. The sweet liquid flowed down the throat into the stomach, and my mind, which was originally a little drunk, instantly felt much clearer.
Seeing that the maid successfully served her son-in-law to drink honey water for hangover relief, another maid walked behind Zhu Ping'an, stretched out her slender hands and started massaging Zhu Ping'an's shoulders. The little girl's massage technique was very professional, she must have learned it specially. It was gentle and flexible, and she pressed the acupoints just right. It felt like all the fatigue in the bones was pressed out, and he felt relaxed and comfortable.
"You guys go and do your work, I have something else to do."
However, despite this, after drinking the honey water, Zhu Ping'an politely declined the service of the two maids and sent them to the ear room to rest.
The two girls looked at each other in surprise, then bent down and left.
After returning to the ear room, the two maids closed the door and couldn't help but whisper to each other.
"My uncle is not a lustful person. How come he is not interested in girls at all..."
"That's right. When I was serving my uncle just now, he didn't even look at me. He was like a piece of wood..."
"Does the uncle dislike our ugly looks?"
"How could that be? Young Master Zhou and the other young masters of the Second Master's family have been coveting you for a long time. The Second Master has even asked the old lady for you twice."
"Is it the son-in-law..." A girl leaned close to another girl's ear with a blushing face, blushing for a long time, and gossiped in a low voice, "Which one is not good enough..."
"I'm dying, what are you talking about..." The little girl's face was red, and she slapped the other girl several times with her little hand. The two of them lay on the bed and made a mess. After they calmed down, the little round-faced girl hesitated for a long time before leaning close to the girl's ear. Her little round face was almost red with embarrassment, "Well, when my son-in-law was taking a bath today, I went to deliver hot water and secretly saw that his thing was so..."
The little round-faced girl stretched out her little hand and gestured as she spoke.
Then, the other girl opened her mouth in surprise and blurted out, "How can it be so big... How can we bear it?"
"Shh, I'm dying, keep your voice down... How can you be so shameless..."
"You said I was shameless, but you are shameless. You actually secretly looked at your son-in-law..."
"Let's not say anything. The old lady wants to appoint us, Xi'er and Yan'er as the fifth lady's dowry maids, and she wants to choose two of us to be concubines. At this moment, she sends us two to serve the son-in-law. Who doesn't understand what she means? Yan'er and Xi'er have made up so many bad things about us behind our backs..."
"If they dare, I will tear their mouths apart..."
While the two girls were blushing and talking, Zhu Ping'an was spreading out rice paper on the desk, summarizing the information he had received from Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen today, and analyzing and perfecting the response he had prepared earlier. (To be continued.)// ( )