Yeah
Zhou Shaojin thought of the rice paper and booklets spread out on the desk in the open hall on the right, and felt a little unconvinced.
But Cheng Chi had already said it was okay, so she couldn't insist on waiting in the veranda, as that would seem a bit petty. Anyway, she already owed Uncle Chi a lot, so she didn't care about it. She could only wait for a chance to repay Uncle Chi in the future.
Zhou Shaojin asked Cheng Chi: "Is there really a problem with the goods in Huai'an?"
"Yes." Cheng Chi said, "The boat capsized, but fortunately no one was injured. We lost several thousand taels of silver, and we need to discuss compensation with the owner of the goods."
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but chant "Amitabha" and said, "If there is no money, we can still earn it. As long as no one loses their life, that's good enough."
Cheng Chi nodded.
I thought, after I said this, you probably won’t come to see me again, right
Jiying came over.
She was wearing a grape purple bodice and had her hair in a bun. She looked cold but bowed to Cheng Chi respectfully.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but mutter to himself.
This Jiying... Why is she always wearing such dark clothes every time I see her? Isn’t she hot
While she was complaining in her heart, she heard Cheng Chi instructing Ji Ying: "Send the second young lady of the Zhou family back to Wanxiangju."
Ji Ying replied "yes" respectfully, made a "please" gesture to Zhou Shaojin, and walked out first.
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly saluted Cheng Chi and chased after him.
Cheng Chi shook his head, walked back to the open hall on the right, sat in front of the large desk, gently stroked the book on the desk and thought.
Huaishan walked in quietly and said, "Fourth Master, are we leaving tomorrow?"
"Let's go the day after tomorrow!" Cheng Chi said, his voice was a little low and he seemed lazy. "Tomorrow I'm going to meet the second in command of the Thirteen Hongs in Guangdong. He has already sent me two messages, saying that he has something important to talk to me about. I originally thought that he was talking to me about the matter of Cheng Shi from the Third Branch and didn't want to get involved - if they want to do business with the Third Branch, then just do it. The world is so big, who can eat alone? But he pulled out the boss Shang from the Guangdong Guild Hall and said that he and Boss Shang would treat me to a meal together. I guess it might be about the canal transportation. I'll go and listen to what they say."
"About the canal transportation?" Huaishan frowned and asked, "What do they want?"
"What else can we do?" Cheng Chi smiled disapprovingly. "If the imperial court dredged the Tongshun River, goods traveling north and south could go directly through the Grand Canal, instead of going from Guangdong through Fujian to Zhejiang and then to Tianjin. Their fleet of the Thirteen Ships of Guangdong would probably be disbanded. The second in command of the Thirteen Hongs probably came to Nanjing City this time for this matter."
"You mean, Wan Tong?" Huaishan said uncertainly.
"Yes." Cheng Chi gathered all the books in front of him together and said, "If Wan Tong is persuaded, it is equivalent to persuading the Crown Prince, and if the Crown Prince is persuaded, the Emperor is persuaded. He can still make the calculation."
"Are you going to intervene in this matter?" Huaishan said hesitantly, "If goods traveling north and south can go through the Grand Canal, the people on both sides will benefit, and the food loss in the nine borders will be reduced..."
Cheng Chi laughed and said, "Hey, when did you start to care about the affairs of the court?"
Huaishan's expressionless face suddenly turned red.
Cheng Chi couldn't continue teasing him, so he said, "I'm just going to take a look." As he spoke, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a slightly sarcastic smile, and he said lazily, "Whatever happens in this world has nothing to do with me. I just turn a blind eye and paint Jiuru Lane as a peaceful scene. As for who lives and who dies, who is good and who is bad, what does it have to do with me?"
Huaishan lowered his head and dared not say a word.
Cheng Chi looked at a clump of square bamboos in the corner of the yard outside the window, and a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes.
※
Zhou Shaojin and Jiying left Xiuqitang and could no longer see any trace of Cheng Xu and the others.
She breathed a sigh of relief, took Shi Xiang, and went to the fourth room with Ji Ying.
Halfway through the journey, they met Cheng Xu.
Cheng Xu was sweating profusely and was fanning himself with a paper fan. Dasu and Huanxi stood in front of him with their heads lowered, not daring to breathe.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin, Cheng Xu's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked, "Second cousin of the Zhou family, why are you here?" His voice was filled with unconcealed joy. But when his eyes fell on Jiying, he was filled with confusion and asked, "Miss Jiying, why are you with the second cousin of the Zhou family?"
"Master Xu!" Ji Ying bowed lightly, her cold and elegant face expressionless, and said, "The fourth master ordered me to take the second young lady of the Zhou family back to Wanxiangju."
"You," Cheng Xu stared at Zhou Shaojin and asked in astonishment, "were you in Xiaoshan Congguiyuan just now?"
Zhou Shaojin's heart tightened, and he was about to speak, but Ji Ying said, "Mr. Xu, I'm sorry, please make way. I have to go back to report to our fourth master. If you have anything to ask, you can go to Xiaoshan Congguiyuan again, or wait until I send the second young lady of the Zhou family back to Wanxiangju and then talk to her in detail. It's inconvenient for me to stay here for long."
Is this the attitude a maid should have and the words she should say
Cheng Xu, Zhou Shaojin and others were stunned.
Ji Ying had already pulled Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Xu past each other.
"Wait!" Da Su stood in front of Jiying.
Ji Ying sneered and said, "Qin Dasu, don't forget that I am serving the Fourth Master. Do you want to commit a crime against your superiors?"
Only then did Zhou Shaojin know that Da Su’s surname was “Qin”.
So is he related to the "Qin Da" that my father mentioned
The steward that we met when the fire broke out in the fifth house was also named “Qin”… The chief steward of Jiuru Lane was also named “Qin”.
Zhou Shaojin just felt dizzy and headache.
The more I learn about the Cheng family, the more I feel that they are confusing and hard to understand.
Qin Dasu looked hesitant when he heard Jiying say this.
Ji Ying snorted coldly, without even looking at Da Su, he dragged Zhou Shaojin straight forward.
Shi Xiang hurried to follow.
Cheng Xu's voice came from behind them: "Wait a minute!"
Jiying not only did not stop, but walked faster and faster.
Zhou Shaojin and Shi Xiang jogged and barely kept up with her.
But when she turned around again, Cheng Xu and the others had been forgotten by them. Da Su was stopping Cheng Xu and saying something, and Cheng Xu looked very unhappy.
In her two lifetimes, this was the first time that Zhou Shaojin had dumped Cheng Xu so cleanly and neatly. She couldn't help but feel happy and thanked Ji Ying.
Ji Ying disagreed and said, "I am only following the orders of the Fourth Master!"
"But I still have to thank you." Zhou Shaojin ran while panting, "Even if you were following Uncle Chi's orders, if you stood aside and let Cousin Xu stop me from talking, it wouldn't be considered a violation of Uncle Chi's wishes!"
Ji Ying glanced at her coldly, said nothing, and continued walking forward.
Zhou Shaojin felt that Ji Ying was walking so fast that she could hardly keep up. But when she thought that Cheng Xu was right behind them, she thought that it would be better to walk faster so that she could get back to Wanxiangju sooner.
After walking for about two cups of tea, Zhou Shaojin was panting heavily.
Jiying suddenly stopped.
Zhou Shaojin asked curiously: "Why don't you leave?"
Ji Ying stared at Zhou Shaojin for a moment, then suddenly walked forward.
This time, she walked slower.
Zhou Shaojin had walked too fast just now, and although he was still a little tired, he no longer jogged like before.
She asked Jiying: "How old were you when you entered the palace? Are you a servant of the Cheng family? What do your parents do? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
Ji Ying was silent for a while before saying, "I started working in the government office when I was eighteen. My parents farmed at home. I have two older brothers, but no younger brothers or sisters."
"You only entered the palace to work at the age of 18?" Zhou Shaojin was a little stunned. "How could your family be willing to send you to the palace? You are so beautiful, you can get married..."
Since they were not hereditary servants, usually only families that were too poor to support their children would sell their children to other families to be servants or maids. For someone like Jiying, she could easily find a family with some financial resources to marry and still have no worries about food and clothing.
Could it be that Jiying came into the mansion not just to be Uncle Chi's maid
Zhou Shaojin was shocked by his own thought.
Ji Ying looked at her with a half-smile and said, "Do you think I'm beautiful?"
"Yes!" Zhou Shaojin didn't know what he said wrong, and said, "Hasn't anyone told you that you are beautiful?"
Ji Ying's eyes flashed with confusion, and after a while he said, "Yes! Someone said I'm beautiful."
So why doubt it
Zhou Shaojin felt that Jiying was just like Jiuru Lane, full of confusion.
Since you can't see through it, don't think about it for now. When the time comes, you will see through it naturally.
Zhou Shaojin has studied Zen for several years and his mentality has become much more open than before.
They walked in silence all the way to Wanxiangju.
Zhou Chujin was waiting eagerly at the door.
She hurriedly pulled Zhou Shaojin over and looked at her. Seeing that she was fine, she said angrily, "You were just delivering some tea leaves. Why did you come back at this time?"
Zhou Shaojin chuckled and introduced Jiying to his sister.
When Zhou Chujin heard that it was the head maid serving Cheng Chi who sent Zhou Shaojin back, she politely invited her to have a cup of tea before leaving.
"Thank you, Miss." Different from her indifference towards Cheng Xu, Ji Ying had a smile on her face. Her cold and beautiful face was like melting ice and snow, revealing her beautiful and dazzling true colors. "The fourth master is still waiting for my reply. I will visit Miss again next time."
Zhou Chujin didn't force her, and personally escorted Jiying to the door. He didn't hold her shoulders until she disappeared, and then he walked into the house, saying, "Is she really the maidservant beside Uncle Chi? Not only is she beautiful, but she has such a noble demeanor, she doesn't look like a maidservant at all. I didn't even feel like rewarding her!"
Zhou Shaojin suddenly realized and said, "I was wondering, how could Sister forget about this? I wanted to remind her, but Jiying left so fast that I didn't catch up. Luckily I didn't say anything, or I would have lost face."
The same thought came to the minds of the two sisters at the same time.
In this episode, could it be that Ying was sent to Uncle Chi to be a maidservant
What a pity!
She could have married someone properly and become his wife.
They both sighed inwardly.
After returning to the house, Zhou Chujin whispered to his sister, "Did something happen? Cousin Xu came just now. He personally brought a gift of soil, saying that it was brought back from Hangzhou. And you were brought back by Uncle Chi's maid..."
Zhou Shaojin recounted what had happened.
Zhou Chujin said: "Father is really a fool. What message did he ask you to pass on? You too, you could have just told Old Madam Guo, but you still had to go to Xiaoshan Conggui Courtyard..."
※
Sisters, I got another spirit beast egg from CadySS, thank you CadySS! Because I have been a bit stuck these two days, I can't update today, I will arrange it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow depending on the situation.
Thank you for your support.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)