After returning to Wanxiangju, Zhou Shaojin called Fan Qi over.
"I have something important for you to do!" she said solemnly, "but you can't tell anyone about this, not even your mother. And you have to go on a long journey. But if you succeed, I will not only reward you with two hundred taels of silver, but also ten acres of top-quality paddy fields. Do you dare to go?"
Zhou Shaojin had thought about raising the reward, but was afraid that it would be too high and scare Fan Qi. But even so, Fan Qi still stared at her in amazement, and it took him a long while to come back to his senses.
Two hundred taels of silver were enough to support his mother in her old age, and ten acres of high-quality irrigated land were enough to provide him with food and clothing for the rest of his life. Besides, he was originally a servant of the Zhou family, and it was his job to serve the second young lady... He didn't even think about it, and immediately responded, "Everything is up to the second young lady."
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Fan Qi agreed, otherwise she really wouldn't know who to send to do this.
She asked Fan Qi to close the door and spoke to him in a low voice: "I want you to go to the capital. As for the eldest lady, I will say that you have to go back to your hometown for something. As for Mother Fan, do you have any good excuse?"
Fan Qi is young and doesn't have a proper job. He has been away from the mansion for a while and will not attract much attention.
Fan Qi had not expected that Zhou Shaojin wanted him to go to the capital. He was excited and eager to go. He hurriedly asked, "Why don't you just tell me that you want to buy a few acres of water so that I can go back to the countryside and ask?"
"That's a good excuse." Zhou Shaojin said with a smile, "When the time comes, I'll put the paddy field in your name, and sister won't be suspicious." Then he praised him, "You have a really good brain!"
Fan Qi chuckled.
Zhou Shaojin said, "I will ask someone to escort you all the way to the capital, but there is one thing, you must not let those who escort you to the capital know what you are going to do. After you arrive in the capital, find the third family from the east to the west in Hushangshu Hutong in Chongyifang. The family's surname is Mu. The master is the chief clerk in the Ministry of Rites. He has three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter is betrothed to the eldest son of the Lin family in an alley in Chongrenfang. Go and find out what the Mu family and the Lin family are like now. Then... find a way to find a wandering Taoist priest or a monk who hangs out, and say that the eldest daughter of the Mu family will have a disaster when she is seventeen years old, which will bring disaster to her parents, brothers and sisters. If she can get married before the age of seventeen, not only will the Mu family turn the disaster into a blessing, but the husband's family will also be prosperous and have many descendants."
Although Lin Shisheng was an only child, he was not a poor man without rules. If she had not agreed, and there was no pregnancy after she married in, and Lin Shisheng even bribed a traveling doctor to take her pulse and swear that she could not be pregnant, the Lin family would never agree to Lin Shisheng taking a concubine.
Now she has come up with this idea to make the Mu family marry their daughter to Lin Shisheng as soon as possible, which can be regarded as a tit-for-tat.
Fan Qi was stunned when he heard this. No matter how he thought about it, he felt something was wrong.
Judging from the tone of the Second Miss, she wanted to help the eldest Miss of the Mu family. But this was a good thing, why did the Second Miss do it secretly? Was there some other intention that he didn't know about? He was willing to help the Second Miss run errands, but if the Second Miss wanted to harm someone, then he... had to persuade her anyway!
"Is this okay?" Fan Qi stuttered, "Could it be that something is wrong with the eldest lady of the Mu family?"
"The eldest lady of the Mu family is a good person, what's wrong with that?" Zhou Shaojin said unhappily, "Just do as I say."
Even if the Mu family and the Lin family had doubts in their hearts, they would no longer have any doubts after the Wuxu imperial examination cheating incident.
In his previous life, Zhou Shaojin and Aunt Mu got along pretty well.
Aunt Mu was obsessed with clearing her father's name.
In her words, her father was completely wronged.
The chief examiner and deputy examiner at that time leaked the test questions, but in the end the blame was put on the person who was in charge of the matter.
Regardless of whether it was true or false, as long as Aunt Mu married into the Lin family, the lawsuit of the Mu family would have nothing to do with her. With Lin Shisheng's ability and skill, he could use his status as a relative to the family to use money to redeem Aunt Mu's mother, two sisters and one brother.
Zhou Shaojin instructed Fan Qi carefully: "Ask the person who sent you to drop you off at the Yuelai Inn near Chaoyang Gate. Stay in the inn for two days first, walk around and take a look. Take this opportunity to quietly find out where the Mu and Lin families live. Then find a way to move to the Gaosheng Inn near an alley in Chongrenfang. Not far from there, there is a Shangqing Palace... Although the place is small, Taoists from Wutai Mountain and Jiuhua Mountain often hang out there... I'll give you five hundred taels of silver notes to carry with you... Find a monk who is good at taking bribes and make up a story about Lord Mu breaking up the couple, so that others will think that the Lin family asked someone to set up this scheme... Don't be stingy with the money. As long as you accomplish this, any amount of money will be worth it."
Fan Qi nodded continuously, but his suspicion grew.
Second Miss, you probably have never been to the capital, right
But she was so familiar with the capital that she even knew which restaurants were near the Mu family and which inns were near the Lin family...
He couldn't help but ask, "Second Miss, how do you know everything? Are you related to the Mu family or the Lin family? Are you helping them?"
Zhou Shaojin was slightly stunned, and said: "The Lin and Mu families are both my relatives, my mother's relatives..."
Her tone was unclear, but Fan Qi seemed to have suddenly realized something and said hurriedly, "I know, I know. I promise not to tell anyone."
Zhou Shaojin didn't expect him to promise not to tell anyone for the rest of his life, but he kept the matter in his heart for two or three years. When Aunt Mu married Lin Shisheng, it wouldn't matter whether he told it or not.
Anyway, she accomplished what she wanted.
Zhou Shaojin put the banknotes he had prepared in advance into a purse and gave it to Fan Qi: "You should find a way to keep them separate. I guess someone will send you to the capital in the next few days."
Fan Qi placed the lotus leaf carefully against his body, then stood up and left the study.
Zhou Shaojin sat in the study, thinking over what he had said to Fan Qi for a long time. Feeling that there were no major loopholes, he heaved a sigh of relief and went to the banquet room.
In her current lounge, there is a desk on the left and a clothing table on the right. On the floor-standing clothes rack not far away are hung colorful silks, satins, velvet and purse strings. There is also an embroidery frame next to it. It is very messy, but also very warm.
Zhou Shaojin prepared to make two forehead scarves for Old Lady Guan.
Last time when Mrs. Guo celebrated her birthday, she listened to Mrs. Guan's suggestion and gave Mrs. Guo two forehead scarves as a birthday gift. Although Mrs. Guan didn't say anything, when she showed them to Mrs. Guan, she rubbed them for a long time before letting go. It was obvious that she liked them very much.
This time she embroidered patterns of a gourd vase and a crane holding fruit, and chose indigo and lilac-colored materials.
But just as she finished drawing the pattern of the gourd vase, Chun Wan came in and said, "Second Miss, there is a little maid who says she is from Xiaoshan Conggui Courtyard. She is here on the orders of Miss Jiying to invite you over for tea!"
Zhou Shaojin was surprised and asked, "Now?"
"It should be now, right?" Chun Wan was not sure, and said, "The little maid has been waiting outside!"
Zhou Shaojin walked out and saw that it was indeed a little maid.
She was wearing a bright red Lu silk bodice that was not even as tall as her table.
No wonder I can’t even convey messages clearly!
She grabbed a handful of candy and gave it to the little maid, then took her to the Osmanthus Courtyard on the Hill.
As soon as Ji Ying saw her, she complained, "What do you think your uncle is thinking? He has money, but he is so stingy that he can't even afford to buy a girl or a boy. I can't even find someone to pass on a message." She added, "Ming He got married, but he didn't even add anyone else. Who will do the work in this house in the future?"
Zhou Shaojin asked, "Could it be because Uncle Chi thinks he will return to Zaoyuan sooner or later?"
Ji Ying snorted coldly and said, "Zaoyuan has even fewer people. Apart from the two gatekeepers, there is a couple who take care of the flowers and trees, a manager, four servants, and two maids. The last time Nanping came back, he said that the dust in the house had piled up like a mountain. If we don't find someone to clean it up, the furniture and other things will have to be repainted."
Zhou Shaojin asked curiously, "If that's the case, why did he buy a separate courtyard?"
"Who knows?" Ji Ying said, "I haven't been there, so who knows what's hidden there?" Then he pulled Zhou Shaojin's hand and went to the inner room, "I have something to tell you."
It should be about escorting Fan Qi to the capital!
Zhou Shaojin's heart was pounding. He told Shi Xiang to guard the door and followed Ji Ying to the inner room.
Ji Ying closed the door, took out a slightly oiled silver hairpin from her jewelry box and handed it to Zhou Shaojin, saying, "I won't ask you what you want to do with it. Take this silver hairpin and send someone to the rice shop to find a big clerk named Wang and tell him directly."
"Jiying!" Zhou Shaojin took the hairpin and felt that it weighed a thousand pounds.
"You said you consider me a friend," Ji Ying said with a smile, "don't say more. Your uncle Chi is both cunning and suspicious. You have to go to Hanbi Mountain House to copy scriptures in the afternoon, so you can have lunch here before leaving. Hide this hairpin, don't let anyone in Xiaoshan Congguiyuan see it."
Zhou Shaojin's eyes were a little red and he hid the hairpin in his lapel.
Ji Ying laughed and pinched her cheek, saying, "What a pity. If I were still in Cangzhou, I would definitely find a way to trick you back home and marry you to my cousin."
Zhou Shaojin's overflowing gratitude suddenly disappeared.
She slapped Jiying's hand away and said, "If you pinch me again, I won't help you anymore."
Ji Ying jokingly said, "What have you done for me? I asked you to make socks, but I gave you the snowball in the end, and you calmed down. I asked you to help me copy the "Instructions for Women", but you said you didn't have time... I think I'd better pinch you again."
Zhou Shaojin touched his face and ran out of the inner room.
Jiying couldn't help laughing.
※
When he returned home in the evening, Zhou Shaojin gave the hairpin to Fan Qi.
She asked Fan Qi: "Are you afraid?"
Fan Qi held his head high and shook his head, saying, "I want to be your chief steward! If I can't do this little thing well, how can I manage so many maids and servants in the future?"
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but laugh.
Who knows what will happen to her in the future
However, it is always good to have wishes.
She solemnly instructed Fan Qi: "If you feel that the situation is not right, come back immediately. You must remember that as long as you have the green mountains, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood. Your life is the most precious."
"Second Miss, don't worry. I will be careful."
Fan Qi bid farewell to Zhou Shaojin.
※
Sisters, today's pink ticket extra update.
The update will be late, so please check it tomorrow morning, which will provide a better guarantee.
O(∩_∩)o
PS: There are typos, which will be corrected later.
※(To be continued)