Huaishan asked curiously, "You are not going to be an official, so why do you want a fourth-rank position?"
Cheng Chi leaned back on the armchair a little tiredly and said, "Huai'an's Chief Clerk Xiang Zhiyong has helped us a lot over the years. I'm leaving, but I have to make arrangements for these people. Huai'an has always been complicated. There is the Grain Transport Governor's Office and the Lianghuai Salt Transport Bureau in front, and the Huai'an prefect and Huai'an county magistrate in the back. I'm thinking about transferring him to Songjiang or Huzhou. After all, he is a senior official in charge of a region and doesn't need to be constrained by others."
Huaishan was very sad about these words, which sounded like instructions for his last wishes. He nodded slightly and said, "Fourth Master, you have considered it carefully. Xiang Zhiyong has been the chief clerk of Huai'an for almost ten years. It's time to move on."
Cheng Chi nodded and said, "It's mainly because he's too close to us. After I leave, I'm afraid he'll have a hard time. But there's Song Xianming in Zhejiang Province. For my sake, as long as Xiang Zhi never gets into trouble, he'll be able to keep him safe. After a few years, when things calm down, we can just let the birds fly high and the fish swim wide."
Huaishan was silent.
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "By the way, since Cheng Jiashan is not coming back for the New Year, given my mother's personality, she will definitely ask Yuan to go to the capital to reunite with them. This year's New Year will be very lonely for my mother. You go and tell the people at Hanbi Mountain House that I will stay up with my mother this year. You prepare some fireworks... My mother likes to set off firecrackers. I remember when my father was alive, he would buy a lot of firecrackers every New Year, saying that they were for me to play with, but in fact he wanted to please my mother..."
As he spoke, he gradually fell into memories and the expression on his face became gloomy.
※
In Wanxiangju, Zhou Shaojin looked at Shi Xiang in surprise and said, "What did you say? Li Changgui is back!"
Li Changgui was Zhou Zhen's follower.
"Yes!" Shi Xiang said, "It is said that the master received the letter from the young lady and was furious, so he asked Li Changgui to come back overnight. When the mistress heard that Li Changgui had returned, she thought that it was the New Year, so she sent her personal maid Li Ma to pay her respects to the two young ladies."
Zhou Shaojin frowned and said, "According to the date, the Madam should be giving birth soon, right? Why send Nanny Li over at this time? Just send any Nanny over. Isn't this just a waste of time?"
Shi Xiang said nothing, but thought in her heart that the new wife might have got the news and found out that the two young ladies had imprisoned Lan Ting. She was so happy that she sent her dear mother to thank the two young ladies.
I'm afraid I can't say that this is a way of saying thank you.
I wonder what Nanny Li will say when she sees the two young ladies
She asked Zhou Shaojin: "The eldest lady is talking to Li Changgui, and Nanny Li is waiting outside the door. What do you think..."
"Then let her in!" Zhou Shaojin said, thinking that she should help her sister share some chores, and she really wanted to know how her father was doing now.
Shi Xiang responded and left, quickly bringing Nanny Li in.
Perhaps it was because of the long hours, but Li Ma, dressed in parrot green, looked a little haggard.
She kowtowed to Zhou Shaojin as soon as she entered the door.
Zhou Shaojin was quite surprised.
Although she came to greet the sisters, Nanny Li was a servant of Li, who was their stepmother. Nanny Li should follow the tide and be respectful to the sisters, but this was too respectful!
She asked Shi Xiang to bring in a small stool.
Matron Li lowered her head and said she dared not to, "Madam told me when I came here that I must not lose my dignity in front of the two young ladies."
Zhou Shaojin didn't force it. He asked Li first, knowing that everything was going well for her, and then asked Zhou Zhen: "... How is father?"
“How could the master be well after such a big thing happened!” Nanny Li wiped her eyes, “He couldn’t eat, drink, or sleep. He looked so thin in just one night. He was such a good person, he was always friendly to us servants, but now he gets furious over the smallest things. We don’t know what he did wrong. He was always like this before, but suddenly everything he did was wrong… Madam said that the master was unhappy and angry! It would be fine if he could vent his anger. But Madam was worried about the master. She was pregnant and about to give birth, but she was waiting in the tea room every day, afraid that the master would ask for tea and water… Madam thought that the two young ladies might be feeling bad and were still thinking about the master, so she asked me to come back with Li Changgui, saying that if the two young ladies had any questions, there would be someone to answer them when I came back.”
Li's consideration was indeed thoughtful.
Zhou Shaojin sighed and asked, "When will Li Changgui leave?"
Nanny Li gritted her teeth and said, "He wants to wait until those two slaves Lan Ting and Xin Lan are sentenced before leaving, but I have to rush back tonight - the Madam is about to give birth, I dare not delay any longer."
Zhou Shaojin nodded and said, "Please take good care of my father. Please take care of my wife."
"This is my job, I don't dare take orders from the Second Young Lady."
After they exchanged a few pleasantries, Li Ma Ma pulled out two purses from her sleeves, one bright red and one royal blue, both embroidered with twined flower patterns. "We left in a hurry, and Madam didn't have time to buy anything for the two young ladies. She only gave me two purses to bring to the two young ladies, saying that it was just a New Year's gift in advance."
Zhou Shaojin asked Shi Xiang to take it.
Zhou Chujin came over.
She looked a little cold and said a few words to Li Ma Ma. Knowing that she had only come to pay her respects to them sisters, she rewarded her with a table of food and ten taels of silver, and then went to the backyard to eat with Chixiang.
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly sat down next to his sister and asked, "What did Li Changgui say?"
Zhou Chujin answered irrelevantly: "Jiying should not be a servant, right? Do you know where her hometown is? Who are the people there?"
"What's wrong?" Zhou Shaojin was stunned, "Why are you suddenly asking about Jiying?"
Zhou Chujin said, "Li Changgui came from the prison of the government office. He asked us sisters how we knew there was a warden in the prison. He asked if it was Uncle Mian's idea. He also said that my father asked him to come here to handle this matter. I didn't expect that my sisters and I had the same idea as my father. He also praised me for my mature method, which only those experienced officials would know."
Although she would tell her sister everything, she couldn't tell her sister without Jiying's consent since this matter concerned Jiying. But she couldn't hide it from her sister either.
Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment and said, "I have to ask Jiying before I can tell you about her family."
I guess he has his own reasons!
But Jiying's kindness to his sister is genuine.
"Forget it then." Zhou Chujin smiled. "Someone gave us a good idea, but we...were the ones who dug into other people's family backgrounds. It's chilling to think about it. I'll ask her in person when I have a chance."
That's fine.
Zhou Shaojin asked: "What else did Li Changgui say?"
"Father asked him to discuss with Uncle Mian to see if Xinlan and Lanting can be executed later in the autumn." Zhou Chujin said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "Wouldn't that mean they can live another year?"
It is winter now. If we wait until autumn to cut the trees, we will have to wait until next autumn.
Seeing that his sister was unhappy, Zhou Shaojin speculated, "Is it because waiting for death in prison like this is more difficult for the two of them than trying them immediately?"
"I think so too." Zhou Chujin said, "So I'm very grateful to Jiying. If it weren't for her, how would we know about this kind of thing?"
Zhou Shaojin said: "There is no one in our family who has committed a crime, so naturally we don't know about this!"
As she spoke, her heart skipped a beat.
Is there someone committing a crime in Jiying's family
But even so, Jiying treated her so well, she shouldn't distance herself from or be afraid of Jiying.
Zhou Shaojin took a long breath.
Zhou Chujin asked about Cheng Yi: "… I just heard that cousin Yi is determined this time. No matter how much my aunt scolds, cries, threatens or bribes him, he remains unmoved. He didn't admit his fault even after being slapped twice by my uncle, and my grandmother even cried for it. Why don't you tell Ji Ying about this? In this kind of situation, it's usually the maids who suffer. It would be great if she could ask Uncle Chi to intervene."
Zhou Shaojin was terrified when he heard this.
She knew that Cheng Yi was making a fuss, but since she was the one who informed on him, although she thought she was not wrong, Cheng Yi's shouting before leaving still made her feel a little uneasy, so she didn't ask what happened to him.
I never thought Cheng Yi would make such a big fuss!
In her previous life, she was the daughter of an official family, and she was still blamed for doing such a thing. What about Ji Ying, who was born a maid
Zhou Shaojin stood up and left: "I'll go tell Jiying."
Zhou Chujin stopped her and said, "Talk to Jiying first and listen to her opinion. If Jiying thinks she should tell Uncle Chi, it won't be too late to tell Uncle Chi... I don't think Jiying is the kind of girl who would serve Uncle Chi closely. She looks like this. It's good that Uncle Chi has plans for her. If not, she will at most marry someone who manages things, and that won't stop others from making plans. Don't get involved in this matter, okay?"
Zhou Shaojin thought about it before he understood what his sister meant.
Sister, you mean beauty is a disaster!
With Jiying's appearance, if Uncle Chi didn't want to take her in, he should have found a good family that could keep her, otherwise she might as well take the opportunity to follow Cheng Yi. Although Cheng Yi had this and that kind of trouble, he was a kind person, and his grandmother and aunt were not unreasonable people, so at least he had someone to rely on.
But what choice to make depends on Jiying’s decision.
What may be honey to one person may be poison to another. After all, this is her own business, and they cannot make the decision for her.
But for some reason, Zhou Shaojin felt vaguely certain.
She felt that Jiying would never agree to follow Cheng Yi.
It's not just the difference in age, experience, and status, but Jiying will never let herself suffer such injustice.
"I understand." Zhou Shaojin nodded and hurried to Xiaoshan Congguiyuan.
Ji Ying had a gloomy face and was standing in the corridor, angry: "… Is this the Imperial Palace or the six ministries? You didn't even ask a few people to help with the move. With only a few of us, I'm afraid we won't be able to finish moving, let alone December 22nd, even on the second day of the first lunar month. If the Fourth Master is reluctant to spend the money, you can go and tell him that I will pay for it myself, okay?"
※
Thank you for the reward from Tianwaixianxian.
O(∩_∩)o
But I can’t update for the reward this week. The editor of the Taiwan publishing house where I published my book will come to Wuhan this Saturday, and I need to meet with him. I can’t write on Saturday, and I need to save two chapters. The reward update can only be postponed to next week.
Please forgive me.
There are only two updates today, still at the originally scheduled time.
Feel sorry!
※(To be continued)