Fan Qi thanked him again and half-sat on the stool.
Zhou Shaojin asked him with a smile: "Have you met your mother?"
"Yes." Fan Qi said respectfully, "When I came back, I was wearing a Lu silk robe with a gray squirrel collar. I was afraid that my mother would be suspicious, so I went home to wash up first, and then went into the mansion to talk to my mother."
This is the mature approach.
Zhou Shaojin nodded in agreement. After the Spring Festival Gala was over and the guests had their tea and snacks, she asked about Fan Qi's trip to Beijing.
Perhaps he was very satisfied with his trip. Fan Qi could no longer hold back and recounted his trip with great excitement, returning to his original appearance: "... The people of the Ji family never thought that I would leave them behind all of a sudden... I carefully pondered the words of the second young lady, and felt that at my age, I was afraid that I could not control those old and experienced people. On the way, I was almost asked by the people of the Ji family! But after thinking about it, the second young lady's method was the most feasible. I was at a loss for a moment, and seeing that the people of the Ji family always looked at the clothes first and then the people when they went out, I simply bought some good clothes, hired someone to pretend to be my elder, and pretended to be a young master and lived in Shangqing Palace. I thought about finding out the affairs of the Mu and Lin families first.
"I never thought that a servant named Yang in Shangqing Palace was actually a receptionist. Later, he committed a crime and was demoted to a servant. He not only likes to brag, but also likes to drink a few cups of wine. I first wanted to find out more about him, so I often treated him to meals and bought him some food and wine. Later, I found that he had a very good relationship with some people in the Taoist temple, so I wanted him to introduce me to a Taoist priest who was traveling in Shangqing Palace..."
He recounted the whole story, and at the end, he laughed, "… I never thought that in the end, even though I didn't mention the money, he couldn't get over it. He was trying to get the Mu family to marry off their daughter. He also said that after the eldest daughter of the Mu family got married, he would go to the most high-end clothing store in the capital, Hua Xiangrong, to buy a golden Taoist robe with a Tai Chi Bagua diagram embroidered on the back, and walk past the Mu family's gate again, and he would trick Mr. Mu into donating dozens of taels of silver to the Shangqing Palace."
Zhou Shaojin was surprised and delighted when he heard this.
What was surprising was the twists and turns of the matter, but what was gratifying was that Fan Qi was smart and bold, and he finally got the job done.
She couldn't help but put her hands together, chanted "Amitabha" towards the west, and said "Thank you for the Buddha's blessing."
Seeing this, Fan Qi hesitated and said, "Second Miss, you don't want to believe in Taoism, do you? I heard from those Taoists that Bodhisattvas cultivate for the next life, and they cultivate for health. People with a good life like Miss should cultivate in this life and seek immortality."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Fan Qi stayed in Shangqing Palace for a few days. Could it be that he listened to the Taoists' words and converted to Taoism
What if he becomes possessed and wants to become a monk? What will happen to Mother Fan then
She waved her hands and said, "We'll talk about this later, later." Then she praised him, "Fortunately, you went. If it was someone else, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly. You've worked hard recently. Take a good rest these days. I've also given Mother Fan a day off in advance so you two can have a good chat. After the Lantern Festival, you'll probably have to go to the capital. Since you told the Taoist priest surnamed Yang that you'll go there next year, you might as well treat this as a joke and find a way to get that Taoist priest surnamed Yang to mediate so that Miss Mu can marry into the Lin family as soon as possible."
Fan Qi thought the same. He said, "If I wasn't afraid that my mother would get suspicious, I would wait until the eldest daughter of the Mu family got married before returning." As he spoke, he took out a purse from his pocket and said, "Second Miss, my food and lodging were all paid for by the Ji family. When I was staying in Shangqing Palace, two taels of silver would have been enough, but I thought I was pretending to be the young master, so I gave them five taels of silver. In addition, I spent about fifteen taels of silver to treat the Taoist priest surnamed Yang to a meal and a drink. He said he wanted to ask his senior brother to help him cover up his lie, so I gave him another twenty taels of silver. There was also money for hiring a sedan chair, buying snacks, and hiring servants... In total, I spent sixty-seven taels and three cents of silver. This is the remaining four hundred and thirty taels of silver notes and change, all here!"
Zhou Shaojin was overjoyed and said generously: "Take it! You will go to Beijing again in the spring, and you can settle the bill with me when you come back."
Fan Qi refused, and said in a fearful tone, "I'm afraid I've lost it. You don't know, I didn't know how much silver I would need to go to the capital, so I only took out five ten-liang silver notes. I rolled up the other four hundred liang silver notes and sewed them into the seam of my underwear. I touched them every two hours, and the servants of the Ji family thought I had lice! You should keep the silver notes. I'll ask you for them next time I go."
Zhou Shaojin could understand his fear.
In her previous life, when she escaped from Jinling City, she only took 200 taels of silver from her own pocket. She thought that with this 200 taels of silver, she would be able to find her sister. Without this 200 taels of silver, she might never see her sister again. At that time, she was afraid that the silver would be lost or stolen by those idle gangs, so she repeatedly told Fan Liushi to hide the silver.
"Okay then." She took the banknote with a smile, turned around and took out twenty banknotes of ten taels of silver and handed them to Fan Qi, saying with a smile, "This is the two hundred taels of silver I promised you. Because the New Year is coming, the managers are all very busy, and the ten acres of top-quality paddy fields that we promised you can only be taken care of after you come back."
Fan Qi blushed and said, "Second Miss, I haven't finished my work yet! Please reward me after I return from the capital."
"Just take it." Zhou Shaojin stuffed the banknote into his hand and said with a smile, "It's just right for you to have a good New Year."
Fan Qi didn't dare to refuse and had to accept it.
Zhou Shaojin handed him another box and said, "There is a gold hairpin and a pair of gold bracelets in here. The gold hairpin is for your mother, and the gold bracelets are for you and your brother, one each, for when you get married."
"Thank you, Second Miss." Fan Qi stood up and kowtowed to Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin accepted it with a smile and let Chunwan see him out.
Shi Xiang muttered quietly, "The two hundred taels of silver that Madam gave me as a reward were not even warm enough to be used. If you continue like this, I don't think even mountains of gold and silver can withstand your torment."
Zhou Shaojin solemnly placed the purse that Fan Qi had returned on the table and said calmly, "There are a total of 430 taels of silver notes here. Keep the 400 taels and exchange the 30 taels for some silver ingots from my aunt. I'm afraid they'll be used as rewards this year. The remaining change... You've been working very hard these days, so use it to buy some snacks!"
Chunwan was overjoyed and used his elbows to offer incense.
Shi Xiang blushed and lowered her head angrily.
Zhou Shaojin suppressed his smile and went into the inner room, changed his clothes, and went to Hanbi Mountain House to copy scriptures.
Biyu was waiting for her at the intersection.
Seeing her from a distance, he came forward, smiled, knelt down and saluted her, and said, "The fourth master is going to move to my place. The chief steward Qin is taking people to clean up the Oriole Pavilion in the back and set up curtains in the Hanbi Mountain House. The old lady is afraid that those rough people will offend the second cousin, so she specially asked me to wait for you here."
Zhou Shaojin was extremely surprised and asked, "Why did Uncle Chi suddenly move to Hanbi Mountain House?"
"Maybe it's because the Xiaoshan Conggui Courtyard is big and there are few servants?" Biyu said with a smile, "I heard from the people who used to work in the Fourth Master's house that the Fourth Master is nostalgic and has only used the people around him for seven or eight years. The servants and followers are fine, but we maids have to be sent out when we get old, and the Fourth Master doesn't want anyone to come in, so we have no choice but to live here for now."
"That's right." Zhou Shaojin said with a smile, "You guys are all clever and well-educated. Instead of promoting you to be a maid, it would be better to let you serve. However, this will increase your work and make it more difficult."
"This is what we servants are supposed to do. It shouldn't be called 'hard work'."
While talking to her, Biyu walked towards Hanbi Mountain House.
Zhou Shaojin soon saw the indigo coarse cloth curtain.
As they walked inside the curtain, they could hear a man's hoarse voice outside saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, Chief Steward Qin said that we must finish it before dark. If we finish, each of us will be rewarded one tael of silver. If we can't finish, each of us will be given one tael less. All together, it's two taels of silver. Two taels of silver! You can buy your wife a flowery cotton jacket with it."
There was a burst of laughter outside.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help laughing and thought that this man was very good at talking.
Biyu said, "This is Steward Lu from the mansion. When he was young, he accidentally smoked his throat, so he speaks like a duck, which makes it easier for people to remember him."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and nodded.
A person suddenly walked out from behind the curtain next to him.
Zhou Shaojin and Biyu were both shocked.
Biyu even stopped Zhou Shaojin behind her and shouted loudly, "Who is it?"
"It's me!" the visitor said lively.
Zhou Shaojin looked carefully and found that it was Jiying.
She couldn't help but pat her chest and said, "You scared me."
Ji Ying said, "Who put up this curtain? I wandered around for a long time and almost got lost." Then she smiled at Zhou Shaojin and said, "The Fourth Master said he would move to the Oriole Pavilion here. I thought you would come here to copy scriptures every afternoon, so I came to tell you. It will be convenient for you to find me in the future!"
Zhou Shaojin chuckled and took back Biyu's arm: "We knew it a long time ago!"
Ji Ying was so angry that she glared.
Everyone went to the main room with a smile.
Jiying wants to go see where the Oriole Pavilion is: "... I want to choose a secluded place to live."
Biyu told her, "Go south. There is a three-square-meter wing room over there. You can see the lotus pond through the window. There are several pomegranate trees planted behind the house."
"Pomegranate tree?" Jiying's eyes sparkled. "You actually have a pomegranate tree here. I haven't seen a flower in years."
This is of course a bit of an exaggeration.
Biyu covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "I heard from Madam Shi once that those pomegranate trees were planted by the fourth master when he was a child. They are very precious!"
"Then I'll live there." Ji Ying heard and whispered to Zhou Shaojin, "Then hang all kinds of colorful sachets and purses on the pomegranate tree. I wonder if Cheng Zichuan will be so proud."
Zhou Shaojin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and waved goodbye to Jiying.
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Today's update, sisters.
I wonder if the meeting with the editor in charge in Taiwan will go smoothly...
※(To be continued)