The next morning, when Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes, Cheng Chi was no longer by his pillow.
She felt warm and didn't want to move.
Chun Wan, who was on duty, heard the noise and came in, helped her draw the curtains, and said with a smile: "The fourth master was called away by the master before dawn today, saying that he was going to the countryside to see the farmland. The fourth master asked us not to wake you up, and said that we would help you wash and change clothes when you get up..."
Zhou Shaojin blushed when she thought of what happened last night. She rolled around in the quilt for a few times before sitting up. Chunwan and the others helped her get dressed.
Li's maid came over and invited her to have breakfast, saying, "Madam has been waiting for the second young lady!"
They are going back to the capital tomorrow. I'm afraid Madam has something to tell her
Zhou Shaojin pondered over it, and asked Chunwan to help her tie her hair into a bun casually. She found a red coral pearl flower in her dressing table and put it on before going to Li's place.
Li really had something to say to her: "… Your uncle Li sent a batch of wine to the palace. Within two days, the inner court settled the bill and ordered four batches of wine at once. Your uncle Li said that even doing business with the government office was not so smooth. Most of the time, it was because of the face of the second uncle. But human feelings are human feelings, and business is business. If people give us face and we don’t even say thank you, over time, the human feelings will fade. Your uncle Li meant that the New Year is coming soon, and the people on duty in the inner court must go to pay New Year’s greetings to others. It’s easy to say for the wine, vinegar and noodle bureau, he will come forward. But I’m afraid that the people above will have to ask you to worry about it." As she said, she took out a small box, "There are 20,000 taels of silver in it, please help give it to the second uncle. If it’s not enough, please help to fill it up first, and then make up for it when your uncle Li comes to Beijing."
Twenty thousand taels
For Cheng Chi
Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes wide and said, "I can't accept this money. You should take it back! It's not reasonable to ask for money when relatives help each other. Uncle Li can continue to do business with the wine, vinegar and noodle bureau because Uncle Li's wine is good. The fourth master is just pulling a string."
Li thought she didn't understand and said, "Silly child, just take it if I give it to you. There are so many good wines in the world, how come only your uncle Li's wine can be sent to the palace? Besides, even if we didn't have this money, the second uncle would still go out with those people. With this money, the second uncle can be more generous. It's a win-win situation. Why can't you understand it? I think you should discuss this matter with the second uncle!"
Does it mean that with this money, they can save the expense of giving gifts to those people in the inner court
"There's no need to discuss this with him!" Zhou Shaojin insisted, "The Fourth Master will definitely not want it."
Originally it was a favor between relatives, and once they received the money, they couldn't let it go. She believed that Cheng Chi would not be willing to run around for the Li family's affairs just for this little money.
She was unwilling to accept it anyway.
Li had no choice but to give up for the time being, thinking that it would not be too late to give the money to Cheng Chi another opportunity.
A little maid ran in breathlessly, saying, "Madam, Second Aunt, Elder Song from the capital has sent someone to look for Second Uncle, saying it's a very important matter, and asked us to find Second Uncle as soon as possible!"
Zhou Shaojin and Li looked at each other.
Li hurriedly said, "Quick, please ask the master's lawyer to come in to entertain the people sent by Lord Song, and ask the people in the yamen to go and invite the second uncle back." She also ordered her personal maid to serve in the flower hall where guests were received.
There are so many counties and villages under the jurisdiction of Baoding Prefecture, and the people in the inner house don’t know where they have gone!
The little maid went to the front yamen in a panic.
"What do Lord Song's people want from my second uncle?" Li murmured.
Zhou Shaojin nervously squeezed the handkerchief in his hand.
Cheng Chi accompanied her back home, and Song Ge Lao knew about it. What urgent matter was there that required someone to come to Baoding Prefecture
Did something happen in Jining Prefecture
But even if that was the case, it should have been Cheng Jing who sent someone to find Cheng Chi. How could it be Lord Song who sent someone to find him
Zhou Shaojin and Li were waiting there anxiously for news.
After a while, Li's personal maid came back and said, "No matter how the master tried to find out, the person sent by Song Ge Lao refused to speak. He only said that he wanted to see the second uncle. You will understand when you see the second uncle."
Li asked hurriedly, "Did the person sent to look for the second uncle get any news?"
The girl shook her head and said, "It is said that the Tongzhi personally took people to look for him..."
Maybe it’s because the person who came to find Cheng Chi was sent by Lord Song
Zhou Shaojin was thinking about it when a servant ran in and said happily, "Madam, Madam, the master and the second uncle are back!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Li hurriedly told the maid: "Go to the flower hall and serve tea!"
The implication was to let the maid go and find out what Lord Song wanted to see Cheng Chi about.
The maid walked towards the flower hall in three steps.
Zhou Shaojin and Li sat there anxiously waiting again.
Soon, the maid ran in and said, "Mr. Song's people borrowed the master's study to talk to the second uncle. Even the master is waiting outside the study."
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but exchange a look of horror with Li. Zhou Shaojin couldn't sit still any longer, so he stood up and walked out: "I have to go take a look!"
Li and the maid hurried to follow.
The group went to the study.
Zhou Zhen's long-time attendant Li Changgui was guarding the door. He was shocked to see Zhou Shaojin and others. Just as he was about to report to Zhou Zhen, the door of the study creaked open.
Several people couldn't help but look towards the study door.
Then I saw a tall man and Cheng Chi walking out one after another.
The expressions of both men were very solemn. The tall man even bowed to Cheng Chi and said, "Brother Zichuan, I will go and give Elder Song a reply as you said."
Cheng Chi nodded and said nothing.
The man respectfully saluted Zhou Zhen and his advisor who were waiting outside the door, and said, "I have to rush back overnight, so I won't disturb you, Master Zhou. Please forgive me for my impoliteness. I will treat you to a drink another day when you return to Beijing to report on your work."
Zhou Zhen bowed to the man and said with a smile, "Thank you very much! Since Mr. Tian is busy, I won't force you to stay. Come to Baoding when you are free. Although Baoding is not as good as the capital, it does have some interesting places to visit."
“Where, where!”
The two of them exchanged some pleasantries, and Cheng Chi saw Mr. Tian off.
Zhou Shaojin and Li hurriedly hid behind a big tree nearby and waited until Mr. Tian left before coming out from behind the tree.
Cheng Chi heard the noise, turned around and saw Zhou Shaojin.
His originally stern face immediately softened a bit, and there was a smile in his eyes. He said, "Why are you here? Did you hear that Lord Song sent someone to look for me?"
Zhou Shaojin nodded.
But before she could open her mouth to speak, he said, "It's not a big deal. There was a fight between river workers, which caused a fight between two villages. Although no one died, the river bank could not be repaired. An old man who had retired to his home reported Lord Yang to the Dali Temple. The emperor was furious and sent the censor to investigate. Lord Song asked me to leave immediately and return to Jining. I'm afraid the censor will call everyone to question him when he arrives."
Although Cheng Chi had asked for leave, he was still working at the River Governor's Office. He was also responsible for what happened.
Zhou Shaojin became anxious after hearing this and said, "Then you should go back to Jining! I can go back to the capital by myself. Wasn't it Qin Yang who escorted me to Baoding last time? This time he will definitely be able to send me back to the capital safely and smoothly!"
When she returned home, she found out that Qin Yang, who escorted her from Jinling to Baoding, was actually Cheng Chi's man. After Cheng Chi opened a mansion in Chaoyangmen, Qin Yang became the head of the security guards in the Chaoyangmen mansion.
Cheng Chi hesitated for a moment, then made a decisive decision and said, "Okay! Then let Qin Yang accompany you back. I will leave for Jining now."
Zhou Zhen looked at his daughter, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
Cheng Chi turned around, turned his back to Zhou Shaojin and winked at Zhou Zhen, then said to Zhou Shaojin, who was paying full attention to him and didn't notice Zhou Zhen's abnormality at all: "Shaojin, go back and pack some clothes for me. I'll leave after lunch."
It was only 15 minutes before lunch, and I had to pack Cheng Chi's luggage...
Zhou Shaojin said "Oh" and hurried back to the house.
Zhou Zhen lowered his voice and asked, "What happened?"
Cheng Chi looked around and saw that Li Changgui and the advisor were both far away. He then whispered, "Yang Shoushan forcibly conscripted civilians and withheld their food and lodging. A few days ago, there was a heavy snowfall, and people froze to death. This caused a civil uprising and the death of a Tongzhi. The court doesn't know about it yet. Lord Song wants to suppress this matter for a few days, so he asked me to go over quickly and find a way to quell the people's grievances. When the news reaches the court, I can give an explanation to the emperor."
Zhou Zhen took a deep breath and said, "A Tongzhi died?"
Tongzhi is a fifth-rank official and is considered a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel.
Now that the person is gone, I'm afraid it will cause an uproar.
Cheng Chi said "hmm".
Zhou Zhen asked worriedly, "Can you go?"
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I used to help take care of household affairs and I was dealing with these messy things all day long."
Zhou Zhen realized it later.
Since Lord Song specially sent someone to invite Cheng Chi to Jining Prefecture to handle this matter, he must have thought that Cheng Chi could do it, but he was the one who neglected it.
"I want to borrow your study room for a while." Cheng Chi said, "I accompanied Shao Jin back home, but let Shao Jin go back alone. I am afraid that someone with ulterior motives will think she is being treated with disrespect. I want to write a letter to my mother and ask her and my eldest sister-in-law to go pick up Shao Jin and take her home. I would also like to trouble you to borrow the post office to deliver the letter to my mother before Shao Jin arrives in the capital."
The son-in-law is very thoughtful.
Zhou Zhen was very pleased and personally accompanied Cheng Chi to the study.
Cheng Chi wrote the letter and immediately returned to the guest room.
Originally planning to go back tomorrow, and had almost packed everything, Zhou Shaojin didn't spend much effort to pack up all of Cheng Chi's things.
Cheng Chi sent the servants away and held Zhou Shaojin in his arms, saying guiltily: "Shaojin, I didn't expect something to happen in Jining Prefecture..."
Zhou Shaojin didn't want Cheng Chi to apologize to her because of these things.
Before he could finish his words, she smiled and said, "You are going to take up your post, not to have fun. Just be careful along the way. If the court wants to punish you, it's no big deal. At worst, we can just quit being officials."
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Hey guys, today's update!
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: It rained heavily here and everything was flooded... Fortunately I live on the fifth floor... I heard that the first floor was flooded...
※(To be continued)