Just when the prince was deep in thought, Pan'er was also thinking about a question, whether she should say a few more words. She knew that the prince would come to Yangzhou on private tour in micro-service, and there must be a purpose.
for what purpose
Apart from salt, there is probably nothing in Yangzhou worthy of a crown prince's concern.
Pan'er didn't know when Emperor Jianping in his previous life had the intention to rectify the salt affairs, but she knew that it was only after he was over fifty that he found the right time to start. However, she could see the leopard in the pipe, but the matter involved her eldest son Wei Wang Zongyue.
It was through the reform of the salt administration that the King of Wei got to know the future Princess Wei, her daughter-in-law Fang Fengsheng, and even the downfall of the prince born by Empress Chen was also due to this incident. Although King Wei was not deeply involved in this matter, she knew in her heart that a single hair would affect the whole body.
If she intervenes at this time and attracts the prince's attention to the Lianghuai salt administration in advance, will it change the future situation
At that time, will her son, daughter-in-law, and even her two lovely grandchildren appear? Can the prince born by Empress Chen still fall, and can her son still sit on the throne of the emperor
All this involves too much, at least Pan'er can't make a decision at the moment.
But precisely at this time, a gray-faced young man came out from the corner not far away. He was wearing a stone-blue cotton robe, but it was worn crookedly on his body, as if he had been pulled by someone. He limped and walked out, spitting and cursing in a certain direction while turning his head.
One inadvertently raised his head, he saw this direction, subconsciously froze for a moment, and shouted something, but the other party didn't hear it, and soon the figure disappeared in the crowd.
Pan'er looked back.
The prince asked: "What's the matter?"
Pan'er shook his head and said, "Let's go."
She seemed to hear someone calling her just now, but who could recognize her dressed like this. Of course, it's not that no one recognizes them, but the few people who recognize them are all in the north of the city, and they don't usually come to such places.
Because the house is not far from here, the two walked back all the way.
Jiang Yi followed behind with a few burly men, looking at Zhang Laishun who was panting from exhaustion with his back on his back, the crown prince dressed as a down-and-out scholar walking in front, and Su Fengyi dressed as a young daughter-in-law in the market, his expression was strange. Only in my life.
However, the fright he received today was the only one in his life.
Back at the house, Pan Er excitedly asked someone to carry the box of things she bought to the kitchen.
Aunt Qing's cooking skills are not bad, she can cook a few dishes, but she is most proficient in southern cuisine. She rummaged through the basket, and she had already decided what to cook for lunch. Anyway, Pan'er and the prince would eat together. When they were away from home, everything would be kept simple. Four dishes and one soup would be enough.
She, Cattail Qingdai and Zhang Laishun will eat the rest. As for the others, it's none of her business.
Pan'er said to make haggis soup. Haggis is delicious but not easy to wash. Aunt Qing and Pan'er have never washed it. In the end, Cattail brought the haggis to the well to wash. Qingdai laid the hands for her and heated it Water or something, while Pan Er ran to toss the clay pot she bought.
People in Yangzhou have the habit of drinking haggis soup in winter. A thick bowl of haggis soup is sprinkled with chopped coriander on top. It tastes good and relieves the cold. Usually, it is stewed in clay pots when the fire is on, so I bought the dish specially. clay pots.
There are not only clay pots, but also a few coarse pottery bowls, large and small, which are good for holding vegetables and soups. Aunt Qing looked at it and laughed at her for looking for such wild fun.
But life is so long, what's the point if you don't have some fun for yourself.
Because of this pot of haggis soup, and several clay pots and bowls, the dishes have been tossed all morning, and the rough pottery should be oiled and soaked before being used. Cattails told her about this method. Ordinary farmers must be reluctant to do this, but whoever calls the pan is just playing with it.
Lunch is ready, it's all ordinary home-cooked food.
One piece of Dongpo pork, one sliced meat fried with bamboo shoots, one piece of stewed tofu with green vegetables, one piece of stewed radish with mutton, and one piece of steamed sea bass. There is a large bowl of thick white thick white in the middle, with some mutton soup with chopped coriander on it.
The prince stared at the rough pottery on the table for a moment, and then remembered that Pan'er had bought it from the menu. He thought she bought it as a gift, but he didn't expect to use it.
"I made this soup, please drink two more bowls." Pan'er pointed to the haggis soup, and saw him staring at the vegetable and rice bowls, "These bowls are good for serving rice and vegetables." Yes, don't look ugly, it's actually clean, I washed it all morning."
"I don't think it's ugly, it just looks a little weird."
It is indeed strange that all the utensils used in the palace are perfect, the best batch from the official kiln is sent to the palace first, the prince has never used this kind of rough pottery bowl that is not even glazed. To the touch is not warm from the tentacles, nor is it delicate and soft, but astringent.
Thinking that ordinary people use this kind of utensils, the prince does not reject it. Just now he came back and reflected on it. What he lacks now is his understanding of the lower class people. Because standing too high and seeing too wide and too big, naturally ignore the most basic place under your feet.
The prince picked up the bowl and took the lead in drinking a bowl of haggis soup made by Pan'er.
After a taste, the taste turned out to be good.
There is almost no extra seasoning, and naturally it is not like a soup in the palace where some medicinal materials are thrown into it, so that it tastes like medicine in the mouth.
It is a very pure mutton soup flavor, but the smell of mutton has been removed, and some pepper has been added, which is very delicious.
"Do you think it's very fresh? Remember the two small fish I bought by the way? They were all thrown into the stew together. Who said that one fish and one sheep are fresh together."
The prince was amused by her, and said: "You sit down and eat too."
This meal, the two of them ate extraordinarily well.
The prince probably did it because of his mentality, while Pan'er was all obsessed with his good craftsmanship.
When Su Hai came home, the girl Xiaohong was carrying dishes and putting them on the table.
On a table of eight immortals, at the main seats are the male master of the Su family Su Datian, the female master Yao Jinzhi, the eldest son Su Jiang, the eldest daughter-in-law Miao Cuixiang, and two grandsons Mao Dan and Tie Dan.
Su Hai hasn't gotten married yet, the marriage has already been discussed and the dowry has passed, but unexpectedly something happened to the Su family, Su Hai's father-in-law canceled the marriage.
Yao Jinzhi scolded his second son bloody, Su Jiang and Miao Cuixiang were also full of resentment, but so what if things have already happened, we can't just watch Su Hai get his legs broken. But the Su family relied on selling their daughter's money, and it didn't take long after they got it.
At the beginning, Yao Jinzhi got this money from his cousin Zhao Wu's family after a lot of effort. For this reason, she did not hesitate to fight with Zhao Wu's daughter-in-law Song for several days.
Mrs. Song saw that this woman was not easy to deal with, and the family's business came to her frequently recently, and she didn't want her to disturb the trouble, so she divided half of the money with her. During this period, Mrs. Song was so embarrassed that she didn't fall asleep for several days and nights. She felt that Su Pan'er had been raised for so many years for nothing, so she didn't go into details.
Once the Su family has money, it can be said that it will undergo a major change.
It took a lot to buy a house, buy girls and women, and buy clothes and jewelry for the men and women in the family. Originally, Yao Jinzhi planned to find someone he knew acquaintance with the rest of the money, save it in the bank for bonuses, or start some small business, so that he could live a family life, but Su Hai owed a lot in the gambling house. All the debts were paid to others.
Su Hai already has a habit of gambling, that's why he is too old to marry a wife. But in the past, my family was poor, so I gambled with only a few pennies, and I didn’t dare to go to the gambling house, so I just got together with a few acquaintances to play a few games. After two days, the next day he lost all his capital and interest, and borrowed five hundred taels of usury.
Now that the Su family lost money, they just changed their person back, not to mention that the money in hand was gone, Yao Jinzhi even sold all the gold jewelry he bought for himself and his daughter-in-law in order to make up enough. Naturally, the servants couldn't afford to support them, so they sold them all. Now there is only an old woman who cooks and cooks, and a little girl who hasn't kept her head. It seems that she will have to sell them after the next year.
So Yao Jinzhi felt angry when his second son came back from the outside, thinking that the second son must have gone to the gambling house again.
So before Su Hai got his job, he was scolded by his old lady.
The scolding made him very irritable, and the two little nephews were so frightened that they cried again. He dropped his chopsticks and said angrily, "I didn't go to the gambling house, I didn't go, where can I find money!"
Su Hai was annoyed, Yao Jinzhi was quiet, picked up the bowl and ate as if nothing happened.
Seeing her like this, don't mention Su Hai's aggrieved spirit, but he has never been his wife's opponent since he was a child.
"Mom, I seem to have seen Pan'er at Dongshikou today."
"Pan'er?" Yao Jinzhi's reaction in the next moment was not to ask his daughter, but—"Why did you go to the east of the city? How dare you say you didn't go to the gambling house?"
"I really didn't go. It was Dazhi who asked me to deliver something for him. I passed by there. Hey, mother, didn't you say that Pan'er was sold to a noble lord, why is she still in Yangzhou?"
Speaking of the sold daughter, Yao Jinzhi felt a little uncomfortable, and shouted: "Can't the nobleman be from Yangzhou? Besides, the sale has already been sold, why do you mention her?"
"I don't know if I've admitted my mistake. I think she doesn't look like she's married to a nobleman, but rather like a poor man. She's with a man next to him. He looks good, but he doesn't dress as well as me. Pretty poor."
After hearing this, several members of the Su family looked at each other in blank dismay. Su Datian was still sipping his own small wine, looking very intoxicated.
"Drink, drink, drink, you know how to drink, you can't live without drinking your yellow soup for a day, right?!" Yao Jinzhi was already agitated in his heart, and when he caught a glimpse of Su Datian from the corner of his eye, he exploded.
"You say what you say, it's none of my business, what's the matter if you don't let me drink a drink?" Su Datian couldn't afford to be provoked, and avoided it with a plate of peanuts and a wine bottle.
After all this fuss, the topic just now ended without a problem, and Su Hai also saw that his mother didn't want to bring it up, so he didn't bring it up anymore, but he felt a little pity.
"You said how good it was for you to keep me as my daughter-in-law, but you insisted on selling her."
Yao Jinzhi just sat down on his front foot when he jumped up from the chair on his back foot.
"You little bastard, I haven't found anything about you yet, but you're talking about my mother. At the beginning, I spent all the money by myself. Didn't it all be wiped out by your prodigal bastard? Now it's left over." Such a house is completely lost, let me tell you, after the new year, go back to the pier to carry the goods, and then go to the gambling house, I will break your leg!"
The meal was a mess, and after returning to the room, Miao Cuixiang told Su Jiang that it would be great if the family could be separated, and I will live with your mother like this, and my life will be shortened by ten years.
Su Jiang didn't want to listen to this kind of words. Although he was also annoying his mother, but as a child, one must be filial. Parents don't separate families. Besides, the second child is a bit messy. After all, he is his own brother.
"You married into my house, and you know what my house is like. Although the money has been lost by the second child, there is still this house after all. Could it be that this house can't accommodate you?"
Miao Cuixiang fell silent immediately.
After sitting on her own for a while, she leaned over to Su Jiang's side: "You said what the second child said is true or not. Could it be that the younger sister has followed the noble master and is not likable, and he sold her again?"
Su Jiang's face turned dark all of a sudden: "Don't talk nonsense here, if you don't want to be scolded by your mother, don't mention this matter."
"What's wrong with me?" She asked a little aggrieved.
But seeing the man's unwillingness to talk to her, Miao Cuixiang didn't dare to say any more.
On the other end, Su Hai lit Yao Jinzhi's firecracker, but it failed.
It was almost the end of the year, and Yao Jinzhi personally escorted him to the pier, and asked him to follow the laborers on the pier to help people load and unload goods.
Su Hai used to do this kind of work, but he spent three days fishing and two days drying nets.
Most of the people at the dock know what happened to the Su family in the past six months. They made a fortune, but Su Hai, who made a fortune, is now back to the dock to carry goods. There were not a few people who secretly laughed at him. A laborer named Dawang who asked Su Hai to go to the gambling house at the beginning came to ask him if he would go to the gambling shop at night when he saw Su Hai.
"Go to your mother, I don't have any money to go to a gambling house?"
Dawang gave him an ambiguous look: "I don't have any money to borrow, I'll give you a guarantee..."
"Go away, as far as you can!" Su Hai cursed, kicked him again, and Dawang walked away in despair.
A dark and tall young man came over, frowned and said to Su Hai: "Haizi, you should avoid dealing with Dawang, and you won't have a long memory after suffering such a big loss?"
When Su Hai thought about what happened before, he wanted to vomit blood, but no one complained, no one told him that he couldn't control his hand. But the second time he will not go again, even if he goes, he will not be with Dawang.
"Dazhi, you don't need to tell me about this, I know."
The young man named Dazhi nodded and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't think too much, keep your feet on the ground, work hard, and you will never be short of food."
But Su Hai couldn't be reconciled when he thought of the money he had lost, and he didn't want to talk about it with Dazhi. The two families used to be neighbors, so who knows if his mother would be overwhelmed and come to Dazhi to ask, so Su Hai usually doesn't tell Dazhi about his affairs in detail.
I can't help but think of what happened yesterday.
"By the way, I seemed to see Pan'er at Dongshikou yesterday..."
"Paner?" Dazhi was stunned.
Su Hai nodded: "I don't know if I have admitted the wrong person, but I should not have admitted the mistake, but this girl's appearance has changed a lot compared to before. It is strange to say, I heard from my mother that the plate was bought by a rich man I went, but I saw that she was not well dressed, and there was a man next to her, who was not as well dressed as me, and I don't know... "
He rambled on a lot, but Dazhi didn't listen to a single word.