Although it is the middle of the night, the mansion in the tea garden in the east of the city is brightly lit and crowded.

It is the season when the new tea is on the market, and it is also the busiest time of the year for the mansion.

The main hall is as white as day.

Eight red wax flames shone brightly, and they were covered with lampshades made of almost transparent white tulle, making the light bright and soft. All the wooden furnishings in the hall are made of fine mahogany, carved with the most exquisite patterns.

In front of the mahogany round table in the center of the hall, Lu Xiuying, who was wearing a silk white skirt and a long skirt with flowers on a bright red background, was looking at the accounts intently.

"Mother, take a break. Shen Mingyan, who was wearing a long skirt of the same color as a snow-green skirt, came to the round table with a cup of fragrant tea.

Lu Xiuying turned a deaf ear and continued to look down at the ledger.

"Mother!" Shen Mingyan's voice was extremely soft: "These days, you stay up late every night, how can you go on like this." Even if you are not afraid of hard work, Uncle Lu is all old, and every night."

"Enough!" Lu Xiuying didn't look up, and her words were a little more annoyed.

"My daughter understands that you are waiting for Daddy, but"

"It's good that my sister understands!" With a shrill voice, Shen Mingyu, who was dressed in a pink skirt and a long dress full of flowers and red, strode into the hall with the ledger in her hand: "You better take your sister to rest early, it's good to have me and my mother here." ”

"Sister" has never had the upper hand in the face of this second sister Shen Mingyan, who is the same size as herself and has a pungent personality.

"Okay!" Lu Xiuying gently patted the account and raised her head, her thin hanging eyebrows frowned slightly, and Danfeng's eyes narrowed slightly. Because of the thick powder, I don't look closely, and the fine lines at the corners of my eyes are almost imperceptible. The two extremely thin lips with big red lipstick lightly opened: "Yan'er, you go and accompany your sister-in-law, she is still young, and her mother is busy during this time, so you, the eldest sister, will have to worry more." ”

Shen Mingyan gently put down the teacup and sighed slightly, "Okay!" After speaking, she turned around and left.

Looking at the back of her eldest daughter leaving, Lu Xiuying shook her head helplessly, Shen Mingyan not only looked like her father Shen Xianling, but also had the same gentle temperament.

As the eldest daughter of the Lu family, marrying into the Shen family, who is also a tea merchant, is not a high climb, although the Lu family's industry is far inferior to the Shen family, Lu Xiuying has been exposed to it since she was a child, and she took care of the entire Shen family as soon as she passed the door. Not only is the management of the inner house well organized, but also the large and small industries in the western capital are also well managed. Only then did Shen Xianling have the time and energy to travel around and go through business, making the Shen family's industry spread throughout the entire Wuyue Kingdom in just over ten years.

Lu Xiuying is a strong and face-saving woman, she thinks that as long as she takes care of everything, her husband will naturally love her. She also knew that three wives and four concubines were common, not to mention that the Shen family was a wealthy family, and she had never been strict with her husband in this regard. As long as she takes care of her family and industry, no matter how many women Shen Xianling has, she can't shake her position as the head mother of the Shen family. What's more, she has two sons and three daughters, and the eldest son is the ironclad heir to the estate, so she doesn't have any worries.

She is still very satisfied with her husband, he is gentle and polite, and the husband and wife are respectful to each other at the beginning. In addition, Shen Xianling never messes with flowers and grass, it can be said that except for the Qin family, her husband is only one woman. That alone is enough to make her proud.

Although Shen Xianling said that he loved both sides, it was just that the Qin family was too beautiful, and Shen Ming's concubine was more and more like a flower and jade, attracting pity

Thinking of this, Lu Xiuying couldn't help but look up at the one-person-tall bronze mirror not far away, could it be that she was really old?

"Mother!" Shen Mingyu slowly stood behind her mother, and obediently pinched her mother's shoulders: "Mother, you have suffered these days, if your father knows about it, I will feel sorry for you." It's all because you're too capable, and Daddy still has time to do his business when he's busy. ”

Lu Xiuying knows very well in her heart, although it is a busy season, she is not busy day and night. I just want to say to myself gently when my husband comes home, and I owe you to the family. It's worth the extra effort that way. It's just that this time I've been busy for so long, and my husband hasn't come back once.

"You still know your mother. Lu Xiuying grabbed her daughter's hand, looked at the mirror and smiled: "You look exactly the same as your mother when you were young, I just hope that you can marry a good family in the future, someone really loves you, at least don't work as hard as your mother." ”

"Mother!" Shen Mingyu hugged her mother's neck and said coquettishly: "It's good that Yu'er only accompanies her mother for the rest of her life, and the mother of the province is bullied." As he spoke, his eyes in the mirror became sharper and sharper: "It's not that Yu'er said that Daddy is not, there is such a lady as his mother at home, and he still has an outside heart." In addition to being good-looking, what is the Qin family worthy of his mother. ”

Lu Xiuying frowned slightly and said, "Is there any news about your father today?"

"I left there at noon, and I didn't go back at night, and my eldest brother was sending someone to inquire. ”

"Oh"

"Then Qin's daughter's illness turned out to be cured!" Shen Mingyu said with annoyance.

"Call the third sister!" Lu Xiuying raised her hand and slapped her daughter's hand: "Especially in front of your father." ”

"Yu'er knows. Shen Mingyu retracted her hand, turned around and sat next to her mother, stared at the bright Danfeng eyes, and said: "Mother, didn't you say that Qin's daughter came to our house when she was more than three years old? I don't know if it's my father's daughter! ”

"You can say this nonsense!" Lu Xiuying pretended to be annoyed and glanced at her daughter: "You, if you talk about everything, you will suffer a big loss sooner or later." ”

"You're just curious!" Shen Mingyu paused and said: "And unwilling! My mother often teaches her daughter that it doesn't work for a woman to be virtuous if she is not talented, and the first thing for a woman is to be talented. ”

"Okay!" Lu Xiuying's brows furrowed even deeper, and the faint wrinkles on her forehead covered by the incense powder also highlighted: "No matter how well your father treats her, the mother of the Shen family can only be her mother, and they have no share in the Shen family's family business, and the vase is a vase, just a man's plaything for a while." ”

Seeing that her mother was a little annoyed, Shen Mingyu hurriedly coquettishly said: "What my mother said is that my mother is just feeling unfair for my mother for a while. ”

"Mother!" With a calm shout, Shen Pengtao, who was dressed in a black robe, strode into the hall. Shen Pengtao is the same as his father in terms of body shape and appearance, although his steps are hurried, his words come slowly: "Mother, my father has been invited into the palace." ”

"What?" Lu Xiuying's eyes widened in surprise: "Why did you enter the palace?"

Merchants have never been involved in any political affairs, even if Shen Xianling befriended powerful people, most of the people he knew were noble sons who boasted of being high and idle, as for why they wanted to enter the palace, Lu Xiuying really couldn't imagine it. Could it be that there is a problem with the accounts that I have handled over the years? I have paid some of the taxes less, but others will not know about it, and even if I do, it is not a very evil thing, let alone entering the palace

"Don't worry about my mother!" Shen Pengtao slowly sat on the other side of his mother's mother, and his voice was pleasant: "Listening to the finch tongue next to my father, my father was invited by Hu Erye in the afternoon, and he entered the palace together in the evening, and he hasn't come back yet." ”

Shen Mingyu preemptively said: "Which Second Master Hu can enter the palace? Is it Second Master Hu of Shang's father's family?"

Shen Pengtao nodded slightly at his sister: "Exactly!"

Shen Mingyu couldn't hide her joy and said, "Daddy can really get to know him?"

If you talk about the surname in Wuyue Kingdom, in addition to the royal family surname Qian, the most noble is the Hu family. Shang's father, Hu Gong, has been standing since the founding monarch of the country, King Qian Wusu, and the monarch of the Five Dynasties. In recent years, he has been worshiped as his father by the newly established monarch, and his power is tilted towards the government and the opposition.

Shen Mingyu's joy Lu Xiuying saw it in her eyes and said lightly: "Your father won't come back tonight." ”

Shen Pengtao smiled and said, "Mother, let's rest early, there will be news early tomorrow morning." ”

Lu Xiuying sighed slowly: "Tell the outside to call it a day." ”