In the summer and spring, the master and servant boarded the car and returned home, passing by a garment workshop. Xia Chunchao remembered that he had to explain something else about tailoring, so he ordered to stop.

Pearls helped her get out of the car, and the two walked into the store. The young man who guarded the door in the store often walked around with Tailor Ding to the door of the Lu family, so he knew it. As soon as she saw her master and servant coming in, she hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile on her face: "Hello grandma, what do you have to do if you come here today?" As soon as he spoke, he raised his voice inward: "Master, the young grandmother of the Lu family is here!" ”

The tailor was busy with his work, and when he heard the call of the little apprentice, he hurriedly took three steps and made two steps out, and said with a smile: "How can grandma have time to go to the shop today?" He scolded the apprentice again: "When you see your grandmother coming in, why don't you let your grandmother sit?" There is no eye for it! After that, he hurriedly asked Xia Chunchao to sit down, and called out to the apprentice to stew tea and take the fruit plate.

Xia Chunchao said with a smile: "Master Ding doesn't have to be busy, I will leave as soon as I say a word, there are still things at home, and we can't delay." Tailor Ding stopped at this time, and asked with a smile: "Grandma came for those previous clothes?" Although it is not yet sewn, the material has already been cut. If grandma wants to take it back, I'm afraid it's too late. Xia Chunchao smiled, and before he could speak, Zhu'er on the side said, "Master Ding, look at what you said." You have been walking around our house for the past few years, and you have earned two or three hundred taels of silver, what kind of temperament and character does our grandmother have, don't you know? When did you cut clothes, there were some scraps of silk left, don't you say it, grandma has talked about you? Now that he is saying this again, it makes people angry. ”

Tailor Ding smiled and said, "The girl scolded me for saying something like that because I was dizzy from work." Grandma has a lot, don't be like me. Xia Chunchao smiled and said nothing, watching Zhu'er refute him a few words, before he spoke: "Master Ding misunderstood, I came here today just to talk to you." Leave the clothes next to you for the time being, and drive out the clothes of our young master first. When Tailor Ding heard this, his face was embarrassed, and he hesitated and said: "I'm not afraid of grandma's surprise, according to the past practice, grandma's clothes were the first to be made, and the materials were cut out, and they were already sewn by hand." At this time, I stopped changing the young master's clothes, for fear that I would delay my efforts. ”

Xia Chunchao smiled lightly and said, "Master Ding, we have been dealing with each other for many years. I know what your rules are. You don't have to fight this ring with me, you take three apprentices, and one of them sews a garment. Now I just ask you to drop what you have and bring our young master's clothes to the front, what are you delaying? Before he finished speaking, he looked at Tailor Ding's face turned blue, and then said with a smile: "I know that now is the change of season, you have a lot of work in your hands, and your life is busy." Since we are old acquaintances, there is naturally no reason not to take care of you. I want these clothes urgently, you can bring a few more people to make them, and I will pay you double the wages. ”

Then the tailor smiled and said respectfully; "Grandma, this is the outside, since grandma has orders, then we will naturally follow it." Then he asked, "When does Grandma want it?" ”

Xia Chunchao explained the time of delivery, and when he saw that there was nothing to do, he got up to go. The tailor sent the two of them to the door, and Zhu'er suddenly pointed ahead and said, "Grandma, look, isn't that Mrs. Aunt?" ”

Xia Chun looked at her fingers, and sure enough, she saw a round-faced woman, wearing a half-new and not old lake-green trimmed armor, a duck-yellow cotton skirt under her head, a bone hairpin on her head, her eyes were dull, her face was sallow, and her steps were tired, coming here. It was Lu Chengyong's aunt Zhang. Xia Chunchaoping saw that she was just shrewd and spicy, full of planning, and when he saw her such a haggard state, he was slightly surprised, and secretly wondered: But how did she get such a situation after one night's work!

At this moment, the tailor suddenly said: "It turns out that grandma recognizes her, and her daughter suddenly fell ill last night, and in the middle of the night, she invited the doctor of this wall longevity hall to come over for treatment." I guess I came here to grab medicine today. Xia Chunchao was suspicious in his heart, and pondered: Her family used to use a broken old woman, why did she come here in person today?

Speaking kung fu, Aunt Zhang had already arrived at the front of the stairs, and the two sides looked at each other.

When Aunt Zhang saw Xia Chunchao, she couldn't help but lose her voice and said, "Ah, it's you!" Then he gritted his teeth and said, "What are you doing in this medicine shop, don't you think you have harmed my daughter enough?!" Do you want to buy a pharmacy and poison my daughter?! I can't see that you are a woman, at such a young age, but your heart is so vicious! Xia Chunchao looked at her coldly and didn't say a word. Zhu'er reprimanded: "You clumsy woman, what nonsense! When did your girl get sick, and how did our grandmother know which doctor she invited?! How could you come to buy a pharmacy and poison your daughter?! With red lips and white teeth, you have to buckle the shit basin on our grandmother's head, how can it be so light! Our grandmother is a three-grade lady who was decreed by the imperial court, you are so casually slandered, there is no king's law, are you not afraid of the government punishing you? ! ”

Xia Chunchao didn't want to pay attention to this crazy woman, so he said: "Zhu'er, why bother to meet with such people, let's go." Zhu'er answered, and hurriedly hugged her to get into the car.

Who knew that Aunt Zhang rolled her eyes, rushed forward, grabbed the horse's head, and cried and scolded: "You are not allowed to go!" You have bullied others and cost half of my daughter's life, but you will leave it alone! Is there any justice in this world? She cried and scolded, knelt on the ground, and said to the audience: "List and comment on this reason!" The young master of their family became a big official and served wine and entertained guests. My daughter, an innocent girl, went to his house for a banquet, and was taken to her room by this wicked woman for a long time, and when she came out again, she was disheveled and could not stop crying. My man reasoned with them, but he was thrown out of the door. We couldn't afford to provoke this general's mansion, so we had to take our daughter home. When I got home, my daughter had a high fever, and if we hadn't called for a doctor in time, she would have lost her life! After such a thing, they didn't even have a fart at home! I went out to get medicine today, and I met this poisonous woman again in the drugstore. How can there be such a coincidence? Isn't it just that their family wants my daughter to die?! ”

Aunt Zhang reversed black and white and made a fuss, and when others heard her words, they also looked at Xia Chunchao and poked their fingers, and couldn't stop talking.

Xia Chunchao saw that the situation was not right, so he didn't hurry to board the car, and sneered at Aunt Zhang: "Since you are going to lose this face, I will talk to you about it." Your daughter is eating and drinking in my house, but she colludes with foreign thieves to steal my house's goods. My young master is kind-hearted, and he didn't send you to the government, but only drove you away from the door, which is already gracious. But you do not want to repay, but here you turn right and wrong upside down, and rely on me for being ruthless. In this world, how can there be such a reason?! After that, she didn't say much, and only glanced at Zhu'er.

Zhu'er understood, stepped forward, and suddenly raised her hand and slapped Aunt Zhang twice in the face. She used so much force that she staggered Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang's cheeks were red and swollen, the corners of her mouth were oozing blood, staring at her master and servant, her face was hideous, and she shouted loudly to the surroundings: "Look at the ranks, this official lady is so arrogant, and she will make the slave bully me as a good woman on the street!" ”

Zhu'er smiled and said, "Mrs. Auntie, don't rush to sue first. The people standing on this street are ordinary people, and there is no Qingtian master who can make decisions for you. The case committed by the cousin in our house has not yet been resolved, and when our young master files a complaint to the yamen, he will go to court at that time, and you can kowtow and shout injustices no matter how you old man, so it is better to save some effort at this moment. As he spoke, he told aloud all the things Zhang Xueyan had done in the Lu family, and said: "That day, people were stolen and stolen, and the evidence was ironclad, our grandmother took care of the girl's reputation, and she never took you seriously, so she let you go." You don't want to repent, but you bite it, and you are not as good as beasts! If you are talking about reasoning, then ask everyone on the street to comment on it, and see how your daughter is dissolute and lewd! ”

The words made Aunt Zhang's cheeks hot with shame, her whole body trembled, and cold sweat trickled down from the corners of her forehead. At that time, there were a few good things in the crowd, and yesterday I had seen the excitement outside the door of the Lu family house in the alley of Zhuliu Street, so I told the story intermittently. When everyone heard this, they either hid their mouths and snickered, or set up a coax, and even opened their mouths to Aunt Zhang.

Xia Chunchao said more deliberately: "I can't look for my aunt, but I met it today." It is better to pick up the sun than to hit the sun, and when I saw this woman tied up and went to see the officials, I would not have to spend more time in the future. Zhu'er knew that she was lying and threatening, and agreed, so she bluffed and shouted at her family.

That Aunt Zhang has gone through a battle yesterday, and she is like a frightened bird. Today is just a fluke, relying on the crowd on the street, Xia Chunchao will definitely spend money to eliminate the disaster for the sake of face, and scam some money for her. Who knew that this Xia Chun Dynasty refused to give in at all, and he wanted to ask someone to send her to the government in person. She was just a cunning woman, where did she dare to go to the official, she was immediately frightened, her face was pale, her farts were rolling and urinating, and she ran away with her head in her arms. The onlookers on the street watched her escape, and guessed that Shicai's words of the Lu family's grandmother must be true, and they all spit on her, and some naughty children picked up the stones and threw them at Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang didn't dare to stop and fight back, she didn't even catch the medicine, she even rolled and crawled, and flew away.

Zhu'er looked at her wolf appearance, clapped her hands and laughed, and said, "Yes, she also has today!" In the past, he only shrank behind and instigated the quarrel between his wife and grandma, but it turned out that there was today! I'm really angry with my grandmother today. Xia Chunchao sighed and said lightly: "If it weren't for the fact that this chapter of the family committee is really hateful, who would be willing to spend such effort?" It can be of some benefit to deal with them. It's not too early, let's go home. When Zhu'er heard this, she didn't say much, so she immediately helped her into the car and told the coachman to set off, without saying anything all the way.

Since then, Zhang Xueyan's notoriety has spread all over the capital. The Zhang family went out to act, all of them were cautious, and wherever they went, there were people pointing behind their backs. Originally, there were still a few rich people, but Zhang Xueyan was outstanding, and wanted to ask her to be a steproom. This Zhang family is bent on letting her daughter enter the Lu family as an official wife, and her eyes are above the top, and no one can look down on her. Who knew that now that such a thing happens, these people all retreat, and they don't see half of the matchmaker coming to the door. Zhang Xueyan was angry at home and died of anger, crying a few times, but she was just helpless.

Xia Chunchao returned home, and when he entered the room, he saw Lu Chengyong sitting in the middle of the house, wearing homely clothes, taking off the crown and belt, and said casually: "You came back early today, presumably there is nothing to do in the yamen." ”

Lu Chengyong snorted in his nose and didn't answer. Xia Chunchao didn't know why, ignored him, and walked to change clothes. Lu Chengyong ignored her and snorted loudly. Xia Chunchao saw that he intended to make trouble, so he deliberately ignored it, walked to the dressing table and re-evened his face. Bao'er came up to pick up the clothes, but she smiled and said, "Don't be busy changing it first, I'm going to go back to the old lady and Mrs. to say goodbye." After that, he glanced at Lu Chengyong, and sure enough, he saw that his face was gloomy.

Xia Chunchao smiled, shouted Zhu'er, and was about to go out. Lu Chengyong was anxious, stepped forward and grabbed her and said, "Where are you going?" When I came back, I was going to go again before the stool was hot. Leave me alone in the room, cold and cold, what do you mean! Xia Chunchao was surprised: "What are you talking about, I naturally want to go to the old lady and the old lady to ask for peace, have you been away from home for a few years and even forgotten these things?" Lu Chengyong was annoyed and ashamed, and opened his mouth to say: "Don't go!" Xia Chunchao smiled: "This is strange, you don't let me go to ask for peace, what should I do?" Lu Chengyong's mouth opened a few times, but he couldn't speak, and his black face gradually turned a little crimson.

Na Bao'er was honest in the end, and she couldn't hold it and smiled: "Grandma doesn't know, the young master is afraid that grandma will go back to her parents' house today." Before noon, the young master returned. When I entered the door, I rushed to ask where my grandmother had gone, and I wanted to tell the horse to go to our house. Or did I say that grandma went to the shop, so the young master didn't move. When Xia Chunchao heard this, he looked at Lu Chengyong with a smile. Lu Chengyong was very embarrassed, looked at Bao'er and said angrily: "What are you talking nonsense, go over there." ”

Zhu'er stepped forward and said to Lu Chengyong: "It's boring for the young master to be like this, although grandma said that, but how he treated the young master in the past, the young master should also look at it." Don't say anything on the side, just say that today, there is such a big thing in the shop, grandma is anxious like something, and on the way back, she didn't forget to go to the tailor shop and order the young master's clothes to be made first, lest the young master have nothing to wear on the road. I have to come back, the young master doesn't talk about compassion, he talks to grandma first, so that we girls can't look at it. The young master thinks about it, so he is worthy of our grandmother. So saying, he went out with Bao'er.

Lu Chengyong was reprimanded by this girl, and he was a little sneering, and smiled at Xia Chunchao: "Zhu'er is getting more and more amazing, such sharp teeth, see who dares to please her in the future." Xia Chunchao smiled, didn't answer, walked to the dresser, opened the makeup, and fiddled with the beads. Lu Chengyong walked over, hugged her waist, and said in a low voice: "Since you went to the shop, you worked so hard, why bother about rushing my clothes, just come back early and rest." Xia Chunchao said: "You will leave at the end of the month, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up in time." Lu Chengyong said: "I still wear the old clothes, and I've come over like this all these years, I'm not afraid of those." Xia Chunchao nodded with a smile and said, "It's not what it used to be, you are now an official, no better than when you were still in the army." What's more, you came out of the house again, and your mouth and eyebrows were black, which made people laugh at you for not having a wife. ”

The two laughed for a while, and Lu Chengyong remembered Fang Cai'er's words, so he asked: "What happened in the shop, Zhu'er said that you were anxious." Xia Chunchao thought that there was nothing to hide, so he told him about today's events, and said: "I have nothing to do at the moment, so I have to pay others first." Lu Chengyong didn't know anything about the pù business of this shop, and he couldn't understand it, so he had to persuade: "You can also relax, there is no obstacle in this world." Since you asked Shopkeeper Xia to set up a banquet to apologize, and said that you would compensate them when the new goods arrived, it would be okay. Xia Chunchao shook his head and said: "The word 'faithfulness' is the most important thing for businessmen, and I misunderstood their business, but I am afraid that they will not come next time." It's a trivial matter to lose these customers, but I'm afraid I'll smash our signboard, so it's worth a lot. Lu Chengyong didn't care, and only said: "That's okay, if the business can't go on, just close the store." I am now a man of 2,000 stone a year, and the court has rewarded a lot of land, and I can live well with the land we bought in previous years. Wouldn't it be better if you didn't do this business, so you wouldn't have to show up all day long, take care of the housework at home, and enjoy the blessings? ”

Xia Chunchao turned around, looked at him and shook his head and said, "This dry goods store is my hard work, I can't watch it collapse like this." For example, after all these years in the army, you suddenly asked you to throw away your military exploits, take off your military uniform, and go home to be a peaceful lord, are you willing? Lu Chengyong grinned and said, "How can this be the same?" You don't make sense of that. If you like it, you can do it, and I don't care about you. It's just that your body matters, don't worry about yourself for these irrelevant things, it's worth it. Xia Chunchao couldn't make sense with him, so he had to respond in a false voice and didn't say anything more.

After a while, Lu Chengyong said again: "I received the post today, Marquis Situ held a banquet in Qingling Garden on the outskirts of the city on the seventeenth of this month, and invited me to go." Xia Chunchao had something in his heart, and he didn't think about it for a while, so he asked casually: "Which Marquis Situ?" Lu Chengyong said: "Which one else is the old son of the girl we saved that day, Xinling Marquis Situ Zhong." ”。