The sky is sunny and warm, and the clouds are scattered like veils. The grass and trees in the courtyard are new and green, and the begonia flowers in front of the steps are blooming, and they are splendid and prosperous.

Ruyi ate two cups of fruit tea and played with the begonias for a while. The sun was warm, she was a little sleepy, covered her mouth and yawned, and when she saw that Erlang had not yet moved, she stepped on the begonia flower tree and deftly turned over on the roof. There is a lot of rain and little dust in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is no dust on the glazed tiles, so Ruyi lies on the roof tiles and takes a nap in the sun.

When Erlang finally came back from his busy work, he asked, "Where's Sister?" ”

The maids chuckled and pointed upward, "Her Royal Highness has climbed up to the roof. ”

Jiro: ......

Jiro's eyes wandered around for a long time, and he couldn't figure out how she turned up. The maids pointed to the begonia tree and signaled to him, Erlang rolled up his sleeves and lifted his robe, and with the help of the people below, he finally stepped on the tree with grace, and his white and handsome face was also stained with sweat and revealed some pink. The flower tree was shaken by him.

But if he had to climb to the roof, he couldn't reach it. Although he is only a little more than a year younger and still a boy, he has always been a little shorter. Seeing that the height gap was about to widen, although he didn't say it on the face, he was anxious in private, and drank pork bone soup for most of the year. Fortunately, this trend has finally stopped this year, and I don't know if it's because Ruyi is growing slowly, or if his stature is finally starting to rise - he is slightly relieved, and he is determined to catch up with Ruyi in one go...... found that Ruyi could climb up the roof, but he couldn't climb up!

I was a little angry for a while.

"Is my roof so comfortable?"

Ruyi raised his head slightly, didn't see anyone, sat up and looked down, only to know that Erlang had finally returned.

Jiro: ...... Why look down on it!

Ruyi smiled and said, "The sun is comfortable." Then he asked, "Are you done?" ”

She has been to Erlang's Mansion too many times, and she no longer regards herself as an outsider. After coming down from the roof, he also pinched Erlang's arm and said, "Let you practice martial arts diligently, it seems that you are lazy again." ”

Erlang said, "Long-winded." What's the use of me practicing martial arts, if it's really dangerous enough for me to personally go into battle and kill, the country will die. ”

Ruyi said seriously, "You can't say that, in case you meet ......"

Halfway through her speech, the words choked in her mouth - Miaoyin's assassination of the Son of Heaven was a forbidden word, and the government and the opposition avoided talking about it. Princess Miaoyin was hastily buried that day, and no one has asked her where she is buried, only vaguely heard that it is next to the queen's mausoleum. Everyone thinks that this princess has never been.

Erlang looked at her mood and already knew what she was going to say, so he changed the topic and said, "I know, I'll practice tomorrow." He added, "Actually, I'm also skilled in bowing horses, but I can't compare to how dexterous you have been practicing martial arts since you were a child!" ”

Ruyi smiled lightly and said, "Why are you busy here?" Baba invited me and put me aside, and I don't know what you mean. ”

Erlang said, "Aren't you quite comfortable basking in the sun!" Although he said a word, he still invited Ruyi into the house and sat down, and said, "My cousin has something to probe your tone, can't you see him?" ”

Ruyi's face immediately turned red, and he only pursed his lips and didn't make a sound.

Erlang saw that she was shy, and he was very uncomfortable somehow. Snorted secretly. If Ruyi does not speak, he will not speak.

There was an eerie silence in the room for a moment.

Ruyi still looked at him left and right, and said, "Are you still going out for a private visit this year?" ”

"You're not going out again, why are you asking this?"

Ruyi said, "A-Niang has allowed me to go out...... If you travel, will I go with you next time? ”

Erlang's face soothed again, he felt happy that Ruyi had always been hostile overnight, and immediately became □□ with great interest again, and said, "This time I want to go farther and go to Jingzhou." It will take more than a month to go, can you also go with you? ”

Ruyi said, "If you know A-Niang, it shouldn't be a big deal." She was a little worried, and said, "But ...... Why do you want to go to Jingzhou? ”

Erlang said, "I'm going out of town next year, I guess it's either Jiangzhou or Jingzhou." Jiangzhou is Gu Huai's territory, and it is not easy to visit privately. I had heard that the people of Jingzhou were brave, and I wanted to see it. He looked at Ruyi as he spoke, and when he saw Ruyi's preoccupied appearance, he asked, "Is there anything wrong?" ”

Ruyi said, "Jingzhou is not only brave but also people...... I'm a little afraid of the hard road. She thought about it, and then simply said to Erlang, "Didn't I tell you before, there are a few caravans under my command that are walking around outside, coming and going to various places - last autumn, two caravans were robbed in Jingzhou, and all the coral gems brought back from Jiaolu and the Shu brocade cloth brought back from Sichuan and Shu were robbed, and only a few people escaped back......"

Erlang frowned slightly, "Even your caravan dares to rob?" ”

As for the robbers, he has a lot of them in his heart - the country of Sichuan and Shu Tianfu, brocade and wine are both beautiful, and there is a lot of salt and iron. Whether it is sold to barbarians in the south or to Jiangzuo and the Central Plains in the north, there are huge profits. Therefore, there are often merchants in and out, and I don't know how many people have become extremely rich by this, so that they have the special title of Qutangjia.

And the Jingzhou officials and soldiers were bandits, and they specialized in robbing Qutang Jia who was passing by to get rich, which was also a tacit secret of the courtiers.

But even the merchants under the princess's door dared to rob, which was bold.

Ruyi said, "Whose caravan doesn't matter......," she pondered for a moment, and said, "At the beginning of the month and at the ceremony, the crown princess gave me a face. ”

Like the glass, Ruyi is also a ritual on the Shangsi Festival. Although Erlang didn't go to watch the ceremony, he also went to the Ciqiu Hall afterwards and forced Ruyi to change into a full set of dresses and jewelry for him to see. The set that the princess sent Ruyi was at hand, and the fancy colors were very vivid, so he was slightly impressed. I vaguely remember that it was a set of gold and silk gemstones to save flowers, surrounded by red, rose-red gemstones, and a golden topaz in the heart of the flower. It's very bright and eye-catching.

Ruyi said, "That set of jewelry happened to come out of me—it was originally a set of gems from Jiaolu last spring. I saw that this thing was bright and clear, so I gathered these things up and drew a trick and ordered someone to fight them. Who knew that this thing was so precious that only one set of earrings could be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I can't bear to bring such an expensive thing, and A-Niang is too fancy. Therefore, after typing it out, I ordered it to be taken out and sold. ”

Erlang listened to the black lines all over his head, and he didn't realize that his sister had such a small family, and he was really speechless for a while.

Ruyi was still arrogant, "Who knew that he was reprimanded by Aunt Zhai." "The things she should wear would rather be dismantled and smashed than sold, this is the noble character in Aunt Zhai's heart. It's a pity that Ruyi is used to it, and she doesn't take these truths to heart, "I'm afraid that she will be angry when she finds out, so she doesn't dare to sell it in the capital - this thing was passed through Jingzhou with the robbed caravan." ”

Jiro understood. Those gems are very cleverly stored, and they are really hard to put down. And it's precious and rare, and it's not easy to make up such a set again. Therefore, the person who got this set of jewelry was not willing to open it, and this thing was returned to Ruyi's hand in its entirety.

As for the things that were robbed by the "robbers", why did they get to the crown princess......

Ruyi said, "I didn't go deeper, but you have to know in your heart." White Arowana suit, don't underestimate the danger of Jingzhou. ”

Erlang realized that what she wanted to say was actually this sentence.

Of course, he knows that Jingzhou is dangerous, and he knows exactly what kind of character Jingzhou Assassin Wang Ji is. There is no need to worry about him.

Of course, Ruyi can worry about him, and Erlang also feels very proud - although he is Ruyi's younger brother, Erlang often has a feeling of unsteadyness. always felt that Ruyi was too detached, and he and Vimo were clearly treated equally, and even faintly appreciated Vimo more, which really made him feel a dark fire in his heart.

"I understand, don't worry." Erlang said lightly on the surface, "Then again, how big is your business?" ”

Ruyi also said calmly, "Six or seven caravans, the profit of Jiaolu alone will exceed 10 million." But the more you earn, the more you lose. I probably only have a slight surplus on hand. ”

——In the early years, Ruyi was surprised by the luxury of the family's daily eclipse, and wondered where they got their income. In the past two years, the sights and stories brought back by the walking of the caravan have been roughly understood.

Erlang listened to her casually say "10 million", and he was speechless for a while. Although money is like dung to him, could it be that he wants something that he has to buy with money? But in the past few years, he has been in a dilemma under the prince for a few years as a parent official, but he knows what the profit of tens of millions means.

Hearing Ruyi say that "there are many losses", he couldn't help but secretly complain, what kind of business is he doing, tens of millions of losses will be lost!

In the end, I still asked.

Ruyi said, "It's not a loss, it's just a few times of rice - the Taihu generation has been ripening year after year, and the price of rice is very cheap." So I bought a lot of them and sold them at other places. After a while, he smiled again, "Taishi Gong said, 'Don't sell wood for a hundred miles, don't buy rice for a thousand miles', and that's true." ”

In the past two years, the Gyeonggi generation has experienced drought and floods, and some monks and nuns have occupied a large area of land and fields, so they have not been able to be self-sufficient. However, unstable rice prices are also the norm. If Ruyi sells rice to Gyeonggi, the profit may be meager, but it will not be a huge loss.

His heart moved, but he remembered something - the price of Gyeonggi rice soared again last winter, and when he was considering countermeasures, the price of rice fell all the way back to normal. He vaguely heard people mention that there was a rice shop that always maintained a flat price for rice, but because this one refused to raise the price, the price of the rest of the rice merchants could not rise. At that time, he still wondered which "trader" this was, but then the rice he asked for was transferred in time, so he didn't investigate it carefully.

- Now that I think about it, it is very much in line with the wishes.

She thinks it's a waste of expensive jewelry, but tens of millions of dollars are silent, but it's just ordinary.

The Buddha said that all sentient beings have the wisdom and virtue of the Buddha. But because of delusional attachment, they can't attain it. Erlang knows very well that whether it is the Son of Heaven or Vimo, or him, Xu Si or even Miaoyin, whether it is pious conversion or arrogance and rebellion, they do have their delusional attachments, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to transcend them in this life. But only Ruyi, Erlang has been with her since birth, but he has never been able to figure out where her persistence is.

Sometimes Erlang feels that Ruyi obviously didn't do anything, but he somehow wanted to force her to "recognize" something, and the root cause was this-he couldn't find Ruyi's "attachment". Every time he thought it might be here, he turned his head and realized that Ruyi really didn't care that much.

……

But now he's grown up and no longer as paranoid as he was when he was a kid. If it is not the same thing, he will not pursue it.

only sighed, "When I talked about it in the first two years, it was almost like playing." I didn't expect you to make such a big deal in the blink of an eye. ”

Ruyi didn't have any smugness in his eyes, but said, "This is easy - all rare and obscene things, whether they are coral gems or Qi Shu brocade, sell well in the capital." The more extravagant, the more lucrative. In addition, things that ordinary people can't afford to eat, such as stone honey, fat powder, and medicinal herbs, can also make a profit if they are in good condition. As for the rest of the trading, the wealthy family disdains it, and even if they make money, they all make meager profits. As long as ...... "Ruyi's money now is almost entirely due to the spending of wealthy families and even monks and nuns, she can't feel complacent at all."

But she enjoyed the whole thing, not for the sake of Xu Yi.

If you say it, I'm afraid it will make the gentlemen in Guozixue beat their chests - when she and Xu Yi got together over the years, what she said the most was not economics, but "whether there is a migration". Every time the caravan came back, they discussed the scenery and things along the way, and indeed, as Jiro said, "it was almost the same as playing", and it was more interesting than playing.

Xu Yi is knowledgeable and knowledgeable, and always has refreshing insights in her mind. For example, if they analyze the goods in various places, Xu Yi can deduce the phenology and people's livelihood of this place from the entry and exit of goods, and send the caravan to try it out, and it will always be fulfilled. He didn't make fun of Ruyi, but liked to explain this kind of last trick to her, but explained it to her with taste. For example, in chess, the sharp edge between this move is fascinating, and it makes Ruyi forget to sleep and eat.

The caravan also grew in this back and forth. When there was a grain shortage in Jinling in the autumn and winter of last year, she remembered Erlang's difficulties and wanted to try if she could make a difference on her own. In the end, she threw nearly 10 million dollars into it, and Xu Yi didn't frown.

Ruyi still remembered Xu Si's helpless gaze after knowing this, she said, "You are too fond of Erlang, can you take tens of millions of dollars every time?" ”

But Ruyi actually knew that this matter may have been to help Erlang at first, but once Xu Yi got involved...... She just did what she learned to do something that she felt fulfilled and interesting, but in fact, Xu Yi spoiled her.

Does she like Xu Yi or not?

She thought, she liked. If the feelings she has for Xu Yi are not longing, then what is it?

She spontaneously stayed for a while, and it was rare that she was distracted when talking to Erlang.