Jiangning, weaving house, diagonally across the teahouse.

Li Ding sat in the private room by the window on the second floor, holding a cup of tea, looking at the gate of the weaving mansion not far away. He was ordered by his father to come to Jiangning to deliver a letter to Cao Yin, and by the way, he asked his aunt Li to say goodbye.

Today, when he got off the boat and was about to go to the Weaving Mansion, Li Dingfang found that he was not dressed properly. Because he was in a hurry, he didn't bring plain clothes, so it was rude to come to the door like this.

He wanted to find a ready-to-wear shop to change into plain clothes, just saw an official sedan chair coming to the weaving house, looked at the accompanying soldiers on the chest of the word "governor", and was a little curious, so he passed over the teahouse here to watch.

Looking at the middle-aged man wearing a white crane supplement suit on the sedan chair, Li Ding squinted slightly, the newly appointed governor of Liangjiang, Heshou? Speaking of which, he has also seen that He Shou has been an official in Jiangnan for two years, and he was previously the governor of Caoyun.

The Yamen of Caoyun Governor was in Huai'an Mansion, more than 300 miles away from Jiangning and more than 600 miles away from Suzhou. Even the year before last, when the Li family was in the limelight, he also went to Suzhou Weaving Mansion and had a personal relationship with Li Xu. It was only later that Li Xu was reprimanded by the emperor, and Heshou sought advantage and avoided harm, so the relationship with the Li family faded.

With Cao Yin's personal greeting, He Shou smiled and greeted, and the two entered the weaving mansion together. Li Ding looked upset, snorted coldly, called Xiao Er, settled the money, and took the little guy to find a ready-to-wear shop.

As soon as I turned the street, I heard someone call: "But Li Gongzi? ”

Li Ding looked up and saw that a man in mourning clothes got off the horse and walked towards him, looking vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember which one it was for a while.

Not only was the man wearing mourning clothes, but there was also a carriage behind him, revealing a half-dressed body of filial piety through the half-lifted curtain.

"If you want to be pretty, you must be filial" is really good. Just half of the noodles with pear blossoms and rain made people's hearts flutter.

Although Li Ding is not married, he is twenty-four this year, where is the hairy boy who does not understand the amorous feelings? Although she is very serious in front of people, she is a veteran in the Fengyue field, and at a glance, you can see that although the woman is from a good family, she has a three-point water surname.

On his face, he didn't show anything, Li Ding only looked at the man who greeted him with a little kindness. The man approached, clasped his fists and saluted, and said, "Bai Dexi has seen Li Gongzi!" In the early summer of the previous year, I had the honor to drink with my son on the Qinhuai River, listen to the wonderful sound of Rong Niang, and I didn't want to see my son again, which was really fortunate! ”

Li Ding listened to it and had some impressions that at the time of the handover in the spring and summer of the previous year, he had come to Jiangning to give a birthday gift to the governor's palace. Gandu once invited him to eat flowers and wine on the Qinhuai River, and there were several officials and sons of wealthy merchants at the same table. The reason why I brought these gentlemen was just for someone to pay for money, and the person in front of me was one of them, Bai Dexi, the second young master of the Bai family in the "Treasure Pavilion", and the uncle of the Yang family in Bihelou.

That Rong Niang was still a clean person at the time, with a good and translucent voice, and she was good at singing small songs. Li Ding listened enthusiastically, although he was still the future uncle of the Governor's Mansion at that time, he didn't pretend to be serious at the party. In the end, he still made the decision, ransomed Miss Rong, and sent Li Ding to warm the bed.

It's nothing to be happy outside, but there are a lot of rules at home, where is it good to place a dusty woman? Catching up with Li Dingzheng, who was enthusiastic about building a tea garden and wanted to make some money with jasmine tea, he took a fancy to a mountainous area outside Suzhou, which was suitable for planting flowers.

It was the real estate of a Yangzhou salt merchant, who was interested in settling with the Li family, and did not want money, but gave it to Li Ding for nothing. At that time, Li Xu was concurrently serving as the salt minister of Lianghuai, and Li Ding knew that some favors could not be accepted in vain, so he thought about what to give in return. Later, when eating wine, Rong Niang was ordered to come to present the song, and the salt merchant looked a little interested, so Li Ding transferred Rong Niang to him.

Now that I think about it, the little lady with filial piety in the carriage is more intelligent than Rong Niang. Li Ding wants to cherish his reputation, although he has adopted a few girls in the family, but there are no wives and concubines, and now he is going to Jiangning to serve as a messenger for his father, and he is bored, and he can't help but feel a little warm when he sees such a good-colored woman.

Thinking about this Bihelou again, it cost more than 100,000 taels of silver to buy the bead raising recipe from the Cao family. Thinking about the news of asking people to investigate, the Cao family has made a lot of money selling pearls in Guangzhou in the past two years, which is what Li Ding has been red for a long time, but he can't pull his son to ask the Cao family. If you can get a prescription from the Yang family, this trip to Jiangning will not be in vain.

Thinking like this, Li Ding was a little polite to Bai Dexi, and arched his hand: "It turned out to be Bai Gongzi, this is your ......" Speaking of this, he pointed to the filial piety clothes on his body, with a little concern on his face.

Bai Dexi was still full of joy before, and when he heard Li Ding say this, Fang showed a little sadness, and said: "Hey, my father-in-law has been sick for a long time, and my son passed away a few years ago, and now my younger brother and inner son are going to send my father-in-law to the funeral!" ”

Li Ding sighed again and said two words of mourning. Bai Dexi was a little disappointed, originally thought that when he met the young master of the weaving mansion, he would invite him to drink wine and climb the relationship, so as to save the Cao family from coming out for the Zheng family brothers and sisters in the future, and this Bihelou could not fall into his hands. But when I think of filial piety, let alone a flower shop, even if I eat wine, it is also unreasonable.

was depressed, Bai Dexi unintentionally saw Li Ding looking towards the carriage. are all veterans of the party, although Li Ding is still a sanctimonious appearance, but in the eyes of Bai Dexi, where is there anything that he doesn't understand?

This heart immediately has any taste, he was a little annoyed at first, and then faintly brought some joy, knowing what Li Ding likes, then it will be easy to do, and after a while, he will ask his daughter-in-law to come out to toast and pour some [***] soup, and it will not hinder anything, if you can hook this Li Ergongzi, it will be good in the future.

He really didn't care about this cousin's daughter-in-law, although he said everything at home, and she didn't dare to care about sleeping flowers and willows, but every time she encountered a little thing, she could cry and wipe her tears, so she didn't get bored. He thought she was a waste, and now this waste is still of some use, which is a surprise.

The two of them each have ghosts, and when they talk again, they become more and more polite. This one insisted on inviting that one to the door, in order to fulfill the friendship of the landlord; The one refused again and again, and in the end it was really difficult to refuse, but he couldn't refuse, so he followed.

* Weaving house, living room.

Cao Yin and He Shou exchanged pleasantries, one was an old minister, the other was an upstart, and both of them were cautious people, politely coming and going, but also saying a little lively.

Although in terms of official position, Heshou, the governor of Yipin, is much higher than Cao Yin; But when it comes to titles, it is Cao Yin, who has a lot of longevity.

Unconsciously, a delicate balance has been reached. Although Heshou had visited several times before, this was the first visit during his tenure as governor, and although the two only gossiped about two teas, they were satisfied with each other.

The major events of the government and the opposition, the previous lawsuit, where will the two of them mention it? It's nothing more than next year's long live Ye Jiazi's holy birthday, the birthday arrangement here in Jiangnan, and the excerpt's request to enter Beijing to celebrate his birthday.

When Heshou was sent away, Cao Yin's mood was a little heavy. Zhang Boxing stayed in office and Kali resigned, although this conformed to public opinion, but for the Li family and the Sun family, I am afraid that they will be left behind.

As early as when Li Xu took over as the political secretary of Jiangnan, Cao Yin reminded him three times and twice not to get too close to Kali and save himself from being implicated, but with little success.

When Li Xu was reprimanded and Sun Wen was holding the stall, Cao Yin also persuaded him politely. Sun Wenqi is different from Li Xu's surname, he is the master of "not seeking merit, but seeking no fault", unlike Cao Yin and Li Xu, who have been driving since childhood, and sometimes the cautious ones are a little too much.

For example, in the case of Kali and Zhang Boxing's mutual reference, Sun Wenqi originally had some things on his side, but because Kali framed Zhang Boxing, there was a "Han official party", in order to avoid suspicion, he refused to speak for Zhang Boxing, but instead leaned towards Kali's side, listing Zhang Boxing's "criminal evidence".

Although it is not easy to guess the mind of the person above, it is not difficult to know his temperament. Cao Yin has been friends with his monarchs and ministers for more than 50 years, and he knows how much he knows, and he is afraid that he will be annoyed.

Although Sun Wenqi wanted to avoid suspicion, he forgot that his duty was to act as the eyes and ears of the emperor. Acting like this, prudence is prudence, and it also covers the eyes and ears of the emperor.

This long-lived lord who governs the country with "benevolence and filial piety", although he will be more lenient, but it will take time.

In March next year, Jiazi Shengshou! Cao Yin groaned, thinking about whether to discuss with Li Xu, and handed the excerpt to the capital, asking to go to Beijing to celebrate his birthday.

With a heavy official uniform, Cao Yin returned to the inner courtyard.

Kaiyang-in, main house.

Li is asking the housekeeper to take all kinds of clothes and materials, carefully select them, and prepare a hundred gifts for the little grandson. Seeing Cao Yin coming back, he got up to greet him and waited for Cao Yin to change into his official uniform.

Cao Yin saw that the clothes were made of luxurious materials, and some of them were made by the palace, so he frowned slightly, felt that something was inappropriate, and persuaded: "I know that you love your grandson, but God bless you is still young, and you always need to cherish your blessings!" ”

Li Shi listened and said with a smile: "The master misunderstood, these horses are not for Tianyou, they are for the daughter-in-law!" Yizhou is a bit remote, not to mention clothing and cloth, even rice and grain, and there are few high-quality ones. In the house over there, the capital sends rice there, and there is no one in charge in the capital, and it is not convenient to buy these clothes. In our house, there are so many of them, and it's useless to keep them, so why don't you pack them up and send them to your daughter-in-law! ”

Cao Yin thought that his children in this room had been properly married, and there were six nephews and nieces in the second room, so he said to Li: "If you have to empty the treasury these days, pay more attention to it, and don't worry about your son and daughter-in-law when you encounter good things!" When the second brother is full of filial piety, the two nieces are not in a hurry, Xiang'er and Fu'er can wait for another two years, but the two brothers Song'er and Shuo'er are at their age, and when the time comes, they also need some good things! ”

Li Shi was silent for a while, and asked, "Master, except for the fourth sister and the fifth son, these little ones have all left the wedding money!" It's the fourth sister and the fifth son, let's make it together! It's just that the money in the accounts of the family is mostly the silver money sent back by Hao'er, this ...... How much should this be prepared for Brother Song'er? ”

Cao Yin thought that he had sold the rest of his ancestors' money almost as much, and now although he has a title and official money, he doesn't even have enough money in the house, and he has to rely on his son to send money to subsidize it. Thinking about this, I remembered that I had passed two young years, and I relied on my son's filial piety to support my superiors, and I couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

Thinking of this, Cao Yin sighed and said to the Li family: "Look at the savings in the family's accounts!" If you can have spare money, prepare some for the Song'er and Shuo'er brothers. When the filial piety period is out, in addition to marrying a wife, the two of them should also find an errand, and then they will need to make money! ”

Although Li feels sorry for his son's hard work, he is not a stingy and rude person. If Cao Quan is alive in the second room, it is better to say, it is not their turn to worry about these things; Now that the little uncle is gone, the remaining nephews and nieces don't rely on the long house, who else can they rely on? Although there was nothing else to say, she finally lost the interest in picking things, and sighed with her husband.

* Although Cao Hao wanted to leave Beijing early, he was finally dragged back.

The Han Shilang in the household department was an understanding person, and if he got the words of Shangshu, he happily approved the accounts in the Shandong Division. When I got to Shangshu, I naturally didn't delay at all, and it was done properly on the same day.

Cao Hao received the receipt from the household department, which was considered to have completed the errand, and he was blocked by the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother.

It turned out that the sixteenth elder brother had shown off his hot spring Zhuangzi to the seventeenth elder brother before, and the two of them went to see it. Although when the two of them open the mansion in the future, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will inevitably dial the Huangzhuang down, but who knows what year and month it will be. You must know that there are two elder brothers, the twelfth elder brother and the thirteenth elder brother, but Kangxi only opened the mansion in fifty years, and both of them are in their twenties.

Although the seventeenth elder brother has no external favors, he thinks that after getting married, if he is tired of living in the palace, he can take his wife to live in Zhuangzi, isn't it more heartfelt? Besides, he also had other hopes in his heart.

It's not that he is not filial, looking forward to the emperor's death sooner, but thinking that after all, he is an old man in Jiazi, and no one can say well...... If it really comes to the day when the new emperor ascends the throne, the harem concubines will go to the house with their sons. If you can make a hot spring Zhuangzi in Changping Lane and make a place for Eniang to recuperate, you will also save yourself the suffering of rumors in the capital.

It's good not to inquire, it's really frightening to inquire, although those springs are in the mountains, they are all mountains, and they are not worth a few silver, but they have been bought by people in recent years, and it was the Cao family who bought them.

There was really no way, so the seventeenth elder brother had no choice but to beg the sixteenth elder brother and cheekily came to Cao Hao to buy land.

(To be continued)