Peng Shi immediately understood that He Angelica must have misunderstood his relationship with Chai Yutu, so he raised his head and hummed: "I see her for the second time today, I am not familiar with her, and my sweetheart is not her." ”

He Angelica continued to misunderstand, and asked confusedly: "Are you not familiar with Cousin Chai?" All right...... I understand. "Do you play on the spot, Peng Shi is a scumbag, a villain, and a thief.

Peng Shi glared, what did she understand? After a pause, he asked, "What good do you give me?" I told you about that? ”

He Angelica turned his eyes twice in a row, he hadn't seen him for a long time, how did Peng Shi become such a philistine, he opened his mouth and closed his mouth to ask for benefits, what benefits could he, a high-ranking official and upstart family, take away from himself, a small businessman who opened a shop and sold medicine? He ran all the way back to Yangzhou, could it be just to earn his own running expenses? Well, if you pay for it, you will pay for it, who made her really curious by him.

"Two hundred taels!" He Angelica boldly compared two fingers, comparing the front and the tail.

"Huh?" Peng Shi first didn't understand what he meant, and then he understood what he meant, he was first annoyed, and then angry, and reprimanded, "Whoever wants your silver, the silver earned from selling that kind of medicine, I am dirty." ”

“……”

Okay, He Angelica felt that he had nothing to say to him, turned around and walked in the direction of the rockery, Chai Yutu was still shouting angrily behind the rocks, "Help, help", Peng Shi ignored her, he always had to go and take a look.

I haven't seen him for a long time, Peng Shi still hates it as much as he remembers, I really don't know how a person like him can mix in officialdom, is he also such a clear and turbid attitude towards those who wear official clothes and hats? Oh, definitely not, when he was studying with Zhu Yunwen, Peng Shi must also have a dogleg side. It's not that he can't put on a good face to show others, it's just that he wants to see if the other party is worth it.

Peng Shi saw that He Angelica was annoyed, so he called her twice in the back, but he didn't see her look back, so he knew that she was really annoyed, so he shouted again: "Hey, I have something you are interested in, you will not regret it after reading it!" ”

He Angelica glanced back at him, what the hell is Peng Shi doing? He roughly understands that her acupuncture is subtle and magical, could it be that his purpose is similar to Bai Yangbai's, and he also wants to learn her Yunqi acupuncture? What kind of hole cards did he carry to Yangzhou and bargain with her so confidently...... While thinking and walking, ignore him, this person is so annoying, and the city government calculates again, and hates to deal with this kind of person. Since his younger brother Peng Jian also knew what he was going to say, then as long as he sent a letter to Peng Mansion in the capital to ask Peng Jian, it would be the same.

Peng Shi caught up with her in two steps and stopped her, lowered his voice and said, "I'll go to you tonight, you prepare a table of wine and food...... and his voice turned to a lower level, "Wait for me to find you." ”

He Angelica uncomfortably dodged an angle, what kind of secret, and said so ambiguously.

Eating and drinking? Of course not, her future husband Meng Xuan, who doubted every man around her, was still lazily lying on her embroidery bed waiting to be fed, and she was still busy looking for a way to cure Meng Xuan's sword wounds, and maybe she had to sneak out of the house to ask for advice from Gao Jue and ask for the solution to the cold poison...... In short, she didn't have time to deal with Peng Shi, so she bypassed the other party and told him: "I'm sorry, I don't want to hear it now, big cousin, you better go elsewhere to eat wine and food." ”

Peng Shi only said that she was still angry, and she didn't chase her at the moment, thinking that she would find a suitable occasion to talk to her in a day or two. A woman is really an animal who turns her face faster than a book, and she can offend her with a word, so be careful. I want him to apologize for the words he blurted out, of course there is no way, but...... Peng Shi's dark pupils swept by, reflecting a line of egrets in the sky above his head, hooking his lips and thinking, I haven't seen her for a long time, she has really grown into a big girl, she must be more interesting than before......

In fact, Peng Shi also came to Yangzhou on business this time, carrying two secret letters from His Royal Highness the eldest grandson, to find Han Fei, the prefect of Yangzhou, to participate in the martial arts conference on the fifteenth day of the first month of ten thousand days, and then go to Beizhili to do an important matter. Originally, there was an accident with Luo Baiqiong last time in Luodong Mansion, and this time he went to Yang, he didn't plan to have any contact with the Luo family in Yangzhou at all.

But before leaving, his grandfather Luo Dusong called him over and said that he had received a letter from Yangzhou a few days ago, saying that the old lady Xiong in Xifu was gone, and the house was mourning, and his brother Luo Duheng was the most. My grandfather said that he should have gone to mourn in person, but recently, the saint was not in good health, and the hospital had a strict order that he should not leave Beijing without a reply, and he should not be absent from work without a reason, and he could not leave for a day. Second, the last time I took my grandson to Luodong Mansion, I went in line with the exchange of relatives' feelings, but halfway through the emotional exchange, when the older generation of the two sides was warming themselves, there was bad news about the grandson Shi'er and the second miss of Dongfu, and after a lot of trouble, the relationship was worse than before the exchange.

Therefore, this time I went to Yangzhou, my grandfather specially instructed that in addition to going to Luoxi Mansion to mourn on his behalf, he also had to live in Dongfu for a few days, and build a good relationship with that side.

In this way, Peng Shi received the assignment from his grandfather, and when he was troubled and preparing to set off, his younger brother Peng gradually came again, not to see off his brother, but to bring all kinds of food to the capital, and let him give it to the third lady of Dongfu, He Angelica.

At the same time, Peng gradually said that he heard a letter from the East Palace, saying that this year's show girl election, no longer let the noble women of the northern family participate in the election, it is said that all the show girls are selected from the southern region, focusing on Huai'an, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang and other places.

The reason is that since last winter, there has been a large-scale outbreak of epidemic cold disease near Beizhili, and there has been no successful treatment case until now, it is a cold disease that spreads slowly, the disease is alleviated, and it cannot be cured if it is not killed, and there are rumors that this disease will be brought for a lifetime, and there are diseases from the roots. A month ago, the saint personally inquired about the epidemic, which made the imperial doctors think of countermeasures, but the imperial hospital has still not been able to resume the decree.

Since it is an incurable disease, of course, that kind of cold disease cannot be allowed to spread to Nanzhili Ying Tianfu, although not all northern regions have epidemics spreading, and it is impossible for the epidemic to spread to that group of delicate ladies who are raised in the deep boudoir, but not afraid of 10,000 in case, for the sake of the health of the dragon body and the safety of the capital, at least this year's show girls can no longer be selected from the northern nobles.

Not counting the small show, private recommendation and Dongchang private selection, the formal show girl election is once every three years, and the number of places for each selection fluctuates between 50 and 80 people, which lasts about 20 days, from the local screening, selection, selection, and then to the primary, secondary and plum blossom selection after being sent to Beijing.

Layer by layer selection, in addition to enriching the harem for the emperor, selecting Na Jiali as a concubine, and selecting the women screened out by the second selection and plum blossoms, they are already one in a hundred boutiques, and most of the time they can be assigned to marry and given to the royal children to hold a broom. And the women who were defeated in the first round of the primary election in the capital also have to try their luck to decide whether they go or stay, some go home directly, some enter the palace as palace maids, and some are lucky enough to be pointed out to Beijing officials as wives. All of the above are all things that the relevant operators have to do with a stroke of the pen.

For the draft girl, it is the honey of A, the arsenic of B, such as Luo Baiqiong, her mother has always wanted her to participate in the draft girl in the past, and she should be a concubine of the emperor, but now that the holy body is weak and her teeth are getting older, it is really not safe to be his concubine. What's even more anxious is that although the saint is old, but how long he will live before he dies, it is also uncertain, many people like Sun Meiniang who want their daughters to become phoenixes are noble, and what they think in their hearts is to wait for the new emperor to ascend the throne and then send their daughters to the draft, but the matter of life and death, who can give a quasi-letter, they dare not tell others, they are looking at the old emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in their hearts. I have been waiting, and I am afraid that my daughter will be old.

And the quota for sending draft girls is also determined according to the official position of the male in the family, rather than depending on the level of the door, after all, no matter how bright the door is on the ground, it is not worth it in the imperial city and in the eyes of the royal family.

According to the number and grade of the children of the officials in the family, the Yangzhou Luo family is not enough at all, and even the number of places in the Luo family in the capital is only two. And Yangzhou East Mansion Jiaxi Mansion, according to the strict division, not a single place, if you make a force on the joints that can be loosened, then Yangzhou Luojia will probably be able to get a place. In the past, Sun Meiniang was the idea of playing this quota, if she was unlucky and didn't get it, there was another way, which was to find Luofu in the capital, or Sun Meiniang's maiden Sun Mansion, or even a few rooms in the distant relative Luo Shuisheng's lineage, to "rub" a quota in other people's homes.

It's hard to say, and it's easy to do, because some people are really willing to be "rubbed", and many parents are reluctant to send their daughters to the draft. Except for a small part of the consideration of the daughter herself, most people are afraid that their daughter is too lucky, and she will reach the high position of the concubine of the Son of Heaven in one step.

The reason why the draft girl is considered to be "Arsenic of B" is because the quota is only added and not reduced, that is, local families with heads and faces can spend money to buy quotas, but the official eunuchs who already have their own quotas, such as the Han family of Yangzhou Prefect, such as the Yangzhou Sun family where several children of the family are junior Beijing officials, and the Liao family in the capital that Liao Qinger crossed over, all have quotas. No matter how many places there are, they must be "handed over" according to the number, and no one should be missing.

Like Liao Qinger's family, his father and brother are all officials in the court, and their grades are not small, and there are three places in the family, but there is only one daughter, in addition to "handing over" this daughter, two daughters from the same clan, preferably relatives with the same surname, must be selected to "hand in" together.

This kind of drudgery of sending his daughter to an unknown road, which is very likely to be the road of no return, in the hearts of some officials, is really as difficult as eating arsenic. Therefore, as long as there is a distant relative or in-law of an official family, it is really not difficult to find a place to send a candidate.

is like Meng Xuan's family, which has ten places in one go, and the daughters in the family are not enough at all, and even the Meng clan can't dig out ten young ladies, so they have to go to the book and play, and then transfer it to the Ministry of Rites for approval after the Holy Imperial Review, and only after the relevant officials investigate and confirm that it is true, can it be reduced according to the situation. All in all, sending draft girls is a hard indicator, as long as someone in the family is an official and eats the court, it will never be able to escape.

These were the draft regulations implemented by Hongwu 14 years ago, and later because the burden was too great and the number of hard places was too much, many officials and eunuchs complained and jointly wrote a letter requesting rectification. This kind of hard-core task comes back every three years, some young ladies in the family are of marriageable age, and they have to wait for the day of the draft, and some have not enough daughters at home, and every time they worry about getting together the quota to Huafa in vain. In fact, according to this selection method, no one's daughter can do it, once every three years, and it is too late in this life.

As a result, in the nineteenth year of Hongwu, a new regulation was introduced, that is, the "uniform method", according to the selection of the area, the scope of the draft girl was delineated one year in advance, and the number of candidates outside the area was halved or even reduced to zero, and the official women over the age of 16 who exceeded the marriageable age could marry on their own, without waiting for the next draft after three years. In this way, it not only reduces the burden on officials, but also evenly spreads the "welfare" of sending draft girls to more high-ranking families who regard the draft as glory.

According to the population and marriage statistics of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households, the "Harmony Law" is changing every year, so this year, in the 31st year of Hongwu, in Huai'an, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang, the key areas of the general election, the top two local families like Luofu have all increased their quotas, and even the clause that has always been "concubines stop" has been loosened.

Originally, two months ago, the draft for next year was still a national election, so he couldn't patronize Luodong Mansion at all, and Meng Xuan never expected that one day He Angelica, who was a humble person, would also be lucky enough to get a draft spot.

That's right, according to this "evenness method", the quota of Yangzhou Luofu is very rich, and the stalls are spread around, plus Luo Baishao, whose hands were burned, are all less than one quota of women. And in the same sect, Luo Shuisheng has more places, and he can't even hand over his daughter to Yangzhou, in Luodong Mansion, Miss Chai Yutu's kinship is too far away, and her identity is not much better than He Angelica, Luo Baiqian's daughter Luo Shiyan is four years old, and she can't touch the lower age limit - therefore, if you calculate it, He Angelica has to choose a show girl.