The Shen family's Zhuangzi in Meijiawu is hidden among a large number of peach trees. Zhang Wen waited for Zhuangzi, and the maid took him into the courtyard. There were several old men standing in the hall, and they were talking, probably invited by Lang Zhong.

Zhang Wen walked through the hall and into the backyard, only to see a maid dressed in white going in and out of a women's room with a copper basin. Walking to the door of the women's room, the maid who led the way said inside, "Master Zhang has arrived." ”

The person inside said, "Please come in, Lord Zhang." ”

It stands to reason that it is unlucky for a man to enter the delivery room and will bring bad luck, but Shen Biyao is in danger, Zhang Wen didn't think about those things at all, and when he heard the reply inside, he eagerly walked into the house.

There were a dozen maids and maids in the house, as well as several midwives. The curtain hung on the bed, and Shen Biyao's painful moans came from inside, the sound was not loud, and it was estimated that she had no strength. An old man was taking Shen Biyao's pulse through the bed curtain.

A maid saw Zhang Wen come in, and said in a choked voice: "Young Dongjia, Master Zhang has arrived." Then he said to Na Langzhong: "Mr. Liang, please avoid it first." ”

The old man stood up and said, "Good." I prescribe the medicine, remember to let the patient take it. ”

The old man walked out the door, and Zhang asked, "How is her pulse?" ”

The old man sighed, shook his head, and spoke silently. Zhang Wen hurriedly ran to the window, lifted the curtain, and saw Shen Biyao lying on the bed with a pale face, blank eyes, sweating profusely, and even his lips turned white. When she saw Zhang Wen's face, she stretched out a weak hand from the quilt, her lips moved, and she whispered in a hoarse voice: "Zhang Wen......"

Zhang Wen felt a pain in his heart, and hurriedly held Shen Biyao's hand, feeling as cold as an ice cube, Zhang Wen choked up, "I'm here." ”

Shen Biyao closed her eyes, a line of tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, and she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I can't live, call someone...... Tell someone to peel off my belly and take out the child while I am still alive......"

Zhang Wen held Shen Biyao's hand tightly. Shen Biyao shook her head slightly and said, "Take the child out, you raise him...... We...... Our children. ”

Zhang Wen's eyes widened, the blue tendons on his forehead protruded, and he saw that his woman was about to die, but there was nothing he could do.

At this time, a maid said, "Master Zhang, your entourage Liu Ying asked to see her, and she said that she was a doctor. Zhang Wen turned around and said, "Let her in." ”

Liu Yinglian walked into the house, and before she had time to comb her hair, her hair was still hanging on her shoulders. When she saw Zhang Wen sitting on the edge of the bed, she said, "Lord Zhang will avoid it first, and the concubine will check Mrs. Zhang's body." ”

"Okay." Zhang Wen stood up, but Shen Biyao still held his hand tightly, and Zhang Wen said kindly: "Miss Shen will let Miss Liu take the pulse first, and I will be next to me and will not leave you." ”

Shen Biyao let go of her hand after hearing this.

At this time, a waitress was carrying a bowl of medicine on the table next to her, Liu Yinglian walked over and picked up the bowl and smelled it, and said, "What kind of recipe is this?" ”

The maid said, "The head of the virgin, the head of twelve ants, is ground into powder and mixed with goat's milk." ”

Liu Yinglian frowned and said, "What's the use of this recipe, I've never heard of such a strange method. ”

"It was Liang Langzhong's prescription, and he said that this was a Western prescription to try."

When Zhang Wen heard this, he said hatefully: "You go out immediately to inform Xuan Yue, arrest that Liang Langzhong, and let him wait to be beheaded!" ”

Liu Yinglian listened, glanced at Zhang Wen, and finally didn't say anything. She went into Manwei to see Shen Biyao. Zhang Wen exited the room and waited outside.

After a long time, the guard let Zhang Wen in. Liu Yinglian was washing her hands in the copper basin, turned back to Zhang Wen and said, "The concubine wants to cut open the perineum of the lady, and then try to take out the baby." In order to prevent accidents, you have to wait for a while, and wait for someone to get the medicine box before you start. ”

Zhang Wen was slightly happy in his heart and asked, "Then Miss Shen will be fine, right?" ”

Liu Ying paused, probably remembering what happened to Liang Langzhong just now, and said: "Madame's situation is very bad, and the concubine doesn't dare to assert it. If the child and his wife can only protect one person, who does Master Zhang want? ”

When he asked this question, Shen Baguio's moaning also stopped, waiting for Zhang Wen to answer. I only heard Zhang ask and said, "I want Miss Shen." ”

Liu Yinglian didn't know why Zhang Wen didn't call Mrs., she wanted to call Miss Shen, she wanted to change her words, but can Miss have children? Liu Yinglian still called Madame, "Well, if you have to, the concubine may break the baby's arm...... Rao is so, if there is too much bleeding, the lady is also worried about her life. ”

After a while, Liu Yinglian's people sent her medicine box. At this time, Shen Biyao said hoarsely: "Wait...... I still have something to explain. Someone, get a pen and paper. ”

The maid took a pen and paper, and Zhang asked puzzled: "Miss Shen, what's the matter, let me write it." ”

Shen Biyao gritted her teeth and said in a weak voice, "No...... I have to write it myself...... It's a suicide note. If I die, the Shen family will have no queen, and all the properties and people of the Shen family will be taken over by Lord Zhang. ”

Shen Biyao insisted on writing it herself, and the maid had to take the pen and paper to the bed and let her write a suicide note.

Zhang Wen's heart warmed, there are so many people in the Shen family, but what Shen Biyao trusts and cares about the most is herself. At this time, Shen Biyao called Zhang Wen's name again, and Zhang Wen hurriedly walked to the bed and held her hand.

Shen Biyao rolled her white lips and said, "You get closer......"

Zhang Wen leaned his ear over, only to hear Shen Biyao say softly: "Zhang Wen, have you ever loved me......"

Zhang Wen's heart was sour, and a big tear burst out of his eyes and dripped on Shen Biyao's lips. In his memory, it seems that he has never shed tears, when his mother died, he did not shed tears, he was very sad, and he also wanted to cry to comfort his mother's spirit in the sky, but there were really no tears; When his father died, he still didn't; When I lost Xiaojuan, I was full of pain, shame, and hatred, and there were no tears...... But at this moment, I was caught off guard, as if the sealed thing suddenly burst out.

Shen Biyao stretched out her tongue and licked it, and a smile appeared on her pale face, "Salty, a little bitter...... I didn't expect you to have tears ......"

Zhang Wen held her hand and said, "I'm here to accompany you, if you die, the tablet will engrave 'the tomb of the deceased wife Shen' on the tablet." ”

Liu Yinglian, who was next to her, heard the conversation between the two, her face was wet, and she almost didn't cry, she didn't care about taking out her handkerchief, and wiped her tears directly with her sleeve. Zhang Wen and Liu Yinglian were by Shen Biyao's side, and there were many maids and wives to help. This is a very long process, Shen Biyao has been calling weakly, every time she burns incense, she will have severe pain, this symptom has lasted for several hours.

Liu Ying took Shen Biyao's Hegu, Sanyinjiao, Zhigou, Taichong and other acupuncture points with acupuncture, and took a small bottle for her to smell, sneezing from time to time. After a long time, Shen Biyao began to scream in tears, and her nails sank deep into Zhang Wen's wrist. Zhang Wen gritted his teeth and held back, his wrist was dripping with blood, but looking at Shen Biyao's appearance, Zhang Wen felt that his pain was nothing at all. Liu Yinglian was sweating profusely, busy at the end of the bed, and the maids and maids were laying down their hands and pouring water from the basin. Shen Biyao shed a lot of blood, her face became whiter and paler, and Zhang Wen's heart became tighter and tighter.

After a long time, Zhang Wen felt his hand loosen, and finally heard a cry of "wow", Liu Ying breathed a sigh of relief, raised his head and said: "Girl, the baby's left arm is broken, Mrs. is bleeding too much, and needs treatment, now adults can avoid it first." ”

Zhang Wen said, "Miss Liu must save her." ”

"The concubine will do her best."

Zhang Wen let go of Shen Biyao and walked out of the room. It was pitch black outside, and it was already night, so Zhang asked a maid, "What time is it now?" ”

The maid said: "It's the third watch." ”

Zhang Wen paced around the door of the room, waiting for the news inside, after a meal, Liu Yinglian walked out of the room, Zhang Wen hurriedly grabbed her and asked, "How are they?" ”

Liu Yinglian's face was tired, and there was a wisp on her forehead, "Madame's qi and blood are weak, but it should be okay to recuperate." However, I am afraid that my daughter's left arm will be crippled. ”

Zhang Wen was overjoyed when he heard this: "Saving my life is already blessed by God." I have to thank Miss Liu. ”

Liu Yinglian shook her head and said, "I have done my best for adults, but I can only do this." Today's life-saving grace of the adults can be regarded as a repayment. ”

"I'll go see them first." Zhang Wen turned around and wanted to leave, but Liu Yinglian stopped him again and said, "My lord, slow down, now that Mrs. has rested, let her take a good rest and watch it tomorrow." ”

Zhang Wen nodded and said, "Yes, yes, you are right. He was in a good mood, and when he looked up at the night sky, a curved moon hung in the night sky, the moon was sparse, and the weather was clear.

rested in Meijiawu for one night, and the next day Zhang Wen went to see Shen Baguio and his daughter, who was very cute and beautiful, and the only regret was that one arm might be crippled in the future.

After making sure that the mother and daughter were fine, Zhang Wen put away his heart, said goodbye to Shen Biyao, and rushed to Hangzhou City, where he also had to visit Sun Long, the eunuch who guarded the town. Zhang Wen thinks that Qian Yiqian must also be aware of the contradiction between the two and will definitely find a way to deal with him. The soldiers are fast, and Zhang Wen wants to get Qian Yiqian down as soon as possible.

Zhang Wen is very sure about overturning Qian Yiqian. Now that the celebrant and the eunuch party have made it clear that Zhang Wen wants to clean up the Donglin Party in Jiangnan, it will be very easy for someone from above to support it. The reason why Zhang Wen wanted to find Sun Long was that Sun Long was in the palace of the representative of Zhejiang and the celebrant eunuch, and he communicated with him in everything, so that he could cooperate better in the future; The second persuaded Sun Long to come out and complain to the master of ceremonies and Dongchang, and Zhang Wen could get rid of some responsibility.

Zhang Wen entered the city of Hangzhou, separated from Liu Yinglian, and then rushed straight to Sun Long's mansion.

As soon as someone handed in the name card, Sun Long greeted him, he was wearing a steel fork, wearing a python robe, dressed up in a new way, probably about to go out, and happened to meet Zhang Wen to visit. I saw that Sun Long was in his thirties, tall and thin, with a white face and a narrow face, if he was not a eunuch, he looked like a graceful young master.

Sun Long said with a smile: "Oh, it turned out that Lord Zhang came to visit, and there was a loss of welcome, a loss of welcome." "Sun Long is also a big eunuch, especially on the ground in Zhejiang, he is a third-level official, but he is very polite to Zhang Wen, because Zhang Wen has a relationship with Wei Zhongxian, and I heard that he can also speak in front of the Holy Lady Hak, so Sun Long pays special attention to it.

Zhang Wenzuo smiled and said: "Grandpa Sun is preparing to go out, it seems that it is not a coincidence that the lower officials came." ”

Sun Long walked up and grabbed Zhang Wen's hand, and Zhang Wen suddenly had goosebumps on his body, but he could only endure it, and the smile on his face could not disappear. Sun Long said affectionately: "The prince of the weaving bureau can receive some foreign businessmen, these businessmen are not simple, they are all merchants sent by nobles from various countries to purchase goods in the Ming Dynasty, there are Fusang country, Luzon, and even people who have traveled from the West, this is a big business for the weaving bureau, and the prince called our family to also go over to cheer up." Why don't you go and see it with our family? ”

Zhang Wen's purpose was to discuss with Sun Long how to get Qian Yiqian, but this kind of thing is not urgent, it is better to have some friendship with Sun Long first, Zhang Wen smiled and said: "It is better to be respectful than to obey your fate, but I really want to go with Sun Gonggong to open up knowledge." ”

"Let's go, take our carriage." Sun Long took Zhang Wen's hand and got into the carriage together.

As soon as he got in the car, Sun Long sighed and said: "Haijiang is not peaceful, some people say that the sea is forbidden, but no matter how you ban it, foreigners will still find a way to come to Daming to buy things, and they will cheapen those profiteers for nothing." The expenses in the palace, the princes' money, what kind of money do you don't need? You can't get any money for the war, and you have to make up for it with the emperor's private money, so we can earn a little for the emperor. ”

"Gonggong Sun is right, if you want to talk about loyalty to the emperor, many ministers in the court are not as good as you." Zhang Wen followed Sun Long's meaning and said, "What goods do those foreign nobles need from our Daming?" ”

Sun Long said: "Mainly silk, ceramics. Even the screens and fans are things that foreign nobles compete to compare, just like the Fusang Kingdom, the fans, screens, and displays used by the nobles, as long as they are produced by my Ming Dynasty, they can immediately show their identity. Fusang, Luzon and other kingdoms close to my Ming Dynasty, every year the gold and silver dug out of the mountains are helping me dig up. ”

Zhang Wen laughed, and Sun Long also laughed.

The two came to the weaving bureau hand in hand, and a fat and tall eunuch greeted the door, which was the prince of the weaving bureau, Wang Dali, Sun Long introduced, and the three of them greeted each other, and then walked into the weaving bureau. In the courtyard of the weaving bureau, there are many goods on both sides, silk, porcelain, screens, fans, umbrellas, and jewelry.

Many strangely dressed or strange-looking foreigners were admiring the objects in the courtyard and in the room, some walking around, some stopping to look intently with magnifying glasses.

Wang Dali slapped his slap twice and said loudly: "Distinguished foreign guests, let us introduce you, this is the grandfather of the town guard of Zhejiang, and this is the brother-in-law of the governor of Zhejiang and the queen's mother, Lord Zhang." ”

After Wang Dali finished speaking, there was a rumbling around him, most of those foreign businessmen could not understand Chinese, and the translators were translating separately. After a while, the foreigners understood the introduction, and gathered over to greet Sun Long and Zhang, the way of the ceremony was not to bow, it was very peculiar, there was an old guy who wanted to hug Zhang Wen's face, but Zhang Wen refused, and the old guy didn't seem to be very happy.

Most people first gave Zhang Wen a salute, and then Sun Long, because in their eyes, the minister who held the military and political power of the two provinces and the military power of several provinces, and was a relative of the emperor, was a very powerful figure. It can only be said that they don't know much about the politics of the Ming Dynasty, in fact, if Zhang Wen offends Sun Long, it will not be easy.

"Master Zhang, Mr. William would like to ask you a question, he heard that these gorgeous silks are made of silk spit by insects, he just heard from his friend what he said, and wanted to confirm it, is this really the case?"

Zhang asked a serious question: "That's the case, but it's not a worm, it's a silkworm." You see, in order to give everyone a better understanding of silk, there are some silkworms here. Zhang Wen saw silkworms feeding under the eaves, so he walked over with a few Westerners and said, "Silkworms eat mulberry leaves and spit out white and flawless silk, and silk is woven from this silk." There are several kinds of satin, silk, luo, and yarn, each with its own usefulness...... Look at this outfit, it is made of various silks and embroidery threads. ”

"Oh, sell Gad!" A yellow-headed woman found several sets of clothes displayed under the eaves, and said in intonable Chinese, "It's so beautiful." ”

Zhang Wen glanced at the sets of clothes, the complexity of the workmanship can only be said to be average, his wife Zhang Ying's set of edict dresses is much more expensive than this set, but he said: "This kind of clothes should be woven with gold yarn or gold color yarn as the base, and then embroidered with twisted gold thread and colored silk thread, or embroidered with peacock feather thread and colored thread, the flowers are glamorous and empty, and the brilliance is interesting." If you buy them back home, your lady will fall madly in love with them, and you will not hesitate to spend thousands of dollars. ”

Sun Long next to him was also talking to a few foreigners, talking eloquently: "This kind of silk is of high quality, only the silk from the weaving bureau has such a texture, the price in Daming is only eight dollars of silver, as long as it is transported to Fusang, Luzon, it can be sold for six or seven taels, if it goes to the West, the price will skyrocket fifteen to twenty times." Therefore, doing business with our Daming is only to make money, and there is no loss. ”

A Westerner muttered a lot, and the Han man next to him translated: "Grandpa Sun, this gentleman said that although the profits are very large, the East China Sea and the South China Sea of the Ming Dynasty are entrenched in many pirates, and ships have to pay heavy tolls, and they are also easy to be robbed violently, and the risk is also very great. ”

Sun Long was a little embarrassed and said: "Da Ming is also trying to find a way to deal with this problem, the policy of the imperial court is to pay and appease and use, that is, to let the pirates surrender to the imperial court, so that the customs tariff is legal and reasonable." I believe that in the near future, our trade with various countries will be more pleasant. ”

The Westerner spoke again and translated: "But this gentleman has heard that there has been a rebellion in Fujian Province in China, and there is also a barbarian invasion in the north, how can he still have the strength to manage the sea area?" ”

"This ...... This is a government affair, and we have our own ministers of the court to find a way, and our Weaving Bureau only manages to do business, so that both parties can make money, integrity first, profit second......"