"Is the empress coming back? I'm afraid it's rare to come back." Jia Zhen sighed, "I originally thought that if the empress made me a concubine, our Jia family would be able to benefit from it, and we would be able to think of any good things that come to our Jia family. , but over the past year or so, how is it any different from before? It’s even worse.”
"Father, that's not what you said." Jia Rong said hesitantly.
"Isn't that what you said? Huh, look at how Mr. She is flattering the Sun family's eldest son. He wishes he could just sell the second girl to the Sun family. Isn't it just for the Sun family's 81,000 taels of silver?" Jia Zhen disdained. He said authentically: "Mr. Zheng is a good old man. It's in vain that he still hangs with this foreign minister of the Ministry of Industry. When can't his foreign minister earn 8,000 taels of silver by building bridges, paving roads, building mausoleums, and temples outside?" But what about him? He has a clean face and thinks he has a good reputation, but in fact, people say behind his back that he is useless..."
Jia Zhen's words left Jia Rong speechless. Everyone in the house knew about Mr. Zheng's affairs. It was impossible to expect him to do anything.
The two complained for a while, but the topic returned to their father (grandfather).
"Father, my son always feels that there is something fishy about grandfather's secretive preparations. Could it be that something is going to happen?" The more Jia Rong thought about it, the less confident he became, "How about asking over there?"
"No." Jia Zhen firmly refused, "Xibian'er is still without a master. Neither Mr. She nor Mr. Zheng can make up his mind. It's a pity that Jia Lian is gone. If he is here, let him go to Feng Ziying to find out. Enough."
"How about your son going to Yongping Mansion?" Jia Rong hesitated. He had actually wanted to visit Feng Ziying for a long time, but he had never had the chance.
With the departure of Jia Lian, who was relatively familiar with him, Jia Yun has now completely become Feng Ziying's northern representative of Haitong Yinzhuang, and can even directly talk to Prince Zhongshun, Wang, Tian, Liang and other important figures in the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce. This made Jia Rong extremely jealous.
And Jia Rui also suddenly appeared in Jia's house. Jia Qiang, who used to follow her, now seems to be clinging to Jia Yun, which adds to Jia Rong's inner panic.
He felt that the Ningguo Mansion seemed to be gradually being marginalized. Although the Rongguo Mansion was also very bleak now, after all, there was still an older girl in the palace. After all, Jia Zheng was still a foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry, and the Ningguo Mansion was Bian seemed to be relying solely on the ten or twenty thousand taels of silver dug out from Lai Sheng to rest on his laurels.
Now that something happened about his grandfather suddenly appeared, it really made him and his father panic a little. He didn't know whether it was a disaster or a blessing. He even wanted to open the bag of tips in advance to see what happened, but in the end Still don’t dare.
"What's the reason?" Jia Zhen was also a little moved.
"We still have several Zhuangzi in Beitang and Lutai, next to Tianjin Wei and not far from Yongping Mansion. If the Mongols invade, I heard that Yongping Mansion will be the first to bear the brunt, and they may even go south. If you come from Liangcheng, our Zhuangzi will be in some trouble, so I just want to get some news." Jia Rong thought for a while, "Besides, the two aunts are also in Yongping Mansion. I heard that Feng The uncle is also very fond of his two aunts. It happened that the south sent some pine flower damask brocade, so he used this as an excuse to send it to the two aunts..."
Jia Zhen stroked her beard and nodded. This was a good reason.
There are Zhuangzi in the north and south of Ningguo Prefecture. In the north, there are mainly three or four Zhuangzi in Erbaodi on the Shuntian Prefecture side and on the Tianjinwei side. There are also a few in Baoan Prefecture. Wu Jinxiao is in charge of them. In the south, there are Mainly in Nanzhi, there are also some shops, all managed by Yu Lu's brother Yu Fu.
Generally speaking, if the Mongols come in, they won't be able to defeat Tianjin's border guards. However, since the Mongols are said to be powerful this year, it's unclear whether there will be any changes.
A few days ago, Yu Fu had someone send back some pine flowers and silk brocade. The quantity was not large. He originally planned to send a few horses to the Rongguo Mansion, but now it seems that it would be better to send them to the Feng family as a favor.
"Well, I'm just afraid that people won't look down on these silk brocades." Jia Zhen still hesitated: "I heard that the Feng family's eldest son is now very popular in Yongping Mansion. Even ordinary gentry are afraid of it. Zhi Ruhu, I have an acquaintance in the Tongzhou Yamen, and I once came to Beijing to see if there was anyone who could be connected to the Feng family. He was willing to pay a thousand taels of silver just to set up a connection. I thought about it again and again, but I still didn’t dare to take it. This matter..."
The Feng family is different from the past. Although Feng Ziying's status is extraordinary, it is hard to catch people's attention when looking for products.
"Father, it's just a favor. My son is going to send some gifts to his two aunts, and he also asks to see Uncle Feng. This can be regarded as a filial piety from the younger generation. Well, didn't the south also send one or two exquisite pieces last year? The golden rattan hat and the jade needle coop? Although these two things are just hand-knitted things, they also have a unique flavor. My son heard that the second aunt is used to please Uncle Feng, and he is particularly interested in such different things. Maybe he will give them to him. These two items can still please her, and maybe she can be asked to say a few nice words in Uncle Feng's ear..."
Jia Zhen didn't expect that her son's thoughts were so delicate. She thought for a while and then said: "That's fine, just go for a walk, but don't reveal anything about your grandfather. If you have a chance to meet him, just ask Ask about the situation in the capital, and by the way, tell me about the current situation of Jia Shi Wang Xue's family, and ask him to help give some advice."
"Okay, father, actually my son wants to go to Yongping Mansion, and he also wants to avoid Mr. She. He and the Sun family man are fighting more and more fiercely in Datong, and they have helped to connect many merchants from Beijing and Central China. As for the grandson of the Sun family, although he doesn't know what's involved, his son always feels that it's not safe. The son was unwilling to go the first two times, but he couldn't help it. This time, the pardon master asked his son to make a trip again. I think it’s good to avoid it,..."
Jia Rong revealed her true intention, and Jia Zhen was surprised, "What did you talk about the first two times you went to Ping'an Prefecture?"
"How did my son know? He just took these merchants to meet with the Sun family in Ping'an Prefecture, and then left me aside. My son was so mysterious that he didn't bother to ask more. After they negotiated, my son came back. But the elder of the Sun family was quite generous and never treated me badly, and he also gave me a seal of three hundred taels when he left." Jia Rong said with a smile.
Jia Zhen shook her head, "Brother Rong, I'm afraid you have to be more careful. If you encounter something like this again in the future, hide away if you can. Mr. She is careless, and something might happen."
**********
"Bao Qin wants to see me?" Qingwen was startled and almost knocked out the tea cup brought to Yuanyang.
Seeing Yuanyang coming to the house in a hurry, I wanted to tease Yuanyang about whether he was preparing to enter Feng's house, but unexpectedly, he was stunned by Yuanyang's first words.
"Well, when Bao Qin came back from the palace, he said he was bringing a message from the queen, asking you to go over and ask about the situation."
Yuanyang's expression was a bit complicated, but her heart was filled with fear. Even a servant like her had already felt the turmoil in Rongning's second house in the past few months.
In fact, this kind of situation has been vaguely felt since the Queen Mother's wedding. The Queen's mood was not very good during the wedding, and she met Uncle Feng alone. This situation is rare and even very abnormal.
Theoretically, it is not appropriate for the empress to meet outsiders, especially men. The most she can do is meet Baoyu. Meeting Uncle Feng is definitely out of bounds, but the empress avoided the servants and met alone, and even met her the next day. I met Uncle Feng again at Tubi Villa.
The ancestors, wives and even the gentlemen were all vaguely aware of this matter, but they all remained strangely silent and seemed to have completely forgotten about it.
Now Baoqin came out of the palace specifically to call Qingwen over to understand and explain the matter. This situation has never been seen before.
"Yuanyang, how could Baoqin want to find me?" Qingwen was puzzled, "How could the empress still care about me?"
"This is not something I can know. I won't drink the tea anymore. Come with me quickly. The carriage is still waiting outside." Yuanyang shook his head, "When you see Baoqin, ask her if you have any questions. That’s it.”
"This is inappropriate." Qingwen shook her head.
"Huh?" Yuanyang understood instantly, "Are you going to report to your grandma?"
"Then I must go. If grandma doesn't agree, I can't go to the Jia Mansion. If I go, I can't listen or say anything." Qingwen carefully considered her words: "I am now from the Feng Mansion, not the Jia Mansion. of people.”
Yuanyang nodded, which was reasonable. He looked up and down Qingwen's body, but there was no change. He asked quietly: "Uncle Feng doesn't want your body yet? Why are you still being pretentious?"
Qingwen's face turned red, "Damn it, Yuanyang, why have you become like those shameless little hooves..."
Yuanyang ignored Qingwen's embarrassment. She had an unusual relationship with Qingwen and shrugged her nose, "Don't pretend in front of me. It's no secret that Uncle Feng likes you. Who in the whole family doesn't know? I saw Yun Shang earlier." You look like you have just broken your body, but I didn’t expect you to still be perfect. Didn’t Uncle Feng come back a few days ago? Can you still bear it? "
Qingwen couldn't help but want to tear Yuanyang's mouth apart, "Little Hoof, how can you still run away? Even my grandma knows that there is Hehui Yuanyang in Rongguo Mansion, and the uncle thinks highly of him..."
Yuanyang's face suddenly became hot, but he was also a little surprised, "Don't call me that much. How could your grandma know about me..."
"Huh, don't be so secretly happy but have to be so tough-spoken." Qingwen curled her lips. The two of them grew up together, and no one knew the temperament of the other. "I never hide my affairs from grandma, and grandma never cares." I have to take care of my affairs, but I can also help him handle them. Do you think my grandma can be a jealous woman?"
