At the end of the day, the sun was still very hot, so An Ying walked step by step into the shop, leaning against the wall.
The business of the shop is better in summer, so she goes to the shop to help for a while after her shift.
As soon as I entered the shop, I felt a sense of coolness. There are icebergs placed in the four corners. My father bought them from the ice cellar with a lot of money. It costs two taels of silver to use ice a day, but the effect is good. Many people can sit in a shop all day just for this cool breath, and spend a lot of money on food and drink.
She went in, changed her clothes, and then came out to work. Just when she was about to deal with some leftovers, a wind master greeted her and said, "Miss, I'm back from duty and have a rest first. Let me do this little work first. Come." These wind masters are all idle men in the city who have no family or job. In the summer, he fanned wealthy customers in the tea shop, and was nicknamed the "Feng Master". The guests would leave some small money for them or kindly buy them a cheap meal.
There are only a few people who come to Anjia's shop to find work, and everyone is familiar with them. This wind master is a foreigner from the south, named Jiang Acai. When he came to the capital, he couldn't find a job, so he worked as a wind master to fill his stomach. Besides, people are prone to heatstroke in hot weather, and the tea shop is cool, so he planned to wait until autumn. Go to the dock and see if there is any life.
"Is there any new news today?" An Ying was not polite. He was really tired this day, so he sat down to rest and listen to some gossip. These wind masters were the distribution center for gossip information in the city. When they fan people, they naturally hear a lot of news, tell them about the news, and even spread the news.
"The eldest lady working in the Ministry of Justice must have more information than us." Jiang Acai said as he cleaned up. "The most talked about right now is the death of Cheng Shilang and the death of Qi Guogong. There are rumors that both of them were tricked by the enemy. Killed."
Another Feng Master named Cao Meng was holding the half bowl of noodles left by the guest and hiding in a corner to eat. When he heard this, he raised his head and said, "Are you the Minister of Rites? I used to work in the residence of Minister Cheng."
Jiang Ah Cai and the shop assistants all stopped what they were doing. Jiang Ah Cai smiled and said, "Hey, you are still working as a wind master in the house of Master Cheng? That's amazing. Master Cheng also left half of it for you." Here comes a bowl of rice. Hahahaha"
Cao Meng wasn't angry at all and just kept eating noodles.
An Ying was a little surprised and asked: "Are you really working in Shilang Cheng's house? What are you doing?"
Seeing that An Ying was asking seriously, Cao Meng replied: "I turned out to be a painter. I used to accompany Cheng Shilang to paint. Cheng Shilang was obsessed with painting, but his skills were average."
"Hey, you can still comment on Cheng Shilang's painting skills, you are so cowardly. You don't even know how to hold a brush, do you?" Jiang Ahcai saw that An Ying was listening carefully, and couldn't help but criticize Cao Meng.
Cao Meng ignored Jiang Acai at all and continued: "I entered the minister's house in the 15th year of Yongkang's reign. I stayed in the house for three years. In the past three years, I have been living and dining in Cheng's house. Naturally, the eldest lady can go and investigate. "
An Ying nodded, thinking that there was no way to brag, otherwise he would have found out once he checked.
"Then why didn't you do it later?" An Ying asked curiously. No matter what, a painter in the palace of a minister would not be reduced to being a wind master in a tea shop.
Cao Meng sighed, "Besides me, there are three other painters who have stayed in the Shilang's Mansion for three years. They were all staying well, but for some reason, suddenly in the summer of the 18th year of Yongkang, Shilang Cheng became very angry with us. He was so angry. He scolded us for being ungrateful. Instead, we secretly pried into his privacy and caused him a lot of harm."
"Then do you know who it is that spied on his secrets?" An Ying asked
Cao Meng shook his head, "I don't know anything. Then Cheng Shilang not only kicked us out of the mansion, but also prohibited other painting galleries and academies from recruiting us. Gradually, I lost my livelihood, but I was good at painting figures. I often made a living by painting some door-god New Year paintings. Until the winter of the 20th year of Yongkang, I was covered over my head and beaten severely. The group of people seemed to know that they were painters, so they used force on my right hand... .”
An Ying also sighed. It was difficult for the reporting officer to handle this kind of thing. Basically, he suffered the loss of being dumb. But for Cao Meng, this loss basically cost him his life. But why did Cheng Shilang have to deal with several people? The painter takes revenge?
Jiang Acai, who was still a little jealous of Cao Meng talking to An Ying, finally remembered some of the gossip he had heard, "Miss An, I used to beg for food at Chengdong Jiaofangsi. Minister Cheng is a frequent visitor there."
An Ying simply asked the chef to steam a large pot of meat buns, ladle out a few large bowls of rice soup, and asked a few Feng Masters to eat and chat in the yard behind.
"Hehe, the eldest lady is really a good person." Jiang Ahcai had not eaten such good food for a long time, and he rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Shilang Cheng was not a Shilang before. What was he? He seemed to be a deputy commander or something. At that time, he often visited Jiaofangsi."
"Then Mrs. Cheng didn't make any noise? In the past, several officials visited Jiaofangsi, but they asked the ladies at home to take care of them."
Jiang Ahcai ate four big meat buns in one go. Now he wiped the oil around his mouth, took a big gulp of rice soup to smooth it down, and then said to An Yingshen mysteriously: "I used to beg for food at the back door of Jiaofangsi. Squatting in the back every day, I can hear a lot of news. Cheng Shilang likes to order the Hong Xiaoer the most. Hey, Hong Xiaoer is not the number one in the Jiaofang Division, but she is good at painting. "
An Ying found it funny that he even wanted to find someone who could draw. How much did Mr. Cheng love to draw?
"Hongxiao'er's weak Liu Fufeng has to take a breath every step of the way. Tell me what's the point of this kind of paper beauty, it will fall apart after a little tossing." Jiang Ahcai felt that what he said was a bit rude, and he scratched it awkwardly. He scratched his head and said, "Miss, I'm used to vulgar words, please forgive me."
An Ying waved his hand nonchalantly and asked him to continue.
"Later, Mr. Cheng hired several prostitutes one after another. They were all the same style as Hong Xiao'er, and they were tiny and petite. The turtle men in the Jiaofang Division all laughed at Mr. Cheng behind his back because he only liked little beauties with few ounces of flesh when he was young. Hey hey hey”
An Ying couldn't help but think of Mrs. Cheng who was like a door god.
Some of the waiters and the Feng Master nearby intervened: "I heard that Mrs. Cheng is the queen of the generals, so why haven't I heard that there was any trouble?"
"Hey, when you said that, I really remembered something." Jiang Acai said mysteriously: "This thing is absolutely true. I didn't hear it from those turtle men, I heard it myself."
Others held their breaths and listened to him say: "I was sleeping in their back kitchen and heard a woman crying and saying, you are such a heartless man, you married a noble girl in the capital and then you forgot about my useless wife. I would like to go to the capital government office to file a complaint to see if there is any justice in this world."
"Then a man said, I can't help it. Use the money to find a place to live." Then the woman ran away crying.
Everyone took a breath and said, "Who is that man? Is he Mr. Cheng?"
Jiang Acai said: "Hey, I didn't see or hear what Minister Cheng said. How could I know?"
Everyone exclaimed, "You have such an appetite, you've been working on it for a long time and you've got nothing."
Jiang Acai raised his eyebrows slightly proudly: "Listen to me. I don't know Mr. Cheng, but I know Hong Xiao'er."
The waiter on the side said, "You are a beggar and you know Hong Xiao'er. You are a liar."
Jiang Ahcai scratched his head and smiled, "I don't know Hong Xiao'er, but I have heard Hong Xiao'er's voice."
"I also worked as a wind master in the Jiaofang Division. Once I fell asleep in a room with Bingzi, and then I heard a sound next door. Hey, it wasn't what you thought. It was just talking, Old Madam Qin Niang I was training Hong Xiaoer, and Hong Xiaoer responded while crying."
"Okay, what does that have to do with that man?" The waiter was impatient with Jiang Ah Cai's pretense.
"Later, a man came into Hong Xiaoer's room, and his voice was exactly the same as the voice of the heartless man I heard in the kitchen. So the heartless man must be Shilang Cheng." Jiang Ahcai looked around proudly.
An Ying quickly asked: "Did Hong Xiaoer call him Minister Cheng?"
Jiang Ahcai thought for a long time, "That should be the case. It was the time when Hong Xiaoer was booked by Mr. Cheng. No other guests were accepted except Mr. Cheng."
Everyone sighed, "I didn't expect that the dignified Minister of Rites is still a heartless man. Hey, it's just like the story in the storybook."
The young boy listened with great interest, "Yes, yes, this is being played in the tea shop these two days. The heartless man betrays his promise, and the little Taohong travels thousands of miles to find her husband."
