Chapter 493

"Thank you for your trouble!"

Madam Qin, Qin Yanwen, sat on the chair and bowed.

"Madam, what are you saying!"

Chai Zhengzheng signaled to Ziteng, who was standing at the top of the stairs.

Ziteng understood, bowed, and went downstairs.

A moment later,

the shop steward was led upstairs again.

"Owner!"

Looking at the steward who was bowing and cupping his hands, Chai Zhengzheng smiled: "Do we have a rare copy of 'Nanyue Guangji' in our shop?"

The steward stood up straight, thought about it with a look of recollection, his eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands: "Back to Owner! We have collected this book! This servant remembers that this rare copy also has the seal of the Bao family of the former Hou Jue of Ruyang!"

Madam Qin exchanged a look with Mama Xiang, who was to the side, without changing her expression.

The shop steward continued: "This book is written about the appearance and habits of birds and beasts in Nanyue, and it also has pictures attached; it is worth a look to understand the customs of Nanyue."

Chai Zhengzheng nodded upon hearing this and said: "Where is the book now?"

"Back to Owner, like other rare books, it has already been sent to the engraving workshop of the family bookstore, prepared for printing and sale! Mm..."

The steward pondered for a moment: "It has been sent to the bookstore for three months; at this time, the engraving should be finished, and printing should have begun."

"Send someone to fetch it," Chai Zhengzheng said.

"Yes."

"Madam Qin, you will have to wait a while longer. Why don't we listen to some music together?"

"It is really... too much trouble for you, Young Lady," Qin Yanwen stood up and said in a sincere tone, and Mama Xiang, who was to the side, also bowed to Chai Zhengzheng.

"Madam, you are too polite, please sit!"

After Chai Zhengzheng finished speaking with a smile, she signaled.

The pipa music from behind the screen on the second floor sounded again.

Fuyi, who was standing beside Chai Zhengzheng, leaned down to her young lady's side, listened to a few instructions, and went downstairs.

Before long, Fuyi brought a stack of books sold in Sibaozhai and placed them on the table beside Madam Qin with a smile.

For more than half an hour,

the little girl beside Qin Yanwen gradually relaxed, and accompanied by Ziteng and Mama Xiang, she read books on the second floor from time to time, and listened to Wei Fangzhi play the pipa from time to time.

"Whoa~"

The sound of Chai Zhengzheng's guards pulling on the reins came from downstairs.

Soon,

a strong woman from the Chai family walked up holding a stack of books exuding the scent of ink.

Chai Zhengzheng, who was sitting behind the table, signaled, and the maid Ziteng, who took the books, first placed a new book on Qin Yanwen's table.

Qin Yanwen touched the cover of the new book, breathed a sigh of relief after looking at the four characters 'Nanyue Guangji' on it, and stood up: "Zhengzheng Young Lady, this woman will take her leave!"

"Madam, go slowly!"

"Wan'er, let's go."

Qin Yanwen said to her daughter.

Chai Zhengzheng sent them downstairs. Before Qin Yanwen left the shop and got into the carriage, she nodded and bowed to Chai Zhengzheng again.

Chai Zhengzheng also nodded, and the maids beside her returned the salute one after another.

The Tan family carriage drove away,

Miss Yun Mu followed Chai Zhengzheng upstairs,

and Ziteng, who was to the side, said in a low voice: "Miss Yun Mu sister, this Madam also took two collections of poems by Li Houzhu and a chess manual, and didn't pay..."

Miss Yun Mu glared at Ziteng.

Ziteng hurriedly closed her mouth.

"A noble family won't be short of ten or twenty strings of cash! Today, Madam Qin is accepting the Young Lady's favor, knowing that money alone cannot repay it. If you say that, wouldn't it make us look like we are haggling over every penny?"

Ziteng nodded repeatedly: "Sister, I know, I won't talk nonsense in the future."

In the evening,

at the Chai family,

in Qiusheng Garden.

In the hall,

Fuyi and Ziteng were holding up a piece of clothing together, looking at Chai Zhengzheng, who was sitting opposite, and said: "Young Lady, we are going to the polo match tomorrow; should we bring this piece of clothing?"

Chai Zhengzheng hesitated: "It looks a bit too bright..."

Ziteng said: "Young Lady, autumn is inherently a bit lonely; if you wear something too plain, it won't show your complexion."

Fuyi nodded repeatedly.

"Then bring it!" Chai Zhengzheng nodded and said.

The two maids carefully folded the clothes, and Miss Yun Mu walked in holding a wooden box:

"Young Lady, this was sent from the Madam's courtyard, saying it is a thank-you gift from the Tan family of the Duke of Anguo's Prefecture; it has already been checked, and there is nothing wrong with it."

"Open it and take a look!" Chai Zhengzheng smiled.

Hearing this,

Ziteng's action of folding the clothes paused, and after giving Fuyi a look, she leaned toward Chai Zhengzheng and Miss Yun Mu.

Seeing Ziteng come over, Miss Yun Mu replied, opened the wooden box on the table beside Chai Zhengzheng, and took out several old and tattered books.

"Old books?" Ziteng asked in confusion.

Miss Yun Mu shook her head and replied: "Rare treasures."

Chai Zhengzheng looked at the rare books in her hand and nodded with deep emotion.

Miss Yun Mu looked at Chai Zhengzheng's happy appearance and said: "Young Lady, I heard before that the older generation of the Hou Jue of Dongchang loved elegance and most loved collecting antiques and rare books, and on top of that, he married off his eldest legitimate daughter in a grand manner, leaving the Qin family's public treasury empty, with only a shiny shell."

"Over the years, the current Hou Jue of Dongchang has secretly sold quite a lot of things; I didn't expect this Madam Qin to still have stock in her hands."

Chai Zhengzheng looked at the rare book in her hand and nodded: "A lean camel is bigger than a horse; the Hou Jue of Dongchang's Prefecture is, after all, something that has been illustrious."

Putting down the rare book and closing the wooden box, Chai Zhengzheng said: "After the bookstore engraves it, send the rare book and the full set of new books back to Madam Qin, and attach thirty percent of the profit from the first edition of the book sales."

"Yes, Young Lady."

Watching Miss Yun Mu prepare to go out, Chai Zhengzheng said again:

"By the way! After His Majesty's birthday, the Northern Liao envoys will leave; for the nine sets of 'Tripitaka' they want to purchase, have the bookstore speed up the process and don't delay it."

Miss Yun Mu replied and walked out.

In the Great Zhou,

the profit from selling books is very high; usually, printed books with a cost of more than one string of cash can be sold for five strings; those with a cost of two strings have to be sold for about eight strings.

And the 'Tripitaka' that Chai Zhengzheng mentioned is a Buddhist book that the Great Zhou spent more than ten years engraving.

The whole book has thousands of volumes, about 48 million characters, and one set costs nearly ten thousand strings of cash; how near ten thousand... everyone can think for themselves.

The Chai family owns the second edition of the engraving blocks, and the Great Zhou only has the Imperial Academy and the Chai family owning the full set of engraving blocks.

Northern Liao is extremely Buddhist, and all Buddhist temples take pride in enshrining the 'Tripitaka' as the greatest honor of the temple; how much money these nine sets of scriptures can sell for when taken back depends on the strength of each temple in Northern Liao.

The next day,

at the hour of Chen (9:00 AM),

the sun was bright,

in the west of the city,

at the Wu Daniangzi polo field.

Because the Empress was present to watch the match,

the high Wu Lou to the side had been sealed off by the Imperial Guard today, and no one was allowed upstairs.

The tents on the field were replaced with curtains, decorated and cleaned, and quite a few fresh flowers in full bloom were placed around.

Outside the wall in the direction of each family's tent, there was not a single person in the trees.

Because it was already filled with Imperial Guards holding guns and swords, and no one could get close.

Outside the wall in the other direction, there were no Imperial Guards on duty, but there were cavalry on alert, and quite a few commoners 'sitting in the trees to watch the ball' in the trees.

Looking from afar at the shimmering silk clothing, one would think that those in the trees were the wealthy people who used to watch the battle from Wu Lou.

Inside the wall stood a row of Imperial Guards.

In the extremely large tent that connected the center and both sides,

exquisite carpets were laid on the ground,

surrounded by guards, eunuchs, and female officials,

the current Empress sat on an exquisite Luo Han chair, with the young Zhao Fang sitting to the side, and several plates of fruit and food were placed on the table beside them.

Chairs were placed on both sides below the Empress facing the polo field; some chairs were empty, and some were occupied, and those sitting there were all wives of first or second-rank meritorious officials and high-ranking officials in the court.

The people in the tents on both sides and further away were also arranged according to their official rank and meritorious title from high to low.

But, slightly different from the previous polo matches,

regardless of official rank or meritorious title, many wives brought girls under fifteen years old to attend today.

"Your Majesty, the wife of the Shen official has arrived with her youngest daughter, Hezhen."

A great eunuch to the side bowed and said while holding a whisk.

"Invite them in quickly."

The Empress said with a smile, and while speaking, she also glanced at Zhao Fang to the side.

Following the great eunuch's summons, a noblewoman soon brought a girl over.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Highness."

The mother and daughter bowed together.

"Madam, please sit."

The Empress said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After the two bowed again, under the guidance of the female official, the Shen Madam sat in a chair, and Shen Hezhen sat on the embroidered stool behind.

After the Shen Madam took her seat, she smiled at the wife of the Huangfu Minister who was to the side: "Old sister, was the journey smooth?"

While speaking,

the Shen Madam also nodded with a smile at the several Duke wives and Hou Jue wives who were looking over from the opposite side.

Following the great eunuch's summons, the tent was soon full of people.

There were also wives who came to pay their respects to the Empress before the tent and then went directly to other tents.

"Your Majesty, the polo-playing children from the Northern Liao mission have all arrived."

Hearing this from the great eunuch,

Zhao Fang's eyes lit up, and he looked out with his chin slightly raised.

"Invite them."

Amidst the great eunuch's summons,

the Northern Liao noble children such as the Lu Long Zhao family and the Changping Liu family walked over together,

stood still, bowed, and said in unison: "Greetings to the Empress of Great Zhou and His Highness the Imperial Prince."

"Rise, all of you!"

The Northern Liao people stood up straight, and the Empress smiled: "You are truly young heroes! This palace hopes to see a wonderful polo match today."

"We will certainly do our best and not disappoint the Empress's expectations."

"Good!"

Hearing this, the great eunuch to the side flicked his whisk and said: "Everyone, please rest and recharge here."

After the Northern Liao people left,

the great eunuch called out again: "Invite the Jin mission to come forward."

Soon,

a group of capable-looking young men walked to the front of the large tent.

Zhao Fang looked at these Jin people with quite a bit of curiosity.

After the Jin mission bowed,

the Empress's smile became even more amiable: "Great Zhou and the Jin Kingdom are allies. I heard that you played ball with Northern Liao two days ago, and each side was injured! Be careful today, and don't hurt yourselves."

The Jin mission bowed and replied in unison.

After Zhao Fang's gaze followed the Jin people as they left, he tilted his head and glanced at the great eunuch to the side. The great eunuch smiled and shook his head at Zhao Fang, saying in a low voice: "Your Highness, the next ones are the several from the Duke of Han and the Duke of Ling's families."

Zhao Fang nodded.

Soon,

amidst the great eunuch's summons,

Han Chengyun led Lu Sanlang, Wei Faqi, and others—who were wearing flowers, headbands, and arm-binders just like him—and walked over.

Looking from afar, Han Chengyun and the others had fair complexions and red lips and white teeth.

When they were closer, it was clear that these young masters from the Duke and Hou Jue Prefectures seemed to have applied a little powder and lightly painted their lips.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Highness, and ladies."

They bowed.

Not only in the Empress's tent, but also in other tents, wives and girls looked over at them.

The girls from various families who followed them either shook their heads in disgust, whispered in appreciation, or asked which family one of them belonged to.

Looking at them outside the tent,

the Empress smiled and said: "You children, be careful on the field; so many people are watching!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After speaking, the Empress looked at Zhao Fang to the side.

Zhao Fang stood up from the Luo Han chair and smiled: "I heard in the palace that you play polo well; today, I want to see for myself."

Han Chengyun and the others smiled, hurriedly cupped their hands and bowed, saying: "Thank you for your appreciation, Your Highness; we will certainly strive for victory."

"Good! Go!"

Zhao Fang nodded with a smile.

After leaving the front of the Empress's tent,

Han Chengyun and the others exchanged happy glances. After walking for more than ten steps, just as they turned to walk into the tent prepared for them, they heard a summons from the great eunuch near the Empress's tent...

What followed was a burst of discussion from the surrounding tents.

Han Chengyun and the others tilted their heads to look,

and happened to see Xu Zaijing, Gu Tingye, and Liang Han walking toward the large tent.

"Hmph! Bad luck!"

While speaking, Han Chengyun walked into the tent.

The curtains around the Empress's large tent were already hung up,

and the wives, ladies, and girls in the tent could see them walking over from very far away.

As a Hou Jue wife, the wife of the Hou Jue of Hou Fu Chang was also sitting in the Empress's tent.

She tilted her head to look at Xu Zaijing and the others walking over in the sunlight outside the tent, and asked the wife of the Hou Jue of Xuanmen to the side in confusion: "Sister, I see that the children walking over are sturdier than the ones just now!"

The wife of the Hou Jue of Xuanmen nodded politely with a smile.

The Chai Madam, who was sitting not far from the Empress, also tilted her head with a smile, looking at Xu Zaijing and the others with great satisfaction, and even glanced at the tent where her own daughter was sitting while looking.

When looking at her own tent, the Chai Madam also saw Wu Daniangzi—the owner of the polo field—sitting below, and Wu Daniangzi was looking at her own son, Liang Han, among Xu Zaijing's group with some anxiety.

Bai Shi tilted her head and also saw Wu Daniangzi's expression, and then Bai Shi proudly and happily exchanged glances with Sun Shi, who was also smiling.

This matter cannot blame Wu Daniangzi for being anxious about her son Liang Han,

it is really because Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye are seventeen or eighteen years old, and for more than ten years since they were young, they have practiced martial arts diligently every morning regardless of rain or snow, and the Hou Jue Prefecture's nutrition has kept up.

So Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye are not only tall but also well-proportioned and sturdy.

But the two of them also study at the Sheng family every day, often indoors without sun exposure, which makes their skin very fair, and after passing the provincial examination, they are full of scholarly aura.

The two have even more of the nobility cultivated by the Hou Jue Prefecture's children since childhood,

plus the youthful spirit of teenagers in the sun,

although they are not wearing flowers,

the two have their hair combed neatly, are wearing brightly colored headbands, and the luxurious clothing tied with arm-binders shows their figures very well.

One can tell at a glance that they are good young men of Bianjing!

Their temperament is much stronger than Han Chengyun and the others who were wearing flowers and powder just now.

Compared to appearance and skin color, Gu Tingye is just slightly worse,

but because of his different growth experience from Xu Zaijing, not having seen battle formations or life and death, the gap in Gu Tingye's temperament is a bit large.

This also makes Xu Zaijing very conspicuous among the few, with a kind of outstanding appearance and temperament that one notices at a glance.

And Liang Han,

is younger,

and doesn't exercise much,

standing next to Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye, he is not only a bit shorter but also a bit thinner, jumping around happily like a monkey.

Most of the noble girls who came today are about the same age as Liang Han,

how will Liang Han find a wife in the future!

How could Wu Daniangzi not be anxious.

After being anxious, Wu Daniangzi resigned herself to her fate, turned her head and sighed, and looking at Bai Shi and Sun Shi smiling proudly, Wu Daniangzi pointed her finger at the two of them in the air with hatred.

The Empress was naturally looking at Xu Zaijing and the others with appreciation and emotion,

and Zhao Fang, who was beside the Empress, couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth at all, his eyes full of the look of 'as expected of the good Jing-ge who saved me and took me out of the palace'.

While thinking about these things, Zhao Fang also glanced at the directions of the Rong and Chai families from the corner of his eye, his smile even deeper between his brows.

(End of chapter)