Chapter 299

Love Shenjing, Rongguo Prefecture, Yingchun Courtyard.

In the third month of the season, the residual snow had long since melted, and the green willows in the garden had sprouted new buds.

The purple ling flowers that survived the winter bloomed in the revived March, and the early returning spring swallows began to shuttle back and forth under the eaves.

The sound of jade fingers tapping on the chessboard in spring clothes, the swallow feathers brushing the willows reflecting the embroidered curtains.

Yingchun sat in front of the chessboard, holding a yellowed chess manual from the former Song Dynasty.

While reading carefully, she occasionally dropped a piece on the chessboard, and then pondered on the chess manual.

Among the sisters in the family, Yingchun is the eldest; Daiyu, Seeing Tan Chun, and others have not yet shed their greenness, while Yingchun has already passed the age of fifteen.

In the past two years, she has grown into a graceful and charming appearance, with cheeks like new lychees, a nose like goose fat, and a pair of bright eyes full of autumn waves.

A light yellow dark-patterned jacket with a collar, set against a graceful and exquisite figure, is very moving.

Jia Cong has been growing taller in the past few years, and the shoes, socks, and outer garments he changed into were all made by Yingchun.

Jia Cong often goes to Yingchun's room to play chess when he has leisure; he has no talent in this way, mostly losing more and winning less, but fortunately, he fights repeatedly despite defeat.

However, this luck is only so much; she was taken to the West Prefecture to be raised since she was a child, and Jia She did not ask about this concubine-born daughter, and they didn't meet properly a few times a year.

And the old and ancient former Song absolute manual in Yingchun's hand was also bought by Jia Cong from a fallen noble son for two hundred taels of silver.

And although Jia Mu took Yingchun to the West Prefecture to raise her, she did not like the eldest son and his wife, and naturally did not value Yingchun much.

Every time Jia Cong returned home from the academy or traveled far on imperial errands, Yingchun would always help him organize his clothes and shoes and calculate the cold and warmth.

It wasn't until four years ago when Jia Cong moved into Qingzhi Studio in the West Prefecture, perhaps because of similar life experiences, or perhaps because of blood kinship, that the relationship between the siblings had been very close in the past few years.

They say that a stinky chess player is the best at playing chess; it seems that it is really not half wrong.

Yingchun is also a concubine-born child like Jia Cong; it's just that she was slightly luckier than Jia Cong when she was a child; after her biological mother passed away, she was taken by Jia Mu to be raised by her side.

Perhaps because there was someone in her heart who made her miss and care about, although she was still a silent character in the past few years, Yingchun lived a more fulfilling and happy life than before.

This chessboard was specially bought by Jia Cong from the East Market and given to Yingchun before he went north.

And Jia Cong's feeling for Yingchun is not just the closeness between siblings, but also a kind of pity that outsiders find hard to understand.

So playing chess and fighting skills in leisure time became something this pair of siblings never tired of.

So he would often collect top-grade chess pieces, chess boxes, ancient manuals, and other things related to Go and give them to Yingchun to enjoy and relieve boredom.

……

Yingchun's wooden and silent personality is inseparable from the environment where family affection has been light for a long time.

And Jia Lian also basically ignored this concubine-born sister, just like when Jia Cong was in the East Road Courtyard, Jia Lian almost forgot that he had a younger brother.

A brand new pear wood chessboard was placed on the chess table, and the corners had been rubbed until they were a bit shiny.

At this time, the maid Xiuju jumped in; as for Yingchun's original big maid Siqi, she was the granddaughter of Wang Shanbao's wife, and she asked to leave the prefecture to marry last year.

Yingchun finally discovered that this brilliant younger brother of hers actually had one item inferior to herself, and she felt somewhat proud in her heart.

He knew that this second sister of his wore simple clothes and hairpins, had average interest in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, but only loved Go, had a meticulous way of thinking, and had good chess skills.

Yingchun knew that Wang Shanbao's wife had harmed Jia Cong back then, but she didn't exclude Siqi because of this; when Siqi left the prefecture, Yingchun also gave her a lot of jewelry and clothes.

Xiuju said mysteriously, "Miss, today the commander of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, it seems his surname is Zhang, brought a matchmaker to the East Road Courtyard to propose marriage to the Miss."

Yingchun's hand trembled when she heard this, and her face changed a bit.

"Where did you hear this nonsense? How did you know about the East Road Courtyard?"

"Xiaodie in the East Road Courtyard is my aunt's cousin; I asked her to help me keep an eye on it, and she just ran over to tell me."

Yingchun passed the age of fifteen last year, the first among the sisters to reach the age of marriage; the Old Ancestor had already asked people outside to pay attention.

It's just that Yingchun is a concubine-born child; noble families generally don't choose concubine-born women as their legitimate wives.

However, some small officials in the Love Shenjing officialdom wanted to curry favor with the Rongguo Prefecture's noble families, and after hearing the news that the young lady of the prefecture was waiting to be married, many people came to propose marriage.

However, Jia She and Lady Xing were both greedy and despicable, and they regarded themselves as the high-ranking family of the Duke, so how could they look down on those poor and sour small officials with no power.

Recently, they have rejected several families, determined to treat this concubine-born daughter as a cash cow waiting to be sold.

Yingchun has an introverted personality, unlike Seeing Tan Chun who is straightforward and bold; she has an unspeakable fear of marrying into another family.

Ever since she passed the age of fifteen last year, the family began to discuss marriage, which made her very uncomfortable; when Jia Cong was at home, she still had some reliance in her heart.

Now that this most intimate brother is thousands of miles away, it makes Yingchun encounter such news, and she feels even more lost in her heart.

She hurriedly asked, "Then did the Great Master and the Lady say so?"

Xiuju giggled; she knew that her young lady was afraid of getting married; every time she heard about these things, her face looked bad, and as for why, she didn't understand.

"Miss, don't worry, the Great Master didn't like him and pushed it off, saying that the Old Ancestor wanted to choose a civil official's son; in fact, he just disliked that the person's official position was small, and he was only a sixth-grade military official."

Xiuju said again, "I heard that the son of that Commander Zhang doesn't know how to read, only knows how to be idle every day, walking horses and fighting chickens; fortunately, the Great Master didn't like him, otherwise it would be terrible."

Yingchun breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Xiuju's words, and then frowned, feeling depressed.

Xiuju looked at Yingchun, "Miss, don't worry, the Great Master has high standards and won't decide on the Miss's marriage so quickly."

"If you ask me, the Miss is so delicate, she should choose a civil official as her husband; only if he is gentle and elegant will he treat the Miss well, preferably as talented as the Cong Sanye, and he looks so handsome."

Yingchun usually treats her servants generously, and Xiuju is a close maid who has served her since she was a child, so there are not many scruples between the master and servant.

Yingchun smiled, "There are not many people like Brother Cong in this world."

Her words carried a faint pride.

Xiuju naturally knew that the young lady valued Cong Sanye Cong the most, and smiled, "That is natural; which of the young masters in the world can compare to the young lady's brother."

……

East Road Courtyard.

Jia She was drinking with two newly married concubines in the side hall; recently, wars have been frequent in the Nine Borders, and the prices of commercial goods in Datong have been rolling up.

The day before yesterday, Jia She shipped another large batch of goods out, and estimated that another sum of silver would be credited next month, so he was in a very good mood to drink today, hugging two concubines and having a great time.

Just as he was proud, Jia Lian entered the side hall quickly, not caring about Jia She's displeased gaze, and hurriedly said:

"Great Master, something happened in Datong, please go to the inner hall to talk!"

Jia She's face changed when he heard that something happened in Datong, and he hurriedly sent away the concubines who were drinking with him and took Jia Lian into the inner hall.

Jia Lian said urgently, "The news just came that Controller Gu was patrolling the border in Datong and caught the evidence of fraud by Assistant Regional Commander Xu of Datong, and he has now been imprisoned."

"I heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Love Shenjing has sent people over to escort this person back to the capital for interrogation; the business we sent to Datong was brokered by this Assistant Regional Commander Xu."

"Although there are other middlemen, it's not guaranteed that the Assistant Regional Commander Xu knows the details and knows that the one doing business with him is our Rongguo Jia family; if so, it will be a disaster!"

"I heard that there are hundreds of tortures in the Embroidered Uniform Guard; even an iron man would confess...."

Hearing this, Jia She's wine was suddenly shocked away, and he paced back and forth in the hall, his face turning a bit pale with fright.

"What should be done, what should be done? You immediately send someone to chase back that batch of goods on the road; it must not be sent to Datong again."

Jia Lian said, "I sent someone to chase as soon as I heard the news; they are carrying goods and can't walk fast, so they will definitely be able to catch up."

"It's just that this won't help; Datong is more than ten days away from the Love Shenjing, and the news we heard is more than ten days ago."

"It is estimated that the Assistant Regional Commander Xu has long been escorted away from Datong; counting the time, he is almost arriving in the Love Shenjing; if he knows the details and confesses us, we won't be able to wash ourselves clean even if we jump into the Yellow River."

Jia She's legs went soft when he heard this, and he fell into a chair; when he first got on this road to earn silver, it was just a small fight and there was no great risk.

Later, he contacted the hereditary commander of Datong, the Sun family, and the business grew bigger and bigger.

The Sun family had been hereditarily operating in Datong for several generations, and their power was deeply rooted in the local area; they could smooth out many troubles, and Jia She didn't have to worry about it at all, and nothing had ever happened.

In the past two years, Jia She had earned silver happily, and the slight concerns in his heart had gradually faded.

But he never dreamed that a Nine Provinces Controller would suddenly appear and go to Datong to patrol the border, and it happened that he found evidence of fraud by this Assistant Regional Commander Xu.

It is very likely that he will be implicated in his private purchase of sea salt, tea, and ironware.

Selling forbidden items for huge profits is a common thing in the Nine Borders, and many noble families behind the Love Shenjing rely on this path to earn silver.

Such things are peaceful as long as officials don't investigate and people don't complain.

But as long as it is exposed a little, it can implicate a whole bunch; the court will definitely punish it severely; not only will he have no good end, but I'm afraid the whole Jia family will....

Just when Jia She was pale and lost, the steward outside came to report that Sun Shaozu, the son of Commander Sun of Datong, had just arrived in the Love Shenjing and specifically came to visit the Master.

Jia She was in a mess at this juncture and had no heart to see guests, and wanted to say that he had something to do and would not see him, but when he heard that it was the Sun family of Datong, his heart trembled.

His own affairs were closely related to the Sun family of Datong; although the name Sun Shaozu was a bit strange, since people said they were from the Sun family, he still had to meet him, perhaps he could find out some news.

(End of chapter)