Chapter 392

Jin Ling, Xinglong Fang, the Jia family's old mansion, west corner gate.

Jin Cai saw Jia Cong bring two girls back to the mansion, a scene that seemed familiar, as if it had appeared before his eyes again.

Two years ago, when Cong Sanye Cong returned to Jin Ling for the first time, he also often brought unfamiliar girls home.

First, he bought a pretty maid from somewhere; that girl had a rouge mole on her brow, was delicate and pretty, and was unusually decent and good-looking, which opened the eyes of Jin Cai and his wife.

That wasn't the end of it; later, Cong Sanye Cong took a trip to Gusu and brought back a stunningly beautiful nun, and they even entered the mansion hand in hand.

But he didn't expect that this time when he came to Jin Ling, the Cong Sanye still couldn't change this strange hobby and brought beautiful girls back to the mansion again.

That eight or nine-year-old girl had delicate features and a tiger-headed, tiger-brained look, which was fine.

The other twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, however, was stunning to behold. Although she was a bit thin and immature, her figure was graceful, her skin was as clear as jade, her brows and eyes were like a painting, and she was born with a top-tier, arrogant rank.

A pair of beautiful eyes were clear and lustrous, deep and dark, like a pool of autumn water, and the waves of her eyes turned, as if they could speak.

Jin Cai and his wife saw her following closely behind Jia Cong, her every gesture full of charm, clever and pretty, radiant and eye-catching.

Even in a big city like Jin Ling, which was rich in goods and people, it was very rare to see a girl who was so standard-looking.

Jin Cai just took a glance and didn't dare to look more.

Although Jin Cai's wife was a woman, she was also stunned when she saw Ling Guan's beautiful radiance.

She just felt that this Cong Sanye Cong had too much peach blossom luck; she didn't know where he found such a person. This little girl was still young now, but if she grew up a few years older, how many people would this appearance harm?

Jia Cong ordered: "Steward Jin, clean up the east wing of my courtyard, prepare new bed curtains and bedding. The two girls will live in the mansion for a while, and I will bring them back to the Love Shenjing with me when the time comes."

Jin Cai hurriedly agreed, but Jin Cai's wife was stunned. This little girl who was pretty beyond words was indeed the Cong Sanye's new acquisition, and he would even bring her back to the Love Shenjing mansion in the future.

Her master really didn't say it wrong, telling her to stop having daydreams; the Cong Sanye had seen too many such women, so where would he have the leisure to put her daughter in his heart?

Jin Cai added: "Cong Sanye asked me to inquire about the news of Second Master Xue. Yesterday I sent a servant to the Xue family's old mansion to ask; their second master went to Nanyue in May to do business.

It is estimated that he will not be back until early September."

Jia Cong asked again: "Are the young master and young lady of Second Master Xue's family in the mansion?"

The reason he asked this was because before leaving the Love Shenjing, Baochai had asked him to bring some personal gifts for her cousin and cousin-sister.

Jin Cai said: "Second Master Xue likes to do business and travel; his young master and young lady are influenced by their father and also like to move around. At the moment, they have all followed the second master to Nanyue.

Their madam also went to Huizhou a few days ago because of her maiden family's affairs. Now there is no master in the mansion, only the steward guarding the gate."

Jia Cong originally wanted to fulfill Baochai's entrustment as soon as possible. Since there was no one in Second Master Xue's family, he had to postpone it for a while.

Jin Cai took out a letter and handed it to Jia Cong, saying: "Yesterday, Second Master from the Love Shenjing sent a letter, which is written to the Cong Sanye."

Jia Cong opened the letter and roughly looked at the content. Although this letter was written by Jia Zheng, it was actually written on behalf of Jia Mu.

The letter said that last time, the Qing Niangzi and Miss Zhen San of the Zhen family went to the capital to pay respects to the Old Empress Dowager and had visited the Rongguo mansion to pay respects to Jia Mu, and the etiquette was very complete.

This month, on the 28th of the eighth month, is the 68th birthday of the Old Qing Niangzi of the Jin Ling Zhen family. Now that Jia Cong is in Jin Ling, let him represent the Jia family to pay birthday respects, which can be considered as returning the etiquette of exchanges between old relatives.

Jia Cong thought that before leaving the capital, Jia Mu did not mention this matter to him. How did she think of letting Jia Zheng send a letter to explain it after he came to Jin Ling?

After thinking about it slightly, he also tasted the reason.

Ever since he was granted a title and established a mansion, although there were Yingchun and the sisters in the family as ties, he and the Rongguo mansion had already grown much more distant.

Such a situation was something he had intentionally done, and even more so because the Supreme Being in the palace intended to divide and differentiate....

Perhaps it was because his status was different now, and his momentum of rising in the past few years was not bad, so Jia Mu did not put on the airs of a grandmother in front of him as before.

But whether it was agreeing to Yingchun's registration in the Count's mansion, or treating Zhi Shao and Ying Lian kindly on a daily basis, it was because Jia Mu did not want this grandson of hers to become a broken-string kite from then on.

She also knew that he had always been not very keen on exchanges with old relatives.

When he was in Jin Ling, two disciples of the Shi family were involved in the Water Supervision Office case and had come to him for help, but were rejected by him, which had caused quite a stir.

It is estimated that she was afraid that if this matter was spoken out, he would push it away to her face again, losing the grandmother's face, so she did not clearly state it before he left the capital.

After he left the capital, she let Jia Zheng write a letter and chase it to Jin Ling to explain this matter to him, letting him have no way to avoid it.

Everyone knew that he had always been harmonious and respectful to Jia Zheng. With Jia Zheng writing it himself, he found it even harder to refuse this matter.

To put it bluntly, it was still the Old Qing Niangzi who cared about face, letting this grandson of hers, who had a loud name and was granted a title in his youth, pay birthday respects to the Zhen mansion for her, which also brought glory to the Rongguo mansion's face.

Jia Cong handed the letter to Jin Cai, who looked at the content slightly and smiled: "In previous years, when the Old Qing Niangzi of the Zhen family had a birthday, we would prepare birthday gifts and follow the human feelings.

Now that the Cong Sanye is such a respectable figure, when he goes to the Zhen mansion to pay birthday respects, the Old Qing Niangzi of the Zhen family will surely cherish it very much.

I will definitely handle all the birthday gifts early, without the Cong Sanye having to worry about a bit."

Jia Cong had always been not very keen on the so-called old relative social interactions, but since Jia Zheng's letter chased him to Jin Ling, the necessary social interactions could not be avoided. He would just go over and show his face when the time came, and that would be it.

Jia Cong and Jin Cai explained a few words about the birthday respects on the 25th of the eighth month, then took Ling Guan and Dou Guan into the corner gate and went all the way through the second gate to his own courtyard.

Ling Guan and Dou Guan were both from poor families; otherwise, they would not have been sold by their parents to the theater troupe to sing and work.

Practicing singing, washing clothes, and cooking since childhood, wandering around with the theater troupe, although they could get enough to eat, they also lived a hard life.

Although the Jia family's old mansion did not have the luxury of the Rongguo mansion built by imperial decree in the Love Shenjing, it was also a deep mansion with a dignified bearing.

Ling Guan and Dou Guan followed Jia Cong through heavy gates. Where they passed, flowers and trees were sparse, emerald and new green, pavilions and houses, magnificent and solemn.

The two little girls had lived in the theater troupe since childhood; the most spectacular houses they had seen were the Jin Bi Garden in Gusu.

But compared to here, that Jin Bi Garden was like an inconspicuous thatched cottage, and this time they had opened their eyes.

Two pairs of eyes kept looking at the scenery they passed.

Whether it was Ling Guan or Dou Guan, they felt that this place was as good-looking as what was sung in the opera; as for why it was good, they couldn't say.

Walking all the way, Jia Cong would tell them about the places they passed: here was a well, over there was a swing frame, and that road around the corner was the closest to the courtyard where they lived....

Moreover, they didn't have to cook for themselves anymore; when the time came, the old woman in the kitchen would send it to the courtyard.

However, these didn't matter much to Ling Guan. To her, this was Jia Cong's home, so this was the best and safest place.

The hesitation and worry that Ling Guan had when she left the theater troupe and left her master and sisters soon vanished in Jia Cong's gentle words.

Jin Cai's wife, out of a woman's selfishness, felt that Jia Cong's behavior was no different from hunting for beauty, and she couldn't bear to look at it, but she just muttered in her heart.

She didn't dare to neglect what Jia Cong ordered at all. She personally went to the mansion's treasury to take brand-new bed curtains and bedding, and directed the maids in Jia Cong's courtyard to decorate the east wing.

Jia Cong took advantage of Jin Cai's wife decorating the room to lead Ling Guan and Dou Guan to the study to rest for a while.

Last time Jia Cong moved to Qu Hongxiu's mansion in Yumin Fang, he had asked Bao Zhu to come back and move his luggage and daily items.

Now the main room was a bit empty, but the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in the study were still very neat.

There were even quite a few books on the bookshelf. Jin Cai knew that he was coming to Jin Ling again, so he moved some from the old master's study for Jia Cong to flip through and relieve boredom in his spare time.

Ling Guan looked at the furnishings in the study, her pair of clear, clever eyes full of curiosity and envy. She was born in humble circumstances since childhood and had to be busy with her livelihood at a young age; where had she seen what a study looked like?

Jia Cong saw the longing in Ling Guan's eyes and remembered that last time she helped him grind ink, she once said that her family was poor when she was a child and had no money to let girls learn to read and write, which was quite regrettable in her words.

This made Jia Cong keep it in his heart. A girl like Ling Guan, who was clever and clear, had a firm and self-respecting heart. In order not to be humiliated by singing brothel songs, she even broke her flower crown and fled.

Such a person's thoughts and hopes must be different from ordinary girls of the same age and situation, such as reading and writing like noble women.

Jia Cong said: "Ling Guan, I will stay in Jin Ling for a while. After I finish my business, I will take you to the Love Shenjing with Miss Zou. There is still a long time before that.

It is quiet here and no one disturbs us. Otherwise, I will teach you to read and write. As long as you know a few hundred characters, you can read the opera scripts yourself in the future."

Ling Guan's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she said happily: "Okay, I have always wanted to learn to read, but no one taught me. Even my master didn't know many characters; when she learned songs as a child, she memorized them bit by bit.

If I learn characters, I can read opera scripts myself and learn many new songs, and I will sing them all to the young master then."

Dou Guan, who was on the side, was envious and jumped up, saying: "Teach me too, I want to learn to read too!"

Jia Cong remembered that in the original trajectory, Ling Guan was somewhat literate, but at that time she was already fifteen or sixteen years old.

Now she was not yet a teenager, and she had not been learning opera for long, so she should not have had time to learn to read.

He took out a stack of rice paper from the bookshelf, selected two hundred commonly used characters, and carefully wrote them in regular script.

The two little girls were very smart. By the time Jin Cai's wife let the maids finish cleaning the east wing and changed the brand-new bed curtains and bedding, Jia Cong had already taught them ten characters.

After correcting their pronunciation, he gave each of them paper and pen and let them learn to write the ten new characters they had recognized.

Because Ling Guan and Dou Guan were newcomers and had no familiar people around them, for the next few days, Jia Cong handled official business at the Firearms Office during the day and stayed at the old mansion at night.

He was prepared to spend a few days teaching them these commonly used characters and letting them get familiar with the environment before returning to Yumin Fang.

Dou Guan was naturally active, so she remembered the characters quite quickly, but she couldn't hold her temper when focusing on writing; she couldn't sit still and often ran to the courtyard to chase butterflies after writing a few strokes.

Ling Guan, however, learned very attentively. She moved into Jia Cong's courtyard and didn't have to be punished to wash clothes every day like in the theater troupe, let alone cook for herself.

Every meal time, maids would send food to the study. Every day, except for reading and writing, she didn't have to do any other chores. When had Ling Guan ever had such a comfortable life?

She felt that after meeting Jia Cong, everything around her was getting better and better. Every time she saw the copybook written by Jia Cong, she couldn't help but put all her heart into it.

Jia Cong only taught for a few days, and Ling Guan recognized more than two hundred commonly used characters and could recite them all. Although the handwriting was a bit childish, almost none of them were written wrong. This talent was considered very outstanding.

Jin Ling, Gongyu Street, Qinyin Pavilion.

When Jia Cong entered the private room on the third floor, Zou Min'er had already brewed a pot of clear tea and filled the teacup in front of him as he entered.

Zou Min'er wore a pine-smoke green monochrome jacket, a thin silk cross-collar inner garment, and a white embroidered plum blossom horse-face skirt. On her dark and shiny hair bun was inserted that old copper hairpin.

Her jade face was fragrant, her brows and eyes were clear and raised, she was clear and stunning, and beside her was the pipa that rarely left her body.

After a period of working together, the knots in their hearts seemed to have temporarily faded away, at least on the surface, it looked like this.

Now, the song ladies of the Qinyin Pavilion and the guests who often came to the pavilion all knew that the private room B on the third floor was reserved for a long time by Jia Cong, the Firearms Office Supervisor.

It was just to meet with Miss Zhou from the Love Shenjing. The matter of the two of them traveling to Gusu together had long been spread through various channels and circles.

Therefore, Jia Cong often entered and exited the Qinyin Pavilion alone, and everyone was already accustomed to it.

Even if someone in Jin Ling city paid special attention to Jia Cong, they would not have unnecessary doubts about his relationship with Zou Min'er.

Because, in the eyes of ordinary people, a talented man and a beautiful woman meeting late, as close as glue and lacquer, was originally the most romantic affair that was easy to believe.

Jia Cong picked up the tea poured by Zou Min'er, took a sip, and said: "Can the Central Vehicle Office in Jin Ling draw out three or four people? I need people who are proficient in the art of investigation and spying."

Zou Min'er thought for a while and said: "Jin Ling is the hub of Jiangnan. The Central Vehicle Office has been operating here for many years. It is still possible to draw out three or four such people. What do you need them for?"

Jia Cong said: "I will arrange fifty people and let these people lead in teams. They need to teach my people the methods of investigation and spying, and then go to Changzhou, Gusu, Songjiang, and other places respectively.

Search for Zhou Zhengyang's tracks and all information related to him."

Zou Min'er was startled and asked: "Fifty people, where did you get so many people!"

Jia Cong smiled and said: "I was ordered by a secret decree to come to Jin Ling to handle official business, so I must be prepared. Do you really want me to do things alone? Even if I were made of iron, I couldn't twist a few nails."

Zou Min'er did not ask much. She had not been in the Central Vehicle Office for a short time and had been carefully taught by Du Qingniang.

She knew that no matter when, one should pay attention to the principle of success through secrecy. Since Jia Cong did not say it clearly, she would absolutely not ask in detail.

She asked: "Will fifty people be too many?"

Jia Cong said: "If I weren't worried about too much movement and attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives, I could even arrange more people.

According to Zheng Xiaohai's description, Zhou Zhengyang and his trusted subordinates landed on Haishan Islet in Changzhou, which is only half a day's journey from Gusu.

Let your people divide these fifty people into several waves, choose this route between Haishan Islet and Songjiang Prefecture, use identities, and search for information along the way.

Once there is a harvest, we can receive the news in Jin Ling within a day."

Zou Min'er didn't believe this when she heard it. Even if it was Changzhou, which was closest to Jin Ling, it might not be reached in a day by fast horse.

Jia Cong said that he could receive the news in Jin Ling in a day, which was a bit out of common sense.

However, she knew that Jia Cong was not a person who spoke nonsense. Since he said so, he must have his own unique method.

(End of chapter)