Chapter 393

Jin Ling, Yumin Fang, Qu Hongxiu's mansion.

In the morning, the morning sun slanted its fiery red light, covering the lush new green plants in the courtyard with a layer of pale golden brilliance.

Although Jin Ling is known as a furnace in midsummer, there are also good times in a day, such as the third quarter of the Mao hour, when the purple energy first rises and the heat has not yet scorched.

It is the best time for martial artists to practice Qi and arts.

In the small courtyard, a vigorous and graceful figure jumped back and forth, two silver brilliance spitting and flashing, surrounding her whole body.

When dancing to the urgent point, the shape of the knife could not be seen, only silver light surging back and forth, cold and murderous, stinging the eyes.

Just at this time, behind the shadow wall covered with vines at the entrance of the inner courtyard, a figure walked out.

Tall and straight, handsome and unparalleled, wearing a moon-white soft silk thin robe, a nine-rhino jade belt around his waist, hair tied with a jade hairpin, walking lightly and slowly.

Qu Hongxiu stopped the knife in her hand and said prettily: "I knew you were back; it's been several days before you were willing to come over."

Jia Cong smiled and said: "There were two guests in the mansion, so it was not good to neglect them too much, so I stayed in the mansion for a few days."

The door of the left wing room opened, and Ke Qing came out to see Jia Cong back. Joy appeared on her face, and she said: "What kind of important guest is it that actually held you back?"

Jia Cong smiled at Ke Qing: "The day I brought her over, she looked quite like someone. You will surely be curious when you see her."

As several people were talking, a rough maid from outside the second gate came to report that Miss Zhen San had sent someone to send a gift.

Jia Cong was surprised when he heard this. How could Qu Hongxiu have any relationship with that Miss Zhen San?

He naturally knew this Third Miss. Last time she visited the Rongguo mansion to pay respects to the Old Madam, she even asked for a piece of his calligraphy.

At this time, the maid brought in an old woman with exquisite clothes, a decent appearance, and neat manners.

Seeing Qu Hongxiu, she smiled and said: "Chief Manager Qu, the shop on Fenghe Street opened today. Our Third Miss asked me to send some thin gifts to express her greetings to Chief Manager Qu."

As she spoke, she waved to the entrance of the inner courtyard, and two rough old women of the Zhen family carried a box inside.

It seemed that the Zhen family knew that there were only women in Qu Hongxiu's mansion, so when they came to send gifts, they were all old women and didn't bring any servants at all.

The Zhen family steward woman saw Jia Cong and was slightly curious, but didn't care much, thinking it was a relative of the Qu manager's family who occasionally came to walk around.

The woman opened the box and said: "Although these are not expensive items, they were all personally prepared by our Third Miss, and they are all things that girls use daily.

Several sets of dresses made of top-grade Shu embroidery silk were customized by the master of Ziyun Pavilion according to the figures of Chief Manager Qu and Miss Qin.

There are also some top-grade rouge and powder, two red gemstone inlaid phoenix hairpins, two marble and rosewood small screens for the desk, and two boxes of ambergris square incense from Japan...."

The woman reported more than a dozen gifts in one breath. Although these gifts were not worth a lot, each one was exquisite and intimate, and one could see the appropriateness and delicacy of that Miss Zhen San everywhere.

Qu Hongxiu smiled: "Go back and thank your Third Miss for me. I will definitely visit her another day."

The woman exchanged a few polite words and then left. Her words and manners were very appropriate. Just seeing such a meticulous steward woman showed the extraordinary nature of that Miss Zhen San.

Jia Cong looked at the gifts in the box with a surprised expression.

He asked: "Sister Xiu, how did you get involved with Miss Zhen San?"

Qu Hongxiu heard this, her eyes turned, and she asked curiously: "Does Brother Cong also know Miss Zhen San?"

In the past year or so, she had begun to pay close attention to the women Jia Cong knew and was close to. Hearing that he had something in his words, she naturally had to ask.

Jia Cong said: "The Jia family and the Jin Ling Zhen family are old relatives of generations. Miss Zhen San visited the Old Madam in the family in the Love Shenjing, so I know who she is, but I haven't seen her."

Qu Hongxiu smiled: "So that's it. I am familiar with Miss Zhen San because of the farm we just bought.

Did you forget? When you first arrived in Jin Ling, I told you about the farm we bought; it was originally the old property of the Zhen family."

Jia Cong naturally knew about this. Before he came to Jin Ling, in order to facilitate his actions in Jin Ling, he asked Qu Hongxiu to buy a farm with suitable conditions in Jin Ling.

As for the purpose of the farm, the Imperial Household Department had specifically issued a secret edict to the Xinchun Firm, which was written very clearly.

After arriving in Jin Ling, Qu Hongxiu told him that she had bought a suitable farm, and this farm was originally the old property of the Jin Ling Zhen family.

At that time, Jia Cong didn't care when he heard it. The Jin Ling Zhen family was a wealthy family and owned many properties in Jin Ling. In the past few years, relying on the sea trade business, it could be considered as making a fortune every day.

Compared with the declining Jin Ling Xue family, the Jin Ling Zhen family had managed the family well in the past few years, and its prestige and wealth were flourishing. The streets of Jin Ling began to jokingly call it "Zhen Half City."

The Zhen family had so many properties under its name, almost all over Jin Ling. It was not strange that the farm Qu Hongxiu took a fancy to was the old property of the Zhen family.

Qu Hongxiu had a special background, was used to the rivers and lakes in her early years, had a clever mind, was careful and cautious in her actions, and had always made Jia Cong very at ease.

Therefore, Jia Cong didn't ask for the details at that time.

Qu Hongxiu said: "Actually, I heard that there was such a farm in the east of the city, but the original owner of the farm was the Jin Ling Du family. I didn't know it had been transferred to the Zhen family.

According to your requirements in the letter, only this farm in the east of the city was suitable; the place was big enough, the location was quiet, there were no villages or people around, and you could get on the official road after walking half a mile."

I asked Wang Dequan to find the Zhen family steward of the farm, but the other party said that this farm had been passed down for two generations in the Zhen family and belonged to the ancestral property, so it would not be sold easily.

However, although this farm had been transferred to the Zhen family for many years, the Zhen family had mainly relied on the sea trade business in the past few years and did very little farm business, so this farm had always been idle.

So I found a middleman and contacted Liu Xian, the chief steward of the Zhen family, to see if it was possible for the Zhen family to sell it.

That Liu Xian said that the family's business was now managed by the Third Miss of the second branch, and it involved the Zhen family's old property, so it needed the Third Miss to nod before it could be sold.

But the Third Miss went to the Love Shenjing to pay respects to the Zhen family elders and would come back in a few days. I originally thought there was no hope for this matter, so I asked Wang Dequan to find a suitable place again.

But I didn't expect that after a few days, Liu Xian, the chief steward of the Zhen family, came to pass the message, saying that the Third Miss wanted to talk to me about the farm.

Although that Miss Zhen San was young, she was an extremely shrewd and capable person.

Later, both sides reached an agreement. Miss Zhen San could sell the farm at a fair price, but she wanted to sell the perfume of the Xinchun Firm in her new shop opened on Fenghe Road.

It was just that the Zhen family and the Xinchun Firm had no dealings before, and now they wanted us to supply 20 bottles of top-grade perfume at the regular price every month as goods for their new shop to sell, and signed a one-year contract.

After one year, both sides would decide whether to continue according to their wishes.

Jia Cong felt a bit strange in his heart. The business of the Xinchun Firm in Jiangnan was becoming more and more prosperous.

In addition to opening special shops to sell, many merchants would also buy perfume in bulk from the Xinchun Firm's main store and put it in their own shops to attract customers.

However, the Xinchun Firm had strictly limited the quantity of such bulk purchases by foreign merchants to avoid bulk purchases that would affect the sales of the Xinchun Firm's special branch shops.

And the limit on the quantity of bulk purchases by foreign merchants was 20 bottles of top-grade perfume per month.

Miss Zhen San was willing to sell the ancestral property. In business, she should have obtained benefits, which would make the Xinchun Firm pay a price according to common sense.

But I didn't expect it to be such a plain and ordinary requirement: supply 20 bottles of top-grade perfume per month, which was completely different from the purchase limit of other foreign sales.

The only advantage over other foreign merchants was that the two sides signed a one-year contract. During these 12 months of the year, the Xinchun Firm must supply regularly.

But after this contract expired for one year, the Xinchun Firm could terminate the contract at any time without any constraints.

Miss Zhen San sold the ancestral property, but only exchanged for conditions with no advantages, which looked like she had easily made a favor.

Jia Cong said: "Sister Xiu, I heard that this Miss Zhen San is very capable. She took over the business left by her father and is not a few years older than me.

A girl who manages the family business to flourish, such a person's abacus in her heart must be very shrewd.

We have something to ask of her and want to buy her Zhen family's property, so she put forward such an irrelevant condition. Don't you think it's strange?"

Qu Hongxiu smiled: "At first I also felt a bit strange. Ke Qing and I have discussed this matter many times.

Miss Zhen San is shrewd, and Ke Qing and I are not stupid girls. We have deduced all aspects of the possibilities. This business has no harm to us, and we are even in an invincible position, so we bought the farm.

Now hearing you say that the Jia family and the Zhen family are old relatives of generations, and she even went to visit the Old Madam in the family in the Love Shenjing, it shows that the relationship between your two families is indeed close.

The Xinchun Firm is actually your industry, which is not a secret outside. Miss Zhen San, who is so shrewd, must know it.

I think Miss Zhen San looked at your face and out of the feelings of a noble family, so she did this business with us.

That one-year contract is just a trick and scene in the business world.

We also inquired about Miss Zhen San outside. Since Zhen Yingquan disappeared at sea, all the business of the Zhen family's second branch has been managed by this Miss Zhen San.

The Zhen family has not retreated but advanced in the past few years, all coming from the hands of this Miss Zhen San. The streets say that she is wise and resourceful, has no omissions in her plans, acts uprightly, and has no strange or evil spirit...."

Although the Jia and Zhen families are old relatives and the relationship is considered close, people's hearts are separated by skin. Jia Cong would not simply understand all her behaviors as kindness.

But everything Qu Hongxiu said was detailed and reasonable, with no flaws. He also thought about it back and forth several times and determined that there was no risk in this matter, so he felt relieved.

Moreover, when the Zhen family's new shop opened, Miss Zhen San, because of a contract with the Xinchun Firm, specifically sent gifts to Hongxiu and Ke Qing, and the intention to make friends was very sincere.

At the beginning, Yingchun told him that this Miss Zhen San was an extremely extraordinary woman, and now it seems that she is indeed somewhat independent.

In the eastern suburbs of Jin Ling, a farm covering more than 40 acres is the largest farm in the suburbs of Jin Ling city.

The whole farm is surrounded by high walls. Inside the farm, there are agricultural facilities such as granaries, drying grounds, mills, and silkworm rooms, as well as many orderly houses and pavilions.

And from the tributary of the Qinhuai River flowing through the east of the city, living water is introduced into the farm as daily agricultural water, and mountain springs are introduced from nearby mountains as daily living water.

The earliest owner of this farm was Du Hengchang, who came from the once Jin Ling noble family, the Du clan.

Twenty years ago, the Jin Ling Du family was a well-known noble family, once on par with the Jin Ling Jia, Wang, Shi, Xue, Zhen, and other big families. Its origin was long, even above other noble families.

Since the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Du family had been a family of scholars and officials, producing many civil officials and high-ranking officials, and the family learning had been passed down, which could not be compared by ordinary noble families.

Since the Northern Yuan invaded and swallowed the north of the Yangtze River, the Han scholar families moved south one after another to avoid the chaos of war, thus opening the heavy-colored, big-book-written, more than 100-year-long south-crossing defense of the country in the Great Zhou history books.

At the end of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court was weak and corrupt, and heroes from all over the place swarmed up.

In the Jiangnan land, the beacon smoke rose everywhere, and the heroes from all sides resisted the rampant invasion of the Northern Yuan and never stopped the separatist fighting.

The banner of the king changed on the city wall, and the country changed several times south of the Yangtze River.

The ancestors of the Du family were in troubled times. Although they had the idea of helping the common people, they had no strategy to save the world from being upside down, so they took the disciples of the family out of the official career and hid in the folk.

The Du family disciples read books to clarify their ambitions when they were young, and followed their elders to do business and manage the world after they became adults, completely changing a way of living. As for the deep meaning, because of the long time, it has long been unknown to people.

By the time the Great Zhou Taizu established the Central Plains and reshaped the Han family imperial power and orthodoxy, the Du family continued to develop for decades, took root in Jin Ling, and became a local noble family in Jin Ling.

The history of the Du family can be traced back further than the Jia, Wang, Shi, Xue, and other noble families who rose and flourished with the establishment of the Great Zhou. Its foundation and accumulation were much deeper.

But it was such a noble family that had experienced a hundred years of wind and rain. Fifteen years ago, because of involvement in the rebellion of the Hidden Sect, it collapsed overnight.

The two direct lines of the Du family, from the head of the family Du Hengchang downwards, all male descendants, because of collusion with the Hidden Sect and intention to rebel, were all beheaded and abandoned in the market. All the female relatives were sold as slaves, and countless family properties were confiscated and divided.

A noble family that once shone in Jiangnan was completely annihilated from the world.

More than ten years have passed. Except for the older generation in Jin Ling who still remember that there was such a magnificent noble family, many of the younger generation do not know the existence of the Du family.

On the official road to the eastern suburbs, a carriage is galloping. Qu Hongxiu is accompanying Jia Cong to this newly bought farm.

Since Qu Hongxiu left the Love Shenjing, they have not been alone like this for a long time.

The wind blew the carriage curtain and rushed into the carriage, carrying the breath of grass and trees in the suburbs, as well as the elegant and alluring daughter's fragrance on Qu Hongxiu.

Such a warm and romantic time alone should really say some warm and intimate words.

If we don't count the two years Qu Hongxiu spent in Jin Ling, among the women Jia Cong knows, Qu Hongxiu can be considered the woman who has been most intimate with Jia Cong.

Even Ke Qing felt that their actions when teaching and passing on skills did not count the suspicion of men and women and were too unscrupulous....

Perhaps it was because of this strange intimate relationship that when Jia Cong and Qu Hongxiu were together, they often ignored that she was also a moving woman in her prime.

Perhaps it was because Qu Hongxiu was too independent and capable, just as Bao Zhu said, Sister Xiu walked south and north alone, and Brother Cong never worried.

Instead, Qin Keqing looked soft and moist. As long as there was a situation, Jia Cong would rack his brains and come up with a bunch of tricks to help her get out of trouble.

It was because of such strange reasons that in such a rare time alone, the topic Jia Cong raised seemed careless and untimely.

"Sister Xiu, I heard you say that this farm was not originally the Zhen family's, but the Jin Ling Du family's. Being able to own such a big farm, this Du family should have some foundation.

But I have been to Jin Ling several times, but I haven't heard that there is a noble family named Du in Jin Ling?"

Qu Hongxiu looked back at him, her expression a bit helpless, but she still told him the origin of the Jin Ling Du family.

Nowadays, many people in Jin Ling city have forgotten this once magnificent and glorious noble family. At least Jia Cong had never heard of it before, but Qu Hongxiu knew it very well.

Jia Cong asked curiously: "Sister Xiu, this Du family has never been mentioned before. How do you know the story of this family so clearly?"

Qu Hongxiu looked at him and said: "Did you forget my background? Fifteen years ago, the Du family was reported to have colluded with the Hidden Sect and plotted rebellion, and was ransacked and exterminated by the imperial family.

I also heard my father mention it to others before he died. As for whether the Du family really colluded with the Hidden Sect or was framed, I don't know."

Jia Cong muttered in his mouth: "Fifteen years ago...."

He suddenly thought that fifteen years ago, it was exactly the last year of the Retired Emperor's reign, on the eve of Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's accession to the throne....

The carriage galloped on the official road, on a gentle slope not far away.

A vast and slightly old farm, under the reflection of the blood-red setting sun, looked particularly desolate and stern.

This large farm once belonged to the Jin Ling Du clan, which had disappeared without a trace, and also belonged to the Jin Ling Zhen clan, which is still glorious today, and now it has become the asset of the Xinchun Firm.

Jia Cong bought this farm not simply to accumulate wealth in Jin Ling, but also an important step he planned in advance for his order to come to Jin Ling to investigate and handle Zhou Zhengyang's case.

Just as he said to Zou Min'er, he couldn't do much alone. Even if he were made of iron, he couldn't twist a few nails.

His purpose for coming to the farm today is to draw out fifty people from here.

Cooperate with the Central Vehicle Office agents under Zou Min'er, go to the states along the river in groups, and search for Zhou Zhengyang's whereabouts and related information....

(End of chapter)