Chapter 404

Jin Ling, Fengle Square.

This place is not as noble as Xinglong Square, where the old mansions of the Great Zhou nobles and princes are located.

Since the establishment of the Maritime Trade Office in Jin Ling, it has become a hub for maritime trade in the South of the Yangtze.

Small officials in the auxiliary capital all took advantage of the convenience of maritime trade, and through their family relatives, they all made profits and became rich through maritime trade.

Fengle Square is located in the middle of Jin Ling City, and it is only half a cup of tea away from the Qinhuai River.

It is not the prosperous center of Jin Ling, but it is not a remote place.

It is suitable for small and medium-sized officials who have assets but do not want to be too ostentatious, and it is the most ideal place to live.

A three-entry courtyard with pink walls and vermilion doors in the square is like a speck of dust in the light, appearing inconspicuous among the many official residences built.

The study in the courtyard is full of books and antiques, lingering with a clear, elegant, and ancient atmosphere.

Behind the desk, a middle-aged man with an imposing bearing, a gentle and calm expression, and the Song Dynasty sky-blue glazed tea cup in his hand, flashed with a cold and clear beauty in the morning sun.

Standing in front of him was a young man with a respectful expression and hands hanging down, medium build, ordinary appearance, with half of his little finger missing on his left hand.

"Master, since Jia Cong arrived in Jin Ling, he has been in love with the Zhou lady in the Qinyin Pavilion. I have been following your instructions and have always set up secret posts near the Qinyin Pavilion."

"It has been fine, but yesterday a strange thing happened, which is related to the new Zhou lady in the pavilion."

The middle-aged man's eyes lit up slightly. He knew that this subordinate of his was capable, decisive, cautious, and prudent. Since he would speak out, this matter must have some origin.

The young man continued, "That day, Jia Cong and the Zhou lady returned to the pavilion from the outside, and they also brought five or six little girls with them."

"When they walked to the entrance of the Qinyin Pavilion, a woman selling rouge and powder on the street suddenly stepped forward and called the Zhou lady Qing Niangzi."

"The woman also said that she was a cook in the mansion, and since the mansion was raided, there has been no news of the Qing Niangzi."

"But the Zhou lady denied it on the spot, saying that the woman recognized the wrong person!"

The middle-aged man paused the sky-blue glazed tea cup in his hand, then placed it on the desk, his eyes flickering.

He repeated the key points in the young man's words several times: "Qing Niangzi, cook in the mansion... after the mansion was raided!"

The young man said, "Our people happened to see this scene and felt it was strange, so they reported the matter to me."

"I found out the woman's residence, and because I felt the matter was suspicious, I didn't want to let others handle it for fear of leaking the news, so I went to the woman's house myself."

"After spending some silver, I found out the truth. The mansion that the woman said was raided was actually the Zou mansion of Zou Huaiyi, the Battalion Commander of the Water Supervision Office!"

"She said that the Zhou lady in the Qinyin Pavilion is Zou Huaiyi's only daughter, Zou Min'er!"

The middle-aged man's face was ugly, his eyes became gloomy and sharp, and he said, "The song and music lady who is in love with Jia Cong is Zou Huaiyi's daughter!"

The young man said, "That Zhou song and music lady is ordered by the Ministry of Rites to stay in the Jin Ling Qinyin Pavilion to purchase song and music ladies and female plays in the South of the Yangtze."

"She calls herself Zhou lady to the outside world. Zhou and Zou are homophones. This is covering up her identity."

"I have repeatedly confirmed with that woman. She said that she had been a cook in the Zou mansion for nine years and watched Zou Min'er grow up. She would absolutely not recognize the wrong person!"

"Zou Min'er was originally a noble daughter who did not go out of the second gate and grew up in the inner residence since she was a child. Outsiders rarely knew her true appearance. If it weren't for meeting this cook in the mansion, it would be extremely difficult for others to notice her identity."

The middle-aged man's face was ugly, his eyes became gloomy and sharp, and he said, "Back then, Jia Cong broke into the mansion to take people, forcing Zou Huaiyi to commit suicide in the hall."

"Zou Min'er and Jia Cong have the hatred of killing her father. How could these two be together? The rumors in the streets that the relationship between these two is ambiguous are simply messy."

"Jia Cong is so shrewd, he cannot not know that the Zhou lady is Zou Min'er. This treacherous and shameless youth pretends to be in love with her to confuse the public. There must be a demon in abnormal things!"

The young man thought, "Why didn't you eliminate Zou Huaiyi's wife and daughter back then to get rid of future troubles? Now that his daughter and Jia Cong are together, I fear the risks are unpredictable."

The middle-aged man sighed, "Back then, Zou Huaiyi could be considered a rare capable person, firmly controlling the water soldiers and ships of the Water Supervision Office, connecting with Japanese ronin, and doing the things outside the sea without a leak."

"All the foreign goods obtained from outside the sea were transported to Jin Ling through his hands, distributed to various places, and then sold and exchanged for silver through reliable merchants."

"A person like him, who has such a great connection, would not leave himself a backup, and would definitely leave secret accounts for foreign goods coming and going and distribution."

"To protect himself from standing undefeated and avoid being cleared and silenced one day, this kind of thing is actually tacitly understood by everyone."

"But I never expected that a character like Jia Cong would appear back then. His actions were too fast and strange. He quietly transferred salt soldiers from Yangzhou and surrounded the Zou mansion to take people by surprise."

"It left us with no time or opportunity to take any response."

"After the incident, our people wanted to enter the Zou mansion to search for the secret accounts Zou Huaiyi held, but the Zou mansion was guarded by Yangzhou salt soldiers for three full days."

"Jia Cong and Prince Ning were truly leak-proof. Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Ying Tian Prefecture could not enter the Zou mansion at that time, let alone our people entering the mansion to search for secret accounts."

After the fact, I utilized quite a few connections and learned that the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review had not found any key incriminating evidence from the Zou Fu.

"I once suspected that Zou Huaiyi would leave the hiding information of the secret accounts to his wife and daughter, so I didn't eliminate that pair of mother and daughter at that time."

"I once sent people to the Ying Tian Prefecture prison to take care of them, and even bought the jailer to monitor the movements of the mother and daughter at all times."

"If they had this secret account, they would definitely take it out to the government to protect themselves and atone for their crimes."

"But nothing happened. Zou's wife even died of worry in prison, and Zou's daughter had no response, and was sold to the Teaching Workshop as a song and music lady by the government."

"I think Zou Huaiyi also knew the risks of secret accounts and did not tell his wife and daughter the relevant information directly. I think he must have used other methods to hide it for a rainy day."

"If it weren't for this, and in order not to cause side issues and disturb the Tui Shi Yuan and Dali Temple, Zou Min'er could not have left Jin Ling alive!"

The young man said, "Last time Zhou Zhengyang's incident happened, the Tui Shi Yuan searched and arrested extensively, and our relationships and ears and eyes in the Love Shenjing were almost all destroyed."

"Otherwise, we could have asked about some news of Zou Min'er from the Love Shenjing Teaching Workshop, and maybe we would know why she is with Jia Cong."

The middle-aged man sighed, "Jin Ling and the Love Shenjing are far apart, and it takes ten days for news to come and go. There are too many things that can happen in ten days."

"Jia Cong's purpose in coming to Jin Ling, on the secret edict, is to set up the auxiliary capital Firearm Division, and Zou Min'er's relationship with Jia Cong, on the surface, is under the commission of the Ministry of Rites, using a pseudonym to enter Jin Ling."

"These styles are too meticulous, and even the Ministry of Rites seems to be covering for them. These things are too unusual."

"Being able to do things to this extent, it may not be possible to find news in the Love Shenjing..."

"But one thing is certain, Zou Min'er does not have the secret accounts left by Zou Huaiyi, and she does not know the existence or whereabouts of these things, otherwise Jin Ling City would not be as calm as it is now."

"Originally, she was just a daughter of a criminal official who fell into a cheap status, not worth mentioning at all."

"Now it seems that this woman seems to be not simple, and the risks are unpredictable, which is likely to ruin things!"

Love Shenjing, Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Since Jia Cong went to Jin Ling, Daiyu and Seeing Tan Chun have been living in the East Mansion to accompany Yingchun.

Later, Xiangyun came, and little Xichun also followed Yingchun most of the time. Although the Count's mansion left the male master, it did not lose half of its popularity in the past, and it became more and more lively and happy.

Although the sisters in the mansion were all comfortable, only Baoyu's mood was not very comfortable.

The reason is naturally that the sisters all went to live in the East Mansion, and now the West Mansion is often a lonely ghost all day long.

Not to mention others, even Lin Meimei went, and she was reluctant to think about it, which made Baoyu very sad.

He wanted to go to the East Mansion to find the sisters to play, and even planned to follow suit, asking his second sister Yingchun to arrange a place for him in the East Mansion.

Anyway, the East Mansion is bigger than the West Mansion, and there is plenty of room there. He doesn't care how he lives, as long as he sees the sisters every day, especially his Lin Meimei, that is the most beautiful thing in the world.

Unfortunately, he went to the East Mansion several times, but he couldn't even enter the door.

The small door connecting the back corridor of the East Mansion and the West Mansion is guarded by two matrons every day. It is said that they were bought from the South of the Yangtze by Jia Cong, and they are very responsible.

Every time they saw Baoyu coming, the faces of the two matrons turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

It is said that the Count went out and ordered that there are only women in the East Mansion now, and in order to avoid suspicion, all men cannot enter the East Mansion.

Once Baoyu played shamelessly and came to the East Mansion with Yuanyang, but the two matrons let Yuanyang in with a smile, and still blocked Baoyu outside the door.

Fortunately, although Baoyu was arrogant, his heart was not too dark, and he did not go to complain to the Old Lady immediately, otherwise it would definitely cause trouble.

It was Seeing Tan Chun who got the news. Baoyu was her own brother after all, so she went to the West Mansion to coax Baoyu, and the matter passed silently.

Seeing Tan Chun knew Jia Cong's mind best in her daily life, mostly because of Jin Chuan's matter, feeling that Baoyu had no responsibility, and also disliked Baoyu's idleness.

There is another important point, I don't know if others have seen it, but Seeing Tan Chun knows in her heart that the Third Brother is unwilling to let Baoyu entangle with Lin Jiejie.

The news that Baoyu could not enter the East Mansion also reached Wang Xifeng's ears. Wang Xifeng was also born in a noble family, and naturally knew the rules of men not entering the inner residence.

But Baoyu has been messing around in the inner residence since he was a child, and grew up with the sisters. In the eyes of others, he would habitually exclude the word 'man' from him.

It seems that this word is only used for people like Xue Dashazi.

Therefore, Wang Xifeng felt that Jia Cong was making a fuss, and the sisters in the family were always close to him. He was rubbing his ears and temples, but he was so disgusted with Baoyu, which was a bit like a state official setting fire.

However, the situation in the Jia mansion has changed now. Lady Wang is messing with the talk of Jin Yuliangyuan, and is thinking about letting Baochai help her seize power.

Wang Xifeng is shrewd and thorough, and will not let her power in the Jia mansion fall, so she will naturally not stand on Baoyu's side as before, and at most she will pretend in front of the Old Lady.

Moreover, Jia Cong is now rising, and has undeniably become the leader of the Jia family. Jia Cong is her second branch's own brother, and is the backing she and Jia Lian can rely on most.

Therefore, her mind naturally leaned toward Jia Cong.

She had limited time with the sisters after all. Every time she saw Jia Cong appear, he was with the sisters, so she wouldn't think deeply about it. Anyway, it's always darkest under the lamp.

Therefore, unlike Yingchun and Seeing Tan Chun, who were unusually concerned about Jia Cong's affairs, she saw the unusual things between Daiyu and Jia Cong early.

Therefore, Wang Xifeng did not think too much about the East Mansion not letting Baoyu enter the door.

Moreover, sisters like Yingchun, Daiyu, and Seeing Tan Chun go to Rongqing Hall to greet the Old Lady every day, and often go to Wang Xifeng and Li Gongcai's place to sit and chat.

Every time this happens, Baoyu naturally follows closely to join in the fun, which also resolves some boredom and depression.

At this time, Wang Xifeng would also seize the opportunity to make jokes, ease the atmosphere, and be flexible between the Old Lady and Lady Wang.

She actually turned the awkward matter of Baoyu not being able to enter the East Mansion into nothingness.

There is also a reason for this, that is, Lady Wang has always disliked Daiyu. As for Yingchun moving into the East Mansion, it has long been out of her heart, so Baoyu not going to the East Mansion just happens to be what she wants.

Moreover, Baochai, whom she liked, still lived in the Lixiang Garden of the West Mansion.

As for the Old Lady, knowing that her grandson had established a separate household, it was no longer comparable to the years of being raised in the West Mansion. He wanted to set rules in his own mansion, and these rules could not pick out any major problems.

Since her Baoyu is not too angry, although the Old Lady is a little unhappy, she has to mix it up, and if she wants to beat that kid, she has to wait for him to return from Jin Ling.

Although Baoyu not being able to enter the East Mansion does not look like a big deal, the things reflected are not simple.

Also because of these intricate inner residence tricks, even if Jia Cong is not in the mansion, only Yingchun sits in the Count's mansion, the distinction between the East Mansion and the West Mansion has become more and more obvious.

This morning, because the Old Lady was bored and uninteresting these days, Wang Xifeng called a small opera troupe to open a gong and sing a play in the big flower hall.

This opera troupe performed the newly compiled West Journey play "Pan Si Dong", even the Old Lady, an old opera fan, heard it for the first time.

So she asked Lady Wang to bring Baoyu to join in the fun.

She also asked Yuanyang to call Yingchun, Daiyu, Seeing Tan Chun, Xiangyun, and other granddaughters in the East Mansion, and asked Hupo to invite Baochai and Xue Yima, and everyone listened to the new play together.

The new play was lively, and after one play was sung, the Old Lady's interest did not diminish, and she took everyone back to Rongqing Hall to talk.

After chatting for a cup of tea, Jia Zheng came into the hall with a letter, his face quite proud, saying that the Old Master of the Jin Ling Zhen family had written, and he needed to report to the Old Lady.

Li Gongcai saw the Second Old Master enter the hall to talk about business, so she took the sisters away from Rongqing Hall, and the sisters went to Seeing Tan Chun's room to talk.

On the way, Xiangyun thought that her handkerchief had fallen in the hall, so she turned back to get it, and everyone didn't care.

Only Seeing Tan Chun's bright eyes turned, as if thinking of something, just saying that she would accompany Xiangyun back to get things, and let the sisters sit in her room first.

Daiyu looked back at Seeing Tan Chun's departing figure, her bright eyes flowing, thoughtful...

Xiangyun really dropped her handkerchief in Rongqing Hall, and Seeing Tan Chun accompanied her back to get it, but she had her own thoughts.

Among the sisters, Seeing Tan Chun was the most agile and wise. She just heard the Old Master say that he received a letter from the Jin Ling Zhen family, and she kept the meaning in her heart.

She knew that the Jin Ling Zhen family and the Old Master had not had much contact, so why did they suddenly write a letter, and the Old Master specifically went to tell the Old Lady, it must be something important in the letter.

Moreover, Seeing Tan Chun thought that the Third Brother was in Jin Ling. She had always been most concerned about Jia Cong's affairs, so she couldn't help but associate it. What was said in the letter would be related to the Third Brother?

What she thought was not unreasonable.

Because last time the Zhen family's wife brought their Third Qing Niangzi to visit the Old Lady in the mansion, the Zhen and Jia mansions just had an intersection.

The outstanding appearance of that Third Qing Niangzi Zhen, Seeing Tan Chun still remembered it vividly.

At that time, the Zhen family's wife also wanted to let the Third Brother come out to meet. Since Jia Cong was titled Count, Seeing Tan Chun and the sisters had seen too many similar plays.

This time the Third Brother had been handling errands in Jin Ling for more than a month, and the Jin Ling Zhen family happened to write at this time. Could it be related to the day the Zhen family women visited...? (End of chapter) *** **【405-0】 There Are Really Many Female Demons**