Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 124: Aim High

Qiao Lili originally lied that she was shopping with friends, but when she returned to Duke Dingguo's Mansion, she received two posts at once.

One was from Concubine Yun, inviting her to Yunxiao Palace tomorrow. Qiao Lili had returned from Ganjiang, and he was going to give her a gift the next day. It happened that she had left Beijing for something, so as soon as she came back, she posted a message to invite Qiao Lili.

I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, so you can go.

It just so happened that she also missed Aunt Yun, so she went to have a good chat with her. Since the reunion, Qiao Lili felt that she had transferred part of her attachment to her mother to Concubine Yun.

If she could meet the emperor, she planned to talk to him about sailing on the Gan River. After all, building so many sluice gates would require a lot of silver. She had an idea to raise money these days and wanted to discuss the feasibility with the emperor.

The second post was from Hua Fengchun, the second daughter of the Yongning Marquis's Mansion, inviting her to a tea party three days later.

The Hua family is very lively in spring, probably because his surname is Hua. His family grows many flowers and he loves to hold flower-viewing banquets. There are also many young ladies in his family, so as long as he invites a few more, it will become a small party.

In her previous life, she was always unhappy and had an unpleasant personality. She was not the same type as Hua Fengchun. However, every time there was a banquet, she would send her an invitation and she couldn't miss it. She had to go two or three times a year and bring Bai Rouer with her. Bai Rouer met many noble ladies in the capital at the Hua family's flower-viewing banquets and squeezed into the noble ladies' social circle.

When she was imprisoned in the dungeon, Bai Rouer was negotiating a marriage with the young master of the Pingnanjue Mansion. She didn't know whether it was successful in the end. She was imprisoned in the dark dungeon. Unless Lou Xinyue wanted to tell her, she would not know any news.

According to Qiao Lili's judgment, this marriage would most likely be successful. At that time, Bai Junzhe was the youngest fourth-rank official in the Great Yan Kingdom, and a fourth-rank official with great power. Although Bai Rouer's innate conditions were not so good, after six or seven years of hard work in dressing up, she had the temperament of a lady from a noble family. In addition, she had a cute little mouth, so she was still very popular among the ladies at the banquet.

Qiao Lili was wondering why she hadn't heard about Hua Fengchun holding a peach blossom banquet this spring. After thinking about it, she remembered that Hua Fengchun had gone to visit his relatives in the south of the Yangtze River and should have just returned. It seemed like it happened in the past few months, but for Qiao Lili, it was seven years spanning past and present lives, so her memory was often fuzzy.

She went to Zhenxiayuan to report and brought the prepared Fulingyun cake to her grandmother. She originally wanted to say hello and leave. She had spent a lot of time in the manor outside Beijing today and she was a little tired.

But the old lady stopped her and wanted to talk to her about the renovation of the East Palace.

"They have been living here without making any repairs over the years, and the house has been ruined beyond recognition. They are such heartless people." After the officers from Shuntian Prefecture drove away all the people in the yard, they locked the door and sent the key over.

The old Duke's wife had nothing to do today, so she asked Madam Hui to open the door and go to see the house. "Your brother will come back to receive his title in a while. I'd like to take this opportunity to have a look at him. He's not a child anymore."

My elder brother is already a young man. After my grandfather passed away, he followed my father to Xiguan City. In these years, the brothers and sisters have not had much time to meet.

"I'm thinking of tidying up this house for him to get married. As an old woman, I don't need my grandson's wife to visit me every morning and evening. Let the young couple live their own life behind closed doors for a few years." Qiao Lili thought that her grandmother was really open-minded and loved the younger generation very much. How many people feel that they have grown up from being a daughter-in-law to being a daughter-in-law, so they have already thought about how to set rules for their daughter-in-law.

Especially the older generation, who act domineeringly every day and demand respect from the younger generation. They cannot allow any mistakes. They stare at the younger generation all day long and find fault with them. They wish to punish them if they say something wrong.

But the grandmother let the young couple live their sweet life, and it would be a blessing for anyone to marry into her family.

Why is it that whenever her brother's marriage is mentioned, she feels that there is someone who likes her brother very much, but she can't remember who that person is.

At this time, Madam Hui interrupted, "Miss, you don't know, your grandmother got startled when the door opened, and half of the screen wall collapsed without knowing when."

"Fortunately, Ah Hui supported me. I was so angry that I almost fainted. The words on the screen wall were written by your grandfather, 'Aspirations are high and far', and the word 'far' is gone." The old lady was so angry that she slammed the booklet in her hand on the table when she said this.

"When we go around the screen wall and take another look, we'll see that the paint on the waving corridor is falling off piece by piece, not to mention the porch, pavilion, and rockery. It's really sad to see." Nanny Hui walked behind the old Duke's wife and comforted her.

Afraid that she would get even angrier if she continued, she took over the conversation herself: "I didn't dare let the young lady go any further, and I pulled her back." After all these years, Madam Hui still called the old Duke's wife "Young lady" in private.

Nanny Hui calls Qiao Lili Miss, which is very interesting.

"As soon as the young lady came back, she asked Uncle Zhong to bring the list of craftsmen in the capital, so that she could find someone to repair it."

Qiao Lili suddenly had an idea. "Don't worry, Grandmother. The best house repairman is in the Ministry of Works. I will go to the Imperial Concubine tomorrow and talk to her about finding a few idle people in the Ministry of Works to repair it for us."

"We will try to make it better than when it was first built, to get rid of the bad luck they had when they lived there."

"Will this work? Don't cause trouble for the Imperial Concubine." The old Duke's wife thinks a lot and is afraid that she will be reported to the emperor by the censor if there is any disturbance.

"What's the big deal? It's not in vain. We give them money, they have nothing to do anyway. Besides, the national treasury has been emptied out for disaster relief. They will be happy to make money from you." Maybe if their mansion starts first, there is no guarantee that other mansions will follow their example and ask them for construction. They can earn some money at least, and at least earn their own salary, so they don't have to ask the emperor for money. The emperor is so poor that he wants to ask others for money.

"Let's give it, let's give more." The old Duke's wife had a psychological trauma all afternoon, with the collapsed screen wall in front of her eyes.

The Qiao Bieyuan family is really inhumane. How could the screen wall collapse? It would have cost a little to repair it. How can they be in a good mood looking at the half-collapsed screen wall and the tattered corridor every day? How much money would it cost to repair it?

Is this the idea that since it's not yours, you can just spend it casually, and you'll lose money if you spend a penny on it?

When they reached the entrance of Zhenxia Courtyard, Chuntao stopped Qiao Lili and said, "Miss, the second old lady who went to the Tang family sent me a letter today. I didn't go, and I don't know what to do if she sends me a letter again."

"Sister Chuntao, you're right not to go. She must think you've deceived her. Don't go out during this period. If you must go out, take two useful people with you. Don't get left alone or fall into their trap. That family is not good people."

"Okay, I got it. Thank you, Miss." Chuntao said goodbye and left happily. Chuntao was an optimist and nothing could affect her good mood.

Seeing this, Qiao Lili's mood inexplicably improved.