Celebrating the Year of the Fish: A Princess is Not a Concubine[GL]

[Four]

When everyone was gone, the little prince Sun Hao couldn't help but said: "I said Zhou Jinyu, why are you so afraid just now? Who are we brothers afraid of in the whole Chang'an city? He will kill you with just a few words. I was taken aback," he frowned, stared at Zhou Jinyu and said angrily, "Why do I feel that you have become cowardly since you came back from Qianlong Temple as a lay disciple? Could it be possible that you really treat yourself as an ascetic? ?”

Zhou Jinyu glanced at him, sat back on the futon again, and said calmly, "Aren't you afraid that the old concubine will beat you up and shut down your ancestral hall?"

Sun Hao choked for a while, and hummed unwillingly: "Even if my mother beats the board and shuts down the ancestral hall, I still want to get rid of the anger just now!"

Zhou Jinyu laughed at him: "Stupid..."

Sun Hao stared: "What!"

Zhou Jinyu said calmly: "You didn't listen to what the maid said just now. She said that she was going to inform Jingzhao's governor to come over, not to invite Jingzhao's governor to come over..."

"Then what's the matter!" Sun Hao interrupted her, very unconvinced.

Zhou Jinyu explained patiently: "Whoever goes to Jingzhao Mansion to call someone can use 'inform' instead of 'please', don't you think about it?"

Only then did Sun Hao understand: "Oh, what you mean is, that woman has status!"

Zhou Jinyu raised his eyebrows: "And the status is definitely not low. Even when you met the prefect of Jingzhao whose waist was harder than steel, wouldn't you give me a little bit of fluff?"

Sun Hao suddenly said with a little fear: "I said why did I look familiar to the lady in the red fox fur just now? Thinking about it this way, she may be a lady from some aristocratic family. Ah, this is bad, we won't collide just now her?"

"You don't have to worry too much, we didn't offend her just now, and she shouldn't find any trouble with us." Zhou Jinyu said with a smile: "If it doesn't work, you can feel a little bit wronged and become the eldest princess' son-in-law... Think about it, once you become the consort of the court, hey! Who else would dare to provoke you, the young prince Sun Hao of Guining Palace?"

Sun Hao was frightened and said cleverly: "Farewell, I, like you, don't want to have another son for nothing."

Zhou Jinyu: "Hahahaha."

After all the fuss just now, Zhou Jinyu and Sun Hao couldn't drink anymore. The two of them went to the Guanyin Hall to meet Mrs. Zhou's Mrs. Wang. They donated money for the sesame oil, so naturally they were going back .

Zhou Jinyu originally wanted to pay a visit to her master, the abbot of Qianlong Temple, Master Kongzhi, but the little novice said to her with a smile: "Little brother, master has a distinguished guest today, so I don't have time to come and see you." you."

"That's it, then tell Master that I have been here, and I will come to see him another day." Zhou Jinyu had no choice but to give up.

The Qingfeng Nian Rice Shop was built on the East Street of Chang'an City. This street is the most prosperous street besides Zhuque Street. The whole street is full of teahouses and wine shops. There are countless pedestrians and pawns everywhere.

Qingfengnian's business has always been very good, the dignitaries and nobles in Beijing only recognize Qingfengnian's family when they eat rice.

After all, the tribute rice used in today's emperor's palace comes from the rice township in the south of the Yangtze River, and the rice in the Qingfeng Year also comes from the south of the Yangtze River.And those who are officials or rich and wealthy families in Beijing are naturally not short of these few taels of silver, which are more expensive than other houses, and no matter how expensive they are, they will send young men to celebrate the harvest every month to get rice.

There is even a rumor spread in Jingli about this, saying that one grain of high-quality pearl rice in Qingfeng Nian is worth thousands of gold!

Although this is not an exaggeration, rice is really expensive in Qingfengnian. Ordinary people can't even afford half a grain of rice, so they naturally avoid it.

Mrs. Zhou, Mrs. Wang, was on the carriage back from Qianlong Temple, and suddenly said that she wanted to eat soup dumpling from Dongdajie. Zhou Jinyu was naturally happy to buy it for her.

After all, she was recently grounded by her mother Liu's family because of a street fight with Li Wei'an, the son of the Shangshu family of the Ministry of Industry. Now she doesn't need to make excuses by herself, and can just sneak away by buying soup dumplings for the old lady.

She got out of the carriage and went straight to East Street. Apart from all kinds of shops, East Street also has a good place for young masters and flirtatious talents in the capital. Well, Zhou Jinyu just wanted to go there, drink a few glasses of wine and watch some singing and dancing to relieve his fatigue.

When she reached the intersection of Dongdajie Street, she deliberately wanted to go around with her face covered in front of Qingfengnian Gate.Unexpectedly, Zhou Cheng, the old housekeeper of the Zhou family, was rushing out with his robe in his hands, and bumped into Zhou Jinyu who was passing by the Qingfengnian gate as soon as he stepped off the threshold.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." The old housekeeper, Zhou Cheng, was about to apologize when he saw that it was Zhou Jinyu, and hurriedly said, "Fourth young master, you came just in time. Madam just wanted me to go to the mansion to find you."

The wife he was talking about was Qingfengnian's current shopkeeper, the wife of Zhou's family, Liu Wangchen, who was married to Zhou Jinyu's mother.

"Uncle Zhou Cheng, what did mother ask you to do with me?" Zhou Jinyu asked.

Butler Zhou Chengdao: "Madam just asked me to find you. As for the reason... I don't know."

Zhou Jinyu had no choice but to go into the shop with Zhou Cheng. There were a few young men in the shop busy greeting customers, and her mother Liu was reading the account book with an abacus on the counter.

Mrs. Liu's figure is very good. Even though she is already old, her demeanor is not overwhelmed by the traces of time, but more charming than before. The fly in the ointment is that Mrs. Liu needs to walk around the shop all the year round She has been wearing a veil all the time, and outsiders only think that it is because she is a woman and it is not convenient for her to show her face.

But the real reason is only known by the Zhou family.

She was there to cover the horrific scar on the right side of her face.

"Mother, what do you want Uncle Zhou Cheng to do with me?" Zhou Jinyu came to the counter and asked with a smile on his face.

The abacus in Liu's hands kept on, her eyes were only on the account book in front of her, and she said two words: "Wait."

"Hey, come on!" Zhou Jinyu responded obediently. Last time she was punished and grounded by Mrs. Liu, this time she didn't dare to touch Mrs. Liu's bad luck again, and said sweetly: "Mother, you are busy, my son is here Wait here."

Mrs. Liu asked the stewards next to her while she was making plans, "Master Wu's account in West Street was still short of 16 taels of silver in the first year. Let's not count the 800 taels of silver after this year. The 300 taels of silver for the year, should we also settle it for us?"

Liu Shi's voice was not loud, but looking over with lukewarm eyes, several stewards seemed to have been punched, and their faces instantly looked ugly.

"Uh, this..." One of the managers frowned and said: "The shopkeeper, it's not that we don't collect it, but... You see, you know who is in Mr. Wu's family. He is related to Han Da. The general’s family has relatives, if they want to drag money, how can we collect it.”

"That's right, the shopkeeper, it's not that we don't accept it, but that we dare not accept it. Aren't you embarrassing us?" Another manager followed closely.

The other stewards also nodded, showing embarrassment.

Liu suddenly raised her head, stopped the abacus she was fiddling with in her hand, and smiled: "It's difficult? Listen to what you guys think, do you not want to accept it?"

The stewards immediately lowered their heads and said in unison: "Don't dare, don't dare."

Mrs. Liu snorted coldly, and said: "I was able to gain a foothold in this city of Chang'an in the year of Qingfeng, relying on the reputation of a hundred-year-old brand. I have done business until today, and I have never been willing to charge others more than one tael of silver, and I have never been short of catties. I owe half a meter to others. Qingfengnian has come to this day, relying on nothing more than the word of integrity. You come and I reciprocate, and the money is paid. Even though some regular customers are used to combining half a year's rice money together, they have never The reason why the first year's account is delayed until the next year."

Zhou Jinyu saw that her mother Liu Shi was about to lose her temper, so she immediately poured a cup of tea and brought it over. Liu Shi not only didn't pick it up, but also gave her a look, and she pouted and retreated aggrievedly.

Mrs. Liu continued to say nonchalantly: "Qingfengnian gave you a few supervisors' wages, but you have never been in arrears, and you are also talking about integrity, but if you can't handle such small things well, come to me and say It's hard to get paid, I really don't dare to use an incompetent guy like you."

"Here!" The leading steward was terrified: "Young one, I'll go to Master Wu's house to collect the bill. Shopkeeper, calm down."

When the leading steward walked out of the shop, Liu Shi lowered her head again, and the abacus in her hand made a "crackling" sound again.

Her face was covered with a veil, so she couldn't see any emotion, but Zhou Jinyu could feel that her mother was angry.

After all, it was fortunate that the abacus was made of steel balls, if it was made of wood, it would probably be broken by Mrs. Liu.

She waited for half an hour in vain before Liu raised her head, looked at her and asked, "Where did you go today?"

Zhou Jinyu told the truth, deliberately omitting to drink with Sun Hao: "I went to Qianlong Temple to worship Buddha with my grandma."

Liu Shi nodded: "Master Kongzhi is in good health?"

Zhou Jinyu said: "I didn't see Master. The junior brother in the temple said he was greeting distinguished guests, so I came back." Zhou Jinyu asked, "Mother, what's the matter for you to ask Uncle Zhou Cheng to call me over?"

Mrs. Liu picked up the ledger and abacus, walked all the way to the backyard behind the shop, came to the study, and locked the ledger.

Zhou Jinyu followed behind her and tentatively asked, "Is there something important?"

Liu Shi turned around and motioned for her to close the door of the study, and Zhou Jinyu immediately did so.

Mrs. Liu sat down on the finely carved hollow pine chair, and then looked at Zhou Jinyu and said, "This matter is really important. If the old concubine hadn't sent someone over in advance, the Zhou family would have been killed." Difficulty is approaching."

The old concubine, Tian, ​​was the side concubine of the old prince of the Guining Palace, and later helped her upright, and she was also the biological mother of her good brother Sun Hao.

Zhou Jinyu asked curiously, "Mom, what's going on?"

Mrs. Liu frowned, and did not look at Zhou Jinyu: "The empress and empress in the palace are trying to find a son-in-law for the eldest princess, and ask the wives of the princes and ministers outside the palace to help watch out, and the wives will take care of each other with the eldest princess. The portraits of the children of the aristocratic family at a similar age have been handed in. The old princess really has no one to send, so I think of you."

Zhou Jinyu was startled, and pointed to his nose: "Me?"

Liu said helplessly: "The old concubine sees that you haven't married yet, so she has already sent your portrait to the empress's palace."

"How can this be done!" Zhou Jinyu was shocked when he heard the words, and almost jumped up: "The old concubine is also free! She asked me, a big girl, how to choose a son-in-law!"