Dressed as Su Peisheng

Kangxi 45 years

On the seventh day of May, Beijing

The bustling Youfang Hutong is full of people, and a newly renovated restaurant is particularly eye-catching.

The bright red silk and satin hung from the high hanging plaque on the second floor all the way to the ground, and the thousand-beating hanging whip circled two big Chinese characters on the side of the road.

At three o'clock, firecrackers sounded, the shopkeeper Ji Hongde stepped out of the house, and pulled down the red silk covering the plaque amidst congratulations, and the three golden characters of "Xilaishun" shone brightly in the sun.

"One mandarin duck pot with chicken soup and sesame sauce, one pound of lamb leg meat..."

"Three tables with charcoal, two bowls of red and white dipping sauce, come, guest officer, give way..."

"Oh, my two masters, please come upstairs to the private room, and the little San'er hastened to greet you..."

After noon, the newly opened Xilaishun is still full of guests and friends. The aroma of pot bottoms wafting from the mahogany windows often makes passing diners stop.

There are red paper characters on both sides of the gate, the opening bonus, drinks are halved, and each table is given four dishes of cold dishes!Clear pot, spicy pot, mandarin duck pot, chicken soup, pork bone, herbal pot, fresh beef and mutton, various seafood from the south, fresh vegetables, old fat tofu...all of them are mouth-watering. saliva.

While Xi Laishun was busy, a group of people in official uniforms stopped at the entrance of the alley, guarding a beautifully decorated carriage.

"Let your shopkeepers come out," said the middle-aged man in the lead, dressed in a fifth-rank official uniform, quite business-like.

"Oh, this is Master Wei of Shuntian Mansion, right?" Ji Hongde greeted the door, and bowed his hands to Wei Liqun.

Wei Liqun was in Shuntian Mansion as one of the five ranks, and although he was a soft-spoken person in the capital, the forces involved behind him should not be underestimated, so he naturally didn't pay attention to these little-known merchants.What's more, he is doing business for the nobleman today.

"Your store has been in arrears with the donation for a long time, and it has been confiscated." Wei Liqun glanced at Ji Hongde contemptuously, "close the store immediately, or don't blame me for being rude."

"Here," Ji Hongde frowned, then took out a bank note from his sleeve and secretly stuffed it into Wei Liqun's hands, "Why should you embarrass the little one, since our store is closed, all the taxes that should be paid have been paid in full .Little San’er, go and bring the receipts from the Yamen to Mr. Wei to have a look at!”

"No need," Wei Liqun threw the banknote on the ground, "Since I'm here today, I must find out why. This piece of land has owed taxes for many years, and the head of the household couldn't afford it, so he resold it privately. It's in your hands. Both the land deed and the house deed have expired, and this place should have been confiscated early in the morning. I think you have been deceived, so I will give you two days, so don't waste your time!"

Ji Hongde pursed his lips, winked at Xiao San'er who brought the receipt, and stepped forward with a smile, "Master Wei is a bit difficult for others. The formalities have been completed before Xilaishun opens. If the house deed, land deed If something goes wrong, the yamen will not issue a certificate and accept the commercial donation. I don’t know if Mr. Wei has misunderstood, if necessary, I am willing to go back to the yamen to confront Mr. Wei one by one.”

Wei Liqun frowned, and when he turned his head to look at Ji Hongde, his face was already showing anger, "I see that you are toasting and don't eat, and you want to eat fine wine! There is a noble person coming today, and I don't want to entangle you more. Take orders—"

"Master Wei," Ji Hongde suppressed his voice and interrupted Wei Liqun, "We Xi Laishun seem to be newcomers, but we are not newcomers to Beijing. We are doing business under the emperor's feet. Who can rely on us? Sir Wei To be so aggressive as soon as you enter the door is to underestimate us."

"Hmph," Wei Liqun sneered, and glanced at the carriage outside the door. The curtain of the carriage was lifted at this moment, and two young men in bright clothes got out of the carriage one by one.

"Oh, my lord," Wei Liqun bypassed Ji Hongde directly, and bowed to the door, "You two, take a look at this location, this facade is the most suitable for your requirements——"

The man at the head had a folding fan in his hand, with calculations unique to a businessman in his eyes, and slightly bent his mouth when he glanced at Ji Hongde, "You are the shopkeeper, right? How about giving you twice the amount?"

"It can't be allowed," Wei Liqun answered first, and looked back at Ji Hongde with a terrified expression, "This store should have been confiscated early in the morning. If the two masters want it, they don't have to go through this kid. Why do you have money?" explain?"

Ji Hongde pursed his lips, looked at the two noble men, and shook his head speechlessly, "Please forgive me, this shop is too small to be the master, and the owner probably doesn't want to sell it, after all, we It has just opened. As for what Master Wei said, there must be a misunderstanding, and the little one is planning to go to the Yamen to confront Master Wei."

"Ninth brother, it seems that people don't want to give face." Another man with a playful face shook his head and sat on the tea chair by the door, "I just said, don't make such detours, these bastards from Shuntian Mansion It's all empty talk, it's better to let people smash the matter directly, why waste time."

Wei Liqun was taken aback for a moment, then he straightened up and waved to the yamen servant at the door, "What are you looking at, seal up this shop for me!"

"Stop!" A rather clear voice sounded on the stairs, and the clerk Xiaosanzi ushered a man in a crow-blue robe and a mink velvet-edged melon cap to come down.

Seeing the person coming, both Brother Nine and Brother Ten changed their expressions slightly.

With a cheerful smile on his face, Su Wei cupped his hands at the two masters, and said in a low voice, "Prince Dun, Jiu Beizi, our master is above, you two please go upstairs!"

After Yinzhen and Yinyu looked at each other, they curled their lips secretly, and finally shed their arrogance and followed Su Wei to the second floor.

Wei Liqun, who was left downstairs, felt chills down his spine, turned his head stiffly to look at Ji Hongde, but was stared coldly at him.

Ji Hongde didn't pay any more attention to Mr. Wei, who had stabbed a hornet's nest, and just smiled and cupped his hands at the guests in the hall, "I'm sorry to bother you, it's because Xi Laishun didn't treat you well. Today's meals are fully paid. I apologize to everyone, and I hope you will patronize me more in the future..."

In the private room facing the street on the second floor, the ninth elder brother and the tenth elder brother stood in front of the screen looking at each other, and neither of them moved a step first.

The fourth elder brother sat behind the round table, gently scraping the tea powder with his hand, while Su Wei stood aside, watching the boiled pot and secretly swallowed.

"Huang Ama conferred titles on you and let you go out of the palace to build a mansion." The fourth elder brother took a sip of tea, looked up at the two of them, "Is it for you to take advantage of your power to bully the common people?"

Yinyu and Yinyu lowered their heads when they heard the words, and the fourth elder brother put the tea bowl on the table with a cold expression, "If I wasn't here today, would you just smash the storefront, snatch the house deed, and take the shopkeeper and the clerk out of the way?" Tossed into prison?"

The ninth elder brother and the tenth elder brother did not dare to say anything. The fourth elder brother smiled coldly, stood up and walked to the window, "I don't care how you mess around in the palace. But now that you are out of the palace, you can't lose Huang Ama's name for nothing." Face. Every time I go back today, I will face the wall and think about it. In the future, if such a blatant and oppressive thing happens, don’t blame the brother for being unreasonable!"

"Yes," Yinzhen replied in a low voice, but did not hear any regret.

Su Wei stood by the table, sighed secretly, and secretly reached out to touch his flat belly.

Wei Liqun was crying, like ants on a hot pot, scurrying around beside the stairs, and the guy who delivered the charcoal bumped into him from time to time, but he didn't dare to get angry.

After waiting for more than half an hour, there was no movement from upstairs. The two nobles from Tianhuang walked down the steps with cold faces, without even looking at Wei Liqun, they directly got into the carriage and left.This time, Master Wei was completely panicked.

"Oh, shopkeeper Ji," Wei Liqun grabbed Ji Hongde, who was busy everywhere, and his knees were so weak that he almost knelt down in the hall, "just now, a small official who didn't know Taishan offended the shopkeeper and a noble person. Please tell the shopkeeper Ji Forgive me, point out the way for the little official, the little official is very grateful, I will never dare to trouble anyone again, I beg you—"

"Hey," Ji Hongde broke away from Wei Liqun, with a rather impatient face, "You just know that the upstairs is a big shot, and you don't have time to talk to you, so be more cautious in the future. For Mr. Shi's sake, we don't want to follow you." Shuntian Mansion is in a dilemma. But it doesn't matter if you take this official position or not. If I were you, I would resign immediately and go back to hiding. Losing anything is better than losing my life."

Wei Liqun turned pale with fright, and bowed repeatedly to Ji Hongde, "I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong, I will go back and resign, and I will ask shopkeeper Ji to help me say a few good words, and I will never dare to It's..."

The carriage driving up the long street was swaying gloomyly, and both Yinzhen and Yinxuan's faces were dark and they were silent.

Seeing that the coachman was almost out of breath, Elder Brother Yin suddenly slapped the cushion and shouted angrily, "What is he? Wasn't he born a few years earlier than us! Concubine De is just a slave, If Empress Xiaoyi hadn't raised him for two years, he wouldn't even be worthy of carrying our shoes!"

"Okay," Yinzhen gave Yinti a glance, "What would my starling think if he heard this? He has the guts to teach us a lesson, so he has to be made a prince again because of Huang Ama's respect. Speaking of it, it's still Starling has been counted by him many times, and we have to bow our heads."

The tenth elder brother snorted angrily, leaned on his chin and pondered for a while and said, "Is there any chance for the starling? I think Huang Ama is also extremely indifferent to the concubine Liang. If the second elder brother ascends the throne in the end, will we Will you be implicated?"

Brother Nine raised his head and glanced at Brother Ten, then leaned against the wall of the car and said, "It's not bad for Second Brother to ascend the throne, but I'm afraid it's not Second Brother or Starling, then we will have no way out."

"Impossible," Yinzheng straightened up in a daze, "Even if Huang Ama valued him, she didn't show any sign of that. Besides, I think he's getting a lot of attention now because second brother is close to him. Huang Ama is looking for someone to assist the second brother."

"Hmph," Yinzhen snorted coldly, and exhaled slowly, "Hedong in 30 years, Hexi in 30 years..."

In the Xilai Shunya room, Grandpa Su shook his arms and ate, gurgling red soup in the mandarin duck pot, Su Wei stuck out his tongue, and poured down two big bowls of sour plum soup that was braving the cold.

"Don't drink something so cold," the fourth elder brother frowned, "It's not like I've never eaten hot pot, isn't it every day in the mansion?"

"Can you be so busy? Even the pot paper here-"

"Swallow it down," the fourth elder brother rolled his eyes and patted Su Wei on the back, "You are the reincarnation of a troublemaker, and you can attract the ninth and tenth children here by opening a restaurant. If the grandpa is not here today, look what would you do?"

Su Wei pursed the corners of his lips and smiled silly, "Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother will not do it easily when they see me. They have to think about the master anyway."

The fourth elder brother smiled coldly, and put the shrimp meat that Su Wei handed over flatteringly into his mouth, "The two of them don't have a brain, and they just plunged into the treasure house with just a few false words from the old eighth." I don’t know how to protect myself in the whirlpool of my life, but now it’s hard to get out.”

Su Wei blinked his eyes, swallowed a mouthful of mutton, and said, "The tenth elder brother's birth mother is the deceased Concubine Wen Xi, and the Niu Hulu family stands behind her, and Fujin's status is also noble. Now the title has surpassed the eighth elder brother. Where is the emperor?" It is definitely very important.”

"Yinji is indeed different," the fourth elder brother put down his chopsticks, "but he is dull by nature and easily impulsive. Although Huang Ama cares about his background, he can't be regarded as a favorite. Otherwise, with the ability of Niu Hulu, Empress Xiaozhaoren , Concubine Wen Xi's bequest, there is also a chance to compete with the second brother."

Su Wei shrugged, then said in a hoarse voice as if thinking of something, "Babeile is able to win over two younger brothers who are so much different in status, so you should learn from him anyway. Master Fourteen Now he is out of the palace to build a mansion, and I haven't seen him getting too close to Babeile recently, you have to express that we are all a family, if you have something to say, just open up—"

"Okay," the fourth elder brother glared at Su Wei, lowered his head and pursed his lips and said, "I asked Zhang Bao to prepare a gift. He just left the house, and it's best for him to keep clean and clean. Shame on the royal family."

Su Wei pursed his lips, turned his head to cook the meat, and didn't say another word.

In the evening, Daliangzhuang in the suburbs of Beijing

The fourth elder brother had someone set up a fire to barbecue in the yard, and all the female family members of the mansion gathered in the inner hall to eat game together, which was rare and lively.Taking advantage of Si elder brother not paying attention, Su Wei pulled Zhang Bao out of the house.

"What are you doing, sneaky?" Zhang Bao was pushed all the way to the back of the wing by Su Wei.

"Hush," Su Wei suppressed his voice, looked left and right, "Where is the gift list you drew up for Master Fourteen? Show me!"

Zhang Bao breathed a sigh of relief, took out the list from his pocket and handed it to Su Wei, "Master has already read it, and I will send someone to deliver it tomorrow."

"It's just a few things!" Su Wei turned the list from beginning to end, "The Fourteenth Lord just opened the mansion, and it's time to spend money. When did our master become so stingy?"

Zhang Baobai glanced at Su Wei, and said in a low voice, "We need a lot of money for the overall renovation of the palace. The Fourteenth Master is still a baby after all, and the emperor gave him a lot of money for settling in. We have to give money first. But the thirteenth master is here."

"Oh, the thirteenth master wants to help, and the fourteenth master can't be negligent." Su Wei frowned, and took out a stack of bank notes from his arms, "This is 2 taels, you can send it to the fourteenth master tomorrow , don’t hang up the gift list, just say that the master gave it to Brother Fourteen privately.”

Zhang Bao was stunned, looked at the bank note, then looked up at Su Peisheng, and said in a rather surprised tone, "Grandpa Su is so generous, your shop is so profitable!"

Su Wei clasped his arms and snorted proudly, "I made 7000 taels from the two spice deals, not to mention the leather business with the silk and satin shop, but this is all I have saved now. It's just getting back the money. Don't tell the master yet, I will ask the master to come back when the money in the family is generous."

Zhang Bao rolled his eyes weakly, and put the banknote into his sleeve, "Hurry up and go into the house, the master will be looking for it later."

The two turned back to the front yard, and as soon as they stepped into the door, they heard Li Fangfujin's loud laughter, "Sister Nian is also impatient. How can the sisters feel at ease by inserting their nephew in so suddenly?"