Chapter 867 Routine Daily Life
Let’s not talk about the right and wrong of Rongguo Mansion.
But on the same morning, Sun Shaozong pulled out his legs with sleepy eyes and called out "Qingwen" casually, only to find that the person he was looking for was actually right under him.
Seeing Qingwen mumbling with her eyes closed and her naked body curled up in the quilt, Sun Shaozong knew that he could not count on her today.
The two maids serving in Xiangling's room had obviously not started work yet.
Sun Shaozong had no choice but to stand up, grab his clothes and put them on randomly.
It has been more than four years since he came here. Except for the first year when he was not used to it, he was almost always helped out of bed by others and seldom dressed himself.
In addition, winter clothes are already cumbersome, so I was a little flustered for a while.
At this time, Xiangling stood up from the small bed next to her, stretched out her hand to grab the clothes on the bedside, and whispered, "Wait a moment, sir. I will get up and serve you."
"No need."
Sun Shaozong, with his chest bare, went forward and pushed her back into the bed, saying without question: "Since you have come, you should take a good rest. I have hands and feet, so can't I put on some clothes?"
Because Xiangling's period came a few days earlier, she simply gave up the big bed yesterday and let Sun Shaozong and Qingwen toss and turn for half the night.
If it were Ruan Rong or You Erjie, they would definitely not agree to it - there was nothing wrong with having sex with a maid, but giving their bed to a maid was a matter of principle in their view.
Only Xiangling, who is simple-minded and has always been on good terms with Qingwen, could be so generous.
It is true that Sun Shaozong boasted a lot, but this piece of clothing is really not that easy to deal with.
Having no other choice, he simply wrapped it up randomly and went to the main room to ask Shi Liu and Fu Rong for help.
However, after another round of chaos, seeing Sun Shaozong had washed up and started to eat with the bright sky in the distance, Ruan Rong came out from the inner room and spread out a floor plan drawn by someone on the table.
While Sun Shaozong was swallowing a goose leg in three mouthfuls, he pushed it towards him and said, "Master, take a look, can we change it according to this pattern?"
The small courtyard where Sun Shaozong lives now, both the main hall and the west wing are full.
Originally half of the east wing was the inner study, and later the remaining half was occupied by his son - after all, he was getting older, and it was not good to spend the whole night listening to lullabies.
Add to that the little maids who take up every bit of space, and this yard really can't accommodate another concubine.
What’s more, Sun Shaozong still wants to marry two girls into the family one after another?
Therefore, the matter of purchasing a "separate garden" in the mansion has become urgent.
In fact, this is not difficult. After all, during the two years when Sun Shaozong was away, his cheap eldest brother bought a three-courtyard house next door. After breaking through the wall, in addition to expanding the plum garden, there are still many houses left.
Since it has only been unused for more than a year and has been well maintained on a daily basis, there is no need for major construction. Just a little redecoration will make it usable.
The floor plan that Ruan Rong handed over showed one of the best courtyards among them.
This was probably the residence of the only son of the previous family. The environment was very elegant and there was plenty of space. It was more than enough for Ping'er and Xing Xiuyan to live in.
However, Ruan Rong did not plan this way.
"If it were up to me, I'd let Sister Xiangling move in, and let Ping'er live in the west wing. That way, there's more space over there, and the girl can have her own room in the future, so you won't be too limited."
"cough!"
"Secondly, Sister Xiangling and Miss Xing are both educated and can get along well with each other."
This sounds like it makes sense.
But Sun Shaozong sensed the sourness and hostility hidden in it.
If Xing Xiuyan and Ping'er move in, it is reasonable and logical that Xing Xiuyan should be given priority.
But if it were Xiangling, there would be no reason for me to let my daughter down.
By then, Xing Xiuyan would have to be relegated to being a concubine, which would be inconsistent with my promise to treat her with courtesy.
Xing Xiuyan, who looks beautiful and intelligent, has brought a lot of pressure to Ruan Rong, otherwise she would not have taken such great pains.
But after all, they are an old couple, and even for the sake of his son, Sun Shaozong couldn't say it out loud.
So he made up an excuse and said, "It's not appropriate. This courtyard is a bit far away, and I don't have the patience to go back and forth - let's find two small courtyards nearby, renovate them, and let the two of them live next to each other."
Seeing that her plan failed, Ruan Rong knew that her intention had been discovered. She felt embarrassed and didn't know what to say. She was even more afraid that Sun Shaozong would be annoyed by this, so she signaled with her eyes and asked someone to bring her son to ease the atmosphere.
Seeing his son answering the question obediently and sitting on the chair like a little adult, Sun Shaozong picked out the non-greasy meat and put it into his son's bowl.
Both father and son ate voraciously, but children have small appetites after all. Sun Shaozong had just eaten about 30% full when Sun Chengyi dropped his bowl and rushed out like a fly.
Soon, the little fellow came again, holding a wooden sword, with his hands on his hips, blocking the doorway, and yelling like the tough guys in the opera: "Hey, you man, do you dare to fight me again?"
This is a sequel to the last time when the father and son were laughing and joking.
After all, he is the offspring of the Sun family. This little fellow is less than three weeks old , but he is more robust than other five or six-year-old kids. He swings the wooden sword in a baby voice, and he looks quite good doing it.
Ruan Rong came forward and called him "little ancestor" and "bastard", and no matter how she persuaded him, he refused to give up his "magic power", so she had to turn to Sun Shaozong for help.
Sun Shaozong chuckled, knocked his chopsticks on the table, and imitated his tone and said, "You kid, I'm eating now. If you are a brave man, sit down first and wait for me to finish eating before fighting!"
These words were very effective. Sun Chengyi asked the wet nurse for a small stool, and stared at his father while he ate, leaning on a knife.
In order to avoid upsetting his stomach, Sun Shaozong deliberately slowed down his eating pace and ate for a full quarter of an hour before he put down his bowl and chopsticks in satisfaction.
Then, without saying a word, he walked up to his son, grabbed him, did a one-armed slow-motion version of Goro Daimon's trick, threw the little guy onto the bed, and walked away laughing.
Then I heard my son's accusing voice from behind: "Mom, Mom! Dad attacked me!"
He even knew how to launch a sneak attack!
Sun Shaozong was getting more and more delighted, but halfway through he felt that he could not favor one over the other, so he went to his daughter's room and used his beard to "wake" her up.
…
However, due to the delay here, by the time they reached the stable in the front yard, it was already too late.
Although Sun Shaozong was late and left early more than once, the situation today was a little special.
So he got on the carriage quickly, ready to urge Zhang Cheng to rush to the yamen.
"My Lord, my Lord!"
At this moment, a man with greasy hair and powdered face suddenly jumped out of the doorway. At first, Sun Shaozong didn't recognize him, but after taking a closer look, he found that it was the beggar chief Hong Jiu.
No, now he is the former beggar chief.
From today on, his new official title is: Hong Jin, Deacon of the Dali Temple's Office.
This sounds very impressive, but in fact it is not even considered as inferior - after all, the official position in the Office of the Secretary is only of the ninth rank.
To put it bluntly, he is just a minor official. Compared with Huang Bin, the captain of the police, his title sounds better, but he may not have as much real power as Huang Bin.
However, this kind of job has already made Hong Jiu overjoyed.
Otherwise, he would not have dressed up like a peacock spreading its feathers and ran to the doorway of the Sun family to wait before dawn.
Seeing him approaching with a big smile on his face and about to flatter him, Sun Shaozong waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, stop talking nonsense here. Have you ridden a horse? If not, I'll lend you one first. Just follow me obediently."
In fact, Hong Jiu came here in a horse-drawn carriage, but after Sun Shaozong said so, he dared not tell the truth. He hurriedly borrowed a horse from the stable, and followed Zhang Cheng's carriage with great energy despite the cold and freezing along the way.
When I say today is a special day, I don’t mean that it is Hong Jiu’s first day on duty.
According to Sun Shaozong's current position, let alone the fact that Hong Jiu was just a minor official, even if he was assigned a seventh or eighth rank official, it would not be worth his while to make a fuss.
There were two real reasons why Sun Shaozong did not want to be late. First, everyone in the Dali Temple had reached a consensus yesterday, and today he should formally submit a letter to the court.
Secondly, in addition to Hong Jiu's new appointment, Sun Shaozong's newly hired advisor Qin Kejian will also take office.
This guy is not like Cheng Rixing of the past, who is very arrogant and conceited. Since you have decided to use him, you have to give him enough respect - even if his recent behavior of extortion is actually not worthy of respect.
Speaking of Cheng Rixing, Sun Shaozong really felt quite regretful.
I originally wanted to persuade him to go to the Dali Temple and be appointed an eighth-rank official in Beijing, so that we could continue the relationship between master and servant.
But after thinking it over again and again, Cheng Rixing was still fascinated by Menzi's desire to become a Bailihou.
After all, this was something that had been agreed upon a long time ago. Since he insisted, Sun Shaozong had no choice but to use his connections to get him a position in the Ministry of Personnel. He would be able to take up the post in a year at the latest.
Of course, he was a juren after all, and no matter how much face Sun Shaozong had, he would never be able to get a seat in a higher or larger county.
No conversation along the way.
After rushing to the Dali Temple, Sun Shaozong got off the carriage and saw that Hong Jiu's face was numb from the cold and his nose was running with snot without him even noticing. Was he still as energetic as before?
However, in Sun Shaozong's view, this seemed a lot more pleasing to the eye.
So he ordered Zhang Cheng to take him to the Office of the Secretary to report, and after he signed in, he rushed to the Zuosi Office.
