Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 387: Food and Clothing
Before Master Bi, who was beating Master Huang, could react, he was dragged up, and a bunch of walnuts were stuffed into his mouth, and then he was tied up like a dumpling. Master Huang on the ground was gasping for breath like a dead dog. When he was pulled up, even though his mouth was gagged and he was tied up and taken away, he didn't even struggle a little.
Zhang Shou watched the two men being dragged away one after another. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Zhu Tingfang say, "I was just planning to catch this smart guy, but I didn't expect you to get there first. I heard that you even tricked him into revealing how much money he had on him in public. This trick of yours is a bloodless murder!"
"Who made him want to regain his lost face after offending Yingying, jumping up and down in Cangzhou City?" Zhang Shou laughed and casually recounted the conversation between Master Bi and Manager Hua that Xiaohuasheng heard in Hua's Silk Shop. As for whether the two people's retelling of the incident would be completely distorted, he was naturally not worried, because Zhu Tingfang still had the ability to judge.
He paused for a moment, then said nonchalantly, "However, today was really a bit too coincidental. Not only did I run into both of them, but they were also taken to the county government office, and they were actually related to me. This is really strange."
"The first case was that Shopkeeper Hua took the initiative to send someone to see me to report it. You just happened to say that you were going there today, so I told him something, and that's why you happened to run into him."
Zhu Tingfang readily explained the origin of the first coincidence, and then laughed, "As for you bumping into this prefect's son, it's because your chances of running into trouble are too high. I heard that you ran into him smashing a cup on Jile Street last time?"
Zhang Shou didn't expect that his future brother-in-law would make such a joke, and he immediately retorted: "The last time I ran into him, I have to ask Cao Wu, the one you recommended as a guide for me."
"This guy is interesting. He was recommended to me by Yingying. He also has some influence on many escort agencies and martial arts schools. Of course I have to use him. He brought you to see Huang Wei, most likely just to remind you that there is such a person stirring up trouble. Of course, even if he wasn't there, those two idiots were so blatantly jumping around. Do they think I'm blind and deaf?"
At this point, Zhu Tingfang said calmly: "The two of them will be locked up in a cell and allowed to fight each other! After two days, I will send them directly to the capital in a prison cart and have the Hejian prefect go to the capital to file a complaint!"
The elder brother-in-law is really ruthless! Zhang Shou muttered in his heart again, but since Zhu Tingfang didn't ask how the talk with Shopkeeper Hua went, he was happy to delay it for the time being. After all, although the businessman from Luzhou took on a lot of responsibility, he hadn't agreed yet, so there was no follow-up, just like the progress he made with Shopkeeper Hua today.
When the court had not yet reached a final decision on the matter, he certainly could not speak too confidently to others. Of course, whether these people would exert their full strength in the court after knowing it was another question.
When he came out of the lobby, he saw Ah Liu talking to Peanut at the bottom of the stairs. The little guy had obviously just come back and was wiping his sweat with his sleeves. But it seemed that he realized that he was wearing silk and it would ruin his good clothes. His movements froze. When he saw him coming down the stairs, Peanut was so embarrassed that his face turned red.
"What are you talking about in the hot sun? Come on, go back to your room first. Look at you two, your faces are all red!"
When Xiao Huasheng saw that Zhang Shou did not scold him for wasting things, but only said that it was hot, he was immediately grateful. After seeing Ah Liu follow him, he hurriedly followed him. As for the incident today when he was riding back and almost bumped into someone and fell because of his clumsy movements, he wanted to hide it, but he finally told it hesitantly.
"You didn't hit anyone, and you weren't hurt either?" Zhang Shou asked. Seeing Xiao Huasheng nodding repeatedly, he smiled and said, "That's fine. It's not a big deal. From now on, the horse will be yours to ride for the time being. Remember to practice riding it around the county government office. It's a very docile horse, and you'll be fine once you get used to it."
Upon learning that the horse was temporarily his, Peanut was overjoyed and thanked him again and again. At least he remembered his business, and was afraid that the runners and clerks would hear him when he talked about it on the road, so he held back until he got into the room, then he couldn't wait to say, "The cloth shop in Songjiang is too expensive, no wonder its business is not good at all."
"Oh?" Zhang Shou was a little surprised. "Why is it not good?"
"I was wearing silk clothes and riding a tall horse. As soon as I stopped in front of the door, the shop assistants and the shopkeeper immediately surrounded me and were very attentive and polite!" Peanut described vividly. "At first I thought they knew I followed you out of the silk and satin shop, but later I found that there were many people coming and going in front of the store, but no one came in to look at the cloth! The shop assistants and the shopkeepers all complained that business was not good."
He paused, sorted out his thoughts, and then continued, "They said that to open a shop in Jile Street, the rent would cost dozens of strings of cash a month. Moreover, their shop is large, with many employees, and the expenses are huge. However, the cotton cloth is shipped from Songjiang Prefecture, and only rich people can afford it when making underwear. They can't even sell dozens of pieces a month."
"So, if we continue like this, we will have to close down. The two assistants were hired locally, and they looked worried when they talked about the possibility of losing their jobs. The shopkeeper also said that he might have to pack up and go back to his hometown in Songjiang. By the way, I asked about the price of cloth, and they said that their best cloth is produced in Sanlintang, Songjiang Prefecture. It is the best of the best and costs one tael per piece."
Peanut's face was twitching, and he was so distracted that he complained, "This is cotton, not silk. How dare they sell it for so much? Why don't they just rob us!"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile at Xiao Huasheng's indignant tone, and then he said earnestly: "There is a kind of thing in this world called high quality and high price... To put it more simply, you get what you pay for!"
"I think it's a good idea to kill a fat sheep!" In Peanut's simple understanding, cotton cloth should be cheaper than silk - but he didn't know that a few hundred years ago, the scarce cotton cloth was once very expensive. He then carefully explained the prices and sales of other cloths, and finally patted his forehead and said, "By the way, I met someone on my way back."
"That's Cao, the head of the Shunhe Escort Agency. He asked me to bring you a good story. He also said that the cloth shop in Songjiang is of high price and low quality, and the goods are not very good. He just bought a piece of cloth at a high price. If he didn't lose face by returning it, he would have thrown it in his face... He also said that the shopkeeper of that cloth shop had secretly met the son of the prefect of Hejian, because the prefect was his big customer."
Zhang Shou felt relieved when he heard this. There was no doubt that no matter whether Cao Wu passed the news to him because of the scene at the canal dock, he had not leaked the conversation between him and Ah Liu, otherwise he would not have deliberately created an encounter with Xiao Huasheng.
As for the Songjiang cloth shop… he didn’t come to buy cloth anyway, but to see how Songjiang cloth compares to northern cloth. As a result, the Songjiang cloth shop obviously didn’t sell ordinary cloth, or the shopkeeper and his clerk didn’t want others to think that they were selling ordinary goods. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have offered the usual price of one piece.
"Very good, you have found out everything you need to know."
Zhang Shou smiled and patted Peanut's head, then asked, "If you miss your uncle, go back and see him. By the way, ask him for me if he still has those peppers. I want the small and pointed ones. If you have any, bring over 10 kilograms!"
"Ten or eight kilograms...why doesn't he go and grab it!"
When Xiao Huasheng arrived at Lao Xianyu's shop on Shuishi Street and told Lao Xianyu exactly what Zhang Shou had said, the latter immediately flew into a rage. However, Xiao Huasheng refused to listen and complained with a dark face.
"Uncle, you have been growing those things for many years and have never sold them. You usually eat them yourself. Now that Dr. Zhang wants them, you give them to him. Isn't that a favor? Besides, he didn't ask me to come here empty-handed."
As Peanut said this, he opened an oil-paper package on the table, revealing a ball of mud-like stuff. However, Old Salted Fish, who had tasted it once before, recognized it at a glance. It was the beggar's chicken that Zhang Shou had instructed him to prepare for Zhu Ying. Thinking of the tender and delicious taste, he immediately felt his mouth full of saliva, and his stomach couldn't help but growl.
Then Peanut opened another single-layer small round food box. Inside the five-inch small porcelain plate were piles of crystal clear pastries, sprinkled with a layer of yellow osmanthus flowers.
"This is the secret candied osmanthus of the Zhaoguo Mansion. Dr. Zhang had someone make the la gao, and sprinkled it with candied osmanthus after it cooled down. It's so delicious, and you can't buy it outside! Dr. Zhang said that if there are peanuts, it would be best to send some. He asked someone to make peanut crisps for me to eat. Peanuts can be crushed and used to make glutinous rice balls. He has already taught the chef how to make Kung Pao Chicken..."
Seeing that Little Peanut couldn't help swallowing his saliva while talking, Old Salty Fish was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
What was this? Following Zhang Shou, a top foodie, Peanut also became a foodie? He had specifically changed the boy's name to Peanut. Was this a prophecy that came true?
But the problem is, eight or ten kilograms of peppers, which must be small and pointed, and dried... he doesn't have that many!
Although he didn't have any, he ate the beggar's chicken and the sweet-scented osmanthus cake. Old Salted Fish felt his mouth watering and had to complete Zhang Shou's request. In desperation, he could only send the monk Guan Tao back to the Canghai Lower Court to ask for support. As for this result, Little Peanut was very satisfied.
However, Zhang Shou's memorial and the stone tablet fragments and stone tablet rubbings he sent to the court were delayed for several days on the road because the fragments were too heavy. They only arrived in the capital on the seventh day after Zhu Ying arrived in the capital, together with the memorials he and Zhu Tingfang sent four days later.
At the same time, the two rolls of silk that Zhang Shou had bought for his future brother-in-law Zhu Tingfang were also sent to the Zhu family's mansion by Zhang Shou. He did not write a letter, and neither did Zhu Tingfang. Therefore, the Zhu family guard who specially hired a carriage to deliver the silk day and night, which cost more, could not explain why he had sent the silk from hundreds of miles away.
Even so, when Zhu Ying saw the piece of fabric with fluttering butterflies, she immediately smiled and said, "This pattern is perfect for making skirts! Mom and I will each make a pleated skirt, and when we go out, we won't look like mother and daughter, but like sisters!"
Jiu Niang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Yingying, you are too childish. I am already so old..."
"What do you mean you are old? You are only in your early thirties, you are still young!" Zhu Ying would never say such hurtful words as "you are not old at all". She grabbed Jiu Niang's arm and said, "And look at how beautiful the color of this butterfly is... Besides, it is Shou's love after all!"
Jiu Niang burst out laughing. In this age, a woman in her thirties could be a grandmother in some families where the children got married early. But in their family, it was because the eldest son Zhu Tingfang had many misfortunes in his marriage, and the second son Zhu Tingjie was too unsuccessful in the past and could not get a good marriage. Otherwise, even if Zhu Ying had not married yet, she would have been a grandmother even if she was still in the temple!
However, since Zhu Ying insisted that this was Zhang Shou's intention, she agreed to it. Seeing Zhu Ying holding another piece of royal blue silk, frowning as if worried, she saw the lady smiling slightly, and knew that people must have guessed what Zhu Ying was struggling with.
Isn't it just thinking about how to divide a piece of cloth between grandmother and future mother-in-law? Zhang Shou is the same, if all the things are sent to Zhaoguogong Mansion, and one piece is sent to Zhangyuan, then everything will be fine, right?
"Yingying, you can personally deliver it to Lady Wu at Zhang Garden." The lady took the initiative to speak. Seeing Zhu Ying suddenly embarrassed, she smiled and said, "A Shou and your elder brother didn't bring back any message. It's obvious that this is not something they bought specially, but rather something they bought casually. They didn't take it seriously. Otherwise, if they really wanted to send a gift, they wouldn't even have a gift list or a message."
Zhu Ying's face relaxed immediately after hearing what the old lady said, and she agreed immediately. When she left excitedly, the old lady said in a deep voice: "Is there no conclusion to the quarrel in the court yet?"
"How can the quarrel be over so quickly? Besides, there are people who come one after another to speak up for the eldest prince, not to mention that some people imply that the queen was murdered by the treacherous concubine, so he can only be trapped in the deep palace. Don't you see that the treacherous concubine they are talking about doesn't even have a son, so how can she have the time to get involved in the drama of fighting for the throne." Jiu Niang shook her head, then laughed, "Even Yongping has come to his senses this time."
Although Zhu Ying knew about the dispute in the court that the Madam and Jiu Niang were discussing, she was too lazy to pay attention to it. She never claimed to be a smart person, so she didn't bother to pay attention to it. When she got off her horse excitedly at the gate of Zhang Garden, she ran into another fat guy unexpectedly. She raised her eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Lu Sanpang? Why are you here?"
Lu Sanlang greeted her with a smile, and when Zhu Ying got off the horse, he smiled and said, "With the young master away, there are a lot of chaotic voices in the court. Am I not here to visit the Grand Master's wife? Do you know that the voices that have been advocating for the eldest prince recently are also instigated by the second prince. Do you believe that the two of them are actually brothers and sisters?"
