novelAbuy Chapter 99 Refusal
Chapter 99 Refusal
Chapter 99 Refusal
The banquet arranged by Zheng Guozhen took place in a small garden in the old house, named "Chengjing Garden".
Upon entering the park, Shao Shuyi suddenly realized that this seemingly private garden was actually separated from the outside world by only one wall.
But he didn't find it strange.
Such gardens, which are both private and open, have been common since the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, why would the scenes of lovers meeting in various Yuan Dynasty plays always take place in gardens?
Teenagers, all day long, are so stubborn that climbing over a wall is no problem for them.
After Shao Shuyi arrived at the park, he saw Zheng Fan waving to him from afar.
"My lord," Shao Shuyi stepped forward and bowed.
"You're here too early, aren't you? Dinner hasn't been served yet," Zheng Fan teased.
"It is indeed a bit early." Shao Shuyi smiled awkwardly.
When he entered, the servants of the Zheng family were somewhat surprised, but fortunately, they had given instructions to let him in.
The journey from Liujiagang to Taicang is over 30 li by water, and even longer by land. But Cao Tong, whether on drugs or something else, sped along the way, arriving at Yantietang ahead of schedule.
This kid has been trying to curry favor with him lately, actively seeking advancement. It seems he's terrified of poverty and wants to get rich.
"It's good that you came early." Zheng Fan waved and said, "Come with me, the Third Dormitory is entertaining guests."
Shao Shuyi followed closely behind Zheng Fan and soon arrived at a small building in the garden.
There is a courtyard wall in front of the building, and a plaque above the gate reads: "Yu Peng Pavilion".
Perhaps because of his trip to Jiangxi, Shao Shuyi glanced at the plaque subconsciously and felt that it was made of nanmu wood.
There were five people in the courtyard, three standing and two sitting.
Seated were Zheng Guozhen and Ni Guangye, the Assistant Prefect of Kunshan Prefecture, playing chess.
Standing there were Zheng Song and two other unfamiliar faces.
Upon entering the park, Shao Shuyi immediately felt Zheng Song's gaze, which seemed almost tangible.
Zheng Guozhen looked up, then waved his hand, signaling them not to be too polite or talkative. He then devoted himself entirely to the game, deep in thought.
Shao Shuyi didn't know much about Go, but he could tell that Zheng Guozhen was at a disadvantage and looked rather embarrassed.
Ni Guangye, however, was half-concerned about the game of chess. He nodded to Zheng Fan while teasing him, "Third Master, if you concede now, I'll only ask for ten ingots of silver. If you concede later, you'll have to give me twenty."
Zheng Guozhen laughed and scolded, "Let me think of a brilliant plan to win back your newly received salary."
Ni Guangye shook his head and said, "You're not even willing to save me ten ingots of paper money? Looks like you've struck it rich recently. Your precious paper money is tumbling out of your pocket, trying to slip out."
Zheng Fan leaned close to Shao Shuyi's ear and whispered, "Third Brother has secured a position at the Qingshao Thousand-Household Office for Thirteenth Brother. He's a top-notch clerk. The one standing on the left is named Ni Kejiu, from Yin County, Qingyuan Road—"
After listening silently, Shao Shuyi was about to ask more questions when Zheng Guozhen dejectedly put the chess piece back and said, "I lost."
Ni Guangye sarcastically remarked, "I told you to admit defeat long ago, but you insisted on being stubborn."
Zheng Guozhen smiled and shook his head, saying, "I haven't played chess in a long time, and my chess skills have deteriorated too much."
After saying that, he nodded to Zheng Fan and turned to go inside the building.
Zheng Fan tugged at Shao Shuyi's sleeve, signaling him to follow.
"Have a seat," Zheng Guozhen said, pointing to two chairs placed side by side in a side hall where guests were being received.
Shao Shuyi sat down in the lower seat, leaving the other chair for Zheng Fan.
"Xiao Hu, the reason I called you here today is actually to ask how the trip to Jingdezhen went," Zheng Guozhen said. "After all, it was your idea to purchase porcelain from Jingdezhen, so I need to ask for your opinion."
Shao Shuyi glanced at Zheng Fan out of the corner of his eye, and seeing that he didn't react in any particular way, he replied, "Third Master, the potters in Jingdezhen are highly skilled and often make Western artifacts that can be mistaken for the real thing. At that time, Master Yifang asked the kiln owner Huang Housheng to fire a batch. After inspecting the kiln, we found that the patterns and family crests were lifelike and no different from the shapes and styles of the Western Kingdom pottery we saw in Jiangzhou. Therefore, Master Yifang made a decisive decision, paid a deposit, and asked the three kiln owners, including Huang Housheng, to fire the pieces immediately and complete them all before mid-June."
Zheng Guozhen listened and nodded, quite pleased.
Shao Shuyi, observing Zheng Sanshe's demeanor, realized that Zheng Sanshe still preferred the porcelain trade and seemed uninterested in opening up trade routes in Jiangxi.
"We must hurry up with this matter and not take it lightly," Zheng Guozhen said. "We need to make several trips to Jingdezhen, not only for the wares from the foreign kilns, but also for celadon. We can also buy more of the yellow and black porcelain samples mentioned earlier and sell them to foreign merchants and seafarers in the summer and autumn."
As they were talking, Zheng Guozhen stood up and said, "Actually, you're right. The purchase of porcelain should not be entrusted to just one company. We should buy some from Longquan, Quzhou, and Jingdezhen. That would be the best policy."
After saying this, Zheng Guozhen stopped in front of Shao Shuyi and said, "Xiao Hu, you'll have to take on more responsibility for this. Yi Fang is going to Dadu, and I'm afraid he won't have the energy to look after him."
Shao Shuyi immediately stood up and replied, "It's my duty."
"Sit down, let's talk while seated." Zheng Guozhen pressed his hand down and said, "Yifang wanted to take you to Dadu before, but I didn't quite agree. Now that we're at a crucial juncture, we can't afford to be distracted. Yifang."
"Just give the instructions, Sanshe," Zheng Fan said.
"Take Fang's fourth son with you, and leave Xiao Hu behind," Zheng Guozhen said.
"Yes."
Zheng Guozhen nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Shao Shuyi and said with a gentle smile, "Yifang said you have three boats? Then you are no ordinary person. Ni Kejiu, who was watching the chess game in the courtyard just now, his father Ni Tianyuan started his business with ten boats, transporting tens of thousands of shi of grain for the court every year, and eventually became a wealthy man in Qingyuan."
"Thirdly, my three small boats only have a total of eight hundred liang (a unit of weight), and can't even transport nine hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain in one trip," Shao Shuyi said with a wry smile.
There's one more thing he didn't say: "That should have been earlier than Ni Tianyuan's time, right?"
Forty or fifty years ago, transporting grain was a lucrative job, and even thirty years ago, it was barely profitable, just like how many people vied to become village heads twenty years ago. But what about now? The transportation costs are far behind the rate of inflation, and you could lose everything.
It's not easy to compare, really not easy to compare.
Just then, light footsteps sounded outside the hall. A moment later, two young women in green dresses entered one after the other, carrying tea and snacks.
Shao Shuyi was unaware of the two men's identities and didn't dare to look at them too much. He only thanked them when they served him tea and snacks.
The two girls seemed to know something, and somewhat embarrassed, they bowed and took their leave after serving tea and refreshments.
Zheng Fan glanced at Zheng Guozhen, then at Shao Shuyi, and lowered his head, frowning slightly.
"Have some tea and snacks first," Zheng Guozhen said with a chuckle.
Shao Shuyi thanked him, picked up a small cake, and put it in his mouth.
It has a slight orange flavor, melts in your mouth, and tastes alright.
The two people who served the tea and snacks mentioned a name, something like "Orange-scented Cookies," which were probably made with orange peel...
Spices are ground into powder, added to dough, and pressed into molds to make small pastries.
Shao Shuyi took another sip of tea, finding it refreshing, delicious, and with an unforgettable aftertaste.
"How is it?" Zheng Guozhen suddenly asked.
"These are truly rare delicacies, hard to find elsewhere," Shao Shuyi replied.
Zheng Guozhen smiled and said, "That's too much, too much. This method was originally from outside. The two girls were my mother's very clever maids, both skilled at making tea and snacks. If you take a fancy to either of them, just tell me. I'm sure my mother will be very happy. As for Fang Liang, there's no need to say more; she might even give her some dowry."
Zheng Fan seemed to have known their identities all along, so he was not surprised at this moment.
Shao Shuyi's heart skipped a beat. What was Zheng Guozhen trying to do? Was he trying to use his high-ranking maid to bind him to Zheng?
He knew that maids were also divided into different ranks. The maids who served Zheng Guozhen's mother were of extraordinary status; they needed to be intelligent, emotionally intelligent, and skilled in various ways of serving others.
In addition, Shao Shuyi learned from casual conversation that the literati in Jiangsu and Zhejiang now disliked pairing maids with household servants.
If the servants are loyal and diligent, they should be sent to find women to marry outside the household, and they should be kept away from marrying maids.
The reason is simple. If intermarriage within the household becomes a custom, if servants take a liking to each other, they will convince themselves that they will inevitably be matched in the future, and thus engage in things that the scholar-officials would consider disgraceful.
Or, there might be collusion between insiders and outsiders to steal valuables, etc. In short, it's quite troublesome.
Therefore, it is now fashionable for servants to marry outside the family and for maids to marry outside the family.
There are also differences among the maids.
Maids who did odd jobs were usually given to tenants or neighbors who performed well in the household.
The next level up was reserved for small merchants and craftsmen from outside the area.
Those two were probably the highest-ranking, equivalent to the status of Yuanyang (the concubines) in Jia Mu's life.
Perhaps in Zheng Guozhen's eyes this was a reward, and in the eyes of people of this era it was also a good choice, at least it could deepen the connection with the Zheng family and be beneficial to the future.
However, Shao Shuyi was ultimately not a person of this era.
Although he had gradually become more assimilated over the past year, he still could not accept such a thing, so he politely declined, saying, "Thank you for your kind offer. However, my late parents have only been gone for a little over a year, and it is really not appropriate for me to get married."
"You're going to observe three years of mourning?" Zheng Guozhen raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"I hope you will grant my request to the Third Dormitory to fulfill my filial duty." Shao Shuyi stood up and bowed, his face full of remembrance and longing.
Zheng Guozhen remained silent.
Shao Shuyi's voice came through the window from the west-facing cubicle.
A kind-faced old lady glanced at the two maids standing with their heads bowed and sighed softly, "What filial children you are. You two don't have that kind of luck."
Amu, dressed in red, stood behind the old lady, gently massaging her shoulders, his gaze occasionally drifting towards the window.
She remembered that Wang Laizi had married one of her grandmother's former maids, and that he would often visit her during holidays, receiving many benefits in return. The time she was chosen as the head maid, that maid named Cuihe had even cried to her grandmother about it. Her grandmother, taking pity on her, instructed her third uncle to help her out, promising not to let her do the job again after it was finished for a year.
But Shao Shuyi flatly refused, which surprised her and also made her curious.
If you can't even handle this, how big is your heart, or do you already have someone else?
Everyone has a gossipy nature, and the life of a young lady is usually dull and boring, so it's not easy to find something interesting.
"Since you say so—" Zheng Guozhen's voice came again, "Fine, I'm too lazy to say anything more to you. If you go back on your word later, don't come begging me again. Do your job well, the Quzhou porcelain will arrive in a few days, you can inspect it yourself."
"Yes," Shao Shuyi's voice came through.
"Yifang, is the eleventh son of the Fang family widowed?" Zheng Guozhen asked again.
In the separate room, both maids looked terrified.
Amu paused slightly.
The old lady sighed but didn't say anything, clearly hesitant.
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