Chapter 122 Pearl Club (Part 1)

By the end of April, Cao Yin's health was much better. Because in March and April, Kangxi gave medicine, he issued an order to inquire about Cao Yin's condition. Therefore, after Cao Yin's health was better, he also wrote two letters of thanking.

The Holy Lord traveled to Mount Wutai in February and returned to the capital in March. Now, it seems that he is preparing to visit the outer city in May. After returning to Jiangning, Cao Yong has been thinking about finding Wenxiu's family. Unfortunately, he really knows too few clues. He only knows that she was abducted when she was seven years old. He was probably born in the 29th year of Kangxi, or the 30th year of Kangxi. His family is still well-off and has a osmanthus yard. There is a sister at home, and her mother died of difficult labor when she gave birth to her sister.

Because Cao Yong was about to find Wenxiu's family before the New Year, Cao Fang also searched for many families in the past six months, but in the end he was disappointed. Cao Yong thought of Wenxiu, and had no choice but to expand the scope of search and send someone to inquire in the territory outside Jiangning City.

Besides, Zhao Jia was crying, making a fuss and hanged, and 1,280 people were unhappy. So what could it be? After all, Cao Quan took a concubine was a private matter, and he was a superior as a matchmaker, so he could not refuse. Even when Li heard this, he was upset about Zhao Jia, and he could only comfort him a few words. Cao Yin was the elder brother, and he didn't care about his younger brother's concubine.

Half a month after entering the mansion, Lu Mei, who was sent by the Lord Lu Daotai, brought a cup of tea to worship his elder sister as Cao Quan's second wife.

Xifu, main house.

Zhao Jia was sitting in the upper seat, her face stiff and without a trace of smile, staring at the beautiful figure walking in outside the door.

The road eyebrows lowered his head slightly, looking down. The upper body was a silver-pink gauze shirt and a white silk skirt with pink peach blossoms embroidered with pink thread underneath, which was neither overwhelming nor pretty. Because of his little feet, he was supported by the maid, and he walked with a swaying posture and charming look. When he looked up, his beautiful eyes were radiant, which was very seductive.

This woman is excellent even in a place like Jiangnan where beauties gather, and no one in Cao's mansion can match her.

Zhao Jia secretly bit her silver teeth and glanced at the maid beside her. The maid immediately went over and brought a mat and placed it on the ground to prepare the second house to pay tribute to Zhao Jia.

The Lu Mei walked over respectfully, first blessed her body with a kind attitude, then lifted her dress and knelt on the mat. When she knelt down, she felt a chill in her heart. It was not the mat, it was clearly a layer of brocade cover wrapped around the wooden board, which was so stiff that it hurts people. This was the big room's warning.

Lu Mei gritted her teeth in her heart, and still had a smile on her face. She kowtowed respectfully and called her "sister". Then she took a small tea tray with a colorful bowl from the maid next to her, held it high above her head and presented it to Zhaojia.

Zhao Jia didn't answer at all, and didn't even look at her. While fiddling with her tortoiseshell nail cover, she slowly squeezed out a smile and asked in a gentle manner: "I heard that all the parents in Miss Lu's family have passed away?"

Lu Mei showed a look of grace, her eyebrows frowned slightly: "Mi'er's family was unfortunate, and she lost her parents in her cradle. Fortunately, she was supported by the uncles and uncles in the clan, and she had the luck to serve the master and sister."

As she said this, her face suddenly turned from gloomy to sunny, and a hint of joy appeared on the corners of her mouth and eyebrows. She said in a sweet and slim voice: "Myer is young and dissatisfied. I have to mention me more in the future. My uncle once told me that you are the most kind and kind, and you don't have to pity your life experience. You also said that your sister will take good care of Meier, and you will not make the Lu family feel disappointed."

Zhao Jia wanted to point out Lu Mei to know that she was an orphan and had no parents' family to rely on, so she told her to be honest. Unexpectedly, Lu Mei was awesome, so she moved the Lu Daotai out in a few words and returned a big soft nail.

The Zhaojia mother's family has a very high status and did not take a platform seriously. However, behind this platform is a governor, who is from the Jiangnan area, and he must be polite.

Zhao Jia felt a little confused and raised her eyebrows: "Since she is the niece of the Daotai Master, Miss Lu's family has a lot of knowledge, so she must be good at needlework and threading. She has to do the fine materials for the clothes she has to do with her."

Lu Mei said lightly: "The uncle and aunt of the clan all think that this girl is useless and can only hand it over to the servants to do it, and refuses to call Mei'er to the hands."

The Cao family did not use the winner to make clothes himself, and it was just for fun in their spare time. Zhao Jia just wanted to suppress her. However, when she heard what she said, the bento grabbed her little tail and coughed. She coughed and said seriously: "Miss Lu's words are strange. There is still a daughter in the boudoir who knows how to do needlework? The Lu family is a spoiled daughter. There is no one in the Cao family who knows how to do it. Even our family is the second girl of Prince Ping's Fujin, and she didn't say she doesn't touch needlework. But I don't know what Uncle and Aunt Ling asked you to do!"

Lu Mei was not shocked at all, but smiled brightly: "The Lu family passed down the family through poetry and books. My uncle and aunt were afraid that Mei'er would be tired and could not write good words. Mei'er had been practicing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting since childhood. Now she is a little successful. If her sister is bored, Mei'er will accompany you to play the piano and play chess, wouldn't it be fun?"

Zhao Jia was so choking. She had learned this piano and chess before she left the house, but she had no talent. She had been abandoned for many years, so how could she talk about it? She stared at the colorful cover bowl with a long time before reaching out to hold it up, took a sip, and put it aside.

Lu Mei then breathed a sigh of relief, her arms were sore, and her legs were numb, and she was about to signal her maid Fu Yun to come and help her, but when Fu Yun was motionless, she quietly gave her a wink. She didn't understand why, and she tilted her head to look at Fu Yun, looking at Fu Yun with a look of surprise. However, when the mother behind Zhao Jia coughed, she woke up. Zhao Jia didn't say anything, she couldn't get up.

Lu Mei had cursed Zhao Jia's family in her heart for a thousand or eight hundred times, and she had to continue to pretend to be gentle and docile here, kneeling straight and listening to Zhao Jia's speech later.

Zhao Jia cleared her throat and began to recite the family precepts and rules in a long time. Sometimes she interjected a few more words such as "You must pay attention..." and "You must be careful..."

Lu Mei listened with her head down, her mind was dizzy and heavy, her legs were numb and painful, and she felt hatred and scolded in her heart. She was about to collapse, but she just gritted her teeth and stood up.

After finally waiting for Zhao Jia to say "get up", Lu Mei could not stand steadily even when she stood. She was forced to get up by Fuyun, and she walked staggeringly, and her charming posture disappeared at all.

According to the rules, Lu Mei is a serious second wife, and several of Cao Quan's concubines are coming to worship her. However, she had just finished her position and heard Zhao Jia say, "My sister is a foot-binding, no wonder she is not very convenient to walk. Fuyun, please help Aunt Lu go back and rest!" Speaking of this, she smiled and said to Lu Mei: "In the future, sister, please stay in the yard, don't go out and walk around, don't hurt your feet."

Lu's eyebrows were full of anger and glanced at the two concubines who were about to come to worship. Seeing that although there was no obvious smile on their faces, they seemed to have a sarcastic smile. She couldn't help but feel angry, but she couldn't, so she had to suppress her anger and squeeze out a smile: "Sister Xie understands." As she said that, she held Fu Yun's arm, stood up and bowed, and staggered out of the door.

Zhao Jia finally got back to the game, breathed happily, and ordered Baodie and Jade to go down with pleasant words. When everyone was exposed, she stared at the colorful covered bowl and said to herself: "Let's go and see."

*

In a blink of an eye, April 28th is the day when the Governor's Office holds a birthday party.

In such social engagements, Cao Yin was sick, and Cao Yong came to his father to deliver gifts. The birthday gift was a respectful white jade Guanyin. Although it looked not ostentatious, it did not seem thin.

There are traffic at the gate of the Governor's Office. Now, except for the always upright governor Zhang Boxing, who dares not sell the face of Governor Gali in the Jiangnan area? Although this Governor's reputation is not good, he has the support of the emperor behind him. There are a series of impeachments coming up, which has reshuffled the Jiangnan officialdom. Although many people hate Governor Gali, they need to flatter him on the surface and dare not offend him.

Because Cao Yong brought Xiaoman, Wei Hei and Wu brothers, they were dressed normally, so the housekeeper of the Governor's Office did not take them too seriously, but just treated them as ordinary small officials. Because the Li family sent someone to give gifts, the housekeeper went out to greet him and sent only a gatekeeper to pick up the gifts brought by Cao Yong.

Seeing that the other party was so neglectful, Xiaoman and Wei Hei were very angry and wanted to have an attack. Cao Yong smiled and stopped him. It would be better if he did this, so he didn't have to waste more time here. He made an appointment to meet Wei Xin in Linjiang Tower, and he would finish the errand here early and he could go there early.

After registering the gift, the other party gave a reward of two cents of silver according to the rules. However, the other party also realized that Cao Yong did not look like a servant, so he gave the reward to Xiaoman, who was dressed in the servant. Xiaoman took it with a smile and thanked the reward.

Cao Yong and others came out of the Governor's Mansion and caught several large cars parked at the door, and many brightly dressed servants accompanied him. A man in his thirties was standing at the door and greeting a young man.

Seeing that the man was familiar with him, Cao Yong couldn't help but look at him more, but he was Li Xu's second son Li Ding. The last time Cao Yong met this cousin was at the funeral of the old lady. Although three or four years have passed, Li Ding's appearance has not changed much.

Looking at the carriages and the more than ten long followers surrounded by Li Ding, Cao Yong frowned slightly. This uncle was the same. Even if he wanted to give a big gift to Kali, wouldn't he be more low-key? He came over with such a big fanfare, for fear that others would not know the close relationship between the Li family and the Governor's Office. Instead, he thought, he was afraid that Li Xu would do this on purpose in order to curry favor with Kali. Could it be that he forgot that the only one in the world had the final say in the world.

Thinking of these broken things, Cao Yong couldn't help but have a headache. Finally, the family's deficit was almost over, and his father's illness gradually improved, but he still had to worry about the Li family. He felt a little sick.

, unwilling to stay for a long time, so I asked everyone to get on the horse and leave the Governor's Mansion.

The young man was Li Ding. He came to Jiangning to give gifts with his father Li Xu. Because his father went to the weaving house first, he escorted the gifts. The man in brocade clothes standing opposite him was Gali's concubine Gandu. He even called him "Brother".

Perhaps Cao Yong looked here twice just now, and Li Ding noticed it. While greeting Gan, he turned his head and looked over there. He happened to see only a few people boarding the horse. Although Cao Yong could recognize him, he did not recognize Cao Yong for a while. After all, when he saw Cao Yong last time, Cao Yong was still a twelve-year-old boy, which was very different from now on.

While speaking, Cao Yong had already walked far away on his horse. Li Ding didn't care. He turned around and followed Gan and entered the Governor's Mansion.

*

Linjiang Tower, a famous restaurant on the banks of the Qinhuai River, is one of the industries of Wei Xin's family. Starting from mid-April, some famous pearl merchants from the north and south came to Jiangning one after another. Cao Fang and Wei Xin arranged everyone to live in Linjiang Tower, one by one, to keep the water from flowing out of the field, and the other is to know some foundation so that people can avoid catching up with troubled waters.

Cultivating pearls is something I have never heard of before, and everyone is somewhat skeptical. However, the person who sent the invitations to the invitation was guaranteed by Guangdong Thirteen. Moreover, the Thirteenth League also issued a certificate that it was indeed that in the summer of the 48th year of the Kangxi period and the winter of the 48th year of the Kangxi period, the pearl worth nearly 400,000 taels of silver was purchased in Jiangning.

In recent years, as the amount of pearls is becoming increasingly rare, many families that rely on this business have gradually withered. It is time for everyone to find a way out. Whether it is a big pearl producer or a pearl merchant, everyone can tell a word by their fingers. However, the Cao family in Jiangning is the first time they have heard of it. However, the thirteen companies are famous and cannot be used as a cover for others. Therefore, this pearl meeting is not untrustworthy. When they arrived in Jiangning with anxiety and found that many peers from north to south came, they naturally began to fight Xiaojiujiu.

When I met an acquaintance, everyone exchanged greetings. When they mentioned the matter of pearls, they all laughed and said it was nonsense. However, when they returned to the room, they began to plot. If this matter was true, if they could take over this transaction by themselves, they would make a fortune.

During this period, Wei Xin said unintentionally and said that this time, the pearls still have to be spoken by their strength. The secret method of raising pearls is estimated to be the one with the highest price in the end.

Some people who are close to Jiangning have already sent a letter to ask their home to send money. When they come, they come with a large amount of silver notes, and they are smiling and proud. Those who are not in enough money and are too late to go back and forth, they almost want to jump. The ones who want to jump are Liuhe Money House. They are not just for pearls, but now the Zhu merchants are short of money. If they borrow money at this time, it will be a huge business. However, because the Cao family has not yet allowed them, they dare not intervene easily, so they can only be in a secret worry. Every day, they always have to come to Wei Xin to flatter them with all their hearts.
Chapter completed!