Xiang Yi was persuaded and taken away by Yang Zhenlian.

Tan Jian secretly thought, it's okay if his eldest brother doesn't know. Now that he knows, should he invite his eldest brother to go with him?

But he was careful. If he invited his eldest brother and he agreed, he might not be able to watch the show well.

He deliberately pretended not to remember, and ran away vaguely.

No one invited Tan Ting.

His younger brother didn't have it, his siblings didn't have it, and his wife didn't have it either.

Tan Ting could only watch the three people leave, and returned to the study alone with his mouth pursed and his hands behind his back.

As soon as he returned to the study, he received a letter of request from the clan.

Tan Ting immediately calmed down and opened it to take a look.

This year's harvest is not good, and many local farmers from the common people have little harvest from their fields. They cannot pay the taxes required by the government and are living a difficult life.

If you take advantage of this time to acquire land, you can acquire a lot of fertile land at a low price, which is very cost-effective.

Many large and small clans have already done this.

The Tan family members also wanted to take the opportunity to spend their spare money, and after collecting the fertile land, they would turn these farmers into tenants to farm for them. Since large clans naturally have connections with the prefecture and county yamen, they do not need to pay much public food.

Inside and out, it’s a sure-fire business.

In recent years, every time there is a disaster, some people take the opportunity to harvest their fields. Not only the aristocratic families are harvesting, but also the clan and royal relatives. It is not uncommon to even lower the price to harvest the fields.

But the weather this year is much colder than in previous years, and suddenly more farmers are short of money to survive the winter.

Everyone in the clan put together a request letter and handed it over. Not only did they want to collect the fields, but many people also asked to borrow money from the clan to collect the fields.

As a result, the Tan family, which originally occupied a large area of ​​fertile land in Qingkan County and even Ningnan Prefecture, was able to expand their land holdings by countless amounts.

The lives of everyone in the clan will also become better and better.

This is not a big deal, it is normal for clan members to borrow money from other clans.

Tan Ting was supposed to write down the request for instructions, but he put the pen down again after it hung up.

He looked at the request for permission and fell into silence.

If they harvest their fields after this, it will probably be even more difficult for farmers who have lost their fertile land after this winter.

The life of a common farmer seems to have nothing to do with aristocratic families.

But if they don't live well, the number of refugees will increase, and the friction between aristocratic families and common farmers will also increase.

It's just a small friction. If it causes bloodshed, it won't end well.

Tan Ting thought of his wife inexplicably.

She also came from a poor family of the common people. When the two families entered into the marriage contract, the relationship between the aristocratic family and the common people was not so tight.

In just ten years, the two tribes have become scornful of each other. As long as another incident breaks out, the two tribes will no longer be able to coexist.

What will happen to him and her then?

Tan Ting frowned, pushed the request for instructions aside, and took out two more pieces of paper.

In the court, the prince who manages the affairs of the court always puts the people first and attaches great importance to farming. However, the Tan family has long had family rules to be kind to their neighbors and make good friends, and not to bully the weak because of their power.

He thought about it for a while before replying to the request letter, analyzing the laws of the court, the prince's attitude, the Tan clan rules and the ancestral admonitions in detail.

The Tan clan will not lend this money, and he also warned the clan members not to buy land at a low price, as it would be a small loss but a big loss.

After replying to this post, Tan Ting personally went to the clan farm outside the city and gave some instructions on how to spend the winter this year.

After this round of fighting, when I returned to the city, I heard the sound of singing and singing.

Tan Ting didn't have much interest in listening to the opera, but the opera was booming in the city today. Looking from a distance, the singing voice came from the noisy restaurant in front of him.

Zhengji was following his uncle on horseback when he suddenly heard the uncle ask a question.

"Have I not been to the theater for a long time?"

Zhengji was stunned by his lack of words.

Zhengji tried his best to recall, "It seems that I haven't been to the theater for more than half a year."

Is half a year considered a long time?

Zhengji didn't know, but he saw his uncle was silent and then turned the horse's head.

"Well, let's take a look."

Zhengji didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly followed him. He dismounted in front of Shicui Restaurant, which was crowded with people.

Qingkan County is not big, but the busiest one is the County Government Street.

When Zhengji saw the uncle, he was not in a hurry to go in and watch the show. Instead, he looked at an inconspicuous shop at the entrance of the alley in the distance.

There are four words engraved on the door plaque of the shop - Jixiang Seal Shop.

Zhengji hurriedly stepped forward, "What are your orders, sir?"

The uncle nodded. Just as he was about to say something, he remembered something and glanced at him.

"You can't do it. Let Qin Fang go and ask him not to reveal his identity..."

Tan Ting told Zhengji about the matter and asked Zhengji to go find Qin Fang.

Qin Fang was his steward in the capital, and he was the least like the Tan family.

Tan Ting looked at the auspicious seal shop in the distance and sighed.

After Zhengji left, Tan Ting looked around in the noisy crowd and saw no one, so he walked into the restaurant

...

He stepped in with his front foot, and before he walked a few feet, he Seeing someone squeeze out of the crowd, he hurriedly walked towards him. At the same time, he asked someone to separate a path from the noisy crowd.

It's shopkeeper Fang of Shicui Restaurant.

Shopkeeper Fang was able to open a large restaurant in Qingkan County because of the favor given by the Tan family. Now he heard that the eldest son of the Tan family had arrived.

At first he thought the people below were lying to him, but when he saw that Tan Ting was really here, he sweat dropped.

He had no idea what the eldest son was doing, so he led him towards the back courtyard in fear. However, when he saw that the old man was not moving, he glanced at the stage, and he immediately woke up.

"The table that the second master has reserved is right under the stand. The main show hasn't started yet. Can you please come and sit down?"

he asked, and saw this mysterious master frowning slightly.

Tan Ting didn't expect that Tan Jian and the others were stuck in time and didn't arrive before the main show started.

Shopkeeper Fang asked someone to go to the table to clear the way for him, so he just said, "Let's find a seat under the window in the distance."

What does this mean? Shopkeeper Fang was confused.

However, Tan Ting didn't let him continue guessing. He let him do his own business and took a seat by the window.

About half an hour later, the restaurant hall suddenly became quiet for a while. Someone opened the way and someone cleared the place. He turned his head to look in front of the door and saw his brother walking in with a smile.

He is obviously a grown man who has married a wife and has a family, yet he is still laughing and joking all day long, and watching a show can be compared to the emperor going on a tour.

Tan Ting glanced at Tan Jian with disgust.

Behind Tan Jian was his sister-in-law Yang Zhen. Yang Zhen was holding many colorful things in her hands, which showed that she was having a good time shopping on the street.

He didn't pay too much attention, his eyes were stuck behind Yang Zhen.

She also came in.

Compared with Tan Jian and Yang Zhen's excitement, she had nothing on her hands. When she looked carefully, she discovered that there was a string of lavender silk flowers on her wrist.

Today she wore a moon-white long coat with sapphire blue ruffles, half of her white neck exposed on the fur-free collar. The lobby of Shicui Restaurant was very noisy, everyone seemed to be restless, but she stood quietly.

Yang Zhen saw something interesting and turned to call her. He chatted with her a lot, and Tan Jian also added a few words.

Her gentle expression was like a spring breeze caressing a deep pool, causing soft waves to rise. Her eyes flashed with soft and bright light, and a little smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Tan Ting watched from a distance, inexplicably fascinated.

However, at this moment, she suddenly turned her head and looked over as if she was sensing something.

She caught sight of him.

In just a moment, the smile on his face seemed to evaporate, suddenly dissipated, and there was nothing left.

Tan Ting froze there.

Lucky Print Shop.

A craftsman came to pick up a batch of carving knives.

Shopkeeper Jiang saw the craftsman and wanted to congratulate him, "Is it good to work in the Tan family? You have to be more diligent and detailed. It would be better if you can stay in the Tan family!"

The craftsman said yes and sighed again. He said, "The Tan family is good, but some people and in-laws in the Tan family are not very efficient. We almost got Mrs. Xiang in trouble!"

When he said this, shopkeeper Jiang was shocked and quickly asked him to sit down and said Find out what's going on.

The man told everything about what happened in the Tan clan's clan room yesterday.

"...If Madam and we hadn't been aboveboard, we would have been harmed by these villains! We really escaped!"

After the craftsman finished speaking, he took the carving knife and left.

Shopkeeper Jiang didn't say anything for a long time, with cold sweat dripping down his temples. It wasn't until his nephew came from the country and called him that he came back to his senses.

"Uncle, what's going on?"

Shopkeeper Jiang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said that he had heard something shocking.

"What's the matter?" asked the nephew.

Shopkeeper Jiang opened his mouth to say something when a strange-looking customer came into the shop.

Shopkeeper Jiang stopped talking and fell in love with He Ziyin at the first sight.

After several rounds of bidding for He Ziyin, shopkeeper Jiang is very satisfied with the current price and has basically decided to make a move.

With the intended price and buyer, the shopkeeper was not very enthusiastic about this person.

But this person really took a fancy to He Ziyin and asked about the price.

Shopkeeper Jiang told the truth, "The price of this seal is on the high side. Are you interested? You can look at other seals in our store." After

saying this, he thought that this person would give up because of the difficulty, but he didn't expect that he would take it instead. Got that square seal.

"Shopkeeper, please give me a price."

With such arrogance, the shopkeeper was not polite and directly raised a high price.

"Twenty taels."

Twenty taels, in this mature situation, can buy several acres of fertile land.

He paid a high price, and saw that the man frowned and said, "The price is not worth it."

Although the shopkeeper's bid was high, he was the first to disagree if he wanted to say that the seal was not worth it. When he was about to say something, the man said directly I took out thirty taels.

"This seal is worth at least thirty taels."

Shopkeeper Jiang was stunned for a moment when he saw that the man had already pushed the money over.

This...? It turns out that this person actually meant this when he said it was not worth it.

But shopkeeper Jiang still suspected that the money the other party took out was fake money.

Why do people still pay more for things?

He secretly picked up a handful of silver with his fingernails, it was not fake.

Shopkeeper Jiang looked at this person again. He spoke with a Beijing accent and had a raw face. He was not from Tan's family.

Shopkeeper Jiang really came back to his senses now. Looking at the white money, he immediately no longer hesitated and sold the He Ziyin to him directly.

The man also cherished it very much and carefully collected it and took it away.

Shopkeeper Jiang collected the money carefully and was secretly happy that the purchase was a good price, which would also make Mrs. Xiang's money easier.

He became happy, and his nephew asked again.

"What amazing thing did uncle just say?"

His nephew's name is Fu Yao. Although his family is not very wealthy, he is good at studies. Unfortunately, he has to take care of the family and cannot devote himself to studying. He can only come to the county bookstore to read from time to time. Or buy a Qingzhou newspaper and read it.

The Qingzhou Dichao is not the one from the imperial court, but the Qingzhou Academy in the Weiping Prefecture next door. It was copied from the Qingzhou Academy in Beijing. It was accompanied by current articles and interesting stories and sold at a very low price to the poor scholars who could not go to school. .

Fu Yao came to the city today just to buy this.

Shopkeeper Jiang did not open her mouth as excitedly as before. Instead, she concealed Mrs. Tan's name and only said that she was a woman of low birth status who married into a noble family and became the wife of the clan.

Fu Yao was a vigorous young man. After listening to shopkeeper Jiang's words, he immediately forgot about Di Chao.

"Why is there still such a thing? If the madam was not innocent, why would she be framed to death by those people? In the end, the stigma will be attached to us low-status common people!"

He was furious, "The world is getting more and more... You're bullying!"

He asked Shopkeeper Jiang again, "Which family is this?"

Shopkeeper Jiang became a little angry after what he said, and almost mentioned the family name. Bian swallowed it back.

He remembered that his nephew was very good at writing. He said now that it would be bad if he was kicked out by his nephew.

Come to think of it, with Mrs. Xiang's quiet and cautious temperament, she didn't want this matter to spread, especially if it spread to her siblings in Qingzhou County, which was not far away.

Shopkeeper Jiang has also met Madam Xiang's brother Xiang Yu several times. He is not a master who swallows his anger. If he finds out, he doesn't know what will happen...

Shopkeeper Jiang regrets telling him After seeing his nephew, he could only tell him, "Just know it yourself. Don't spread this matter around, but remember it."

He saw his nephew humming and nodding, and he didn't know whether he heard it or not.