Chapter 332 Encounter with Sister Feng
After the court was dismissed in the afternoon, Sun Shaozong sent Zhang Cheng to take Sun Jiye back home first, while he himself rode alone to Mingyufang in the west of the city.
In two days, Sun Chengye's son and daughter will arrive in the capital. As their cousin, Sun Shaozong should prepare some gifts for the meeting.
But yesterday Sun Shaozong went to the storehouse and looked around, but he couldn't find anything suitable - when his eldest son Sun Chengyi was born, his eldest brother gave all the things in the storehouse that were suitable for children to his nephew.
It would be awkward for him to snatch things from his son right now, right?
There is no choice but to go out and buy it.
Nowadays, gifts for children are usually gold or silver toys or jade pendants. After all, poetry and literature are passed down from generation to generation in the South, so giving gold or silver directly seems a bit tacky.
When it comes to jade, Mingyufang in the west of the city is naturally the best choice.
From affordable street goods available to the general public to top-notch goods that are no less precious than those collected by the Imperial Palace, it can be said that as long as you have enough money, you will never have to worry about not being able to find the jade you want.
When we arrived in front of the plaque of Mingyufang's gate, we saw dozens of vendors lined up on both sides of the entrance, all using red ropes to hold up the jade articles they were selling. The red ropes were tied with various knots, and there were a few copper bells in the middle. When the wind blew, the bells made crisp sounds, which was very pleasing to the ear.
Sun Shaozong naturally looked down upon the cheap jade wares sold at these stalls, but some of the knots were very delicately tied, so he might consider buying some to make an example for Ruan Rong.
After he dismounted from his horse in front of the archway, a temporary worker on duty there immediately came forward, respectfully took the horse away to take care of it, and asked Sun Shaozong if he needed a guide.
This is the advantage of being a local official . In the more than thirty markets in the capital, you can enjoy leadership treatment anywhere.
Politely declining the servants' offers to lead the way, Sun Shaozong walked into Mingyufang with his sleeves fluttering. He first bought a dozen knots from a vendor, and then strolled his way inside.
He walked around four or five stores, stopping here and there. It's not that he didn't find something he liked, but he just couldn't agree on the price. Although Sun Shaozong was used to spending lavishly, these days gifts for children cannot be too expensive, otherwise it would shorten the child's lifespan and reduce his fortune.
Although Sun Shaozong was an atheist , he still stayed away from such unlucky things.
So I could only continue wandering.
Seeing that the jade shop in front of him was quite large, perhaps there was something suitable. Sun Shaozong was about to step in, but he was stopped by the clerk at the door. He bowed and said politely: "I'm sorry, there is a female guest in our store. I'm afraid it's not convenient to entertain you for the time being."
Not all female customers are eligible to ask the store to clear out, especially in a large store like this. It is obvious that the family of the official or noble family has come.
Sun Shaozong naturally would not lower himself. The more he was stopped, the more he wanted to go in and pretend to be a big shot. So when he heard what the waiter said, he prepared to turn around and look somewhere else.
"Lord Sun!"
Just at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came into Sun Shaozong's ears.
Sun Shaozong looked back and saw Lin Xiaohong, who had deliberately teased him during the medicinal bath, peeking out of the jade shop.
Could it be that the person behind the bakery is Jia Baoyu?
Uh~
To be precise, it should be Jia Baoyu who accompanied the women in the mansion out to buy things - I don't know if it was Lin Daiyu.
Sun Shaozong was hesitating whether to call Jia Baoyu out and ask him about his condition in person, when he saw Lin Xiaohong turn around and whisper a few words to someone, then she raised her voice and ordered, "Please invite this gentleman in. He is a close relative of our family, so there is no need to avoid him deliberately."
When the two shop assistants in front of the door heard this, they bowed and gestured to invite the guests in.
Sun Shaozong thought that Jia Baoyu was inside, so he didn't think much about it and walked in. But after entering, he saw a pretty little woman standing in front of the dazzling multi-treasure window. Who else could it be but Ping'er?
Since Ping'er was here, the shadowy figure in the compartment must be Wang Xifeng without a doubt - she was probably admiring the jade in there, not deliberately avoiding Sun Shaozong.
But apart from the master and servant, there were only the shopkeeper and an elderly clerk in the room, and there was no sign of Jia Baoyu.
"It turned out to be Lian's second sister-in-law in person."
Sun Shaozong cupped his hands and asked with a little curiosity: "Isn't Xiaohong the maid of Brother Bao? Why did she come out with my sister-in-law?"
The one who answered was not Wang Xifeng, but Ping'er who was guarding in front of the Duobao lattice. She said in a crisp voice: "To answer Lord Sun, our grandmother found her to be quite active. It just so happened that she was short of someone to serve her recently, so she asked Master Xunbao to bring her here a few days ago."
It turned out that Lin Xiaohong failed to curry favor with Sun Shaozong that day, so she looked for an opportunity to climb up to Wang Xifeng's high branch.
Today, in order to celebrate the birthday of Jia Zhen in the East Palace, Wang Xifeng went out to buy birthday gifts. Apart from the guards and the coachman, she only brought two maids and two old women, among whom was Lin Xiaohong - in a sense, Xiaohong can be said to have reached the top in one step.
However, in this case, it would be more difficult for Jia Yun to succeed.
After Ping'er finished her explanation, she put her ear to the green gauze curtain and listened for a while, then she continued, "Since we bumped into each other by chance, our grandmother would like to ask, why did Aunt Yingchun write back yesterday saying that the Sun family had no interest in the deal? Wasn't it Lord Sun who first proposed the deal?"
Two days ago, during the "gap" between sowing, Sun Shaozong explained the whole thing to Jia Yingchun - how could a brother and sister-in-law, who usually had an estranged relationship, be compared with a beloved brother?
Therefore, Yingchun immediately made her attitude clear, saying that she would follow Sun Shaozong's orders in everything.
So Sun Shaozong asked her to write a letter to Wang Xifeng, saying that the Sun family had no interest in this business and asked Wang Xifeng to think of other ideas.
This was naturally a tactic of playing hard to get, trying to force her to give up some of her interests - now seeing her anxiously calling Sun Shaozong in for questioning, I knew that the letter should be effective.
After hearing Wang Xifeng's question, Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "My brother is preparing to be transferred to the Shenjiying recently. If this thing is successful, I am afraid it will take at least one or two years. Moreover, seeing that the business is laborious and requires huge capital, but the profit is only a tiny bit, it is ."
Without waiting for Wang Xifeng's response, he pretended to be magnanimous and said, "Although I proposed this deal, the situation has changed. Since my brother is too busy to do anything, you might as well find someone else to cooperate with me."
He said it lightly, but Wang Xifeng almost broke her two rows of silver teeth.
In fact, because Xue Pan recently married Wang Tianguan's daughter and took up an official position in the Ministry of Public Administration, Wang Xifeng once wanted to join forces with the Xue family to swallow this piece of fat meat.
However, when Aunt Xue went back and mentioned the matter to Xue Pan, Xue Pan shook his big head like a rattle and said that Sun Shaozong had mentioned this deal a long time ago, and even if he was not very particular, he could not rob Sun Erge of his wealth.
Apart from the Xue family, the Wang family cannot participate due to family rules. What about the Jia family? If Wang Xifeng was willing to make money for the public account, would she have to go to so much trouble?
So after thinking about it, the Sun family is still the most reliable - there is no other way. Putting aside the name of Rongguo Mansion, there are only a few families that Wang Xifeng can contact personally.
Therefore, when Sun Shaozong's words fell into her ears, they were full of sarcasm.
If there was no one around, she would have rushed out and started a fight to vent the anger that had been accumulating in her heart recently.
But right now...
Ping'er leaned against the curtain and listened carefully for a while, then spoke up for her, "I wonder how Lord Sun thinks the two families should cooperate in order to get your brother to agree?"
“This…”
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "The family business is so big, and my second sister-in-law can manage it perfectly. Why do you need to ask me about this small business?"
As he spoke, he turned to the shopkeeper and said, "Does your shop have any jade pendants for children? It would be best if they were elegant and not too expensive."
