Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 52: Kneeling and Waiting
On the other side, after Wu Chengjian took the box, he lowered his head and hunched his waist. His face was covered with dust from the fall. Although he wiped it off, his face was still dusty. The dust on his head and body was not completely gone. He did not look like a rich young man anymore.
He walked all the way to the corner gate and said to the gatekeeper in Beijing dialect : "Hey, brother, I am a relative of Grandpa Quan. There is something going on in my hometown, so I came to see Grandpa Quan. Can you let him know?"
The gatekeeper was about to make trouble when a heavy ingot of silver was stuffed into his hand.
When the gatekeeper felt the weight, the sneer on his face turned into a smile: "You are so polite. How come I haven't heard that Master Quan has a relative like you?"
Wu Chengjian said, "We are poor relatives now, so we don't visit each other often, but we are still connected. I just know that Grandpa Quan is busy, so I don't dare to bother him. It's really that something happened to my relatives back home, so I have to ask Grandpa Quan for help."
He took good care of himself, had not been exposed to the sun and rain since childhood, and was able to control himself from alcohol and women. He looked much younger than his peers of the same era. If he were put in the countryside, people would believe that he was not even twenty years old, so he spoke with the tone of a teenager.
The gatekeeper looked at him and said, "Our Lord Zhongtang has a lot of things to do every day. Master Quan is in charge of this family. He has fewer things to deal with every day than Lord Zhongtang. He has to deal with more than 800 things, not even a thousand. We dare not make decisions for him. I can pass the message on your behalf, but it is hard to say whether you can see the person. What's your name? I can tell you when I pass the message."
There are rules in the court, in the underworld, and in the homes. If you take someone's money, you have to give them an explanation whether you can get the job done or not.
Wu Chengjian said, "I dare not." He opened the box, took out a folding fan and said, "Can I ask you to present it to me? When Grandpa Quan sees this, he will know who I am."
The gatekeeper took the fan and took a look: "Oh, this is really something that came out of our house." He originally didn't believe that Wu Chengjian was really Liu Quan's relative, but now he believed it about four or five points.
This fan was one of the items given by Heshen to Wu Chengjian. It has Heshen's inscription on it but no signature.
The gatekeeper was about to open it, but Wu Chengjian stopped him and whispered, "Don't open it, it's inconvenient." He leaned closer and said, "Inside is the unsigned inscription of Master Zhongtang. Before I left, the adults in the family told me not to let anyone see it except Grandpa Quan."
"Oh, I dare not do that." The gatekeeper put away the fan and became more concerned about the matter. He thought that since Liu Quan could ask for the inscription for the hall, this relative must be quite close.
Just as he was about to leave, Wu Chengjian stuffed another ingot of silver into his pocket and said, "This is really urgent. I need to see Grandpa Quan as soon as possible. If I need to pass it on, I can't let you spend money on this little thing."
The gatekeeper smiled and said, "You are really good at handling things. Your master sent you here and he didn't point to the wrong person. Wait." Then he closed the corner gate.
The He Mansion was vast and had complicated personnel. He, a guard at the corner gate, could not find Liu Quan. He walked around and found the manager, briefly explained the matter, and stuffed a silver ingot into his pocket. The manager smiled and said, "Master Quan's relative knows the rules."
Liu Quan was really busy. If all matters in and outside the mansion, no matter how big or small, were reported to him, he would be exhausted to death. He could not meet everyone. Therefore, matters had to be reported to him. Whether to report it or not and when to report it depended on the consideration of the managers of each department. Now that he had received the silver, he naturally had to put the matter in the front.
The manager took the money, took the fan, and went to find Liu Quan, who was looking at the account book. When Liu Quan took the fan and opened it, he knew it was Wu Chengjian. He sneered and asked, "Where is he?"
"Waiting outside the corner gate."
Liu Quan smiled and said, "As expected of someone who comes from a big house, you know a few tricks. If you pass this fan through the front door, you won't get it in my hands for half a month."
"That……"
Liu Quan called a servant who had seen Wu Chengjian and said, "Go and identify the person. If it's not Wu Chengjian himself, send him away immediately. If it's him, bring him to the corner of the corridor next to Er Er Zhai and make him kneel down and wait."
When the steward heard this, he knew that the person who came was not simple, so he did not dare to interfere and left. The servant came out and came to the small side door. He looked Wu Chengjian up and down, and finally recognized him and said, "Come with me."
Wu Chengjian was still arrogant in Jishan Mansion, but now he was watching his nose and his heart. He just walked without looking sideways. Qiwanba walked a long way before he stopped. The servant pointed to a dark corner and said, "Master Quan has ordered you to kneel here and wait."
Wu Chengjian knelt there without saying a word.
The boy looked at him twice again before replying.
Liu Quan, who was still looking at the account book, paused and asked, "Is it me ?"
"It's me," the boy replied, "but my head has been shaved properly, and my body and face are covered in dust. I can hardly recognize him."
Liu Quan asked again: "What's his expression when I told him to kneel and wait?"
The servant said, "He didn't show any expression, just knelt there obediently without asking any questions. If I hadn't followed Master Quan to Guangdong, I would never have thought how powerful he was in the south."
Liu Quan smiled and said, "He is so flexible at such a young age. No wonder he can expand his business." Then he lowered his head to look at the account book.
He ignored Wu Chengjian, partly on purpose and partly because he was really busy. His world did not revolve around Wu Chengjian, so he let it go after the matter was resolved.
Wu Chengjian knelt in the corner like this from morning to noon, from noon to afternoon, and from afternoon to night. Occasionally, servants passed by but no one paid any attention to him. Not to mention lunch or dinner, he didn't even have a drop of water. He had prepared in advance, so he had a full breakfast. He was young and strong, so he could still hold on after two meals of hunger. But it was very uncomfortable to kneel still.
As night fell, someone came to the front door to announce to Liu Quan: "The master has returned home."
Liu Quan said, "It's so late today! Is dinner ready?"
"My Lord said that we don't want to eat anymore. Just ask someone to bring us a bowl of mutton bone porridge."
Liu Quan asked anxiously: "Is there anything prepared in the kitchen?"
"have."
"Well, send it over quickly."
"It has been sent."
He was the biggest steward in the He Mansion, but he did not have to do everything himself. There were other people around Heshen who could make some small decisions.
When Heshen was out, the He Mansion was like a sleeping beast. When Heshen came back, the beast seemed to wake up. In places where Heshen could not see, concubines, maids, servants, servants, and cooks were all working like flowing water. Everything had rules and regulations, but they could not let the master see their busyness. Even a bowl of mutton bone porridge was also related to human affairs.
Liu Quan tidied up the things he needed to deal with today, then came out and found out that Heshen was in Anshan Hall. He exchanged a glance with the servant guarding the door and learned that Heshen was resting and did not look overly strange. He thought that things in the palace and the Grand Council were going well today, so he tiptoed in.
Heshen was sitting on a chair without taking off his official robe, his head tilted back, a hot towel covering his face. On the table to his left was his official hat and feather, and on the table behind him was half a bowl of leftover mutton bone porridge - the bowl and spoon were just there, and no one dared to clean them up for fear of disturbing the master.
Liu Quan came over quietly and gently cleared the bowl and spoon. He made almost no sound, but He Shen, who was dozing off, woke up immediately: "Liu Quan?"
Liu Quan quickly responded: "Yes."
He Shen said again: "Wipe your face."
Liu Quan hurried forward and took the hot towel that was covering Heshen's face and wiped his face, with his gestures just right.
He Shen moved his eyes, ears, mouth and nose, regained some of his spirit, and said, "Let's talk about it."
Liu Quan said: "Master, you have to take care of yourself. You can't work on state affairs day and night. You haven't closed your eyes for a long time..."
As he spoke, his eyes turned a little red. Suddenly, Heshen gave him a cold glance. He was so scared that he quickly shut up. He knew he had overstepped his bounds and did not dare to say any "extra words". He stood up and told Heshen about some things in the family that should be reported to him. Liu Quan knew that he had to do what Heshen did not say. If he encountered something that required Heshen to speak, it would definitely not be done.
They talked like this for about an incense stick of time, and talked about seventeen or eighteen things. Heshen asked about five or six of them. Liu Quan said, "There's nothing more to say about family matters." He then said, "Wu Chengjian is here, kneeling in the corner."
"Wu Chengjian?" Heshen was stunned for a moment before he remembered this person.
He now controls the entire Qing Empire. There are dozens of military and national affairs every day. How many people should he remember in his head? Wu Chengjian is well-known in Guangzhou City, but in Heshen's mind, he is just a sesame seed in the corner.
But this sesame seed is now related to some important matters. He thought about it and sorted out all the clues related to Wu Chengjian, so he said, "Bring him here to see me."
It was late at night. Wu Chengjian had been kneeling in the corner for a whole day. It was fine during the day, but after nightfall, the wind gradually turned colder, and he knelt motionlessly, which made him even more uncomfortable. He was a wealthy man from Guangzhou, but he had been hungry for two meals and knelt for a whole day. It was not because Heshen wanted to humiliate him on purpose. Heshen was not Guangxing, so how could he have the energy and energy to humiliate him? Even in Liu Quan's heart, he had never spent any unnecessary thoughts on him.
For them, Wu Chengjian was just one of the things that needed to be dealt with.
Finally, a servant came and said, "Master Zhongtang wants to see you, come."
Wu Chengjian suddenly woke up from his coma, but he couldn't move when he wanted to get up - his legs were already stiff.
The boy ignored him and left after saying something. He turned back after walking a few steps and said, "What are you doing? Hurry up!"
Wu Chengjian supported himself on the ground and got up. Anyone who has had numbness in his hands and feet knows that when the blood and qi are just beginning to flow, the slightest movement will feel like ants crawling and needles being pricked, which is extremely uncomfortable. At this time, if he stopped and slowed down to allow the blood and qi to flow slowly, it would be fine. But if he moved a little, it would be fatal.
But the boy walked away again after urging him. Wu Chengjian had no choice but to chase after him . This time he suffered a lot. The numbness in his feet felt like being pricked by thousands of needles. In order to catch up with the boy, he forced himself to walk. He ran more than ten steps before he felt better, but cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead.
