Mo Sang – CH 224

Chapter 224. Nonsense

Princess Ninghe received the news from Qing-Feng and searched for two days without success.

Early on the third day, Datou found Qian-Shan and relayed Li Sangrou’s message: she was busy these past few days and could not find time, but on the fourth day, she invited Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei to attend the wedding celebration.

Early on the fourth day, Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei arrived at Chaomi Alley, dressed quite plainly as Datou had instructed.

The Zhao family’s house was not far from Chaomi Alley, and the three of them—Li Sangrou, Princess Ninghe, and Gu Fei—walked there.

Upon reaching the alleyway where the Zhao family lived, Li Sangrou stopped, took two gold ingots from the cloth bag she was carrying, and handed one to each of Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei. “You cannot attend a wedding empty-handed. Take these. Follow me, and say exactly what I say.”

This was the first time Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei had witnessed such a lively street wedding. Ever since receiving the news, they had been excitedly and curiously asking the palace servants about this and that, and had already heard some of the customs of the marketplace. Now, seeing Li Sangrou give each of them an ugly, large gold ingot as a gift, the two of them held up their ingots, looked at each other, and their faces flushed with excitement.

“Do we not look like bandits?” Gu Fei, holding up her gold ingot, nudged Princess Ninghe and whispered.

“Following her,” Princess Ninghe laughed uncontrollably, gesturing with her chin towards Li Sangrou as she laughed.

Gu Fei laughed so hard that she almost dropped her gold ingot.

The Zhao family hired a team of professionals from Four Offices and Six Bureaus¹ to handle the wedding arrangements.

This decision was made after careful consideration by Zhao Rui’s mother, Sister Yang, along with Zhang Mao, Sister Gu, and Sister Han.

They were all busy; it would be a huge loss to abandon their businesses and workshops to organize this.

While Zhao Rui’s wife’s family had connections, having her own family handle the arrangements was unheard of, except perhaps for a son-in-law marrying into the family.

Hiring the Four Offices and Six Bureaus was the suggestion of Zhao Rui’s father-in-law and mother-in-law. Aside from the extra cost, it was perfectly reasonable; the Zhao family had plenty of money.

The brokerage firm they hired was also carefully reviewed, consulted with, and compared several options before being chosen.

Inside the gate, the professionals from the Four Offices and Six Bureaus, responsible for receiving and reading the gift lists, were all dressed in festive black and red silk robes, their faces beaming with joy. They greeted Li Sangrou with a deep bow.

Li Sangrou presented a gold ingot, uttering the name “Li.” The master of ceremonies accepted the ingot with both hands, glanced at it, then raised it high, shouting at the top of his lungs, a mix of joy and surprise, “Madam Li, a large gold ingot!”

Immediately, one after another, the professionals around her shouted, “Madam Li, a large gold ingot!”

The first loud and festive shout already made Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei, standing behind her, widen their eyes. Then, a ripple of shouts spread in all directions, making Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei huddle together, staring wide-eyed, laughing in astonishment.

Princess Ninghe laughed so hard that she dropped the gold ingot. She quickly bent down to pick it up, stepped forward, and shoved it into the hands of the master of ceremonies, her pronunciation of “Ning” distorted.

Luckily, the masters of ceremonies were all experienced and highly professional, and they shouted again, “Madam Ning! A large gold ingot!”

Gu Fei, standing close to Princess Ninghe, slapped the gold ingot into the master of ceremonies’ hands. Excited and nervous, she blurted out “Gu” as she handed it over.

“Madam Gu! A large gold ingot!”

“Oh! Why did you say ‘Gu’? Did I not say just say anything?” Hearing Gu Fei utter the word “Gu,” Princess Ninghe covered her mouth, but it was too late.

“Oh! I! That…” Gu Fei’s words were barely out of her mouth when Cui’er, dressed in a new silk dress, pulled Guo’er, who was dressed identically, out of the crowd and rushed towards Li Sangrou. “Auntie!”

“And there’s your sister too.” Li Sangrou turned and pointed to Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei.

“Sister Ning!” Cui’er and Guo’er both remembered this slightly simple-minded Sister Ning, and they curtsied to Princess Ninghe one after the other.

“This is Sister Gu.” Li Sangrou pointed to Gu Fei.

“Sister Gu!” the two called out simultaneously, then grabbed Li Sangrou’s hands on either side. “We’ve already had a round of tea and snacks, Auntie; you are late!”

“Come on.” Li Sangrou turned and beckoned to Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei, then, pulled by Cui’er and Guo’er on either side, she was led inside.

When the Zhao family bought the house, houses in Jianle City were not considered expensive, and the Zhao family had some wealth. They bought it so that Zhao Rui and his younger brother could live comfortably after their wedding; it was very spacious.

Although spacious, it was now packed with tables and people, inside and out.

In a small garden at the back, a stage had been set up against the courtyard wall. A performance was already underway on the stage, and facing it, a row of four or five tables held the most prestigious seats at the wedding.

Sister Han first spotted Li Sangrou being pulled along by Cui’er and Guo’er, and hurriedly patted everyone, “The Boss is here!”

Everyone at the table stood up and rushed to greet Li Sangrou.

“Was that gold ingot your gift?” Zhang Mao, the most quick-witted, rushed forward and asked abruptly.

“I only heard ‘gold ingot’; I did not hear who it was,” Sister Gu added with a smile.

“I’ve brought two distinguished guests. This is Madam Ning, and this is Madam Gu,” Li Sangrou introduced Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei.

“Huh! I heard you called three times! Turns out it was not three times, but rather one gold ingot each? Three ingots?” Zhang Mao’s eyes widened.

“They were all given to us by my sister,” Princess Ninghe said, curiously sizing up Zhang Mao.

The person before her was clearly Xiu’er’s mother; the two looked remarkably alike.

“No wonder you brought people along! So you were just using this as an excuse to give away more gold ingots!” Zhang Mao clapped her hands, realizing.

“Please sit down! Sit down before you talk! These two young ladies, please sit here. They are so beautiful! Even prettier than Man’er!” Sister Gu gestured to Li Sangrou and the other two, patting Zhang Mao on the back.

Two unexpected distinguished guests arrived, and everyone jostled and made way for them, rearranging the seating. The performance on stage had already finished its first act.

“Where are Man’er and Xiu-er? And Dazhuang?” Li Sangrou looked around.

“They went to look at the dowry with Da-tao and the other girls. Dazhuang and the other boys are playing outside. Do not worry about them.” Zhang Mao waved his hand.

“Why did you not go look at the dowry?” Li Sangrou asked, one on each side, arms around Cui-er and Sister Guo.

“Sister Guo said she was waiting for you, so I am waiting with her,” Cui-er replied quickly, as always.

“Whose daughter is this?” At a nearby table, Sister Han asked, peeking over.

“She’s a princess!” Cui-er immediately answered loudly.

Zhang Mao choked on his tea and slapped Cui’er on the head. “Nonsense! How can a princess talk nonsense like that? This deserves a beating!”

“It was Auntie who said it!” Cui’er immediately protested loudly.

“Auntie is talking nonsense, and you are talking nonsense too? You do not learn anything good; you just imitate her nonsense!” Zhang Mao slapped her again.

Princess Ninghe stared wide-eyed, looking from Zhang Mao, who was smiling obsequiously at her, to Li Sangrou, who was calmly eating melon seeds, and then to Cui’er, who looked aggrieved. She blinked, unsure what to say.

Gu Fei looked around, then at Princess Ninghe’s unreadable expression, and burst out laughing.

Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei, enjoying the spectacle, simply followed Xiu’er and Cui’er, rolled up their sleeves, gathered their skirts, and climbed onto tables, walls, and trees to secure the best spots to watch the show.

Anyway, no one believed she was a princess or a county princess, so they were not afraid of being impolite.

……………………

After the excitement of Zhao Rui’s wedding, Li Sangrou was busy for several days, finally finding a little free time as the Mid-Autumn Festival approached.

These past few years, they’d had far more unpleasant New Year celebrations than proper ones.

Now that they had some free time, Da Chang predicted this year’s New Year would likely be another disappointing one. With the Mid-Autumn Festival just around the corner, and money and leisure at their disposal, Da Chang and Hei Ma discussed making the most of it.

But after much deliberation, they finally decided against it.

The Mid-Autumn Festival held no appeal for them.

Climbing towers to admire the moon—who among their group had the leisure for that? Not even their Boss!

Listening to music—the lilting and slurring—was drowsy. Traditional opera was much better, but for the Mid-Autumn Festival, they’d only listen to music, not opera!

What else was there?

This Mid-Autumn Festival was utterly meaningless!

After discussing it for a while, the two decided that once the distillery’s new wine signs were up and sales began, they would buy a few of the more expensive new wines to try and then make a trip to their estate in Yangwu County to pick up some melons, fruits, pears, and dates.

Before the distillery’s new wine signs were even up, Qing-Feng led a dozen or so men, carrying twenty or thirty jars of new wine, into the back of Shunfeng’s courtyard.

They said this was new wine from the East and West wine warehouses this year, ordered by the Emperor to be sent for the Boss to taste.

Following them, a string of people delivered new wine. Hei Ma was dizzy from collecting so much new wine, but luckily, the deliverymen were thoughtful; each jar was labeled with the distillery, the type of wine, and the sender, inviting the Boss to taste it.

Besides the wine, there were also various melons, fruits, pears, and dates, each accompanied by a note: “Newly produced at our own estate. How much better than anything outside!”

Da Chang, having experienced countless zongzi, did not need to ask his superior for instructions. He simply collected them here and there, casually grabbing three to five jin bags to give to the riders to take home for the festival.

As for the wine, Li Sangrou looked around, sighed, and instructed Da Chang to also portion it out and send it out.

At this time, wine was only good when fresh, not aged. Fresh wine tasted good, but if left for too long, even if it did not spoil, it would not taste good.

……………………

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Sangrou declined invitations from Pan Dingbang and others, and instead, with Blind Mi, Lin Sa, Wang Jin, and Da Chang, enjoyed barbecued meat and fish, and drank wine at a village outside Yangwu County.

Wang Jin’s cotton was mostly weighed, counted, and stored in the warehouse. The rest, planted too late, had a significantly lower yield compared to previous batches, which was clearly visible to the naked eye.

The first year’s trial planting was a complete success, and Wang Jin was in high spirits. She sat next to Li Sangrou, sipping wine, and talked incessantly about her planting experiences that year.

“How many seeds did you harvest? How many mu can you plant next year?” Li Sangrou asked every so often.

“About eighty mu. We will have to try again next year. Besides, we do not have enough seeds. Next year, I am thinking of planting them densely together and seeing how it goes,” Wang Jin said with a smile.

“Then the year after next, you can distribute the seeds and try planting them right here in Yangwu County. That will be considered large-scale planting,” Li Sangrou said with a warm smile.

“Landing large-scale planting? We do not know how it will go!” Blind Mi chimed in without ceremony. “How’s the war going? When will it be over?” He took a few skewered fresh shrimp, put them on the fire to roast, stood up, and brought over a bottle of new wine.

“I do not know. We should be able to take Tanzhou and Hongzhou this year, maybe within the year. The advance in Shu is a bit slower,” Li Sangrou replied casually.

“That’s how it is when conquering Shu. The initial stages are difficult, but if you cannot hold the front lines and lose the advantage of terrain, then the advance becomes unstoppable.

What’s the next step? What are your plans?” Blind Mi continued.

“I certainly do not know about these strategic matters.” Li Sangrou glanced at Blind Mi.

“You do not know? Fine, I will say you do not know. What about you? Have you thought about your next step? Da Chang said the silk is sold out; you’ve made a lot of money, right? Where are you going next?” Blind Mi flipped the shrimp over.

“First to Hongzhou, then to Tanzhou. What about you?” Li Sangrou sipped her wine.

“I have to go to Yangzhou to see that Lady Meng, sigh.” Blind Mi sighed; he really did not want the hassle of running around!

“When are you leaving?” Blind Mi sighed again, looking at Li Sangrou and asking.

“Soon, the Shizi will have already taken Yuzhang City.

Hongzhou has a dense network of waterways, unlike Jiangbei. I need to go and see how best to lay out the waterways with Shunfeng.

Also, Lady Meng has many properties in Hongzhou. She entrusted me to look after them. This should not be entrusted to others; I need to go and see for myself.” Li Sangrou finished grilling a fish and slowly peeled and ate it.

“Someone dares to rob her properties? Did not the Qi Army claim they would not harm a single thing wherever they went?” Blind Mi reacted quickly, asking just as rapidly.

“Yang Wen is dead. Everyone thought she was dead, too; it is unclaimed property,” Li Sangrou snorted.

“I forgot about that. True.” Blind Mi chuckled. “This is something you need to do yourself. When it comes to open robbery, you are second to none.”

“When have I ever openly robbed anyone?” Li Sangrou practically wanted to spit on Blind Mi.

“Did you not openly rob the area under the southern city wall?” Blind Mi looked at Li Sangrou with a strange expression.

Li Sangrou ‘uh’-ed.

“Was the Ye Xiang Guild not outright robbery?” Blind Mi asked again, without any politeness.

Li Sangrou lowered her head to eat her fish, ignoring him.

“And the rice shops and grain shops,” Blind Mi chuckled.

“The rice shops and grain shops did not make any money,” Li Sangrou sighed deeply.

“That’s because there’s always someone stronger among the strong.” Blind Mi clicked his tongue.

……………………

The day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Blind Mi, carrying his blind cane, holding his fortune-telling sign, and dressed in tattered clothes, set off south for Yangzhou.

Half a month later, Li Sangrou, along with Da Chang, Hei Ma, and others, bought some goods, left Jianle City, headed to Huangmei County, crossed the river from Huangmei County, and entered Jiangzhou City.