ALL NOVEL Chapter 26 - (one)
Upon seeing this, Cao Mi exchanged glances with the three children.
The twins, like her, felt a little funny when they looked at Feng Rong, but the eldest Qi Rui said with a straight face, “What kind of decency?”
When Feng Rong was tired and helpless, Qi Shi found an opportunity to rush up and whispered something in his ear.
Feng Rong’s gaze at Cao Mi’s family quickly changed from disgust to happiness. He pointed at the three children and said, “I’m the son of Shangshu, I don’t care about you! People’s place is broken, what’s there to be proud of!”
Cao Mi frowned upon hearing this.
She didn’t expect that Qi Shi would say this to the child, she wanted to retort, but as an adult, she couldn’t care about a child.
Feng Rong continued: “When you ask for my father’s head, I will let the three of you kneel in front of me and kowtow a hundred heads! And give me everything!”
Qi shi said, “Oh little ancestor, don’t talk nonsense, your father can’t help them.”
Cao Mi held his breath, didn’t even say hello, and was about to leave directly over them.
When the two families were in the wrong place, Qi An, who had been holding back, suddenly pointed at Feng Rong and said, “There are spirits in the mountains, they specialize in sucking the spirit of children. I like you the most who can throw up. You screamed so loudly just now. , they’ve got you covered!”
Feng Rong was stunned when he heard the words, grinned and howled again.
Cao Mi couldn’t care less and left quickly.
When she returned to the carriage of Bei’an Prince’s Mansion, she breathed a sigh of relief.
After such a fuss, the three children didn’t seem to be in high spirits. Qi Rui Qi’an sat in a daze, while Qi Ran played with the “somersault cloud” in his hand.
Cao Mi deliberately adjusted the atmosphere and teased the third child: “Qin Ran was robbed today and didn’t cry?”
Qi Ran is honest, and he is also a “little crying bag”. In the mansion, if the second child teases him casually, he can cry for a cup of tea.
Hearing this, Little Fatty raised his head and said aggrievedly, “I won’t cry in front of bad people!”
“Really?” Cao Mi nodded his pouting mouth, “Well, Qi Ran is really amazing! Much more sensible than your little cousin!”
The pure-hearted Qi Ran smiled with her belly straight.
Xiao Qi’an had something in his heart, and he asked Cao Mi, “Mother, are we really going to the place where that person eats people?”
Qi Ran remembered this after laughing, hugged Cao Mi’s thigh and said, “I don’t want to go!”
Cao Mi pondered for a while, not knowing how to explain it.
She knew the official position of the original uncle, so she understood that eight to nine out of ten things Qi said were true.
Fortunately, she had an idea, and suddenly said mysteriously: “The monsters don’t know what the West is like, and they also think that the West is hell.”
Qi Ran’s eyes lit up, “That’s right, only monsters don’t want to go to the West to learn scriptures!”
“Well.” Cao Mi was a little worried, but he still asked with a smile: “If we really want to leave the capital, are you afraid?”
The three children shook their heads.
Qi Ran jumped up suddenly and said, “Are we going to study scriptures too? Mother, don’t be afraid, I have ‘Somersault Cloud’ and ‘Golden Hoops’, I will kill monsters to protect you!”
He was only two and a half years old, and it was a little inarticulate to say such a long sentence in one breath. But Cao Mi could hear it clearly without saying a word, and nodded in relief, “En”.
The four returned home, got out of the car and found Qi You waiting beside them.
Cao Mi guessed that he might know what happened in Merlin. After all, it was Qi You’s bodyguard who escorted them into the mountain today.
After Qi Ran stood firm, as usual, he was the first to pounce on Qi You, rolling in his arms excitedly.
Qi You originally came here with the idea of comfort, but he didn’t expect that the three children didn’t seem to be affected.
After a while of trouble, Xiao Pangdun took the initiative to express his position to Qi You: “Dad, are we going to Liaozhou? I’m not afraid at all, I want to fight monsters!”
Qi You smiled, put him down, and said to Cao Mi and the three children, “You all heard about it? Liaozhou… It hasn’t been decided yet, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
“Dad really want to beg that fool’s father?” The boss Qi Rui suddenly said a word.
Qi You was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately.
The “idiot’s father” in Qi Rui’s mouth should be Feng Rong’s father, Cao Mi’s uncle, whom they had just met. Feng Rong’s nonsense words just now were taken into his heart by this sensitive child.
He was about to respond when Qi Rui hurriedly said, “Father, don’t beg them.”
Knowing that he had misunderstood, Qi You explained, “I’m not going to beg…”
Before he could finish speaking, the third child stepped forward, staring wide-eyed and said, “It is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself.”
As soon as these words came out, the three children and Cao Mi seemed to have struck a tacit understanding and laughed together.
——
After returning from Hanshan Temple, Cao Mi finally had a sense of urgency to move in the spring.
Even when she brought her three children to Linfengyuan every morning, she would talk to Dongli about the recent arrangements in the Fuzhong.
On this day, the three children were placed in the room, and she took Dongli and two other maids to circle in the courtyard.
This is what she has been doing almost every day for a while. After increasing the amount of exercise, Cao Mi could feel that the physique of this body was gradually increasing.
“Chunlin…let her stay in the capital.” Cao Mi suddenly said when mentioning the personnel changes in the mansion.
For some reason, she always felt that she could not see through Chunlin. At first, she suspected Chun Lin and Xia Lin colluded.
After investigation, there are not many people who can take the gold and silver in the wooden box before Beisi enters the house, and Chunlin is only one. But later, she was also the one who helped Cao Mi a lot at a critical time, and directly took out Xia Lin’s criminal evidence.
Moreover, the investigation of this period of time showed that the matter of Chunlin and the original shop really had nothing to do with it.
Cao Mi blamed himself for being suspicious, but he couldn’t dispel his worries.
“Dongli, remember to remind me after the new year, hand over Chunlin’s deed of betrayal to her, and prepare another 30 taels of silver as a reward for her.” Cao Mi ordered: “Also, ask her what plans she has for the future. , the palace can do everything for her.”
Dong Li nodded, “The slaves have all written down.”
“Yeah.” After solving this problem, the big stone in Cao Mi’s heart was finally put down. She exhaled and talked with Dong Li about the next thing in a brisk tone.
When turning around the northeast corner of Linfeng Courtyard, Cao Mi suddenly bumped into a tall maid who was in a hurry.
The maid held a large pot of warm soup in her hand and poured it all over Cao Mi.
Dong Li was shocked and helped Cao Mi up, and scolded the tall maid, “What’s the matter with you? Princess? Princess? Are you okay?”
Cao Mi was helped to stand up again, and waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.
Although she was hit and fell to the ground just now, she was wearing several warm fleece jackets and did not fall. It was just that she seemed to be drenched in a pot of broth mixed with a lot of minced meat, which was sticky and made her feel sick for a while.
But instead of blaming the maid for her unintentional loss, she comforted: “I’m fine. What are you going to do with a pot of broth in the morning?”
The tall maid shrank herself into a ball and sat on the ground tremblingly, burying her head and not daring to speak.
Dong Li said with concern: “Madam, this person will be tried again later, the servant will help you back to the courtyard to change your clothes first.”
Cao Mi nodded, turned around and prepared to go back.
But just as she took a step, a strong and inexplicable sense of crisis suddenly rose in her heart.
Cao Mi is no stranger to this sense of crisis. As early as the first day she crossed over, in the room with excessive carbon monoxide, it was this sense of crisis that drove her to open the window for the first time.
But now, this sense of crisis has reappeared, as if to remind her that there is a dead end in front of her!
So Cao Mi only took a step and stopped, she forced herself not to sit on the ground because of her weak legs, and muttered: “No, no!”
Dongli asked worriedly, “Madam, what’s wrong?”
Cao Mi came back to his senses and said with a pale face: “No, I can’t go back!”
As she spoke, she couldn’t wait to step back.
Dong Li couldn’t understand Cao Mi’s thoughts at all.
At this time, they wanted to go back to the courtyard to change their clothes, and they would soon be able to get out of Linfengyuan if they walked back. But if you continue to move forward, you need to make a big circle to get back to the gate of the courtyard.
But at this time, Cao Mi had insisted on taking a few steps back, so Dong Li had no choice but to bring someone to follow. And the tall maid continued to stay in the same place stupidly, as if she had not recovered.
Just when Cao Mi and the others left their place only ten meters away, a dog bark suddenly came from behind.
After a while, I saw three or four wild dogs with a height of half a person appearing out of nowhere, and at this time they had already surrounded the maid.
They licked the broth spilled on the ground, and sniffed the maids. Soon, two of them found the traces of Cao Mi and others with their keen sense of smell, and they chased after them directly.
Cao Mi’s clothes soaked up the broth and gave off a strong smell of meat, attracting wild dogs to chase.
It was only at this moment that Dongli and the other two maids realized what had happened.
Cao Mi took off his cloak and robe as he ran, and threw it as far away as he could, hoping to lure away the two big dogs that looked extremely ferocious.
One of them was really attracted by Cao Mi’s cloak and stopped by the road, but the other one kept chasing after Cao Mi and others.
Seeing that the distance between the two sides was approaching again and again, Dong Li resolutely stopped, intending to delay Cao Mi for some time.
Cao Miya shuddered, half cold and half scared. She said to a maid next to her, “Quick, go ahead and call for someone.” After she finished speaking, she picked up a few stones by the side of the road and threw them at her. The wild dog smashed.
Seeing this, Dongli also tried to fight back.
The wild dog deftly avoided a few stones, but after all, he had scruples and stopped in front of them and dared not move rashly.
When Cao Mi used to live in the countryside, he heard his grandma say that the weaker you are when dealing with such wild dogs, the more likely you are to be attacked. She knew that now was definitely not the time to be afraid, so she forced herself up and confronted the wild dog.
The wild dog tried to attack several times, but was narrowly stopped.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for another maid to find the two guards in the mansion. After they arrived, the wild dog was quickly subdued, and Cao Mi and others were able to escape.
Seeing that Cao Mi was already safe, and before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he felt dizzy and fainted as his body softened.
When she woke up again, it was already evening.
Qi You stood on the edge of the bed, his expression unclear.
Cao Mi woke up with little movement, but he quickly noticed it.
Holding Cao Mi up, Qi You asked, “Is there any discomfort?”
Cao Mi shook his head and asked subconsciously, “What’s wrong with me?”
Qi You frowned tightly, “Have you forgotten what happened in the morning? You were splashed with broth and almost hurt by a wild dog that broke into the courtyard!”
Cao Mi recalled that after a while, she was afraid that she would slowly climb up her back. Suddenly, she thought of something, “Where’s the child? Qi Rui and the others, are you alright?”
Qi You shook his head, “They are all in the house, they didn’t encounter this.”
Cao Mi nodded reassuringly.
She settled down, recalled the details of the morning, and said, “This is not an accident! That maid, and the wild dog in Linfeng Courtyard…”
Qi You originally wanted her to rest for a while, so there was no need to hurt her. Seeing that she took the initiative to mention it, he said, “That maid… committed suicide. She stayed where she was, and was injured by a wild dog. After I ordered her to be imprisoned, She killed herself by cutting her veins with a shard of porcelain hidden in her cuff.”
Hearing this, Cao Mi’s face turned pale.
She was still a young man who had just crossed over from a legal society. Even if she knew that things must have something to do with the maid, she couldn’t accept that a fresh life she saw in the morning just disappeared.
Qi You added: “As for those wild dogs, I’m already investigating. Linfeng Courtyard is at the westernmost side of the palace, and it seems that they got in through a hole in the wall.”
Cao Mi nodded thoughtfully.
Qi You then said: “Don’t be afraid, I will find out this matter by myself. The doctor said that you are weak, and you were cold and frightened again in the morning, and then you fainted. You can rest well, I’ll see you later tonight.”
Cao Mi nodded and watched Qi You leave.
After Qi You left, Dong Li and the others came in again and asked if she had any discomfort, but Cao Mi shook his head and asked about the injuries of Dong Li and others.
After getting the news that everyone was fine, Cao Mi let them go down to rest.
Her thoughts were surging, and she couldn’t understand for a while.
But she has now made sure of one thing—
The person who wanted to kill her has not been caught yet!
She always thought that the person who planned the “charcoal burning accident” was Xia Lin! But because Cao Mi was still alive, she couldn’t explain how she found out about it, so she never interrogated Xia Lin.
But now it seems that there are still Xia Lin’s remnants in the mansion, they saw Xia Lin being detained and committed another murder, or the person who wanted to kill her before was not Xia Lin at all!
Thinking of this, Cao Mi’s thoughts suddenly became clear.
That’s right, Xia Lin wouldn’t want to kill her at all! What she is looking for is wealth, she should wish that the original body will live a hundred years, so that she can continuously take out the gold and silver from the stupid original body pocket!
Thinking of this, Cao Mi gritted his teeth secretly.
In her heart, she had a new guess about the murderer’s candidate, and she was 80 percent sure.
For a moment, she thought of using her identity as a princess to directly capture and kill someone, but after calming down, she gritted her teeth and gave up this irrational choice.
In fact, as soon as she crossed over and found that it was not safe around her, she had this kind of thought of cutting the mess with a quick knife. But at that time, the original body had been delegating power for many years, and he was completely blind to all matters in the backyard. But when Cao Mi finally formed his own team, he felt the difficulty of being a mistress.
She had no evidence at the time, and she didn’t know who had colluded with Xia Lin. It was unrealistic to send all the old people away, and she had to end up with the reputation of a cruel mistress.
She wants to enjoy her second life in this time and space for a long time, and she can’t do things that destroy the foundation.
Thinking of this, Cao Mi took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calmly think about the following countermeasures.
King Bei’an had promised to deal with this matter, but Cao Mi didn’t plan to wait for him to investigate. She would rather do it herself.
This experience made her discover her second golden finger after transmigration, that is, death warning.
When she was in Linfengyuan earlier, it was the strong death warning that made her give up and go back and chose to keep going.
Imagine, if she walked back at that time, she would have directly collided with those wild dogs, and that situation would really be called Tiantian’s refusal, and earth’s ground not working.
Maybe, I can do something with this death warning.
After making a plan in his mind, Cao Mi finally couldn’t stop after exhausting his mind, and fell into a deep sleep again.
For the next few days, she would drink a bowl of medicine prescribed by the doctor every day. Later, she instructed the kitchen to make a cup of tonic soup for her every day.
At the same time, she seemed frightened, and randomly rearranged the staff of the Fuzhong, and transferred the people who belonged to her in the big kitchen to Linfeng Courtyard and her own courtyard.
Cao Mi’s thinking is very clear.
She doesn’t know what means that person will use in the next assassination, so she will eliminate other possibilities and leave only one flaw.
If the murderer is the one she suspects, she believes that the murderer will take action as soon as possible, because the murderer’s time is running out.
On this day, Nanxi and Beisi came back from outside the mansion and brought back bad news.
Cao Mi sat in the hall and listened to their report with a solemn expression.
Nanxi presented several deeds and said, “As Fangcai Beisi said, Xia Lin, together with the shopkeepers, signed a few deeds before winter, and purchased a large amount of food and cloth. At present, only five hundred taels of deposit have been given for these things, and the remaining balance of nearly three thousand taels of silver has not yet been paid.”
Cao Mi rubbed his forehead, “Xia Lin always mentioned the store’s income and expenses to me before, why do I have no impression of these orders?”
Nanxi explained: “These orders are signed in the name of the shop, and there is no need to stamp the princess’s private seal. In addition, they deliberately concealed the final payment when they reported, and only recorded the amount of the deposit. Undoubtedly, as usual, the princess did not It’s normal to pay attention. It was also the North Temple who found these deeds from the houses of the shopkeepers, and the slaves found out about the last payment.”
Cao Mi browsed through several deeds and said again: “If you really follow the deeds, then although these transactions involve a huge amount of money, the price is still reasonable… Did you find other problems?”
The Beishi next to him nodded and explained: “After the villain found out about this, he went to the warehouse to check. Only then did he find that the grain sent by the Li family was mostly old grain, and the cloth was also some sackcloth, which was not sold at all. No price. That shipment, the actual estimated value…is only about two thousand taels.”
Nanxi nodded, “Yes. But the deed was a little vague. It only included words such as ‘grain and cloth’. The slaves thought that it would be difficult… It would be difficult to pursue the other party’s fault.”
“Heh.” Cao Mi laughed angrily, “If that’s the case, I’m being tricked.”
She shook the deed in her hand, “Qiu Lin and Dong Lin left the mansion in their twenties, and Xia Lin was probably at the age when he was about to leave the mansion, so he made a big deal before leaving. .
“If Xia Lin’s crimes were not exposed, next year, they would withdraw money from the account little by little and round up the balance.”
Nanxi and Beisi looked at each other and knelt down together, “The villain/slave is incompetent, please ask the princess to punish.”
Cao Mi shook his head and asked them to get up, “I don’t blame you, how long have you been here? You can’t compare to an old man like Xia Lin who has been operating in the mansion for several years.”
She didn’t show it on the surface, but she actually had a headache in her heart, watching these deeds keep burning.
Just as she was thinking about countermeasures in silence, a maid with a food box came from outside the hall.
Chunlin was waiting by the door, and upon seeing this, he took the food box directly. She came to Cao Mi and took out the white porcelain cup.
This is the supplement that Cao Mi must eat every day for the past few days.
Cao Mi nodded to her, opened the lid and smelled it.
Soon, the familiar sense of crisis hit her heart, causing Cao Mi to be blinded for several seconds.
When the sense of crisis passed, Cao Mi closed his eyes and calmed down, soothed his heartbeat that had lost its rhythm, and suddenly smiled at Dong Li next to him.
“I have eaten a lot of supplements in the past few days, and I feel a little tired today.”
Dong Li said with concern: “Madam’s body is weak, this supplement can’t be stopped. If you can’t eat it, you should drink some soup.”
Cao Mi shook his head.
She seemed to accidentally see Chunlin waiting beside her, and suddenly said, “Hey, I’ve been sick in bed for the past few days. I didn’t expect to see Chunlin for a few days, and Chunlin lost a lot of weight.”
She paused and said to Chunlin, “Chunlin, you are the mainstay of the mansion, but you should be more concerned about your body. I will give you this cup of supplements today.”
Chunlin knelt down to thank her, but did not dare to accept it, “Thank you for the praise from the princess. But the soup is made for the princess, and slaves can’t go beyond the rules.”
Cao Mi originally rushed at her, so naturally she wouldn’t let her turn away easily. But she didn’t want to waste her words, so she asked directly, “Even if I reward you, you can naturally accept it, and you have to accept it. Or, are you trying to disobey?”
Chunlin kowtowed a few more times, and said in his mouth, “Slave and maid don’t dare.”
Cao Mi laughed, as if the tough appearance just now was just everyone’s illusion, “Come on, you are the most useful old man in the mansion, but it’s just a cup of tonic soup, you can bear it.”
Chunlin was helpless, so he could only thank him in fear, and got up to get the soup.
Cao Mi picked up the white cup and handed it over, but stopped when Chunlin was about to take it.
She took back the white cup and handed it over to Dong Li behind her, “Why do I see Chun Lin’s hands shaking so badly? Dong Li, come and feed Chun Lin some soup.”
Everyone in the hall was taken aback by her strange order, and Dong Li quickly came back to his senses, enduring the doubts in his heart, and said “yes”.
She took the tonic soup from Cao Mi and came to Chunlin. Soon, a spoon full of sweet soup was brought to Chunlin’s mouth.
Chunlin seemed to be stunned, did not open his mouth, just looked straight at Cao Mi.
Dong Li asked urgently, “Chun Lin?”
Chunlin still didn’t move, only looking at Cao Mi with more and more vicious eyes.
Dong Li and the others finally discovered the abnormality, and Bei Si subconsciously turned around to protect Cao Mi, guarding against Chun Lin’s irrational actions.
But Cao Mi was not afraid. When things had come to this point, seeing that she was about to find out the real culprit, she didn’t want to retreat at all.
So she stood up and asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you drink?”
Chun Lin suddenly moved, and pushed Dong Li who was standing beside her.
Dong Li was unprepared, and was pushed directly to the ground. The porcelain bowl in his hand was shattered, and the tonic soup in the porcelain bowl was sprinkled everywhere.
After Dong Li stood still, he snorted, “Chunlin, what are you doing?”
However, Cao Mi stood calmly and even smiled in a good mood.
By now, she could confirm that Chunlin knew that the soup was poisonous. Her push was useless, Cao Mi pointed to the food box on the table, and said, “No problem, there is still a bowl in the box.”
The two servants in the hall finally reacted at this time, and stepped forward to directly suppress Chunlin.
Cao Mi instructed Dong Li, “Take the soup to the doctor in Fuzhong and check what’s in it. In addition, everyone who has touched this bowl of soup today will be imprisoned together, and will be tried again in the future. “
Dong Li finally pieced together the whole story from Cao Mi’s words. Hearing that, he nodded hurriedly and went straight to give instructions.
Not long after she was discharged from the hospital, Qi You brought someone to the hall.
Cao Mi didn’t know why he came here at such a time, and when he heard the news from the outside world, he was shocked.
In the blink of an eye, she quickly changed her expression and threw herself into the arms of Qi You who had just entered the door, “Your Highness!”
Qi You obviously didn’t expect Cao Mi’s reaction, so he was stunned for a moment and then asked stiffly, “What’s wrong?”
Cao Mi buried his head in his arms, preventing him from seeing his contrived expression at this time, only pressing the corner of his eye with a handkerchief, pretending to wipe away the tears that did not exist, and replied: “Chunlin wants to harm the minister. Concubine! The lord must be the master of the concubine!”
Qi You glanced at Chun Lin, who was being suppressed by the two servants, and then at Cao Mi, who was crying in his arms, and nodded after a while, “Well, you get up first, I’ll figure it out. deal with.”
Chunlin was taken by Qi You’s people for interrogation, and several of her comrades in the mansion were also successfully rectified.
The next day, Qi You sent a housekeeper to explain the whole story to Cao Mi, only then did Cao Mi know that Chunlin had always liked Qi You, the king of Bei’an, who was the head of the family.
Qi You’s dislike of the original family’s lack of control was seen in her eyes. She felt that she had been in the palace for many years, and she was all in charge of the palace, and she was fully capable of replacing it.
Originally, she was expecting Qi You to take her in, but Qi You seemed to have no intention of taking a concubine at all, so she started killing Cao Mi.
Cao Mi shuddered when he heard the reason.
She really didn’t understand how a little girl under 20 could commit murder for love. This is simply unbelievable in her outlook on life for more than 20 years.
So when the housekeeper then asked her what to do with Chunlin, Cao Mi rubbed his forehead with a headache, and said, “Send the official.”
“Send an official?” The housekeeper frowned, “Madam, a slave like Chunlin who bullies his master and kills his master can be dealt with at his own discretion, and there is no need to send it to the official. Sending the slave to the official is also a fate, and there is no way to escape. One dead.”
Cao Mi shook his head, “Send officials, let’s send them all, Xia Lin too, I was going to send them all after the investigation was clear.”
After all, Cao Mi is a modern person who has received decades of legal education. Even though she knew that the two had committed capital crimes, she still did not want to use lynching to kill every criminal in her own courtyard.
The only way she can think of is to send all these people to the government, and the prefect who has the right to judge will judge their right and wrong punishment.
Seeing her insistence, the housekeeper stopped talking, said “yes” and left.
He went all the way back to the front yard, went straight to the study, and begged to see Qi You.
Qi You quickly responded, and the housekeeper was able to enter to report his duties.
He reported to Qi You all the things he had just mentioned on Cao Mi’s side, emphasizing Cao Mi’s decision to “send an official”. At the end, the butler asked, “Your Highness, what do you think?”
Qi You pondered for a while, then nodded, “Just do what the princess wants. You remember to find Mr. Zhao, and let him look at these two cases. At a critical moment, don’t let those people take any cause or provoke them. What a storm.”
Now that his identity in Beijing is sensitive, at this time, he is more inclined to solve it in Fuzhong. But Chunlin and Xialin were nominally from Cao Mi’s side after all. Cao Mi made a decision, and he didn’t need to stop him for some trivial matters.
The butler bowed, “Old slave knows.”
He was about to leave to make arrangements, when he heard Qi You’s voice resounding again.
“Uncle Zhong, do you think that a person’s temperament will change greatly after experiencing life and death?”
The butler paused for a moment, then replied, “In my humble opinion, it’s probably true. The lord is someone who has been on the battlefield. Can’t you also see the significant difference between the recruits and the veterans who have seen blood?”
Qi You seemed to laugh at himself, “Yes.”
So, he didn’t stop the housekeeper and let him leave on his own.
He sat behind the desk, facing the table full of documents, but couldn’t read a word.
After a long while, he sighed and murmured thoughtfully: “But this… is really a bit bizarre.”
——
After Chun Lin and Xia Lin were sent to prison, Cao Mi finally lived a peaceful year.
She originally thought that with the status of King Bei’an, the mansion would be very lively on the New Year’s Day. But perhaps due to the recent loss of power of King Bei’an, she did not receive any invitations this New Year.
Cao Mi was also happy to be at leisure, and she simply gave up the idea of hosting a banquet if no one invited her. According to the habit of previous years, after giving away all the New Year’s gifts from each family, she played with the three little peas with peace of mind.
On the contrary, Qi You was afraid that she might have a gap in her heart, so she came to comfort her a few times.
Cao Mi replied, “I know everything about my concubine”, and at the same time, he felt relieved in his heart.
But she didn’t relax for a long time. After the New Year’s Day, various backlogs were still brought to the front.
The most troublesome among them was the several deeds about the shop under her name that Nanxi and Beisi mentioned a few years ago.
The current situation is that, on the other side of the deed, the Li family has already delivered all the goods mentioned in the deed. If Cao Mi does not pay the balance, he is in breach of contract.
This loss, she is not ready to admit it.
But when it comes to the solution, she has no clue.
She even asked the housekeeper’s opinion on this matter, but the housekeeper also shook his head and told her, “Report to the princess, if you only rely on these deeds and those things, the princess may not be able to win the lawsuit.”
Just when Cao Mi was thinking hard about how to deal with it, a person she didn’t expect suddenly came to her door.
Since the last time Hanshan Temple parted, Qi, who had not walked with each other for a whole New Year, suddenly brought people to the Bei’an Prince’s Mansion.
Cao Mi was having a headache about the store and didn’t want to see her at first, but in the end he invited her into the yard because of his elders.
The two exchanged a few words in the hall without smiling, and Qi suddenly said, “Princess, you and the lord, are you going to leave the capital in the spring?”
Cao Mi nodded, “Didn’t my aunt already know about this?”
That is, a few years ago, there was a sudden conclusion about the seal of the King of Bei’an. Cao Mi followed Qi You to the front yard to receive the imperial decree, and their family’s trip to Liaozhou became a sure thing.
Mrs Qi covered her mouth and complimented: “Oh, it’s fortunate that your aunt has already sent you a letter. During this time, you are almost ready, right?”
She smiled happily, as if the encounter at Hanshan Temple more than a month ago was nothing but an illusion.
Cao Mi didn’t bother to respond to her at all, and made a perfunctory “um”.
Seeing that she lost interest, Mrs Qi simply went straight to the topic.
“Actually, my aunt’s coming this time has something to do with it.” She said, “Princess, if your family wants to leave the capital, how many shops do you have in the capital, should you be ready to leave?”
Cao Mi nodded, suddenly interested, and wanted to see what medicine she sold in the gourd.
So she played with a smile and said, “Well, that’s what it means.”
Mrs Qi stretched the big golden ring between her palms, “Auntie is thinking, fat water doesn’t flow to outsiders’ fields! If you sell to outsiders, you will also sell it, and if you sell it to your aunt, you will also sell it. Just sell it to your family. affection.”
Cao Mi sighed, “I was thinking about the relationship between the two families, but during the New Year’s holiday, my aunt didn’t return the New Year’s ceremony. I thought that my aunt wanted to break up with me.”
The smile on Mrs. Qi’s face froze for a moment, but she quickly reacted and asked in surprise, “Ah? You didn’t receive the New Year’s gift from my mansion? Oops! Those who eat rice may have forgotten to send it to the mansion.”
“Oh?” Cao Mi asked again, “I know my uncle and aunt’s concern for me, but I don’t know what my aunt has prepared?”
Mrs. Qi smiled and said, “Your uncle is your nephew now, how can he treat you badly. Pearls from the South China Sea, hair tips from the east, and yak hides from the grasslands are all prepared for you.”
Cao Mi nodded, “So, I’ll thank my uncle and aunt first.”
Mr. Qi nodded stiffly, and said with a bit of gritted teeth: “Well, I will let them deliver everything when I go back.”
After saying this, she did not dare to let Cao Mi speak, and hurriedly replied: “Then let’s talk about business, the shops I mentioned earlier…”
She said, beckoning to a servant who came with her, and the servant came forward knowingly and presented a small wooden box.
Qi opened the wooden box, and saw dozens of ingots of silver neatly packed in the wooden box, which at first glance seemed to be dazzling.
She said, “Our family doesn’t talk about the two. Today, my aunt brought the silver and the silver. You can’t give the shop to others.”
The silver in the wooden box seemed to be a lot. Cao Mi roughly estimated that it was about two hundred taels of silver.
Although the shops under her name are not doing well now, they are all located on the most prosperous streets in Beijing! Cao Mi asked someone to estimate the price a few years ago, and together with the inventory and everything in the shop, the most stingy businessman reported no less than five hundred taels.
Cao Mi’s face remained calm, but he sneered in his heart——
This aunt’s good idea was to swallow her shop with a mere two hundred taels of silver.
Gee, I’m not afraid to spoil my appetite.
Cao Mi was thinking about how to deal with her ruthlessly, and suddenly came up with a plan.
She made a troubled look and said, “I plan to sell those shops, but I haven’t asked anyone for the price yet…”
Knowing that the original body was not able to operate at all, Mrs. Qi hurriedly interrupted when she heard the words: “Aiya, my aunt can still cheat you. Besides, for our family, wouldn’t it be the same as if it was still in your hands?”
Cao Mi hesitated for a while, and then nodded under Qi’s constant persuasion, “If that’s the case, then let’s go with my aunt.”
Qi Shi nodded repeatedly, praising her for being sensible and well-behaved.
Cao Mi was suffocating in his heart, and said again: “Then let’s find a day to go to the government’s lieutenant general’s store contract…”
“Hey, don’t, don’t!” Mr. Qi waved his hand and refused, “It’s just a small matter, why do you need to work for you to go to the government.”
She licked her lower lip, “I happen to know a civil servant in the yamen, and I’ll invite him to the palace someday. Let’s do things quietly.”
After finishing speaking, she also specifically instructed: “It’s not a good thing to sell a shop, it’s not good for your reputation, you must not make it out.”
Cao Mi nodded in cooperation.
She knew in her heart that Qi’s unwillingness to publicize the matter was for the sake of her reputation?
She used two hundred taels to deceive her niece’s shop, which was worth about six hundred taels of silver, but she didn’t dare to spread it out and ruined her reputation.
But her actions this time also fit Cao