Chapter 26 Poor Relatives

  The flower hall is elegantly laid out and has a refined atmosphere.

  Savoring the top-grade Sparrow Tongue in his celadon cup, Ye Zha couldn't help but praise it: "Good tea."

  Sitting on the other side of the desk was a middle-aged man with a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was Su Shun, a figure who must be mentioned in the history books of the late Qing dynasty.

  As for this uncle, Ye Zhao was not familiar with him. For the first time, he sat alone with him in the flower hall, and a strange feeling surged up in Ye Zhao's heart, as if his collision with history had begun.

  Yes, the historical figure he had learned about before was actually sitting next to him now, smiling and chatting with him, leaving Ye Zhaowei feeling deeply moved.

  "Korean Spring, I think I've heard that name before." Xue Shun chuckled and interjected when Ye Zhao introduced Korean Spring.

  Ye Zhao had no choice, the Northeast was about to be opened up, but he himself was stuck with his own wedding, let alone going to Guanwai after the wedding. He could only recommend Lao Fuzi and Han Jin Chun to go to Guanwai to organize a civilian militia. Now that Lao Fuzi is still in Shanghai, there's no choice but to ask this uncle to promote Han Jin Chun instead.

  "Daoguang's thirty-year-old Wu Jinshi, familiar with the battlefield, can be in charge of one side alone." Ye Zhao could only boast for Han Jin Chun, and now Han Jin Chun could only be described as a brave man, but in the upcoming skirmishes with the Russians outside the pass, bravery would come in handy.

  He smiled and stroked his beard, although he was a member of the imperial clan, he had always looked down on himself and other Manchu people, often saying "We banner people are stupid and don't understand anything!" "The Manchu people are muddle-headed and useless, only knowing how to take money!", He was one of the few nobles in the Manchu imperial clan who truly valued Han officials, and he also took great pleasure in promoting Han people. And he himself had taken the courtesy name Yutīng according to Han customs.

  With a serious and smiling expression, he asked: "According to your words, the Rakshas and England and France will continue to fight in the West for another year or two?"

  Ye Zhaoming nodded: "The military equipment of England and France is sharp, the firearms and warships are among the best in the world today. The defeat of Russia is only a matter of time, and when that happens, they will inevitably turn their attention to our unowned land beyond the pass! In the East, it urgently needs an outlet to the sea."

  Su Shun furrowed his brow and said: "Out of the sea?"

  Ye Zhaodao said: "For the Western countries, it is now the age of the ocean, the era of warships roaming freely. If the Russians can find a way to build a port outside our borders, their warships will be able to reach Korea and Japan directly, and even threaten our capital city. This is the significance of having an outlet to the sea at present."

  Su Shun furrowed his brow, nodded slightly and said: "I thought foreigners were separated from our great Qing by thousands of mountains and rivers, but hearing you say this, it seems that foreigners are getting closer and closer to our doorstep?"

  Ye Zhaodao said: "The Western ship wheel technology is becoming more and more advanced, in a few years it's likely that they will build a large canal in Arabia, then the East and West will be connected, if foreigners come to our dynasty, at that time it may only take a month or so."

  Su Shun's face turned even more unsightly, and he didn't drink his tea either, just staring blankly into space.

  Ye Zhaode said: "Foreigners have reasonable ones, and there are also unreasonable ones. To put it bluntly, they want to make money from our Great Qing by trade. If they can't make money, they will think of ways to set rules that allow them to make money. We can't win even if we fight, it's really like being a fish on the chopping board."

  After glancing at Su Shun, Ye Zhaode said: "For the time being, we can only learn from the barbarians to control them. However, learning from them cannot be simply buying their guns and cannons; industry and commerce also need to learn from others' experiences, encouraging civilians to engage in trade and start businesses."

  "That's enough!" Su Shun finally came back to his senses, waved his hand and picked up the teacup on the table.

  Ye Zhaoyang also knew that without changing the system, advocating for Westernization and strengthening would not save the Qing dynasty. However, if there had been a voice for reform one day earlier, people would have opened their eyes to see the world sooner, and this world would have changed sooner.

  Ye Zhaoye also knew that it was already not bad to say these things without being severely reprimanded by Su Shun, and he wouldn't take his own claims seriously either. At least it left some impression on him, so the words spoken today weren't in vain.

  ……

  You Rui and her four children led the way, Ye Zha arrived at Xi Si Pai Lou Hu Tong Rong Er's home.

  This is an inconspicuous quadrangle courtyard with gray tiles and green walls, where two wisteria trellises stretch out some tender green shoots.

  Rui Si handed over the letter, Tong Jia and her eldest son Zhao Xiang had already come out to welcome him, but they did not expect that the groom would visit before the wedding. After all, the prestige of the groom's family was not something that ordinary people like them could compare with. What does it matter if Xing Zhen entered the palace? How many families of imperial relatives can rely on the noble people in the palace? And as for Rong Er's marriage, this is truly a great fortune for the Nala family. She married the son of Prince Zheng, and in the future, she will be the legitimate princess consort of the prince's mansion. What a great blessing this is! It is said that the young prince took a liking to our family's Rong Er, and it seems that Rong Er really has good fortune.

  Tong Jia's eyes swept up and down Ye Zhao, a smile spreading across her face, clearly extremely pleased with Ye Zhao.

  Zhaoxiang had long heard of Ye Zhao, but he was just a loose and idle person. Not to mention Ye Zhao, even an ordinary yellow belt holder couldn't get close to him. At this time, when he met Ye Zhao, Zhaoxiang couldn't help but put on a strong show of hospitality, which actually surprised Ye Zhao a little. After all, this family had produced a woman who would rule China for half a century. Seeing how warmly his family welcomed him, Ye Zhao almost thought he had misremembered history - the Lan Gui Ren from his family who entered the palace was not the Empress Dowager Cixi of history.

  However, the Lan family is indeed living a relatively difficult life at present. Ten years ago, his grandfather was involved in the Ministry of Revenue's deficit case. In fact, it was a case left over from his ancestors, but the Daoguang Emperor decreed that for those who had passed away, their descendants would have to pay compensation. Therefore, Lan's grandfather was imprisoned and sentenced to pay back more than 10,000 taels of silver. After borrowing from all sides, Lan and his father, Hui Zheng, managed to make up the amount and rescue his grandfather. Later, Hui Zheng's official career gradually took off, but he was dismissed last year for taking bribes and escaping to Jiangsu Town with the salary and official seal, and died in the town of Zhenjiang.

  So now the Zheng family is having a relatively difficult time, but it's also making Ye Zhaowu helpless. Who would have thought that Empress Dowager Cixi has become their own poor relative?

  A maid brought in tea and served it in the main hall. Lady Tong asked a few casual questions about family matters, and Ye Zhao replied to each one.

  Zhuo Xiang scratched his ear and cheek, thinking that he couldn't get a word in edgewise. He was stifled for a long time before suddenly having an idea. Smiling at Ye Zhaowei, he said: "Jing Ge, do you want to go see Rong Er's dowry? There are some treasures inside that were bestowed by the palace, all of which were arranged by my sister in the palace. She was really worried about this matter."

  Ye Zhaoyi was taken aback, and Tong Jia's wife glared at Zhaoxiang even more fiercely, naturally finding him strange for speaking nonsense.

  Ye Zhao just smiled and said, "Let's not look anymore." The day before the wedding, these dowries would be sent to Prince Zheng's mansion according to custom, placed in the hall to show off the richness of the bride's family.

  But Lan Gui Ren seems to be very concerned about this marriage, fearing that her sister will be looked down upon and bullied after entering the Zheng Wang Fu.

  After all, she is now favored by the emperor and has just been promoted to a higher position than Chang Zai and Da Ying. Who would have thought that years later her situation would be like this? She must be careful every day in the palace, afraid of offending someone.

  "From now on, we should get closer, Brother Zhao Xiang." Ye Zhaosheng smiled and said to Zhao Xiang.

  Zhao Xiang nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, Young Master Wang. In the future, if there's anything useful to Zhao Xiang, just speak up. Zhao Xiang has no other skills, but he does have a bit of physical strength."

  After chatting for a while, Ye Zhaohua smiled and stood up to bid farewell. Rui Si'er took the opportunity to present an old lady with a small square box wrapped in silk cloth, containing a stack of silver notes totaling one thousand taels.

  Looking at the small square box, Zhenxiang secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Even if he didn't know how much silver money his brother-in-law had brought, it was well-known that Zheng Qianwang Fu's brothers were generous with their spending, and they would be even more so when it came to their relatives.

  The old lady and Zhao Xiang sent Ye Zhao out of the hall, just as Ye Zhao's foot was about to step out of the threshold, he suddenly turned his head and made a strange face with his teeth clenched.

  Inside the hall, on the side of the door with a curtain, Ye Zhaoshang could feel that someone was secretly peeking at him. When he turned his head to make a weird face, sure enough, after lightly lifting the edge of the curtain, a pair of bright and beautiful eyes suddenly disappeared.

  Ye Zhao suppressed a bellyful of laughter and bid farewell to the old lady with a smile, while others didn't notice Ye Zhaos' small action.

  Actually, Ye Zhaohad already guessed that the one secretly looking at him was that little girl. As for this marriage with her, Ye Zhao didn't have any particular thoughts about it, he just thought it was fun. After getting married, of course, he wouldn't touch her, but thinking about becoming lawfully recognized husband and wife with such a young girl made Ye Zhao feel helpless. Today, coming to his mother-in-law's house, he suddenly felt that the little girl was secretly looking at him again. Ye Zhao was both angry and amused - Little furry head, how many things can you understand? You're even learning to sneak peeks at people!

  Ye Zhaocai suddenly made a strange face to scare her, and on the way back, Ye Zhaocai couldn't help but laugh out loud as she thought about it more and more. Rui Si'er just rolled her eyes, not knowing what had triggered her master's reaction.

  Ye Zhaowouldn't know that beside the door curtain, a delicate and lovely little girl was frightened by his strange face and covered her chest, panting for half a day, and began to worry that her husband seemed not to have a decent appearance.

  If Ye Zhaowu knew that not only Su Hongniang, but even a little maid thought he was not in good shape, I don't know if he would be so angry that smoke would come out of his seven orifices.

  It's actually not surprising that Rong'er thinks this way, as she was raised with very strict family rules. She has a gentle and virtuous personality, and despite her young age, she is very mature and proper in every word and action. But who would have thought that her future husband would make a scary face to frighten himself, causing Rong'er's heart to beat rapidly for a long time, and still worrying afterwards? Her husband has a frivolous temperament, not at all like what her sister said about him being capable.

  ……

  Ye Zhao originally hoped to be appointed as the commander of the flag army outside the pass after returning to Beijing, and also revealed this privately to the prince. However, now it seems that this hope is becoming increasingly slim. Currently, he has been assigned a trivial task as a loose-ranking official, but who knows what will happen after the grand wedding?

  The wedding day has arrived in the blink of an eye. Before Ye Zhaohad time to sort out all sorts of things, tomorrow is already the big wedding day.

  That noon, Ye Zhao got drunk and didn't know how he returned to the mansion. He was dazed and didn't know how long he slept. When he opened his eyes, his head hurt so much that he couldn't help but let out a low moan.

  "Grandfather, you're awake." Rui Si's voice, the scene in front of me also gradually became clear, this should be Rui Si's home, on the wooden table by the kang, the charcoal fire was burning brightly.

  The ones she was lying on and covering herself with were all brand new quilts, made of bright red satin, and judging from the embroidery patterns, they should have been her dowry when she got married. Could it be that Rui Si'er had brought them as part of her dowry when she got married?

  Ye Zhaos rarely visited the residences of his subordinates, but he also knew that all the servants and miscellaneous workers in the mansion lived in the west front yard. Rui Si had been pardoned by himself a while ago and was rewarded with a small courtyard, which made him one of the top-ranking people in the mansion.

  "Master, I've brought you some congee." It was only then that Ye Zhaowu noticed a seductive woman standing behind Rui Si, wearing a pale green dress with a flirtatious gaze and an alluring smile.

  The woman didn't shy away, sitting on the kang and gently placing Ye Zhao's head on her leg, using a small white jade spoon to feed Ye Zhao porridge one small mouthful at a time.

  Ye Zhaolost his intoxication after drinking two mouthfuls of porridge and suddenly became wide awake, hastily struggling to sit up, saying: "No need, I'll do it myself."

  The beautiful woman smiled and said, "I am Lian'gū, from the household of Ruìsìér."

  Ye Zhaoguo also guessed that she was Rui Si's wife and couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed. Even if Rui Si thought it was natural for his woman to serve him, he wouldn't even utter half a word of complaint even if he was afraid of being scolded by her. But as long as he is a man? Is there really not a single uncomfortable feeling in his heart?

  Ye Zhao took the rice porridge bowl and drank it in small sips, seeing Lian Guo lift the curtain and come out of the house. Ye Zhao said: "Fourth son, from now on, don't let your wife serve me again."

  Rui Si'er was startled, her face clearly tense, and she asked cautiously: "Master, did she just offend you? What did she do wrong? Tell me, I'll scold her later!"

  Ye Zhaogluared at him and said: "Look at you, with such a conscience, your own woman serving another man and you're so comfortable with it?"

  Rui Si'er seemed to have never thought about this issue and replied in a daze: "It's only right for us slaves to serve our master."

  Ye Zhaoye didn't even bother to say anything to him, waving his hand and saying: "Forget it, I should go."

  "Yes, yes, I'll send the master back home." Rui Si'er hastily attended to Ye Zhao as he stood up and put on his cloak, but remembered not to call for his daughter-in-law again to cause trouble.

  ……………………

  Votes...