Section 56

  It's getting interesting!

  So you're willing to come out now, huh?

  My shameless YY down:

  Kang Xi Xi: Lin Yi Chen

  Ning Xingguo: Lu Yi

  Shen Shuangxian: Of course it's Tang Wei

  Xu Sicheng: Hu Ge

  Xu Baoshan: Chen Baoguo

  Xu Silei: Zhou Xun

  Jingyi: Haven't thought it through yet

  Welcome to add

  Fifty-six

  Xu Baoshan returned, unable to conceal the joy on his face. He kept gossiping with Xu Saihan, Xu Sailü and Shen Shuxian about this trip to Beijing. It was quite a harvest, Yuan Shikai praised him highly, especially for beheading the revolutionary party's leader. A family banquet was held in celebration, serving Manchu-Han full-course meal, which lasted for three days.

  Yuan Shikai, as the emperor, naturally also wanted to enjoy the palace's etiquette, a full set of colorful porcelain tableware, paired with silverware, looked rich and majestic. The dry fruits included tiger skin peanuts and strange flavor flat bread, as well as white grapes and snow mountain plum. The candied fruit was slightly sweet, including longan, fresh peaches, and green plums. The fragrance of high-quality Gunpowder tea intoxicated Xu Baoshan.

  After dinner, several senior officials and Xu Baoshan went to the study room together to discuss matters.

  Jingyi then visited his several wives. The selected local products and jewelry were all carefully searched for different styles of decorations and clothes by the matchmaker. After knocking on the door of the first wife, also known as Old Yuan's original wife Yu Shi, who was originally the daughter of a wealthy family in Henan, illiterate and unfamiliar with old etiquette, Jingyi brought a box of red dates from Xinzheng, Henan, which had been stored in the cellar using thousand-year-old ice blocks, so they looked fresh. Yu Shi was not short of money or gold, but when she opened this gift, tears poured down, and she grasped Jingyi's hand and refused to let go.

  The big concubine Shen lived next door, although she was of humble origin, but also considered a famous courtesan in Yangzhou. According to Xu Baoshan, when Yuan was down on his luck, she had taken out her own ransom money to help him pursue honors. At that time, Old Yuan was also deeply moved, and after he made a name for himself, he indeed married Shen as his wife. Because the "first lady" Yu was weak and incompetent, and her appearance was rough, Yuan treated Shen like a madam, attending some diplomatic occasions. So Jingyi's gift was very valuable, that emerald let Shen's hands almost lift it up, naturally she was overjoyed, and also took the opportunity to curry favor with a relative, "My daughter-in-law is also from your Shen family, born similar to you, noble and generous." Saying so made Shen feel close to her.

  Third Madame Jin, she was originally a member of the Korean royal family. She had thought that marrying Yuan Shikai would make her his "official wife", but unexpectedly after entering the household, both she and the two maids who accompanied her as attendants became Yuan's concubines, so she spent her days in gloom. When Jingyi came to visit, she wasn't particularly enthusiastic at first, until she saw the high-quality Korean clothing made from fine fabric, then she became excited and chatted with Jingyi for a long time. Jingyi didn't quite understand what she was saying, but listened patiently. The gist of it was that Yuan's fourth concubine, Wu Shi, was one of her attendants who had been unexpectedly promoted to concubine by Yuan Shikai, which was simply outrageous. Jingyi didn't dare say anything more and just chose a Korean fan from the gifts to ask Third Madame Jin to give to Wu Shi, then bid farewell and left.

  The maid who followed her grumbled as she walked, "Madam, this president has so many wives, does he even remember their names?"

  "Shut up! Do you have the right to speak out of turn? The Emperor still has three thousand beauties in his harem!"

  The fifth concubine, Yang, was the most cautious of all, because it was said that Yuan Shikai's favorite was the second and fifth concubines. Yang resembled herself a bit, not being the most beautiful or charming, but Yuan appreciated her for her ability to manage the household, being clever with words, and having decisive judgment. The gifts were also well-prepared, as she had heard that Yang liked good tea. Upon entering, there were indeed large and small tea cakes and tea leaves filling the cabinets. As they chatted while tasting, she casually opened and brewed the Pu'er tea she had brought along. These raw materials were all taken from the buds and leaves of wild ancient tea trees in the six major ancient tea mountains since the Ming dynasty, with each tree being over a hundred years old. The tea made from these wild ancient tea trees was already a tribute to the imperial court during the Qing dynasty, with the Qing emperor having specially granted a plaque and issued an edict for this tea. Yang was someone who knew her stuff, and upon receiving this treasure, she also praised Jingyi as a person of good taste who understood tea.

  Sixth Concubine Ye, she was originally a prostitute in Nanjing's Fishing Lane. Her marriage to Yuan Shikai was purely a "misunderstanding". When Yuan was the Governor of Zhili Province, he sent his second son, Yuan Kewe, to Nanjing on business. Yuan Kewe met the prostitute Ye at Fishing Lane and they fell deeply in love, exchanging vows of engagement. Ye gave her jade photograph to Yuan Kewe, who returned home and reported back to his father, but accidentally dropped the photo from his pocket. Yuan Shikai pointed at it repeatedly, asking "What is that? What is that?" Yuan Kewe dared not discuss his personal affairs with his father, so he hastily replied: "I found a beautiful girl for Father in Nanjing, I wonder if Father likes her?" Yuan Shikai took the photo and was delighted, so he sent someone to bring Ye back from Nanjing as his concubine. The second son of Yuan could only sigh at Ye's photograph, giving her some trinkets as gifts, which were expensive but not precious. However, Ye was very pleased with these small things, for she loved such trifles.

  The maid walked and asked, "It should be Seventh Aunt, right?"

  "Seventh Aunt Zhang was caught by Old Yuan having an affair with the florist, she's afraid of implicating her family and poisoned herself to death. That's a haunted house, let's not go there."

  The maid glanced at it with the lantern by the door and found that it was indeed gloomy and terrifying, the door was not closed properly, and inside was pitch black.

  In the end, only Eighth Concubine Guo and Ninth Concubine Liu were left, who were also of humble origin and had no great status in the Yuan family. As the sky gradually darkened, Jingyi feared that Xu Baoshan would wait for too long, so she directly knocked on the door and sent over some gold bars, jade, pearls, and agate, without taking a seat. She made an excuse that there were still people waiting in the hall. The two concubines themselves did not like to go out and socialize, but seeing someone sending gifts, they were naturally delighted and did not detain Jingyi. After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, they let her pass.

  After some efforts, Xubao Shan brought new appointments. He was appointed as the Lieutenant General of the Left Army and his son became the Chief Martial Arts Officer of the Presidential Palace, who could enter and exit the Presidential Palace freely without having to work there, and also served as the Deputy Commander of the Second Army in Yangzhou.

  "Wow, brother has become a high-ranking official. That's great." Xu Saille was very happy and she also loved listening to those gossips.

  Shen Shuxian also chimed in with some auspicious words, Xu Baoshan laughed heartily and felt extremely pleased. He put his arm around Jingyi's waist and said to Shen Shuxian, "In the future, learn more from your mom. My son will be even more promising than me, and hurry up and give birth to a little one for me to dote on."

  Shen Shuxian's face flushed with a red cloud, looking at Xu Saihan with embarrassment.

  I don't know if entering this family is good or bad fortune, right or wrong. Never mind, let's just follow the will of heaven. At least this moment is happy.

  Ice River: Today's update is early because I have a magazine article deadline. You've been kicked off the sofa, come give me a hug.

  From today on, everyone doesn't have to stay up late anymore.