Chapter Thirty: An Unexpected Encounter

  In the forty-eighth year of Kangxi, on March 16th, after nearly half a month's journey, the cargo ship carrying the first batch of spring tribute goods from Jiangning Weizhao arrived at Changxin Store Wharf in the southwest of Beijing. At the same time, Cao Yin's eldest son Cao Kun also arrived.

  The one who came to the dock to inspect this batch of tribute goods was Ma Liandao, a langzhong from the Guangchu Temple of the Imperial Household Department. He was a bao yi of the Zheng Huang Banner and had been a subordinate of Cao Yu's grandfather when he was young, so he had a relatively good relationship with the Cao family. In fact, for such a trivial matter as inspecting tribute goods, it was not necessary for him, a third-rank langzhong, to come in person, but because he had already received news that the young master of the Cao family was entering the capital, he came over specially.

  The Cao family's house in the capital was originally taken care of by the old steward Cao Wu. This Cao Wu was once a personal soldier of Cao Kun's great-grandfather, and after retiring from the battlefield, he became a steward. When Cao Xi went to Jiangnan for his appointment, the house in Beijing needed loyal servants to take care of it, so Cao Wu stayed in the old house. In the blink of an eye, more than 40 years have passed, and Cao Wu is now over 80 years old. Ten years ago, he reported to Cao Yun and let his son take over his position.

  At this moment, the one who came to the dock to welcome the young master was Cao Wu's son, Cao Zhong. As the steward of the Cao family, Cao Zhong was in charge of the exchanges between the Cao family and the officials in the capital city, so he was not unfamiliar with the horse dealer in front of him. He immediately smiled and stepped forward, saying: "Your humble servant Cao Zhong has seen Marquis Ma!"

  "Is the steward, have you made arrangements with the Imperial Guard? There are many taboos there, don't let your young master suffer any grievances." Ma Lian knew that Cao Yun had entered the capital to take office, so he asked this way.

  "Cao Zhong has taken care of Master Xie's affairs, so you can rest assured. I've received the message and have made arrangements everywhere, and I won't dare let Young Master suffer any grievances." Cao Zhong replied.

  Ma Lian Island nodded slightly, feeling a bit more at ease. Although the Cao family was prominent in Jiangnan, they had been away from the capital for over 40 years, and if there were those who didn't open their eyes, wanting to bully Cao Yun, it wouldn't be anything strange. The key still lay with the person above, whether due to the passing of Old Lady Sun, they would reduce their favor towards the Cao family.

  Ma Liandao and Cao Zhong were chatting when they saw a group of people coming down from the passenger ship behind the tribute ship.

  " Cao Shizong?" Ma Liandao felt a little surprised, thinking that Cao Kun was on the tribute ship in front, so he was still waiting for the tribute ship to dock, and did not expect him to be on the passenger ship behind.

  Cao Song went forward and paid his respects: "Cao Song has seen Marquis Ma, sir. Greetings!"

  "Ah, good, good!" Ma Lian said with a nod and a smile as he helped Cao Gong up: "The last time I saw you was when you were just a child, now you've all grown into adults!"

  Cao Yun's face wore a smile, but his heart felt somewhat uneasy as Ma Lian's gaze was too intense. He recalled that when he left Jiangning, his father had mentioned that Ma Lian had a daughter two years younger than him, and the Ma family had brought up the idea of an alliance between their families, but at the time, the children were still young, so they hadn't paid much attention to it.

  I don't know what Ma Lian Island is thinking. Is it simply looking at the world's nephew, or is there a plan to marry a daughter-in-law? Cao Yun thought, and also had some self-mockery. He was influenced by the memories of his past life, and he had some resistance to people with the surname Ma. Who knows which one is his father-in-law?

  "This humble servant Cao Zhong has seen Master!" Cao Zhong stepped forward two steps and knelt down after Ma Liangdao had spoken with Cao Song.

  Cao Guang waved his hand: "Get up, the luggage is still on the boat, you arrange for someone to move it down."

  Ma Lian Island had met with Cao Kun, and was very satisfied. The people at the dock were coming and going, and it wasn't good to make too much small talk, so he said: "My young nephew is tired from traveling, go back and rest first, tonight I'll host a banquet in the mansion to welcome you! My young nephew must not decline, otherwise it would be impolite to me." Seeing Cao Kun agree, he smiled and walked away with a swagger.

  Cao Gong did not want to agree, but unexpectedly, Ma Liandao, who was smiling, directly made the decision for him, without leaving any room for excuse. The saying "old and cunning" is indeed true. At this moment, Cao Zhong asked: "Master, this young lady..."

  Cao Gong followed Cao Zhong's line of sight and found that it was Zi Jing, who had come to the capital with him. It turned out that Cao Zhong saw Zi Jing bringing two young maidservants behind Cao Gong, with elegant appearance and decent clothes. If she were a young lady from a certain family, there would be no reason for her not to show her face; if she were a personal maid, she was a bit older than usual.

  "This is Zi Jing, who served Old Lady, and this is Gong Shu, the steward from the capital." Cao Yun only then remembered that he had forgotten to introduce them.

  Zi Jing and Cao Zhong bid farewell, then boarded the carriage with two young maidservants. Cao Zhong had long been prepared, thinking that Young Master might come to the house before entering the capital.

  Besides Zijin and two little maidservants, there were also Shu Tong Xiaoman, Chang Sui Wei Hei and Wei Bai, the two brothers.

  The Wei brothers were around thirty years old and didn't look particularly impressive, but their martial arts skills were not ordinary. Originally disciples of a hermit from the jianghu, they entered the Cao manor because their master had received favors from the Cao family. They followed Cao Zhi for nearly eight years, always keeping a low profile in Jiangning.

  Cao Cao had long known of the existence of these two brothers, and was grateful for their silent protection over the years. This time when he entered the capital, he didn't choose anyone else, only letting the two brothers move from the shadows to openly follow him.

  When all the luggage on the boat was loaded onto the carriage, Cao Huan rode a horse and followed Cao Zhong into the city.

  *

  Outside Guang'an Gate, Cao Yun looked at the majestic and magnificent city wall, feeling a bit sour in his nose. He finally returned to Beijing, reincarnated over 300 years ago, after arriving in this world eight years ago.

  Before he could enter the city, Cao Kun heard the sound of horseshoes "clattering" from behind.

  In the midst of flying dust, several horses surrounded a horse-drawn carriage speeding along. In front, clearing the way were several brightly dressed young nobles, waving their whips and turning towards the city gate to wait for the citizens entering the city, shouting: "Make way, make way!" Among them, one person's whip landed on the curtain of the carriage where Zijin was seated. The curtain was half-open, revealing Zijin's slightly startled pretty face.

  The young noble on horseback felt a thrill, seeing that there were no official flags on the carriage, and he dared to speak foul language: "Whose little wife is more beautiful than the sisters of the Wan Hua Lou?"

  Another person next to him laughed and scolded: "Nalan Chengping, don't spout nonsense, the princess is still waiting to enter the city!"

  Nalan Xingping finally stopped talking and turned around to greet the horse carriage that was following behind, and entered the city surrounded by them.

  Cao Gong stared at Nalan Chengping's back, nodded to Wei Hei. Wei Hei rode his horse and followed the convoy.

  Cao Zhong didn't know what arrangement the two masters and servants had made, so he hastily stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Master, don't be angry, this is the carriage of Princess Ping of the Guangzhou King's Mansion, it's not an outsider!"

  Ping Jun Wang Nüer Su is the husband of Cao Zhen's elder sister Cao Yan, so Cao Zhong would say that.

  Cao Gong nodded, he was not a reckless young man, when he first arrived in the capital, he would not take the initiative to provoke those powerful people, and sent Wei Hei to follow him, just to teach that impudent little boy a lesson.

  The old residence of the Cao family in Jingzhong is outside Chongwen Gate, a four-entry courtyard. On both sides of the gate hang two red lanterns with the two characters "Cao Fu" written on them. Compared to the luxurious and majestic Jiangning Weaving Bureau, this house is simple but not lacking in dignity.

  Cao Cong dismounted his horse in front of the gate, looked around and found that this was not a bustling city, and there were not many people coming and going on the road. Looking along both sides of the road, they were all courtyards surrounded by high walls. In my previous life, I lived in the east city, it seems that I should find time to go back and take a look, at least it's a thought.

  The gatekeeper was the most nimble, seeing a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy dismounting at the gate, with an old steward following behind. He knew that his young master had arrived and hurriedly bowed to greet him. The several managers of the mansion had been waiting for a long time and heard the commotion at the gate, so they all came out to welcome him, including eighty-year-old Cao Wu who walked out with a cane. The old man's teeth were half gone, and he trembled as he tried to kneel down, but Cao Yun wouldn't let him, hastily reaching out to support him.

  After entering the mansion, it was the lower-ranking servants from the mansion who came to pay their respects. Although the Cao family had not been in the capital for several decades, there were still many servants on this side. After being busy for more than half a day, Cao Yun's ears finally cleared up. Fortunately, Zi Jing had already prepared the reward silver, and everyone was happy. Cao Yun also understood what it meant to be a slave born into a noble family. The capital's mansion originally had only a few servants, but over several decades, the descendants multiplied, and now there were nearly a hundred people. Some hung around in the mansion with idle jobs, mixing for a monthly salary, while others were sent south to work as officials.

  Cao Gong's residence had been arranged early, it was the west wing where Cao Yin lived before he got married, the area was not big, but it was elegant. Cao Gong was very satisfied and let Zijin bring two small maids to clean up. The person in charge of the inner house was Cao Zhongjia's, seeing that Cao Gong brought few maids, she selected two maids with neat appearance and quick hands and feet from the family servants and arranged them in the wing.

  Cao Gong felt that there were already enough people around him and didn't want to keep anyone, so he hinted at Zi Jing. However, Zi Jing seemed not to notice and asked the two about their ages before taking them away to explain the rules.

  When no one was around, Zijin said to Cao Gong: "This house has not had a master living here for decades. Now that the master has arrived, all the servants are looking forward to it eagerly. If the master only uses people brought from the south, it will be fine for a few days, but after a long time, they will lose hope and inevitably some people will become lazy!"

  Cao Gong listened and couldn't help but admire, still a woman's heart is meticulous. As for Zi Jing, Cao Gong had always had a good impression of her, and when she hadn't moved away from Xuan Rui Hall in the past, she had been taken care of by Zi Jing many times.

  Zi Jing is seven years older than Cao Gong, and at the age of 22, she is considered an old maid in this era. When Old Lady was still alive, she had arranged a marriage for Zi Jing with the son of a steward in the mansion. However, soon after the engagement, the man fell ill and died. At that time, rumors spread that Zi Jing was a jinx who brought bad luck to her husband. Old Lady felt sorry for Zi Jing and wanted to arrange another marriage for her. But Zi Jing vowed to remain unmarried and serve Old Lady for the rest of her life. The people in the mansion thought she was still upset about the previous marriage and didn't take it seriously. Unexpectedly, after Old Lady passed away, Zi Jing remained firm in her decision not to marry, and only then did everyone realize that her mind was made up.

  *

  Chengxi, Pingjunwang Fu.

  The princess, Cao Jia, looked at the account book for a while and felt tired. She leaned against the soft couch to rest. The two concubines of Narsu sat carefully on small stools, chatting with the princess.

  Then a silvery laughter sounded, and a 13 or 14-year-old girl walked in from outside.