Chapter Thirty-One: The Duke's Manor

  West of the city, Ping Junwang's mansion, main hall of the inner courtyard.

  As the silvery laughter rose, a 13 or 14-year-old girl came in from outside, wearing a crimson red cheongsam with a silver cape over it, her small face rosy and adorable.

  Cao Jia sat up slightly and said to the two maids in front of her, "Hurry up and throw a handkerchief over there for the princess to wipe her hands."

  That little girl's eyes widened and she leaned in close to Cao Jiasi: "Good sister, how did you know that Bao Ya just came back from outside?"

  Cao Jia pointed to the ground and Bao Ya looked down, only to find that there was a half-blade of grass stuck on her shoe.

  "Hmph! That Tana is so smug, our Red Flag troops are all useless, can't even beat a few Mongolians, I've lost face completely!" Bao Ya said with a pout, clearly dissatisfied.

  Cao Jia smiled and said: "Is it just the red border flag? Didn't they say that the people of the Zheng Huang flag also followed our Gege to run horses?"

  Bao Ya took the handkerchief handed over by the two maids and wiped her hands: "Every day, all day long, boasting about the three flags, aren't they all useless things!"

  "Mongolians grow up on horseback, their horsemanship is naturally superb. Can these young masters from the capital compare to that? You go challenge others' strong points, how can you not lose?" said Cao Jia Shi.

  "What about the next archery match? What if we lose to the Mongols again?" Bao Ya frowned, looking very worried.

  Cao Jia didn't know how to comfort this competitive little girl, so she changed the subject: "Why were you laughing so happily just now?"

  Bao Ya listened to her sister-in-law's question and burst out laughing again, saying with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you don't know, something funny just happened at the gate of the mansion! That Nalan Chengping is really hilarious, I don't know who played a trick on him, but suddenly half a brick of horse dung flew into his mouth!"

  "Na Lan Cheng Ping, that nephew of the Prime Minister's?" Cao Jia Shi shook her head: "That guy is too arrogant, he must have offended someone!"

  Bao Ya nodded: "Just when we entered the city, I seemed to hear him flirting with a woman from another family. His mouth was dirty and he deserved to eat horse dung."

  The two sisters-in-law were chatting idly when Cao Jia's maid, Tingqin, came in to report: "Madam, I've found out for sure that it was indeed the young master who arrived in the capital and has just reached the old mansion!"

  Cao Jia couldn't help but smile and ordered Qing Qin to bring people to invite, while instructing the servants in the mansion to prepare a high-end banquet.

  Bao Ya listened and hastily asked: "Is it the brother that sister always mentions, the one who is two years older than Bao Ya?"

  Cao Jia nodded in agreement. Before her eyes appeared the small face of a young boy, whom she had not seen for three years. She wondered what her younger brother looked like now.

  *

  The Cao Mansion in the capital city, west wing courtyard.

  Cao Gusu comfortably soaked in a hot bath, washing away the fatigue of the journey. After finishing his bath and dressing up, he asked Zijin to find out the gifts brought from Jiangning for his sister. Even if they were going to Ma's mansion for dinner tonight, they still had to go to the Junwangfu first, as they would have to settle their official duties at the palace tomorrow and might not have time then.

  Cao Gong called the housekeeper Cao Zhong to select two long-following attendants. Later, it was inevitable that there would be tasks such as fetching things and running errands by their side. It wouldn't be suitable to ask the Wei brothers to do such tasks, which would be a waste of their talents.

  Because many people were new to the capital, Cao Yun asked the housekeeper to give the Wei brothers 50 taels of silver and let them have a half-day off to go out and take a stroll. He himself took Xiaoman and two new attendants to visit his sister at the Pingjun King's mansion.

  As soon as Cao Gong left the gate of the Cao Mansion, he saw a horse-drawn carriage arriving in front of the gate. The two maidservants who got out of the carriage were Tingqin and Pinhua, the two personal attendants who had accompanied Cao Yan when she married into the Cao family.

  "It's really Master who has arrived, I'll pay respects for you, Master!" Ting-qin and Pin-hua smiled as they bowed their heads in greeting.

  Cao Gong saw that the two were dressed in flag attire, with gold and silver on their heads, looking more elegant than they had been in previous years. Their conversation was also not as shy as it had been when they were in Jiangning: "How did you come? I was just about to go visit my sister and thought that if I didn't send someone ahead of time to announce our arrival, it would be impolite."

  Tingqin said: "Miss has been thinking about it for several days, and every day she sends someone to inquire about Master's news. As soon as she received the news, she sent a servant to welcome Master over; if Miss wasn't feeling unwell, I'm afraid she would have come in person!" Because she was brought by her natal family as a dowry, although in the mansion they called Cao Jia Shi "Fu Jun", in front of Cao Yun they still used the old title.

  Cao Guang nodded, not unexpectedly. Historically, his sister had given birth to five or six sons, and now she only had two, including the one in her belly. The eldest son, Fu Peng, who was about to turn one year old, should be the one who was raised by Kangxi in the palace and later became Qianlong's companion reader.

  Cao Gong mounted his horse and listened to the zither and played with books. The two of them got on the carriage, and a group of people went to the Ping Jun Wang Fu.

  Pingjunwang Mansion is located on Xicheng Shijia Hutong, and was first built during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi. As one of the eight iron-cap princes who founded the country, Pingjunwang descended from Taizu's second son, the first generation of Liren Wang Daishan. The first generation of county king was Daishan's eldest son Yuetuo, Nersu's great-grandfather, and his title was "Kexin County King", which was posthumously conferred. When Nersu's father succeeded to the title, he was renamed Pingjunwang by Kangxi, and Kexin County King Mansion was also renamed Pingjunwang Mansion.

  Cao Guang may have been in Beijing last life, but the authentic Wangfu, apart from the Yonghe Temple, is really not familiar with others. The Yonghe Temple, as a place where two generations of emperors hid dragons, became a royal Lama temple, more like some temples.

  In front of me are five bays of high-ridged grey-tiled gatehouse, three bays of vermilion-painted great gate, the central gate is closed tightly, only the west gate is slightly ajar, seemingly often opened.

  Several servants of the Wang family at the gate saw a young master riding a horse following the Wang family's carriage, and didn't know how to address him. Then they saw two stewardesses from the mansion get out of the carriage: "Don't you hurry up and pay your respects? It's the uncle from Jiangning who has arrived!"

  Jiangning, that was the birthplace of Fu Jin. Several servants were busy with their duties, some were holding whips and others were leading horses, all very diligent. Cao Guang dismounted his horse, gestured to Xiao Man to reward them, and followed Listening Qin and Nong Shu into the Wang Mansion.

  "A few brothers, this is the master's reward for wine money. Brothers, take some time to drink a cup and relieve your fatigue!" Xiaoman smiled and handed over two ingots, and these servants were flattering again.

  Having entered the main gate, passed by the shadow wall, and walked along the west side of the Silver Peace Hall, Ting-yin and Nung Shu were hesitating whether to lead Ts'ao Kung to the guest hall or the side hall: the guest hall was too formal, while the side hall might be too casual.

  Cao Jia's wife had received the news and came out to greet her. She was dressed in a luxurious embroidered cheongsam with red butterflies on a blue background, but instead of wearing flower-patterned shoes, she wore a pair of soft-soled blue satin slippers. Although her belly didn't show, due to having given birth before, Cao Jia's wife's figure was slightly plumper than before marriage, and her originally oval face looked even more rounded.

  As soon as she saw her brother, before he had even spoken, Cao Jie's eyes were already red-rimmed.

  Cao Guang's heart softened and he said: "Sister!"

  The several concubines behind Cao Jia's body had a somewhat strange expression, this title was somewhat unbecoming, to know that the master and slave were different, even if they were siblings of the same womb, one who married into the Wang Fu as the legitimate wife was the real master; one, no matter how illustrious their ancestors were, was only an imperial servant, a slave identity. It's just that in the Wang Fu there were no other elders, and all internal affairs were decided by Cao Jia alone, who dared to speak at this time?

  "Ah!" Cao Jia nodded in response, then looked at Cao Gong and said: "You've grown a lot taller, you're a big boy now!" As she spoke, she took Cao Gong's hand and walked inside, carefully asking about his parents' situation in Jiangning.

  Although Cao Gong was a young man, he was already quite old and it wouldn't be good for him to enter the inner chambers. Therefore, Lady Cao brought her brother to the tea room next to the study in the Wang estate to converse.

  Cao Cao brought gifts that were not heavy, and they were carried in by the following Tingqin and Nongshu.

  After the maid brought tea and left, only the two siblings were left in the room. Cao Jia saw that among the gifts her brother had brought, there was a particularly beautiful box that she couldn't resist opening. Inside was a string of pearl bracelets, with pearls as big as thumbnails, but what was most valuable was a string of eighteen identical-looking pearls, all of high quality. In recent years, not only has the output of Dongzhu pearls been scarce, but even Nan pearls have not been supplied as abundantly as in the past, making good-quality pearls hard to come by on the market. A string of pearls like this would be worth at least a few thousand taels of silver. She frowned slightly: "We're all family, why waste these things? It's too extravagant!"

  Cao Gong smiled: "Sister, don't be annoyed, these are the same as 'Tieguanyin' and 'Longjing', not bought from outside."

  "Ah!" Cao Jia exclaimed softly, looking at the door and asking in a low voice: "Is our family going to start pearl farming like tea leaves? Is it your brother's idea again?"

  Cao Guang replied: "Uh-huh!" He picked up his teacup and took two sips.

  Cao Jia's expression was slightly sorrowful: "No wonder people in the world value boys over girls, sons are indeed more useful than daughters."

  "Sister said these things, but it's just to help the family make up for the loss. Father is getting old after all, if he gets upset about such trivial matters, it won't be good!" Cao Yun put down his teacup and comforted her.

  Cao Jia furrowed her brow: "Ever since the Ministry of Revenue's audit last year, I've been worried. In previous years, when our family welcomed the imperial carriage, I only thought it was lively and luxurious. Now that I'm in charge of household matters, I realize that all that splendor was just a pile of gold and silver. Fortunately, my father later mentioned in a letter that our family had acquired several tea gardens in previous years, increasing our income, and we've started to repay the debt."

  Cao Guang pointed at the pearl necklace: "This will also make some progress next year, adding to the several tea gardens before, and in three to five years, it should be almost paid off!"

  Cao Jia let out a sigh of relief: "That's good, since last year, Father has been concurrently serving as the Two Rivers Salt Control Commissioner. I'm afraid it's also an imperial favor granted to our family due to our losses, using the salt tax revenue to repay debts. However, after all, it's not a proper way out. If someone were to make a fuss about it, it would be another mess. Fortunately, there are other sources of income, and Father doesn't have to resort to that inferior plan."

  Cao Kun nodded, and taking the salt tax to make up for the deficit was indeed not a good idea. It seemed that in history, because of this, the Cao family's debt had not been repaid until the Yongzheng era.

  Cao Jia saw Cao Huan deep in thought, and suddenly had an epiphany: "No wonder Father sent you to Qingliang Temple to mourn, now I understand the old man's intention!"

  Cao Gong looked at his sister, puzzled.

  Cao Jiaxiao replied, "In the past, although I was polite and courteous, I was always distant, even to my closest relatives. There was a hint of arrogance in that distance. Now, however, it's as if a sharp sword has been sheathed, its edge completely hidden, leaving only refinement and elegance. Could this be due to the boundless power of Buddhism?"

  Cao Gong saw that his sister was joking, so he didn't take her seriously, but in his heart, he somewhat agreed with what she said. When he inadvertently looked in the mirror, Cao Gong also discovered the changes in himself over the past two years - this appearance, no matter how you look at it, seemed like a kind and gentle gentleman. Heaven is my witness, he was actually full of evil intentions, but just hadn't had the opportunity to act on them yet.