Yun Qing dismounted from his horse and looked at the plaque above his head. The three words "Children Charity Home" were written on it in the style of flying dragons and dancing phoenixes1. If he hadn't known this place, he wouldn't have known the words.
Crossing the threshold, Yun Qing glanced around and felt the yard was too wide, making the place seem somewhat empty.
Yuxi explained, "Each courtyard has a yard this wide. The wider the yard, the more space for the children to play." Clearing the land to build this house was free, and construction labour was also cheap here, so building this five-entry house did not cost too much, much less than Yuxi had expected.
Yun Qing walked into a room and saw kangs on both sides. A large cupboard was placed on the inner wall. He asked, "Is this cupboard for storing clothes?"
Yuxi explained, "You can put clothes and other things in there." The layout of these courtyards differed from that of an ordinary people's house since it was built according to Yuxi's requirements. First of all, there was no reception hall in this courtyard, but all the rooms were bedrooms, and each had two rows of kang beds and a cabinet. In addition, there were also more windows in the house than in ordinary people's households. This was mainly due to the large number of children living in the house. Having too few windows would make the house feel stuffy in the summer. It was also better to have more windows to let in more light. Someone more conservative might say that this house was built a bit nondescript. But this was a Children Charity Home; the most essential thing was affordability and convenience, not aesthetics.
Yun Qing had walked through the entire house. The layout of the four courtyards in front was the same, except for the fifth one. This fifth courtyard would be used as a kitchen and storeroom, so of course, it would be different.
After walking around, Yun Qing commented, "No wonder you said you wanted the children to move in a few days after seeing it." With no children living in it, it was just a bare, empty mansion that looked desolate.
Yuxi chuckled and said, "When all the children have moved over, the place will be lively. However, after the children from the Charity Home have moved over and settled in, it's time for Qingming Hall to start classes." As she had promised to start classes in the eleventh month, she must be faithful to her word.
As Yuxi spoke, she walked out. As they walked to the gate, she suggested, "It's rare that you have time. Let's have lunch outside today!" Since she had married Yun Qing, she had only eaten outside with him once, after their wedding day. After that, they had a few relaxing days, and then she was busy the rest of the time.
Yun Qing smiled and replied, "Then let's eat at Fuji Restaurant!" Yun Qing occasionally treated his colleagues to a meal and always chose the Fuji Restaurant.
Since the Xu family's residence was raided, their shops and restaurants in Yu City were closed. With one less competitor, the business at the Fuji Restaurant was much better than before.
Yuxi smiled and said, "All right." Due to the arrival of the Imperial Envoys, Yuxi had to postpone the restaurant opening in Xinping City, which should have been opened a long time ago. But there was a positive side to the situation. Since she could not open the restaurant in Xinping City, Master Man did not leave and was still at the Fuji Restaurant.
When they arrived at the Fuji Restaurant, Yuxi told Yuzhi, "Tell the two masters to cook more of their specialities." Yuxi was not stingy either, and since it was already rare for her to come out, she naturally wanted everyone to have a good time.
After finishing his meal, Yun Qing returned to the military headquarters with his guards. Yuxi went back to her courtyard with Zijin, Yuzhi, and the others.
Zijin praised: "Madam, today's sweet and sour spareribs are so delicious. Let's ask Master Chef Yu to prepare them and deliver them to the residence another day!" This was the first time Zijin had eaten sweet and sour pork ribs, and the taste was so amazing that she drooled whenever she thought about it.
Sweet And Sour Pork Ribs
You can use beef ribs if you can't eat pork.
You can use beef ribs if you can't eat pork.
Yuxi smiled as she replied gently and plainly, "The flavour of these sweet and sour spareribs will greatly diminish once they get cold. You can just eat at the restaurant when you have your holiday."
Zijin nodded. "Okay, I'll go there when I'm on holiday next time." Zijin's voice was so loud that even Yu Zhi, outside the carriage, could hear her.
Yu Zhi said: "Zijin, that sweet and sour spareribs cost half a string of coins per plate, and you have to order other dishes that cost two or three taels of silver. Are you willing to spend that much?" Zijin's memory of not having food as a child was still fresh in her mind, so she was very frugal and wished she could break a coin in half and spend it.
Hearing this, Zijin hesitated and only spoke after a while. "It's too expensive. Let's just forget about it." After a pause, she asked Yuxi, "Madam, why is this dish so expensive?" She and Yu Zhi had a monthly salary of twenty taels, which was considered very high, but even with such a high salary, she couldn't afford to spend it like this.
Yuxi smiled as she replied, "The price of the dishes personally prepared by the two master chefs themselves will obviously be expensive." The two master chefs were good cooks, and their prepared dishes were definitely tasty, so the price would naturally be doubled.
Zijin muttered: "Then how can ordinary people afford it?"
Yuxi smiled and didn't explain to Zijin. On the contrary, it was Yu Zhi who went on to explain: "Master Man and Master Yu have top-notch culinary skills. Their dishes are delicious, and of course, their prices are higher. If you eat the dishes made by their disciples, the prices will be much cheaper." As the saying goes, 'You get what you pay for'. If a chef had excellent cooking skills and their dishes were delicious, then naturally, the prices would be high.
Zijin said: "It will still be too expensive. I won't eat it."
Yuxi smiled and suggested: "If you want to eat it, you can just charge it to my account when you go there ." This girl was too frugal.
Zijin still shook her head. "No need. The food at the residence is very delicious, too." Madam didn't often go to restaurants, so Zijin did not have the nerve to go there.
After three leisurely days, the Imperial Commissioner and his team finally arrived in Yu City. As soon as they arrived, they checked in at the post station.
Xu Wu told Yuxi about the situation, where eighty-six members of the Imperial Envoys had arrived, together with the guards. "Madam, the General didn't go to the post station to meet with the Imperial Envoys but instead sent General Fu to receive them." Although Xu Wu felt relieved, he was still slightly worried.
Yuxi nodded and said: "If there is anything unusual about Cao De and the others, report it to me as soon as you find out." She just didn't know what cards Cao De had in his hand.
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Xu Wu said, "Don't worry, Madam. I'll be the first to report if they make any moves." Yu City was their territory. If these people wanted to stir things up here, they would have to see if the soldiers of Yu City would agree to it!
Fu Tianlei was very polite to Cao De and his party, so Cao De could find no fault with him. And he couldn't find anything from Fu Tianlei. The person Yun Qing sent to meet him must be a trusted subordinate. Cao De's probing him out wouldn't lead to anything but rather put Cao De at a disadvantage.
Cao De told Fu Tianlei, "I have some questions I would like to ask General Yun personally. Could you please help me convey this to him and ask him when he will have time?"
Fu Tianlei smiled as he replied, "Our General doesn't have time these days. Daren2 has to wait until he is no longer busy with his military affairs. Please forgive me, Cao Daren2."
Cao De was not angry either. He replied with a smile as he stroked a handful of his beard, "Military affairs are important. There's no harm in waiting a few more days." Only these military generals dared to neglect the Imperial Commissioner.
Since one should not raise one's hand to slap a smiling face3, and Fu Tianlei did not want the relationship with Cao De to become too strained, the two had a pleasant conversation.
Fu Tianlei left after talking for a while.
Xu Chen and the others were so annoyed that they complained, "Daren2, Yun Qing's arrogance is so great. He still won't show his face even after we come to Yu City."
Cao De glanced at Xu Chen. When Fu Tianlei was here just now, this guy didn't say a single word, but now that the person had gone, he talked a lot. Cao De said, ''Have you forgotten what kind of person Yun Qing is? What can you do if he chops off your head in a fit of rage after you piss him off?" People had to bow their heads when standing under the eaves4. Cao De was not stupid. Although he was eager to make a worthy contribution, he would not turn his back on Yun Qing if he could not save himself.
As soon as Cao De spoke these words, both Xu Chen and Jiang Bin's faces turned pale.
Cao De felt very disdainful when he saw their wimpy appearance. He didn't know why these two people came to Yu City if they were so afraid of death. Cao De said: "Xu Daren2, Jiang Daren2, we have been on the road for several days. Let's wash up and rest early!"
That night, Cao De and his party rested at the post station without causing any trouble. Early the following day, Cao De set out to find Du Wenshu.
Du Wenshu's expression didn't look good when he saw Cao De. He asked, "Are you the one who spread rumours about Yun Qing in Xinping City and Yu City? How dare you do that without any proof? Do you know the serious consequences of offending Yun Qing?" If Yun Qing were angry, killing Cao De would be no big deal. He only feared a terrible outcome, such as a mutiny or something similar.
Cao De was secretly annoyed. He was here to ask for information, not to argue with Du Wenshu. Cao De had a clear idea of what was important and what was not. "The property confiscated from the Xu family doesn't match the actual statement, so we must investigate it thoroughly." Since both Cao De and Du Wenshu were the Crown Prince's people, they usually had dealings with each other, so their relationship was not bad.
When Du Wenshu heard this, he sneered coldly. "Do you really believe that Yun Qing has embezzled tens of millions of taels of silver from the Xu family? Where do you think Yun Qing could hide that much silver?" This claim was clearly nonsense. Of course, Du Wenshu also believed that Yun Qing had embezzled, but there was no way he could get his hands on tens of millions of silver.
Cao De was not surprised to hear these questions. Was it because of the rumours? They had become even more exaggerated as they passed from one person to the next. Cao De said, "Yun Qing has embezzled millions of silver taels. Du Daren2, the source of this information, is very reliable." Seeing that Du Wenshu still had a sceptical look, Cao De added, "According to a reliable source, the Xu family hid 200,000 taels of gold and two million taels of silver in the secret room. Otherwise, I wouldn't have pursued them to Yu City." After putting it all together, the total amount would be four million taels of silver. If he could recover that much money, he could temporarily lend it to the Crown Prince for his immediate needs.
When Du Wenshu heard such an exact figure, his complexion suddenly became serious, and he asked, "Are there really millions of taels of silver?"
Cao De nodded. "The source of this information is absolutely reliable. Did you notice anything inappropriate when Yun Qing transported the things back to Yu City that day?" As long as they could recover the money through witness testimony, it would be useless for Yun Qing to resist, as they had complete witness and material evidence.
Du Wenshu bowed his head in thought for a moment before speaking, "Most of the things brought back from Xinping City were placed in a residence in Bitter Well Lane, and a small portion was sent directly to the military headquarters." Bitter Well Lane was named after the bitter water from the well drilled in the lane.
Cao De asked: "A residence in Bitter Well Lane? What's so special about that place?" He felt Yun Qing wouldn't take those things to the military headquarters. When things were stored in the military storehouse, they were considered public property. How could Yun Qing be so stupid as to put things there?
How could Du Wenshu not understand the implication behind Cao De's question? He immediately shook his head. "It's impossible for that stuff to be in Bitter Well Lane. That area is full of people. No matter how stupid Yun Qing is, there is no way he would put the stuff in such a place where there are so many people with so many mouths to talk about it. And the day after the things were brought in, the chief steward of the Yun Residence hired more than twenty women to sort those things out."
Cao De frowned and guessed, "Perhaps there are secret passages in Bitter Well Lane?" It wasn't impossible to transport things through a secret passage.
Du Wenshu shook his head. "I've checked, and there is no secret passage in Bitter Well Lane. Besides, the residence was chosen at random and not arranged beforehand. If your information is correct, those gold and silver could only have been transported to the military headquarters."
Cao De felt that this matter had become a bit tricky.
Footnotes Full List
- Chinese idiom: lively and vigorous flourishes in calligraphy; of a flamboyant style
- a title of respect toward superiors
- Chinese idiom: visitors should be treated politely, not rudely
- Chinese proverb: One often has to yield when in an unfavourable position.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi