Chapter 361

The prime minister's jealousy came to an end after he declared his absolute sovereignty to his rival, but Xun Lan's bitter days had just begun.

Without the powerful backing of Ji's family, the first real problem Xun LAN faced was poverty.

As the saying goes, the former mother of Ji's family is no exception. Originally, Xun Lan was expelled from her family, and she was not allowed to carry too much property. The little silver she was carrying was just a few days away.

At the beginning, Hongmei could buy some meat, make dumplings and stir fry shredded meat, but now -

Hongmei picked up the lid, looked at the few grains of rice in the rice bowl, and frowned in distress.

Just a little rice is not enough to make a bowl of porridge.

She went to xunlan's house. Xunlan sat in front of the window and looked at the backyard full of weeds for a moment. She didn't know what she was thinking and was a little distracted.

"Madame." She called.

Xunlan's eyes did not move away from the yard, but faintly answered: "what's the matter?"

Red plum tugged at the corner of her clothes and said, "there is no rice in the rice bowl."

Xun Lan said calmly: "then go to buy it. I'm not hungry now. It's the same if I eat later."

Red plum doesn't move.

Xun LAN twisted his head and looked at her strangely: "why don't you go?"

Hongmei whispered: "no money."

Xunlan let out a sound. Her long eyelashes fell down. After a moment of silence, she went to the dresser and opened the drawer. There was a purse lying inside. She opened the purse and poured out a coin.

Hongmei's face is burning. She doesn't think she should come to her wife, but if she doesn't, she has no money to eat

Xunlan packed the copper plate, tied the money bag and quietly put it back. Then he pulled a bracelet from his wrist and handed it to Hongmei, saying, "you can pawn it."

Hongmei couldn't bear to say, "you're the only thing left in your body."

Xunlan said, "I'm a pawn."

Hongmei took the bracelet by biting her lips. She heard from mother Zhou that the bracelet was given by her wife's mother. When she got married, there was no betrothal gift from the Xun family, but the former Xun lady asked her servant to send something, including this bracelet.

It's heartbreaking to think that such a precious thing has been pawned by myself.

"What are you waiting for?" Xun LAN asked.

Hongmei gritted her teeth and turned around.

Hongmei was not born and raised in Beijing. She came from a small place and didn't know much. But when she worked in luomei academy earlier, she learned a lot from Rong's mother and Dongmei and went to many places. She didn't dare to say anything else. It was not difficult to find some pawnshops.

She found a pawnshop with a fairly large storefront and handed the bracelet to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper picked up the bracelet, looked at the sun and said carelessly, "ten Liang."

"Ten liang? How come it's only ten liang? Shopkeeper, take a good look. It's lanzhiyu! I can't buy one hundred taels outside, no matter what the workmanship is

The shopkeeper laughed: "girl, I'm a pawnshop. What do you think a pawnshop is for? You put your things with me and I'll give you money to spend. When you have money, you can redeem it. I'm borrowing money for you for free. If everyone borrows money from me at the original price, can I continue my business? "

"We don't have to redeem it," Hongmei said anxiously

Shopkeeper Hun said: "this price, you love when improper, improper ah, please."

Ten Liang silver can't last for a few days in the capital. Hongmei takes the bracelet and leaves.

After that, Hongmei asked four or five pawnshops in a row, all of which did not exceed the price. The one with a black heart was even more outrageous, and only offered five Liang. She was so angry that Hongmei turned black on the spot.

"Little girl, are you going to be something?"

When Hongmei walked out of the sixth pawnshop, a smiling fat uncle stopped her.

Red plum looked at each other warily: "who are you?"

Fat uncle pointed to the opposite alley and said with a kind face: "I'm from Zhouji pawnshop. Our pawnshop was moved from the city. It hasn't officially opened yet. I see you've found a lot of places. Can't you pawn your things?"

Hongmei has heard of Zhouji pawnshop. It's the biggest pawnshop in Beijing. It has a good reputation and high price. Unfortunately, it's too far away from here. She can't walk there. Otherwise, she will be pawned.

The other party is Zhou Ji pawnshop, Hongmei's face is better, said: "it's not that they can't be pawned, it's that they are too black hearted, my wife's first-class jade bracelet, but they only give ten Liang."

"Can you show me?" Asked fat uncle.

Hongmei takes out the bracelet.

Fat uncle to reach for, Hongmei carefully avoid.

Fat uncle jokingly said: "I don't touch, I don't touch." He looked at the bracelet carefully and said, "this is the first-class suet jade. Did you spend a lot of money on it?"

Hongmei said with a smile, "you know the goods. It's my wife's dowry. It's very good in quality and exquisite in workmanship."

The fat uncle felt his beard in embarrassment and said, "the bracelet is a good bracelet, but according to the market of pawnshop, ten Liang silver is almost the same."Hongmei put away her bracelet in disappointment.

Fat uncle said again: "don't lose heart. Aren't we a new shop here? You're the first business. It's a good start. I'll give you more than thirty Liang. "

Red plum said: "thirty Liang is too little, fifty Liang."

Fat uncle lowered his face and said, "you girl! As soon as I opened my mouth, the price increased ten times! Where is it like that? "

Hongmei was wronged and said, "don't they all say that the price of your Zhouji pawnshop is high?"

"Fat uncle said:" that can not be so high ah

Hongmei begged: "uncle, my wife is really waiting for the money. Please do me a favor and give me fifty Liang. My wife will repay you with more money one day when she comes back to Ji's house!"

Fat uncle was stunned: "Ji family? Are you Ji's family

Hongmei nodded: "my wife is the biological mother of the fourth young master of the Ji family."

Fat uncle looked at her up and down and said, "how can the master of Ji's family be short of silver? Don't tease me, little girl

"I didn't tease you," said Hongmei. "What I said is true. My wife will definitely come back to Ji's house. When we get back, we will send you the silver. How much we spend, and we will pay you back in double!"

This seems to be a good deal. Uncle Pang readily responds and takes out a fifty Liang silver note from his arms. Hongmei takes it and confirms that it is true. Then she gives the bracelet to him.

After that, Hongmei went to the bank on the bank note.

As soon as they entered the door, they were taken down by the officers and soldiers who searched.

The shopkeeper cried, "that's it! The stolen bank note of the shop has been found! "

Hongmei was taken to the Yamen.

Hongmei was frightened and cried that she had been cheated. The official didn't believe it. In order to extort a confession, she whipped her several lashes. In pain, she cried for her father and mother. Finally, xunlan found the Yamen and bailed her out with the pair of ruby gold earrings.

Gold earrings are the only valuable thing left on xunlan except the old pearl flower. Now they are gone.

Hongmei cried all the way back. She was so regretful that her intestines were blue. She had known that she was not so greedy. If she pawned things for ten Liang silver, she would not have made this situation.

They had some porridge with little rice grains in the evening.

In the middle of the night, Hongmei can hear the sound of her stomach cooing.

When Xun Lan was in Ji's family, in order to establish a perfect image, she didn't really have enough money for herself, so she didn't have much money for herself. But when the princess was alive, she would save a sum of money for her every year on her birthday. She didn't move the money. She thought that this generation would not move. But now, it seems that she had no choice.

she took the road and registered residence, and went to the splendid bank.

The cashier of the bank verified her identity, took out an abacus and knocked: "counting the profits of these years, it's five thousand five hundred Liang. Do you want to take all of them?"

"Well, all of them." Xun LAN nodded.

The cashier said, "just a moment. The amount of silver is too large. There are not enough silver boxes in the lobby. I need to find the shopkeeper to get the key to the warehouse."

Xun LAN nodded slightly: "Mr. youlao."

Mr. accountant went into the shopkeeper's study. After a while, he came out and said with guilt, "sorry, madam, you can't take this silver."

"Why?" Xun LAN asked.

Mr. accountant scratched his head and didn't know how to explain: "because..."

"Because you don't deserve it!"

Qiao Wei's voice suddenly rang at the door.

Xun LAN side eye, toward Qiao Wei light ground saw to come over.

Qiao Wei enters the room with a smile. The shopkeeper who used to drink tea in the study hears the voice and greets her with a smile: "young lady, what brings you out? How can you let someone bring you a message when you come to the door? I'll meet you at the door, too! "

Qiao Wei said with a smile: "manager Hu is very kind. I still have some private affairs to deal with. I'll invite manager Hu to have tea later."

Hu shopkeeper took a look at xunlan on the side and took Mr. accountant in wisely.

Only Qiao Wei and Xun LAN are left in the big hall.

Xun LAN opened the door to the mountain and said, "this silver is left to me by the princess. You have no right to take it away."

"Who said I was going to take it away? I just keep it in the bank. "

"I'll take it." Xunlan road.

Qiaowei funny look at her: "you dream?"

Xun Lan said, "the princess gave me the money. I can take it whenever I want."

Qiao Wei said sarcastically, "the princess gave you the money. Did the princess give you the position of master mother of Ji family? If you take the things you haven't been given, I can buckle the things I have been given. "

Xun LAN looks at the study, and the shopkeeper who is eavesdropping shrinks his head back.

Qiao Wei said with a faint smile: "don't look, you can't get the silver."

Xun LAN coldly looked at Qiao Wei, took his own credentials, turned out of the door.Qiao Wei looked at her back and said, "if you want to go to other banks, I advise you not to waste your efforts. If I have let go, I will drive out any bank that dares to give you the silver!"

Xun langdun stopped, a cold eye light came.

Qiao Wei light smile: "want to say that I am too much?"? It's not my idea. It's a meditation. "

That guy is still eating xunlan's vinegar. He wants to break xunlan to pieces. When xunlan was a demon at home, he didn't hate her so much!

In the end, of course, she didn't get the money. Qiao Wei's bully like behavior can be sued by the government, but which government has enough to take Qiao Wei's case? Aren't you afraid Ji Mingxiu will crush them to death with a finger?

Without Princess Zhaoming's money, life was almost in a desperate situation. Xun LAN took Hongmei to start the business of embroidery. Xun Lan was clever and had a unique vision. The embroidery he made was more and more beautiful.

Xiulou's landlady saw it and was very satisfied. She was about to pay for it. Qiao Wei's soul came out. She stepped on the chair with one foot and put her arm across her leg. She said: "if you do her business, I will let you have no business in Beijing."

The landlady was so scared that she rushed away Xun LAN!

Joe's reputation as a bully also spread in the capital.

……

We can't do business in daxiaolou, so we have to let Hongmei take it to the market to sell it. There is no price in the market, and there is not much money left except the stall fee. Occasionally, there are some hooligans and ruffians. Unlike Qiao Wei, Hongmei can beat people to pieces. It's common for her to have no income after a day.

The master and the servant eat porridge and cabbage every day. They can't even eat meat.

Xun LAN worked on embroidery day and night. One day, it suddenly cooled down. She was infected with the cold wind and had a high fever at night.

In a year, she slipped the tire twice, and her iron body couldn't stand it. Besides, she had a very weak foundation. Hongmei fed her a lot of hot water, hoping that she would sweat and get rid of the high fever. But the next night, the fever became more and more serious, which made people confused.

Hongmei is scared and runs to the doctor. But doctor Lu has been dealt with by Ji Mingxiu. Other doctors are not charitable. Who will show them if they don't have money?

Xun Lan's whole body is boiling hot.

Hongmei couldn't help it. She ran back to Ji's house all night and knocked on Ji's door.

"Open the door! I want to see the master

The boy woke up, opened a crack in the door with a lantern, yawned impatiently and said, "what's the noise? In the middle of the night, the master is asleep! "

Hongmei said anxiously, "I have something important to report to the master! You help me get through! If it's too late, my wife will die! "

The young man said: "the master is ill and is resting. He has ordered that everything in the mansion should be dealt with by the young master and the young lady. But the young lady has also ordered that if it is Xun's affair, you don't have to report it to her. Xun's family has been expelled from Ji's family. It has nothing to do with Ji's family. Don't come again, you!"

"But..."

Before the words of Hongmei were finished, the boy closed the door with a bang!

Then she knocked for a long time, but no one answered.

Hongmei doesn't understand what happened to the master and his wife. She broke up with her son for his wife the first day, and then she left the house in silence the next day. Now she doesn't care whether her wife is alive or dead.

Did Hongmei regret following xunlan?

Of course, I regret that if she had not been soft hearted to Xun, but was like an ordinary servant girl, far away from Xun, then now she is still popular in the house.

However, since she chose this step, there was no turning back. The Ji family had no place for her. She had to wait for Xun to return to the Ji family one day.

It's just that the wife is seriously ill, not to mention going back to Ji's house. Whether she can save her life is still two questions.

Who else can save Madame?

Who else

By the way, brother Liu!

His wife is Liu Ge'er's biological mother. When his wife was driven to guard the mausoleum, Liu Ge'er cried so sad. He had this mother in his heart. If he knew his wife's situation, he would not ignore her. And the old lady followed him in everything. He was afraid that she would not be saved?

Hongmei seems to have grasped the last straw to save her life, and the whole person seems to have survived. She knows that the young lady won't let brother Liu see her, so it's not feasible to stay at Ji's house. She patiently waits until the next day, when Qiao Wei sends the three steamed stuffed buns into the academy and takes a carriage to leave, she boldly walks over.

The guard said, "who are you?"

Hongmei said politely, "I'm the servant girl of Ji's family. There's something at home. My wife asked me to pick up the fourth young master."

It's true that other aristocratic CHILDES are all picked up by servants, and there are many who pick up people on the way. But the Ji family is not like this. The children of the Ji family are always picked up by their parents. They are either parents or second uncles or aunts. Sometimes they are Taishigong. Qiao Wei clearly tells the academy that all but a few of them are liars and can't be picked up.The guard blasted away the red plum.

At last, there was no hope. Hongmei went back to her house in despair. Xunlan was still burning badly, and he was confused, but he didn't know what he was saying.

Hongmei went to the kitchen to boil water. She cooked a bowl of dough lumps with the little flour left and gave it to Xun LAN. But when she crossed the threshold, she tripped on the bottom of her foot and fell to the ground. The bowl was broken and the soup was dirty

Hongmei's tears fell out. I don't know whether it was for Xun LAN or for myself.

She cleaned up the house, took the embroidery which had been finished in three days, and prepared to go to the market to sell some copper plates and buy two Jin of rice. But as soon as she went out, she was hit by a carriage.

The embroidery is scratched.

She sat on the floor, her knees bleeding and her whole body aching. She covered her eyes and tears came from her fingers

I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm sorry. I can't hold on

In the empty room, Xun Lan was very thirsty. His lips were all cracked and his throat was smoking: "red plum Water... "

The water on the stove was boiling and bubbling, but there was no red plum left.