The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1292: accompany
Chapter 1292 I’ll Keep You Company
For the State of Yan, the army of the Great Zhou is now approaching, and the main force of the Yan army is trapped in Xiliang. The State of Yan cannot hand over their Queen Mother in order to appease the anger of the Great Zhou. Then the Emperor of Yan, Murong Li, will surely be drowned in the spit of the people!
After all, everyone knows that the Great Zhou wants to annex the world. This is another excellent opportunity for the Great Zhou to destroy Yan. How could the Great Zhou let it go?
Only if Murong Li publicizes the method of using national policy to determine the outcome of the two countries and merging the two countries into one to prevent the people from suffering from the war, and forces the eldest sister to be afraid of what people say and have to agree, can they give their Yan State a glimmer of hope.
But, when did Murong Li send Wang Hanbing as an envoy to the Great Zhou? She didn’t even receive any news at all.
Bai Jintong knew every courtier in the Yan court. He not only knew their names and family backgrounds, but also knew who their wives and concubines were, and even some of their secrets.
But this Wang Hanbing, born in a poor family… was the top scorer in the second class of the last imperial examination of the Kingdom of Yan. Because of his bad temper and arrogance, he was severely marginalized and had no room to display his talents in the Ministry of Rites. Bai Jintong didn’t take this man seriously at first, but who would have thought… that this man resigned openly and actually went to the Great Zhou.
This was her mistake. She did not investigate in detail the reason why Wang Hanbing resigned. She had a preconceived notion that Wang Hanbing chose to resign because he was frustrated.
In less than two hours, Bai Jintong’s people found out everything about Wang Hanbing’s life, personality, family background… and even his preferences.
Bai Jintong, who was bathing, did not dare to delay after hearing the report from his subordinates. He stood up and wrote a secret letter himself, intending to pass the news back to his elder sister.
In the elegant study room with ancient charm, Bai Jintong sat on the soft couch by the window with her wet long hair draped over her shoulders, leaning against a hidden bag made of turmeric passionflower satin. She held the secret letter close to the slightly flickering candlelight, and finally checked the letter to her eldest sister to make sure there was no problem. Then she put it in the letter barrel and ordered the secret guard to send it out. Then she opened the account book again to reconcile the accounts.
The bluestone floor in the yard was reflected with a golden yellow by the candlelight shining through the windows, and even the moss in the corners was dyed with a warm color. Soon, a drizzle fell on the green bricks and tiles, moistening the delicate leaves of the orchids placed under the eaves and tiles, making a slight rustling sound.
Danzhi, who was already dressed like a noblewoman, asked the servants to move all the orchids under the corridor into the warm room. She turned around and saw the slender silhouette of Bai Jintong reflected on the window lattice. She turned around and asked her personal maid, “Is my husband’s bird’s nest ready?”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. The food has been prepared in the small kitchen and has been stewing all the time,” said Danzhi’s personal maid.
“Okay, let them send it over!” Danzhi said.
Soon, Danzhi, wearing a pomegranate red dress embroidered with white orchid moonlight, came in with a bird’s nest. She placed it on the black lacquer table in front of Bai Jintong, where an abacus and account books were spread out. She said, “Husband, have a cup of bird’s nest first. Checking accounts late at night hurts your eyes. Why don’t you take a rest today and look at it tomorrow?”
This time when Bai Jintong came to the State of Yan, he brought his personal maid Danzhi with him and asked Danzhi to pretend to be Cui Fengnian’s concubine.
Bai Jintong stated that Cui Fengnian and Danzhi grew up together, and Danzhi never left Cui Fengnian when his family was in trouble. They had suffered together, so their friendship was extraordinary. Cui Fengnian would never let Danzhi down in his life, but because of Danzhi’s status, he could only treat Danzhi as a concubine. But in Cui Fengnian’s heart, Danzhi was his wife for life.
The reason why Bai Jintong fabricated the story of Cui Fengnian and Danzhi was to explain to others when she was out socializing… why she didn’t touch other women and never stayed overnight in brothels.
Secondly… although merchants have a low status, when Bai Jintong was in Xiliang, the Zhai family, one of the eight major families in Xiliang, took a fancy to Bai Jintong’s ability to do business and intended to recruit Bai Jintong as a son-in-law.
This time, in order to be on the safe side if any court official of Yan State wanted to recruit her as a son-in-law, she deliberately arranged a concubine for Cui Fengnian with whom she had been through thick and thin with, and for the sake of this concubine, she would never touch other women. Those who wanted to recruit Cui Fengnian as a son-in-law should think carefully for their daughter. A man has a concubine before he has a wife, and this concubine is like his legal wife in Cui Fengnian’s heart. How embarrassing it would be for their daughter to be in a difficult position if she married Cui Fengnian.
In order to avoid being discovered, Danzhi would call Bai Jintong “husband” in public and in private, and would sleep with Bai Jintong every night.
“Let’s put the bird’s nest aside for now!” Cui Fengnian lowered his head, flipping through the account book with one hand and calculating with the other, “There’s still a little left, so it’s done.”
Bai Jintong’s hands moved extremely fast. She sat under the lamp, using the abacus with one hand. People could only see the afterimage of her slender fingers. Only the crisp sound of the abacus could make people feel how fast she was using the abacus.
Danzhi sat down opposite Bai Jintong and whispered to him, “My husband, that Madam Meng sent someone to deliver an invitation today, saying that their old lady’s birthday is on the 15th of this month. Since there are no other female relatives in the Cui Mansion except me, they want me to go there that day. I think it’s not appropriate for me to go there with my status. Why don’t you go?”
Bai Jintong kept checking the account book and abacus, and said, “The invitation is for you. I come from a merchant family. If I go, it will seem like I am deliberately trying to curry favor with the Meng family. Besides, Madam Meng didn’t send you the invitation because she really wanted you to go. She just wanted to get news about Meng Zhaorong from you.”
Bai Jintong flipped a page of the account book and continued, “Pick out some valuables from the storeroom and have the housekeeper deliver them tomorrow. Apologize first and say that you are of low status and are afraid that you might make a fool of yourself if you don’t know the etiquette at the Meng Mansion. After Old Lady Meng’s birthday, if Madam Meng has time to talk to someone, you must accompany her.”
“Yes, I’ve made note of it!” Danzhi looked up at her third daughter using an abacus and was happy for her from the bottom of her heart. In the end, the third daughter lived the life she had always wanted to live.
She still remembered that when the third girl made a birthday wish, she said she wanted to become a businessman who was rich enough to rival a country, and now she has really become a businessman.
“You go to sleep first, no need to wait for me!” Bai Jintong said.
“It’s okay, I just want to stay here with my husband!” Danzhi said with a smile.
Seeing that Bai Jintong had finished calculating the account book, Danzhi hurriedly put out a hot towel and handed it to Bai Jintong to wipe her hands. After Bai Jintong wiped her hands, Danzhi immediately brought hot tea to her hands and served Bai Jintong very well.
“Finally I have finished reading the account book. Now… my husband can rest in peace!” Danzhi said with a smile, “I will go make the bed for him.”
Second update…