Chapter 15 ruse exposed

Due to something, Zhou Shaotang woke up and hurried to Yang's house, and Yang Shuban was about to go out. "where are you going?" "I want to see a friend in Chenghuang Mountain——" "Don't go." Zhou Shaotang interrupted without waiting for him to finish speaking, "I have something important to discuss with you." So they talked in secret at the Yang family.Zhou Shaotang told Yang Shuban about what happened last night in detail, and asked his opinion. "He sells the fields by himself. Why does Yueru say that Tang Zishao is inconvenient to come forward?"

"Yes! I forgot to ask her then." "Let's not talk about that." Yang Shuban asked, "What should Master Ma do now?" "That's exactly why I'm here to discuss with you. Yueru is planning to make a wish, and I hope to report it first and accept it smoothly. Then Tang Zishao will have no responsibility at all. However, he will wait until he has collected all the money. I'm not afraid of delaying my life. Now I have a way," Zhou Shaotang asked suddenly, "Do you have any way to borrow a large sum of money?" "Money is tight now." Yang Shuban asked, "How much do you want to borrow?"

"I didn't borrow it. I want Tang Zishao to mortgage a sum of money from his West Lake Field first. We get it first, and we will count as much as we have." Yang Shuban pondered for a long time and said: "This is a pawn. It is better to buy a field than a pawn. There are not many such customers, and the procedures are also very troublesome. It can't be done in three or two days." Zhou Shaotang felt relieved, "From this point of view," he said, "a cooked duck might fly away." "Not necessarily. If you can believe it, you might as well let him go first."

"It's because I can't believe it." Zhou Shaotang said, "You think he would bring his little wife to accompany me—" Zhou Shaotang knew that he had leaked the secret, and it was too late to change his words.Yang Shuban smiled and asked: "Hey, you've got the moon first when you're close to the water", and you've been on the balcony in the same month?" "No, no." Zhou Shaotang hastily argued, "Just kiss on the mouth and touch the chest. In short, Tang Zishao must be playing tricks. If you trust him easily, you will definitely be fooled."

"I see. Let me think about it." After all, Yang Shuban is more familiar with official affairs. He thinks there is a way to advance or retreat, that is, Ma Fengshi should report an official matter first, saying that there are still doubts about the accounts and they are under review. Please allow the suspension of closing the case. "Tang Zishao saw such a quick way of saying that he knew that he would not be able to escape, so he would quickly think of a way. If he really wants to let go, we will tell him all about his faults. Although it is not beneficial, at least Mr. Ma will do it too. Nice errand."

"Excellent! That's the way." Zhou Shaotang said, "Let's go to Gongji Dian together later, and simply tell Tang Zishao that Mr. Ma has already made the rules. It's not too late. It's best that you inform Mr. Ma now. " "He's not at home, he's gone to the Plum Blossom Monument Futai Yamen to 'stand shift'." It turned out that the governor set three or eighth as the period for the yamen, and received the two divisions of the vassals, as well as the Taoist priests who were in short supply and had errands, and the alternate magistrates Zuoza, all went to "stand shift" in front of the governor's yamen as a sign of respect. The purpose is to win favor and deepen the impression.This is the only way for junior officials to be candidates. Sometimes the governor talks about official affairs with the secretary, and there is an errand that he needs to send someone. is a common occurrence.

"What time did you make an appointment with Tang Zishao?" "It's still early, it's still early." Zhou Shaotang said, "Let's go to the tea shop and have a pot of tea first." "You don't need to go to the tea shop anymore. I have good Lu'an tea, make a pot for you to eat." So he brewed Liu'an tea and brought out two plates of dry snacks. While eating, he talked about leisure time. Yang Shuban asked about Yue Ru, and Zhou Shaotang's eyebrows immediately beamed. Not only did he not hide anything, but he also made many descriptions.

Yang Shuban listened with great interest, and couldn't help asking: "If there is a chance, would Yue Ru be willing to sleep with you?" "I think I will. In fact, last night, as long as I have the courage, I will get started." "Are you afraid that Tang Zishao will come to catch your traitor and ask you to write a 'defense'?" "That's right. This is a matter for three people. I can't do such absurd things and hurt my good friend." "Shaotang, you don't do things that show you are friends." Yang Shuban said, "I ask you, do you really want to sleep in the same moon?"

"Thinking about it, there is no chance." "I'm here to give you a chance." Yang Shuban said, "Wait a minute, I'll go to Gongji Dian, trip Tang Zishao's body, and you break into Yueru upstairs alone, I'm sure no one will come and catch you Your rape." "No need, no need!" Zhou Shaotang thought to himself, even if he could achieve ecstasy so smoothly, he still had to worry about falling into the hands of Yang Shuban.This kind of stupid thing must never be done, so I added another sentence: "Thank you for your kindness. But I am not brave enough, thank you, thank you."

Yang Shuban really wanted to help him accomplish his good deeds, seeing that his attitude was so resolute, it was inconvenient to say anything, and he just laughed it off. "However, you reminded me that I can still go to Yueru and ask about the sentence you mentioned." "So, should I go to Gongji Dian alone?" "Yes, you go first, I'll come after I finish asking." "Then!" Yang Shuban asked, "I am in front of Tang Zishao, do you want to tell the truth?" "No, you just say I'll be there soon." Around noon, the two arrived at the alley next to Gongjidian, and they parted for the time being. Zhou Shaotang went to Tang's house and raised his hand to knock on the door. There was no reply for a long time, so he had to turn around disgruntled. But when he turned around, he found the moon slowly coming, followed by her family. The little girl is holding a vegetable basket in her hand. The master and maid have just returned from the small vegetable market.

"It just so happens," Zhou Shaotang said, "If you're one step late, or if I come one step earlier, you won't be able to meet." "Master Zhou, you came here by coincidence. It's rare to buy fresh mushrooms today. You ate lunch at my place and left." "No, no! Yang Shuban is waiting for me at Gongjidian—" "Then ask Yang Shuban to come along." "Wait a while. Sister-in-law, let me sit with you first. I have something to ask you." At that time the girl had already opened the gate, and she was sitting in the living room when she entered. Yue Ru invited him upstairs, but Zhou Shaotang said goodbye, because he didn't want to stay any longer, and he was about to leave after only a few words, thinking that there was no need to bother others. "Sister-in-law, I would like to ask you a question. You said you were selling West Lake Field yesterday, but it is inconvenient for Old Tang to come forward. What is the point?" What she didn't want to ask was this sentence, Yueru was taken aback for a moment, and at the same time reminded her of one thing, which made her even more uneasy.In Zhou Shaotang's eyes, there was quite a strange feeling, and he couldn't help feeling suspicious. "Master Zhou, please sit down, I suddenly remembered that I have something to explain first." Then he shouted, "A Cui, A Cui, what are you doing, you don't make tea when the guests come." "I'm in the kitchen, boil water." A Cui promised loudly, and walked out. "Go to the bridge and take care of him. There is a guest at home and ask him to come back in the second half of the day." A Cui was in a daze, unable to think of who to take care of at the "bridge side". "go!" "Go, go," A Cui mumbled, "Who are you going to talk to?" "Didn't we just go there? Ask their boss to come right away?" "Oh, oh!" Ah Cui remembered, "Woodware shop, woodware shop." Then she turned and left. "Stupid!" Yue Ru muttered, turned around and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Master Zhou, I didn't hear clearly what you were going to ask me just now." "Old Tang sells the fields, why is it inconvenient to come forward?" Yueru turned out to be because Tang Zishao suddenly wanted to sell the land, and word got out, causing people to suspect: Could it be that he is leaving Hangzhou, is he going back to his hometown in Anhui?This will affect their plan to escape, so it is inconvenient to come forward.The answer now, of course, has changed. "Once the Gongji Dian is seized, our master is at a deficit. Someone will probably know about it, and if he doesn't know, he will ask, why sell the land? If he knows that the land is sold for a deficit, he will definitely bargain, so it is better for him not to come forward." The reason is very good, and the tone is calm, Zhou Shaotang cleared his doubts, "After all, sister-in-law is careful." He stood up, "That's what I said, I have to go when I understand." After leaving Tang's house to go to Gongjidian, after a short walk, I met A Cui, who walked over with a long braid, "Master Zhou," she greeted, "Going back?" "No, I'm going to Gongjidian." "Here," A Cui turned around and pointed, "Go straight from here, cross a small bridge, and you will find the back door of Gongji Dian." Zhou Shaotang originally wanted to go out of the alley to the main street and enter through the front door of Gongjidian, but now there is a shortcut to the back door, which saves a little effort, "Thank you." He thanked with a smile, "So there is a back door." "Going through the back door will save a lot of roads." A Cui added another polite word, "Master Zhou often comes here when he is free." Seeing her being so considerate, Zhou Shaotang remembered something. As a guest at Tang's house last night, he should offer money as a rule, so he called her and said, "Ah Cui, wait a minute." As he said, he put his hand into his bosom, there were several pieces of broken silver in the pocket of the leather robe, he touched a moderate piece, about three or four coins, and handed it to A Cui. "Master Zhou, what are you doing!" "This is for you. I forgot to drop it when I left yesterday." "Don't, don't—" "Don't say no." Zhou Shaotang made a serious face on purpose, "There are no rules." So A Cui thanked her with a smile, and happily went back with her braids tossing. Zhou Shaotang followed her instructions and walked straight forward. Sure enough, he saw a small stone bridge, and a thrift store beside the bridge. Old wooden utensils were piled up on the road up. Zhou Shaotang's heart moved, he stood still and looked carefully for a while, but he didn't find any woodware shop, he couldn't help but wonder, could it be that the woodware shop that Yueru mentioned meant this thrift shop? Thinking of this, he stepped forward and asked: "Boss, where is the woodware shop here?" "I don't know." The thrift shop owner was surprised, "I've never heard of a woodware shop here. Who told you? Tricked you to 'beat the wooden clock'." "Yes—" Zhou Shaotang became suspicious, determined to find out the truth, "I'm afraid I heard wrong, Gongji Dian Tang Dynasty Feng's family said that there is a woodenware shop here, and they want to buy woodenware with you." "You either heard it wrong, or you made a mistake. You are not buying wooden utensils, but selling wooden utensils. Ask me to go and see the value of the goods." "Why did she—" Zhou Shaotang stopped talking suddenly, he had already meddled in too much nosy business, and if he asked further, it would arouse suspicion, so he smiled and said, "I made a mistake." go. When we arrived at Gongjidian, we saw Tang Zishao had an ugly expression, mixed with annoyance and worry.It is conceivable that Yang Shuban has already told him what they decided to do. However, when he saw Zhou Shaotang, he still put on a respectful and affectionate expression, came forward, held Zhou Shaotang's hand and said, "Big brother, you have to do me a favor no matter what." "What's the matter?" Zhou Shaotang pretended not to know, sat down while asking, and exchanged glances with Yang Shuban by the way, keeping each other cautious. "Lao Yang told me that Mr. Ma is going to report for official business, saying that my accounts are not clear." Tang Zishao spoke in a hurry, "How can I say this in official business?" "It doesn't matter. If you clear up the accounts, you'll be fine, right?" "If you don't say that, it's like leaving a footprint there. With this case in the Yamen, it will be difficult for me to behave in the future." "So, what do you want?" "Huh!" Tang Zishao pointed and said, "Mr. Zhou, didn't you agree to ask Mr. Ma to temporarily suppress the business?" "It's only a matter of a day and a half." Yang Shuban interjected. "How can there be time in a day or two?" Tang Zishao said, "Money is tight now." "Okay. I understand." Zhou Shaotang said, "Old Tang, when you do things outside, you must go on the road. If you don't go on the road, there is no way for others to help you. Like this, you should find a way as soon as possible, and Lao Yang and I will help you. I'm begging Mr. Ma, and I'll meet you again tonight." After speaking, he stood up and was about to leave. "Not busy, not busy!" Tang Zishao said hurriedly, "I've already ordered someone to order food, and I'll leave after eating." "Don't eat." Zhou Shaotang had an idea and intentionally frightened him, "To tell you the truth, when we came to you, someone is already watching you, so it's better to leave early." This time, not only Tang Zishao was surprised, but also Yang Shuban was frightened, his face changed color, and he asked quietly, "Where are you from? Where is it?" "People from Hangzhou Mansion, you will see it when you go out." After saying that, he walked out, Yang Shuban followed closely behind. "Take it easy, both of you!" Tang Zishao chased up and asked, "How about we meet at night?" "I'll come and see you." "Okay, I'm waiting for you." So Zhou Shaotang took the lead and walked away, out of the Gongji Dian, looking back constantly, Yang Shuban asked nervously, "Where is the man?" Zhou Shaotang let out a "puchi" laugh, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I've surprised you." He said, "We'll go to Chenghuang Mountain to eat pancakes, and I'll tell you in detail." After going up to Chenghuang Mountain, I sat down at the hotel in Yaoshijianbi. The boss, surnamed Chen, was an acquaintance of Zhou Shaotang and also knew Yang Shuban, so he got up from the desk to entertain him. "In such a cold weather, the two of you are interested in going to Chenghuang Mountain? It's rare, rare." Boss Chen asked, "What do you want to eat?" "I'm here to eat oil pancakes." Zhou Shaotang said, "You can choose whatever you want, but the wine is better." "There is a good vase of flower carvings. It is almost sold out, and there are still three catties left. Is it enough?" "Eat less at noon. Enough." "The 'One Chicken, Four Eats' I ate last time was delicious." Yang Shuban said, "I'll try it again. The chicken needs to be fat." "Don't worry, Mr. Yang." So the wine is hot, and the wine is served with ready-made side dishes, germinated beans, dried fish in tea oil, and the like.At this time, Zhou Shaotang told Yang Shuban that no one was following him at all, and they were just deliberately scaring Tang Zishao. "However, there is one thing that is very strange. Yueru doesn't know what tricks she is playing." When Zhou Shaotang explained in detail how he found out that the Tang family was going to sell wooden wares, Yang Shuban immediately made a judgment: "Tang Zishao is going to take his little wife with him, so he ran away." Zhou Shaotang also felt the same way, "Where did you escape to?" He asked, "You won't escape back to Huizhou?" "If you escape back to Huizhou, you can still be caught. The only way is to escape to Shanghai and hide in the concession. As long as he is careful, he will not be easily caught." Yang Shuban added, "I think he used a strategy of delaying the attack. Tian will take ten days and a half months at the fastest, and if he wants to sneak away, there is enough time." "Well, well. So, what should we do?" Yang Shuban also had no good plan, drank in silence for a while, then suddenly put down the wine glass, leaned his hands on the table, leaned forward, and said in a low voice: "I'm telling you the truth, you just joked that someone "Stalking", I was very upset and very sad. As the saying goes, "If you don't do anything wrong during the day, you won't be surprised when you knock on the door in the middle of the night." You will die if you make a fortune, and you can't force it. Let's make a contribution to Mr. Ma, and tell him to report the truth. Tang Zishao will suffer for himself, so there is no need to regret it. What do you think?" Zhou Shaotang thought for a while, then nodded: "I agree. But the amount has to be discounted." "Why?" "Hey! Didn't I tell you that Mr. Hu Da wants to report Yueru's love, and we originally planned to give him a share, but he doesn't want it, it's considered a gift to Yueru. Therefore, the number of Tang Zishao's cheating cannot be reported." Boss Chen somehow heard the word "Mr. Hu Da" in this passage, and walked over to inquire about him, feeling sorry for him. Zhou Shaotang and the others were seated by the window. The window was made of broken brocade grids pasted with white paper, with a square of glass embedded in the middle, looking out at a pine tree with a canopy that never withers. On a fine spring and autumn day, there is an excellent teahouse under the tree.Boss Chen pointed and said: "Under that pine tree is the place where Mr. Hu Da and Wang Futai came to have tea and wine for the first time. Wang Futai came back once, and he mentioned it specially. gone." "If Wang Futai knew that Mr. Hu Da would end up like this, I'm afraid he will die in peace." Yang Shuban couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "Such a vigorous career will be defeated if it is said to be defeated, just like the old general." "It's always better than General Nian." Zhou Shaotang said, "At least, there will be no danger of life." Boss Chen interjected: "Even if there is no fear of life, life is meaningless." "Yes!" Yang Shuban nodded deeply, "Climb high and fall hard, it's better to be cautious." They kept talking about Hu Xueyan in this way until they went down the mountain together when they were drunk and full of food. Zhou Shaotang mentioned Tang Zishao again, "I promised him that it is only 24,000 silver." He said, "You go with Mr. Ma Said, if you want to report, just report this amount.” "Okay." Yang Shuban said, "However, you should go to Mr. Hu Da to clarify. Now it is according to his wishes. For the sake of Tang Zishao's wife, the report is specially underreported. The three of us are on business. Otherwise, he only thinks that we have benefited a lot from it, wouldn't he be wronged?" He added, "Please be sure to say this." Because of Yang Shuban's serious attitude, Zhou Shaotang decided to go to Yuanbao Street. Hu Xueyan didn't see customers anymore, but he had a different feeling for Zhou Shaotang, so he still invited him in and asked him why he came. "I've seen that 'skinny horse' you mentioned before. I just saw it. There's no other way." Zhou Shaotang said, "He's at least 80,000 silver at a loss. According to your intention, I gave him a 30% discount. , once the official matter is reported, of course you have to pursue it. Chasing it out to pay back your official money will not be without small compensation." Hearing this, Hu Xueyan's eyes turned red, "Shaotang," he said, "it's enough to have you. From the accident to now, no matter how good a friend is, they all come to settle accounts with me, at most they say It was a discount, and it was a little less. No one said: The deposit I introduced, it doesn’t matter, just put it there; it can be said that there is no money for me. There are only two people among them, one is Gu Ying Chun, help me raise two to three hundred thousand silver to deal with the Shanghai turmoil, and the other one is you. Gu Yingchun has been favored by me, and we used to keep in touch with each other, like you, you should use your ability to get foreign money, don't. Transferring it to make up the shortfall for me, although it’s a drop in the bucket, it’s useless, but I think these two thousand and four thousand silver coins are more valuable than anything else.” "Mr. Da, don't say that. I have been benefited from you before." Zhou Shaotang said again, "Today at noon, we ate oil pancakes at Chenghuang Mountain and mentioned your friendship with Wang Futai. Hearing that you have this turmoil, you don't feel at ease in the underworld." When it comes to Wang Youling, Hu Xueyan felt sour and wanted to cry, "It's really a big dream!" He said, "A dream is a dream after all, and you have to wake up after all." "A person can have a dream like yours. Throughout the ages, I'm afraid there are only a few people who can be counted." Hu Xueyan was encouraged by these words, and suddenly thought of the posthumous name he had never thought of, "I don't know if people who tell the story will say me in the future?" He asked, "What do you say when you say me? Am I doing it myself, or is it just bad luck?" "If you say it, you will definitely say it, just like General Nian, who doesn't know?" This reminded Hu Xueyan of the story about General Nian giving a concubine. His heart moved, and he smiled and said, "How can I compare to General Nian? Let's not talk about that. Brother, let's talk about family life. Shaotang, you are Geng this year?" "I'm a tiger, fifty-four this year." "Where is Mrs. Sister-in-law?" "He is a sheep, five years younger than me." Zhou Shaotang said, "According to reason, if a sheep falls into the jaws of a tiger, I should restrain her, but I don't know that her body is stronger than mine." "You don't look like someone in your fifties at all." Hu Xueyan said, "I met Mrs. Sister-in-law when I was young. At that time, I think you were a little afraid of her. Now?" "I'm already old, who is afraid of what to talk about? What's more——" "Why don't you continue?" Hu Xueyan asked. This is because when it came to Zhou Shaotang's sadness, he didn't want to talk about it, so he shook his head and said, "It's nothing." "There must be a reason. Shaotang, if you have any difficulties, why not tell me." "It's not because of any difficulties." Zhou Shaotang said, "Our only son—" Zhou Shaotang's only son, who turns 30 this year, works in a foreign firm in Shanghai, and is highly regarded by the "big boss".Unexpectedly, in February of this year, I died of a spring plague. Mrs. Zhou was crying to death. What Zhou Shaotang wanted to say was: "What's more, the young husband and wife come to accompany each other when they grow old. Their only son died. She and I really depend on each other for life." It turned out that this sad incident was mentioned, so Hu Xueyan couldn't continue, so he asked, "Is your son married yet?" "No." "Why don't you have a family at thirty?" "That's because he learned from the foreign school and said that foreigners are like this. He didn't start a family until he was 30 years old. He wanted to go abroad with his boss to learn some skills. It was inconvenient to start a family, so he delayed it. Now even The grandchildren are all delayed." "Yes! There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and the greatest thing is to have no descendants." Hu Xueyan said, "Did Mrs. Sister-in-law persuade you to seek a child?" "I did. I told her—" Zhou Shaotang stopped suddenly, because his original words were: "Forget it, forget it, 'If the family is not at peace, ask for a concubine.'" As the words came to my lips, I remembered taboos: first, Mrs. Snail is the "little wife"; second, there are too many "little wives" in Hu Xueyan's family "twelve gold hairpins", which may be the reason for this end.In short, hurting words must never be said. So he changed his words and said: "Although my wife has such good intentions, but there is no suitable person for a while, so I have to thank you for not being sensitive." "It's true. Having the right person is the most important thing. 'If you want to have a bad family, ask for a concubine', everyone always thinks that the eldest wife is jealous, but it's not! It's not good to ask for a younger one, see The wife is honest and easy to bully, and she is proud of being favored, so she wants to climb on top of the eldest wife. No matter how virtuous the eldest wife is, she will still quarrel." Zhou Shaotang didn't think of the common saying that he thought was a taboo, but Hu Xueyan said it himself.However, what he said is also very reasonable. Mrs. Luosi is certainly a ready-made example. He also knows the process of Gu Yingchun taking a concubine, which can be used as a footnote for his words. "Shaotang, you and I met each other. When I had the strength to help you, I didn't help you with anything—" "No, no!" Zhou Shaotang interrupted, "Don't say that, you have helped me enough." "Okay! Now I have to do you a favor and find someone for you." "Mr. Big!" Zhou Shaotang laughed, "Do you still have time to take care of such nosy things?" "It's not my turn to take care of business. With Liu Futai and Defantai worrying about me, I have no choice but to mind my own business." Full of complaints and self-deprecating tone, it can be seen that he is helpless.Zhou Shaotang couldn't help feeling a sense of desolation as a hero's end.If we continued talking, we might cry, so we got up and left. Hu Xueyan held his arm, as if he wanted to say something, he hesitated twice, and finally let go of his hand and said, "Let's talk again!"