Rebirth of Shuangshu

Chapter 127 Rui Jiang
An autumn rain, a cold.

It was late autumn in a blink of an eye.

There have been several autumn rains in succession, and as the weather gets colder, there is also the rising water level of the Lijiang River.Lijiang will freeze for a period of time in winter.

The merchants will transport bulk goods to Chongyifang before the freezing period.Small shipments continue to be transported by road in winter.

Prices go up every winter.Even so, the business of Chongyifang will be much sluggish.

It's just that this year, it seems to be a little different.

It's raining again.The autumn rain is always accompanied by the autumn wind, and it falls on the body to make people tremble in the bones.

Royal Court of Ruidu.

At the corner of the palace wall, the maids Qiang'er and Nu'er are cleaning the fallen leaves.

This job does not ask about the weather or the time of day, but must ensure that the interior of the palace is clean and tidy.Because the Queen Mother Rui Jiang, the owner of the palace of the Kingdom of Rui, has a slight obsession with cleanliness.

Qiang'er and Nu'er are responsible for cleaning the four yards, including the back garden.The back garden is where fallen leaves are concentrated.Under the wind and rain, in addition to fallen leaves, there are dead branches, gravel and mud.

No matter it is raining, windy or snowing, as long as the ground is dirty, the maid must clean it up immediately, because Empress Dowager Rui Jiang may appear at any time.

Empress Dowager Rui Jiang practiced martial arts when she was young, and she has practiced fist, foot and sword, and she has always retained the hobby of martial arts to strengthen her body.Empress Dowager Rui Jiang is nearly 50 years old, and she may exercise because of martial arts.The person looks very young, like in his thirties.

By the way, the Empress Dowager Ruijiang had four children in total. The eldest son died at birth, the second son was sent to Korea as a proton, the third daughter died at the age of four, and the fourth son is now 11 years old.This experience caused Rui Jiang to love his youngest son very much.

Back to Qiang'er and Nu'er.If it rained in the past, Qiang'er and Nu'er would still come to the back garden to clean.Either wear coir raincoats or brave the rain, but today their outfits are a bit strange.

They wore a dark brown robe-like dress today, with hats attached to the clothes.The rain hit the brown robe, forming droplets and sliding down one by one.

Yuer and Waner are good friends of Qiang'er and Nuer.Although the four of them don't live together and don't work in the same place, they often get together to play because of their similar temperaments.

Yu'er and Wan'er are the sweepers in Lian Ji's palace.Today, because of the rain, I stole a moment of leisure.The two felt a little distressed when they thought that Qiang'er and Nu'er must be busy in the rain in the back garden at this moment.

"Sister, why don't we help them clean up, so that they can call it a day and rest early."

"That's fine, I'll get the coir raincoat, and you get the broom."

Yu'er and Wan'er went to fetch tools respectively, put on coir raincoats and stepped into the rain.When they came to the gate of the back garden, they saw two strange people cleaning the garden.

Wan'er was bolder and shouted loudly: "Who are you and what are you doing here? Where are Qianer and Nuer?"

Hearing the shout, the man in the brown robe turned around, revealing two familiar faces, they were Qiang'er and Nuer.

"Huh?" Yu'er and Wan'er stepped forward and looked around Qiang'er and Nu'er.

"Why don't you wear coir raincoats? What kind of clothes are these? I haven't seen you for two days. When did you get such strange clothes?"

Qiang'er smiled triumphantly: "This is called a raincoat, it can be waterproof, so you won't be afraid of the rain."

Nu'er continued: "Qiang'er's cousin came to visit her earlier and brought these two raincoats over. Coincidentally, they will come in handy today."

Wan'er was surprised: "What kind of cloth is it made of, and it doesn't absorb water?"

Qiang'er said: "How do you know that, I feel like sackcloth, but it's not the same."

Yu'er said: "This raincoat is very convenient, it's not as bulky as a coir raincoat, and it won't affect your work."

Nu'er said: "That's it. Not only does it not absorb water, but it is also not afraid of the wind. The wind can't blow through, and the rain can't get wet. It's the first time we work in the rain and it's not cold."

Qiang'er said: "I won't tell you, we are almost finished sweeping. You go to the porch over there and wait, my cousin also brought other gadgets, let's play with us later."

Yu'er and Wan'er nodded and said yes.The two moved to the corridor, took off their coir raincoats and put them aside, picked up a few stones and threw them to play.

After a while, Qiang'er and Nu'er finished cleaning.The four of them walked hand in hand to the house where Qiang'er and the others lived.

Just turning around the corridor, I ran into the Luanjia of Empress Rui Jiang.It was raining and the wind was strong, and Empress Dowager Rui Jiang unexpectedly came to the back garden.

In early autumn, Rui Jiang and her youngest son planted several chrysanthemums in the back garden.It was raining, and Rui Jiang was worried that the seedlings would not be able to withstand the wind and rain, so she came to visit.

The four of Qiang'er were walking along the corridor, when they saw the Empress Dowager Luan Jia, they immediately knelt down on the ground.

Rui Jiang was surrounded by maids of honor. With a glance, she saw four people kneeling in front of her. The strange thing was that there were strange things around them.

Rui Jiang was straightforward, so he led the maids over there, stared at the things on the floor of the four of them, looked left and right, and even picked them up by himself for a closer look.

"The four of you are the sweeping maids in the palace? Get up."

The queen mother spoke, and the four of Qiang'er stood up obediently.It's just that Qiang'er and the others didn't dare to look at Rui Jiang, they just lowered their heads and stared at their own toes.

"Are these four things yours?" Rui Jiang asked.

Qiang'er, who stood at the front and was also the oldest, replied: "The Queen Mother belongs to four servants."

"These two, I recognize them as coir raincoats," Rui Jiang asked, pointing to the raincoat, "but what are these two?"

Qiang'er looked up, and replied: "Queen Mother, this clothes are called raincoats, and they are worn by servants when cleaning, so they are not afraid of wind and rain."

"Raincoat? Clothes for rainy days? Clothes that aren't afraid of rain?"

Rui Jiang became interested, picked up a raincoat and put it on her body, and even put on the hat of the raincoat without a teacher, and then walked straight into the rain.

The maids who followed Rui Jiang seemed to understand her temper very well, no one made a sound to stop her, but they all looked at Rui Jiang curiously, as if they were also very interested in the so-called raincoat.

Standing in the rain, Rui Jiang closed her eyes, stretched out her hand to touch the raindrops, and heard the sound of raindrops falling on the raincoat.

After a while, Rui Jiang went back to the porch and took off his raincoat.Sure enough, her body and hair were not wet.

Several lively maids made surprise voices.

Rui Jiang held up the raincoat and asked Qiang'er, "Where did you get this raincoat?"

Qiang'er replied truthfully: "My family came to visit the day before yesterday, and because they knew that I was sweeping the courtyard, they brought these two raincoats. According to my family, I bought them at the Kunlun Grocery Store in Chongyifang."

"Chongyifang Kunlun Grocery Store?" Rui Jiangsi muttered to himself, "It seems that I have never heard of this store before."

Qiang'er said: "Back to the queen mother, this shop only opened in summer, and it has been less than half a year."

Rui Jiang's tone changed suddenly, and he questioned: "It seems that this kind of raincoat is the treasure of the Kunlun grocery store. How can your family afford it?"

Qiang'er took a deep breath and said calmly, "Back to the queen mother, raincoats are not expensive, only fifteen yuan for one."

Rui Jiang was taken aback, as if he didn't quite believe it: "How can such a good thing be so cheap?"

Qiang'er hurriedly said: "Don't dare to lie to the queen mother, my family will never dare to lie, the price is like this."

Seeing that Qiang'er didn't seem to be lying, Rui Jiang stopped embarrassing her, returned the raincoat to them, and let them leave on their own.

"Let's go to the garden to see the flowers."

Rui Jiang walked a few steps, then suddenly waved back.A female officer stepped forward and bowed her head to obey.

"After watching the flowers, the Ai family wants to pay a private visit to Chongyifang in micro-services, and let them arrange it. Chunyue and Xiadie will stay and guard the palace, and Qiushuang and Dongxi will follow me."

"According to the order."

The female officer turned around and trotted towards the Empress Dowager's bedroom.Rui Jiang estimated that it would take less than two quarters of an hour to look at the flowers, leaving very little time for the palace to prepare.

When they came to the back garden, Rui Jiang stood in the rain, with a maid behind her supporting a canopy made of leather that was impermeable to the rain.

Rui Jiang looked at the canopy above his head, and said to the maid behind him: "This canopy is impermeable, it is made of leather, so the price is expensive. The raincoat is also impermeable, so what is it made of?"

"The empress dowager can go to the shop and ask, if you want to come, the shop owner dare not answer." The maid said softly.

Rui Jiang said with a smile: "Ai's family is going on tour in disguise, if the shopkeeper refuses to tell, what should I do?"

The maid smiled and said, "Then hit him and tell him."

Rui Jiang suddenly sighed: "The Ai family often tells you to convince people with virtue, how can you use such a crude method? If you don't improve your memory, you will be fined to pour the chamber pot for ten days in a row."

The maid's face showed a look of sorrow, but she didn't beg for mercy, but instead said: "Your servant obeys the order."

Rui Jiang not only likes to practice martial arts, but also likes martial arts.The maids who were close to her were all skilled in martial arts.Rui Jiang's character is firm and strong, and she doesn't like the weak people around her.Although she always talks about convincing people with virtue, in fact Rui Jiang always does things according to her heart.

"Winter is coming soon, and it's raining one after another. I'm afraid this winter will be colder than previous years." Rui Jiang suddenly changed the subject.

The maid said: "A few days ago, the Empress Dowager ordered more charcoal to be prepared in the palace. I heard that it will be delivered in a few days. Because of the continuous rain, the price of charcoal in Chongyifang has increased."

"It's better to increase the price than to be out of stock," Rui Jiang said again, "The Ai family ordered them to reinforce the houses of the peasant households in the city, but it was arranged."

"Back to the Queen Mother, Lord Sikong has already started to deal with it. If the Queen Mother is worried, you can check it in the city when you leave the palace."

"Also, it's a good suggestion. To supervise the courtiers, you have to see it with your own eyes."

"Let them arrange it."

The maid turned her head and waved, and whispered something to the young maid who came up.The young court lady resigned and went to work.

Rui Jiang came to the newly planted chrysanthemums and sighed: "This winter is cold, I wonder if these flowers can survive?"

"Queen Mother, I heard that you can wrap flowers around the flowers with sackcloth to protect them from the wind and cold." The maid said.

"Oh, there is another method, let them fetch linen, Aijia wants to try this method."

So, there was a lot of chaos in the back garden, and after a while the whole garden was covered with sackcloth.

Rui Jiang looked up at the still raining sky: "Sackcloth can only surround the four sides, but it can't stop the rain from the sky. It would be great if there is a tarpaulin used as a raincoat to cover it."

"Queen Mother, they are ready to go to Chongyifang."

"Okay, the Ai family is really looking forward to Chongyifang more and more."

Rui Jiang dressed in micro clothes, not pretending to be the wife of a noble family, but pretending to be a businessman.All the maids who followed her pretended to be guards.The guards that Rui Jiang took out were half female and half male, and they never refuted.

It's just that because of the rain today, Rui Jiang didn't ride a horse, but took a carriage.She only brought six guards, two of whom drove the car, and four guarded the front and rear sides of the carriage.

Now they circle around the city of Ruidu.Sure enough, I saw someone repairing the house.

Rui Jiang saw these scenes through the curtain of the carriage, and nodded before letting the carriage go to Chongyifang.

When we arrived at Chongyifang, it was almost noon.

Qiushuang lowered her head and approached the car window, and asked in a low voice, "My lord, can we go to the restaurant for dinner first, or go directly to the Kunlun grocery store?"

"Let's go eat first," Rui Jiang looked at the street of Chongyifang through the curtain, "I happened to ask the people in the restaurant about the grocery store."

So, Rui Jiang and his party came to the restaurant they frequented.

The shopkeeper of the restaurant recognized Rui Jiang's pretended identity, and stepped forward to say hello: "Mrs. Qi is here, did you bring any goods this time?"

"Passing through Song Kingdom, all the goods are sold there. So I rushed here to buy goods, so that I can return before the first snow of this year. Shopkeeper, is the place where I usually sit vacant today?"

"It's empty. It's raining today and there are few customers in the store."

Rui Jiang and his party sat down separately at the big table by the window.Rui Jiang was at the same table with the two maids, and the other four guards were at the other table.

Rui Jiang said to the shopkeeper: "It's still the old rule, each table will be served the same way. Just hurry up, come here in the morning, I'm really hungry now."

"Hey, okay, wait a moment, honored guest."

The shopkeeper went down to give orders, and came back later to greet Rui Jiang.

When a merchant first arrives in Fangshi, he will find someone to inquire about the news.This is a habit and a rule.

"Shopkeeper, we heard on the way here that Chongyifang has newly opened a Kunlun grocery store, can you teach us something?" Rui Jiang asked bluntly.

"Madam Qi has also heard about the Kunlun Grocery Store? It's no wonder, this store has only been open for three or four months, and it has made a lot of famous things."

"Oh? Shopkeeper, please sit down, and please explain in detail."

The shopkeeper sat opposite Rui Jiang.Like a storyteller, he talked about various marketing routines of the Kunlun grocery store.

From the free lottery held when the Kunlun Grocery Store opened, to the recent hot-selling items, the key point recommended by the shopkeeper is the abacus.

The shopkeeper brought over his newly bought abacus and asked Rui Jiang to have a look at it himself.

"It's just this abacus. It only costs [-] yuan apiece. Now every shopkeeper in Chongyifang has one."

"Abacus?" Rui Jiang held the abacus and shook it in his hand. It was pleasant to hear the beads colliding together. "Small gadget? How do you play it?"

"This is not for playing, but for counting."

The shopkeeper took the abacus and put it on the table, and pulled the beads a few times with his fingers.

"Counting, how to calculate?"

"Look, it looks like this"

After the shopkeeper gave a demonstration, Rui Jiang's eyes lit up.There was even a storm in her heart.

"This, can the shopkeeper please say the formula again, I didn't remember it."

"Don't worry, you will get a handwritten formula with the abacus. As long as you memorize the formula and practice it a few times, you will be able to use it very quickly. I used to be busy until midnight every night. It can be done in two quarters of an hour."

(End of this chapter)