Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 19 Taking over the house
There was a sudden storm all night, and as expected, Zheng Guohui woke up from a deep sleep the next morning. It was already bright outside, and bright light shone in through the window lattice.

It is true that beauty can make people fall into depravity and heroes lose their courage!

In the warm bed, Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing snuggled up to Zheng Guohui on both sides, hugging his strong arms and sleeping soundly, with tear marks on their faces.

Thinking of the wildness of last night, Zheng Guohui reacted unconsciously again. Qiao Xing's delicate body trembled noticeably when she sensed the danger, and she hurriedly let go of her arms.

It turns out they are awake, and they are pretending quite well.

Zheng Guohui looked down at Qiao Yue, who was sleeping on the other side. The girl's fair and rosy face quickly turned red. She blinked twice, then timidly opened her eyes and said, "Master, do you want to get up? I will help you change clothes right away."

As she said this, she tried to struggle to get up. Every time she moved, her delicate brows furrowed in pain. The pain of losing one's virginity was not easy to bear.

"No need. You two should have a good rest today. The young master is not a man who doesn't pity women. Just stay here and relax." Zheng Guohui kissed each of the two girls on the cheek, then quickly got up and put on his clothes.

He stopped Qiao Xing and Qiao Yue who wanted to continue and gave the order:
"After resting for a while, you two will present the bloodshot on the bed to my wife, and from now on, it will be kept in my room for my use.

Each person will be rewarded with ten taels of gold and ten pieces of brocade. From now on, the monthly allowance will be set at... 20 taels, and each person will be assigned a maid to serve him or her.

This is a reward from this young master, just report it to the lady truthfully."

"Thank you for your reward, sir." Qiao Xing and Qiao Yue were huddled in the quilt, their fair bodies naked, and they could only express their gratitude with blushing faces.

Zheng Guohui walked out refreshed and looked at the time on the Western clock in the living room. It was already 9:15 in the morning and he felt hungry.

He lifted the cotton door curtain, walked into the courtyard, saw Zheng Shun hurried out, and gave orders;

"Go to the kitchen and bring breakfast over. Remember there's also a portion for the two girls. Ask them to make some healthy soup and send it over. Go ahead."

"Yes, my lord."

Zheng Shun was a married man with a child, so he naturally knew what was going on. He saluted without changing his expression and then took the order and left.

Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing, the two well-behaved girls, did not stay in the warm bed for too long. After Zheng Guohui got up, the two girls also struggled to get up, gritting their teeth.

After making the bed, he naturally took off the sheets and packed them into a small bundle. The blood was to be presented to the lady in the backyard.

The bed-warming maid has no official status. If she can win the favor of the young master and be raised as a concubine in the future, that will be the highlight of her life.

The young master is still unmarried, so there is naturally no question of taking a concubine.

The young master is not some country boy, but a third-rank official in the imperial court. Among the aristocratic families and prominent families, the rules are very strict.

They attached particular importance to marriage, funerals and the inheritance of offspring. Before getting married, wealthy families would never take concubines first, as this would be criticized as having a bad family tradition and being too absurd.

"Hey, you two girls, just have breakfast and then go to the backyard to pay your respects."

"No, Master, we'll go first."

The two pretty maids, Qiao Yue and Qiao Xin, blushed, lowered their heads and nervously grasped the small bundle in their hands, and their voices of reply were as low as mosquitoes.

The two girls slipped away in a hurry, as if they had done something shameful.

Zheng Guohui looked speechless, and sat carelessly at the round table in the main hall. He put his finger to his nose and smelled it. It seemed that the girl's fragrant body fragrance still lingered.

After smelling it, Zheng Guohui grinned happily, revealing a row of neat white teeth.

This fucking old society is not without its merits!

Around 3:00 p.m.
Pan Bingen, the Tongzhou Tongzhi, came to visit with gifts. He was only a local official of the fifth rank, and it was only natural for him to visit in advance to show his respect.

Shortly thereafter
Tongzhou prefect Li Lin also came to visit with gifts. Zheng Shun led them to the study in the front yard. Zheng Guohui and his old father Zheng Shouren stood at the door of the study to greet them.

After a brief chat, they came to the study and sat down as host and guest. The maid served them exquisite tea and snacks, and they started chatting while drinking tea.

from beginning to end
Local bureaucrats such as Tongzhou prefect Li Lin and co-prefect Pan Bingen were very respectful to Zheng Guohui in their attitude, calling him "General" and "your humble official" all the time, and put themselves in a very upright position.

That’s right. In official circles, if people respect me one foot, I will respect them ten feet.

"General, I heard that upon returning to your hometown, you resolutely cut off your own arm and handed over the unfilial son of your clan to the authorities for prosecution. I truly admire you."

"Exactly, exactly. I guess Tongzhou City is going crazy about this right now. This move is very pleasing to the people. Everyone is praising the Zheng family for their responsibility, especially praising the general for his wisdom and bravery, and his ruthlessness."

"The Zheng family should be a model for local gentry, not showing favoritism. I will definitely write to the governor and speak well of the general."

The fancy sedan was carried by everyone, so Zheng Guohui couldn't blame the local officials for dereliction of duty. It would be tactless to allow the gentry to run rampant in the village.

He smiled and replied, "Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease!

There are always some unfilial sons who ruin the family's reputation. This is intolerable to our Zheng family. We must take drastic measures to cut out the flesh and remove the poisonous sores.

This thief has been removed from the family tree. I ask the governor to investigate his crimes and punish him severely.

All the thugs and minions have been tied up and taken to the yamen. Those who deserve to be killed will be killed, and those who deserve to be exiled will be exiled. There is no need to show mercy for the sake of my Zheng family.

Please rest assured, Your Excellency the Governor, our Zheng family is willing to benefit our hometown and be a family that accumulates good deeds for generations. We will never show ourselves to be bullies.

However, anyone who violates this rule will not be protected or shown favoritism, but will be brought directly to the government office for punishment."

"General, you are sensible and reasonable. I admire you deeply!"

"We should be role models of morality. If other wealthy families could do even half as much as we do, Tongzhou would be a place of peace and prosperity, with no one picking up lost items on the streets. We would be living up to the spirit of the ancients!"

Zheng Guohui had a very pleasant conversation with the local bureaucrats, and in the evening he prepared wine and a banquet to win them over, which naturally made both the host and the guests happy.

After seeing off the local bureaucrats, Zheng Guohui saw the dozen or so demolished houses in front of the government office. The original rubble had been cleared away, and they were preparing to pave the road with bluestone to build a small square.

This was also a move by the Zheng family to demonstrate their financial status. The regulations on architecture in this era were strict. The old patriarch Zheng Shouren often said "bringing glory to the family" was referring to this.

The so-called "lintel", also known as the "doorhead", is the horizontal beam on the upper part of the door frame above the main door, which is generally made of thick and heavy solid wood.

According to the imperial system
Only the residences of court officials were allowed to have door lintels above the main gates; ordinary civilians were not allowed to have door lintels.

Even a wealthy family like the Zheng family, without any official status, could not have a lintel on the door of their house.

Families of different social status have different requirements for the lintels of their doors, which are generally divided into three types: two, four, and twelve.

Double lintels are suitable for the residences of officials of the seventh to fifth ranks, and quadruple lintels are suitable for court officials of the fourth rank and above. It is a symbol of status and nobility.

Just like a bureaucrat like the Tongzhou prefect, he was not qualified to install four layers of lintels and eaves on his house.

But now the Zheng family can do it. Zheng Guohui has been promoted to the rank of third-rank city guard and is already a high-ranking military official in Jiangnan Province. It is legal for the Zheng Mansion to upgrade the door lintels and eaves to four layers.

However, upgrading only the four-layer lintel and eaves was far from enough to show off what Zheng Shouren, the old master of the Zheng family, wanted, as can be seen in the bluestone square in front of the door.

According to the architectural rules and regulations enjoyed by court officials, officials of the first and second ranks had halls with five rooms and nine frames, the roofs were covered with tiles and beasts, the beams, brackets, and eaves were painted in green, and the doors were two rooms and three frames painted in green, with tin rings with animal faces.

Officials from the third to fifth ranks had halls with five rooms and seven frames, the roofs were covered with tiles and beasts, the beams and eaves were decorated with green and blue, and the doors had two rooms and three frames, with black tin rings.

For officials of the sixth to ninth ranks, the hall consists of three rooms and seven frames, with the beams and pillars decorated with ochre, and the door has three frames and a black iron ring. For officials of all ranks, the doors and windows must be exquisitely decorated and not painted red.

The architectural regulations varied according to the rank of court officials.

The Zheng family leaped from a wealthy family to high-ranking officials in the imperial court. This old Zheng family residence had to undergo a major renovation to reflect its extraordinary majesty.

Zheng Guohui understood the old man's thoughts very well and could only do what his father wanted.

Anyway, there is plenty of money, so just spend it.

It is said that there will be stone lions, diagonal poles and stone archways at the door, as well as some other things. Anyway, Zheng Guohui did not ask about it, as he did not pay much attention to these formal things.

But if my family wants to do it, I won’t stop them as long as they are happy.

Back to the courtyard

Pushing aside the cotton curtain and entering the room, the room was warm as spring due to the fireplace, with a hint of fragrance.

The two pretty maids, Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing, came up to him with smiles as beautiful as flowers. They gently helped Zheng Guohui change his clothes and wash his face, and brought him hot water for soaking his feet. They took care of him in every possible way.

In a trance, it was different from yesterday.

Zheng Guohui looked at Qiao Yue's delicate hands washing his feet, and the itchy feeling of rubbing them made a sudden surge of rage in his heart.

He simply reached out and pulled, and Qiao Xing, who was standing by to serve her, let out a startled "moan" and her delicate white body fell onto the bed, her little face as red as fire.

Zheng Guohui took another arm and picked up Qiao Yue, who was lowering her head. He kissed her on her fair face and threw her on the bed.

The tiger roared, looked at the two trembling little white sheep, and pounced on them...

(End of this chapter)