Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 488 Experience 9

On this day, Sheng Hong brought a box of Jiaozi to Lin Qinshuang. These Jiaozi were all from the properties that Sheng Hong had purchased for Lin Qinshuang over the years. The Sheng family was about to go to the capital, and there might be no chance for them to come to Yangzhou again, so all the properties of the Sheng family had to be disposed of as soon as possible.

Actually, Lin Qige's situation was fine. It didn't have much property outside, and Sheng Hong was in charge of handling it. Lin Qinshuang just had to wait for the result. Only the furniture and other large items in the house could not be moved away and were difficult to sell. She could only give them away or leave them in the house and sell them to the buyer.

Another thing is clothing materials. Jiangnan is rich in silk, and the craftsmanship of silk and satin is the best in the world. Only Shu brocade from Shu can compete with it. Therefore, Molan suggested that Lin Qinshuang buy more high-quality materials in Jiangnan, the place of origin, and store them. Even if she can't sell them in Beijing, she doesn't have to spend a high price to buy out-of-season products.

At first, Lin Qinshuang did not dare to spend money like this, and Molan did not think of bypassing Lin Qinshuang to forcefully decide the matter. Instead, she suggested that Lin Qinshuang send her confidants who had followed Sheng Hong to the capital to clean up the house in advance to go to the capital to investigate before making a decision.

When the people who were sent came back, they said that although the capital was more prosperous than Yangzhou, the specialties of Jiangnan were also very popular in the capital, especially the popular materials, patterns and jewelry in Jiangnan, which were almost one year behind those in the capital.

Lin Qinshuang immediately decided to praise Molan in front of Sheng Hong. After hearing this, Sheng Hong felt it was a pity that Molan gave birth to a girl instead of a boy, otherwise the future of the Sheng family would depend on Molan.

Lin Qinshuang was very proud of Sheng Hong's praise of Molan. In addition to helping Lin Qinshuang buy a lot of Jiangnan specialties, Sheng Hong also bought a lot for himself. He also wrote a letter to Sheng Wei, the eldest son of the family in his hometown of Youyang, and helped the eldest son expand his business to Yangzhou by selling houses, shops and land.

Originally, the first house only valued the three legitimate children of Wang Ruofu, but now Sheng Hong's move made Sheng Wei no longer able to ignore the existence of Linqi Pavilion, and Sheng Wei was able to save face and directly "sent" the birthday gifts of Changfeng and Molan over the years.

Compared with these things, Molan and Rulan rushing to make perfume pills for Hualan was just a small matter, but Lin Qinshuang still followed her usual routine to flatter Molan and Rulan. When Sheng Hong came, she inadvertently picked up the two perfume bags selected by Molan and Hualan, pretending to be jealous of Sheng Hong.

Lin Qinshuang pouted and placed a sachet with a grape pattern and a pomegranate pattern in front of Sheng Hong with an unhappy look on her face. "Look, Honglang, these are what Moer and the Fifth Miss chose for their eldest sister. They said they were worried that their eldest sister wouldn't know how to make perfume and would be looked down upon by the Zhongqin Marquis's Mansion, so they thought of preparing more scent pills for the eldest girl in advance."

Sheng Hong took the two sachets and looked at them. He immediately determined that the grapes were chosen by Molan. Lin Qinshuang was naturally happy to hear that, but she still remembered her purpose. "Honglang only cares about a few girls, but forgot that those girls didn't think about me and Honglang at all. I'm really jealous~"

Sheng Hong skillfully took Lin Qinshuang into his arms and coaxed her: "Ah, Mo'er and Ru'er are playing well together, and they still think of their big sister. It can be seen that Shuang'er taught them well. I am very pleased."

Lin Qinshuang continued to flatter herself and Molan: "Honglang only knows how to say nice things. You haven't even said whether the eldest girl can make perfume. Moer and the fifth girl have been worried for a long time. I am also worried that the eldest girl will be bullied by her husband's family in the future."

Sheng Hong had no idea what Lin Qinshuang's intentions were. He just thought that they were all worried that Hualan would be embarrassed to go back to her parents' home to complain after marrying into the Duke of Zhongqin's mansion. But then he remembered that Hualan had been raised in Shou'an Hall since she was a child, but the old lady only taught Hualan how to read and manage the household. Of course, she also taught her some things about how to behave in society, but she only taught her about elegant things such as flower arrangement, tea making and perfume making. Now he thinks that Hualan is indeed lacking in some aspects.

Guided by Lin Qinshuang, Sheng Hong told her everything he knew: "The way girls are taught in those noble houses is different from that in our noble families, but they all have to learn flower arrangement and tea making. It doesn't matter what the housekeepers are like, any girl with a certain status has to learn it."

"But the girls from noble families need to learn some horsemanship, while the girls from our noble families also need to learn poetry, etiquette, music, chess, calligraphy and painting."

"Like our old lady, I heard that she knew everything when she was young, whether it was archery, riding a horse, playing polo, or arranging flowers, making tea, reading poetry, and even your husband has benefited a lot from it."

Tea-making and flower-arranging were popular in this dynasty, and these two skills were not only popular among women, but also indispensable among men. In particular, the scholars of this dynasty had not completely abandoned the six arts of a gentleman, so Sheng Hong was actually quite good at riding and archery, and he could even play polo.

Lin Qinshuang almost couldn't keep the smile off her face after hearing this. She had been with Old Madam Sheng for almost ten years, but apart from teaching her how to read and make tea, she had to teach herself how to read the account books. It was obvious that the old woman was not as good to her as she claimed.

At the same time, she was glad that now both Molan and Rulan were taught by Sheng Hong himself. In the future, Molan and Rulan would be able to learn the skills that only the noble ladies in the marquis' mansion could learn, which would make it easier for them to get married.

But thinking of Hualan, Lin Qinshuang would not give up the opportunity to flatter Old Madam Sheng. She first admired Sheng Hong and then changed the subject to Hualan: "It's a pity that the eldest daughter was born too late. When she went to the old lady's yard, the old lady didn't want to move. Otherwise, I'm afraid that the eldest daughter could also be like Honglang and inherit the old lady's true teachings."

Sheng Hong would not doubt Lin Qinshuang's intentions in saying this, but he did feel that the result of Old Lady Sheng bringing Hualan up did not satisfy him, and he could not say these words out loud.

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Lin Qinshuang changed the subject and asked Sheng Hong to use the remaining money to help her buy a property in Beijing. Sheng Hong was naturally happy to cooperate, but in his heart he decided to find a way to provide intensive training for Hua Lan through the Wang family.

But things will not develop as Sheng Hong wishes. He does not want to stir up trouble at home, but the matter of contacting Wang's mother-in-law cannot be avoided by Wang Ruofu. If Wang Ruofu knew that Mrs. Sheng took Hualan to raise but did not take good care of her, it would definitely cause an uproar in the Sheng family.

And Sheng Hong did have some opinions about the old lady. Since she clearly wanted to marry Hualan into a noble family, why couldn't she teach her wholeheartedly?

Hualan is Sheng Hong's first beloved child. Although he sacrificed Hualan's marriage for the future of the Sheng family, he also hoped that his daughter could live well in her husband's family. But now Hualan has such a big shortcoming. Marrying into the Zhongqin Marquis's Mansion will only make her suffer despise. How can he bear it as a father?

In the end, Sheng Hong kicked the ball back to Old Lady Sheng. So, Old Lady Sheng, who had just arrived in the capital and had not yet settled down, was forced by Sheng Hong to write a letter to his old friend named Kong, inviting her to come to the Sheng Mansion to teach Hua Lan for a period of time.