Translator – Xiao He Lian
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Chapter 28.2
Now that the New Year is approaching, all walks of life in Yangzhou have become busy. With the opening of the wine shop, Lu Yan’s contact with Zhao Chong has become more and more intensive, and he has gradually become familiar with his confidants.
When Lu Yan was working outside, Shen Zhen was responsible for welcoming him and sending him off, and meeting with the female relatives of each family every now and then.
Normally, it is not the turn of a concubine to do these things, but since the main wife of “Young Master Wei” is not around, this “Concubine Qin” has always been favored, so the wives of several families also gave her a lot of respect.
Of course, being able to have this face is also due to Shen Zhen’s unique way of conducting herself.
After all, the daughter of the Shen family has been known as one of the top ladies in Chang’an City since she was a child, so these matters were handled with ease.
West Side room….
Tangyue picked up a rare thing and read to the gift sheet: “Miss, what is the use of this Gilt Feihong silver cage with pattern1
?” She played with it for a long time, but she didn’t understand it.
Shen Zhen paused her brush and said to Tang Yue: “This is the utensil needed for ‘baking’ tea2(Baking tea refers to the use of fire to bake tea leaves, which is a type of tea making technique. The purpose is to further remove moisture from tea, improve aroma quality, and enhance storage effectiveness. Baking is one of the important steps in making bagged tea.)‘. After the tea leaves are steamed and pounded, it is difficult to completely dry the tea leaves, and it is very easy to get moldy. So, this silver cage is used to dry tea leaves.”
Tang Yue asked again: “Then what is this gilded Capricorn patterned tripod3
used for?”
Shen Zhen said: “This is called ‘Salt Gui’. It was originally used to hold salt, but because of the current trend of using salt to remove the bitterness in tea leaves and sweeten it, this object was used as a tea set.”
Tang Yue nodded, truly admiring Shen Zhen.
Shen Zhen looked at the account book in her hand and sighed: “The Zhou family is indeed the number one tea merchant in Yangzhou. Such a gilt tea set is very rare in the capital.”
Tangyue: “What kind of gift should I give in return?”
Shen Zhen thought for a while and said: “I heard Madam Zhou mention that Lord Zhou is very fond of flowers, calligraphy and painting. Follow me to the storeroom later and find out the flower basket painting, the masterpiece by Li Zong that we brought. I’ll send someone to deliver it tomorrow.”
Although it is not difficult to record each family’s gift list, choosing what gift to give in return is not an easy task.
Firstly, the other party’s preferences must be taken into consideration, and secondly, the price of the object itself must be considered, which should neither be too much higher nor too lower than the other.
The process was very tricky.
After Shen Zhen finished counting the gifts from other families, she took out the key from the drawer and went to the storeroom.
The storeroom is on the far left side of Heron Garden.
After passing through the long corridor with deep winding paths, Shen Zhen opened the door of the storeroom. She told Tang Yue to bring the porcelain, while she took two calligraphy and painting pieces herself.
This flower basket painting is six feet tall. Given Shen Zhen’s stature, it was really difficult to hold it.
Just as she was preparing to return, maybe because it had snowed just now and the ground was still slippery, Shen Zhen stumbled and fell down…she instinctively raised the painting with her both arms, making the fall even more severe.
Seeing this, Tangyue quickly put down the porcelain in her hand and shouted, “Concubine Qin, are you okay?”
Shen Zhen fell so hard that she couldn’t move her legs at all and tears of pain flowed down her face. The current situation made Tang Yue feel a bit flustered.
This commotion quickly attracted Fuman’s attention.
Concubine Fuman has been very peaceful in the last few days, she has not even seen her Shen Zhen. No one expected that their first encounter would be so awkward.
Fuman knew at a glance that the one who fell to the ground was Concubine Qin.
She dropped the hand stove in her hand and ran over quickly.
She knelt down and said to Shen Zhen: “Concubine Qin, is it your left foot that hurts?”
Shen Zhen couldn’t care less and nodded with tears in her eyes.
Fuman rolled up her sleeves, gently pinched her bones gently, while furrowing her brows.
After a moment, she pointed in the air and shouted, “Look.”
When people hear such words, they will naturally raise their heads reflexively.
As soon as Shen Zhen raised her little face, she heard a “creak”, which was so painful that her soul came out of her body and bean-sized teardrops rustled down.
Tangyue said sternly from the side: “What did you do to our Concubine Qin?”
Fuman didn’t answer, and only said to Shen Zhen: “Concubine Qin, please push your left leg a little harder and see if you can move it?”
Hearing this, Shen Zhen moved slightly and said: “It seems to be better.”
Fuman sighed and said: “You happened to hit the stone steps when you fell, and your bones were misplaced, but you should be fine now.” After she finished speaking, she paused, and then said: “Before, I deceived Concbine Qin. Please forgive me.”
Now, even an idiot can see clearly what is going on.
Tangyue looked embarrassed and stumbled: “I just talked back at you, I am sorry Concubine Fuman.”
Fuman shook her head, “It’s okay.” After saying that, she reached out and helped Shen Zhen up, “Then I’ll take you back.”
Shen Zhen lowered her head and looked at her numb legs. She didn’t try to be brave and said quickly: “Then I’ll have to bother you.”
Perhaps Shen Zhen also felt that the previous situation was really humiliating, so for the rest of the way, no matter how much it hurt, she didn’t say a word.
After Fuman sent Shen Zhen to Chunxi Hall, she didn’t stay too long and went straight back to her Dongli Garden.
It didn’t take half an hour since Shen Zhen fell down, before Lu Yan appeared at the gate of Heron Gate with a serious face.
In the room, Shen Zhen was sitting on the couch, looking at her legs with worry, when the man strode into the door.
Lu Yan looked at Shen Zhen’s red eyes and dirty clothes and asked, “How did it happen?”
Shen Zhen said: “I just went to the storeroom to get the return gifts for each family and accidentally fell.”
Lu Yan bowed and opened her clothes, only to see that her two calves, which were usually as smooth as jade, were covered with shocking bruises. There were two long blood marks on her left knee, and the side was already swollen.
After checking the injuries, he took another look at the tears on Shen Zhen’s face.
He immediately understood why he had a dull pain in his chest at Zhao Chong’s house, and almost fainted from the pain.
He breathed a sigh of relief, then put his palms on her knees and said, “Move your leg and let me see if you have hurt any bones.”
Hearing this, Shen Zhen quickly whispered a few words in Lu Yan’s ear.
“You mean it was that thin horse that connected your bones?”
