Ink Burns

Chapter 74 Red Palms
The main hall was silent for a moment.

Shanyue took a sip of the mint candy and the fragrance lingered on his lips and teeth.

After a long time, Liu Huan's voice sounded again, and she lowered her head and said, "Yes..." But she felt innocent: "Dad, you clearly know that my son is unemployed at home, and it is not my son's fault for being arrogant."

It's obviously his father who doesn't handle things clearly and doesn't know people well!
This made Princess Jing'an furious. According to the rules of "Qingfeng", one person would take the blame for the mistakes of a family. Their family was the third branch of the Liu family. His uncle had already admitted defeat and was preparing to push the youngest son of the eldest branch, who was the magistrate of Shaoyang County at the time, to take the blame. But his father tried to be a hero at this time. Although he was only a sixth-rank official, he was also a Beijing official of the Grain Transport Bureau, and was much more powerful than the magistrate.

He had a grudge about this matter.

But I can't.

Although the class system and rules of "Qingfeng" are strict, once you join, you will benefit a lot. For example, their Liu family has three Jinshi, four Jinshi and two Juren. The next generation of six people successfully entered the officialdom and were distributed in the 24 provincial governors, six ministries, three agencies and one prison in the Wei Dynasty. In addition, the in-laws, maternal family, and uncle's family are like a spider web. Although they cannot be compared with the first-class aristocratic families and clans, they are also a big family in Jiangnan, which can ensure the blessings and comfort of future generations.

Thinking of this, although the resentment has not disappeared, I have accepted it.

Liu Huan stroked her slapped face and said sullenly, "I might as well just stay at home and be an idler. Once this 'Qingfeng' post comes out, I'll have a chance to get back on my feet."

Lord Liu snorted, "Reinstate? This post is for your eldest cousin. You only see that you are a sixth-rank official in the capital, and he is a seventh-rank county magistrate, but you don't know that Shaoyang County is the center of the Huguang Provincial Administration Commission, where water flows up and down, and it is a land of fish and rice. He was sent out to follow the path of the Provincial Administration Commission! You must be down-to-earth at every step! Although your Canal Transport Bureau has real power, it has been entrenched under the Jia family for many years. What can you do? What's more, your eldest cousin is a Jinshi who passed the two imperial examinations, and you are just a Juren who was forced to get ashore!"

Liu Huan clenched her hands.

Whenever it came to a critical moment, his father would always support his older cousin.

No, it’s the entire Liu family that’s supporting my eldest cousin!

Liu Huan turned her face away, looking indignant.

Lord Liu raised his eyelids: "Are you not convinced?"

Liu Huan said: "I dare not."

Lord Liu laughed and said, "If you work hard, all the ancient books, connections, and relationships of the Liu family will be yours. It's a pity that you have never had the face of your eldest cousin since you were a child."

Liu Huan's eyes were dim and unclear. After a pause, her gaze moved to the corner. A little maid with double braids, wearing a peach pink jacket and a fruit green cotton silk skirt with borders was waiting huddled aside. She was only twelve or thirteen years old. He knew in his heart that this girl would not stay long - the maid who served his father in the backyard would not be more than fourteen years old. When she had her period and became a woman, "her breath would stink, and the foul air would pollute her mouth and nose." These were her father's exact words.

His father loved little girls like this, between the ages of ten and thirteen, in the prime of their youth;
The second is the ladies who love to get married. Most of the beautiful merchant wives in Songjiang Prefecture have slept with Liu Fu.

He didn't quite understand, but later when he entered Beijing, he slowly understood that the happiness of life is only made up of a few moments. When a person's status reaches a certain high point, happiness becomes increasingly difficult. The rich and powerful can easily obtain anything, which makes them cold-blooded and indifferent. They can only follow the most basic animal instinct to stimulate their senses to temporarily fill the emptiness - some play for power, some love money, some pray to Buddha, and some seek immortality.
His father had been controlling Songjiang Prefecture for more than ten years and had long been a local tyrant.

The imperial power does not extend to the countryside. The authority of the head of such a prefecture is unshakable.

Liu Huan let out a sigh, her voice carrying a hint of sarcasm: "If I were younger, and Dad gave me half of the energy he put into training these little girls, I would have made you proud, and I might even have won first place in the imperial examination."

"Bang—" Lord Liu slammed his hand heavily on the table.

The old grandmother's figure suddenly blocked Shanyue's eyes, her face was full of secrecy: "Okay, don't listen."

Shan Yue bowed her head gently. "There are some things we know as much as possible, but there are some things we have to pretend we don't know even if we know them." The old grandmother whispered, "It's not good for you to know too many secrets of the superiors."

"Yes." Shan Yue was very obedient.

The old grandmother took Shanyue to the hallway and called her. The voices from the inner room stopped tacitly, and then the old grandmother and Shanyue were called into the inner hall.

Shanyue nodded and saluted, then walked over with a few willow steps. Every movement was steady and agile.

Lord Liu didn't wake up for a long time. After looking him up and down, he said: "He is a good person. Thank you for your hard work, Concubine Liu."

Master Liu fixed his eyes on Shanyue's hands: "The fingers are a bit thick, and the nails are too short and not shiny enough." He then asked grandma: "What about her body? Have you seen it on her body?"

The old lady replied, "They are all fine." She glanced at Shanyue's hands, which were indeed rough. There were thin layers of calluses on the base of the thumb, the middle finger joints, and the thenar eminence. She bowed and replied, "As a painter, it is inevitable that your hands are a little rough because you pound stones and mix colors every day. It is normal to have calluses. If you remove all these traces, it will seem deliberate."

Lord Liu thought about it and nodded, agreeing with this statement.

As the weather got cooler, the four corners and the central axis of the house were all heated with silvery charcoal, and the overwhelming warmth made people's cheeks red.

Shanyue was still wearing a warm cotton coat with a thin layer of cotton lining, but his back was soaked with sweat and his cheeks were slightly red.

Lord Liu was leaning on the Eight Immortals Kang, his hair and beard were covered with white frost. He casually wore an inner garment whose material could not be identified, and a gray squirrel fur cloak on the outside. As he was getting old, he could not help wearing thicker clothes in the charcoal fire room.

He still held a pipe, which was made of jade-white ivory and engraved with the legendary scene of Taotie swallowing the sun.

Lord Liu took a puff, squinted his eyes and tapped his pipe: "Make her a few silk skirts, use wool brocade, gold thread and sparrow feathers to make a golden sparrow fur coat, I remember that the capital has liked this style in recent years; and use water silk to choose a few pieces of round flowers, flying sparrows, and landscapes as petticoats, she has fair skin and it will look good on her."

Lord Liu frowned and looked at Shanyue's sweaty nose and slightly flushed cheeks. He took another puff of his cigarette and said with some disapproval, "Girls shouldn't wear such thick clothes in winter. Girls from wealthy families can't wear such bulky and thick clothes. There are heaters in the house, carriages when going out, and charcoal basins when getting off the carriage. A sweaty girl won't smell good."

Liu Shanggong said: "Yes".

Lord Liu turned his hand and tried to knock on his pipe.

The two maids hiding in the corner quickly spread out their hands to take it.

The flaming red pipe was placed in the little girl's palm, and the ashes with sparks lovingly burned the girl's delicate body.

No, not delicate.

The palms of her hands were burned.

The wrist sticking out from the peach-pink cuff was dotted with bruises.

Shan Yue calmly turned his face away from those hands, but there was a fishy smell in his throat.

(End of this chapter)