Chapter 5 — An Luong Doesn't Choose a Female

7

As soon as Bach's voice ended, there was only the sound of leaves rustling in the wind in the yard. The elder sister was still kneeling in front. Her back was straight, but there was no blood left on her face. The brocade box containing the jade hat next to Tiet Van Son became especially dazzling. Father was the first to recover.

“Mom, was the reader just now… a concubine?”

Bach ma ma extended the meaning one more paragraph.

“Lord Qin is not yet old but his ears are not good?”

"The Queen Mother ordered Tan Minh Chau to take over the general seal of the Nine Provinces. Twelve warehouses and three hundred ships were all dispatched by her."

“The Lam Chau fortune book, the lady has personally looked it over.”

"The matter of Tay Warehouse using moldy food to pretend to be new food has also been handed over to Kinh Trieu Palace to investigate."

Tiet Van Son quietly closed the brocade box. Dao Chi had sharp eyes and stepped on the corner of the box with one foot.

“Master Xue, don't rush to put it away.”

"Didn't you say you wanted to congratulate the district lord? You didn't say which district lord it was."

The flesh on Tiet Van Son's face twitched.

"Tiet heard the rumors outside, maybe he misunderstood."

The elder sister finally spoke up.

“My dear mama, did you misunderstand?”

"Thanh Nguyet refused the general seal only because she did not want to turn the path of saving the people into a place to compete for fame and gain, not because she did not accept responsibility."

“We also delivered the salary in Lam Chau on time.”

Bach ma ma looked at her.

“The eldest lady's five hundred sacks of salary came from the second lady's fortune."

"The remaining five hundred bags were escorted by the Tiet family's big boat. The boat's money, the crew's money, and the wages so far have not been recorded yet."

“You distributed porridge every two hours in Lieu Gia village, but the one who canceled the salary card was the second lady.”

“The Queen Mother chooses the person who holds the seal, not the person who looks best in front of the porridge tent.”

The elder sister's lips trembled. All the elders in the courtyard bowed their heads, no one dared to speak. Just now they said I was just an errand boy for the elder sister. Now Bach ma ma has clearly divided each matter one by one. I grabbed the book and walked up. The elder sister suddenly turned around and grabbed my wrist.

“Sister, you already knew, right?”

Her strength is amazing, her nails almost dig into my skin.

"You clearly know that your highness is testing us, so why didn't you remind me?"

I looked at her.

“The Queen Mother gave her two orders and said that three days later, she would decide who would hold the general seal.”

“What else should I mention?”

“But I know that the matter of the auxiliary boat, the wooden card and the mold salary will all be recorded in the book!”

She blurted it out. There was another layer of silence in the yard. Bach Ma Ma's eyebrows raised. Only then did the elder sister realize what she had said and hastily let go.

“What I mean is that you are familiar with morality and can tell me what to pay attention to.”

“Didn't you say you didn't want to be a seal keeper?”

“Why do you still want me to teach you how to win?”

She couldn't answer. Bach ma ma lifted the ebony box.

“Second Miss Qin, accept the seal.”

I use both hands to support the total seal. It's heavier than expected. A square block of black jade, the bottom is engraved with twelve water lines. My grandmother used it to open warehouses, and also used it to suppress merchants during natural disasters to raise prices. Now those water lines fall into the palm of my hand. Father suddenly knelt and crawled up two steps.

"Mom, Minh Chau hasn't married yet, and she's still young and inexperienced."

“The seal left behind Qin family, with its older sister and the clan elders helping to manage it, wouldn't it be more stable?"

The white mother looked down at him.

“If the Queen Mother wanted to choose the Qin clan, there would be no need to choose between two ladies today.”

“The general seal only recognizes the person holding the seal, not the seating order in the hall.”

My father's face was gray. The mother quickly pulled the elder sister.

“Thanh Nguyet, it's okay.”

“The general seal given to Minh Chau is still in the hands of one family. She is a girl, in the end she still has to listen to her father's arrangements."

Bach ma ma heard every word clearly. She waved her hand. Eight palace guards entered the yard and stood behind me.

“The Queen Mother also has a saying.”

“The general seal is not allowed to stay overnight in the Tan family's inner house.”

“Tan Minh Chau immediately moved into the Luong Dao general office. Anyone who dares to take it forcibly, manage it for them or use it privately will be charged with stealing the seal."

The mother's hand stiffened in mid-air. Dao Chi quickly hugged my small luggage tightly. That was the bundle she conveniently carried from the outer hospital until she heard the gong sound. Inside were only two sets of old clothes and half a package of fried rice left from Lam Chau. Elder sister saw it, as if she had finally found some dignity.

“Sister, keeping the seal is not the same as leaving home.”

“Today I took the palace guards and left, outsiders will say that as soon as I gained power, I didn't recognize my parents.”

“Sister, think about me far away.”

We put the total seal in the box.

“If you're really worried about outsiders, it's best to return the crown prince's jade hat to the Tiet family first.”

Tiet Van Son's face completely darkened. The elder sister's eyes turned red.

“That's not what I want.”

"If you don't want it, he shouldn't give it to you."

I picked up the brocade box from Dao Chi's feet and stuffed it back into the Tiet family manager's lap.

“In the future, when Old Master Tiet gives you something, it's best to ask clearly whether the person wants to receive it or not.”

“Not everyone is like you, never ask the price.”

8

The general headquarters is located in the south of the citadel. The yard is not large, but in front of the door stands a stone stele that has faded due to wind and rain. Above are engraved the rules that our ancestors established that year. In natural disaster years, warehouses are opened first, in normal years there is no price pressure. Just ten words. But the food merchants in the capital hated her for seventeen years. Seventeen years ago, a great flood occurred in the South. The Liang mandarin still had to go through each floor to ask for orders. His maternal grandmother had already cleaned out her six salary shops first. At that time, the Queen Mother was still the Queen, personally taking responsibility for her in front of the Emperor. After that, the First Emperor gave her a general seal, allowing her to build twelve grain warehouses and raise three hundred grain boats. In case of an extremely urgent disaster, you can open the warehouse first and then report to the court. Of the money Luong Dao earned, half was used to raise boats and keep warehouses, and the other half was used to prevent natural disasters. It was not the Qin family's dowry, nor was it the private treasury of any family. After my grandmother fell ill, my father always considered it something in the Qin family's pocket. When I entered the door, she was sitting in the book room. People over seventy years old, their backs are still straight. It's just that after being hit by the wind, my left hand couldn't move, and my speech was slower than before. Ton Ba helped her stand up. We walked quickly.

“Grandmother.”

She didn't look at me, but first looked at the ebony box in my lap.

“Open.”

I placed the seal in front of you. She used her right hand to touch the bottom of the seal, feeling it very much slow.

“Do not hold it upside down.”

Dao Chi laughed. I also laughed.

“Are you just afraid that I will hold the seal upside down?”

"I'm afraid you'll be slow to kneel."

She said every word.

“Lucky but not slow.”

My heart suddenly feels sour. Mother always said that the eldest sister is the one who inherits the importance of her grandfather. At the age of fifteen, the eldest sister wrote an article "Treatise on saving the people", and her maternal grandmother even ordered someone to engrave it on the religious wall. I've studied religion for ten years, but I'm still just a guide for my eldest sister.

“Why didn't you decide on a child sooner?”

The maternal grandmother raised her eyes.

“If it's decided, your father will say I'm biased.”

“My sister will say she doesn't want to fight.”

“Your mother will cry.”

“After crying, they will still hold your hand and hold the seal for you.”

She patted the desk.

"Now it's up to you to get it on your knees."

“No one can say I gave it.”

After saying these sentences, sweat broke out on her forehead. Uncle Sun quickly helped her get along. I don't ask more. My maternal grandmother is not the Queen Mother, she cannot stop the Qin family for me. What you can do is just leave the door open and see if I dare to step in by myself. On the table are piled nearly three years of books from twelve warehouses. The top six volumes are all stamped and have been checked by the Tiet family. We open the first book. Nam Kho owes the Tiet family eight thousand sacks of salary. In the second book, Bac Kho uses two large boats to pay for repairs. The third book is even more wild. Half of the food rack in the West warehouse has been recorded in the Tiet family's loan contract.

“Does Luong Dao owe the Tiet family that much?”

Ton Ba was so angry that his beard trembled.

“After the old lady fell ill, Lord Tan said that there was no one to preside over the good religion, so let the Tiet family take care of it first.”

“At first they quoted low prices, forcing other boat owners to leave, then each trip increased the price.”

"If we don't pay, they will keep the boat and keep the salary. Lord Tan always said that they are relatives and friends, there is no need to calculate too clearly."

“Dear?”

"Master Tiet still wants to propose to the eldest lady for his son's hand in marriage."

No wonder that jade hat is made to fit such a size. What the Tiet family wanted from beginning to end was not just a general seal. They wanted to marry the eldest sister, then borrow the hands of the Tan family to swallow twelve warehouses of food in a dignified manner.