Chapter 28: Cao Wenzhao
Chapter 28: Cao Wenzhao
Yang Xin naturally did not know he had already been noticed. After Wang Wanqing and Chen Yujie saw him back to his residence in Xianyi Neighborhood, they left immediately.
“Young Master Yang, are you satisfied?”
Chief He watched their departing backs, then turned his head and spoke even more humbly.
“Satisfied!”
Yang Xin said, looking at his dwelling.
Although he had not been there for five days, this Chief He had clearly been very diligent. The entire three-room eastern wing had been cleaned spotlessly for him. Even various pieces of furniture had been placed inside, and scrolls of calligraphy and painting had been hung, making it quite elegant. However, what puzzled Yang Xin was that the silver ingot Chen Yujie threw out shouldn’t have been worth that much. Not to mention anything else, just this set of furniture alone was quite valuable, let alone the calligraphy and paintings. Mainly, with things like this, Chief He himself would have had little room to embezzle much. Yang Xin felt his integrity wasn’t exactly that admirable.
“All these were sent by the Fang Residence. As for the silver Young Master Chen gave, I took the liberty of buying you a serving maid. See if you are satisfied!”
Chief He said.
As he spoke, a little girl of about eleven or twelve timidly walked out from behind him.
“This… doesn’t this require a contract?”
Yang Xin said, astonished.
“No problem, we can put it under Eunuch Wei’s name.”
Chief He said, understanding his thoughts.
That was indeed possible. Yang Xin looked at the little girl. She was pale and thin, like a blade of grass swaying after autumn. She wore coarse clothes patched over with more patches, wringing her hands and hanging her head, standing there as if also swaying in the wind…
“Then let it be so!”
Yang Xin said.
“I’ll bring the indenture contract to you later. Eunuch Wei is illiterate, so we don’t need to bother him with such a small matter. You, as his nephew, can sign for him. I’ll just explain it to the authorities—they wouldn’t doubt Eunuch Wei, would they?”
Chief He said.
“Alright. Here are another two taels of silver. Please trouble Chief He to get her a few more sets of clothes, and also prepare some wine and dishes. Tonight, I invite the neighbors for a drink. If you and the firemen have time, please come and have a cup too.”
Yang Xin said.
Two taels of silver were enough. At this time, a fat pig of over a hundred catties basically cost less than two taels.
Chief He took the silver and immediately left cheerfully with Xiaocao. Yang Xin clasped his hands toward the scholar in the main room, who returned the gesture. Probably it was because the Fang family had sent things over; otherwise, this failed Provincial Graduate likely wouldn’t have thought much of him. However, Yang Xin wasn’t interested in dealing with such upper-class people. This guy was clearly a pedantic scholar of the Eight-Legged Essay, not the same type as Chen Yujie. After this meeting, Yang Xin went straight into his own room. This wing had one living room and two rooms on the left and right—one bedroom and one study. Surprisingly, many books, ink, brushes, paper, and inkstones had been placed in the study for him. Probably Fang Tinglan still hoped he would study hard and make progress every day.
Yang Xin chuckled to himself.
That night, he formally invited the neighbors. After a meal of wine and meat, he officially moved in there. Also, under Wei Jinzhong’s name, he signed Xiaocao’s indenture contract…
From then on, she would be called Xiaocao!
Anyway, she looked just like a little blade of grass, and even in new clothes, she still did.
Yang Xin didn’t ask about her family. At this time, common families had many daughters. Selling them as servants to wealthy households at a young age was quite common. Being able to become a senior maid was better than suffering outside. So, he simply considered it as hiring a child laborer. Although she was young, she could wash clothes, go out to buy breakfast, and such. He would exploit her for now; if any unexpected situation arose, he could give her to Wang Wanqing or Fang Tinglan.
In short, he thus stepped into the ranks of the exploiting class and began a life served by a little maid.
The next day, he finally got up when the sun was high in the sky. By then, the little maid had already cleaned the room spotlessly. With her assistance, Young Master Yang put on his clothes, washed his face in the water she fetched, brushed his teeth, ate the breakfast she bought from outside, then contentedly picked his teeth and went out with the now freshly dressed little maid…
“What is that sound?”
Yang Xin suddenly turned his head.
A stall was set up beside the street, where a person stood, constantly clinking two small copper bowls in his hands.
“Young Master, that is the ‘ice clapper’,”
Xiaocao said carefully.
“Two bowls!”
Yang Xin called out to the vendor.
“Young Master, would you like sour plum soup or chilled fruit?”
The vendor said.
“Do you have ice cream?”
Yang Xin asked.
“Uh, I don’t understand,”
The vendor said, puzzled.
“It’s with milk, sugar, all sorts of things.”
Yang Xin said.
“That’s ‘snowflake paste’!”
The vendor said.
“Two bowls!”
Yang Xin said.
“Young Master, please wait a moment. This needs to be stirred for a while.”
The vendor said.
Yang Xin sat down contentedly, then told Xiaocao to sit too. She seemed a bit fearful but obediently sat down. The vendor opened a refrigerator covered with layers of cotton quilts and scooped out crushed ice, then quickly assembled various ingredients, vigorously stirring them in a special container. Soon, the Great Ming version of ice cream was finished. It was poured into two copper bowls and placed before Yang Xin. However, the color of this ice cream was rather alarming—it was red because of added dark plums, piled in the bowls and emitting cool air, which was undoubtedly tempting in such summer weather.
Yang Xin pushed one bowl toward Xiaocao…
“Young Master, I dare not!”
She said fearfully.
“What dare not? If I tell you to eat, then eat!”
Yang Xin said.
After saying that, he tasted it himself first. Icy, sour, sweet, with a milky flavor—instantly that refreshing sourness rushed through his entire body…
“Awesome!”
Yang Xin said with satisfaction.
Over there, Xiaocao finally couldn’t resist and scooped a little into her mouth. Immediately, her eyes lit up. This poor child was probably eating something like this for the first time. Yang Xin sat there like an elder walking a child, eating Great Ming-style ice cream while watching the road. Just then, three men in green straight robes and red felt hats walked over, leading horses. The leader, around thirty, looked quite tough. They sat at the table opposite them. The leader looked at what they were eating, asked about the price, and finally chose the cheapest sour plum soup. It seemed their financial situation wasn’t great. However, from their conversation with the vendor, it could be understood that these men were soldiers from the army.
“Give each of the three military lords a bowl of snowflake paste. Put it all on my tab!”
Yang Xin said.
“How can this be allowed!”
The small officer said, clasping his hands.
“Military lords protect our home and country. A brother treating you is nothing. Where are you all from?”
Yang Xin said, clasping his hands.
“We are from Xuanfu, ordered to come to the capital on business!”
The small officer said.
Yang Xin carried his bowl over and sat down. By then, their three bowls of snowflake paste were also ready. The small officer clasped his hands again and said, “I am Cao Wenzhao, a small banner officer under Regional Military Commander Liu’s command in Xuanzhen!”
“Cao Wenzhao!”
Yang Xin said, drawing out his voice.
“Good name. I am Yang Xin. Eating this isn’t fun. Finish quickly, let’s find a place to drink!”
He added immediately.
Cao Wenzhao!
But when you thought about it, his current status made sense. Historical records had nothing about him before this period. It was just said he was from Datong, who first joined the army in Liaodong under Xiong Tingbi, and then purely fought his way up on the battlefield. Xiong Tingbi would set out next month, and troops from Xuanfu were also heading to Liaodong to join the war this year. So the most likely scenario was that he was among this batch of Xuanfu troops. It was impossible for him to travel a thousand miles from Datong to Liaodong to enlist, but going from Datong to Xuanfu to join the army was normal.
“Brother Cao, why are you looking at me like that?”
Yang Xin said, puzzled.
“Young Master Yang, I’m just a bit surprised. A scholar like you actually thinks highly of us rough men!”
Cao Wenzhao said somewhat awkwardly.
“Scholar? Brother Cao, you’ve misunderstood. I’m no scholar. But I can find you a scholar to drink with. Brother Chen, over here!”
Yang Xin called out.
Chen Yujie, who was riding over on horseback, immediately turned his horse and came over. He dismounted, sat down, and also ordered a bowl of snowflake cream. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, “Miss Fang brought the Terrestrial Globe to Grand Secretary Fang this morning. He probably already took it into the palace to present to the Emperor. Whether His Majesty will like it or not, we don’t know yet. But according to my uncle, Grand Secretary Fang was quite fond of it. He specifically went to my uncle to verify things, probably because he was initially uneasy, worried you might be some madman talking nonsense.”
“That has nothing to do with me now. I’ve done what I needed to do anyway.”
Yang Xin said.
“Who are these gentlemen?”
Chen Yujie looked at Cao Wenzhao and the others.
“Brothers from Xuanzhen, just met. We hit it off right away and were planning to go for a drink!”
Yang Xin said.
“Then let’s go together. I know the Capital City pretty well!”
Chen Yujie said.
“Xiaocao!”
Yang Xin called out, turning his head.
Xiaocao, who was licking her bowl, looked up with a blissful silly smile, a few red spots still on her face.
“Who’s this?”
Chen Yujie asked, surprised.
“A maidservant I just bought!”
Yang Xin said.
“How did you draw up the contract?”
Chen Yujie asked.
“Signed in my grand-uncle’s name!”
Yang Xin said.
As he spoke, he tossed Xiaocao a silver coin.
“Go play by yourself. Go home when you’ve had enough fun. Be careful not to be kidnapped by traffickers. Young Master and your uncles here are going drinking, so we won’t take you along!”
He said.
“Young Master, may this servant have another bowl?”
Xiaocao said timidly.
“No, one bowl per day!”
Yang Xin said.
After saying that, he threw a piece of broken silver to the vendor, who grinned from ear to ear and thanked him repeatedly. Yang Xin paid no further attention to him. He then stood up. Chen Yujie hurriedly ate half of his snowflake cream, then pointed at the bowl and signaled to Xiaocao, who understood immediately. Although Cao Wenzhao and his two companions were a bit confused, it was still a treat they couldn’t pass up. The three of them also stood up. The four men, leading their horses, walked alongside Yang Xin.
Watching their retreating figures, Xiaocao was instantly torn.
She looked at Yang Xin’s back, then at the half bowl of snowflake cream Chen Yujie had left for her. Poor thing, at such a young age she already faced the test of loyalty versus temptation.
But finally, she painfully stood up and walked away, glancing back with every step…
She decided to be a good girl.