Chapter 1152: Prince's Gift, Xiren's Advisor

February 16th.

Rongguo Mansion, in the courtyard of Master Bao.

Su Mingzhe is receiving the visiting Manager Xie.

After the ceremony, everyone sat down.

Looking at the four large boxes brought by Manager Xie, two of them were filled with various precious medicinal materials, and the other two were filled with gold, silver and jewelry.

Su Mingzhe looked at the gift list and was shocked:

"Two thousand taels of silver, eight hundred taels of gold, six sets of hairpins, eighteen oriental pearls, a Hetian jade Buddha statue, a pair of jadeite ruyi, and four top-grade Qingzhou red silk inkstones... The value of these gifts must be more than fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver, right?"

After reading the gift list, Su Mingzhe looked at the medicinal materials again and was even more confused:

"Eunuch, the herbs you sent are enough to make three or five furnaces!"

Seeing Su Mingzhe's shocked expression, Manager Xie waved his hand indifferently and said with a smile:

"My prince said that as long as the second young master can help refine a furnace of top-grade Peiyuan Pills, any remaining herbs will be a thank you gift to the second young master!"

When Su Mingzhe heard this, he pointed to the two boxes filled with gold and silver items, pearl jewelry, etc., and said with a wry smile:

"But these thank-you gifts are so valuable that Jia Ying doesn't dare to accept them!"

After hearing this, Manager Xie just chuckled and said in a low voice:
"This is all from my prince, please accept it, Second Young Master."

"In that case!"

Su Mingzhe was about to refuse, but suddenly he saw Xiren giving him a look. Although he didn't know what it meant, he swallowed his words of refusal:
"I dare not refuse a gift from an elder! Jia Ying accepted it!"

"As it should be, as it should be!"

When Manager Xie saw Su Mingzhe accept the valuable gift he had prepared, he calmed down and asked:
"I wonder if Second Young Master needs to prepare anything to make the elixir. How many days will it take? Does he need to choose an auspicious day?"

Seeing that Manager Xie took it very seriously, Su Mingzhe raised his right hand and counted carefully:
"If you want to refine ordinary quality Peiyuan Dan, as long as the weather is clear, you can start refining the elixir in the morning and afternoon for an hour each."

"However, if Prince Zhongshun wants the top-grade Peiyuan Pill, he needs to burn incense and bathe, and he also needs to choose an auspicious day."

"What a coincidence! Three days from now, it will be the day of Dingmao in the month of Yimao in the year of Guimao. At the hour of Mao on that day, the sun will just rise and fire will start to form. I can refine the purple energy from the east into the elixir. There is a 70% to 80% chance of getting a furnace of fine products!"

When Manager Xie heard that he only needed to wait for three days, he immediately smiled and said:

"In that case, we will come back in three days to pick it up!"

When Su Mingzhe saw Manager Xie was about to leave, he immediately stood up and said respectfully:

"Eunuch, come and get it in three days!"

After seeing off Chief Steward Xie, Su Mingzhe returned to his residence in the front yard and saw his long-time attendant Li Gui, who was accompanied by four servants, Mingyan, Chuyao, Shuangrui and Shouer, closely guarding the boxes and gifts sent by Chief Steward Xie.

A group of maids were chattering and clamoring non-stop, and they insisted on opening the box to see what the treasure sent from the prince's mansion looked like.

"Cough cough!"

"Second Master is back!"

Qianxue, who had just been captured yesterday, took advantage of Su Mingzhe's praise of her as the best yesterday and started to complain directly:

"Second Master, look, Li Gui and his gang look down on us and falsely accuse us sisters of stealing things from the box without even showing us anything?"

Li Gui and the other four were frightened by Qianxue's complaint and hurriedly explained:

"Second Master just ordered us to keep an eye on it. Without Second Master's order, how could we dare to let the girls check it?"

"Alright, alright, we're all family, stop messing around!"

Su Mingzhe reached out and touched Qianxue's little face.

This girl and Meiren were both deflowered by me last night, and this morning they were still complaining about not being able to move around easily and refused to get out of bed.

Hearing the noise, she and Meiren both ran out.

After calming everyone down, Su Mingzhe asked a few people to carry the two boxes of gold and silver jewelry to his bedroom. After everyone put the boxes in place, Su Mingzhe ordered Xiren and Qingwen to open the wooden box containing the silver.

This wooden box is really sturdy.

There are seven layers in total, five of which are filled with ten taels of small gold ingots, and two of which are filled with gold grains.

The golden grains were placed at the bottom and the small ingots were placed on top, each weighing ten taels.

The total weight of the gold and silver was two thousand eight hundred taels, which is nearly two hundred kilograms in modern terms. Adding the weight of the box, it took two men to lift it.

"Okay, everyone get in line!"

Su Mingzhe clapped his hands, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then he spoke:

"You are all my people. Logically speaking, you have served me for so many years. Even if you have no merit, you have worked hard. In previous years, I should have given you some red envelopes as a reward during the New Year and other festivals. However, you also know that I have never been able to save money, so the rewards I give you have always been very small."

"Today, I, your Second Master, have earned so much wealth with my own ability. I might as well make up for the previous rewards to you all at once today!"

"I'll say it again. Regardless of the time you come, or who is higher or lower, the reward is fifty taels of silver for each person! No one is allowed to gossip about it. If I find out, I'll kick you out. Do you understand?"

When everyone heard that there was a reward of fifty taels of silver, they were already crazy with joy and immediately said happily:
"understand!"

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe asked Xiren and Qingwen to distribute money to everyone.

In his courtyard, besides eight maids, there were Li Gui's mother and son, and four servants.

Each person will receive fifty taels of silver, a total of seven hundred taels.

After receiving the silver, Nanny Li wrapped the 100 taels of silver for herself and her son in a small package and went to her own residence.

The four servants and Li Gui went outside happily, waiting for instructions.

When only Su Mingzhe and eight maids were left in the inner room, Su Mingzhe looked at Xiren and asked:
"Xiren, why did you ask me to accept all these gifts just now?"

These gifts are really not cheap.

It was just refining a furnace of Peiyuan Pills. After the recipe was sent out, the value of this labor was not worth so much money.

Seeing that her second master still hadn't figured it out, Xiren could only give him some advice:

"Second Master, why are you so confused? Have you forgotten that our Rongguo Mansion and Prince Zhongshun are not getting along?"

Su Mingzhe didn't understand for a moment, and asked with a confused look on his face:
"What's wrong with not getting along? Then there's no need to accept such an expensive gift from him?"

Seeing that her second master really didn't understand the ways of the world, Xiren could only finish her speech in one breath:

"Prince Zhongshun and our Rongguo Mansion are at odds, but he still sent Chief Steward Xie to our mansion and asked you to make an elixir. That means there is an important master in the prince's mansion who needs this Peiyuan Pill to save his life!"

"Prince Zhongshun has always been healthy, and the Crown Prince is also leading troops outside, so they don't need this Peiyuan Pill. After thinking about it, Prince Zhongshun asked you to refine this Peiyuan Pill for his eldest grandson, Prince Yihe!"

"I heard that Prince Yihe was born prematurely and was weak since childhood..."

"Over the years, the money that Prince Zhongshun has spent to save Prince Yihe is at least 100,000 or 200,000 taels of silver!"

"So, if this Pei Yuan Dan can really save Prince Yihe, then there is no need to be polite to him. Just accept these gifts with peace of mind!"

After listening to Xiren's analysis, Su Mingzhe suddenly realized:

"In that case, we can accept these gifts with peace of mind!"

As he spoke, Su Mingzhe ordered Xiren and Qingwen to open the box filled with jewelry. He picked out a string of sandalwood beads and a pair of jade bracelets, and said:

"Pick out five sets of jewelry first and give them to Sister Lin, Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, and Sister Bao later. As for the rest, you can take them as you please."

Before leaving, Su Mingzhe suddenly turned back and said:

"Oh, by the way, take out another two hundred taels of silver and send them to Aunt Zhao and Huan'er!"

After walking out of the door, listening to the cheerful voices of the girls in the room, Su Mingzhe also smiled.

The happiness of these maids is really simple.

(End of this chapter)