newbobooks Chapter 326 Going to the Small Saltworks
Chapter 326 Going to the Small Saltworks
Just then, there was a noise at the door. Chunmei put her hands on her hips and went over, thinking she was going to teach this little girl a good lesson.
Before they even reached the gate, it was kicked open, and a group of people rushed in.
Just as Chunmei was about to start cursing, a strong and sturdy old woman quickly walked over and covered Chunmei's mouth.
Chunmei stared wide-eyed in terror, struggling to speak with muffled sobs, but the people around her immediately tied her up.
Aunt Liu was shocked and quickly ran over with a broom.
The old woman standing to the side glanced at her and said:
"This is something that the master and mistress both agreed to, so Aunt Liu should stay away from it."
Aunt Liu stopped in her tracks. She recognized this person; he was one of the First Madam's people.
Upon hearing this, Chunmei struggled even harder, staring at Aunt Liu with her eyes wide open, hoping that she could help her.
The old woman beside her gagged her with a cloth, tied it up, and said:
"Chunmei, you should struggle less and save your energy. Wait until there's a place where you can use your strength."
We are acting on the orders of the master and mistress to send you to the estate. From now on, you will no longer be Aunt Chun; you will be Chunmei, a laborer on the estate.
After the old woman finished speaking, someone brought over a large cloth bag, put Chunmei inside, and several people carried it outside.
Chunmei was struggling fiercely inside the bag, but then she stopped moving.
Aunt Liu watched in horror, her face pale and breathless. After everyone left, she sat on the stone bench in the courtyard, pounding her chest, unable to utter a single word.
Outside the back gate, a carriage was parked. The old women threw the person onto the carriage like trash and clapped their hands in disgust.
The head matron instructed the two matrons who had boarded the carriage.
"Make sure you send her over there, and remember to give her proper instructions. She's not going to enjoy a life of luxury."
The two nannies agreed, and the lead nanny spat at Chunmei before returning to report to the First Madam.
As soon as she left, Zhen Chenhao's personal servant, Sanji, led a group of people over.
Sanji led his men onto the carriage, and the two old women touched the silver coins that had been tossed into their pockets. The group then rode away in the carriage into the distance.
Sanji stepped into the carriage, opened the sack, looked at the unconscious Chunmei, took out a bottle of medicine and put it under Chunmei's nose. After a short while, Chunmei woke up.
Chunmei opened her eyes, shrank back in terror, curled up and sat back, trying to scream, but was quickly covered by someone next to her.
Sanji leaned closer and said:
"Aunt Chun, look closely, it's me."
Chunmei was so excited that tears streamed down her face as she sobbed.
The person next to her let go, and Chunmei, disregarding the traditional separation of men and women, grabbed Sanji as if he were a lifeline and said:
"But the master sent you to rescue me, that woman is going to take me to the estate!"
Sanji was also getting impatient. He didn't understand why his master was so determined to protect Chunmei.
"It was the old man who told me to tell you this. Now is a critical time. I need you to watch what you say. Once you are well-fed and clothed on the estate, the old man will find a chance to bring you back."
Chunmei felt a little more at ease. She smoothed her hair and knew that the old man wouldn't abandon her, after all, she knew his secret.
Jia Hu is also in the carriage now, on his way to the salt field.
When Jia Daishan and his entourage accompanied the emperor on his inspection tour, they visited many salt fields. Now that time was tight, they decided not to go far and instead visit a nearby salt field.
Zhen Zhangquan knew about their departure for the salt fields even before the carriage had left.
Zhen Zhangquan immediately sent someone to summon his two sons. As soon as they arrived, Zhen Zhangquan hurriedly told them about Jia Daihua leading a group to the salt fields.
"Do you think they discovered something when they went to the salt fields?"
Zhen Zhangquan was a little anxious. The Emperor had already inspected the salt fields, so why did the two Dukes of the Zhen family want to take their grandsons there again?
Zhen Chenhao first helped Zhen Zhangquan sit down.
"Where did Father get the news? Perhaps the two dukes took their grandsons out to play?"
“I have people in their courtyard. They only brought servants with them, not maids. The servants in each courtyard are from our family. They were sent over as soon as they received the news. I heard it was his grandson who wanted to go.”
Zhen Chenhao also frowned. He had heard that the Jia family's child was no ordinary person and was known as a child prodigy in the capital.
I heard that he has taken a reclusive master as his teacher and has given the emperor a lot of prescriptions. The glass and the cement from before were both made by him. It will be difficult for him to go to the salt field now.
All three men, father and sons, were preoccupied with their own worries.
Zhen Chenyao asked:
"Does Father know which salt field they went to?"
Zhen Zhangquan: "The closest place we went to was our family's small salt field in Dashuzhuang."
Zhen Chenyao breathed a sigh of relief and said thankfully:
"That makes things easier. The people we had there are still there, so they should be fine. No matter how much of a prodigy he is, he's still just a child. We managed to fool even the Emperor and all the ministers back then, so what could a child possibly figure out?"
Zhen Chenhao, who had been suffering from a splitting headache and was somewhat confused, immediately felt a chill run down his spine and became clear-headed. Going to that salt factory would be troublesome; the villagers there weren't the ones his father had arranged before. To prevent the secret from being leaked, they had all been replaced by his own people.
I originally thought it was a case of the darkest place being under the lamp, since there was a salt field near the mountains there, making it convenient to transport goods.
It's just a small salt field, no one will go there anymore. What he's hiding is something even his father doesn't know.
Jia Hu and his group went to that salt field, Jia Daihua thought, they had been there before, it was close by.
When they boarded the carriage, Jia Daishan briefly spoke to Jia Hu, asking if Jia Hu had any requirements regarding the size of the venue. Jia Hu simply wanted to observe one of the procedures, and the size didn't matter.
Jia Daihua told the guards the location, and then a servant from the Zhen family ran over to inform Zhen Zhangquan.
Zhen Zhangquan immediately dispatched someone to notify the manager here as quickly as possible.
When Jia Hu and his group arrived, the person in charge was already waiting. In order to pretend that he didn't know anything, he pretended to be handling things at the door.
Seeing people approaching, they were extremely surprised and quickly ran over.
The dark-skinned, tall, and burly foreman hurried over, smiling obsequiously:
"I was unaware of the presence of the Duke and his sons; I am deeply sorry for not visiting you sooner."
Jia Daishan helped him up and said:
"We're just here for a casual look around. You can go about your business; you don't need to follow us."
The person in charge was respectful and polite.
"Then I'll wait nearby. If the Duke needs anything, just call me."
After the manager finished speaking, he smiled and said:
"My lord, the salt field road is rather chaotic. Otherwise, you should let me accompany you so I can be at your service at any time."
"no need."
After refusing the order from the manager, Jia Daishan led Jia Hu and Jia Zhen inside.
Jia Hu looked at the process along the way, and it was pretty much what he had expected.
Further in, he came to the part he was concerned about: how the seawater was brought ashore. Here, it wasn't just about using ditches; they also used manual labor to carry buckets of seawater up to shore.
Jia Hu approached and asked the laborers who were splashing water:
"Do you all carry water like this now? Is it the same in other places?"
The man was startled, staring at the exquisitely handsome young man before him, stammering and unable to speak. He had no idea what was going on, and stammered:
"We are all like that."
At this moment, a worker standing nearby said:
"Young master, we are all laborers, working here every day. We only know about this place, and we don't know what's used outside."
Jia Hu frowned, sensing something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Meanwhile, the steward was watching them from a distance.
Seeing the situation, he quickly ran over and laughed:
"Young Master, if you have any questions, you can ask me. I know the answers clearly. They work hard here every day, how would they know so much?"
Yes, it's manual labor. As the saying goes, there are three hardships in life: salt production, blacksmithing, and tofu making.
Jia Hu originally thought that the people who did hard labor in salt production should be lean and wiry, but the people he saw now were all tall and strong, which was different from what he had imagined.