Bai Jiaxing entered the courtyard with a big bundle in his hands: "A gift to Mr. Hu! Little Bai Jiaxing is Mr. Chu's butler."

"Well, no need to worry, does Chu Baihu have anything to say to you?" Hu Hengqiu reluctantly suppressed the emotion of going berserk.

"Yes, my lord has told the younger one to hand over this gift to you personally." Bai Jiaxing said and handed the bundle to the steward.

The housekeeper took it and glanced at Hu Hengqiu's face. His master glanced sideways at the baggage and then glanced at it again.

So the housekeeper opened the baggage with confidence.

Baijiaxing helped to shake off the black sheepskin cloak with red silk edges. There was gold embroidery on the edge. It sparkled in the sun. Well, it is low-key, luxurious and connotative!

"Sir, my lord told me that this cloak needs to be small to make sure it fits you with my own eyes. Otherwise, it needs to be changed immediately." Baijiaxing said.

This was what Chu Qing said in his letter, which made him confused. Has anyone ever made such a request to an official?

When Hu Hengqiu saw the cloak, he wanted to wear it. Last year, Duke Hong had a sheepskin cloak. It was so cute! It made him think about it for a long time.

Hu Hengqiu pretended to be impatient and put it on. Haha, it's quite suitable.

"Sir, it's so...so...good-looking." The housekeeper didn't know how to describe it. He always felt that saying "good-looking" didn't suit his status as a master.

Hu Hengqiu tightened the sides of his cloak. It fit him well. Hey, is there something here? He reached out and dug through it. There was a compartment. He took out a letter.

After reading it, I found that "anyone who doesn't match the odd number of the gift" - at least I still have a jar of oil and two jars of wine. I immediately felt as if I had found money, grinning happily.

"Oh, this is Chu Qing, tell me..." Hu Hengqiu flicked the letter paper with his fingers and was about to talk to Bai Jiaxing when he saw a few more thin pieces of paper fall out of the envelope.

"The banknote!" The butler quickly picked it up and handed it to the master: "Look..."

A total of two thousand five hundred taels of silver notes.

"Your family opened a restaurant in Jizhou and made an income of 10,000 taels a year?" Hu Hengqiu was surprised.

"Yes, my lord. My lord said, maybe it's because the dishes are freshly made." Bai Jiaxing replied respectfully.

Hu Hengqiu shook the banknote in his right hand and thought: What does Chu Qing mean by handing the banknote to him? Shouldn't it be submitted to the Secret Investigation Department?

Look at the letter on the left hand again - "I sincerely ask you to speak kindly to my subordinates' New Year's gift. If the holy words are good, I will tell you widely, so I will make a lot of money." This is my reward for promoting wool and cotton.

?

Baijiaxing wrote down all Hu Hengqiu's words, actions, and expressions, and made sure to write back to Chu Qing accurately.

…

Hong Guogong Mansion.

Mrs. Hong had just sent away the boy sent by Chu Qing to deliver New Year's gifts. Hong Liang came over, saw the gift list in his wife's hand, and asked with a smile: "Is this another gift to your heart?"

"No!" Mrs. Hong's fat face was full of smiles, and the smile lines at the corners of her eyes were beautiful: "Take a look first. If there is anything you don't understand, we will study it later."

"Can't you understand? What can't you understand about the gift list?" Hong Liang wanted to laugh when he saw his wife's expression of "making something happen".

When they were young, the couple came together all the time, but for most of their lives, the old wife still likes to show off her secrets, guess gifts and open gifts as much as she did when she was young.

Hong Liang looked at the gift list carefully: He knew what "sheep-sheared velvet" was last year; "Yu Ye Qiongjiang" could be seen as wine at a glance; what were "sweaters," "wool trousers," and "wool gloves"? This is

Do you want to dress yourself up as a sheep? How can you go out when you are covered in wool?

What is "Poke Le"? What about "Gongzhi"? "Ba"? Sheepskin painting, um, I can understand this, a painting made on sheepskin; "shell"? Shell?

There is also tea, which is good. After returning to Kyoto, drinking tea has become an indispensable habit for Hongliang. In the past, tea even tasted delicious outside, but now I have become naughty.

The couple, who were over a hundred years old together, ordered people to move the gifts into the main room, opened the boxes next to each other, and finally sat in the pile of gifts to show off to each other:

"Madam, look at this! This is the 'Gong Zhi' and the Sauter knife! Look, this blade can shave!" Hong Liang held the "Gong Zhi", rolled up his sleeves and shaved his arm.

, there are a few hairs floating on the blade.

"Oh, that's really nice. There are precious stones on the scabbard and handle of this sword!" Women generally don't look at the blade.

"Look at me, do I look good?" Mrs. Hong suddenly raised her hand to gesture to her face. Hong Liang almost cut her wrist with the knife she didn't take back, "Madam! You scared me to death!"

I saw a big mask with green face and fangs on Mrs. Hong’s face, which was really scary. Unfortunately, the mask was a little smaller and did not completely cover Mrs. Hong’s double chin.

"Here, the 'Ba' is probably for our grandchildren." Mrs. Hong put down her mask as she said it, and then picked up the "Poke": "Ah! This is so beautiful, it's a shepherd boy holding a lamb!

Look, there are these dyed wools, you can make them too!" Mrs. Hong couldn't put it down.

"That's a child's thing, don't keep it privately. The children will cry and make trouble for you later!" Hong Liang quickly warned. Even though his wife is old, she still has such a childish nature. But he just likes her like this.

"Madam, this is incense. It is probably from Voss. It smells very good. You can try it." Hong Liang handed over the incense stick called 'Bei' and a bag of dried leaves.

"That is an incense stick, and this bag should be tea leaves!" Mrs. Hong ordered someone to make tea and dye it with incense.

The couple finally sipped "wild hemp tea" amidst the lingering aroma. The taste was not very good, a little bitter, and seemed a little salty, but it had a sweet aftertaste.

"Chu Qing said that I should drink more of this tea, it is good for my health." Mrs. Hong said while sipping the tea with a smile.

Hong Liang said: Since it is for you and it is good for your health, then you should drink it well, but I can’t get used to the taste! I still like the "Gongzhi".

Chu Qing's New Year's gifts to the two couples were mainly made of Voss specialties, among which Soter knives and Tuhuerte wood products were the most popular for Hong Liang.

Mrs. Hong didn't care much about the gorgeous clothes and jewelry, but she liked the gadgets for the children the most. While the children were not around at home, she quickly enjoyed herself.

"The Blue House is opening on the 16th of the first lunar month. Who will you bring to support it?" Mrs. Hong asked.

"You still have to ask? Just tell me, I will invite whose wife you invite!" Hong Liang said simply.

"That's pretty much it!" Mrs. Hong was very satisfied.

…

Royal study room.

Hu Hengqiu didn't waste a moment and sent the gifts directly to the palace. The emperor took the gift list and looked at it: "Is this a New Year's gift for me? It's quite thoughtful."

"That's necessary!" Hu Hengqiu pointed at the gift list and asked, "Your Majesty, can you please open your eyes?" This meant asking the Emperor to unbox it in person.

The emperor was full of civil and military officials, and he had such a minister who could agree with him. Naturally, he would not refute his face, so Eunuch Li asked people to bring the boxes in one by one.

When the lid of the box is opened, there are stacks of brocade baggage in different colors. The top black jacquard brocade baggage is opened, and inside is a black sheepskin cloak with golden tiger fur trim, and a round golden beeswax on the collar.

dignified and powerful;

Then I opened a blue furoshiki, and inside was a peacock blue sheepskin cloak with black mink fur trim. It was luxurious and graceful, and on the left chest was a flying suzaku made of burgundy suzaku's top feathers.

The third furoshiki was opened, and inside was a golden fur cloak trimmed with snow fox piping, which was extremely majestic.
Chapter completed!