When Shen Yi got married, the second eldest son of the Zhao family went to Jizhou. Zhao Changping was not able to go to Jiangdu to congratulate him in person because he was the Minister of Household Affairs. However, he gave Shen Yi a private seal, which Zhao Changping carved with his own hands.
Scholars of this era, especially those who became officials, all had some skills to a greater or lesser extent, some were good at painting, and some liked engraving seals or flowers, making wine, antiques, etc.
When Zhao Changping was young, he learned how to carve seals from a famous stonemason in Jiangdu. By the time he became a Jinshi, he had already mastered the art of carving seals. However, over the years, as he became more and more official, he rarely carved seals himself.
The fact that Da Jiuqing, the dignitary of the imperial court, was able to carve a seal for Shen Yi shows that Zhao Shangshu still cares deeply about Shen Yi, a younger generation.
Therefore, after seeing Shen Yi at this time, Zhao Shangshu was quite happy. He got off the sedan directly, stretched out his hand to pull Shen Yi's sleeve, and said with a tired smile: "Yesterday, I told Jizhou about you, thinking about when you could come back. Come to Jiankang, I don’t want to come back today, has Qingque come to Jiankang with you?”
Shen Yi smiled and nodded: "She has also arrived in Jiankang together and is talking to her aunt."
"Um."
The two people were talking and walking towards the house. Zhao Shangshu said with a smile: "After you two got engaged years ago, I asked someone to buy a piece of nanmu and ordered a bed for you. It's almost done now, and I'll have it delivered to your home in a few days. It's a congratulatory gift from me, the elder, to you as a young couple."
Shen Yi immediately stopped, shook his head and said: "Uncle, this is too precious, how can this make..."
"Otherwise, I'd better send it to your house for the two senior brothers to use."
Shen Yi didn't know how much a piece of nanmu was worth, but nanmu that could be cut into planks to make a bed would definitely not be cheap. Moreover, the craftsmanship of the bed was very complicated, and it would take half a year to customize it, so the labor cost was a huge expense.
With Zhao Changping's salary, he could never afford it.
However, Zhao Changping's family has a very rich wife, so the money can still be obtained.
"It's not for you."
Zhao Shangshu chuckled and said: "It's for my niece. She didn't refuse it. Why did you refuse it?"
While the two of them were talking, they had already entered the Zhao family's dining room. The head of the family, Zhao Changping, was back, and the Zhao family's dinner could be eaten normally. Soon the whole family arrived and had a meal together.
Zhao Changping looked at Lu Ruoxi and asked some questions. The general meaning was that if Shen Yi bullied her, let her come to Zhao's house to complain and treat the Zhao family as her natal family.
Lu Ruoxi smiled and agreed.
Soon, a dinner was over, and several women from the Zhao family talked to Lu Ruoxi, asking the young couple when they were going to have a baby.
Shen Yi, on the other hand, consciously followed Zhao Changping into the Zhao family's study.
In the study, after Zhao Changping sat down, he motioned to Shen Yi to find a seat. After both of them sat down, Zhao Changping asked: "Tomorrow, are you going back to your residence to report to the office?"
Shen Yi nodded and said: "The inner guard came back with my nephew. He is going to report to the Di Di newspaper office tomorrow, otherwise the palace will know that my nephew is too lazy."
“Remember, don’t forget to go to the Hanlin Academy to order some mao.”
Zhao Changping smiled and said: "For you, your status in the Hanlin Academy is actually more important than your job as a newspaper secretary."
Shen Yi nodded in agreement.
After the two chatted for a while, Shen Yi asked softly: "Uncle, is your Majesty ready to clean up the Japanese pirates along the coast?"
Zhao Changping was startled, then shook his head and said: "I don't know, I haven't heard of this matter during the past few days."
He looked at Shen Yi and asked, "How did Ziheng know, because of Di Bao?"
"Um."
Shen Yi nodded, lowered his eyebrows and said, "To be honest, uncle, the article about Japanese pirates that appeared in the Di newspaper a few days ago was written by my nephew."
"Well…"
Zhao Shangshu lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said: "According to what you said, Your Majesty may really have some thoughts, but the Japanese pirates along the coast, as soon as Master Wang arrived, they fled in all directions, and as soon as Master Wang left, they also left and came back. , is like a maggot attached to the bone, it is very difficult to remove. Even if your Majesty really has some thoughts, I am afraid that it will be difficult to see results within a year or two."
Shen Yi nodded without saying anything more. He smiled at Zhao Changping and asked, "Uncle, has anything happened in Jiankang during the past few months since I have been away from Jiankang?"
"It's nothing serious."
Zhao Changping looked at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "If there is anything, there is something about your newspaper department."
Shen Yi was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "What's the matter?"
"After the Shangyuan Festival, during the reign of Your Majesty, someone submitted a letter to the Di Bao Division, saying that the Di Bao Division, as an official office of the imperial court, collected money from merchants in the capital and competed with the people for profit..."
"They are going to shut down the Dijing News Agency."
Hearing this, Shen Yi didn't panic at all. He blinked at Zhao Changping and said with a smile: "It's nothing, the Di News Agency can't be defeated."
Zhao Changping chuckled and said, "Why do you see that?"
Shen Si was confident and said with a smile, "I will tell my uncle the reason later."
Half of the income of the newspaper department comes from internal funds, and the remaining half is responsible for various daily expenses. In other words, most of it comes from internal funds.
This is the emperor's business and cannot be corrupted.
The two chatted in the study for more than an hour, and it was not until late at night that Shen Yi took his wife and left.
The Zhao family insisted on letting the couple rest at home, but Shen Yi insisted on leaving, and they could not keep him.
It was still the first month of the year, and the weather in Jiankang was still very cold. Even though the stove was lit in the carriage, the young couple were still shivering from the cold when they returned home.
As soon as she entered the house, Qing'er greeted her. She first bowed her head to Lu Ruoxi and saluted, and then whispered in Shen Yi's ear: "Sir, Brother Xu is here."
Shen Yi nodded, reached out and patted Lu Ruoxi's back, indicating that she should go to rest first, and then followed Qing'er to the main hall of Shen's house.
At this moment, a stove was lit in the main hall of Shen's house, and a young man sat beside the stove to keep warm.
Seeing Shen Yi walking in, the young man stood up quickly, knelt down in front of Shen Yi without saying a word, lowered his head and said, "I've seen the young master."
Shen Yi helped him up, looked at Xu Fu, who had a respectful expression and hadn't seen him for a long time, and said with a smile, "Why are you here so late?"
Xu Fu lowered his head and said in a complicated tone: "I want to see the young master, but I'm afraid it can only be at night."
"Congratulations to the young master on your wedding."
Shen Yi nodded slightly and asked, "Didn't you ask Ding Man to come and congratulate you? Why, do you have anything else to ask me about?"
"Um…"
Xu Fu looked up at Shen Yi, took a deep breath, and said, "Sir, during the day yesterday, Eunuch Gao came to see me and said..."
"He said…"
Xu Fu tried his best to calm down, and then said word by word: "Eunuch Gao said that I can be responsible for the purchase of some palace supplies in the future..."
"I know this is a big matter, but I can't make up my mind, so I want to ask the young master for his opinion..."
Mr. Shen was stunned.
After a while, he looked at Xu Fu and whispered: "It's okay to do shopping for the palace, but you have to remember a few things."
"Don't provide food, rice, meat, or vegetables to the palace. Don't touch anything that's edible, not even medicinal herbs."
Xu Fu nodded and said: "Eunuch Gao means to be responsible for the purchase of some study rooms first..."
Shen Yi sighed silently. He looked at Xu Fu and said, "These things should have been regularly supplied by someone before... If you take them, you will offend someone."
"Um."
Xu Fu lowered his head and said, "That's why I can't make up my mind, so I want to ask you, Master."
"If you really want to do it, it's not impossible, but you have to..."
"It needs real materials."
"also…"
Shen Yi said in a deep voice: "No matter how much money you earn, you will always give 30% or 40% to Eunuch Gao. No matter if he doesn't want it, you have to give it."
Xu Fu lowered his head: "I remember."
Shen Yi looked at him again, and then asked thoughtfully: "Your Majesty...do you listen to music more frequently?"