Chapter 180 Lavish Gifts

After Yang Ning inherited the title, Gu Qinghan had already ordered people to clean up the Eastern Courtyard. Therefore, Yang Ning’s residence was a courtyard in the Eastern Courtyard of the Marquis’s Mansion, while Gu Qinghan’s courtyard was in the Western Courtyard of the Marquis’s Mansion.

The sun was going down, and the weather was getting colder day by day. To get to the Western Courtyard, he naturally had to pass through the atrium. When he followed the stone path in the atrium, he heard someone shout, “Marquis.”

Yang Ning turned his head and saw Han Shou, who had just been promoted to Steward, running over. Although the little old man was already fifty years old, his body was still healthy.

“Oh, Steward Han, how is the Third Lady?” Yang Ning looked around and saw that there was no one else. He took the initiative to welcome Han Shou and wanted to check on him first.

Han Shou said with a helpless expression, “Marquis, the Third Lady hasn’t come out since she returned to the courtyard in the morning. There are a few things that I need to find the Third Lady to decide today. The Third Lady only let me ask you. Since you’re the head of the Marquis, don’t look for her no matter what.” He sighed, “Marquis, the Third Lady hasn’t eaten for a whole day. She’s working hard day and night. This can’t be done. It is not good for her health.”

Yang Ning frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “Go prepare some food. I’ll personally deliver it to the Third Lady.” After a pause, he asked, “By the way, has Duan Canghai returned?”

Han Shou nodded and said, “He was back in the morning. However, after he returned to the mansion, he didn’t disturb Marquis when he saw you resting. He said he wanted to go out and get some information. By the way, he said Marquis knew what he was going to do.” He asked cautiously, “Marquis, are you looking for him? Qi Feng and Zhao Wushang are still in the mansion. Do you want to see them?”

“No need.” Yang Ning shook his head. He knew that Duan Canghai should have gone out to get information about Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas.

Only then did Han Shou say, “Marquis, when you were resting today, Young Master Yuan, Yuan Rong came over. I originally wanted to report to you, but when Young Master Yuan heard that Marquis was still resting, he didn’t let me disturb you.”

“Why is he here?”

Han Shou smiled and said, “He told me to tell you that Dou Lianzhong sent the things over so that you wouldn’t have to worry about it. He also sent some gifts for Marquis to appreciate.”

Yang Ning knew that what Yuan Rong said was naturally slavery indenture. It seemed that Dou Lianzhong was afraid of him and did not dare to act shamelessly.

“Send a gift over?” Yang Ning asked, “What is it?”

Han Shou said, “Marquis, you can go to take a look. There are a few boxes.”

Yang Ning didn’t know what Yuan Rong had sent, but he followed Han Shou to the side hall. He saw that there were already several gift boxes on the carved wooden table. He went forward and opened one of them. There was a green tea bowl inside, which looked like jade. It looked old. The most unbelievable thing was that there were several cracks on the inside of the tea bowl.

“Is this a gift from Yuan Rong?” Yang Ning flipped through the tea bowl and said with a frown, “That guy, why did he send such a stupid thing over?”

However, Han Shou’s eyes were wide open. He didn’t even blink as he stared at the shabby tea bowl.

Yang Ning saw this and said with a smile, “What? Do you like this tea bowl?” He handed it over, “Why don’t you take it for tea?”

Han Shou snapped back to his senses and hurriedly waved his hand, “Marquis, with my identity, how could I use such a good thing? Even if I live a few more lifetimes, I still don’t have the qualifications.”

“Oh?” Yang Ning was very surprised. He thought to himself, “It is just a tea bowl. Why is Han Shou so surprised?”

“Marquis, could I take a look?” Han Shou asked cautiously.

Yang Ning reached over, but Han Shou first wiped his hands on his clothes. Then, he carefully took it and looked at it carefully. He was excited, “That’s right. That’s right. That must be it.”

“What? What is it?” Yang Ning asked curiously, “Steward Han, what did you see?”

Han Shou returned the tea bowl with both hands. After Yang Ning took it, Han Shou said, “Marquis, do you feel anything different about this tea bowl?”

When Yang Ning saw Han Shou’s reaction, he vaguely felt that this seemingly unremarkable tea bowl must have some special places. He held it in his hands and felt it, “Oh, this tea bowl… Since it’s winter now, most of the utensils are cold. But after the tea bowl is held for a long time, it feels warm.”

Han Shou smiled and said, “Marquis, my usual hobby is to drink tea and I have a good knowledge of tea sets. If I’ m not mistaken, this should be the legendary Leeches.”

“Leeches?” Yang Ning asked in confusion, “What does that mean?”

“Marquis, people who know the tea ceremony must know the Leeches,” Han Shou said, “You probably haven’t heard of the tea saint, Lu He. He was a top expert in the tea ceremony. Before him, drinking tea was very casual. It was him who started the tea ceremony and wrote a book called “Tea Book”. It still can be bought.” It’s said that Lu He collected tea sets from all over the world and finally collected four famous sets. This Leeches is one of them.”

Yang Ning didn’t know anything about the tea ceremony. Although he didn’t specialize in it and couldn’t tell what was so good about the tea bowl, the real tea expert could tell.

“So, this Leeches is even worth some money?” Yang Ning smiled and asked.

Han Shou was stunned. The tea ceremony was the same as. the guqin, Chinese chess, calligraphy, and painting. They were all elegant. However, this young Marquis had a different sense. As he had just found out that the tea bowl was good, he started asking for the price.

“This…” Han Shou hesitated for a moment before saying, “Those who don’t understand teaism think it nothing. Those who do know a little about it know that this treasure isn’t priced with money. It can be said that it is priceless in the market. If you want to set the price, it should be worth one thousand gold.”

“It’s worth one thousand gold?” Yang Ning was shocked. He took a look at the tea bowl in his hand and asked in disbelief, “A tea bowl is worth one thousand gold?”

“If Marquis want to sell it at the price of thousands of gold, there are many people who want to buy it,” Han Shou said, “But such a treasure can be used as a family treasure. Marquis should keep it.”

It was worth thousands of gold. According to Chu’s current exchange rate, it was at least ten thousand taels of silver. Perhaps for some high-ranking officials and gentry, ten thousand taels of silver were not a sky-high price, but for the current Yang Ning or even the Mansion of Marquis of Honor, ten thousand taels of silver were not a small amount.

After knowing the value of the Leeches, Yang Ning looked at the other gift boxes. One gift box contained two ginsengs. Han Shou had been in the Marquis’s Mansion for many years, so he naturally had seen much of life. He said that these two ginsengs were top-quality ginsengs. The total price of the two ginsengs was worth one thousand gold. In addition, there were two boxes of tea leaves. Yang Ning didn’t need Han Shou to mention it. He knew that these two boxes of tea leaves were definitely not cheap.

Yang Ning now understood that these things were not given by Yuan Rong. Although Yuan Rong was born in the Ministry of Revenue Minister’s Mansion, the Ministry of Revenue Minister’s Mansion was not very generous. Yuan Rong couldn’t be so generous. Otherwise, he would have already redeemed Pearl a long time ago, and there was no need for him to let Yang Ning take the slavery indenture back from Dou Lianzhong.

Looking at these things, of course, the ginseng was given by the Liaodong Qiu Fang. The tea leaves should have been given by Jiang Cheng. The tea bowl was originally thought to be given by Jiang Cheng. However, with the tea leaves here, it was very likely that the tea bowl was given by Chen Mukuan who lived in Weitang. After all, Chen Mukuan was straightforward and generous.

When he opened the last box, he saw a bracelet. The bracelet was exquisitely made and was dark green. It was soft, gentle, and delicate. Underneath the bracelet, there was a letter. Han Shou saw that Yang Ning had already taken out the letter and quickly explained, “Marquis, this is what Young Master Yuan wrote when he saw you rest. He asked me to take the Chinese blush and ink and write it down.”

Yang Ning opened the letter and saw a banknote inside. He glanced at it and saw it was a banknote of 1,500 taels of silver. He rolled his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. He immediately understood that this banknote was naturally given by Yuan Rong. One thousand taels of silver of it should be to settle the Loyalty Cemetery villa’s matter. The remaining 500 taels should have been taken out of his pocket if nothing unexpected happened.

After all, he had helped Pearl get the slavery indenture back last night. He had even given the boat to Pearl. The value of a boat was not cheap. In Yuan Rong’s eyes, helping Pearl was equivalent to helping him. So he took out 500 taels of silver to express his gratitude.

Yuan Rong couldn’t compare to those rich young men. Only trying hard could he take out 500 taels of silver. It was generous of him.

On the letter, it was written in a very concise manner. “I only envy mandarin ducks and not immortals. We send you a thin gift to celebrate the marriage between Marquis and Zhuo Xian’er.”

Naturally, there was a hint of ridicule, but it was clear that these gifts were given to Yang Ning by a few of them last night.

Although Yang Ning had indeed helped these people out last night, the gifts were too valuable. When these gifts were added together, there were at least twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver. This was not a small number.

Although it wasn’t a rare thing for those wealthy businessmen to spend a thousand gold, Yang Ning knew early the true intentions behind these gifts.

Last night’s argument had made Zhu Yuchen and the others realize that they had a grudge against Dou Lianzhong. It was no different from having a grudge against the Ministry of Revenue Minister.

The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the state taxation, who was the King of Hell of these wealthy businessmen. If the Ministry of Revenue were to make things difficult for the businessmen, even the richest businessmen would suffer.

Zhu Yuchen and the others clearly realized the severity of the situation, so they tried their best to obtain the assistance of the Mansion of Marquis of Honor.

Although the Mansion of Marquis of Honor was obviously much weaker after Qi Jing passed away, the people in the Chu only knew that Marquis of Honor was the pillar of the empire. It had a deep influence on the military. Such a strong backer could not be compared to the Ministry of Revenue Minister.

Since they had offended the Ministry of Revenue Minister, it would be better to rely on this strong backer instead of spending countless gold and silver to beg for forgiveness from the Dou family. At least in the eyes of Zhu Yuchen and the others, the Dou family would not dare to act recklessly with the protection of Marquis of Honor. They had personally witnessed it and even the Duke of Huainan’s heir was extremely polite to Marquis of Honor. There was no need to mention the Ministry of Revenue Minister.

In the end, they were just the local gentry, so they couldn’t see through the disputes in the capital.

“What do you think of this bracelet?” Yang Ning put away the banknotes and handed the jade bracelet to Han Shou, “Do you think it’s valuable?”

Han Shou was speechless. He thought to himself, “Young Marquis never care about money in the past, but why is he so interested in money this time?” He took the bracelet and looked at it carefully before saying, “Marquis, what Young Master Yuan sent this time is an extremely valuable gift. Not to mention that Leeches, this bracelet is made from top-grade Jade. Marquis, you look at this color. The better the Jade, the darker the color. The Jade Bracelet is already extremely deep green, and it is flawless. It is extremely rare, and there are carvings on it…” He took a closer look and praised, “What good craftsmanship. If it were only the Jade Bracelet, it might be worth more than a thousand taels of silver, but with the carvings on it, it would be difficult to buy it without two thousand taels of silver,” He could not help but ask, “Marquis, are you planning to sell it?”

“Sell it?” Yang Ning carefully put the jade bracelet back into the exquisite small gift box and smiled, “I’m just asking if it’s valuable or not. Otherwise, it’s not good to give it to Third Auntie. Steward Han put all the things here in my room. Be careful. They’re all good things. Don’t break them.”

Today, after receiving such a heavy gift, Yang Ning was happy.

Although he knew that the Mansion of Marquis of Honor didn’t have money dealings with court officials and didn’t accept bribes, Zhu Yuchen and the others weren’t officials. These gifts could be taken as bribery, but he had protected them safe last night. Since he had put in the effort, he could receive some gifts. At least Yang Ning felt at ease and didn’t feel nervous.