Chapter 85 Unintentional intervention
Chongzhen smiled and said, "Since it is my brother's order, I will try my best to make friends with this great eunuch and find out if there is such a great man around the emperor."

Wang An was touched and said, "I am sorry to bother you. If there are any expenses, they will be charged to me! Now that Zhu Chunchen has been executed, we can run our coal warehouse with peace of mind again. Don't be stingy with the money!"

What Wang An said was not a polite remark, you can understand it if you think about it.

Who is Wang Chengen? He is one of the most powerful eunuchs in the palace. Although he has been praised mostly positively in history, it does not mean that one can easily make friends with him.

If you want to build relationships and establish connections, treating and giving gifts are definitely necessary.

And what is certain is that the money spent will definitely not be small.

Wang Chengen said with a guilty conscience: "Eunuch Wang is not a greedy person, so I don't think it will cost much."

Wang An shook his head and chuckled, saying, "I thought our little brother was an angry young man, how come you, the housekeeper, are so naive? It's true, people from the same family stick together!"

After saying that, he burst into laughter.

Now that Zhu Chunchen is dead, Wang An feels a lot more relieved.

Chongzhen and Wang Chengen also laughed awkwardly, and for a moment they were quite happy.

After laughing for a while, Chongzhen suddenly said, "Oh, it's almost New Year's Day. I have some business to attend to in the capital, so I'm afraid I won't be able to stay up with you!"

Wang Chengen walked to the door and waved. A group of guards came out from nowhere and walked in carrying large and small boxes.

Chongzhen smiled and said, "So I thought I'd give you the New Year's gift first. I hope you can forgive me for not being able to accompany you on New Year's Day!"

Wang An looked at the boxes, and saw a tray covered with a red cloth. Under the red cloth seemed to be the shape of silver ingots. He smiled and took Chongzhen's hand with emotion, saying, "Men should always put their careers first. It doesn't matter what is a sin or not!"

“But…” Wang An suddenly sighed, feeling quite emotional: “Another year has passed!”

They immediately ordered a table from the restaurant, and Wang An took Chongzhen to get drunk, treating it as a reunion dinner for the two brothers in advance.

…………

A few days passed in a blink of an eye, and Wang An welcomed another New Year's Eve in the Ming Dynasty.

Yun Zhao got up early in the morning to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God, boiled hot water for Wang An to wash his head and face, cooked paste, cut the ornaments, and did the general cleaning. He was so busy that he had no time to rest.

Wang An washed his head and face and opened the shop door.

There are many more peddlers walking around the streets than before, beating gongs and shaking drums, followed by a group of ragged children chasing and playing.

Although the economic situation this year is increasingly difficult, people's enthusiasm for the Zhengdan Festival has not diminished in the slightest. Even poor families will find ways to cut some meat on this day to satisfy their family's cravings.

Neighbors who were out shopping for New Year's goods or had already bought New Year's goods would greet Wang An and say "Happy New Year!"

Looking at the New Year's goods in the hands of the neighbors, Wang An suddenly realized.

He said something was missing, and it turned out that he hadn't bought any New Year's goods.

First, Wang An was often alone in his previous life, and rarely went home even during the Spring Festival, so he didn't feel much about the Spring Festival in his previous life or the New Year's Day in ancient times. Second, the gifts Chongzhen sent last time were quite a lot, including chickens, ducks, fish, meat, fruits and snacks. What made Wang An happy the most was a plate of twelve large silver ingots weighing ten taels!
So there is no need to prepare special New Year goods or anything like that, as the main things are already there.

However, standing at the door now, looking at the cheerful neighbors coming and going on the street, Wang An didn't know what touched his heart, and suddenly turned to Yun Zhao who was cleaning the counter and said, "Yun Zhao, go to Ergou's place and bring your mother back to stay up for the New Year!"

"It's Chinese New Year after all, and staying in someone else's house is not a good idea."

Yun Zhao was stunned and stared at Wang An blankly.

After a long time, he seemed to be struck by a huge surprise and said shyly, "I'm afraid this is not a good idea. I don't want to cause trouble for the master."

In fact, logically speaking, Yun Zhao had already sold herself into slavery, which meant she was Wang An's domestic slave and had nothing to do with her original family.

Even Yun Zhao's mother didn't think it made sense to spend the New Year at Wang Anjia's.

But Yun Zhao only has this old mother, and Wang An is not picky, so it would be more lively to bring her over to celebrate the New Year together.

Wang An said with a smile: "Since she is your mother, we are a family from now on. Stop saying these foreign words!"

After a pause, Wang An said, "Ergou's house is small, so let your mother live with me from now on. You can take better care of her."

It was already a huge surprise that Wang An allowed Yun Zhao to borrow his mother to stay with him to celebrate the New Year, but Wang An unexpectedly suggested that Yun live in the herbal medicine shop in the future so that Yun Zhao could take care of her day and night.

This was a huge surprise for Yun Zhao, who attached great importance to filial piety.

After being stunned for a long time, Yun Zhao didn't know what to say. He just knelt down in front of Wang An with a plop and said loudly: "From now on, Yun Zhao is the master's man. Whatever the master wants Yun Zhao to do, Yun Zhao will do it!"

Wang An reached out his hand to help Yun Zhao up, and said jokingly: "What nonsense are you talking about? You have been my man for a long time!"

Yun Zhao just lowered his head, his face slightly red, and murmured: "It's different..."

"Go and bring your mother back quickly, let's go to the spring market and buy some New Year's goods." Wang An urged.

"Hey!" Yun Zhao agreed and was about to leave without taking off his scarf.

Wang An suddenly called her again, and took out five taels of silver from his leather belt with a painful look on his face. After thinking for a while, he changed it into two taels and stuffed it into Yun Zhao's arms.

"Your mother has lived in Ergou's house for so many days, and they have treated her well with good food and drinks. It's not polite for you to come empty-handed now. Take this money with you as a thank you gift."

"How can this be possible!" Yun Zhao refused, "I... I still have money."

Wang An said with a smile: "You mean the money you earned from selling your body? I thought I didn't know that you secretly bought supplements for your mother. Where would you get the money? My goodness, Ergou told me that he stewed all the Changbai Mountain ginseng for your mother. It can be considered filial piety..."

Sighing, Wang An said, "I'm afraid there are only a few dozen copper coins left. Don't take it out to let people laugh at you. Keep it for yourself to buy flowers to wear."

Yun Zhao then let Wang An put the silver into her hand, but she looked at Wang An with her red eyes, with ripples in them.

"Go ahead, we're in a hurry to visit the Spring Fair!" Wang An subconsciously touched Yun Zhao's hair, and Yun Zhao was so embarrassed that she lowered her head and ran away.

Looking at Yun Zhao's back as she ran away, Wang An scratched his head awkwardly. It seemed that these days one couldn't just touch a girl's head casually?
(End of this chapter)