Chapter 319 Let you talk too much
After the dispute was resolved, the next two days officially entered the preparation stage for the delegation's trip.
After the imperial edict was issued, the official preparations were carried out steadily by officials of all ranks in the Honglu Temple according to previous ceremonies.
As the deputy leader of the delegation, Mei Cheng'an was mainly responsible for formulating the delegation's travel route with the leader Fan Xian, as well as instructing him on some procedural and etiquette rules.
The process etiquette part was not difficult, and Fan Xian was not stupid, so it only took a short time to easily complete the instruction in this area.
In comparison, planning the route takes more time, after all, there are many aspects to consider.
The distance, whether the road is easy to travel, supply points along the way, camping places, safety issues, etc. all need to be considered.
After all, this is a long journey, and each of the above points is extremely important. Naturally, Chen Pingping's help is indispensable.
After all, when it comes to understanding Qing State, no one can compare to him, the President of the Supervisory Yuan who is in charge of Qing State's intelligence.
After receiving some practical and effective suggestions from Chen Pingping and comprehensive consideration and discussion by the two of them, the route was finally finalized.
Of course, the final route was finalized in the tool room of Fan Xian's courtyard, and there were only the two of them present.
Mei Cheng'an rolled up the map, handed it to Fan Xian and gave him some instructions.
"It's enough for the two of us to know the route, don't spread it around!"
Fan Xian took the map and put it away, rolling his eyes at him.
"I'm not a fool. This concerns my own life. I would never tell anyone about it!"
Mei Cheng'an glanced at him sideways, looked him up and down, and thought to himself, I don't think you are very smart.
"It's good to know."
After putting away the map, Fan Xian asked Mei Chengan.
"Is there anything else we need to research next? Tell me quickly. I feel incredibly strong now."
Mei Cheng'an glanced at him with disdain.
"No, why are you so excited all of a sudden?"
Fan Xian said "oh" and waved his hand.
"It's not that I'm excited, but the previous brainstorming has already made my brain fully active. It always feels a bit wasteful if I don't study something else at this time. Don't you feel the same way?"
Mei Chengan rolled his eyes.
"Do you know why you feel this way?"
"why?"
"Because you don't usually use your brain, it feels unusually difficult when you do use it occasionally. Scarcity makes things more valuable."
"..."
Fan Xian reacted and grabbed an orange from the fruit plate and threw it over.
"roll!"
Mei Cheng'an reached out and grabbed it with a smile, and started peeling the orange. You know what, I'm actually thirsty after discussing this for such a long time.
Fan Xian rolled his eyes and sat down.
"When exactly will the mission depart?"
"The day after tomorrow, no, you're the team leader, why don't you ask me?"
Fan Xian said as a matter of course.
"As the supreme leader of the diplomatic corps, how can I pay attention to such trivial matters? If I have any questions, I will ask my subordinates."
"..."
Mei Cheng'an tore the peeled orange peel and gave this guy a torrential rain of pear blossoms.
"roll!"
Since Fan Xian wanted to be mean, he had naturally been prepared and easily blocked all the attacks from the orange peel.
Fan Xian pinched the orange peel fragments that fell on his head between his fingertips and flicked them aside, then spoke with a smile.
"You do the first day, I do the fifteenth, now we're even."
Mei Cheng'an broke off a slice of orange and put it into his mouth, glancing at him.
"childish!"
Fan Xian took this as a compliment. He shook his head proudly, then reached out and picked up an orange and began to peel it.
"It means there's nothing to do tomorrow, right?"
"Well, on this last day before you leave, you can stay at home and spend some time with your family, or say goodbye to Lin Wan'er."
As he said this, he suddenly thought of something and asked casually.
"Have you not told her about your diplomatic mission to Northern Qi?"
Fan Xian shook his head.
"No, I've been busy with this and that since I left the palace yesterday, and I haven't had time to meet her.
But she should have received the news, so let's forget about tonight. Let's take her out tomorrow and say goodbye properly."
Mei Chengan nodded and ate the orange quietly.
Fan Xian peeled the orange, tore off a slice and put it into his mouth.
"What about you? Have you told Princess Roujia?"
"Well, I appeased him yesterday, and we'll say goodbye formally tomorrow."
"Where are you planning to take Princess Roujia?"
Mei Cheng'an immediately looked alert when he heard this.
"What are you doing? It's not the time to form a group."
Fan Xian paused for a moment and said without changing his expression.
"No, of course I know that. I just wanted to confirm the location with you in advance to avoid a traffic accident."
"Oh, I see. I might take Roujia to the Wild Flower Valley we visited before. The scenery there is beautiful and the view is wide."
"Oh, then let's go to Wildflower Valley too."
"???"
"Why are you looking at me like that? You know, the only place I've been to and know relatively well since I came to Kyoto is the Wild Flower Valley."
"..."
"You also said that the scenery over there is beautiful and the place is open. When the time comes, can't we just choose a place that is farther away? It won't delay anything."
"..."
"If you really don't want to come with us, then you can choose another place. This is my only option."
"???"...
After eating the oranges, Mei Cheng'an stood up and said goodbye. He had never seen such a shameless person and couldn't stand it.
On the way back to Mei Mansion.
Mei Cheng'an leaned his arm on the windowsill, resting his chin on the window sill, looking at the scenery along the street, and asked casually.
"Lao Wang, have you talked to my sister-in-law about this?"
"I told you, Master."
"Sister-in-law, I think you're not unhappy. After all, this trip will take at least three or four months."
"She was a little unhappy, but she knew I was accompanying the young master on a business trip, so she didn't say anything."
"Sister-in-law Ming Dali."
"But my wife asked me to pay the household expenses on time no matter where I am. Master, look at this..."
"..."
Mei Cheng'an withdrew his gaze and looked towards the driver's seat.
"Then just pay it. What do you want me to see?"
"By then, I will be a million miles away from him. How can I pay it?"
"Then what do you mean?"
"What I mean is... could you please give me an advance on the next few months' salary so that I can report to the Madam."
Mei Cheng'an didn't care about this, but he was a little confused.
"It doesn't matter if it's a few months earlier or later. My sister-in-law owns a snack shop, so she shouldn't need your little money for household expenses."
"Hehe, my wife might want to remind me in this way to be careful when I go out, and that my family is waiting for me."
Mei Cheng'an suddenly realized that this was indeed in line with Mrs. Wang's personality, which was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, tough on the outside but gentle on the inside.
This couple, ugh~ I’m almost sick of them.
"Since you know that, why did you give all the money to your sister-in-law in advance? You can deposit it into the bank regularly every month, and your sister-in-law can go and withdraw it regularly."
"Ah? I've dealt with money houses a lot, but I've never heard of this business. Where did you hear about it, young master?"
"..."
Oh no! Mei Chengan slapped his forehead and almost forgot that a money shop is not a bank and does not have this business.
Nowadays, money can be deposited and withdrawn from banks in other places, but that requires credentials. There is no such thing as a personal account, and money can be deposited and withdrawn at any time.
Simply put, if you deposit one hundred taels of silver in place A, the money house will issue you a deposit note for one hundred taels of silver, and then you can go to the same money house in place B to withdraw the money using the note.
In a case like Wang Qinian, if he wanted to achieve the same effect, he would need to deposit the money in place A, send the receipt all the way home, and then Mrs. Wang would go to withdraw the money with the receipt, which was really troublesome.
Taking into account the inconveniences of traveling, the time-consuming process of delivering messages to a foreign country and the possibility of accidents along the way, Wang Qinian came up with this unsatisfactory solution.
Mei Chengan had no intention of explaining the little mistake he had accidentally made and chose to skip it.
"How about this, when you go home, tell your sister-in-law that you will send money home regularly every month through the Mei's Canteen, and ask your sister-in-law to go to the nearest Mei's Canteen to pick it up at the appointed time."
"Ah? Mei's canteen still has this business?"
"Of course not, but you can tell sister-in-law that there is. Isn't your purpose to reassure sister-in-law?
I'll have someone arrange to have your salary sent over regularly every month to settle the account, and we'll tell everyone that it was sent back by you."
"Hiss~ This sounds feasible, Master."
"What nonsense! My ideas must be feasible."
"That's right, I am convinced by the young master's wisdom."
"Stop flattering."
"That's right, Master."
"Ok?"
"Just give my wife forty taels a month."
"?"
"Hey, Master, you know what I mean."
"..."
"If you save twenty taels of private money every month, you won't be afraid of being fed to death."
"Hehe, the brave will die of overeating, while the timid will die of starvation. Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk."
"How much is saved?"
"Cun...I can't tell you that."
"Tsk, you're quite careful. By the way, Lao Wang, we're going to miss Little Pork Belly's birthday on this trip to Northern Qi."
"Oh, yes, but there is nothing we can do about it. I will make it up to Baba when I come back."
"Come to think of it (laughing), if you don't hold a birthday party, you two will save a lot of money."
"Well, it is true that I suffered heavy losses, so Master, do you think you should compensate me with some money so that I can make up for my losses?"
"..."
Mei Chengan slapped himself lightly and said, "You are so talkative!"
……
When he returned to the Mei Mansion, it had already darkened. Mei Cheng'an went back to his room to change his clothes and then rushed to the dining hall to finish his meal.
"Son, eat this, it's fresh."
"Brother, this is chicken thigh meat. I'll remove the bones for you."
"Son, you must try this fish. It's made by mother herself."
"Brother, eat some shrimps. They are fragrant and spicy and delicious. Oh, and the fish soup made by mom is delicious. Let me serve you a bowl."
"son…"
"elder brother…"
The mother and daughter took turns talking to each other, using their chopsticks, and soon the small bowls in front of Mei Cheng'an were piled up into a small mountain.
Mei Zhili, who always paid attention to table manners, did not say anything to stop them, but instead joined in the fun.
……
(End of this chapter)
