Female-male sex: Salted fish forced to rise to prominence

The more Chen Manli thought about it, the angrier she became. She unconsciously quickened her pace, as if this could help her get rid of the boredom in her heart. As she walked, she couldn't help but curse the greedy Su Yu in a low voice.

"What a greedy guy!" She gritted her teeth and said, "He actually dared to ask for so much money before breaking off the engagement. Humph, fortunately he is sensible and knows when to quit.

Otherwise, I don't know how this marriage will end. It's just a little money. As long as I can cancel the marriage, it's worth it even if I spend some money."

She hurried back to her room, closed the door, and couldn't wait to open her dressing box and began to carefully count the belongings inside. She was thinking about which things she could take to the pawnshop to exchange for some silver in an emergency.

The first thing that caught her eye was a Hazy Moon Butterfly hairpin. The butterfly on the hairpin was lifelike and finely crafted. It was one of her favorite accessories. However, she hesitated for a moment and decided not to consider it for the time being. She really couldn't bear to pawn it.

Then, she saw another golden-linked jade hairpin. This hairpin was a gift from Princess Ronghua. It was made of top-grade purple jade and was very valuable. She bit her lip and finally put it back into the box.

Finally, she picked up a pearl and jade hairpin, which was inlaid with gorgeous and shiny pearls. It was a gift from her mother on her tenth birthday. She stared at the hairpin, but still couldn't bear to part with it.

"No, no..." she murmured to herself, "I absolutely cannot pawn this hairpin."

In this way, Chen Manli searched the entire dressing table, but still couldn't find a suitable item to pawn. She couldn't help feeling a little frustrated and helpless.

She looked again at her gold and silver kingfisher-inlaid tassel hairpin, her green snow-fragrant hairpin, her gold-threaded eight-treasure hairpin, her blue butterfly pearl tassel earrings, and she thought, "This one is not acceptable, that one is not acceptable, they are all her treasures."

When Chen Manli was worrying in front of her dressing box, the maid Biluo came in from outside. She said happily: "Miss, today I specially asked the kitchen to stew blood swallows for you. Look, isn't it crystal clear and beautiful in color? I guarantee that your skin will become more tender and smooth after eating it."

Chen Manli ignored the chatter of her maid Biluo. She was still counting what jewelry she could pawn for some money.

At this time, the maid Biluo chattered again: "There are also the fish maw and ginseng sent by General Bai. They are all good things. I heard that ginseng stewed chicken is also very nutritious, not to mention this hundred-year-old ginseng."

Chen Manli only heard the words "hundred-year-old ginseng". Yes, she could sell this ginseng, so she wouldn't have to pawn the jewelry.

Chen Manli made up her mind that this century-old ginseng was extremely rare and would definitely fetch a good price.

She thought that if she, a girl, went out to sell the ginseng, she might be haggard, so it would be better to let her second brother do it.

So she instructed Biluo: "Biluo, take that hundred-year-old ginseng to find the second young master and ask him to sell it to me at a suitable price at the pharmacy."

Biluo said: "Yes."

Chen Manli sat at the dining table with peace of mind and tasted the bowl of blood bird's nest carefully. It was fragrant and slightly sweet, without any other strange flavors. It was indeed a top-quality bird's nest.

So Biluo took the ginseng to the flower garden of the second young master Chen Zhenglin. The garden was filled with the fragrance of flowers, and the smell was very strong.

Biluo saw Lu'er standing guard at the study door, and stepped forward to ask: "Lu'er, I have something to ask the second young master. The third young lady asked me to come to the second young master to sell this century-old ginseng."

As soon as Lu'er saw Biluo's swaying figure, he couldn't take his eyes off her. He smiled flatteringly and said, "Sister Biluo, I'll go and inform her right away."

Lu'er lifted the curtain and went in to report: "Second Young Master, Biluo from the Third Young Lady's yard is here. She said she wants you to help sell some hundred-year-old ginseng at the pharmacy."

The second son Chen Zhenglin ordered: "Let her in."

Lu'er lifted the door curtain and said to Biluo who was standing outside obediently: "The young master is calling you in."

"Yes," Biluo replied in a low voice.

Sure enough, Biluo attracted the attention of the second young master as soon as she came in. This little girl has really changed a lot since she grew up. She has become more and more beautiful, with fair and tender skin.

The maid Biluo bowed respectfully and said: "Greetings, Second Young Master. I am here on the orders of Third Young Miss. Third Young Miss asked Second Young Master to help sell this century-old ginseng." As she said this, she respectfully handed over a long and flat box containing ginseng.

Upon hearing this, Young Master Chen Zhenglin raised a barely perceptible smile and said softly, "Step forward a little."

Upon hearing this, Biluo felt somewhat reluctant, but she had no choice but to take a few more steps forward until she was close enough to the young master.

When the second young master took the wooden box, his fingers seemed to slide lightly across the back of Biluo's smooth hand inadvertently. Biluo felt an electric current instantly spread throughout her body, making her tremble involuntarily.

The Second Young Master looked at Biluo with a faint smile on his face and said, "Okay, I understand. Go back and tell my sister that I will definitely take care of this matter."

Biluo tried hard to suppress her slightly trembling voice of fear. She said respectfully, "Second Young Master, I will take my leave first." After saying that, she turned around and left in a hurry.

After Biluo walked away, Lu'er raised a wicked smile and leaned close to the Second Young Master's ear, whispering, "Sir, is this little girl Biluo becoming more and more beautiful as I said?"

The second young master Chen Zhenglin smiled slightly and nodded, with an elusive light in his eyes, but he did not answer. His smile became more and more meaningful, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking at the moment.

After a while, he said: "Lu'er, let's go and sell ginseng."

"Okay, Master."

When the two came back, it was already evening. Chen Zhenglin looked at the six thousand taels of silver in his arms, and he thought that this hundred-year-old ginseng was really valuable.

What he didn't know was that the people in the pharmacy sold the ginseng to a traveling merchant for ten thousand taels in the blink of an eye.

He originally planned to go directly to his sister's plum garden, but after thinking about it, he took out one thousand taels of silver from his arms and gave it to Lu'er, asking him to keep it safe. He was happy in his heart, thinking that this was a reward for his sister's hard work in running away.

Chen Zhenglin walked briskly to the plum courtyard and happened to meet Bihe outside.

He asked with a smile, "Is the young lady here?" Bi He replied respectfully, "Second Young Master, the young lady is reading inside."

After saying that, Bihe gently lifted the door curtain, and Chen Zhenglin walked straight into the house without hesitation.

Chen Zhenglin's face, which was much paler than that of ordinary people, was filled with smiles. He said to Chen Manli gently, "Sister, I have sold the ginseng for you. It's exactly five thousand taels, no more, no less." After that, he carefully took out five silver notes with a face value of one thousand taels from his arms and gently handed them to his sister.

Chen Manli's eyes sparkled with surprise. She couldn't wait to take the banknote and said happily, "Thank you, second brother!" She carefully counted the banknotes in her hand, and sure enough, it was exactly five thousand taels.

Adding her original private money of 5,000 taels, the total amount was exactly 10,000 taels. This way, she didn't have to pawn her beloved jewelry.

Chen Manli was secretly calculating in her heart that as long as she waited until evening, when her mother would get another ten thousand taels from her father, she would have enough money and could cancel the engagement tomorrow.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but show her joy and was incomparably happy.

In the evening, in the courtyard of the Chen family's eldest lady, Master Chen Zheyuan returned from his shift. As soon as he entered the courtyard, the eldest lady came out of her room to greet him.

The eldest lady smiled and said, "Master is back. Why are you off duty so early today?"

Minister Chen replied, "Tomorrow is a day off, so the Ministry of Revenue has been dismissed early today."

As she spoke, the eldest lady ordered her maid Hong Ling to go to the kitchen to serve the meal, then she went forward in person to welcome the master into the room and began to unbutton and untie the belt of his official uniform.

Xue Yuan also walked to the closet very tactfully, took out a set of casual clothes that the master usually wore, and then stood aside holding the clothes and waiting.

Only after the eldest lady had taken off all of the master's outer clothes did Xue Yuan hand the clothes to the master to change into.

When I changed my clothes, the table was already filled with food and tea.

While serving attentively, the eldest lady carefully observed the master's expression. Seeing that the master looked happy today, she brought up the matter of Chen Manli's broken engagement.