Strange pawn

One autumn in the year of Guangxu,early in the morning,the largest pawnshop in the city,"Hexing Dang",came to do business.A young man with a beautiful face came to the cabinet,took out a wooden box from his arms and carefully handed it over,asking for 10,000 taels,and redeemed it a month later.

The shopkeeper,Bao Chumin,recognized at a glance that the box was carved from the best sandalwood in the world–sandalwood red sandalwood,which was very valuable.Bao Chumin carefully opened the box and was stunned:there was a pair of nails two or three inches long lying in the box!I saw that the nails were smooth and slender,and there were two small gems inlaid in the middle.

Bao Chumin laughed and said,"If you want to say that this box is worth three or five hundred taels of silver.But you dare to ask for ten thousand taels for this pair of nails?Young man,this is the foot of the Son of Heaven and the root of the Imperial City,don't pretend that we haven't seen anything!"

The young man's face turned red and argued,"If it weren't for the Son of Heaven,I wouldn't have taken this treasure out!"

Bao Chumin smiled coldly and said,"Then take your baby and try it elsewhere!"

The young man angrily went to hold the box,but only heard a shout from the back hall:"Wait!"Only a middle-aged lady came out,and the person who came was Bao Chumin's wife,Fu Cha's.She stared at the young man for a long time,then took the box,only glanced at it and ordered,"Ten thousand taels is not much!Give him silver!"Bao Chumin and all the people present were stunned.

Speaking of this Fucha family,her brother Delon used to be a pro-noble minister,but I have heard that Cixi Lafayette was not serving properly when he was traveling westward,and he was recently punished to see the city gate.However,the remnants of his family was still there,so Bao Chumin did not dare disobey his wife.The price was 10,000,and the interest was 1,000 taels.

Sending Qin Ying away,Bao Chumin was full of questions,what kind of nails are these worth 10,000 taels?But the lady didn't explain,just told them to put away the nails.Bao Chumin knew in his heart that these 10,000 taels were wasted:Yes,who picked up such a big bargain and didn't run away quickly?

The secret cannot be said

Who knew that a month later Qin Ying came to Hexingdang again,came in and took out a silver ticket,no more than 11,000 taels.Bao Chumin was amazed in his heart,the wolf can really spit out meat!

He hurriedly asked someone to take out the nails.Who knew that after a while,the servants came to report in a hurry that the baby was gone!The Bao family rummaged around,but still couldn't see the baby.

Seeing this,the young man dragged Bao Chumin and went to the Shuntian Mansion yamen to complain.Shuntian Mansion Yin's name was Zheng Hongjie.After he asked about the case,he advised Qin Ying:"Just ask the Bao family to compensate at the original price,is that okay?"Who would have thought that Qin Ying would not buy it!Zheng Hongjie was a little annoyed and sneered,"You are a little girl,you dare not show your true face,I am afraid that the origin of this baby is a little shady,right?"

Seeing that the mansion Yin recognized her true face,Qin Ying replied for a long time:"The lord is right,I am indeed a woman,and I am the wife of the old man Chen Pavilion of the military aircraft department!"

Zheng Hongjie was startled.Chen Ge was a grand official who was summoned to the capital by the Buddha Lafayette not long ago and entrusted with an important task.I had heard that he had a young wife who was obtained in chaos,but I didn't expect it to be Qin Ying in front of him!Zheng Hongjie immediately said politely:"It turns out to be Mrs Chen,disrespectful.But there is a sentence from the lower official that I don't know whether to ask or not.I don't know if Chen Ge knows about this pawn?"

Qin Ying pondered for a moment and said something that surprised everyone present.

Half a month ago,Chen Zhao and his family came to the capital,but they were stopped outside Chongwen Gate.It turned out that there was an unspoken rule for foreign officials to enter the capital,and they had to pay the entrance fee.The price was based on the size of the official title.Chen Zhao was an important official,and the price was naturally higher,which was worth 30,000 silver taels!

At that time,Elder Chen lost his temper and refused to give it.The stalemate lasted five days.In the end,a small official found Qin Ying privately and took the initiative to reduce the price to 10,000 taels.

Qin Ying had no choice,so she came to"Hexingdang"with the treasure disguise,and made 10,000 taels of silver,allowing the whole family to enter the city.As for the origin of the nails,she said that it was passed down by her grandmother,so she left a memory.

When Zheng Hongjie heard this,he felt that Qin Ying must be hiding this matter from Elder Chen,and he must have another inside story.So he persuaded softly and forcefully,"The baby has been lost.If we continue to make trouble,let alone disturb Elder Chen,maybe Lafayette will also intervene in this matter.

Seeing that Zheng Hongjie move out her husband and Buddha Lord,Qin Ying really gave up,and Bao Chumin made up another 10,000 taels of silver,so he stopped investigating the whereabouts of the baby.

Offer treasure to cause trouble

Not long after,Empress Dowager Lafayette ordered the ladies to enter the palace to give banquets,and Qin Ying,the wife of Chen Pavilion,was also included in the palace.

On that day,the inner ring of the palace was covered with Ding Dong,and the room was full of silk,and the empress dowager was high above.The eunuch Li Lianying was holding a gift-giving booklet and let her read it page by page,but she suddenly shouted:"Wait a minute!"

Li Lianying hurriedly stopped.The old Buddha took the booklet and took a closer look,then whispered a few words to the palace maid.The palace maid left the palace gate and soon came back with a box.

Lafayette asked someone to open the box and glanced at it.Her face suddenly turned pale.She stood up and was so shocked that the palace maid accidentally dropped the box on the ground.At this time,everyone in front of her could see clearly that a pair of nails two or three inches long fell out of the box!

Li Lianying immediately shouted in a shrill voice,"Who gave this gift?"Seeing a middle-aged woman stand up in response,Qin Ying felt familiar and took a closer look and remembered:"Isn't this the Fucha from Hexing Dang?"It turns out that her nails were hidden by her.

The Empress Dowager asked quietly,"Aren't you Durham's girl?"Where did you get this gift?"

The Fucha Clan answered with trepidation:"Back to the Buddha Lord,this servant's house runs a pawnshop.That day,I saw that this treasure was collected in the cabinet and hid it."

Old Buddha asked again,"Do you know its origin?The Fucha Clan nodded and said,"In the past,every time you gave a banquet,this servant recognized it as your fingernails.Later,my brother told me that this thing fell...Now that this servant has seen it again,I must not let it go to the people again!"

Empress Dowager Cixi smiled on her face:"Very good.You are so filial,you should be rewarded!"

The Fucha Clan quickly knelt and kowtowed:"Lord Buddha Shengming!The elder brother of this servant was not thorough enough to serve you,so he was demoted to guard the city gate!Please forgive my elder brother for the sake of this servant's filial piety."After saying that,he kowtowed again and again.

At this time Lafayette told Li Lianying to open a memorial and said,"Read it!Li Lianying cleared her throat and read it.

It turned out that this was the memorial that Chen Ge wrote the night before last,recounting that he was stopped outside Chongwen Gate and could not enter the city for five days.Looking at the Fucha family,the more he heard,the paler his face became,and his body couldn't help but tremble.

After Li Lianying finished reading,the old Buddha sneered and said,"You are thinking about your mother's brother.However,even though your brother is guarding the city gate,this servant is even fatter than me!It seems that I don't want him to let you down!"

At this point,the old Buddha suddenly showed a fierce light,stepped on the nail with a few feet,and got up to go back to the palace.Leaving the Fucha family on the ground,she couldn't even find a way to cry.Qin Ying,who was on the side,also secretly wiped a cold sweat and quickly left the table and returned to the house.

The past cannot be mentioned

A few days later,Chen Zhao went to court and excitedly told his wife Qin Ying that all the small officials guarding the city gate had been investigated.Qin Ying then told what happened in the palace that day.Chen Zhao asked in surprise,"Since the nails belong to the old Buddha,why is she angry when she looks at them?"

Only then did Qin Ying slowly tell the truth.It was more than a year ago that the Eight Kingdoms Allied Forces invaded Beijing City,and Lafayette changed into the clothes of a peasant woman and fled the city.The first night he stayed at the farmhouse,and just as he was about to eat,Delon,who was with him,ran in and said that a robber had committed a crime!Lafayette was so shocked that he got up and ran away,not wanting a long nail to be knocked on the door frame and broken.Lafayette did not care about the pain,and led a group of bereaved dogs to run ten miles in one breath,so that the little maid who was close to him could help cut off the other nail and collect it together.

When Elder Chen heard this,he woke up and said,"That little palace maid is you?"Qin Ying nodded.It turned out that the old Buddha had a love for nails,and Qin Ying was the palace maid who specialized in armor back then.Later,the master and servant got separated,and Qin Ying happened to meet Elder Chen,which made a marriage.

Chen Zhao asked distressingly,"Then why did you hide it from me?"

Qin Ying wept sadly:"Husband,I have been in the palace since I was a child,and Lafayette loves me like a granddaughter.I originally swore not to marry and be filial to the Empress Dowager for life,but I didn't expect a divorce to make me break my oath,so I didn't want to say it to you.I wanted to keep my nails and think about it,but this time I had to take them out for a pawn in order to exchange for silver and enter the city."

Chen Ge suddenly realized that this pair of long nails had witnessed the unbearable past of Lafayette,how could they bring it up again?This Fucha family really backfired and shot themselves in the foot!

At that time,Qin Ying couldn't help but shiver.Elder Chen also patted her shoulder and said,"The might of heaven is unpredictable,and the heights are too cold!Don't enter the palace again in the future!"