Chapter 80: Xiao Cui Pays the Bill (Part 2)

Cui Ping felt somewhat awkward. As the saying goes, a concubine is better than a wife, and he certainly wanted the concubine to sit down too, but his wife was right there! He couldn’t make the decision.
Pei Shi pretended not to hear. Raising her cup with a smile, she said, “General Li, I’m sorry for not treating you properly today. This drink is from me, your housewife, as an apology.”
“Oh, no! You’re too kind, madam. It’s me who’s troubling you today.”
Li Qing’an exchanged a few polite words and toasted with the couple. Then, Pei Shi stood up and said, “General Li, please enjoy your meal. I must take my leave now.”
Smiling, she bowed slightly and gave the concubine a wink before the two left together.
Li Qing’an watched her enter the inner room before nodding and saying to Cui Ping, “Why don’t you start your own household?”
Cui Ping sighed. “It’s embarrassing to admit, but my father-in-law gave his daughter to me, thinking I would achieve something. Yet now I don’t even have my own house and still have to live in the Cui family’s mansion. As the saying goes, a man should be established by age thirty. I’m already thirty, but I’m still far from being established!”
Recently, Li Qing’an had also thought about buying a house, so he asked with great interest, “I wonder what the housing prices are like in Chang’an now?”
At the mention of housing prices, Cui Ping shook his head and said with a wry smile, “Housing prices rise along with rice prices. In the first year of Tianbao, ten wen was enough for one dou of rice, and a medium-sized house cost no more than a hundred guan. Even in the best areas like Chongye, Jingshan, Xuanyi, and Lanling, prices were only a little over two hundred guan. But this year, rice prices have risen to fifty-five wen per dou, and housing prices have doubled. Last month, I saw a three-mu medium-sized house in Fengle Fang with over twenty rooms, priced at seven hundred guan. Even after bargaining, it would cost at least six hundred guan. How could an ordinary family afford that? Alas! I’m a sixth-rank official, which sounds impressive, but I still don’t have my own house.”
“Don’t you have a salary and permanent farmland as an official?” Li Qing’an asked with a smile.
“Ah! Don’t mention it,” Cui Ping waved his hand. “According to the regulations, I’m supposed to have five qing of official land and two qing and fifty mu of permanent land. Maybe that was true before, but now it’s just a quota. In reality, the court only gives me less than half of that. I have to buy the rest myself. Even if I got the full amount, my annual income would be only a hundred or two hundred guan, and that only if the weather is favorable. How is that enough to buy a house? As for my salary, I get two guan per month and a hundred dan of rice per year. Adding in other allowances, my total annual income is still only a hundred guan. After saving for a few years to get married and take concubines, I’ve spent almost all of it. I’m constantly in the red!”

Cui Ping grew more and more depressed as he spoke. “It’s not like you guys in the border troops—once you fight and earn merits, you get thousands of taels of silver and hundreds of bolts of silk as rewards. We just toil our lives away.”

Li Qingan held his wine cup. He suddenly remembered that although he had been promoted, his allocated land and permanent farmland hadn’t increased at all; it was still just those few acres in Bahuancheng. Moreover, no one had mentioned anything about his salary or rations. Could it be they intended to withhold my salary, Old Li’s?

“Don’t worry, Gentleman Cui. Take your time. By the way, how much more do you need to buy a house?”

“Don’t mention it! Don’t mention it!” Cui Ping waved his hands repeatedly. He was short by a significant amount—how could he bring it up? Though he was embarrassed to ask for a loan, he had to find an opportunity to ask Li Qingan for help; otherwise, this meal would be for nothing.

Cui Ping poured another cup of wine for Li Qingan and said with a smile, “I’d advise General Li to buy a house in Chang’an sooner. House prices rise with rice prices. My father-in-law said that there was a severe flood in Jianghuai this year, and a drought in Hedong. Rice prices will definitely go up after the New Year, and so will house prices.”

“Won’t they drop?”

“Drop?” Cui Ping shook his head. “It’s not the Kaiyuan era anymore. It’s easier for prices to rise than to fall!”

Hearing this, Li Qingan thought to himself, ‘I need to buy a residence these days.’

“Then if I wanted to buy a house with a backyard garden and fully furnished, how much would that cost?”

“If it has a backyard garden, it should be at least five acres. I know of one in Qinren Fang. The asking price is a thousand guan, but after some bargaining, it should be at least nine hundred guan.”

“Hmm! Then introduce it to me sometime, Gentleman Cui.”

“No problem. I know the seller. I’ll talk to them for you tomorrow.”

The two drank a few more cups of wine. Then, Li Qingan asked casually, “I heard that Cui Youcheng’s son is going to take the imperial examinations next year. Is that true?”

Cui Ping was stunned for a moment before laughing awkwardly. “General Li, where did you hear such rumors? My uncle’s eldest son, Cui Yao, is an official elsewhere. His second son, Cui Ming, passed away due to illness two years ago. There are no other sons—just two daughters.”

“Oh! It’s really sad that he died so young. It must be hard for his widow and children left behind.”

“It’s even worse. My cousin was about to get married. His bride was the granddaughter of the former Duke of Chu, Jiang Jiao. Although their family has declined in status, since the marriage was arranged when they were young and the girl is quite beautiful, the Cui family decided to go through with it, hoping that the joy of the wedding could ward off illness. But just two days before the wedding, Cui Ming died, leaving behind a widow.”

“Then can’t she remarry?” Li Qing’an laughed. “I’m just a bit curious and asking casually—no other meaning.”
“Generally, she can remarry. After all, they weren’t really married. As long as her parents request it, the engagement can be broken. But my Cui family doesn’t want widows to remarry, so they firmly refuse to cancel the engagement.”
Just as Cui Ping said this, he suddenly saw his wife waving at him from the inner room. He quickly stood up and said with a smile, “General Li, please wait a moment. I’ll be right back.”
“Go ahead, sir!”
Cui Ping hurried into the inner room. Just as he was about to ask something, Lady Pei pulled him inside and whispered, “I have a feeling that this General Li is here because of your cousin’s widow.”
Cui Ping frowned and asked quickly, “How did you figure that out?”
“By intuition. Isn’t Jiang Wuyi very beautiful? I guess General Li must be interested in her.”
Cui Ping hesitated for a moment and said, “If that’s the case, does that mean he’s here to ask me for a favor?”
“That’s right! So you should boldly set conditions—he’ll agree.”
“But my uncle might not agree, and there’s also my grandmother, who has always firmly opposed the widow remarrying.”
“Don’t worry about that for now. Get his help first; we can discuss that woman’s matter later.”
Lady Pei pushed him lightly. “Go now! Remember, you need to set conditions.”
Cui Ping nodded and returned to the dining table. He chuckled twice, raised his cup, and said, “Come on, General Li! Let me toast to you again.”
“I’ll toast to you too.”
The two drank. Li Qing’an couldn’t think of a topic to ask about Jiang Wuyi. Cui Ping clenched his fist and suddenly said with a smile, “General Li, there’s something I’d like to ask you for help with. I wonder if it’s possible…”
Li Qing’an smiled and said, “Go ahead and tell me. If I can do it, I’ll definitely agree.”
“It’s like this: I passed the imperial exams in the first year of Tianbao and am considered a low-ranking official. I’m eligible to be promoted to a rank above fifth grade, but fifth grade is a very high barrier. It’s extremely difficult to get there—achievements are necessary. I’ve been stuck in the Ministry of State Affairs year after year, doing the same tasks every day. Doing them right brings no credit, doing them wrong brings blame. It’s incredibly hard to achieve any accomplishments. Another official like me, Zheng Deyu, has been a low-ranking official for twenty years yet still can’t break through that fifth-grade barrier. I thought that if I could be transferred to another place to serve as an official, maybe I could achieve something.”
Li Qing’an blinked and smiled. “I understand what you mean, sir. But I’m just an officer in Anxi and don’t know any high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Personnel. How can I help you?”

Cui Ping hurriedly said, “Of course I know General Li can’t do it himself, but…”
When he said “but,” Cui Ping smiled sheepishly and added, “As long as General Li does me this favor, I will definitely do my best to assist with whatever he inquired about today.”
Li Qing’an picked up his wine cup and glanced at Lady Pei hiding behind the door. Narrowing his eyes, he smiled and asked, “How do you want me to help you?”
Cui Ping was overjoyed. He quickly stepped closer to Li Qing’an and lowered his voice, “As long as General Li tells Old Gao…”
…