Han Xuri had already guessed Xu Dongsheng's answer.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that he was the heir of a duke, he wouldn't have bothered going back to the manor.

It's better to stay at the princess's residence and enjoy the comfort.

It's just that I'm disgusted by the way my father and his second wife are all lovey-dovey every day.

He was supposed to marry a princess, and no one forced him, yet he was made to act as if he had suffered some great injustice.

Not long after the princess's mother passed away, he married a second wife. Their eldest son was born at seven months, supposedly premature. Bah, who are you kidding?

They've been having an affair for ages, do they really think everyone else is stupid?

Han Xuri still believes that the loss of his younger brother and the death of the princess were inextricably linked to those two old men in the Duke's mansion.

However, after so many years of investigation, not a single clue has been found.

The more this happened, the more suspicious he became.

Therefore, he wanted to control everything in the Duke's mansion. He only felt comfortable if he went back every now and then to disgust that family.

“I understand why you don’t want to return to the manor, but your uncle can’t refuse to see you. He has been searching for you all these years.”

Han Xuri said.

Xu Dongsheng shook his head.

"Please tell my uncle that I am going to take the imperial examination. If I am lucky enough to pass, I will definitely have the opportunity to meet him."

If we were to rashly go to see him now,

If someone with ulterior motives notices this, they will surely accuse me of cheating in the imperial examinations.

I'm not afraid of being alone, but my father-in-law's family, apart from my grandfather who gave up taking the imperial examination, all nine other people are going to participate.

I know their knowledge; while I wouldn't say they can master everything, they could probably grasp half of it. I don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Han Xuri naturally understood.

"Alright, then I'll go to the palace tomorrow to apologize to my uncle."

Since you've come from Lingnan, did you bring any local specialties from your hometown? If you have, I'll take them to the palace tomorrow.

Otherwise, going to the palace empty-handed to apologize would truly lack sincerity.

Xu Dongsheng stared at his older brother for a long time.

“You have caravans that travel all over the country, and you must have far more local specialties than I do.”

They actually had the nerve to ask me for local specialties.

You might as well tell me to go directly to my wife and ask her for it; that would be more straightforward.

"Oh dear, my wife is so pitiful. How did she end up with such a greedy and ungrateful brother-in-law like you?"

After saying that, he shook his head, got up and left the living room, leaving Han Xuri sitting there alone, chuckling to himself.

When Zhao Qingyan heard the knocking, she opened the door and saw Xu Dongsheng. She then handed him the prepared basket.

Xu Dongsheng smiled, his eyes crinkling.

"How did Yan'er know I would come for help? Are we telepathically connected?"

Zhao Qingyan reached out and poked Xu Dongsheng on the forehead.

"What do you mean by telepathy? My heart isn't that big. It's because I know your older brother's businessman nature."

Xu Dongsheng curled his lip.

"Oh, Yan'er, why be so subtle? It would be better to just say my elder brother is treacherous."

Zhao Qingyan silently mourned for Han Xuri for a second. Having such a troublesome younger brother must be quite distressing.

Xu Dongsheng carried the basket back to the living room.

Han Xuri was quite surprised; Xu Dongsheng had returned much faster than expected.

"What's in your basket? Did you just throw something in there to fool me?"

Xu Dongsheng slammed the basket down on the coffee table and huffed,

"If that's what you're saying, then I'll take it."

My wife prepared this when she heard you were coming. I don't know what's inside, though.

As he spoke, he lifted the cloth covering the basket and took things out one by one.

The basket contained a small jar filled with canned fruit, several packets of dried fruit, and a packet of dried sweet potatoes.

Two bundles of vermicelli, one bundle of potato vermicelli and one bundle of sweet potato vermicelli, along with a recipe.

A bag of white sugar. This sugar was made from the sugar that the Zhao family made themselves from the sugar beets they grew.

In addition, a bottle of perfume was given to each of the Emperor and Empress.

Everything had a label on it.

Han Xuri's eyes widened as he looked at the things that had been unearthed.

"Young man, could you please bring your wife out? Look at all these things, they're all ways to make money."

When Xu Dongsheng saw these things, he knew that Han Xuri would be like this.

Their true nature as unscrupulous merchants has resurfaced.

"You don't need to call me wife anymore. My wife is giving these things away, so she must already have a plan."

Of course, making money is a must, but this time my wife probably wants my uncle to make more money.

Besides, bro, you don't need to look like a money-grubber all the time.

"At least half of the money you've earned over the years has gone into your uncle's secret stash, hasn't it?"

Han Xuri patted Xu Dongsheng on the head.

"You brat, what are you saying? If you don't want to call me 'little wife,' then don't. I'll come back here after I go to the palace tomorrow."

Han Xuri picked up the basket and left without hesitation, showing no trace of lingering affection.

Xu Dongsheng felt that he had been used by his own brother, and that his brother was the kind of person who would be used and then discarded immediately.

After watching Han Xuri leave, Xu Dongsheng extinguished all the lanterns in the second courtyard before returning to his room to rest.

The following day, at the Geunjeongjeon Hall of the Imperial Palace.

The emperor looked at the local specialties in the baskets placed on the dragon table.

He opened each item one by one, and despite the eunuchs' attempts to stop him, he took out a piece of dried mango and started eating it. The more he ate, the better it tasted.

I ate two pieces in a row, then grabbed some dried banana and started eating. It tasted good, sweet, crispy, and delicious.

He didn't know what canned food was, but he knew the word "fruit".

However, even for an emperor, getting a taste of fresh fruit in the dead of winter wasn't an easy thing.

At most, they can eat a few apples, and oranges are considered good.

I opened the seal on the small jar myself, and the sweet aroma inside filled my nostrils.

He ordered someone to bring a spoon and a small bowl, scooped out a piece of peach flesh, took a bite, and the emperor was almost moved to tears.

Since the beginning of winter, he hasn't had a single bite of anything he likes.

All day long, the imperial kitchen was serving all kinds of meat.

The greens were just small lettuce and bok choy grown in the greenhouse.

The life of a monarch is truly miserable.

After eating two pieces of peach flesh, the emperor put down the bowl and carefully covered the jar.

After thinking for a moment, I opened the jar, scooped out two pieces, thought for a moment, then scooped out another piece of peach flesh, and scooped out some broth into a small bowl.

He instructed the eunuch to send the bottle of women's perfume to the Empress.

As for dried mango and dried banana, I didn't use any of them.

Han Xuri watched his uncle prepare the food and wondered just how delicious it must be.

He had planned to try it yesterday, but when he saw that there wasn't much of it, and it was wrapped in an oil paper bag with glue on the seal, he couldn't just open it.

Seeing how much his uncle enjoyed the food, he started thinking that once he left the palace, he would go to the Zhao family and ask his younger brother and sister-in-law for some more to take back.