Chapter 113 Good News: Before returning to Jingzhou, Fu Xuan did not go back to the Hesheli family, and Tongjia's mother was depressed for several days...

Before returning to Jingzhou, Fuxuan did not go back to the Hesheli family. Tongjia, as her mother, was depressed for several days. It wasn't until the morning of the day Fuxuan left that she had her maid send a box to Shen Wanqing.

“Grandma, here are the silver notes and some jewelry that the old lady prepared for Miss Fu. The old lady meant that since you are in charge of the household, it is up to you whether or not these things can be given to Miss Fu.”

“Take the silver notes back. I’ve already sent someone to inquire these past few days. My aunt has lost less than half of her dowry in the past few years. Even if she only has half left or none left, as long as she still has the shops and land, she won’t lack food or clothing.”

Shen Wanqing opened the box, and without even looking at it, took out a stack of silver notes, which, while not a large amount, were not thin, and handed them back.

This time, Fu Xuan absolutely cannot feel that the Hesheli family has treated her lightly, otherwise it will not only cause trouble for herself, but it will also not be good for her.

"I will accept these pieces of jewelry and will definitely give them to my aunt later."

There weren't many pieces of jewelry, and the styles weren't fashionable in the last two years; it was obvious at a glance that they were old pieces that Tongjia had kept hidden away. Fuxuan had been by Tongjia's side for many years, so she would definitely recognize these items when they were sent to her.

Well, everyone can say that Tongjia Shi is clueless and spoiled Fuxuan, but only Fuxuan can't stand Tongjia Shi's excessive favoritism and pampering before turning around and criticizing her.

Shen Wanqing had no objection to giving the jewelry to her; the only question was whether she could appreciate the love her mother, Lady Tongjia, had for her. Who knew if the person would keep the jewelry as a keepsake, melt it down to have it remade, or simply exchange it for silver or copper coins?

Ultimately, this matter depends on Fu Xuan herself. As long as she can get past her own conscience, then any way she handles it is not surprising.

Shen Wanqing was in charge of handing over the items. When they arrived at Tongzhou Wharf, Yulang didn't come forward. He just handed the box to He Yi. He Yi had handled Fu Xuan's matter from beginning to end, so it was better for her to hand over the items.

"Second brother, is Mother feeling better?"

"The imperial physician said that from now on, you should relax and take good care of yourself, and avoid overthinking. Perhaps you can gradually recover."

“Tell your mother that I was just angry that night, and I didn’t mean to say those things to upset her.”

"Whether it was intentional or not, you know the answer in your heart." He Yi shook his head, refusing to convey this message to her.

“In the past… I always thought of myself as a man raised by a noble family of the Upper Three Banners, and how could ordinary officials and scholars outside be like me?”

"After leaving Beijing, I realized how foolish I had been. No one is more foolish than us, and you are no less stupid than anyone else. Put your head and eyes down, and patiently look at the people around you; life isn't so hard."

He Yi was still the same selfish and self-centered second master, but the losses he had suffered and the things he had accomplished in the past few years were constantly forcing him to let go of his noble and superior mentality and re-examine his way of dealing with people.

"Second brother, you still think it's my fault."

"Alright, I've already said enough about right and wrong when I went to your house that day. You need to figure out what to do yourself. Let's go, and live a good life from now on."

Fu Xuan couldn't get over this idea. She believed that she had already compromised too much by marrying down, so De Cheng and the Dong E family should obey her in every other aspect. Further discussion would only lead to circling this rigid principle, so there was no point in saying anything more.

Zhenxuan also arrived. She had always been the most composed and discerning person in the family since childhood, and unsurprisingly, she stood silently to the side. Fuxuan, on the other hand, glanced at her a couple of times, hesitated several times before finally mustering the courage to step forward.

"Sister, you must take good care of yourself. Wan-ge'er is not..."

“Let’s go, stop talking. Wan’er isn’t my biological son, but I need a son. Without this son, Hailan and I will have an increasingly difficult life. I know what to choose.”

As soon as Fu Xuan spoke, Zhen Xuan's last bit of sadness disappeared. She had originally had a lot to say to her sister, but now she felt there was no need to say anything more.

Let's go, let's go. If we don't see each other and stay far away, we'll only remember the good things about you when we think back on it. If we keep seeing each other every day, we'll wear down the last bit of affection we have left.

De Cheng remained silent throughout. He had anticipated that his desire to enter the capital would not be fulfilled before he came. He didn't really want to come to the capital; he was just trying to achieve the best he could hope for.

As for Fu Xuan, he glanced at his wife, who was boarding the boat with tears in her eyes. From satisfaction to joy to gradual disappointment, he didn't know how things had come to this.

However, he didn't intend to complain. After all, mutual respect is rare; the closest and most distant relationships are those between husband and wife. Even if he really divorced Fu Xuan, he wouldn't find a wife with a better family background or appearance than her, so it was better this way. At least marrying Fu Xuan would give him this letter from He Yi, something he couldn't get by marrying anyone else.

The farewell from afar didn't show much reluctance to part. The brother and sister, who came from the same womb, had helplessness and resentment on their faces, but they couldn't see much reluctance to leave.

Seeing this, Shen Wanqing completely lowered the carriage curtain and stopped looking. She turned around and pulled Yi'an, who was sitting on Yu Lang's lap, onto her own body. Then she turned to her husband and said seriously, "Do you want to go over? We really don't know when we'll see each other again after this."

"They're gone. Everything that needed to be said has already been said. There's nothing more to say."

When affection is present, one can use it as an excuse to constantly tolerate and yield, as if it can never be exhausted. When it's gone, it's usually not depleted little by little, but rather disappears in a single day or moment.

Even if he wanted to pretend that she was still there, it would be in vain. Yu Lang was just like that. Looking at Fu Xuan who had already boarded the ship in the distance, he felt no ripples or emotions at all.

If there were other people in the carriage or if they were in front of others, Yu Lang might have put on an act, but there were only the two people closest to him in the world in the carriage. He didn't want to put on that fake act for Shen Wanqing; there was really no need for it.

After seeing Fu Xuan off, He Yi and Zhen Xuan returned to the capital, while Yu Lang and Shen Wanqing took the children out of the city.

The largest estate is nominally managed by the estate head, but in the past two years, Zhuang Ming has actually been in charge. The original estate has been expanded to include two more courtyards. From the outside, it still looks like a farmhouse, but once you step inside, you'll find it's a completely different world.

This was Shen Wanqing's little selfish desire. The city bumpkin from another world wanted both idyllic scenery and a comfortable life, so she created a style where the outside was a bare shell and the inside was fully furnished.

When Yu Lang first came with her, he first marveled at the sight of her, and then hugged Shen Wanqing and laughed heartily.

He said that his great-grandmother was not the type to mistreat herself at all. How could she not try to make the yard as nice as possible after spending money to expand it? It turned out that she wanted to experience the leisurely life of picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and gazing at the southern mountains.

Shen Wanqing knew he was teasing her, but she was too lazy to refute him. After all, building a small courtyard like this, with a mountain behind it, a pond in front, a vegetable garden, and a heated wall, cost just as much as building a small house in the city.

Even in order to create a natural feel, the rocks and flowers in the backyard were designed by craftsmen, and stones were bought from outside to build mountains and dig ponds. A huge amount of money was spent. In the end, when Daijia entered the house, she praised that the courtyard was arranged very well, and the natural scenery and pastoral landscape were particularly pleasant.

At the time, she didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said. But afterwards, Yu Lang hugged his great-grandmother and squeezed into a recliner, rocking and laughing. It wasn't until Shen Wanqing couldn't stop laughing that she realized what he was laughing about.

Behind us are hills, and those two hills were the imperial estates bestowed by the emperor. You could have any pastoral scenery you wanted, but you insisted on spending money to create a courtyard with "natural scenery." If I had known this would happen, Yulang would have just brought people up the mountain to stay for a few days.

Shen Wanqing found it a little funny, but after laughing, she leaned on Yu Lang and asked him why he didn't mention this when he was spending money to do it.

Yu Lang shook his head at this. As far as Uncle Yu was concerned, money was meant to be spent. Besides, who in the family was more capable of making money could be seen by looking at who was more attentive to him and his wife, the servants and the Manchus under the banner.

How could he not spend all the money he had earned from managing the entire family business? It's just that he simply didn't have the time. In a few years, when he no longer had any work to do, he would renovate the entire imperial estate, making it into a grand garden with every step a scene according to Shen Wanqing's preferences.

When she said this, Shen Wanqing was so pleased that she did whatever Lord Yu said that night until she was so tired and sweaty that she lay on Yu Lang's body and didn't want to move anymore. Then she suddenly remembered that Yu Lang had made such a big wish for her, and the money was still her own!

However, she managed to please him by being sweet-talking. This time, when Shen Wanqing came to the manor, she specially asked someone to bring Yu Lang's bow and arrows and several fine horses. She came to the outskirts of the city to relax and stay for a while, while he took his entourage into the mountains to ride horses and hunt. They each had their own kind of happiness.

Yu Lang had an exceptionally good hunting streak this time, catching big catches like gazelles and deer almost every day. The day before, they even ran into a wild boar, and it took the group a lot of effort to bring the dead boar back.

The wild boar was brought back, just as Shen Wanqing was watching the tenants slaughter a pig on the estate. The pig Shen Wanqing was slaughtering was a small black pig from the south, which contrasted sharply with the large wild boar behind Yu Lang, which required several strong men to lift.

When Gao Laixi found the manor, Shen Wanqing and Yu Lang were eating braised pork in a hot pot, a specialty of Yunnan and Guizhou.

The ethnic minorities in the southwest are too far away for Beijing now. When people from the caravan and boat groups come back and talk about things there, Yu Lang feels like he is listening to a story.

The black pigs from the mountains in the southwest are different from the pork in Beijing. The meat is more reddish when cut, and has a firmer and more tender texture. It doesn't have as much fat as the pigs from the north, making it excellent for roasting and marinating.

However, the better the taste, the smaller the size, and the sows produce less milk than those in the north. It also takes longer for the piglets to grow to market weight.

A dozen or so pigs were brought out of the mountains by a caravan and then transported back to the capital by a boat caravan. It was just a novelty for the owner. If you were to sell such pigs outside, you would lose money on every one you sold, and you wouldn't be able to do business at all.

"Boss, the cured pork made from this black pig tastes the best. No matter how skilled my chef is, the cured pork he makes is still a little different."

"One region's water and soil nurture its people, and not everyone likes the food from Laweizhuang. You've done a great job to get to where you are now. Anyway, not everyone can taste the difference."

It's like making cured duck or braised duck, but the results are different depending on whether it's a common duck or a mallard duck. Common ducks are fatter and larger, and after curing, a layer of fat remains between the duck meat and the skin.

Families who don't usually eat much meat and consider eating meat a special treat are happy to buy these fat and large ducks, believing that they need thick meat and lots of fat to truly enjoy them.

However, gourmets, those who enjoy eating but are health-conscious, or those who buy it specifically to accompany alcohol, will prefer the firmer meat of the Muscovy duck.

Ordinary meat ducks, if raised well, can grow to seven or eight pounds, while Muscovy ducks are basically around three pounds. For ducks, the difference between the two is huge.

Zhuang Ming was a very patient and insightful person. His original intention in setting up the breeding farm was to supply the preserved meat shop. In addition to finding another way to make money for the tenants of the Hesheli family and the poor bannermen under the Zuo Ling, he naturally could not neglect his business.

After learning the craft from his master, he gradually distinguished the preserved meats sent to the capital from various parts of the south from those raised on his own farm. He then improved the smoking process and sold them separately at preserved meat shops. His business became increasingly prosperous.

He was eating the small black pig sent from the south and the wild boar that had just been hunted, and his mind was still on the pig breeds raised on the estate. He remained silent for a long time, so long that Shen Wanqing and Yu Lang had already changed the subject several times before he finally got up and walked from his table to Shen Wanqing's side.

"Grandma, do you think it's okay if I want to raise the black pigs from the south together with our local pigs?"

"Raise them together?"

The roasted meat was served with Shaoxing wine, along with sizzling chicken wings and garlic eggplant. Shen Wanqing ate until her eyes were squinted, just like a cat that was flushed with alcohol.

"Do you mean raising them together, or crossbreeding?"

Shen Wanqing thought for a moment before she roughly understood what Zhuang Ming meant. This man was taciturn but not pedantic. Not having read the classics did not prevent him from exploring the world with his life experience.

"Mating, breeding..."

Zhuang Ming was shocked by Shen Wanqing's blunt use of the word "breeding," and Yu Lang, who was standing next to him, also put down his wine glass and turned his gaze over.

Why did you suddenly think of this?

Yulang has been in charge of the banner affairs for the past year, and one of the most important aspects of this is warhorses. He likes horses, but in the past he simply kept a few good horses at home.

It wasn't until he took charge of the military affairs under the commander that year that he came into contact with the daily tasks of feeding warhorses and breeding them. If horses could be crossbred and bred, then improving the breed of pigs didn't seem so absurd. In any case, Yu Lang accepted this idea very well.

"The pigs here are fat and big. A single pig can yield more than 100 jin of meat. The meat can be eaten and the fat can be rendered into oil, but the taste is still not as good as the small black pigs in the south."

"The quality of the black pig is good, but it doesn't grow very big even after a long time. If you really want to raise this kind of pig to sell or make cured meat, the most expensive pork sold in the cured meat shop will be this kind."

"So I thought I'd try mixing the two together, maybe the resulting pork would be plentiful and delicious."

Zhuang Ming's voice trailed off as he spoke. This idea was quite absurd; he only thought about the benefits of breeding without considering the potential accidents that might occur during the process. A pig could sell for about a hundred catties of meat, and each catty of meat cost thirty to forty coins. If something went wrong during breeding, the losses could be substantial.

"Then let's give it a try. What's wrong with giving it a try? We're not doing anything bad. If we do it well, everyone will be happy. If we don't do it well, then the people in the village will be in for a treat. Every family will be able to eat meat a few more times."

Zhuang Ming has been selling greenhouse vegetables (similar to those grown in winter greenhouses) for two years. He lost everything in the first year, and although things were a bit better last year, he still didn't make much money. Several big players in the greenhouse vegetable business in the suburbs of Beijing are keeping their secrets, so it's too difficult for Zhuang Ming to learn their techniques.

But this year he had already assured himself that he definitely wouldn't lose money again. Shen Wanqing's attitude was to actively urge him on but not to rush things. These things had to be done slowly, and as long as he spent his money and energy on the right things, she could wait.

"Don't worry, Grandma. I won't use the black pigs this time. It's not a good time for breeding anyway. I'll make an appointment with the ship crew next time they go out. We'll definitely have a plan by next year."

"I trust you to handle things, but starting next year you'll have to go back to the manor every month, and you'll have to tell me the progress yourself."

Power cannot be withheld, nor can it be given entirely. Zhuang Ming already has enough responsibilities; he can't just leave people out there unattended. Believing that a person's nature and heart will never change is a very naive thing.

Just like the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, they would occasionally summon Yulang and me to the palace. It might not be for any particular reason, but we absolutely could not be like kites with broken strings, going out and never coming back.

Thinking this to himself, he saw some people from the village bringing over someone who looked very familiar. As they got closer, he realized it was Gao Laixi, and Yu Lang immediately felt a jolt and the smell of alcohol dissipated.

"Why is Eunuch Gao here at this time? Is there something going on with the Crown Prince?"

"Of course there's something wrong, otherwise I wouldn't have come out of the city to find you at this hour."

Gao Laixi went to the manor first, but couldn't find any talent, so he went out of the city to the estate. Yu Lang and Shen Wanqing had eaten and drunk their fill, but he was still hungry.

"I don't know where is good outside the city, but Lord Yu and his wife come here whenever they have time."

"Tsk, Father-in-law, please tell me what it is. If you're in a hurry, we can talk as we walk."

The fact that they came looking for him at this hour must mean something serious. Yu Lang was about to turn around and go inside to change his clothes when Gao Laixi stopped him.

"Today, the Crown Princess was diagnosed with pregnancy. The Crown Prince is happy, and the Crown Princess is happy too. The Crown Princess wants to see the First Madam, and the Crown Prince wants to see Lord Yu. But since neither of you is here, we had no choice but to come here."

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Bodhisattva: Alright, it's your turn now.