Chapter 117 I've been married to the fairy for five days now. "Tell Tan Chun to go north..."

"This isn't right, is it?" Mu Chuan subconsciously reached out and hugged Lin Daiyu, his tone full of doubt. "When I was unmarried, I never worried about what to eat. How come I have to worry about food now that I'm married?"

Lin Daiyu giggled and buried her face in Mu Chuan's chest: "It's probably because you used to eat three meals a day before you got married, but now you can only eat two meals a day."

Mu Chuan paused. "That makes sense. Ouch—why did you bite me? Did I miss your meat or your fish?"

Lin Daiyu didn't speak, she just smiled.

By the time the two had finished washing up and sat down at the dining table, it was already late morning, and the table was laden with food.

Mu Chuan laughed and said, "Although we've only been married for a few days, you should know that finding a son-in-law who can eat and drink well is a great blessing, right? Look at this table, there are all kinds of food from all directions. You can eat whatever you want without worrying about wasting food, because I'll take care of everything."

Lin Daiyu glanced at him, looking at him defiantly, and added two spoonfuls of sugar to the hot milk.

Mu Chuan exaggeratedly looked away, picked up his large bowl, and added a pinch of salt.

"Who puts salt in milk?" Lin Daiyu said with a smile. "Let me try it."

Lin Daiyu picked up Mu Chuan's large bowl, took a couple of sips, and tasted it: "Milk is naturally sweet, but with added salt... it's not that it tastes bad, it's just a bit strange."

She took two more sips: "It's alright, it seems even sweeter now."

After the milk had been poured into the large bowl, Lin Daiyu pushed her bowl towards Mu Chuan and said with an embarrassed smile, "Third Brother, you can drink this. I specially added sugar for you."

She's truly my wife; no one but my wife would do something like this.

Mu Chuan sighed, picked up the small bowl, and stirred the contents of the bowl with a spoon, glancing at his wife after each stirring. The smile on Lin Daiyu's face hadn't faded all morning.

After breakfast, Mu Chuan took Lin Daiyu to see the family's warehouse.

"Broadly speaking, there are granaries, warehouses for storing coal and firewood (those are the stone-built ones over there), and warehouses for storing other things. Our household supports more than 400 people, and we need nearly 1,000 catties of grain every day."

There wasn't much to see in the granary and charcoal, so Mu Chuan took her directly to the storeroom where the goods were stored.

"They are all the same size, with a total of three layers. The bottom layer is used to store gold, silver, porcelain, and other items. Although lime is used to prevent moisture, it is still underground. The middle layer is easy to access, and most of the heavy items, such as furniture, are on this layer. The top layer is mostly used for fabrics, calligraphy, paintings, and other items. It cannot be too dry or too damp, and it cannot be exposed to too much sunlight. There are also curtains inside to block the sun."

Mu Chuan first showed her two empty three-story warehouses: "These two are yours."

"Where would I get such things?"

"It will come slowly, but for items like fabric, it can only be accumulated for three to five years at most. If it takes longer, even if it is stored away from light, the color will not look good."

Lin Daiyu thought that her third brother looked like a warrior, but he knew everything, so she asked, "I'll go and see your warehouse."

"What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'?" Mu Chuan chuckled as he taught her. "You should say, 'What's mine is mine, and what's yours is also mine.'"

Lin Daiyu glanced at him: "It's one thing for you to say this to me, but you can't teach the children like this in the future, what if—"

Lin Daiyu blushed, spat, and said in a deliberately affected tone, "Go and see the warehouse next door where things have already been placed."

Mu Chuan took the large key to open the door and handed another set of large keys to Lin Daiyu: "They are arranged according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, it's all written on them."

Holding the item in her hands, Lin Daiyu was a little dazed. She glanced at Mu Chuan and smiled, "It's quite heavy. You take it first, and give it to me when we get back."

The two entered the warehouse, and Mu Chuan deliberately asked, "Last time you came, you said you wanted a sturdy big bed. Are you satisfied with this bed now?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and glanced at him sideways: "What if I say I'm not satisfied?"

Mu Chuan pointed to the basement: "There are gold bricks down there. Using those to build a bed will definitely make it sturdy."

Lin Daiyu ignored him and instead browsed around on the first floor: "It's only early autumn here. In a few days, when the weather gets cold, we'll need to change our furniture. I like heavy furniture for autumn and winter, paired with brightly colored fabrics."

“No problem.” Mu Chuan thought for a moment, “Then let’s rearrange the warehouses. Right now, they’re arranged according to the value of the materials and workmanship. When you have time later, we can arrange them according to the seasons.”

As he spoke, he let out a long sigh of relief and said with great joy, "Only after marrying a wife do I know what life is. All those years before, I could only be described as merely existing."

Lin Daiyu felt embarrassed by his words: "Well, you'll understand as you go along. It's like how you should wear thick clothes in winter and thin clothes in summer."

She then picked out two delicate, openwork high tables, intending to have them moved back into the house to place vases. She asked Mu Chuan, "What should I do with some of the dowry items that the Rongguo Mansion prepared for me that I don't need or want to keep?"

Mu Chuan guessed that she didn't want to ask about selling or giving things away, so he said, "We have a pawnshop at home. If we don't have enough, we can send them to the pawnshop to sell them slowly. If we meet someone who likes them, we might be able to get a good price. We also have a grain shop and a general store, so we can sell some things there too."

Since we're on the topic, Mu Chuan said, "We also have a coal shop and a cloth shop. The villages near Linjia Village get their harvests from the fields and wild game from the mountains from our shops."

"Third Brother is quite good at planning."

Mu Chuan added, "I also want to do some silk business. This stuff is more expensive than gold in Beili and Nanli. If it can be transported overseas, it's basically worth ten times the weight of gold."

Lin Daiyu thought for a moment and said, "My family used to own a silk shop, but it's not of much help now. I vaguely remember a few important things; listen to them and see if they can be of any use."

Mu Chuan nodded, and Lin Daiyu said, "The most important thing is mulberry leaves. Silkworms can eat any kind of leaves, but only those that eat mulberry leaves produce the best silk. So you need to have a large area of ​​mulberry trees, and you also need to guard them strictly so that outsiders can't sneak in."

Mu Chuan nodded.

"Next are the silkworm mothers. Experienced silkworm mothers can select the most suitable cocoons for breeding and can also breed silkworms with soft and supple silk."

Mu Chuan nodded again.

Lin Daiyu glanced at him, then drifted off into thought again. Back in the Rongguo Mansion, there were always people who would disagree with whatever she said, but now that her third brother was like this, she listened to everything he said.

"That's all. Since you're not shipping locally, you don't need to worry about anything else."

Mu Chuan thought for a moment. The silk he shipped out in the last two batches was substandard, purchased from the Imperial Textile Bureau. Although it was not of the quality required for the imperial use, it was still very good. However, the profit was not as high as if he controlled the entire process himself.

The Imperial Textile Bureau has silkworm breeders, workers, silkworm eggs, and technology. Perhaps we can follow Bai Zhong's lead and see if we can find some of them.

As Mu Chuan was thinking, Lin Daiyu opened a box and looked at him with a disappointed expression: "Third Brother, this is top-quality incense, you can't leave it like this."

Mu Chuan leaned closer and took a sniff. To be honest, at this time, peppercorns, cinnamon, and other spices were used as incense. Mu Chuan felt that the smell of this box was only as good as braised pork.

"This was just brought back, so... should we put it in the kitchen?"

Lin Daiyu chuckled and said, "I took it to make incense seals."

"...I only have one request: don't use the fumes in the bedroom."

With a snap, Lin Daiyu closed the box: "Is there any more?"

"Bei Li's incense is quite famous." He must have snatched a lot back then. "I'll have someone bring the list; we have some at home." If not, he'll immediately send someone to get some from Chief Hua Ajarn.

In the afternoon, Lin Daiyu assigned Mu Chuan his homework, and she fiddled with her little incense burner on the side.

Although Mu Chuan couldn't understand what those dozen or so accessories were for, his wife was beautiful. She looked beautiful no matter what she did; she looked like a fairy descending to earth.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lin Daiyu lit incense and looked up to see her newlywed husband staring at her without any attempt to hide it. "The ink has even spilled on the paper."

Mu Chuan sniffed it: "It doesn't taste like braised pork anymore."

"You've ruined such a beautiful atmosphere." Lin Daiyu laughed as she walked to Mu Chuan's side and gently placed her hand on his shoulder: "Third Brother."

She called softly, "I read in history books that spices from the Western Regions were frequently used as tribute in the Tang Dynasty palace. When Emperor Wu of Han welcomed the Queen Mother of the West to the world, he also burned a spice called 'Doumo Xiang'—"

Several other things were mentioned afterward, but Mu Chuan didn't remember them. He paid all his attention to the warm, smooth hand that was resting on his shoulder and occasionally touching his neck.

"Third brother, you're so kind."

She said I was nice, and Mu Chuan smiled seriously: "Just tell me what you want."

The next morning, the two got up, ate a little something, and then went to the Marquis of Dingnan's residence.

Another group of servants packed up their belongings and returned to Linjia Village. They were to meet at the city gate around 3 PM and then leave the city together.

This was Lin Daiyu's second visit to the Marquis of Dingnan's residence. The last time she came, she had to call him "Third Uncle," which made her feel rather embarrassed.

As Lin Daiyu pondered this, she glanced at Mu Chuan with tender affection and said, "Third Uncle."

Mu Chuan was filled with questions.

Before Mu Chuan could speak, Lin Daiyu laughed first: "The first time I saw Third Brother play the drum was at the Dingnan Marquis's residence. It's a pity that I was blocked last time and didn't see anything."

Mu Chuan was able to keep up with this topic, saying, "What else did you want to see? You not only saw it, you touched it; you not only touched it, you also—"

Lin Daiyu rushed over and covered his mouth, afraid that he would say something that would make people blush.

"Good third brother, tell me about the Marquis of Dingnan and his wife, otherwise I won't know what to say when we get there."

Given his wife Lin Daiyu's looks and social skills, this was clearly a way to change the subject. However, one shouldn't push too hard when it comes to a lady; a back-and-forth approach is more effective.

“My godfather loves meat, has a generous and humorous personality. He is extremely loyal and can even say things like, ‘I’m more skilled at presenting captives than the Emperor.’ My godmother is not very talkative and has been managing the household affairs in the capital all these years. You’ve met Li Chengwu; although he’s a bit of a playboy, he’s a decent person, which shows that she has her own ideas.”

Lin Daiyu listened and nodded, especially when Li Chengwu was mentioned. His most dissolute act was probably tricking Jia Baoyu out and beating him up.

Lin Daiyu laughed a few times. Compared to him, even if Jia Baoyu were a playboy, he would still fall short in some ways.

The carriage soon arrived at the Marquis of Dingnan's residence. After exchanging greetings, Mu Chuan followed the Marquis of Dingnan to the study, while Lin Daiyu was surrounded and led to the garden.

Li Yixiang and Li Yilan each took one arm of Lin Daiyu's, and together they greeted her with smiles as they called her "Fourth Aunt".

Although she had prepared herself mentally, Lin Daiyu still couldn't quite handle it when she saw the two of them with their teasing smiles.

"Your fourth uncle is quite senior; he calls me old."

Cheerful laughter echoed through the garden.

Mu Chuan and General Li sat down on either side of each other. Servants brought tea and snacks. After the servants left, General Li asked, "Have you made any progress in choosing someone to go to Beili?"

“It will definitely be from the imperial family,” Mu Chuan said with a smile. “That way, His Majesty can rest assured, and the court officials can also rest assured. At most, a few outstanding women will be chosen as part of the dowry. Don’t worry, the chieftain’s wife and the others are not of high enough status, and the maids are of too high a status. They won’t choose my two nieces.”

Of course, the most fundamental reason is that Pingnan Town is controlled by General Li's lineage. If the chieftain's wife of Beili were to be named Li, then the Great Wei Dynasty would not have a system of enfeoffment.

General Li nodded: "Those two are just there to make up the numbers. There always need to be a few people to cover things up, and having more of them will also show that Great Wei values ​​Beili. They won't be selected. But even so, I've hired two tutors for them to teach them accounting, housekeeping, and so on. It's never a bad thing for them to learn more, and it will also show the loyalty of the Li family."

“Although we will have to live in the Great Wei for at least ten years, going to the Northern Li is indeed a tough job.” Mu Chuan also sighed. “The last time I went to the palace, I heard His Majesty say that the royal girl had to learn farming during the day and medicine at night, and she had cried several times from exhaustion.”

General Li asked with a smile, "I heard that—" He didn't remember the hostage's name, but having fought against the chieftains for over ten years, he remembered it well, "Hua Azan's son wants to marry your sister?"

“They told me to fight back,” Mu Chuan said. “I know what these people are up to. What can my sister do? She can’t do anything. She can only read, and she only started learning this year after I came back. If he marries my sister, not only will he not have to share power, we will become his entire power base.”

“They’re not of our kind,” General Li sighed. “Perhaps things will improve in a few generations, but not now. They’ve targeted my granddaughter first, and now they’re targeting your sister. They might be trying to sow discord.”

Mu Chuan laughed and said, "They're so naive. We've studied military strategy for much longer than they have, how could they not see through this little trick? Not to mention His Majesty. This foolish move has made His Majesty even more vigilant. He originally planned to let things take their course, but now he's considering getting rid of him and only sending the chieftain's wife back with her young son."

Just as the two powerful figures and the favored ministers were discussing their policies toward Beili, Prince Teng, who had been seriously ill, arrived at the Rongguo Mansion.

Not to mention Wang Xifeng, even Madam Wang didn't recognize her at first glance.

Wang Ziteng's energy and spirit were not as good as before. His back was hunched, and he was leaning on a cane. He had become gloomy, and even his voice had lost its strength.

Even her speech became impatient, and she went straight to the point: "I remember that your illegitimate daughter has come of age, and His Majesty is choosing a principal wife for the hostage of Beili. She probably won't qualify as the chieftain's wife, and even the daughter of the Prince of Nan'an is not qualified, but she might be able to be a maid in the dowry."

Madam Wang was stunned. This... seemed like a difficult task, yet it also seemed like it could bring some prestige to the family.

Wang Ziteng had already asked, "You should know how to manage affairs, people, and accounts. You should also learn some horseback riding and archery, and you should know some military books." He took out a list.

"I'm down on my luck now, and it's too late for me to know this now. This is something I found out from the Prince of Nan'an's family. Take a look and tell her to learn it."

Madam Wang was stunned when she took the list. Wang Xifeng leaned over and glanced at it, then chuckled inwardly.

According to this list, her uncle chose his own daughter, even though the daughters of the Wang family were barely literate and had less to learn than Tan Chun.