Chapter 373 Lychees and Guavas

“Since he is the son of an old friend, sir, I must meet him.” Zhao Huajing’s eyes were deep and thoughtful.

“She’s a woman who grew up on the grasslands and has never been exposed to these things,” Yuan Hongqu said, gazing into the distance. “Let’s meet again in a while. I’m afraid you’ll scare her.”

"Why don't you take her in as your goddaughter, sir?"

Zhao Huajing said seriously, "There are all sorts of rumors circulating outside. It's not fair to let people make wild guesses."

“If you and she become sworn sisters, wouldn’t that carry more weight than me recognizing her as my goddaughter?”

Yuan Hongqu didn't like this kind of relationship. What was with all this talk about goddaughter? Did she have to become her godmother in order to treat her well?

Zhao Huajing sensed Yuan Hongqu's displeasure and said no more.

As for making her and Chen Yinduo become sworn sisters, that involves too many things and is really not something she can decide on her own.

Zhao Huajing remained silent for a while before speaking again.

"Let her accompany me on the southern tour."

Yuan Hongqu nodded. "Since her mother is Lin Yuanhang's cousin, she must have relatives in Jiangnan. If possible, it would be good to let her go back and meet her relatives."

She is still investigating the specific background of Chen Yinduo's mother, but there are no leads yet.

Lin Yuanhang's friend Fan Huaiqing has gone to sea again. If he were still in the capital, the truth might already be out by now.

After leaving the palace, Yuan Hongqu did not return to the academy.

Since Daiyu returned, Yuan Hongqu has spent most of her time at the academy. These days, she has finally arranged Chen Yinduo's courses. Taking advantage of the other students' holidays, she is giving Chen Yinduo extra lessons. Teachers of all subjects at the academy are providing one-on-one instruction, striving to ensure that Chen Yinduo's abilities are at the same level as the students in the intermediate class when school starts.

Chen Yinduo herself is very ambitious. She is very interested in these subjects, and she has a feeling that she should study these subjects instead of riding horses and herding sheep on the grassland.

She struggled to even ride a horse on the grasslands, but she excelled at the riding and archery classes at the academy, reaching the intermediate level requirements long ago.

Although Yuan Hongqu arranged many courses for her, she also paid attention to balancing work and rest.

She didn't use the cramming method of education, so Chen Yinduo didn't find it difficult at all.

Yuan Hongqu, realizing she hadn't seen Wang Xifeng for several days, decided to change her route and head to the official residence.

As soon as she arrived at the door, she noticed that the house was quite lively today.

Several carriages were parked outside the gate, and people were coming and going at the entrance.

"Lord Yuan is back!"

Yuan Hongqu was puzzled when the old man guarding the gate saw his master's carriage. He quickly dispersed the people around him, removed the threshold, and let the carriage drive into the mansion.

"Old Yue, why is it so lively at home?"

"My lord, those are all managers from various departments of the Rongguo Mansion."

"The one in charge of things at Rongguo Mansion?" Yuan Hongqu found it strange. "Is Second Madam Lian still in charge of the household?"

"Second Madam Lian doesn't manage things; it's the three young ladies from the Rongguo Mansion who are in charge. For the past two days, the three young ladies have been coming to Second Madam Lian almost daily to ask her questions. Yesterday, Second Madam Lian probably got annoyed and forbade them from coming anymore. As a result, this morning, the stewards from all over their household started coming to our house… saying that it's the end of the month and they need to do the accounting. Without Second Madam Lian, their shop can't do the accounting. Their household accountants have also come, saying that First Madam Zhu has been in charge of the household for a few days, and the accounts are a complete mess. If Second Madam Lian doesn't go back, they can't continue doing the accounting…"

Old Yue, the gatekeeper of the Yuan family mansion, held multiple positions. He was not only the gatekeeper but also the head steward of the Yuan family mansion and the gossip of the Yuan family mansion.

Originally, Yuan Hongqu didn't come here often; his job was very easy.

But ever since this Second Madam Lian moved in, Old Yuetou felt that in such a short time, he had done more work than he had done for Lord Yuan in a whole year.

"Alright, you've worked hard. I'll ask Second Madam Lian for a reward for your hard work later." Yuan Hongqu got off the carriage.

Old Yue chuckled, "Sir, Second Madam Lian hasn't mistreated me these past few days. Since Second Madam Lian moved into our mansion, it's become much more lively here. Sir, you should bring more people back to live here."

Yuan Hongqu chuckled, "Isn't it better for you to just relax and have some peace and quiet? Why do you have to keep yourself busy?"

"Hehe, sir, you have too much free time." Old Yue was a little embarrassed. "I only receive five taels of silver a month from you, along with clothes for all four seasons and various seasonal gifts. I have only done so little, I am really unworthy of it."

“I’ll think about it and maybe move back here occasionally.” Yuan Hongqu really did consider it seriously.

She also holds multiple jobs, so it's not very convenient for her to always live at the Lin family's house.

Moreover, since returning to the capital, she and Daiyu have mostly met in the space.

Daiyu could enter and exit the space more easily than she could; she had to physically enter, while Daiyu's consciousness could enter directly.

From now on, I can travel between the two places, so I won't always stay at the Lin family's house and cause any misunderstandings from outsiders.

Although she didn't care about other people's opinions, she didn't want Daiyu to suffer even the slightest criticism.

Just now, Zhao Huajing told her to take Chen Yinduo as her goddaughter to protect her from gossip. Yuan Hongqu thought that it was no big deal if outsiders said what they wanted. If she couldn't even stand these rumors, how could she be the successor of the academy?

But when it came to Daiyu, Yuan Hongqu truly wished she could put her in a protective shield of truth, goodness, and beauty, so that she could only see all the beauty in the world and not see any of the filth.

Outside the garden, Ping'er was dealing with the various managers, while Wang Xifeng was leisurely lying down eating lychees.

Seeing Yuan Hongqu enter, he couldn't help but smile.

"Sister Yuan, how did you preserve these lychees? They look like they were just picked from the tree. I've never seen such fresh lychees before!" Wang Xifeng abruptly changed the subject.

After all, she was still in the modern world when she ate fresh lychees.

“These are freshly picked from the tree.” Yuan Hongqu also took a lychee. “There’s a village in the suburbs with a hot spring. I transplanted lychee trees next to the hot spring. The temperature there is high enough that they can bear fruit.”

Yuan Hongqu was just talking nonsense.

Zhuangzi is real, the hot spring is real, and the lychee tree is real.

As for the result

Go to hell!

She went to great lengths to move the fresh lychees out of the space in order to transplant them!

Daiyu turned around and brought a plate to Wang Xifeng.

"Sister Yuan, why don't we plant a few more trees next year? Just by selling these fresh lychees, we can become the richest people in the world," Wang Xifeng said, holding a lychee and suddenly having a brilliant idea.

"It won't survive. I planted a whole patch of them at first, but only one survived." Yuan Hongqu wasn't interested in lychees. She picked up a guava from the side and took a bite. This one was really delivered by the ship, not a plant from her space.

One bite and Yuan Hongqu almost spat it out—it was awful! Absolutely awful.

This fruit has no flavor at all; it's neither sour nor sweet, neither soft nor sticky. Taking a bite feels like biting into a raw potato.

Wang Xifeng rarely saw Yuan Hongqu with such an expression, and couldn't help but laugh.