Su Luo took Zhao Ruyun to see the 100 acres of land bestowed by the emperor.
Shuiqingzhuang has a few thatched huts in the middle and a cowshed in the back, but it is very dilapidated.
The fertile fields stretch as far as the eye can see, with no end in sight.
"Mother, will all of this land belong to our family from now on?"
Yi Huan wanted to see further, so she asked Su Luo to pick her up.
"Luo Luo, I can't believe it, this... huge area, all of it belongs to our family."
Zhao Ruyun gestured with her arms outstretched, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
"Yes, this place will all belong to our family from now on."
Su Luo put Yi Huan down and picked up Yan Chuan: "Chuan Chuan, take a look at our family's fields."
"Mother, now that we have these fields, can Chuan Chuan go to school?"
Su Luo could only teach the siblings in her spare time, and the two younger ones also saw many new things.
But this still couldn't satisfy Yan Chuan's desire to study.
"Chuan Chuan wants to go to school. Next spring, Mom will send you there, okay?"
Yan Chuan nodded: "Okay!"
"Luo Luo, this field is so big, the two of us can't possibly finish planting it all. What were you thinking?"
After the initial excitement subsided, Zhao Ruyun finally thought of this problem.
If you rent out half of the land, you can only share half of the grain with the tenant farmers, and you still have to pay grain tax. The grain tax used to be 50 catties per mu, but now it keeps increasing. It's better to grow it yourself.
“Mother-in-law, we’ll grow it ourselves. As for how to grow it, I’ll figure it out.”
Su Luo's idea was to buy servants to look after her fields. Landowners with such land usually use their own servants to cultivate it.
“Grandma, this field is so good, why don’t we plant some rapeseed this year? When the rapeseed matures, it will be just in time for next year’s seedlings.”
Zhao Ruyun smiled broadly: "Okay, I'll bring over the rapeseed from home tomorrow and spread as much as I can."
"Yes! As long as you're happy."
Looking back at the path that the family of four had taken, they realized that crops had to be carried by hand.
This location is about a mile from the main road. Su Luo plans to wait until the house is repaired before hiring someone to build a road here.
After inspecting the fields, Su Luo returned to the village entrance and saw a waiter from the Fu Man Lou branch.
The waiter couldn't find Su Luo and was so anxious that he stomped his feet on the spot, his clothes soaked with sweat.
"Xiao Fu, what are you doing here?"
Su Luo and Zhao Ruyun each led a child back.
Upon seeing Su Luo, Xiao Fu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Madam Su, you should go to the branch store quickly. Young Master can't hold on any longer."
Is there any possibility that Nangong Qing might not be able to hold on? Fumanlou's new store has only been open for a short time, so we can't afford any problems.
"Xiao Fu, let's talk as we walk."
Su Luo handed Yi Huan over to Zhao Ruyun, and then followed Xiao Fu into the carriage.
On the way, Xiao Fu slowly reported the matter to Su Luo.
"Madam Su, in the few days you were away, business at our branch restaurant has started to pick up. We don't know when, but rumors have spread that a master has appeared in our restaurant."
A large group of literati were attracted by the poems in our restaurant, and they even booked the entire restaurant, saying they wouldn't leave until they saw the poet.
Their food was bland, which seriously affected our restaurant's revenue.
Isn't it a good thing that the restaurant has been booked out?
"Xiao Fu, what do you mean by saying Nangong Qing can't hold on?"
"That's the problem. Of course, dealing with these people is no problem for the young master, but his body can't take it. I heard that the young master went to see someone's newborn child and didn't sleep for two days and two nights. He fainted, so Ah Xu sent me to find you."
That Nangong Qing is really something, why did he have to join in the fun when other people were having babies?
Or does Nangong Qing have this kind of fetish?
On the surface, she appears noble and elegant, but behind the scenes...
Su Luo got goosebumps all over. Fine, as long as he doesn't watch her give birth, she can let everyone else do as he pleases.
When I arrived at the Fumanlou branch, there was only one waiter on the first floor; the rest of the place was empty.
Meanwhile, the private rooms on the second and third floors were bustling with noise.
"Madam Su, all those people are upstairs. Go and try to persuade them."
Su Luo went up to the second floor, and all the doors to the private rooms were open, with people dressed in scholar's robes walking around.
Contrary to Su Luo's expectations, they weren't sitting in a private room, conspiring with each other to look at the landscape paintings and poems in the room, like a scene of a hundred schools of thought contending.
Everyone lingered there, praising it endlessly.
"Old Fan, it's truly an eye-opener for us that your Yongle County has such a brilliant and talented individual."
Another: "This painting has no title, but its artistic conception is superb. What impresses me most are the poems on the wall. Every single one of them is equally excellent. I could never write such poems in my entire life."
The man, whom everyone called Old Fan, slowly stood up. He had white hair and looked to be over seventy years old.
"Not only you, but even I could not compose such a poem. Such a poem should not appear in a restaurant, but should be in the literary world."
Everyone agreed with what Old Fan said; they had been waiting since yesterday, determined to meet the poet.
"This poem is so amazing, I could look at it without eating or drinking."
Su Luo could also tell that these people respected the old man, Fan, who seemed to be a man of high moral character and prestige. Nangong Qing should know him.
"Gentlemen, are you enjoying your food and drinks at Fu Man Lou?" Su Luo asked with a smile as she entered.
Old Fan frowned. Why is there a woman here?
“Young lady, your master is unwell. His guards said they would summon the poet to see us, but it turned out to be you who came.”
You little rascal, Ah Xu, you've already sold yourself out so quickly.
"Excuse me, my surname is Su, and I am one of the owners of this Fumanlou restaurant. May I ask who you are?"
Old Master Fan bowed to Su Luo and said, "I am Fan Hongzhen, the Dean of Cangxi Academy."
Cangxi Academy is the best academy in Yongle County, and this person is actually the headmaster of Cangxi Academy.
"Dean Fan, I've long admired your name, please forgive my rudeness."
Next year, Su Luo plans to send Yan Chuan to Cangxi Academy. It would be best not to offend the dean.
Then he looked at the others, and they all introduced themselves.
"I am Zhen, a scholar from Changzhou, Anzhou."
"I am a scholar."
"..."
Su Luo felt as if she had entered the world of a scholar.
"Gentlemen, I understand why you have come. If you want to see the person who painted and inscribed the paintings, you have already seen them. These paintings were all done by our boss."
"It's that one who wasn't feeling well and fainted," Su Luo added.
Everyone praised, "Your boss is so talented, what a pity..."
Unfortunately, he was a merchant, and in the eyes of these scholars, merchants were always inferior.
"Madam Su, what about this poem? We would like to meet the poet, especially this one, 'A pot of wine among the flowers'... I was deeply impressed when I read it."
Fan Hongzhen rarely left the academy. Only once did he hear a teacher in the academy mention Fumanlou, saying that the poems there were unique in the world.
He inquired about it and was deeply impressed by what he heard from them. He wanted to see what kind of person could write such poetry.
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