Even if the emperor was furious, he couldn't actually strangle his foolish daughter; he could only let her go.
The Empress, however, came to request an audience under the pretext of seeking justice for her daughter.
Unfortunately, the emperor was displeased with the thought of her scheming to trick him into "creating a child," and he refused to see her at all...
Jiayin had no idea about these things, and even if she did, she wouldn't care.
The Third Princess was utterly incapable of doing business. She relied on the Bao family for everything and refused to contribute a single penny. She always acted like she was the princess and therefore the most important person in the world.
The Bao family is desperate for money now, how could they not take advantage of her?
Even if she didn't see the branch's ledgers, Baiyunjian could keep records of the branch's purchases.
A quick calculation would reveal that the branch's profit was around six or seven hundred taels, while the Bao family only kept a little over one hundred taels in their accounts. That's incredibly unscrupulous...
Time flies by in the midst of sending and receiving New Year's gifts.
The Liu family's New Year's gifts were also delivered by Jiaren and his brothers.
Old Master Liu was particularly fond of the Li family children. He invited them to stay for dinner and gave each of them a jade pendant before letting them take even more generous return gifts home.
When the Chen family came to cause trouble before, Guo Wenhao brought his servants to help.
The Li family specially prepared a New Year's gift for him as well.
Guo Wenhao was in mourning and couldn't visit in person, so he asked Mr. Wen to send back two reams of fine paper, a set of famous writing brushes, and some food such as chicken, duck, and fish.
It must be said that even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.
The Guo family has fallen on hard times, but they still have some resources. At least their fine paper and famous brushes are hard to find elsewhere.
On the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, Jiayin discussed it with her brothers and gave Zheng He, Zheng Feng, Shui Ling, Shui Yun, and several servants, including Zheng Er, a holiday.
Only Zheng Sanjiang was unwilling to return to the estate and volunteered to stay and help take care of the relief office.
Li Lao Er and his brothers, including Jia Ren, also privately rewarded their men with red envelopes as a token of appreciation for their hard work and loyalty throughout the year.
Jiayin also gave Shuiling and Shuiyun each a set of silver jewelry, a box of exquisite palace flowers made in the palace, a new jacket and skirt made at home, and a heavy ten-tael silver ingot.
That's enough for them to go home in style for the New Year.
Ye Shan and Hong Mei were also dressed in brand new clothes from head to toe, and Hong Mei also received an extra set of exquisite but not flashy gold jewelry.
As the steward and his wife, they represented their master and followed Zheng He and others to Zheng Family Village.
They also brought over a dozen baskets of fruit, a whole pig, dozens of boxes of pastries, and a considerable amount of rice and flour, plus two hundred taels of silver.
This is for all the villagers of Zhengjiazhuang, to reward them for the year, without asking why, and to let them obey orders in everything.
When Ye Shan and Dong Mei returned, they brought gifts from all the villagers of Zhengjiazhuang.
In addition to a large quantity of wild game and furs, there were also some ingenious small mechanical items.
For example, an egg beater that is more labor-saving and convenient; a retractable dagger; a robotic arm that can help people scale walls and walk on flat ground...
Jiayin was overjoyed and spent a long time playing with the toys with her brothers. In the end, she gave them all to Jiaxi and Jiaan.
Now, apart from Old Lady Li, almost everyone in the family knows that Jiaxi and Jia'an are going to go to sea to explore overseas after the New Year.
Every night, Jiayin would go into her room and do nothing but keep busy for her two older brothers.
Besides various wound medicines, poisons, and tonics, which are essential, she searched the space like a carpet, finding everything that could be used.
Since this spacetime is almost exactly the same as the ancient world of the previous life, it is a parallel space.
The locations of all overseas countries should be roughly the same.
Therefore, she paid special attention to the world map from her previous life and meticulously copied it.
She even found the compass she had bought as a child to play with in a broken box in the storage room...
And there were also the customs and preferences of foreigners that she had heard about and understood in her previous life.
She even drew pictures of muskets and cannons, as well as some important plants and supplies.
Now, with the addition of the mechanical claw and the "cunning" dagger sent by Zhengjiazhuang, they have gained even more assistance.
Even so, she was still worried about her brothers.
If she could, she would love to go and explore with them.
Unfortunately, this idea is simply impossible to realize.
Her brothers went out, leaving her by her side. Perhaps after a while, Grandma's mood would calm down.
But if she also goes out to sea, Grandma will probably go crazy with worry...
The days passed in such a busy manner that the 29th day finally arrived.
This year there is no 30th; the 29th is the last day of the old year.
Every household gets up early to prepare ingredients for the big meal in the afternoon.
And the dumplings served in the middle of the night are also a highlight.
The mischievous boys ran around the village excitedly, causing trouble from time to time, which made their mother yell at them, but she couldn't scold or beat them.
The little girls from each family, however, followed obediently behind their mothers, helping out with the tasks.
But things were different when they arrived at the Li family's residence.
Jiayin also lurked in the kitchen, ostensibly to help.
Actually, she was holding a small bowl and eating non-stop.
In the end, Tao Hongying snatched her daughter's bowl and chased her out.
"You greedy girl, you can't eat anymore! If you keep eating, you won't have an appetite for dinner! Go and talk to your grandma and the others, make them happy!"
Jiayin reluctantly clutched her stomach and moved out of the kitchen.
Although the banquet has started, she can sit down and eat openly, as much as she wants.
But she just felt that the food tasted best when she secretly ate it in the kitchen!
In her previous life, she lived with her grandparents.
Her grandparents were very strict; they almost never allowed her to eat anywhere other than at the dining table.
Later, during my university years, I went home with my roommate from the same city. I saw my roommate in the kitchen, chatting and laughing with my parents while secretly eating, and occasionally they would stuff some food into my mouth.
She then realized that food could be eaten this way, and that it could taste so good and bring her such happiness!
In this life, she made up for this regret in its entirety...
Old Mrs. Li was chatting and eating melon seeds with Aunt Wu, while sitting opposite them were Wenjuan and Madam Wen, two of her most protected treasures.
Hui Niang and Sister Liu were both busy in the kitchen, leaving their three naughty children in the care of the old lady.
The mischievous child was playing around everywhere, stumbling and bumping into Mrs. Wen and Wenjuan several times.
Jiayin ran into the house and, seeing this, decisively took on the role of the children's leader.
She took out two bananas and invited the naughty children to share them.
But how can three children possibly share two bananas of the same size?
So the three naughty children sat in a circle, drooling, watching Jiayin expectantly, and every now and then they would hear her shout, "Oh dear, this piece is too long, wait a minute, let me take a bite for you!"
Finally, one of the two bananas went into Jiayin's stomach, and the three naughty children each took a small piece, thinking it was fair, and licked it into their mouths with silly smiles.
Grandma Li and the others watched from beginning to end, laughing so hard they were doubled over, and making jokes.
"Fu Niu'er is too cunning!"
"That's right, when your younger siblings grow up, they'll always remember Sister Fu Niu as the one who tricked them out of bananas. Let's see if you'll be ashamed then!"
Jiayin chuckled, not blushing at all.
You should start harming your child early!
She rolled over to her grandma's side, making a fuss and asking her grandma to rub her tummy...
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