"Fu Niu, quickly thank your godfather for going to so much trouble to arrange all this for you." The old lady sighed and patted her granddaughter's shoulder.
Jiayin was well aware of the deeper meaning behind her godfather's arrangement. If he hadn't considered everything for her sake, he would never have come up with such a way to keep things from both sides.
And these three people—a nanny from the palace and a maid who has practiced martial arts since childhood—are undoubtedly special bodyguards.
Her adoptive father somehow managed to plead with the emperor to get it, all to protect her.
Jiayin immediately knelt down on the ground, saying, "Thank you, godfather."
The Marquis picked her up in his arms, stroked her soft hair, and said with a smile, "Don't be so polite, we're family."
"Yes, we're family." Jiayin nodded emphatically, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
Her godfather never expected anything in return from her; what he valued most was the word "family."
Everyone laughed and chatted for a while, and somehow the conversation turned to Li Zhensheng, who hadn't returned yet.
The Marquis said, "I will send someone to the south to welcome them tomorrow. Judging by the time, they should be not far from the capital."
“Great!” The old lady was also happy. “I originally wanted the fourth son to go, but I couldn’t bear to let him go out again after just getting back.”
"Don't worry, Auntie. There are only idle people at the Marquis's residence. I'll have the head steward arrange it," the Marquis comforted her.
The old lady praised the warm and thoughtful head housekeeper, saying, "He's such a good man. He sends things to our house every few days. I heard it was Fu Niu's birthday, so he specially sent some silk, chicken, fish, meat, and eggs. I invited him to dinner today, but he couldn't get away. When you go back, please bring him some food as a thank you gift."
“Yes, Auntie,” the Marquis replied.
As they chatted and laughed, the sun finally set completely behind the western mountains, the afterglow gradually disappeared, and night fell.
The crowd dispersed, each washing up and resting.
Jiayin was eager to ask her adoptive father about the details of the estate and the manpower, and told her grandmother that she was going to stay next door for the night.
As a result, before they even left the hospital, they saw Jia Huan pacing around in the yard. She ran over and hugged her brother's leg, "Brother, why aren't you sleeping? Are you tired from cooking today?"
Jia Huan squatted down, knelt on one knee, and put his younger sister on his lap, smiling with a simple and honest look. "Today is our little lucky girl's birthday, and your brother hasn't given you a gift yet."
"Yes, I delivered it!" Fu Niu tilted her head and gave her brother a big kiss on the cheek. "Brother made so many dishes, they were so delicious!"
Jia Huan blushed and gently hugged her younger sister, "Our Fu Niu is such a good girl."
After saying that, he took out a small trinket from his pocket.
It wasn't very clear in the darkness, but the bright red color was dazzling, and it looked as if pearls were strung in the middle, making it particularly exquisite.
"This is for you, Fu Niu. Your brother hopes you will have a peaceful and joyful life."
"Thank you, brother!" Jiayin accepted the gift with both hands, then hugged her brother with a smile. "It looks so good, Fu Niu will wear it carefully!"
Jia Huan blushed even more, gently patted her younger sister's back, and whispered to her, "Fu Niu, if the family asks you where this hairpin came from, can you not say that I gave it to you?"
Jiayin guessed that the item was very valuable, and her brother didn't want the family to know that he had saved up to buy it, so she quickly nodded in agreement, "Okay, brother, don't worry, Fu Niu won't tell."
Jia Huan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling more at ease.
Although my younger sister is young, all her brothers know that she is very smart and will always keep her promises.
"Are you going next door? I'll carry you on my back. It's dark, so don't fall."
"Okay, thank you, brother." Jiayin happily climbed onto her brother's back, the tangle of cash she was holding dangling in front of Jiahuan's chest, making him smile even more brightly.
Dongmei happened to come out of the house and said with a smile when she saw the brother and sister coming over, "The Marquis just asked me to go and fetch Miss, but I didn't expect Miss to come here."
As she spoke, she hugged Jiayin.
Jia Huan ruffled his sister's hair, then said goodbye and went home.
Dongmei couldn't help but say to Jiayin, "Fu Niu is so lucky, all your brothers love you so much."
"Of course, Fu Niu's brother is the best!" Jia Yin replied with a smile, then hid the tangle of hair in her spatial storage.
The Marquis was sitting at the kang table, looking through some documents.
A night breeze blew in through the half-open window, flickering the candlelight and distorting the shadow cast on the wall.
Jiayin climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat in her godfather's lap, immediately burying the book inside. "Godfather doesn't read. Grandma says his eyes hurt when he reads at night."
The Marquis found it amusing, but still replied, "I won't watch it anymore, but tonight's viewing is for your benefit."
As he spoke, he pulled over an account book and said, "The estate I just gave you belongs to my maternal clan, and it's managed by my maternal clan's servants. I didn't pay much attention to it before, but now I've discovered that the account book has been piling up for seven or eight years. I'll give it to you after I've sorted it out."
"There are also about a hundred people in the village. Men, women, young and old all have some skills. I will write down what they are good at and teach you. In the future, if you need to make something or want to transfer manpower, you will know what to do."
Jiayin was stunned for a moment. She originally thought that having a farm would make it convenient for her to smuggle things out of the space.
Little did he know that his godfather would give him not just a farm, but a large logistics team!
“Godfather…” she wanted to say that this was too precious and too much trouble.
But the Marquis affectionately patted Jiayin's head, not giving her a chance to speak, "Fu Niu, don't feel burdened. You are my daughter, and these things will be yours sooner or later. I'm handing them over to you now so that I can be more at ease if something happens to me."
“Godfather!” Jiayin frowned and pouted. She particularly disliked the way her godfather always seemed ready to die in battle.
The Marquis smiled ingratiatingly and quickly soothed the agitated little girl, "Father was wrong, I won't say it again, okay?"
After saying that, he spread out the account book so that the little girl could see it clearly, but he sighed deeply in his heart.
The child is too young to understand the impermanence of life.
No one can predict whether an accident or tomorrow will come first, especially since he is a military commander who lives a life of constant danger, with his head hanging by a thread.
He was able to return safely from this expedition thanks to Li Laosi and Li Yong who risked their lives to save him several times. Even so, he was still hit by two arrows in the arm, and Li Laosi and Li Yong had five or six knife wounds on their bodies.
Of course, they absolutely could not tell their families about these things, but it strengthened his resolve to hand over the power of his maternal clan to the little girl as soon as possible and urge her to take control of these forces as soon as possible.
If he were to be unlucky and die in battle early, the Li family would have contributed grain, Li Zhensheng would have made money through business, Li Laosi would have established himself in the army, and with the help of Imperial Censor Wen and the Liu and Cui families, the Li family would at least be safe from all bullying...
Jiayin was unaware that her adoptive father had planned so far ahead for her and the family; she was only surprised by the unexpected depth of the estate's resources, as recorded in the account books...
This small village, located a hundred miles away, has only two hundred acres of land and a little over a hundred people, yet it also runs a woodworking shop, a pastry shop, and a general store.
Although the three shops are not large, they are quite profitable, which shows that they have accumulated a good reputation over the years.
No wonder my adoptive father never interfered for so many years; Zhuangzi could operate smoothly without his intervention!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com