Chapter 183: Spreading Dog Food (3rd Update)
After a while, Zhuang Wan packed up and took Lixia out.
She was going to see Shopkeeper Su today. She had previously mentioned to Pei Xingju her plan to open two shops in the capital, and Pei Xingju offered to give her two of the best shops he owned, but Zhuang Wan refused.
Not to mention that the shop under his name already had a business, and it would be inappropriate to rashly change it to another business. Furthermore, the shop under his name was naturally his, and Zhuang Wan couldn't just take it for free.
Seeing that he didn't want his shop, Pei Xingju offered her the shop at the Zhuang Mansion, but Zhuang Wan refused. She wasn't the Zhuang family's daughter; she had simply taken Miss Zhuang's body, and she already felt indebted to her. How could she then take the Zhuang family's money? So she refused.
"I want to run a business based on my own abilities," she told Pei Xingju at the time. "Besides, I also want to see how far my abilities can take me."
Pei Xingju had no choice but to agree with her.
After the carriage had traveled for three quarters of an hour, Zhuang Wan arrived at the door of Furong Cloth Shop. Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered, she saw Su Zhiyan coming out.
"Shopkeeper Su?" Zhuang Wan greeted.
Su Zhiyan was stunned for a moment, then walked up to her and pulled her to look at it from front to back and up to down.
"It's really you! I thought I was seeing things." She asked happily, "When did you return to Beijing?"
Zhuang Wan's return to Beijing was rather secretive, and since she mostly stayed at her residence during the New Year holidays, no one else knew that she had returned except those close to her.
Su Zhiyan was very surprised: "I thought I would never see you again, but I didn't expect you to suddenly appear in front of me."
She feigned anger and punched Zhuang Wan. "You really make me angry! You didn't even say goodbye to me when you left, and you scared me when you came back."
Zhuang Wan smiled, "It's my fault. The situation at that time... well, you probably know it, so I won't say it."
"Are you going out now? It seems I came at a bad time," she said.
"What a coincidence! I was planning to go out, but it wasn't anything important. I just wanted to pick out a Xiu furnace." Su Zhiyan smiled: "Now that you're here, I'll put aside the big things. Look at you, don't you feel very proud?"
Zhuang Wan followed suit and joked, "In that case, I won't be polite. I want to drink the best tea."
"There's plenty of good tea. Are you worried that you won't have enough to drink?" Su Zhiyan pulled her upstairs.
After entering the guest room and asking her to sit down, Su Zhiyan personally boiled water and made tea. After a while, she asked, "What's the matter with you coming to see me on New Year's Day?"
"I can't hide it from you," Zhuang Wan nodded. "I do have something to ask Sister Su."
"Since you already call me Sister Su, don't be polite, just say it."
"That's right..." Zhuang Wan said, "I'd like to ask if Sister Su has any suitable shops for sale?"
"You want to buy a shop?"
"Well, I'm planning to open a seafood snack business. Of course, I came here today not only to inquire about the shop, but also to ask Sister Su for advice on doing business in the capital..."
.
In a secluded private room in a teahouse, several officials were discussing the hotly debated case of a golden Buddha statue collapsing and crushing a person to death.
In the morning, Pei Xingju entered the palace to meet with the emperor, who asked for his opinion on the matter. Since it concerned the empress dowager, Pei Xingju could not reveal too much and could only say that he would wait for the results to be found out by Lord Feng, the Jingzhao Yin.
"This case is clearly no longer under the control of Prefect Feng," one person said. "What can he possibly find out? Even if he does, he might not dare to reveal it."
"This person is very good at smoothing things over, and he's probably in a very difficult situation right now."
"It's pointless," another person said. "With all the public opinion going on, the truth is irrelevant. Duke Xin is clearly trying to divert the blame onto the Queen Mother. But he's trying to evade responsibility by shifting the blame elsewhere. We can't let him do that."
Pei Xingju sat indifferently at the top, playing with a blue-and-white porcelain teacup in his hand, as if lost in thought.
After a moment, someone turned to him and asked, "Are you going to submit a letter of impeachment when the court opens? If Duke Xin succeeds in his plan, he will be completely cleared of all charges regarding the Hezhou incident."
"No rush, let him wash first." Pei Xingju said slowly.
"What if he dodges it? Wouldn't our efforts be in vain?"
"Master Wang, do you think that Duke Xin can still hide away after such a quarrel with the Queen Mother?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Lord Wang suddenly understood: "That's right! Duke Xin has done nothing to shield the Queen Mother over the years. Now he's ruthlessly pushing her into the fire pit. I'm afraid the Queen Mother won't surrender. When the dogs bite each other, it will naturally benefit us greatly."
At this time, another person hesitated and spoke, "Duke Xin is, after all, the Queen Mother's brother, and the Queen Mother is also a member of the Liang family. Would she attack Duke Xin? Since ancient times, women's kindness cannot be deceived. The Queen Mother's support for the Liang family over the years shows her deep love for her children."
"No matter how deep the love is, it will eventually end," Pei Xingju said. "If she can't make a decision, it's simply because she's not yet mature enough."
"According to Master Pei's wishes..."
Pei Xingju drank his tea slowly and said, "Just add some more fire."
.
After the discussion, it was already late afternoon. Everyone said goodbye and left, and Pei Xingju also stood up.
Chen Yi put down the teacup and asked hurriedly, "Where are you going?"
"Of course I'm going back home," Pei Xingju turned around and asked, "Do you have anything else to do?"
"That's perfect," Chen Yi also stood up: "I'll go back with you."
Pei Xingju remained silent and glanced at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shen Yi was puzzled. "Anyway, I don't have anything else to do next. I'll go to your house for a cup of tea."
"But I have something to do." Pei Xingju said expressionlessly.
"What's up?"
After staring at each other for a moment, Chen Yi suddenly understood. He curled his lips in disdain: "You forget your friends for the sake of beauty. I finally see through you!"
"It's not that I forget my friends because of a beautiful woman, but I should remind you." Pei Xingju said.
"Remind me of what?"
"Although I know about your engagement with Princess Wu Jing, to outsiders, Princess Wu Jing and you are husband and wife. What will others think of you being away from home all day?"
"Think whatever you want, why should they care?"
Pei Xingju smiled faintly, "They have no say in this, but Princess Wu Jing is different from you. She has to deal with the ladies of various mansions in the capital. You know that the harem is sometimes just like the court, with the same flashing swords and shadows. Do you want Princess Wu Jing to keep her engagement with you while enduring the criticism and ridicule of others?"
Chen Yi paused, his tone softening a bit: "I haven't thought about these..."
"Then you might as well start thinking about it today, if for no other reason than your own. Your marriage was arranged by the Emperor, and if you act too obviously, how will the Emperor feel? If someone in the court impeaches you for this matter, the Emperor may not be willing to protect you."
"Tsk..." Chen Yi said impatiently, "I understand. I'll go back to the Princess's Mansion now."
After seeing off Chen Yi, Pei Xingju ordered the carriage to return home.
Before this, Zhuang Wan sent someone to ask if he would go back early tonight. In fact, even if she didn't ask, he would go back early.
After not seeing her for two days, he actually missed her very much.
When he arrived at the mansion, Zhuang Wan had already returned, and the servants told him she was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Pei Xingju hesitated on the steps for a moment, then simply headed for the kitchen.
But he came up empty-handed, Zhuang Wan was not in the kitchen.
"Where is she?" he asked a water carrier.
The man was carrying water in silence. When he looked up and saw that it was Pei Xingju, he was so scared that the bucket almost rolled to the ground.
He couldn't stand, nor could he bow. Pei Xingju held his shoulder pole with one hand and said, "Just keep talking."
"Yes, yes," the man nodded. "Miss Zhuang and Uncle Niu are digging potatoes in the vegetable garden."
Pei Xingju smiled, then turned through the Moon Gate and headed towards the vegetable garden.
The vegetable garden was quiet, and the voices of Zhuang Wan and Uncle Niu could be heard from a distance.
"Potatoes are also delicious when served cold. Cut them into thin slices, blanch them in boiling water until they are 70% cooked, and serve with sauce, sesame oil, sugar and vinegar. They taste crispy and fragrant." said Uncle Niu.
Uncle Niu was a serious foodie. He'd felt lonely for a while when Zhuang Wan had been away in Hezhou for a few months. Now that Zhuang Wan was back, he was genuinely delighted and had been planning a big meal, but the busy New Year holidays kept him from getting too excited.
Today I learned that Zhuang Wan was going to cook. Hey, isn’t this just perfect!
Uncle Niu squatted in the vegetable patch, scraping mud off potatoes as he said to Zhuang Wan, "Potatoes stewed with meat are delicious too. No matter what you stew them with, potatoes always taste like meat. Last time we stewed a pot of duck, wow, the aroma was so good it spread all over the street."
He turned around and saw Pei Xingju standing in the corridor, and quickly stood up. But Pei Xingju made a gesture to keep quiet, so he squatted down again.
"These are traditional ways of eating potatoes," Zhuang Wan continued, digging vigorously in the ground with her hoe. "Besides cooking, potatoes can also be used to make cakes. Have you ever tried milk-flavored potato pancakes? Mash steamed potatoes, add goat's milk or cow's milk, sprinkle a little salt, then knead into a dough and fry it in a pan. It's delicious."
To facilitate her work, Zhuang Wan changed into coarse cloth and wore an apron. Her long hair was simply braided and draped over her shoulders. She had a graceful figure, the dark apron cinching her waist to make it appear slender. As she dug, her arms lifted, graceful yet powerful. With her hair casually tied up, she looked charmingly charming.
This outfit is totally different from her usual lively and gorgeous look, and rather has a bit of the beauty of a beautiful girl from a small family.
There is also a warm and friendly atmosphere of human life.
Pei Xingju stood in the corridor, and a picture of peaceful days flashed through his mind - the two of them lived in seclusion in a corner, with a pair of children, growing vegetables and tilling the fields, and living a peaceful life.
"Also, potatoes cut into slices or strips and fried in oil are also delicious. If you like sweet food, you can also dip it in sweet sauce." Zhuang Wan added.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a person standing nearby. Turning around, he saw that it was Pei Xingju, whom he hadn't seen for two days.
"Yuzhi," she said happily, "You're back so early? Didn't you say you were discussing something with the other adults?"
"After the discussion, come back early."
Seeing some mud on her cheek, Pei Xingju took out a handkerchief and wiped it for her. Zhuang Wan looked up and said, "If I hadn't sent someone to ask you, would you have been back even later?"
She meant something.
Pei Xingju glared at her angrily: "Don't move, it's not clean yet."
"Oh, but that doesn't stop you from answering my questions."
Pei Xingju said softly, "I've been busy these past two days, but I had originally planned to return early today."
"So you missed me?"
"......." Her outrageous behavior made Pei Xingju love her but feel helpless at the same time.
"Tell me, do you miss me or not?"
Pei Xingju coughed and said, "Someone's here."
Zhuang Wan turned around and saw Uncle Niu squatting on the ground not far away, shaking mashed potatoes skillfully, seemingly unaware of the movement here.
She whispered, "It's okay, Uncle Niu has poor hearing and can't hear."
Hearing this, Pei Xingju was silent for a moment, then hummed softly, "I miss you."
Oh my——
On this side, Uncle Niu, who was sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, got goosebumps all over his body and could no longer pretend. He dropped the potatoes and ran away.
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