Chapter 372: Old Friend
Yang Baozong laughed and said, "Miss Shen, what you said is too scary, isn't it? We have been farming here for a few years, and it's not that scary."
Chen Fenghe didn't explain any further, only smiling and saying, "Anyway, these plots of land planted with trees, shrubs, and thorns are all wasteland. I've specifically reported this to the authorities. Just assume I want to plant more firewood for future heating in the kiln."
After hearing this, everyone stopped asking questions. After all, they were all earning money, and having these jobs was better than nothing.
After a few days, all the saplings were planted.
Poplars and willows are planted near the river, while red willows, Haloxylon ammodendron, sea buckthorn, camel thorn, etc. are planted more than 50 meters away from the fields and spread outward to the northwest. The land in that area has been severely desertified.
After planting the trees, Chen Fenghe began to prepare the crops to be planted on the land allocated to her family.
Unlike other families, she did not plant wheat, millet, etc. all over the land. Instead, she chose a piece of land to plant corn seeds. She told Qin Mengyue that these corn seeds also came from the Western Regions.
In addition, some medicinal herbs suitable for growing in sandy soil were planted, such as Atractylodes macrocephala, Fritillaria thunbergii, Astragalus membranaceus, and Chuanxiong.
Another part of the saline-alkali land is planted with sorghum.
In addition, she also left a small piece of land near her yard to grow some fruits and vegetables.
Naturally, all of these were planted by villagers who were paid for their help, and Yang Baozong was asked to help arrange it.
Chen Fenghe was busy with the opening of the carriage and horse business.
Although the Carriage and Horse Shop was a small shop, in order to attract future business, Chen Fenghe still planned to hold an opening ceremony. She specially invited a nearby lion dance team and decorated the shop with lights and colors.
Boss Zheng had not yet set off, so Chen Fenghe asked Boss Zheng to help with the arrangements and also asked him to recommend a suitable manager.
Two days before the opening, Chen Fenghe arrived at the shop, only to see Boss Zheng rubbing his hands and pacing back and forth anxiously.
When he saw Chen Fenghe coming, he immediately went up to her and said with a smile, "Young Master Gu, you...you're here!"
"Boss Zheng, what's wrong? Did something go wrong in the shop?"
Boss Zheng's face flushed. After a moment's hesitation, he finally said, "Young Master Gu, everything is going well in the shop. Nothing has happened. It's...it's...it's my personal matter..."
Chen Fenghe looked at him and asked, "Personal matters? Boss Zheng, is there anything you need help with? If I can help, I will do my best. But are you not satisfied with the compensation I gave you?"
Boss Zheng quickly shook his head and said, "Young Master Gu is so generous. I'm afraid there's no other boss like you in the world. Alas! Now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to risk my reputation and beg Young Master Gu again. I...I want to ask, is Young Master Gu still willing to hire me as the manager of this carriage and horse business?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Fenghe looked at him in surprise. She first gave him a reassurance and asked, "Boss Zheng has experience and connections. If he is willing to stay and be the shopkeeper of this store, I will naturally be very happy. But... didn't Boss Zheng say the other day that he wanted to return home to reunite with his family?"
"Oh! Don't mention it!" Boss Zheng sighed and said, "Something happened at home. My hometown caught fire for some reason, and our house was burned to ashes. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Yesterday, my mother, wife, and children rushed all the way to this town in rags. We all cried bitterly, and after some discussion, we realized that if we traveled thousands of miles back home, we wouldn't even have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and we would have to rebuild our house. If Young Master Gu is willing to hire me, it would be better for me to stay in town, so that my family wouldn't have to suffer anymore..."
Chen Fenghe said, "So that's what's going on. Boss Zheng, don't worry. I need to find someone reliable to run this business for me. How about we stick with the original remuneration I agreed on?"
Boss Zheng finally let go of his worries and said gratefully, "Young Master Gu is still willing to employ me. What else can I say? I will definitely run this shop well in the future! Young Master Gu... No, from now on, you should call me the boss. Don't call me Boss Zheng anymore, just call me the shopkeeper!"
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble Shopkeeper Zheng from now on."
She continued, "There's one more thing. After we open tomorrow, we have two orders, similar to last time, to deliver a batch of pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc. to Youzhou City. I'll give you the orders later, and I'd like you to arrange them."
Shopkeeper Zheng immediately agreed and said, "Hey! Boss, don't worry."
As he was speaking, there was a commotion on the street outside, and those who were working in the shop left their jobs and ran out.
Chen Fenghe laughed and said, "What's going on? Is there something exciting going on that I can't watch?"
Shopkeeper Zheng thought for a moment and smiled, "I remember now. Yesterday, there was a rumor in town that a group of exiles was passing through. These weren't just ordinary criminals; I heard it was the Fifth Prince and Prime Minister Shen who framed the Crown Prince..."
Shen Fenghe was stunned when he heard this.
She had naturally heard from Xiao Yunshuo that the Fifth Prince and Shen Shi'an had been convicted and exiled.
But this dog emperor really has a bad taste.
In addition to Youzhou, there are also Lingnan in the south, Yunchuan in the southwest and other places for exile. If they have to choose one place, isn't that deliberately making people upset?
After returning to the village, Chen Fenghe told Qin Mengyue about this, and Qin Mengyue couldn't help but frown.
The Fifth Prince used to be good friends with the Crown Prince, and she always treated the Fifth Prince as her own son. However, now that the Crown Prince has become like this, it is all caused by the Fifth Prince, and she naturally cannot forgive him.
Qin Mengyue said, "Xiao Yunqi is that ungrateful guy. If it weren't for Shuo'er's good fortune and being still alive, I would have killed him even if it cost me my life!"
Chen Fenghe naturally had a similar feeling towards Shen Shi'an, Yang Cuicui, and Shen Meixin's family.
But there is no need to say this openly. In the future, revenge will naturally be taken and grievances will be avenged.
Chen Fenghe said, "Mom, we must be under surveillance right now. There's no need to do anything overtly. Just pretend they don't exist."
Qin Mengyue nodded and said, "Fenghe, don't worry. Mother woke up quickly. Now that there are more people in the village who are familiar with Shuo'er, we must be more careful in the future and must not let Shuo'er's identity be discovered."
Shen Fenghe nodded, and called Xiao Yunshuo, Shen Yichuan, and Shen Qingxing over, and told them that Shen Shian and others were coming.
After hearing this, Shen Qingxing immediately said fearfully, "Sister, are Daddy, Auntie, and Second Sister coming? I'm so scared! Daddy and Second Sister will definitely beat us!"
After this journey of exile, Shen Yichuan has become much braver than before. He said seriously: "Xing'er, what father, aunt, and second sister? Have you forgotten the days when we were starving, freezing, and beaten? That old woman almost drowned us! From now on, we can't recognize them as fathers or anything like that! Anyway, I only recognize my elder sister!"
After hearing this, Shen Qingxing immediately said, "Brother, I'm just like you. I only recognize my sister! But...but they want to beat us, what should we do?"
Shen Qingxing was terrified by her previous experiences of being beaten and starved.
"If they dare to hit us again, I will fight them to the death!"
Xiao Yunhao also said from the side: "Xing'er, don't be afraid, I will protect you too! I will fight them to the death too!"
Seeing that the children were quite strong-willed, Chen Fenghe felt very comforted and said with a smile, "Don't worry. Sister won't let them bully you."
As he was speaking, there was a knock on the gate.
"Are Madam Qin and Madam Shen at home?"
Qin Mengyue and Shen Fenghe opened the door and saw that the people standing outside were Chen Wu and Yuan Xun.
Chen Fenghe couldn't help but laugh and said, "Master Chen, Master Yuan, why are you here?"
Chen Wu and Yuan Xun smiled and said, "It just so happens that this errand has been assigned to you brothers. We took the opportunity to come and visit you. We also want to congratulate the two queens for finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and redressing the grievances of the Crown Prince and the queen."
With that, they both knelt down together.
Qin Mengyue and Shen Fenghe hurriedly asked them to get up.
Qin Mengyue smiled and said, "What's the point of being called Empress? The imperial decree has already approved our settlement in this remote countryside. From now on, you can just treat us as ordinary people. However, it's such a surprise to see you again. Come in quickly, we'll cook some delicious food to welcome you."
Chen Wu and Yuan Xun hurriedly shook their heads after hearing this and said, "We won't bother you. We'll just go back to Youzhou City and buy some food ourselves."
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "We have everything we need at home. I've asked Brother Zhang's family, the village chief, and some of the people we have good relationships with to come over and entertain the guests. It's fine, but it won't be a nuisance. Otherwise, since you've come all this way to visit us, why wouldn't we offer you some food?"
Qin Mengyue also said: "That's exactly the point. You don't have to be so polite, just stay."
After hearing this, Chen Wu and Yuan Xun agreed.
Chen Fenghe sent the children to Madam Yang's house and explained the situation. Madam Yang immediately went to the village chief's house and invited Chief Wu and his wife. She and Yang Baozong also came, along with several other well-connected women from the village. Zhang Yuan and his mother also came, but his wife, who was about to give birth, did not come.
In addition, he asked Zhang Yuan and Yang Baozong to go to the town's "Gu's Carriage and Horse Shop" to buy a sheep, and bought two jars of Huadiao wine from the wine shop.
There were two tables of guests in total, one table for men, which was placed in the east wing, and one table for women, which was placed in the west wing.
Chen Fenghe also went to Yun Mansion to borrow his cook to help.
This preparation lasted for more than an hour, and the banquet was not started until 3:00 p.m.
Fresh chunks of lamb are boiled until tender, then cut into chunks to create the white-cut lamb. A sauce is prepared with garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and other ingredients for dipping. Salt is also provided, so you can simply sprinkle it with salt and eat it, which is quite delicious.
In addition to boiled lamb, there are several other dishes, including braised pork, squirrel fish, fried bacon with dried bamboo shoots, scrambled eggs with chopped green onions, stir-fried spinach, etc., which is quite rich.
The staple food is hand-rolled noodles made by the chef. After being cooked, they are topped with delicious mutton soup, and some pancakes are also baked.
The men at the table started drinking Huadiao wine, and the women also had a few drinks.
While the host and guests were enjoying a banquet in the courtyard, Xiao Yunqi, Chen Meixin, Shen Shi'an and other exiled prisoners were taken to Shili Village by the yamen runners.
They could smell the aroma of mutton soup from afar. Yang Cuicui glanced up at the red-brick courtyard and couldn't help but swallow her saliva. She said enviously, "Isn't that the aroma of mutton soup? Right now, if I can't eat the meat, I'd rather die than just drink a sip of the soup!"
After hearing this, Shen Shian's face turned ugly and he scolded coldly: "Shut up! If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!"
After all, he was a prime minister in the past. Even if he was exiled now, he would not say such humble words for a bowl of mutton soup!
It turns out that she was born in a brothel and is not presentable at all!
How come he was so obsessed with this woman before?
However, even though he thought so in his heart, he couldn't help swallowing.
They had been sleeping in the open air all the way, and all they ate were steamed buns mixed with cold water. They had never even seen any minced meat. Now that he smelled the delicious aroma of mutton, how could he not be greedy?
Yang Cuicui was scolded and felt very aggrieved, but she didn't dare to say anything more.
Xiao Yunqi and Shen Meixin also looked at the red-walled house with envy. Shen Meixin couldn't help but ask, "Sir, may I ask if this is the village chief's house?"
In her opinion, the richest family in a village should be the village chief's family. Although she heard on the way that the richest person in Shili Village was a young master Yun who had just moved in a few months ago, the second richest family must be the village chief's family.
The yamen runner had just pointed out Yun's house to them. This house was the best house built besides Yun's house, and it must be the village chief's house.
If it is the village chief's family, then they will settle down in this village in the future. If they go to visit, the village chief may be polite and invite them to drink some mutton soup or even eat some mutton!
The yamen runner who brought them here naturally couldn't guess that Chen Meixin still had such thoughts. He glanced at the courtyard and said, "That house, come to think of it, you guys do recognize it. It was the home of the Queen and Crown Princess who were exiled a few months ago."
After hearing this, Chen Meixin and the others couldn't help but widen their eyes and looked at the yamen runner in unison.
"What did you say? That's the home of the deposed Queen and the deposed Crown Princess? Did you make a mistake?" Chen Meixin asked in a raised voice. Besides being shocked, her tone was filled with strong resentment.
Wasn't Chen Fenghe exiled like me? Even if she was pardoned later, there's no way she could live in such a nice house! ?
Where do they get the money!
Seeing that he was being suspected, the yamen runner sneered, "How could I be wrong? The Empress and the Crown Princess are our great benefactors of Youzhou City. There was a great epidemic in Youzhou before. If the Crown Princess hadn't received the prescription given by God, I'm afraid that most of the people in Youzhou would have died by now. How could I be wrong about where they live?"
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