Xu Qinhui couldn't quite believe what she saw. She looked up and saw a rosewood screen with carved crabapple embroidery. She remembered this screen. Before she got married, it was a decoration in the west wing of the third room in the Marquis Dechang's mansion. Every day at noon, she liked to rest for a while in the west wing. She also remembered the white fox fur coat beneath her. Her mother knew that she didn't like to rest on the bed at noon, but preferred to rest on the chaise longue, so she bought it at a high price so that she could lie down more comfortably.
But, wasn't she dead? How did she open her eyes and return to the Marquis of Dechang's mansion?
She remembered clearly the fear and panic that penetrated her bones before his death. She also remembered clearly the cold and icy face of Prince Shu, no, the new emperor. Half of his face was stained with blood, which was stained by the fact that he had killed half of the palace. Only his eyes were clean, but there was not a trace of emotion in those clean eyes. When she met his light-colored eyes, they did not look like human eyes at all, but more like the eyes of a ferocious wild bird.
At that time, the new emperor was holding a sword, the sword blade was blood red, and drops of blood were dripping along the sword blade and the tip of the sword.
At that time, she was trembling all over as she watched the new emperor walking towards them step by step.
She could hear the terrified cry of her husband, Emperor Sheng Yuan. "Fourth, fourth brother, I, I am willing to give up the throne to you. Will you please let me live? It wasn't me who wanted to poison our father. It was Empress Dowager Fu, my mother, not me. I have no interest in the throne at all. Fourth brother, please let me go..."
Emperor Sheng Yuan's voice stopped abruptly, and a flash of blood filled her eyes. Emperor Sheng Yuan's head fell to the ground. Before she could scream, a sword flashed, and the last scene was her seeing her headless neck and the blood gushing out.
The new emperor didn't even give her a chance to speak before beheading her.
Xu Qinhui gasped violently, clutching her neck tightly. What was going on? She had clearly died under Pei Weixuan's sword, so why was she now in Dechang Marquis Mansion?
Is it a dream before death?
Xu Qinhui pinched her thigh subconsciously, and the pain in her thigh made her scream.
The maid Ping'er's voice was heard outside, "Miss? Are you awake? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Ping'er, come in!"
Xu Qinhui immediately called the maid in.
Ping'er was the head maidservant beside her.
The door to the wing room was pushed open, and a round-faced maid walked in. Seeing Xu Qinhui's pale face, she said worriedly, "Miss, are you having a nightmare? I'll ask the kitchen to make some spirit-removing soup for you."
"No need." Xu Qinhui stepped forward and grabbed Ping'er's hand, and asked her in a trembling voice, "Ping'er, what day is today?"
Ping'er's face turned pale, and she whispered, "Miss, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me. This year is the Yuan Dynasty, the first year of Yuanqi, yes, the first year of Emperor Shengyuan's ascension to the throne."
Xu Qinhui was stunned.
Could it be that entering the palace to be a concubine of Emperor Sheng Yuan is just a dream?
No, definitely not. Those scenes are too real.
So it wasn't a dream, but after she experienced such a massacre, God gave her another chance to start over.
This time, she will never make the wrong choice!
Thinking of something, Xu Qinhui asked excitedly, "Ping'er, where is my second sister now?" If her second sister had not married Prince Shu yet, she could have married him.
She didn't know what day it was exactly. In her previous life, she was engaged to Prince Shu, who was the fourth prince. However, during the dispute between the eldest prince and the second prince, the eldest prince was not as ruthless as the second prince and the imperial concubine. The eldest prince's family had no real power, and the Empress Wen had no means and was too soft-hearted. Even the Duke of Anping was of little use and could only say a few words in the court.
In fact, during the party disputes at that time, the eldest prince had a louder voice in the court.
The eldest prince is a capable man and can lead troops.
In the end, he was defeated by the cruelty of the Second Prince and Concubine Fu. They poisoned the late emperor with a cup of poisoned wine and put the blame on the First Prince. They did not give the court officials a chance to investigate and directly kidnapped the First Prince. Although the First Prince was a skilled martial artist, he was besieged by hundreds of palace guards and ended up in a miserable defeat.
The eldest prince was directly charged with murder and usurpation of the throne and was beheaded on the spot.
What followed naturally was the second prince ascending the throne as emperor.
The Fourth Prince, the Seventh Prince, and the Sixth Princess, who were brothers of the First Prince, were all exiled to the southwest.
Of course, these were things she gradually learned after she entered the palace and became a concubine of Emperor Sheng Yuan, and the whole world knew about them.
Because Pei Weixuan did not rebel and kill the new emperor to ascend the throne, he had every right to attack the tyrant emperor and the queen mother.
Before the late emperor was poisoned to death, he had actually drafted an edict to appoint the eldest prince as the crown prince.
The Second Prince and Concubine Fu must have accidentally learned of the imperial edict, which is why they couldn't wait to poison the late emperor and kill the eldest prince.
But later, this edict was somehow found by Pei Weixuan. She remembered that after she entered the palace as a concubine, Emperor Sheng Yuan and Empress Dowager Fu had been looking for this edict.
At that time, she knew that she was the fourth prince's fiancée and was afraid that she would be exiled with him. She was at a loss and begged her father, mother, grandmother and grandfather to save her.
When her grandmother learned about the disaster, she hugged her and cried, and finally came up with an idea for her.
My grandmother was an old acquaintance of an old concubine in the palace, and when she asked for an audience with the old concubine, she allowed her to meet the new emperor by chance.
My grandmother said that she was beautiful and the new emperor would definitely cherish her when he saw her.
Later, she entered the palace and saw the new emperor, crying bitterly. The new emperor took pity on her and wanted to issue an imperial decree to exempt her from her marriage to Prince Shu, and to grant amnesty to the people so that she would not have to accompany him in exile.
But she was worried about bringing disaster to the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion, so she spoke hesitantly and added that her second sister Xu Qinyu was still unmarried.
At that time, she was indeed worried about the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion and was afraid that outsiders would say that she was ungrateful. She did not think too much about it. She just felt that sacrificing one person to preserve the reputation of everyone in the Marquis' Mansion was worth it.
Sure enough, the new emperor took the bait and issued an imperial edict to arrange a marriage between Xu Qinyu, the second daughter of Marquis Dechang, and Prince Shu, and to be exiled together with him.
Later, my second sister was carried in a sedan chair by my grandmother to the Prince Shu's Mansion, and was exiled to the southwest along with Prince Shu's lineage.
Who knew that Prince Shu was such a ruthless character. After enduring for ten years, he suddenly broke into the palace and killed the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu. No, he killed half of the people in the harem.
Thinking of this, Xu Qinhui couldn't help but shudder.
But fortunately, there was still time for everything. She started over again and had not yet entered the palace to become the new emperor's concubine.
But she couldn't remember whether her second sister had married into Prince Shu's palace for her.
Ping'er said, "Miss, how could you forget that the second young lady had already been exiled to the southwest with Prince Shu's lineage two months ago?"
Was it two months ago?
Xu Qinhui frowned slightly.
But there was still time, there were still ten years left, and her second sister was weak. She remembered that she died of illness on the way to exile.
Afterwards, it seemed that a mudslide occurred on the way to exile, and only Prince Shu and Wen survived from Prince Shu's lineage.
Then now only Prince Shu and Wen should be alive.
Speaking of it, Wen was really lucky. She became the queen as a concubine of a baron's mansion. Even though she was later exiled and her entire family died, only she and her son were left. However, this son was a promising person and took the position of queen dowager back for her.
She vaguely remembered that when Pei Weixuan chopped off her head, she saw Wen wearing a cloak, wrapped tightly, standing far away in front of the main hall, surrounded by Pei Weixuan's black-armored guards.
But at that time, Wen was hunched over and her body was broken after ten years of exile. But so what? Before her death, she returned to the pinnacle of power in the world.
Xu Qinhui thought again of the scene where Prince Shu massacred the harem and lost her head. Her face turned pale and her stomach churned.
Fortunately, there are still ten years left. Even if her second sister died, she still had to make some plans. She had to go see her grandmother and get her grandmother's consent to let her go to the southwest and marry King Shu.
Even though the southwest is poor, she can bring more silver and money, such as tens of thousands of taels of silver notes. Her mother is rich, and she can continue to ask people to bring her silver and money every year. She can buy a big house in the southwest and bring a dozen maids and servants. It is not impossible for her to live alone with Wen and Shu Wang. At most, the southwest is not as prosperous as the capital, and there are no exquisite clothes, jewelry, delicious snacks and food. If not, she still has to bring a cook, and enough beautiful clothes and jewelry.
Xu Qinhui thought about this and said, "Since my second sister is in trouble, I'll go talk to my grandmother."
Ping'er said subconsciously, "Nothing happened to the Second Young Lady. Just now, the official who was exiling the Second Young Lady to the southwest came to the mansion with a letter saying that the Second Young Lady and Prince Shu had arrived safely in the southwest and should have settled down."
"What did you say?" Xu Qinhui's relaxed expression came to an abrupt end.
Her face was filled with disbelief. How could it be possible? Her second sister had clearly died of illness on the way to exile. She couldn't have remembered it wrongly. Later, when her second aunt found out, she spit out a mouthful of blood. After that, her second aunt was bedridden, but she didn't last long. She passed away in just over half a year.
After that, my second uncle also became disheartened. He made a mistake in the officialdom and was reported to his superiors.
If she hadn't pleaded with Emperor Sheng Yuan, her second uncle would have lost even that official position.
She would never remember it wrongly, but Ping'er now told her that her second sister was not dead?
"Help me change my clothes. I need to go see my grandmother."
She still didn't believe it.
Xu Qinhui changed her clothes and went to Old Madam Xu's courtyard. Old Madam Xu had just been furious with Ma Liu, and was now complaining to Nanny Feng beside her about the second house. She felt that it was all the second house's fault. Why did they send officials to deliver the letter and humiliate her like that? Especially the second girl, it's fine if she was exiled to the southwest, but now that she had become the wife of a rebel, she still wanted to have anything to do with their marquis' mansion.
Seeing Xu Qinhui, Mrs. Xu felt better.
Xu Qinhui called out "Grandma" and asked about her health and how her meals were doing recently.
Seeing her favorite granddaughter, Mrs. Xu felt much more comfortable.
Xu Qinhui pretended to care about her second sister and asked whether her second sister had arrived in the southwest.
Mrs. Xu immediately told her everything about the official who had just come to deliver the letter.
Xu Qinhui was completely speechless.
What had gone wrong? If her second sister hadn't died, how could she have escaped her past life's fate? How could she have married Prince Shu? She didn't want to be beheaded again.
As for the fact that Prince Shu would find the edict of the previous emperor and eventually rebel and attack the capital, she didn't dare tell the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu at all.
Otherwise, that crazy woman, Empress Dowager Fu, might have regarded the Marquis's Mansion as an accomplice of Prince Shu and killed them all.
So what should she do?
…
Xu Qinhui was worried in Duxun City, while Xu Qinyu in the southwest was living as usual.
The snow has been lighter these days, but her roujiamo is still selling well. Each person is limited to buying two, which is enough for the people on two merchant ships.
But the two of them could not eat enough, so they could only satisfy their cravings. Every day they asked Xu Qinyu to cook more. Xu Qinyu really could not do much. She would wait until she rested for a few months and got better health. She was still thin now and had little meat on her body.
In addition to setting up a stall at the dock, she also planned to set up evening snack stalls in the east and west of the city.
But if she went to set up a snack stall in the east or west of the city, she didn't plan to sell roujiamo, but to change to something else.
She hasn't decided yet what kind of evening food stall to set up.
There is no night market in the town. Usually, all the shops are closed at 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening. She plans to make some money in a few days and go to the iron shop to make a big iron pot and a big iron bucket. With a big iron pot, she will not have to stew the fish in three or four pots. This way, she can stew it all at once and put it in the iron bucket, which will be much faster and more relaxed for her. Then she can let her fourth brother stay at home, or let her mother come back early, and sell the braised fish at home for dinner.
Anyway, for the time being, she would only sell the fish she stewed to the neighbors in Guihua Lane. She would just tell everyone and let them come to buy it when the time came.
Even if the braised fish becomes famous in the future, people from other alleys will want to buy it. They can just come to her house to buy it. She and her fourth brother won't have to push the cart to set up a stall. She can set up a stall in the east and west of the city by herself.
In this case, your home definitely needs a big dog to guard the house.
When the family was having dinner in the evening, Xu Qinyu asked, "Fourth brother, when can we get a puppy that can guard the house and protect the owner?" She couldn't just catch the stray dogs on the roadside, as they were used to running around. She needed to find a puppy that could guard the house and protect the owner, and would rush forward when it saw its owner being bullied!
Pei Weixuan thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow, I'm going out tomorrow and I need to go up the mountain to look for something."
"Won't it snow tomorrow?" Xu Qinyu knew her husband was an astronomical observer. "If it's snowing and it's unsafe to go up the mountain, why would Fourth Brother go there?"
The snow had been light these past two days, and she had been planning to ask her fourth brother if it would snow heavily again.
Pei Weixuan said, "It will continue to snow lightly for the next two days, and then it will snow heavily in a few days."
It was like there was no end to it. Xu Qinyu was worried. Would this snow really cause a disaster? She couldn't help but ask about her worries. Pei Weixuan glanced at her and slowly said, "It won't cause a disaster in the southwest." That means it might cause a disaster in other places.
Xu Qinyu was still worried after hearing this.
When Wen heard this, she was also a little worried and didn't want her son to go up the mountain. It was winter and snowing, so going up the mountain would be even more dangerous. When it was cold, it was difficult for the ferocious beasts in the mountains to hunt prey and they were all hungry. What would happen if he encountered such a ferocious beast?
Wen said a few words, but Pei Weixuan said, "Don't worry, mother. I'm going to the mountains to look for a medicinal herb that only appears after snowfall. It's related to my illness."
He was poisoned, so the herbs we were looking for could cure the poison.
Wen shut up, but she was still a little worried and frowned.
…
The next day, Pei Weixuan went out before dawn. That morning, Xu Qinyu set up her own pancake and egg stall.
Along the way, Xu Qinhui was quite worried about him. Although she vaguely knew that her cheap husband was not as sickly as he appeared and had some pretty good martial arts skills, it was dangerous to go into the mountains in winter. Even ordinary old hunters would not choose to go into the mountains in winter, but he had to go.
Come to think of it, she actually wanted to go up the mountain as well, as she hadn't eaten mushrooms for a long time.
People here don't eat mushrooms, so naturally there are no mushrooms for sale. The town is still some distance away from the mountain. Even if the weather gets warmer in the future, it will take her an hour to walk down the mountain by herself, which is a bit far.
After selling breakfast, Xu Qinyu went to buy pig offal and herring. Today she also bought a lot of lard.
The lard I bought previously has been used up, so I bought a lot this time, enough to fill two large jars.
There is a lot of lard, so there are naturally a lot of oil residues. She plans to use the oil residues and radishes to make dumplings.
The oil residue and radish filling are the best match, because the oil residue is oily and the sweet radish can absorb the excess oil from the oil residue.
After returning, she did not process the ingredients first, but went to the east and west of the city to see what kind of business most of the vendors here were doing.
There are two busy streets in the east and west of the city, and there are still many people even when it snows.
In front of the market are several large restaurants and various shops. If you want to set up stalls, they are basically fixed in the alley behind the market. It is considered a tile market, selling all kinds of food and ingredients. There are also stalls selling sundries and other things. It is more lively than the dock, which is only lively when there are many merchant ships.
The food sold in the tile markets on the east and west sides of the city are basically common.
Xu Qinyu looked around and had a rough idea in her mind. She planned to think about it after returning home.
After returning to Guihua Lane, Xu Qinyu began to get busy.
Wen had not gone out to work these days. She was worried that Old Lady Luo would come and bully the children at home again. However, she had not seen Old Lady Luo for several days. Wen planned to wait for her son to come back in the evening and continue to work at her employer's house tomorrow.
Wen was at home in the afternoon and had helped Xu Qinyu scrape all the scales off the black carp.
She didn't help to open the fish's belly because Yu Niang said there was fish gall in the fish's belly, and if it was not handled properly, the fish would taste bitter.
Xu Qinyu prepared the fish, cleaned the fish offal in the belly, marinated it, added some ginger slices and stuffed it back into the fish belly before cooking it together.
After cooking the fish, Mrs. Wen saw that her daughter-in-law was working hard and offered to help her set up a stall in the alley to sell fish.
Xu Qinyu was naturally willing, and she also had to make lard to make dumplings.
Wen's stall business went smoothly and he sold all the fish in a short time. After returning, he gave the purse to Yu Niang.
Xu Qinyu also refined the lard and started making dumplings.
To make lard residue dumplings, you need to chop the lard residue into small pieces and mince some pork belly into a paste. Cut the radish into shreds and add some salt to drain the water. Stir the drained radish shreds with the chopped lard residue and meat filling in one direction, then add an egg, and finally add a little soy sauce, salt, and five-spice powder and continue stirring.
The only characteristic of lard and radish dumplings is that they are delicious!
It doesn't have any prominent umami or other flavors, it's just fragrant and fills your mouth with fragrance.
Xu Qinyu also made a sauce.
Use soy sauce, vinegar, and a little chili oil.
The chili oil was naturally made by her using dogwood.
Even Sister Ning was busy eating without pausing for a moment.
Xu Qinyu didn't cook Pei Weixuan's portion yet, planning to cook it when he came back in the evening.
However, she didn't expect that when she finished braising the pig intestines, her fourth brother still hadn't returned. Wen didn't dare to sleep. After waiting for another half an hour, he still hadn't returned. Everyone was a little restless. Wen asked Ning Jie'er to take the two children to bed first, and asked Xu Qinyu to wash up and go to bed first.
Xu Qinyu thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, mother. Fourth brother said that if it's fast, he can be back tonight, if it's slow, it may take two or three days. Fourth brother also brought food with him up the mountain. He won't go into the mountain unless he is completely sure."
Wen was still worried, but was finally persuaded by Xu Qinyu to go to sleep.
Xu Qinyu also slept uneasily, worried about her fourth brother.
I had several dreams at night. Some of them were about my past life, and some were about my original self interacting with my family. It was a mess.
At the hour of Mao, she woke up on time and went to the kitchen as usual to light the oil lamp and start the fire.
Just as she lit the stove, she heard some noise in the yard. She hurried out to see what was happening. She saw her fourth brother standing in the yard. It looked like he had jumped in from the top of the wall. The gate to the yard was not even open. She said in surprise, "Fourth brother, you're back."
Pei Weixuan nodded and carried a cloth bag into the kitchen.
Xu Qinyu also followed in happily.
Seeing him return safely, she finally felt relieved.
Pei Weixuan entered the kitchen and put down the cloth bag. Xu Qinyu asked curiously, "Fourth brother, are the herbs you're looking for in the bag?"
"No." His voice was clear and cold. "Just open it and you'll know."
Just as Xu Qinyu was about to open the cloth bag, the smell of fresh mushrooms rushed into her nostrils.
She was slightly stunned, bent down and couldn't wait to open the cloth bag. There was indeed a large bag of mushrooms inside. She was a little shocked and said, "Fourth brother, can you tell the poisonous and non-toxic mushrooms?" After she said this, she realized that something was wrong. Fourth brother knew medicine, so it was not surprising that he could tell the poisonous and non-toxic mushrooms.
Xu Qinyu touched the tip of her nose, curled her eyes at her fourth brother, and then poured out all the mushrooms in the cloth bag.
After the mushroom came out, a red fruit and a fat ginseng rolled out.
This fruit is not a mushroom, it should be the medicine that Fourth Brother mentioned. When she saw the plump ginseng, she was also stunned.
Pei Weixuan picked up the red fruit and fat ginseng on the ground, finally put the fruit in his palm and handed the ginseng to Xu Qinyu, "Return the silver to Yu Niang."
Xu Qinyu just remembered that when she was still in Raozhou City, her fourth brother borrowed one or two taels of silver from her to buy medicine to make ointment.
She waved her hands hurriedly, "It's only one ounce of silver, how can it be worth a ginseng? Besides, Fourth Brother borrowed the money to buy medicine to make frostbite cream for us."
This wild ginseng is obviously of good quality. Even the whiskers have been dug out. It is plump and must be very valuable. She thinks that her fourth brother is poisonous and may need this ginseng even more.
"Fourth brother, why don't you not sell this ginseng for now? It might save your life in the future, or we can make a decision when there's an emergency. Our family isn't short of money right now, so it's better to keep it."
Pei Weixuan nodded, "Okay, then I'll prepare it tomorrow."
Xu Qinyu knew that medicinal materials needed to be processed in order to be stored for a long time.
She squatted down and briefly flipped through the mushrooms. Sure enough, they were all non-toxic. Just as she was thinking about stir-frying them in the morning, she heard her fourth brother's slow voice, "Yu Niang, didn't you ask me to find you someone who can guard the house and protect the master? I found him."
Xu Qinyu was stunned when she heard this.
I thought to myself, I didn’t see Fourth Brother bring back any puppies.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
