Chapter 263: Encountering an Old Acquaintance?
Consort Duan fainted and remained in a coma for ten days to half a month.
The emperor went to visit a few times with feigned concern, and before leaving, he made sure to instruct the palace maids to continue administering the medicine.
The palace maids dared not go against the emperor and had no choice but to obey. Even those who were once confidants of Consort Duan dared not stand on Consort Duan's side at this time.
Seeing that Consort Duan would not live much longer, the emperor no longer paid attention to her. After returning to his palace, he sent people to look for the empress again.
This time, he was determined to find the Empress.
In Changliu Village, Du Wanchun received the final payment from Master Fang, and her family had an extra sum of money.
Aunt Zhou and Du Wanchun were counting their money together, their smiles narrowing into slits. "Wanchun, this much money is enough for us to build several more houses."
Du Wanchun laughed and said, "It's not just a house, Mother. Whatever you want now, I can buy it for you."
Aunt Zhou looked around the house and said, "I don't want anything now. I just want you, Ruiyuan, and the children to be healthy and happy for the rest of your lives. That would make me content."
Du Wanchun held her hand and gently comforted her, "Mother, don't worry, not only Ruiyuan and I, but also the children, our whole family can live a peaceful and stable life."
Aunt Zhou smiled and nodded.
Du Wanchun turned around, took out the family account book, set aside some silver, and prepared to start cultivating the fields in Fengjiazhuang and then open a rice shop in Wanzhou County.
With the help of the Third Prince, Du Wanchun hired more than thirty farmhands to plant all the fields in the estate.
This time, in addition to rice, they also planted some melons, fruits, and vegetables, as well as a large area of cotton.
Cotton is valuable. The Zhou family had only tried planting some before, and the cotton they grew was all made into quilts by Aunt Zhou for their own use.
This time, cotton is being planted on a large scale.
Although it wasn't like those cloth shops that planted thousands of acres, it still planted a hundred acres.
When it was time to sow the seeds, Du Wanchun came in person and delivered water to the farmhands twice.
Before Du Wanchun arrived, the sun was blazing, and the workers were all sweating profusely. But after she arrived, clouds gradually drifted in and blocked the sunlight. In addition, a cold wind blew, and everyone instantly felt much cooler.
The Third Prince stayed here and soon sent Du Wanchun to the mansion.
At noon, Du Wanchun returned home and went to Cheng'an County with Aunt Zhou.
Aunt Zhou wanted to buy some fabric to make a few more clothes for the children.
Du Wanchun accompanied her and took the opportunity to visit Zhou Ruiyuan, who was busy at the county government office.
The two first went to the cloth shop and bought some cloth. When they passed by the rouge shop,
Aunt Zhou pointed inside and said, "Wanchun, I see you've almost used up your rouge. Buy a few more boxes, and give one to Madam Wu and Little Sister Xu as well."
Du Wanchun nodded slightly and smiled, "Mother, you should buy some for yourself too."
Aunt Zhou quickly replied, "I'm already so old, why would I need to buy rouge?"
Du Wanchun quickly replied, "Mother, you're not old."
To be honest, Aunt Zhou is not old, but she has been working hard in the village for the past few years, raising her three children and looking a bit weathered.
Even with her somewhat weathered appearance, she stands out among women of her age.
Du Wanchun pulled Aunt Zhou into the shop.
This cosmetics shop is newly opened.
The rouge shop used to be the one run by Lady Liu. Now that Lady Liu has gone to Qingzhou Prefecture with Magistrate Li, someone has opened a new shop.
As they approached the shop, they saw a noblewoman inside looking at rouge.
The noblewoman looked at several colors in a row, but was very dissatisfied. She scolded the shopkeeper, "Your rouge is far inferior to that of the capital."
"Hurry up and bring me a few more."
As she spoke, she angrily threw the rouge she was holding aside.
Upon seeing Du Wanchun and Granny Zhou arrive, the shopkeeper immediately ignored the wealthy woman, greeting her, "Madam Zhou~ Boss Zhou~"
Aunt Zhou looked up at him and said, "Shopkeeper, we want to buy five boxes of rouge today. Just give us the ones that have been selling the best lately."
Normally, everyone likes to call Du Wanchun "Boss Zhou" and Aunt Zhou "Madam Zhou".
Because Du Wanchun was usually kind to everyone, the vendors in the neighborhood liked her very much.
As soon as they arrived, they would greet the customers in the shop first, disregarding the other customers.
"Yes, Madam Zhou, I'll get it for you right now." The shopkeeper said and quickly turned to the counter for the rouge.
Seeing his expression, the noblewoman was filled with anger and angrily rebuked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, I was here first! How could you just leave me here like this?!"
The shop assistant standing beside her said, "Madam, how can you say we don't care? I'm always here. You can tell me what you want to buy."
The wealthy woman raised her hand and slapped him across the face. "Who do you think you are? Get out!"
The man was slapped and fell backward.
Aunt Zhou quickly helped him up and said to the shopkeeper, "This lady should come first, let her see first."
The noblewoman slowly raised her head to look at her, and was startled when she saw the person in front of her. "It's you?!"
Aunt Zhou was startled when she saw her, and then quickly lowered her head.
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