Chapter 66 066 Time to divide the sheep, baa baa baa!
On March 16th, after Xiao Yu personally helped his parents-in-law turn over the vegetable garden in the backyard, played chess with his brother-in-law Pei Xingshu and chatted about the changes in the officialdom of the capital in the past two years, and accompanied his wife to visit several scenic spots near the capital for spring appreciation, Qingchuan and Chaosheng finally drove a cart full of black goats into the capital, and the eight goats on the cart attracted everyone's attention along the way.
At that time, Luo Fu and Xiao Yu had not yet returned from their spring outing outside the city. Qingchuan and Chaosheng went to Wanhe Hall to pay their respects to the Lady of the Marquis.
The two of them were Xiao Yu's right-hand men. Deng had been thinking about them for the past two years. She stood happily in the courtyard waiting. When the two of them finally appeared on the veranda, Deng took a closer look. Chao Sheng was alright, not much darker than when he was at home. Only Qing Chuan, who was not fair-skinned to begin with, had now been tanned to a bronze color, and was both dark and strong!
"Madam Hou, we've finally seen you again, sob sob sob..."
Chao Sheng knelt down with a thud, tears welling in his eyes, and kowtowed. He had been playing with the Third Master in the Marquis's mansion since he could remember. The Marquis's wife treated him well, and Chao Sheng secretly regarded her as half a mother.
Qingchuan entered the manor relatively late and was not as emotionally expressive as Chaosheng. His face darkened, and kneeling there made him appear even more resolute.
Madam Deng helped the two up with her own hands, her eyes red with emotion, and said, "Good, good, it's good that you're back safe and sound. It must have been hard for you to travel all the way to Loujiang to take care of Third Master."
Deng said the last sentence while looking at Qingchuan.
Qingchuan: "..."
Who would have thought that when the Marquis first bought him into the manor, he only asked him to protect the Third Master's safety, and that other people would take care of the Third Master's daily life and other trivial matters? As a result, when he went to Songshan Academy with the Third Master, he not only took on the job of guard but also took care of the Third Master's daily life. The Third Master was particularly strict about his daily life. After finally returning to the capital and enjoying less than two years of leisure, he went to Loujiang with the Third Master again!
Qingchuan thought the journey of three thousand miles was tough enough, but when he arrived in Loujiang, he realized how comfortable the journey was. In Loujiang, Third Master personally went to the fields to reclaim wasteland in order to encourage farmers, and Qingchuan had to follow along. While Third Master rested by talking to the villagers, Qingchuan buried himself in hard work. When Third Master's palms were blistered and he was enduring the pain, Qingchuan swung the pickaxe even harder so that Third Master could do less work!
Third Master traversed mountains and valleys, traveling between villages and tribal settlements. Qingchuan had to accompany him. While Third Master sat in the villagers' houses explaining government decrees, Qingchuan waited outside in the sun. Later, the villagers spontaneously cleared land for cultivation. Third Master sat in the county office handling official business or judging cases, while Qingchuan continued to run errands for him, practically a yamen runner…
How could he not get tanned after being exposed to the sun for so many years?
Although Pang Xin worked just as hard, he could speak the local dialect, got married, and had children, while Qing Chuan got nothing but a dark complexion!
Madam Deng remembered the important matter of their marriages and comforted them, saying, "In the past few years, there have been many things going on at home, and I've been too busy taking care of your Third Master to look after you two. Just wait, this year I promise I'll make sure you both get married!"
Chao Sheng laughed excitedly. Qing Chuan glanced at Chao Sheng's fairly fair face and decided to ask Third Master for a few boxes of face cream later. Third Master owed him this!
After catching up, Ms. Deng went with the two men to see the black goats.
Chao Sheng complained again, saying that the black goats raised by the barbarians were very picky eaters. Before the group switched to waterways in Chenyang, a dozen or so able-bodied men from the Abao tribe had been responsible for gathering mountain grass to feed them, which had actually helped the ten black goats grow quite strong. However, once they were on the boat, the dozens of kilograms of mountain grass left behind by the Abao tribe were all eaten up, and the goats started to become picky. Two of them even starved to death because they refused to eat the ordinary grass on the shore. As a result, Qing Chuan, Chao Sheng, and the boatman and his wife had to eat mutton for several days under the worried gaze of Third Master. In the end, it was Third Master who was resourceful. After several attempts, he finally managed to buy the most expensive type of hay that the local oxen liked at the market. He mixed it with some soybean meal and cornmeal, which finally satisfied the appetites of the remaining eight black goats.
Deng: "..." Let's just say that the third son went through all that trouble to bring back this batch of sheep as a way of showing his respect to her!
In the afternoon, Luo Fu and Xiao Yu returned home after a satisfying meal at a restaurant. The young couple were quite wealthy now, because Xiao Yu had initially given some of his private savings to the people of Loujiang. Later, when the county government had some savings, Xiao Yu saved every penny and brought back more than 1,200 taels of silver. Deng refused to accept it and told the young couple to keep it quietly.
Standing in front of the sheepfold prepared in advance by the Marquis's residence, Luo Fu asked Xiao Yu how he planned to send the sheep away.
Three more survived than he had expected. Xiao Yu rearranged them, saying, "One for my wife, one for the family, one for my parents-in-law, one for my sister and brother-in-law, one for the palace, one for the princess, and one each for the Yang and Li families. How does that sound?"
Lamb is nourishing; hopefully, it will make the old Duke feel better. The Left Prime Minister is also fifty-seven this year, and he's usually so busy. He should take some nourishment with the old Duke.
Luo Fu could never finish a whole sheep, and even if Xiao Yu and his wife were included, they still wouldn't be able to finish it. Besides, when the Marquis's mansion slaughters a sheep, they will definitely be invited.
"I don't need to keep any here. I'd rather send two to the princess's residence. The princess can enjoy one as she pleases, and I'll use the princess's place to host a banquet for the two princesses with the other."
Princess is alone and does not interfere in politics, while Princess Shun and Princess Fu both live with their respective prince husbands. If the Xiao family rashly sends sheep to the Shun and Fu residences, even if it is true that Luo Fu sent them because of her private relationship with the two princesses, it is easy to cause misunderstandings. As the rumors spread, it will become that the Xiao family wants to curry favor with the two princes!
So even if Xiao Yu brought back a hundred black goats, the couple couldn't just give them away randomly.
Xiao Yu thought that the madam's arrangements were very good.
Having agreed on the plan, while the eight black goats were still lively and hadn't yet suffered from any acclimatization issues upon arriving in the capital, the couple sent the goats to their respective destinations.
Xiao Yu first went to the palace to deliver sheep to the emperor and empress. The emperor and empress had heard about the deliciousness of the Loujiang black goat through Xiao Yu's family letters and were very satisfied with Xiao Yu's filial piety.
Rosé took the two sheep to the princess's palace.
Kang Ping exclaimed in surprise, "There's even a share for me?"
Luo Fu smiled and said, "I often express my gratitude to the princess for her kindness in my letters. Xiao Yu remembers it all. He took ten with him when he set off, and he estimated that only five would survive when he arrived in the capital. One of them was specially presented to the princess. Goats are not worth much, so consider it a small token of our gratitude to the princess."
Kangping has no shortage of money, and if she wants to eat mutton, there are plenty in the capital. She could even buy a few from the grasslands in the north. But the black goats that Xiao Yu sent came from Qian, a place even farther and more difficult to reach than the grasslands. Xiao Yu, a top scholar who was like a god, had personally held and fed them. This sincerity was more precious than gold.
Kang Ping also knew that Xiao Yu had offended her twice simply because he was an upright man who disapproved of powerful people abusing their power for personal gain, and not because he was deliberately targeting her.
"Alright, for the sake of this sheep, I'll let bygones be bygones for what happened before."
Kang Ping circled the two black goats once, speaking with a cheerful expression.
Luo Fu then made a request to use the princess's place to host a banquet for the two queens.
Kang Ping nodded and said, "That's right. Otherwise, what if our third and fourth sisters-in-law find out that we're eating alone and they never come to play cards again? Here's what we'll do: I'll send them invitations later and ask them to come over to play cards tomorrow morning. We'll have mutton together for lunch."
Luo Fu smiled and said okay.
After Luo Fu delivered the sheep to her sister and brother-in-law and returned to their residence, Xiao Yu returned from the Left Prime Minister's residence and the Duke of Dingguo's residence after about half an hour.
"I have to go to the Princess's residence tomorrow. You should go to Ganquan Town to take care of your parents-in-law," Luo Fu informed Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu: "...We'll definitely be having mutton at home tonight. Madam, can your body handle eating it for two days in a row?"
Luo Fu: "...I'll eat less tonight."
She has always been the biggest eater in the eyes of the three noblemen, and she can't suddenly change her mind tomorrow.
Xiao Yu: "Or should I tell my mother to let the sheep at home rest for a few more days?"
Luo Fu glared at him. Her nephews and nieces had been longing for the black goat for a long time, and she didn't want to be the bad aunt who would stop the children from eating goat meat.
The next day, as usual, Luo Fu arrived at the princess's residence about 25 minutes early. While talking with the princess, she was told that Princess Kangping had not only invited the two princesses, but also specifically asked them to bring their children.
Kangping: "Meat should be eaten fresh. The four of us can eat several pounds. My third sister-in-law has two nephews who are eating meat like wolves. They are enjoying their food, and it makes me feel good to see them eating so well."
Long before Xiao Yu was demoted, when it was the turn of Princess Shun and Princess Fu to host, Luo Fu had visited the two princely residences and met several imperial grandsons and granddaughters. However, once Xiao Yu was demoted, the two princesses, who were not as free as Princess Kangping, stopped inviting her to their residences. After two whole years of not seeing them, Luo Fu couldn't even imagine what the young nobles looked like anymore, and she guessed that the young nobles felt the same way about her.
A moment later, the two princesses arrived.
Because Luo Fu was going out to greet them, and Kang Ping also missed his nephews and nieces, he accompanied Luo Fu outside.
Opposite them, Princess Shun and Princess Fu walked in the middle, each with their own child on either side.
Princess Consort Shun has two sons and a daughter. The heir is thirteen years old this year, and the second son is ten years old. The two brothers have similar features and are equally robust, so robust that they are somewhat chubby. Even their five-year-old sister has a chubby face and body, clearly born into a wealthy family.
Princess Fu has only one son and one daughter. Her eldest daughter is eleven years old this year, and her son is only seven. The siblings both inherited their mother's looks, and whether beautiful or handsome, they both possess an ethereal and otherworldly aura. Although Xiao Yu is often praised by outsiders for his otherworldly demeanor, he also has a refined and scholarly air, and does not give people a sense of unapproachability or aloofness.
The five cousins have different appearances and builds, but they share something in common—a royal air.
Just like when Luo Fu first paid her respects to the Left Prime Minister's wife, Madam Xu, and the Duke of Dingguo's wife, Madam Liao, she only showed respect and not fear. However, when these five children stood there, they were waiting to receive her greetings with the imperial demeanor. After all, from birth, they were used to the people around them bowing and kneeling to their imperial grandparents, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, and princesses.
Luo Fu skillfully stepped forward and bowed.
Princess Shun's two strong sons only gave her a look, and her five-year-old sister was too busy staring at the unfamiliar new face. It was Princess Fu's eldest daughter who smiled and said, "Madam, you may rise. It has been two years since we last met. You seem to have changed no more than before."
The Prince of Fu's gaze swept over the smiling face of the Third Madam of the Xiao family, and he silently agreed with his sister's words. This person was indeed as cheerful as he remembered.
Because his mother rarely smiled, and the prince, his sister, maids, and eunuchs who were around him also rarely smiled, the Prince of Fu had a particularly deep impression of the Third Madam of the Xiao family.
-----------------------
Author's Note: The Fu family, who rarely smile, hahaha.
100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com