Lin Dong stroked the jade ring on his finger. It was a gift from his son, Lin Zixuan, after Peanut made some money. "It's not impossible to send Coal Hill back..."
"Master, you can't be confused."
"Why are you in such a hurry? Zixuan told me that the profit from peanuts is quite considerable. He wants to buy another piece of land next year and plant more."
Mrs. Song disagreed. "No matter how much peanuts we plant, the yield won't be as great as the yield from Coal Hill. Our family's annual expenses are over 10,000 taels of silver, and planting peanuts alone won't cover it."
"More than ten thousand taels? How come it's so much? I remember it was only three or four thousand taels a year."
"That was in the past! My second brother's wife ate a bowl of bird's nest every two days. How could that be too much? Master, once Coal Hill is returned, what will we eat and drink? Besides, the Second House will not agree."
Lin Dong's eyes darted around. "Actually, there's no need to worry. Think about it, I'm Prince Ping's uncle. Those who want to join Prince Ping must come to curry favor with me, right? If they want to curry favor with me, how can they come empty-handed?"
Lin Qingyi wiped her tears and said, "My father is right. The daughter of the Minister's family tried to curry favor with Wan Shan'er. Today she would give Wan Shan'er clothing materials, and tomorrow she would give Wan Shan'er jewelry. Among the princes, my cousin has the highest reputation now. There must be many people who want to curry favor with our family."
Song had seen many wives of officials try to curry favor with Gao, and she was both angry and envious. "But, Mother is the only one who has a say in Prince Ping's affairs. If Mother doesn't agree, what else can we do?"
Lin Qingyi suggested, "Mother, grandma doesn't agree, but what if Kang Yueran agrees? Mother, why don't you write a letter to Kang Yueran and tell her that I am willing to be her mistress and won't fight with her."
Lin Dong nodded in agreement, "That's right! Don't mention Coal Hill in the letter first, just mention Qing Yi's matter. If Kang Yueran disagrees, then talk about returning Coal Hill to her."
Both her husband and daughter agreed. Mrs. Song slapped her thigh and said, "I'll write a letter to Kang Yueran right away."
There have been all kinds of news coming out in the capital recently, and Chai Shijing was a little confused. He took two kilograms of tea and went to his teacher Du Ruhui's house.
Du Ruhui took the tea leaves and asked, "But green tea? I'm out of green tea." He sniffed it and said, "This doesn't smell right. Is it new tea?"
"It's a new tea called Jasmine Tea. It's green tea with jasmine flowers added. Yue Ran hasn't sold any yet, so she sent some over for me to try."
Du Ruhui was very excited, "Come on, let me try some."
The two of them sat in the tea room, and Du Ruhui took a new purple clay teapot from the antique shelf and gave it to the servant to clean.
Chai Shijing asked, "Teacher, in your opinion, which prince will Duke Lu choose?"
Du Ruhui counted the princes and said, "The eldest and fourth princes are gone. The oldest of the remaining ones is the second prince, Prince Jin. Prince Jin is brave but not wise, but he is ambitious. The fifth prince, Prince Xuan, likes literature and dislikes court fighting. Even if Duke Lu takes a fancy to him, he will not agree.
You and Duke Lu have a past grudge, so he definitely won't choose you; the Seventh Prince, Prince Ning, is uninhibited and relatively simple-minded, and he won't go along with Duke Lu; the Eighth Prince, Prince Duan, is timid and cowardly; the Ninth and Tenth Princes are still young."
He pondered for a moment and continued, "From the fact that Duke Lu didn't do anything to protect the Third Prince, it's clear that he had long since considered him a discarded pawn. He abandoned the discarded pawn because he must have a new one in his hand."
Chai Shijing nodded in agreement. "Prince Jin acted rather arrogantly after His Majesty vomited blood. I once suspected that Duke Lu had chosen Prince Jin, but on second thought, I find that unlikely."
Du Ruhui frowned. "Prince Jin and the Third Prince have similar personalities. Since Duke Lu abandoned the Third Prince, he shouldn't look for a similar Prince Jin. The Ninth and Tenth Princes' maternal families both have old grudges against Duke Lu, so cooperation is out of the question."
Chai Shijing whispered in surprise: "Could it be Lao Ba?"
"The Eighth Prince is timid. If Duke Lu supports him in becoming emperor, then Duke Lu will be in power in Dayong, which will be in Duke Lu's best interests. But since the Eighth Prince is timid, will he really agree to cooperate with Duke Lu?"
As a prince, he has the right to fight for the throne. "With Duke Lu's help, who can say for sure that Old Eight won't be tempted?"
"Regardless of who it is, it's always right to be more careful. Especially at times like this, you can't afford to make any mistakes."
Chai Shijing smiled. "I don't need to!" He played with a teacup. "I really wish Yueran was here."
"Pay the betrothal gift next month?" Paying the betrothal gift means giving the betrothal gift.
Speaking of marriage, Chai Shijing's smile became even wider. "Well, the Shaofu has already prepared the things needed for the betrothal gifts. I have also prepared some myself, and I will send them all to Four Seasons Garden when the time comes."
"Calculated, you will be able to get married in more than a year."
"I used to think it didn't matter whether I got married early or late, but now that I have Yueran, I'm looking forward to getting married sooner rather than later."
Du Ruhui laughed heartily, "The feelings of young couples are the strongest and most genuine."
The servant brought in a clean purple clay teapot, and the water on the small stove was boiling. Du Ruhui made tea and said, "Have some tea!"
Anzhou
Li Erbing came to Kang Yueran with another stack of invitations, "Miss, these are the ones I have selected. They are all invitations to you to enjoy flowers and listen to operas."
Kang Yueran pointed at her nose and asked, "When did your daughter like to appreciate flowers and listen to operas?"
"Girl, I know you don't like appreciating flowers or listening to operas. Those who invite you to appreciate flowers and listen to operas don't really invite you to appreciate flowers and listen to operas."
"You're almost confusing me. I don't even want to go see the flowers or watch the opera."
Li Erbing counted out three letters and handed them to Kang Yueran. "The Lu family's eldest young master's daughter's hundred-day banquet; the Ou family's seventh daughter is getting married; and Lord Guo Tong's youngest son is getting married."
Kang Yueran took it and flipped it open. The dates were all in this month, but there was no overlap. She handed the invitation to Li Erbing again, "Prepare a gift for each family, and remind me to go there in advance."
Li Erbing responded and retreated.
Kang Yueran sat down in the tea room and made some tea. There had been too many banquets recently, and she had to go to some of them to show her respect. She only now realized that there was no job more tiring than dealing with those ladies.
Ever since the news of Kang Yueran's marriage to Chai Shijing spread, Han Xiu often asked Kang Yuanchen to go to Fan Erhu's house for drinks and dinner.
After going there more often, Kang Yuanchen was able to occasionally say a few words to Fan Yao.
Fan Yao knew that Kang Yuanchen was the husband Han Xiu had chosen for her, so she often took extra care of him, sometimes reminding him that drinking was harmful to his health, and sometimes reminding him to rest more when he was tired from work.
Kang Yuanchen had a smile on his face and a sweet heart, and he became more and more satisfied with Fan Yao.
He invited Han Xiu to a restaurant for dinner and shyly said that he was attracted to Fan Yao. Han Xiu, an experienced man, had already seen through it and readily agreed.
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