The next day, the two of them got up early. Besides teaching Tao and the others how to make tofu, they also wanted to have some morning tea. Tao told them that it was almost done and asked them to try it again.
The two sat in the hall, and soon Tao came in with her two daughters-in-law, who placed the tea and snacks on the table: rice noodle rolls, barbecued pork buns, walnut buns, chicken feet, pineapple buns... and soon the table was full.
They didn't make much, but there was a variety of dishes, enough to fill the two of them. They told Tao and the others to go eat breakfast first, and they would clean up later, before the two of them ate their own meal.
After receiving the instructions, Tao and her daughter-in-law went to the kitchen to eat.
After An Shuyi and Xia Hua finished eating, they waited for Tao Shi and the others to finish eating and clean up before they started teaching them how to make tofu. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult, and the group quickly got the hang of it.
Seeing that they had already learned how to do it, and that it was getting late, the two set off for the brokerage firm. They went to the same brokerage firm as last time, but to their disappointment, there were no estates for sale. Although there was land available for sale, it was too little and the land was scattered, making it impossible to manage centrally.
Xia Hua and the broker agreed that if there were any estates for sale, as long as they were five or six hundred acres, they would keep them for them, and the broker readily agreed.
Knowing that buying the estate couldn't be rushed and had to be done slowly, the two returned to their residence. However, they still hadn't managed to buy the estate before they left.
This was the day they left. More than three months had passed since they left, and it was now October. Both shops had been doing very well, with substantial profits every day.
They had taught the children almost to the point of exhaustion, and even divided them into two teams for a competition. Although they were somewhat poor, they had only been learning for a short time, so they could only take it slowly. Thanks to the high-yield grain and the prescription for repelling locusts, the two of them had now become fourth-rank ladies-in-waiting.
Although she wasn't yet a first-rank imperial consort, she was at least a fourth-rank official. The two of them thought that at most she would be a fifth-rank or a sixth-rank official, but they never expected that she would actually be a fourth-rank official.
When Xiao Zili came to tell them, the two were quite surprised. However, according to him, the emperor originally intended to confer the rank of the two women as eighth-grade officials based on the two prescriptions for cholera last time. But the court officials felt that they were just two women and that the rank of ninth grade was sufficient.
This time, I was able to reach the fourth rank thanks to Xiao Zili's help. Of course, he also benefited from it. Because of his discovery of the high yield and the locust control, Xiao Zili is now working under the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
According to their guesses, even if he wasn't granted the title of prince, he should at least be the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Unexpectedly, he was only a Vice Minister. Although he could do some practical work, his official rank was too low. They heard that the gifts he was given were all useless ornaments. It seems that the emperor really dislikes Xiao Zili.
Fortunately, Xiao Zili didn't care at all. He just left those things as they were useless. Although the position of the Temple Assistant was not high, he worked under the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and had a lot of opportunities to deal with things every day.
The eunuchs who were to bestow titles upon the two women have already set off. Since Xiao Zili did not mention that the two women were in the capital, he sent the eunuchs to Jinnan City with the imperial edict and rewards.
The eunuchs had been gone for several days, and the two of them were returning to the village. It was already October, and it was time to go back.
After getting up in the morning and having breakfast, they set off with the dry rations prepared by Tao and the others. During this time, the servants also knew that they were not from the capital, but from Jinnan City. When He Jin learned that they were going back, he wanted to drive them back in a carriage and have Tao serve them.
But the two men refused. They could go back, but having them with them would only cause trouble. Looking at the people outside the two houses, they realized they were all there to see them off. The children just watched without going forward.
An Shuyi told them to do their jobs well, and then she and Xia Hua rode away. They had bought the horses from the trading system when they were about to leave. Although there were two horses in the mansion and two in the children's mansions, they were reserved for their own use.
This time, the two did not take the mountain road, but the official road. They rode horses all the way, stopping to rest when there was an inn, and finding a place to spend the night when there was none. Fortunately, the journey was smooth.
That day, the two finally caught up with the investiture procession. Seeing the soldiers resting by the roadside, and realizing it was getting late, they decided to rest there for the night, but they still kept their distance from the procession.
After sitting down to rest, An Shuyi looked at the carriages and said, "Huahua, tell me, what did the Empress do, or what did the Duke of Protectorate do? Why does the Emperor hate her so much that he doesn't even love her son?"
"Although we discovered and planted those high-yield crops, and we also obtained the prescription for repelling locusts, we deserve a lot of credit. But Xiao Zili also deserves a lot of credit, so why can't we treat him better?"
“Those rewards are useless. I think we have more than that. Look at the things on the carriage. It has twice as much as Xiao Zili’s. He’s really pitiful.”
Xia Hua glanced at the line in front of her. "To love someone is to love everything about them, and to hate them is the same. But I think it's not just that. When I was in the palace, I heard the palace maids and eunuchs say that the emperor and empress were childhood sweethearts and grew up together."
"Moreover, the two had a very good relationship. It was precisely because of their close relationship that the former emperor bestowed marriage upon them. After their marriage, their relationship remained excellent. Until the emperor became emperor, they had no concubines or maids; they were all served by men."
"After becoming emperor, he enjoyed a period of happiness, but everything changed with the first selection of concubines. The emperor began to frequently visit other palaces, and was no longer the only one with the empress."
"Later, a favored concubine appeared, who became a Noble Consort in just a few months, second only to the Empress. The Empress never expressed any reaction to any of this, not even when she was angry. I think something must have happened between the two of them, otherwise it wouldn't have been like this."
These were all things I heard from the palace maids and eunuchs, who also lamented how heartless the emperor was.
After listening, An Shuyi said, "Huahua, do you think it's possible that the Empress was framed for having an affair, or that she fell in love with someone else, which is why the Emperor took such revenge?"
"Otherwise, I don't believe that the relationship between these two people would change just because of a concubine selection."
Xia Hua shook her head, "I don't know, but I'm sure something's happened between the two of them, someone's here."
Seeing the approaching officers and soldiers, the two turned their heads, not understanding why he had come over.
"Sir, what brings you here?" An Shuyi and the others asked as they approached.
The soldier walked over and handed over what he was carrying. “This is from our superiors for the two ladies. They said that meeting you is fate, and since you’re traveling, you must only have dry rations. So we thought we’d give you some food.”
Although the adults meant well, he didn't want to come. Both of them were women, and they were both men. Their presence would cause many misunderstandings. Most importantly, what if the two heroines misunderstood him and thought he had ulterior motives?
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