Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie followed the donkey the whole time. Under Nanxing's command, the donkey walked and stopped along the way, and was very obedient. It seemed that the person who sold the donkey was not lying. This donkey really had pulled a cart.
Seeing that the donkey was docile, Xie Yushu had Nanxing lead the cart to the rice shop, where she bought a load of rice, a load of wheat flour, five loads of cornmeal, a load of soybeans, and also twenty catties of millet and twenty catties of sorghum.
After leaving the grain shop, they bought pumpkin seeds, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili seeds from a nearby stall. The imperial court wouldn't distribute these seeds, so now that they had the opportunity, they decided to grow some themselves for convenience.
After selecting the rapeseed, Xie Yushu followed the market to a place to buy chicks and ducklings. She thought that there were almost no other living creatures besides people at home, so she decided to buy more so that she could exchange them for wages when someone came to work for her. Therefore, she bought 300 chicks, 100 ducklings, and 100 goslings. In order to carry them, she also bought four large bamboo baskets.
With money in hand, the standard of living naturally had to be improved, so they bought two hundred chicken eggs and one hundred duck eggs. The chicken eggs were for daily consumption, and the duck eggs were to be pickled. With that in mind, they also bought two catties of salt. It wasn't that Xie Yushu was being stingy, but salt was rationed at that time. Ordinary people could not buy more than two catties of salt at a time, in case they were afraid that you would sell it privately.
Then came the seasonal fruits: three baskets of peaches, three baskets of plums, three baskets of white pears, and one basket of crabapples.
Then I bought medicine wicks, a clay pot, and other useful medicine-making tools. I also made an exquisite wooden storage box for the remaining ginseng and bought several sealable porcelain bottles to store snake venom, snake gallbladders, and pills.
Thinking of the Xiao family's behavior, Xie Yushu spent a lot of money to buy a one-meter-high and one-and-a-half-meter-long iron cabinet, and also equipped it with three large locks, one to lock the iron cabinet, one to lock the room door, and one to lock the main gate, so that they wouldn't treat her like an outsider!
After buying these items, they also bought several jars of wine and some dry rations. The wine was to be used to extract alcohol, and the dry rations were to be eaten on the road. After buying all sorts of things, the donkey cart was almost full, and the group finally embarked on their journey back home.
The first stop was, of course, Tai'an Prefecture. We left a basket of peaches and a basket of pears for Xie Tianqi and the Liu brothers, and then went to see Han Zhongyu. Fortunately, Han Zhongyu was at the prefectural government office this time. Upon hearing that Xie Yushu had arrived, he received them directly in the backyard of the government office.
Perhaps things were gradually getting on the right track, and Han Zhongyu finally began to resemble a noble young master. He had a full forehead, prominent temples, and a tall, elegant figure. His dark blue official robe made him appear calm and dignified.
New guards have also arrived around him, each with an imposing presence and a steady gait, clearly skilled in martial arts!
Seeing Xie Yushu scrutinizing his guards, his slightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he put down the official document in his hand.
"These are my personal guards. Those two are Han Zhong and Han Yi. And these two, this one is Lan Ting and that one is Li Guang. They are all elders of the Han family. If you need anything, you can go directly to them for help!"
"Wouldn't that be a waste of their talents! Let them serve the country under your command! Of course, I won't hesitate to do so if I really need them!"
Han Zhongyu understood her meaning and didn't dwell on it, but instead said...
"I heard you came a few days ago, but unfortunately I wasn't here! Please have a seat!"
As Han Zhongyu spoke, he got up and poured Xie Yushu a cup of tea.
"It's alright, I didn't have anything important to do that day anyway! I just heard you became the governor here, so I came to congratulate you!"
Han Zhongyu scoffed upon hearing this.
"There's nothing to congratulate you on. I was just transferred here as a lateral move. Things are in chaos here, so the Emperor sent me here to do hard labor!"
"So you came to offer your congratulations, but all you did was talk? Where's my gift?"
Xie Yushu was utterly embarrassed! She really hadn't planned to give any congratulatory gift! She was penniless; she couldn't possibly give him ten taels of silver! She hadn't expected him to actually ask for it!
Han Zhongyu, seeing Xie Yushu's embarrassed expression, raised an eyebrow and asked...
"You really are all talk!"
"I've heard you're an honest and upright official; I assumed you didn't accept gifts!"
"I do not accept bribes, but there is still the exchange of gifts among friends."
"I brought you some fruit from Jinyang this time."
Upon hearing this, Han Zhongyu glanced around. Xie Yushu said, "We didn't ask you to move in because we were afraid of disturbing you outside!"
"do not bother!"
Han Zhongyu was a man of few words, but he was actually incredibly hungry. He came here without a single maidservant, surrounded by a group of men. They were usually busy and would just grab a bite to eat when it was time to eat; who had the time to go all the way to buy some fruit?
Moreover, the area had just experienced a severe drought, and vegetables were scarce. He ate three meals of pickled vegetable strips a day, and although he wasn't afraid of hardship, he was still happy to have something sweet!
Xie Yushu was unaware of her ulterior motives. Seeing that he said he wouldn't disturb her, she had Qu Xiaodie and Nanxing bring in the peaches and plums.
Qu Xiaodie greeted Han Zhongyu and bowed to him. Han Zhongyu nodded. Nanxing had never seen such a high-ranking official before and was extremely nervous. He knelt down and kowtowed, but couldn't say a word. He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.
Seeing that Nanxing was too nervous, Xie Yushu realized that there was a difference between hearing about her and meeting her in person, so she said, "This is my new maid, Nanxing!"
Han Zhongyu looked at it and said
"Get up!"
Upon hearing this, Nanxing stood up and took his leave with Qu Xiaodie!
As soon as he stepped out of the house, Nanxing patted his chest and said...
"I was terrified! Master Xiaodie, I hope I didn't cause any trouble for the young lady! The highest official I've ever seen in my life is the village chief of our village. Just thinking about Lord Han being a third-rank official makes my legs tremble!"
Qu Xiaodie comforted her.
"Lord Han is a good official who stands up for the people. As long as you don't break the law, you have nothing to fear!"
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