Chapter 19: Word by word, "A sudden inspiration"
Fu Zhen'er, lying on his back, was still the same as when he first woke up. When Liu Ziye approached him to take care of him, he stared at him without blinking.
Liu Ziye also looked back at him openly.
After recuperating for two or three days, Fu Zhen'er's complexion improved significantly, and people could easily see that he had originally had a very good appearance.
However, it is different from Liu Ziye's dazzling temperament.
Fu Zhener was born and raised in Xiguan, where his ancestors had lived for generations.
Although the Fu family was a large clan in Yucheng, Xiguan County, it had less than a thousand households. Yucheng, as the head of the two cities and thirteen towns in Xiguan County, was also very different from the cities in other counties of the Zhou Dynasty.
There are no towering blue brick city walls, no clearly planned streets and urban areas, and no wooden houses with tiled roofs of varying heights.
If I were to describe the first impression of Yucheng, it would be loess and stone.
There were city gates, but they were built like earthen fortresses, with rammed-stone foundations, rammed-earth walls, and straw-stacked towers. Inside, the city walls were a monolith of yellow earth, gray tiles, and irregularly shaped stone foundations. Only the doors and windows were made of wood. Most structures were one-story, with a few large clans boasting two- or three-story buildings, as well as two larger performance stages, built on high foundations and conspicuous in appearance.
In addition, the only two buildings that use blue bricks and red tiles to build walls and wooden main houses are the Governor's Mansion and the Xiguan Marquis Mansion.
Fu Zhen'er, whose family had grown up here for generations, had deep eye sockets, thick eyebrows, and arched eyelashes. His complexion was the light brown wheat color common in border areas. His lips were clearly defined, forming a beautiful lip groove at the peak of his lip, and his jawline was smooth. If it weren't for the severe exhaustion of the past two months, which had left his facial muscles noticeably sunken and his limbs moderately atrophied, he would have been a vibrant young man when he moved.
Liu Ziye thought to himself, no wonder the original owner was so surprised when he saw her...
Fu Zhen'er was now staring at this man with a very exploratory look in her eyes. He had an extraordinary temperament and was dressed in luxurious clothes. He was once the prince of Xiguan Palace and was now the young marquis of Xiguan.
This is the person in front of me. After I woke up, he took care of me as carefully as he would take care of his siblings or lover.
Liu Ziye let him watch. He stood up and gave the servant who was taking care of Fu Zhen'er some instructions for today. Then he turned to Fu Zhen'er, who was still observing him, and asked, "Brother Fu, do you have anything else to say to me?"
"Um."
Fu Zhen'er uttered syllable after syllable from her throat: "I want to hear from you, Xiao Hou... I want to hear from you, Ziye, how we met... and how we became close friends."
He had just said half of "Young Marquis" when he remembered Liu Ziye's repeated corrections, asking him to call him by his name, and he abruptly changed his tone to calling him by his name.
"I see."
After hearing this, Liu Ziye sat at the head of the bed with a smile on his face, and slowly told him the story as if he was recalling the past.
He first asked Fu Zhen'er, "Brother Fu, do you still remember why you came out on the tenth day of the ninth month?"
Fu Zhen'er lowered her eyes slightly. "I have some impression. I remember that the weather was very good that day, so I decided to go to a natural salt lake deep in the pine forest on the north bank of Xisai Lake to see the salt crystals I had been waiting to see for a long time. After arriving at Xisai Lake, after arriving..."
He frowned, and could not remember what happened afterwards.
Liu Ziye, who was listening to him attentively, raised his eyebrows slightly.
I didn't expect that this young master of the Fu family was going to see salt crystals in some salt lake?
For a young master of this era, this would be a rather boring thing. But Liu Ziye still temporarily made a note of the fact that there was a salt lake on the north bank of Xisai Lake. She had not found this information in the original owner's memories or the world line information transmitted by the system.
He continued Fu Zhen'er's words, "When you arrive at Xisai Lake, you will meet me."
"That day, I was feeling depressed over the passing of my father and loved ones, so I went to Xisai Lake alone to relax. I ran into Brother Fu by the lake. Seeing that I was in a bad mood, Brother Fu wanted to talk to me and comfort me. At first, because I was in a bad mood and had been undisciplined all day, I was not very nice to Brother Fu. But Brother Fu didn't mind at all and taught me how to float fish by the Xisai Lake... That afternoon was the most precious and happiest time of my life in all these years. Afterwards, I proposed that Brother Fu and I should become brothers and invited him to stay at my mansion for a while, and Brother Fu agreed without hesitation."
What followed was what he had once told Fu Mingyi, the accident they encountered on the road and a series of overwhelming misfortunes.
In the past few days, Liu Ziye asked Xiying and Ahuan to inquire about the temperament of the future patriarch of the Fu family among the members of Yucheng and the Fu clan.
From the information we have received, we can see that he has a mild temper, is kind and straightforward, is eager to help others, and often has quick wits and ingenuity to help others out of distress. He is a future clan leader with an excellent reputation among the Fu clan members. Like his father Fu Mingyi, he is supported by the clan members.
So, when they heard that he was missing, they ordered the entire family to search for him for two months. When they found out that he had died in the Xiguan Marquis Mansion, they had to come and demand an explanation, even if it was against the imperial authority!
What Liu Ziye said was indeed what Fu Zhener would do given her personality.
What's more, with all the things the original owner had experienced in the past few months, a little bit of embellishment in words would make such a naturally good-natured person feel pity for him and involuntarily show concern and care for him.
As expected, Fu Zhen'er nodded and said to Liu Ziye, "Ziye, you've been injured for over two months. You don't have to take care of me personally anymore. You should also take care of yourself... When I recover, if you want to go somewhere to relax, I'll go with you."
He was still very weak, and spoke each word with great emphasis.
On the contrary, it sounds particularly serious.
Liu Ziye turned his dark and bright eyes and looked at the sincere Fu Zhener seriously.
Then, the corners of his eyes slightly raised, revealing an expectant and bright smile: "Okay, then Ziye will wait for Brother Fu to fulfill his promise."
This smile added a touch of casualness and brightness to her already unique and sharp temperament.
Fu Zhen'er couldn't help but believe even more that when it came to such a person, she would really want to help him solve all his troubles as soon as she met him for the first time.
Even after Liu Ziye exchanged greetings with Fu Mingyi with a smile and left the bedroom, Fu Zhener's gaze kept following and lingering on him.
Liu Ziye felt the locked gaze behind him and left the courtyard without looking back.
·
Liu Ziye left, but Du Hui still stayed at his post.
The young marquis's intention in keeping Fu Mingyi and several members of the Fengfu clan in the mansion was self-evident. He certainly had to use this opportunity created by the young marquis to find a breakthrough and put the alliance between the mansion and the Fu clan into practice.
During these few days, he had learned many of the patriarch's habits.
Fu Mingyi did not like the complicated teas and snacks popular in Yanjing, but he would not refuse to bring some dry goods, chopped pickled meat and a pot of wine.
Since the young marquis had successfully improved his favorability, his relationship with Chief Fu also improved rapidly.
At this moment, after a few sips of wine and having a lively conversation, Chief Fu confided to Du Hui his worries, which were rarely exposed to the tribesmen: "This year is a year of severe drought. For those who farm in the tribe, eight out of ten have suffered harvest losses. Winter is coming soon. If we want our tribesmen to survive this winter without starvation, we have to send more people to fish and hunt. However..."
When he said this, his tone paused slightly.
Du Hui naturally knew what he was trying to say. "However, your Fu clan, as a major clan in Yucheng, has reached such a critical point that you need to rely on fishing and hunting to survive the winter. Then the other smaller clans in Yucheng, as well as the residents of the other two cities and thirteen towns in Xiguan, will certainly need the fishing and hunting products of Xisai Lake and Qiansongling even more to survive this winter. Clan leader Fu is worried that there will be discord among the clans over food."
Fu Mingyi looked worried and nodded.
Soon, he became open-minded again. "However, although the terrain of our Xiguan is thousands of miles long and difficult, it is rich in treasures. We will not abandon the lives of our people on this land. We have never encountered such a disaster in the past. It will be difficult, but we can always overcome it!"
If that were the case, Du Hui in the past would have thought the same.
However, after several conversations with Liu Ziye, the young marquis firmly conveyed to him the idea that this year was different from the past and was likely to be different from the general level of difficulty experienced by people.
The young marquis’ attitude is that this matter must not be taken lightly.
But he couldn't tell Fu Mingyi directly about this. Du Hui pondered and said, "Winter in Xiguan County has always been difficult. The area is vast and sparsely populated, and the terrain and roads are difficult and inaccessible. How could I not know this? The Fu clan leader is responsible for the livelihood of the entire clan, so how could he not know the difficulties!"
At this point, he sighed, as if influenced by Fu Mingyi, and thought of his own troubles: "Speaking of which, I am now in the Xiguan Marquis Mansion, which is not much better than the Fu clan leader."
Du Hui, his face filled with worry, poured himself a glass of wine and drank it before saying, "Since the Xiguan Palace was enthroned as a vassal, I've come a long way over the years. Chief Fu must have heard something about it. When the Xiguan King was still alive, the palace's survival was already incredibly difficult. The Xiguan Prince single-handedly overcame all obstacles, nominally serving as a vassal for fourteen years, but in which year could he spend even a single month in the Xiguan Palace? Now, the Xiguan King's health has worn out, and he's passed away at the age of forty. Only this young Marquis, a mere fourteen-year-old, remains to support the Xiguan Palace..."
Fu Mingyi had already known what Du Hui said.
After all, the King of Xiguan had been a vassal here for fourteen years. As the patriarch of a prominent family in Yucheng, Fu Mingyi had seen this prince with his own eyes.
He had a very good impression of Prince Xiguan, and therefore, he could empathize with Prince Xiguan's embarrassing situation.
Hearing Du Hui mention it in person, he couldn't help but sigh.
Du Hui said, "The funeral for the Prince of Xiguan has not yet ended, and the young marquis has been in a coma for two months. On the day he regained consciousness, he was demoted and his three-year marquisate salary was revoked. He also has to deal with the evil plots of the eunuchs and guards from Yanjing!"
"Although the young marquis took a risk and redeemed the salary owed to the royal palace from the Xiguan Governor's Mansion, and now he sees carts of supplies being pulled into the marquis' mansion, and it looks like there's a lot of supplies... I have to be honest with Chief Fu, Governor Yiberiyi has many plans!"
"Of all the stuff he delivered to the palace, only 10% was gold, silver, and coins. The rest was coarse cloth, linen, pig iron, and raw wood—not things we could use directly. With so much of this coarse material being moved to our palace, what could we possibly do with it in such a short time?"
At this point, he pondered, "I was thinking of weaving this coarse linen into cloth, hammering out pig iron, and making some practical tools out of the wood, so I could trade them for more practical things like charcoal, grain, and silver. But any of these things would require a lot of weavers, blacksmiths, and carpenters, and my Xiguan Marquis's Mansion only has so many people, so how could they possibly be employed? Now, I couldn't bear to show any of my worries in front of the young marquis, so today, after a few drinks, I couldn't help but confide in Chief Fu... I lost my composure."
Fu Mingyi felt quite uncomfortable after hearing what Du Hui said.
In this thousand-mile-long Western Pass, even such royal relatives and nobles had to face the same difficulties as ordinary people!
"It's okay..."
Fu Mingyi waved his hand and was about to say a few words to comfort Du Hui, but suddenly he remembered something and looked at Du Hui, who was sitting opposite him, with a sharp gaze: "Mr. Du..."
Du Hui responded casually: "Chief Fu, what's the matter?"
Fu Mingyi suddenly smiled and looked at Du Hui, and Du Hui seemed to have thought of something at this moment.
The two of them had a "flash of inspiration in tacit understanding"!
Fu Mingyi: "You suffer from the lack of weavers, blacksmiths and carpenters, but I have them!"
Du Hui: "You're suffering from a lack of winter food and fabrics, but I have them!"
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