Chapter 559 - 560: Headache
Chapter 559: Chapter 560: Headache
The harvest from this trip was not substantial, but Bai Suihe still felt the acquired supplies were somewhat too hot to handle. If it had merely been ill-gotten gains, she wouldn’t have felt any psychological burden using them. However, these items were tied to the lives of an entire village.
She shared her thoughts with Gu Kaiyuan. He pondered for a moment before replying, "Put these things in the storehouse later. I’ll have someone deliver them to those in need."
"That works. Consider it building good karma for that village. If there is a next life, I hope they can all be reincarnated into a prosperous era."
"A prosperous era..." Gu Kaiyuan murmured the words. It was something so many people dreamed of.
He looked at Bai Suihe. "What is life like in a prosperous era?"
He desperately wanted to know, yet he was afraid. He feared he would also develop that kind of greed. Who wouldn’t want to live a peaceful life?
***
In the days that followed, everything was peaceful and quiet. The ocean-going ship they were building had begun to take shape. During this period, they also received several letters—some from the capital, some from Zhang County, and others from the Bai family in Quangang.
The letters from the capital were all about the Gu family.
Word had it that the Gu family had quieted down. Gu Baijiang was holed up at home all day, no longer going out to network and curry favor whenever he had free time like he used to.
As for the Prince Ning Mansion, there was plenty of news, but absolutely nothing could be found out about Gu Antong’s small courtyard.
Even if someone occasionally bumped into servants from the Prince Ning Mansion out shopping, they treated the topic as a strict taboo. The moment it was mentioned, they would turn around and walk away.
However, the royal court was bustling with different drama every day. The princes were at each other’s throats, and their clashes were becoming less and less disguised.
In Zhang County, everything was as usual, except that their residence had received many more invitations. Even the Gu family of the Duke Mansion had visited several times, even bribing the gatekeeper to ask when they would return.
Considering this, Bai Suihe felt they could continue staying here for a very long time.
The weather was currently cool and refreshing. She went beachcombing every few days, living a life she had never dared to imagine before. She had no desire to go back and get swept up in trouble.
The Bai family in Quangang sent letters of greeting, sharing that they had now established a firm foothold there. The cement formula Bai Suihe had given them earlier had been of great help.
The two small cement workshops they set up didn’t produce a large daily volume, but many people came begging to buy from them.
Mrs. Bai’s letter also included an invitation for their whole family to visit. She mentioned that their new home was fully settled and wanted them to come over and familiarize themselves with the place.
Bai Suihe was somewhat tempted, but they still had quite a few things on their plates right now. It would have to wait until later.
Bai Suihe picked up her brush and wrote a reply to the Bai family.
Gu Xingyang was now able to sit up. Sitting off to the side, she asked, "Mother, the weather is starting to cool down. Should we go for a walk?"
It had rained yesterday, and the temperature had dropped today. Gu Xingyang loved this kind of weather the most. Otherwise, being held by someone every day in the heat was a bit unbearable even for her.
"Once Mother finishes writing back to your grandmother, we’ll go out. But don’t you get bored staying by the sea every day?"
Gu Xingyang bit her little finger. "Whatever Mother likes, I like. Besides, it’s pretty nice here. Our family is quiet and peaceful. It would be great if things could stay like this forever."
Bai Suihe knew it was impossible, though. As long as the situation with the Gu family wasn’t completely resolved, there would still be a sword hanging over their heads.
The chances of being implicated were much lower now, but as long as Rong Ruiyuan and Gu Baijiang hadn’t completely fallen, they still ran the risk of being dragged down with them.
"If you like it here, we’ll stay for a while longer in the future," Bai Suihe promised, looking out the window at the vast expanse of the sea. "Maybe one day we’ll find a large island and live a life isolated from the rest of the world."
Although Bai Suihe said that, it was only a contingency plan. Humans were social creatures; how could they possibly shield themselves completely from the outside world?
At this moment, Nanny Pang returned from the back mountain. It seemed she had been making good use of those few medicine men. Seeing her furrowed brows, Bai Suihe figured she must have encountered another difficult problem.
Sure enough, just as Bai Suihe set her brush down, Nanny Pang called her to the temporary apothecary room. Gu Xingyang was once again handed over to the two maidservants to look after.
"I found out that this antidote still needs to be improved."
With such excellent test subjects, Bai Suihe and Nanny Pang were able to work much more freely. They were now beginning to research antidotes for drugs that previously didn’t have any.
"Were they relatively cooperative today?"
They had resisted at first, but after being starved for a few meals, they fell into line.
"They were all quite cooperative," Nanny Pang said. She was actually very caring toward these medicine men. "Today, I even specifically brought them some sea fish for an extra meal. Since they are continuously testing drugs every day, their bodies need to be nourished. Make sure you prepare some health-boosting pills for them later. We can’t let them collapse."
Nanny Pang really liked this place now. The entire village was currently filled with their own people, allowing her to work without restraint.
Bai Suihe wholeheartedly agreed. "I’ll make them myself this afternoon. I guarantee they’ll all be alive and kicking."
Having finished speaking, the master and apprentice immersed themselves in drug making, occasionally stopping to discuss how to adjust the formulas.
***
Rong Ruiyuan was currently suffering immensely. Being able to have children but choosing not to was one thing, but now that he was entirely incapable, his heart was filled with frustration.
Previously, he had planned to stabilize his situation before considering the matter of an heir, but now he had fallen victim to a plot.
These past few days, he had searched inside and out countless times. He had also arranged for his people to investigate the other Prince Mansions, yet he found absolutely nothing.
In the royal court, the words of his two Imperial Brothers became increasingly biting. They were just short of pointing at his nose and mocking him, as if acting this way was the only method to clear their own names.
Yes, his Imperial Father also suspected that the other princes were behind it, and he had issued them quite a few warnings recently.
These men then directed their anger onto him. They even joined forces with many ministers to deliberately sabotage him in court.
Today, he received news from his Imperial Concubine mother. Every single woman in the inner harem was treating his mother as a laughingstock.
The maternal families of the many women his mother had carefully selected for him were also causing a fuss. If his mother hadn’t repeatedly assured them that his body was only temporarily affected by drugs and that he would be able to have children in a few years, she never would have managed to appease their anger.
That was only what his mother had to deal with; he had plenty of his own troubles. To pacify those who had pledged their allegiance to him, Rong Ruiyuan had handed out a massive amount of money recently. The hundreds of thousands of silver taels Gu Baijiang had previously given him were now depleted. He urgently needed more silver to pave his way forward; otherwise, all his prior efforts would likely be in vain.
But where could he get his hands on another sum of silver now? Previously, it was under his instruction that Gu Baijiang found a way to embezzle so much silver from the National Treasury. He knew the numbers didn’t add up, but right now, Gu Baijiang was being monitored by his men and hadn’t made any other moves.
He even wondered if he had remembered incorrectly, or if bribing officials up and down the hierarchy really had cost that much.
However, if he couldn’t squeeze any more out of Gu Baijiang, where else could he find a source of silver?