Chapter 331 - Chapter 331: Bestowing a Great Name
Chapter 331: Bestowing a Great Name
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The next morning, Old Madam Yang waited at the entrance of the manor with Yang Le. Soon, the woman from the Shi family arrived, followed by two families. The children were wearing clean old clothes and stood nervously at the door.
After a while, the courtyard door opened. Ah Wei saw Old Madam Yang waiting at the door and smiled. “Granny Yang, you’re here so early?”
Old Madam Yang smiled with a red face. “It’s indeed a little early!”
“It’s fine. Mr. Lu and Mr. Liu are in the classroom.” Ah Wei brought them into the courtyard and handed them to the two gentlemen. He watched as the four children bowed.
Old Madam Yang and the three families of the Shi family came out of the classroom and said to Ah Wei, “Ah Wei, we want to kowtow to Master and Madam. What do you think?”
Ah Wei shook his head. “There’s no need. Madam doesn’t like people kneeling here and there.”
“This is a token of our appreciation. Brother Ah Wei, accept it.” The few of them placed the two packets of brown sugar they had bought in front of Ah Wei and bowed to the courtyard before leaving.
A few days later, Zhou Jia had just arrived at the manor when Chu Feng chased after him in agitation. Zhou Jia was shocked to see him and thought to himself, What did I do to let him down?
Unexpectedly, Chu Feng pulled Zhou Jia and began to complain to him in a low voice, “Brother Jiahe, that bastard Tian Kun chose the rice seeds he harvested last year and secretly sold them to the caravan from Great Qi. I’m going to be ruined by Shopkeeper Luo and that bastard Tian Kun this time.”
Zhou Jia looked at the dejected Chu Feng and comforted him. “Don’t be anxious. Sit and rest first. I remember hearing from Madam last time there is a cycle for new rice seeds. Wait for me to invite Madam over to explain to you.”
Chu Feng shouted behind Zhou Jia, “Hev! What’s a cvcle? Whv haven’t I heard
of it?”
Zhou Jia waved his hand without looking back and hurriedly looked for Li Yu.
Soon, he brought Li Yu to the hall. Li Yu saw that Chu Feng was frowning so much that he was about to kill a fly. She was about to speak.
Chu Feng asked anxiously, “Madam Li, quickly tell me what the cycle means.”
Li Yu looked at Chu Feng’s burning eyebrows and couldn’t help but laugh. “Shopkeeper Chu, why have we always kept the breeding field for large-scale breeding? We don’t encourage the commoners to keep the new rice seeds. This is because our rice seeds have an expiry date. The new rice seeds will severely degrade every two to three years. The rice planted will grow unevenly and will also severely reduce production. These shopkeepers know this very well. Shopkeeper Chu, have you investigated clearly? Did Tian Kun sell the rice seeds to Great Qi?”
“It was chosen from the rice harvested by Tian Kun’s family.” Chu Feng stood up, feeling a little excited. “According to Madam, Great Qi will be suffering by next year.”
“That’s right.” Li Yu looked at Chu Feng strangely. “How did you find out that Tian Kun sold rice seeds to Great Qi so quickly?”
“That’s right! Brother Qingshan, you’re simply swift and decisive!” Zhou Jia looked at Chu Feng curiously and smiled.
“This, hehe!” Chu Feng smiled awkwvardly and avoided Li Yu and her husband’s question. “Don’t worry, that dog Tian Kun has already been secretly imprisoned by us. We’ll wait for the news from the higher-ups and see how we deal with him.”
Li Yu glanced at him and thought to herself that it must have been a spy! She wondered why he had to be so mysterious.
Chu Feng was much more relieved when he found out from Li Yu that the rice seeds had a period of efficacy. He cupped his hands at the two of them.
“Brother Jiahe, Madam Li, I’ll go back to the city while it’s still early.”
“Alright.” Li Yu and Zhou Jia stood up. Zhou Jia patted his shoulder. “I know you’re busy, so I won’t keep you.”
When Zhou Jia sent Chu Feng back, Li Yu looked at him and smiled. “Xiao Xi, when did you become so familiar with Shopkeeper Chu? You even call him brother.”
Zhou Jia hugged Li Yu and walked towards the main courtyard. “He’s just a chatterbox. Whenever he’s free, he runs to the government office to talk to me. Slowly, we become familiar with each other.”
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. Little Loach, Maizi, Little Stutterer, and Mao Dou still gritted their teeth and guarded the secret. At the same time, Ruyi observed them and saw that they had gone back to cultivate. They also persisted and insisted on following Shui Sheng and the others to cut grass to feed the livestock and release the geese and ducks. Ruyi was satisfied with their tenacity. He reported to Li Yu, “Madam, those children seem good. They kept their mouths shut about what I told them.”
Li Yu nodded and said, “These children can survive until now in that place filled with cows and snakes. They have some grit about them. Let’s wait a few more days before telling them the truth.”
“Yes, the soybeans in the cornfield have already begun to ripen. Old Zou said that some wild beast pried open a part of the fence at the foot of the mountain last night. Fortunately, they discovered it in time. I went to take a look this morning and felt that the hoofprints should belong to a wild boar.” Li Yu stood up excitedly. ‘Wild boar? Let’s go take a look.”
“I’ll lead the way for you.” Ruyi brought Li Yu to the cornfield. Uncle Cai,
Dashan, and the others were plucking soybean poles in the cornfield. After Li Yu looked around, she was sure that wild boars had been there. She pointed at the circle at the foot of the mountain and said, “Dig a trench here and plant bamboo poles as a trap. Tell Old Zou not to chase after the wild boars if he finds them.”
“Okay, I’ll get them to start digging.” Ruyi called Old Zou and the others out of the cornfield. Everyone picked up hoes and shovels and began digging the trap.
Old Zou even pulled the bamboo poles that he had pulled out from the manor the last time and stuck them in. It took two days to dig the trap. Everyone hid in the shack and waited to catch wild boars for the meat.
At this moment, Chu Yuhao, who was far away in the capital, received a secret letter from the Four Seas Bank of Yunzhou. There was also the note handed over by Zhou Jia. There were a few incidents between the Zhou family and the Wang family after he arrived in Yunzhou, as well as Zhou Jia’s complaints.
When Chu Yuhao saw that Miss Wang had sent someone to kidnap Li Yu but was kidnapped by her instead, he laughed out loud.
“What did Your Majesty see that made you so happy? Why are you smiling so happily?” Shen Zhong turned to look at the emperor. The young eunuch standing behind Chu Yuhao also glanced curiously at the secret letter in the emperor’s hand.
Chu Yuhao smiled and handed the secret letter to Shen Zhong. “Ah Zhong, look,
Madam Li is still so straightforward.”
“Madam Li, I’ve never heard of a minister’s wife who is forthright?” The young eunuch stood at the back and lowered his head as he thought.
Shen Zhong also smiled when he saw this. “Your Majesty, Madam Li’s style is still so forthright.”
Chu Yuhao smiled and nodded. When he saw Li Yu say that she wanted to take in some lonely old people and children and was afraid that people would gossip that she was using his name, he laughed to himself. “Why would you be afraid of people gossiping? It is true that you were afraid that I would be suspicious.” However, the two of them were so sensible that Chu Yuhao was really in a good mood. He could only wish that all the other officials of Great Yong were as understanding as Zhou Jia and his wife and thought for him all the time.
When he read that Wang Chun tortured and killed an innocent woman and that Wang Zheng sent people to kidnap Li Yu, he was so angry that he slammed the table and stood up. “Look, these are the descendants of an aristocratic family in Great Yong. One of them disregards human lives and commits all kinds of evil.
The other is as bold as his daughter. He even dared to send people to kidnap a
First-grade Madam. I think the Wang family’s good fortune is over.”
“You’ve already said that the Wang family’s luck has run out, so how can it not end?” Shen Zhong bowed and picked up the dossier that Chu Yuhao had flipped to the ground. He placed it back on the table. “Your Majesty, don’t be angry at such a family. You still have many ministers like Lord Zhou!”
“Yes!” Chu Yuhao stood up and paced back and forth in the imperial study. Thinking of Zhou Jia’s complaint, he touched the thumb ring on his hand and muttered to himself, “What should I reward them with? I don’t think I’ve rewarded his son yet. Because the child is a few years old, I’ll give him a name..”