novelden Chapter 113 Night Chapter (1)
Chapter 113 Night Chapter (1)
Master Lu immediately lost interest in fishing and walked back with his fishing rod. When he reached the entrance of Bishuiyunju, he saw Zhou Boli and Yunjieer sitting under an umbrella, drinking tea.
The father and daughter looked at each other, and Lu Yun asked Caihe to bring another small stool over.
"Are there guests coming to the farm?" Master Lu Er asked with a heavy heart.
Lu Yun glanced at him and pretended to be relaxed. "A guest came to stay last night. His name was Tan and he said he was from Kyoto. My father's son is very wealthy and he gave me a hundred taels at once."
Mr. Lu almost spit out the tea in his mouth. He swallowed it with great difficulty and coughed twice before saying, "Since you are a guest staying here, how can I accept your money?"
Lu Yun counted on her fingers and began to calculate, "Firewood, charcoal, rice, grain, which of these things doesn't cost money?"
Master Lu, who had just realized how expensive firewood and rice were when he was in charge of the household, didn't know how to answer, so he could only hint in a very obscure way, "I see that this young man has an extraordinary bearing, and he has guards beside him. I think he must be from a prominent family." He emphasized the word "prominent".
Lu Yun pretended to be dumb. "Father, there are many great men in Kyoto. There is even one lying in the Qingping Temple on the mountain. Father is a third-rank official in the court. He must have seen more of the world than me."
Zhou Boli's mouth twitched slightly. "Forget it. Since you have taken someone's money, you should take good care of them."
Lu Yun nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, father. He eats the same three meals a day as us. I will never treat Mr. Tan harshly."
Seeing this, Mr. Lu Er had no choice but to give up and got up to find his wife.
Lu Yun behind him winked at Zhou Boli and said, "Mr. Zhou, do you think I'm pretending well?"
Zhou Boli chuckled softly, "The princess's acting is very realistic, but it's hard for Uncle Lu."
Dashou sat beside Lu Yun, his chin resting on his hand as he looked at her, his eyes full of confusion. "Sister, that young man—"
Before she finished speaking, Lu Yun caught a glimpse of Nanny Guizhi and Fang Hao approaching side by side, and raised her hand to signal Dashou to be quiet. Nanny Guizhi smiled and took out a few plates of snacks from the food box behind her and placed them on the table. "This old servant and Miss Fang have been busy in the kitchen preparing a few plates of snacks and are bringing them to the princess to try."
"Madam, you're here just in time. I'm hungry." Lu Yun smiled and picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. It was sweet but not greasy, with a hint of the fragrance of winter plum. "It's really good. Dashou and Master Zhou, you should try it too."
Fang Hao's eyes flickered as he softly said, "This dessert is steamed with wintersweet flowers as the base, so it has a hint of the fragrance of wintersweet."
Zhou Boli only ate one piece and put it down. "It's really okay."
Seeing that he didn't eat, Lu Yun left a plate for Dashou and ate the rest one by one. Looking up, she saw Miss Fang looking at her in surprise. Lu Yun's ears were hot and she laughed out loud, "I didn't eat much today and I was hungry, so I inevitably used more. Please don't blame Miss Fang. Haha."
"If you like it, I'll do more next time." Fang Hao smiled reluctantly.
Nanny Guizhi looked at the few people thoughtfully for a few seconds, and found a chance to go to Songtao Pavilion in the evening. After a while, she walked out of the yard with a gloomy expression.
Lu Yun was awake when she heard the noise outside and sat up from her bed. "Mammy?"
Nanny Guizhi was startled, but she calmed herself down, blew out the candle, and began to explain, "I was afraid the servant guarding the yard would get too playful, so I went out for a walk."
Lu Yun nodded and got down to business. "Mammy, I'm wondering if I should assign Dashou two more personal maids."
Nanny Guizhi frowned and thought for a moment, "What does the princess mean?"
"Yesterday I saw her alone in the villa, with no one by her side." The villa is surrounded by mountains, rocks and springs, and she cannot always be with Dashou, and Nanny Guizhi is also old.
"Just do as the princess says." Nanny Guizhi had a complicated expression.
Lu Yun nodded and said, "Madam, please make the decision. I'm young and my judgment of people is still a little lacking."
The next day, Nanny Guizhi brought in two maids, one named Biyu and the other named Hongfei. Biyu was lively and Hongfei was reserved, which was a perfect complement to each other.
Fang Hao was sitting in the corridor when he saw Biyu coming in empty-handed. He smiled and waved at her, "Miss Biyu, where are you coming from?"
Biyu smiled and said, "I took the young lady's meal downstairs and ran into Brother Liuzi who was beside Master Zhou. We chatted for a while."
"Oh, this Mr. Zhou seems to be very familiar with the princess?" Fang Hao showed a puzzled expression. "I don't know where they come from. Although the princess is a Taoist priest, it's not good to know that she is always with a man outside."
"Miss Fang, you're worrying too much. Young Master Zhou's family is a major merchant in Shu. They have more wealth than they can spend in several lifetimes. He only comes to Kyoto for business, a visit only a few times a year. This year, he stayed in the capital for a few extra days because a cart of salt was lost at home. I guess he'll be leaving soon."
"Biyu, who are you talking to?" Hong Fei's voice came from the window.
Fang Hao blinked a few times and smiled. "I was indeed overthinking it. Miss Biyu, please go and get busy."
"What nonsense are you talking about with Miss Fang?"
Biyu's aggrieved voice came, "That's the young lady, master, how can I ignore it?"
"What kind of master is she? She's just a poor prefect's daughter. Who knows what will happen to her when she goes back? She might even be worse off than us."
He heard every word of the conversation between the two. Fang Hao lowered his eyes, turned around and walked into the house.
In the evening, Zhang handed Fang Hao a letter. "This is a letter from Luzhou. It should be from your mother."
Fang Hao took the letter, put it aside, and continued eating.
In the hot spring hut at the back, Lu Yun was observing the growth of the potatoes she had planted. It had been two months since they were planted, and everything had been normal. The white potato flowers had also fallen. Lu Yun used a small stick to gently poke the "little ball" at the root, revealing that she estimated that the potatoes would be ready for harvest in another month.
After instructing Lao Ding to take good care of his "baby", Lu Yun went back.
The Fifth Prince finally had enough of his wanderings and set off back to Kyoto on the fourth day. He was still a prince after all, so Lu Yun was worried something might happen to him, so she sent a few guards to escort him back.
At night, just as Lu Yun was about to close her eyes, she heard someone knocking on the door. Cai He went to open the door. Lu Yun was surprised. "Sister?" Lu Rong was standing at the door in her slippers, holding a quilt, looking hesitant. "Sister, I can't sleep. Can I sleep with you?"
Lu Yun made way for him and said, "Come on."
After blowing out the lights, Lu Yun heard her sister tossing and turning in the next room and sighing in the darkness.
"Sister, is there something wrong with you?" Lu Yun couldn't help but speak.
Lu Rong froze. She turned to face her sister. "Oh, what can I say?" She sounded distressed. "I just wish I could never grow up."
Lu Yun was silent. In fact, growing up has its advantages.
"Sister, what do you think I should do if I fall in love with a poor scholar?"
In the darkness, Lu Yun's body trembled, his eyes widening. A poor scholar? His mind quickly searched for poor scholars in the village.
"He didn't tell me about his background, but I can see that he's surrounded by nothing but books. He doesn't have any accessories on him. What else could he be but a poor scholar?" Lu Rong continued muttering.
Lu Yun spoke up, "Sister, our family is rich. If you really like him, it's okay. Ask mother to give you a larger dowry. What's important is his character." Finally, Lu Yun asked cautiously, "Sister, how did you get to know this poor scholar? What's his last name and name? Where is his home? How many people are there in his family? How many acres of land do he have?"
The person beside him stammered, "I don't know either."
It seems that there really is such a person. Lu Yun began to grit her teeth and imagined a small drama of a scheming Phoenix man marrying a rich girl.
Lu Rong reached out and patted her sister, muttering softly, "What's going on? She's even grinding her teeth in her sleep."