Seeing this, Ms. Jiang said, "Then we’ll go back first. You go ahead and get busy."
Ms. Wu said embarrassedly, "Thank you for making this trip for us."
"It’s fine. We’re family, after all. Let’s not be so formal." After saying this, Ms. Jiang bid farewell to Ms. Wu and left.
After Mr. Xiao and his wife left, Ms. Wu rushed into the house to tell Gu Dalin the two pieces of news.
Upon hearing them, Gu Dalin said, "This money has co just in ti. Here’s the plan: let’s first use this silver to buy five mu of paddy fields and five mu of dry land. With whatever is left over, we’ll buy as much wasteland as possible. In a few days, my leg should be well enough for to work in the fields."
"That much? Can we handle it all?" Ms. Wu furrowed her brow.
"It’ll be fine, just trust ," Gu Dalin said gently, patting Ms. Wu’s hand.
Gu Dalin’s warm hand rested on Ms. Wu’s, causing her face to flush. She lowered her head, nodded, and quickly pulled her hand away and left.
Gu Dalin smiled.
His wife was embarrassed. It was true. Ever since Dashuang and Xiaoshuang were born, they had rarely spent ti alone together, especially in the last five or six years when their lives had been very simple and plain.
Once he was better, he would make it up to her.
「anwhile」
When Gu Chang’an arrived at the threshing ground, most of the villagers were already there, with only a few like Niu Ergou not in attendance.
It was better that they didn’t co, so as not to cause any disruption.
"AHEM, AHEM..." Gu Chang’an cleared his throat and said, "Quiet down, everyone, and listen to ."
The noisy chatter below ceased imdiately.
Gu Chang’an continued, "I’ve called this eting to discuss sothing with everyone. Tie Zhu just ca by and said their family is preparing to plant dicinal materials. If anyone is willing to learn, they can teach you for free. However, there’s a catch: it’s also their family’s first ti planting, so it’s up to you to decide if you want to take the risk. Our village has a lot of wasteland. If you want to plant, you can buy wasteland for it. This way, you won’t waste your good fields, and it can also be a way to cultivate the wasteland, improving it over ti. You also know that wasteland is tax-free for the first five years. It’s really worth a try for everyone."
When Gu Chang’an finished, the people below began whispering among themselves.
"I’m not planting; I can’t even finish the work in my own fields. Who has ti for this?" a villager shook his head.
"I don’t think it’s necessary to plant either," another added.
"No one has ever planted them before. Who would dare to take the risk? My family won’t plant."
"We don’t have any extra hands in our family, so we won’t plant either."
Many families who had reaped rewards from gathering dicinal materials in the mountains last year felt it was unnecessary to plant them.
Why not just go to the mountains and dig up what was already there?
Hearing the villagers’ comnts, Gu Chang’an’s enthusiasm cooled.
He hadn’t expected their vision to be so short-sighted.
With a dark expression, he asked which families were interested in planting.
Only about ten households indicated their interest.
Gu Chang’an felt a heavy sense of disappointnt. Out of the hundred or so households in the village, only this handful were willing. They completely hadn’t considered the long-term benefits of planting dicinal materials!
Harvesting dicine from the mountains is seasonal, and with more people doing it now, relying on gathering from the mountains won’t be a sustainable path for long.
Gu Chang’an shook his head, not wanting to force anyone. Since Xiaoli’s dicinal materials haven’t even been planted yet, and no results can be seen, I’ll wait a year or two before bringing it up again.
They’ll regret it bitterly then! What a bunch of ignorant fools! Gu Chang’an was seething with anger. It was only when his sons quietly consoled him that he felt a little better.
Following the eting, the ten or so interested families handed over silver to Gu Chang’an, which was just enough to buy one of the barren hills opposite the village.
Although very disappointed, Gu Chang’an took the silver notes and asked his son to drive an ox-cart into County Town to handle the transactions.
「County Town.」
Upon Gu Qingli and Xiao Yunjing’s arrival, Xiao Yunjing stopped the carriage in front of a large courtyard.
Xiao Yunjing stopped the carriage and helped Gu Qingli down.
Gu Qingli looked at the imposing gate of the courtyard and asked, "You bought this?"
"Yes, do you like it?"
Gu Qingli nodded. Who wouldn’t like living in a spacious and beautiful house?
Xiao Yunjing knocked on the door, which was opened by a girl with delicate features. Seeing Xiao Yunjing and Gu Qingli, she imdiately greeted them respectfully, "Young Master, Miss."
Xiao Yunjing nodded and led Gu Qingli into the courtyard.
It was a traditional courtyard house, spotlessly clean, with a small garden in the middle. The garden was currently empty, but it had been cleared out, ready for planting whatever they wished in the future.
"Miss, Young Master, you’re here," Wuqing greeted them, accompanied by two other girls.
Xiao Yunjing nodded slightly. "Yes, you may leave us. We’ll take a look around first."
"Alright." Wuqing led the other two girls out; now that the Young Master and Miss had arrived, they had to prepare lunch.
"How do you like this house?" After Wuqing and the others left, the couple strolled around the courtyard, and Xiao Yunjing asked.
"It’s alright."
It’s certainly better than our current house in the village. We could even consider moving here permanently in the future.
"This house is only for the two of us. Father, Mother, and Elder Brother live close by, in a grand residence with four main courtyards."
Gu Qingli looked at Xiao Yunjing. "Will they mind that we don’t live with them?"
Xiao Yunjing shook his head and intertwined his fingers with hers. Leading her into the main room, into their chamber, he thought, It’s ti to tell Li’er about my past.
They sat down, and he began to recount the details.
Xiao Yunjing explained that during his recent visit to the capital, besides investigating Gu Qingli’s background, he had also delved into his own.
He had a target, so he went straight to the Imperial Palace and found an old nanny who had served there. Only then did he learn that this nanny was a contingency his mother had left behind.
As it turned out, he was the current Emperor’s younger half-brother. His mother had been the late Emperor’s Noble Consort Xiao. Twenty years ago, shortly after he was born, he and his mother mysteriously fell ill. In the treacherous environnt of the Imperial Palace, where people were devoured without a trace, falling ill, dying suddenly, or perishing in an ’accident’ for offending the wrong person was all too common and not strange at all.
At that ti, Concubine Xiao knew soone was trying to harm her and her son. She summoned her father, Old General Xiao, who was a Great General at the ti, into the palace and had him secretly take the infant Xiao Yunjing out.
She knew that once she died, her son would surely perish. Rather than let him be hard and killed in the palace, it would be better to have her father take him out. Perhaps there would be a sliver of hope for survival.
Old General Xiao had no choice but to discreetly take Xiao Yunjing out of the palace.
That night, a fire broke out in Concubine Xiao’s palace, and the blaze burned it to ashes.
The Emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation.
However, since Concubine Xiao had set the fire herself, how could anything be found? The Emperor fainted from anger.
The Emperor had cherished Concubine Xiao the most. Now, she had vanished in that fire, not even her bones left behind, leaving him with no nto, nothing to cling to his mories of her.
When Old General Xiao and his wife heard the news, they were so devastated they nearly collapsed.
But, thinking of Xiao Yunjing, whose life still hung by a thread, the family endured their sorrow and secretly found a famous doctor to treat him. Unexpectedly, he was actually cured.
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