Capítulo 1148: Chapter 1147: What Relationship
Getting into the carriage, Song Hong sighed, “I never thought you’d have such good fortune, you brat. I have no idea how you caught his eye. Since he intends to ntor you, you’d better learn well and make proud!”
Song Chongjin idly flipped through a couple of pages of the manuscript before stopping, closing his eyes, and responding with a casual “hmm,” which barely counted as agreent. Unseen by Song Hong, the veins in Song Chongjin’s hand holding the manuscript bulged.
Back at the Duke Weiuguo Mansion, Song Chongjin excused himself and returned to his own courtyard.
Once inside the courtyard, he went straight to the study and instructed the brothers Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang not to let anyone in, as he wanted to study.
Closing the door, Song Chongjin, with trembling hands, opened the manuscript and began to read it word by word.
The manuscript contained an article, with annotations in different handwriting on the side.
Song Chongjin’s eyes froze upon seeing a few of the annotations, especially as he looked at the last evaluation at the end of the manuscript, where the signature was that of Qi Huaimin.
This was an article written by Qin Bohan, and edited with annotations by Qi Huaimin.
Qi Huaimin, was the grandfather of Qi Huan, a na famous as the Grand Scholar of yesteryears.
Song Chongjin suddenly stood up, walked to the side, poured a cup of cold tea, and drank it down, finally feeling calm again.
Sitting back down at the table, he carefully went through the manuscript several more tis, countless questions rising in his mind.
How could Qin Bohan’s article be annotated by Qi Huaimin? Judging by the tone of the annotations, the two seed close.
If Qin Bohan and Qi Huaimin were old acquaintances, what was their relationship?
Was Qin Bohan’s favor toward him related to Qi Huaimin? Did Qin Bohan intentionally show him this manuscript?
Taking a deep breath, Song Chongjin stuffed the manuscript into his chest, adjusted his mood, and then left the study nonchalantly, heading towards the backyard.
Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang were also busy.
They had been ntioning for a few days how dull it was in the dead of winter after the New Year and pondered whether they should find sothing to do.
Old Granny Zhang had her eyes opened this ti spending the New Year in the Duke’s Mansion.
The firecrackers and fireworks were set off like they cost nothing, and the lanterns at the Lantern Festival on January 15th, made of glazed and silk-covered lamps, were extraordinarily beautiful.
Unlike in Qilidun, where even wealthy families only set off a string of firecrackers on New Year’s Eve, and poorer families still wanted to join in the fun. But if they couldn’t afford firecrackers, what could they do?
They would chop bamboo and burn it to create sounds, and up on Dahei Mountain, there was also a type of tree that, when burnt with a large fire, would crackle, which most families would cut down and bring ho to serve as firecrackers on New Year’s Eve.
As for lanterns, making one with paper paste was already quite good.
Most surprising to Old Granny Zhang, however, was that in such a cold winter, villagers could only store so cabbage in a cellar. Eating this to cut through the grease in winter was considered quite good.
But at the Duke’s Mansion, even in the dead of winter, green leafy vegetables could still be seen on the table, called ‘winter hole goods.’
It’s said that outside the Capital City, there are hot springs, and the geothermal heat around them allows so green leafy vegetables to be grown even during this season.
Those with quick minds even learned from the greenhouses of rich families and transford their own warm rooms for growing vegetables, supplying these to the noble families.
In this deep winter, they could still eat green onions, garlic, small celery, yellow chives, bean sprouts, eggplants, and cucumbers.
Old Granny Zhang dearly loved this ingenuity, praising that the minds of Capital City folks indeed worked better than those in the countryside.
However, upon hearing the price of the ‘winter hole goods,’ Old Granny Zhang clicked her tongue in dismay. Just a casual basket of them could be worth a common household’s annual expenses.
Listening to Old Granny Zhang grumble for a few days, she kept saying this was too prodigal, feeling that eating this every day wasn’t eating vegetables, but eating silver.
She added that if peasants lived so extravagantly, despite the novelty, it would lead to destitution! Eating like this, they’d consu their blessings away.
With nothing else to do, Wang Yongzhu heard Old Granny Zhang’s words and readily said, “It’s not that difficult. We can’t plant much, but it’s within our ans to grow so green onions and garlic indoors, sprinkling a little cabbage for ourselves.”
Old Granny Zhang, having been accustod to working in the countryside, couldn’t stand the idleness; her bones even felt like they were rusting.
Hearing her daughter speak of the way, she quickly agreed to plant vegetables, loosening her bones.
A few days ago, Wang Yongzhu had soone custom make several large wooden fras and bought so square red terracotta pots.
Today, they were delivered just in ti, and Wang Yongzhu had the wooden fras brought into the room. This main room was spacious and empty, so after removing a screen, it was used as one.
The square terracotta pots were filled with moist good soil.
With everything ready, the mother and daughter were about to plant by themselves when Gu Yu and Old Granny Wu, who were attending them, hurried forward to take over but were pushed aside by the two.
Gossiping while they worked, the mother and daughter planted onions with muddy hands, busy as bees.
Gu Yu and Old Granny Wu were quite alright, but the other maidservants, Bai Lu among them, chosen to serve closely, although forrly just maids, mostly did chores like washing clothes, sweeping, and running errands, and hadn’t ever planted vegetables.
Seeing Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang roll up their sleeves, their hands covered in black dirt, they couldn’t help but frown.
Song Chongjin walked in on just this scene.
The maidservants like Bai Lu hurriedly greeted him upon seeing Song Chongjin enter, their faces showing signs of tension.
Song Chongjin smiled at the sight, his earlier doubts forgotten, as he rolled up his sleeves, saying, “What’s gotten you interested in this? Let do it!”
With that, he deftly took the garlic cloves Wang Yongzhu had separated and planted them one by one into the soil.
Old Granny Zhang had already scattered the cabbage seeds on the other side and laughed, “Aren’t we just killing ti? This trip to the Capital has really opened our eyes. Who knew you could eat those green vegetables in winter? Yongzhu thought it wasn’t hard and suggested we try it indoors. Let’s just plant so onions and garlic, sprinkle so cabbage seeds, and when they sprout, we’ll make a pot of noodles with the hogrown onions, garlic, and cabbage sprouts — it’s the most delicious.”
Just hearing Old Granny Zhang’s words made Song Chongjin feel hungry. Seeing that it was about ti, he instructed Gu Yu to inform Old Madam Ding that lunch would be noodles.
He efficiently planted the remaining garlic cloves and arranged the red terracotta pots properly.
Bai Lu and Xiao Xue had already brought hot water to serve the two, washing their hands clean, and offered scented soap to rinse hands with.
Song Chongjin waved them all away.
Wang Yongzhu, noticing Song Chongjin’s deanor, could tell he had sothing to say, “I was just about to ask you, how did things go at Minister Qin’s Mansion today?”
Song Chongjin retrieved the manuscript from his chest and handed it to Wang Yongzhu.
Old Granny Zhang, seeing Song Chongjin’s expression and then Wang Yongzhu’s, figured they probably had sothing important to discuss, and after a mont’s thought, she exited the room, leading the maids to circle around the courtyard, ensuring no one eavesdropped.
Wang Yongzhu glanced at the manuscript, also revealing a look of surprise, “This suggests Minister Qin might have known Great-Grandfather? From the tone, it seems familiar, and these annotations — could it be that Minister Qin was Great-Grandfather’s student?”
Reviews
All reviews (0)