~ GET WHAT YOU WANT ~
After talking for a long while, Steward Qin finally stopped. “These are the silver notes I have earned in the past few days. Send it to Wang Ye when you go back.”
Seeing the number of silver notes, Yu Yi could not help but be shocked. “That much?” The teahouse had only opened for less than a month. Could she already earn that much silver taels?
Steward Qin could not help but feel a sense of superiority. He glanced at Yu Yi: “It’s only thirty thousand taels of silver. Is it even worth you making such a fuss over?” Miss Mu is a golden doll. With her, he would be able to earn even more silver taels.
Yu Yi swallowed his saliva. “Steward Qin, do you think we should open a few teahouses in Western Guangdong?”
“It’s already good enough for the citizens of Western Guangdong to be able to eat their fill every day. Who would drink tea in a teahouse?”
“If Western Guangdong is no good, let’s go elsewhere. There are so many other rich cities in Jiangnan. We can open one for each town, so our Master doesn’t have to worry about silver taels!”
“We should develop Bu Xian Luo first. We still need to listen to the arrangements made by Miss Mu.” Steward Qin sighed in his heart. He also wished to open Bu Xian Luo immediately throughout the Dali Dynasty. However, Steward Qin did not have any specific plans, but as long as able to please Miss Mu, it can be guaranteed that this wish would be realized soon! Therefore, he still had to write a letter to Eunuch Cheng, asking him to urge Wang Ye to do more.
The entire Jingling City blew a scent of tea, causing the Steward Qin to smile brightly. In the Capital, Eunuch Xu was also smiling happily.
Eunuch Xu brought back the tea that Mu Yunyao had gifted to him, and then he thought of his pure feelings after drinking the tea in Jin Xiu Garden. He couldn’t help but make some tea and drink it. After drinking it, he felt refreshed, and the depression in his heart lessened.
When the head servant caught a cold, he would take over the position of an inner servant. Then, he will wait on the Emperor’s side. In these past few days, a new noble lady of the Imperial Harem lost her child, who fell into a pond and drowned. The Imperial Court was in an uproar, causing the Emperor to be in an even worse mood.
If he had not witnessed the severity of the head servant’s illness, he would have suspected that the other party was trying to avoid the limelight and pushed him out. Thus, he was extra careful when serving the tea, afraid that he would offend the Emperor. After the Emperor drank a mouthful of tea, he suddenly placed the cup of tea on the table and swept a sharp gaze at him. “An inner servant is not allowed to use incense. Don’t tell me that you’re not aware of this?” Xu Li could be considered an old staff member of the Palace. If he were an ordinary young eunuch, he would have immediately ordered his people to drag him out and beat him to death.
Xu Li hurriedly knelt down, seemingly drenched in a cold sweat. “Your Majesty, please observe clearly. Even if this servant had the most guts, I would not dare to violate Palace rules. This servant has never used incense before.”
“Then, where did the fragrance on your body come from?” The Emperor’s tone became even angrier. The heavy pressure made Xu Li want to lie flat on the ground. Xu Li could not help but shiver when reflecting on his previous cup of tea. He could not help but secretly complain. If he had known earlier that he would die from a craving for tea, even he would not have been greedy for it. “Reporting to Your Majesty, the lotus flower that you mentioned should have been this servant’s tea, and it’s all this servant’s fault that this servant was so greedy for it. Once the tea was drunk, this servant couldn’t control himself and asked Your Majesty to spare this servant’s life!”
“Do you say tea?” The Emperor’s angry tone of voice did not diminish. “How come I didn’t know about the tea in the Palace and the lotus fragrance?”
“It was a gift from Mu Yunyao when this servant returned from Jingling City.”
“Mu Yunyao, is that the person who opened Ni Yun Fang and taught embroidery needle technique to the women in Jingling City?” A while ago, the officials had worked hard because of Ni Yun Fang, as if their house burned. There were a few very harsh words. It caused him to be unable to catch a breath, and he could not do anything about it. These public officials did not even have the chance to speak of a crime. He only said he wanted to see what Mu Yunyao wanted, so he ordered them to compensate her. It had made those officials angered to the point that they stomped their feet.
“It was her, Your Majesty. Miss Mu Yunyao possessed excellent embroidery craftsmanship and unique skill in brewing tea. This servant had once the privilege of drinking the tea she brewed. After drinking it, this servant would feel like drinking a full mouthful of clear lotus water. All my worries disappeared, and my entire body became relaxed. As a result, this servant could not help but sneakily drink a cup when I was on duty, causing my body to carry the tea aroma. This servant will never dare to do so again. Please spare this servant’s life, Your Majesty.”
“All the worries are gone. Does the whole body feel comfortable? Is this tea an elixir of immortality?” The Emperor’s interest was piqued by his words, and the anger was reduced by a bit. “Go get some, soak them up, and bring them to me. I’ll also come to try it and have a taste as good as you say.”
When the Emperor opened his mouth, the servants below were all flustered. They brought over half of the Taiyuan Hospital and carefully examined the tea leaves individually. After confirming that there were no problems, they allowed Xu Li to make tea before the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, the tea has been brewed. Please have a taste.” Fortunately, the Palace had prepared some dew collected from the lotus leaves and lotus flowers, but when Xu Li smelt the tea’s fragrance, he felt that it was a little worse than the dew that Mu Yunyao had personally soaked.
When the tea came in, the Emperor smelled the unique fragrance. It was similar to the tea’s scent on Xu Li’s body but much fresher and more distant than the previous one. Unable to resist, he lifted his teacup and took a sip. Immediately, he felt the fragrance of the tea fills his mouth. His brow relaxed slightly. “It is indeed good.”
Xu Li heaved a sigh of relief but was also happy to sell Mu Yunyao a benefit: “This servant’s hands are weak. I am not as good at brewing tea as Miss Mu Yunyao. She can transform tea into flowers and herbs in a cup when she brews tea. On that day, just as I was about to raise my teacup, the tea leaves formed into a lotus flower at the bottom of the cup, and with a slight shake, they transformed into birds, with clear air, curling clouds, and mist. It is truly amazing.”
The Emperor’s interest grew even more as he looked at the cup before him. He felt regretful, “Didn’t she set up an embroidery workshop? Did she also open a tea house?”
Xu Li could not read the Emperor’s thoughts, so he spoke even more cautiously. “Presumably, she wanted to spread the knowledge of the tea brewing skills. The teahouse also has recruited many people to learn from them. The teahouse’s name is even more interesting. The location of the teahouse in the garden, yet its name is Bu Xian Luo.”
“Bu Xian Luo? Mu Yunyao did have such intentions in mind. In fact, Jingling City was the home of the Tea Saint Lu Yu. He once wrote a poem about his jealousy of neither gold nor white jade cups. No envy the Court nor Office. Envy ten thousand folds of the Xijiang River that flows past Jingling. She could use the Bu Xian Luo as her tea house name, which can also be considered as having some ulterior motives.”
“Yeah, Miss Mu received the Emperor’s reward and was shocked. She repeatedly kowtowed in the Capital direction to thank the Emperor for his grace and even said she would work even harder, hoping to bring Bu Xian Luo to the Capital as soon as possible. So that she could enter the Capital to kowtow and thank the Emperor outside the Palace.”
“She doesn’t ask for anything else? Is she only requesting us to reward her with calligraphy? I can consider it and get to prepare for writing.”
“Yes.” Xu Li quietly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and quickly ordered others to prepare.
Before long, the two immense characters of Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Lou were brought out by Xu Li. “Lord Su, pass down the order for the Emperor to send these two characters to Jingling City and deliver them to Miss Mu Yunyao.”
“Please, Eunuch Xu, report this to the Emperor. This subordinate will immediately send Your Majesty’s calligraphy to Jingling City.”
Xu Li smiled and nodded: “Is Lord Su going to go personally? Why don’t you help me tell Miss Mu that her tea was given to the Emperor?”
Su Qingwu’s heart was moved, “I’ll definitely bring it with me.”
Is “Bu Xian Luo? ... So that she could enter the capital to kowtow and thank the Emperor outside the palace.” <--- all of this part the Emperor's thoughts? Or is the eunuch speaking to the emperor?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if our FL knew that the emperor would drink her tea one way or the other, or if this will come as a complete surprise?
Thanks for the chapter! Stay safe!
"Bu Xian Luo? ... up to She could use the Bu Xian Luo as her tea house name can also consider as having some ulterior motives. this part the Emperor's thoughts.
Deletethanks for your correction. i had edited it.
SQW is going to fall in deep.
ReplyDeleteHe was supposed to be the number 1 protector of Su Family's First Miss in the previous life so, I suppose, this time around he will distance from this sister when Yunyao happens to arrive to their family and starts conflicting with this white lotus that harmed her in the first lifetime.