Chapter 146: Yue Wang, Brief and To the Point
Mu Yunyao came back to herself. The bead of blood on her fingertip had already begun to clot. She took up a handkerchief and wiped it gently, and in an instant her fingertip was clean again, as though even the tiny needle-prick no longer hurt.
“It is nothing.”
What she had seen today at the Cao Residence had, in truth, stirred her heart more than she cared to admit, and it had made her think involuntarily of her former self. In her previous life, when she had been Jin Wang’s concubine, the Su family’s Eldest Miss had likely regarded her in much the same way Madam Jin regarded Concubine Wang now—as nothing more than a plaything whose ambitions had grown too large.
In this life, she would never again become another man’s concubine. Not only that—she would personally see to it that her “good elder sister” was sent into Jin Wang’s residence instead. She truly wanted to see what kind of life two people, both false to the core, would build together once they were placed side by side.
A few days later, when Mu Yunyao again went to the Cao Residence to discuss with Madam Jin what sort of embroidered silk should be used for the New Year tribute, she noticed that people were clearing out the lotus pond.
Yin Hong was leading the way for her. Seeing her gaze drift toward the pond, she lowered her voice and explained,
“Yesterday, Concubine Wang and Concubine Zhou had a quarrel. In the struggle, Concubine Zhou accidentally pushed Concubine Wang into the pond. The pond was full of silt, and after only a short while in the water, Concubine Wang stopped moving entirely. Madam feels unsettled whenever she looks at the pond now, so she has ordered it cleared and plans to have it filled in.”
Mu Yunyao smiled faintly. A ripple passed through her eyes and vanished without a trace.
“Madam has judged wisely.”
After several more days of running back and forth, the cloth and embroidery thread needed for the New Year tribute were finally prepared. The handwriting collected by Governor Zhang had also begun arriving in batches from different places. Mu Yunyao selected the pieces carefully, then instructed the embroiderers to begin work.
The samples of the characters fortune, longevity, peace, and health had been written by elders blessed with the five fortunes, whom Governor Zhang had invited from various places. Originally, they had planned to invite the women of Jingling City who knew embroidery to come and help with the work. But since this tribute was to be presented to His Majesty, there was the danger that less skilled needlework would leave visible flaws. In the end, after consulting with Madam Jin, it was decided that most of the embroidery would still be done by Mu Yunyao herself, with the remainder assisted by the embroiderers of Ni Yun Fang. Fortunately, those embroiderers had all been chosen from among the best in Jingling City, so they could still be said to represent the women of Jingling.
Su Qing helped sort through the handwriting samples that had been sent in from all over, until her eyes nearly blurred.
“Yunyao, there is simply too much of it. How long will it take you to finish all this embroidery?”
At the side, Jin Lan and the others, who were helping split the silk threads, could not help nodding in agreement.
“That is right, Miss. Governor Zhang really does not know how to show consideration. The New Year is not far off now, and the tribute has to be sent to the capital half a month in advance. That means the true time left for embroidery is only three months. How can anyone possibly finish it all?”
Mu Yunyao looked up and smiled lightly.
“I have not started worrying yet, so why are all of you worrying on my behalf? Rest easy. Three months is enough.”
Su Qing could not help sighing. Suppressing the ache in her heart, she said,
“Mother will go make you something to eat. For these next three months, you need concern yourself with nothing else—only focus on embroidering the New Year tribute.”
Mu Yunyao nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, Mother.”
When Steward Qin learned that Mu Yunyao was helping prepare the New Year tribute, he hurried out and bought a great quantity of medicinal materials to send over.
Opening the box and seeing the ginseng roots inside, each complete and intact, Mu Yunyao could not help laughing.
“Steward Qin, what you have prepared is far too precious. I am only helping embroider the New Year tribute—I could never bring myself to use something this fine.”
From the look of it, that ginseng was at least a hundred years old. If she truly consumed it, she would probably be over-supplemented at once.
Steward Qin answered at once,
“Miss must not take this lightly. Embroidery is most taxing on the mind, and especially so with your work. Those silk threads are split so fine they are nearly invisible. An ordinary person would grow dizzy after one glance. Only because Miss’s skill is so extraordinary do your stitches seem almost divinely guided.”
Even while feeling admiration, Steward Qin could not help but feel a little distressed.
For the sake of Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Lou, Miss Mu had already calculated every step and worked herself extremely hard. And now, to win imperial favor, she would have to keep up this rush for another three months straight. He could not help in any other meaningful way, so all he could do was search out nourishing tonics and send them over.
Warmth rose in Mu Yunyao’s heart.
“If you keep a good eye on Bu Xian Lou and divide a few more taels of silver to me each month, then I will not feel the least bit tired.”
“Miss may rest assured. The people I sent out have already taken root in places such as Suzhou and Yangzhou. Before long they will be stir-frying tea leaves and earning silver there as well. It is only a pity that fresh leaves can be harvested for only a few months more. Once winter sets in, tea can no longer be fried.”
These days, Steward Qin had thoroughly tasted the pleasure of earning silver, and half his heart now longed to set up an incense table in the garden and worship the tea trees themselves, just so they might produce fresh leaves every day without fail.
“There is no end to silver that can be earned. We are already busy enough as it is. If one reaches for too much at once, one cannot chew it all. Better to move forward step by step.”
In truth, Mu Yunyao’s desire to earn silver was even more urgent than Steward Qin’s. Yet she did not dare rush. She feared one wrong move could lose her the whole board. After all, she had less than a year left.
Steward Qin understood the principle as well.
“That is true. What matters now is that we proceed steadily and securely.”
Only half a year ago, he had thought himself fortunate if he could keep a few tens of thousands of taels in hand. Now he handled more than ten thousand taels a day. A person truly must not grow too greedy.
From then on, Mu Yunyao scarcely stepped out of the house. Every day she remained in her room embroidering the New Year tribute.
Madam Jin came twice to see her. Seeing that the progress on the embroidery was heartening, she stopped disturbing her further. Yet at fixed intervals, she still had people bring gifts—sometimes jewelry and hair ornaments, sometimes simple food and pastries.
Mu Yunyao did not refuse them and told Jin Lan to accept each one in order.
More than half a month later, Steward Qin delivered a reply letter from Yue Wang.
Mu Yunyao flexed her stiff wrists and fingers and could not hide her surprise.
“I did not expect Yue Wang to write back to me. But last time I did not send him a letter directly, so just what letter is he replying to?”
Steward Qin merely smiled—smiled so brightly, in fact, that his face nearly blossomed. The look in his eyes toward Mu Yunyao was even more remarkable, as though he already regarded her as the future Yue Wang Fei, and the more he looked, the more satisfied he became.
Mu Yunyao was baffled by the look. She opened the letter and found only three characters written on the page:
Understood.
That truly was Yue Wang’s style—every word worth a thousand taels.
She raised her brows and held the letter up for Steward Qin to see.
“This… ‘Understood.’ What exactly has Yue Wang understood?”
Steward Qin’s eyes widened, and inwardly, he could not help complaining bitterly. Going by Old Cheng’s account, Yue Wang clearly held Miss Mu in his thoughts—so why could he not write a few more words? With only three characters saying Understood, how was anyone else supposed to know what His Highness actually meant?
Seeing Steward Qin standing there speechless, Mu Yunyao could hardly keep pressing the old man further.
“Then I shall write a letter and ask Yue Wang directly. It has been a long while since anything was sent there anyway. By the time the letter arrives, the ginger tea should about reach Yuexi as well.”
Steward Qin hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
“Good—Miss is indeed thoughtful.”
Fortunately, Miss Mu was understanding. Had it been another young lady, she might already have taken offense!
No, he still needed to write and scold Old Cheng. Miss Mu had already shared the profits from Ni Yun Fang, helped establish Bu Xian Lou, won not one but two golden signboards through her own efforts, and on top of all that had gone to the trouble of sending ginger tea from several thousand li away. Even as an outsider, Steward Qin felt moved by such sentiment. How could Yue Wang not understand that he ought to say something pleasant to soothe her?
Far away in Yuexi, Yue Wang suddenly sneezed.
Eunuch Cheng, who was standing before him making a report, at once said with concern,
“Your Highness, now that the weather has turned cold, you should add another couple of layers. Did not Old Qin send over two fox-fur cloaks? They were purchased in Jiangnan. When Your Highness wears them, you look especially heroic and divine. I shall have someone take them out and air them. They can be worn tomorrow.”
Yue Wang only nodded and said nothing.
Another half a month passed. At long last, the merchant caravan transporting the tea finally arrived outside Yuxi City after its journey of many thousand li.
Unfortunately, before the caravan could even enter the city, a fierce band of bandits charged out and seized the tea at once, hauling it away.
The guards at Yuxi City only dared emerge trembling after the bandits had already vanished beyond sight. Seeing the caravan master collapse on the ground in loud sobs, one of them could not help but try to console him.
“Stop crying. At least they only took the goods and did not kill anyone—that is already very good. Hurry into the city and rest a while.”
“This honored officer, we want to report the crime. Please have the authorities arrest those bandits!”
“You may report it if you wish, but let me say this first—even if you report it, it will be useless. Those bandits cannot be caught.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
The caravan master wailed.
“We… we shall rest a little and then return to Jiangnan to buy another batch of tea. I refuse to believe those bandits can rob us every single time!”
Do you think they were really robbed, or that they were "taken without payment" (although, actually with because they paid for all of the ingredients) by our ML to cover his tracks? I want our ML to try the ginger tea noodle thing and know how delicious it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter, and stay safe!
"She wanted to see what would happen when two extremely hypocritical people were together. " for things like this I trully like this novel.
ReplyDeleteThe reasonment of Yunyao guessing nothing good can come from pairing them and even wondering what was Jin Wang's end in her previous life, because she isn't 100% sure he'd succeed with his evil deeds...