Blissful Days After Widowhood - Chapter 111

    The chili that eats for the sky is a worthless thing. The price is half of the previous one, but it still makes a lot of money.

    Some people are happy and others are worried.

    Sell one and lose one!

    In those days, although the price of Wangtianlou was lower than the market price, it was not completely unprofitable, and it lost hundreds of taels every month.

    This time is amazing, just ten days later, the money lost is worth the past one or two months.

    Seeing that the trend of food for the sky has not stopped, Wangtianlou, who boasted about Haikou, has to sacrifice his life to accompany the gentleman.

    For the first time, Feng Tao, the owner, wants to be left out.

    However, although the spicy dishes of Wangtianlou are not rich in food, there is no drama bonus, but just as cheap, they have attracted some cheap customers.

    By the end of February, Feng Tao’s chili peppers were sold out, and he had to stock up on new ones. He had no choice but to go back and ask Qin Shi for money.

    The Qin family has been subsidizing him intermittently before and after, but the Feng family spent tens of thousands of taels to care for the wounded soldiers before. Started to be stretched.

     Qin Shi finally took out a thousand taels of silver and told Feng Tao that there would be no next time.

     , not only ruined the newly opened signboard, but also lost the prestige of our Lu country’s government, as if our family was afraid of their British government!”

    Feng Tao accompanied his smiling face to say good things about a carriage, but he was thinking that this Wangtianlou was not something he wanted to drive, but his own mother. That way of hurting people was also discussed by their mother and son together, Qin Shi nodded by himself, why does it seem to be all his fault now?

    Besides, he did not spend the money in the family alone – Qin Shi, as the highest-ranking elder in the family, was the one who started the extravagant and hedonistic style after changing the family in the Feng family, and the money flowed like water. Flowers out. It was also she who brought in the trouble of caring for the wounded soldiers.

      After checking out, I spent hundreds of taels a month.

    Not to mention the imperial concubine in the palace, when the new dynasty was just established, Feng Guifei received a lot of awards, and she was able to subsidize it back to her parents’ home. Not long ago, she began to say that she could not use the palace servants, and asked Qin Shi to give her some money to spend in the palace.

    Although Feng Tao doesn’t know how much Qin Shi gave, but the palace servants have high vision, not the usual kind of servants with shallow eyelids, three to five taels of silver can be passed, and everyone has an appetite very big!

    The whole family is like this, no one is bad!

    But as the youngest child in the family, Feng Tao can’t blame his mother and brother.

    After getting the money, Feng Tao asked people to pick and buy a batch of peppers.

    However, the price of chili has risen!

    Although Beijing is the center of a country, the stock of peppers as an imported product is not much, and the vendors know that the two big restaurants on Taibai Street are holding a spicy food festival, so the price will naturally increase by one Fan.

    The money Qin gave was only enough to last a few days. However, the food festival is still being held, and they have to bite the bullet when they look to the sky.

    However, the house leaked and it rained all night, and it was time for Concubine Feng to spend money again – the Xiefang Hall was tidy up, and Emperor Zhengyuan ordered Lu Xu to move there.

    It is impossible for the concubines in the palace to raise the prince to adulthood. Although Feng Guifei was mentally prepared, she never expected that the separation of mother and child would come so quickly, and there was no news in advance!

    Now Lu Xu and Gu Ye have stayed together for much longer than they have been in the harem. Since the mother and son had a conflict over a bit of tarpaulin and lard, as long as Feng Guifei talks about it Gu Ye is not good, let him be on guard.

    Lu Xu would either talk back to her, or simply ignore her.

    It’s only been so long, it’s already like this, and then let Lu Xu and Gu Ye live together, then maybe this kid will turn his elbows out!

    Feng Guifei had trouble sleeping and eating, but the imperial decree was issued, she could not disobey, she could only give Lu Xu’s nanny and palace maid with big silver coins, and also to clear the palace on the other side of Xiefang Hall People, I just hope they can be alert and don’t let Lu Xu be fooled.

    The palace staff received the silver money sent by Yonghe Palace correctly. Anyway, Qian Sansi has spoken, so that they can know what to do.

    So the cashier is the cashier, and it is up to them to do things.

    Both of them reached out to Qin Shi, but they really worried Qin Shi.

    The main thing is not to worry about the present, but in the future, these two brothers and sisters are like a bottomless pit!

    Qin shi was so anxious that a fire blisters on her lips, and the next day Iceman came to pass on the news of the various school-age women she collected, so she couldn’t help but look at her a few more times.

    Qin shi could only lift the tea cup and cover his lips.

    In the back, the Qin family is picking and picking like melons and vegetables. The ones who are not as good as the Chen family are not good at first, and the family situation is too bad. It’s not good to have a good birth, and in the end, it will be suitable for a few families.

    Thinking of the nervous expenses at home, Qin Shi and Iceman asked about the bride price.

    That Iceman is the one entrusted by the Lu family, and he has a very smart temperament. Although it is strange that a dignitary like the Feng family is still worried about this, but his face is not obvious, he just continued with a smile: “Old Madam If you ask this question, the ones I recommend to your family are all good families. The dowry for girls in their families is 18,000, and they are not greedy people. Compared with the dowry, the dowry is a little more than three or five thousand taels. “

    Three to five thousand taels is naturally a shot for the current Duke of Lu.

    But the problem is that it is more than the dowry, which is equivalent to giving out 13,500 taels in one go.

    Although the dowry of the new daughter-in-law will definitely be brought, it is the private property of others.

    If the Qin family dares to take action on the daughter-in-law’s dowry, the new daughter-in-law and her maiden’s family will be unhappy. The news spreads, and the Qin family will be ashamed!

    Unless the ancestral fields and properties in Chuzhou are sold, it is impossible to collect the money.

     Qin Shi did not speak for a long time, saying that he would think about it again.

    The Iceman noticed something, and while collecting the rosters of the girls on the table, he exclaimed: “Oh, look at my confusion, how can I include the girls from the rich businessman’s Lu family? already.”

    In the past, Qin’s eyes are higher than the top, and she doesn’t look down on businessmen.

    Now that she heard Iceman’s deliberately accentuated “rich” character, her eyes couldn’t help but immediately look over.

    Iceman felt that there was drama, so he continued: “This girl from the Lu family is really charming and beautiful, and she looks blessed. The Lu family is even more powerful for several generations, and her ancestors are the royal merchants of the previous dynasty. What. Mrs. Lu only has one daughter, Miss Lu, and it hurts like an eyeball, so it doesn’t count as giving a very generous dowry, and she doesn’t care about any dowry, she just wants to marry Miss Lu to a good family.”

     Qin shi frowned and pondered for a while, and asked the Iceman to keep the small portrait of Lu Yuanqi.

    The Qin family didn’t hand the statue to Feng Yuan. He was still dissatisfied with the daughter of a wealthy businessman as Mrs. Hou. He wanted his youngest son Feng Tao to marry Lu Yuanqi.

    Feng Tao heard that Lu Yuanqi was two years older than him.

    The news arrived at Lujia very fast.

    I heard that they could marry the Duke of Lu, and both Mrs. Lu and Yuanqi Lu were overjoyed.

    But after inquiring later, Feng Tao was a idler, and he was either in the casino or Qin Lou Chu Hall.

    And the Wangtianlou that Feng Tao looked at looked like a good business, but the Lu family was very well-connected in the capital. After a little inquiries, they knew that they were just wearing silk and eating coarse bran—the surface was bright!

    Feng Tao can’t be a nobleman, and he has no ability, so he should have a good family background.

    Although Lu Yuanqi wanted to climb the high branch, she was unwilling to climb with such a person, and expressed her dissatisfaction with Mrs. Lu in private.

     Mrs. Lu had already asked people to carefully inquire about the character of the people in the Duke of Lu’s mansion, and Mrs. Qin, who had guessed above the top, was so easy to let go. What the good Lu family lacked the most was not money, and especially at this juncture that was related to the future of the entire Lu family.

     Mrs. Lu and the Iceman got to the bottom of it, saying that she had misunderstood at first, and she even thought that the daughter who was going to marry was the grandfather of the country who was going to marry again, and prepared 200,000 taels for her daughter The dowry supports the gate.

    I am talking about the young son of the Duke of Lu, and the daughter is not the clan wife of the family when she is married, so she does not need to take care of the whole family. The 20,000 taels of dowry is enough.

    200,000 taels, the Feng family has accumulated several generations, and the entire family is about this number. Of course that was in the past, not now.

    And the Lu family’s meaning is obvious, the 200,000 taels of dowry were used to support the entire family of the Duke of Lu!

    Anyway, Qin Shi wanted to tell Lu Yuanqi to Feng Tao that only his own people knew, and he was not worried about leaking rumors and making people laugh.

    Concubine Feng also helped to persuade her, saying that the family was the mansion of the state, she was a concubine, and there was a prince, and there was nothing more noble in the capital except the mansion of the United Kingdom. What do you care about? Still have to be pragmatic.

    Especially in the future, Lu Xu is going for a big future, and then it is time to really spend money!

    When Qin Shi thought about it, it was true. Later, she and Mrs. Lu met, and the two were quite similar. In addition, Lu Yuanqi, who deliberately pretended to be well-behaved, was really good-looking, so the marriage was settled. .

    The Qin family was in a hurry to make money, and the Lu family also consciously encountered a great deed, so they did not dare to take Qiao, for fear that the duck would fly away. months later.

    …

    The powerful alliance between the noble family and the wealthy family soon became known in the streets.

    Especially there are a lot of female guests in Qingshi Yashe. This kind of thing is the most well-informed, and someone knows about it the next day.

    What’s more embarrassing is that Mrs. Lu and Ge Zhuer are still on good terms!

    Mrs. Lu didn’t come to Light Food Yashe for several days. She really doesn’t have that face, and she’s afraid of being laughed at – the Lu family is the master of Mrs. Lu, and he, the big lady, looks at the flowers, but she doesn’t really care. Without the right to speak, although it is not her turn to intervene in my sister-in-law’s marriage, it is always necessary to inform her sister-in-law, right?

    In the end, she didn’t know until Mrs. Lu started to make arrangements and ordered Mrs. Lu to fight.

    Before she mentioned that Ge Zhuer would go to work at Lu’s house, but she was just shaving her head and picking her up hot. If that happened, Mrs. Lu would be so ashamed now!

    The people who played well with her in Yasheli thought she was busy at first, but later saw that she hadn’t gone out for nearly ten days, and realized that something was wrong.

    Last winter until now, they have been getting together all the time, and suddenly there is such a central character missing, and everyone is not used to it.

    Later Gezhuer asked mutual friends to help transfer the letter.

    After reconciliation, Ge Zhuer regained her free and easy temperament, she was more open than anyone else.

    Mrs. Lu received her letter and knew that she had really let go of the past, so she came to Qingshi Yashe as usual.

    The handkerchiefs have been handed over for a few days, so naturally there are endless things to say.

    Gu Yin knew that Mrs. Lu was fond of sweets, so she personally went to a caramel pudding—

    Pour the milk into the beaten egg, stir to combine, and filter it with gauze several times.

    Add cold water and sugar to the pot and fry until browned.

    Finally, pour the sugar liquid into the small stewing pot, wait until the sugar liquid solidifies, pour in the egg liquid, then cover the lid and seal it, put it on the steamer and steam for two quarters of an hour on low heat.

    After getting out of the pot, Gu Yin used a bamboo skewer to poke holes around the pudding, buckle it upside down in a small bowl, and serve.

      If you don’t carefully control the heat when steaming in the pot, it is easy to steam out the style of honeycomb, which will destroy the beauty.

    The pudding made by Gu Yin is not only attractive in appearance, but also has a light and milky fragrance, delicate and tender, and the sweet caramel with unique flavor ripples on the tongue.

    Mrs. Lu was eating this dessert, and listening to others talk about some interesting things that happened when she hadn’t come over these days, the stone in her heart was finally removed.

    When the people dispersed, Ge Zhuer hesitated for a while, but still reminded Mrs. Lu, saying that the Feng family looked at the flowers, and there were a lot of bad things inside, especially Qin’s methods But dirty.

    Brother Xiaofeng had some problems with his voice before, so he stopped singing and turned into a drama. Mrs. Lu and the others didn’t know what a drama was at that time. what happened.

    Wu Qingyi sent the small butler and the garden owner to the court at that time, it is not difficult to find out.

    Mrs. Lu smiled bitterly and said, “I know, why haven’t I persuaded me? A good-natured person like you can’t stand that family, even if you don’t know what’s going on, just like that. I know that the grandfather is not a good match… But after all, it is not me who is in charge of the house, and I am afraid that it will be annoying to say too much.”

    Mrs. Lu’s words were very euphemistic. The actual situation was that at that time, Mrs. Lu was very disdainful, saying that Ge Zhuer’s identity was low and her temperament was dull. Qin likes it. Although their Lu family is a businessman, they have countless relatives and a wealthy family. Although they are not comparable to those of the hairpin and ying family, they are different from those like Ge Zhuer.

    Anyway, the marriage between the two has been decided, and it is useless to think about it, so the two of them don’t talk much.

    After the Feng Lu family got engaged, the Feng family’s confidence immediately increased, and the spicy food festival became even more powerful than before.

    But there is a low price on the opposite side, and there is a new drama attracting attention. The passenger flow of the two is not much different.

    In late February, the food festival on Shiweitian came to an end, and Gu Yin took the account books from this period home to count them.

    She is busy again these days, she is thinner than before, and her chin is pointed.

    Wang looked distressed and asked the cook in the house to stew the bird’s nest, which he personally delivered.

    The miscellaneous hairs of the bird’s nest were picked cleanly and served with rock sugar, milk and honey. Gu Yin ate it well, so she asked: “This thing is not cheap, right? Mother too, I said it for the family. You must not.”

    “Our family now has a salary, a property for rent, and thousands of taels of income a year. The money in the restaurant is all your hard-earned money, you just keep it for yourself.” Wang Shi smiled and said, “And this bird’s nest doesn’t need any money, it’s all rewarded by the palace.”

    “The empress dowager rewarded me?” Gu Yin spent very little time at home during this time, so it was not very clear.

    Wang said no, “It was given by the empress, not only bird’s nest, but also some supplements, the most nourishing thing, when you are done with this, I will let the cook make it for you to eat.”

    Gu Yin didn’t have many contacts with Queen Zhou, but she had a good impression of her, so she took her heart and thought that she would have the opportunity to return the gift.

    Afterwards, Mrs. Wang waited until she had cleared up the accounts and finished her work before she said, “I’m going to deliver something to your Aunt Xu today, and it took me a while to hear that the wealthy Lu family had climbed up to the Feng family. The Feng family has the help of the Lu family, isn’t it good for our family…”

    Gu Yin closed the ledger and stretched out in relaxation.

     “Mother said the opposite, the Feng family is just because they are with the Lu family, so our family will be relieved in the future!”

    The Qin family is not a fuel-efficient lamp, and the Lu family said that the one-of-a-kind old lady is not easy to be with.

    It would be worrisome if these two were just allies.

      of businesswoman origin. What is Qin’s attitude towards his daughter-in-law, needless to say.

     Lu Yuanqi’s temperament can stand it?

    The Lu family gave out such a generous dowry, so naturally they would not feel that they were at a loss.

    In addition, there is Feng Yuan, who is faint and muddy, he likes Ge Zhuer’s gentleness and carelessness, for Ge Zhuer’s sake, and for Lu Yuanqi, whose character is not liked by him, I’m afraid it won’t interfere.

    When Mrs Wang was suspicious, Gu Yin touched her chin and smiled: “Anyway, the two of them will have a wedding in three months. .”

    …

    At the end of February, the Xiefang Hall was cleaned up – this palace was originally the residence of the princes of the previous dynasty. Just updated some furnishings, repainted the walls and replaced the tiles.

    Gu Yin took some clothes from Prince Lie’s mansion, and Feng Yu brought almost all of her belongings.

    It is thanks to Gu Ye that he begged for the grace of living in the palace. It’s really embarrassing.

    And then there is Lu Xu. When he first heard that he could go to the front to live with Gu Ye and the others, he was overjoyed.

    However, at a young age, he lived in the unfamiliar Xiefang Hall for only two days. Although he was still surrounded by familiar nurses and palace servants, he still began to think about his own mother.

    Little crying bag wants face, biting the quilt at night and crying secretly.

    I thought no one would know, but the next day his eyes were swollen like walnuts, as long as he was not blind, he could find it!

    Gu Ye and Lu Xu also developed some brotherhood. After finding out, he specially stayed in the palace for several days.

    He is very convenient to enter and leave the palace, and he can get any fashionable things outside.

    After playing for a few days, Lu Xu didn’t mention what he wanted to go back to Yonghe Palace. He was happy every day. During the lunch break, he went back to Yonghe Palace to have lunch. Feng Guifei talked to him. I didn’t listen to it much, so I quickly took a nap after eating.

    It’s not that after a few days apart, he won’t be close to his mother, but he is really sleepy – recently Gu Ye also set a rule for him, saying that playing is going to be fun, and learning is going to go back to school. If he misses his homework because he plays crazy, he won’t play with him.

    So Lu Xu doesn’t doze off in class anymore, and catches up on sleep during the lunch break.

    The movements of several children are still reported to Emperor Zhengyuan as usual. Knowing that the elder brother Gu Ye has such a good demeanor, he will break Lu Xu over so quickly. Emperor Zhengyuan is naturally happy, not only more and more Doting on Gu Ye is also better for Queen Zhou than before.

    When Gu Ye stayed in the palace, he ate dinner at Empress Zhou.

    Although he used to have lunch here every now and then, but he had the habit of taking naps, so if he didn’t talk for a long time, he had to take a break.

    Now living in the palace at night, he is not in a hurry to leave the palace, so naturally he can stay for a while longer.

    After dinner, Gu Ye put down the tableware and went to play with Lu Zhao.

    Lu Zhao has actually been able to walk on his own for a long time, but because he is used to being held, he usually doesn’t bother to walk, and the same is true for talking.

    But he is close to Gu Ye, his close brother. When Gu Ye plays with him, he will rarely be lazy, willing to talk to him, and willing to run behind his ass.

    The two brothers played for a while, and Queen Zhou wiped the sweat off the two of them, and let someone serve them sweet soup.

    Gu Ye drank it himself, while Lu Zhao asked Queen Zhou to feed it.

    Usually Empress Zhou would definitely do it herself, but Gu Ye said with a smile: “Little Lu Zhao is ashamed, he is so big that he needs to be fed. Look at brother, drink it by yourself! “

    Lu Zhao said in a milky voice: “Brother is big, I am young!”

    “When my brother was your age, he wouldn’t be fed!” Gu Ye finished the small bowl of sweet soup in two mouthfuls, then pretended to reach for Lu Zhao’s small bowl, “It seems that our little Lu Zhao doesn’t like sweet soup, so I’ll drink it for you.”

    Lu Zhao also grew up with gold and jade, and there is no shortage of this sweet soup, but as a child, if someone rushes to eat it, it is another matter.

    He immediately took the small spoon and drank it by himself. Later, he thought that his spoon was not good, so he simply put the spoon down, held the small bowl with both hands, and drank it.

    Empress Zhou said “slow down”, usually smiling with a frown.

    “It’s empty!” Lu Zhao held the empty bowl and put it in front of Gu Ye to show him.

    Gu Ye naturally did not hesitate to praise, and praised with a thumbs up: “Little Lu Zhao is awesome, he is indeed my brother.”

    Lu Zhao proudly raised his small chest.

    The smile in Empress Zhou’s eyes was almost overflowing, she looked at Gu Ye lovingly and said, “This kid will listen to you. If you have time, teach him more.”

    Gu Ye said don’t be free, but he actually had an idea.

    “In the Wenhua Hall, Lu Xu and I are both in class, and our family’s Lu Zhao is not younger than Lu Xu, can we still let him compare?”

    When Empress Zhou heard this, she habitually looked at Lu Zhao worriedly.

    In fact, Emperor Zhengyuan had mentioned this matter before. At that time, Empress Zhou blocked Lu Zhao back because of her young age.

    But facing Gu Ye, she couldn’t say anything like that – when Gu Ye was kidnapped, he was much younger than Lu Zhao now. The queen also knew that the imperial doctor said that as long as you are a little more careful, there will be no major mistakes, and she also suggested that Lu Zhao should exercise more.

    “I think so,” Gu Ye continued: “You asked Xiao Lu Zhao to only follow me for half a day of class every day, only in the afternoon. I was afraid that he would not be able to get up in the morning. Cold… After lunch, he will go to class in front of him to play, and it’s not a problem to sleep in class like Lu Xu before, just don’t snore like Lu Xu.”

    Empress Zhou couldn’t help laughing again, Lu Zhao hurriedly said, “I won’t fight!” He shook Empress Zhou’s hand and said coquettishly, “I’ll go play. !”

    “What do you think of the queen mother?” Gu Ye also learned from Lu Zhao and took Queen Zhou’s other hand.

    The youngest son’s coquettish Queen Zhou has long been accustomed to it, but although Gu Ye has been recognized for a period of time, he has never been like this, always acting like a little adult.

    The child who looks like a little adult is well-behaved and lovable, but sometimes it will make Queen Zhou feel that the mother and son are separated and lost.

    Empress Zhou’s hands trembled slightly, she held Gu Ye’s hand and squeezed it lightly, under the excitement, let alone such a small request, even if she wanted her life, she would also Absolutely nothing.

    “Then let’s say, Lu Zhaotian will come to class with me in the afternoon. Although Wenhua Hall cannot enter other palace people, but our Lu Zhao situation is a bit special, I will go and talk to my father. The emperor said, prepare an extra imperial doctor to serve in the hall, so that in case our family Lu Zhao has any discomfort, he can be taken care of quickly. If the mother is still worried, I will write you a ‘military order’, ensure…”

    Empress Zhou listened to him one mouthful of “our family” and another mouthful of “mother queen”, so soft that she could pinch the water, she smiled and covered his small mouth, “It’s all a family Son, what’s the ‘war order’? I know you are doing it for your brother.”

    So it was decided that Lu Zhao also went to the Wenhua Hall for class.

    When Emperor Zhengyuan got the news, he was really relieved, and he couldn’t help thinking that the eldest son was right, he was indeed younger now, otherwise what would happen if he was crowned a prince immediately?

    Let’s not mention other things, just the patience and kindness that can teach the two younger brothers who are not the same mother is enough.