Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 194 - 192: Spraying out the Tea

Chapter 194: Chapter 192: Spraying out the Tea

"Mrs. Liu, it’s come to my attention that the Marquis Mansion was the first to contribute resources during the earthquake in Qinghe County. I must admit, the Marquis’s dedication to the people’s welfare is truly admirable. Given that the people here are like his own family, I trust he has not fallen behind this time." The wife of Shengping County’s magistrate began.

This was the legal mother of Ming Zhijie. She seemed a difficult person to deal with.

Ming Zhijie was born weak and his condition no doubt owed much to her influence.

"We are more than happy to do what we can for the people," Mrs. Liu replied tactfully.

"I hear that the food items in Marquis Shengping’s supermarket and tea houses are sold at a high price, which reveals a robust family fortune. So, exactly how much does the Marquis Mansion plan to contribute this time?" The county magistrate’s wife despised them, especially since Ming Zhijie seemed to be on good terms with their family, and that the high-quality food purchased from their estate was enjoyed by the feeble Ming Zhijie while she, the lady of the house, was not able to taste them.

What was infuriating was that the health of the concubine’s child improved with each passing day after enjoying such food.

Her own son, on the other hand, seemed to grow more and more pale, simply because he didn’t have access to such fine sustenance.

She refused to acknowledge that her son’s pallor was due to his proclivity for wine and womanizing, which was gradually consuming his health.

So, the county magistrate’s wife was determined to vend her wrath on their household?

Xiao’er was not pleased inwardly, though she managed to stay composed outwardly, "The Lady Magistrate is thoughtful. We will follow in your footsteps. However, as you are aware, our family fortune is moderate, it’s all out in the open for everyone to see. And besides, everyone knows that when it came to the situation in Qinghe County, our family has already contributed once before. We cannot compete with the county magistrate’s wife even if we were to make use of all our resources."

"Our family is in the farming business, so we have some grain and cotton. This time, we plan to donate 10,000 pounds of grain and 1,000 pounds of cotton."

Xiao’er thought the initiative held by the county magistrate’s wife was well-intentioned, but what could make a real difference was teaching people to fish rather than giving them fish.

Such a measure could only alleviate immediate needs, but it couldn’t alleviate poverty. Nevertheless, it was certainly better than not doing anything!

Other madams and young ladies certainly weren’t going to slight Xiao’er, saying that her family was already being generous.

They were waiting to buy the high-quality food and also had ordered a lot of furniture for their daughters’ dowries. They certainly wouldn’t want to offend Xiao’er’s family, and were even trying to ingratiate themselves with them.

"To donate such meager supplies, they have the nerve to make such a show of it!" The wife of the county magistrate snorted coldly.

Many people were rather upset by her words. Originally, they were planning to follow suit and side with the Marquis’s family, but they felt embarrassed after her statement.

"Our family always acts within our means. If the county magistrate’s wife thinks our contribution is small, then I assume what your household plans to donate must be ten or eight times more than what we have pledged."

"I don’t intend to belittle anyone with my words. Everyone well knows that Marquis Shengping’s family hasn’t been wealthy for long and that their wealth is relatively light. However, their repeated dedication and sacrifices for the people have earned even my respect," Mrs. Lai spoke up in defense of Xiao’er’s family. After all, her own son had close ties with them, and Mrs. Liu’s sister-in-law had even saved the life of the Old Lady.

Moreover, after observing them in the morning, she had developed a fair inclination towards them.

"Mrs. Lai speaks the truth." Everyone nodded in agreement. The Marquis’s family hasn’t been in high rank for long. How could the wealth they’ve accumulated from their businesses match up to the fortune amassed by those families that had been rich for generations?

Though grudging, the wife of the county magistrate dared not say more, knowing some people weren’t within her power to offend.

The wife of the magistrate was an efficient woman; she immediately had someone bring out ink and paper and write down on the spot what everyone planned to donate.

She wasn’t going to provide any opportunities for anyone to renege on their pledge.

On their way back, Mrs. Liu asked Xiao’er, "Have we ever offended the county magistrate’s wife?"

"Just by associating with Mr. Ming Zhijie we have offended her. A friend of an enemy is an enemy."

Upon recalling that Ming Zhijie was not the biological son of the county magistrate’s wife, Mrs. Liu began to understand.

"These big households are such a hassle; kinsfolk can be more like enemies."

"Everyone has their own interests to protect; people of different dispositions just have different ways of safeguarding them." Xiao’er felt that even the brothers in Shen’s family weren’t necessarily close to each other. Whether relationships were amicable or not greatly depended on the individuals’ characters.

Mrs. Liu nodded, "That’s true."

The last day staying in the prefecture city.

Xiao’er gave a ginseng root to Shen Chengyao to obtain the recipe for spiced donkey meat, and then she inspected the shops in the city, only to find them too small.

On the contrary, she saw potential in an area in the slums and considered adopting modern practices: to expropriate the houses and land, and then build her own houses to develop real estate.

She had to think this through carefully. This was a large piece of potential profit, and she would have to share some of it. She would need to choose her partners carefully.

Dealing with the government would be straightforward. Success in this endeavor would generate numerous job opportunities, and even the compensation for land acquisition alone could improve the lives of the city’s poor. This was an opportunity to achieve political accomplishments!

If partners were to be sought, she couldn’t forget those who had cooperated with her in opening the supermarket. Xiao’er sorted out her thoughts, wrote a letter about her idea, released a homing pigeon, and awaited feedback from Shangguan Xuanyi and Di Shaowei in the Imperial Capital.

――

Inside the Imperial Palace, Shangguan Xuanyi didn’t expect to receive another letter from the girl just a day after the last. He was discussing matters with the Emperor in the imperial study when a homing pigeon flew in and landed on his shoulder.

Shangguan Xuanyi opened the letter himself, and as he read on, he couldn’t help but smile. She indeed was a little money-making expert.

Just one trip to the prefecture city and she had come up with two money-making ideas.

What pleased him was that the young girl didn’t forget to involve him in any good opportunity.

Observing his son’s cheerful demeanor, the Emperor became curious about the content of the letter, "What is in the letter that has made you so pleased?"

On hearing these words, Shangguan Xuanyi realized he had let his guard down, quickly masking his joy. He coughed and said, "Marquis Shengping has written to me twice. The first letter mentioned the idea about the bar, and this one talks about building houses on expropriated land."

"Expropriated land? How are they planning to build houses on it?" The Emperor had never heard of such a concept.

"Let Father Emperor have a look!" Shangguan Xuanyi intended to hand the letter over, but then remembered that just one glance at this handwriting would reveal it came from a woman. He had just mentioned that the letter was from Marquis Shengping. Giving the letter to his father would not make it easy to ask for it back, especially if he wanted to keep the letter for himself.

"Rather, let me read it to you Father. It will save your eyes some strain." He smoothly tucked the letter back into his bosom.

The Emperor was taken aback by this comment, believing that the sun must have risen from the west. Of all his undutiful sons, their most common act was dumping all affairs of state onto him and then frolicking to their heart’s content!

When had they ever worried about him straining his eyes?

Seeing that the letter was put away in the bosom, the Emperor was convinced there must be some trick to it. Would a simple letter about building houses warrant being hidden?

"Could it be a love letter?" The Emperor asked with a startling statement.

This question startled Shangguan Xuanyi, causing him to spit out a mouthful of tea that he was just about to swallow.

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