The emperor laughed heartily.
"Now that you mention it, after all this time, I really don't feel as angry anymore," he said after some thought, then sighed, "No matter what, he fought for the country all those years, maybe I did something wrong that made him dissatisfied. As long as he's willing to come back..."
"Your Majesty," Huang Cheng seemed somewhat anxious as he called out, stepping forward to salute.
The emperor laughed again.
"Yes, yes, I won't say anymore," he said, "These state laws and regulations are left by our ancestors, I cannot treat them as child's play."
"Your Majesty is wise."
This time Huang Cheng and Ning Yunzhao both bowed and said.
"However, I still hope I will not see him again," the emperor said with a smile, glancing at Huang Cheng.
For Ning Yunzhao, this was a response to his comment about good news, and he also smiled.
But for Huang Cheng, it naturally held another layer of meaning.
Yes, Your Majesty, Duke of Chengguo Zhu Shan surely won't return alive.
He bowed silently.
"It seems the snow outside is getting heavier." The emperor's eyes were full of smiles. "A bountiful year is heralded by heavy snow, this year we can have a good year."
Saying this, he suddenly wore a solemn expression.
"Take precautions against disasters, don't let the people suffer because of the heavy snow."
Huang Cheng bowed.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty," he said, raising his head with a smile, "I am just about to report a piece of good news: De Sheng Chang in Shanxi province has donated a million taels of silver for winter snow disaster relief, especially for the resettlement of refugees from the northern lands who have already been dispatched to various places."
The emperor looked pleasantly surprised.
"That is indeed good news," he said standing up, and sighed with emotion, "This De Sheng Chang truly is a house that accumulates good deeds."
"It's worthy of Your Majesty's praise and the gifted plaque," Huang Cheng said with a smile.
The emperor nodded, raising his hand to signal the eunuch.
"Someone, I want to bestow a character of blessing to De Sheng Chang as further commendation," he said.
The emperor's reward traveled through the increasing snow to reach the Yangcheng Fang Family as quickly as possible.
The fireworks and gongs at the Fang Family were deafening for half a day. Behind the thick door curtain, in the spring-like warmth inside, Fang Chengyu watched earnestly at the large red character of blessing placed on the table, the emperor's seal exceptionally prominent upon it.
Manager Gao also looked at this blessing character, but there was not a trace of a smile on his face.
"This isn't a blessing," he mumbled, "This is a death sentence."
After saying this, he looked at Fang Chengyu.
"Young master, did you understand what the feudal authority's people who came earlier were implying? What do you think we should do?"
Fang Chengyu was focused, seemingly not hearing his words. Manager Gao had to raise his voice.
"Oh, what did you say?" Fang Chengyu took off his hat and then the fluffy ear covers beneath the hat, looking at Manager Gao as he asked.
Manager Gao was a bit speechless looking at him.
Everyone thought Fang Chengyu was weak, so he wore a hat indoors, but it turned out he was using it to block his ears.
Wouldn't he have not heard a word of what the officials from the Taiyuan prefecture said about the emperor's blessing?
"It's too noisy," Fang Chengyu smiled slightly, "Besides, officials always say the same things over and over, just nodding with a smile is enough."
"Young master, but this nod means another hundred thousand taels gone," Manager Gao sighed, "They say it's a loan, but I see they have no intention of paying it back."
Fang Chengyu responded with an oh.
"If not, then not; at least it's being used for resettling disaster victims and not wasted." He smiled slightly at the blessing character, "Maybe we can exchange it for another auspicious word."
What use is that? They are businessmen who seek to prosper; if they cannot make money, even a word from a god is just a piece of waste paper.
Manager Gao appeared anxious and worried.
"Also, those few businessmen have come again recently to request loans," he said.
Fang Chengyu responded with an oh.
"Then lend it according to the rules," he said indifferently, "It's not like we haven't lent before."
Lending to earn interest was common practice for their money business, but Manager Gao still frowned deeply.
"I find these people's intentions strange," he said, "More importantly, we now don't have that much silver."
Firstly, there was the division of the family, secondly, due to the division some silver was lent out, and the amount wasn't small.
"I'm afraid of bad debts," he said, "Young master, if debts go bad and a run occurs, De Sheng Chang could..."
He looked at Fang Chengyu, whose expression was somber, full of deep contemplation.
Not daring to disturb, he waited a moment before continuing to ask.
"Young master, what do you think?" he asked.
Fang Chengyu sighed softly.
"I wonder how Jiuli is," he said.
After thinking all this time, he was thinking about a woman? Manager Gao was at a loss for words.
Fang Chengyu sat down, propping his chin with his hand, and sighed again.
"This year is truly hard," he said.
Manager Gao also sighed.
"Young master, you should think carefully about the current situation and come up with a solution. If we handle it well, we can still have a good year," he advised.
Fang Chengyu shook his head without even thinking.
"I'm in a bad mood, don't want to think about other things," he said.
Other things? That's a matter of life and death for De Sheng Chang, my young master, Manager Gao rolled his eyes in helplessness. This year really isn't going well.
No matter whether it goes well or not, after entering the twelfth lunar month, the pace of the new year quickens. Even at the rarely visited Lu Mansion, one could hear the continuous sound of firecrackers outside.
Strolling along the gravel path, listening to the distant firecrackers, Princess Jiuli paused.
"Why don't we play with firecrackers too?" she said to the servants behind her.
For the orders of Princess Jiuli, the servants were always obedient, all nodding with a smile upon hearing her.
"Sure, sure," they said.
One of them turned around.
"I'll go get some firecrackers," she said.
Princess Jiuli pointed ahead.
"That open space over there is best," she said, casually walking past, stopping when she noticed a straw hut nearby, "Is there a straw hut here?"
As she spoke, a woman emerged from the straw hut, both were startled to see each other.
"Greetings, princess," the woman bowed her head in respect.
"What is this place..." Princess Jiuli asked.
"This is the flower shed," the woman replied.
Upon hearing the term "flower shed," Princess Jiuli's expression froze slightly.
"I didn't realize we walked this far," she said, sighing lightly and turning back, "It's too cold, let's go back first and play another day."
The servants hurriedly responded and surrounded Princess Jiuli as they turned back.
The two lagging servants exchanged glances, then glanced back at the flower shed.
"What's the matter?" one servant whispered.
"This is Princess Jiuli's flower shed," the other whispered, "Perhaps the princess is afraid of being reminded of sad memories."
The former servant suddenly understood and quickly fell silent, but couldn't help but glance back, only to find the woman who had emerged from the flower shed was no longer visible.
"Has the Flower Girl at the flower shed been replaced? I haven't seen her before," she mumbled to herself.
"What does it matter if she was replaced," the other servant said, "At home, everyone is new replacing the old."
Indeed, the servant shrank her head and silently followed Princess Jiuli quickly away.
"It's almost the New Year,"
Lu Yunqi said as he walked down the steps, putting down the food box in his hand.
Miss Jun looked at him carrying the food box, which was much larger than usual.
Lu Yunqi opened the food box, took out a grill, a charcoal basin, and then a half-cooked leg of lamb.
"Our tradition," he said, smiling at Miss Jun.
She liked eating grilled lamb leg and enjoyed grilling it herself.
Miss Jun looked at the setup in front of her, her expression still indifferent.
"My tradition," she said, "It's my tradition with my master."
Lu Yunqi lowered his head and skillfully set up the lamb leg.
"Yes," he said, "My tradition."
She developed a tradition with her master, and following her, it became his tradition.
The lamb leg was already grilled, brought here just to reheat. Soon, the aroma spread around.
Lu Yunqi set the plate, picked up the knife.
Miss Jun's gaze fell on the knife in his hand.
A not-too-large or too-small dagger, its sharp blade sliced through the lamb leg, cutting off a piece of meat.
"Untie my hands, and I'll eat by myself," she suddenly said.
Now, after Lu Yunqi arrived, he would release her legs, allowing her to move around here, but her hands were always bound.
Lu Yunqi did not look up, focused on cutting the lamb.
"Don't think about taking this knife from me," he said, "Forget about it."
He looked up at her.
"You think that with these, you can hurt the people you hate, but actually, they can hurt you too."
He wasn't wrong.
If she killed him now, she wouldn't end well.
Even with a million excuses, Lu Yunqi was an indispensable person the emperor relied on, while she was now a thorn in the emperor's side.
Just like when she killed the emperor before, a knife has a blade, sharp, and in hurting others, it's always unavoidable to hurt oneself.
Especially when facing someone stronger and more advantageous.
Lu Yunqi picked up a piece of lamb meat, put down the knife, and pinched her mouth.
"I won't let them hurt you again," he said.
(One more chapter to come)