Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 696 Yidao Pavilion Seven Gardens (2)

Date Garden, where date flowers can be extracted for honey and dates can be used for making wine. As for cultivating more in the Date Garden, that was not in my plans.

Spring Garden, Summer Garden, Autumn Garden, and Winter Garden, all four estates were also located along this road. This made it convenient to sell my grain, floral teas, fruits, and winter vegetables directly to Luo County, saving on transportation costs, and more importantly, on manpower.

As for the transfer station, I needed to think it through carefully. Luo Kingdom bordered the sea, which offered an abundance of seafood. Since I wanted fresh seafood, certain measures had to be taken. The transfer station was indispensable. Where to build the lids and how to construct them required detailed study.

Feng Xuxu put down her pen and looked at her creation. Now that a preliminary plan was in place, the next step was implementation, which proved to be a challenge.

First, where to find so many laborers; second, though each person only earned a few dozen copper coins a day, the numbers added up, especially since the estates were large and the construction would last a while, resulting in a considerable expense. Third was who would be fit to manage these seven gardens. She went through everyone in her mind. Xiu Bingxi? A business prodigy, he was adept in both the scholarly and martial arts and could be considered a capable person. At present, he was the most suitable candidate. As for Zongzheng and Beitang, they currently oversaw the fruit matter, and the Hidden Clan could not do without them, after all, they still had the identity of a Young Master.

The sky outside gradually darkened, and the two individuals focused in the Imperial Study failed to notice, had it not been for Qiqi and Yueyue coming in, it was likely that the two would have spent the night in the Imperial Study. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

On the evening of December 25th, Dugu Chen and Feng Xuxu were preparing to sleep when something seemed to be tapping on the window, occasionally emitting a low call.

Dugu Chen got out of bed suspiciously, draped on a coat, and cautiously opened the window. A half-grown Xiaoying flew into the room and affectionately landed on Dugu Chen’s shoulder upon seeing him.

Dugu Chen shook his head with a smile and closed the window. When Feng Xuxu saw it was Xiaoying, she relaxed and laughingly pulled it over to her.

Xiaoying fluttered its wings a few times and blinked its eagle eyes at Feng Xuxu. It looked pitiful, as if complaining about Feng Xuxu’s roughness, which seemed to have hurt it.

Dugu Chen removed the small tube hanging from Xiaoying’s neck and took out a long letter from inside. It read: "Sister, brother-in-law, we have safely arrived without any incident. We encountered five robberies and assassination attempts, but thanks to my superb martial arts, I have beaten them to a sorry state. Rest assured, sister, brother-in-law, Xiaobai’s respect."

The two of them looked at each other and smiled on the bed. Feng Xuxu sent Xiaoying into her space with her thoughts, letting it rest before dawn when she would reply to Xiaobai’s letter.

On the third day of January, the annual New Year’s Eve was busier than in previous years. Dugu Chen, Feng Xuxu, the Little Crown Prince, and the Princess made a brief appearance and left after just an hour. The remaining Ministers found their acquaintances to clink glasses with and chat, while their families gathered together to discuss the Capital City’s society gossip — the daughters of the rich had their own circles, casually chatting about which Young Master stood out, which Young Master was bullied, and which Young Master had literary talents or was just mediocre.

The sons of various estates also talked about which lady had good looks, which lady was ugly, or either about who had a good figure, or who had a waist as wide as a tree trunk. In the end, the conversation revolved around these topics.

Luo County

On his return to the palace, Lou Qianyu’s first act was to distribute food. Batches of food were safely delivered to the border generals under the escort of soldiers.

The soldiers, knowing that they would soon have food to eat, were no longer angry that the emperor had given the country to Xueyan Country. After all, nothing mattered more than life itself; now that they had food, it was like having a mother. As long as they could survive, nothing else was a problem.

The day after the general had distributed the food, King Wa Keluo also heard the news. Unable to withstand hunger, he began to cause small-scale disturbances at the border of Luo County, testing the attitudes of the Luo County soldiers.

Enraged, the general dispatched a host of men to ambush at a location where Wa Keluo’s soldiers frequently harassed those from Luo County. They had barely been in place for half a day when the enemy arrived. The soldiers of Luo County, holding in their breath, refused to let this chance slip by and eliminated them all in one fell swoop.

King Wa Keluo waited in his tent for a whole day but saw no one return. With doubt in his heart and observing the darkening sky outside, he sighed and shook his head. It seemed their chances were slim indeed.

A minor skirmish had kept the enemy quiet for a few days. Upon hearing of these events in the palace, Lou Qianyu drafted a report and had it delivered post-haste to Dugu Chen’s hands. All decisions would have to be made by the emperor.

On the seventh day of the new year, Dugu Chen received a sealed memorial in the Imperial Study. The seal on it clearly came from Luo County—could it be that a conflict had broken out at the border? He quickened his pace, extracted the memorial from the envelope, and read through it rapidly. Understanding the situation, he thought that if the minor kingdom could not hold out and insisted on harassing the border time and again, he too did not need to show restraint. He picked up his pen and wrote beneath Lou Qianyu’s report, "If the harassment continues, annihilate the kingdom, sparing no effort."

On January 20, the seventeenth day of the first month, flurries of light snow fell on the borders of Luo County. The cold air did not warm up with the impending spring, but instead grew even colder. King Wa Keluo invited the chiefs of three nearby tribes.

Chief Anuli sat inside the warm tent, stretching his hands toward the fire. Glancing at King Wa Keluo with a sidelong look, he saw a self-important smirk on his face and felt deep contempt but remained silent and continued to warm his hands by the fire.

Chief Fan Ji’ao was sitting next to Anuli. He took a swig from the flask of strong liquor at his waist, smacked his lips a few times as the warmth spread through his body, then handed the flask to Anuli, who was warming himself by the fire, "Here, take a drink. It’ll warm you up faster than the fire."

"Thank you." After taking the flask and a sip, Anuli grimaced, "Ha, that is some strong liquor. Refreshing."

King Wa Keluo looked down on them disdainfully, for none of them knew any manners. Drinking like cattle, they were no different from peasants.

Shi Kedan, who sat quietly in a corner, caught King Wa Keluo’s disdainful glance and scoffed inwardly, impatiently speaking out, "King Wa Keluo, just tell us why you’ve called us here. Surely it’s not to endure your sneers."

Anuli and Fan Ji’ao, upon hearing this, both turned to look at Wa Keluo with furrowed brows and hostile eyes.

Wa Keluo chuckled sheepishly, "How could that be? I’ve invited you here today because I want to discuss an interesting matter with you all!"