Chapter 69

The princess flicked the letter in her hand and asked leisurely, "What else did that woman say?"

The steward's eyes lit up, took two steps forward on his knees, and said with a sad face, "Princess, you don't know, that village girl is just too arrogant. She claims to be the Second Rank County Princess appointed by the emperor himself, and even dares to look down on the princess. She also said that the princess and prince do not want to give the position of the heir apparent to the eldest young master, as they look down on him. She also said, she also said..."

The princess angrily interjected, "What else did she say?"

The steward raised his arm, wiped away tears from his eyes, and said, "She also said that when the prince and princess leave, the mansion will belong to her family, and they will carry the surname Song. I couldn't bear it and tried to reason with her, but she scolded me and drove me back. Those of us who were sent back just said a few good words about the princess in her presence, but she wouldn't listen at all, and even cursed in the yard! She also said..."

The steward's eyes darted over the letter, and he continued, "She also said to sell us all off. I told her that the princess is kind-hearted and would never do such a thing. She said if she mentions in the letter that we are greedy for money, the princess would act according to her wishes."

The princess sighed deeply, looked at the steward, and asked, "Zhou Steward, how many years have you been working in our Zhou family?"

Zhou Steward quickly replied, "I have been by the side of the prince and princess for almost twenty years."

The princess nodded, "Yes, almost twenty years. I had you serving in the outer courtyard before, and only recently allowed you to serve the eldest young master over there. Isn't that right?"

Zhou Steward smiled, "Indeed, that village girl is just too ignorant. She says that the rules of the capital are the rules in the capital, but on her turf, she insists on her own rules, very arrogant."

The princess looked at the others and asked, "Is what Zhou Steward just said true?"

The people kneeling below looked at each other, and after a moment, someone nodded and said, "It is indeed true. That woman is really arrogant. We only spoke a few good words about the princess, and she flew into a rage, even wanting the eldest young master to kill us."

Only a few people did not respond, but simply hung their heads and remained silent.

The princess said, "Zhou Steward, I remember you can read, right?"

Zhou Steward smiled and said, "Yes, I have read for a few years, so I can indeed read."

The princess threw the several pieces of paper in front of him and said, "Since you can read, take a look at what the eldest young master wrote in the letter."

Zhou Steward picked up the papers and unfolded them to read, his face suddenly changing.

The letter was written in the tone of Zhou Yino, starting not with "mother" but with "mom." He first recounted some of the things that happened when he returned to his residence, and expressed gratitude for the house granted by the emperor.

After praising the emperor, he expressed immense gratitude upon seeing so many people sent by his mother, but mentioned that his wife was young and had never managed such a large estate before.

He also noticed that many of the people were long-time servants of the prince and princess, and fearing that the princess might lack capable people around her, he only selected a few senior maidservants, young boys, some young children, and elderly people capable of agricultural work to stay, while sending the rest back under escort, and hoped the princess would understand.

He also mentioned that he and Dingxiang were not accustomed to a too refined lifestyle and that in the future, Dingxiang would be opening a workshop. The people sent by his mother happened to be a great help, and he expressed endless gratitude.

He regretted not being able to accompany his mother frequently at the residence, which often made him feel sad. However, Dingxiang had already arranged the best courtyard, and if his parents had time next summer, they could come here to escape the heat.

From beginning to end, there was not a single word about what this group of people had done or said.

The princess looked at Zhou Steward's expression and almost burst out laughing.

She said, "I have always been lazy to deal with these trivial matters at home and usually do not have time to manage you all. Before, when I saw that everyone seemed fine, that's why I chose someone to look after my eldest son in the general's mansion. But what exactly have you all done, said, do you really think I know nothing at all?"

"Zhou Yuan, it has been over twenty years, over twenty years nurturing a sly person like you who takes advantage of others? The woman you call a village girl is the daughter-in-law of this princess, the wife of General Zhou, and the princess bestowed by the emperor a second-rank county princess! You constantly call her a village girl, have you ever considered her your mistress?"

Zhou Steward broke out in a cold sweat instantly, and he quickly kowtowed, saying, "Princess, I am wronged, I am wronged! The truth, the truth is all I said, I just don't know why, why..."

Why wasn't it mentioned in the letter at all?

The princess gave a cold laugh and said, "Do you really think I am a mud Bodhisattva, a paper tiger? Are you feeling wronged about being sent to the county? You think my son's mention of a too refined lifestyle refers to each of you thinking of yourselves as important figures in the capital, living more comfortably than the master?"

"I painstakingly selected each of you, and you all really embarrass me! When you were in the county, my son had not yet returned, and the first time he went to his own mansion, you showed off your power, didn't you? And those silver and goods you received in the county, every single detail, I know it clearly! No wonder you were sent back, my son was afraid you would cause trouble and embarrass the mansion if things escalated!"

Everyone was bowing down on the ground, trembling and kowtowing.

The princess continued, "I know that you are used to the luxurious life of the capital, thinking that going there, both masters grew up in the village and are naive, easy to bully, easy to control, right? Greed for money, talking behind the masters' backs, and some even have great ambitions.

"Liu Yue, you have been by my side for five years. Although I sent you to take care of the eldest young master with some intent of lifting you up, this elevation also depends on whether you can actually do it. You? You were sent back after just one meeting with him, I really want to know what you did exactly?"

Liu Yue was one of the senior maidservants, she was lying on the ground trembling, sobbing, "This servant, this servant really did nothing wrong."

"My daughter-in-law, although raised in the countryside, has a vision and demeanor that is definitely not ordinary, otherwise she would not have been given the title of Wei Ning by the emperor. The emperor said she is virtuous and intelligent, what a great praise. They must know that if you are sent back to me, it will not end well for you, so if you are sent back, there must be a problem. Oh well, say what you want. Someone, call Zhou Liang and sell these slaves far away so that I don't have to look at them and be annoyed."

The princess pressed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"Princess, princess!" Liu Yue cried, "I only glanced at the young master a few times, I just wanted to take a look."

The princess snorted, "You dare to look in front of the general's wife? You have such audacity, such ambition, such a foolish head. I wasted five years on you, thought you were good, but who knew..."

"What happened? I heard you were in a bad mood this afternoon." The eighth prince came back from outside and went straight to the princess.

The princess looked at him, her eyes red, "I am upset, tell me, how can none of them be at peace?"

The eighth prince naturally knew what had happened in the mansion, so he smiled and said, "You should be happy, those two children behaved impeccably and even considered our reputation. Why are you angry?"

The princess sighed, "My daughter-in-law is truly smart, she is nothing like the daughter-in-law I imagined."

The eighth prince laughed, "Being smart is not a bad thing, if she wasn't smart, our son might have been doomed and never become a general. You worry too much." And with that, he started massaging his wife's shoulders.

The princess sighed, "How did your investigation go?"

The eighth prince said, "I have to admit that Song Dingxiang does have some ideas. Back then, she completely provoked our eldest son to cut off ties with that whole family, and even taught our son to read, which is truly commendable. You saw the sketch she sent, if she didn't have a brain, she wouldn't have come up with that method, it's almost like a military token."

"My men investigated the Zhou family, and they said that there was a man in his thirties with a southern accent who had a conversation with someone surnamed Zhou in Pingzhou County, more than fifty miles from Weixian County. He handed over a two-year-old child and specifically instructed to take good care of the child and that he would come back to find him in the future..."

"Later, the man surnamed Zhou inquired and found that no one had come to look for our son, so he stopped being careful with our son and actually mistreated him. I'm just thinking, who is this man in his thirties with a southern accent, and why did he take Shen'er from Hangzhou all the way to the north? Did he really go to find Shen'er? If he took Shen'er to the north, why didn't he send us a message and instead instructed others to treat Shen'er well? I really... sigh, I can't figure it out no matter how hard I try."

The princess squinted her eyes and murmured, "A man in his thirties with a southern accent, were there many people like that around us at the time?"

The eighth prince remained silent.

The princess asked again, "Does the man have any distinguishing features?"

The eighth prince looked at the princess, still not saying anything, but his eyes showed a hint of avoidance.

The princess was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly burst into tears, saying painfully, "If it's him... if it's really him, this is like wanting me to die, making me heartbroken!!!"

The "he" the princess referred to was her own elder brother, the former Prefect of Hangzhou. Back then, their family encountered turmoil in Hangzhou, and it was her elder brother who led soldiers to quell the chaos.

However, amidst the confusion, the child's whereabouts were unknown, even the wet nurse and the maidservant at the time perished in the chaos.

Afterwards, the Prefect said he would personally investigate, but it took over two months for him to reappear. It is very likely that during this time, he took Shen'er to the north. After all, Shen'er was his own sister's child, so he might have felt some reluctance and personally took Shen'er, and even specially found a family surnamed Zhou to send Shen'er away.

Only later did she find out that her elder brother and the prince were not on the same side. The emperor, out of respect for the princess, only exiled him. However, on the way to exile, he fell ill and passed away.

Originally, the death of her elder brother had already caused the princess immense pain, now knowing that if it was indeed her brother who intentionally took away her son to strike against the dissenters, this blow truly made the princess feel unbearable pain.

"Wan'er, stop crying. Big brother... big brother was probably also acting under constraints. Now our son is living well, married, became a great general, what more can we ask for?" The eighth prince, seeing the princess crying so miserably, felt deeply upset too.

"For twenty-one years, I've been in agony for twenty-one years! Every day, every night, I wonder, where has my Shen'er gone, is he eating well, is he warm enough? And then? He was just a half month's journey away from us, not getting enough to eat, not dressed warmly, mistreated. How could my heart not ache? How could it not ache?!?!"

The princess couldn't help but cry uncontrollably, only forcefully pounding on the prince's shoulders, "I only regret why I didn't hold Shen'er myself from the beginning, why?! If I had held him, Shen'er would never have been taken away by others."

The eighth prince also felt sorrowful, even though Zhou Yinuo had become a great general, what parents would want their child to suffer such hardships, endure such tribulations! Moreover, assassinating a foreign king was so perilous, a small slip-up could have meant losing everything!

They just hoped their child would be by their side, growing up peacefully, happily, with no worries about food and clothing. Even if he grew up to be a prodigal, they wouldn't mind.

After all, he was their own flesh and blood.

"Wan'er, Wan'er. Now Shen'er has also turned the corner, I see that Song Dingxiang cares for him quite well, so you don't need to worry anymore. Tomorrow I will submit a document to the Emperor to have Shen'er included in the royal genealogy." The eighth prince reassured his beloved wife.

He was also feeling upset, but as a man, he couldn't express his grief and indignation with tears like his wife. Otherwise, he would have been rolling on the ground in tears long ago.

"Yes, to the genealogy." The princess wiped away her tears and said, "This generation bears the 'Yu' character. The second son is called Zhou Yulin, as for him, how about calling him Yu Jin? I like this 'Jin' character, I thought of giving it to Shen'er as a name. Like orchids blooming, like jade's radiance, not to be compared to common flowers, achieving such elegance. The 'Jin' character is really wonderful."

The eighth prince smiled, "It coincides with what I was thinking, let's call him Zhou Yujin, with the character 'Yi Nuo'."

The princess was taken aback, "Yi Nuo... this..."

The eighth prince said, "I think this character is excellent. A man of his word is as good as gold. Although this name was given by our daughter-in-law, it was also proposed by the Song family's elderly patriarch to change Shen's name. You see... he used to be called Zhou Tiezhu."

"Tiezhu..." The princess's face stiffened. After a while, she said, "Forget it, Yi Nuo is also good. My daughter-in-law has always had ideas, I would be satisfied even if she randomly picked a name for wealth and prosperity."

Zhou Yinuo had never imagined that his great name will been changed. He was desperately knocking on his own door, calling for his wife to come out.

Song Dingxiang buried her head in the blanket, feeling that she had lost face in this lifetime, and even in the previous one.

The reason was that her niece had just asked her why she was shouting at night, if she was feeling unwell.

The commotion was heard by everyone in the courtyard, wasn't it known throughout the place? No wonder her brother and sister-in-law looked at her so strangely with that bizarre smile.

Ah, she was really losing face to the extreme!!!

"Wife, I was wrong, I was really wrong. Can I not be so forceful in the future?" Zhou Yinuo stuck to the door, trying to look inside through the crack, but couldn't see anything, feeling very anxious.

"You go away!!" Song Dingxiang covered her face, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to travel through again.

Fang Shi also suppressed a laugh and spoke up for her son-in-law, "Second daughter, that's enough, how can you lock your own man out? Besides, in a couple of days, you'll be moving over there, so no matter how much you shout, no one will hear you."

"Mom! Please stop!" Song Dingxiang was on the verge of a breakdown, "I don't want to move!"

"If you can bear it without moving, then don't move. It's just pitying my son-in-law, finally being able to be with you, and you still act so spoiled... Oh, quickly roll out for me, if you keep making a fuss, your uncle and grandparents will all know!"

Song Dingxiang, with a flushed face, turned over and opened the door with a huff, "I'm not afraid, anyway, I've already lost face."

Fang Shi raised an eyebrow, "Not afraid? Then I'll go tell your grandmother..."

"Mom!!!" Song Dingxiang held onto Fang Shi's arm, "Mom, please spare me."

Fang Shi chuckled, raised her hand and tapped Song Dingxiang's head, "Alright, alright, restrain yourself for these few days, and then you can go live over there. You're already married off, it's not like you have no in-laws, or your husband has no house, so stop clinging to your mother's house. Besides, it's not far away, if you want to come back, it's just a matter of lifting your foot, right?"

When they found out that the large courtyard occupying a whole street was actually their son-in-law's general's mansion, and that it was just across the street from their own courtyard, they were all greatly surprised.

Song Dingxiang pouted, "Mom, come live with us over there. It's so spacious, just the two of us. It's too quiet there."

Fang Shi snorted, "I'm not going. Where have you heard of a mother-in-law dragging her whole family to live with her son-in-law? I feel guilty even living here. If you keep talking about it we will moving back to the village. By the way, when can we go back?" She was still thinking about her pigs in the pigsty, her vegetable garden, and her land.

Zhou Yinuo said, "I've already arranged it. We'll go back tomorrow. We'll use Dingxiang's county princess's procession."

Fang Shi was amazed and said, "Is that much pomp really necessary? Can't we just go back to the village..." In fact, she knew that returning in glory needed to be grand to feel right, but she felt that using the county princess's procession was a bit too much.

Song Dingxiang said, "If we just take a carriage back, do you think we won't be surrounded as soon as we enter the village? If we go back with a procession, they won't dare to cause trouble."

Fang Shi thought of the troublesome relatives and waved her hand, saying, "Do as you wish. Anyway, hurry up and make arrangements. Your grandfather and grandmother are both eager to go back and visit. After we settle down back home, your fifth grandmother and sixth grandmother will also want to come back and stay."

Song Dingxiang asked, "Why is everyone leaving? Can't we live here?"

Fang Shi replied, "After all, it's not our own home. How comfortable can it be to live there? The capital is so nice, but you also have the desire to come back, right?"

Song Dingxiang stuck out her tongue and fell silent.

Fang Shi pulled her off her arm, pushed Zhou Yinuo into the house, and said, "Alright, you two talk about whatever you need to talk about. I won't be hanging around here annoying anyone. Your father said he's going to watch people fish today, so we might have stewed fish for dinner."

With that, she walked away.

"Dingxiang..." Zhou Yinuo turned around, closed the door, and then held onto Song Dingxiang's hand, not letting go, "It's all my fault, you can hit me."

Song Dingxiang rolled her eyes, unable to shake off this sticky plaster, and just said, "You're not bad in any way, but... in the future, don't... don't..." She couldn't bring herself to say the rest.

Zhou Yinuo grinned and said, "When we move, we'll have our own courtyard to ourselves. No one will be allowed in. We can have fun in the house without anyone hearing."

"Shut up!" Song Dingxiang forcefully covered Zhou Yino's mouth, turning him into a duck, "You're so annoying. By the way, didn't we receive a letter from that surname Li merchant this morning? Is the wool coming soon?"

Zhou Yinuo nodded, "The wool skins, this time there's a lot. After the defeat of the other ethnic group, there isn't much silver coming in, so we can only sell off the stored wool skins in large quantities here. But with so much to handle, will you be able to manage?"

Song Dingxiang said, "How can I not handle it? In the future, it's not just the wool from the other ethnic group that we'll be collecting, if there's wool nearby, I'll collect that too. I've thought about it, not only am I going to open a workshop, but I also want to start teaching classes, specifically teaching people how to knit with wool."

Zhou Yino was confused and asked, "If everyone learns from you, what will you do then?"

Song Dingxiang replied, "If more people learn, there will be a greater demand for wool. This will encourage more people in the area to raise sheep. With more sheep, the price of mutton will naturally decrease, and people will have more money, making meat cheaper and more accessible. Sometimes, it's better to export than to hoard. Every year, there will be a continuous supply of wool coming in, so I'm not worried about not having any business. Look at the many people making purses, they don't seem to be running at a loss."

Zhou Yino couldn't quite grasp the concept and simply said, "You're smarter than me, everything you say is right, I'll just listen."

Song Dingxiang rolled her eyes, hummed, and changed the subject, "Is your side all renovated?"

Zhou Yinuo breathed a sigh of relief, "The renovation is almost complete. The courtyard wasn't bad to begin with. It was said that a corrupt official used to live there, so everything was elaborate. Now it's just a matter of repainting, changing doors and windows, and cleaning the pond. Once it's done, we're planning to grow lotus in the pond and raise fish. We're getting rid of the garden and turning it all into a vegetable garden, and we'll also raise a yard full of chickens, so we won't have to worry about running out of eggs in the future."

Song Dingxiang burst into laughter and said, "Imagine when guests come to the mansion in the future, all they'll see are chickens and ducks everywhere. They want to relax in the garden, but there are cabbages on one side and radishes on the other. Is that going to look good?"

"How could it not look good? I think it'll be quite beautiful. If worst comes to worst, we can plant some flowers, they look nice when they bloom. Besides, in my own home, I naturally want to plant what I please. Why bother with flowers and grass that don't give food and make you sad when one dies? Just plant vegetables, peach trees, pear trees, pomegranate trees, and set up a few grape arbors. In the summer, we can sit under the grape arbor, so comfortable."

What was once a distinguished mansion had been transformed into a rural paradise.

"What about when the princess and prince come to stay?" Song Dingxiang wondered how the affluent and pampered princess would react to a yard full of cabbage and radishes.

Zhou Yinuo shrugged, "They can stay in the yard where the lotus is grown. They might enjoy looking at the lotus flowers."

Song Dingxiang suppressed a laugh and said, "Whatever you want, it's your yard, you can do as you please. But I heard that the general's mansion usually has a martial arts field, have you thought about that?"

Zhou Yino replied, "Why should I worry about that? There's a large martial arts field behind the courtyard. It's huge. Dingxiang... when should we move over?"

Staying here, he feared he wouldn't be able to properly embrace his wife for the rest of his life, and he couldn't bear that thought.

——— Author's Note:

Song Dingxiang: General's Mansion Harvest Garden, one or two silver coins for admission, eat whatever you want, pick whatever you want and sell it at market price! Don't push, don't push, the yard is big, everyone gets a share!