Chapter 81
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Chapter 81: Title
Three Months Later
On the Chakal Prairie, the sound of hoofbeats grew louder as a man rode closer. Looking at the dark yellow flag that unfolded in the wind, prominently displaying the character for "Gu," he jumped off his horse and rushed inside, only to be stopped by two sturdy men dressed in rough long robes. "Stop!"
The man scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, pulling out a yellow token from his pocket. "We’re all family. There’s a major order to accept from the capital, so I had to make this trip myself."
The big man saw the yellow token with the same "Gu" character elegantly carved, smiled sheepishly, and cupped his hands in greeting. "So it’s our own person. Come on in, brother." The big man led the way into the big enclosure, saying, "Today, the farm’s sows are about to give birth to piglets, and Boss Gu came over early."
The man rubbed his hands and breathed onto them, saying, "Boss Gu is normally busy. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see him, but this is good, it saves me from freezing."
The big man walked and laughed, "Of course! It’s almost the end of the year now. Boss Gu is a good person and gives us a lot of monthly pay. Look, as soon as it got cold, he immediately handed out two sets of cotton clothes to everyone." He said this while nudging his arm in front of the man. "Just look, these are all made of pure cotton."
The man smiled slightly.
The winter in the Chakel Grassland does not bring snow, but the north wind blows fiercely. Yet, no matter the season, the grass on the grassland has always been green. This is why Gu Hengbo chose to build her farm on the grassland. To her, the green grass never fading is a miracle. But thinking about her own crossing into this world, she realized it could not be measured by ordinary logic, so she let it go little by little.
Now, after three months, with the silver bills in Gu Hengbo’s hands and Zou Yuan’s connections in the court, her farm is running smoothly. Sometimes it goes so well that Gu Hengbo feels it is unreal. However, she is a person who is easy to let things go, and this feeling of unease in her heart only lasted half a day before being pushed away by a pile of orders.
Recently, she had just discussed with some managers of the farm whether to expand the business to other state cities outside the capital. Hearing that the sow was about to give birth to piglets, she disregarded the strong wind outside, put on a windbreaker, and rushed out.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Gu Hengbo, with a grass in her mouth, turned her head and exclaimed, "Why are you here? Did something happen at the shop?"
The man smiled, "Not really, but we have a big business to take on recently. We can’t make the decision ourselves, so Manager Lin asked me to come in person."
Inside the big tent, warmed by the heat of the stove, Gu Hengbo sat in a big chair covered with soft mink fur. After hearing the man’s words, she frowned and asked, “You mean, a royal chef from the palace contacted us?”
The man nodded in agreement.
Gu Hengbo stood up and walked a few steps inside the tent, suddenly turning to the big man and saying, “Go next door and call Young Master Lian over.”
The big man nodded and went out.
Not long after, the thick tent curtain was lifted, and Lianyang walked in, draped in a white cloak. He nodded slightly to the man sitting beside Gu Hengbo. Seeing Gu Hengbo’s furrowed brow, he kindly asked, “What’s the matter?”
Gu Hengbo glanced at him and replied, “We have made progress this time; we have attracted people from the palace.”
Lianyang sat down beside her and gently asked, “Does Lord Zou know about this matter?”
“If he knew, he would have come to the shop to find us,” the man shook his head.
Lianyang looked at Gu Hengbo and said softly, “I know what you are worried about. Don’t make any decisions yet. I will go back to the capital tomorrow and discuss it with Lord Zou.”
Gu Hengbo listened to him and frowned deeper. She admitted that without these people, she might not achieve much, but she was trying hard. Here, perhaps it was indeed not as good as in modern times—everything had to be done personally, without phones, without the internet. The notion that modern people’s intelligence and skills are beyond those of ancients is nonsense. In modernity, she had never learned about business and admitted that she lacked that kind of mind. Here, she believed she could do anything, but she had completely overestimated herself.
She felt she was nothing without these people; what a ridiculous thought.
"No need for that. This small matter, let’s not trouble them. I can handle it myself. As long as we don’t compromise our conscience, what’s wrong with supplying goods to the palace? It’s been just three months. Getting this far is the result of our joint efforts. To gain more recognition from others, we must keep improving." Gu Hengbo said calmly. She had to do it herself; that way, even if something happened, she wouldn’t drag everyone down.
The big man standing at the door listened to Gu Hengbo’s words and silently clenched his fists, thinking he must tell everyone and not let Boss Gu down.
Lianyang smiled a little deeper, “That’s good. As the owner of the farm, you certainly call the shots.”
Gu Hengbo stood up from her chair and looked at the dazed man. “Dongyin, go back and tell the managers that we are taking this business. Once I settle things here, I will return to the capital and discuss it with them. This is a good opportunity, and we must seize it.”
“Is that settled then?” Lianyang asked.
Gu Hengbo nodded. “At that time, we will not only provide milk and goat milk to those high officials and nobles, but also to the common people, with different prices. Even the palace will not be the exception. They surely want us to supply only to the palace; we cannot agree to that condition, no matter what, even if our heads are on the line.” She didn’t expect to make money just by selling milk; selling to the Northern Region palace was unprofitable. Now there are dairy cows, and later lamb, goat milk, pork can be made into sausages, and piglets could be sold at low prices to the capital. Adding some chickens, ducks, and geese, this farm could absolutely lead to a different life for her.
While Gu Hengbo was immersed in the dream of a good life, she could not foresee that her wish was about to be ruthlessly crushed in someone’s hand.
In the twelfth winter of the reign of Eastern Emperor Mingyuan, the First Prince Lian Yue colluded with Duke of Beiyuan to rebel, and the Second Prince Lianyang led troops to suppress the rebellion.
Inside Chaoyang Hall, the filthy First Prince was tied up tightly and kicked onto the marble floor. The Eastern Emperor, dressed in a dragon robe, looked down at his first son with a cold expression and said in a deep voice, “If you had waited just a moment longer, the position of Crown Prince would have been yours.”
The First Prince laughed madly, “This throne should rightly belong to me! It was meant for me, hahaha!”
A loud slap echoed as the Queen, tears in her eyes, nearly collapsed from the shock if not for the support of a palace servant. “You ungrateful child, how dare you say such things! How did your royal uncle teach you?”
The First Prince laughed heartily, “Lian Rong? Hahaha, mother, don’t think I don’t know about you!”
The Queen stared in shock at the long sword in the Eastern Emperor’s hand, her body going limp. “Your Majesty, he is your own son! How could you…?”
The Eastern Emperor seemed to be taken aback by his own actions, shocked that in his rage he had killed his own son. Just as he was about to fall over, Gu Yuanqing caught him. “Your Majesty! Call the imperial physician! Quickly!”
Now the palace of Dongyin was in complete chaos, but far away, people could no longer be described as relaxed and at ease.
"On the Third Prince’s side, Wuyang has already arranged everything. Jingzhi and Qin Feng can arrive tomorrow," said the person dressed in white, with clear and cold eyes.
The person leaning on the soft couch stirred the tea leaves in the cup and replied softly with a slight ‘hmm.’
"Master, the royal city is probably already in turmoil. We can set out now."
"Prepare the horses; we will leave today," the person on the couch slowly spoke.
"Today?" So urgent?
"What’s wrong?"
"Nothing, Wuyang just thought it was surprising that Master could be anxious too," she said, vanishing like a white shadow before the person on the couch could respond.
So, you can be anxious too, you can be anxious too, you can be anxious too…
Perhaps, having hurried so far was just to see her. She heard that her business was thriving; had she truly made up her mind to support herself?
