Novelas PaiPai - Capítulo 133
She paused for a moment, then smiled: "Yes, it made quite a bit of money..."
His mind was buzzing, and he couldn't say anything for a moment, but he felt his body tremble slightly, and his blood seemed to be gradually cooling down.
He gripped Yuan Yuan's wrist tightly, unconsciously increasing the pressure until she cried out in pain. Only then did he angrily let go, turn away, and lock himself in the study, refusing to open the door no matter how much Yuan Yuan knocked and begged.
This was the first time Yuan Yuan had seen him lose his temper. After repeatedly calling for the door without receiving a response, she began to cry. Sobbing, she slipped and fell to the floor, startling Madam Feng, who was already asleep. Madam Feng got up and went to check on her. A moment later, Madam Feng cried out in alarm, pounding on the door and shouting, "Open the door quickly! Yuan Yuan, something terrible has happened!"
The door swung open with a bang, and Feng Jing, his face ashen, quickly bent down and picked up Yuan Yuan from the ground.
She showed signs of premature labor. Fortunately, she received timely treatment. The Feng family called in doctors and midwives, and after a flurry of activity, the baby was saved.
After everyone had left, Feng Jing sat down by Yuan Yuan's bedside and sadly apologized to her, "I'm sorry, what happened today was my fault..."
Yuan Yuan shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, and reached under her pillow to grope for a moment. After a while, she pulled out the gold bracelet that Feng Jing was familiar with and showed it to him.
“I didn’t sell it…” she said softly. “I was just joking with you… I went to the riverbank this morning to catch crabs. I caught a lot, sold some, and used the money to buy fish… Because I had to work, I was afraid of losing my gold bracelet, so I didn’t wear it…”
With tears welling up in his eyes, Feng Jing gently embraced her and solemnly promised in her ear, "Yuan Yuan, I will treat you well from now on and will never let you suffer like this again."
She closed her eyes contentedly in his arms and smiled, "I'm not tired... as long as you let me stay by your side."
The Lonely City (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) - Side Story 6
Chapter word count: 2933 Update time: 08-08-21 17:27
6. Tao Zhu
"Should we save the mother or the child?"
When Yuan Yuan was giving birth, the midwife presented Feng Jing with this cruel question.
Yuan Yuan's baby was breech, with the feet down, causing her to have a difficult labor. She had been in labor for a day and a night, and had fainted several times while screaming in pain, but the baby still hadn't been born.
Madam Feng looked at the midwife with pleading eyes and asked, "Can't we save them all?"
The midwife shook her head helplessly: "If it were possible, who would ask you such questions?"
"Save the adult," Feng Jing said solemnly, without much hesitation.
Turning to his mother, who had begun to sob, he said firmly, "Yuan Yuan must live."
That was the decision. Yuan Yuan's life was saved, but the son she was carrying was lost.
The loss of her child was more heartbreaking than anyone else's, and the excessive blood loss during childbirth had severely damaged her health. From then on, she was bedridden, emaciated, and constantly weeping, a far cry from her former lively and cheerful self.
To treat Yuan Yuan's illness and provide her with nourishing food, the Feng family exhausted their already meager savings, but Yuan Yuan's health showed no improvement. At their wits' end, Feng Jing visited a merchant uncle, hoping to borrow some money to tide them over.
At that time, the uncle had just returned from purchasing kumquats in Jiangxi. Upon hearing about Yuan Yuan's situation, he generously lent Feng Jing a considerable sum of money and gave him many kumquats to take back for Yuan Yuan to taste. He said, "These kumquats from Jiangxi taste so good. This year, even the Emperor's most favored concubine, Lady Zhang, specially sent someone from the capital to buy them. This batch of mine was purchased from the orchard that supplies Lady Zhang."
"Lady Zhang?" Feng Jing had a question. "I've heard that the entertainment districts of Tokyo are thriving, and that all kinds of local products are available year-round. Is it possible that they don't even have these kumquats, and that Lady Zhang has to specially send someone from the capital to Jiangxi to buy them?"
The uncle replied, “These kumquats are good, but people in the capital don’t recognize them and don’t eat them often. The palace doesn’t list them as tribute from Jiangxi. But Consort Zhang loved to eat them when she was young and now she’s been craving them. Since they’re not available in the capital, she sent someone all the way to buy them.”
After a moment's thought, Feng Jing said to his uncle, "I have a suggestion that you may consider: You should go to Jiangxi as soon as possible and use all the money at your disposal to buy another batch of kumquats. Then transport them to Tokyo and sell them there. The profits in the future will be more than double or triple."
The uncle hesitated: "People in the capital have never recognized kumquats. In previous years, some people have tried to sell them there, but they all lost money. Moreover, the journey from Jiangxia to Jiangxi and then to the capital is long and expensive. Isn't your suggestion too risky, my dear nephew?"
Feng Jing smiled faintly and said, "Uncle, you might as well give it a try. Just factor the shipping costs into the selling price. If you lose money in the future, come back and hold me responsible."
After much deliberation, the uncle finally decided to try it, following his suggestion. He returned shortly after, bringing generous gifts and beaming with joy to thank Feng Jing: "My wise nephew's plan has indeed worked! I transported kumquats to the capital, and after hanging up signs for Jiangxi kumquats, they were sold out in less than two days. I inquired and learned that news of Consort Zhang sending people to Jiangxi to buy these fruits had already spread, and everyone in the capital was curious and eager to taste them. Luckily, my goods arrived. Seeing the high demand, I raised the price three or four times, but it still couldn't meet the demand. Just as you said, the profit is more than double!"
Feng Jing smiled and said, "I've heard that people in the capital consider it fashionable to take things from the palace. The closer someone is to the emperor, the more easily their hobbies are imitated. Since Consort Zhang is favored, her every word and action is naturally under scrutiny. If she likes something, people outside the palace will inevitably follow suit and buy it, which will naturally drive up the price. That's why I dared to advise you to go into the kumquat business."
The uncle praised Feng Jing for his insight and gratitude, and in addition to the gifts, he also gave him a sum of money. Feng Jing declined, but his uncle insisted that he accept it, saying, "This money isn't given to you for nothing. Your uncle is counting on you to continue to offer advice and do business with me. Consider this money as your initial capital. You are well-read and farsighted; if you put some effort into business, how could you not become wealthy?"
Given his meager income and the difficulty of supporting his family, this did seem like a good way out. After some consideration, Feng Jing accepted his uncle's suggestion, temporarily putting aside his studies and starting to do business with him. The results were excellent. He was quite intelligent, adept at analyzing information, and excelled in the business world, demonstrating remarkable social skills. Within a few months, the family's financial situation had greatly improved.
So he invited renowned doctors to treat Yuan Yuan and spared no expense in seeking medicine to regulate her body. To distract Yuan Yuan and prevent her from continuing to dwell on the pain of losing her son, he personally taught her bookkeeping and financial management. His efforts finally began to bear fruit. Yuan Yuan's health gradually improved, she developed an interest in financial management, and her smiles became more frequent.
Six months later, the magistrate of Yuhang County, who had once shared drinks with him, completed his term and was transferred to govern another county in Ezhou. When he passed through Jiangxia, Feng Jing went to the dock to greet him and hosted a banquet for him. During the banquet, Feng Jing brought up the past and tentatively asked about the identity of the lady who had come from the capital. Presumably, with the passage of time, the magistrate no longer had any reservations and frankly told him: "The lady who came then was the wife of the emperor, the mother of the nation, Empress Cao."
The Empress? Feng Jing was utterly astonished. Images flashed through his mind like pages of a book: a bride in a red silk robe behind a red gauze curtain, reaching out to remove her hairpin; a woman with a plain face, supported by a dark-haired youth, sitting regally in a carriage, the curtain drawn, blocking his probing gaze; the lady in Jingshan Temple, her lotus-like steps light, chin slightly raised, hair piled high, her neck gracefully curved, her shadow cast on the curtain drifting like a cloud… Were those all her, Empress Cao?
Although he knew that the current empress's surname was Cao, and had vaguely heard that the empress was Cao Bin's granddaughter, Cao Bin had several sons and must have had many granddaughters as well. He never expected that the Cao family lady who had married his cousin would be selected to enter the palace and be made empress.
"She made a vow at Jingshan Temple before entering the palace, and thus went there specifically to fulfill that vow. The Empress did not wish to make a great fuss or disturb the people along the way, so she did not arrange a procession, but secretly notified the local officials along the route to receive and protect her," the county magistrate explained. Looking at Feng Jing, who was dressed in light robes and loose belt, he suddenly sighed, "Back then, I greatly admired Brother Feng. His poems were elegant and unrestrained, and he won the appreciation of the Empress Dowager. How fortunate he was! After reading Brother Feng's masterpiece, the Empress Dowager predicted that Brother Feng had a profound understanding of history and would surely rise to prominence in the future. Although Brother Feng is now dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse, enjoying fine wine and delicacies, please forgive my bluntness, but merchants are ultimately a mixed class. If Brother Feng is content to be a Tao Zhu Gong for life, wouldn't that be far from the Empress Dowager's prediction?"
His previous good mood vanished. After returning home, Feng Jing sat sullenly in his study for a while, feeling depressed. Suddenly, he wanted to find some long-forgotten scriptures to read, but when he looked at the bookshelf, all he could see were account books. He flipped through them, but he couldn't find the book he wanted to read.
At that moment, Yuan Yuan arrived upon hearing the sound, carrying an abacus in her arms. She smiled and asked him, "What are you looking for?"
"Where are my copies of 'The Great Learning' and 'The Doctrine of the Mean'?" Feng Jing asked, pointing to the bookshelf.
Yuan Yuan thought for a moment, then turned and ran back to the bedroom. A moment later, she returned with several crumpled, stained books and handed them to him: "Is this it?"
Feng Jing took it, his brow furrowing: "How did it turn out like this?"
“I saw that there was no room to put the account books on the bookshelf, and you haven’t looked at these books in a long time, so I used them to pad the bottom of the boxes…” Yuan Yuan said, noticing that Feng Jing’s expression was not right, she quickly added, “The ground is a bit damp, so it’s wrinkled, but it doesn’t matter, I’ll take it to dry and flatten it tomorrow!”
Feng Jing took a deep breath, threw the book on the table, sat down, and said indifferently, "Never mind. I didn't say I wanted to read it anyway."
Yuan Yuan said "Oh," then stole a glance at him and asked cautiously, "Can I stay here to settle the accounts?"
He remained silent for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement. Yuan Yuan then happily sat down beside him and began to frantically work on her abacus.
He turned his head to look at his wife, with whom he spent every day, but he could not feel the intimacy of the past. The two sat side by side, but it seemed as if there were thousands of mountains and rivers between them. In the candlelight, the smile on her lips seemed more distant and unfamiliar than ever before.