CH 38

Planning ahead for a rainy day was really a good expression, and for Fu Zhiyu too.

He slept comfortably after the banquet until the next morning. After the ice warehouse opened, he was even more reluctant to go out. After staying at home for another period of time, he received a letter from the Yuan family.

It was sent by his younger uncle. There were three letters, one for his mother, one for him, and one for Mingdao.The letter for Mingdao, judging by the childish writing on the envelope, should have been written by Yuan Lu.

Fu Zhiyu gave the letter to the child and opened his own. The younger uncle greeted him as usual and said that he had bought some things in the south again and had sent a caravan to the capital. He asked Fu Zhiyu to pick what he liked. After that, he really mentioned the box of medicine given to him by Fu Zhiyu.

He said that his wife had suffered a lot in her early years; her legs and feet were not good and hurt when it rained. Several doctors tried to cure her but without any success. One day, she took the pill given by Fu Zhiyu and it was effective the same day. She felt that it didn’t hurt as much as before. After a month, she increased the dose half-confidently and half-cautiously, and the improvement was obvious to the naked eye.

Yuan Jiangwen was happy and a little suspicious at the same time. He wrote a letter to ask Fu Zhiyu some questions carefully. He said that he asked a famous doctor to analyse the pills, and the doctor said that the materials used were indeed good and precious, but he couldn’t see how exactly this medicine worked, and the doses of various herbs were difficult to figure out and couldn’t be copied.

What he meant was: since this was something developed by Dr. Chen and they were not strangers, could this recipe be sold to him?

The recipe of Dr. Chen was very well-known to Fu Zhiyu; he could give it, but he was afraid that it would be difficult to reproduce this medicine.

After Fu Zhiyu finished reading the letter, he thought for a while, took a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote back to his uncle.

He wrote succinctly, just writing down all the ideas he had mentioned to Yuan Mingdao last time, saying that the recipe naturally could be given but the special ingredient was the secret of Dr. Chen and couldn’t be disclosed. However, the medicine could be prepared and sold to the outside world, just that the quantity was not large, whether he was willing or not.

Fu Zhiyu sent out another small box of pills with the letter. This one was not for sale, it was just that he had no more use for it over here, so he sent some there. Yuan Jiangwen’s caravan that brought things to the capital hadn’t left yet and it was convenient for Fu Zhiyu to send the pills back with it.

After he sent this letter, he was in a good mood, feeling that everything was going in the direction he wanted. He hummed a little tune and took a nap with peace of mind. After he got up at noon, he saw Dr. Chen routinely checking his mother’s pulse.

“Imperial Noble Consort Yun’s health is much better than before.” After checking the pulse, Dr. Chen prescribed some warming and tonic medicines as usual, and couldn’t help but marvel, “Even old diseases have signs of gradual healing, I don’t know if it is…”

He went silent halfway through speaking. If it weren’t for being too surprised, he wouldn’t even have said the first half of the sentence. It was a rule not to pry into his master’s affairs.

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What Dr. Chen said was true. The improvement of Consort Yun’s health was reflected on her face. She looked radiant, a lot younger, and was in a much better mood. Compared with before, she also smiled much more.

“Just now Caiyan went to the embroidery room to pick up my clothes, and she ran into Eunuch Ping of the emperor. He said your residence was restored to its appropriate condition,” Consort Yun said. “In the next few days, you probably have to pick a time to take a look. Select some decorations and furnishings you like for the craftsmen to make, and you will be ready to move in at the end of the year.”

“I have time,” Fu Zhiyu looked out the window. The sun was not very bright and it was cloudy today. It was a rare cloudy day, and a rare day when it wasn’t too hot. “Why don’t I go this afternoon and come back after selecting the decorations? Then I can still catch up with dinner.”

When going out, Fu Zhiyu didn’t forget to take Yuan Mingdao. There was his own courtyard planned for him in the residence. Although they would run away sooner or later, after all, it was going to be Fu Zhiyu’s house for a while. He naturally wanted to make the residence more comfortable, and it could be regarded as a rare thing that he was interested in these days.

Or you could say, if you didn’t engage in competing with others and didn’t get entangled with Xie Ke, everything else was interesting.

Due to the unpleasant experiences of the previous few times, Fu Zhiyu hadn’t taken the route through the imperial garden. He carefully selected another way. In theory, no one should have been there.

But theory was theory, and reality was reality.

Before he took a few steps, he met Fu Rongli head-on. Fu Rongli also had sharp eyes and saw him at a glance. His face stiffened and he walked towards Fu Zhiyu quickly. 

What did this troublemaker want to do again? Fu Zhiyu sighed in his heart, but by that time Fu Rongli had already walked up to him and asked straightforwardly: “Did you do it?”

“What does Eighth Brother mean?” Fu Zhiyu sighed inwardly again but blinked innocently on the surface, “I don’t understand.”

“Momo Gui came back and told me that you asked the guard to beat her, so she went to Hua Ruixuan with a grudge. How could that little brat Fu Yanran have the guts to do those things? You taught him, didn’t you?” Fu Rongli became more and more excited as he spoke, but he still retained some sanity and lowered his voice so that no one else could hear him, “You are not stupid at all!”

Yo, Fu Zhiyu sighed, although the troublemaker’s thorough analysis was useless, the conclusion was correct.

Fu Rongli was not dumb, he was just not good at studying, but his mind worked quickly in other areas. The ice lake and then poisoning, this guy had done those things without telling Consort Xue and Fu Rongye. The whole thing was very organised and done with a steady and ruthless hand that most people really couldn’t match.

Neither the Crown Prince nor the Third Prince originally believed that Fu Zhiyu was stupid. They watched him for a long time from the shadows, and then saw the things Fu Zhiyu did one after another. According to their logic, there was no other way to explain them except that he was really stupid.

But Fu Rongli had his own logic. He looked at the essence behind the actions. He intuitively felt that Fu Zhiyu, except for being lazier than before, was still smart and capable. How could he really be brain-damaged?

“Just keep pretending,” Fu Rongli snorted coldly, “I’ll see who can protect you when the time comes.”

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It was kind of funny how the troublemaker looked a little smug and didn’t want to give anything away. When he walked past Fu Zhiyu, he childishly tried to step on his foot, but Fu Zhiyu took a step back at this moment and turned around. Fu Rongli didn’t step on him, his body tilted and he almost fell.

He was so angry that he gave Fu Zhiyu another fierce glare before hurriedly leaving.

“What’s wrong with him?” Yuan Mingdao asked Fu Zhiyu in a low voice, “He just said a few harsh words and left.”

Fu Zhiyu shook his head. The beginning of Fu Rongli’s speech was normal, but the last part was a bit strange if you thought about it.

“I have to go to the Yuan residence first,” Fu Zhiyu said, “There are some things I need to ask.”

Old Master Yuan was the imperial envoy in charge of the purchase of forage for the army. If Fu Zhiyu asked directly, according to the old man’s character, he would definitely not say anything. These were military secrets and couldn’t be disclosed to anyone by law. And the old man didn’t know that Fu Zhiyu was just pretending to be stupid, so it would be really strange for him to ask these things.

Fu Zhiyu had just received a letter from his uncle, saying that he had sent some things for him, so he used this excuse to go to the Yuan residence, talked to the old man and Mrs. Yuan for a while, then declined Mrs. Yuan’s invitation to stay for dinner and took Yuan Mingdao to his residence that was being repaired.

“There’s movement in the army.”

“Huh?” Yuan Mingdao was puzzled, “But the Old Master didn’t mention anything just now.”

Fu Zhiyu said quietly: “Now in the early summer is the time when the grain is out of stock. The imperial court generally doesn’t buy grain at this time. Grandfather is in charge of this kind of thing, and he used to be very idle at this time of the year in the past.

Today, I saw that his eyes were bloodshot and he looked tired. His neck and collar were obviously tanned, his lapels were dirty and even his shoes were changed. He usually wears the official shoes, but as soon as it is the season to collect grain and he has to check the grain situation everywhere, he changes to those soft-soled black shoes so that he could walk more comfortably.

I asked Grandmother whether the younger uncle was nagging in the letter again, worried that there were no young men in the Yuan residence, afraid that something would happen. Grandmother smiled and said that everything was as usual at home, so there was no need to worry.

If there is nothing unusual at home, then Grandfather’s frequent trips can only be for his job. He collects forage at this time, that is, there are changes in the army, there is not enough food in stock and the situation is urgent.”

It was not up to the third-rank official to decide how much forage to buy for the army and how much to use. It required the emperor’s personal order.

“Is there going to be a war on the border?” Yuan Mingdao thought carefully for a while, “But there was no such thing in the previous life, was there?”

“I don’t know,” Fu Zhiyu said, “Mingdao, the experience of the previous life is not a golden rule, the world is changing all the time.”

There was one thing he hadn’t said yet. The imperial court had so much food in stock for the army that even if there was a battle, there would be nothing to worry about. But now it was collecting more food, so it was clear how serious the matter was.

Because of this incident, Fu Zhiyu was a little absent-minded when he went to his new residence. The place was already good enough. He just made a few requests and left the rest to the craftsmen to do as they wished. After all these things were done, it was already dark.

The craftsmen lit the lamps, and Fu Zhiyu was about to return to the palace with a lantern in his hand. When he walked to the door, a voice came from behind: “Wang Zhao, wait.”

Fu Zhiyu heard that this was Xie Ke. Not only did he not wait, but he walked faster.

But Xie Ke was also fast. He caught up and stopped Fu Zhiyu in front of the carriage.

The guards pulled out their swords in an instant, but they knew Xie Ke and knew who he was. According to his rank, Xie Ke, as the imperial guard, was their immediate boss, so the raised swords didn’t look very firm.

Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow, asked Yuan Mingdao to get into the carriage first, and then asked in full view of the crowd: “What does Young Master Xie want?”

“There is something important.” Xie Ke said, smiling again and coming closer, saying in a voice only two people could hear, “Doesn’t Zhiyu want to know exactly what Old Master Yuan has been up to lately?”

Fu Zhiyu: “……”

For a moment, he really wondered whether Xie Ke knew him too well, or if he had exchanged points for something strange and put surveillance on him.

He also reacted quickly, motioning Xie Ke to walk ahead. Still carrying the lantern in his hand, Fu Zhiyu walked right up to the wall. If they kept their voices down a little bit, the guards couldn’t hear the conversation, but they could see him. If there was a sign of trouble, they would be able to rush up immediately.

As soon as he stopped, Xie Ke said, “I’m leaving.”

Fu Zhiyu was taken aback and finally showed a sincere smile on his face: “Congratulations, Young Master Xie.”

“What is there to congratulate with?”

“When an imperial guard goes out, there must be a good errand, just like the last martial arts examination. Shouldn’t he be congratulated then?” Fu Zhiyu said, “Of course, congratulations to myself as well for finally getting a clean break.”

“I’m serious, Zhiyu,” Xie Ke sighed, and his tone became solemn. “There is going to be a war soon. The emperor gave Xie Lin special orders, and I’m going with him to the frontier to participate in the war.”