CH 59.2

Wang Shijing immediately held Shao Yunan’s hand. “Yunan is my wife and no one can snatch him away.”

“Hahahaha…” It was Eunuch An who laughed. After laughing, Eunuch An said a bit more seriously, “We are not being polite with Shao Yunan’s skill; he can indeed open a restaurant in the capital. If little brother Shao is not willing to go to the capital, he can  give the recipe to  Jiang Kangchen who can step forward.”

Jiang Kangning also got serious and said, “Yunan, why don’t we discuss it properly. Since we are going to earn money, why shouldn’t we earn more?” Shao Yunan looked at Wang Shijing, seemingly to understand his meaning, but Wang Shijing knew that his wife was just giving him a face and just nodded his head. Shao Yunan then said, “Then Lord An, Brother Jiang, Elder Cen, why don’t we go to the main hall to discuss in detail, while I will go make golden silk royal chrysanthemum tea.”

“Alright.” The group of people moved to the main hall again and Wang Shijing asked Shao Yunan to go first, while he asked someone to come over to clean up. Shao Yunan took the golden silk chrysanthemum tea for everyone, while Wang Shijing took this opportunity to go to the side hall again to check on the two teachers and several shopkeepers, then he also ran to Madam Cen’s side to see if there was enough hospitality. 

Sitting down again, the topic was no longer polite. It was Shao Yunan’s advice to Jiang Kangning to bring Master Weng and the Emperor as their business partners or backers. Otherwise, without a big backer, their business would be taken over by other businessmen with strong backgrounds, while they could only stay passive. Unexpectedly, Jiang Kangning not only persuaded the two great gods, Master Weng and the Emperor, but the Emperor even handed over the matter to the Empress. While Lord An was the Empress’ personal chief eunuch, Jiang Kangchen was the direct contact responsible for the sale of the tea and wine in the capital, just like Jiang Kangning planned. 

Before Eunuch An came, Empress Jun explained that he had to fully assist Jiang Kangning and Shao Yunan to make the tea and wine sales work. Jiang Kangchen was also directly responsible to the Empress, since the Emperor did not intend to let the Minister of the Household intervene in this matter for the time being. When the tea and wine business reached his expectations, he might let the Ministry of Household intervene, but at that time all the important officials from the Ministry of Household would already be replaced by people trusted by the Emperor. Of course, Lord An wouldn’t say that to Shao Yunan. 

Originally, Eunuch An just planned to bring over all the tea and wine Shao Yunan made over to the capital and confirm the quantity for the next year, but after eating Shao Yunan’s cooking, he really felt that with Shao Yunan’s craftsmanship he could open the a restaurant in the capital. There was no shortage of rich people in the capital and since the Emperor was poor, as the eunuch next to the Emperor and the Empress, he was naturally anxious. 

If you said that Shao Yunan was a lazy person, then Eunuch An was definitely a person who was willing to think of every way to earn money for the Emperor and the Empress. Lord An not only thought of opening the restaurant, but also set his sights on the chrysanthemum tea and jam, which were still rare in the capital. The one in the palace was still the tribute from Marquis Hengyuan. 

The group of people discussed it behind closed doors, as Lord An did not avoid Elder Cen. When the villagers who came to eat in the front yard left, the shopkeepers in the side hall also left, but the discussion in the main hall continued… It wasn’t until everyone felt hungry again that they realized that they had been talking for a long time. 

Shao Yunan immediately said that he would go cook something, since Jiang Kangning had to go back to the county government in the evening. Originally, Lord An and Jiang Kangchen were also going to live in the county town, but since Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing built a new house and it was big enough, they decided to stay here to make it more convenient to talk with Shao Yunan. 

For dinner Shao Yunan didn’t cook many dishes. In the afternoon, he asked Guo Zimu to make chicken soup and noodles, planning to eat it for dinner. Now Wang Shijing personally kneaded the noodles and cut them finely, before pouring the chicken soup with some little bean sprouts. Paired with three other side dishes, it satisfied everyone. 

During the meal, Eunuch An asked, “How do you store these vegetables at home?” The leeks and eggplants during the noon meal were also all fresh. Shao Yunan didn’t hide it and just answered, “Shijing specially built a greenhouse for me to grow vegetables. I planted it in the greenhouse before we moved. I didn’t expect that they would grow so well. The greenhouse is next to the kitchen, so the heat from cooking and boiling water in the kitchen spreads to the greenhouse. The servants’ room is at the other end of the greenhouse, so the greenhouse is also supplied by heat from the servants’ room at night.” 

Eunuch An froze, then he said with understanding, “The winter vegetables in the palace are also grown by a hot spring pool. You are very smart to think of it. Younger Brother Shao is really a man of many ideas as Lord Jiang said.”

“It’s mainly because I like to eat. If you like to eat, you have to find a way.” Shao Yunan said while pretending to be embarrassed. “Haha.” Eunuch An smiled. “We also love to eat, but there is no one in the palace who is as good at cooking as Little Brother Shao.” Shao Yunan quickly flattered back, “When the restaurant in the capital opens, Lord An will have a place to eat. If it’s not convenient, I can give Eunuch An a few recipes for some simple dishes that Eunuch An can make and eat in the palace.”

“We would be grateful.” After dinner, Jiang Kangning and Elder Cen left first. But before leaving, Jiang Kangning pulled Wang Shijing and whispered a few words to him, making Wang Shijing nod his head. Elder Cen also said to Shao Yunan, not send the children over until the busy period was over, including Nizi. Elder Cen meant that Wang Qing and Wang Nizi didn’t need to come over until the Chinese New Year and they would send Wang Qing directly to White Moon Academy on the first day of February. 

After seeing Jiang Kangning, Elder Cen, and Madam Cen off, Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing hurriedly arranged Eunuch An and Jiang Kangchen’s residence. Eunuch An was an honored guest, so Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing tried to contribute their own Master bedroom, but Eunuch An didn’t want it, saying that they should just arrange a guest room for him. In the end, Wang Shijing arranged Wang Qing’s courtyard for Eunuch An, while Wang Qing would live with Wang Nizi for the time being. 

The two brothers Guo Ziyu and Guo Zimu accompanied Eunuch An to live in Wang Qing’s courtyard, staying in the side rooms. Jiang Kangchen also did not bring his own attendants, so Madam Cen left her own personal maid for Jiang Kangchen to use before she left. Elder Cen would send over his own servant boys and maids over to help the next day. Because of this, Shao Yunan said that they should buy several servant girls so there wouldn’t be a problem if distinguished guests visited their house in the future. 

Finally, all the arrangements were made and when he returned to his room, Shao Yunan just laid down on the bed, not moving at all. He was exhausted. Wang Shijing came over and sat next to him, giving him a waist rub as he asked in a low voice, “Do you want to go to the space to soak for a while?” Shao Yunan hesitated, “There are outsiders in the house. I am afraid the people brought by Eunuch An know martial arts.”

“They live in the east rooms so they won’t notice it. I will keep a watch for you outside.”

Shao Yunan was immediately moved. “Okay, I’ll go wash up and then replace you.” After saying that, he disappeared while Wang Shijing made the bed. Shao Yunan did not soak for too long, he took a quick bath and washed his hair. He came out after a quick blow-dry and held a can of tea. None of the bedrooms had a kang bed, as they all had solid wood beds, and the heating was done with floor and wall heating. There were two boiler rooms dedicated to heating the east and west compartments and the main room. 

Of course, there was no boiler in the boiler room, but the principle was the same. Next to the boiler room was the public bath, where the family servants would bathe in the future. When the new house was built, Wang Shijing asked Uncle Zhou, Aunt Zhou, and Zhou Tianbao to come to help every day, so they could be regarded as part-time workers at home and would also bathe there sometimes. On this point, Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan would never be stingy. 

As soon as Shao Yunan came out, he said, “I took out a jar of Longjing tea that I used to keep to drink, the tea leaves in the tea room won’t stay as we will sell it for money. This jar of Longjing and our third-class tea taste similar. I will also gradually take out the tea from the space to drink in the future. Most of the tea in the space is terrace tea, which is no match for the ancient tree tea here.”

“It’s up to you.” 

“You go take a bath. I’ll wipe your eyes after washing.”

“Okay.” Shao Yunan sent Wang Shijing into the space first and told him not to wash the dirty clothes they changed from, because he wanted to rest quickly. Both of their clothes were washed by Wang Shijing, including underwear. And since their underwear could not be seen, Wang Shijinng washed everything in the space. 

The room was very warm, and Shao Yunan walked around the room wearing modern cotton slippers made especially for him by Aunt Zhou. He hadn’t even looked at the new house himself. Estimating that it was almost time, Shao Yunan went into the space to pick up Wang Shijing and took the bottle of spiritual milk mixed with the spiritual spring water to wipe Wang Shijing’s eyes and wounds. Shao Yunan was afraid of causing too much stimulation, so he didn’t dare to directly give the spiritual milk to Wang Shijing. He was also afraid that the effect of the spiritual milk would be too obvious and attract other people’s suspicion, which Wang Shijing fully accepted, as he would rather let Shao Yunan rub his eyes everyday. 

Anyway, his eye was getting better and better. It was so much better now that it was already responsive to light, so he believed he would be able to see with it one day, thanks to his wife. As for the scars on his body, he himself did not think it mattered much. His wife never minded about them and since he started soaking in the spiritual spring, they had also become lighter. When he went to bed and covered himself with a silk quilt, Shao Yunan groaned comfortably. “Moving is really tiring.” 

“Go to sleep.” Hugging Shao Yunan, Wang Shijing kissed his forehead, while Shao Yunan made himself comfortable in Wang Shijing’s arms and asked, “What did Big Brother tell you when he left?”

“He said that word had already begun to spread in the capital, so we should make some preparations.”

“Oh. Go to sleep. Good night. ” 

“Good night.” Kissing again, Wang Shijing’s hand reached into Shao Yunan’s undershirt to caress his delicate body. Not long after, Wang Shijing also stopped moving, leaving only the sound of soft breathing in the bedroom.