nucmednet Chapter 141 Determination
Chapter 141 Determination
Prince Duan: "I know. Tomorrow when I return to the capital, I will go to see the Emperor and ask him to stop sending me women! As for Consort Song, I will deal with her as soon as possible!"
The princess was startled: "You're not going to kill that woman, are you?" To get rid of her usually means to kill her.
Prince Duan: "Please rest assured, Aunt. It's not worth dirtying my hands for such a shameless woman. Now, I have plenty of dirt on the Song family and Consort Shu. Any one of these dirt can make them suffer. I will find an opportunity to demote Consort Song to a maid and give her two choices: either go back to her family and marry someone, or go to a remote mountain villa and stay there for the rest of her life!"
The Eldest Princess: "Demoted to a maid? Is that realistic? After all, she was betrothed by the Emperor."
Prince Duan said, “Aunt, this requires you to put in a good word for me with the Emperor. Of course, I will also ask the Emperor to issue another decree to demote Consort Song to a maid. As far as I know, Consort Song has done many outrageous things in the past few months. I will use this as an excuse to strip her of her title. I believe that if you speak on my behalf, the Emperor will relent!”
The Eldest Princess said, "Alright, put your resignation aside for now. Let's deal with Consort Song's matter first, okay?"
Prince Duan: "Very well, let's take it one step at a time! Many things can't be rushed!"
Princess: "In that case, I will go back to the capital with you tomorrow!"
Prince Duan said gratefully, "Thank you, Aunt. It's so hot, you must be tired!"
The Eldest Princess said, "It's alright. I'll bring Yue'er and Hua'er with me when I go back to the capital this time! These two girls have been clamoring to come for a long time, but I have important business to attend to this time, so I didn't bring them along!"
The eldest princess instructed her maid, "Go and tell the princess that I will return to the capital with the prince early tomorrow morning, so that she can be mentally prepared." If she didn't tell her in advance, Zisu would be greatly surprised if she left early tomorrow morning, and would think that something had happened.
"Yes, Your Highness." The maidservant replied respectfully and quickly headed towards the bamboo pavilion.
Zhuxuan was the original residence of Zisu's family. After Xiaoshitan built a thatched cottage, Zisu simply named her residence Zhuxuan to distinguish it from the thatched cottage.
Zisu was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard when she heard the report from the princess's maid. She quickly said to Xiangli, "Let's rest early tonight and get up at midnight to prepare breakfast and provisions for the princess's journey."
If it were just Prince Duan returning to the capital, she wouldn't get up to prepare breakfast and provisions, lest Prince Duan and others misunderstand that she had feelings for him. Although this wasn't ideal, nor was it the proper thing to do, she had no other choice. She understood the principle that hesitation leads to trouble.
However, now that the Princess has said she is returning to the capital, breakfast and provisions must definitely be prepared. Even if the Princess were just an ordinary guest, she would still be an elder and cannot be neglected.
Xiangli nodded: "Miss, I'll get up and prepare breakfast and dry food. You should rest well!"
Zisu: "No need for that, let's prepare together! If I can't get up, just wake me up! My cooking skills are better than yours, the princess might not like what you make!"
Xiangli could only nod: "Yes, I understand." Her cooking skills were far inferior to the young lady's.
Around midnight, Xiangli got up and was about to call Zisu when Zisu opened the door and came out on her own.
Xiangli: "Miss, I was just about to call you! I didn't expect you to wake up so early!" The master sleeps very well at night and usually doesn't wake up until dawn. She rarely gets up in the middle of the night.
Zisu: "It's a habit I developed in the Northwest. Once I have something on my mind, I will naturally wake up at the scheduled time."
While in the Northwest, I often woke up in the middle of the night for fear of wolf attacks. After returning to the capital, although I could sleep through the night, I would still wake up naturally in the middle of the night if something happened.
Together, the master and servant fried thirty scallion pancakes with eggs, thirty pickled mustard greens and pork pancakes, and thirty pickled cabbage and pork pancakes. They also boiled sixty eggs in their shells and prepared twenty catties of salted dried peanuts. As dawn approached, they stir-fried a large bowl of rice noodles, a large pot of congee with preserved egg and lean pork, stir-fried two large bowls of green vegetables, and steamed fifty egg rolls.
Xiangli couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement: "Miss, luckily the General's Mansion has some money now, otherwise, we would have been starved to death!"
Prince Duan had ten guards by his side; the Eldest Princess also had ten guards. These guards were all tall and strong, and had enormous appetites. With so many people eating so much, if Zisu's family weren't wealthy, they would truly be eaten into poverty. However, Zisu currently had at least fifty thousand taels of silver. This amount of food was nothing to her.
"How could we go broke? The princess brought plenty of food with her, and the guards go hunting in the mountains every day. We rarely buy meat or vegetables; we mostly buy fish!" Zisu said dismissively.
Xiangli is great in every way, except she's a bit possessive. To put it bluntly, she's too possessive of her food. Perhaps the exile experience left a shadow on her heart.
Hearing Zisu say this, Xiangli blushed and said, "Yes, that's right, Miss. I was wrong." The princess did bring a lot of food with her when she came to stay here for an extended period, and the guards took turns hunting in the mountains every day.
Each time they returned from hunting, they would bring back at least three to five pheasants or rabbits, and occasionally they would also catch muntjacs. On several occasions, they even brought back wild boars. Not only did the people of Xiaoshitan have meat to eat, but the old clan chief and several elders, as well as the family of the girl who was on good terms with Zisu, also had meat to eat.
Zisu: "Xiangli, you should be more open-minded and not be so possessive of your food. Of course, if the other party is greedy and likes to take advantage of others, then it's understandable to be possessive of your food. In other words, you should be possessive of your food based on whether you are close to the person or not."
Xiangli said with shame, "Miss, I understand."
As dawn broke, the Eldest Princess and Prince Duan came to Zhuxuan to bid farewell to Zisu. Zisu quickly greeted them, "Your Highness, Your Highness, I've made breakfast. Let's eat before we set off! I've also made breakfast for the guards. I'll have Shen Laihui deliver it to the thatched cottage!"
The eldest princess exclaimed in surprise, "Really? It's only just dawn. How early must you have gotten up to prepare breakfast for so many people?"
Zisu: "I didn't get up very early. Breakfast was quite simple. You should all eat before you set off!"
The Eldest Princess said, "Since you've prepared everything, you should eat before you set off. To be honest, I'm starving. Originally, I planned to find a place to have breakfast after we arrived in the county town, but since you've prepared it, that's wonderful! No food outside can compare to half the quality of what you make!"
Prince Duan smiled and nodded at Zisu: "Thank you, you've worked hard!"
Zisu: "It's alright, it's no trouble at all! You guys have breakfast first, I'll go pack some dry food!"
The eldest princess exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, you even prepared dry rations?"
Zisu: "Yes, it's just pancakes and flatbreads, and some salted dried peanuts. It's very simple! I've prepared quite a lot, enough for you and the guards to eat on the road!"
Now that the road from Wuliping to the county seat has been repaired, if you set off early in the morning and walk quickly, you can reach the capital by evening.
Princess: "Oh dear, you must be exhausted! So many people, even if each person only gets one pancake, that's still more than twenty! Thank you, you've worked so hard!"
Prince Duan looked at Zisu silently, a warm feeling welling up in his heart.
Who says Zisu isn't gentle and virtuous enough? Such a wonderful woman is a model of virtue and gentleness! Those so-called ladies from noble families, who get breathless after just a few words and cry at the slightest thing, appear gentle and virtuous on the surface but are actually treacherous and vicious behind the scenes—these people aren't even worthy of carrying Zisu's shoes!
He didn't care what others thought, but if he had to marry a woman like that, he'd rather remain a bachelor for life. Of course, if he hadn't met Zisu, he might have followed his mother's wishes and married one of his cousins. As for a concubine like Consort Song, he would have reluctantly become intimate with her.
However, now that he has met Zisu, there is no room for any other woman in his eyes or heart! In this life, he will never touch any woman other than Zisu! Even if Zisu chooses Fang Heng and eventually marries him, he will not force himself to accept those pretentious women!
Therefore, to avoid a lonely life, he must strive hard. The old clan chief was right: sincerity can move mountains. He believed that one day he would win her heart and make her fall in love with him.
Before that, he must clear away all obstacles!
The guards were surprised to find that they would be eating breakfast personally prepared by Princess Yulin, and that she had gotten up so early to make it. As they enjoyed the simple yet delicious breakfast, their impression of Zisu improved even further.
The pancakes and salted peanuts were meant to be taken on the road as a lunch. The "Good Days" restaurants in Huai Shu County and Li Shu County weren't finished yet. Eating at other restaurants was less appealing than just having a couple of pancakes.
Pancakes made with perilla leaves are also incredibly delicious.
Upon returning to his residence, the first thing Prince Duan did was to expel Consort Song from his courtyard: "How dare you! This is my residence, not a place for a mere concubine like you to live!"
Consort Song: "This is where my mother gave me to stay."
Prince Duan: "No one can let you live here. This palace is under my control!"
There will be one more update today, please vote with your monthly tickets! I'm so sad that no one is giving me any! Give me some encouragement, and I won't stop updating during the Chinese New Year! I will work hard, I will cheer myself on, and I will try to update more.