Chapter 122: Resolutely Not Leaving
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling also knew that this might be a one-time deal. Those words were just a slip of the tongue. Touching the silver in her arms, she couldn’t help but chuckle. With this silver, the family could at least be more relaxed financially. She decided to buy some fine rice for her twin siblings. The two babies had lost weight from starvation these few days.
Also, she wanted to buy a few hens to nourish Shu Wanniang’s body. When they fled, they did not bring enough blankets. Although Qi Haoran had sent two blankets over, they were still short of one. So, this had to be bought as well. Also, not much of the grains given by the West Camp was left. Hence, she had to buy more while the grain prices were not very high now to avoid running out of it…
Mu Yangling calculated the things she needed to buy in her heart as she walked to the embroidery workshop.
Mu Yangling looked up at the signboard that read ‘Brocade Workshop’ before walking in.
The shopkeeper of Brocade Workshop looked up at Mu Yangling before lowering his head again. The assistant quickly came up to greet her. “Miss, what do you want?”
“Do you buy embroidery handkerchiefs here?”
The assistant was stunned. He sized up Mu Yangling and nodded. “Yes, yes, but we have very high requirements.”
Mu Yangling took out Shu Wanniang’s embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve and asked, “What about this kind of double-sided embroidery?”
The assistant took it and was shocked. He hurriedly showed it to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper finally looked up from the account book. He flipped the embroidered handkerchief and looked at Mu Yangling. With narrowed eyes, he asked, “Young lady, where did this embroidered handkerchief come from?”
Mu Yangling frowned. She didn’t like his tone, but she still replied, “My mother embroidered it. I wonder if your embroidery workshop will accept it.”
“Yes, of course.” The shopkeeper put the embroidery handkerchief aside and said, “This handkerchief of yours is not bad. We’ll pay 500 copper coins a piece. If you can use such an embroidery method to embroider a screen, it will be worth more money. I wonder if your mother has any other embroidery?”
Seeing the glint in his eyes, Mu Yangling changed her mind at the last minute and said, “Yes, but it’s hard to say if my mother will sell it or not. She asked me to check how much this handkerchief will fetch. If it’s suitable, I’ll sell it. If it’s not, forget it.”
Mu Yangling took back the handkerchief on the table and stuffed it into her sleeve. She said to the shopkeeper, “Shopkeeper, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”
“Hey, wait, we want this handkerchief. No matter how much it is, we will take it. Why are you taking it away, young lady?”
“The price that you offered is different from what my mother said. I’ll ask the next shop,” Mu Yangling said innocently.
The shopkeeper’s expression changed slightly, and he squeezed out a smile. “Young lady, you’ve misunderstood. I thought that you only had this handkerchief, so I quoted you the market price. If you have more, I’ll naturally give you a better price.”
Only then did Mu Yangling stop and turn around. The shopkeeper thought for a moment and gritted his teeth. “How about this? I’ll give you 600 copper coins for this handkerchief. How about that? But in the future, you can only sell your embroidered handkerchiefs to me.”
“No problem.” Mu Yangling nodded with a smile. She took out the handkerchief and handed it to him before leaving with 600 copper coins.
Mu Yangling went to the market and chose some gifts for Little Bowen and the other two children before turning to look for Qi Haoran.
Since she could buy the stuff from the county after returning home, there was no need to buy them from the prefectural capital and carry it back.
In the Qi Residence, Qi Haoran was roasting venison for Qi Xiuyuan while talking about his hunting process.
As Qi Xiuyuan listened with a smile, he stuffed meat into his mouth and said, “You’re living a good life in Mingshui County huh.” As he spoke, he sized up his brother. Seeing that he had grown up and matured a little more than when he first arrived at Xingzhou Prefecture, a gratified smile appeared on his face.
Qi Haoran chuckled. “This place is much better than Lin’an Prefecture.”
Qi Xiuyuan’s smile froze. “Father sent a letter asking you to go back. He said that he had helped you get a spot in the Imperial Academy for you to go back to study.”
Qi Haoran’s expression instantly darkened. “Big Brother, I’m not going back. It sounds nice, but we don’t know who the spot will be for after I return. Besides, I don’t like to study either.”
Qi Xiuyuan ignored him and turned to look at Fan Zijin. “Zijin, your mother also wrote to me and said that she hopes that you can go back.”
Fan Zijin’s expression turned cold as well. “Cousin, I’ll go back when Haoran goes back.”
Qi Xiuyuan sighed. “You have to know that Xingzhou Prefecture is incomparable to Lin’an Prefecture. The teachers I can hire for you are far inferior to those in the Lin’an Academy.”
“Cousin, when it comes to studying, it depends more on the individual. I don’t think I’ll be worse off without a teacher’s guidance. Besides, with people quarreling at home every few days, I might not be able to focus on studying when I go back. Plus, my father is extremely biased. I might as well stay here instead of going back.”
Qi Xiuyuan pondered for a long time. Seeing that both of them were insistent, he could only nod and agree.
It was impossible for him to let his brother go back. It was fine if he wasn’t aware in the past, but now that he knew that his brother wasn’t doing well in Lin’an and Madam Wu schemed against him in every way, how could he let his brother return to the wolf’s den?
However, Fan Zijin was different. His mother was still around, and he still had ways to nurture his younger brother on the martial arts path. On the other hand, Fan Zijin was a promising student. How could the teachers here compare to the teachers in Lin’an Prefecture?
He didn’t want to delay his cousin’s future.
Qi Xiuyuan was still deep in thought when Mu Yangling was brought in. The moment she entered, she smelled the fragrance of roasted meat and her stomach growled.
When Qi Haoran heard the sound, he turned around and laughed when he saw Mu Yangling. “Are you hungry? Come over quickly. I’ve just roasted the meat. I’ll let you try my cooking today.”
Qi Xiuyuan snapped out of his thoughts and slapped his brother’s head. He said angrily, “Speak properly.”
Qi Haoran turned serious and said to Mu Yangling in all seriousness, “Mu Yangling, come and sit down to eat.”
Mu Yangling, who originally looked a little awkward, couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile. She greeted Qi Xiuyuan, “General Qi.”
A warm smile appeared on Qi Xiuyuan’s face as he said warmly, “Come and sit. I heard from Haoran that you brought them into the mountain.”
“I grew up in the mountains and am more familiar with them, so I brought them along.” Mu Yangling sat beside Qi Haoran. Seeing that Fan Zijin looked a little down, she could not help but elbow Qi Haoran and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
Qi Haoran turned to look at Fan Zijin and said, “Nothing. The meat has been sliced. Hurry up and roast it.”
However, he pulled a stool and sat beside Fan Zijin. He leaned close to his ear and said, “Don’t leave. If you leave, who will be my Military Advisor?”
Fan Zijin’s brows relaxed slightly. After glancing at his cousin, he asked, “What if Cousin insists on sending me away?”
Qi Haoran patted his chest and promised, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
“If he insists on sending me away, you can roll on the ground and beg him.”
“…” Qi Haoran lowered his head and pondered for a moment. In the end, he gritted his teeth and said, “Alright, I’ll make sure he doesn’t send you away.”
Fan Zijin, who was just joking, could not help but feel guilty when he saw his serious expression. He turned his head and picked up a piece of roasted meat from the grill and placed it on his plate.