Chapter 454 - Leaving the Capital to Suppress Bandits (2/2)
However, she was afraid that her master might feel embarrassed by all of this, so she didn't say it out loud. She only quipped, “Young Miss, I'm sure that as long as you open your mouth and ask, Royal Prince Yang would happily give this farmstead to you.”
“Bah! Are you asking for a beating?” Yu Xiaocao rolled her eyes at her maid and then continued, “How could I just ask for someone's possession? That's truly too shameless! In fact, I heard that he had bought this farmstead for around two thousand taels. When I get back, I need to check whether we have enough money in our accounts for this.”
Two thousand taels was considered an outlandish sum to Yu Xiaocao when she first transmigrated over. She didn’t even dare to dream that she might have that much money in her hands at that time. However, things had changed. Her dividends from Zhenxiu Restaurant alone could easily cover that cost. Furthermore, she had a farmstead in Tanggu Town that had almost a thousand mu in land. The harvests from the spring wheat as well as the autumn corn were so high that they shocked other people. All of this could either be sold to the imperial court as seeds, or they could be sold at a high price to other people in the area. From the spring and autumn harvests alone, they were probably making around ten thousand taels. In addition, the Yu Family had their early-growing vegetable and watermelon fields, their braised food store and pickled vegetables store, and the pharmaceutical workshop... Now, she had even added her split of the profits from the greenhouse grown vegetables and fruits in the capital. Let alone two thousand taels, even if she needed to take out twenty thousand taels that wouldn’t be a problem.
However, the amount of capital she had to use to build the new pharmaceutical workshop, flower tea workshop, skin cosmetics workshop, and the storefronts was quite large. She still needed to scrimp and save where she could! If she could borrow the land on Royal Prince Young's farmstead to build these facilities, then she didn't need to think about buying it directly from him. The greenhouse grown vegetables and fruits on that land were now the goose that laid the golden eggs!
“Then…this servant will return back to Dongshan Village and discuss this with Miss Xiaolian. After that, I will rush back to the capital to take charge of building the new workshop.” Yingtao felt like her body was full of energy now that she had the permission to start building a new facility.
Yu Xiaocao looked at her with mirth in her eyes, “Don't start bustling about now! Royal Prince Yang was just assigned a task and has left the capital. I don't know when he'll be able to come back. Without him as the owner of the farmstead to give us permission, how can we shamelessly use the land on his property right now? It's been a long time since you've been back at the capital, so you should go see your parents and siblings. Also, Yangliu is waiting for you and you haven't seen her for more than a year. Every time she comes to see me, she always talks about you!”
Yingtao was a servant who had been born in a noble estate. Her family had been sent over as dowry from the Xia family to take care of Lady Fang’s dowry lands. She had an older brother above her; he was a clever man. He had already been promoted to assistant steward at one of Lady Fang’s dowry shops. Her younger brother was still young, so he was currently assigned to study in the outer courtyard as one of the servants. Ever since Yingtao had gone to Dongshan Village and taken control of the pharmaceutical workshop, she had been so busy that she rarely had the opportunity to return to the capital, let alone spend time with her parents and family.
Because the chefs in the braised shop in the capital were now experienced, Yangliu now had more time on her hands. Ever since Yu Xiaocao returned to the capital, Yangliu went to see her mistress from time to time to describe how the business was doing. She also talked about some interesting gossip she heard throughout the capital. Yingtao and Yangliu were as close as two blood-related sisters, so she often talked about the other maid when she was there.
It had been a long time since Yingtao had been back, so she had also started missing her family. She also wanted to keep touch with some of her good friends in the residence. In the future, these connections could help her young miss as well.
“Young Miss, you said that Royal Prince Yang had left the capital? Did he go out to sea again? Will he be able to come back before the start of spring?” Winter in the capital was quite cold and the ground was frozen during that time of year. It absolutely was not a good time to build new constructions at that time. It looked like they needed to wait until spring before building these new workshops. They weren't sure when Royal Prince Yang would be able to get back. If he needed to go out to sea again like the last time, it might be one or two years before he came back. By that time it would be too late!
Yu Xiaocao frowned somewhat worriedly and stated, “When he left, I vaguely remember him mentioning that the emperor had sent him to the north to suppress bandits! A few days ago, he sent a few skilled bodyguards over to keep me safe. On the day he left the capital, if I hadn't persisted in refusing, he would have even left Head Steward Liu behind with me. It's already been seven to eight days since he left, and I don't know how his mission in suppressing bandits has been going…”
Yingtao hurriedly tried to comfort her young miss when she saw the downcast and worried expression on the younger girl’s face, “Young Miss, Royal Prince Yang is rumored to be one of the best martial arts experts in the capital, so he has plenty of ability to protect himself in dangerous situations. In addition, with Head Steward Liu protecting him, none of the bandits will be able to harm him no matter how skilled they are! You don’t need to worry too much about him!”
“Swords and knives don’t have eyes. Who can guarantee their safety? However, I made him pack the best wound balm we have and some pills to treat internal injuries. As long as he has one breath of life left, the medicines can keep him alive!” When she saw him off on his journey, she had personally handed the two types of medicine to him. She even repeatedly reminded him to pack them carefully and to remember to use them if he got hurt. She wasn’t sure if that fellow took her words to heart or not.
Yingtao deliberately used a cheerful tone of voice to reply, “What do you have to be worried about now that you have given him the medicine you personally made yourself? That being said, he’s just suppressing some bandits that's all. Some tiny mountain bandits are nothing. Let’s not even talk about using the elite troops from the army against them. Even the private soldiers under the royal prince’s command could rout them out with no problems!”
Last time, when the Wokou pirates invaded, the royal prince had rushed there from afar and brought his personal troops to slaughter the pirates. Their fierceness and heroism were deeply engraved into Yingtao’s heart and the Dongshan villagers’ memories.
Hechun felt extremely envious as she watched Yingtao and the young miss happily converse from the side. Usually, the young miss was already quite tolerant and lenient when she dealt with her maids. However, she had never treated them with the camaraderie and friendliness that she did with Yingtao. They looked so natural together!
She heard that Older Sister Yangliu and Older Sister Yingtao had personally volunteered to go to Tanggu Town when the young miss was under more difficult circumstances. No wonder they had become the young miss’s left and right arms now. Hechun could deeply feel that as long as she was completely loyal to the young miss and did her best to help the young miss, the young miss would definitely remember her efforts and treat her accordingly!