Chapter 474: The Pay-to-Win Palace Intrigue System (9)

The first chest was filled to the brim with top-quality furs.

"This piece is wonderful! I'll have a cloak made for you later," Madam Xie San said, immediately setting her heart on that piece of purple sable fur.

"This one isn't bad either; it feels like fox fur."

Fox fur is fine, soft, and thick, with excellent heat retention, making it suitable for capes; wearing it on snowy days is both warm and beautiful.

Besides the first chest, the three chests behind it were also filled with furs.

However, the furs in those two chests were slightly inferior.

Master Xie San raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment, then picked out a few mediocre pieces of fur from the three rear chests and set them aside to be sent to the Old Matriarch in a while.

All the top-quality furs were classified into the private treasury of the Third Branch.

The couple didn't feel there was anything wrong with doing this at all.

These were all sent from afar by their daughter's master via the Escort Agency, specifically named for their Third Branch.

Filial piety must be shown to the Old Matriarch.

But the Old Matriarch was not lacking in fur cloaks, capes, or fur coats; sending them over would just mean they get stored in the treasury to gather dust at the bottom of a chest.

Gathering dust at the bottom of a chest would still be the best-case scenario.

Who knows, maybe one day when she was in a good mood, she would just give them away, pointlessly benefiting the other two branches or even outsiders.

After tidying up the furs, they continued to look at the other chests of good things.

"Oh, is this Honey?"

"The Holy Aunt said in her letter, it's wild Honey from deep in the mountains."

"This is good stuff! You couldn't get this without some real skill."

"Are these the medicinal herbs our daughter found? Whoa! So many Wild Ginseng!"

"The Holy Aunt said one is over a hundred years old, two are around fifty years old, and the rest are under thirty years."

"I think it's more than that! I have an eighty-year-old Wild Ginseng in my dowry, and it doesn't even have as good a quality as this fifty-year-old one. And these are actually under thirty years old? I've seen similar ones at a pharmacy, and the shopkeeper treated them as the shop's treasure."

"The Holy Aunt said these medicinal herbs were all discovered by Yang Er!"

"My daughter is truly capable!"

Just as the couple was enjoying themselves, a young servant who served Master Xie San came in to report that the Old Matriarch had sent her first-rank maid to pass on a message, calling him to Ju'an Tang.

The couple looked at each other, knowing exactly what it was about.

It must be that the First Branch or Second Branch saw them bringing the chests to Xi Kuayuan, felt they had been shortchanged, and ran to the Old Matriarch to complain.

"Master..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Master Xie San comforted his wife, then called over two young servants, one to carry a stack of furs and the other to carry a jar of wild Honey, and followed them to Ju'an Tang.

Madam Xie San didn't go; since the maid sent by the Old Matriarch only asked for Master Xie San to go to Ju'an Tang, she was too lazy to go and watch the drama.

The road from Xi Kuayuan to Ju'an Tang was quite long, and a round trip was exhausting; she couldn't avoid it when paying respects to the Old Matriarch on normal days, but since she wasn't asked to go this time, she wouldn't go out of her way to look for trouble.

Besides, the drama in the manor was nowhere near as fragrant as the medicinal herbs and furs her daughter had filialy provided!

If there really was any drama, the Master would definitely tell her when he returned.

"Mother!"

Walking into Ju'an Tang in high spirits, Master Xie San pointed at the servant behind him holding a thick stack of furs with a joyful face, and said as if presenting a treasure:

"Yang Er's master entrusted the Escort Agency to send me a cartload of furs, so I wouldn't worry about Yang Er. I personally picked out a few pieces for Mother that are suitable for making fur coats, capes, scarves, and hand warmers. Would Mother like to take a look?"

"And this," he pointed to the small jar held by the other servant, "is honey squeezed from wild beehives that Yang Er's master picked from the cliffs. Doesn't Mother always complain about headaches? I heard people say that drinking a cup of warm water mixed with wild Honey every morning can improve headaches."

Before the two servants could put down the furs and wild Honey, Master Xie San took a flat, long rosewood box out of his bosom.

He opened the box, revealing the item inside—a fifty-year-old Wild Ginseng, tied with a red string, lying on a jade-white silk lining.

"Mother, Yang Er's master also sent two top-quality old ginsengs. I obtained a recipe for a nourishing medicinal wine the other day and was just missing an old Wild Ginseng, so I took the liberty of keeping one to soak in the wine. I offer this one to Mother for her daily health maintenance."

Before the Old Matriarch could speak, Master Xie San added: "The rest are just some common gift items like wine and food. Although Yang Er's master didn't explicitly say so, I thought that since those eight families sent many vegetables, fruits, chickens, ducks, and eggs back then, I shamelessly accepted them on behalf of the Holy Aunt, so this time I intend to return a gift on her behalf for the festival. What does Mother think?"

The Old Matriarch: "..."

The couple of the First Branch: "..."

The couple of the Second Branch: "..."

You've said everything there is to say, what else is there to say?

Everyone's gaze shifted from the thick stack of furs to the rosewood box in the Old Matriarch's hands, following Master Xie San's passionate introduction.

Although the Third Master didn't mention the age of this ginseng, with such perfect root hairs and top-tier quality, it must be at least a hundred years old, right? At the very least, it was definitely eighty years old.

The manor's treasury had accumulated three generations of wealth, so naturally, there were better ginsengs than this, but those were treasures kept at the bottom of the chest for life-saving moments.

The ginseng used for daily ginseng tea or ginseng soup was lucky to be ten or twenty years old.

The First Madam had only seen such near-hundred-year-old ginseng in her dowry, and that was something her family had kept at the bottom of the chest for her; she couldn't bear to take it out for daily use.

The Second Madam also had a ginseng kept at the bottom of her chest, but its quality was far inferior to this one.

The two of them stared at the ginseng in the Old Matriarch's hands, feeling sour and bubbling with envy.

What exactly did that martial arts heroine called the Thousand-Faced Holy Aunt see in their little niece? To actually send such good ginseng to the Third Master? And she sent two of them!

The other one was actually taken by the Third Master to soak in medicinal wine; it was simply a waste of a heavenly treasure!

The Old Matriarch also felt that her youngest son was a bit too extravagant; to actually soak such high-quality ginseng in medicinal wine.

Wouldn't a thirty-year-old one be enough for soaking medicinal wine? What a spendthrift!

But since it was already soaked, what else could she say?

The Old Matriarch excused herself, saying she was tired, and returned to her bedroom holding the rosewood box.

She was worried that if she looked at her youngest son a few more times, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from hitting him.

She simply chose not to see it so as not to be bothered.

As for the wild Honey produced on the sheer cliffs, which could not be obtained without some skill in light-body techniques, it was naturally taken to her bedchamber by the head maid who served her.

The furs were handed over to the maids and matrons skilled in needlework, to rush-make fur coats, cloaks, leggings, hand warmers, scarves, and hats for her to wear after winter arrived...

In short, the Old Matriarch took every single good thing her youngest son had offered in filial piety.

The first branch and second branch gained nothing at all.

"I say, Lao San," the Eldest Master set down his teacup and clicked his tongue, "I heard from the gatekeeper that my little niece's master sent a full ten chests of holiday gifts. Is this all you're using to fob off Mother?"

"Big Brother's words are truly laughable. The holiday gifts Yang Er's master sent were specifically addressed to our third branch. I shared a portion with Mother to fulfill my Yang Er's intention of showing filial piety to her parents and grandmother. How does it become 'fobbing off' in Big Brother's mouth?"

"..."

The Eldest Master could not out-argue this younger brother who spent his days mingling in literary circles and had become increasingly sharp-tongued, so he let out a heavy "Hmph," flicked his sleeves, and left.