Chapter 33: Sending Melons and Fruits

In the past, they provided no resources, but now that Qin Bi has married Rong Juan, she no longer needs them.

To be precise, it is not that Qin Bi does not need them, but that what the Rong Prince Manor can provide, the Qin Yan Marquis Manor cannot. Although the Qin Yan Marquis Manor still has some foundation, it depends on who you compare it with.

When comparing the Marquis Manor to a hereditary title holder like the Rong Prince Manor, the gap is obvious.

"Whatever we have in the manor that is presentable, have your wife send some to Qin Bi," the Old Qin Yan Marquis said, thinking openly. "In the future, among the resources for the manor's juniors, give Qin Bi a share as well."

The Qin Yan Marquis agreed, and Qin Di and the others left.

Upon returning to the main branch's courtyard, the Qin Yan Marquis spoke to the Marchioness: "Include Qin He's share and prepare one for Qin Bi as well. The Marquis Manor, the Xue Prince Manor, and the Rong Prince Manor share the same honor and disgrace."

Knowing that Qin Bi had contributed significantly to this training, the Marchioness sighed with frustration: "What is this all about? Theoretically, if the relationship between Qin Bi and Qin He were good, it wouldn't be difficult for our Marquis Manor to advance further, but as it stands, the water cannot be balanced."

The Qin Yan Marquis frowned: "Qin He is not that petty."

The Marchioness, Lady Shen, nodded and rose to make arrangements. There was nothing else worth sending; the Marquis Manor could not produce spirit pills, crystals, or spirit plants, as the Old Marquis, the Qin Yan Marquis, and Qin Tan consumed quite a lot every month.

After distributing some to the juniors, the resources in the storehouse were scarce.

The production from the fertile fields was decent. In winter, when Qin He's child was born, the child swallowed two clouds of auspicious fortune, which was not low. Following that, a snowfall occurred, and this year, the manor's fields produced a portion of melons and fruits.

The manor had just sent two carts of fresh melons and fruits. The Marchioness picked two portions and sent them to Qin He and Qin Bi respectively. Both were the manor's young ladies, so it would not do to favor one over the other.

The Marquis Manor's Heir, Qin Yan, followed Qin Di to the Spirit Plant Street to sell the beast meat they didn't eat.

Seeing that the meat quality of one beast was acceptable, Qin Yan said: "Fourth Uncle, I'll keep this one. I'll settle with you in silver, alright? I don't have many spirit stones on hand; I'm saving them for cultivation."

"That's fine." Qin Di did not say he didn't want silver; the beast was given to him by his daughter, so it would be wrong for him to turn around and give it away.

Besides, within the Marquis Manor, this Heir was wealthier than his father, the Qin Yan Marquis. Qin Yan had a share in Qin He's shop, and Qin He had only been able to show her face in the manor by currying favor with Qin Yan from the start.

Qin Yan had his own connections among the princes and young masters, and within two days, he helped Qin Di sell the beast at a high price.

Qin Di was now well-off. In his spare time, he would cultivate in the study or go to the Old Qin Yan Marquis's courtyard to seek advice, always stewing beast meat to bring along, which made the Old Marquis happy.

When the seasonal melons and fruits from the Qin Yan Marquis Manor were delivered to the Rong Prince Manor, Qin Bi held Rong Yang and took a look. There were watermelons, cucumbers, peaches, yellow apricots, sweet melons, and various vegetables.

The appearance of the melons and fruits was very good. Qin Bi scoffed; don't be fooled by the appearance of the fruit. The Great Yan Kingdom is hot, so theoretically, the watermelons and fruits grown should be very sweet, but the soil is compacted!

Even if it weren't compacted, most of it is sandy land, requiring a large amount of river water for irrigation.

Sorry, the Great Yan Kingdom has little rainfall.

The crops are drought-stricken and grow poorly. Some have good appearance and high sweetness, but most are crooked and deformed. Some parts of the melon are sweet, while others are sour; in any case, they just don't taste good.

Qin Bi picked out a watermelon and said to the maid: "Take it up and wash it."

After the watermelon was washed, Qin Bi placed the child in a basket. The little one was kicking about, unwilling to lie down.

"I'll cut the melon for you to eat." Qin Bi coaxed the child, cut the melon, and saw the sandy flesh, which looked delicious at first glance. Qin Bi smiled, cut a small piece of the best part, and went back to hold the child and feed him.

The little one had a very expensive palate; only when he ate something delicious would he happily start eating.

When Rong Juan returned from the imperial court and learned that Rong Yang's maternal family had sent melons and fruits, he went over to take a look and scoffed; compared to the produce from his own manor, it was a bit inferior.

Thinking of his own fertile fields, the next day, Rong Juan chose a time when the sun was not too harsh, held Rong Yang, brought spirit fruits and spirit food, boarded a carriage, left the city gate, and headed straight for the fertile fields outside the capital.

The little one was used to riding in a carriage while attending court all day and took a small nap.

Qin Bi thought Rong Juan had taken the child to court. When they returned in the mid-afternoon, Qin Bi looked at the time and felt something was wrong: "What did you go do? Didn't you go to court?"

"Went to see the fertile fields the Emperor bestowed upon me." Rong Juan handed the child to Qin Bi.

Qin Bi: "......"

Qin Bi was worried that Rong Yang would be listless, but to her surprise, the child was very happy.

"Ya~" Rong Yang mimicked his mother.

"What 'ya'?" Qin Bi poked him: "Did you have fun playing?"

The little one just babbled. Qin Bi asked Rong Juan and learned that he had been fed egg custard and planned to play for a while before eating dinner together. As for the spirit vegetables and spirit rice from the palace, don't even think about it; the Great Yan Emperor wouldn't let them mooch meals anymore.

During the two days she went to the Beast Realm's small space for training, the child was fussy, so Rong Juan took the child into the palace to find food.

The Great Yan Emperor was a good-tempered person and actually provided spirit rice and spirit vegetables for two days. Even after she returned, they kept eating and taking, which angered the Emperor so much that he stopped paying attention to Rong Juan and his son.

Whether they enter the palace or not, the Great Yan Emperor wouldn't invite them.

With the child, Qin Bi couldn't avoid getting involved in the Prince Manor's affairs.

After careful consideration, Qin Bi coaxed Rong Yang while turning to Rong Juan and saying: "How about I give the Emperor a few of the sweet potato spirit foods I dug up? There are princes and princesses in the palace. If Rong Yang eats the spirit rice and vegetables, the princes and princesses won't get any. Giving a few sweet potato spirit foods means we aren't eating for free."

Rong Juan's handsome face showed no expression. Qin Bi just mentioned it; whether to give or not was up to him.

The next day, Rong Juan held Rong Yang and attended the morning court. Besides the usual small food box, he brought an extra bag of sweet potato spirit food. Qin Bi looked; there were at most twenty, weighing about ten-plus jin.

She had dug up two thousand jin.

Qin Bi was stunned for a moment; she almost didn't recognize the God of Slaughter, Heir Rong.

Rong Juan holding the child to court was no longer a surprise to the civil and military officials; blowing their beards and staring had no effect. This day, the civil and military officials noticed that Heir Rong had brought an extra bag.

The Minister of Revenue was startled, thinking he had come to the palace to pack things.

Upon closer inspection, the bag was not empty, and he guessed it was something he had brought. The Minister breathed a sigh of relief.

After the court was dismissed, He Yan stayed in the front court, while Rong Juan held the child and followed the Great Yan Emperor away. When they reached the Imperial Garden, the Great Yan Emperor sat down to cool off in the heat, and a eunuch served cooling tea.

The little eunuch carried the bag, and Rong Juan said: "This is a gift from Rong Yang to the Emperor."

"What?" The Great Yan Emperor was curious: "Quick, let me see."

Rong Yang was very young and certainly couldn't give gifts; it must have been prepared by Rong Juan.

The little eunuch bowed and walked to the Great Yan Emperor, and the head eunuch took it and opened the bag.

The Great Yan Emperor leaned over to look: "Spirit food??!!!"

Holding one in his hand, the Great Yan Emperor looked; it was indeed spirit food.

The Great Yan Emperor rubbed his hands happily: "Good, very good." ===== CHAPTER 34 =====