Five days later, Yang Qing and his men drove all the livestock and poultry Song Jinzhao had requested, including two hundred piglets and fifty lambs, to the farmstead in the suburbs.
"I've never seen animals live in such a nice place. They are sheltered from the wind and rain, and it's cleaned every day. Is your master really this particular about raising chickens and ducks?"
"My lady said that hygiene is very important. If it's too dirty, they can easily get sick, and they will die in droves," Fushun said, holding a brush with a struggling expression as he checked the numbers and kept records.
Reading and writing were truly exhausting for him. Lanxi had taught him for over a month, but to this day, he only knew how to write his own name and do the most basic accounting and arithmetic.
He was slow with the abacus, needing to double-check everything twice to feel at ease. A task that Chunxing could finish in the time it took to drink one cup of tea took him two.
But Fushun had no choice but to learn; otherwise, if he were replaced by someone else one day, he would truly regret it.
Yang Qing stood on a small hillside, gazing into the distance as if pondering something.
After a long while, he approached Fushun. "Pass a message to your lady. When the pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks on the farmstead are ready to be sold next year, come find me. I guarantee I'll give you a good price."
Fushun handed the final payment to Yang Qing and said with a smile, "Master Yang, there's no need to mention it. What we raise here isn't even enough for my lady's own shops, so we still have to buy from outside, let alone sell them."
Yang Qing frowned in confusion. "Raising so many... can your master's household finish eating them all? How many people do you have?"
Fushun puffed out his chest, his voice seventy percent louder than before, the ending notes rising high with pride.
"Does Master Yang know of the Song Family Delicacy Shop? That was opened by my lady."
Yang Qing's brow relaxed in sudden realization. "The one that sells braised food?"
Fushun nodded vigorously. "That's right, the very one that sells braised food."
Yang Qing took a deep breath and looked down the hill at the rows upon rows of pigsties and poultry sheds. No wonder she bought so many; it really wouldn't be enough.
"It seems your master is planning to open branch shops?"
Fushun smiled and scratched his head. "It seems she has that intention."
At the earliest, they had to wait for this batch to grow up. After the beginning of spring, the numbers would have to increase. However many were slaughtered, that many would be replenished. Raising them themselves would definitely be lower in cost than buying from outside.
At Chunshui Courtyard in the Liao Residence.
After the acupuncture session ended, a maid immediately brought over a bowl of herbal medicine and fed it to Kong Wanru.
Seeing Song Jinzhao using chopsticks to poke through the medicinal dregs in the pot, Liao Xiwen whispered, "I had the maids take the prescription you wrote to Song's Clinic to get the medicine. We didn't buy it anywhere else."
Song Jinzhao's right hand paused. She pressed her lips together and took two deep breaths, truly feeling a bit exasperated.
She looked up with a sharp gaze. "I am checking to see if anyone has tampered with the medicine."
Liao Xiwen froze, then hastily waved her hands to explain. "The maids in this courtyard are all my mother's dowry servants. It's impossible for anyone to tamper with it. With so many miscarriages before, my mother has thoroughly investigated it long ago."
Song Jinzhao turned her head to look at Kong Wanru lying on the bed. The woman's face was completely expressionless. Both mother and daughter were foolish.
"The fact that you were born, and your mother could get pregnant so many times, proves that her body is not prone to miscarriages. To be pregnant twelve times and miscarry twelve times... only a fool would believe it was an accident."
Kong Wanru's voice was hoarse and feeble. "But I've investigated many times. The doctors who came to examine me all said that I miscarried because my body hadn't recovered properly from the previous miscarriages. Even after several accidents, no problems were found."
Song Jinzhao packed her medical box, preparing to leave. "Just because nothing was found doesn't mean nothing is there."
Liao Xiwen saw her out with worry in her eyes, her footsteps somewhat erratic.
"Miss Song, do you know something? Can you tell me?"
Song Jinzhao stopped in her tracks. "I haven't discovered anything; I just have my doubts."
"It is inconvenient for me, an outsider, to interfere in Miss Liao's family affairs. Your mother is currently my patient, and a healer's duty is to treat illnesses and save lives. As for anything else, it is not my place as a doctor to meddle."
The dark secrets of the Liao family's inner quarters were even messier than those of the Guo family. If they were truly uncovered, who knew what kind of storm it would cause.
Song Jinzhao couldn't be bothered to waste her time interfering. With that kind of free time, she might as well open a few more shops and make more money.
Watching the figure of Song Jinzhao riding away on horseback, Liao Xiwen furrowed her delicate brows, biting her lip and smudging her exquisite rouge.
Returning to Chunshui Courtyard, Kong Wanru asked, "Did you find out anything?"
Liao Xiwen shook her head. "Miss Song just has her doubts. She believes it's impossible for you to miscarry so many times for no reason."
Thinking of how Guo Yiyao had been schemed against in every possible way by Liu Fufeng, she hesitated before speaking. "Mother, if the previous miscarriages were truly the result of someone's schemes, could it be Concubine Su?"
As soon as she said it, she felt it was unlikely and couldn't help but speculate, "She has always been very respectful to you over the years. Besides eldest brother, she hasn't given birth to any other children and has also miscarried three times. Could it be someone else?"
When Kong Wanru thought of the children she had lost over the years, her chest ached as if pierced by thousands of needles.
"There are only so many people in the manor. Anyone who should have been investigated has been investigated long ago. You can leave first. Perhaps the heavens simply don't want me to have another child."
Liao Xiwen lowered her eyes and silently left the room. They both had only one child, yet Concubine Su's and her mother's attitudes were completely different.
After her eldest brother turned four, he was taken by their father to be personally cared for. Concubine Su would visit him three times a day to deliver things and ask after his well-being, terrified that he might feel the slightest bit unwell.
But she herself, staying by her mother's side, received far less maternal love than her eldest brother did.
Just because she was a girl, her mother didn't like her as much.
If her mother truly gave birth to a boy, would the tiny bit of care she had left disappear entirely?
Liao Xiwen supported her stomach and slowly sat down on the railing bench. Her eyes were lifeless, and deep within her pupils lay a trace of disappointment as she stared blankly at the wild grass in the courtyard.
The night was hazy. Lying in bed, Kong Wanru stared out the window with dark, gloomy eyes.
The cold wind blew against the thorny rose vines. The branches swayed, and the sharp thorns gleamed in the candlelight.
With just a light touch, they could pierce the skin and become tainted with the scent of fresh blood.
She muttered to herself, "Hasn't all these years of retribution been enough?"
"Four for one. The sinful debts of the past should have been paid off by now."
Just a quarter past the beginning of the Xu hour, Lanxi drove the carriage bringing Song Qiming back from the Ye Residence.
Song Jinzhao, who was getting ready to wash up, stood up to welcome him. "Why are you half an hour earlier than usual today?"
Song Qiming replied, "Teacher said the weather has been getting colder these past few nights. He also said that since we see each other at the academy every day, I don't need to go over in the evenings anymore. I just need to stay for half an hour after school to discuss essays. He will give me more coursework after I enter the Upper House next spring."
Song Jinzhao looked out the window to gauge the temperature. Winter hadn't even begun yet; it didn't seem that cold.
"Since that's the case, reading at home in the evenings is the same. When you want to relax, you can practice martial arts with Qingshuang and Lanxi."
Song Qiming's path in the imperial examinations was already progressing much faster than Song Jinzhao had anticipated. With his current grades and Ye Liangyu keeping an eye on him, the provincial examination in two years wouldn't be a big problem. The only question would be his ranking.
Thinking of the winter vegetable seeds currently being cultivated at the farmstead, they would have to return to Song Family Village for the New Year this year. Neither Chunxing nor Fushun had the talent for management, Qingshuang's ambitions lay elsewhere, and Lanxi was too young. She had to find a capable steward to take charge as soon as possible.
