Morning light filtered through the thin mist. Outside the window, on the withered yellow grass, Xuetuan impatiently pawed at the dirt. Its anxious whimpers seemed to be urging Song Jinzhao and the others to hurry up.
"Stop making a fuss, or we won't take you out," Song Shixue, who was currently combing Song Anhao's hair, shouted outside with a glare.
Xuetuan lowered its tiger head in grievance, whimpering softly as it lay back on the ground and buried its face in its paws.
By the dining table, Qingshuang held an account book and reported, "I have already asked the farmers in the city. The droughts and rainy seasons recorded in the account book did indeed happen, but the actual situation was much milder than what is written. It was nowhere near a fifty percent reduction in crop yield, at most ten percent."
Song Jinzhao put down her spoon. She suddenly felt that the fresh meat wonton she was chewing wasn't as delicious as before. It had a bitter taste that made it hard to swallow.
Did the Emperor reward them with these two estates on purpose, or was he himself unaware of this situation?
Now that they had fallen into her hands, there was no way she would let a thousand acres of land remain unprofitable. She absolutely had to go take a look this time.
By the time they finished packing, the sun had already leapt out from behind the clouds. Song Shixue picked up her younger brother and got into the carriage. Xuetuan, wearing a collar, jumped onto the carriage frame, waiting to be let loose once they were out of the city.
The carriage slowly headed toward the outer city. According to the location marked on the deed, it would take a little less than two hours to reach the estate after leaving the city.
After leaving the city, Xuetuan couldn't hold back and jumped down from the carriage. Lanxi hurriedly tied a rope to it and handed it to Song Jinzhao. Even though it was only eleven months old, its body was already the size of half a cow. If it really exerted its strength, a single person wouldn't be able to hold it back at all.
"Aooo~" It howled as it ran, scaring the migratory birds in the surrounding woods into taking flight for their lives.
In a nearby official estate, Dong Yuanbin, who was personally leading people to build a greenhouse, alertly straightened his back and looked around. "Why does it sound like I just heard a tiger's roar?"
A subordinate with hands full of mud roughly wiped the smelly sweat off his face. "My Lord must have heard wrong. How could there be tigers around here?"
For dozens of miles around, it was all farmland. Not even the shadow of a mountain could be seen, so where would a tiger come from?
Dong Yuanbin thought about it and agreed. "I probably misheard. A few days ago, I went to the Ye residence to seek advice from County Princess Linghui. They actually raise a tiger, a white one at that. It's incredibly fierce, with teeth longer than my fingers."
He had a nightmare that very night after returning.
He dreamed that he was eaten by that white tiger, without even a bone left behind. The scene was extremely bloody.
He was jolted awake in terror, covered in a cold sweat, and couldn't fall back asleep for a long time. Even now, it still cast a shadow over him.
Subordinate: "I heard that County Princess Linghui started out as a hunter. She has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of fierce tigers and bears, so it's not surprising that she raises a tiger."
"Exactly. You didn't see it, but even County Princess Linghui's youngest brother, a mere three-year-old child, dared to ride on the tiger's back and show off. He really has guts."
"Aooo~"
Dong Yuanbin, who was just about to look at the blueprints, abruptly looked up into the distance and scolded with a solemn expression, "Nobody make a sound. Be quiet."
The people busy working around him instantly froze in place, motionless.
What was wrong? Why was he getting angry out of nowhere?
"Aooo~" This time the sound was much clearer, and quite a few people heard it.
The subordinate's eyes widened in horror, looking as if they were about to pop out.
"It really is a tiger's roar!" In broad daylight, and so close to the city walls, how could there be a tiger?
After confirming it was indeed a tiger, Dong Yuanbin hurriedly started running and urged the crowd, "Quickly put down your things and hide inside the house."
A large group of people swarmed toward the nearby brick house, tightly shutting the front door and blocking it with cabinets.
They looked outside through the windows, their hands tightly gripping the window frames, ready to lock them at a moment's notice.
Seeing people in the distance running out of the greenhouses to look around, Song Jinzhao shook the rope. "Xuetuan, stop howling."
Last year, the imperial court popularized the methods for building vegetable greenhouses among the commoners. This year, as winter approached, some people in the capital had already started building them.
"Awoo." Xuetuan shook its head reluctantly.
Its eyesight was poor to begin with, and with this movement, it stumbled and fell straight into a nearby ditch.
By the time it climbed out, it was covered in dirt, its white fur soiled, and it rolled on the ground in grievance.
Song Jinzhao furrowed her brows and shouted behind her, "Shixue, let Anhao come down."
Song Shixue pitied the little white tiger for being born with impaired vision and low intelligence, so she spoiled it rotten and indulged it in everything.
Song Qiming was too busy to get close to it, and Song Jinzhao liked to suppress it with force.
Instead, it was the youngest, Song Anhao, who could subdue the white tiger without lifting a finger. The child was full of energy, and since there were no other children in the family, he wanted to play with Xuetuan all day long. Over time, even the tiger wanted to hide from him.
After getting out of the carriage, Song Shixue saw Xuetuan covered in dirt and helplessly went over to brush it off with her hands. "The road is so wide, yet you still managed to fall into a ditch. When we get back, I really need to give you some acupuncture."
Xuetuan nuzzled its head into Song Shixue's embrace, acting spoiled.
Once it was clean, Anhao couldn't wait to climb onto the tiger's back. Grinning widely, he grabbed the collar around its neck and patted the tiger's rear with his hand.
Waving his short arm forward like a general, he cried, "Charge, Xuetuan~"
After hiding for quite a while without seeing any tiger approach and hearing no more sounds, the people inside the house looked at each other in dismay. Some began to doubt if they had misheard, wondering if it was a wild dog barking instead of a tiger roaring.
Another long moment passed, and there was no movement outside at all.
Dong Yuanbin thought for a moment, pointed at the door blocked by the cabinets, and said, "Open the door."
Everyone huddled together as they walked out of the room. Dozens of heads looked around everywhere, and after waiting a good while longer, they finally relaxed.
The subordinate scratched his head and muttered, "We probably misheard. It might have just been a dog barking."
Dong Yuanbin shook his head and insisted, "It was definitely a tiger's roar. I heard it several times, there's no way I heard wrong. Let's get back to work, but assign two people to keep watch nearby, just in case."
The subordinate nodded in agreement. Whether it was a wild dog or a tiger, having someone on lookout would bring peace of mind.
With Song Anhao riding on its back, Xuetuan didn't dare move recklessly for fear of throwing him off. Its tiger head kept pace with the horse's head, and it didn't raise its head to howl anymore.
As a result, their speed slowed down. By the time they arrived at the estate, another two hours had passed.
