Chapter 259
Chapter 259
“We’ll take every basket you have!”
The soft little voice rang with magnificent generosity, as though she were buying out an entire restaurant rather than a stall of inexpensive baskets.
The vendor looked up and saw a little girl sitting on a man’s shoulders. In her beautiful dress, she looked like a tiny peach-blossom sprite. With her there, even the cold, intimidating man beneath her seemed much gentler.
“Of course, of course…”
The vendor hurriedly bundled all the baskets together.
“How much?” Jiang Yunsui asked.
“One hundred copper coins.”
The maids behind her paid. Jiang Yunsui carried no copper, only pretty little pieces of gold and silver.
The servants took the baskets.
Jiang Yunsui refused to climb down from Ji Si’s shoulders. Her short legs swung happily.
“Si Si, over there! I want candied hawthorns.”
“Si Si, I want that little fan. It’s so pretty.”
“That umbrella over there-the pink oil-paper one! It has peach blossoms and butterflies. Pretty, pretty! I want it.”
“And that hairpin. This belt is for Ji Yan’an. Si Si, is there anything you like? I’ll buy it for you. I have lots of money!”
The little girl chattered away in her soft voice. Ji Si looked cold, but indulged her in everything.
In the end, Jiang Yunsui bought him a hair crown. She bought gifts for Shuqin and Shuhua too.
She truly had no shortage of money, and she spent it freely. Whenever she saw something she liked, she bought it first and worried later about whether it was useful.
“All right, let’s go ba-”
Before she could say they should return, she spotted an acrobat troupe and excitedly slapped Ji Si’s shoulder.
“Over there! Si Si, there are acrobats over there!”
Holding a piece of sugar art, Ji Si silently carried her over.
They arrived just in time to see a performer break a huge stone slab across his chest.
She clapped excitedly, then rewarded the troupe with a small silver peanut.
These acrobats truly possessed some impressive skills. They also had performing animals: monkeys, a python, and even a talking mynah bird.
Only after Jiang Yunsui had watched to her heart’s content did they head home.
“Ji Yan’an is amazing.”
On the way back, Jiang Yunsui murmured the words with smiling eyes.
The streets were bustling today. In the past, Beizhen City had never had acrobatic performances like these.
Now the population was growing and the city was becoming safer. Once people learned to make sweet-potato vermicelli, they became willing to clear more land, grow sweet potatoes, and sell their harvest.
The common people were becoming a little more prosperous too.
It was wonderful.
She and Ji Yan’an’s people were essentially bound together now. Ji Yan’an was so capable that even little Jiang Yunsui felt proud.
Ji Si gave a quiet hum.
“Right? Right? You think so too, Si Si.”
The moment they returned to the mansion, Jiang Yunsui called out.
“Ji Yan’an! Ji Yan’an, we’re back! Come pack the peaches.”
The baskets were for officials of relatively high rank who were close to Ji Yan’an, so they needed to be arranged beautifully.
Each recipient would also receive a large watermelon.
Other groups were handled more simply. The hidden guards, Ji Si’s department, received an entire large basket to divide among themselves. Ji Yan’an’s directly subordinate Yaoguang Guard also received a full basket.
There were not enough peaches for everyone. Other divisions, such as the elite troops, would receive watermelons and similar treats, though not today.
Once everything had been packed, Ji Yan’an issued a few orders. His people would deliver the gifts to the various officials’ residences.
Jiang Yunsui gnawed on a peach. “I want to plant more Peach Trees at my estate.”
“Ji Yan’an, once all the peaches have been picked, have someone prune the branches. But don’t throw them away.”
She intended to raise new saplings from them.
Little Mushroom might not excel at everything, but she possessed a remarkable gift for growing things.
*
“These peaches came from the Young Master?”
Old General Tang returned home, saw the fruit his servants had received, and immediately brightened.
Truth be told, everyone had been thinking about the peaches and watermelons grown at that little girl’s home and the Ji Family’s residence.
Neither the Young Master nor the little girl had been there when the fruit ripened last year. The peaches hanging from the branches had been extraordinarily tempting.
After asking Nanny Zhou, one person after another had wandered over and picked a basket to take home. But there had been too many of them, and the fruit was gone in two or three days.
This year, they had been thinking about the peaches and the watermelons in that little courtyard again. But with the Young Master present, his elders had been too embarrassed to shamelessly ask for any.
And now the fruit had arrived on its own.
Old General Tang bit into a peach, then told a servant, “Cut open this watermelon and send half to my son.”
This was the flavor he remembered. In fact, the peaches tasted even better than last year’s.
Tsk. They made him want to secretly dig up a Peach Tree and transplant it into his own courtyard.
The watermelon was wonderfully refreshing too.
It was a pity his wife was not here.
The situation in Shangjing was becoming increasingly dangerous. Perhaps he should send people to bring his family here.
Elsewhere, the households that received peaches and watermelons reacted differently. Some were delighted; others wore miserable expressions.
“You… You could have saved me some! You ate all of it?”
At one vice general’s residence, the officer returned to learn that every peach and watermelon sent by the Young Master was gone. The news filled him with anguish.
His wife smiled awkwardly. “The children liked them too much. They couldn’t stop themselves and finished everything.”
That was what happened when a family had so many children.
At the military camp, Chiliarch Lin was on duty when Little Mushroom’s treats arrived: a basket of peaches and five watermelons.
The moment they were delivered, all his men surged forward. No one said a word. They simply stared at him with pleading eyes.
Chiliarch Lin still commanded some authority.
He took out two peaches. “Divide the rest among the men.”
His subordinates instantly cheered and began showering him with flattery.
“Chiliarch Lin, following you was the best choice we ever made.”
“Exactly. Miss treats us so well. Didn’t she send peaches last year too?”
“And these watermelons! I had some last year and haven’t stopped thinking about them. Who has ever seen watermelons like these? Other than the rind, you can eat practically everything.”
Chiliarch Lin said, “Remember to spit out the seeds.”
“We know, we know.”
The Cook Battalion also received a basket of peaches and several watermelons.
Everyone else envied the few groups that had received fruit.
They wanted some too.
The next day, everyone had reason to celebrate.
Ji Yan’an had acquired several pigs to give the troops an extra helping of meat!
There was meat at the Ji Mansion too, though they ate mutton rather than pork.
Mutton was served for lunch, and Jiang Yunsui once again succeeded in stuffing herself.
She released an enormous burp, then stared at Ji Yan’an as he ate.
Under her gaze, Ji Yan’an had no choice but to eat a little more.
“Ji Yan’an, are you busy today?”
He looked at her but said nothing, asking with his expression what she wanted.
Until his voice returned to normal, he would avoid speaking whenever possible.
“If you aren’t busy, let’s go to my estate.”
She had never visited it before.
When she thought about it, the estate was her property. She was still so young, yet she already owned an estate of her own.
How proud she was!