Thingyan

Ch 13: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

Hot Spring Bathhouse (1)

Considering that in the previous round, he had not only wrecked the room but also demolished a wall, conservatively speaking, he had probably increased the staff’s workload by thirtyfold.

So after being teleported into the stage, Yi Han waited to see what insane debuff the system would give him this time.

Unexpectedly, after waiting several seconds, no notification came.

Yi Han suddenly formed a reasonable suspicion: could it be that because he had demolished the wall and exposed the system’s shoddy construction, the system had suddenly become too ashamed to retaliate against him…

Even so, Yi Han did not let his guard down. This game was extremely cunning. Who knew what other traps might be waiting later?

Yi Han was currently in what should be the front hall of the hot spring bathhouse.

The lights were bright, and the space was broad and clean. A red carpet covered the floor. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Beside them was the front desk registration area, where a female NPC stood behind the counter, smiling and waiting.

There were several people beside Yi Han as well. They should all be players in this round. Apart from them, there were no other customers in the hall.

After briefly scanning the room, Yi Han silently memorized the identities of the other seven people: a family of three, a pair of female friends, and a couple.

These identities probably had not been assigned by the system, because with one glance, Yi Han could tell that they must have teamed up beforehand. It seemed that aside from him, everyone had already unlocked the friend and party-queue functions. They had all found fixed teammates they considered reliable before challenging Hard Mode together.

As the only single dog, Yi Han immediately felt everyone’s admiring gazes.

Apparently, none of them had imagined that someone could accumulate enough points to open Hard Mode after clearing only one One-Star instance. Thus, they all unanimously believed this person must be confident in his own abilities to dare come challenge it alone.

“Guests, please register your information here,” the female NPC behind the reception desk gently urged, clearly not intending to leave the players time to exchange information.

But this round should still have plenty of time later. Everyone would probably still be together for a while. They exchanged glances, then stepped forward one by one to speak with the NPC.

Yi Han was last in line.

By the time it was his turn, everyone else had already finished registering.

“May I ask for your name or code name?” the NPC asked while operating the computer.

…Code name?

Yi Han paused slightly.

If the NPC asked this, then either one of the previous players had hidden their true personal information, forcing the NPC to ask everyone like this…

Or she was hinting to them that there was something significant about “true names” in this game.

Yi Han had seen movies like that before. Once ghosts or monsters knew one’s true name, they would lock on and relentlessly hunt that person down.

Maybe this round also had a game mechanism that judged things based on names.

For caution’s sake, Yi Han also did not give his true name. He casually gave the initial of his surname instead.

“Y.”

The NPC receptionist operated the computer for a while, then said,

“Very well, Mr. Y. Your information has been registered. This is your wristband. Everyone may now go over there to change shoes. The bathing area and changing rooms are farther inside. We hope you all enjoy yourselves.”

She handed Yi Han a numbered wristband and a clip for his shoes.

When Yi Han turned around, he discovered the other players were still waiting behind him.

“Did you register your real name?” one player quietly asked him.

“What do you mean?” Yi Han did not trust them, so he did not answer and instead casually asked back.

“We all avoided using our real names, because the way she asked… it gave this feeling that we shouldn’t say our real names. But just now, this older brother shared a piece of information.”

Another player spoke with a complicated expression and pointed at the roughly thirty-year-old father with the child.

“He said he previously had two different instance experiences involving similar registration procedures, but the judgment methods in those two instances were completely opposite.”

“The first time, I wrote my real information. Then the NPC used that to assign me a high-difficulty forced task targeting my personal weakness. That round almost failed. The second time I encountered a similar situation, I gave false information instead. Later, the NPC actually used ‘lying’ as the reason to cancel one of my chances to obtain a reward.”

The young father helplessly took over the conversation and recounted his tragic experience again.

“…” Yi Han suddenly understood.

That extra line from the NPC earlier had not been a hint.

It was only maliciously muddying the waters.

And this “information registration” game process was not testing the players’ caution or judgment. It was probably just an excuse to tease players.

Whether one wrote the truth or a lie, the system could always find a reason to bully them a little.

“Then what did you fill in this time?” Yi Han asked helplessly.

“A fake name…” the young father sighed heavily, probably still grieving over the treasure he had missed because of “lying.” “What about you?”

Yi Han spread his hands.

Then the other players all sighed together again.

“Looks like all of us filled in fake names this time.”

“If this ends up like that instance you mentioned, then the system just saved itself eight rewards in one go…”

“This is too damn cunning. Stingy and cunning.”

It seemed Yi Han was not the only one. The other players had also long been full of complaints about this game system.

While chatting quietly, the group changed their shoes at the edge of the hall. Then, following the signs, they each entered the changing rooms.

“I wonder if there are staff NPCs in the bathroom. That little room of ours doesn’t even have a shower. My whole family hasn’t bathed in days…” the young father casually complained to his teammates.

“Right? Same here. I feel filthy,” another male teammate immediately chimed in.

“Ugh… and every time we finish a stage, we’re covered in sweat,” the young father said. Then he turned to his own child. His child was a five-year-old boy, so he followed him into the men’s bath area. “Son, let’s scrub properly later. After that, Dad will get you a milk essential oil treatment.”

The five-year-old probably had no idea what milk essential oil was, but when he heard they could bathe, he immediately said happily,

“Okay, okay! I want a bath! I want milk!”

The two adults and one child chatted happily, stripped at lightning speed, locked their lockers, and rushed off to the bathing area.

At that moment, Yi Han had not even started taking off his shirt…

“Young brother, we’ll go first. When you come later, we’ll scrub your back!” the young father called out.

The three immediately vanished from sight.

Yi Han: “…”

It truly took great effort to hold back his comments.

Yi Han had already found the locker matching his wristband number, but he had not hurried to change because he still wanted to search the changing room.

As the first scene after entering the bathhouse, his intuition told him there should be some useful information here.

After walking several circles around the rows of lockers, he indeed discovered a small stack of promotional brochures in the corner of a counter by the wall.

Yi Han picked one up and flipped through it, immediately finding the floor plan of the hot spring bathhouse.

This bathhouse was built near a hot spring source in the suburbs and occupied a very large area.

Yi Han’s current location was the first area entered from the main hall: the bathing area plus changing rooms.

After washing in this area and exiting, the dining area was on the left. Next to that were the indoor hot spring area and sauna rooms. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Going out through the door on the right would lead to the outdoor hot spring area.

Behind all these areas, occupying the largest space, was the water park. It included recreational facilities such as water slides and a wave pool, as well as resting areas.

According to the brochure, this hot spring bathhouse could receive up to 3,000 guests per day.

Items inside this kind of game scene could not be placed into the system inventory. Yi Han could not take the brochure with him, so he had to firmly memorize the information.

The changing room was quite large, but after walking around earlier, he had already claimed the exploration percentage for this room. Aside from the floor plan, there did not seem to be any other information.

So Yi Han returned to his locker and prepared to change clothes.

“Bro, does your area have any bath loofahs? Bring us one!”

“And a scrubbing towel!”

“Yeah! Bro, hurry up and come over. The water’s really warm. They actually have milk essential oil! Too bad there’s no NPC to do the scrubbing. Come here, we’ll scrub your back!”

Hearing the two loud voices coming from the neighboring shower area entrance, Yi Han’s hand, which had been in the middle of removing his shirt, instantly stopped.

Hmm, how exactly should one describe this feeling?

Yi Han: …I often feel out of place among you players because I am not relaxed or carefree enough. ：-）

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

TOC

Ch 12: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

Endless Stairway (7)

This single door nearly emptied what little money Yi Han had left.

Although he was trying to squeeze every single point possible out of instances to save up that 100 million, he also knew very well that money was earned, not saved.

Secretly doing business in the system’s surveillance blind spot was ultimately not a long-term plan. If the outside world really was a complete, real parallel world like reality, then sooner or later, he would need to rent back the original physical storefront of the restaurant.

Only by running both the physical shop and the online shop together could he truly grow the business.

The “door” leading to the outside world really did look like an actual door.

After Yi Han bought it, a door icon appeared in his inventory, and a prompt indicated that the “door” had to be installed on a flat, unobstructed wall.

Yi Han installed it, and the countdown began.

【This product’s duration is: 10 minutes. Please pay attention to the time and return to your room promptly. If the player has not returned before the next instance draw, the player will be judged to have failed the “Real Escape Game” challenge.】

Ten minutes was not long.

Yi Han wasted no more time. He set an alarm on his phone, opened the door, and walked through.

Outside the door was a mass of chaotic fog.

After passing through it, a small road appeared before him, the kind most commonly seen inside residential communities.

It was just past 2 AM. The sky was still very dark, with no stars and no moon. Dim streetlights stood along the roadside. Trees were planted beside the road, their leaves rustling in the breeze.

Yi Han turned back and saw the place he had just exited from: an ordinary-looking high-rise residential building.

The building looked like a Rubik’s cube, probably twenty or thirty floors tall. Many rooms with exterior windows were lit.

In front of and behind this building stood many similar buildings, arranged neatly with reasonable spacing between them.

In the real world, this would already be time to sleep.

But in this infinite world, players had just finished their daily instances, and many, like Yi Han, had not rested yet.

There were scattered groups of players walking along the road. Some were heading out from the buildings, while others had just returned from outside.

And the place they were going to, or had just returned from, seemed to be in the same direction.

Yi Han controlled his expression, trying his best not to look like a newcomer. At the same time, he remained secretly vigilant and silently chose two girls who had just come out of a nearby building, following behind them.

The two girls were also heading in that direction. Yi Han had thought that perhaps the community gate was over there, and that outside it would be special facilities such as a “mission release center” or “special item auction house.”

Unexpectedly, the breeze lightly carried their conversation to Yi Han’s ears, and he vaguely heard words like “stinky tofu” and “roast lamb leg”…

This suddenly gave him a very unreliable guess…

The two girls passed between two buildings and turned a corner.

Yi Han followed behind them.

Before he even got close, he seemed to hear lively human voices coming from that direction.

It sounded like many people were shouting and selling things.

But what they were selling clearly was not “some powerful weapon” or “some heaven-defying ability,” but “some grilled cold noodles” and “some giant lamb skewers”…

Yi Han’s feelings instantly became extremely complicated.

Turning the corner, what suddenly appeared before him was…

A bustling snack street, so lively it resembled a vegetable market…

Just like in the real world, rows of vendors were sweating as they grilled skewers. Lines formed in front of every stall. The small roadside tables were all filled with people as well. On the tables were the players’ ordered meat skewers, beer, and stinky tofu.

The only difference was that everyone was using system points for transactions.

In just those few seconds, the two girls he had been following had already blended into the ordering crowd and vanished from sight.

“…” Yi Han suddenly felt a little lost.

“Hey, young brother, are you a newbie who bought a door to come out?” Suddenly, a boss selling teppanyaki squid called out to him.

Yi Han was startled.

Seeing that the man really was speaking to him, he inwardly thought this was bad.

That split second of surprise earlier must have made his expression slip, exposing his newcomer status. Revealing that identity in a gathering place of players was not a good thing.

He immediately slipped his hand into his inventory and gripped the handle of his pot.

Unexpectedly, the squid boss noticed his guarded look again and burst out laughing.

“Don’t be nervous, young brother. Everyone’s like that the first time. Don’t worry, security here is very good. No one’s going to attack each other.”

He had just finished making several portions of grilled squid for customers. Those players took the squid and left. Although they heard the boss’s words, they did not even glance at Yi Han.

“You’re a newbie, so you probably don’t have many points, right? Here, take this. No charge.”

The squid boss seemed to have made one extra order by mistake and very generously handed it straight to Yi Han.

Yi Han had not planned to accept it, but the boss was probably also a player working part-time as a vendor. Who knew what special item he had?

By the time Yi Han reacted, the skewer was already in his hand.

Very soon, another wave of customers surged forward. The boss paid him no further attention and continued working hard.

“The squid from this place is super delicious,” a girl passing by Yi Han turned to her best friend and said. “It’s better than that second-to-last place inside, and it’s 1 point cheaper. Let’s line up here.”

The best friend beside her immediately said, “Okay, okay.”

Yi Han had originally planned to keep walking forward and look around.

But just as he took a step, he suddenly heard the two casually sigh behind him:

“Ugh, if we’re talking about delicious food, the best was still that braised pork in the beginner stage…”

Yi Han immediately slowed his step and pricked up his ears.

“Yeah… But the forum says that shop appears and disappears unpredictably.”

“Players like us who’ve already passed the beginner stage can only go back through newcomer assistance missions. But this week’s slots are already used up. If we want to eat it again, we probably have to wait until next week, and who knows if we’ll even catch it open…”

The two sighed for a moment, but only said those few lines before happily chatting about other foods again.

Yi Han had not expected to encounter his own customers the very first time he came out. Thoughtful, he continued down the snack street for a while.

Unexpectedly, after passing several tables of players eating and chatting, he actually heard people mention his shop’s HP-restoring braised pork again.

Everyone’s opinion was remarkably consistent.

They all praised it as especially delicious.

The door only lasted ten minutes. Yi Han had barely walked around for a short while before time was almost up.

To avoid tragedy, he had no choice but to leave first.

……

Even after returning to his own room, Yi Han still felt somewhat confused.

The ecosystem of the Main God World was similar to the real world. He had already guessed that.

But the mental state of the players temporarily living in this Main God World was something he had not expected…

In his previous imagination, players who had died violently and then been dragged into this kind of real escape game…

Shouldn’t they all be bitter, vengeful, and miserable?

But from Jian Lin in the previous game, to the shop boss he had just met outside, to the ordinary players sitting on the snack street drinking beer, eating skewers, and chatting, why did they all seem so…

Relaxed, friendly, and Buddhist?

Although the game itself also felt somewhat Buddhist, neither cruel and bloody nor dark and treacherous, and sometimes even seemed like it was teasing the players for fun, there was still danger and pressure.

Yet the players outside his door were Buddhist to this degree.

And compared to the “healing” ability of his braised pork, everyone was actually more focused on how delicious it tasted.

This even made Yi Han feel like perhaps he was the only person in the game seriously trying to clear stages and desperately save up that 100 million points…

Fortunately, this trip outside had yielded other gains as well.

“What are the ‘forum’ and ‘newcomer assistance missions’?” Yi Han directly asked the system.

He had heard those two terms from the passing girls, but these functions were clearly not yet available in his system.

【The forum is a communication community provided by the game system for players. It requires clearing at least two One-Star instances before being unlocked together with social functions such as “Add Friend” and “Invite Duo Queue.”】

【Newcomer assistance missions refer to veteran players returning to low-level instances to help new players clear them. They can only be unlocked after successfully unlocking Two-Star instances.】

As expected, neither of these could currently be unlocked by him.

But these functions, filled with a friendly atmosphere, once again made Yi Han feel confused about this game that should logically have been full of open and hidden conflict, mutual slaughter, and scheming.

Speaking of which, based on what those passersby said, his online shop’s reputation seemed to have already spread through the forum.

Yi Han did not know whether this was good or bad.

After all, the more famous it became, the more likely his rule-breaking shop would be discovered by the game company.

“I need to unlock the forum as soon as possible and see what’s going on.”

Thinking this, Yi Han immediately decided:

“I’ll sleep first. Once Hard Mode officially activates, I’ll immediately enter and clear the next stage.”

…

After one night of rest, the new instance was now displayed as available to enter.

【Stage Name: Hot Spring Bathhouse (One-Star Hard)】

【Number of Players: 8】

【Stage Description: You and your company coworkers are participating in a departmental team-building event, only to end up locked inside a haunted hot spring bathhouse. Please find the path to survival and the key, and escape before midnight.】

【Clear Reward: 200 points (base reward)】

【Failure Penalty: Remain forever in the hot spring bathhouse, accompanied by vengeful ghosts.】

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

TOC

Ch 11: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

Endless Stairway (6)

“Yi Han, we succeeded…………” So the flushed-faced Jian Lin, still breathing hard from the rapid fall, turned his head and saw his beautiful teammate’s real appearance.

Under the bright moonlight stood a man with refined, handsome features and calm eyes…

One could still vaguely recognize the breathtakingly beautiful outline from before, except now the long hair had become short hair, the chest was flat, the waist was slim, and the legs were long…

…Why was it a man?! And one half a head taller than himself at that???

All the color instantly drained from Jian Lin’s face… every word that had reached his lips got forcibly swallowed back down.

“You… y-you you…”

“What?” This man, still half a head taller than him, had not even let go of the arm he grabbed while jumping off the building. He casually asked, “What were you trying to say just now? Why’d you stop?”

Jian Lin really had wanted to say something.

But now the only subtitles floating through his brain were “QAQ” and “TAT.”

He genuinely had never met a girl who combined so many contradictory traits into one person. Beautiful, intelligent, cold yet polite, gentle yet vicious, decisive, fearless in danger, astonishingly bold…

He originally could have praised pretty little sister with another hundred compliments.

But could someone please tell him why pretty little sister suddenly turned into a man right after leaving the instance…

Jian Lin only felt his world collapse as dizziness overwhelmed him and his vision went black.

“……” Yi Han suddenly felt his hand empty.

Jian Lin: disconnected on the spot.

…And as the person who theoretically should have been the embarrassed one, Yi Han remained utterly expressionless even after leaving the instance, without the slightest trace of guilt.

Yi Han: Ever since entering this game, it somehow feels like my skin’s gotten thicker and my moral standards lower too. ：-）

【Now beginning reward settlement…】

【Instance cleared. Base points: +200】

【Clear contribution: 80%, ranked first among all players. Bonus points: +100】

【Scene exploration: 100%. Bonus points: +50】

【NPCs eliminated: 3. Bonus points: +30】

【Total points earned this instance: 380】

【Clear Rating: S】

When settling a One-Star instance, there was one additional category compared to the beginner level, called “Clear Contribution.”

The app explained it as:

“Calculated comprehensively according to the player’s exploration of the instance rules, the amount of effective clues obtained during gameplay, and the order in which players successfully escape. After calculating the percentage, bonus points are awarded according to ranking among all players. However, players with 0% contribution will instead lose points.”

And because of this new category, the original “Exploration Progress” category was further specified into “Scene Exploration Progress,” distinguishing it from the newly added “Rule Exploration Progress.”

This made Yi Han feel that future instances probably would no longer feature situations where he was the only player.

Because the “Contribution” category clearly existed for situations involving multiple players clearing together.

In this instance, “Endless Stairway,” Yi Han’s contribution had been 80%.

At first glance that already seemed extremely high, but after thinking about it carefully, something felt off.

Because if one truly examined it closely, this instance had basically been pushed forward entirely by Yi Han himself from start to finish.

Before jumping off the rooftop together with him, Jian Lin had only done two things:

At the start of the instance, he provided two hidden rules.

Those two rules had been accurate and indeed extremely helpful for clearing the instance. But they most likely would not be counted toward contribution percentage.

Because such explicitly defined death conditions would inevitably have been discovered during the exploration process by normal players following ordinary clearing methods anyway.

Jian Lin merely revealed them early, saving time, but not actually advancing the instance progression itself.

After opening the doors containing ghost NPCs, he participated in all three forced missions.

This likewise was clearly not a required process for normal instance completion, and therefore would not count toward contribution.

Thus, the reason Jian Lin received 20% instead of getting penalized with 0% was entirely because he jumped off the rooftop simultaneously with Yi Han, leading the system to judge that the two escaped successfully at the same time without differentiating ranking.

Recalling how firmly Jian Lin insisted on jumping together…

Now that Yi Han thought about it, if Jian Lin was not entering a One-Star instance for the first time, then he should already know the contribution rules.

In that case, his actions were not about “sharing risk with a teammate” at all, but rather a hypocritical excuse to avoid losing points.

On the other hand, if he truly had not known…

Then this person might genuinely be the sort of pure-hearted boy supposedly protected too well by his family.

People like that generally did not survive long in escape games. The fact he avoided point deductions this time could only be considered blind luck.

As for which possibility was the truth, Yi Han could not be bothered to investigate.

Regardless of whether his contribution was 100% or 80%, he still ranked first, and not a single point less ended up in his pocket.

And Jian Lin had indeed been useful.

Without those absurdly lucky hands of his knocking on doors… Yi Han might not have farmed thirty points from three NPCs, and the recipe might also have been lost.

So Yi Han felt the result was perfectly reasonable.

After the settlement ended, Yi Han rested briefly. Feeling not particularly tired yet, he began researching how to unlock Two-Star instances.

Previously, the requirement for unlocking One-Star instances had been clearing a beginner instance with at least a C-rank rating.

That condition had practically no difficulty. As long as a player did not die in the beginner instance, they could easily meet it.

But upgrading from One-Star to Two-Star was far more difficult.

【Requirements to unlock Two-Star instances: Clear at least one One-Star instance with a rating of B or above, and accumulate a total of at least 1000 points.】

Yi Han had earned 179 points in “Closed Classroom” and 380 in “Endless Stairway,” bringing his current total to 559 points.

The secretly earned delivery-food points clearly did not count.

To reach 1000, he would still need to clear at least two more One-Star instances.

“This is too slow.”

Yi Han frowned.

But 380 points in a One-Star instance was probably already close to the limit. A violent player like himself could achieve numbers like that, but ordinary players likely only earned around 200 or so each run.

“How can one obtain more points in a single instance?” he directly asked the system.

The system quickly responded.

【Players who have cleared same-rank instances with an A-rank or above may attempt to activate “Hard Mode.” In Hard Mode, settlement points will receive a 1.5x difficulty multiplier, and there is a chance to obtain special abilities or rare items.】

【Compared to “Normal Mode,” Hard Mode contains larger game environments, more concealed clues, and exponentially increased escape difficulty.】

Activating “Hard Mode” required 500 points.

Although not expensive, Yi Han genuinely did not have the spare points.

Before entering the previous instance, he had spent over 2000 points buying the “Malice Detector” specifically to guard against fake teammates like in the beginner instance.

And then his previous teammate turned out to be a harmless little white flower, meaning the detector never got used once…

“Hard Mode” was definitely something he intended to activate.

Yi Han first closed the app’s instance-history page, directly summoned the “Former Owner’s Resentful Spirit,” and once again began his grand money-making enterprise.

Now his recipe book contained two dishes: “Braised Pork” and “Honey-Glazed Chicken Legs.”

Compared to the healing properties of “Braised Pork,” a buff increasing jumping ability was not especially competitive.

Still, something was better than nothing. Perhaps certain future instances would happen to require precisely that kind of buff.

Yi Han added both dishes to the online store menu, pricing each at 50 points, then had the former owner open the ordering channel.

Immediately, endless streams of orders flooded the backend.

Yi Han once again repeated the monotonous yet blissful cycle of:

Cooking → collecting money.

……

This time too, he only operated the shop for one hour before temporarily closing it.

He earned another 2000+ points.

Yi Han immediately activated “Hard Mode” through the system. However, activation still required over twenty hours of waiting, meaning he would be able to freely choose the mode the next time he entered an instance.

By now it was already deep into the night.

Ordinarily he should have rested and conserved energy for the next instance, but Yi Han had only recently jumped off a building and then immediately earned several thousand points afterward. His nerves still remained in an oddly excited state.

The small room he occupied had neither doors nor windows, so he could not see the outside world.

Now, with nothing to do for the moment, Yi Han suddenly felt an impulse to see the world outside the room within the Main God Space.

“I think I saw an item in the shop before that only beginners could buy.”

After a quick search, Yi Han found it.

【Door】

【Quality: C-Rank】

【Condition: Brand New】

【Description: Opens a door leading to the outside world. Can only be used inside rooms within the Main God Space. Duration: 10 minutes.】

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

TOC

Ch 10: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

Endless Stairway (5)

【Current instance exploration progress: 90%.】

The 4 rooms, plus the corridor stretching from the 6th floor down to Floor -20, added up to exactly 90%.

And as for the remaining 10%, Yi Han now already knew what it was.

It was the rooftop that had just finally revealed its path.

He calmed himself, inserted the key into the old rooftop door, and gave it a gentle twist.

The door opened.

Earlier, on Floor -18, when facing the window, he had kept his eyes shut and therefore never saw what lay outside. But now, standing atop the normal 6th-floor rooftop, he suddenly recalled that bone-chilling coldness that had made every hair on his body stand on end back then.

As the rooftop of a ghost building inside an escape game…

Would the scenery up there really look normal?

Yi Han exhaled slowly, slipped his hand into the virtual system inventory to ensure he could pull out the iron pot at any moment, and only then pushed the door open completely.

Unexpectedly, the first thing he saw really was a starry sky exactly like one from the normal world.

The night was not gloomy at all. Instead, it looked as though rain had just washed it clean. Without the smog of a large city, the sky was filled with stars, and the moonlight was bright and beautiful.

Aside from a thin layer of standing water, there was nothing special on the rooftop. No people either. The atmosphere was peaceful and quiet, with the lingering scent of recent rain drifting through the air.

Farther away stood several other buildings of similar style.

If not for the fact that every single window was pitch black without a single light on, one might genuinely mistake this place for the real world.

“There’s nothing up here… so where exactly is the escape route?” Yi Han swept his gaze around once more. Not to mention anything resembling a door, there was not even any trash lying around.

But the system had indeed stated that the rooftop key was the “key to survival.”

No matter how twisted the system was, it should not lie about something like this here.

As Yi Han pondered, he approached the low wall at the rooftop’s edge and glanced downward.

Around the base of the ghost building, the ground was also covered in patches of rainwater. The water clearly reflected the building itself, along with the star-filled night sky.

…Something felt wrong.

Yi Han frowned slightly, sensing something. Suddenly, he leaned his entire upper body over the wall, finally bringing the full structure of the building beneath him into view.

Inside this ghost building, there had been three ghost NPCs, located respectively in Rooms -2001, -1801, and -1802.

All the other rooms, including those from Floors 1 through 6 above ground, had been empty.

And what Yi Han saw now was exactly that: a residential building where every window was completely dark.

Yet even though the distance made things somewhat blurry, Yi Han was absolutely certain that in one of the windows reflected in the water earlier, a light had clearly been on!

Was the building reflected on the water’s surface… truly a reflection?!

Inside the building, only the rooms containing ghost NPCs had their lights on. But all their windows had originally been covered by curtains. Only Room -1802 had its curtains opened because Yi Han had lost the Truth or Dare challenge and pulled them open with his eyes closed.

So the illuminated window reflected in the water had to be Room -1802.

And the reflected floors and rooms were those that had inexplicably appeared beneath the first floor, the rooms of the inner world marked with negative floor numbers.

…But even knowing this, how would it help them escape the ghost building?

Yi Han still remembered the instinctive shiver he had felt while standing before that window. Even relying purely on intuition, he knew that the standing water was definitely not something good.

And now, although the water downstairs was shallow, patch after patch connected together, surrounding the entire building.

For no reason at all, Yi Han suddenly felt that this level might not actually possess an escape route.

Because under normal circumstances, if players wanted to leave the ghost building, whether by door or window, they would inevitably have to step into that water.

There had to still be some clue they had not discovered.

Yi Han’s gaze darkened as thoughts raced through his mind.

Finally, after changing angles several times, he saw it.

The one patch of water that was different.

“It’s almost midnight… huh? This water…” Jian Lin spoke halfway before following Yi Han’s line of sight, immediately noticing the strange nature of the puddles below.

“All the other puddles reflect the underground floors. Only this one is different. Is that the exit?” Jian Lin murmured. “But… the system said the rooftop was the correct path to survival. So how are we supposed to go directly from the rooftop into that puddle?”

Yi Han did not answer.

He only stared at the puddle for a moment before suddenly curling his lips into a smile.

Without realizing it, several hours had already passed in this instance. Having roughly figured things out, Yi Han relaxed slightly.

And then, suddenly, he felt hungry.

Checking the time, he saw it was 23:30. Only half an hour remained before the final deadline.

So he casually took out the “Honey-Glazed Chicken Leg” he had prepared earlier from his system inventory, set it atop the low wall, and slowly began eating.

Jian Lin… though shocked by how relaxed he was acting, only looked at him a few times as though wanting to speak before leaning against the wall again and continuing to rack his brains for an escape method.

After Yi Han finished eating and felt the enhancement effect begin to activate, he stood up.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“You thought of something?” Jian Lin froze. “…There’s no door on the first floor, and we can’t get out through the windows either. The rooftop’s this high. How are we supposed to get there?”

“Jump down,” Yi Han replied.

Jian Lin immediately sucked in a cold breath.

“D-Don’t act impulsively. There should be another way. And even though that puddle is suspicious, we still can’t be sure it’s definitely the exit…” What if the system intentionally placed it there to mislead them?

Yi Han understood what he meant.

Actually, Yi Han also felt that given how devious the system was… pulling something like that was entirely possible.

But Yi Han likewise did not believe the building’s doors or windows were viable escape routes.

Sometimes overthinking things only led people into traps where cleverness backfired upon itself. The game system seemed especially fond of tricks like that.

So Yi Han chose to trust only his own judgment.

Since no other escape route had been discovered, then the only remaining possibility must be the real one.

Jian Lin was still hesitating, but Yi Han had never intended to persuade him in the first place. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. So without further explanation, he climbed onto the low wall alone, facing directly toward the only puddle that appeared normal.

From this angle, the moon reflected perfectly upon the water’s surface.

The summer night breeze brushed gently against his face, warm and comfortable.

“I’m going with you.”

Unexpectedly, once Jian Lin realized Yi Han was serious, he gritted his teeth and climbed onto the wall as well, standing shoulder to shoulder beside him.

This genuinely surprised Yi Han. Almost unconsciously, he reminded him:

“…You know the system broadcasts notices whether players clear the game or die, right?”

The implication being: since you’re still uncertain, just obediently stay behind and let your teammate scout ahead for you. Once Yi Han jumped, whether the route was real or fake would become obvious. Wouldn’t it be smarter for Jian Lin to jump afterward? Coming out now was just stupid.

But Jian Lin had clearly already thought of that.

“…I know. But I can’t let a girl take the risk first while I hide behind waiting for a free carry. If we’re clearing the game together, then we should bear the risk together.”

Yi Han: …

For a moment, he genuinely did not know what to say.

He focused his gaze on the mirror-like puddle below.

The puddle actually lay a slight distance away from the building. Under normal circumstances, an adult trying hard enough could probably make the jump.

But now they were leaping from a six-story rooftop. Yi Han had never jumped from a building before and had no idea whether there was some special trick to landing accurately. Eating the Honey-Glazed Chicken Leg had merely been because the level was about to end anyway. He honestly did not even know whether it would help.

As for Jian Lin, his smaller, weaker build suggested he was probably not the athletic type. The distance might actually be difficult for him.

“Jumping.”

Yi Han grabbed Jian Lin’s arm.

Without saying anything more, he pulled him forward and leapt toward the puddle.

In an instant, the feeling of weightlessness crashed over them.

Heartbeat accelerating. Cold wind rushing against their faces.

Many people had probably experienced something similar before. In moments of excitement, fear, or extreme tension, the heart races, the senses sharpen, and time itself seems to slow.

Falling from over twenty meters in the air should have taken only two or three seconds before impact.

Yet time seemed endlessly stretched.

The scenery before them, the smells around them, even the sensation of wind scraping against their skin all became incomparably vivid.

Yi Han stared fixedly at the puddle that formed their path to survival, judging the exact landing point.

After the long descent, their bodies finally passed through a gentle curtain of water.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them found themselves standing before an entirely ordinary residential building.

The standing water on the ground had disappeared.

Behind them stood the now-normal apartment entrance.

Looking upward, they could still see the windows remaining completely dark.

But now, the impossible staircases beneath the building’s first floor should have vanished.

“A world inside another world. And this difficulty was only a one-star instance.”

Yi Han inwardly scoffed.

Then he heard the system prompt.

【Instance complete. Debuff: Soft and Adorable Crossdressing Illusion has expired.】

【Congratulations. You have successfully escaped the instance: Endless Stairway (One-Star)!】

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

TOC

Ch 115 (Extra 1): The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Two Years Later

Two years later, in the height of summer, it was once again time for the winter wheat harvest.

The weather was clear that day, with not a cloud in the sky.

Early in the morning, imperial guards had already sealed off the roads from Zuque Avenue outside the palace gates all the way to the southern districts of the capital. Archers were hidden on the second floors and rooftops of many inns and teahouses along the route.

When the common people saw such an imposing display, they immediately knew something important was happening.

“Officer, what’s going on today?” an older man asked anxiously, carrying two baskets suspended from a shoulder pole. “I need to get through.”

The guard holding a spear glanced at him.

“Don’t ask questions. The roads will reopen later.”

“When will that be?” the man protested. “I still need to get to the market to do business!”

“I don’t know. Just wait for now,” the guard replied.

Many people who heard that the area was under lockdown came over out of curiosity. Unable to find out what was happening, they could only wait expectantly.

Outside the palace gates, the commander of the Imperial Guards rode at the front atop a magnificent horse, leading the procession.

Behind him marched rows upon rows of Imperial Guards clad in armor, carrying spears and bows, escorting the bright yellow imperial carriage as it slowly exited the palace.

Following the emperor’s carriage were the carriages of civil and military officials, led by Prime Minister Shen.

Today was the emperor’s day to inspect the realm.

This activity had been proposed by Regent Lu Huaizhou, who wanted the young emperor to witness the flourishing prosperity of Great Sheng with his own eyes, observe the lives of the common people, and gain a better understanding of their circumstances.

Initially, many officials had opposed the idea out of concern for the emperor’s safety. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. However, Lu Huaizhou had overcome all objections, and since the young emperor himself had been eager to leave the palace and see the world outside, the proposal was ultimately approved.

They wouldn’t be traveling far today, only touring the areas surrounding the capital.

This was the first time the young emperor had left the palace since he was old enough to remember, and he was extremely excited.

At fourteen years old, traces of childishness still lingered on his face, but he had already cultivated a steady and composed demeanor. His performance in court had also become increasingly capable and mature.

Yet this was still his very first trip outside the palace.

No matter how hard he tried to remain dignified, the bright excitement in his eyes was impossible to hide. At this moment, the youthful spirit within him was fully exposed.

From the instant they passed through the palace gates, his gaze had remained fixed on the carriage window.

Whenever the curtains fluttered in the breeze, he would peer through the gaps to take in everything outside.

The roads.

The buildings lining both sides of the street.

The commoners kneeling as soldiers held them back.

Tilting his head slightly, he curiously observed the scenery, so utterly different from the world inside the palace.

Everything fascinated him.

If Regent Lu Huaizhou hadn’t been sitting right beside him, he would probably have pressed himself against the window to look outside.

The imperial carriage was pulled by six horses, making the ride remarkably stable.

The spacious interior contained seating on three sides, with a small tea table placed in the center.

Eunuch Wu knelt nearby, attentively preparing tea.

The young emperor glanced at Lu Huaizhou.

Seeing that the Regent was quietly reading a book, the emperor cautiously stretched his neck a little farther, hoping to glimpse more of the outside world.

After some time, the carriage came to a stop.

The curtains fell back into place, blocking the emperor’s curious gaze.

“We’ve arrived at the Regent’s residence,” Lu Huaizhou said after lifting the curtain to take a look outside.

At that moment, a voice sounded from beyond the carriage.

“Your subject, Jiang Ji, respectfully greets Your Majesty.”

The emperor’s eyes lit up immediately.

“Beloved minister, please come aboard!”

The front curtain was drawn aside.

Jiang Ji entered with a smile, dressed in simple blue robes. He bowed with clasped hands.

“Your Majesty.”

“Please, have a seat.”

Jiang Ji sat down opposite them and exchanged a glance with Lu Huaizhou.

The two smiled at each other.

The emperor noticed keenly that after Duke Chang boarded the carriage, the Regent set aside the book he had been reading.

From that moment on, all of Lu Huaizhou’s attention was fixed entirely on Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji noticed how curious the emperor was about the outside world, constantly peeking toward the carriage window. Reaching over, he simply pushed the curtain aside and hooked it onto the fastening hook, opening up a broad view outside.

“Is this Your Majesty’s first time leaving the palace?” Jiang Ji asked.

The emperor’s eyes immediately lit up. He looked gratefully at Jiang Ji and nodded.

“Yes. This is my first time leaving the palace.”

“Then this humble official will boldly serve as Your Majesty’s tour guide today.”

“I’ll have to trouble Duke Chang then.”

Smiling, Jiang Ji began introducing everything to him.

“Right now we’re traveling along Zuque Avenue. Most of the residences along this stretch belong to princes and high-ranking officials. This one here is Duke Chang’s residence. Across from it is the former Prince Xin’s Manor, which is currently vacant…”

“…That building just now was Jubao Pavilion, the capital’s finest jewelry store. Because security is tight today, there aren’t many people around. Normally, it’s much busier.

See that uncle over there? He sells sugar figurines. The person beside him sells small toys…”

The emperor asked curiously, “What does that shop sell?”

“That’s a cosmetics shop.”

“And that one?”

“That one sells the Four Treasures of the Study.”

Along the way, Jiang Ji introduced the various things sold on the streets, the shops, and the people they passed. The emperor listened with great interest. Everything outside was novel and fascinating to him, and every now and then, he would ask another question.

Lu Huaizhou watched Jiang Ji with a gentle expression as he patiently explained everything to the emperor.

Once they passed through the southern city gate, Jiang Ji began talking about the daily lives of ordinary people and the seasonal vegetables and fruits grown in the fields.

This time, they were heading to inspect a village south of the capital. After traveling by carriage for nearly an hour, they finally arrived.

It was a small village Lu Huaizhou had selected at random.

Jiang Ji stepped down from the carriage first, followed by the young emperor, with Lu Huaizhou descending last.

The village had already been notified of their visit, and government soldiers had conducted security inspections beforehand.

The emperor himself had arrived, accompanied by the Regent, Duke Chang, and numerous high officials. The villagers were understandably terrified. The village chief led the entire village in kneeling by the roadside to welcome the imperial procession.

The emperor instructed them to rise, looking curiously at the villagers.

Lu Huaizhou addressed the village chief.

“Go attend to your work. This is precisely the season for harvesting wheat, so make good use of your time. We’ll only look around for a while and then leave. You don’t need to concern yourselves with us.”

The village chief nodded repeatedly and led the villagers away to fetch their farming tools and continue harvesting the wheat.

The emperor curiously surveyed everything before him.

An endless sea of golden stalks stretched across the landscape. As the wind swept through, the wheat swayed like waves upon the ocean.

The entire field seemed to be planted with a single crop.

The emperor guessed that this must be wheat. Farther away, he noticed patches of lush green fields that he assumed contained various vegetables.

He had never seen anything like it before.

Filled with curiosity, he asked Jiang Ji,

“Duke Chang, is this wheat?”

Standing beside the emperor, Jiang Ji nodded.

“Yes. This is winter wheat. It was planted last September and is now ready for harvest.”

Pleased that he had guessed correctly, the emperor climbed down from the road and hopped onto the raised field ridge. Moving closer to inspect the wheat, he saw golden heads of grain, full and heavy with kernels, their tips crowned with long awns.

“When is spring wheat harvested?” the emperor asked again.

Jiang Ji replied,

“Spring wheat is generally planted around March and can be harvested a little over a month later.”

The emperor looked puzzled.

“If winter wheat takes so long to grow, why don’t people just plant spring wheat instead?”

Jiang Ji smiled as he explained,

“Your Majesty, although winter wheat has a longer growing cycle, its yields are generally much higher than those of spring wheat, and its quality is better as well. In other words, it tastes better.

Spring wheat is more suitable for colder northern regions, where winters are too harsh to grow anything at the moment.

Here, after winter wheat is harvested, farmers can plant another crop before sowing again, such as sweet potatoes, corn, beans, and other crops. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. This allows them to make more efficient use of their land and increase household income.”

“I see.” The emperor finally understood and began walking deeper into the fields.

The civil and military officials also dismounted from their carriages and followed behind the emperor, touring the farmland while listening to Jiang Ji’s explanations.

After passing through a vast expanse of wheat fields, they arrived at a watermelon patch, where numerous large watermelons could be seen hidden among the vines.

The emperor exclaimed in delight, “I know this one! This is watermelon!”

“That’s right.” Jiang Ji nodded with a smile. “This variety is called Qilin melon. It has a very thin rind.”

The emperor crouched down to inspect them carefully.

“So this is what watermelon vines look like.”

Jiang Ji crouched beside him and pointed to two flowers on the vines.

“Your Majesty, can you tell what the difference is between these two flowers?”

The emperor examined them closely and noticed the distinction.

“This flower has a stalk in the center, but this one doesn’t.”

“Correct. The flower with the pistil is the female flower, while the other is the male flower.” Jiang Ji plucked the male flower, removed its petals, and gently brushed it against the female flower’s pistil several times. “This is called pollination. Most watermelons require manual pollination.”

The emperor curiously tried it himself.

“But aren’t there bees that do pollination?”

“Manual pollination can increase the fruit-setting rate,” Jiang Ji explained. “If you rely solely on bees and butterflies, some flowers may be missed.”

The emperor understood, and so did the officials gathered around them.

Most of these ministers had never seen such things before either, and they felt their horizons expanding.

Next, the emperor examined many different vegetables and fruits. When they reached the sweet potato field, Jiang Ji dug into the soil around the roots so the emperor could see the small sweet potatoes growing underground. Then they visited the cornfield. The corn had already formed ears, though they were not yet ready to eat…

The emperor was fascinated by everything he saw and deeply impressed by Jiang Ji’s vast knowledge.

When he saw villagers harvesting wheat, he even tried doing it himself and chatted with some of the villagers. Before long, he was sweating profusely and his lower back had begun to ache.

“So farming truly is hard work,” the emperor remarked with emotion.

Jiang Ji nodded.

“Farmers have difficult lives. They work with their faces toward the yellow earth and their backs toward the sky. When the weather is favorable, things are manageable. But if extreme weather strikes, they may lose their entire harvest, and several months of labor will have been for nothing.”

Looking across the land and at the villagers toiling in the fields, the emperor felt a subtle stirring in his heart. At last, he began to understand some of the hardships endured by ordinary people.

And this was already after grain yields had doubled.

A few years ago, before Jiang Ji had introduced new crop varieties, farmers harvested even less. Many people could not even eat their fill, and every winter, countless people starved to death.

The emperor had heard that many of the young eunuchs serving around him had originally come from families that simply could not afford to feed them. Sending them into the palace as eunuchs had at least given them a chance to survive.

Soon afterward, the group climbed a nearby hill.

Standing atop the mountain, gazing into the distance, everyone felt a sense of awe.

Below them stretched thousands of acres of fertile farmland. Golden wheat swayed like ocean waves beneath the breeze. In the fields, fruits hung heavily from branches, while vegetables and melons flourished abundantly.

As they looked out over the land, they felt an overwhelming sense of fulfillment.

Over the past two years, new rice varieties, new wheat varieties, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and many other new crops, along with all kinds of novel vegetables, had spread throughout the entire Great Sheng Dynasty.

Farmers’ grain production had doubled. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn had become staple foods on ordinary dining tables. Granaries across the empire were full. The people no longer went hungry, and meals now featured an increasing variety of vegetables. During winter, people could even wear cotton clothing made from harvested cotton.

In just a few short years, Great Sheng had undergone earth-shaking transformation.

And all of it had been brought about by Jiang Ji.

Everyone could not help but turn their eyes toward Jiang Ji, who stood before them dressed in simple blue cloth robes.

The young emperor thought to himself:

Jiang Ji truly is a man of extraordinary talent.

The officials all shared the same sentiment:

Duke Chang is indeed worthy of such honor!

Then their gazes shifted to Lu Huaizhou, who stood beside Jiang Ji dressed in a black qilin robe.

The Regent truly deserves his reputation. His foresight was exceptional. He really did choose the very best person.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

TOC

Ch 114: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

The peach trees planted at the Regent’s residence had finally borne fruit.

Since it was their first year producing peaches, the harvest was not large.

That afternoon, Jiang Ji went to inspect them and carefully picked a basketful.

That evening after dinner, the entire family sat together to taste the sweet peaches.

Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou each held a fruit peeler, skillfully peeling peaches. The peelers had been exchanged through Jiang Ji’s system, and the kitchen staff absolutely loved them because they made peeling so convenient.

Staring at the peach in Jiang Ji’s hand, Jiang Nan said,

“This is so much bigger than the peaches back in our village. Does that mean it’s sweeter too?”

Jiang Bei added,

“Look how red the skin is. It has to be sweeter than the ones we used to have at home.”

The peaches in their hometown had all been wild peaches, each one smaller than an egg. Many were quite sour, and only the very red ones were sweet. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. But back then, food had been scarce in the village. Usually, the peaches would be picked clean long before they had a chance to fully ripen.

After peeling a peach, Jiang Ji handed it to Zhao Ru.

Seeing Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei staring eagerly at it, Zhao Ru passed it to Jiang Nan.

Soon afterward, Lu Huaizhou finished peeling his peach and simply handed it to Jiang Bei.

The two little boys happily began eating.

Jiang Ji continued peeling more peaches and asked,

“Well? Are they sweet?”

Crunching noisily, Jiang Nan nodded contentedly.

“They’re much sweeter than the peaches from our village! And they’re so crisp.”

Jiang Bei nodded as well, holding up his peach for everyone to see.

“The pit comes right out too! It’s really delicious.”

Jiang Xia glanced over and said,

“Save the pits. We can plant them in the courtyard later.”

“There isn’t any room left in the courtyard,” Jiang Ji replied while quickly peeling another peach and handing it to Jiang Xia. “The apple trees have grown too much already.”

Their courtyard contained two apple trees that were still young, but once fully grown, they would take up quite a bit of space.

Jiang Xia accepted the peach from her brother and took a bite.

Her eyes immediately lit up.

It really was much tastier than the peaches they used to eat.

“It’s such a shame to just throw away the pits when the peaches are this good,” she said regretfully.

Jiang Nan, always quick-thinking, said,

“Then give them to Xiang’er and her family! They don’t have any fruit trees in their courtyard yet.”

“That works,” Jiang Xia agreed. “I’ll give them to Xiang’er tomorrow. Don’t throw away any of the peach pits.”

Soon, everyone had tasted the first harvest of sweet peaches.

“This one looks a bit different from that one,” Jiang Nan observed as he started on his second peach.

“Mm. Different varieties,” Jiang Ji explained.

He wanted to cultivate honey peaches in the future, so he had planted several different peach varieties to provide more options for grafting later on.

Originally, he had simply wanted to see how fruits from his previous world would adapt to this one.

Now that he had tasted them, he found that they were already excellent.

These were all premium varieties developed by experts in his previous life, and they had adapted remarkably well here.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Ji recalled that in his previous life, there had been a famous peach-producing region near the capital.

He said,

“How about we find a place to grow peach trees? We could establish a peach orchard.”

Jiang Nan immediately nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! Yes!”

That way, he would have plenty of peaches to eat every year.

Zhao Ru looked surprised.

“Where would you plant them? Up in the mountains? Wouldn’t that require clearing the hills?”

“Not necessarily. Gentle slopes would work fine,” Jiang Ji explained before turning to Lu Huaizhou. “What do you think?”

Lu Huaizhou had always supported whatever Jiang Ji wanted to do.

Their family had enough resources now.

“That sounds fine. You can do whatever you want.”

Jiang Ji’s lips curved into a smile.

Since he had made up his mind, Jiang Ji spent the next day researching information through his system.

On the third day, he brought Lu Jiu and Lu Wen with him and headed outside the city to investigate locations.

In his previous life, there had been a particularly famous peach-growing region near the capital. Entire counties had been covered with peach orchards. He had visited with friends before to pick peaches, and the sight of mountains blanketed with peach trees had left a deep impression on him.

The area was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with ideal climate conditions, abundant water resources, excellent sunlight exposure, and fertile soil, all perfectly suited for peach cultivation.

It had produced some of the most famous peach varieties.

Jiang Ji led Lu Jiu and Lu Wen directly to this area.

In Great Sheng, the corresponding location belonged to Changgu County under Jizhou Prefecture, approximately an hour’s ride from the capital.

After arriving, Jiang Ji surveyed the area.

The county’s population was relatively small, with villages scattered across the landscape.

There was also a considerable amount of uncultivated wasteland.

He selected two large plots of unused land before heading to the county office to purchase them.

Previously, Jiang Ji had visited this area to promote new wheat varieties. The county magistrate had met him once before and recognized him as Duke Chang.

The magistrate was thrilled.

Upon learning that Jiang Ji wanted to purchase wasteland, he immediately summoned officials from the land registry and personally accompanied Jiang Ji to inspect the land. They marked boundaries and established property markers.

The purchase included two large tracts of wasteland as well as several acres of fertile farmland.

Half of the farmland would be used to cultivate seedlings.

The other half would allow estate workers to grow wheat and vegetables for their own subsistence.

Once the land had been surveyed and designated, the magistrate had his staff work overtime that very evening to complete all the necessary paperwork.

Jiang Ji and his group stayed overnight before returning to the capital the following day with the land deeds.

Establishing a peach orchard was a long-term endeavor.

It would take at least three years.

Jiang Ji selected an estate steward from among those managing his family’s various properties.

He then visited a labor agency and hired experienced agricultural workers, instructing Lu Shun to bring them all to Changgu County.

Jiang Ji had Lu Shun rent housing for the workers in a nearby town.

The rest of the work would be delegated to them.

They needed to establish an estate on the wasteland and hire local villagers to clear and prepare the land.

The following spring, they would begin cultivating seedlings.

Another year would be required to fully reclaim the land.

Jiang Ji had finally come to appreciate the advantages of wealth, status, and having capable people under one’s command.

Once he established objectives and requirements, there would naturally be people to carry them out.

With Lu Shun overseeing the estate construction and land development, Jiang Ji remained at home organizing detailed cultivation guides for peach trees.

These would later be distributed to the estate managers for study.

After dealing with all these matters, Jiang Ji finally allowed himself a period of genuine rest at home.

When he had free time, he designed textile patterns and new Yun brocade motifs.

He also began compiling cultivation manuals for various fruit trees.

Promoting staple crops had been about ensuring that people had enough to eat.

Common vegetables and fruits helped diversify the dining table.

Once these had spread throughout Great Sheng, he could gradually focus on cultivating various fruit trees.

It would be a lengthy process.

Especially for fruit trees that required years before bearing fruit.

There was no rushing such things.

As autumn arrived, regions across the empire gradually entered harvest season.

In areas that cultivated rice, the new rice varieties had been fully implemented, and farmers enjoyed abundant harvests. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Spring wheat also began to be harvested, and county governments found the collection of imperial grain taxes proceeding more smoothly than ever before.

This year, corn and sweet potatoes had spread to even more areas, and an increasing number of farmers had begun cultivating cotton.

In Changping County, because Jiang Ji had previously discussed it with the magistrate, cotton had been planted extensively. Many merchants from neighboring counties came to Changping to purchase cotton, only to discover that many of the wealthy local households weren’t selling theirs at all. Instead, they were stockpiling it.

The merchants were puzzled.

When they asked, no one gave them an explanation.

Not only were these households refusing to sell, but they were also buying up even more cotton to store away.

Shortly after the cotton harvest was completed, Jiang Ji fulfilled his promise.

Meng Dahai received word from Jiang Ji informing him that the blueprints for the textile machinery could finally be given to the county magistrate.

The magistrate immediately issued a public announcement:

Any resident of Changping County interested in entering the textile industry could receive a copy of the textile machine blueprints distributed by Duke Chang from the county office.

Before long, four or five textile workshops sprang up almost overnight.

Their factories had already been prepared in advance.

Once the machines were built and installed, workers from Duke Chang’s textile mill were even sent to teach them how to operate the equipment.

Very quickly, they began hiring workers and starting production.

Only then did the merchants who had come to buy cotton realize:

The reason these people had refused to sell their cotton was because they intended to open textile workshops of their own.

Over the past two years, the cotton fabric produced by Jiang Ji’s textile mills had consistently fallen short of demand and had become extremely popular among ordinary people.

Their cotton cloth was now being sold even in neighboring provinces.

The people of Changping County felt this change most deeply.

It wasn’t unusual to see crowds of merchants gathered outside Jiang Textile Shop, all competing to place orders and secure inventory.

They didn’t just compete for fabric that had already been produced.

They even reserved fabric that hadn’t yet come off the looms.

They would buy up any remaining stock in the shops as well.

As a result, despite being locals, the people of Changping County often couldn’t buy cotton fabric without placing advance orders and asking the shopkeepers to reserve some for them.

The success of Jiang Ji’s cotton business gave everyone hope.

Especially the patriarchs of the four major families who had previously heard Jiang Ji speak about his development plans for Changping County.

They were already more business-minded than most people and possessed considerably greater resources.

Naturally, they wanted to establish an early foothold in this growing market.

The Lin Family, originally merchants dealing in grain and oil, established a textile workshop while maintaining their existing businesses.

Lin Patriarch quickly realized that cloth woven using the machines developed by Duke Chang was simply softer and of higher quality than traditional fabric.

He didn’t overextend himself by attempting complicated patterns.

Instead, he focused on producing basic solid-colored fabrics, especially white, gray, blue-gray, and dark blue, which sold best.

The Zhang Family had been involved in the textile industry for many years and possessed greater expertise in this field.

They replaced all their old machinery with the new equipment.

During trial production, watching the cotton gin rapidly separate cotton from seeds and seeing one spinning machine perform the work of eight people, Zhang Patriarch couldn’t help but feel admiration.

No wonder Duke Chang’s workshops could produce so much fabric every month.

As these new textile workshops opened, many people in Changping County, especially women, gained employment.

As ordinary people’s incomes increased, their lives gradually improved as well.

Jiang Ji’s textile business inevitably experienced some impact.

However, there remained a massive shortage across the national market.

Since they maintained a leading position within Changping County itself, they had little to fear.

Moreover, their brand had already become well established.

Their business had expanded into other provinces.

They weren’t particularly worried about competition from the newly opened workshops.

Just as the silk industry flourished in Jiangnan, Changping’s textile industry was developing with equal vigor and prosperity.

Receiving letters from his hometown in Changping and learning that everything there was progressing smoothly, Jiang Ji smiled with satisfaction.

The silk factories in Ningzhou were also nearing completion.

Yun Brocade would soon enter production.

The family’s three restaurants remained packed with customers every day, business thriving.

Vegetable promotion efforts in the capital had gone remarkably well this year.

Next year, they could consider opening another hot pot restaurant.

Construction had already begun on the peach orchard outside the capital.

All that remained was planting the seedlings next spring.

Jiang Ji lifted his gaze and looked ahead.

The entire garden was overflowing with blooming flowers.

Guests filled every seat around them.

Jiang Xia, dressed in a pale pink gown, stood gracefully on the platform like a lotus blossom just beginning to bloom.

Elegant and radiant, she was currently receiving her coming-of-age ceremony (jiji).

Zhao Ru, clothed in luxurious brocade and smiling warmly, carefully inserted an exquisite hairpin into Jiang Xia’s hair.

Nearby, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei were no longer the dark, skinny little monkeys they had once been.

They had grown into tall, handsome young men.

Then Jiang Ji turned to look beside him.

The tall, handsome man holding his hand had lowered his gaze toward him.

A smile played at the corners of Lu Huaizhou’s lips, his eyes filled with tenderness and unwavering affection.

His career had succeeded.

His family stood beside him.

The person he loved remained at his side.

Jiang Ji tightened his grip on Lu Huaizhou’s hand and returned him a bright, brilliant smile.

The sky was vast and clear.

The sun shone warmly beneath a gentle breeze.

And the days to come would only continue to grow better.

(End of Main Story)

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

TOC

Ch 113: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

At the flower appreciation gathering, the married ladies gathered together to discuss Yun brocade, while the young unmarried ladies formed their own separate groups.

Jiang Xia had attended several banquets with Zhao Ru and Madam Lu, so she had become acquainted with quite a few daughters from official families. The ones she was closest to were naturally Third Miss Qin from the Duke Qin’s residence and Second Miss Han from the Han family.

Both Third Miss Qin and Second Miss Han came from military families. Influenced heavily by their upbringing, they had learned martial arts alongside their brothers from a young age, and both possessed straightforward, candid personalities.

Jiang Xia had grown up in the countryside, raised freely without affectation. Later, influenced by Jiang Ji, she had been exposed to many new ideas.

The three of them got along very well and usually stayed together at banquets.

A group of young ladies of marriageable age sat together in a viewing pavilion by the lotus pond. Looking toward another pavilion diagonally across from them where several young gentlemen had gathered, their conversations inevitably turned to talented young men. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. They discussed which young master excelled at archery, whose poetry had earned praise from their tutors, and similar topics.

Some of the girls were already engaged, while others were not. When speaking about such matters, they could not help revealing the emotions of young women, some filled with anticipation, others with worry.

Third Miss Qin and Second Miss Han sat along the corridor, munching on sunflower seeds while listening to Jiang Xia recount stories about Jiang Ji’s recent trip to Jiangnan. Two younger girls sat nearby, listening attentively as well.

Just as Jiang Xia was describing the food in Jiangnan, someone suddenly called out loudly.

“Second Miss Jiang.”

Jiang Xia turned around to see it was a young lady from an earl’s family.

“What is it?” she asked.

The Earl’s daughter said, “We were just talking about how you’ll be coming of age this year, won’t you? Has your family arranged a match for you yet?”

Jiang Xia would turn fifteen in another two months.

“Not yet,” she replied, shaking her head.

The girls present were all shocked.

“You’re already fifteen,” the Earl’s daughter said. “How have they not started arranging a marriage for you?”

Among noble families, girls were usually engaged around thirteen or fourteen years old. After their coming-of-age ceremony, a favorable date would be chosen for the wedding.

“Oh, I’m still young,” Jiang Xia answered casually. “The girls in our family aren’t allowed to marry until they’re eighteen.”

The young ladies were stunned and immediately crowded around her.

“Eighteen?”

“By eighteen, wouldn’t you be considered an old maid? How would you find a good match then?”

“Exactly! Isn’t your mother worried?”

“Why do you have to wait until eighteen to marry?”

Jiang Xia looked at them and replied,

“That’s simply our family’s rule.”

“Who made that rule? Your father? Or Duke Chang?”

“My brother,” Jiang Xia answered. “He said it’s bad for girls to marry too early. If your body hasn’t fully matured and you have to bear children, it can shorten your lifespan. He doesn’t want it to affect my health. He wants me to live a long life, so he requires that all the girls in our family wait until they’re eighteen before marrying. And the boys in our family can only marry girls who are at least eighteen too.”

The girls were speechless.

Third Miss Qin and Second Miss Han had heard about this family rule before, so they were not nearly as shocked.

But for the other girls, this was the first time they had ever heard such views or family regulations. They immediately began asking questions.

“Your mother agrees with this?”

“How could your brother establish such a rule? Isn’t he ruining your prospects?”

“Exactly. Eighteen is too old. It will be difficult to arrange a marriage.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

Jiang Xia smiled.

“I’m not worried at all. My brother said I can do whatever I want in the future. If I meet someone I like, then I’ll get married. And even if I never marry, that’s fine too. He said he can support me for the rest of my life.”

The girls who had just been criticizing Duke Chang for treating Jiang Xia unfairly all fell silent.

Some had already begun to envy her.

As daughters of noble families, they enjoyed privileged upbringings and luxurious lives. Yet their marriages were not their own to decide. Whoever their parents chose, they had to marry. Political and familial interests often played a significant role in those decisions.

“Your brother treats you so well,” someone murmured.

Jiang Xia nodded with a bright smile.

“Mm. My brother is the best brother in the world.”

The girls could all see from Jiang Xia’s expression that she genuinely believed her brother was the very best.

Still, one girl worried aloud.

“But by the time you’re eighteen, it really will be hard to find a match.”

“I won’t worry about finding a match,” Jiang Xia said, shaking her head. “My brother said that marriage should be with someone you truly like. If you meet someone you love, then get married. But if you don’t, you shouldn’t marry just for the sake of being married.”

The girls were stunned once more.

This was the first time they had ever heard such ideas.

The Fourth Miss from the Minister of Justice’s family sighed softly.

“If everyone could marry the person they loved, that would be wonderful.”

Jiang Xia glanced at her. She had heard that this young lady had once loved someone else but had ultimately been promised to the son of another family.

Another girl added,

“Yes. Who wouldn’t want to marry someone they love? But that’s not something we can decide for ourselves.”

“Exactly. Since ancient times, marriages have always been arranged by parents and matchmakers.”

Jiang Xia looked at them and said,

“My brother says that traditions passed down through generations aren’t necessarily always right. He says that in life, once you’ve achieved enough to eat and stay warm, the most important thing is to live happily and comfortably.”

“I really envy you, Jiang Xia.”

“Your brother is wonderful.”

“Do your mother and Regent Lu think the same way too?”

Jiang Xia thought for a moment before answering,

“They probably didn’t think that way before either, but now they’ve all been persuaded by my brother. So generally speaking, in our family, what my brother says goes.”

The girls were shocked again.

Even the Regent listened to Duke Chang?

Whenever Jiang Xia talked about her brother, her face lit up with excitement.

“I told my brother that I want to run a shop and go into business in the future, and he supports me.”

“You… you want to become a shopkeeper and do business yourself?”

“Your family has such a prestigious status now. Why would you still want to go into business?”

Among their social class, merchants ranked lowest among the traditional four occupations of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant. People of their status generally looked down on commerce. If Jiang Xia became a merchant, wouldn’t she be lowering her own standing?

Jiang Xia shook her head.

“I want to. You don’t understand. Back when I was in my hometown, I used to help my mother sell undergarments. We met a female shopkeeper once, and I thought she was amazing. Ever since then, I’ve thought that if I could manage my own shop someday, how wonderful that would be. I could earn my own money and spend my own money. Having money of my own would give me confidence. No matter what happened, I’d be able to support myself.”

The girls fell silent again.

When they eventually married, they would receive dowries. Their families would usually include farmland, estates, or shops as part of their dowries. Those assets would become their security.

But they would never manage those properties themselves. Most simply leased them out.

They had never considered personally going out into society to earn money.

Jiang Xia’s ideas were truly bold.

Some of the girls felt a degree of disdain. They were born into noble families. If they married well, why would they need to lower themselves by appearing in public to make money?

Others, however, felt envious.

They envied the freedom Jiang Xia described, the ability to choose how to live and whom to marry.

For a moment, everyone wore different expressions.

The topic had been somewhat overwhelming.

After chatting a bit longer, the conversation gradually shifted to other subjects, and the girls dispersed into smaller groups to entertain themselves.

Throughout the discussion, Third Miss Qin and Second Miss Han had remained relatively quiet. Both had practiced martial arts since childhood and possessed naturally free-spirited personalities.

Once the others had dispersed, Third Miss Qin said,

“My mother tried to arrange a marriage for me recently. I repeated what you had told me before, Xia’er. I said I wanted to wait until I was eighteen to marry. You have no idea. My mother nearly whipped me with a riding crop.”

The three girls were around the same age. Third Miss Qin was fourteen, while Second Miss Han had already come of age this year and was engaged to be married the following year.

Fortunately, she liked her fiancé and did not share the same worries as the others.

She asked,

“Don’t you have anyone you like?”

Third Miss Qin shook her head.

“After comparing them to Brother Huaizhou, my brother, your brother, and Xia’er’s brother, all those young masters suddenly seem rather unimpressive.”

Jiang Xia and Second Miss Han both fell silent.

After a pause, Second Miss Han cautiously asked,

“You don’t happen to like my brother, do you?”

“No, no!” Third Miss Qin quickly waved her hands. “I was just making a comparison.”

“Oh.” Second Miss Han continued probing. “Then what do you think about Cousin Huaichuan? Has your mother ever mentioned him?”

Before Third Miss Qin could respond, Jiang Xia hurriedly interrupted.

“No, no, absolutely not! My brother said that cousins are close blood relatives. If they marry, their children are more likely to have problems.”

Third Miss Qin and Second Miss Han: “…”

Second Miss Han frowned.

“But lots of people marry their cousins.”

“My brother said there’s a significant chance of problems. For the sake of future children, our family rules prohibit marriages between cousins.”

Jiang Xia’s expression was very serious.

Third Miss Qin rubbed her forehead helplessly.

“Your family’s rules are really strange.”

Jiang Xia nodded.

“They’re different from other families, but everything my brother says makes sense. You really shouldn’t marry your cousins either.”

As she said this, Jiang Xia looked directly at Third Miss Qin.

Third Miss Qin sighed.

“I don’t like Cousin Huaichuan. Don’t worry.”

Jiang Xia visibly relaxed.

“That’s good. For the baby’s sake, it’s better to like someone else.”

Third Miss Qin: “…”

Second Miss Han burst into laughter.

“Xia’er, you looked so nervous just now. I almost thought you liked Cousin Huaichuan.”

Third Miss Qin joined in teasing her.

“Could it be true? You were awfully anxious just now.”

Jiang Xia glared at both of them.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Brother Huaichuan is the same as my brother.”

“She’s flustered! She’s flustered!” Third Miss Qin burst into laughter.

Second Miss Han added, “But Cousin Huaichuan really is a great person. You could consider him.”

“Oh, stop talking nonsense! If word gets out, none of us will be able to show our faces anymore!” Jiang Xia was genuinely panicking now. As she spoke, she reached over to cover Second Miss Han’s mouth.

“Alright, alright. I won’t say anything else,” Second Miss Han said, raising her hands in surrender.

The three girls continued teasing and playing around until they all dissolved into laughter.

Two days later, Madam Lu came to the Regent’s residence.

During lunch, Jiang Ji heard her say,

“I heard that the Fourth Miss from the Minister of Justice’s family rejected the marriage arrangement her family had made for her. She said she wanted to marry someone she loved and is now insisting on breaking off the engagement.”

Zhao Ru exclaimed in surprise.

“Wasn’t she supposed to get married in another two months?”

“Exactly,” Madam Lu replied, equally puzzled. “I don’t understand why she suddenly decided to call off the engagement.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia froze for a moment.

The Fourth Miss from the Minister of Justice’s family… wasn’t that the girl who had said she envied her at the flower appreciation gathering?

“I… I think I know why,” Jiang Xia said.

Everyone at the table immediately turned to look at her.

Madam Lu asked, “Why?”

Jiang Xia then recounted everything that had happened at the flower appreciation gathering.

Afterward, she asked worriedly,

“Could it have been because of something I said?”

“It has nothing to do with you. Don’t overthink it,” Jiang Ji said. “She already had someone she loved and was unhappy with the marriage arrangement from the beginning. As the wedding date approached, she finally gathered the courage to fight for what she wanted.”

Madam Lu nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. It has nothing to do with you. If she can marry the person she loves, then that’s a good thing.”

Zhao Ru also reached out and gently patted Jiang Xia’s head.

After thinking about it, Jiang Xia said,

“That’s true. I could tell that day that she wasn’t happy about her marriage. But if she was unhappy, she should have said something when the match was first being arranged. I wonder if she’ll actually get what she wants.”

Madam Lu sighed.

“It’ll probably be difficult. The Minister of Justice found her a young man from an equally prestigious family. His future career prospects are almost certainly bright. The man she loves is a childhood neighbor. They care deeply for each other, but he’s just a scholar from a modest family. There’s no telling whether he’ll even pass the imperial examinations and become a jinshi.”

Jiang Ji also understood that deeply ingrained traditions of arranged marriage were not so easily overturned.

Still, seeing someone make an effort to challenge them was somewhat comforting.

Half a month later, no one knew what methods the young lady had used, but she truly succeeded in breaking off the engagement.

The following year, she married her childhood sweetheart, and the two lovers were finally united.

The young scholar was hardworking and ambitious. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Several years later, he passed the imperial examinations with second-class honors and successfully entered official service.

That, however, was a story for another time.

As for the present, both the Minister of Justice’s family and their former prospective in-laws had lost face because of the broken engagement.

Because of this incident, every time Jiang Ji encountered the Minister of Justice afterward, the man would glare fiercely at him.

In the Minister of Justice’s mind, it was Jiang Xia’s “nonsense” that had influenced his daughter.

His daughter had been preparing obediently for marriage. Then she attended a flower appreciation gathering and returned home demanding to break off the engagement.

How could that not have been someone’s influence?

And where had Jiang Xia heard all those ideas?

Surely from Jiang Ji.

Thus, the Minister of Justice ended up holding a grudge against Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji, however, remained completely unbothered.

He acted as though he noticed nothing and continued cheerfully greeting the Minister of Justice whenever they met.

Eventually, the Minister of Justice became so annoyed that he started going out of his way to avoid Jiang Ji altogether.

Because of this incident, the three marriage rules of Jiang Ji’s family spread throughout the capital:

First: No one under the age of eighteen was allowed to marry.

Second: Direct blood relatives or collateral relatives within three generations were prohibited from marrying.

Third: Marriage should be based on free choice.

These three family rules sparked widespread discussion throughout the capital.

Gradually and almost imperceptibly, they began influencing some people.

The change was slow, but it existed.

And in time, that influence would continue to grow, reaching more and more people.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

TOC

Ch 112: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

At noon, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei came to call Jiang Ji for lunch, only to learn that he still hadn’t gotten up.

“He still isn’t up?” Jiang Nan was shocked. His older brother had always been an early riser, but ever since returning from Jiangnan, he had been sleeping until noon every other day. Frowning, Jiang Nan asked, “Has Big Brother still not recovered from being sick?”

Jiang Bei looked worried too. “Should we ask the Imperial Physician to come take a look?”

There was no way Xiao Liu could tell two eight-year-old young masters the truth. He hesitated before using the same excuse as before.

“The Duke just got back from Jiangnan not long ago and is still exhausted. He needs a few more days of rest.” As for exactly how many days, Xiao Liu honestly couldn’t say.

Jiang Bei looked concerned. “But he’s been back for six or seven days already. He still hasn’t recovered? He was never like this before.”

“…”

Xiao Liu paused before saying, “Third Young Master, Fourth Young Master, why don’t you go have lunch first? When the Duke wakes up, I’ll bring his meal over. Don’t worry.”

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei glanced toward their brother’s room. Exchanging looks, Jiang Nan said, “Alright then. Brother Xiao Liu, keep an eye on Big Brother. If he’s feeling unwell, quickly tell Steward Zhong to summon the Imperial Physician.”

“Of course. I’ll remember.”

The two brothers returned to the neighboring courtyard one after the other. As soon as they entered, Jiang Nan said to Zhao Ru,

“Mother, Big Brother still isn’t awake.”

Jiang Xia frowned slightly. “Is he sick?”

“No. Brother Xiao Liu said he was too tired from going to Jiangnan and needs more rest,” Jiang Bei answered.

This had been the case for the past several days. Zhao Ru understood perfectly well what was going on.

“Alright, let your brother sleep a bit longer. Come eat. We’ll save some food for him.”

The family began eating.

Meanwhile, in the room next door, Jiang Ji slept for another half an hour before finally waking up.

Yesterday, Lu Huaizhou had been possessed by the spirit of debt collection and had tormented him right up until it was time to attend court.

Staring at the ceiling and feeling the soreness throughout his body, Jiang Ji sighed.

Lu Huaizhou was truly making him repay his debts.

That man had the stamina of a beast.

Hmph. As expected, martial artists are just built differently.

Jiang Ji slowly dragged himself out of bed. After washing up, he ate the lunch Xiao Liu had brought him. Feeling utterly lazy and exhausted, he didn’t go out. Instead, he headed to the weaving room to take a look.

Zhao Ru had found another servant to take Jiang Ji’s place. The three looms in the side hall continued operating nonstop as Zhao Ru and the others busied themselves weaving Yun brocade.

Once the piece Jiang Ji and Zhao Ru had been weaving together became long enough to make an outer robe, Zhao Ru stopped working on it. She felt the colors were too vibrant and eye-catching for herself and thought they suited Madam Lu better, so she gave it to Madam Lu to make clothing from.

Another brocade piece, woven by one of the servants with a sapphire-blue base and intricate patterns, was Zhao Ru’s favorite. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Following Jiang Ji’s suggestion, she had already turned it into clothing for herself.

The brocades they were currently working on all featured new patterns designed jointly by Jiang Ji and Lu Wen. They planned to make garments for Lu Huaizhou’s Second Aunt and paternal aunt.

The Yun brocade workshop in Jiangnan wasn’t yet capable of producing Yun brocade, so for now, everything they wove was reserved for personal use.

Another piece, featuring a majestic phoenix motif, had been specially designed as a tribute gift for the Empress Dowager.

The maid seated at the upper loom noticed Jiang Ji entering first.

“Your Grace.”

Hearing this, Zhao Ru turned around.

“You’re awake? Have you eaten?”

“Mother,” Jiang Ji greeted her, waving for the servants to continue their work. “I have.”

He inspected their progress before returning to Zhao Ru’s side.

“Mother, sitting for too long is bad for your back. Make sure to get up and move around regularly.”

It was impossible to persuade her to stop weaving entirely, so he could only remind her to take breaks.

“I know,” Zhao Ru replied. Looking at her son, she examined his complexion and was relieved that he appeared to be in good spirits.

“You’ve been running around outside for more than half a year now. You’ve worked so hard. Get plenty of rest and spend more time with Brother Huaizhou. Try not to travel so much during the second half of the year.”

“Mm.” Jiang Ji nodded. “I won’t be going anywhere during the second half of the year.”

He truly had no plans to travel again.

Otherwise, before he finished repaying old debts, he’d end up accumulating new ones. At this rate, Lu Huaizhou would probably keep him bedridden all of next year.

Jiang Ji then wandered around the garden.

Many fruit trees had been planted there, most transplanted from their hometown.

Several peach trees had been specifically chosen by Jiang Ji for their sweet fruit. After more than a year since being transplanted, they had grown vigorously.

Nearby stood rows of wild peach saplings planted from seeds the previous year, all thriving this spring.

During blossom season, the garden had been filled with peach blossoms, while pear trees throughout the other courtyards had also bloomed beautifully. The scenery had been magnificent enough that Madam Lu and the others had gathered together to admire the flowers.

Now, visible fruit hung from the sweet peach trees. Some peaches had already grown larger than Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei’s fists, with patches of red beginning to replace their green skin.

“Your Grace, in another little while, these peaches should be ready to eat,” Old Tian, the gardener, said cheerfully while weeding nearby. “I’ve never seen peaches this large before.”

Jiang Ji smiled.

“I just don’t know if they’ll be sweet.”

He had wanted to cultivate honey peaches. However, honey peaches were hybrids that couldn’t be propagated through seeds. They had to be grafted. Thus, aside from redeeming several sweet peach varieties through the system, Jiang Ji had intentionally planted wild peach trees to serve as rootstock.

The Duke Chang Residence also contained numerous peach trees. Jiang Ji had missed the spring season because of his trip to the northwest. Once autumn arrived, if the sweet peaches tasted good, they could begin grafting.

“They’ll definitely be sweet!” Old Tian declared confidently. “Anything Your Grace plants is bound to taste wonderful.”

Jiang Ji felt pleased by the praise, though a bit embarrassed.

“That’s not necessarily true. We’ll have to taste them first to know.”

After strolling through the garden, Jiang Ji headed toward the guards’ training grounds.

Several guards were sparring there.

When not on duty, the guards usually trained diligently in the practice grounds. Very few ever slacked off, as they all possessed an intense sense of professional urgency.

Jiang Ji had no plans to travel in the coming days, and Lu Jiu and Lu Wen were still technically on leave.

Lu Jiu had visited his parents before returning to the Regent’s Residence. Seeing Jiang Ji arrive, he approached immediately.

“Young Master, are we heading out somewhere?”

“No,” Jiang Ji replied. “I was bored and came to take a look around.”

One of the guards offered Jiang Ji a stool, but he waved it away.

He still couldn’t sit comfortably and had no desire to use a stool right now.

Watching Lu Wen sparring on the training platform, Jiang Ji asked Lu Jiu,

“Isn’t he still on leave? Why isn’t he spending time with Sister-in-law? Isn’t she pregnant already?”

Lu Wen had married before the New Year. His bride was Xing’er, formerly one of Madam Lu’s maids. After their marriage, Xing’er had transferred from the Lu Residence to the Regent’s Residence.

Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou had given the newlyweds an especially generous monetary gift. They had also purchased a house for them on the street behind the Regent’s Residence, while assigning them living quarters within the residence itself.

Lu Jiu grinned.

“Sister-in-law is learning to make baby clothes from Sister Guihua. She said Lu Wen was getting in the way and kicked him out.”

“Oh, then he probably would get in the way.” Jiang Ji suddenly understood and laughed.

Jiang Ji spent the entire afternoon wandering around the residence. It wasn’t until Lu Huaizhou had returned from work that he finally headed back.

When Lu Huaizhou returned to their room and didn’t find Jiang Ji there, he changed clothes and was just about to go outside to look for him when they happened to meet at the entrance.

“Where are you going?” Jiang Ji asked in surprise as he noticed Lu Huaizhou’s hurried pace.

Without saying a word, Lu Huaizhou took his hand.

“To find you.”

Meeting the deep look in Lu Huaizhou’s eyes, Jiang Ji immediately felt his legs weaken slightly. After seeing that expression so many times these past few days, he had developed a conditioned response.

“It’s almost time for dinner. Come on, let’s go eat.”

He tugged Lu Huaizhou toward the neighboring courtyard, afraid that if they were even a little late, he might not get dinner at all.

Lu Huaizhou paused briefly before following along. Leaning close to Jiang Ji’s ear, he asked softly,

“Don’t you want to spend time with me?”

“Who said that? Don’t imagine things.” Jiang Ji quickly denied it. “I’m just hungry. It’s mealtime.”

A trace of amusement appeared in Lu Huaizhou’s eyes, but he didn’t expose him. He knew Jiang Ji had been exhausted these past few days, so he had already decided to let him rest properly tonight.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t touch you today.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes widened.

“Who said I was afraid?!”

Lu Huaizhou raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? Then that means you’re still up for it?”

Jiang Ji: “…”

“Let’s just eat. Stop talking already. Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei might hear you.”

Lu Huaizhou merely smiled without saying anything.

Refusing to look at him, Jiang Ji dragged him quickly toward Wutong Courtyard.

During dinner, Zhao Ru said to Jiang Ji,

“Tomorrow the academy is closed. I’m taking Xia’er, Jiang Nan, and Jiang Bei to the Marquis Weining’s residence for a flower appreciation gathering. Xiao Ji, do you want to come too?”

“Sure.” Jiang Ji agreed immediately. “I don’t have much going on right now anyway.”

The next day, Jiang Ji and his mother met up with Madam Lu. Together, they headed to the Marquis of Weining’s residence at the appointed time.

Zhao Ru and Madam Lu had arranged beforehand to wear clothing made from Yun brocade.

After living in the capital for more than a year, Zhao Ru had adapted to the climate. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Combined with nearly a year of treatment from Physician Yang, her complexion had improved significantly, and her skin had become fair with a healthy rosy glow. She looked much younger than before.

Especially in this sapphire-blue Yun brocade robe adorned with elegant patterns, her entire bearing transformed. The outfit enhanced her calm and gentle temperament perfectly.

As for Madam Lu, having enjoyed a life of comfort and luxury for many years, she looked even younger than Zhao Ru. Dressed in crimson Yun brocade, she radiated noble elegance and dazzling grace.

The ladies and young misses already gathered in the garden immediately noticed that something extraordinary about their attire. The garments were breathtakingly beautiful.

After everyone exchanged greetings, the other women found their eyes glued to Zhao Ru’s and Madam Lu’s clothing.

“Madam Jiang, Madam Lu, your robes are absolutely stunning,” remarked the Marchioness Weining, who was known for her straightforward nature. After studying their outfits for some time, she asked directly,

“Which brocade workshop produced these fabrics?”

The others also looked at them curiously.

Madam Lu raised her arm slightly, allowing the crimson robe to spread out. The patterns were exquisite and vivid, with fine silver threads woven throughout that reflected shimmering light beneath the sun.

“This?” Madam Lu smiled mysteriously. “You can’t buy this outside. It’s not available anywhere.”

The Marchioness Weining eagerly asked,

“Then where did it come from?”

Madam Lu glanced at Zhao Ru before smiling.

“Madam Jiang and Duke Chang made it themselves.”

“What?” The Marchioness Weining was astonished.

“Madam Jiang and Duke Chang made it themselves?”

Madam Lu nodded.

“They really did.”

The Marchioness Weining and the others all turned to Zhao Ru.

Zhao Ru nodded in confirmation.

The ladies and young misses were stunned.

“You actually made this yourselves?”

“That’s incredible!”

“This brocade is absolutely gorgeous!”

“How did you make it? It looks so complicated.”

The group immediately surrounded Zhao Ru and Madam Lu, their eyes full of admiration and amazement.

“Madam Jiang, do you have any extra fabric? Would you be willing to sell some?”

“Yes, yes! I’d love some too.”

Zhao Ru smiled apologetically.

“I’m sorry. This brocade is extremely difficult to weave. In an entire day, you can only produce a tiny amount, not even as long as a finger. We don’t have any extra.”

“Ah, that’s such a pity. It’s so beautiful.”

“Oh my, Madam Jiang,” another woman said, “you’re already a First-Rank Honored Lady. Why are you still weaving brocade yourself? Couldn’t you just have the servants do it? Why go through all that effort? Wouldn’t it be better to simply enjoy a comfortable life at home?”

Some discordant remarks broke the harmonious atmosphere.

Zhao Ru glanced over and saw that it was Madam Lin, the wife of the Assistant Minister of Justice, the same woman who had once tried to push someone onto Lu Huaizhou.

Just as Zhao Ru was about to respond, Madam Lu spoke first.

“Madam Lin is right. I tell her the same thing all the time. Duke Chang is so capable that he should simply let her stay at home and enjoy a life of comfort.” Madam Lu smiled. “But she just can’t sit still. Unlike me, who is clumsy with my hands, she’s incredibly skilled. Just look at this brocade. Isn’t it beautiful? Even if I spent my entire life learning, I could never weave something like this.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

If they had to weave it themselves, they probably would not be able to either.

Madam Lin had never forgotten how humiliated she had been by the matchmaker Jiang Ji had sent away when she previously tried to arrange someone for Lu Huaizhou. She still harbored resentment over the incident. However, she did not dare go too far. All she could do was make veiled, sarcastic remarks while being careful not to truly offend anyone.

Seeing Madam Lu smoothly defuse the situation, Madam Lin’s eyes shifted. Spotting Madam Qin and Madam Han nearby, she said with a smile,

“Madam Qin, Madam Han, Duke Chang and Madam Jiang must have woven some for you as well, haven’t they? I wonder if we might have the honor of seeing them?”

Madam Qin glanced at her and smiled.

“They have, they have. Madam Lin, don’t be so impatient. Have a little more patience and wait a bit longer. Xiao Ji has already arranged for ours to be woven too.”

Madam Lin had just heard Zhao Ru say there were no extras and that the process was extremely difficult. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. She had assumed Madam Qin and Madam Han would not have any either. She had not expected theirs to already be in progress.

Seeing all the other ladies looking at her, she forced a smile.

“Duke Chang is truly filial.”

Madam Han laughed.

“Of course he is. Not only did he make some for his own mother and mother-in-law, but he even arranged for me, his aunt by marriage, to have some too.”

Madam Lin: “…”

Madam Lu glanced at her before continuing,

“Oh, and don’t you all know? The undergarments we wear now, aren’t they beautiful and practical? Let me tell you, Madam Jiang was the first person to create them.”

The moment Madam Lu said this, the ladies and young misses were stunned once again. Even Madam Lin could not help but stare at Zhao Ru.

“The undergarments were created by Madam Jiang?”

“I heard they had spread from the south. I never imagined Madam Jiang was the one who invented them!”

“Madam Jiang, how did you come up with the idea for that clothing? I absolutely love it.”

Zhao Ru shot Madam Lu a helpless look.

Madam Lu gave her a reassuring glance, telling her not to worry.

“Those garments did indeed originate with our family,” Zhao Ru admitted simply. “Later, we sold them to clothing shops.”

“What an innovative idea.”

“When I first saw them, I was completely shocked. I kept wondering who could have come up with something like that. I never imagined it was actually you, Madam Jiang!”

“Exactly. Especially during the summer, going out became so much more convenient.”

“Even Her Majesty the Empress Dowager praises them endlessly.”

All the ladies and young misses understood firsthand the benefits of the undergarments, and their admiration for Zhao Ru grew even stronger.

When Zhao Ru had first arrived in the capital the previous year, although she had already possessed a noble title, many of these ladies had secretly mocked her as a country bumpkin from the countryside. They had shown respect outwardly, but it was only for her status as the First-Rank Honored Lady and mother of Duke Chang, not for Zhao Ru herself.

Now, however, this very woman from the countryside had accomplished things that none of them could achieve.

The Yun brocade before them, along with the undergarments that had benefited countless women, had earned their genuine admiration.

Duke Chang was extraordinary.

And it seemed his mother was extraordinary as well.

Looking at the dazzling, radiant Yun brocade shimmering with shifting colors, the ladies could not hide the envy in their eyes.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

TOC

Ch 111: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Jiang Ji slept for a while, and when he woke up, it was already evening.

Warm candlelight filled the room. Lu Huaizhou sat beside him reading a book.

Faint sounds of firecrackers could still be heard outside. Jiang Ji felt deeply content. Turning over, he wrapped his arms around Lu Huaizhou’s waist and rubbed against him.

“You’re awake?” Lu Huaizhou put down his book and reached over to touch Jiang Ji’s head. “Does your head hurt? Are you dizzy?”

“Mmm, not really.”

Lu Huaizhou gently massaged his temples. “Mother and the others are waiting for you to wake up so we can eat reunion dumplings together. Want to get up?”

The blanket was wonderfully warm, and Lu Huaizhou’s fingers felt incredibly soothing. Jiang Ji was reluctant to leave.

After lingering a little longer, he finally climbed out of bed.

The entire family had gathered in the hall. The heated table made everything cozy. Some people were playing chess, others were playing leaf cards, while the younger ones sat around the table playing Monopoly, which Jiang Ji had exchanged through the system. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Everyone had been waiting for Jiang Ji to wake up before eating dumplings, and they all greeted him warmly when they saw him.

Zhao Ru busied herself instructing the kitchen to cook the dumplings. After eating the reunion dumplings, everyone stayed up to welcome the new year and set off firecrackers together.

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei, along with the other children, had received generous New Year’s money this year. Each of them wore huge smiles on their faces.

The Great Sheng Dynasty had fairly long New Year holidays. If there were no major affairs of state, court sessions would not resume until after the Lantern Festival.

Aside from attending the palace banquet on the fourth day of the new year, Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou spent their days leisurely.

During major holidays like this, Jiang Ji usually held a lottery for the viewers in his livestream. The prizes varied greatly, including food, daily necessities, clothing, little dough figurines, sugar figurines, and toys like diabolos.

This Spring Festival, Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou personally selected ten exquisite porcelain vases. Together with some festive gifts, they sent them to ten lucky viewers.

The audience had gradually figured out Jiang Ji’s lottery habits. Knowing he would almost certainly hold a giveaway around this time, they all gathered in the livestream room early every day.

Jiang Ji had inadvertently created many millionaires and multimillionaires in the viewers’ world, helping numerous people achieve financial freedom and pursue their dreams.

From chatting with the audience, Jiang Ji also learned about what happened to some of the previous winners.

For example, the programmer who had won Jiang Yan’s calligraphy piece had quit his job and started his own gaming company. In just two years, his team had developed a hugely successful indie game that earned him a great deal of money. He frequently returned to Jiang Ji’s livestream to send gifts.

Another young woman had sold her prize, quit her job, and traveled around the world. Others had family members who urgently needed money for medical treatment, and winning the lottery had helped them overcome those difficult situations.

Jiang Ji had also given away many pieces of calligraphy as prizes. Since viewers often saw Lu Huaizhou and the others practicing calligraphy during streams, many had become captivated by the calm, composed atmosphere surrounding the practice.

Jiang Ji had once mentioned that in his previous world, many successful individuals practiced calligraphy to cultivate patience, perseverance, and inner peace.

According to the viewers, many people in their world had begun learning calligraphy, including two famous business magnates, Xiao Xuehai and Elder Mu. Because of this, Jiang Ji had specially given away many sets of the Four Treasures of the Study and calligraphy copybooks. As expected, Xiao Xuehai and the others ended up purchasing them from the lottery winners.

Jiang Ji had also given away musical instruments. Many of those instruments were bought or won by accomplished musicians. He had heard that these musicians often gathered together to practice diligently, even posting videos of their ensemble performances, which had become quite impressive. They were even planning future concerts.

Seeing these developments made Jiang Ji genuinely happy. It felt as though the two worlds were communicating with each other.

He had received tremendous help from the viewers, and being able to help them in return brought him great joy.

This particular lottery was held in the study.

Ten beautiful porcelain vases were arranged on Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou’s desk while Jiang Ji chatted happily with the viewers.

Lu Huaizhou sat beside him and witnessed the entire process of Jiang Ji talking with the “immortals” and conducting the lottery.

Lu Huaizhou: …

If he didn’t already know Jiang Ji’s secret, anyone else seeing this would probably think Jiang Ji had been possessed by spirits.

After transmitting all the prizes, Jiang Ji clapped his hands and bid farewell to the viewers.

Lu Huaizhou glanced at the desk, which had become completely empty in the blink of an eye. Although he had witnessed it several times before, every occurrence still felt miraculous and shocking.

These were things that completely surpassed his understanding of the world.

Jiang Ji walked over and took Lu Huaizhou’s hand with a smile.

“They’re very happy.”

“As long as they’re happy.”

Lu Huaizhou squeezed Jiang Ji’s hand as they walked toward the weaving room.

Jiang Ji and Zhao Ru continued weaving Yunjin whenever they had free time. By now, they had woven nearly two chi of fabric.

After the Lantern Festival, Lu Huaizhou returned to court, and Jiang Ji also became busy once more.

He left behind some vegetable seeds for Lu Huaizhou to arrange for wider distribution before setting out with Lu Jiu and Lu Wen toward Suzhou in the northwest.

Traveling westward, the weather remained cold and the roads difficult. It took them nearly twenty days to arrive.

The northwest region was dry and received little rainfall. Natural conditions were harsh, and resources were scarce.

Historically, crop yields there had always been lower than those of the Central Plains and Jiangnan regions, making life difficult for the common people.

Jiang Ji left behind large quantities of sweet potato, potato, corn, wheat, and cotton seeds, along with detailed planting instructions.

They also visited the border regions, using up the reward points and viewer donations Jiang Ji had specifically saved to exchange for additional seeds for the border residents.

This time, Jiang Ji did not charge for any of the seeds. They were entirely free.

In his previous life, Jiang Ji had always known that soldiers stationed at the borders endured the greatest hardships.

Moreover, Lu Huaizhou had once told him that whenever war broke out and military provisions became scarce, it was the local civilians who donated the little food they had left to support the defending soldiers.

The region was guarded by the Marquis of Zhenbei. Lu Huaizhou had once served there himself, assisting the Marquis and the border troops in securing victory.

Jiang Ji had brought a personal letter from Lu Huaizhou. The Marquis of Zhenbei had long heard of Jiang Ji’s reputation. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. He knew that the maps previously provided had come from Jiang Ji, and that many of the highly effective weapons now used at the border had also been developed by him. These contributions had been invaluable.

Now, Jiang Ji had brought numerous new crop seeds and distributed them freely to the border civilians, helping address their food shortages.

They warmly welcomed his arrival.

Jiang Ji remained there for more than half a month, teaching the border residents how to cultivate these new crops. He hoped that in the future, the people there would enjoy better lives and that the soldiers defending the borders would never have to go hungry.

By the time Jiang Ji returned to the capital, it was already early April.

The fields had become lush with greenery. Crops such as peppers and watermelons were covered in blossoms.

The moment he dismounted and entered the residence, the steward informed him that Second Aunt’s younger brother and his brother-in-law, Su Quanzhong, had already arrived in the capital and had been waiting for nearly two months.

“They’ve already arrived?” Jiang Ji asked in surprise. “Where are they now?”

“At the Han Residence.”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Alright. I’ll rest today. Uncle Zhong, please send them an invitation. Invite them to the residence tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Duke Chang.”

After being away for more than two months, and having traveled to the northwest where she had heard the people were fierce and hardy, Zhao Ru had been worried the entire time. Now that Jiang Ji had finally returned, the weight on her heart was lifted.

She busied herself arranging for Jiang Ji and the others to wash up and eat, then asked about the journey. Jiang Ji answered each of her questions one by one.

When Lu Huaizhou received word from home that Jiang Ji had returned, he hurried to finish his work and returned to the residence early as well.

After washing up, Jiang Ji was having lunch with Lu Jiu and the others when he saw Lu Huaizhou walk in. His eyes curved into a smile as he set down his bowl and extended one hand toward him.

Lu Huaizhou strode over quickly, took his hand, and sat beside him.

“Go on and eat.”

Lu Huaizhou looked at him, studying his face for a while. He squeezed Jiang Ji’s hand before releasing it and resting his hand instead at Jiang Ji’s waist.

Jiang Ji resumed eating.

Seeing the two of them, Lu Jiu and the others couldn’t help but snicker.

Lu Huaizhou ignored the looks around them and focused entirely on Jiang Ji. Seeing that the little bit of weight Jiang Ji had regained during the New Year had disappeared again, his expression darkened slightly.

“Oh, right. The Marquis of Zhenbei wrote you a letter,” Jiang Ji suddenly remembered while eating. Turning his head, he called out, “Xiao Liu, bring the letter from the Marquis of Zhenbei from my luggage and give it to the Regent.”

“Right away!” Xiao Liu hurried off.

Lu Huaizhou asked, “Did everything go smoothly?”

“It went pretty well.” Jiang Ji sighed. “But life there is truly hard.”

Not only was the climate harsh, but food was scarce as well. This time, Jiang Ji had brought so many fruit and vegetable seeds that the local people had practically gone mad with joy.

“That region has always been bitterly cold and difficult,” Lu Huaizhou nodded before asking, “Are there crops particularly suited to growing there?”

“There are,” Jiang Ji replied. “Once they’ve solved their immediate food shortages, I’ll go back again. The climate there is ideal for growing cotton and Hami melons. They could develop cotton and Hami melon cultivation bases. I left cotton seeds for them this time too, so they can harvest more cotton in winter to make padded clothing.”

Lu Huaizhou nodded. After spending two years with Jiang Ji, he had learned a great deal about agriculture as well. Cotton required abundant sunlight, and the border regions indeed enjoyed long hours of sunshine during summer.

Thinking that the border soldiers and civilians might be able to improve their lives put Lu Huaizhou somewhat at ease.

And all of that was thanks to Jiang Ji.

The thought softened Lu Huaizhou’s gaze as he looked at Jiang Ji, and his hand resting on Jiang Ji’s waist tightened unconsciously.

Jiang Ji: “!”

The subtle kneading felt like a hint of something more. Jiang Ji turned to glance at Lu Huaizhou.

Was he… getting impatient?

Jiang Ji immediately picked up the pace of his eating.

“Eat slowly,” Lu Huaizhou said, secretly feeling distressed that Jiang Ji’s waist had become even slimmer.

“Eat more meat,” he instructed.

“Mhm, mhm.” Jiang Ji nodded while rapidly stuffing food into his mouth, thinking, You’re the impatient one, yet you’re telling me to eat slowly. Such a contradiction.

Xiao Liu brought over the Marquis of Zhenbei’s letter along with several memorials. Since Jiang Ji and the others had visited the border regions, they had also inspected the defenses there. The Marquis had taken the opportunity to write reports and letters regarding the border situation for them to bring back.

In his letter, the Marquis of Zhenbei wrote that ever since receiving more detailed maps and new weapons, they had thoroughly dominated the northern tribes the previous year. The tribes no longer dared provoke them so easily.

Lu Huaizhou was very satisfied after reading it.

Once Jiang Ji had finished eating, he returned to their courtyard with Lu Huaizhou.

“I heard Su Quanzhong has been here for quite a while?” Jiang Ji asked as they walked.

Lu Huaizhou nodded. “Almost two months. They said they departed immediately the day after receiving Second Aunt’s letter. I had Lu Shun show them around, and they were very interested, so they’ve been waiting for your return.”

“Alright. I’ll meet with them tomorrow.”

The moment they returned to their room and closed the door, Lu Huaizhou pulled Jiang Ji into his arms. A passionate kiss followed, igniting instantly.

Jiang Ji responded enthusiastically. After kissing for quite some time, he heard Lu Huaizhou ask softly,

“Are you tired?”

Jiang Ji narrowed his eyes slightly and bit Lu Huaizhou’s lips, mumbling, “Stop talking so much.”

Lu Huaizhou chuckled softly before lifting him and carrying him toward the bed.

By the time dusk settled outside, Jiang Ji had exhausted all his energy and fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, sleeping straight through until dawn.

When Jiang Ji woke up, he discovered Lu Huaizhou was still there. That was unusual.

“Are you off duty today?” he asked in confusion.

“No. I took half a day off.” Lu Huaizhou kissed him. “I wanted to spend some time with you.”

The sweet words pleased Jiang Ji immensely, and he lingered affectionately with Lu Huaizhou for a while longer.

By the time they finally got up, it was nearly mid-morning. Second Aunt’s younger brother and Su Quanzhong had already arrived.

Jiang Ji hurried to wash up, ate a quick breakfast, and then went to meet them. Since Lu Huaizhou had no pressing matters, he accompanied him.

Along the way, Jiang Ji realized he wasn’t sure how to address them.

“How do you address Second Aunt’s younger brother and his brother-in-law?” he asked Lu Huaizhou.

Lu Huaizhou replied, “Just follow the cousins’ lead and call them ‘Uncle.'”

“Oh, alright.”

When they arrived at the main hall, Second Aunt was there as well, while Zhao Ru was entertaining the guests.

Besides Second Aunt and Zhao Ru, three other people sat in the hall. Aside from Second Aunt’s younger brother and his brother-in-law, there was also a young man around twenty years old.

“Ah, Jiang Ji is here,” Madam Han said when she saw Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou enter. Her smile immediately faltered as she looked him over with concern.

“Oh dear, Jiang Ji, you’ve lost weight again. The journey must have exhausted you.”

“It wasn’t too bad. The travel itself was just tiring. Thank you for your concern, Second Aunt,” Jiang Ji replied, offering a respectful greeting appropriate for a younger family member.

“Now that you’re back, you need to nourish yourself properly.”

“Alright,” Jiang Ji agreed obediently.

Madam Han smiled before gesturing toward the people opposite them.

“Jiang Ji, you haven’t met them before, so let me introduce everyone. This is my younger brother from my maiden family, Dong Zhian. This is his brother-in-law, Su Quanzhong, head of Su Silk Merchants of Ningzhou. And this is Su Quanzhong’s eldest son, Su Lin.”

Dong Zhian, Su Quanzhong, and Su Lin quickly stood and bowed.

“Greetings, Regent. Greetings, Duke Chang.”

Lu Huaizhou gave a slight nod and returned the greeting with a cupped-fist salute.

“Uncle Dong, Uncle Su, Cousin Su Lin.”

Each addressed the others according to their respective family connections. Jiang Ji also returned the greeting.

“I’ve heard Brother Huaizhou and Second Aunt mention both of you before. I only returned yesterday and have kept you waiting for so long. I truly apologize.”

Dong Zhian and Su Quanzhong waved their hands repeatedly.

“Your Grace is too courteous,” Dong Zhian said. “I heard that you had gone to the northwest to promote new crop varieties. That is an important matter that could not be delayed. It’s been a long time since we last visited the capital anyway, so we took this opportunity to look around. It isn’t a problem at all.”

“I did make a trip there,” Jiang Ji replied with a smile. Looking at the three of them, he addressed Su Quanzhong directly.

“Uncle Su, since you’ve waited so long, why don’t we head to the weaving workshop now?”

“Very well,” Su Quanzhong nodded readily at Jiang Ji’s straightforwardness.

The group headed toward the weaving room.

“When Su Lin and I saw the Yun brocade that Zhian brought back from you, we were absolutely astonished,” Su Quanzhong said with a smile. “We set out the very next day. The fact that Your Grace could create such a loom and such exquisite brocade is truly admirable.”

“I merely built upon the experience of those who came before,” Jiang Ji replied modestly. Not bothering with excessive pleasantries, he continued, “Brother Huaizhou told me that the Su family is renowned for its silk craftsmanship and has maintained that legacy for over a century. I’ve examined your silk products, and they are all exceptional. That’s why the Su family was the first partner I considered.”

“The Regent flatters us,” Su Quanzhong said, pleased to hear that Lu Huaizhou had recommended them.

“Our family has followed our ancestral teachings for generations. From the very beginning, our ancestors placed great emphasis on quality and integrity. Those principles have been passed down through our family. They are the foundation of the Su family’s reputation and confidence.”

Jiang Ji was very satisfied with this answer.

The group entered the weaving workshop.

Three looms stood side by side, each producing a different Yun brocade pattern. Two of the pieces had already been woven to considerable lengths.

Because Jiang Ji’s absence had delayed progress, Zhao Ru’s loom had been reassigned another maid to work alongside her, causing the maidservants’ original piece of brocade to be temporarily set aside.

Seeing the three Yun brocade pieces again, Su Quanzhong and Su Lin’s eyes lit up.

The rich variety of colors resembled rosy clouds in the sky, and the weaving techniques were exceptionally sophisticated.

Their gazes then shifted to the looms themselves.

Since their family worked in this industry, they understood these machines far better than Lu Huaizhou and the others. They couldn’t help but marvel at them.

Observing their reactions, Jiang Ji said,

“Uncle Su, I’ll be direct. Second Aunt has likely already explained the type of partnership I had in mind. So let me ask plainly. You are interested in collaborating with me, correct?”

“Yes,” Su Quanzhong nodded, though he hesitated slightly.

“However… I’m not sure how Your Grace intends to divide the profits.”

The Su family truly was an established silk merchant with excellent quality products. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. They had maintained a place in Ningzhou’s silk industry for many years.

However, by Su Quanzhong’s generation, competition within the silk weaving industry had become increasingly fierce. The Su family had suffered significant setbacks and had already begun to decline.

Su Quanzhong lacked natural talent in silk design and innovation. Fortunately, he possessed strong management skills, which had allowed the family to maintain their standing in Ningzhou’s silk trade.

Still, he understood that continuing this way was unsustainable. That was why he had invested heavily in training his two sons from a young age.

Now, most of the Su family’s new silk designs were created by his eldest son, Su Lin. Su Lin possessed greater talent than he did, which was why Su Quanzhong had brought him to the capital this time to further cultivate his abilities.

Jiang Ji had already thought everything through.

“I’ll provide the looms, weaving techniques, and pattern designs. Your side will provide the workshop, workers, and management. We split the profits fifty-fifty. Does that work for you?”

Su Quanzhong froze.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Ji asked,

“Do you think that’s too little?”

“No, no! Not at all!” Su Quanzhong hurriedly waved his hands.

He had assumed that, given Duke Chang’s current status and influence, if they collaborated, the Su family would be fortunate to receive thirty percent of the profits.

He had never expected Jiang Ji to offer an equal split.

If it had been any other powerful noble, even if they offered only ten percent while demanding all the work from merchants of their lower status, they would hardly have dared object.

Exchanging a glance with Su Lin, Su Quanzhong said,

“Your Grace, are you truly willing to split the profits equally with us? We’d be satisfied with forty percent.”

Jiang Ji blinked in surprise.

This was the first time he’d encountered someone asking for a smaller share.

Su Quanzhong continued,

“To be honest, with your looms and techniques, you could easily open your own workshop and make a fortune.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ji laughed.

“I don’t have enough manpower or energy to manage everything myself. Besides, I don’t want to be separated from my family for extended periods.”

“I see,” Su Quanzhong nodded in understanding.

“That’s right,” Jiang Ji said. “So if you’re agreeable to this profit-sharing arrangement, shall we discuss the remaining details?”

“Agreed, agreed! Of course we agree.”

The two parties spent the entire day carefully negotiating, discussing every detail until everything was settled.

Two days later, Jiang Ji departed again, accompanying Su Quanzhong and his group to Ningzhou.

He inspected the Su family’s silk workshops and silk stores, while also examining the current state of the silk weaving industry throughout Ningzhou and its surrounding regions.

In the end, Jiang Ji officially confirmed the partnership with the Su family.

He drafted a contract containing every detail of their collaboration. After ensuring that nothing had been overlooked, both parties signed and sealed the agreement.

The Su family immediately began preparations for the new workshop.

Jiang Ji provided them with separate component blueprints for the looms, instructing them to commission carpenters to produce all the necessary parts.

While the looms were being built, Jiang Ji and Lu Wen secluded themselves in a guest courtyard at the Su residence, spending their days drawing various brocade pattern designs.

Once the looms were completed, Jiang Ji personally supervised their assembly at the temporary workshop. He also trained the twenty skilled weavers selected by the Su family.

By the time those weavers had fully mastered Yun brocade production techniques and learned how to troubleshoot problems, another two months had passed.

The workshop itself had not yet been completed.

After leaving behind numerous pattern designs, Jiang Ji finally returned to the capital with Lu Jiu and the others.

From the beginning of the year until now, Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou had spent most of the past several months apart, which had provoked severe dissatisfaction from a certain someone.

At night, Lu Huaizhou refused to let Jiang Ji go. Even when Jiang Ji’s voice grew hoarse from crying out, Lu Huaizhou showed no signs of stopping.

Jiang Ji truly couldn’t take much more.

He had never realized that Lu Huaizhou had been holding back before. Now that he had completely let loose, it was absolutely terrifying.

“Enough, enough! I won’t go anywhere else for the rest of the year, alright?”

He genuinely couldn’t endure it anymore.

Lu Huaizhou’s deep voice sounded beside Jiang Ji’s ear like the whisper of a demon.

“Let’s settle the debts from the past six months first.”

Jiang Ji: “…”

This is the end of me.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

TOC

DON’T LOOK AT ME (Part 1)

Coming from a lower-middle-class family, Jun Leon never expected to find himself among the children of the elite.

After earning a basketball scholarship to Holenmeyer Academy, he entered a world that was never meant for someone like him.

Then, on his very first day, he noticed Shay Rui.

Cold, distant, and impossibly beautiful, Shay exuded an untouchable air that kept everyone at arm’s length.

Yet among all the empty seats in the classroom, Jun chose the one beside him.

He couldn’t explain why.

Unable to understand his own growing attraction, Jun kept finding excuses to get closer, mistaking his feelings for harmless teasing.

But as Shay grew quieter and more distant, Jun began to wonder if all he had accomplished was making Shay dislike him.

What Jun never realized was that some distances have nothing to do with hatred.