“We have already thoroughly investigated the Su Shi’s background and there is nothing wrong with it. As for He Yanxiu’s unusual behavior…”

“After all, he is a young man, full of vigor and vitality. It is normal for him to think about it.” He Yande disagreed, “But you reminded me that He Yanxiu didn’t have this problem before, but now he has it, which can give him more headaches.”

“Why, you want to cause trouble for Su Shi?” Fang Shi raised her eyebrows, “It seems that your ways are not much better than those of me, a woman.”

“Why do I need to send someone there myself? There are plenty of guns in the capital city that I can use. I will definitely not be like you, who let people say bad things about He Yanxiu and got caught red-handed.”

He Yande’s sneer made Fang Shi’s face turn red.

Fang Shi couldn’t help stamping her feet. She was so angry that she simply didn’t go back with He Yande. She just called the maid to come over and sat in the garden.

“Master, do you want to go back to the courtyard or look for the young lady?” asked the servant beside him.

“Let’s go to the study.” He Yande said, “Some matters from the New Year have not been dealt with yet. I’ll go take a look later.”

“Master is really diligent.” The servant praised.

He Yande smiled.

There was some bitterness and coldness in the smile.

He had to be diligent.

If he didn’t work hard and made achievements in the future, would he still have a place in this family?
Even the old lady said that he and He Yanxiu were different.

When official positions were assigned, he was assigned to the Ministry of Works among the lower three ministries, while He Yanxiu was entrusted with an important task and was assigned to the Ministry of Revenue among the upper three ministries.

He was originally the eldest son of the He family and the eldest grandson of the entire He family. But, because his parents died early, he had no one to protect him. He Yanxiu, whose parents were healthy, became the favorite of the whole family. He Yanxiu also had a maternal family with a prominent family background…

Although He Yande’s grandfather was also a prefect, he was nothing compared to the Lu family.

When others mentioned the descendants of the He family, the first person they thought of was He Yanxiu. Do they still think of He Yande, the eldest grandson?

Haha…

He Yande lowered his eyes and walked forward.

——

After lunch, when He Yanxiu drank the medicine, Su Yujin gave him acupuncture as usual.

He Yanxiu didn’t seemed to be in a hurry to leave, so Su Yujin didn’t rush him. She just made white tea for him to drink while he was waiting after giving him acupuncture.

White tea was slightly cooling in nature, but during the winter, most people consumed warm foods to combat the cold, wore thick clothing, and even heated their homes with warm floor heating. This often led to an excess of internal heat. Drinking white tea, which was cooling in nature, helped prevent such issues.

The same principle applies to eating radishes in winter and ginger in summer.

Drinking tea alone would naturally be a bit boring, so Su Yujin took out some food she had made, including sugar-roasted chestnuts, fish skin peanuts, amber walnut kernels, and roasted pine nuts, and asked He Yanxiu to eat them.

He Yanxiu had silver needles on both wrists. He would occasionally take a peanut or walnut kernel, but the force was not too strong and he chew it for a long time after swallowing it. It was nothing, but this tea…

He couldn’t even hold the teacup.

It seemed a little awkward to let Su Yujin feed him tea.

If Xing’an were to come…

That would be even more awkward!

Just when He Yanxiu was worrying about this, Su Yujin took out a long tube.

She put one end of the tube into the teacup and put the other end in her mouth. With a “slurp”, a big mouthful of tea went into her stomach.

Su Yujin finished the demonstration and placed the other tube into the teacup in front of He Yanxiu. “Second Master, would you like to try it?”

The tube was very long, and He Yanxiu drank enough tea by just leaning forward slightly.

“This thing…” He Yanxiu observed it for a while, “It looks a bit like a green tube cup.”

The so-called Bitong cup, from a modern perspective, was the ancestor of the ancient straw cup.

The cup was crafted in the shape of a lotus seed pod and leaf, with a hole at the bottom inside. A stem extended from the outer base or side, which was hollow in the middle, allowing one to drink the tea or cold beverage in the cup through the large opening of the stem.

Later on, similar drinking cups—whether shaped like lotus leaves, lotus flowers, or peonies—were all collectively referred to as Bìtǒng cups.

“It is nowhere near as elaborate as a Bìtǒng cup. We simply took sturdy wheat stalks from the summer, soaked them in saltwater, dried them, and made simple straws for convenient use.”

It was definitely not as good as the Bitong Cup, which required skilled craftsmen to carve it meticulously.

“Although it is simple, it is practical.” He Yanxiu thought that this straw straw was very useful and interesting. After a while, he drank up all the tea.

Su Yujin added some new tea to his cup.

After drinking half a cup of tea this time, He Yanxiu didn’t dare to eat anymore.

If you eat too much, you have to go to the bathroom.

This situation was extremely inconvenient now.

Su Yujin saw what he was thinking, so she stopped trying to persuade him and started talking about other topics.

But most of the time it was Su Yujin who was talking and He Yanxiu who was listening.

For example, the new dishes that had been introduced at Huibin Restaurant during this period.

Earlier in the year, the theater had staged “The Tale of the White Snake”, a play about Liu Bang’s uprising after slaying a snake. However, Su Yujin hadn’t had the time to watch it properly, which he found somewhat regrettable.

She wanted to build a vegetable shed in the yard to grow some off-season vegetables or mushrooms, but the yard was too small and there was really no room for it, so she had to give up…

When He Yanxiu heard this, he interrupted and said, “Actually, this is not difficult. There are plenty of places on the farm where we can build vegetable sheds.”

Su Yujin sighed, “Yeah.”

How she not know this?

It was just that the money earned by Huibinlou and Suji every month was not small, but if she wanted to buy a farm, it was still far from enough. She only save it month by month and see if she saves enough by next autumn, or see if there were other ways to make money and expand the business.

“My family has another farm in the suburbs of the Capital. It’s not far from Qinghe. Although the farm is not big, it is enough for these things. If you want to do it, you can go and take a look in the spring.”

When the time came, he could just give the orders in advance.

Go to the He family’s farm.

Su Yujin waved her hand without even thinking, “Second Master, your intention is good, but it’s really not necessary…”

He Yanxiu now used her as a shield, likely finding her obedient and useful, making her a convenient tool.

This person was always like this—whether it was an object or a person that was used with ease, he was reluctant to replace it casually.

Perhaps He Yanxiu was indeed this way, which was why he also had her take over the family estates, wanting others to know that she was his mistress placed outside? It might also serve to clarify his own reputation.

However, she was unwilling to be a mistress for the rest of her life.

Her future aspirations were to soar high and far, aiming for the stars and the sea.

The more entangled she became with anyone or anything in the He family, except for He Yanxiu, the more disadvantageous it would be for her future.

The person had already passed away…

　
(End of this chapter)

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