Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 200 Collision of Two People in Beijing (5)
"Elder brother, currently it’s not suitable for us to confront the major families head-on, so we must carve out new avenues. Fruits are just one option; we have many things to do. We must seize the opportunity now, before the other Hidden Clans, to take this piece of meat." Seeing the information, he really couldn’t openly compete with the five powerful families for business, as they had been entrenched in the Capital City for a long time, with intricate connections, and furthermore, several ladies in the palace came from those families.
"Cousin, you can make the decisions regarding this matter." Jueqing also felt that Feng Xuxu was right, expressing his meaningless agreement.
"Cousin, I will go back and review the data first. I’ll have lunch and dinner in my own courtyard to save time. There are still many documents I haven’t read through, and I must finish them before the Empress Dowager’s birthday celebration."
"Yes, take good care of yourself," Jueqing said with concern.
"I know, cousin. I’m heading back now." After bidding farewell to her cousin, she hurried back to the Peony Garden.
After spending the entire afternoon looking over the materials, when she lifted her head, she realized it was already evening.
"Baihe, serve the meal." Touching her deflated stomach, she stood up to stretch her muscles, having been in a coach for several days, and then resumed reading documents upon getting out of the coach, scarcely having moved at all.
"Yes, miss." Baihe answered promptly, rising from the outer room and quickly heading toward the small kitchen in the Peony Garden.
A moment later, Yingsu led several maids, one after another, into the side hall with dishes, and then they retreated after setting down the meal.
"Miss, the meal is all set." Coming into the bedroom and seeing the young lady snipping the candle wick by candlelight, she stood up and approached to speak.
"Yes, let’s go, I’m starving." She put down the scissors, went to the side hall, washed her hands, and then began to eat.
Soon after, Baihe brought a pot of freshly boiled water and brewed a cup of homemade flower tea for the young lady.
Jueqing arrived at the Peony Garden and saw his cousin just beginning to eat, saying displeasedly, "How come you are only eating now?"
"Cousin, I was so absorbed in the data that I forgot the time," she replied, sipping the ginseng soup from her bowl.
Turning his head, Jueqing glared at the two maids and scolded, "If the young lady forgot her meal, should you also forget?"
Hearing this, Yingsu and Baihe hung their heads in unison, full of regret.
"Cousin, I told them to do so. I asked that nobody disturb me while I was reviewing the data so as not to disrupt my train of thought," Feng Xuxu explained, putting down her chopsticks to clarify to her cousin who was scolding her maids unjustly.
"You, you shouldn’t do this in the future." Glaring at Feng Xuxu, he spoke in a resigned tone.
"You may clear the dishes. I will speak with my cousin," she said to Yingsu and Baihe.
"Yes, miss."
The two quickly cleared the table, replaced it with hot tea, and then retreated.
"Cousin, are you visiting at this time because something has come up?" She held her cup of tea, seeing her cousin sitting motionless.
"Alas, I was wondering what to present as a gift for the Empress Dowager’s birthday," he said with a sigh.
"What did you usually send in previous years?"
"In the past, it’s been relatively precious jade artifacts or Luminous Pearls. This year the economy isn’t great, and I’ve just received news that several big Hidden Clans have prepared chests of treasures. In comparison to them, we are pitifully lacking," he said, sitting there with a distressed look.
Clutching the cup, Feng Xuxu pondered for a while. If it came down to it, she could take out some top-grade medicinal materials from her space, things that could not be bought with silver. Then she said, "Cousin, you don’t have to worry about this. I’ll handle it. I won’t let Xuanyuan lose face."
