After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 842 Surprise
The Duke Zhenguo's Mansion attached great importance to the news reported by Haixiya.

Although they were just military commanders before, they had been excluded and deducted by the court for these years, and even the most simple military commanders had learned to consider more realistic issues. After tasting the benefits of the new corn, both the Duke of Zhenguo and General Zhou regarded the potatoes sent by the Hai family as treasures, and decided to send special personnel, allocate special funds, and set up special farms to try planting them.

At present, they have no shortage of military rations, so they can be patient and study this new crop carefully. Even if it has some shortcomings and cannot be used as military rations like rice, wheat and sorghum, it can enrich the dining tables of the Northwest Army and civilians, and the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Hai Xiya left several notebooks of his granddaughter Haitang at the Zhenguo Mansion. Zhenguo ordered his eldest son to take the things and keep them well. He also praised Hai Xiya: "You taught your granddaughter well. She can do such a great thing at such a young age. It's really extraordinary."

Hai Xiya naturally had to be modest on behalf of his granddaughter: "She is idle at home on weekdays. Besides studying and practicing martial arts, helping her grandmother with housework, she also likes to tinker with flowers and plants. She is lucky to be able to find these unknown seeds among the odds and ends brought by various caravans. This is all thanks to the prosperity of Chang'an. At most, she is more careful in everything she does. When she sees new and rare grains, she wants to study them."

The prosperity of Chang'an today is half due to the Zhou family. This was a compliment to the Duke of Zhenguo. The old man just smiled and told Hai Xiya: "It is not easy for a child to be so smart. Don't restrict her with worldly etiquette and rules, and just let her do some chores like needlework. Every woman in the world can do needlework, but there are only a handful of women who can study and develop a new kind of grain like your granddaughter. Don't listen to other people's gossip and insist on making her live like an ordinary woman. If you delay her future achievements, wouldn't it be a sin?"

Hai Xiya felt that the Duke of Zhenguo really thought too highly of his granddaughter, but he was also happy that someone was praising the child in this way. He said a few humble words and accepted the reward that the Duke of Zhenguo had specially designated for his granddaughter.

Haitang received a generous reward, including gold, silver, jewelry, clothes and new books. She was very happy and hurriedly pulled her grandmother Ma and second aunt Hu to look through the things together.

Ma looked at it and chanted Buddha's name, saying, "This must have been prepared for you by the Duke's wife herself. Look at this pair of jade pendants. When I went to pay my respects to her the other day, I saw with my own eyes the steward of the Duke's Mansion holding a jewelry album and asking the Duke's wife to choose a pattern. This one was chosen by her for her granddaughter. I don't know which lady it was originally prepared for, but now it's yours."

Haitang smiled and said, "Then I have to find out. If I took Huajun's favorite, I have to compensate her, otherwise she will be angry with me."

Zhou Huajun was not that stingy, Haitang was just joking. Ma didn't take it seriously, and picked up a piece of new material: "This one has a nice pattern and looks delicate, just right for a girl of your age. Let someone make two new clothes tomorrow, ready for you to wear when you arrive in the capital."

Mrs. Hu reminded her, "Mother, shouldn't we ask someone what kind of clothes are popular in the capital now? If we find someone to make them in Chang'an, I'm afraid they won't fit the fashion trend in the capital, and Tangtang will be laughed at when she wears them."

Ma said hurriedly, "That's true. I almost forgot. Then put the material away first and make it when we get to the capital."

Haitang pointed to a piece of autumn green material and said, "This color is quite suitable for Grandma and Second Aunt. Would you like to make a new set of clothes for them too?"

Ma and Hu thought the child was thoughtful and said with a smile, "We have plenty of new clothes. This material is for you. You can keep it and wear it yourself."

Haitang got 12 rolls of new fabrics. How could she wear them all by herself? Of course, she had to give them away, and she would give them to her family first. She wanted to share her new good things with her family no matter what, and no matter how her grandmother and aunt refused, she would distribute the fabrics to the family members: "This bamboo green one will be used to make new robes for grandpa and cousin, the royal blue one will be left for my brother, the indigo one will be suitable for my second uncle, and this sky blue one will be given to Xiao Shitou. Grandma will take this autumn fragrance green one, and the wine red one, and the blue lotus color will suit my second aunt's skin color the best..."

Mrs. Hu said hurriedly, "No need, no need. You gave us all the fabrics. What are you going to wear? These are all rewards from the Duke's wife..." As the three of them pushed and shoved, Hai Xiya couldn't help but speak up, "What's there to argue about such a small matter? It's not like there's no other fabric to make new clothes at home. Since it's a reward from the Duke, Tangtang just takes it. Remember to go to the Duke's mansion tomorrow to thank him. The Duke's wife wants to see you."

Haitang agreed. She was not nervous. In recent years, she had been on good terms with Zhou Xuejun and Zhou Huajun, and often had the opportunity to meet the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo. Moreover, she had no demands on the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, so she was naturally indifferent.

The next day, she dressed in new clothes and followed her grandmother Ma to pay her respects to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. She was somewhat surprised to see Wu Qiong, whom she had not seen for many days, at the Duke's wife's house.

Ever since Wu Ke had an accident and became seriously ill, Wu Qiong moved into her cousin's house to take care of his daily life. Even after he recovered, she never moved back to the Zhenguo Mansion. I don't know if the wife of the Zhenguo knew her worries, so she never urged her, but always sent people to send her things to ensure that she could have a comfortable life in the small house where she was temporarily living.

As for Wu Qiong's marriage, no one mentioned it for some time.

Wu Qiong was very happy to see Haitang. The two of them greeted the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, and after the greetings, they were sent by the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo to the small hall next door to eat snacks. It happened that Zhou Huajun went to visit someone else and was not at home, so the two sisters took the opportunity to chat and gossip in private.

Wu Qiong said to Haitang excitedly, "I heard that you grew a new kind of crop, and the Duke was very happy. You are amazing!"

Haitang smiled and said, "How could I have grown this? It was just a coincidence that I came across a new crop that I had never seen before. After trying it out, I found that its tubers were edible. There are many people in the world who grow the same crop, but no one else has sent their crops to the Duke of Zhenguo, so the Duke of Zhenguo only praised me. This is not a big deal. Don't you usually grow some flowers and plants at home? I'm just a little luckier than you."

Wu Qiong sighed, "Even if I were planting flowers and came across some exotic flowers and plants I had never seen before, I would never think of cooking their rhizomes and tasting them. Aren't you afraid of getting an upset stomach? This shows that you are bolder and more knowledgeable than me, and can do things that I can't. You don't have to be modest, I'm speaking from the heart, and I'm not jealous."

"Of course you won't be jealous of me. You're not that kind of person." Haitang smiled. "By the way, I gave away almost all the flowers and plants at home, except for rare species or those that I really loved. Most of them were sent to Huajun and Yijun. Don't complain if you weren't included in my share. I was thinking that you might be going back to Beijing soon. If I leave the flowers and plants to you now, you will have to find a place to put them when you leave. Isn't that troublesome? It would be easier to just give them to Yijun and Huajun."

Wu Qiong paused, looked at Haitang in surprise, and lowered his voice: "You heard about it too? The Duke's wife asked me to keep it a secret, how did you know that my cousin and I were going back to Beijing?!"

Huh? She doesn't know?

This time it was Haitang's turn to be surprised. She guessed that the emperor was dying. As soon as the emperor died and the new emperor succeeded to the throne, Empress Dowager Zhou would be promoted to Grand Empress Dowager. Whether she ruled the country from behind the curtain or not, she would issue orders to correct some of the "mistakes" made by the emperor during his reign, such as the improper suppression of the Wu family. At that time, the orphans of the Wu family would definitely return to Beijing. This was a very normal development.

I didn't expect...she was right? But the emperor is not dead yet!

(End of this chapter)