A farmer's daughter who traveled through time: Marrying a sickly man

Xia Tian had no choice but to take Ningxiang to Yayizhai again the next morning.

"Shopkeeper Xiao, what's going on? Didn't we just meet yesterday?"

"Madam, a customer wants to order a painting of 'Pine and Crane Longevity' and it must be done before the end of the year." Shopkeeper Xiao was extremely anxious.

Xia Tian frowned slightly, "Didn't we agree on a maximum of two paintings per month?"

"I can't refuse this. This is the Wen Yibo family. His old lady is celebrating her 60th birthday on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and she wants a painting of Mr. Xuanying's "Pine and Crane Longevity Painting."

"But the Chinese New Year is only half a month away, so it might be too late." She just received a custom painting from here yesterday, which must be completed before the end of the year. It is said to be a gift for her boss.

If you have already promised someone, you cannot change your mind at the last minute.

"Madam, please think of a solution. First, we can't afford to offend the Wen Yi Marquis's Mansion. Second, they directly offered a price of five thousand taels, and they just want to expedite it." Shopkeeper Xiao said as he stretched out his palm and gestured.

Xia Tian was also shocked when he heard this. What a rich man! Just a casual painting costs five thousand taels!

She thought about it carefully and decided that at her speed, she could finish two paintings in half a month, but she would not have any spare time to do anything else.

She made up her mind and accepted it for the money. Who made her need the money?

"Okay, forget it this time. I'll take it. But I won't do it next time. Otherwise, we won't be able to do this business anymore."

"Okay, okay, I won't do it again!" Shopkeeper Xiao happily sent Xia Tian out the door.

Quickly send someone to report back to the Wen Yibo Mansion.

Xia Tian thought that since he was already out, he might as well eat outside before going back.

He took Ningxiang and Mufeng directly to Yupinxuan.

Last time Shen Nian said this was their own restaurant, she thought it was the property of the Wu'an Marquis Mansion, but Mu Feng told her that it was the private property of the prince.

It was the dowry of Shen Nian’s biological mother.

Shen Nian's biological mother was also the legitimate daughter of the aristocratic Cui family, and her dowry was very generous.

When Cui passed away, the dowry was taken over by the old lady. When Shen Hui got married, half of it was given to her, and the other half was taken by Shen Nian, who has been managing it herself.

"So, your young master is quite rich!" Xia Tian joked.

"What belongs to the master belongs to the lady, and the lady is also a rich person now." Mu Feng also joked.

He is right. Now the master cannot live without his wife at all.

"You're right, then let's have a free meal today and let your master pay for it."

A few people walked into Yupinxuan with smiles on their faces.

Yupinxuan is a three-story building with magnificent decoration. The first floor is the lobby, and the second and third floors are private rooms.

It was not yet lunchtime, so there were not many people in the lobby.

As soon as the three of them entered, they saw the owner of Yupinxuan with his head down, counting beads on an abacus behind the counter at the door.

"Please come in, gentlemen!" the waiter came up and greeted them.

The shopkeeper heard a guest coming and looked up, "Mu Feng, why are you here?"

I looked back again, but didn't see the prince.

He asked doubtfully, "Who is this?"

"This is the prince's wife. I brought her here for dinner." Mu Feng introduced Xia Tian to the shopkeeper.

"Madam?" The shopkeeper's face was full of smiles, and he extended a hand in a gesture of invitation, "Then please come in quickly, directly to the prince's private room on the third floor."

Then he said to the waiter who was watching, "Go, ask the kitchen to make a few more of our restaurant's specialties for Madam to try."

After saying that, he personally took the three of them to the exclusive private room reserved for Shen Nian on the third floor.

"Ma'am, please take a seat first. You must try our signature dish today."

"Okay, thank you, boss." Xia Tian thanked with a smile.

"Madam, my surname is Bai. You can just call me Manager Bai." Manager Bai said with a smile.

Shopkeeper Bai then ordered his servant to bring over a pot of top-quality Longjing tea and a few plates of exquisitely prepared dim sum before leaving.

Xia Tian asked Ningxiang and Mufeng to sit together.

After waiting for a while, the dishes were brought up one after another, filling the entire table.

Xia Tian tasted each one first and nodded, "It tastes good."

"I think what Madam cooks tastes better." Mu Feng said after taking a bite of the dish.

Ningxiang nodded as she ate, "Indeed, Madam's cooking is more delicious."

Last time, to celebrate the crown prince becoming an official, the lady prepared a large table of dishes. The two of them didn’t eat much, and they ate the rest. It tasted really good.

"If Madam opens a restaurant, there will definitely be a lot of people coming to eat." Mu Feng has always been thinking about the food Xia Tian cooked.

Normally, he is not a person with a strong appetite, but he just wants to eat more of the food his wife cooks.

"Actually, I've always wanted to open a restaurant, but I haven't saved enough money yet."

"Master has money, Madam, just take whatever amount you want." Mu Feng said as a matter of course, as if he had the final say over the money.

Xia Tian was so happy that he joked, "No, I want to earn money to open a shop myself. That way, if your master changes his mind in the future, I can run away with the money."

"The master will definitely not change his mind." Mu Feng quickly made a guarantee for Shen Nian.

"It's too early to talk about this now, but Mu Feng, please ask someone to help me keep an eye out for houses in good locations. Is anyone willing to sell them?"

"Madam, you are not really going to leave the master?"

"No. I just want to sell the shop. It can also be regarded as my dowry."

"That's right." Mu Feng nodded, "Then I'll have someone pay more attention."

The three of them finished their meal chatting and laughing, and only after Manager Bai's attentive farewell did they get on the carriage and prepare to return home.

Passing by a cloth shop, Xia Tian went in and selected more than a dozen batches of brocade, cotton, silk and other things of various colors. It was the end of the year and the embroiderers in the mansion were too busy to take on any other work except what was within their quota.

She bought it and asked Ningxiang and the others to cut and make it themselves.

It’s also a benefit for everyone.

Seeing that it was enough, I didn’t continue shopping and went straight home.

She has two paintings to paint in half a month, so time is quite tight.

I didn’t waste any time in the afternoon and went straight to the study to paint.

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, the first painting was completed and was directly delivered to Manager Xiao by Ningxiang and Mufeng.

On the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, people from several families had dinner together in Ruixuan Hall in the evening. Liu did not attend due to illness, and Shen Ke did not attend as he was unable to get out of bed.

Everyone finished their meal quietly and returned to their respective courtyards.

On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, Ningxiang Ningxue led the people from Jinglan Garden to start cleaning and arranging the yard inside and out.

She also took the time to use the cotton cloth she bought in the summer to sew new clothes for the people in the yard.

The embroiderers were too busy to handle the work, so they had to sew it themselves.

Xia Tian was also working overtime to paint the "Pine and Crane Longevity Picture". The entire Jinglan Garden, from the master to the servants, was working hard.

The painting was finally completed on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month. Xia Tian personally delivered it to Shopkeeper Xiao and received a silver note worth four thousand taels.

The moment I saw the banknote, I felt that all the busyness these days was worth it.

On the 28th day of the 12th lunar month, the mansion distributed the New Year's allowance. In addition to the extra monthly allowance of silver, each master was given two extra sets of clothes, each servant was given a new set of clothes, and each person was given a portion of fruits and dried fruits.

The whole mansion was filled with joy.

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xia Tian also gave a red envelope of one month's salary to all the servants in Jinglan Garden, and gave each of the four maids, Ningxiang, Ningxue, Cuiyun and others, a new set of clothes and a piece of cloth. The clothes were all made by these maids themselves.

I gave each of the others a piece of cotton cloth and asked them to take it home and make it themselves, but I was really too busy to do it.