Traveling through time and space

"So mysterious? What's going on?" Su Yuanyuan asked in confusion. Prince Ge shook his head and went into the room where his second brother was sitting. "Second brother, why don't you go to the mansion?" Su Yuanyuan went up and patted his shoulder.

"Yuanyuan, second brother wants to ask you something." The second brother hesitated, as if he had something to say.

"What do you want to ask?"

"Don't you like second brother?"

"Of course Yuanyuan likes second brother." Su Yuanyuan answered without thinking.

"Then study hard, second brother. When you become the top scholar, I will come to ask for your hand in marriage." The second brother was very happy and stood up to speak. "Second brother will treat you well for the rest of his life."

Now Su Yuanyuan understood a little bit. Proposing marriage is not this kind of love, but that kind of love. "Second brother, the love Yuanyuan is talking about is the love between siblings, not the kind of love between men and women."

"Didn't you say you like second brother?"

"Brother, the kind of love Yuanyuan is talking about is the kind of love between family members and friends. It has nothing to do with the love between men and women."

"Don't you like our Cai family? Second brother will live with you in the Marquis of Xiaoyong's mansion. Together we will be filial to our grandmother and let her live out her old age in peace."

"Second brother, Yuanyuan really loves you as a sibling. Yuanyuan is still young and doesn't want to talk about these things. You should study hard and strive to become the top scorer in the imperial examination. I believe that in the future you will meet the person you like. That kind of heart-throb is what true love feels. Yuanyuan is not suitable for you, and you are not suitable for Yuanyuan. Second brother, don't say this again in the future. Let's pretend that what happened today never happened. From now on, you are still the second brother, and Yuanyuan is just a younger sister. Yuanyuan will take her leave first." Su Yuanyuan fled out of the house.

"Princess, what's wrong? Your face is red," Chunmei saw that Su Yuanyuan was unwell.

"It's okay, but I'm a little hot because I'm wearing too much. Prince, please take me to Ting'er." Su Yuanyuan was a little angry. This guy must know something. "Stand back and don't come near," Su Yuanyuan ordered the people following her. "Prince Ge, do you know anything?"

"I don't know, nothing at all," he said, shaking his head. "Then is there anything you think I should know?"

"It's best not to know," Su Yuanyuan's expression changed, but she felt that he should know something. "Are you close to my second brother?"

"We have been friends for ten years."

"That's great. I hope you both will succeed in the exams in the next few days."

"Thank you...."

"Prince Ge, you owe Yuanyuan a favor that can be considered as saving her life, so Yuanyuan treats you as a friend. So please don't ask anything you shouldn't ask, so as not to hurt the friendship between us."

"Actually, he's quite..."

"Master Ge, you don't have to see me off. Yuanyuan has seen Ting'er." Su Yuanyuan took a few quick steps and went into the pavilion.

"Sister, you are here. Let me introduce Ting'er to you..." It can be really seen that Ting'er can speak well now. She talks fluently. Su Yuanyuan nods to show her goodwill when she sees people who are older and younger than herself. On the way back in the car, Su Yuanyuan collapses on her grandmother's legs, her face stiff with a smile.

"Are you tired?" Grandma touched Su Yuanyuan's forehead.

"Grandma, you've been smiling the entire day, and your face is practically frozen from laughing."

"You, but Grandma knows that you did it all for Ting'er."

"Yes, Yuanyuan wanted to repay the favor of Prince Ge. If Ting'er gets better, he will be very happy. Yuanyuan can also see that he cares about his sister very much. However, when I went to Ge's house today, I felt that his family was very strange."

"Yes, Madam Hou is not actually the original wife of the Marquis. The previous Madam Hou died during childbirth, and the current Madam Hou was taken into the mansion. I heard that she raised the previous child and he was quite promising. Not many people in the current Marquis Mansion know that the eldest son is not Madam Hou's. It's just that the Marquis took his cousin who grew up with him as a concubine, and he doted on her even more, so the current Madam Hou's life is not very comfortable."

"Grandmother, why didn't the eldest son become the crown prince, but the second son became the crown prince?"

"The eldest son's mother wasn't from a prominent family either. So when Ge Congwen was a few years old, Lord Hou requested a title for him. I heard that after Madam Hou gave birth to the Crown Prince, her health wasn't very good for several years, so she couldn't have children. Therefore, there's a big difference between the two children Madam Hou gave birth to."

"Grandma, did the aunt give birth to a son?"

"No, only one daughter, but the other concubines gave birth to sons." Grandmother thought for a while, "Have you also met the ladies with Madam Hou today?" Su Yuanyuan nodded. Grandmother said that Madam Lu was called Lu Xiuniang. She had entered the mansion before and said that she was friends with Yunniang. Later, she got married and became a widow a few years later. However, she ran the largest embroidery workshop, Nanxiufang, and was a figure in the capital of the Qingyang Dynasty. She was smart but also a good person.

"The old lady, the princess, the eldest young master, the two Mr. Lus, and the other two young masters are all here." They were having breakfast when Mrs. Wu came over to report.

"What's the matter so early in the morning?" Everyone had just finished their meal, and Su Yuanyuan was a little surprised. They were at Bi Ming Garden. Good heavens, there were quite a few people here today. "Gentlemen," she said, noticing the sharp looks from Masters Lu and Jiang, and then she changed her tune. "Brothers, what brings you here so early in the morning? Big Brother, please sit down and talk."

"Greetings, old lady." It turned out that it was the grandmother who came over, and they stood up to greet her.

"Let's talk." Grandma didn't go into the house, but just looked at the door and was about to leave. She must have come to see who had come.

"Don't worry, grandma, we won't bully Yuanyuan," Young Master Lu joked, and the grandmother smiled and left.

"Yuanyuan, I brought them here for lunch. The braised pork we had yesterday was something I've never tasted before," said Mr. Dalu. "And let's talk about something else."

"Mother Cai, have someone go to the market and buy some more pork belly. The more the better. Big brother, did second brother go to the academy today?" Su Yuanyuan asked the eldest brother. The eldest brother nodded and said that they had left together that morning. "I'll make some more and send some to second brother and Prince Ge. I hope they both pass the entrance exam."

"I understand, Princess. I will prepare the food box." Mother Cai went out.

"Everyone, can we talk about something first?" Su Yuanyuan sat down, and they all sat down too.

"Yuanyuan, take us to see the soy sauce you made." Su Yuanyuan stood up and led them to Yixin Garden. Xu Kun was checking it out. He bowed and stepped aside. "Yuanyuan, is this the soy sauce? Why is it this color?"

"This is fermented. Would you like to try it? Xu Kun, use chopsticks to pick up some and let each of you taste it," Xu Kun stepped forward and let everyone have a try.

“This is so salty.”

"Yes, this is for cooking, and it has salt in it."

They asked a lot of questions, such as what is it made of and how long does it take to make? Su Yuanyuan answered all the questions she could. They didn't watch for long when Mother Cai said the meat had been bought. It turned out that they had been here for more than an hour. She didn't realize it. Someone suggested that they go to the kitchen together. Su Yuanyuan took them to the kitchen and found that the meat bought today was good, and there were quite a few thigh bones. Mrs. Wu said that because they bought a lot, these were given by the butcher shop. Su Yuanyuan had an idea to make some braised pork ribs. The kitchen was busy in full swing. Some people were chopping bones, and some were cutting pork belly. When everything was done, Su Yuanyuan put on her apron and asked Dongmei to bring a basin of soy sauce. The quantity today was big. Su Yuanyuan explained while she was cooking because there was a group of men watching. When the braised pork and braised pork ribs were ready, the chef over there also made some other dishes. Su Yuanyuan ordered a plate of each of the two dishes and sent them to the second brother and Mr. Ge. The eldest brother asked his servant to deliver it, as he knew where they were. The table was set, and they invited Grandma to dinner, but she said she wasn't coming over anymore and that she could just help herself. Su Yuanyuan prepared a little more for Grandma, explaining that the elderly shouldn't eat too much greasy food at once. Naturally, she received another round of praise, and Su Yuanyuan understood the purpose of their visit. "Whatever you have to say, just say it." After dinner, they moved to a separate room to talk.

"Yuanyuan, please sell us the soy sauce in the yard." Young Master Jiang said as soon as he came up.

"That won't work. It takes at least half a year to dry a batch of soy sauce from start to finish, and Yuanyuan wants to keep it for his family."

"You can't finish it, so why not sell us the soy sauce recipe as well?"

"Second Brother Lu, this soy sauce is not only for restaurants, but also for ordinary families. Giving it to the restaurant is a one-time transaction. Yuanyuan can open a workshop and sell it for decades. It is not only sold in the capital, but also in our Qingyang Dynasty. It can be sold all over the world. Can the profit be calculated?" Su Yuanyuan asked back.

"Princess, you are still smart."

"Yuanyuan is just young, but not stupid. With this soy sauce as the base, we can develop many other sauces and products."

"But that will be very hard for you."

"Brother Jiang, as long as there is money to be made, there are people working anyway." In fact, Su Yuanyuan also thought of selling it. She was a lazy person and didn't want to make herself too tired. Also, there was something else she wanted to do, soybean oil. The Qingyang Dynasty only had lard and various animal fats. It would be much better if it could produce vegetable oil such as soybean oil.

"Yes, you are a girl. In less than half a year, you will be coming of age and discuss marriage. How can you have time to run a workshop all day?" The eldest brother persuaded.

"Brother, what kind of logic is this? Aren't these two contradictory? Yuanyuan claims that he can do it well." Su Yuanyuan felt that he was looking down on her.

"Yuanyuan, judging from your expression, you must have other ideas. Just let us do this. We are not outsiders anyway," Young Master Jiang stood up.

You are not outsiders, and you are not insiders either. "To be honest, Yuanyuan has an idea in mind. If you want to buy this soy sauce recipe, it's not impossible. But as Yuanyuan just said, you all know how big the profit margin is. It depends on how much money you can pay to buy this recipe exclusively. Of course, Yuanyuan will definitely not get involved in this in the future."

"Yuanyuan, we have been dealing with each other for such a long time, and we brothers have never treated you unfairly."

"I believe you discussed this before you came. Let's be frank. How much silver do you want to offer?" Because they had dealt with each other before, they knew each other a little. "Let's see how much difference there is between your price and Yuanyuan's expectation."

"Could you please give me a price first?"

"Brother, this soy sauce took Yuanyuan half a year to make. Yuanyuan is afraid that if I ask for too high a price, you will beat me up."

"It's okay. Isn't there a saying that goes, 'Ask for a high price, pay it back on the spot'?"

"Two hundred thousand taels. Yuanyuan will spend half a year to teach your people, and Yuanyuan will also do everything Yanshen did." Su Yuanyuan raised two fingers.

"Yuanyuan, isn't that too much? What you just said is all unknown. We don't know if we can make money in the future."

"Second Brother Lu, after we produce a large quantity, we can sell it all over the world. That's an unpredictable number of potential customers."

"Zhilin, stop talking nonsense. We all believe in Yuanyuan's character. How about this, Yuanyuan, this isn't the first time we've worked together. As long as you agree to help us build the workshop and produce the first batch of soy sauce, we're willing to add another 10,000 taels of silver."

"Deal, I'll give you all a small jar of soy sauce from the mansion. And if you want to eat braised pork or today's braised pork ribs, just come over. I'll take care of it."

"Okay, Yuanyuan, you're a straightforward person, so it's a deal. Two hundred and one thousand taels, and from now on you're our biological sister. If anyone bullies you, just tell Brother Jiang to do it, and Brother Jiang will beat them to death."

"Then Yuanyuan thanks Brother Jiang." Although Su Yuanyuan never asked about the origins of these people, she knew that they were authentic second-generation rich and official people. To deal with them, all she had to do was give them enough money. But to be honest, these people were really nice to Su Yuanyuan, and she had to thank her brother for that. If they were not good people, he probably would not have introduced them to Su Yuanyuan. Her brother never talked about the Cai family here. The several branches of the Cai family had long since split up and lived their own lives. As for the aunt from the Shen family, she had no time to come here because the twins were also brought back to the mansion, and Sister Hua was also brought back to the mansion. The wives and concubines were fighting every day, which Su Yuanyuan was happy to see. For the next two and a half months, Su Yuanyuan became busy again. At her suggestion, they chose a large and bright factory outside the city that could accommodate 500 large vats at the same time. This was their plan. Isn't the soy sauce produced in batches every six months? They split it up and make a batch every three months, so that the shipping time can also be staggered. For the past two and a half months, Su Yuanyuan and his people have set up camp in the workshop, and have been making soy sauce with the people they carefully selected. Su Yuanyuan also gave them some ideas in this regard. After the soy sauce was put into the vat, Su Yuanyuan asked Xu Kun to stay, and he took his people back to the mansion. If there was anything, he could come back and call them. The bosses also agreed. For more than two months, many people have been living in the workshop occasionally. If they want to do this business well, they have to understand all the processes. Now that the beans are in the vat, everyone is more relaxed.