Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

After bidding farewell to Li Gonggong, Shen Jingheng followed Li Taifu to the Taifu's residence, knowing that some things could no longer be kept secret.

Changyun led Shen Luo to find Xia Yu; they wanted to tell Xia Yu about what had happened in the palace that day. Only Grand Tutor Li and Shen Jingheng were in the study of the Li residence.

After a moment of silence, Grand Tutor Li finally asked the question.

"Tell me, whose child is Luo'er?" Grand Tutor Li looked at Shen Jingheng with a serious expression.

"..." Shen Jingheng remained silent. It wasn't that he didn't want to speak, but rather that he didn't know how to begin.

"Luo'er does indeed resemble the Emperor when he was young. Do you have anything to say about this?"

"Luo'er's mother was indeed bestowed upon me by the Imperial Concubine." After a moment of silence, he continued.

“However, she gave birth to Luo’er only eight months after entering my household, and I…” He seemed to find it difficult to say, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally said the last few words, “I did not touch her.”

"So, Luo'er's mother was actually pregnant while she was in the palace?" Grand Tutor Li asked excitedly.

"Yes"

"Is there anyone else who knows about this?" In his excitement, Grand Tutor Li asked again.

"I've dealt with everything that needed to be dealt with; the remaining people are all reliable," Shen Jingheng said in a deep voice.

"Alright, I understand." Grand Tutor Li paced back and forth in his study, somewhat agitated. He had returned to his hometown because he couldn't stand Consort Jiang's arrogance, which had left the Emperor, over thirty, without a son. After numerous remonstrances, he saw through the Emperor's inappropriate affection. Disappointed, he chose to distance himself from the court, preferring to remain out of sight, out of mind.

But who could have imagined that Shen Jingheng would be so bold as to ensure Luo'er's safe birth and raise her to adulthood right under Consort Jiang's nose? Only now did he understand why Shen Jingheng had so strongly urged him to return to his hometown to retire, and why he insisted on being Luo'er's teacher.

What a Shen Jingheng! He secretly orchestrated such a grand scheme, and even I am just a pawn in his game.

"Hahaha, good, good, you've done a great job. Join me for drinks tonight, we won't leave until we're drunk." Having figured everything out, Grand Tutor Li clapped his hands and laughed. He pulled Shen Jingheng to drink.

However, Shen Jingheng was still somewhat worried, fearing that something might happen to the Imperial Concubine.

"Grand Tutor, do you think there might be a problem with the Imperial Concubine?"

Upon hearing Shen Jingheng's words, the Grand Tutor pondered for a moment, stroking his beard, and said...

"Right now, she probably can't take care of Luo'er. The Crown Prince falling into the water will definitely take up all her energy. We'll set off in a couple of days, but we can't let our guard down. Let's be careful."

In the Wutong Garden, Xia Yu, Shijiu, and Daniu surrounded Shen Luo, listening to him recount his heroic deeds of saving people in the palace. When she heard that Changyun and Shen Luo had used artificial respiration to revive the lifeless First Prince, she gave Changyun a somewhat disapproving look, but said nothing.

Changyun naturally understood his sister's meaning. In that situation, if he and Shen Luo hadn't intervened, they wouldn't have done anything wrong or been implicated. But if they had intervened and failed to save the Crown Prince, their crimes would have been far greater, and they might even have faced death.

Changyun smiled apologetically at his sister. When they were thinking about saving the person, they hadn't considered the Crown Prince's identity. At that moment, in their eyes, the Crown Prince was no different from Gou Dan from their hometown. But now he was also somewhat afraid. If they really hadn't been able to save the person, the Emperor and Consort would be heartbroken, which would inevitably implicate them, their families, and even Grand Tutor Li and others.

As the group was chatting animatedly, they saw Granny Hu enter from outside, smiling as she greeted them.

"Miss, young masters, the master just said that he wants to drink with Lord Shen today and would like to eat the snacks you make to go with the drinks."

Xia Yu smiled and stood up when she heard that Grand Tutor Li wanted to eat her cooking. She then addressed Granny Hu...

"Aunt Hu, did Grandpa Li say which dishes he would like to eat?"

"The master didn't say anything, he just wanted to eat the dishes made by Miss." Although Granny Hu was smiling when she spoke, Xia Yu could tell that her smile was a little stiff, probably because she was embarrassed.

"Since Grandpa Li won't say, then I'll just have to do whatever I want." He then turned to Changyun, Shen Luo, Da Niu, Nineteen, and the others, and asked...

"I'm cooking today, so tell me what you want to eat. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Sister Xiaxia, I want sweet and sour pork ribs, spicy chicken, garlic fish fillets..." Shen Luo was the most unceremonious, rattling off seven or eight dishes in one breath. This left Granny Hu, standing to the side, completely stunned.

After finally getting him to finish speaking, Xia Yu looked at the other three who hadn't yet spoken and asked...

"Don't any of you want to eat anything?"

"Young Master Luo has already told us what we want to eat," Da Niu answered honestly, unable to resist slurping her saliva as she spoke.

Xia Yu then asked about Changyun and the Nineteenth.

"Brother, Nineteen, where are you two?"

"Everything Luo'er said is true."

"Young Master Shen has already said so."

The two of them answered in unison.

"Alright then, you guys come and help me out." Xia Yu pointed at the group.

When Granny Hu saw that the people she was pointing to included Shen Luo and Chang Yun, she quickly spoke up.

“Miss, there’s no need for the two young masters’ help. There are several other people in the kitchen. You can guide us while we cook. How could we let you cook yourself!”

"Oh, what's the big deal? I enjoy cooking. I cook when I'm at home and have nothing to do. You guys can just watch and learn how, so you can make it yourself whenever you want."

After saying that, he turned to Granny Hu and said...

"I'm going inside to change my clothes, please wait for me, ma'am."

Seeing that she really intended to cook for herself, Granny Hu smiled and said...

"Please go ahead, Miss. This old servant will wait here."

"Let's go back and change our clothes. We'll find you in the kitchen later." Shen Luo took Chang Yun's hand and led him back to Qingsong Garden.

When Xia Yu led the two maids into the kitchen, she startled the old women working there. No one expected that she was really going to cook for herself.

However, after Xia Yu skillfully killed and sliced ​​the fish, everyone had no doubts about her cooking ability. Putting everything else aside, her knife skills in slicing fish were unmatched by the others.

At Shen Luo's request, Xia Yu not only made six cold dishes to accompany the drinks for Li Taifu and Shen Jingheng, but also made all the other dishes that Shen Luo had requested.

The Maoxuewang dish was served in a large bowl, containing a lot of tripe and beef, which are not commonly found in Ming'an County, as well as a lot of pork slices, bean sprouts, tofu skin, pig's blood, and duck intestines.

At first, the old women in the Li household felt a little disgusted when they saw Xia Yu putting pig's blood and duck intestines into the dish. But when the dish was put into a bowl and Xia Yu poured a spoonful of hot oil over the peppercorns, chili peppers, and minced garlic, everyone's mouths watered at the overpowering aroma.

Having witnessed Xia Yu's beauty and generosity, and heard of her intelligence, the old women now, seeing her excellent culinary skills, all gave her a thumbs up when they mentioned her, and began to understand why their master loved this goddaughter so much.