Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Before dinner, the Emperor's rewards arrived: Shen Luo and Chang Yun each received a thousand taels of gold, along with five boxes of various gifts. There were also five boxes of gifts for Xia Yu.

Knowing that Shen Luo was now living with Grand Tutor Li at the Shen residence, the Emperor sent the imperial decree and gifts directly to the Li residence. Along with the arrival of the decree, news of the two rescuing the First Prince from drowning in the palace also spread.

Those ladies who had given Shen Luo the cold shoulder at the banquet suddenly regretted their actions and cursed Madam Jiang in their hearts. If she had introduced Shen Luo's identity to everyone, none of them would have looked down on him. Although he was an illegitimate son, his father was powerful. Now he had saved the eldest prince and was practically on the emperor's radar; his future achievements were bound to be extraordinary. Those with daughters around Shen Luo's age were especially filled with regret.

At this point, there was no way to make amends, and Shen Luo did not live in the Shen residence. The Grand Tutor's residence had no female relatives, so there was no excuse to visit.

Six days had passed since they arrived in the capital, and the court had already set the departure date for the delegation as the day after tomorrow. Xia Yu and the others had also retrieved the woolen coats they had made at Master Lou's. The workmanship was indeed impeccable, and the cut and color matching were excellent; in short, Xia Yu was very satisfied.

Xia Yu immediately went and bought several wolf pelts and several fox pelts to make a wolf pelt for her father. She would make fox cloaks for her mother and aunt each. Since she didn't have specific measurements for many people, Xia Yu pulled two passersby of similar build to her parents onto the street to help take their measurements. Afterwards, each person gave her a dime as a thank you, and the two men thanked Xia Yu and her group profusely.

When Xia Yu and Chang Yun presented the wolf-skin cloak to Grand Tutor Li, he also gave them the thick woolen coats that Shen Jingheng had prepared for them. Each person had two full boxes, and although Xia Yu hadn't opened them to see what was inside, her eyes were already welling up with tears. She knew that Grand Tutor Li truly treated her and Chang Yun like his own grandchildren.

Li Taifu was deeply moved when he received the wolfskin cloak they gave him, though he didn't say anything in front of the two children. But when he was in the house, he disregarded the sweltering heat and put on the cloak, snow hat, and knee pads, looking at himself in the full-length mirror again and again, quite pleased with his reflection.

On the day the mission departed, the Emperor personally poured wine for them at the palace gate to bid them farewell. At the dock, the families of most of the mission members gathered to see them off.

Lord Fu listened to the instructions of his two brothers-in-law and nodded in agreement.

"Eldest brother, second brother, I'm away from home, so I'm entrusting everything to you two. Qin'er lost face at the Shen residence the other day because of the servants, and she's been a bit unhappy these past two days. Now that I'm away, I can't take care of her all the time, so I ask you two sisters-in-law to come to the residence often and talk to Qin'er to ease her worries."

The two men were quite pleased to hear that their brother-in-law was about to leave while still thinking about their good-for-nothing sister, but they still muttered...

"Go and attend to your business, don't worry about her. She's no grown woman, yet she acts like a child. She didn't even come to see you off today," said Hu's elder brother.

“Brother, she was supposed to come today, but she didn’t rest well yesterday, so I insisted on not letting her come. Blame me if you must.” Upon hearing his brother-in-law complain about his wife, Lord Fu quickly explained.

"Alright, alright, don't we know what kind of person she is? Don't worry, we've got you covered at home. This is a rare opportunity, so do your best." Brother Hu was very satisfied with his words, but he still reminded him not to forget the important business he had to take care of.

As the fleet set sail, before boarding, Lord Fu turned back to remind his two brothers-in-law to visit the mansion often and take care of his wife and daughter.

Watching the sails disappear into the distance, the Hu brothers shook their heads and sighed helplessly.

"Our brother-in-law is good in every way, except he's too sentimental and lacks any manly spirit," said Brother Hu.

"Sigh, with Qin'er's terrible temper, she really needs a husband like that to make the two of them live together. If it were someone with a temper, the house would be in chaos every day," Brother Hu continued.

The fact that the Hu brothers were so satisfied with their brother-in-law only shows that you can know a person's face but not their heart; it's easy to draw a person's bones but difficult to draw their skin.

The mission's fleet sailed north, only to discover after setting sail that many people were seasick. This included several key officials in the mission, who for several days experienced repeated vomiting after eating. Eventually, even the smell of food made them want to vomit.

Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore and suggested that they could take the land route.

Murong Fu, who was in charge of the mission's safety, studied the map and consulted with his subordinates. Finally, he took the route map to Grand Tutor Li and explained the current situation on the ship to him.

"Will it be enough time to travel by land?" Li Taifu was worried about the time.

"Time is not a problem, and we will only travel by land for a maximum of ten days. In the end, we will still have to travel by water," Murong Fu replied respectfully to Grand Tutor Li.

"In that case, we'll do as you say. But it's getting colder and colder further north, so Lord Murong will have to put in extra effort to ensure our safety."

"Rest assured, Grand Tutor, this is simply my duty."

Once the agreement was reached, Murong Fu went to inform everyone that they would dock at the Ningcheng pier and transfer to a land route. They would then board a ship again at the Ningcheng pier, a journey that would take about fifteen days. Everyone was advised to bring all necessary luggage and leave any unnecessary items on the ship.

When the news spread, everyone was overjoyed to hear that they could travel by land. However, what those who were seasick didn't know was that some people get motion sickness from carriages.

If you're seasick, you can lie down in the cabin, but if you're seasick in a carriage, there's no such spacious place to lie down.

When the fleet docked at Ningcheng Wharf, the local garrison commander had already sent a team of officers and soldiers to escort the delegation to the next garrison area, where they would be taken over before returning.

However, many members of the delegation were currently suffering from seasickness and were too weak. After discussing with Grand Tutor Li, Murong Fu decided that the delegation would rest in Ningcheng for two days before setting off again. Otherwise, some might collapse before reaching their destination.

After disembarking, the delegation, escorted by officers and soldiers, checked into the local post station.

Da Niu was still helped down by Shi Jiu. For the past ten days or so on the ship, just like when she went to the capital, she only ate one meal a day, then vomited, and after vomiting, she would drift into a deep sleep. Just when she thought she was going to die, her feet finally touched solid ground. At that moment, she was so moved she almost cried.