Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"This isn't expensive, Mother. The gemstones on it are from Russia. They produce a lot of these things there, so they're cheap." After going out and seeing the world, this honest scholar had learned to lie.

He didn't have enough silver with him when he went out. The few pieces of jewelry his mother had cost him two hundred taels of silver. He even borrowed fifty taels of silver from his colleague to buy them.

"Is the money you brought enough?" Madam Gao had just carefully looked her son up and down. Apart from looking a little tired, he looked even fatter than before he left.

"That's enough, Mother. All the food and lodging along the way have been arranged, so I haven't needed to spend any of my own money," Zhang Haoran said to his mother as he unpacked the luggage he had brought back.

"Is Lord Zhang here?" A familiar voice suddenly came from outside the gate.

"They're inside. Who's outside?" Madam Gao closed the brocade box in her hand, weighed it down with something, and then went to open the door in the courtyard.

"So it's Lord Qing!" Madam Gao said with a smile upon seeing the person standing outside.

"Auntie, is Lord Zhang here? My master wants Lord Zhang to come to the palace to meet the Emperor as soon as possible." Aoki quickly explained the purpose of his visit.

"Huh? I also have to go to the palace to meet the emperor?" Zhang Haoran was a little puzzled. Although he was the deputy envoy of the delegation, his official position was really low, and he didn't seem to have made any contributions as the deputy envoy.

"Lord Zhang, as the deputy envoy, you will definitely have to go to the palace to meet the Emperor with the others. Hurry up and come with me," Qingmu urged.

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there." Zhang Haoran went back into the house, grabbed his outer robe and put it on, then got into the carriage driven by Qingmu and left without saying much to Gao Shi.

In the palace, the emperor was delighted to see the letter of state from the Kingdom of Mao that Grand Tutor Li had brought back.

Upon seeing the letter and translation from the Russians presented by Grand Tutor Li, I was struck by the delicate, elegant calligraphy—clearly the work of a daughter.

"Grand Tutor Li, is this a translation handwritten by your goddaughter?"

"Your Majesty, this was indeed written by my granddaughter! Zhang Shucheng also checked it and said there were no problems with the translation." Grand Tutor Li rose from his chair to answer the Emperor's question.

"Grand Tutor, please be seated while you speak," said Emperor Li, the Grand Tutor.

"This old minister thanks Your Majesty!" Although Grand Tutor Li said this, he still finished speaking before sitting down in his chair again.

"I wonder where she is now?"

"Your Majesty, she should be at my residence at this moment." Grand Tutor Li assumed that the Emperor would summon Xia Yu to the palace.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor simply nodded after hearing this and did not say anything more. Then he inquired in detail about the circumstances of the two meetings.

Finally, the Emperor nodded in satisfaction and smiled as he addressed the crowd.

"You have all had a long journey and must be tired. Please go back and rest first. Tomorrow night I will host a banquet in the palace to celebrate your journey."

After the Emperor finished speaking, everyone in the room knelt down and kowtowed to him.

"Your Majesty, we thank you. Long live the Emperor!" After rising, they retreated from the Imperial Study one after another.

Now, everyone returned to their respective residences, naturally reunited with their families, and were overjoyed. Only the residence of the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, Lord Fu, was visited.

When Lord Fu returned to his residence after being away from the palace for several months, he discovered that his wife had fallen seriously ill. She was now lying in bed, thin as a skeleton, and had lost all the radiance she had shown a few months earlier.

"Fen'er, how could your mother be like this?" Lord Fu asked his daughter, his eyes red.

"Father, since you left, Mother's spirits have been getting worse day by day. Later, she even lost her appetite. Father, please save her, if this continues..." She couldn't finish her sentence, her heart filled with grief.

"Has a doctor been called to examine you?" Lord Fu asked again.

"We searched, and my uncle even invited the imperial physicians from the palace, but no one could figure out what was wrong with Mother."

"Fen'er, don't worry, your father will definitely send a famous doctor to treat your mother," Lord Fu assured his daughter, wiping his reddened eyes.

That being said, and with many doctors coming and going from the Fu residence, no one could ever clearly diagnose what illness Madam Fu had.

All the doctors said that her condition was caused by excessive worry and that she needed to relax and broaden her mind.

Therefore, everyone concluded that Madam Hu's illness was caused by psychological distress, except for her daughter, Fu Fen'er. She knew her mother well; although her mother was somewhat arrogant and domineering, she wasn't a scheming person. What happened at the Shen residence couldn't possibly have had such a severe impact on her mother.

For two years, he remained bedridden with illness, and Lord Fu took meticulous care of him. As a result, everyone who spoke of him sighed that he was a man of deep gratitude and kindness.

But without a woman in charge, the large mansion was always in chaos. Finally, at the urging of Hu's two brothers, Lord Fu brought a concubine into the mansion, partly to serve Hu and partly to help manage all the affairs of the household. After the concubine entered the mansion, the Fu family naturally became a different place, but that's another story altogether.

The next morning, Xia Yu received an imperial decree to attend a palace banquet that evening before she even got out of bed. Perhaps she was too excited about going home so soon the night before, because she didn't fall asleep until late into the night.

So much so that she hadn't gotten up when people from the palace arrived.

"Miss, get up quickly! Someone from the palace has arrived. They specifically request that you receive an imperial decree!" Da Niu rushed in from outside, shouting as she helped Xia Yu find clothes.

Startled awake by Da Niu's loud voice, Xia Yu groaned in pain before sitting up abruptly. As she put on her cotton robe and slippers, she saw Shijiu carrying in hot water and a towel.

"Miss, the hot water is ready. Please wash up first," Nineteen said with a gentle smile to Xia Yu.

Twenty minutes later, Xia Yu knelt down to receive the imperial decree. This was the result of Xia Yu washing and dressing as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the person who came to deliver the decree was Eunuch Li, who was on his way to deliver the decree to Ming'an County, and was a familiar face to him.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Father-in-law," Xia Yu said, blushing as she bowed to Eunuch Li.

"Miss Zhang, you're too kind. Children need a lot of sleep. When you reach my age, you won't be able to sleep even if you want to." Eunuch Li looked at Xia Yu with a smile, his smile extremely kind, just like an elder looking at his junior.

After announcing the imperial decree, seeing Xia Yu kneeling below, still somewhat dazed, Eunuch Li said...

"Miss Zhang, receive the imperial decree!"

"This humble woman accepts the imperial decree, long live the Emperor!" Xia Yu kowtowed in gratitude. She truly hadn't expected the Emperor to invite her to the palace banquet, so she was momentarily stunned.

After seeing Eunuch Li off, the nineteen-year-old girl began rummaging through drawers and cupboards looking for the clothes Xia Yu would wear to the palace. Seeing the mess the room had become, Xia Yu felt somewhat helpless.

"Well, all that work last night was for nothing!"