Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Before Zhang Haoran could go out to inquire, he saw Qingmu drive a carriage to the front of the courtyard.

"Lord Zhang, I have come on your orders to escort you to the dock."

"Are we leaving today?" Zhang Haoran asked.

"Yes, we'll set sail tonight. The Shen family's ship is already docked. I wonder if you're ready, sir?"

"Okay, it's all done," Zhang Haoran replied quickly.

In the Wutong Garden, the master and servants were packing their things when Granny Hu rushed in, panting. Before Da Niu could ask, she began to speak...

"Miss, the Emperor has sent an imperial decree! Quickly change your clothes and go to receive it!" In the dead of winter, Granny Hu's forehead was covered in sweat from running around, but she didn't have time to wipe it away.

"Receive the decree, mine?" Xia Yu was equally puzzled, not understanding what decree the emperor had for her.

"Yes, Master instructed this old servant to come and fetch you. Judging from the appearance of the person who came, it must be good news. Miss, you should hurry up and change your clothes; what you're wearing now probably won't do."

Granny Hu looked at Xia Yu's worn-out brocade jacket and said, worried that Xia Yu didn't know the proper etiquette for receiving an imperial edict.

"Thank you for reminding us, Aunt Hu. We'll change Miss's clothes right away." Nineteen curtsied to Granny Hu.

Da Niu had already gone to open the trunk containing the clothes. Time was too tight, and Da Niu wasn't exactly meticulous, so she simply took all the clothes out of the trunk and placed them on the chaise longue, before picking out the appropriate clothes for receiving the imperial decree.

Granny Hu couldn't help but grin when she saw her like this. With this girl's personality, it was fortunate she'd met such a good master; in a wealthy family, she probably wouldn't even be fit to be a kitchen maid. But knowing her place, she didn't say anything more. She simply went to the kitchen to boil water for Xia Yu to wash her face.

Seeing the suitcase that Da Niu had rummaged through, Xia Yu felt a little helpless. Looks like all that tidying up was for nothing!

Several people quickly dressed Xia Yu, and Shijiu styled her hair into a hanging bun. A jade hairpin, a gift from the palace, adorned her bun, and jade earrings depicting a rabbit pounding medicine adorned her jade-like earlobes. A festive red agate bracelet graced her wrist. She wore a pale yellow long coat with jade buttons, and red sheepskin boots that peeked out from beneath a satin skirt embroidered with butterflies. Finally, Shijiu draped a light blue squirrel fur cloak over Xia Yu, providing warmth without compromising her etiquette.

Because of the time constraint, Xia Yu abandoned the idea of ​​putting on makeup, only using face cream to even out her complexion and applying some rouge to her lips. Then, surrounded by two maids, she went to the front hall to receive the imperial decree.

When they arrived, the incense table was already set up, and Changyun and Shen Luo were also there. The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict was sitting with Grand Tutor Li, drinking tea. When Xia Yu entered, the eunuch put down his teacup, picked up the imperial edict from the table with both hands, and said…

"Zhang Xiayu, receive the imperial decree."

After everyone knelt down, the eunuch began to read the contents of the imperial edict. After a long and ornate reading, Xia Yu heard that she was being granted the title of Lady Wenfu, with an annual stipend of two hundred dan (a unit of currency), six bolts of satin, a set of Lady Wenfu's robes, and ten boxes of various gifts.

Xia Yu respectfully kowtowed to express her gratitude for the Emperor's great favor before accepting the imperial edict from her father-in-law with both hands.

As Xia Yu received the imperial edict and stood up, she saw the eunuch smiling and congratulating her.

"Congratulations, Lord Wenfu! His Majesty says you are a man of great fortune, and that this is not only your good fortune but also the good fortune of our Great Huai." He then said solemnly to Xia Yu.

"My lord, with His Majesty's golden words praising you so highly, you are truly the foremost person in this dynasty!"

Xia Yu smiled and thanked the imperial eunuch who delivered the decree, then took a purse from the nineteenth maid and handed it to the eunuch.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you to make this trip, Father-in-law. It's cold outside, please take this to drink some tea and warm yourself up."

"Oh dear, then this servant thanks the Lady for the reward." The eunuch who delivered the decree took the purse and knew it contained silver notes as soon as he squeezed it, and his smile widened.

After seeing off the palace servant who delivered the imperial decree, Shen Luo immediately rushed up to Xia Yu and asked him to treat her to a meal.

"Okay, okay, I'll cook whatever you want to eat when we get home." Xia Yu smiled and agreed to Shen Luo's request, then looked at Li Taifu and said...

"Grandpa Li, why did the Emperor bestow the title of Lady of the Township upon me for no reason?" Xia Yu asked, somewhat puzzled. Chang Yun, who was standing nearby, happy for his younger sister, heard Xia Yu's question, his smile faded, and he lowered his head to think about Xia Yu's question.

"Hehe, this is the Emperor's reward for your contributions during the last meeting with the Russians. You also caught the Japanese spies and managed to extract a lot of information from them. I reckon that when Prince Lip's delegation comes after the New Year, you'll be needed to receive them. Giving you the title of 'County Lady' will make things look better for you then."

"What do you mean, 'captured a Japanese spy'?" Teachers, what are you talking about? Shen Luo didn't understand what they were saying. In fact, not only did he not understand, but Chang Yun was also somewhat confused.

"Hmm? It was during the meeting with the Russian delegation that the interpreter they brought was a Japanese spy who attempted to sabotage the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Xiaxia exposed him on the spot. You didn't know about this? Didn't Xiaxia tell you?" Grand Tutor Li found their reaction very strange.

"Um, Grandpa Li, I didn't tell my brother and Luo'er. I thought you had." Xia Yu looked at Grand Tutor Li innocently and said honestly.

"Oh, I didn't say anything either. I thought you would tell them," Grand Tutor Li said innocently.

"Hehe, brother, Luo'er, what do you want to eat? I'll make it for you when we get back," Xia Yu said to Changyun and Shen Luo, feeling a little guilty.

Neither Shen Luo nor Chang Yun were angry with Xia Yu, but they still unceremoniously listed the delicious dishes that Xia Yu rarely made. Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, five-flavor almond cheese goose, lemon chicken feet, shredded beef in lantern sauce, beggar's chicken, plum duck, candied apple, clear soup chicken tofu, crab meat lion's head meatballs...

Before the two could continue their rambling, Grand Tutor Li coughed twice, swallowed the saliva that had welled up in his mouth, and said in a serious tone...

"Let's hurry back to the yard and pack our things. The sooner we get home, the better we can eat the dishes you were talking about earlier."

After saying that, he looked at Xia Yudao.

“I’ll have all these carried to your yard. You can put them away first. They’ll be on the ship today with the other things.”

"Grandpa Li, when are we leaving?" Xia Yu asked.

"The boat sent by the Shen family to pick us up has arrived tonight," Grand Tutor Li replied.

"Why don't we just leave these things here? Ten boxes are quite heavy, and we'll have to move them around," Xia Yu suggested after thinking for a moment.

"Well, that's a good idea. Let's open it and take a look first, then lock the box. We can take it directly from here when we leave this afternoon," the Grand Tutor suggested.

"Great idea! Sister Xiaxia, quickly open it and see what wonderful things the Emperor has bestowed upon you!"

Xia Yu opened the several boxes one by one. One smaller box contained a hundred taels of gold, another was filled with gold and silver ingots of various designs. Two more boxes contained fabrics of different colors. Another box held antique paintings and calligraphy, and two more contained antique ornaments. A third box was full of jewelry; because it was packed in a brocade box, Xia Yu only opened one piece to look at it before putting it back. She could look at these later. Opening the last two boxes, she discovered they still contained fabrics. However, everyone present could tell that these two boxes were for Xia Yu's parents.

'I didn't expect the Emperor to be so thoughtful,' Xia Yu murmured to herself.