Chapter 288: Prophecy Worry
Chapter 288: Prophecy Worry
The second son, Yuwen Shiji, also left, leaving Yuwen Shu alone in the room. He sat there for a moment, then suddenly stood up, opened the secret cabinet on the wall, and took out a very small ivory box.
When he opened the box, there was a note inside, which was the comments and solutions to his problems written by Yuan Tiangang.
The commentary is four sentences, "The bow is a guillotine, the length is an arrow that pierces the heart, in the summer, I see the world, my body disappears and my ambition dies."
He didn't understand the meaning of these words, but he understood the solution to the problem that followed.
'Stay away from royal families of different surnames.'
He wanted to stay away from the royal family of a different surname. Wasn't the royal family of a different surname Xiao Xia? Who else could it be besides him?
This was also an important reason why Yuwen Shu admitted his defeat to Xiao Xia. He was worried that Yuan Tiangang's judgment would become a reality and he would eventually be killed by Xiao Xia.
...........
Late at night, a passionate storm finally ended, and Xiaoqing snuggled in Xiaoxia's arms like a cat.
"If I get pregnant, will you let me have the baby?"
Xiao Xia turned her face and smiled, "Your question is very strange. Why can't I let you have my child, unless it is another man's child."
Xiao Qing buried her face in Xiao Xia's arms and said, "No! I have always been your woman, how could I get involved with another man? I just think that the young master would want the eldest son to be the legitimate child."
"There are many illegitimate sons. Liu Fei, the eldest son of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, was born out of wedlock. When Liu Bang was still a village head, he lived with a widow named Cao, who gave birth to a son for him. At that time, he did not know his wife, Lü Zhi."
Xiao Qing thought for a moment and asked again, "Do you think Miss Cui knows that I am your concubine?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "She knows. I told her."
"Ah! She's not angry?"
"Why should you be angry? Is she trying to compete with you for the title of concubine?"
A bowl with a pair of chopsticks is a thing of later times, while a teapot with four teacups is the norm in this era. In this era of strict hierarchy, the number of women each man can have is proportional to his status.
The number of women plundered from wars by powerful and meritorious officials who had made outstanding military achievements far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people. For example, Yang Su, the Duke of Yue, was so extravagant that he had thousands of women.
As for the emperor, it was even more unimaginable. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, had such inflated desires that his harem had as many as 40,000 concubines at its peak.
Of course, there were outliers in the Sui Dynasty.
Prince of Jin Yang Guang had only one wife, Princess Xiao, and no other concubines. Prince of Qin Yang Jun, Prince of Shu Yang Xiu, and Prince of Han Yang Liang all had only one wife, and no concubines.
It’s not that they don’t like women, but that they have a mother who upholds monogamy. Why was Yang Yong deposed in history? Wasn’t it because he married several concubines and angered the Queen Dugu Qieluo?
For women, except for outliers like Dugu Jialuo, normal women don't care how many concubines their husbands have. They care more about their own status.
The reason why Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yun, has always been denounced as a licentious emperor by later generations was not because of how many women he had in his harem, but because he had five queens at the same time, which violated the ritual system and was therefore not tolerated by later generations.
What is Cui Yu's status? She is the legitimate daughter of Cui family of Boling. Would she compare herself with a maid?
Just like a king does not allow others to sleep soundly beside his bed, but if the person sleeping beside his bed is an ant, will the king care?
The status of each other is the key.
So Xiao Xia told Cui Yu that Xiao Qing was his concubine, but Cui Yu didn't care at all. It would be abnormal for a prince to not have several concubines.
However, if Xiaoqing becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child, that would be another matter.
The next day was a ten-day holiday, and early in the morning, Cui Mei ran to Xiao Xia's mansion.
Xiao Xia was sitting at the table eating breakfast. Seeing Cui Mei peeking at the door, he smiled and said, "You're here so early. Let's have breakfast together!"
"Okay!"
Cui Mei ran up with a smile and sat opposite Xiao Xia. Xiao Qing served her a bowl of porridge and put a plate of buns in front of her.
"What is this?" Cui Mei had never seen a bun before and asked in surprise.
Baozi only appeared in the Song Dynasty and became popular all over the country. Of course, Cui Mei had never seen one.
This is also the mutton soup dumplings that Xiao Xia specially instructed Chen to make. It is also Xiao Xia’s favorite and the most popular seller in Bianliang during the Northern Song Dynasty.
“Have you ever eaten meat buns?”
Cui Mei shook her head, "Meat buns don't look like this!"
"This is called a stuffed bun. Try it and I'll teach you how to eat it. First, bite off a small piece of skin and suck out the juice inside. Then slowly eat the skin and stuffing."
Cui Mei picked up a small packet with chopsticks and bit the skin and sucked the soup according to the method Xiao Xia taught her. Her eyes lit up. She had never eaten such delicious noodles before.
Cui Mei ate eight small buns in one go, smiling from ear to ear, and still not satisfied. "Tell me about your sister's situation!"
Only then did Cui Mei remember that she had forgotten the important matter.
He hit his head with his fist in annoyance, it was all that little brat's fault.
"My sister is much better now. She was able to get up and walk today. She asked me to give this to you."
Cui Mei returned the jade pendant to Xiao Xia, "My mother said that this is your status jade pendant and cannot be given to my sister. Otherwise, Brother Xiao, please change it!"
Xiao Xia nodded. That was the jade pendant given to him by his royal grandfather, and it was indeed a symbol of his status.
Xiao Xia took off a jade pendant from his neck. It was given to him by his mother Xiao Chunyu. He handed it to Cui Mei and said, "This jade pendant is very special to me. Ask your sister to keep it for me!"
Cui Mei took the jade pendant and carefully put it close to her body. She hesitated for a moment and said, "My mother also asked me to bring a message!"
"What?"
Cui Mei stammered, "My mother said that my sister is still young and hopes to discuss marriage in two years!"
He was so eager to discuss the marriage with Yuwen Shiji, but he had to wait two years to discuss the marriage with himself.
Xiao Xia knew it very well, so he didn't get angry and nodded, "I know!"
Cui Mei was afraid that Xiao Xia would be angry, so she said timidly, "Brother Xiao, I'm going back then!"
"Go! Tell your sister to get well soon. We'll go on an autumn outing together in a few days."
Cui Mei's beautiful eyes lit up and she quickly asked, "Where are we going for the autumn outing?"
Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Let's go to Shenmu Manor. I think the repairs there are almost done."
Cui Mei clapped her hands in joy, "It's settled this time, I want to go hunting!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Let's go together!"
Cui Mei left.
Xiao Xia brought A Chu to Xihai Cloth Shop. Today was a holiday, so he simply got some things done at once.
When he bought the Xihai Cloth Shop, he considered opening a secret passage inside the shop so that he could evacuate in time if anything happened.
A cunning rabbit has three burrows. In fact, the same is true for people. They always think of leaving a way out for themselves, whether it is a way out in a broad sense or a narrow sense.
Today he was thinking about the narrow escape route.
With the support of capital, Xihai Cloth Shop merged the two neighboring cloth shops and became one of the three largest cloth shops in the entire cloth industry. It not only sold cloth, but also high-quality silks and even new ready-made clothes. Otherwise, how could Achu and Xiaoqing wear new dresses that same day?
Tian was still the shopkeeper of the cloth shop. The number of his employees had increased to twelve. As the business expanded, it became more and more prosperous, especially with more big customers.
"Young Master, if you have anything to say, just tell me!" Shopkeeper Tian bowed and nodded behind Xiao Xia.
Xiao Xia stood in the warehouse, looking at the back wall. He could build a house inside with large bluestones and connect it to the backyard. A house also needed to be built in the backyard.
“Are there many warehouses now?”
"We now have four warehouses, which is more than enough!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Then this room doesn't need to be used as a warehouse. You can store some unused items here. Lock the door at ordinary times and don't let anyone in!"
"I understand. I will arrange for my men to move the goods to another warehouse and lock this one."
"Does Metropolis still have a dock?"
"Yes! It's at the rice shop, not far from us, just two streets away. Now we ship goods from the dock."
Xiao Xia nodded and said, "Please ask Shopkeeper Tian to go and get Steward Ma to come to me!"
Shopkeeper Tian ran away happily. Looking at his fat figure, Xiao Xia suddenly realized that the location of this cloth shop was too important, and he had to change the shopkeeper, who had to be a reliable person.
Xiao Xia had already thought of one person, Xiao Qing's father.
(End of this chapter)