Chapter 332: Morning Joy
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Chu Yuhao walked over and wrote down the word “Chenxi”. He pointed at the words on the table and said to Shen Zhong, “Ah Zhong, come and see how I named Mr. Zhou’s young master.”
Shen Zhong walked closer and praised, “Chenxi, the meaning of morning joy is good! Your Majesty, you’re so good to Mr. Zhou’s family.”
Chu Yuhao was also satisfied when he saw this. He stamped a small seal on it before handing the words to Shen Zhong and instructing, “Go to the storeroom and get a set of the Four Treasures of the Study and some children’s toys. Also, get some cloth and hand it to the Four Seas Bank to be bestowed to Yunzhou.”
“Yes.” Shen Zhong bowed and left. Li Yu and Zhou Jia did not know that Chu Yuhao had changed Zhou Xi to Zhou Chenxi with a wave of his brush.
In early July, Ji Xiang followed Granny Han to Clearwater Town. Seeing that she had checked into an inn in town, he followed her in and quietly monitored her every move.
The next morning, Granny Han ate in the lobby of the inn and asked the innkeeper for the location of West Mountain Village. After asking, she left the inn and walked towards West Mountain Village. At the entrance of the village, she met a woman carrying grass on her back. She stopped her and asked, “Sister, can I ask you where the Li family is?
The old woman looked at her for a moment and looked at her in confusion. “The Li family? Do you mean the Li family who lives at the foot of the mountain?”
Granny Han didn’t know where Li Yu lived either. She thought for a moment and said, “Sister, it’s the family where the daughter married someone who became a high official.”
“The one who became a high official.” The old woman was enlightened. “You’re talking about Xiaoyu’s family, right? Her family moved away as early as the drought. They returned to the village a few years ago. I heard that they moved to some other state.”
Granny Han’s heart turned cold when she heard that. She thought for a moment and asked, “What about her parents?”
“Her parents are long gone,” the old woman said and left with her backpack.
“They’re long gone?” Granny Han muttered to herself in surprise. When she came back to her senses, she realized that the old woman had walked off. She hurriedly chased after her and placed a string of copper coins in the old woman’s hand. “Sister, please ask where Miss Li’s parents’ grave is! I want to pay my respects.”
“So you’re Xiaoyu’s relative!” The old woman looked at the copper coins in her hand and chuckled. She placed the backpack at the door of a family by the roadside and waved at Granny Han. “Sister, come with me.”
Ji Xiang followed Granny Han from afar. When he saw her following the old woman to her village, he slowly followed her.
The old woman brought Granny Han to the place where Li Yu’s parents were buried. She pointed at the graveyard in front of her, unwilling to go in. “Sister, Xiaoyu’s parents are buried there. I won’t accompany you.”
“Thank you.” Granny Han bowed and thanked her. The old woman waved her hand and turned to leave.
After watching the old woman walk away, Granny Han walked uneasily into the gloomy graveyard. After searching for a while, she found Li Yu’s parents’ grave. When she saw Lin Jinniang’s name, birth date, and death date engraved on the tombstone, she heaved a sigh of relief. She looked at the tombstone and muttered, “Madam Li is indeed Second Miss’s descendant. No wonder Madam Li hasn’t caused trouble for Eldest Miss. It turns out that Second Miss is long gone. Eldest Miss, you can rest assured now.”
Granny Han looked at the dark tombstone and seemed to see a woman smiling at her. “Ah!” Granny Han cried out in fear. She hurriedly pressed her palms together and bowed to the tomb before turning to leave.
“You want to leave just like that?” Ji Xiang hid in the bushes and looked at her coldly. He picked up two pieces of gravel and shot them at Granny Han’s calf. Granny Han’s legs went limp and she knelt in front of the grave. She looked around in panic but did not see anyone. She was so frightened that she got up in cold sweat and turned to run. However, the gravel shot out by Ji Xiang hit her numb spot again. Her legs went limp and she knelt down.
Granny Han was so frightened that she whimpered and trembled. She crawled back to the grave in horror and kept kowtowing to apologize. “Second Miss, I deserve to die ten thousand times. Please spare me. I was just following orders. Please spare my life!”
Ji Xiang waited for her to kowtow a few more times. He watched as she staggered out of the graveyard with a pale face and followed her back to the inn to see her hurriedly check out and leave. He snorted. “Old woman, just you wait. I’ll slowly deal with you when we get back.”
Granny Han leaned against the carriage in shock. She pressed her palms together and muttered to herself, “Amitabha! Could there really be a ghost after death?”
In the blink of an eye, it was the Zhongyuan Festival. After Zhou Jia brought Li Yu and Ruyi’s family to worship their ancestors, the group took the stacked river lamps to the stream and placed them there. Auntie Xue also brought the children at the manor to place the river lamps by the stream and burn paper money for worship.
Everyone watched quietly as the river lamps floated down the stream. They prayed silently for the people they cared about.
After more than ten days in July, the manor began to get busy. Old Zou and the others took out the long-prepared wicker baskets, dustpans, bamboo baskets, brooms, and rakes. Ruyi and Ah Wei began to debug more than a dozen rice grinders with the workers and taught them how to use them and what to take note of.
Mr. Lu and Mr. Liu gave the children a break and asked them to go to the fields to help harvest the rice.
At the beginning of August, the group of people carried the threshing machine to the edge of the rice field at dawn. Zhou Jia and Li Yu also brought Yangyang and Seven Pounds to the edge of the field. Everyone stood on the field and looked at the heavy rice ears with joy on their faces. Zhou Jia and Li Yu went down to the field to harvest the first handful of rice and shouted, “It’s time to harvest. ”
“The sickle is ready,” the men standing on the field shouted, and went down to the field with the sickle to cut the rice.
Li Yu smiled at Zhou Jia and said, “We’re here! Go to the government office!”
“Alright, go back to the manor after cutting for a while.” After Zhou Jia instructed Li Yu, he got into the carriage and rode towards the government office. Li Yu cut a box of rice and went to the farm over there. After looking around, she turned around and walked back. She saw Yangyang and Seven Pounds carrying a small bamboo basket and picking up the rice ears that had fallen into the field with Sanzi and Er Ya.
Li Yu stood on the field and smiled at the two of them. She looked around the open space with the children for the rice ears that had fallen into the field. When she found a string, she quickly picked it up and placed it in the bamboo basket. She watched for a while before going to the drying field.
The older children, such as Shui Sheng and Maizi, learned how to cut grains under the guidance of Auntie Xue and Auntie Lin. Su Ling, Wang Xinrong, Yanzi, and Little Loach moved the cut grains to the adults in front of the rice machine. The rice field was filled with busy figures.
Ah Wei brought Old Zou and the others to divide the wild rice and cultivated rice in the breeding field to harvest them. They picked up the rice seeds and brought them back to the drying field. Li Yu brought the grain rain, apricot flowers, and the others to the drying field. They spread out the grains and rice seeds they had picked home and dried them in the drying field. Even the pregnant Xiaoyu was busy picking vegetables from the vegetable garden and washing them. She prepared the food for about 80 people with Old Madam Yun and the others. Everyone on the farm all took action, wanting to quickly store the rice in the warehouse while the sky was clear..