Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 363 - 362: Private Money

Chapter 363: Chapter 362: Private Money

What the Marquis Chu found difficult to say was that, in the current Emperor’s indecisiveness, he knew that it was those two women who harmed the former Crown Prince, and it was the second prince who harmed the Ninth Prince, yet he could never make the hard decisions. This led to the Wang and Sun families gaining more power in the court, gradually growing to their current size. Now, dealing with these two families isn’t as easy as it was before, unless the Emperor is willing to punish them for severe crimes, yet he opts not to put those two princes and two women who are tied to them through the same punishment. In this constant ambiguity, getting the Ninth Prince to ascend the throne is even more difficult. Still, luckily the Ninth Prince is smart and decisive...

The reason why the late Emperor, aware that the Yuan family would not betray the country yet exterminated them, was to see today’s emperor’s weak-hearted nature, fearing that he would lose the Li dynasty, and wanted to clear the obstacles for him beforehand. But the late emperor cleared the wrong ones, leaving loyal ministers and retaining the wicked ones...

None of them said it out loud, yet they understood in their hearts, that as long as they didn’t deliver the little deity safely, there would always be a sword hanging over the head of the Chu family every day.

The Tang Garden is definitely the most clandestine place. However, once his identity is revealed, it would not be conducive to protection.

After discussing, they decided that Chen Dabao should temporarily live at the Senator’s Mansion in Dingzhou. Chu Lingxuan could go home every day, and his army was there too, thus making it better for protection.

They decided to prepare the next day and set off the day after.

In the end, Chen Afu showed them the two "Divine Medicine" pills. The men passed them around, but they decided Chen Afu should keep them safe.

The meeting ended late into the night.

Chu Lingxuan asked the Marquis Chu to stay for a night before leaving the next day.

Marquis Chu shook his head. Since Rong Zhao was once again "attacked" by birds, and still in the temple, there would definitely be impeachment from the royal historians. He might even implicate the Yong’an Marquis Manor. He needed to rush back.

He hurried to the outskirts of Dingzhou in a carriage and would rest at the station for two hours and then take the morning ship back to the Capital City.

As he was about to leave, the old man said, "Don’t allow that woman to go to the Marquis’ Mansion again in the future. It’s not only annoying to people but even the birds dislike her, which irritates us all."

Marquis Chu smiled awkwardly, stopped, turned around, and said, "Alright."

After seeing Marquis Chu off, Chu Lingxuan held Chen Afu’s hand and walked towards Yanxiang Pavilion.

The starry sky above is exceptionally brilliant, with a night breeze and waving tree shadows. The two of them walked slowly without another servant present.

The meeting was over, and they both knew what to do next; their hearts had been considerably eased.

Chu Lingxuan squeezed Chen Afu’s hand and softly pleaded, "Afu, I’ve been holding back for a long time. Can we..." He whispered softly in her ear.

Chen Afu laughed softly and said, "No."

Chu Lingxuan laughed and said, "Whether it’s okay or not, you’ll know a little later..."

Even though their laughter wasn’t loud, it was very noticeable in the quiet night. Chen Afu hurriedly covered her mouth, and they both started laughing silently.

The next day when she woke up, Chu Lingxuan was gone again.

As soon as breakfast was made, Chen Dabao came over with Zhui Feng’s family. He greeted Afu by first bowing to her, and then said, "Good morning, Mom."

He ran up and kissed Chen Afu twice as an answer was about to fall from her mouth.

Chen Afu kissed him back, and the two sat down to eat. Since Chen Dabao and Chu Hanyan came back, they had forgotten about their grandfather and did not continue to ask questions. This was exactly what Chen Afu wanted, as there were indeed some things that were not easy to discuss with a child.

Previously, Chen Afu really viewed Chen Dabao as her own son and was reluctant to leave him for even a moment. But at this moment, watching the young lord eating leisurely, she, for the first time, desired to send him safely away soon.

Dabao noticed his mother looking at him differently, and asked, "Mom, why are you looking at me this way?"

Chen Afu joked, "Mom thinks her son has grown even more handsome."

Chen Dabao now knew how to be shy, and said embarrassingly, "Mom, keep the compliment about your son to yourself and don’t voice it out. People will laugh at us if they hear it."

Then Chen Afu said, "Your great-grandfather’s health isn’t too good recently. Your dad wants him to move to the city where it’s more convenient to see doctors. Since great-grandpa is going, we’re all going to live in the city for a while."

Dabao was thrilled when he heard that he could go to the city this time, but being a studious boy, he also regretted saying, "Then I won’t be able to go to school."

Chen Afu said, "Mr. Liao will go with us, and he will teach you at the Senator’s Mansion." She added, "Your little uncle is going too."

Chen Dabao, hearing this, couldn’t help but be excited, which made his walk to school even more cheerful.

While Chen Afu asked Mrs. Li and others to pack things up, and Chu Hanyan and Xiao Lixuan were playing in Fu Garden, she went to Lu Garden.

Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were both there.

Chen Afu’s excuse was still that Marquis Chu’s health wasn’t good, and living in the city was convenient for seeing a doctor. As Mr. Liao would definitely have to follow along, they could have Alu go too, and he would also live in the Senator’s Mansion.

For the sake of Alu’s education, Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang certainly could not stop him from going, so Mrs. Wang hurriedly went to pack his things.

Chen Ming smiled and said, "Your mother and I discussed it and decided that we want to buy a house in the city too. There’s our business, and your uncle lives there. We’ll go live there when we’re free."

Chen Afu also smiled and said, "That’s the best..."

She suggested that they buy a larger house, preferably a three-entry courtyard house, to settle for once. If money was not enough, she could contribute.

Chen Ming laughed and said, "You don’t need to add, your daughter. Your parents have money."

Chen Afu did not directly offer to help them buy a house. If it were before, she might have indeed used her private money to buy one for them. But she recently heard that Chen Ming seemed to be stashing away private money.

The dividends from the wine shop and the yield from the field were all clear, Chen Ming couldn’t just keep it for himself. It was mainly the money from the Chen Er Grains Shop Chen Afu heard from Mrs. Wang how much money it made, yet Chen Afu believed it should have made more.

Moreover, since Chen Ming sent Wang Cheng’s family and returned from the city, he frequently said that the shop was busy, causing him to need to live in the county town. Mrs. Wang felt sorry for him, and every time gave him a lot of silver, allowing him to stay at the best inn and eat good food.

However, Chen Afu heard that he would stay at the most ordinary inn and his meals weren’t as good as claimed.

Chen Afu didn’t dare to tell Mrs. Wang about any of this, fearing it would affect their relationship.

Chen Afu conjectured that Chen Ming was not earning private money for wrongful deeds. The most plausible reason was to help Chen Ming and the Big Room buy a house in the city. If the second and third rooms, including Uncle Wang, bought their own houses in the city, it was certain that the Big Room would feel imbalanced. Chen Ming was planning to secretly buy a courtyard for the Big Room in the city, so he could buy himself a house there as well.

A house in the city is very expensive. Even houses like those of Wang Cheng’s and Chen Shi’s cost more than 100 taels of silver...

No matter what Chen Ming uses it for, keeping private savings is inherently wrong. The current wealth of the Big Room is sufficient to buy a small house in the city. They were reluctant to spend money, but Chen Ming secretly helps them buy a house.

The old lady did not make a fuss about it.

Chen Afu felt sorry for Chen Ming but also disagreed with his actions. Helping his kind older brother was right, but helping too much is not right. What’s left is brotherly love, help urgently but do not help the poor.

But these are all Chen Afu’s guesses and she did not voice them out.