Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 445 - 242 Family Letter_1

Chapter 445: Chapter 242 Family Letter_1

In early May, a special task force composed of several artisans and Wan Dazhong and his son had already achieved a significant breakthrough and were now busily and methodically completing the final stages of their work.

Qian Sangui, Qian Yeejin, and Qian Yixiu started to discuss who would be the best candidate to deliver the important set of blueprints.

The responsibility of the messenger was immense; they had to be absolutely trustworthy, skilled in martial arts, and able to ride a horse.

Almost without much consideration, the three of them unanimously agreed on one person, Huang Tie, the only one who met all the aforementioned criteria. For this reason, they also had Huang Tie join the "task force," so he could understand the basic structure of the cannon.

On the evening of May fifth, Qian Sangui’s family was having dinner. Old man Qian, Old woman Qian, and the family of four from the Wan household were also there. The previous night, House of Animals had hunted down a deer, and Qian Sangui had invited them over for drinks.

While they were eating, Old man Cai hurried in with Hua Qiang, who was dressed in military garb. He had been sent back by Qian Manjiang, who had made Hua Qiang his personal soldier.

Hua Qiang, donned in military attire, looked even more robust and valiant; his arrival thrilled the entire family.

As soon as Hua Qiang arrived at the frontline, he took the opportunity to visit Qian Manjiang at the Central Army Camp and delivered Qian Sangui’s letter to him.

Qian Manjiang had Hua Qiang serve as his personal soldier. One reason for this was Hua Qiang’s bravery, meticulousness, robustness, and courage, coupled with Qian’s trust in him, which indeed made him fit for the role of a personal soldier.

Another more important reason was that whenever he had a chance, he would ask Hua Qiang to tell him about his family. During the three days he had been at home, the information he got was limited. Listening to Hua Qiang’s chatter was like being at home. Hearing the accent of his hometown was a great delight.

Since Hua Qiang had initially been exclusively chopping wood for Qian’s third wife and later served as a worker for the Qian family, he knew many family secrets that others did not.

Through Hua Qiang’s accounts, he learned more about what had happened at home. However, Hua Qiang knew little about Yueyue, and he was reluctant to hear about her from other men. Among the family stories Hua Qiang shared, what he liked hearing most were the anecdotes about his daughter. So his daughter was that talented, even more than he had imagined!

Of course, there were also stories of his daughter getting into trouble. For example, when she wandered into the deep woods with a monkey and a dog, causing people from two villages to search for her the entire night, which resulted in her mother’s harsh punishment. Especially when he heard about how his mother and sister went to beat up Wan Dazhong, which ended up creating a perfect couple, Qian Manjiang nearly laughed himself breathless...

Latter on, Qian Manjiang learned through Prince Ning that Cheng Yue had successfully given birth to genuine twins of mixed sex, leaving him overwhelmed with tears of joy. Prince Ning and several of his close confidants also joined Qian Manjiang for a few drinks to congratulate him on the addition of a son and daughter.

General Jiang, the captain of Prince Ning’s guards, joked, "Wow, General Qian, the old gun is indeed formidable; in just three short days, you’ve managed to produce a son."

Qian Manjiang replied with a smile, "As long as my wife and children are safe, it’s the greatest blessing from heaven. I like them all, whether it’s a son or a daughter." Seeing the disbelieving smirks on their faces, which suggested he wasn’t speaking his true feelings, he added seriously, "I’m telling the truth. My daughter is beautiful and intelligent, stronger than many sons. Even if you offer to trade ten sons for her, I wouldn’t do it."

The others still shook their heads in disbelief, chattering, "We all believe that General Qian’s daughter is beautiful — after all, the General himself is handsome. But to say that she’s so capable and that you wouldn’t trade her for any number of sons, that’s a bit of an exaggeration."

Annoyed, Qian Manjiang retorted, "My daughter really is capable; the jerky you’re eating was specially made by her for me."

Ah, that jerky was truly something else. Exceptionally delicious, incredibly long-lasting, and it didn’t even need to be cooked. Not being able to cook, the delicious jerky complemented the strong liquor splendidly and was quite enjoyable.

The jerky Qian Manjiang brought had been given half to Prince Ning, and the other half was snatched away by those at Shangfeng, leaving not even a shred for himself.

Prince Ning laughed and attested, "I can vouch for General Qian’s daughter being truly beautiful and intelligent, surpassing many boys indeed."

Hearing this, General Jiang got an idea and, hugging Qian Manjiang’s shoulder, proposed, "My son is quite handsome and is set to take the Scholar exams this spring. What do you say, shall we become in-laws through our children?"

The other three generals, who also had sons, heard him and clamored, "Considering your face full of acne, your son can’t be that handsome. And as for taking the Scholar exams, just the other day you said your son doesn’t study hard and that your wife had to beat him till he hid under the bed..."

Having exposed General Jiang’s secret, the others continued to press Qian Manjiang to become in-laws, with some even saying it doesn’t matter whether it’s the elder or the younger daughter.

These people’s ranks were all significantly higher than Qian Manjiang’s, and it wasn’t easy for him to refuse directly, so he had to smile and deftly change the subject.

A few of them were laughing and reveling in a somewhat smug manner, which somehow incurred Prince Ning’s annoyance. His expression darkened a bit, and with a wave of his hand, he said, "It’s late, everyone should retire."

Except for General Jiang, the others hastily stood up and scurried out.

Prince Ning knew that Qian Manjiang was preoccupied with thoughts of his family, and since he had just found some new medicinal ingredients for the Princess, he let Hua Qiang take them to the Capital City. Afterwards, he would send him to Ji’an in the south to check on the Qian family’s twin boy and girl.

When the Princess in the Capital City heard that Hua Qiang would also visit General Qian’s mixed-sex twins, she sent along a package of items as well.

As he spoke, Hua Qiang took out two packages and several letters and handed them to Qian Sangui. There was one letter each from Old man Qian and his wife, Qian Sangui and his wife, Cheng Yue, Qian Yixiu, and Qian Yijin.

In Qian Manjiang’s package were several fox pelts and hazelnuts among other specialties from the north. The Princess’s package contained valuable items, including ginseng and bird’s nest for the elders, jewelry for Cheng Yue, Qian Yixiu, and Qian Manxia, and small gold locks for the twins and Fangfang. But the items for Qian Yijin were the most numerous, including jade pendants, decorative jade pieces, and study supplies. Qian Sangui and the others didn’t think much of it, supposing perhaps that the Princess gave more gifts considering that Jinwa was the eldest son.

None of them fiddled with the contents of the packages right away but happily began to read their letters. Old man Qian and his wife were illiterate, so they had Wan Dazhong read theirs for them.

Cheng Yue showed the most reaction as she read her letter, taking out her handkerchief and tearfully laughing while she read, eventually breaking into soft sobs. Her letter was the thickest, at least ten pages long.

Qian Yixiu shook her head, seeing plainly how partial her little father was. Old man Qian’s letter was only one page long, Grandfather Sangui and the young boy’s letters were two pages, and her own had three pages. It seemed she was quite high up in his heart, just behind her mother.

But what little father probably didn’t expect was that the entire family was here and could easily see who had received more and who had received less.

After Wan Dazhong finished reading, Old man Qian still couldn’t believe it was just one page and snatched the letter away, spitting on his finger and vigorously rubbing the paper, yet after much effort, it was still only one page.

He glanced at the thick stack of paper in his daughter-in-law’s hands, and fuming, he cursed, "You little bastard, would writing a few more lines for your old man kill you?"

Qian Sangui burst out laughing and shared half of the bird’s nest and ginseng sent by Princess Ning with the old couple, which finally cheered Old man Qian up.

Old woman Qian said with a smile, "Oh dear, now we’re enjoying the blessings of our grandson and even eating tonics sent by the Princess."

Wan Dazhong didn’t say a word but thought to himself that it was actually the "great-grandson’s" fortune they were enjoying.

Qian Manxia’s eyes were red with anger, and she said with grievance, "No matter what, at least my brother wrote a letter to Grandpa, but not even half a word for me. Humph, it’s really too much. When he first went to be a soldier, he said that the flower-patterned headscarves from the north were pretty and that he would buy one for me. Now, there’s absolutely nothing for me. I took care of his wife the most, and I washed all the diapers of his son and daughter. How could he treat me like this?" By the end, she had actually started to cry.

Lady Wu hurriedly interjected, "That flower-patterned headscarf is from how many years ago. Yet, you still remember it. Your brother specifically mentioned in the letter that one of the fox pelts is for you. Isn’t that worth far more than a floral headscarf?"

Qian Manxia retorted with indignation, "My husband is a Hunter, and we don’t lack fox pelts at home."

Lady Wu continued, "You silly girl, why so serious? It’s the thought that counts."

Qian Manxia replied sullenly, "If only my brother had written a few personal lines to me, I wouldn’t care about gifts; it would show that he cared."

Wan Dazhong laughed and said, "Look at you, such a grown person and still jealous. Aren’t you afraid of becoming a laughingstock? Your older cousin probably thought you were already married off, which is why he didn’t write to you. Don’t worry, when I go away later, I’ll definitely write you a dozen or so pages and buy you two floral headscarves."

Qian Manxia wasn’t consoled and still had red eyes, both sad and sour. She pouted and said, "I’m not just jealous. I’m really upset."

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