After Fang Zichen lectured him, Guaizai understood: the chickens were for looking at, not eating. Oh, in that case, he wouldn't catch them anymore.
Realizing his mistake, the next day he had a young palace maid lead him to the Imperial Study to apologize to Xia Jinghong in person.
Xia Jinghong's heart trembled at the sight of him. He had never known that children could be such a headache when they ran wild. Still, acknowledging a mistake and being able to correct it was a great virtue.
Just as he was about to say it was fine, Guaizai secretly took a greased paper package from his satchel and handed it to him like a little thief.
The package was wrapped quite thickly; it was hard to tell what was inside.
"Uncle, this is for you."
"What's inside?"
"Pig kidneys. When Guaizai came with Father this morning, we stopped by the pork stall on Guangfu Street to buy them. Father said he owed you two, so Guaizai bought two more for you. Uncle, you can eat them in two meals."
Xia Jinghong's temples throbbed violently. "…Thank you, Guaizai. Uncle doesn't need to eat these."
Guaizai frowned. "Really not? Uncle, don't be shy with Guaizai~"
"Really, no need."
Guaizai came closer, climbed onto Xia Jinghong's lap, tilted his head up, and looked at him with admiration, his eyes blinking:
"Uncle, Father said you have three thousand wives. That's so many! To balance the harem and the court, you have to spread the blessings equally. That means, well – let me calculate – oh, I've got it! Uncle has to sleep with nine wives every day. And you don't even need supplements. Uncle, you're really gifted. That's so awesome."
Xia Jinghong: "…"
He truly wanted to toss this little brat right out the door.
In late the sixth lunar month, the lychees sent from the south finally arrived. Xia Jinghong had a basket delivered to the Fang residence.
Zhao Yunyue and Second Sister-in-law Zhao happened to be visiting. Seeing a large basket of lychees in the main hall and noticing that Xiao Dezi had just left, they knew it was from the palace.
The lychees in the basket were bright red and plump, looking as if they had just been picked from the tree. Zhao Yunyue clicked his tongue in admiration. "His Majesty is truly generous!"
Zhao Ger looked at him. "Don't we have any at home?"
Such "tribute items" sent to the palace were usually distributed among the consorts and officials.
"We do," Zhao Yunyue said. "Just nine catties."
The Zhao family was huge. Dividing nine catties among them wouldn't even fill the gaps between their teeth.
Seeing that Zhao Ger looked a bit confused, Zhao Yunyue explained.
Lychees could barely be considered a "tribute item." They were a type of fruit that spoiled easily and had a relatively short shelf life – only two to five days. After being picked in the south, they were immediately rushed to the capital by nonstop courier.
Each time, over a thousand catties were shipped. But by the time they arrived in the capital, more than half had gone bad. From what remained, the best and largest were given to the imperial consorts and first- and second-rank officials. The next best went to third- and fourth-rank officials. After all that distribution, there wasn't much left.
But even though it was a small amount, whether it was thunder or dew, it was still imperial favor. Receiving some meant the emperor remembered you.
Xiaohe Village was in the south. Curious, Zhao Yunyue asked, "Xiao Xu, you must have seen a lot of these back in Fu'an Town, right?"
Zhao Ger shook his head. "No, I haven't."
Fu'an Town was one of the poorest places in all of Yuanzhou. Most villages there had many people but little land. A family with a few mu – or at most ten or twenty – couldn't grow enough to last the year. Take Aunt Liu's family, for example. Though they had a few mu, a mu in Da Xia wasn't like a modern acre. In the modern era, one acre is bigger than a basketball court. In Da Xia, one mu was only about the size of half a basketball court. A year's harvest wasn't even enough to eat
Lychees were harvested once a year. If a farmer used land to grow them, selling at a high price meant no one would buy, and selling at a low price meant there was no money to buy grain. If good farmland wasn't used, planting on the mountain was another option, but the mountains belonged to the government. Planting there was considered "reclaiming wasteland," which required reporting to the authorities and registering the land under the farmer's name. The first two years were tax-free, but taxes would be levied afterward. Without grafting, a lychee tree would not bear fruit for eight or nine years. And even then, without follow-up fertilization and pruning, it might produce only a hundred catties or so.
Given all that, what ordinary farming family would dare grow them? How would they survive the first few years, eating nothing but the northwest wind?
Only wealthy landlords and merchants with extra money and land could afford to plant some.
Lychees were very sweet, and Zhao Ger liked them. Zhao Yunyue ate a few but didn't overindulge. After Fang Zichen started his official post, he had mostly been visiting Li Yisheng. He hadn't seen Zhao Ger in a few days, and now seeing that his belly had grown a bit larger, he felt both happy and worried.
Lychees spoiled quickly. Zhao Yunyue urged Zhao Ger to eat more before they went bad. Zhao Yunyue knew him well. Previously, when Zhao Ger went back to worship his ancestors, some underlings had bought pomelos from somewhere – not many, but very sweet and juicy. Zhao Ger had secretly taken two back to his room and hidden them, saying he wanted to save them for Fang Zichen when they returned to the capital. So now Zhao Yunyue teased him, asking if he wasn't saving any for Fang Zichen and Guaizai.
The three of them couldn't possibly finish this whole basket. It was just a joke.
Zhao Ger shook his head and said confidently, "No need. My husband will surely carry another basket home tonight."
Zhao Yunyue: "…"
That couldn't be right!
In previous years, there was never enough lychees to go around. Giving them one basket was already pushing the limit.
But that night, Fang Zichen did indeed come home carrying half a sack.
He knew Zhao Ger liked sweet things, and Xiao Feng also enjoyed this taste. Pregnant gers shouldn't eat too many lychees, but in moderation, fruit could provide all sorts of needed vitamins and minerals.
He'd freeze them and eat them slowly. These things were hard to come by outside the palace!
Hearing that the lychees had arrived at the palace, Fang Zichen had brought the sack he'd prepared long ago when he went to work that morning.
Zhao Yunyue and Second Sister-in-law Zhao had spent the afternoon chatting with Zhao Ger. When they saw Fang Zichen actually carrying back most of a sack, they didn't know what to say.
The emperor was playing favorites terribly.
Fang Zichen was uncharacteristically generous. "Third brother-in-law, you're here! Perfect. Take a few catties of lychees home with you. I heard the old man took a few catties home earlier, so that probably wasn't enough."
Zhao Yunyue rubbed his hands together and didn't stand on ceremony. He opened the sack and saw that the lychees inside were also excellent. As he bagged some, he asked, "How did the emperor give you so many?"
"He probably thinks highly of me," Fang Zichen said casually. "After all, I'm a top-tier talent."
Zhao Yunyue: "…Top-tier talent? I don't see it."
"It's normal that you don't. I'm relatively low-key," Fang Zichen said.
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