CH 253

Chapter 253 – Raising A Son In The Cultivation World (part 5)

When Yuan Dao arrived at Lotus Manor, it happened to be the one month celebration of Immortal Stays.

Lotus Manor was lit up with colourful lanterns, and everyone was beaming with joy.

The Liu family had gathered together and were laughing.

Li Su happily took a bath in the morning. At this time, her face was radiant and she came out with her son in her arms. There were several children around her, some called her paternal aunt, and some called her paternal grandaunt. They were all chattering and it was very lively.

Li Su knew that the purpose of these children surrounding her was not because they liked her to be close to her, but because of the white granulated sugar she had.

Yes, only after she transmigrated here did she realise that there was no white sugar here. Sugar here was all cane sugar. It was not refined and did not have a nice colour.

When Li Su wrote online in her last life, she learned about the production method of white sugar online. After transmigrating over, she ordered her workshop to use sugar cane and beets as raw materials to make white granulated sugar. It had to be juiced, filtered, have impurities removed, cleared up, concentrated into crystals, removal of the honey, washing of the sugar, and finally dried. Only then was white granulated sugar produced.

It took seven months to make five catties of white granulated sugar. Although the colour and taste were still not as good as during modern times, but for now, it was already very good. The world had never seen such a white candy like snow. The Liu family was also an aristocratic family and were well-informed, but when the older brothers saw the white granulated sugar for the first time, they were still shocked for a long time.

Li Su knew that she could not keep this recipe alone. So, she chose to cooperate with the Liu family. Not only could she make money, but she could also make good friends with the family. With common interests, the Liu family would be on her side completely.

The Liu family’s brothers knew the interests here, and they were overjoyed. They had forgotten all the past grudges. They had a good younger sister who was very affectionate.

Even her relationships with her sisters-in-law were quite intimate.

Of course, the happiest are those young nieces and nephews, who pestered Li Su every day, wanting to taste that snowflake candy again.

“Okay, don’t bother little aunt. Although there is no snowflake candy today, there are snacks sprinkled with snowflake candy. If you want to eat it, go to Aunt Cuizhu,” Li Su said helplessly.

“Oh! That’s great.” The children cheered and ran.

Mrs. Liu-Xie smiled and took the swaddle, “Don’t spoil them. The snowflake candy is so expensive. It’s a waste.”

“No matter how precious things are, aren’t people even more so? Isn’t it all for the sake of the children that we earn all this money?” Li Su laughed.

Mrs. Liu-Fang smiled and said, “I loved what Qingyun said!”

Just as she was talking, the concierge suddenly came to report that a servant from the Yuan family was here.

Everyone frowned and looked at Li Su.

Before Li Su could speak, Liu Qingwu said first, “I will send him off.”

If it was before, Liu Qingwu would not have done so.

“I will have to trouble eldest brother.” Li Su nodded.

“It’s fine. This is what eldest brother should do. We should not treat each other as outsiders.”

After Liu Qingwu left, Li Su frowned. “Jinzhu, go find out who has been out of the manor recently. When I find out, I will take care of the whole family.” Now, it was just the news of her childbirth that had been told to the Yuan family, so she could still handle it. If the snowflake candy had been leaked that day, how would she deal with it?

Liu Qingtong also knew the stakes here. “It’s a big deal. Let the housekeeper check it out together. He has followed father for many years and knows some things about prisons. He should be able to help.”

Li Su nodded. “Okay.”

After a while, it was found out. Li Su accompanied the youngest daughter-in-law of Zhou Qi’s family, Mrs. Qin, who had just returned home to visit relatives. It was found that Mrs. Qin’s great-uncle was Qin Zhong, the housekeeper of the Yuan family.

Without any hesitation, Li Su immediately ordered Zhou Qi’s family to be guarded and tortured, especially Mrs. Qin. They wanted to make sure they knew how much she revealed to the outside world.

“Young miss, don’t worry. The matter of the white granulated sugar is still a secret. Zhou Qi’s family was only in charge of the farm, so they never knew about it,” Cuizhu comforted.

Li Su frowned. She was negligent about this matter. After she transmigrated, she focussed on raising the baby and forgot about this.

Mrs. Liu-Xie and others also expressed their relief.

Fortunately, the final result was quite satisfactory. Not long after Mrs. Qin’s entry into the family, Zhou Qi’s family were still a little wary of her, so not much was known. As for the matter of sugar, Zhou Qi didn’t know, let alone Mrs. Qin. The only thing Mrs. Qin leaked was that Li Su gave birth to a child.

As soon as the incident came out, Zhou Qi and his wife immediately tied up their youngest son, beat him 20 times, and punished him for not being strict with his wife. He wasn’t even given medicine or seen by a doctor. As for Mrs. Qin, she was handed over to Jinzhu and the housekeeper. there was nothing else to say.

Then the whole family knelt down in their yard to plead guilty.

Zhou Qi was an old man in the mansion, and several of his older brothers were still running errands in various courtyards of the Liu mansion. The whole family was honest.

The reason why he married Mrs. Qin to his youngest son was out of consideration for his master’s family. Jinzhu also knew about this.

Li Su also understood this point. “Forget it. Zhou Qi didn’t know about this matter, but he was also lax. Now, I don’t dare to use him here anymore. He is also an old man in the house and his relatives are all working in the mansion. Why don’t his older brothers bring his family back to the mansion and find something for him to do? As for Mrs. Qin…”

“Zhou Qi’s youngest son has signed the release letter and divorced Mrs. Qin,” Jinzhu said.

“Is her life contract here?” Mrs. Liu-Fang asked.

Jinzhu nodded.

“Fill the mute medicine. Find a middleman and sell this girl who misses her old master,” Mrs. Liu-Fang said.

Jinzhu looked at Li Su. Seeing that Li Su had no objection, she nodded.

“Okay. It’s fine if it’s not a big deal. Today is a good day for our Immortal Stays. Don’t be angry!” Mrs. Liu-Xie said in a roundabout way.

It happened that Immortal Stays, who was in her arms, called out a few times. Li Su looked down. “Immortal Stays, are you hungry? The wet nurse will be here soon.”

Immortal Stays’ wet nurse was Jinzhu’s second older sister. In addition to her, there were two wet nurses which Li Su chose when she was still pregnant.

Li Su had the intention to breastfeed, but unfortunately, she had no milk. She tried a lot of milk-based soups, but it still didn’t work.

Over there, Liu Qingwu invited Yuan Dao to come in to sit down to drink tea in Flower Hall.

Yuan Dao saw that only Liu Qingwu came out, and frowned slightly. “Brother Liu, Qingyun, she…”

“Hey, Assistant Minister Yuan, you and younger sister have already divorced, so it’s not good to call younger sister by her name,” Liu Qingwu said while stroking his beard.

“Brother Liu, you and I both understand people. I came here and only want to know one thing. Did Qingyun have a child? Is the child she gave birth to my flesh and blood?” Yuan Dao looked directly at Liu Qingwu.

Liu Qingwu smiled slightly. “My younger sister did give birth to a son. His first name is Xian, and his nickname is Immortal Stays.”

A flash of ecstasy was seen in Yuan Dao’s eyes. He had a son!

“But this child’s surname is Liu, and it has nothing to do with Assistant Minister Yuan. Assistant Minister Yuan already has a daughter who was accepted as an apprentice by an immortal. With this, do you still worry about not having a son in the future? Presumably, Assistant Minister Yuan’s son must be very intelligent and extraordinary. My family’s Immortal Stays can’t possibly compare,” Liu Qingwu said without waiting for Yuan Dao to get angry.

Having said that, Yuan Dao was still very angry. At the same time, Yuan Dao felt a little strange in his heart. Liu Qingwu and Qingyun were not very close, so why was his attitude so firm this time? “Brother Liu, don’t deceive people too much!”

“You and I know exactly who is deceiving people too much. What did you say when you came to propose marriage? There would be no other women in this life! What happened? Hmph, as soon as my father dies, you married an equal wife. Where did you place younger sister and the Liu family?” Liu Qingwu said bluntly. He just hadn’t declared that Yuan Dao had betrayed them.

“That’s because Qingyun was infertile!” As soon as Yuan Dao said it, he knew that he had said the wrong thing!

“It turns out that younger sister can give birth! I now suspect that the reason why younger sister and you had not had children for a few years after being married was because there was someone who was making trouble! Under such circumstances, how could I let Immortal Stays go to your Yuan family?! It’s not as if the Liu family can’t afford it!” Liu Qingwu said immediately.

Yuan Dao’s face was dark, and he was speechless. Was Liu Qingwu a good person? When he married an equal wife, he consulted the Liu family. They agreed at the time. Now that he was here to talk about it, didn’t Liu Qingwu feel conflicted?

Liu Qingwu didn’t care what Yuan Dao thought. He looked at Yuan Dao proudly. “Assistant Minister Yuan, this is the end of the matter. It is useless to talk too much. Just like what he said in the book of divorce, you two should go your separate ways and everyone will be happy. Now that you have a wife and daughter, why worry about not having a legitimate son in the future? Why bother?”

Yuan Dao’s expression sank. “I understand what Brother Liu means. Farewell!” Yuan Dao was also a man with a temper. With the Liu family showing such an attitude, he would not stay here to further humiliate himself! He would like to see how long Imperial Tutor Liu’s legacy will be able to protect the Liu family. How long could the Liu family run rampant? Liu Qingyun left him and left the Yuan family. What could she do?

Standing outside the gate of Lotus Manor, Yuan Dao looked back at the manor, which was brightly lit, then turned around and left.

Yuan Dao came and left in a hurry, which did not bother Li Su at all.

Li Su was a little tired of living in Lotus Manor. She sorted out the property under her name during this time, and found that she had many houses and manors under her name. If she lived in each of them for a month, it would take a few years before she went through them all. She didn’t want to be stuck in one place all the time. However, when she looked at her son, who was sleeping soundly in the crib, Li Su could only dispel the idea.

Immortal Stays was still young, and children couldn’t stand being jolted around. In her last life, she had planned to buy more medicine and put them in the space in case she needed it. But, when she was buying medicine at the pharmacy, a word from the pharmacist sobered her up.

The other party said, “Why are you buying so many medicines? These medicines have an expiration date and they shouldn’t be taken after they expire.”

It was only then that Li Su remembered that, although her space had a fresh-keeping function, fresh-keeping was relative to food. She didn’t know if it would work for storing medicines. If it didn’t work, then the medicine would expire and it could harm rather than help. She didn’t dare to take this risk, so she had to give up the idea.

“Young miss.” Cuizhu walked in in a hurry. Yuzhu winked at her anxiously. “Shh!” Then she pointed to the sleeping young master.

Cuizhu quickly covered her mouth.

Seeing her reckless appearance, Li Su was speechless. She got up and went out.

The servant girls around her were named Jinzhu, Yuzhu, Cuizhu, Hongzhu, and Lüzhu, and their names were very tacky1. They were unlike the names of the girls who were around Su Wanrong. They all started with Yu2. The Yuan family and some subordinates had ridiculed the original owner for this.

They did not know that the names of the girls around the original owner were all named by Father Liu. The word Zhu was a reference to the original owner being a pearl in Father Liu’s palm.

Although the original owner was ambitious and proud, she was very filial to her father. Although she also felt that these names were unpleasant, she never thought of changing the names of the female servants.

1.The Zhu in all the names means pearl. Jinzhu (gold pearl), Yuzhu (jade pearl), Cuizhu (emerald pearl), Hongzhu (red pearl), and Lüzhu (green pearl). Not sure how this is tacky.

2.Yu (玉) the character for jade.