Exiled to Lingnan, the Crown Prince's wife raises children, cultivates the land, and leads the

"I'll keep it to take home for An'an to eat."

Liu Suyi was reluctant to eat. Since becoming the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, she had received many, many gifts, some valuable and others ordinary ones chosen to please her.

Like candied hawthorn berries, this is truly the first time we've recycled them.

This is candy, a treat to cheer up my daughter-in-law.

"Mom, eat up, there are still four skewers left."

Cheng Qiqi pressed the candied hawthorn skewer directly to Liu Suyi's lips: "We can't mistreat our own mouths, even if we mistreat others."

The sugar coating on the hawthorn berries is sweet the moment it touches your lips.

"Ouch, that's so sour."

Cheng Qiqi felt a shiver run through her body from the soreness.

Liu Suyi didn't refuse again, and instead ate a bite of candied hawthorn with Cheng Qiqi. The sourness of the hawthorn was just right for her.

"Mom, aren't you afraid of the sour taste?"

Cheng Qiqi watched as Liu Suyi finished eating the hawthorns without changing her expression, then gave Liu Suyi a thumbs up and said, "I admire you."

She prefers sweet and dislikes sour.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law walked around, stopping frequently. After buying things like mung beans and red dates, Cheng Qiqi suddenly turned around and saw that Jin Yanzhi had bought... ten candied hawthorns?

Hey~

Jin Yanzhi glanced at Cheng Qiqi's eyes, grinned, and explained, "Sister-in-law, An'an likes candied hawthorns. The ones that old man was selling were sour, but these are sweet."

"I'll buy a few more; An'an will definitely be happy if she eats them!"

Jin Yanzhi thought: By then, An'an won't just be thinking about the big-bearded master, but will also be thinking about his own uncle!

An'an doesn't get close to him, it must be because he doesn't buy her enough things on a regular basis!

"..."

Cheng Qiqi watched as Jin Yanzhi brought over all the straw stalks from the other people's stalls. She could already foresee how excited her daughter would be to see so many candied hawthorns.

"Jin Yanzhi, now that you're making money, you should save it up so you can use it to get married in the future."

Cheng Qiqi reminded her that she didn't care at all about the rumors in the village. She and Jin Yanzhi...?

That's simply impossible.

To her, Jin Yanzhi was just a silly younger brother!

"..."

The smile on Jin Yanzhi's face instantly froze.

"Yanzhi, your sister-in-law is right. You need to save money to get married."

Liu Suyi said meaningfully.

"Mother, I... I don't plan to get married yet."

Jin Yanzhi's eyes darted away, not daring to look at Cheng Qiqi anymore, and instead said, "I'll go see if the merchant from the sea has arrived yet."

With that, Jin Yanzhi dashed away.

Jin Lizhi watched his disheveled figure flee and silently lowered his head. Jin Yanzhi wanted to win the heart of the beauty... but it would be difficult!

At least, his sister-in-law treated Jin Yanzhi the same way she treated the other brothers; she treated them all as younger brothers, and there seemed to be no difference between them.

"Qiqi, do you think those overseas businessmen all have blond hair and white skin?"

Liu Suyi changed the subject, asking curiously, "Foreign merchants have come to Kyoto before. When they came to pay tribute to the emperor, many people secretly went to watch!"

She couldn't imagine what someone with blond hair, white skin, and blue eyes would look like.

"Yellow hair, doesn't that mean they're malnourished? Are those foreign businessmen starving?"

Liu Suyi frowned, unable to imagine it.

"I guess so?"

Cheng Qiqi thought, "Isn't this what foreigners look like?"

Anyway, she didn't like it. She said, "I've heard people say that people from foreign lands all look strange and speak in a gibberish that I can't understand."

"I don't know if they've come yet. The sea is rough, what if..." Liu Suyi swallowed her words halfway through. They still really needed the glass bottle!

Heitu found several hundred glass bottles last time, which solved the immediate problem, but when it comes to making flower dew again, even more glass bottles will be needed!

For example, if there are flowers that are more suitable for making floral water in the second half of the year, we definitely can't let them go to waste!

And there's jasmine dew for next year.

All of these require glass bottles. If you can't buy glass bottles from the maritime merchants, you might miss out again next year.

"No way, I heard they come to Lingnan every year, and it's not just one ship. They'll definitely be fine. Besides, even if something did happen, they couldn't possibly be wiped out entirely, could they?"

Cheng Qiqi whispered as she and Liu Suyi wandered aimlessly through the streets. Soon, Jin Yanzhi returned excitedly: "Here they come! The merchants from the sea have brought a lot of strange little things, and they've completely blocked the streets right now."

Cheng Qiqi and Liu Suyi exchanged a glance, and soon they arrived at... Huamenlou Street.

When they arrived at the destination, Cheng Qiqi realized that Jin Yanzhi's estimate was actually quite conservative; the place was practically deserted!

Many ordinary people crowded around to see the overseas merchants. With their blond hair, blue eyes, and snow-white skin, they looked like... circus monkeys in the crowd!

"Don't rush, everyone. We have plenty of stock. Come one at a time."

The blond, blue-eyed man spoke in an extremely awkward accent as he sold the goods one by one.

"Sandalwood shavings can be sold for money?"

"You still sell coarse sugar?"

"And that coarse cloth, is it free? Everyone's scrambling to buy it."

Liu Suyi couldn't help but step back, startled by the sight of the people frantically grabbing the goods.

"Mother, be careful."

Cheng Qiqi pulled Liu Suyi back, saying, "Maybe... these bargains?"

"I'll go and find out."

As Jin Yanzhi spoke, he disappeared into the crowd. He returned shortly after, covered in sweat, and said, "Mother, sister-in-law, I've inquired. The merchant ships arrive in groups of more than a dozen. Apart from a few that are tributes to the imperial court in the capital, the rest are all sold to the common people."

"For example, sandalwood shavings are cheap, and you can easily make sandalwood lotion or something at home."

"I just checked the raw sugar. Although it's cheap, it's not as good as the sugar from the sugar mill used to be. It's only good for... poor people."

"Coarse cloth is also cheap, even two coins cheaper than the coarse cloth in the embroidery shop."

Jin Yanzhi stood on tiptoe and said, "I heard that when the merchants from the sea first arrive each year, that's when everyone goes on a shopping spree. It'll be fine in a couple of days."

"The maritime merchants will be staying here for at least three months, so we're not in a hurry to buy."

Jin Yanzhi picked up the water bottle and took a sip of water; there were too many people.

"What if we come back in a couple of days and everything's gone?"

Jin Lizhi set his sights on coarse cloth. He made clothes out of it and didn't mind if it got torn while working in the fields.

"No, I've inquired. They come every year and bring plenty of goods. They have more than enough of what we want."

Jin Yanzhi said, "Sister-in-law, the bottles we used to store the floral dew cost twenty-two coins each!"

"The ones Master bought last time, were they twenty coins each? Doesn't that mean Master did someone a favor?"

Jin Yanzhi remembered the price clearly.