HLnovel Chapter 213 Tomatoes as Tribute
Chapter 213 Tomatoes as Tribute
Could it be because of Tian Jinzhi?
Wei Shaoyuan forced a gentle smile, "Young lady, the matter concerning that Miss Tian Jinzhi has nothing to do with me."
"Wei never intended to skip paying for the meal."
"I never expected her to hit you."
"Wei..."
Tian Xiang turned to the constable and said, "Brother, I'll go in now."
The constable nodded awkwardly, "Young lady, please go in."
Tian Xiang walked past Wei Shaoyuan without even glancing at him.
Wei Shaoyuan scratched his head in confusion...
The constable teased, "Young Master Wei, how did you offend Miss Tian?"
Wei Shaoyuan spread his hands, he didn't know either.
Tian Xiang delivered the vegetables to the county government's kitchen, where Tian Tian was simmering a sweet soup.
"Big sister, what's wrong?" Tian Tian asked with concern, noticing that Tian Xiang's expression was off.
Tian Xiang put down the bamboo basket, glanced behind her, and said disdainfully, "It's that guy surnamed Wei again."
"Wasn't it said that he was also from the capital?"
"He is familiar with the county magistrate and works for Young Master Ling."
"But when I look at him, he does things sloppily and doesn't seem like a nobleman from the capital at all."
Tian Tian smiled.
She had dinner with Wei Shaoyuan these past two days and listened to some of his stories, so she roughly knew Wei Shaoyuan's personality.
He was the Marquis of Weiyuan, a man of noble status.
Born into a family of military generals, he was the only son of the Wei family in this generation.
While the rest of the Wei family served as soldiers on the border, he alone remained in the capital, enjoying the glory brought by his family.
Furthermore, due to the instructions of his elders, he had to keep a low profile in the capital to avoid attracting the envy of others.
As a result, he developed a gentle and refined temperament.
Over time, he always spoke gently and delicately, his tone as light as a breeze.
The key point is that he is gentle to everyone indiscriminately.
He shows the same affability to everyone, which can easily lead to misunderstandings.
He is like...a gentle spring breeze, blowing across every patch of grass, showing no favoritism to any single flower or blade of grass.
It is precisely this indiscriminate gentleness that makes every woman who comes into contact with him secretly plant a seed in her heart, hoping to become the focus of his attention.
That's why Tian Jinzhi misunderstood and became entangled with him.
Unfortunately, Tian Xiang... because of Tian Jinzhi's matter, felt a strong aversion to his actions, and could be said to deeply dislike them.
"You treat everyone the same way?" Tian Xiang scoffed at Tian Tian's defense of Wei Shaoyuan.
“That’s so hypocritical,” she said.
She doesn't believe that a person can be gentle and courteous to everyone.
Especially after Tian Jinzhi slapped her, Wei Shaoyuan was about to stand up for her.
Tian Jinzhi hesitated for a moment, then he went to comfort her.
This behavior led Tian Xiang to conclude that he was a hypocrite.
Once Tian Xiang made up her mind about this, she disliked Wei Shaoyuan.
"Anyway, I'll try to have as little contact with him as possible in the future," Tian Xiang said.
She didn't press Tian Tian, "Tian Tian, how are you doing here?"
"Did Lord Li and Young Master Ling give you any trouble?"
Tian Tian shook her head. She was there to take care of Ling Yao, so why would they make things difficult for her?
Tian Xiang quietly moved closer to Tian Tian and asked, "Have you inquired about... the Tian family's situation?"
Tian Tian shook her head.
Tian Xiang lowered her voice, "I heard..."
"The yamen runners went to Qingliu Village and arrested all the members of the Tian family."
Tian Tian was shocked; she really didn't know about this.
"I only brought the Tian family members; the village chief's side was not implicated."
"It seems that the entire clan will not be implicated."
"Was Tian Zhicheng arrested too?" Tian Tian asked.
She still remembered... she owed him ten taels of silver.
Tian Xiang nodded. "They were arrested too."
Tian Tian's eyes flickered. This matter was too big; even Tian Zhicheng, the scholar, was of no use anymore.
The two sisters chatted briefly, and then Tian Xiang left the county government office with her empty bamboo basket on her back.
Unexpectedly, Wei Shaoyuan was still waiting at the door.
"Miss Tian." Wei Shaoyuan greeted her upon seeing her.
Tian Xiang raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is there something you need, Young Master Wei?"
Wei Shaoyuan smiled awkwardly, "Miss Tian, I think you have some misunderstandings about me."
"Although I don't know why, I still want to apologize to you."
"Wei greatly admires the eldest and second daughters."
Tian Xiang was somewhat puzzled. Admire her? What was there to admire about her?
Moreover, he doesn't know her at all...
Suddenly, Tian Xiang thought of something and glanced at the yamen runner beside her.
The constable chuckled.
Yes, he just told Young Master Wei about Miss Tian.
Miss Tian was originally the wife of the young master of Chu Xing Restaurant. Her husband died after three years of marriage, and people said she was cursed with bad luck...
Later... he opened a shop and made his fortune...
Oh dear, not only Miss Tian, but also the Lu and Liu families are all very admirable.
"I have nothing that would earn Young Master Wei's admiration," Tian Xiang replied calmly. "Farewell."
*
They injured His Highness the Crown Prince and caught him red-handed.
Li Huaiyuan did not hold court; instead, he directly ordered the entire Tian family to be exiled to Shazhou.
Yes, that's the sandbar where Ling Yao is going to plant sweet potatoes next year.
Li Huaiyuan told Tian Tian the news during dinner.
"Sentencing them to exile is already a lenient punishment, considering they were unaware of Heming's identity..."
"If the second young lady has anything else to say to them, she can go over after dinner."
Tian Tian sighed, "Thank you, sir."
The soup for dinner was tomato and egg soup. Tian Tian also spent five coins from the system to buy a bag of lightly salted and slightly spicy pickled vegetables, which she added to the tomato and egg soup. The taste was delicious and went well with rice.
Not only did the adults drink a large bowl of soup, but even Li Yi endured the slight spiciness and soaked his rice in the soup.
"This tomato is really a wonderful thing..." Mrs. Li exclaimed.
It can be eaten raw, cooked, or used in soup.
Sweet is fine, salty is fine, sour is fine, spicy is fine too.
"Hey..." Li Huaiyuan suddenly had a thought upon hearing this, "Isn't it the local areas supposed to pay tribute to the capital?"
“Our Baishi County can send tomatoes as tribute.”
"Here's the recipe...it'll definitely amaze everyone."
He had just received the official document in the last couple of days, which stated that if a region had nothing worth offering as tribute, it was not required to pay tribute.
So he didn't take it to heart.
But after drinking the tomato and egg soup...
He suddenly felt that this tomato was definitely worthy of being presented as tribute to the palace.
But this matter... Li Huaiyuan glanced at Ling Yao and, sure enough, saw him frowning with some dissatisfaction.
"Miss Tian Er, are you willing?"
Fearing that Tian Tian might not understand the rules of tribute, Li Huaiyuan explained, "This tribute..."
"It means that each region sends its local specialties to the palace. If they are favored by the emperor and empress, they will be required to pay tribute every year thereafter."
"We need local officials to send people..."
In short, it's a lot of hard work and effort, but you don't even get paid.
"Although there's no money, there's the chance to...become famous throughout the world."