After being reborn as a widow, the mistress of the Hou family remarried a powerful official

Chapter 8
The candy cake in Yan Ming's hand fell to the ground, "Are you pregnant?"

She couldn't tell whether her tone was good or bad, but it was definitely not a happy one. Although she had been prepared for it, she still felt a little depressed.

Ke Yiqing sighed, "The child belongs to me alone and has nothing to do with you. I will raise it by myself from now on."

Yan Ming was a little irritable. He picked up the candy cake on the ground, but was knocked down when he was about to eat it.

"If it falls on the ground, don't eat it."

Who doesn't know this truth? It's just that this is the last piece of candy cake today. Yan Ming thought about it and stuffed it in his mouth.

"I remember, I asked you to take medicine every time. How could you get pregnant?" While speaking, he was still looking at Ke Yiqing's belly, seemingly puzzled.

"Last month, not that time."

Yan Ming was startled. It was a palace banquet hosted by the emperor. As the emperor's concubine, Chu Yun also attended. After coming back, he first drank a lot of wine alone, and then drank like crazy for a while while holding a sword. What happened in the end? Coming?He looked at the delicate woman beside him, his eyes drifting a little.

What's going on here?Did she just strike so hard? Why is her face even redder?

Ke Yiqing looked confused, "Remember?"

He nodded, with a struggling look on his face, "Then this kid..."

"how?"

"You mean to keep this child?"

Ke Yiqing felt a pain in his heart and sneered: "I told you, this child is mine and has nothing to do with you. I'm just letting you know so that you don't know anything and act recklessly."

Yan Ming lowered his voice, "I won't do anything wrong when you're pregnant. Who do you think I am?"

"Master Yan has a distinguished status, so he is naturally a noble person."

These words were extremely weird, but Ke Yiqing felt unhappy. Even though he knew that this was a madman who could not be messed with, he couldn't help it.

"You can't keep this child."

Ke Yiqing's eyes widened, why?In her previous life, she was childless and alone all her life. In this life, she must stay. It doesn't matter what Yan Ming's attitude is, but this is her flesh and blood!

"Whether I stay or not is my own business. Master Yan should pay more attention to Miss Ruan."

Her words were thorny, and Yan Ming's face turned ugly. "Aren't you worried about the second master of the Gu family in prison if you provoke me like this?"

"Whatever happens to Mr. Gu, his wife will naturally be worried about him. What should I, a younger brother and sister, worry about?"

"Huh, I didn't expect you to look away now."

"Yeah, if I had looked away earlier, I wouldn't have endured so much hardship." Ke Yiqing touched her belly and her expression softened.

Yan Ming also couldn't bear it, "If you follow me, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep this child."

Regarding this, she just smiled and told him to leave it alone. At the moment, she didn't want him to know that she planned to put the child in Gu Zhennan's name, just because she was afraid that he would go crazy.

After a while, the maid from before came over and said, "Sir, Miss Ruan did not commit suicide, but she was so sad that she fainted from crying."

Yan Ming was a little surprised. He didn't expect that she guessed it right. "You win. Go to the bank to pay the money in a few days."

"Don't worry yet, the money is nothing, we can still discuss some other business."

Ke Yiqing had a smile on her face. It was still early and unrest had not broken out in Jingnan yet. She planned to stock up on more food before then, but she might not be able to do it alone.

"what's your plan?"

She leaned over and whispered a few words to him.

Her plan was simple, ask him to borrow money.

Yan Ming raised his eyebrows. Although he didn't believe what she said, what she wanted wasn't much for him. Even if she didn't ask to borrow it, he was willing to give it to her. However, he wanted to tease her, so he pulled her over and tied her tightly. Really kissed him.

"Then what's the benefit to me?"

Pushing the person away with all his strength, Ke Yiqing rolled his eyes and said, "When it comes to business, please be more serious, Mr. Yan. I will pay you back an extra 1 taels of silver at the end of the year."

1 taels is not a small amount, how dare she boast about it?Yan Ming looked at her serious face and knew that she was serious, so he shrugged, "I promise you."

Today's things were done, and Ke Yiqing didn't intend to stay any longer. She stood up to leave but was hugged by this rogue again.

"You are so cruel, you just throw away me after you use it?"

She wiped the frosting off the corners of the man's lips and said, "Miss Ruan is still waiting for you, why don't you go and take a look?"

Yan Ming buried his face in her arms and said in a muffled voice, "I won't go."

"I'm leaving, you can do it yourself." After saying that, she pushed the person away and went out. However, before going down to the attic, she couldn't help but look back at him. The man was just looking at the screen and drinking.

It turned out that even the short-term affection was fake, Ke Yiqing laughed at himself.

"Madam, my lord said it's cold at night, so I asked my slave to give you a cloak."

She looked back and saw that the cloak was in a woman's style. She didn't know which good sister it belonged to. She sneered coldly, "No need, I'm not cold."

After saying that, she hurriedly left, but there was a fragrant aroma near the door. Her appetite had been extremely poor during pregnancy recently, but now she felt her appetite increased when she smelled this aroma.

"What does it taste like?"

"In reply to Madam, this is what I specially ordered the kitchen to prepare for Miss Ruan. It is said to be bamboo leaf chicken, a folk snack."

When Ke Yiqing heard this, he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat and quickened his pace.

When they arrived at the carriage, Yu Jin was already waiting very anxiously. When he saw her, he was surprised and said: "Madam came out very quickly today. My servant has prepared some cakes for you. Madam can eat some."

She picked up the pastry and tasted it. It was so sweet that she said, "I can't eat it. I want to eat bamboo leaf chicken."

Yu Jin reacted immediately and said that he would let the kitchen do it when he returned home.

The cook didn't know how to make this bamboo leaf chicken, and since autumn was about to begin, the bamboo leaves had long been out of storage. Anyway, it was the jade brocade that was stuffed with a silver ingot, so the cook found the bamboo leaves from home with a smile on her face. Ye Lai made some random things.After all this fuss, it was already late at night by the time the chicken was ready.

The chicken cooked by the cook was not as attractive as Liyuan's, but it was still fragrant but not greasy. Ke Yiqing reluctantly ate half of it.

She didn't sleep well at night, but she got up early the next day. Without further ado, she wanted to take Li Wei to collect money.

Fortunately, although Yan Ming is a bitch, he is also a bitch who does what he says. The manager of the bank obeyed his orders and got the money very quickly without any sloppiness.

Li Wei was shocked. He didn't expect that the previous 500 taels was just a small amount for his wife. This time, he actually took 20 taels directly. He reported the work progress to Ke Yiqing truthfully.

"The young man from the previous house has already taken his fancy. It originally cost 1000 taels of silver, but because of bad luck, he said he could get it for 700 taels. He has already paid a deposit of 100 taels, and the remaining silver was used to buy all the medicinal materials according to the lady's instructions. "

Ke Yiqing frowned, 700 taels was still a bit too expensive. Based on her understanding of Li Wei, it was impossible that the price could not be negotiated.

Sure enough, Li Wei told her that the man had more than ten houses like this in his hands. They were in remote locations and people had died, so it was very difficult to sell them.

"If Madam wants more, I can get the smaller ones for 500 taels per set."

"He will buy as much as he has in his hand." Now she has 20 taels of silver in her hand, and the comprador has a lot of food. Now she is worried that she has no place to put it. It can be said that Li Wei's news is to give her a pillow when she falls asleep. .

It's just that the warehouse problem has been solved, and now we need to solve the problem of supply. In her previous life, the riots in Jingnan happened two months later. Jingnan was an official state, and most of the food from the south was transported from Jingnan. She is now The only worry is where to transport the food.

Li Wei told her that the price of rice in Shengjing has been set this year. New rice will cost [-] yuan per stone, and old rice will cost [-] yuan per stone. Ke Yiqing was surprised. The famine has not yet started. Why has the price of rice in Shengjing risen so much?

Seeing her surprise, Li Wei explained that it turned out that the war had been tense in the past few years, and the northern Turks had been provocative. The court was afraid of further disputes, so it stored a lot of grain and transported it to the northern frontier.

This makes sense. Although wars have been frequent for more than 20 years in Tianjian, Daqi has always had good weather and food production has never been low. Therefore, the people have never worried about famine. However, they did not expect that most of the grain collected by the imperial court was sent to the frontier fortress. , the remaining half to be shipped in was cut off, and famine broke out in Shengjing.

"Madam, Rong Xiaoxiao would like to remind you that the four major grain stores are now in control. The price cannot be lowered. The price of rice from other places is cheaper, but the world is not peaceful now, and water and land are not safe."

Ke Yiqing shook his head. The matter was at a deadlock. If she bought a large amount of rice at the current price and there would be a famine, she would not lose money if she sold it at a high price. However, the common people would still starve to death. This would It went against her original intention.

In her last life, the famine was so severe that people even exchanged their children for cannibalism. She really didn't want to see such a human tragedy again.

Wait, when famine breaks out, as long as you can fill your stomach, what's wrong?Why does she have to be obsessed with rice and grain?

"I remember your hometown is rich in potatoes?"

Li Wei scratched his head and said, "Madam, this stuff is eaten by country people. No one in Shengjing eats this pickled food."

This is true. Potatoes are an exotic thing. People in Shengjing have eyes on their heads and don’t even bother to eat things dug out of the soil.

“What’s the price of potatoes?”

"Now is the harvest time. If you want more, you can buy one stone for less than a hundred dollars."

Less than a hundred dollars?Ke Yiqing's eyes lit up and he had an idea in his mind.

"Of the 20 taels, 5 taels are for potatoes, 5 taels for medicinal materials, and the rest are all for rice."

Li Wei frowned, "Madam, the potatoes can be stored in the cellar for up to five months. If you can't sell them in time, I'm afraid they will rot in your own hands."

Ke Yiqing smiled confidently and told him not to worry, five months was enough.

The two discussed the result, and the proportion of compradors was as she said. As for rice and grain, Li Wei was asked to find the escort agency and go through Jingnan with thugs. According to her instructions, most of the rice was bought, and only the old rice was bought. A very small portion of new rice.

At that time, the old rice and potatoes will naturally be sold to ordinary people. As for the new rice, there will naturally be wealthy people rushing to buy it.

Finally, she specifically warned her to find a reliable escort agency.

Li Wei was a little hesitant, but finally said: "I have some brothers in my hometown, and I have practiced boxing and calligraphy with him since I was a child. If my wife is trustworthy, I can let them come over."

This is what Ke Yiqing has been waiting for. In her previous life, these people also followed Li Wei to work for her. After so many years, there was no mistake at all. She had wanted to use these people for a long time, but she never had the chance to mention them. Now she finally waited.

"It's okay, but Jingnan is not at peace. You need to bring more people and remember to come back within two months."

Li Wei's eyes lit up as he held the 20 taels of silver notes, "Madam, are you sure you can hand over such a large order to my brother?"

She smiled and said, "I can trust you."

Li Wei's mother has been sent to take care of her. This is a combination of kindness and power. One is to tell him to be careful when doing things, and the other is to remind him that he has not repaid the kindness to his mother.

When she returned to the Hou Mansion, she was very tired, and her stomach was empty but she couldn't eat anything. In the end, Yu Jin cooked a bowl of Yangchun noodles herself, and she ate some.

"Madam, you are eating too lightly now. Why don't you ask a doctor to come over and take a look?"

"Good Yujin, are you too anxious?"

Yu Jin was stunned and realized that she was a widow now. If she invited a doctor to come over, the pregnancy would not be covered.

Ke Yiqing patted her hand comfortingly, "It's like this when you're pregnant. I'm a little tired and want to sleep for a while."

"Madam is getting more and more sleepy now."

"Really?" She frowned, sensing something was wrong, but she still couldn't resist feeling sleepy.

"My servant heard that the old lady is not feeling well. She just sent someone here and asked you to come over and have a look."

She snorted coldly, "Just say I went to bed and we'll talk about it later."

She can't understand what this old lady is thinking?But she is now the head of the Hou Mansion, and if she ignores him, no one can do anything to her.

In the middle of the night, Ke Yiqing was awakened by a burst of howling ghosts and wolves. The door of the courtyard was knocked loudly, and a maid came to report that the old lady was crying outside holding Lord Marquis's spiritual tablet.

Her eyebrows twitched, "Where is Yujin?"

The maid's eyes wandered, "Jin, Sister Jin is outside."

outside?Ke Yiqing pushed up her weak body and got up to go out. She wanted to see what these people were up to.

(End of this chapter)