PFC Chapter 451: Sharing Wife 8
Chapter 451: Sharing Wife 8
The first thing the family did when they arrived in the capital was to choose a house near the imperial city. Although the Cheng family had made a lot of money in the past six years, the imperial city was very expensive and houses were very expensive.
Zhang Xintong chose a two-courtyard house that was relatively close to the imperial city, and put in some money. She didn't tell her family how much it cost, but only said that she still had some money. She had been the housekeeper all these years, and the other people in the Cheng family didn't know how much money the family had.
Zhang Xintong bought 50 mu (approximately acres) of prime farmland on the outskirts of the city, registered it under Cheng Wen's name, and paid no taxes. She also bought a shop, with the front serving as a storefront for soy products and the back as a processing facility, producing and selling her own products. Over the years, Zhang Xintong has developed new varieties, and now sells tofu, dried tofu, dried tofu skin, frozen tofu, dried bean curd sheets, and fried tofu.
Zhang Xintong collected a lot of various soy products into her space, enough to last her for a long time.
Zhang Xintong hired two housekeepers to take care of the two elders. In addition, there was a housekeeper, a doorman, two coachmen, four servants, four maids, two book boys, and 4 workers who made soy products.
There are two carriages in the family, one is exclusively for Cheng Wen, and the other is for anyone in the family to use when going out.
After arriving in Beijing, Zhang Xintong rarely left the house. Even when she did, she would wear a veiled hat to avoid being noticed and alerted by Zhang Shi, Fan Qingqing, and Fan Zhong. Cheng Li was left to handle all the household and store matters; he had already honed his skills over the past six years.
Just like in his previous life, Cheng Wen won the top spot in the imperial examination. Cheng Min, Zhao, Cheng Li, Zhang Xintong, Cheng Rui and Cheng Cong watched Cheng Wen's parade together. He was so handsome and charming.
Because he was the top scorer in the imperial examination, Cheng Wen entered the Hanlin Academy and became a compiler, a sixth-rank official. His primary responsibilities included compiling the Emperor's Veritable Records, compiling the Emperor's daily notes, explaining the classics, history, and miscellaneous texts to the Emperor, and drafting imperial edicts. Because of their frequent contact with the Emperor, top scorers often had the opportunity to rise quickly, even becoming high-ranking officials such as Grand Secretary of the Cabinet or Minister of the Six Ministries.
Cheng Wen started working at the Hanlin Academy, working about 8 hours a day. He was provided with one meal at noon, but it was just dry food like pastries.
The ministers would bring some food from home, but it was all dry food.
Zhang Xintong felt sorry for Cheng Wen and prepared a rich meal for him every day. Sometimes it was meals in a thermos, sometimes it was a self-heating hot pot, and sometimes it was instant noodles (the self-heating hot pot and instant noodles were both made, not finished products).
Within a few days of starting work at the Hanlin Academy, Cheng Wen became famous for his cuisine, a fact even known to the emperor. The emperor, impressed by Cheng Wen's food, even ordered it back several times, finding it even better than the imperial chef's. Self-heating hot pot and instant noodles were especially appealing; providing them to the army during freezing weather would have made life easier for the soldiers.
"Cheng Aiqing, who made this meal for you?"
"Your Majesty, it was my wife who did it."
"Lord Cheng, could you please have your wife come to the palace to teach the imperial chef?"
"Your Majesty, I will have my wife come with me to the palace tomorrow."
"Okay, okay, once the royal chef learns, you won't have to bring food. The palace will provide it."
Cheng Wen......
He has contributed the recipe for making food, so why is he depriving him of the loving meal made by his wife? I’m so angry!
Zhang Xintong prepared meals for Cheng Wen every day, while Cheng Li sought favors elsewhere. The shop had a manager, so while business was brisk, he didn't need to constantly monitor it. The children were watched by the maids and servants, so they didn't need to be monitored either. When Cheng Wen was away during the day, Cheng Li would pull Zhang Xintong into his bedroom to have sex whenever he had the chance.
Zhang Xintong felt good about who she was with, and she enjoyed it. She spent the day with Cheng Li, and stayed together at night, never separated.
Cheng Wen returned home that day and was obviously in a bad mood.
"Tzuyu, what's wrong?"
"My lady, you must accompany me to the palace tomorrow. His Majesty wants you to teach the cooking skills to the imperial chef."
"What's there to be unhappy about? I'll go with you tomorrow."
“That’s not it.”
"What's the matter?"
"His Majesty said that we don't need to bring food anymore; the palace will provide it."
"The palace provides it for free, isn't that good?"
"I want to eat the loving meal prepared by my wife"
Zhang Xintong......
"Okay! I'll compensate you somewhere else."
"Really?"
"real"
The two went back to the bedroom without having dinner. Zhang Xintong was getting more and more beautiful. She used to be stunningly beautiful with a delicate figure, but now she had more charm and style of a mature woman. She became so coquettish that Cheng Wen could not resist it at all.
"My lady, I wish I could die on you."
Zhang Xintong kicked Cheng Wen
"What's the use of dying? Only when you are alive can you enjoy happiness."
Cheng Wen grabbed the small and tender jade feet
"Yes, yes, I won't say it anymore."
The next day, Zhang Xintong entered the palace with Cheng Wen, bringing with her a large quantity of soy products. The key to self-heating hot pot is that quicklime releases a large amount of heat when it comes into contact with water. Instant noodles are simply fried, and the meat and vegetables inside can be cooked in advance—very simple. The seasoning recipe was written down for the imperial chefs, who were instructed to make it.
Zhang Xintong brought soy products, including bean curd sheets, cucumbers, fried peanuts, and fungus to make a cold dish, stir-fried dried tofu and meat, and stewed tofu and fish. All the soy products were prepared to make a 20-dish tofu banquet for the emperor.
The emperor was very satisfied with the tofu banquet and wanted to meet Zhang Xintong, so he summoned her to come for an audience.
The emperor had heard about the three Cheng brothers sharing a wife, and he approved this law.
When the emperor saw Zhang Xintong, he glanced at Cheng Wen and thought, "No wonder three brothers married the same wife, and she was so beautiful." The emperor didn't care about women. If it were any other man, he would have snatched her away.
"Mrs. Cheng, how did you come up with the idea of self-heating hot pot and instant noodles?"
"Your Majesty, my husband is serving in the military camp. It's freezing in winter, and it's hard for him to eat hot meals. I want him to eat better, so I developed this kind of food."
"Mrs. Cheng is thoughtful. What reward do you want?"
"Your Majesty, I do not want any reward. You are the people's heaven, the people's breadwinner, and the people's clothing and food. You handle all matters of state every day, ensuring that we have enough food and clothing. Filial piety does not require any reward; it is what I, as a subject, should do."
Although the emperor knew that Zhang Xintong was flattering him, who doesn't like to hear good words?
"I appoint you as a third-rank imperial consort, and you may not refuse."
Cheng Wencai was a sixth-rank official. Officials of the fourth rank and above needed to make great contributions before they could seek imperial edicts for their mothers and wives. Moreover, the rank was the same as that of the official. There had never been a case where the wife of a sixth-rank official received an imperial edict of the third rank.
"Also, I heard that these soy products are unique to your shop. From now on, send a batch to the palace every day and ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay for it."
The emperor gave Zhang Xintong a waist badge of the imperial merchant. Zhang Xintong felt that this emperor was okay. In the original owner's memory in the previous life, this emperor died of illness not long after. But judging from his complexion, he was not sick. He should have been poisoned to death by the prince who wanted to usurp the throne.
Zhang Xintong took out a small box from her arms, which contained a detoxification pill.