Chapter 98: The Plan to Assassinate

It turned out that it wasn’t the era she lived in that was prosperous and full of resources, but rather she herself was living in prosperity.

Tian Mi no longer wanted to shop. She returned to the manor and asked Steward Zhong to buy alcohol, the cheapest kind. Once alcohol was bought, the merchants would use grain to brew more. However, it was also necessary for medical use.

She handed him another blueprint, this one for a distillation pot with a long pipe lid, double-layered. Even middle school students knew that water boils at 100°C, while alcohol boils at 78°C. Distilling alcohol wasn’t hard, just a bit troublesome!

Actually, sweet potatoes could also be used to brew alcohol, though it didn’t taste very good. But Tian Mi’s alcohol wasn’t for drinking anyway.

It seemed like sweet potatoes could be put to use after all.

At first, she didn’t find them tasty, and had no interest in them. But now, many people didn’t even have enough to eat—who cared if it tasted good?

Tian Mi had originally planned to release cattle and sheep to graze on the estate, but after reconsidering, she decided to wait until the coming spring.

Her beauty shop still had a decent stock of products. She planned to sell them in limited quantities later—each person could only buy one of each item, with 200 units sold per day.

She instructed the pharmacy to continue purchasing beeswax and soapberry, and to replace sheep milk with something else.

Afterward, Tian Mi returned to the courtyard to play with the two little treasures. To her surprise, little Tian Mei, who was only seven months old, crawled towards the table and accidentally knocked it over.

Things on the table fell down, almost hitting them, which startled Chun Zhi and Chun San.

They quickly picked up the two children!

Chun Zhi said, “Heavens, I always thought their strength was surprising, but I didn’t expect it to be this strong.”

Tian Mi slapped her forehead, almost forgetting about this—well, this strength was definitely inherited from her side of the family.

Laughing, she hugged little Tian Mei and said, “It’s fine. Kids are just stronger sometimes. Let’s clean up the mess!”

Hehe! Having strength wasn’t a bad thing for the little ones. At least they could protect themselves!

Meanwhile, Jia Yuntang and her brother Jia Yulin went to the Chen family to visit their cousins. The Jia family’s legitimate children were always seen as high and mighty, even in front of the Chen family. Despite the recent scandals, it wasn’t easy to harm the Jia family, who still held great influence in the court.

Today, however, the siblings were unusually friendly.

Jia Yulin asked, “How is Aunt?”

Sighing, the Chen siblings couldn’t help but feel angry. Chen Meng Ting had caused trouble, leading to their father’s demotion, and she had been punished by kneeling for two days and nights in the ancestral hall—she almost died from it. Later, there was the issue with the Ministry of Justice’s corruption, and their father was directly suspended from his post.

He spent his days drinking away his sorrows, cursing at them whenever they appeared. Their lives were miserable.

“It’s all because of that backwater town’s useless county magistrate,” Chen Fan said angrily. “Now she’s the Princess of the Duke of Ding! She got too arrogant once she gained power. Who knows when she’ll fall from grace?”

Chen Mengting cursed, “That wild mountain chicken from some poor village really ruined everything. It’s a shame the heavens allowed someone like her to become the Princess of the Duke of Ding.”

Jia Yuntang listened with satisfaction. So many noble young ladies were waiting to be chosen as concubines, yet some unknown woman from nowhere snatched the position. Who wouldn’t be angry?

Jia Yuntang said with concern, “Sigh, who wouldn’t be angry? But cousin, since you offended her, with her whispering in the Duke’s ear, Aunt may not have a chance to come back.”

Jia Yulin also said, “Yeah! She’s just a woman from the countryside, without any background, yet she acts so arrogantly. It’s really too much—she’s putting my uncle in such a difficult position, making it hard for him to hold his head high.”

The Chen siblings were both stirred up with anger.

Chen Bufan asked, “Cousin, do you have any way of dealing with this?”

Jia Yulin sighed, “What can be done? She’s just a woman with no foundation. If she dies, no one will even notice. By then, Grandpa will recommend my uncle again, and there will be no resistance.”

Chen Yifan asked, “How can we make her disappear quietly?”

Although she hadn’t officially entered the Duke of Ding’s residence, her courtyard was already guarded by the Duke’s men.

Jia Yuntang said, “How could she disappear quietly? There are plenty of people in the capital who can’t stand her. If someone hired an assassination group to take her out, it wouldn’t be impossible.”

The four of them were chatting away, unaware that Xu Yunzhao was hiding behind the rockery, eavesdropping.

He had been bought to the Chen family to work on a book about “The Affairs of the Beautiful Widow.” In order to make readers immediately connect the story to Tian Mi, the Chen family had clearly written about her past. Xu Yunzhao instantly recognized that they were talking about Tian Mi.

But he never expected Tian Mi to have changed so much. She had slimmed down and become a princess. Was this a dream? He had escaped with her in the past, and he had become a servant, while she had become a princess.

A few days later, the person in charge told him that the book should be put on hold, because Tian Mi had become the Duke of Ding’s consort.

Though Xu Yunzhao had food and clothes at the Chen residence, he was still treated like a lowly servant, often yelled at and kicked, unable to speak up.

When there was nothing to do, he would hide and slack off. It was much more peaceful that way. Now, hearing these malicious schemes, he felt that his opportunity had come. If he could find Tian Mi and tell her about this, given their childhood bond, he might be able to work in her residence as a higher-ranking servant.

Thinking back, he had genuinely liked her. But both their families were against it, especially his own. He had tried to force things a few times, but Tian Mi wasn’t easily swayed, and he had failed.

He never imagined she would have such a fortunate turn of events.

After the four of them left, he quietly emerged from behind the rockery.

However, reality was far crueler than his imagination.

He couldn’t even leave the Chen residence’s front gate.

That evening, Xu Feiyan returned, excitedly carrying a pile of books with a young assistant and came straight to Tian Mi’s courtyard. “Tian Mi, the Prince Xian has lent us his library! He’s looking forward to your copying house opening. He also asked if he could read books in our copy house.”

The prince, Xian, was someone who obviously had excellent character and manners. Tian Mi thought of how she had brewed several batches of soy sauce and vinegar, waiting for her second uncle to come and open the restaurant.

Such a kind and generous young man—she really didn’t want to be in competition with him!

Tian Mi smiled and said, “Of course, he’s welcome anytime.”

Xu Feiyan sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. Seeing that Tian Mi was editing the third issue of “Strange Tales,” she said, “Tian Mi, hurry up and print the second issue! The shopkeepers are all asking about it.”

Tian Mi smiled and replied, “A magazine should come out biweekly, not that quickly. The first issue only sold two thousand copies, and that’s still too few. By the way, how’s the copying house going?”

Xu Feiyan replied, “It’s almost ready. Qi Yi has been guarding the place. On the 20th, we can start letting people copy books. Chun Jiu said there aren’t many books printed yet, so there might not be too many types available at first.”

Things never went smoothly right away.

Tian Mi calmly said, “Don’t rush. Take it slow. The 20th is just the day after tomorrow. I’ll go and take a look. If the environment is good, we can move some of our collection there. When we need to print, we can bring them back. Also, don’t let anyone outside know—we’re just copying books.”

Xu Feiyan patted her chest and promised, “Don’t worry! I’ll be careful.”