bestfiction Chapter 244 A new beginning
Chapter 244 A new beginning
Chapter 244 A New Beginning
Xia Yichen didn't understand why Wen Yuxia was telling him so many political philosophies at once. He asked with some confusion, "Mu Hua, you...?"
"You" was barely out of his mouth when Wen Yuxia interrupted him, "Royal brother, Rui has officially taken over the affairs of the Nangong family. We are moving to the old Nangong residence in Jiangnan... Hong'er is now in your care."
Nangong Wenrui was promoted from young master to head of the family, while Nangong Youcheng became the young master. According to the Nangong family's ancestral rules, the head of the family must reside in the old family residence. Wen Yuxia was to take the children and return to Jiangnan with Nangong Wenrui to settle down.
Xia Yichen was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. The Nangong family did indeed have this ancestral rule. When the old patriarch Nangong was on good terms with the old emperor, he was the young patriarch of the family, and the old emperor was the crown prince. The two often drank and chatted together.
Later, when Old Master Nangong succeeded as head of the family and the old emperor ascended the throne, the two rarely met. It wasn't until after Old Master Nangong stepped down that he had time to visit the capital and meet with the old emperor.
After passing the throne to Xia Yichen, the old emperor went to live in the old Nangong residence in Jiangnan. Before leaving, he jokingly said that he would go to find the old master Nangong to continue their relationship.
Xia Yichen slowly opened his mouth and said: "When the old master Nangong was in power, he would come to the palace for a short stay every ten years. Mu Hua, Yun Hong, Yun Hai and Yun Qing, I will take good care of you. You must come back to see me when you have time." Wen Yuxia nodded with a faint smile.
That evening, Wen Yuxia kept Wen Yunhong at the mansion, telling him that she was going back to Jiangnan with Nangong Wenrui.
He also told Wen Yunhong, "Youcheng will take over as the young master of the Nangong family. If you miss us, you can go to Jin Yu Man Tang to find Youcheng..."
Wen Yuxia didn't tell Wen Yunhong the secret of the small world, only that Nangong Youcheng was the master of the black market, and that Wen Yunhong could go to the Nangong family mansion in the black market to meet her.
The news that as long as Nangong Youcheng could be found, he could go to the black market to see Wen Yuxia at any time eased the sorrow of parting, and a smile appeared on Wen Yunhong's face.
“I go to Jin Yu Man Tang to see Youcheng during my monthly days off. Sister, could I bring Xiaoxiao and her child along?” Wen Yunhong asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Wen Yuxia pondered for a moment, then continued, “When the black market entrance opens in the capital, you can bring Xiaoxiao along.”
Lin Xiaoxiao is the cousin of the current Empress Xie Qianlian. To maintain the mystery of the black market, it's best not to let her know that the young master of the Nangong family can open the entrance to the black market at any time.
Wen Yunhong understood immediately. He declared that no one else would enter the black market at any time except him, and he would only bring his wife and children with him when the black market entrance opened in the capital.
Wen Yuxia said with a faint smile, "The family business will still be managed by you. Do a good job, and in addition to the annual dividends, I will give you a big red envelope during the Chinese New Year." Wen Yunhong nodded with a smile.
The family's assets refer to Wen Yuxia's private property, which was previously managed by Wen Yunhong. In recent years, Wen Yunhong handed these assets over to the four siblings, Nangong Youcheng and his brother, to manage.
Now, the four siblings, including Nangong Youcheng, are taking over the Nangong family business, and Wen Yuxia is once again entrusting her business to Wen Yunhong for management.
The next morning, Wen Yuxia went to Wen Yunhai's house in Baijia Village on the outskirts of Beijing. "Grandpa, Rui is going back to Jiangnan, and the children and I are going back with him... so we're going to find Yunhong."
Wen Yuxia explained to Wen Dashan the duties of the head and young master of the Nangong family, and told Wen Dashan that if he missed her, he could go to Wen Yunhong or to the Jinyu Mantang Jewelry Store in the capital to find Nangong Youcheng.
Wen Dashan was very reluctant to leave. The whole family moved to the vicinity of Beijing, but Wen Yuxia wanted to leave Beijing to settle in Jiangnan. "Da Ya, can't you stay?"
In his haste, he forgot that Wen Yuxia was a princess and called her by her nickname, Daya. Only after the words left his mouth did he realize his mistake, and he awkwardly clutched the hem of his robe, looking at Wen Yuxia with slight embarrassment.
Wen Yuxia smiled dismissively: "Just call her Daya, we're all family. Calling her 'princess' just doesn't feel right. I've wanted you to change how you address her for a long time."
After leaving for Jiangnan, she was merely Nangong Wenrui's wife, the wife of the head of the Nangong family. The title of Princess Muhua was no longer relevant to her, and Wen Dashan calling her Daya suited her perfectly.
Upon learning that Wen Yunhai was observing the growth of corn in the backyard vegetable garden, Wen Yuxia pondered for a moment, then, under the cover of her handbag, took out several packets of vegetable seeds from her spatial storage.
These seeds were leftovers from her grandfather's previous life. She had originally planned to give them to Wen Yunhai little by little, but since she was leaving, she decided to give him all the vegetable seeds at once.
"Grandpa, these are all vegetable seeds. Each package has the name of the vegetable and the planting time written on it. You can ask your eldest brother to try planting some: tomatoes, eggplants, loofahs, fatty radishes, and cowpeas, etc. You only need to successfully grow one type of vegetable each year...&34;
Wen Yuxia said earnestly that these vegetables were all new products for Daxia, which would allow Wen Yunhai to not worry about performance for several years in a row, giving him enough time to study hybrid varieties of wheat and rice.
"Da Ya, this family will fall apart without you!" Wen Dashan's hands trembled as he accepted the paper package. He recalled leaving Anyang County and embarking on the road of fleeing famine, recalling settling down in Xinchuan County, and recalling the whole family moving to Fancheng. Tears streamed down his face and fell to the ground.
He was old. With Wen Yuxia gone, he didn't know if he would ever have the chance to see her again in this lifetime. The more he thought about it, the more reluctant he became. Wen Dashan's cloudy, moist eyes stared blankly into the distance.
Wen Yuxia said softly, "Grandpa, didn't I just tell you that I often go to the black market? If you want to find me, you can go to Youcheng. He is the head of the black market and can take you there to find me. How could you forget?"
“That’s right, we can meet anytime,” Wen Dashan said, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
At Yunyi Tower, Wen Yuxia invited Zhang Jinxuan and the others to a meal. Upon learning that Wen Yuxia was moving to Jiangnan to settle down, everyone's faces showed reluctance.
"Brother Chi Yu, please take good care of my younger cousins. And Brother Xiao Yi, please look after the Leisure Town as well," Wen Yuxia said softly with a smile.
Apart from Wen Yunhong, Wen Yunhai, and Wen Yunqing, the other seven cousins stayed in the Imperial Guard Camp and the Leisure Town. An Chiyu was the commander of the Imperial Guard, and Meng Xiaoyi was the honorary mayor of the Leisure Town. Before leaving, Wen Yuxia responsibly found powerful backers for her cousins.
As for the three brothers Wen Yunhong, Wen Yunhai, and Wen Yunqing, she has already entrusted them to Xia Yichen.
An Chiyu boldly picked up his wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp: "Your brothers are my brothers. Don't worry, the people in the Imperial Guard won't dare to bully them."
"Mu Hua, I'll keep an eye on things at the leisure town. I won't let them get bullied," Meng Xiaoyi's smile remained as warm as the winter sun.
The meal lasted until late at night when Nangong Wenrui came to Yunyi Tower to pick them up before the party ended. Everyone except Wen Yuxia, who had a spatial cheat device, was completely drunk.
Seeing Wen Yunhong hugging the cushion and calling out "Xiaoxiao!", Wen Yuxia couldn't help but laugh. She took out her phone from her spatial storage and snapped a picture of the scene.
She didn't miss the silly antics of Zhang Jinxuan and the others after they got drunk, and took pictures of them all. "Hehe, this is my parting gift to them."
A few days later, Wen Yunhong and the others received farewell gifts from Wen Yuxia. Except for Wen Yunhong, it was the first time the others had seen such a lifelike self-portrait.
Meng Xiaoyi entered the palace with the portrait. "Your Majesty, look, this was painted by Mu Hua."
As a dutiful subordinate, Meng Xiaoyi believed that this type of portrait would help the yamen (government office) apprehend criminals. As for whether Wen Yuxia was willing to pass on this painting technique to the court painters, that was a matter for Emperor Xia Yichen to worry about.
Xia Yichen had seen the phone in Wen Yuxia's space, and Wen Yunhong had also taken photos of him with the phone; the photos were treasured in his private collection.
"This is a photograph, not a drawing. Mu Hua calls it a photo," Xia Yichen explained to Meng Xiaoyi as he got up, walked to a corner of the study, opened a hidden door, and took out several photos.
However, Meng Xiaoyi's idea reminded him, and Xia Yichen continued, "Go ask Wen Yuxia if she can hand-draw a portrait as clear as the person in the photo."
Meng Xiaoyi went to the princess's residence, where Wen Yuxia used him as a model to paint a portrait on the spot. After finishing, she told Meng Xiaoyi that lines, shadows, proportions, shapes, and structures were all key steps in portrait painting.
With her patient explanation, it took Meng Xiaoyi three days to fully grasp the basic steps of sketching.
"Brother Xiao Yi, this is my summary of experience," Wen Yuxia handed Meng Xiao Yi a piece of paper, on which were densely written down the key points for drawing a good sketch.
Meng Xiaoyi's lips curled up: "Thank you." Just yesterday, Xia Yichen was asking him how his studies were going and when he could start teaching classes for the painters in the government office. With this piece of paper, he could become a lecturer in no time.
Before leaving the capital, Wen Yuxia had one more thing to do: go to Gujia Village in Fancheng. Having lived in Daxia for over twenty years under the original owner's identity, she wanted to give the original owner a place to rest in peace.
In Gujia Village, Wen Yuxia squatted alone in front of the graves of Wen Ziyang and his wife, weeding, lighting incense, and burning paper money. She spoke in a low, somber voice:
“Uncle, Aunt, I am not your daughter. Your daughter left when she was seven years old... I came here today to tell you that your daughter is right beside you. I hope that you three can be reunited soon. I will take care of Xiao Qi for you.”
Then, Wen Yuxia glanced at the mound beside her, which she had built herself, and said softly, "I'm sorry, I can only build you a cenotaph."
Wen Yuxia kept the clothes that the original owner had worn in her space, hoping to build a cenotaph for the original owner one day.
A small bird flew down to the tombstone and chirped at Wen Yuxia, as if it were the original owner's mouth. In the bird's chirping, Wen Yuxia seemed to see a little girl smiling at her.
After taking one last look at the inscription on the tombstone, which read "Tomb of Daya, Tombstone erected by Princess Muhua," in eleven large characters, Wen Yuxia composed herself and turned to leave.
The deceased are gone, and the living must continue to move forward. From this moment on, Wen Yuxia has completely let go of the original owner. Tomorrow, she will follow Nangong Wenrui to another city, a city that belongs only to her, a city free from the shadow of the original owner.
A new city, a new beginning, how wonderful! Wen Yuxia's eyes revealed longing.