Chapter Ninety-Nine: Autumn Harvest

October in the Northeast is the season of harvest, when most crops are gathered. The main ones are rice, soybeans, corn, sorghum, millet, and the like.

There are also potatoes, pumpkins, kidney beans, red beans, black beans, squash, Chinese cabbage, carrots, and in the mountains, hickory nuts, pine nuts, Chinese magnolia vine berries, goji berries, hazelnuts, and many other fine things whose names are harder to call to mind.

By the time the National Day holiday arrived, the rice in the village had already been reaped, and they had begun harvesting corn, soybeans, mung beans, and red beans; a number of minor grains were gathered as well.

In the fields, there was still Chinese cabbage for winter storage, and large radishes.

When I went to the window and looked out, it really was Tao Xiong. He wore a long cloak and stood there in all his imposing grandeur, with more than a dozen men in dark glasses at his side, each of them tall and burly, clearly seasoned fighters.

“I obey your command, Your Majesty.” Qing Shuang deliberately teased the emperor with a playful remark, and once again made him laugh heartily.

“But the Eastern pearls selected by the Imperial Treasure House were personally purchased abroad by the Imperial Uncle. This proves that such a heinous act must have been long planned. To recklessly undermine the state and secretly harm the sovereign is the crime of treasonous usurpation. I beg Your Majesty to render a just verdict!” Consort An changed her tone, turning the blade squarely upon the empress and her son.

Ji Bu and the other generals strongly objected, but to no avail. Xiang Yu’s way of accepting counsel was the exact opposite of Liu Bang’s. Once Xiang Yu had made up his mind, he would not listen to either good advice or bad; Liu Bang, by contrast, would hear both.

“You overestimate yourself if you think you have such courage!” Zu Dashou sneered repeatedly. Accustomed to battle formations and to years of slaughter on the field, he paid no mind to this handful of pursuers and barked the order to loose arrows.

When he stepped back out through the door, he looked at the crowds passing to and fro before him. A flash of viciousness crossed his eyes, and for a moment he even felt the urge to kill every last one of them.

“What sort of person is an alien?”

Ever since he had met Lan Xing'er, he seemed to hear strange words tumble casually from her lips all the time.

“As the old saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest brother’s wife is like a mother. The Empress understands the great cause and bears herself with quiet dignity; she has earnestly urged me to pass the throne to you. Fifth Brother, in future you must treat the Empress well and provide for her properly, so that I may make amends for my shortcomings toward her.” Having finished his instructions, he sighed in endless regret. Zhang Yan had long since cried herself into a tear-soaked ruin.

“It’s all right. She doesn’t like me anyway. It was only my one-sided affection. It’s just that my mother has been pressuring me lately, so I have to trouble you for a while. Don’t worry, we’re only pretending to be husband and wife. I won’t do anything to you.” At the end, fearing that Yan Mumu would not believe him, Su Wange even raised his hand in a gesture of oath.

“I understand, Dad. I don’t want to talk anymore!” After saying that, Jiang Weiwei hung up the phone at once.

Every week, or every few days, I would give her a hundred, but I had never once asked her for anything in return. After all, she bought me meals every day and would slip me extra treats from time to time. These days I kept close watch on the news, and sometimes I would call Pang Tong to ask him about things, but it felt like they had been under especially heavy strain lately, absurdly busy.

The boy stared without blinking at the way she ate. Her rosy lips became wet, glazed with a layer of sticky honey.

That godlike man was being pummeled back and forth by Fang Zheng as if he were nothing more than a sandbag, a scene that enraged them all, yet none dared step forward a single pace to help.

“Don’t rush. Try this one too.” Ye Shuxian stopped her and handed over another piece: a loose, casual short jacket from Celine in porcelain blue, with high-waisted design elements, to be paired with an ivory cashmere wool skirt.

There was probably nothing more infuriating than knowing full well it was a trap and still having to jump in anyway.

He did not expect to make money from this line of business; the buyers were all second- and third-generation scions he knew in the capital, and it was merely a way to maintain connections.

Xu Yifang was especially cooperative. That very day, she carried out her painting supplies and paints and went out, saying she was going to paint the evening scene.

Though he was deeply curious about what trouble she had encountered, he also understood the old truth that curiosity kills the cat.

So how could she possibly not get to the bottom of this potential stock that had beaten her own blue-chip share?

Yet the expression of the Purple Tenuity Great Emperor grew increasingly strange. He coughed awkwardly several times, stood up, and said nothing at all.