Duke of Zhenguan

Chapter 110 The Emperor's Decline

The greenhouse wasn't difficult to build. Lin Chuan's idea was to dig a few trenches underground and then use ceramic pots to create a few underground heating pipes, just like a giant heated kang (a traditional Chinese heated platform bed), only requiring such a high temperature.

As for the ground, a huge shed was built with straw mats, which was opened appropriately to let the sun shine on it when the sun was out.

Anyway, coal is cheap now and there are enough people, so even if we fail, the cost won't be too high.

If successful, we might be able to eat fresh vegetables before spring this year, and we won't have to worry about not having vegetables to eat in winter next year.

It wasn't until evening that Lin Chuan returned to Tonghuafang with his guards through the wind and snow.

Li and Er Ya had been waiting in the front yard. When they saw Xu Laosan and Zhao Fu each carrying a bundle of paper into the house, they happily asked Lin Chuan, "Big Brother, has the paper mill produced paper yet?"

"It's done!" Lin Chuan nodded.

"Let me see!"

Li took the paper from Xu Laosan and placed it on the table. As she flipped through it, the smile on her face vanished, and she said softly to Lin Chuan, "Brother, how can you write on this paper? It's more like wiping your bottom!"

"Mother is amazing, she can tell what this paper is for at a glance!" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

Li was stunned for a moment, then, remembering Lin Chuan's previous mistreatment of paper, she asked, half-laughing and half-crying, "Big Brother, you went to so much trouble just to wipe—just to get this paper out?"

"Mother, this was just a side effect. The real method of papermaking has already been handed over to the imperial court. That's how I got my position as a senior official in the Ministry of War!" Lin Chuan explained.

"Are you hungry? Let's eat first!"

Li was not angry. Her son was only seventeen years old and was already a fifth-rank official. He had also earned her a fifth-rank title. In the past, all the neighbors praised her for raising such a good son.

Don't even mention wasting paper, it's okay if you burn your house down!

When Lin Chuan got up early the next morning, he found that the snow had completely stopped. Although the sky was still covered with dark clouds, the snow had not fallen again.

After breakfast, Er Ya wandered aimlessly around the main room in the courtyard. She glanced at her brother and suddenly whispered, "Brother, it's so boring at home. Let's go out and play!"

Lin Chuan looked at the snow, which was more than a foot thick, in the garden outside the house, and glared at his sister speechlessly: "Going out in this weather, your shoes will get wet after just a few steps. Aren't you cold?"

"Brother, the snow on the road outside has been swept clean. We haven't been to the West Market in so long!" Er Ya said pitifully to her brother.

After Er Ya said that, Lin Chuan also realized it had been a long time since he'd been to the West Market. He glanced at Er Ya and said helplessly, "Put on your deerskin boots!"

"I'm going right now!" Er Ya excitedly ran towards the backyard.

Although the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, the West Market was still bustling with people. Lin Chuan strolled along the streets of the West Market with Er Ya, while Xu Laosan followed behind with two guards.

Along the way, they inevitably encountered people they knew before. Lin Chuan greeted them warmly as always, but looking at the large clothes Lin Chuan and Er Ya were wearing, and then at the fierce-looking guards behind them, even those they knew couldn't help but feel reserved and dared not speak loudly.

But this did not dampen Er Ya's spirits at all. Ever since Lin Chuan was officially granted a title, Li Shi had become increasingly strict with Er Ya, and she was not even allowed to go out to play.

After strolling around, the two arrived at Lin's Noodle Shop.

Looking at Lin's Noodle Shop, Er Ya recalled the days when she and her mother would get up early every day in the freezing cold to knead dough and cook soup. She whispered to Lin Chuan, "It's been so long since I've had chicken noodle soup cooked by my brother!"

"My mother's noodles taste much better than mine!" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"Mother also wants to eat the noodles my brother cooks, but she doesn't want him to do these things anymore!" Er Ya said softly.

Lin Chuan reached out and patted his younger sister's head, smiling as he said, "Let's wait for New Year's Day. I'll cook a delicious meal for you and Mother myself!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a woman in her thirties hurried out to greet them, awkwardly bowing to the two: "Lord Lin, Madam Lin!"

"Aunt Tian, ​​we're all family. Don't call me County Lord, just call me Dalang like before!" Lin Chuan waved his hand with a smile.

"That's right, Aunt Tian, ​​it sounds better if you just call me Er Ya!" Er Ya said with a smile.

The woman was Tian, ​​Lin Jiu's wife's elder sister.

The noodle shop remains the same as before, with Lin Chuan taking 20% ​​of the profits, and Lin Jiu and Lin Shier each taking 40%.

Compared to the incense shop the Lin family runs in the East Market, the noodle shop's profits are already very meager, but neither the Li family nor Lin Jiu and Lin Shier have any intention of transferring or closing the noodle shop.

Lin Jiu didn't have time to deal with it anymore, so after discussing it with Li, he called his wife's sister's family to take care of them.

Seeing that the two siblings were still the same as before, Madam Tian felt more at ease and said with a smile, "Eldest son, Second daughter, come in quickly, shall I cook you a bowl of noodles?"

"Cook a bowl for Lao Xu and the others too!" Lin Chuan nodded and pointed to Xu Laosan and the others behind him.

"good!"

After leaving the noodle shop, Er Ya, who had finally managed to get out with her brother, didn't want to go back. Pointing to a teahouse not far away, she said to Lin Chuan, "Brother, it's still early, let's go listen to storytelling!"

"Let's go!" Lin Chuan nodded with a smile.

Upon arriving at the teahouse, the waiter at the entrance, though unfamiliar with Lin Chuan and Er Ya, recognized them as distinguished guests based on their attire and the guards following them. He respectfully led them to a private room on the second floor.

After paying the waiter, Lin Chuan had his tea and snacks brought up. Just then, the storyteller began to tell a new story, and Lin Chuan listened attentively.

"Today we'll talk about the events of the previous dynasty—"

The storyteller on the stage was about fifty years old, with an ordinary appearance but a very loud voice. After taking a sip of tea, he began to tell his story with intonation.

After listening for a while, Lin Chuan lost interest. Compared to those of more than a thousand years later, these storytellers were clearly less adept at making up stories. Er Ya and the others listened intently, but Lin Chuan was starting to feel sleepy.

Until the storyteller said, "When an emperor loses his virtue, Heaven will send down calamities as a warning. Emperor Yang's perverse actions forced millions of people to starve and die of exhaustion on the riverbanks, and then Hedong was hit by half a month of torrential rain!"

The following year, there was not a drop of rain in Hedong for half a year, which was a warning from heaven. Unfortunately, Emperor Yang was already infatuated with his father's concubine and lost his mind. Everyone has heard of that bewitching concubine, right?

Yes, it's Consort Chen—"

Lin Chuan felt increasingly uneasy as he listened. If it were said that the imperial court was levying exorbitant taxes on the people and that corrupt officials were running rampant, it could be said that Emperor Yang had lost his virtue. But the mention of natural disasters just didn't feel right!

The storyteller's tales were mostly fiction, with only a small portion being true. He was talking about the petty squabbles of the previous dynasty's court, something the people in the teahouse had never heard before, so they naturally cheered.

After staying in the teahouse for more than an hour, and seeing that it was getting dark, Lin Chuan finally led the still-wanting Er Ya out of the teahouse.

On the way back, Er Ya asked Lin Chuan softly, "I heard that the storytellers in Pingkang Lane are even better. When will you take me to Pingkang Lane to listen to them, brother?"

"Who told you that?" Lin Chuan asked speechlessly.

"I heard it from Sixth Sister's third brother—"

Stay away from him from now on!

'