Of Soil And Sovereign

In the Li Family Estate, Mei lay under a large tree beside her courtyard, feeling drowsy after lunch.

She didn't want to sleep immediately but was now resting in the new hammock her servants had completed that morning.

She was comfortably rocking in it. It was perfect. She just wished she had something to read now, as it would have helped her pass some time as time here went slow. Even a novel would do. Even though she hated novels in modern times, now she was desperate for anything.

Mingde arrived under three to find his sister drowsy. He didn't know how but she was brimming with ideas nowadays and had strange creations she had created so many things but she was obsessed with this thing called the hammock and sleeping under trees nowadays whenever she had nothing to do she would just sit in the hammock and she also preferred staying under trees than in her own courtyard and he didn't understand why as previously she used to be couped up in her room all the time.

He gently rocked the hammock, and she opened one eye to check and smiled, seeing it was him. She always smiled whenever she looked at him and it always improved his day and warmed his heart every time.

He removed a letter from his sleeves and handed it to her, explaining that on his way to her courtyard, he met the steward who was rushing to deliver the letter and took it from him so that he could deliver it to her since he was heading this way.

She took the letter from him and opened it, and the letter was from Xuan informing her that he was grateful for the invitation and that he would come with his younger brother and his friend.

Though surprised, she was okay with that. She always believed in the more the merrier.

But one thing that confused her as she retained the memories of the original host and in that memory, the Duke had only one son and a daughter, although she had been away from the capital it had been only two years nothing much could have changed but she just brushed it as the original owner having less information about the noble family in the capital. 

Nothing in her memory suggested the Duke had two sons, but she could be wrong, so she gave Mingde the letter to read, and it also confused him. Though he was just eight years old when leaving the capital, he had always heard of Duke Su having one son. Something was suspicious, and he decided to dig further into that.

Though Xuan helped them, he didn't understand why he was sticking to his sister. He had a terrible feeling that every time he was around Mei, he would act weird, but it was that or struggling, so he would rather take the help and repay him when he was old enough than have his sister toiling and stressing hard.

Mei was preparing for the party. She decided she would do the setting outdoors as the evening weather was beautiful to be couped by indoors, and the night sky in this area was unmatched.

She instructed the steward to look for sturdy tables and chairs, and she also made a rough draft of a charcoal grill and asked him to check for any blacksmith who could make this by the evening of the following day.

Since it was the first party, she was holding and would be hosting some of the top young masters of one of the most powerful families in the empire and from the emperor's maternal family she needed this to be beautiful with the intention to build connections for her brother's sake and also she needed to show her extended Li relatives who abandoned them, they could do well with no one's help.

So for now, she looked around and found a good place next to the small guest hall and decided to set up the tables there and do a bit of decoration. And all that was remaining now were the ingredients and since she wanted a perfect party, she decided to accompany the steward to the market early the following day.

While standing on the spot she chose, she could see the sunset, and it was breathtaking. As she stood there looking at the setting sun, she felt so peaceful.

There was no stress of assignments and exams and she wasn't lonely anymore as she had a brother now.

The environment was perfect, and this life suited her best. She used to take pills to sleep, but nowadays, she slept early and woke up late with no mental exhaustion or fatigue. She exhaled in contentment and left the courtyard.

At the door, she found the wooden bathtub she ordered to be made ready, and some maids were carrying it to her chamber, and this was perfect. Now she will soak every evening enjoying some roasted nuts and she will make some crisps from tubers.

Once she set the tub where she wanted it next to the window, she wanted to look at the setting sun. She asked Xiao Lan and Xiao Wei for some hot water to fill the tub and also get her a bowl, milk, turmeric, and powdered rice. After two trips, they filled the tub, and they brought her ingredients. She mixed the turmeric, milk, and rice powder into the bowl. She applied it as a face mask, and then stripped and entered the bathtub.

All the sore muscles in her body eased, and she sighed happily. The only thing she was missing was a headphone and some music, but now she was just happy with the little things in life.

Since it wasn't planting season, now she just took care of her flowers and relaxed. Her next task was going around the capital to be familiar with it and making some new friends.

Since she had a party to host tomorrow, she would make sure it was the best party those three masters had ever attended.