stingy landlady

Chapter 257 Guizhi Requests an Audience with the Prince (2)

Prince Zhenbei deliberately drew out his question to Guizhi:

"Guizhi! And in my palace..."

Guizhi understood perfectly and answered obediently:

"Your Highness, rest assured, as long as our beef can be sold in the prefectural city, the Prince's Mansion will definitely receive a share! Your Highness has a large family and many guards. Eating more beef will not only make them all strong, but also allow them to praise the Prince's Mansion for its generous treatment!"

These people who are grateful must be incredibly capable!

The Prince of Zhenbei waved his hand and said happily:

"Alright! Stop flattering me! I don't need your money for this beef. When the beef is delivered, just go to the steward for the money yourself!"

The Prince of Zhenbei continued:

"I agree to this first request. I'll write you a warrant later, and no one will cause you any trouble when you slaughter cattle and sell the beef!"

"Hmm! Is there anything else, Guizhi, that I can help you with?"

Guizhi quickly called out:

"My lord is mighty!"

The Prince of Zhenbei waved his hand:

"You're just flattering me! Oh? You don't actually raise horses just to eat them, do you? Horse meat isn't tasty, and besides, the army is short of good horses. I absolutely will not approve this horse meat!"

Guizhi shook her head repeatedly and said:

"No, no, Your Highness! It's not about the horse. It's about the old soldiers in our village; many of them have already started families and have children!"

With so many children, the women in the village are tied up and can't do much work. So my daughter is thinking of building a daycare center to house the infants and toddlers, where they can be looked after by dedicated staff.

The women in our village don't neglect their work, and this way their families can have extra income!

The Prince of Zhenbei asked, quite puzzled:

"Sounds good! This is a good thing! Does it need my approval?"

Guizhi patiently explained:

"Your Highness! For the time being, we don't need Your Highness's calligraphy approval. However, this infant is weak and needs special care! We hope Your Highness can lend a hand and find two female or female healers to teach the nursery staff!"

Oh! We call anyone who cares for infants and toddlers "Auntie" to show them respect.

The Prince of Zhenbei did not hesitate:

"Alright! I'll have someone find two such people and bring them back to you later!"

Guizhi continued:

"Your Highness! When the children in the nursery grow up a bit, we'll set up a kindergarten in the village. And when the children in the kindergarten grow up even more, we'll set up a primary school."

Teaching these children to read, write, and understand etiquette—all of this required the prince's support! Of course, as the saying goes, "Master both literary and martial arts, and you can sell yourself to the emperor."

Your Highness! In a few years, the younger generation of Huanghua Village and Changping Village will be able to serve you again!

The Prince of Zhenbei pursed his lips slightly, unable to hide his smile, and said:

"Let's talk about the future later! Is there anything else?"

Guizhi pondered for a moment and said:

"Your Highness! There is indeed a small matter. As you know, my sister and I grew up in the village. Now that we're grown up, we don't know any rules or etiquette."

This often leads to some funny situations. I wonder if the Prince's mansion has any retired nannies who live with us sisters. Although we sisters don't have the same treatment as those in the Prince's mansion, we treat them like family and can help them in their old age!

The Prince of Zhenbei nodded:

"It's indeed a small matter! I've already agreed to all of that! Is there anything else?"

Guizhi glanced at Du Huaichuan lightly, then shook her head:

"Thank you, Your Highness! Is there anything else?"

Du Huaichuan was indeed anxious:

"Guizhi! You can't be dishonest! What, is there nothing else? And my men, you need to help me settle them down!"

Guizhi shook her head, spouting nonsense with a straight face:

"Young Master Du! You can only eat as much as you can handle. I don't have the capacity to settle so many people for you! You should go find the Prince!"

Du Huaichuan looked anxiously at the Prince of Zhenbei:

"Uncle! You have to help! Let Guizhi give these people a way out! They might still be useful in the future!"

Uncle! Your Highness! I beg you!

After thinking it over, Prince Zhenbei said to Guizhi:

"Guizhi! How about I allocate another two thousand acres of wasteland for you? You can help settle these people. As long as they have enough to eat, you don't need to worry about anything else!"

Let Huaichuan worry about it himself!

All eyes turned to Guizhi. Guizhi smiled:

"Your Highness! Young Master Du! Actually, you don't need to look for me. Your Highness has given those people two thousand acres of wasteland, which is quite a lot! On average, each person has two acres of wasteland."

Are you worried they can't support themselves? Let them go and clear the land! Why are you bothering me?

The Prince of Zhenbei's face was grim, devoid of any smile. Du Huaichuan hurriedly said:

"Guizhi! There's no guarantee of a harvest in the first two years of clearing land. Besides, clearing land isn't a simple task; it takes almost a year from planting to harvest."

But so many people still need to eat, wear clothes, and have a place to live throughout the year. They might manage in the first year, but it would be difficult to sustain themselves in the second year!

"Sigh! Clearing land alone isn't enough; we also need money to support it! Guizhi, we still need your help to find a solution."

Guizhi glanced at the Prince of Zhenbei, then said to Du Huaichuan:

"Young Master Du! How much silver do we have to support ourselves? We people are also spending as we earn. We can't save a single penny!"

They've just started clearing the land, and they're even borrowing food rations! Once conditions improve, these people will need to build houses and get married! They can't all cram men and women into one shack, can they?

After getting married and having children, and with so many children, they've started discussing with the prince about building a nursery, kindergarten, and primary school. Building houses and hiring workers—where doesn't that require money?

"Young Master Du! With so many people around, there's a lot to worry about. I think you're a very responsible person. You should understand me, a young lady; I'm only doing this because I have no other choice."

Gui Zhi reasoned with him, appealing to his emotions, and then said:

"Young Master Du! Look, even if the Prince doesn't know, don't you? My eldest sister gets up before dawn and works until midnight every day. She's a young lady and doesn't care about etiquette. She does all sorts of work like a young man, going out every day to collect and sell vegetables to make money."

My second sister got dumped by the Zhou family because she only earned a pittance! They just looked down on her for being a young girl trying to make a living and start a business! But who doesn't want a life where everything is done for them?

It's not that there are no conditions or options. In order to live a better, more meaningful life, one is forced to choose the lifestyle that best suits them.

What do you think, Young Master Du? Those people of yours must be hard to manage, right? I see you running around every day for so many people! That's why they say nothing is easy!

It's unrealistic for you to forcibly settle so many people in our Huanghua Village! As you can see, our village is small, with so little space; we simply can't support so many of you!

Du Huaichuan opened his mouth, but found he couldn't say anything to refute Guizhi. He then looked pleadingly at the Prince of Zhenbei.