Chapter 556: Hidden Deep Meaning

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Cotton was a strategic reserve of the Great Zhou Dynasty and was very scarce under the control of the Imperial Court. Commoner merchants had a quota for selling and buying cotton. It was bitterly cold in the North. People could still think of some ways to get food, but they could not resolve the problem of cold-resistant cotton clothes.

The Di people liked to attack in autumn and winter, and their cotton clothes were also damaged.

Without warm and cold clothes, the soldiers would suffer even more.

The You army was clearly a tiger’s army, but because their armor couldn’t withstand the troops and their clothes could not withstand the cold, they became tigers with those claws pulled out.

After testing whether it was feasible to plant cotton in alkaline lands, Yu Youyao became serious. She found someone proficient in agriculture and specially went to Long Province to learn how to plant cotton.

With the hard planting, the cotton was planted with much anticipation.

The successful planting of the sweet potatoes and cotton gave Yu Youyao a lot of inspiration.

Yu Youyao placed more importance on agriculture and did not care much about the butler’s matters in the residence. She invested more energy, material, human, and financial resources into experimental planting.

In the escort business under her name, she had arranged for stewards who were proficient in agriculture. The stewards followed the escort around. When they arrived at a certain place, they would ask about the soil, climate, crop situation, and planting techniques of a certain place. They would record them one by one. They would also buy some local crop seeds and test them on the farmstead.

Yu Youyao felt that she had only done the same thing under the influence of Heavenly Works.

However, she did not know that the agriculture books that she would write would become more influential in the future.

Zhou Linghuai had already foreseen this day.

He was looking forward to the earth-shattering changes that cotton and sweet potatoes would bring to the North. “Everything is getting better.” After getting to know Yu Youyao, everything was getting better.

His leg was already beginning to heal.

In the past two years, the North had not lacked military supplies, but Yu

Youyao had kept her promise to him. Every year, she would use some channels of the Xie family to prepare 300,000 silver for the North.

This portion of the army was basically filled with medicinal herbs and cotton clothes.

The North was also getting better.

“Astragalus, angelica, licorice, and other medicinal herbs that are resistant to cold and drought can also be planted in the North.” Yu Youyao added some commonly used medicinal herbs that were resistant to drought and spine.

As she spoke, she did not hear her cousin reply for a long time.

She tilted her head to look at her cousin. At some point, he had already fallen asleep against the couch. His sleeping expression was rarely calm, and his long eyebrows, which were dyed black, had relaxed to his temples.

In the afternoon, as soon as Yu Zongzheng returned to the residence, he asked Nanny Liu to invite him to An Shou Hall.

It was unknown what Old Madam Yu had said to Yu Zongzheng, but when Yu Zongzheng left An Shou Hall, he was a little dejected and did not mention this again.

Yu Zongzheng continued to be a “kind father” in front of Yu Youyao, as if the matter of “adoption” had never happened.

All of this was within Yu Youyao’s expectations. “Although Yu Zongzheng is very straightforward, you can’t be too straightforward with people like him.

You have to know how to beat around the bush.”

Nanny Xu smiled ambiguously. “So, Matriarch mentioned that she wanted to adopt Yu Shanming under your mother’s name. You rejected her bluntly. Then, she suggested that Yu Shanming be adopted under Madam Yang.” Anyone who heard this would just listen.

However, when Nanny Xu heard this, she knew that there was a deeper meaning behind this.

Yu Youyao smiled. “I was taught something before. Never to try to fight head-on with someone who can control your lifeline. That way, there won’t be a good outcome. There are thousands of paths in this world. I can still achieve my goal by choosing a roundabout path.”

Nanny Xu had taught her this.

She had always kept it in mind.

Nanny Xu looked impressed. “When rejecting someone, you have to pay attention to the strategy. You can’t embarrass them, so you can’t deny them completely.”

Yu Youyao smiled but said nothing.

Nanny Xu continued, “You rejected Yu Zongzheng’s suggestion to adopt Yu Shanming under your mother’s name. As a father, Yu Zongzheng will definitely be angry. However, you also suggested that Yu Shanming be adopted under Madam Yang’s name. This means that you actually agree very much with the adoption. The reason why you don’t agree is because it’s not appropriate to put Yu Shanming under Eldest Madam Xie’s name. It’ll be more logical to put him under Madam Yang’s name.”

This way, Yu Zongzheng would no longer hold it against her. If Yu Youyao disobeyed him, he would instead think that Yu Youyao had thought it through and done everything for him and the Yu Residence.

The highest realm of the art of speech was often to inadvertently grasp the right to speak and let others think according to your words.

Yu Youyao said calmly, “The Yu Residence relied on the Xie Residence’s connections and channels to open up the situation in the court. The Yu Clan enjoyed the benefits of my mother. This is also true. My mother doesn’t have any children under her name, and the aristocratic families value the bloodline of the clan. Yu Shanming’s adoption under my mother’s name can be because of Yu Zongzheng’s guilt towards my mother, or because of Grandmother’s compensation to my mother. It can also be because the clan has accepted my mother’s kindness.”

From the Yu Residence’s standpoint, this was actually a good thing.

As a married woman, it was also glorious for her to be worshiped by the clan for generations.

From a daughter’s standpoint, it was extremely good for her reputation for her mother to enjoy such an honor.

As the adopted heir, Yu Shanming also became a bridge between the Yu and Xie families. It was also in line with the interests of the Yu Clan and the Yu

Residence.

But!

All of this was based on the fact that her mother had not been killed.

From the day she found out that Yu Zongzheng had caused her mother’s death, her father-daughter relationship with him had already dissipated. There was no kindness between her and Yu Zongzheng. There was probably only benevolence.

What she was doing for the Yu Residence now was repaying Yu Zongzheng’s kindness and her grandmother’s kindness.

However, this bit of kindness would not become a framework to restrain her.

When she got married or left in the future.

This was the end of her kindness.

In the future, she was destined to drift away from the Yu Residence. How could she tie the Xie Residence to the Yu Residence?

It didn’t matter if her mother enjoyed generations of offerings. As her daughter, she would always remember her mother.

The Xie family would also remember her mother.

She believed that her mother in the netherworld was no longer willing to be involved with the Yu Residence.

Yu Youyao smiled faintly. “Yu Zongzheng wants his son to be adopted because he has taken a fancy to the Xie family’s connections, channels, and wealth. Since he can’t be adopted, it’s even more impossible for him to be adopted under Madam Yang’s name.”

Yu Zongzheng had a legitimate son. At this stage, Yu Shanming did not meet his expectations or conditions.

This was even if Yu Zongzheng wanted to carry on his legacy.

Her grandmother was such a shrewd person. How could she not have thought of this? Naturally, she would not allow it..

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