Of Soil And Sovereign

Mei woke up early that morning. It was her last day in the house. She went to the farm for a last check and found that, except for the flower bed and rice paddy, the workers had harvested everything else, leaving half the farm empty.

She walked on the muddy trails paddy stroking her rice plants petal she bid her farm goodbye and returned home as she needed to pack the little things she had at home.

Her brother would also be awake by now, and she did not want him to worry. As she got closer to the house, she could see the hut and its thatched roof in the distance and, knowing this would be the last time she travelled between the farm and the hut, she felt sad.

Once she reached home, her brother was awake, but not fully. He stood at the door of his chamber looking dazed. He looked so adorable, so she went to his side and reached out to pinch his cheeks and ruffle his hair, which made her smile, and it woke him up. 

Since Mei was still feeling unwell, her brother took over the cooking, and today, her brother went to the kitchen to make a light breakfast and she went to have a shower, . After eating, they went to their chambers to pack everything they wanted to take and waited for the workers and the carts that were hired to move them to arrive.

Waiting for a while the steward arrived with the movers and two carts and it was time to load, Mei asked he brother to take one cart to the garden to move her flowers and instructed them to be careful while at it and she instructed her brother to come with the cart carrying the flower to ensure her flowers got to the capital safe.

Meanwhile, she will go with the other cart with their household stuff. Having loaded everything onto the cart, she ordered the caretaker and steward to sell half the grains, tubers, and legumes from the silo and bring the rest home.

Xuan has been helping them take care of the estate and she was grateful for the help but decided moving forward she will be the one to take care of the estate and the servants. Although the money she exchanged for the book was still there she didn't want to wait till she has exhausted that amount to look for ways to earn money she needed to come up with it as soon as possible.

She stood at the gate of the house one last time and boarded the cart. Once she was on board, the cart started moving gently toward the capital.

The capital was not safe. It was a place, where the noble families ruled and offending the wrong person could get you killed, but now that she would be there, she decided it was time to build a network for her and her brother's future.

One thing that was on her mind recently was her future marriage even though sixteen was a young age in modern times in this era it was the age where girls were supposed to be getting married and with no elder in the family she did not know how to go about hers but what she knew for sure was she did not want to marry a man with multiple women. She did not want to leave her family home or run a household and be dutiful daughter-in-law.

The norm here was the wife should take care husband, serve her in-laws, and take care of the man's multiple women. All those things seemed like meaningless chores to her.

What she wanted was a man who will marry into her family who she will take care of and provide for. Years later, she will recall this wish and chuckle at the unexpected turn her life took.

The stopping cart interrupted her thoughts, and she peeked, realizing they were home. She came down from the cart and saw her brother had already reached before her and was offloading the flowers and instructing servants to be careful with them.

As the cart was stopping next to him, he saw his sister had arrived; she alighted the cart and looked at him and smiled, and that was enough reassurance for him as he was nervous, wondering if they could survive in the capital. 

Once they moved everything inside, they entered the gate, and all the servants lined up to welcome them. Mei took some coins from her pouch, gave them to the servants to divide, and promised them a reward for good work.

The servants all bowed and two female servants and one small boy stepped forward and as instructed by the steward introduced themselves, the two girls were called Xiao Lan and Xiao Wei and will be her personal maids moving forward and the small boy who was around her brother age was Mingde's male servant, looking at their age, she felt bad for them and promised herself she will treat them well.

After the introduction was done, Mei informed the steward that she would send him the list of ingredients once she settled that he should purchase as she was planning to hold a housewarming party the following day and since she knew no one else, she will send a letter to the Duke Su residents to invite Xuan.

Upon reaching her courtyard, she found everything well-prepared; all that remained was to write a letter to Xuan and ask Xiao Lan to dispatch it.

After finishing the letter, she started writing the ingredients for the party. She first thought of a menu, and once she decided on what to do, she divided it into three categories. For starters, she wanted to serve sweet Lotus seed soup and ginger soup.

For the main meal, she settled for roasted and steamed fish , stuffed wheat flatbread with cheese and dough stuffed with minced pork and cheese And since there was no cheese in this era she decided to make her own cheese.

To compliment, she decided on fermented mustard greens, radishes, turnips, wild greens and fried mushrooms. Though she had trauma the mushrooms she knew she would not make the same mistake again.

She also thought of making pizza since she could find all the ingredients, but since it was only her, Mingde, Xuan and the servant, she decided to make that some other time.

For dessert, she will serve honey-glazed fruits, a citrus cake, and Jujube dates simmered in wild honey. For drinks Rice Wine and Mulberry ginger tea.

To make the cheese, she requested the steward to buy fresh cow milk, vinegar and ice, and with that, she had her menu ready and with instructions, and she asked Xiao Wei to take the list to the steward.