Mythical Three Kingdoms

Speaking of which, if Xin Xianying could come to the same conclusions as Lul Xun, then it would be a miracle, really. Xin Xianying is just a little girl, right? If her perspective on issues could match yours, Lul Xun, that would indeed be strange.

As for her occasionally saying astonishing things, that's mainly because Lul Xun often says astonishing things himself. It's just that he's so used to it and overly focused on Xin Xianying.

Sometimes, that's just how it is; the onlooker sees clearly. However, Lul Xun is completely trapped in the mindset of having someone compete for his master's favor, making him more diligent while paying more attention to Xin Xianying. Even Chen Xi started suspecting that Lul Xun might have his eyes on Xin Xianying.

To be honest, if Xin Xianying were about the same age as Lul Xun, and if Lul Xun were interested, Chen Xi would be happy to see it happen. But Xin Xianying is still at the age where she's just finishing changing her teeth and enjoying candies, which is a bit hard for Chen Xi to accept.

Therefore, Chen Xi plans to keep this diehard lolicon away from Xin Xianying, planning to send Lul Xun off to study with Lub Su after the New Year, to keep him from having designs on the young girl.

When Xin Xianying arrived at the backyard, Chen Ying, Chen Chen, and the others had already made many snacks for the New Year and were tasting them. By now, the maids in the inner courtyard could all recognize some characters, and they could all perform plays. Of course, making snacks and home-cooked meals were also within their abilities.

"Hello, Miss Xin~" They greeted Xin Xianying in unison, the same way they referred to Lul Xun as "Young Master," as was their etiquette.

"Woof woof!" Hengheng also raised his paw. This little creature seemed very endearing and recently figured out which people here needed pleasing.

"Miss Xin, would you like some?" Chen Ying laid out the snacks and ingredients neatly on the board. Relatively speaking, her status among the maids was slightly higher.

"Mm." Xin Xianying was well-acquainted with these maids. She walked over, helped herself to a portion of her favorites, played with Hengheng a bit, and then left.

"Another year has passed..." After settling Chen Qian down, Chen Lan resumed her needlework, something she used to do as a personal maid back in the day.

Although Chen Xi seldom required her to do such tasks nowadays, every festival, Chen Lan would pick up fabrics to tailor clothes for Chen Xi as she used to. By the way, she didn't even need to take measurements; she could make perfectly fitted clothes by intuition.

Incidentally, this was why Chen Yun, as a personal maid, had it relatively easy, as tasks like warming the bed, doing makeup, and needlework were not her responsibility.

However, this year was different from previous years. Chen Lan simply didn't have time to make new clothes for Chen Xi, and she wasn't keen on buying them from a clothing shop. So, she guided Fan Jian to make them instead, though unfortunately, while Fan Jian was good at embroidery, her clothes-making skills were far less competent.

"Ah, sister, your lapel is crooked," Chen Lan said helplessly. Fan Jian seemed a bit embarrassed; though measurements were fine, something went wrong in the execution.

"This is so hard," Fan Jian said, troubled. She excelled at embroidery, yet, seemingly, among the women attending Cai Yan's lectures, only Fan Jian couldn't make robes. That's also why Fan Jian never prepared a coronation robe for Chen Xi back then—she didn't know how!

"Ouch~" Fan Jian put her finger in her mouth. With embroidery, she rarely pricked her fingers, but with sewing clothes, she had pricked herself multiple times, even with a thimble.

"Ah, sister, at this rate, you won't have it done for the festival," Chen Lan said helplessly. What seemed so simple to her—even embroidering the coronation robe by herself back in the day—wasn't this difficult.

"Forget it, let's have Yun'er do it. Making new clothes for the Family Head is the responsibility of the Lady and the personal maid. Let her handle it. We can't have the master wearing last year's clothes for the New Year," Chen Lan decisively abandoned the idea of letting Fan Jian continue wasting time.

After all, handmade without a sewing machine, with dense stitches and varied patterns, would require half a day to complete. Plus, Chen Lan was worried that if Chen Yun was as oblivious as Fan Jian regarding Chen Xi's measurements, it would be a disaster.

"Alright..." Fan Jian looked visibly disappointed but didn't refuse Chen Lan's suggestion and went to find Chen Yun in the main hall where Chen Xi was staying.

However, upon arriving, she discovered that neither Chen Xi nor Chen Yun was home, making Fan Jian even more helpless, as there was really nothing she could do about it.

Time rewound slightly. Chen Xi lay in a rocking chair, contemplating the gift issue, while Chen Yun, after a trip outside, brought back some snacks from the backyard for Chen Xi.

"Chen Yun, is there anything you like or need?" Chen Xi reached out his hand toward Chen Yun's direction, pinched several times, and only managed to grab a rice cake after Chen Yun placed the plate near his hand. He then asked lazily.

"Something I like, huh." Chen Yun knew their Family Head was lenient with them, so after thinking for a while, she looked at Chen Xi's face, blushing slightly, and shook her head, "Nope."

"Not even something you like? Just how failed is your life," Chen Xi remarked, letting his thoughts wander off in a leap of logic.

"But I'm doing fine now," Chen Yun calmly explained. Ever since Chen Lan stepped down, she served as a personal maid and had a good grasp of Chen Xi's temperament.

"Oh, well, happiness is also very important," Chen Xi said, stroking his chin, "Come, let's go buy some gifts for the Lady."

Chen Yun sighed. She knew very well about Chen Lan and Fan Jian's mindset; if Chen Xi chose the gift, everything would be fine. If she chose it, she'd have to avoid Fan Jian for a while.

Still, Chen Xi wanted to go, and she couldn't stop him, so she could only follow him out, hoping that Chen Xi wouldn't ask her what to buy.

Turn right at the door, head to the northeast corner of Ye City's shop district, where everything was conveniently gathered, just like in Fenggao. Gathering all trades in one place had almost become a habit, facilitating management and eliminating random price changes.

With just one day until the New Year, the festival atmosphere in Ye City was much more pronounced. Having spent several months stabilizing the situation in Jizhou, Liu Bei was determined to maintain it. Plus, with granaries opening before the New Year to ensure a good holiday, there were no beggars on streets this year.

Even though the current support system was still poor, ensuring the common people had a full meal and saw some meat for the holiday was feasible. To achieve this, a large quantity of salted fish was transported from the Donglai area of Qingzhou to the North, practically sold at cost price.

Of course, this was only necessary for the first year, as future supplies would be sourced from the coastal areas of Jizhou. Even at what was called cost price, there was still profit to be made.

After all, fishing as an industry needs to be large-scale to lower costs. Currently, the small fishing villages along Jizhou's coast struggled because they lacked scale, market, and the price of salt was too high. Next year, Chen Xi planned to integrate the fishermen and set sail on big ships! (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian.com to cast a recommendation or monthly ticket. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)