“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, what are you doing? Put Brother Zhu down at once!”
In the end, it was Li Shu who noticed the commotion and promptly rescued Zhu Ping’an from his predicament. Otherwise, Zhu Ping’an’s shoulders might not have survived. Li Shu’s brothers, for some reason, had the strength of bears.
“He made you suffer, little sister. How could we let him off? Otherwise, he’d think our family is easy to bully.”
Though Li Shu’s brothers complied and set Zhu Ping’an down, their hands lingered on his shoulders, still firmly gripping him, ready to give him another lesson if needed.
“Brother Zhu hasn’t bullied me. He’s been so good to me. I was just overwhelmed with excitement seeing you all after so long. It’s your fault for not visiting me in ages, making me miss you so much.”
Li Shu walked over, prying their large hands off Zhu Ping’an’s shoulders and scolding her brothers with a pout.
“Heh heh, so that’s how it is. We misjudged our brother-in-law.” The two brothers scratched their heads, chuckling awkwardly. They smoothed out Zhu Ping’an’s rumpled clothes, then gave his shoulders a heavy pat, grinning. “Our brother-in-law’s got the magnanimity of a prime minister and won’t hold it against us, right, good brother-in-law?”
“No, no, absolutely not,” Zhu Ping’an said, nearly shrinking under their slaps, forcing a smile. *With your builds, how could I dare?*
“Alright, Nini, it’s cold outside. Don’t catch a chill. Let’s get inside. Eldest, Second, keep an eye on things. Make sure everything’s moved into the courtyard, and don’t let those precious items get damaged,” Li the Wealthy said, doting on Li Shu. Worried about the chilly wind, he removed his bearskin cloak and draped it over her, supporting her as they headed inside. He turned to instruct his sons to oversee the unloading, ensuring nothing was mishandled.
A classic doting father.
Zhu Ping’an couldn’t let his two burly brothers-in-law manage the unloading alone in the cold, so he stayed to help direct the process. He also ordered ginger tea to be prepared for his brothers-in-law, the guards, and the servants to ward off the chill.
Then, Zhu Ping’an was stunned by his father-in-law’s extravagance. It was as if he’d emptied out all of Jiangnan.
There were several carts filled with silks and satins alone.
According to his brothers-in-law’s arrangements, two carts of vibrant silks and satins were for making clothes for Li Shu. One cart of highly absorbent cotton was for diapers for the two soon-to-be-born babies. Another cart of adorable patterned satin was for making clothes for the babies, and a cart of furs—top-quality fox, mink, and even two tiger pelts—was for making mattresses, blankets, and warm fur garments for Li Shu and the babies.
Beyond the silks and satins, there was a cart loaded with delicacies and tonics: shark fins, bird’s nests, abalone, sea cucumbers, lingzhi mushrooms, and ginseng.
Another cart held gold and silver jewellery, coral, jade, porcelain, a cart of children’s toys, and a cart of seasonal fruits and vegetables from the south.
Everything was measured in carts, brimming with a father’s love.
And that wasn’t all. Beyond the material goods, there were people. Yes, people. Because Jiangnan was unstable, Li the Wealthy had recruited ten skilled female Taoist priests to protect Li Shu’s safety.
In addition, he had hired two experienced midwives at a high salary to ensure a safe delivery for Li Shu.
As for the two unborn babies, Li the Wealthy hadn’t forgotten them. He had hired four healthy, plump wet nurses with ample breastfeeding experience for the babies. Yes, four, all with abundant milk supply.
The brothers-in-law explained that four wet nurses were hired to account for potential shortages in milk supply, illness, or the babies being picky, ensuring the little ones would never go hungry.
These four were temporary. If they weren’t enough, more would be hired locally.
This…
The treatment for these two babies rivalled that of Jia Baoyu in *Dream of the Red Chamber*. The novel noted that while others had one wet nurse, Jia Baoyu, showered with boundless affection, had four.
The carts were hauled into the inner courtyard, and then came the large carriages covered with black tarps.
These oversized carriages, each pulled by two horses, clearly carried something valuable to require such effort.
“Brother-in-law, don’t say the three of us forgot about you. These carts are for your military camp,” the brothers said, clapping Zhu Ping’an’s shoulders.
“What’s in them?” Zhu Ping’an asked curiously.
“The stuff in the carts? We did business with the red-haired foreigners in the south. They were short on cash, so they paid their debts with scrap metal from their ships. Thinking you might find it useful, we brought it along,” the eldest brother said, patting Zhu Ping’an’s shoulder with a grin.
“Brother-in-law, take a peek at a corner. If you don’t like this scrap metal, we’ll melt it down,” the second brother added, nodding towards the carriage, gesturing for Zhu Ping’an to lift a corner of the tarp.
Li Shu and the babies got silks, satins, guards, and wet nurses, while he got scrap metal…
The gap was rather stark.
Curious about what kind of “scrap metal” warranted such a long journey, Zhu Ping’an lifted a corner of the tarp, revealing the gleaming barrel of a brand-new cannon.
Good heavens!
This was no scrap metal—it was a pristine Western-style Francon cannon, the large ship-mounted kind.
Four large carriages carried four massive ship-mounted Francon cannons. His father-in-law and brothers-in-law were truly extravagant…
Zhu Ping’an couldn’t escape the law of “true fragrance.”
“Thank you, Father-in-law. Thank you, Eldest Brother, Second Brother. I was just in need of this ‘scrap metal,’” Zhu Ping’an said, his honest face breaking into a grin like a blooming flower.
This was fantastic. With these four large Francon cannons, the Zhejiang Army’s firepower would reach a new level. The equipment camp could also study these cannons to improve their cannon-making techniques.
“There are also two red-haired foreigners. They were shipwrecked, and we rescued them. They signed five-year contracts. They used to tinker with that ‘scrap metal’ on their ships. Brother-in-law, see if they’re useful. If they are, keep them. If not, we’ll take them back to do manual labour. We can’t let them eat for free for five years,” the brothers said, clapping their hands.
The next moment, a steward led two red-haired, blue-eyed foreigners forward.
These two Portuguese men spoke basic Chinese. After a brief conversation, Zhu Ping’an learned they had been rescued from a shipwreck by his father-in-law’s group. In gratitude, they signed five-year contracts. Both were firearms technicians, skilled in repairing Francon cannons and muskets, with some knowledge of cannon manufacturing.
They were invaluable talents. Zhu Ping’an had no reason to refuse and immediately accepted the two foreigners.
