37. Her new plans

They all bowed to her and she sleepily yawned. But the moment she entered the room and he closed the door she put the finger on her lips. ''Anyone listening?''

He was listening bit by the door and shook his head. ''No miss.''

''Come closer. Let's talk.'' She sat down and he got near so they could whisper as quiet as possible. ''What actually happened?''

''Twin brothers. I got one and he kidnapped his brother and let him in one cabin to die. Both know how to cook so I didn't know until you made it clear. He admitted that he worked for one of your uncles as they wanted you to be destroyed. Luckily he wasn't here when we brought all that rice. It is safely stored in the attic. In the storage area, we have just a dozen rice bags so even if he wanted to report something he wouldn't be able to say much.'' Mingli pressed his lips. ''Do you think there is more?''

Shu Ya nodded. ''Keep eyes close on the girls and the boy. I have that strange feeling something is not right. Check their background if you get a chance.''

Mingli nodded. ''Miss, you have so much legal land. What will you do it?''

She smiled brightly. ''Plant one water-resistant crop. But it will be fine after the second year. Next year we will just reseed it for a year after. I will tell them that I am playing around as I will plant a small amount. The rest of the land will be replanted. I will send a message to Uncle Tao. He is a merchant. He should be able to bring me tree seedlings for colder and dryer climates. I am sure he can find it. After that, we will do replanting and the trees we can cut and sell expensive. And the trees will help with the land as well. I can plant many sorts of forests. Do you think it is possible to protect it?''

Mingli nodded. '' There are ways to protect it from animals and those that want to steal it. We can make a small house for someone to protect your property as well.''

Shu Ya rubbed her temples again. ''I can't handle anymore. Go rest I will go wash up and sleep. Please order everyone to wash before sleeping because its disgusting to go into clean sheets dirty.''

Mingli knew tick with cleanings so he nodded. Soon after the two girls helped her wash up and they slowly washed her long silky black hair. After that, she dizzily could feel how they dried her up and put sleeping clothes on her and sleepily whispered. ''The two of you must be tired as well, please go sleep as well. Tomorrow is a long day.''

They just sighed and just continued patting her hair until it was completely dry. Then one of them brought bedding into her room and fell asleep far away from her bed while the other went to their room to sleep. They changed places in mid of night and when the first lights hit the rooms and rooster announced sunrise, the two girls woke up and started preparing everything for that day. Fist washing faces as they heard from Mingli that Shu Ya is sensitive on dirty stuff and then came slowly to her room to see if she is awake.

To their surprise, Shu Ya already sat there and held all the papers from the day before in her hand happily. She waved with papers in front of girls and pointed at it. ''I can't believe that my family is this reckless. There is even a sea area. Are they crazy? I plan to use the sea area to grow fishes. Surrounding will be a forest. Then in this corner, I will plant corn. This area I plan to plant fruit bushes as sit is stony and probably nothing else can grow there.''

She suddenly had and idea and almost hit her head. ''Stones! We can sell stones. Luckily it is far from the house. If we dig out deep enough we can make another sea that can be used in dry periods. Then we can do this...'' She started mumbling while the two girls helped her with washing up.

With a soft cloth, they patted her face and her hands then they dried it up with another soft cloth. Then they helped her put her clothes and as soon she had shoes on she headed outside. ''Let's go to the kitchen. I want to see what kind of vegetables we have.''

The winter will be long and vegetables will be rare doing the wintertime. But what she saw made her almost curse. ''If I knew we will just have few leaves of greens I would have bought more in Lanning. Let's prepare a good breakfast and then I will go with Mingyu and Rouxi to the city. It is a matter of highest importance.''

She rose sleeves and pointed at different items. ''Bring me radish, leeks, eggs, cabbage, one of you two go and wash rice for fifteen people and One of you light fire.'' Her commands were quick and clear.

Girls understood why for fifteen people. There are all big eaters and Shu Ya was not a person that skimped on food if they had it. And they had a lot.

With quick movements, she prepared eggs with leek, fried radishes with meat, cabbage with garlic and added a few more things that she bought on her way here. The dishes were quick, tasty and filling. Adding a lot of rice everyone ate to their full. She could see two giddy people that wanted to talk to her so she pointed to the main room. ''Let's talk. Mingy, prepare a carriage for us three I am going to town as well. Mingli you stay at home. You need to rest. The last few weeks were quite hard on you.

They were comfortably on the boat while he had to go over the passes, freeze himself, rush around to find the property, gather servants, get hit by wind and rain. She just could see dark clouds under his eyes.

He nodded and smiled ta her. ''Thank you miss. If you don't mind I will sleep in an extra room as I need some peace.''

Shu Ya nodded and waved her hand. The so-called extra room had an opening to the attic so he wanted to protect anyone going up without permission. Mingli just wanted to make sure.

What people didn't know was that Mingli and Mingyu were professional guards. If someone really had some weird ideas he will punish them. She was clear about that. She knew that earlier or later blood will flow in that yard, but she just waited to see who from them is a snitch.