She led the whole village to prosperity by raising koi fish.

Chapter 37 Soap Making

To make the soap that the landlady liked, Su Yuning went all out. She didn't even have time for breakfast before rushing up the mountain to collect osmanthus flowers with a basket on her back. Worried about her safety going up the mountain alone, the woman whispered to Old Su to watch over her daughter, and Old Su quietly followed her.

The air is filled with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms, their rich aroma intoxicating. In autumn, the harvest season, osmanthus reaches its peak bloom. The trees are laden with blossoms, a tapestry of yellow and green, a scene of picturesque beauty as a gentle breeze stirs the air. Autumn osmanthus is particularly fragrant and abundant, its most captivating feature being its sweet scent. Golden and silver osmanthus flowers vie for attention, their intoxicating fragrance attracting bees to gather nectar.

Su Yuning was overjoyed by the osmanthus tree. She would smell the fragrance of the flowers and spin around in circles. She only picked the osmanthus flowers from the lower parts and didn't pick the ones from the higher parts. After all, she was out alone and safety was the most important thing.

After about an hour, Su Yuning had picked a full basket of osmanthus flowers. Unlike wild fruits, these didn't feel heavy even when the basket was full, and she easily carried them home.

Not far away, Old Su was also busy picking chestnuts in the chestnut orchard. In the golden autumn season, the chestnuts were ripe, and many of the shells had burst open, with chestnuts jumping out. Old Su had picked up half a basket of chestnuts in no time.

Seeing his daughter walk down the mountain, Old Su felt relieved and continued collecting medicinal herbs and ingredients on the mountain.

When Su Yuning got home, she discovered that her older brother had prepared all the materials she needed to make soap, such as pork fat, clam shells, and straw.

Deeply moved, Su Yuning expressed her gratitude with tears in her eyes, saying, "Thank you so much for your help, brother. It saved me a lot of effort and time!"

While wiping away her tears, the eldest son of the Su family replied with a smile, "What's the big deal? We're like brothers and sisters, helping each other is only right. What else do you need? Just tell me! I'll do my best as long as it's within my power."

Su Yuning asked, "Big brother, you'll need to help out with making soap later. Do you have time?"

The eldest son of the Su family readily nodded in agreement, "Of course, we'll do it your way."

"By the way, big brother, is there no work in the vegetable garden? Why didn't you go to work today?" Su Yuning asked curiously.

The eldest son of the Su family scratched his head and replied awkwardly, "I resigned. I was thinking of becoming a teacher soon, so I don't need to do odd jobs anymore."

"Whatever you want, just make sure you take good care of your sister-in-law and nephew," Su Yuning replied nonchalantly.

Then, Yang Yuyan, with a gentle demeanor, walked over with a smile and handed her a few soap pods. "Here you go, little sister. Soap pods can be used to wash clothes and also for bathing. With them, you won't need to make soap."

Su Yuning was both amused and exasperated. "Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law, but our boss is very demanding. Her best friend has soap, so she has to have it too. Using this won't do. But I can keep it for myself."

Yang Yuyan replied helplessly, "Alright then, there's nothing I can do to help you. You'll have to figure it out yourself."

"Thank you, sister-in-law. You go and look after your nephew," Su Yuning replied with a smile.

In the city, Ye Beichen went to the store to look for Su Yuning, but her colleague told him that she had gone back to her hometown.

Ye Beichen muttered to himself, "This Su Yuning, she didn't even inform me before going back to her hometown, how could she do that?"

Then, her colleague Zhao Feixue came over with a smile and struck up a conversation with Ye Beichen, "Hi! Handsome young man! Let's be friends! My name is Xue'er."

Ye Beichen glanced at her coldly, didn't even say goodbye, and turned to leave.

"Hmph! What's with the attitude? You have no taste if you ignore me!" Zhao Feixue stomped her foot angrily as she complained.

To everyone's surprise, Nangong Xue'er was punished by the Empress. Although she was carrying the child of the royal family, the Empress did not indulge her at all. As soon as she returned to the palace, Nangong Xue'er was confined to her bedchamber to copy scriptures.

Nangong Xue'er asked, bewildered, "Your Majesty, what did Xue'er do wrong? Why am I being punished?"

The Empress looked down at Nangong Xue'er, who was kneeling on the ground, and replied indifferently, "As a royal consort, being jealous is a major taboo, and you happen to be jealous. Making the prince lose face in front of outsiders is also a major taboo, and you happened to do that as well. Do you think you should be punished?"

"This..." Nangong Xue'er was speechless for a moment.

"You shouldn't go anywhere during this time. Just focus on copying the scriptures and reciting the whole text. Try to remember them well!" the Empress said sternly.

"Yes, ma'am." Nangong Xue'er replied helplessly.

At this moment, Xue'er's mother could no longer bear it and knelt before the Empress to plead for mercy.

"No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. Considering that this is Xue'er's first offense, Your Majesty, please be lenient and forgive her."

"This is the Great Song Dynasty, not your northern desert. What right do you have to negotiate with me? Besides, no one can violate the strict rules and regulations of the palace. Considering that she is pregnant with a precious child, I have already been merciful enough to her. Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."

Nangong Xue'er and her mother exchanged a glance, then replied in unison, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

Afterwards, the Empress, too lazy to respond to them, simply flicked her sleeves and left with her maids.

"Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. Daughter, do you regret your choice?"

"I don't regret it. It's much better than being bullied and starving in the Nangong mansion." Nangong Xue'er replied firmly.

"No matter what, I support your decision," Nangong Xue'er's mother replied gently.

Afterwards, the mother ground the ink while Nangong Xue'er sat at the table, reading and copying. The scene was exceptionally heartwarming, and the mother felt as if she had returned to the past, when her daughter would obediently write at the table while she quietly watched.

In Xinghua Village, the weather was exceptionally nice, with bright sunshine. Su Yuning and her older brother made soap together.

First, they fired the clam shells. The older brother built a makeshift stove with bricks and mud in front of the house, placed large tiles on the stove, and then arranged the clam shells one by one on the tiles. Su Yuning then started the fire, and the brother and sister worked together to fire the clam shells by heating them at high temperatures.

The older brother asked curiously, "Little sister, what can we use instead of seashells?"

While crushing the seashells into powder, Su Yuning replied, "The main function of seashells is to adjust the hardness and improve the washing effect. They can be replaced with sea salt, sugar, almond powder, etc. Eggshells can also be used instead."

The eldest son of the Su family nodded, "Okay, I'll wash the eggshells after I use them next time and save them for you, just in case."

Su Yuning was both amused and exasperated. "Big brother, you're so thoughtful! This is wonderful! This is wonderful!"

The next step is to burn the straw into ash. This step is not difficult and only takes a few minutes. A large bundle of straw is turned into ash, and this inconspicuous ash is the straw ash that Su Yuning will use to make soap.

"Little sister, where does the lye water come from?" the eldest son of the Su family asked, looking completely bewildered.

Su Yuning smiled and replied, "Wood ash is used to make lye water."

Next, Su Yuning poured the wood ash into a bucket, then filtered out the alkaline water using gauze. She then added the shell powder to the alkaline water, stirred it well, filtered it twice, and let it settle for later use.

Then, Su Yuning began rendering lard. She boiled the fatty meat in boiling water for two minutes, then removed it. She added a little water, poured in the blanched fatty meat, brought it to a boil, and then reduced the heat to medium-low. She continued rendering until all the lard was extracted, then scooped out the cracklings with a strainer and set the lard aside.

During this time, Old Su also returned from the mountain, bringing back many delicious foods for everyone, such as chestnuts, walnuts, dates, persimmons, and hawthorns. Su Yuning also busied herself taking the prepared fried pork cracklings to her father to taste.

"There are so many mountain products lately. It would be great if we could go up the mountain to collect them every day," Old Su said to them with a smile.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the village chief arrived, lecturing him with a stern expression.

"Old Su, look at you! Do you really think you're a three-year-old? I've repeatedly warned you not to go up the mountain to collect things, so why did you go again? Don't you take my words seriously?"

Old Su gave an awkward laugh. "Hehehe, I've been resting at home for quite a while now. I'm just idling around anyway, so it's good to find something to do. I don't feel tired at all. Besides, I'm an old man from the mountains. I'm not afraid of most poisonous snakes or wild animals."

The village chief was furious and sternly criticized him, "Do you know that this is disobeying orders? You're causing trouble, and it will bring inconvenience to your family. I was originally planning to have the eldest son and his wife become teachers at the school, but they can't even manage you, how can they manage the students? I need to reconsider their appointments."

Now, the eldest son and his wife glared at Old Su, feeling that he had caused trouble for the family.

Old Su's heart skipped a beat, and he was startled. He quickly grabbed the village chief's hand and apologized, "It's all my fault, old brother, please don't hold it against me. I'm sorry, I was wrong! I'll never dare to go up the mountain again, there won't be a next time! I promise!"

The village chief finally turned his anger into joy, "This attitude is not bad. If only you had done this earlier, I wouldn't have had to come and visit you."

Seeing the village chief turn to leave, Su Yuning quickly gave him a bag of fried pork fat residue and said kindly,

"Village chief, these are some fried pork cracklings I just made. Please take them and have some. Please don't let me be dismissed! My brother and sister-in-law need this job. Please have mercy!"

The village chief nodded. "Don't worry, I won't abandon them. I was just trying to scare your father."

Su Yuning finally breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great, thank you, village chief!"

After the lard cooled, Su Yuning added the top layer of alkaline water and salt, then stirred it in one direction with a spoon to create a saponification reaction, turning it into a sticky paste.

"Little sister, why aren't the osmanthus flowers used? Didn't you say you were going to make soap?" Yang Yuyan asked as she lifted the osmanthus flowers from her basket.

Su Yuning gave an embarrassed smile, "Oh dear, I completely forgot. Thank you for reminding me, sister-in-law!"

Next, Su Yuning poured all the osmanthus flowers into the soap paste at once. Then she stirred it well again, poured the soap paste into bamboo slips to set, and hung it to dry in a cool, ventilated place.

On the day she was about to leave, Su Yuning took all the soap out of the bamboo slips, cut it into pieces, and then laid them out in the yard to dry in the sun.

The eldest son of the Su family asked her, "How long does it take to make the soap, little sister?"

Su Yuning responded with a serious expression.

"One month to allow the soap to fully saponify."

Afterwards, Yang Yuyan packed the freshly made pancakes into a bundle and handed them to Su Yuning, saying with concern, "Little sister, take these pancakes with you on your way back. Be careful on your journey!"

"Okay, thank you, sister-in-law!" Su Yuning nodded in agreement, then jumped onto the carriage, waved goodbye to her family, and drove off towards the city.

When she got back and saw Su Yuning with empty hands, the proprietress was furious and couldn't help but ask her...

"Su Yuning, I gave you a day off to go home and make soap, not to go back and play. Why did you come back empty-handed? Where did the soap go?"

Su Yuning told her everything, "Boss lady, how could I dare to neglect your orders? The soap has been made, but it will take some time before it can be used. So I left it to dry at my hometown, and I will definitely pick it up for you next month!"

The proprietress asked, somewhat skeptical, "Really?"

Su Yuning quickly made a swearing gesture, "I really did it, it's absolutely true!"

The shop owner finally believed her. "Alright, go ahead and get back to work. The shop really can't function without you. Many of our regular customers buy things from you."

Su Yuning smiled and replied, "Okay." Then she skipped off to work.

Inside the camp in the northern desert,

When Ye Beichen was urgently summoned back by his father, he asked in a bewildered manner,

"What are your plans for me to come back?"

The leader of the Northern Desert replied earnestly, "Chen'er, you're not getting any younger, it's time for you to get married. I came home this time to arrange your marriage. Your fiancé is the eldest daughter of the Nangong family."

"Father, can you please stop interfering in my marriage? I've already made it clear to you that I will decide my own marriage, and I won't agree to anything anyone else says," Ye Beichen protested angrily, frowning.

"I know, Nangong Xue'er was your first love, but she's already married to someone else. Besides, I'm your biological father, how can you call me an outsider? Listen to me, it's better than ten years of study. Hurry up and marry the eldest daughter of the Nangong family. Master Nangong and I have already discussed it, and this matter cannot be changed," the lord replied.

At this moment, Ye Beichen directly voiced his objection, "In that case, I have no choice but to give up my status as the Crown Prince. I want to pursue the girl I like as a commoner. Please don't try to play matchmaker for me."

The lord of the northern desert was so angry he laughed. "Heh heh heh, you think your status and position are inferior to a girl's, right? Are you stupid? My Chen'er?"

Ye Beichen replied earnestly, "No matter what you say, I've made up my mind about Su Yuning for the rest of my life. I won't marry anyone else!"

The Northern Desert Lord was also a stubborn man, and he directly replied to him, "This is not up to you. Once you're here, you're not allowed to go back. Go directly to date the eldest daughter of the Nangong family, and then get married."

And so, Ye Beichen was forced to stay in Mobei. But he didn't have feelings for that woman. Would he really fall in love with her and get married?