The First Family of the Red Mansion

Chapter 1 The Great Zhou Dynasty

"Waaah..."

"It's all our fault, mother and son. Your father and eldest and third brothers were trying to find food for us, but the two of them ended up in the belly of a worm. Our cat was also seriously injured and is still unconscious."

"To handle the funerals for your father and eldest brother, and to treat your third brother's injuries, your mother had no choice but to sell the family's twenty acres of land to the Lai family. If your third brother also passes away, how will the two of us survive?"

"Waaaaah..."

In his dazed state, Liu Hu heard the suppressed sobs of the woman beside him and was about to complain in frustration.

But as soon as I tried to open my mouth, I felt a sharp pain in my throat and my mouth was incredibly dry.

"Water, water..."

The woman, who was pouring out her sorrows to the sleeping young lady in her arms, suddenly froze when she heard the voice behind her. Her eyes reddened as she looked at the young man lying on the kang (a heated brick bed)...

"So I've traveled through time, and to the Great Zhou Dynasty at that?"

Having drunk some water, Liu Hu regained his senses. Listening to his mother's nagging and combining it with the remaining memories of the original owner of the body, he roughly understood his current situation.

The Great Zhou Dynasty, a dynasty that had only been established for a little over sixty years, also dashed Liu Hu's ambitions to become king and dominate the country.

Although their family lives in the countryside, there are different kinds of countryside.

Wangjiazhuang is only about fifty miles away from the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Shenjing. Although most of the villagers are illiterate, they still know some basic common sense because they are under the emperor's nose.

History took a turn in the 29th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty. In that year, Altan Khan's army invaded the south, and the capital of the Ming Dynasty was besieged for the second time. However, this time, there was no Yu Qian to turn the tide.

Under the threat of the powerful minister Yan Song, Ding Rukui, the general in charge of guarding the capital, could only hold his ground and not come out, allowing Altan Khan to plunder the area around the capital for eight days.

The original plan was for the Ming court to agree to Anda Khan's trade demands, and for Anda Khan to withdraw his troops with satisfaction. Finally, the Jiajing Emperor and Yan Song would shift the blame for avoiding battle to Ding Rukui, who was in charge of guarding the capital, and that would be the end of it.

However, just as Jiajing and Yan Song were discussing how to shift the blame to Ding Rukui, a palace maid who was already dissatisfied with Jiajing revealed the matter to Ding Rukui, who was eagerly awaiting the court's reward.

After all, in his mind, this achievement was no less than that of Yu Shaobao.

After the initial panic subsided, Ding Rukui, increasingly dissatisfied with the court, decided to go all the way and colluded with eunuchs and palace maids in the inner court who were unhappy with Emperor Jiajing to launch a palace coup. In the end, Emperor Jiajing could not escape death at the hands of the palace maids...

Meanwhile, Altan Khan, who was still heading north, heard that the Ming emperor was gone and the capital was in chaos. He immediately broke the previous agreement and met with the Oirat Tatars who had come south after receiving the news in Datong. The three Mongol cavalry, numbering 300,000, marched south and ravaged the Central Plains. Wherever they went, corpses littered the fields and people wailed in despair.

Just as China was about to become a land of bloodshed once again, the gentry and officials in the south were still colluding and fighting among the various imperial families of the Ming Dynasty for the sake of imperial power. After the last elite Qi family army of the Ming Dynasty perished in Huainan, everything seemed to be beyond redemption.

"Emperor Taizu rose from humble beginnings, raising an army in the Suzhou and Yangzhou regions. He supported the state internally and drove out the invaders externally. With the assistance of four kings and eight dukes, he restored order to the nation in seven years. During his twenty-one-year reign, he quelled the turmoil in the land, and the nation was at peace..."

Recalling the words the original owner overheard in Shenjing, Liu Hu realized that he had transmigrated to a timeline where history had deviated, combined with the so-called Four Kings and Eight Dukes...

"Is this not the Dream of the Red Chamber?"

Thinking of this, Liu Hu couldn't help but get excited. He couldn't help but drool when he thought of the magnificent Jia Mansion.

Although I know that in this era, barring any unforeseen circumstances, there is no way the two will have any interaction, it's not illegal to fantasize about it.

Looking around at the thatched roof overhead and the mud walls around him, Liu Hu couldn't help but lament inwardly, "We're so poor!"

He carefully covered the little dumpling next to him with the quilt he was wearing, and the pain in his chest made him groan involuntarily.

I glanced at the yellow cloth strip that was soaked with blood wrapped around my chest, and the unpleasant smell of herbs instantly filled my nostrils.

Recalling what her mother, Liu, had just told her, there were originally five people in the family: her parents, her eldest brother, herself, and the little dumpling beside her.

He originally had a second older brother, but he died when he was seven years old because he was frail and sickly.

With thirty mu of land and three strong laborers, the annual harvest was enough to make a living. In fact, the original owner had even studied at a private school for two years with Li Xiucai in the village when he was a child, so he was at least not blind.

During the Spring Festival this year, I arranged a marriage for my elder brother, and we're waiting for the autumn harvest to take place.

The family's harvest was barely enough to make ends meet, and now they had to pay for their eldest son's wedding. Their third son was also getting older, and to make matters worse, their own mother, who was almost forty, had given birth to a daughter just before the spring planting season.

This period is the most difficult time. The summer grain harvest will take another three months, and last year's autumn grain will be depleted after a winter of consumption.

My mother and daughter also needed nutrition at this time, so the three men in the family discussed it and decided to go to the mountains to find food before spring arrived.

As a result, they encountered a giant tiger that had been starving all winter. The father and elder brother lost their lives in the tiger's jaws while trying to protect their youngest son. Even the original owner of the body was scratched on the chest by the tiger.

When the devastating news arrived, the elderly mother felt as if the sky were falling. She suppressed her grief and hastily buried her husband and eldest son, then sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) every day, holding her daughter and wiping away tears...

"Kitty, are you all better?"

Three days have passed since I woke up. I don't know why, but after three days of rest, my injuries have mostly healed.

Although he didn't untie the cloth strip to check, Liu Hu felt that he was fine, but he still felt a little uncomfortable in his chest, as if there was a pebble wrapped under the cloth strip.

Without having time to rest, Liu Hu immediately began repairing farm tools as soon as he was able to get off the kang (heated brick bed). After all, plowing was about to begin, and his family only had ten mu (approximately 0.67 hectares) of land left. If they missed the spring plowing season, the three of them would be left to starve.

Although he had never farmed in his previous life, Liu Hu had inherited the original owner's memories and thus knew some about farming seasons.

Liu Hu looked up at the newcomer, his face full of black lines, and said, "I have a formal name now, Liu Hu."

"Oh, when did Auntie go to see Scholar Li?"

The farmers in the village were mostly blind to the dangers of poverty. They would just give their children any lowly names, partly because it would make them easier to raise, and partly because no matter how good the name was, it wouldn't really matter.

Only those from well-off families, or those who intend to cultivate future generations, would spend a few pounds of grain to ask Scholar Li to give them a more elegant name.

The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in thin clothes covered in patches. Although it was already spring, the late spring chill still made his face look pale.

He was the same age as the original owner and they had played together since childhood. However, his family was poor, and the two had less contact after the original owner went to private school.

The reason they came this time was probably because they saw that Liu Hu's family had suffered a great disaster and wanted to see if they could lend a hand.

He didn't stand on ceremony, moved a stool and sat down next to Liu Hu, helping to repair the farm tools.

"No, I chose it myself."

"Brother Monkey, you've come to my place. Have you prepared your tools?" Liu Hu felt a warmth in his heart, but still asked with some doubt.

The man's name was Wang Hou, but everyone called him Brother Monkey. It was said that he had some connection with the Wang family, the former Grand Commandant and County Earl.

"It's all ready. I have a lot of family members, and my dad and the others fixed up the plows and other things yesterday. I didn't even get a chance to help," Monkey said casually, handing over a wedge.

Monkey King's family is indeed large. He himself has seven brothers and sisters. Moreover, his elders are still alive, and his uncles and aunts have not yet divided the family property. Otherwise, there is no way they could not afford to send their children to a private school on their more than 100 acres of land.

"It's a good thing your family planted a few acres of winter wheat, otherwise you would be all alone now, and just spring plowing on ten acres of land would exhaust you."

Liu Hu took the wedge and picked up the loose wooden shovel to start hammering.

That's right, a wooden shovel; they couldn't afford an iron one.

Apart from the plow and sickle, all other farm implements were made of wood.

"By the way, when the Lai family bought your land, did they replant the seedlings on the land where they had already planted winter wheat?"

"They gave us two hundred catties of wheat," Liu Hu replied without looking up.

"They're bullying us!" Monkey King exclaimed in alarm.

One mu of land requires 15 jin of wheat seeds. The Liu family previously sold 20 mu of land to the Lai family, half of which was planted with winter wheat.

Putting aside the difference between seeds and grain, it was as if the Lai family had given them an extra 50 jin of grain, allowing the Liu family to cultivate ten mu of land for them, and even taking care of them for a whole winter.

"It's not like I've lost out. After all, my family did need money recently, otherwise my father and elder brother wouldn't have been able to live in peace, and I wouldn't be sitting here today."

Liu Hu shook his head and advised, "Although you know the Lai family has gotten a great deal, that's how the world is. Can you expect others to help your family for free?"

"The Lai family only got there because they married a maid from the Jia family who was part of their dowry. Otherwise, do you think I would dare to confront them?"

Monkey King said indignantly.

After helping Liu Hu repair the farm tools, Wang Hou stood up, waved his hand, and walked out the door with a nonchalant air, ignoring Liu's attempts to persuade him to stay.

"Cat, spring plowing will begin in about ten days. Do you think we should hire someone?"

A bowl of porridge, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a few cornbread buns mixed with bran—that's a family's breakfast.

This is only because spring plowing is coming soon, and we need to conserve the energy of the family's labor force so that we can have cornbread to eat. When we're not busy, we just have a bowl of porridge and a few pickled vegetables to fill our stomachs; otherwise, the family's food supply won't last.

Take Liu for example. She didn't touch a single cornbread, and simply ate a few pickled vegetables and a bowl of porridge.

"Mother, you should eat something dry too." Liu Hu grabbed a cornbread and handed it to Liu Shi.

"You don't need to worry about the fields. I've already discussed it with Monkey. We'll switch jobs. After we finish our planting, I'll go help them with theirs."

"You just gave birth to your daughter and need to rest. You can just cook at home."

Liu looked at the cornbread in her hand, and after a long while, she finally tore off a small piece and put it in her mouth to chew slowly.

"That works!"

When Liu spoke, her voice clearly had a nasal tone.

"Can his cattle be exchanged for labor?"

Liu ate half a cornbread, and then stopped.

"What are you thinking? Even if we could exchange them, our family couldn't afford to raise them. We don't have that much food to chew."

"Oh." Mrs. Liu was a little disappointed when she heard this.

Now her three sons are her only hope, and she is afraid of exhausting them.

"Clatter!"

The next morning, Liu Hu felt a slight itch on the wound on his chest. Unable to resist, he untied the bandage. Suddenly, there was a sound, as if something had fallen to the ground.

Liu Hu looked down in surprise and saw a teardrop-shaped lapis lazuli, about the size of a thumb, with a small hole at one end, lying on the ground.

Upon seeing the lapis lazuli, Liu Hu was completely stunned: "How did this thing come along too?"

I found this lapis lazuli in an abandoned Taoist temple during a budget trip in my previous life.

One side features a few clouds carved with minimal strokes, while the other side is engraved with three lines of characters in small seal script:

The harvest of grains is plentiful.

Exercise to nourish the body and mind.

Its inner beauty is profound.

At the time, Liu Hu just thought it was fun and didn't take up much space, so he put it away and forgot about it afterwards.

Until he transmigrated here, he had forgotten that he even had such a thing.

Seeing it suddenly now, I didn't react for a moment.

After realizing what had happened, Liu Hu was overjoyed and hurriedly picked up the lapis lazuli, examining it closely in his hand.

"This lapis lazuli was able to travel through time, so it's definitely not an ordinary object. Could this be my cheat code?"

After examining the lapis lazuli for a while, Liu Hu thought of the online novels he had read in his previous life and silently recited them into his mind.

When Liu Hu came to his senses again, he found himself in a circular space about one kilometer in diameter. Looking at the dark earth all around him, a pond about one hundred acres in size was like a bright pearl dotting the landscape.

In the center of the pond is a small island about an acre in size, with a three-meter-tall, enlarged version of lapis lazuli standing in the center of the island.

Around the boulder was a small pool made of stone. Just as Liu Hu entered the space, a trickle of water flowed from the small holes on the top of the bluestone stone on both sides.

Only then did Liu Hu finally understand the meaning of the three lines of text on the lapis lazuli.

Abundant Harvest: If a lapis lazuli is recognized as its owner, the crop yield in the area under the owner's actual control will increase by 50%.

In other words, any land belonging to Liu Hu yields half again as much as other land in the surrounding area.

Strengthening the body and nourishing the spirit: The body and soul of the stone owner will be continuously strengthened by the lapis lazuli.

Of course, this is not unlimited. Even if it is strengthened to the limit, it is still a carbon-based life form, and the body will still age. However, it will be slowed down by the nourishment of lapis lazuli. Depending on the individual, it can extend lifespan by half. The same applies to nourishing the spirit.

"Inner beauty reveals the universe": This is easy to understand; it means there is something special inside, that is, this space.

As for the water flowing from lapis lazuli, it is said to have nourishing, health-promoting, wound-healing, and disease-curing properties.

Although it doesn't have the same effect on the owner as lapis lazuli, lapis lazuli itself cannot heal wounds or cure diseases.

Even if the stone master is strong, as long as it is a carbon-based life form, it is bound to get injured and sick, and the water flowing from the lapis lazuli makes up for this deficiency.

Of course, lapis lazuli can only produce 100 liters of water per day, it's not unlimited.

The ambient temperature remains around 27 to 28 degrees Celsius year-round, making it suitable for year-round cultivation.

After understanding the function of lapis lazuli, Liu Hu was first overjoyed, then felt disgusted. For some reason, he thought of another piece of jade in the Dream of the Red Chamber, which also had three functions: to ward off evil spirits, to heal grievances and illnesses, and to know good and bad fortune.

But compared to that mysterious jade, my lapis lazuli, though small, is much more practical.

But this also cast a shadow over Liu Hu's heart: "Could it be that there really are demons and gods like Shenying Attendant and Jinghuan Fairy in this world?"

"If these things really exist, then I'd better play it safe for now, at least I need to keep my lapis lazuli well hidden."