The Great Princess furrowed her eyebrows and shouted unhappily, "You want me to carry this lousy basket? You’re asking me to carry something so ugly?"
Ignoring her, Li Yuzhu instead shoved a shovel into her hand, "Also take this, and while going downhill, dig up some of those wild vegetables we just ate."
Mentioning the wild vegetables they just ate, the Great Princess’s anger subsided a bit.
She glared at Li Yuzhu and turned away.
Well, to be fair, the taste of those wild vegetables wasn’t bad at all.
She had to dig up more and have Li Yuzhu cook it just for her.
Several siblings followed Prince Luling down the mountain.
The somewhat chubby Second Princess was panting as she walked, having to rest every so often.
The Great Princess chided her, "I told you to eat less usually, see, now you can barely walk!"
The Second Princess was troubled, "I honestly don’t eat a lot, so why am I still fat?"
Li Yuzhu came over and took her arm, "Second Sister, if you don’t sleep after eating, you won’t gain weight."
The Second Princess sighed, "But I’m so tired after eating that I just want to sleep."
Li Yuzhu, "..." Okay, if you don’t gain weight, who will?
Among the group, Prince Luling was also on the heavier side.
He too was stopping and starting as he walked, taking half an hour to cover the three-mile descent.
Of the four sides of Niu Tou Mountain, two are flanked by even taller mountains, while one side is a swamp.
In the direction toward Taohua River Village, there is a bumpy wasteland, overgrown with weeds and various scrubby trees.
This stretch of wasteland is quite vast, roughly enough to clear several thousand acres.
Prince Luling gathered his children, asking them, "Where do you think we should set the house’s foundation?"
So everyone started discussing their own ideas.
Li Yuzhu stood on a slightly elevated hillside, looked around, and said, "Father, how about here, facing south with the back to the north."
She gestured with her hand, indicating the orientation of the house.
The Great Princess shook her head, "In front there is a swamp, would you open your window to see a stinky ditch? Li Yuzhu, what are you thinking? Stop coming up with nonsense, listen to our brothers’ opinions."
Second Young Master Li Xingsheng spoke up, "Third Sister, this place isn’t a bad choice."
The third son, Li Xing’an, also said, "I have no objections, as long as the house is cozy."
The princely heir asked, "Third Sister, why choose this spot?"
Li Yuzhu pointed around, "It’s facing south with the back to the north, backed by mountains and facing the swamp... ah no, this swamp will be turned into a lotus pond in the future. With mountains behind and water in front, this is a prime spot for feng shui."
Prince Luling agreed wholeheartedly, "Good, good, let’s choose this spot!"
The Great Princess pursed her lips, clearly thinking it was nonsense, yet everyone believed Li Yuzhu?
The site for the house was settled, and once again, everyone began chattering about how to plan the house’s interior layout.
Everyone wanted their room to have the best position, resulting in a noisy and chaotic ruckus.
Prince Luling was overwhelmed.
It was the first time he thought, is having many children really not a good thing?
Li Yuzhu noticed Prince Luling furrowing his brows, not knowing how to mediate, and couldn’t help but laugh.
This lord father, wasn’t he quite proud of having many children?
Why is he troubled now?
She snapped a twig and walked to a patch of bare ground to draw a plan.
"Stop arguing, let’s draw a plan and discuss." She recalled the courtyard layout she had seen in past lives.
With so many family members, she drew a plan for a five-courtyard house in no time.
Marking where the rooms and gardens were, she sketched the layout with a few strokes.
Who knew, after the plan was clearly drawn, everyone argued even more intensely.