By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Chapter 286 Prelude

When the Crown Prince arrived, Princess Changning didn't even mention wanting to stay a few more days. After lunch, the Crown Prince took her back to the palace.

Regarding the residential buildings, the Ministry of Works has already produced the blueprints, but they are being blocked by the Cabinet.

Because the cabinet ministers thought ten stories was too tall, the residential building was intended to be sold to officials.

Military officers are physically strong and naturally don't mind climbing ten floors every day, but civil officials can't.

Civil servants spend most of their time in their offices, reading documents all day long, and rarely get up and move around.

Rather, officials who buy houses certainly won't live in them themselves; they'll inevitably have families, including the elderly and children, and climbing ten floors won't be easy for them.

The cabinet took a comprehensive approach, considering not only replenishing the national treasury but also the actual circumstances.

Ultimately, the residential building was changed to six stories.

Six floors is a suitable height, not particularly high, and climbing stairs every day can also help exercise the body.

The cabinet also approved the design plans for the six-story residential building.

The cabinet approved the two sets of blueprints. This was another project led by the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Works did not delay at all.

The day after the design drawings were approved, he led people to demolish all the houses in that alley and clear out a flat open space.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Works' brick kilns were also working overtime, with workers in two shifts, all to avoid affecting the project's progress.

However, these matters were all handled by Feng Yunchen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Wen Zongji hasn't been spending much time at the Ministry of Revenue these days. He goes to the office every day to clock in, and then goes to the West Garden to oversee the construction project.

After finishing his shift, he returned to the county magistrate's residence.

County Princess's Mansion

Wen Zongji stood outside, dusted himself off, took off his official robes and handed them to Changdong before entering the room.

Children have weak immune systems and low resistance. Wen Zongji, covered in dust, didn't dare to enter the house, fearing he might upset Rui Ge'er.

Rui Ge'er has never been sick since he was born. If his respiratory tract gets infected by the dust on him, he will regret it to death.

Pei Rujing, who had gotten used to seeing Wen Zongji return covered in dust lately, still couldn't help but say, "Isn't it the Ministry of Works that's building the houses? Why does it seem like my husband is helping out?"

Wen Zongji said, "Everyone there is busy working hard. Unless I stay far away, I will inevitably get involved."

He walked over to Pei Rujing and looked at Rui Ge'er lying on the couch: "Were you a good boy today?"

Pei Rujing laughed: "You should ask him which day he misbehaved."

After saying that, Pei Rujing added with some concern, "He's such a good-natured person, won't he get bullied in the future?"

If that's the case, Pei Rujing would rather Rui Ge'er have a bit more of a temper.

Wen Zongji said, "Being good-natured doesn't mean you can be bullied. We'll teach him these principles of conduct little by little in the future."

Rui Ge'er was not even two months old when Pei Rujing was already worried that he might be bullied. Mothers really do tend to overthink things.

"That's true."

Pei Rujing looked at Wen Zongji: "With a father as cunning as you, I'll be at ease as long as Rui-ge learns six or seven tenths of your qualities."

Wen Zongji raised an eyebrow: "Is my wife praising me?"

Pei Rujing shrugged: "Obviously."

"Then I thank you for your kind words, my wife."

"You're welcome. Keep up the good work."

Wen Zongji couldn't help but laugh.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Wen Zongji said, "Wife, the supplement of the Floating Life Newspaper is no longer limited to a specific theme, is it?"

Pei Rujing nodded: "Yes. After all, it's just about clothing or jewelry, so we can't keep publishing it all the time. That's why the supplement's content has been quite varied lately, covering various aspects."

"Did the readers say anything?"

"It's alright. Floating Life Newspaper publishes many newspapers. If they don't like this kind of supplement, they can buy other ones. If they don't like it, they don't have to buy it. Our old readers haven't said anything."

Pei Rujing looked at him: "Is there something you need, husband?"

Wen Zongji pondered for a moment and said, "We definitely need to promote the small courtyard next to the West Garden in advance. I'm wondering whether to use the Beijing Daily for promotion or have the newspaper itself do it?"

Pei Rujing's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "Just hand it over to the newspaper."

Wen Zongji looked at her: "My lady, are you confident you can do a good job?"

"Of course. There are only ten courtyards in the West Garden. You're holding an auction simply to get the highest bid. The purpose of this pre-auction event is to let those with money know so they can prepare enough. The more money they prepare, the higher the price will be at the auction, right?"

Wen Zongji clapped his hands: "My wife is absolutely right."

Pei Rujing smiled smugly: "I knew it."

Having managed the newspaper for so long, she already understood the usefulness of public opinion.

It is not difficult to deduce Wen Zongji's purpose.

"Our newspaper is well-known in the Gyeonggi region, and we guarantee to spread the news throughout the region as soon as possible."

Wen Zongji said, "But these Beijing newspapers can do that too, and they can do it even better."

"But the Beijing Daily is no longer under your jurisdiction."

"Replenishing the national treasury is the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue, and has nothing to do with the Capital Gazette Bureau. Besides, the Capital Gazette Bureau is not yet under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. Although my husband will definitely help the Capital Gazette Bureau if he asks for their assistance, we can't use the Capital Gazette every time we need to disseminate any news. After all, the Capital Gazette is the official gazette."

"The Floating Life Newspaper is different. It's our own, so my husband can use it as he pleases. It's fine if we publish news about the West Garden Courtyard for ten days in a row."

Wen Zongji nodded: "What you say makes sense."

"So, just hand it over to the newspaper; I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

"Then I'll wait and see."

"Around when will it start?"

Wen Zongji pondered, "I asked the Ministry of Works, and they have now gathered more people, so it should be completed in about three months. Publicizing it too early is useless; it will only make it easier for people to see through my intentions. Let's move it up by half a month."

"Half a month is enough time for the news to spread and for people to mobilize funds."

Pei Rujing nodded: "Okay."

……

The next day

After instructing the wet nurse to take good care of Rui Ge'er, Pei Rujing took a carriage to the newspaper office.

She moved to the county magistrate's residence and visited the newspaper office once, but only took a look before leaving.

Now, Wen Shuxuan is in charge of the newspaper, and Zheng Shaohui assists her.

Floating Life Newspaper

Pei Rujing walked into Wen Shuxuan's office and before she could speak, she saw that Wei Shi was also there.

"Sister-in-law?"

While reading her manuscript, Madam Wei looked up upon hearing Pei Rujing's voice and said, "Father-in-law has found three wet nurses to take care of Heng-ge'er, and there's also a group of maids and servants around. They're taking incredibly good care of him."

At first, she wanted to take care of Heng Ge'er herself. She was determined not to let Heng Ge'er out of her sight.

Later, it was discovered that she had no experience in taking care of children at all. She had only looked after Hengge for a few nights and was almost driven to a nervous breakdown.

Finally, Wei understood.

One should not, or at least should not, endure hardship without it.

With so many wet nurses, maids, and servants, why would she torture herself?

So, Wei began to let go and allowed the wet nurse to take care of Hengge'er.

Gradually, all she needed to do each day was to play with Hengge'er for a while to strengthen their parent-child bond. She didn't need to torture herself, and Hengge'er grew up very well.

Now that Hengge is almost a year old, he can already call out "Daddy" and "Mommy." After more than a year of leisure, Wei misses her days at the newspaper even more.

So I went back to the newspaper office.

Pei Rujing smiled and said, "It's good that my sister-in-law is back. She can help my younger sister. I will have to take care of Rui-ge'er in the future, so I won't be able to come to the newspaper office much."

Wei responded.