Chapter 1 "Do you think Father knows what we're doing?" Tan Weishi asked, a little nervous. She could sense the purpose behind Ye Tao and Tan Weixin's actions. To outsiders, the family's public image was one thing, but the atmosphere within the family was undeniable.

"What does it matter?" Ye Tao replied with a smile. Tan Weixin's pregnancy had put him in an excellent mood. Although her age meant the pregnancy carried some risks, they were manageable. The entire nation was mobilized to prepare, with the most renowned and experienced doctors making arrangements. For Ye Tao, the most important thing now was to keep Tan Weixin happy. Years of self-restraint and a mature mind had made her remarkably calm, even more so than the anxious imperial physicians. She dedicated two hours each day, half to reviewing accounts and meeting with business leaders, and the other half to organizing her manuscripts. Besides her published works, she was developing new ideas.

"If Father guesses, he'll definitely try to stop us, right? Dongping… now and in the future, would be in trouble without you and Sister. You two are truly exceptional." Tan Weishi giggled, not thinking her praise for her husband and sister was excessive.

"It's not like we're refusing to help or completely distancing ourselves; it's just that we'll only help if we feel like it," Ye Tao said casually. "From our teens until now, we haven't had a proper rest, always dealing with mentally and physically exhausting tasks. Yunzhou, Beiliao, Xiling, Yazhou… aren't they all achievements of our family? It's really tiring."

"Yes," Tan Weishi said, cradling Ye Tao's head with affection. Everyone knew how hard they worked. Ye Tao's years of managing military and political affairs in the north were well-known. In the past, traveling to different places was tiring, but the journeys also provided opportunities for rest and recuperation. Ye Tao's invention of the airship only made him busier. With the advent of the telegraph and wireless telegraph, requests poured in from all over. Even with a large team of advisors and secretaries, it was still exhausting.

Tan Weixin's health had never been great since she was a child. Continuous nourishment with precious medicinal ingredients had improved her condition, but her energy still couldn't compare to others. And managing Dongping's finances was no easier than Ye Tao's work.

Not to mention Dai Yun, who was actively leading troops into battle and establishing remarkable achievements. In terms of military exploits, few in the world could compare, but leading a large army was an arduous and complex task. Many only saw the glamorous side, but Tan Weishi, who managed the Ye family's internal affairs, knew that before each major battle, Dai Yun and Ye Tao would spend hours reviewing tactics. After each battle, Dai Yun would return to Yejiabao, so exhausted she couldn't even move a finger, and would sleep for days.

Even Sophie had to travel frequently between various workshops to implement Ye Tao's designs, inspect production and research, and check on the progress of major projects. Sophie was also one of the most important consultants for the construction of the imperial palace.

But were Tan Weishi and Dai Qiuyan any less busy? Dai Qiuyan knew everyone in the family was occupied, so besides caring for the children, she also represented the Ye family in interactions with powerful clans. The once-naive little girl might never become a skilled socialite, but she always maintained a gentle yet firm attitude, adhering to the Ye family's stance while maintaining close contact with social circles. These private interactions achieved results that could never be matched by court debates or written explanations. Tan Weishi sometimes joined these social gatherings, but her high status meant she heard far fewer truths than Dai Qiuyan did.

And what about Tan Weishi herself? This family gathered talents that were admired by the world, but everyone was constantly on the go, neglecting various family matters. Just maintaining the stability and peace of the household was not an easy task; Yejiabao itself was too complex. And Ye Tao's position meant he inevitably had residences in Gangduo, Ningyuan, Benlangyuan, Danyang, and Yicheng. For a family like Ye Tao's, each residence meant a team of personnel to run and maintain it, constantly updated equipment and facilities, surrounding relationships that needed to be maintained, salaries that needed to be paid, and servants that needed to be managed. Tan Weixin only had the energy to manage the macro aspects of the economy, but the Ye family owned more than just the Ye family workshops. There were also farms, wineries, vineyards, and equity investments in businesses like the Ru Jia chain of inns. Tan Weishi managed all these relationships. She never had to worry about money; the Yejiabao vault always had over five million taels of silver in cash, and twice that amount in deposits at the Yunzhou Bank. But no matter how wealthy, maintaining a peaceful home was extremely complicated. And the house was always filled with so many children. Tan Weishi also personally managed the affairs of the nursery, which was another troublesome matter. In recent years, Tan Weishi's way of relieving stress was to go to the kitchen and do something. Gradually, the little princess, who knew almost nothing, had become a chef and pastry chef with amazing skills. Seeing her family members regain their strength and nourish themselves after their busy schedules was Tan Weishi's greatest joy. But it was also these changes in recent years that made Tan Weishi sometimes smile wryly. Indeed, anyone who followed Ye Tao had to have a skill.

"Have you ever thought about writing something and publishing a book?" Ye Tao asked softly as Tan Weishi's mind wandered. Writing something was a way to organize one's thoughts and leave something permanent for the world. This was what the Ye family was doing now. Since Ye Tao had decided to step back from being a direct manager and become a consultant, he had to ensure someone could take over the things he was responsible for. Passing on his expertise through books and nurturing batches of young talents was his answer.

"Me? What good would it do for me to write a book? I don't know anything," Tan Weishi replied with a chuckle. But since she knew the significance of writing and publishing to the world, Ye Tao's suggestion caused the idea of writing something to grow wildly in her mind like vibrant weeds.

Tan Weishi had received the most traditional royal education since she was a child. Compared to Tan Weixin, she might not have been as outstanding in economics and other fields, but she was very diligent in her studies and work. Tan Weixin could ignore those educational subjects that gave her a headache, and even if the teachers complained to the king, Tan Xiaopei would usually cover for her with a smile. Tan Weishi didn't have that privilege; she was an undisputed top lady of this era. And she had always had the habit of keeping various records, from sentences she thought of to everyday experiences, even recipes, spice ratios for sachets, home tips, etc. They weren't anything remarkable, but for Tan Weishi, they were invaluable experiences.

"Why did Brother Ye say he wanted to publish a picture album for me?" Dai Qiuyan asked, running into the study with a puzzled look while Tan Weishi was inspecting her diaries in the study. Dai Qiuyan and Tan Weishi had been managing the household together for many years and had a great relationship. Dai Qiuyan's competence, which she displayed as a businesswoman, was mostly taught by Tan Weishi. Ye Tao was also very capable, but his style obviously wasn't suitable for Dai Qiuyan to use in those social activities.

"A picture album?" Tan Weishi asked, confused. Was it possible to print picture albums now? She was directly in charge of the Ye family's Commercial Press, but she hadn't heard any reports about this.

"It seems they said the new machine in the workshop can print it. Brother Ye told me to go to the workshop tomorrow and see if it's feasible. It doesn't seem to be color, but four-color or six-color registration printing," Dai Qiuyan said with a smile. Although she didn't understand why she was being asked to publish a picture album, she couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"Then let's go take a look together tomorrow," Tan Weishi said with a smile. "Husband is preparing to retire, but he still has to let others see something. Maybe it's to leave behind a bunch of things for others to slowly look at so he can go out and play."

Dai Qiuyan nodded somewhat dazedly and then sat down next to Tan Weishi. Seeing the various manuscripts spread out on the table and the clearly self-bound books, Dai Qiuyan asked, "Sister, what are you doing?"

"I'm also supposed to print a few books… but who would want to read my stuff?" Tan Weishi asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes, they would," Dai Qiuyan said happily. "You never let anyone see them. Just the recipes are so interesting. We don't need to care about what others think anyway. We can just compile what we like and treat it as making a formal book. I know you ordered so many different-colored journals; it's good to preserve them properly now."

Dai Qiuyan's words struck Tan Weishi. She frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded gently. The two of them began to work in the study, organizing their respective manuscripts, paintings, and calligraphy.

The materials were readily available, and Tan Weishi was skilled with a pen, so it didn't take much effort to string together the previously scattered items. In less than half a month, three volumes of manuscripts were roughly written. Tan Weishi even had the energy to help Dai Qiuyan complete the annotation text needed for the picture album.

But more than ten days later, the sample books brought by the workshop made Tan Weishi extremely delighted. The three-volume book was eventually named *Xian Meng* (Idle Dreams), which suited the princess's taste. One volume covered various household matters, from garden construction to home furnishings, as well as various utensils and supplies used in the home, from carriages to fruit plates. Tan Weishi had put a lot of effort into those details. The entire volume was full of small stories and essays, with many drawings and illustrations. It was clear that Ye Tao and Sophie had also been involved in the book's design and layout. One volume was about recipes, including ordinary food, game, wine, dried fruit, seafood, etc., as well as medicinal diets and seasonal dietary essentials for nourishing the body, and nutritional recipes for children of all ages. This volume alone was thicker than the other two combined. Managing the Ye family for many years, she was wealthy but low-key, emphasizing quality of life but not liking extravagance. Whether in clothing, food, housing, or transportation, she always followed a low-key and exquisite route, and the recipes were a good reflection of this. Similarly, the book also had a large number of illustrations. Dai Qiuyan also loved those extremely beautiful foods, and these small pictures that made one's mouth water were almost effortless for Dai Qiuyan to create. The third volume was similar to a combination of essays and diaries, filled with small, everyday things, many of which were about the lives of the children in Yejiabao. Most of the others were Tan Weishi's own feelings, which made people feel warm.

According to past practices, women's articles rarely appeared in writing for many people to see, especially for noble women in the inner court like Tan Weishi, who was also Ye Tao's wife and had a respected status. These texts that revealed her thoughts and the Ye family's home life were always somewhat taboo. But Ye Tao never cared about these taboos, and Tan Weixin was also a person who loved to publish books… In general, this family had never really taken the various explicit and implicit rules of this era seriously. These originally inexplicable rules had been discarded by Ye Tao long ago.

*Xian Meng* was different from other books. Whether it was Ye Tao's, Tan Weixin's, or Sophie's highly technical books, or Dai Qiuyan's paintings, the fonts were all printed, but *Xian Meng* used photogravure technology, using Tan Weishi's own handwriting directly. The other books used the Commercial Press's standard three-pound high-quality book paper, while *Xian Meng* used five-pound special watermark cloud-patterned paper. The three-volume book looked light and elegant, with concise and beautiful color-separated picture printing, and interspersed with embellishments, the entire book seemed like a work of art. Rereading such a book, even if she had written it herself and knew every word in it, was still full of freshness.

*Xian Meng* relied on the Ye family's powerful marketing network to be sold in almost the entire Dongping territory in a very short time. Compared to those highly professional works, these contents were more likely to arouse the interest of ordinary people. How the wealthy live had always been a question that had puzzled many people from ancient times to the present, making them yearn for it. Tan Weishi's three books seemed to be answering this question.