The raindrops hit the carriage with a clattering sound, and it seemed to be raining harder at this moment.
Nian Qiu closed the window curtains tightly, pulled up the blanket covering the young lady's legs, and said softly, "You also said that it was a matter between them. Why worry about them here?"
Hua Zhi shook her head. "I just think that life is too difficult for women. Madam Cai is kind, but she still wants to put people in her son's room. Think about those families who are difficult to get along with. Who knows how much pain they have swallowed with their tears?"
However, due to the orders of their parents and the words of the matchmaker, women who were raised in seclusion had neither the power to object nor the ability to resist. The word "reputation" strangled women by the neck.
"It would be great if Miss Qin could come out of her own stubbornness. I can see that Master has feelings for her."
Yes, but it’s hard to say how serious it is because their emotional foundation is too weak.
Hua Zhi didn't pursue the matter any further. She didn't want to scare this already timid maid further. She already didn't want to get married, so how could she scare her further
Hua Zhi was feeling a little drowsy as she walked back home listening to the sound of rain. The wind blew in through the open curtains, waking her up with a start.
He hunched over as he stepped out of the carriage. When he looked up, he was stunned. This man... was back.
Gu Yanxi's eyes were filled with smiles. She held an umbrella in one hand and extended the other hand towards her.
Hua Zhi pursed her lips and suppressed her smile, then let him lead her down from the carriage. He then opened his cloak to protect her, and they walked into the yard together, holding an umbrella.
Nian Qiu suppressed the smile on her face, took the umbrella handed to her by the maid and walked towards the small kitchen. She had to ask Lan Qiao to cook a few more dishes. Yes, she also had to prepare some ginger soup.
After entering the house, Hua Zhi's hair was not wet except for a little rain splashing on the front of her skirt. However, Gu Yanxi's half body was wet, but fortunately most of the rain was blocked by the cloak.
Taking off the cloak, Gu Yanxi looked at Ah Zhi, who looked a little different than usual, "Are you happy that I'm back or are you unhappy?"
Hua Zhi also felt that she was inexplicably embarrassed, but why was she embarrassed after not seeing each other for a few days? She coughed lightly and tried to make herself look normal. "You came out of the palace?"
"Yes." Gu Yanxi looked at Azhi without blinking, always feeling as if he had missed something. The feeling in his heart told him that this was definitely something he didn't want to miss.
Hua Zhi continued to talk about the matter as if nothing had happened, "Did you find anything over there? Did you catch any remnants of the Chaoli tribe?"
“No.”
Hua Zhi had already digested that emotion by now, and frowned when she heard that, "Didn't you find anything?"
"They abandoned that stronghold some time ago, but this trip is not without gain." Gu Yanxi took out a silver ingot from his arms and turned it upside down on the table. Hua Zhi saw the problem at a glance.
Several thoughts flashed through her mind, and Hua Zhi looked up, "Silver smelted by the Chaoli tribe themselves?"
"Take a closer look."
Hua Zhi took the silver in her hand. She had seen the official silver used during the Chao Li Kingdom period at home. The only difference between it and the official silver used during the Central Plains dynasties was that there was a cross pattern on the bottom. The pattern on this ingot of silver was lighter than that of the Chao Li Kingdom period, and it would not be noticed unless one paid close attention.
And it has to be new silver. Old silver would be harder to find... New silver
"Turn on the light." Baoxia, who was guarding outside, came in immediately and lit the light. Hua Zhi took a look under the light, but still felt that it was a little dim, so she simply took it and walked out of the house. She could see clearly in the light outside that it was indeed new silver!
She turned to look at the man outside the door, "Do you suspect that they control a mountain of silver that you don't know about, or do you suspect that they have control over some source of wealth?"
"Both." Gu Yanxi came out, "I hope it's the former, but the latter is just as likely as the former."
"Is it possible that they brought it from outside the Great Wall?"
"No, I found this new silver in the corner of the dark room. There are five ingots in total, neatly arranged against the wall. From the traces on the ground, it can be seen that there was a lot of silver piled there before. These five ingots may have been dropped."
Hua Zhi understood, "If the new silver is brought from outside the Great Wall, it is bound to be bumped and scratched, and there is no need for that. In other words, the place where the silver is smelted is most likely in Yuzhou!"
"I left someone there to continue investigating, but there's little hope. They won't be stupid enough to wait for me to find out their past."
The two of them reentered the house, "What did that person say?"
"check."
"..." Hua Zhi felt that she must have a dead look in her eyes at this moment, which was why she made the man opposite laugh. She didn't want to pay any attention to him anymore.
Gu Yanxi tried to hold back his laughter. It was rare to see Ah Zhi like this. She looked adorable no matter how you looked at her. But a cat needs to be coaxed when its fur is up. He immediately told her his plan, "I want to expand my mushroom business to Yuzhou first."
Hua Zhi snorted, "You don't need to ask me about this."
"If it's just an ordinary business, it would be enough to have a manager in charge, but I want to borrow Azhi's brain to catch their fox tail."
"You believe in myself more than I do." Hua Zhi didn't want to lose her temper when talking about serious matters. She thought about the possibilities and said, "It's not that it can't be done, but I'm afraid that this deal alone is not enough. The best way to force someone out is to cut off their financial resources. Before that, you have to find out the general direction. There are so many businesses, I can't be involved in all of them. I don't have that many people."
Gu Yanxi smiled. It's not that she doesn't have that much ability, but she doesn't have that many people. Is this called not trusting herself? However, Ah Zhi did have the confidence to say this. It would be an understatement to say that she made a fortune from her several businesses.
"I will find out the general direction and provide you with manpower. Actually, there are quite a few people who are idle in the mansion."
Hua Zhi, who has always been short of manpower and is now somewhat stretched to the limit, gritted her teeth and said, "If you say that, I will think you are showing off."
Gu Yanxi couldn't help laughing this time, and while laughing she explained, "Those were all the people my mother left behind. At that time, the Lu family alone had 24 sons as dowry, and that was on the surface. There were also quite a few people on the several farms that came with the dowry. Later, I don't know if my mother wanted to give Shaoyao more dowry, so she brought in quite a few more. In the past few years, I was too busy to do everything, so I closed the shop that wasn't making much money. I didn't need many people to serve me, so quite a few people were left idle."
What does it mean to have a big family and a big business? This is it!
The Lu family was really generous when it came to marrying off their daughters. Each family had two or three children at the least, and seven or eight at the most, which added up to over a hundred people. In addition, there were many people on the farm, which even Yan Xi said were quite a lot. If we estimate the number at the lowest, it might be over three hundred. Hua Zhi realized for the first time that this man who was so closely tied to her was really a wealthy man.
PS: I may revise this chapter tomorrow, so I’ll put it up first. It has been difficult to access the backend these past two days, and I don’t want to be unable to update again.