Qiu Ju belatedly realized and said, "What did he mean by saying that Jiang Jiaojiao and her servant left one after another? I didn't understand."

"What's so hard to guess? The Su family is in such a state now. Jiang Jiaojiao has been married for at least a few months now. It must have been tough for her."

Jiang Shuyue said with a mocking smile.

Even a fool could guess that Jiang Jiaojiao couldn't stand the poverty and abandoned Su Peng, so she ran away.

Qiuju knew that her young mistress was not one to enjoy seeing others make a fool of themselves, so she stopped mentioning Jiang Jiaojiao's misfortune. Everyone has their own destiny, and Heaven will eventually catch up with you.

When Jiang Shuyue arrived at the cloth shop, she indeed saw Madam Su inside.

The carpenter was busy installing a display cabinet in the shop. There was no smell of raw lacquer in the room, so the display cabinet must have been a ready-made product.

"The moon is here, come and see if these things I bought are suitable."

Madam Su had no experience herself, and after visiting several fabric shops, she simply copied what others had made. Jiang Shu could tell at a glance.

Jiang Shuyue glanced around the room and pointed to a wall directly opposite the entrance to the shop, saying, "This wall has horizontal bars on it for displaying the fabrics."

"Does Yue'er mean to hang up the cloth?" Madam Su was quite surprised, as no cloth shop in the capital sold cloth by hanging it up.

They were all piled up in one piece on the counter, and when customers came, they would unfold a section of the fabric for them to choose from.

Jiang Shuyue pulled Madam Su back to the doorway and pointed to the wall in front, saying, "Aunt, look, from this position, or even just passing by the shop, you can see the goods on the wall at a glance."

Mrs. Su was a woman, so she naturally understood women's thoughts. When she saw beautiful fabrics, even if she didn't buy them, she would slow down and take a few more glances.

"Okay, I'll do as you say. Auntie will have someone make it right away."

While the carpenter was in the shop, Jiang Shuyue went up and pointed out the position of the fixed crossbar.

With everything in order, Madam Su said, "Yue'er, you've had a long day. Go back and rest. I'll write a notice and put it on the door. The shop is all tidied up but there's still no manager."

Jiang Shuyue tugged at Madam Su's sleeve, "Aunt, please stop writing. No one you find outside can be as trustworthy as your own people."

"In the manor, only Du Qi is literate and can do math; there are no other useful people."

I haven't been back in the capital for long, and I haven't had time to train any useful people yet.

Officials in Wanling were not allowed to engage in commerce, but their families were permitted to have dowry shops.

"Don't worry, Aunt. Yaozu's second uncle and aunt are both literate and good at math. If you trust them, you can hire them for a while. If they are not satisfactory, you can hire someone else later."

"How could your aunt not trust the people that Yue'er has trained? But if you give them to your aunt, what will you do when you need someone yourself?"

Madam Su had heard a little about the people and things at Jiang Shuyue's estate, and knew that the Zhang family father and son were efficient and honest people.

"Don't worry, Aunt. I don't plan to open the shop again anytime soon. I'm going to the estate tomorrow, and I'll bring Zhang Man and his wife into the city on my way back."

After bidding farewell to Madam Su, Jiang Shuyue went to the restaurant and instructed Hu Qing to send the dividends that should be given to the Emperor to the palace.

Jiang Shuyue had brought up the matter of profit sharing with Xiao Jingzhao several times, but he always had various reasons to refuse to accept the profit sharing money.

After much deliberation, Jiang Shuyue realized that it was his business if the Emperor was not short of money, but since they were partners, things couldn't be ambiguous, and the profits had to be delivered to him.

Hu Qing never felt that the silver was burning his hands.

Watching the carriage leave, he hesitated for a moment but still gritted his teeth and took the silver notes into the palace.

...

The embroiderers in the Jiang family were busy preparing the wedding dress and shoes for Jiang Shuyue's wedding.

The necessary items for the new house have been almost all prepared. We are just waiting for the auspicious day to arrive so that we can invite three or five relatives and friends to hold the wedding ceremony.

Back at the manor, Jiang Shuyue asked Qiuju to prepare some practical items for ordinary people to take to the estate.

He went back to his room, took a shower, changed into a loose bathrobe, and then lay down on the soft couch with Xue'er in his arms.

Lan'er brought in chrysanthemum tea, saying, "Miss has been working too hard these past few days. Please have some chrysanthemum tea to relieve your fatigue."

"Miss, Sister Mei'er said that there are sometimes people selling small white tags by the Lotus Lake. She asked if we should buy some to put in the lotus pond?"

"You finished the dried fish in the ice cellar so quickly?"

Hearing the words "Lianwu Lake" made Jiang Shuyue feel uneasy.

"They're almost gone. The dried fish that the Emperor sent have been eaten all winter, and they're almost gone. There aren't many fish in the lotus pond in the courtyard either. Sister Mei said that the little white fish reproduce quickly, so if we buy any live ones, we should bring them back to raise so that Xue'er's food supply won't be cut off."

Jiang Shuyue sat up straight, took the teacup, and took a sip. "Mei'er's idea is good. Just have her send two servants. Remember to bring the wooden buckets."

Thinking that the fishing ban would begin in March, Jiang Shuyue added, "Buy as much as possible, because the imperial court will issue an order next month prohibiting fishing boats from going out on the lake."

"This servant understands."

Not long after Lan'er left, Qiuju came in.

Jiang Shuyue looked up. "Is everything taken care of?"

Qiuju went over and reported, "As Miss instructed, I have prepared several bolts of fine cotton cloth and several bolts of silk cloth, salt and brown sugar, as well as some pastries."

Jiang Shuyue gave her an approving look. "Well done. Farmers are reluctant to buy silk and brown sugar. Aunt Cao is a good person, and the farm has made a lot of profit. They should be rewarded."

The next morning, the two carriages sped away as soon as they left the city gate.

When Zhuang Tou saw Jiang Shuyue arrive, he was very happy and hurriedly called to Aunt Cao, "Grandma, go and cook lunch. Miss hasn't had lunch yet."

Aunt Cao hadn't seen Jiang Shuyue and Qiuju for a long time, so she bowed respectfully. "I didn't know that Miss and Miss Qiuju would be coming today. This old servant didn't even have time to ask the third brother to go and greet them."

Aunt Cao and the head of the village saw Gao Mu and Cang Yun get off the carriage and start carrying things into the house.

Jiang Shuyue said to Zhuang Tou and Aunt Cao, "It's rare for me to go out of the city, so I brought you some household items. I don't know what color fabric Aunt Cao likes, so I asked Qiuju to prepare it."

"Miss, you've been too kind to my family. I couldn't even go into town to kowtow to you during the New Year, and you've already spent so much money on us. I feel ashamed." The manor owner and his wife were about to kneel down when Jiang Shuyue gestured to Qiuju to stop them.

Qiuju reached out to help her up, saying, "Uncle Zhang, Aunt Cao, please don't be so polite. Miss is really hungry. Just cook us a pot of noodles to tide us over."

Upon hearing that the young lady was hungry, the two quickly straightened up.

"Miss, please rest in your room. This old servant will go and cook some hand-pulled noodles."

Watching his wife hurry towards the kitchen, Zhuang Tou bowed and gestured for her to enter, saying, "Miss, please rest in your room. Jin Hua isn't home, and Er Niu is good at keeping things tidy; the room is clean."

Once inside, the village head told us that Zhang Man and Zhang Qiu were leading people to clear the land in preparation for planting, and that Er Niu had gone back to her parents' home today.