After hearing the whole story, Yue Dewen felt relieved, as long as it wasn't about seeking revenge.

"Master, the master and servant are currently staying at the Maple Bridge Restaurant. What should we do next?" Given the young master's vengeful nature, he certainly won't stop here.

"As far as I know, the eldest daughter of the second branch of the Zhao family is engaged to the eldest son of the Wei family. The Wei family controls the grain and water conservancy of Jiang County and cannot be easily offended. You give the order, and this matter ends here." Although they came from the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world), they could not afford to offend the government officials.

"Master, what about the young master?" The butler looked at the master with concern. The young master was spoiled and didn't care about these things at all.

"I'll talk to the young master. Just give the orders. Anyone who dares to act on their own will be dealt with ruthlessly." Yue Dewen felt irritated just thinking about his good-for-nothing son. But so far, none of the other concubines had shown any signs of pregnancy. No matter how dissatisfied he was, he was still his only son.

In the days that followed, Mo Lan found a broker and bought a two-courtyard house. She also redeemed Yan Liu from the pleasure boat and went to the brokerage to buy some pretty girls and boys to learn the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and tea ceremony.

To this end, Mo Lan also hired mentors for them, allowing them to freely develop their talents and eventually implement a system of survival of the fittest.

Those with good talent will be carefully trained, those with average talent will be demoted one level, and those with no talent at all will learn to serve tea and water or work as waiters or maids.

Of course, these actions were not kept secret from Qin Su. In order to discipline these people, Qin Su even found a good nanny to come over.

If we're going to go for the high-end market, we need to be presentable.

During her spare time, Mo Lan personally drew up the blueprints for the construction of the pleasure boat.

Most of the pleasure boats of this era were made of wood and luxuriously decorated, but they were not suitable for long-distance travel; to put it bluntly, they were just for show.

However, the pleasure boat that Mo Lan needed had to be able to swim freely on the water without being affected, so it had to be modified.

Fortunately, she had spent the first half of her life on the water and had a thorough understanding of boats; of course, her hobby also played a part.

It took three whole nights to bring to life a well-structured, moderately tall pleasure boat on paper.

With the blueprints in hand, the next step was to find a suitable shipyard. With the information Qin Su had given her, she only needed to investigate each one thoroughly. After spending a few more days, Mo Lan finally decided on Zheng's Shipyard.

To Mo Lan's surprise, the captain of Zheng's shipyard was a widowed woman who was only thirty-five years old.

The Zheng family had always made a living by shipbuilding. Later, tragedy struck when the head of the family passed away, leaving behind only his two wives, children, and an elderly mother. Fortunately, Mrs. Zheng was a strong woman who persevered and managed to keep the shipyard her husband had left behind. Surprisingly, she managed to turn the shipyard into a thriving business.

Over the course of several years, Zheng's Shipyard became increasingly stable under her leadership. Her colleagues called her "Madam Zheng" because of her fiery personality, which made people afraid to provoke her. They also gave her a nickname in private: "Tiger Mother."

After witnessing the changes at Zheng's Shipyard, Mo Lan felt that Madam Zheng had a resilient character and that it would be difficult to stand firm in so many shipyards without perseverance.

During this period, women were already in a vulnerable position. Especially a woman whose husband had died; if she was even slightly weak, she could be devoured until not even bones remained.

The moment Mo Lan saw her in person, she knew her guess was right. The woman in front of her, Madam Zheng, had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a clear and resolute expression. She was clearly a woman with strong self-control.