The brothel owner's blunt honesty was like a slap in the face to Yunling. Yunling felt her face burning and wished she could dig a hole on the spot and crawl into it to avoid the trouble.

Lu Yinghuai's lips curled into a slightly mocking smile, his eyes filled with laughter. He wanted to see how this person would try to explain himself.

Yunling, naturally unwilling to look at Lu Yinghuai any longer, turned to the shopkeeper and replied:

"I was full of energy because I had slept well at the time."

Seeing that Yunling seemed somewhat shy, the shopkeeper decided against further teasing and said:

"Alright, come in and sit down. Young Master Lu has been waiting for several days, so he should come in and have a cup of tea."

How many days have I waited?

Is he here to wait for her?

Impossible, how could he have known she would come?

Yunling subconsciously glanced at Lu Yinghuai, but his gaze was so intense that she quickly looked away after just one look.

"I have something to discuss with the shop owner. If Young Master Lu has nothing else to say, you should head back first."

"I have something to do."

The shopkeeper's eyes darted between the two, and he could clearly see the ambiguity between them. He couldn't help but sigh at how wonderful youth was, and then invited them again:

"Come in and sit down quickly. I can't very well set up the tea table outside here."

Yunling had no choice but to stop the carriage. She jumped off the deck, hung up the felt curtain, and pushed out the pastries inside.

"I'll do it."

As Lu Yinghuai spoke, he reached out and picked up the pastries.

“I can carry it.”

"I'm saving money, but I also want to carry it."

"Then let's go, what are you waiting for?"

"good."

The shop owner was somewhat relieved that it wasn't the dead of winter, otherwise he didn't know how many times the tea would have gone cold before he could welcome people in.

"Young lady, you've come all this way, why are you being so polite by bringing snacks?"

Yunling casually found a stool to sit on and smiled:

"I've come today to thank the brothel owner for saving me from that emergency. Without your help, 'Zhao Ye Qing' wouldn't be where it is today. This small snack is hardly enough to repay your kindness, so if the brothel owner doesn't mind, I'd like to give your Qinglan Music Brothel a thousand copper coins..."

The tea master's hand trembled as he was striking the tea, causing tea foam to spill out of the tea soup.

“I know that a thousand copper coins is nothing. After all, purchasing musical instruments is no small amount. A single high-quality guqin can cost a thousand or even ten thousand coins. So I hope the shop owner will not find it too expensive.”

dislike?

If someone comes to his door offering to give him copper coins, how could he possibly refuse?

That person must have gotten their brain caught in a door.

However, a gentleman loves wealth, but he should acquire it in a proper way so that it can be passed down through generations.

The shop owner calmed himself down, swallowing hard several times before finally speaking.

"At the time, I felt uneasy about what happened, so I went to Shengfu Restaurant. I never expected that you would come to my aid. I mustn't accept this."

"Hey, Master, you're mistaken. You don't have to think it's wrong. This thousand strings of cash is what I invested in Qinglan Music House, hoping to become a tiny little master. I just wanted to be a rogue and take advantage of the situation."

Since this incident, Yunling has felt more and more that she shouldn't put all her eggs in one basket. She has also thought about investing in other things, but firstly, she knows very few people, and secondly, there aren't many worthwhile investment projects in the city.

This music hall is undoubtedly a good choice. In this dynasty, literature is valued over military affairs, and literati and scholars love elegant things. Music halls can thrive anywhere, it's just a matter of how much they can get.

Moreover, considering that the Qinglan Music Hall is not large in scale and that the owner is a loyal and easy-going person, there is no better time to invest in it than now.

"Well... to be honest, Qinglan Music House isn't as glamorous as you think, young lady. We only make some money when some wealthy families in the city invite us for celebrations or when they hire musicians like you do."

"Therefore, when they can't afford the rent, they have to go around performing variety shows and selling fruit to barely make ends meet. If you, young lady, were to invest money in this business, you would probably lose money."

Yunling thought this person seemed honest, and the aura he exuded was quite gentle, so she couldn't have misjudged him.

"Although I don't understand music, I have witnessed my elder sister's skills and heard your music troupe play. They are not bad at all. If there is any difference, it is just that you lack an opportunity."

These words struck a chord with the shopkeeper, who felt even more strongly that Yunling was his soulmate, and his gaze toward her grew even gentler.

"Who owns this shop?"

"It is indeed Master Mei of the Mei family."

So that's how it is. No wonder Lu Yinghuai didn't doubt what this person said about all the female musicians in Qinglan Music Hall during the birthday celebration. It turns out he was an old landlord.

Lu Yinghuai roughly guessed Yun Ling's thoughts, secretly relieved that he knew the ins and outs, and then spoke up:

“This shop originally belonged to the Wang family. After the Wang family moved to a new house, they felt that the shop was too far away, so they sold it to the Mei family for two thousand strings of cash.”

"The shop was assigned to Mei Dalang. On the very day it was assigned, Mei Dalang sent someone to divide the shop into two rooms. One room was rented to the shop owner for 100 copper coins a year, and the other room was sold to someone who was also an acquaintance of Lingniang for 1,500 copper coins."

Yunling's mind was in turmoil. Among the people she knew who could afford to buy a shop with 1,500 strings of cash at once, besides the Lu family, there was the Fu family's trading company, Manager Zhou of Shengfu Restaurant, the owner of Ren'an Hall, and Qin Yu.

But Qin Yu doesn't seem like the type to buy shops. Besides, this Master Qin is a county magistrate. Even if he wanted to acquire private property, he wouldn't do it in such a conspicuous place. It couldn't be the Qin family.

Furthermore, since this person said "we're acquainted," meaning we're both familiar with each other, it can't be the owner of Ren'antang. That leaves two possibilities.

"Is it Uncle Fu?"

"no."

"That must be Manager Zhou."

No, not exactly.

"Then who else could it be? It can't be the shop owner, can it?"

The shop owner quickly shook his head and waved his hands.

Lu Yinghuai said to Yun Ling:

"Lingniang, have you not brought in any cotton lately?"

"Buying...cotton?" Yunling wanted to ask what this had to do with buying cotton, but the words immediately came to mind as she pictured the young man with an abacus and a small abacus around his neck. "Are you talking about that Qingcheng transfer person?"

"It is indeed Wen Siqing."

"My goodness, he actually owns a shop! He's really not to be underestimated. I told my aunt this when I first met him..."

"What are you saying to your aunt?"

"nothing."

Yunling pouted; she didn't want to talk to him anymore, but she still needed to ask him about the shop, so she had no choice but to ask again:

"This eldest son of the Mei family..."

What did you say to your aunt?