Taking a sip of her tea, Qin Sanniang said with great difficulty, "Young Master Lan, to be honest, I've been racking my brains for a long time to come up with this new sample garment! My family is busy building a house and it's also the busy farming season. If I come again next time, it will probably be three months from now."

At first, my ideas flowed freely, and I thought designing a few styles wouldn't be too difficult. But now I'm racking my brains, revising and drawing again, and only now am I finally getting some ideas. Oh, of course, don't worry, since we've signed a contract, I'll definitely fulfill it properly for the whole year. I just hope you can be a little more lenient with the timeline!

Kid, do you think I can't see what's on your mind? You're probably up to no good. You're still too naive! Fighting a professional forensic doctor, all those shrugs, frowns, and nose-touching gestures you're making, aren't they all telling you about your inner struggle?

“Of course, Madam Qin, you’re too kind! I know that designing new clothes is no easy task. If you’re busy with household affairs, it’s fine to come a little later,” Lan Yao said generously.

Looking at Qin San Niang's awkward behavior, she seemed like a normal person, and his guard lowered even further.

As if he had thought of something again, Lan Yao hesitated for a moment and said, "Madam Qin, I heard you mention the feud with the Xie family of Jiangzhou before, and there is something I must remind you of! The Xie family is going to form a marriage alliance with the Prince of Zhennan, and the daughter who is going to be married off this time is a concubine's daughter. I wonder if she is an old acquaintance of yours?"

Which of these powerful and wealthy families didn't have its own spies? Of course, they were also not immune to having spies planted within them by others; there was no way around it, the movements of aristocratic families were always the target of everyone's observation. Not to mention anything else, even the emperor's secret agents were not impossible.

"A concubine's daughter? The Prince of Zhennan would marry a concubine's daughter from the Xie family? Has he lost his mind?" Qin Sanniang put down her teacup and asked abruptly. She was genuinely curious about the prince's thought process, or if there was some other meaning behind it.

Upon hearing her words, Lan Yao almost spat out his tea, but seeing her calm and serious expression, he knew that she really thought so, and he felt rather helpless. "Madam Qin, please be careful with your words. The mind of the Prince of Zhennan is not something we can discuss. Be careful, the walls may have ears."

"Oh, I misspoke. But isn't this your territory? If there were eavesdroppers, you probably wouldn't be able to sleep soundly. Come on, tell me your gossip. What's wrong with the Prince of Zhennan? Or did the Xie family reach some kind of agreement with him?" After the initial shock subsided, Qin Sanniang quickly returned to her usual demeanor. After all, she was just a country bumpkin, and there was no need for her to be too cautious about such matters. Besides making life too tiring, it would also make it easier for a sly fox like Lan Yao to become suspicious.

Sure enough, Lan Yao said slowly, "Your sense of smell is quite sharp. You guessed right. This concubine's daughter is also an unfavored one. Marrying the Prince of Zhennan as a secondary consort is already a step up for her. It is said that the Xie family has promised the Prince of Zhennan quite a few benefits. However, your rival's life is probably not easy either. This time, the Prince of Zhennan has taken three secondary consorts at the same time!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a bunch of bastards! Aren't these concubines just like mistresses? Prince Zhennan has a good plan. Since he's taking concubines anyway, he might as well accept them all. These concubines even have some dowry, and their families are practically begging him for benefits. It's like they're taking advantage of freebies. If I were Prince Zhennan, I'd take not just three, but ten or eight at once!"

Qin San Niang wasn't afraid of Xie Yuyan becoming the concubine of the Prince of Zhennan! With her intelligence and emotional intelligence, she was no match for the daughters raised by true noble families. If she survived to the end, she would definitely be incredibly lucky.

"However, thank you for reminding me. In any case, that person is now a concubine. Although she is a concubine, she is still a prince's concubine. It would be easy for her to kill us. I will avoid her from now on. But the Prince of Zhennan probably won't come to Jiangzhou, right?" Qin San Niang didn't understand these things, but she knew that every prince had his own fiefdom, and he couldn't leave his fiefdom at will unless there was an emergency. That was the rule.

"Of course not, but since the emperor has arrived in Lin'an, several princes will have to pay homage after autumn. Taking this opportunity, the Prince of Zhennan will take the Xie family's daughter with him. So they will stay in Jiangzhou for a while."

In short, Lan Yao always felt that the Prince of Zhennan must have other purposes for coming to Jiangzhou, but even if he racked his brains, he still couldn't figure it out. He had already sent letters home to his father and brothers, so he decided to let them worry about these things and focus on being a wealthy merchant.

"That's good, that's good. As long as I can walk, that's fine!" Qin San Niang breathed a sigh of relief. She made up her mind: Alright, once autumn arrives, she won't come to Jiangzhou again. Even if Xie Yuyan wanted to cause her trouble, she wouldn't be able to find her. Waiting until Xie Yuyan leaves wouldn't be difficult. She figured Xie Yuyan wouldn't have a good time either. Sigh, she felt a little sorry for her, what could she do?

Seeing Qin Sanniang's expression, Lan Yao knew she was aware of the situation and that it was best to avoid conflict. The Prince of Zhennan was inherently violent, and clashing with him would be disastrous. He wasn't truly worried about Qin Sanniang's safety, but his Jinxiu Tower was just beginning to thrive and relied heavily on her plans. Furthermore, if that concubine's daughter were to add fuel to the fire and learn about the connection between Jinxiu Tower and Qin Sanniang… In short, Lan Yao didn't want to create unnecessary trouble.

After exchanging pleasantries with different intentions, Qin San Niang left the Jinxiu Building and headed home.

As Lan Yao just mentioned, the business of forehead bands has temporarily come to a halt. The main reason is that forehead bands are now sold in every shop, even small shops on the street!

Although Liao Hongying and Wu Chunhua's forehead bands were relatively novel in design, there is never a shortage of clever people in the world. Besides, forehead bands are, after all, private items. Once they realized their value, the ladies of wealthy families could make them at home themselves, so why would they easily go out to buy them?

Qin San Niang had already thought of this and had already given Liao Hongying and the others a heads-up. The two of them understood perfectly well and had stopped their work a few days ago, since they would be even busier at home anyway, so they could help out.

Although Lan Yao spoke vaguely about collaborating on ear warmers and gloves in winter, those two items are no secret, and they'll probably be available everywhere this winter.

Qin San Niang smiled and said that the farmers were getting busy, as planting was about to begin, and they really didn't have time to do needlework anymore. Besides, although this work was profitable, for peasants like them, the harvest from the fields was more important. Moreover, while business involves personal relationships, there's no reason to force people to do things.

Seeing that Qin San Niang's tone was sincere, Lan Yao breathed a sigh of relief, and the apology in his heart disappeared.