The streets of Shangyang County were bustling with activity, and Yunxiang Pavilion was thriving, with long queues forming in front of its doors every day. However, beneath this prosperous facade, an undercurrent was quietly brewing.

Li Mobai, disguised as an ordinary merchant, sat down in a teahouse, ordered a pot of tea, and appeared relaxed, but in reality, he was listening intently to everyone's conversations. In the teahouse, almost everyone's topic of conversation revolved around the rouge from Yunxiang Pavilion.

"I heard that the Prefect's wife used rouge from Yunxiang Pavilion, and even the Prefect himself praised her for looking ten years younger!" a tea drinker said with great interest.

“That’s right, my wife bought one too. Now she looks in the mirror every day and is too lazy to do any housework.” The other person shook his head and smiled wryly, but his tone was full of affection.

Li Mobai smiled slightly and followed up with a question: "Is the rouge from Yunxiang Pavilion really that magical? I wonder which expert developed it?"

Seeing that someone was interested, the tea drinkers gathered around and chattered, "I heard it's Lin Yun, the second young lady of the Lin family. She's so young, but she's a business prodigy!"

"Yes, she not only makes rouge, but also designs clothes. She also came up with the membership system for the clothing store, which has made her a lot of money!"

A glint of light flashed in Li Mobai's eyes as he continued, "This Miss Lin, how come I've never heard of her before?"

An old man stroked his beard and said in a low voice, "It's strange, but three months ago, the Lin family was being harassed by creditors because the eldest young master of the Lin family owed gambling debts. The second young lady of the Lin family attempted suicide by hitting her head against a wall but failed. After waking up, she was like a different person and suddenly became enlightened."

"Attempted suicide by hitting his head against a wall?" Li Mobai frowned slightly.

The old man nodded: "Yes, it caused quite a stir back then. But who would have thought that in just three months, she would be able to make her business thrive."

Li Mobai took a thoughtful sip of tea, thinking to himself, "It seems there's something strange about Lin Yun."

Over the next few days, Li Mobai and his companions split up and thoroughly investigated Lin Yun's background. They discovered that Lin Yun not only ran her clothing shop's membership system exceptionally well, but her rouge shop was also raking in money daily. In just half a month, Yunxiang Pavilion's profits had reached tens of thousands of taels of silver.

"This woman is no ordinary person." Li Mobai stood at the alley entrance opposite Yunxiang Pavilion, gazing at the crowd in front of the shop, and whispered to his companion.

"Brother Mo Bai, we also found out that Lin Yun had contact with a mysterious man. That man had an extraordinary presence and was very likely..." His companion hesitated before continuing.

Li Mobai's gaze darkened: "Fourth Master?"

His companion nodded: "Very likely."

Li Mobai sneered, "No wonder Ninth Master attaches such importance to this. If she really has connections with Fourth Master, then things will be even more interesting."

Beijing, the Eighth Prince's Residence

The night was deep, and the candlelight flickered in the study. Eighth Master sat upright in his armchair, a secret letter clutched in his hand, his brow furrowed. Ninth Master stood beside him, his expression grave.

"Ninth Brother, is this news reliable?" Eighth Master asked in a deep voice.

Ninth Master nodded: "Absolutely true. Li Mobai is always reliable in his work, and the information he personally gathered is unlikely to be wrong."

Eighth Master threw the letter on the table and sneered, "I never expected that such a small county like Shangyang would hide such a juicy piece of meat. This Lin Yun not only knows how to modify textile machines, but she also knows how to do business. She has made such a big fuss in just three months."

A glint of greed flashed in Ninth Master's eyes: "Eighth Brother, if we can win over Lin Yun, we can not only make a fortune every day, but also use this to suppress Fourth Brother's momentum."

Eighth Master's gaze sharpened: "You mean... she really has a relationship with Fourth Master?"

Ninth Master lowered his voice: "Fourth Brother and Thirteenth Brother secretly went to Shangyang County a few days ago. Although their whereabouts were kept secret, the timing was about the same. After Fourth Brother and the others returned, they built a textile factory. Moreover, it is better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."

He made a throat-slitting gesture.

Eighth Master shook his head: "We must not be rash. If she is really related to Fourth Brother, taking action rashly will only alert her. Besides, her business acumen might be of great use to us."

Ninth Master frowned: "So, what does Eighth Brother mean?"

Eighth Master pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Let's try diplomacy first, then force. Send someone to talk to her about cooperation. If she's sensible, we'll bring her into our camp; if she's not..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "we can talk about other things later."

The members of the Eighth Master's Party discussed countermeasures overnight and finally decided to send a trusted confidant who was good at speaking to Shangyang County under the pretense of discussing cooperation, to test Lin Yun's background.

"Remember, be polite, but also make it clear that cooperating with us is her only option," Eighth Master instructed his trusted confidant, Mr. Liu.

Mr. Qian cupped his hands in greeting: "Eighth Master, rest assured, I understand."

Shangyang County, Lin Prefecture

It was raining heavily today, so Lin Yun didn't go to the shop. She was sitting at the table in the living room checking the accounts when she suddenly felt a chill down her spine, as if someone was watching her from the shadows. She frowned, looked up and around, but saw nothing unusual.

"Could it be because I've been too tired lately?" she muttered to herself, rubbing her temples.

Just then, Xiao Tao rushed in: "Miss, there is a guest outside who says he is from the prefectural city and wants to see you."

Lin Yun put down the account book and asked, "Prefectural City? Did you give your name?"

Xiao Tao shook her head: "No, they just said they had something important to discuss."

Lin Yun nodded and said, "Please invite him to the side hall." After saying that, she got up and went to the side hall.

A moment later, a middle-aged man in a brocade robe walked in, smiling, and cupped his hands, saying, "Miss Lin, I have long admired your name."

Lin Yun stood up and returned the greeting: "You're too kind, sir. May I ask how you should address me?"

The man smiled and said, "My surname is Qian, and I am the steward of the Qian family in the prefectural city. I have come here today to discuss a business deal with you, young lady."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!