Ye Family —

The Ye Caiping family and the Shen family were kneeling on the ground to receive the imperial decree.

Eunuch Yu read the imperial edict aloud:

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Ye Caiping, with her discerning eye, has constructed a new well, benefiting all the people. I am greatly pleased and hereby bestow upon her three thousand taels of silver and grant her the title of Third-Rank Lady. I hope that you will uphold your original aspirations and make new contributions to the prosperity of our nation and the well-being of our people. So be it."

After reading it aloud, Eunuch Yu smiled and said, "Please accept the decree, Lady Ye."

Ye Caiping quickly accepted it, saying, "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."

After everyone got up, Jin'er and Huan'er excitedly surrounded them: "I never thought Mother would be promoted to the third rank!"

Shen Manman said, "Of course. Aunt must have found out about how Auntie was bullied at the Plum Blossom Banquet last time, and now she's seizing the opportunity to do something good. Of course, she'll promote her as much as she can!"

Shen Zhiyan flicked her forehead and laughed, "Shut up. It wouldn't be an exaggeration for your aunt to be promoted a rank."

Shen Manman's eyes lit up: "Dad is so smart! I'll go and beg Auntie to let Sheng... um!"

Ye Caiping was so frightened that she covered her mouth: "You unlucky child..." Then she turned to her father-in-law and laughed: "Hahaha, the child doesn't know any better."

Eunuch Yu chuckled: "Miss Shen is as adorable as ever."

Everyone present laughed.

Madam Shen slipped a purse to Eunuch Yu, smiling broadly: "Let's see who dares to say the Shen family has bad taste in the future."

Madam Shen said, "That's right, that's right."

Seeing them celebrating, Shen Zhiyan pulled Ye Caiping along for a walk in the back garden.

Shen Zhiyan said, "You've worked hard. You have to earn your own title."

He felt somewhat guilty.

In other families, the husbands worked hard to earn the titles of nobility for their wives, but in his family, she had to earn them all herself.

Ye Caiping smiled at him: "You look very sad? Has your self-esteem been hurt? Are you thinking of starting something big? Hmm, you're still young, in your prime, why don't you give it a pep talk?"

Shen Zhiyan smiled: "You want me to become an official in the imperial court?"

Ye Caiping shook her head: "To be honest, I don't want to."

She wanted him to accompany her back to Nanzhou, to manage the business together, and to go fishing in their spare time.

Ye Caiping stopped and turned to look at him: "However... you should do what you like. Although I like the tranquility of villages and towns, I also like the prosperity of the capital. I can live anywhere."

"Also, the three girls are not young anymore. At least Manman will definitely marry someone in the capital. If Manman marries someone in the capital, then we should try our best to marry someone here as well, so that the three girls can take care of each other."

"Furthermore, I plan to set up a glass workshop and a furniture workshop in the suburbs of Beijing. We intend to live in Beijing for at least another ten years."

Shen Zhiyan laughed: "You've thought long ahead!"

"Yes, of course. After all, it's a lifetime commitment! So don't worry too much about any regrets you may have."

Shen Zhiyan said, "When you're young, you might have regrets, but now that you're older, you realize that the present moment is the best."

Ye Caiping spat and said, "Where are you old? You're still young!"

In modern times, there would be plenty of top male idols of this age in period dramas.

Shen Zhiyan held her hand and smiled, "Yes, you're still young. I'm so glad I met you at this age."

Ye Caiping felt a sweet warmth in her heart: "It's been a long time since I've gone fishing, how about I cast a line for a bit?"

"good."

Since he got together with her, he doesn't seem to enjoy fishing as much anymore.

But fishing with her is twice as fun!

......

When the Lin sisters learned that Ye Caiping had invented the hand pump well and received a third-rank imperial edict, they almost vomited blood.

Especially Lin Yating, she donated a full ten thousand taels!

He bought a good reputation with this, but before he could enjoy his glory for more than a few days, Ye Caiping stole the limelight.

That ten thousand taels of silver was wasted!

Because that money was spent on food supplies, while Ye Caiping's hand pump well was used for the benefit of the people.

The people all speak highly of Ye Caiping.

That's not even the most exciting part.

The next day, the Shen family's large ship docked.

Batch after batch of glass products transported from Qinghe Village in Nanzhou were unloaded from the ship.

These are all glass lampshades.

Because the workshop was just starting out and they were rushing to get to the capital, they were focused on finishing the doors, windows and lights for the Marquis of Dingguo's residence.

Even after Ye Caiping left, the workshop continued to operate and produce products.

A large batch of lampshades, more than 30,000 pieces, was produced this time and finally arrived today.

Ye Caiping selected several reputable general stores in the capital and put the lampshades there to sell.

A small lampshade only costs fifty coins; even the poorest people can afford one if they grit their teeth.

The vendor said, "Ye Shuren didn't make a single penny from these lampshades. The New Year is just around the corner, and these lampshades will be useful for fire prevention."

When the people heard about this, they practically went crazy scrambling to buy the lampshades.

Everyone knows that a type of glass, which is more transparent than crystal, has become popular among the nobility.

I thought those were precious items only nobles could afford, but I never imagined they could buy them too.

Moreover, this glass lampshade is transparent, and when placed over a candle flame, it is both windproof and fireproof, and brighter and safer than paper or cloth lampshades.

Ye Caiping said that for those who missed out, more stock will be available next year.

This was clearly a business that could have been dominated by one company, but Ye Caiping chose the low-end route, making lampshades affordable for ordinary people and reducing the risk of water damage.

Lin Yating felt like she had been slapped in the face again.

She used to secretly criticize Ye Caiping, saying that the glass was too expensive for ordinary people, and that her so-called beneficial things were nothing but self-promotion and that she could only make money off the nobility.

Unexpectedly, Ye Caiping produced a batch of such inexpensive goods, making them affordable for ordinary people.

Does she know that this will result in her earning a lot less money?

If it were her, with such a secret formula in hand, she would sell it for as much as possible! She would target the aristocracy, not make it accessible to the lower classes!

......

Duke Ping's Mansion——

Li Jiaojiao was furious to hear that her enemy was enjoying renewed glory.

But right now, her priority wasn't Ye Caiping, but Gu Han!

But Li Jiaojiao was so anxious that bubbles were forming at the corners of her mouth, and she still couldn't find a solution.

Is this how her life is going to be? Unable to marry into a high-ranking family, destined to rot away in this empty, pretentious Duke's mansion?

Li Jiaojiao changed her clothes again and ran to the Taoist temple she had visited before.

However, they were told that the abbot had gone on a pilgrimage yesterday.

Li Jiaojiao was both anxious and disappointed, so she could only go home dejectedly.