Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Will it be an accident?
That night, Zhao Qingyi slept exceptionally soundly. The next morning, the steward came to pay his respects as usual.
Luo Da and Luo Er, who were in charge of the shop outside, thought that today would be the same as yesterday, so they let them go easily. Just as they were about to get up and leave, Zhao Qingyi spoke.
"I'm going to inspect the shop today, Luo Da and Luo Er, you guys just follow behind."
Luo Da and Luo Er received instructions from Luo last night that they must not let Zhao Qingyi take the shop back, but they responded with obedience.
Zhao Qingyi had a simple bun on her head, but her hair was meticulously groomed. She wore a long gown with a stand-up collar and a pattern of hibiscus branches, paired with a pomegranate red and gold-threaded horse-faced skirt, which showed her the grace and elegance of a young mistress. Although there was no complicated embellishment of gold, silver and gems, she was still a woman that could not be underestimated.
When she walked to the front, Luo Da and Luo Er secretly winked at each other from behind. She thought the time to fool people had come, but when she went out of the street, she found that there were already more than a dozen people waiting at the door.
The leader was wearing a deep blue brocade robe, with a tall and graceful figure. His appearance was gentle but with a hint of fierceness, which was very similar to Zhao Qingyi's aura of concealing a sharp edge under a soft touch.
Seeing Zhao Qingyi coming out, Meng Jiawen's handsome face relaxed, "Cousin, I have brought you the people you wanted. They are all good at business management and accounting."
The Meng family is rich, and what they have the most is a capable manager.
"Thank you, cousin, for your help." Zhao Qingyi greeted him with a smile on her face.
Before she got married, she had a very good relationship with this cousin. Now that almost all of the Meng family's property has been handed over to Meng Jiawen, there are naturally more ways for him to help her.
Luo Da and Luo Er were dumbfounded. What did that mean? Was Grandma going to install the Meng family's shopkeeper in her own shop?
Without waiting for Luo Da and Luo Er to react, Zhao Qingyi put on a veil and walked towards the street with Meng Jiawen.
Zhao Qingyi had half of the dowry list in her hand. She remembered clearly how many shops she had brought as a dowry and where they were located. Meng Jiawen also had a copy in his hand, and even had the accounts of past business operations. They were going to settle the accounts at the shops together. Luo Shi wanted to take advantage of Zhao Qingyi's youth and ignorance to embezzle her money. Now that her cousin, a veteran with more than ten years of experience in business, came forward, all of Luo Shi's plans were in vain.
More than a dozen shopkeepers worked together, and in half a day, she and Meng Jiawen inspected the five most profitable shops. Most of these shops were restaurants or women's businesses, such as clothing, jewelry, rouge and powder, which were the most profitable industries in Shangjing at the time.
This is also where the Luo family made the most tampering.
The shopkeepers and clerks inside were basically all replaced by Luo's relatives. They could hardly read or use an abacus, but they came to be the shopkeepers. Over time, no matter how good the Feng Shui shop was, it would end up in the hands of Luo, not to mention that these two people had dirty hands.
Zhao Qingyi was not polite to these people and drove them all away. Those who dared to blatantly steal things from the shop and sell them, such as Luo Da and Luo Er, were directly tied up by the Meng family and sent to the government. At least they would be imprisoned for three to five years.
Finally, Zhao Qingyi and Meng Jiawen sat quietly in the tea room behind the restaurant and calculated the total amount of money that Luo had embezzled from her shop over the past three years. The amount was almost the same as her initial estimate, and it was as high as tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Meng Jiawen was stunned. He never expected that his cousin would live such a life in the Li family.
"In my opinion, cousin, you should report this to the authorities." Meng Jiawen lowered his voice again. "Many people in the government have received favors from the Meng family, so they will be more or less biased towards you."
"I know." Zhao Qingyi lowered her eyes, her long, raven-feather-like eyelashes casting two shadows under her eyes. She smiled meaningfully, "There will always be a time when it will be useful."
Now, these alone are not enough to kill the Luo family and the Li family. What she wants is to destroy the entire Li family and make it impossible for them to recover.
Seeing that she was confident, Meng Jiawen stopped interfering. "Anyway, if you have any difficulties, just send someone to the Meng family to find me. I will definitely help you if I can."
Speaking of helping, Zhao Qingyi thought of his father. "By the way, last time I asked my cousin to deliver a letter to my father, did he deliver it?"
"Don't worry, the Meng family just happened to have a batch of celadon to be shipped to Shanxi, so they asked the escort agency to escort the letter over. My uncle and aunt should have received it by now."
The most important thing is that her parents can receive her letter. Zhao Qingyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Leave more guards."
Judging from the time, the court will soon issue the decree of appointment. She hopes that her father can follow what she said in the letter and take a detour to enter the capital a few days later to avoid the time when the robbers in the previous life appeared.
"Of course." Meng Jiawen promised, "My uncle also has people from our Meng Family Escort Agency."
Tan Yue opened the curtain and entered the tea room, "Grandma, Miss Zhang is here."
Meng Jiawen immediately stood up and said, "Since my cousin has guests, I will step aside first. I will leave the staff to you. If you have any questions, come to the Meng family to find me."
It seemed that he knew very well who "Miss Zhang" was. However, Zhao Qingyi, who had been dreaming for many years, was a little unfamiliar with this title. She watched Meng Jiawen leave from the back door of the restaurant before Tan Yue invited him in.
She was a young girl of the same age as Zhao Qingyi, with a slender figure. She wore a turquoise short shirt with a cross collar and gold embroidery buttons, and a goose yellow silk skirt with dark patterns. She walked gracefully and had a dignified manner. Although her face was not stunning, she exuded the scholarly air of a lady from a noble family. It was obvious at first glance that she was from an extraordinary family.
"Sister Qingyi, it really is you."
After entering the tea room, the girl's shoulders, which had been tense, relaxed slightly. She walked straight to Zhao Qingyi and sat down, pouring herself a cup of tea in a familiar manner.
"I just saw you on the street. I thought you looked familiar, but I didn't dare to approach you. It wasn't until I saw you enter the restaurant that I asked the owner and realized it was really you."
Zhao Qingyi was stunned for a full cup of tea, and finally dug out the memory of the person in front of him from his old memories. His eyes suddenly reddened, "Wan, Wanyan?"
Zhao Qingyi remembered Zhang Wanyan, her former best friend and the only legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister Zhang Huaixu.
However, after she married into the Li family in her previous life, she had less contact with Zhang Wanyan. The next news she heard about Zhang Wanyan was in the fourth year after her marriage. At the Flower God Banquet in the palace, news of her having an affair with a man outside the family spread. In order to protect her reputation, Zhang Wanyan hanged herself to death shortly afterwards.
In Zhao Qingyi's life, the memory of Zhang Wanyan was too distant. Now that she saw her living friend again, her eyes inexplicably turned red.
Zhang Wanyan was startled for a moment, then joked, "You haven't seen me for a long time, are you too happy?"
"Yes." Zhao Qingyi didn't hide it. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. She smiled as if relieved. "How did you find time to come see me?"
"I've wanted to see you for a long time and even sent a visiting card to your house, but you didn't reply. I just saw you on the street, so I hurried over."
Zhao Qingyi quickly realized that the visiting card must have been intercepted by Luo.
"I have some good news to tell you." Zhang Wanyan seems to be well-behaved, but when she is with Zhao Qingyi in private, you can see her sincerity and liveliness beneath her dignified appearance.
She leaned over and said, "Some time ago, I passed by my father's study and overheard the news that His Majesty intends to promote your father to the cabinet."
This was no longer a secret to the reborn Zhao Qingyi, but she still responded to Zhang Wanyan's words with just the right amount of surprise and delight. "Really? If that's the case, won't I be reunited with my father and his family soon?"
"It's true. My father said it himself, so it shouldn't be wrong."
Zhang Wanyan took Zhao Qingyi's hand and patted it gently. "I know you've missed your family all these years, so I just got the news and wanted to tell you, so that you can be happy."
Zhang Wanyan's smile faded as she spoke, a complex expression flashing across her eyes. "However, you must be prepared. His Majesty promoted your father to the cabinet so that he could work with my father to implement the new policies. These policies infringe upon the interests of too many powerful officials, and there are many opponents within the court. I'm afraid that upon your return to the capital, you will inevitably be entangled in disputes."
"And the matter of your husband joining the Hanlin Academy..." Zhang Wanyan looked guilty.
Apart from the rumors in the capital, Li Che's career obstacles were probably related to the new policy. After all, Li Che was Zhao Qingyi's husband and the son-in-law of Zhao Qingyi's father, so he would be implicated to some extent.
However, Zhao Qingyi didn't care about Li Che's career. After all, he was in this situation today thanks to the Zhao family, and he deserved to be implicated now.
Zhao Qingyi was more concerned about the new policies. He couldn't help but say seriously, "Your Majesty wants to implement new policies. Could it be the ten new policies proposed by your father, Lord Zhang?"
Zhang Wanyan nodded seriously.
The tea room fell silent for a moment, and the sunlight slanted through the carved window lattices onto the small-leaf red sandalwood tea table, with white mist curling up.
In her previous life, Zhao Qingyi was trapped in the mansion and didn't know much about the affairs of the court. However, she knew that the ten new policies that had caused a lot of controversy at the time were so shocking that they encountered many obstacles during their implementation. Later, when she learned about the content of the new policies, she had to admire Zhang Ge Lao's insights and encouraged Li Che to join Zhang Ge Lao.
It can be said that wealth and honor are sought in danger. Although there are many opponents, fortunately, the current emperor overcame all objections and supported the new policy. More than ten years later, the new policy was quite effective, and Lord Zhang retired due to illness soon. The chair of the chief minister of the cabinet was naturally handed over to Li Che.
After she was reborn, she realized that when her father was transferred to the cabinet, he was also responsible for implementing the new policy.
Then could it be an accident that my father encountered robbers on his way back to Beijing?
Zhao Qingyi frowned in thought, unconsciously tightening the celadon teacup in his hand, and the slightly raised knuckles turned white.
Zhang Wanyan kept watching her reaction and asked anxiously, "Sister Qingyi, what's wrong with you?"
Zhao Qingyi came back to his senses and breathed a sigh of relief. "Nothing, just remembering some old things. Thank you for the news today."
"We are good sisters, there's no need to be so polite. Don't worry too much. I also heard that His Majesty has arranged for the Jinyiwei to secretly monitor the various mansions. I believe that families like you and me who support the new policy will not easily get into trouble."
Zhang Wanyan held her hand. It was almost June, but her hand was so cold. "I heard that your health has been getting worse since you got married. Are you feeling better now?"
"It will be fine." Zhao Qingyi smiled, her eyes like a pool of calm and still water, without a trace of ripples.
When the Li family falls, all her illnesses will naturally disappear.
After personally escorting Zhang Wanyan out of the restaurant, Zhao Qingyi ordered someone to take the thick account book and return home in a sedan chair. When she entered the house, she saw the Luo mother and daughter who were waiting for her. However, she was not in the mood to deal with them at the moment, so she pretended not to see them and walked past them to Lanyue Pavilion.
The Luo mother and daughter were left staring at each other, breathing heavily through their nostrils.
"You're really in charge now, and you're even more disregarding me, your mother-in-law!"
Mrs. Luo swung her silk handkerchief, fearing she would faint from anger again. "This life is unbearable! Hurry up and send someone to hurry up and have Che'er come back soon so that he can punish this wicked woman!"
Coincidentally, when Zhao Qingyi returned to the house, she also remembered that Li Che would be returning home soon, and estimated that it would only take three to five days.
If her father gets involved in the new policy, there will be a lot of trouble. If she wants to help her father, she has to take care of the trivial matters in her own house.
Thinking of this, Zhao Qingyi waved his hand and asked Tan Yue to come forward, "I remember there was a maid named Yuxiu in the farm outside the city."
Tan Yue would not remember these trivial matters, so she called the housekeeper in. When the housekeeper heard the name "Yuxiu", her old face changed slightly.
"Grandma, she was just a maidservant when Master was still a married woman. She was sent to the farm a long time ago. Why do you remember her?"
When she spoke, the housekeeper's eyes were evasive and she didn't dare to look directly into Zhao Qingyi's eyes. Zhao Qingyi knew that she was not mistaken.
In her previous life, she only found out when she was about to die that Li Che had a beloved maid named Yuxiu. The two of them could be said to be childhood sweethearts, but Yuxiu's status was low. Luo didn't want her existence to affect her engagement with the Zhao family, so before going to propose marriage, she sent Yuxiu away without telling Li Che.
When Yuxiu was sent away, she had a four-year-old son with her. Now the child should be seven years old.
Zhao Qingyi leaned on the beauty couch, tapping the table with her slender fingers. She instructed slowly, "Since Mom remembers this person, tomorrow morning, you should take Tan Yue over and personally bring Yuxiu and her son back."
Hearing her talk about Yuxiu and her son, the housekeeper's knees softened and she fell to her knees, "Grandma, I didn't mean to hide this from you..."
"Don't be nervous." Zhao Qingyi interrupted her with a smile, "I've known about the existence of them for a long time, but I just didn't care about it before. Now that the master is coming back, I think he must be thinking about them too. So I might as well take this opportunity to show Yuxiu a favor and make her a concubine. That child will be the eldest son of our Li family."
Zhao Qingyi's words left everyone in the room dumbfounded.
Instead of sending someone to kill Yuxiu, he wanted to bring her back to the mansion?
The housekeeper was hesitant, unable to figure out whether Zhao Qingyi was speaking the truth or had some other deeper meaning.
Until Zhao Qingyi gave another order, "I want to see Yuxiu and her son alive. Also, don't let my mother-in-law know about this for the time being."
The housekeeper then took the order and left.
Tan Yue and Qiao Yue were stunned by what they heard. They knew that before the master married their grandmother, he had already had an affair with his concubine and had a child?
Isn’t this a marriage fraud!
Qiao Yue was furious. "No, why should our grandma have to endure this injustice? I'm going to the Zhao family to tell the old lady!"
It was Tan Yue who stopped her in time. "Look at your impatient temper. Since grandma has said that she wants to bring the person back, it means that our grandma has her own ideas. Don't be impulsive and ruin grandma's good deeds."
Qiao Yue finally calmed down and turned to look at Zhao Qingyi's reaction. She was still leisurely eating tea and snacks on the couch and was not angry. Qiao Yue believed that her grandmother had other plans and suppressed her anger.
The night was deep, and a quiet rain began to fall in Shangjing. The gray eaves were covered with slanting water droplets, which hit the green gauze windows.
It's June.
Li Che is about to arrive in Beijing.
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