The negotiations between the imperial court and Mobei have brought five years of peace to both sides.
During these five years, Xie Wanyun reorganized the Xie family's shops, centering them around Yunjianfang. He rented or bought nearby shops and moved Huarong and several other jewelry shops there. This way, customers could buy rouge, powder, and various jewelry while shopping for clothes.
Xie's shop has professional consultants who advise customers on how to match their outfits. Customers who follow their advice find that the results are surprisingly good. Over time, Xie Wanyun and her shop have become even more famous.
She also tried her best to make the shops in other industries bigger, stronger and unique.
Over the years, everyone in the capital, from high-ranking officials to ordinary peddlers, knew Madam Xie's name. No matter what industry they were in, they all used her as a benchmark and a guide.
Madam Xie has become the undisputed richest woman. Not only in the capital, but also in the whole country, she is a well-known figure and an idol for countless girls.
She built bridges and roads, was generous and charitable, built charity halls, and helped the elderly and the poor...
She has become a legend of this dynasty.
It was a rare good afternoon in winter, with bright sunshine.
In a remote courtyard in the city, weeds grew thickly, the walls peeled off, and the rooms were dilapidated. The paper on the windows was torn into strips and fluttered in the wind.
A man with dirty clothes, disheveled hair and a dull expression sat on the ground basking in the sun, scratching his body.
A young woman in a cotton-padded jacket emerged from the house, a green handkerchief draped over her head, carrying a basin of dirty clothes, ready to wash at the well. Suddenly, she saw the man catching a louse and putting it in his mouth. Furious, she threw the basin in her hands, stepped forward, and slapped the man in the face. "I've told you so many times, why don't you learn your lesson? Is this something you can eat?" she yelled.
The man looked at the woman foolishly, with a flattering smile on his face, "Yun'er, don't be angry, why don't you try it too?" while extending his hand.
Liu Yun'er stepped back in disgust, rolled her eyes, and simply left him alone. She sat down by the well, lowered her head, and began to scrub the dirty clothes while cursing.
These two people are Qin Suan and Liu Yuner.
In the past, Qin Su'an was domineering towards Liu Yun'er, but now he has finally been defeated.
After Qin Su'an was divorced that day, she left the ancestral hall with a somewhat fuzzy mind. When she returned home, she found no one there, and then she remembered that Wei and Liu Yun'er had both been imprisoned.
Mother Liu came to him crying, saying that the old lady was not well and asked him to go and see her quickly. When he went, he saw the old lady with her eyes wide open and breathing heavily. When she saw him coming, she stretched out a chicken claw-like hand and grabbed him tightly.
After a long while, he finally squeezed out a word from his throat, "She—is an evil ghost!"
After saying this, he started panting and it took a long time for him to calm down. Mother Liu put her hand under her nose to test and started crying.
"The old lady is gone!"
Qin Su'an had been sitting quietly beside him, not moving a muscle. Only then did he panic. Looking at Old Madam Qin's lifeless face, he realized that he was truly the only one left in this mansion.
The masters were either dead, driven mad, or imprisoned. All the servants fled.
Qin Su'an sat in his room every day, limping out to get a bite to eat when he was starving. Passersby sighed in regret at how the once-prosperous Marquis Yuanxing had fallen to this state. Some gloated over his misfortune, while others pitied him and offered him food. Qin Su'an didn't mind, eating whatever was offered.
After Wei was released from prison, she was heartbroken to see her son suffer such a fate. She had confessed on behalf of Wei Mingyue that day, hoping that she would come to take care of Qin Su'an. However, Wei Mingyue never came. Wei was furious and resentful, but she couldn't even find Wei Mingyue.
Liu Yun'er had falsely accused her that day, but after the case was brought to the capital for investigation, they found no evidence and released her. However, Wei, pampered and blessed with a life of luxury, could not endure such torture and contracted an illness while in prison. When she finally returned home, she found a tragic scene of a broken family.
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