Liu Qiao'er looked at the carriage with displeasure, narrowing her eyes as if she were about to make some kind of threat to Chen Siyi.
But Chen Siyi didn't even lift the carriage curtain, and said coldly, "Let's go!"
After the group had walked away, she turned her head and glared fiercely at Su Ji Xiang Shop, but Su Xuerong was nowhere to be seen.
Liu Qiao'er carefully memorized the location of the incense shop, then left with a half-smile.
Su Xuerong returned to the courtyard, pondering the spices she would prepare for Chen Siyi's mother.
Her husband has passed away, and she is grieving so much that she has fallen ill...
She already had a general idea in mind, and carefully selected the necessary spices to mix them.
A short while later, Lin Jinyu and Xiuchun returned.
Seeing that Lin Jinyu was still looking sullen, Su Xuerong knew that she hadn't found out any news about Mingshu.
After all, Steward He was receiving Ge Cong'an's monthly allowance and wouldn't easily reveal their whereabouts to outsiders.
Su Xuerong thought for a moment and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll inquire for you in a few days."
Upon hearing this, Lin Jinyu's expression became somewhat unnatural: "Never mind, it's rather pointless..."
In the evening, Su Jingxuan and Lin Chenggui returned.
After dinner, Lin Chenggui found Su Xuerong and said, "Arong, we went to the outskirts of the city today and looked at a lot of farmland. They were all top-quality farmland, but they were all much more expensive than in Suzhou..."
The land in the south is naturally much better than that in the north.
Su Xuerong said, "Uncle, since we are planning to settle down in Jiangnan, we can certainly consider it if we have enough money."
She also knew that Lin Chenggui did not have much cash on hand, and most of his assets were invested in various granaries.
"Uncle, don't worry, go and take a look. Once you've made your decision, you can take all this silver with you..."
Lin Chenggui glared at her immediately: "What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think I would want your money?"
Su Xuerong replied, "If it weren't for me, why would you have left your hometowns to come to Hangzhou? In a way, I owe you all..."
“Girl, don’t say such stupid things again. We’re all family. If you keep doing this, I’ll move out with my whole family today!” Lin Chenggui was really angry.
Su Xuerong hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, it's all my fault, Uncle, don't worry."
Lin Chenggui was a little stunned by her anger, but he still got back to the point: "What I was trying to say was that the land near Hangzhou is naturally more expensive. Your father and I are planning to go south to Shaoxing to take a look. It's a water town in Jiangnan with fertile land. Why buy land near Hangzhou?"
Su Xuerong smiled and said, "That's true. Uncle, your judgment is naturally better than mine. You two decide."
Lin Chenggui couldn't wait a moment longer. Once he had made his plans, he prepared to set off south with Su Jingxuan the next day.
Wang couldn't help but mutter, "You're destined to be a busybody all your life, always unable to stay idle and always wanting to buy land and estates..."
Lin Chenggui said, "You don't understand. Grain is the foundation of the world. Only with grain can there be anything else!"
The next day, the two set off with two guards, leaving behind a group of women and children at home.
Wang was nagging Zhou, "Chun'er is due to give birth in the second half of the year, and I can't even go back to see her now..."
His eyes reddened as he spoke.
Lin Jinchun is Lin Jinyu's older sister. She married the son of a local gentry in Suzhou last year and is expecting a child this year.
As the entire Lin family headed south, she could only bid them farewell with tears in her eyes.
Zhou sighed softly, "Once the situation stabilizes in the future, we can go back and take a look..."
Wang was wiping away her tears and wanted to say something when she heard Lin Jinyu say coldly, "Once Father settles down in the south, he can bring Sister here. Anyway, the man she married is no good!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Wang glared at her.
Lin Jinyu sneered: "Don't think I don't know. That Zhang guy not only spends his days sleeping around with women, but he also has seven or eight concubines in his backyard. He even has illicit affairs with the servants. He's a complete scoundrel!"
"What were you thinking back then, sending your eldest sister into such a hellhole?"
Su Xuerong couldn't help but lightly tap Lin Jinyu's wrist: "Don't blame your parents, blame that Zhang guy for being too good at pretending."
She remembered that when Lin Jinchun was about to get married, the man surnamed Zhang pretended to be a gentleman, and the matchmaker who took money from people concealed the dirty secrets of the Zhang family, thus deceiving the Lin family into marriage.
Wang's eyes reddened further, and she sobbed, "It's all my fault. I believed that matchmaker's lies..."
Madam Zhou sighed, "Things have come to this point, and Chun'er is pregnant. It will be difficult to extricate ourselves from the Zhang family now..."
At this point, she couldn't help but glance at Su Xuerong.
Fortunately, my daughter made a quick decision to break up with that man surnamed Xiao, and now she can freely do her own thing.
Lin Jinyu suddenly remembered something and looked at Su Xuerong: "A few days ago, when we detoured to Hangzhou, we heard that the new emperor is about to ascend the throne..."
Su Xuerong calmly hummed in agreement.
Lin Jinyu glanced at her, feeling sorry for her.
Su Xuerong calculated that in her previous life, it was on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month that Xiao Cheng ascended the throne as the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Half a month later, he was made crown prince, and at the end of the same year, he got married.
Su Xuerong concealed the mockery in her eyes and lowered her gaze.
She had a deep memory of the day of the Crown Prince's wedding; it was also the first birthday of her daughter, Yuan'er!
In her previous life, she and her son were locked in a side hall by Xu Wanjing and spent their birthdays in a cold and lonely manner. In this life, she must let Yuanjie have a happy and proper first birthday celebration.
"You mean Lin Chenggui took Su Jingxuan south to inspect the fields in various places?"
Xiao Yuan listened to Ming Shu's report and fell into deep thought.
“The Lin family was originally a major farming family in Suzhou. Many fertile fields in Suzhou were built by them. This time, they are thriving in the south and will probably buy more land.” Ming Shu revealed the information he had secretly inquired about.
He had already followed Xiao Yuan's instructions to secretly investigate anyone and anything related to Su Xuerong, and had to report everything to him in detail.
Xiao Yuan lowered his head and pondered for a moment before asking, "What do you think Lin Chenggui can do for us?"
Ming Shu thought for a moment: "He has spent half his life dealing with grain. If he can help the master, it is to help the master improve the land in various places and increase the grain yield."
Xiao Yuan narrowed his eyes: "It seems we don't really have any talent like that around us."
"What do you mean?"
Xiao Yuan smiled and said, "Send someone to follow them first, and find an opportunity to make him come to me on his own initiative!"
Ming Shu agreed and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and said, "Yesterday morning, the princess and Lady Liu went to Su's Incense Shop together. Later, for some reason, the princess left Lady Liu behind and came back alone. It seems that she went to complain to the old lady and was scolded by her."
Xiao Yuan frowned immediately.
If it weren't for his aunt's sake, he would have thrown Liu Qiao'er out of the palace long ago!
Ming Shu added, "There's one more thing. Madam Liu has been secretly inquiring about Madam Su's whereabouts for the past few days. I guess that's why she went to Su's Incense Shop with the Princess."
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