"Yes, there is also a caravan that His Highness started managing five years ago. Second Brother, you can use it without worry. His Highness will send someone to gradually hand it over to you in the future."
Lili then briefly explained the situation of the caravan to him.
"Good heavens, His Highness is truly something else. Five years ago, you only mentioned it briefly, and His Highness immediately took action?" Shen Jialu exclaimed in amazement. "No wonder he's the Crown Prince; being the Crown Prince is no easy feat."
Lili smiled and said, "I came to see Second Brother today because I wanted him to come with me to the Qi family to discuss something."
"good!"
Shen Jialu examined the land deeds over and over again, his eyes shining: "My goodness, so many shops, how much money must have been spent?"
"I don't know, His Highness didn't say."
Shen Jialu pursed his lips, making up his mind: "Consider these as a loan from Your Highness, Shen Jialu. I will repay you many times over when I make money in the future!"
"OK."
Lili was quite happy. There's a saying that goes, "Don't eat food offered with contempt." She had originally been worried that Shen Jialu might be reluctant to use someone else's help, so she prepared a lot of inspirational quotes.
Fortunately, Shen Jialu wasn't that fussy. It would be a waste not to use readily available resources.
The two of them didn't bring any guards, only Huang Ying followed behind them, and they slowly walked to the Qi family.
The Qi family is no longer what it used to be. Madam Qi, a woman, is still capable of being the head of the household and knows a little about business, but she is not as good as she used to be.
Qi Zheng felt he had taken on the responsibility of being the eldest son, and at a young age he had already begun to share the burden with his mother. Now he could also speak for himself in the Qi family, and his several shops were profitable. While he may not have completely inherited his father's business acumen, he certainly had six or seven tenths of it.
When the two arrived at the Qi residence, Qi Zheng had already received the news and was waiting at the door.
The Qi family mansion from back then has been confiscated. The current Qi family mansion is an ordinary house, only half the size of what it used to be, and it is not as luxurious as it used to be. It is very low-key.
"Pear!"
As soon as Qi Zheng came over, he asked her, "I heard you went to the hollyhock banquet hosted by the Prefect's wife yesterday. How was it? Was it fun?"
"It's alright."
If Gu Zian hadn't appeared.
Qi Zheng seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the answer, but said nothing and continued to ask, "Why did you decide to come to me today? I have no more money to borrow. I just bought an estate, and it has emptied my pockets."
"Borrow money? What kind of borrowing money?"
Lili was puzzled.
Shen Jialu covered Qi Zheng's mouth: "Hahahaha, he said he wanted to borrow money from me."
Where he thought Lili couldn't see, Shen Jialu quickly pinched Qi Zheng's waist and grinned, "Right? Hmm?"
"Ah... um!"
Qi Zheng's face turned bright red, but he nodded with a smile.
Lili glanced at them with a hint of surprise. How could they be so oblivious to such a small action?
However, Lili wouldn't expose him, because Lili is a person with high emotional intelligence, and would only say, "Second brother, your hand is showing."
Shen Jialu froze, his gaze slowly drifting downwards. Sure enough, he saw his hand clearly resting on Qi Zheng's waist. From Lili's angle, it was indeed visible.
Oh no, I forgot that Lili is much shorter than me! I forgot to consider height when I was visualizing the angle!
"Hahaha." Shen Jialu paused for two seconds, then naturally lowered his hand. "It's nothing, nothing."
Pear was speechless.
"Alright, alright, shall we go inside and talk?"
Lili waved her hand: "Hurry up and finish explaining things so you can get to work!"
Getting down to business, Shen Jialu immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, let's go in quickly. Young Master Qi, please bring us some good wine and food so we can eat and chat at the same time."
Qi Zheng rubbed his lower back, looking resentful: "Oh."
The three entered the Qi residence, and An Qi, who had been keeping watch in the shadows, immediately sent a message by carrier pigeon to inform Gu Ziyi of the situation.
Upon hearing that Shen Lili had come to visit, Madam Qi hurriedly returned from the shop and personally led her maids to serve the guests.
Lili was somewhat surprised, but she didn't say much and greeted him very politely: "Thank you, Madam Qi."
Madam Qi smiled and took her hand, her enthusiasm even greater than when she first met her at Moxiang Academy.
"Oh, Lili, why are you being so polite with your Aunt Qi?" Madam Qi pressed her down into a seat. "I was inspecting the shops in the east of the city when I heard you and your second brother were here, so I came right back. Come, come, eat while it's hot."
"Mother, you should eat too."
Qi Zheng noticed that there were only three sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table, so he instructed the maid to bring an extra set.
Madam Qi stopped the maid and said, "No need. I just came back to see Lili. It's not easy to see Lili, so I had to come back right away."
Madam Qi had someone bring over a pair of earrings: "I just got a pair of earrings the other day, made of pink jade, which is perfect for a young girl like you, Lili."
Lili smiled and didn't refuse.
Although Lili's first impression of Madam Qi was not good, she could understand it very well. A woman who marries a man like Master Qi can only rely on her only son.
Madam Qi placed high hopes on her son, and she herself was also a very strong woman who single-handedly led the Qi family through these past few years. Although there was other help involved, it was still quite remarkable.
Moreover, although Madam Qi disliked the concubines and illegitimate sons in the family, she did not take any action after Master Qi was imprisoned. She simply tacitly allowed them to stay in the Qi family and continued to provide them with food and drink.
As Qi Zheng's "benefactor," Madam Qi was naturally very grateful to Li Li and would treat her well in return.
Lili knew perfectly well that Madam Qi wanted to express her gratitude for the help she had given to the Qi family, so she happily accepted every small piece of jewelry that Madam Qi gave her.
It wasn't anything too valuable, and besides, Lili admired her quite a bit.
"Mrs. Qi, you're so kind." Lili smiled.
Seeing that she had accepted the food, Madam Qi smiled and said, "Then you can continue eating. I won't disturb you any longer."
"Mother, won't you stay and rest for a while?"
"Your mother is busy, so please take good care of everyone, okay?"
"Okay, okay."
Perhaps because of the ups and downs in her rise to power, Madam Qi has experienced too much. She is no longer as domineering towards Qi Zheng as before, and she listens to his own ideas. Otherwise, she would not have entrusted those shops to Qi Zheng to practice on.
Madam Qi left in a hurry, leaving the others with some private space.
The three of them then began to eat and discuss the matter.
Before leaving home, Lili ate some lotus seed soup. She wasn't very hungry, so she only drank three large bowls of lotus root and pork rib soup before she was full.
Pear patted her round little belly and let out a satisfied burp.
Ah, drinking soup in the summer is so refreshing!
Shen Jialu, not entirely satisfied, placed a chicken leg on her plate and said discontentedly, "Look at you, why don't you eat more? How are you going to grow taller if you don't eat more?"
"I don't eat much?" Lili's eyes widened. "I can eat three bowls of rice in one meal and gnaw on three and a half pounds of pork knuckle. Which young lady can eat as much as me?"
"Everyone has their peak moments, don't mistake a moment for eternity!" Shen Jialu shoved a chicken leg into her mouth without saying a word. "You were tired from working in the fields for three days. If you ate this much every meal, you would be taller than your older brother by now. Look at your older brother, he could eat three buckets of food, let alone three bowls. That's how tall and strong he is."
Yes, yes, yes.
When she was little, it was fine, but as she grew up, her brothers always enjoyed urging her to be "self-disciplined" in various ways.
Shen Jiahao liked to make her exercise, saying that this would give her the ability to protect herself.
Shen Jialu liked to make her eat more so that she would grow taller and stronger and look more formidable, thus preventing her from being bullied.
Shen Jiawen would always recite various articles and poems, trying to make Lili's knowledge grow, because he said that Lili must have a broad mind to accomplish great things.
Shen Jiaqing and Shen Jialuo are the same; sometimes they nag and chatter, even more so than their mother.
However, Lili also knew that her brothers were doing it for her own good, so she always accepted everything without question, letting it go in one ear and out the other.
hey-hey.
Lili was already used to her brothers' lectures, so she nodded in agreement and started eating her chicken leg.
Shen Jialu was finally satisfied.
Lili told Qi Zheng about the caravan again, and Qi Zheng was indeed extremely excited, grabbing the stack of land deeds and letting out the same exclamation as Shen Jialu.
"A stack of???"
Shen Jialu smiled smugly: "How about that? Pretty impressive, huh? You look so naive."
Lili chuckled to herself. With Shen Jialu mocking others like this, she almost forgot who had screamed earlier.
"Is this... real or fake?"
Qi Zheng pressed the land deeds to his eyes, carefully examining the official seal in the lower right corner: "This can't be a forgery, can it? A whole stack of them, this is too outrageous, as expected of His Highness the Crown Prince!"
The land deed would have an official stamp in the lower right corner, so Qi Zheng could naturally tell that it was genuine.
Lili joked, "If His Highness heard you say that his things are fake, he would probably kill you."
Qi Zheng immediately smiled ingratiatingly: "Oh, I was just saying that. Your Highness is such a kind person, how could you possibly hold such a grudge?"
Gu Ziyi has been secretly taking care of the Qi family all these years, and Qi Zheng knows this.
Lili smiled. It seemed that after all these years, Gu Ziyi's status in their eyes was not like that of a prince, but rather that of an ordinary friend.
Lili was quite happy.
The group discussed the topic in more detail and finalized the initial plan.
These shops are all in very good locations and have already gained a certain reputation, so it's not difficult for them to develop.
“But we don’t need that many. Too many shops would be troublesome. Too many targets mean more risks. We should be careful,” Shen Jialu said.
Qi Zheng rubbed his hands together, and after hearing what Shen Jialu said, he was already starting to feel excited about his future life.
"Oh my god, am I really going to work for His Highness the Crown Prince?" Qi Zheng frowned. "Jia Lu is right. Given the Qi family's situation, it is indeed unreasonable for so many businesses to suddenly appear. Even if we cooperate with Jia Lu, I think we should be cautious and take it one step at a time."
Even if it's a collaboration with Jialu...
Yeah, it's quite subtle.
Lili glanced at the two of them without saying a word. One of them looked clueless and didn't understand, while the other was still talking nonchalantly.
Lili smiled slightly, silently pretending not to know anything.
Qi Zheng produced some of the land deeds: "I've looked at them. These are all very famous jewelry shops. Take Baodianzhai, for example. Although it only has one store, unlike Zhucuige which has many branches, it's the largest jewelry shop in Suzhou and a 30-year-old establishment with a great reputation. It's unreasonable for such shops to suddenly appear in our hands. It's not impossible to buy them later... In short, let's start by choosing some smaller shops and proceed step by step, shall we?"
Shen Jialu nodded: "I had thought of this issue before and was just about to bring it up. But would someone as intelligent as His Highness the Crown Prince make such small mistakes?"
Lili smiled meaningfully, said nothing, but carefully put away the land deeds that Qi Zheng had shown her, and said, "Then I'll give these to Your Highness for now?"
"Hmm." Qi Zheng asked, "But His Highness said he would send someone to hand over the mission to me. When will they come?"
"I don't know either, but it won't be long. Brother Qi Zheng, just wait."
"good."
Having thought about this for so long, Qi Zheng and Shen Jialu were in high spirits, looking like they were about to have a long talk.
Lili didn't understand much of what else was being said, so she sat for a while longer before leaving, leaving the two of them to discuss things alone.
Upon leaving the Qi residence, Lili spotted a familiar carriage.
Lili was stunned for a moment, then saw a hand emerge from the dark curtain of the carriage; it was a long, strong hand with distinct knuckles.
Then, a familiar face appeared with a gentle smile. Seeing her standing there in a daze, the face curved into a smile: "Aren't you coming up?"
Pear pouted and muttered softly, "It's so unfair, her hands are so pretty too."
As I lifted my skirt and sat down in the carriage, I realized that the temperature inside was significantly cooler than outside.
Turning around, I found a bowl of ice on a box in the corner, half of which had already melted.
The two side windows on the vehicle wall were also covered with a thicker layer of kudzu cloth. Kudzu cloth is a fabric woven from kudzu vines, which is breathable and also has a certain heat insulation property.
Lili smiled happily, raising her eyebrows: "Wow, it's so cool! Your Highness really knows how to enjoy yourself."
Gu Ziyi took out a small fan from the hidden compartment and gave it to her: "I don't need this. I don't know which little girl is complaining about the heat as soon as summer comes."
Lili took the fan and gently fanned herself. The breeze stirred up the cool air from the ice cubes, which felt wonderful.
"Really? Who is it? Who's so afraid of the heat?"
Gu Ziyi shook her head and chuckled, "It's probably just a little dumpling that melts when it gets hot, which is why it's so afraid of the heat."
Lili realized he was subtly referring to himself as a little dumpling, so she gave him a look and shook her head, letting him figure it out for himself.
“Lili just loves winter. Summer is so hot, and it makes you sweat so easily. It feels sticky and uncomfortable, and your hair gets oily too.” Lili laughed. “Winter is so comfortable. It’s cool, and you can even see snowflakes.”
"Okay, okay." Gu Ziyi smiled indulgently.
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