Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Wen Shuse was startled when her arm was grabbed. She turned her head and saw a wide sleeve suddenly lifted up, almost blocking her view. White cranes were embroidered on the Zang-colored Shu brocade. A crane head on the cuff was facing her, too close. The crane's piercing eyes stared at her. She was stunned for a moment, and before she could come to her senses, the crane head kissed her on the face. The silky brocade covered her face, and her mouth and nose were instantly surrounded by a fragrance. The incense in his room was the same as hers, both were ambergris, but the smell was completely different, as if the incense had merged with him and was fumigated by his body temperature, becoming a unique fragrance.
It is not like the strong fragrance of flowers, but more like the spring breeze inadvertently passing over the tip of the nose, bringing a wisp of unknown flower fragrance mixed with hundreds of herbs from somewhere, light but fascinating.
How can he smell so good?
Last time at the Wen family, he treated me so abruptly. I sighed in my heart that besides looks, men's charm can also bewitch people.
He plucked the leaf off her head and handed it to her as if nothing had happened. She inexplicably spread out her hands and let him place the green leaf in her fair palm.
An ordinary red apricot leaf with several small holes eaten by insects has no aesthetic appeal. The fragrance at the tip of the nose slowly dissipates and the ripples disappear.
The young lady looked at it for a moment, raised her hand and threw it into the bushes beside her, then picked up the lamp and walked forward again.
Xie Shao followed her steps with the help of the light in her hand, and then asked, "Why are you here?" Just to ask him if he wanted to stock up on food?
In the end, the young lady said without a second thought, "Wait for you."
I got an unexpected answer, but it was exactly what I wanted. I put my hands behind my back and looked up. There was no sun at night, and the cool breeze made me feel refreshed. Then I looked at the big jade plate above my head, which was bright and round.
Thinking back to the night we spent at Pei Qing's house, we stayed up until midnight but not even the master came to greet us. It was indeed a bit lonely.
Although the young lady is a little fierce, she is energetic and enthusiastic.
After all, he was different from those three people. He was a family man. He turned to the young lady and said, "I'm quite busy recently. Next time if you have something to do, ask someone to bring a message to Min Zhang. You don't have to come and wait." If he didn't come back tonight, wouldn't she have waited in vain?
The young lady said, "My dear, please be busy with your own business. I just need this one thing. I won't come to you again if I have nothing else to do."
Xie Shao: ...
She was also very busy, and after he said that, she no longer had any worries and was completely relieved.
On the way, she had no interest in talking to the man beside her. She kept making plans in her mind. When she arrived at the door of the west wing, she put away the lamp in her hand and said, "My man, go to bed early." Without even looking back, she hurried into the house.
Aunt Qing and Nanny Fang were standing guard at the door, wondering where the Third Mistress had gone so late at night, but they unexpectedly saw her returning to the courtyard with the Third Young Master.
Nanny Fang's eyes lit up. "My aunt and I worried for nothing. It turns out that Third Madam is going to look for..."
"Mammy, please bring the account book over here." Before Mammy Fang could even express her surprise, Wen Shuse interrupted her and said, "Count the cash in the storeroom. I need it tomorrow morning."
Seeing how anxious she was, Nanny Fang asked in confusion, "Third Madam, are you going to buy something?"
Wen Shuse nodded, "Yes, I want to buy food."
Nanny Fang also heard what Aunt Gu said that day. Natural disasters and man-made disasters are indeed suitable for stockpiling food. She asked, "How much silver does Third Madam need?"
"All the cash in the treasury."
All the cash in the warehouse of the second branch of the Xie family is not a small amount.
The three of them were stunned.
Aunt Qing and Xiangyun were so familiar with this scene of hers that they were startled. Aunt Qing hurriedly advised, "Madam, it's too late tonight. Why don't we talk about it tomorrow..."
"It's too late. The news of Luoan's war will reach Fengcheng the day after tomorrow at the latest. I see that there is no movement in the grain shops in Fengcheng. The Cui family is probably trying to lower the price. We have to buy all the grain before that happens." Ignoring the surprise on the faces of several people, he ordered, "Go call Uncle An and ask him to take a few people to run at night."
She was determined to buy food, and the three of them didn't dare to say anything for a while. They looked at each other, and it was Aunt Qing who asked cautiously, "Madam, have you discussed this with your husband?"
Wen Shuse nodded, "He agrees."
Aunt Qing was stunned again. This son-in-law was really generous. With all the cash in the warehouse, how much food could he buy...
Wen Er was very busy. The careless son-in-law had been pestered by Zhou Kuang for two days and was already exhausted. After returning to the room, he washed up and lay down on the couch early.
After finally getting a good night's sleep, the next day, just before dawn, there was a noise coming from the east room. "Bang bang bang" was heard from the busy room. Xie Shao was woken up and irritably lifted the quilt and asked Min Zhang outside the door, "What's going on?"
Min Zhang pushed the door open and reported, "Third Madam is transporting money to buy grain."
Wen Shuse had told him last night, but Xie Shao didn't take it seriously. With the noise in his ears, he couldn't fall asleep. He got up, washed, and dressed. Thinking of recent events, he felt uneasy and planned to go to the city gate for a walk.
As soon as he walked out of the door, Wen Shuse had the silver and money in his warehouse taken out of the house box by box.
It was so early that no one in the mansion reacted.
The eldest lady of the Xie family had been worried these days and had not slept well. She also got up late in the morning. When she saw the sun shining into the room, she quickly asked Biyun to help her dress up.
Ever since the master told her about the situation in Fengcheng, the lady has had no peace of mind. She has been thinking day and night about how to send her family away if something really happened in Fengcheng.
According to her idea, as soon as the transfer order for the eldest brother came down, she would send him to Dongdu first. After he was settled, she would let the second house provide money and the eldest brother would build up good connections in Dongdu. After everything was settled, she would find a way to transfer all the property of the Xie family out.
Even if Fengcheng really becomes chaotic by then, with the boss's connections, the master can be saved, and the money of the second branch of the Xie family will not be lost.
Who would have thought that one of the two wives was unreasonable and the other was even more unreliable. They completely ignored the overall situation and held on to the money tightly. Wen Er went to buy a property and let them rent it?
She was willing to ask her family to use their money to maintain her house, and then she would use it to buy a new house, and in the end all the money would go into her pocket.
She could still think better.
I thought I had no idea where to buy a property in Dongdu, but after meeting with the eldest lady of the Wen family yesterday, it turned out that there was light at the end of the tunnel, and we thought of the same property by coincidence.
If she wants to buy it, then let her buy it. After they move in, it will be up to them to decide whether to pay or not.
After everything was packed, the eldest lady hurried to the old lady's yard to ask when the third lady planned to go to Dongdu to buy a property.
When the eldest lady arrived at Ningxin Hall, Wen Shuse happened to be there too, sitting in the yard with Old Madam Xie, drinking tea and chatting about buying food.
Madam Xie saw the figure of the eldest lady from a distance. When she came to her, she pretended not to see her and continued to talk to Wen Shuse, "This year there are both natural disasters and man-made disasters. I don't know what the weather will be like next year. It's good to stock up on food..."
The eldest lady was confused and didn't pay attention. She was thinking about her property. She greeted Old Lady Xie, sat down, took the teacup handed to her by Nanzhi, opened the lid, took a sip, and then heard Wen Shushen say, "Don't worry, grandma, in a few days, the food will definitely double..."
This time the eldest lady understood, she covered the tea lid and asked casually, "Shu Se wants to stock up on food?"
Wen Shuse nodded, "Aunt, you may not know yet, there is going to be a war in Luoan, Qingzhou has suffered from drought this year, and the price of grain in various places has been rising. When the war starts, it will definitely double. Now, while the news has not come out yet, I have used all the money in the warehouse to stock up on grain. If you have money, you can also buy some to stockpile."
The eldest lady’s eyebrows twitched.
How could she not know? She had known for a long time that Luoan was going to go to war. Not only did she know that Luoan was going to go to war, she also knew that Fengcheng was going to be in chaos. She wanted to exchange the grain for silver notes, but she actually dared to buy grain.
What's the point of buying it, waiting to be snatched away by the imperial army?
Not quite understanding how much money she was talking about in the treasury, the eldest lady confirmed, "How much did you buy?"
Wen Shuse's face was flushed, and he didn't keep the secret at all, "All the cash in the warehouse was used to buy it."
Her heart suddenly sank, and she finally understood what the lady of the Wen family meant by the prodigal son. The lady felt dizzy and asked her in a trembling voice, "Didn't you say last time that you were going to Dongdu to buy a house..."
"Ah." Wen Shuse thought about it and shook his head, "I won't buy it now."
The eldest lady stared at her.
"Aunt, believe me. The grain in Fengcheng will definitely double tomorrow at the latest. Let's wait until this wave of grain is sold and then go to Dongdu. The money we used before can buy one house. After a while, it's possible that we can buy five or ten houses with our money."
How naive she thought. The eldest lady took a breath and looked at Mrs. Xie next to her hopelessly, "Mother..."
"Shu Se is right. Food is the most important thing for the people. Food is indispensable at all times. We will not lose money in this business."
The eldest lady was almost so angry that she fainted. This old man and the child were stupid people who knew nothing. Sooner or later, this family would be ruined by them. "The Xie family has always been engaged in powder and spices, and has never touched grain. There will be losses in business. Such a big matter must be decided after the second master and the second lady come back. You are just a new bride, what qualifications do you have..."
Wen Shuse interrupted, "Aunt doesn't want to use her money to buy food. It would be good to buy real estate in Dongdu. When we get to Dongdu in the future, we will have a place to stay."
Madam:......
This means that she is the one who has no right to interfere.
The eldest lady was so angry that her eyes turned black. She hurried out to find Master Xie and had someone pass on the message, "This time the third son is really going to make that new bride squander all the family wealth."
Mr. Xie was discussing with Mrs. Zhou how to meet the prince, so he had no time to pay attention to it and did not return home that night.
On the second day, the eldest lady could not wait any longer, so she called a carriage and went to see Mr. Xie in person.
As soon as she left the house, she saw a commotion outside. Biyun went to ask what was going on. After a while, she came back and reported in a panic, "Madam, there is no rice available in the shops in Fengcheng."
This made it even more certain that the prodigal son had really thrown out all the silver in the warehouse. With so much silver thrown out, there would be no rice to sell in the market.
The eldest lady hit her chest several times, but she had no strength left.
The eldest lady did not see Mr. Xie that day. Mr. Xie, Prince Zhou, and the eldest son of the Xie family went to guard the city gate together. They had no time to pay attention to her.
The Cui family was also in chaos.
Cui Nian originally hated the owner of the rice shop who took advantage of the situation to raise the price, so he wanted to keep the price down for a day. However, after only half a day, his subordinates hurriedly found him and said that all the rice in the shop had been taken away by someone at a price 20% higher than theirs.
Cui Nien thought he had heard wrongly.
His Cui family has been doing rice business in Fengcheng for decades. They are able to buy up all the old rice in the shop in one go. He is not bragging, it is only his Cui family that can do this.
Cui Nian narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who received it?"
The people below looked at him and stopped talking.
Cui Nian was so angry that he kicked her and said, "I asked you a question and you hesitated. Have you become a girl?"
The servant dodged cleverly and stammered, "Thank you, thank you family."
Xie family? Cui Nien was stunned again and asked suspiciously, "Which Xie family?"
But the expression of the servant opposite him told him clearly that apart from his good brother Xie Shao, there was no other Xie family in Fengcheng that had the ability to compete with him for business.
With a "hiss~" sound, Cui Ni stroked his forehead and immediately went out to find Xie Shao.
Xie Shao was taking a nap in a teahouse not far from the city gate when Cui Nian rushed up with murderous intent and took away the palm-leaf fan covering his face, "Brother Xie, you are here to steal my job."
It was noisy at home, and he was still being quarreled when he came out. They were really trying to prevent him from sleeping. Xie Shao opened his eyes, not looking happy, and stared at Cui Nian with cold eyes.
Cui Nian looked at the dark circles under his eyes and knew that he did not sleep well. Feeling guilty for a moment, he covered him with the fan again, but continued to talk, "No, your family has always been engaged in the business of gouache and spices, why are you suddenly trading in grain?"
After a while, Xie Shao slowly sat up and said, "Speak human language."
"I am a living person." Cui Nie said excitedly, "I originally planned to lower the rice price for a day, but you sent people to knock on the rice shops one by one at midnight yesterday. In one night, you snatched away all the food. Today, all the rice shops are closed and there is no rice to sell..."
Xie Shao: ...
Xie Shao's eyes were bleary-eyed, and he had finally woken up a little. Apparently, he had misunderstood what the young lady had said last night about stocking up some food, and didn't understand the meaning of "a little".
Seeing his confused face, Cui Nian was even more confused, "Brother Xie, don't you know?"
I bought it, the rice is in Fengcheng anyway. Rubbing his eye sockets, Xie Shao said, "I guess it was bought by your sister-in-law."
Cui Nian immediately heard a series of silver bell laughter in his mind. He couldn't help but shudder and wondered, "The Wen family is so rich? How much cash would it take to buy half of Fengcheng's rice..."
Xie Shao was too lazy to listen to him grumbling, "I have handed the warehouse over to her. She is the housekeeper. You should go find her."
Cui Nien: ...
He is indeed a prodigal son.
Before Cui Nian mustered up the courage to look for someone, Wen Shuse took the initiative to come to him.
That afternoon, Cui Nian was counting the accounts upstairs when he heard the servant say that the third young lady of the Xie family had arrived. He didn't react for a moment and wondered who the third young lady was.
The servant reminded, "The second lady of the Wen family."
Cui Nian was startled for a moment, then came to his senses in an instant. He hurried downstairs and saw that it was indeed the young lady who looked refreshed. He politely invited her in and asked, "Why are you here, sister-in-law?"
Wen Shuse glanced at his shop, "Are you busy?"
"Not busy." Seeing that she had been staring at the rouge in the shop, he was unsure of her purpose of coming today, so he asked, "Sister-in-law, are you going to buy anything today?"
Wen Shuse got straight to the point, "Let's make a deal."
She had already bought all the rice, so what other business could he do? Powder and spices were all owned by his Xie family. Cui Nien said weakly, "I don't have anything that my sister-in-law would like..."
"Yes." Wen Shuse turned around and smiled at him, "I'll buy rice from your Cui family."
Cui Nien: ...
The price of rice on the second day rose instantly as Wen Shuse had said. Almost no one was willing to sell to it, and the price continued to rise.
On the third day, things became even more outrageous. Even the eldest lady became suspicious when she heard the sky-high price Biyun offered.
A dou of rice actually cost thirty coins more than before.
In comparison, it was indeed faster than going to Dongdu to buy real estate. The eldest lady hurriedly asked Biyun, "How much food did Third Grandma buy?"
"Except for the Cui family, half of Fengcheng is in her hands." Biyun didn't know the exact number, she just said, "The empty yards in our house are almost occupied, and we haven't moved in yet..."
The eldest lady asked Biyun to take her to take a look in person. Sacks of rice were piled in the room and were being sent in continuously.
Even if we calculate the profit of one dou of rice at 30 coins today, my God, how much money would that much food cost...
The eldest lady's chest suddenly jumped, and she ordered Biyun, "Send someone to watch outside."
The servants who were sent out reported the price of rice in the market every hour, and each time it was different. After another day, the price of a dou of rice had soared to two hundred coins.
The eldest lady was excited.
It was just as Wen Er said, the price doubled in just two days. According to this growth trend, even if Fengcheng was to be in chaos, a large sum of money could be made before the chaos.
If I go to Dongdu to buy a property again, it won’t be a property that costs more than a thousand strings of coins, but naturally a good house that costs more than five thousand strings of coins.
The eldest lady could no longer sit still. After finding out that Wen Shuse was with the old lady, she hurried over.
As soon as I entered the door, I heard Wen Shuse say, "I plan to temporarily mortgage all the shops in Fengcheng. The grandmother of the Wen family also agreed. Yesterday, I mortgaged the Wen family's teahouse and seafood shop..."
There are still two or three chapters away from 'bankruptcy', and this whole process is all about Third Grandma's 'wasting' plot.
(Yueyuezi has not dared to send out red envelopes these past two days, fearing that people would say I am cheating on my score. In the future, I will send out red envelopes to the top 50 in each chapter, in order to thank the lovely people who have always supported Yueyuezi.)
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