Chapter 7: Everyone Has Secrets, Speaking the Truth, Realizing the Possibility...
To be honest, when Xiao Yan realized that there might be other time travelers, it was difficult for her to accurately describe her feelings. If she had to say, she was probably more worried than happy.
There was indeed a little bit of joy, but that slight happiness of meeting an old friend in a foreign land could not outweigh the extremely high risk of death that would arise after his identity was discovered.
Don't blame her for overthinking; her existence could directly threaten the other party's core interests.
Putting aside other things, just look at the three items that are already on the market: wine, salt, and ice. Each of them is extremely profitable, and given some time and manpower, she can produce almost the same level of profit.
Even if she dared not touch something as sensitive as salt in practice, purifying high-proof liquor would require a considerable amount of time.
Let's just talk about ice then. If she's willing, the Xiao family can get a large share of the profits in the ice market this summer.
But would she dare to try and get a piece of the pie?
She dares not!
Even now, Xiao Yan was already sounding a warning in her heart. She was a newcomer, but the other person, who was suspected to be a transmigrator, clearly already had a strong foundation. She dared not gamble her life on people's hearts.
While Xiao Yanhui was determined to act cautiously, Xiao Quexian was determined to make a big splash.
Xiao Quexian was initially stunned because in her previous life, her father had never given them a shop to practice on.
"Is this a complication caused by my scheme against Xiao Yan Hui yesterday?" Xiao Quexian wondered, feeling uneasy.
But considering that she has been given a second chance at life, there are countless things she needs to change and scheme about. As the number of changes increases, her advantage of foresight will inevitably diminish.
Then we might as well seize the opportunity to extract as much value as possible from the prophet.
From this perspective, running her own shop would be like a godsend for her.
Even if her father hadn't brought it up, she would have persuaded her mother to give her one or two shops to practice in, since she knew many ways to make money...
Both of them were lost in thought and fell silent for a moment.
"What, you're unwilling?" Xiao Fuyan frowned slightly, his voice lowering as he waited for a reply.
Could it be that his two daughters were raised by their mother to be aloof and arrogant young ladies?
"Thank you, Father. I was just thinking about what kind of business to run in this shop. I got lost in thought for a moment. I will manage it well," Xiao Yan replied with a smile, snapping out of her reverie.
Being able to run a shop and enjoy all the profits would be a great opportunity, so she naturally wouldn't refuse.
Seeing that Xiao Yan had already answered, the Second Madam tugged hard at Xiao Quexian's sleeve under the table, signaling her to speak quickly. What was she standing there for at a time like this?
Just now, the master said that if the business was poor, he would take the shop back. Doesn't that imply that if the business is managed well, the shop won't be taken back?
The second wife immediately thought that the shop her daughter had chosen was likely to be one of her future dowries, and the master had even said that Xian'er should choose first. She was now eager to get the information on those empty shops so that she could choose the best one for her daughter.
"Thank you, Father." Reminded by her mother, Xiao Quexian stood up and gave a graceful bow, her tone full of confidence: "Your daughter will certainly not disappoint you, Father."
Xiao Quexian firmly believed that since she was given a second chance, she must be a person of great fortune, and any changes in the future would surely be beneficial to her. Therefore, she was truly full of ambition at this moment.
After all, although Qin Ji was a bad person, he was very good at making money. And in her previous life, she had been in the Qin family for so many years, so she had at least seen through seven or eight parts of the tricks of the trade, if not completely.
Those proven and effective money-making methods, those few extremely valuable formulas—wouldn't it be a waste not to be among the first to use them?
"Qin Ji, if I were to put you first in everything in this life, what would you do?" Thinking of this, Xiao Quexian felt extremely happy.
......
Qin Family Hidden Abyss Tower
"Young Master, the Xiao family has sent an apology gift, saying that due to the incompetence of the household manager and the resulting mismanagement, someone with ulterior motives was able to take advantage of the situation." The second-class steward of the front courtyard respectfully handed Qin Ji a gift list and a letter.
"Oh, someone with ulterior motives?" Qin Ji's gentle smile remained unchanged as he simply waved for the person to leave.
"Who do you think this person with ulterior motives is referring to?" Qin Ji suddenly spoke up in the empty room after the others had left.
"My lord." A shadowy figure flashed in the room, and a man was kneeling on one knee in front of Qin Ji.
This person possessed an extremely common physique, an ordinary face, and incredibly agile and unpredictable movements—enough to make them disappear into a crowd. It was clear at a glance that they were a carefully cultivated, top-notch spy.
However, while the Qin family is indeed quite wealthy, it would be giving them too much credit to use spies of this caliber.
Leaving aside the hidden aspects, let's just look at the present: in less than two days, the secret agents have thoroughly investigated the Xiao family.
"Judging from the information leaked by the Xiao family, Xiao Fuyan wants the master to believe that the Shen family bribed the Xiao family's servants to sabotage the marriage between the two families." The man's voice was also a very ordinary baritone, and he could be said to have perfectly embodied the meaning of being unremarkable.
"What is it actually like?" Qin Ji waved for him to stand up and answer, then slowly walked to the desk, sat down, and began to write on a piece of paper.
While planning his business in the south, he also spared a bit of attention to listen to Wei Sa's reply.
The marriage alliance with the Xiao family was a crucial part of his early plans, and now that something has gone wrong, he certainly cannot be completely unaware of the reasons behind it.
"In fact, everything was deliberately planned by the second wife and the second daughter of the Xiao family. Their aim was to catch you and the third daughter of the Xiao family in bed together and use this as an excuse to force both families to change the marriage agreement. Xiao Fuyan was indeed unaware of this at the beginning."
"Interesting. It seems that Miss Xiao looks down on me?" Upon hearing Wei Sa's reply, Qin Ji's usually gentle expression finally changed, revealing a hint of inquisitiveness.
If he remembered correctly, he was highly sought after when he was discussing marriage with the Xiao family. How come he turned from a sweet treat to poison in the eyes of the Second Miss Xiao after only two years? This sudden change made Qin Ji curious about the reasons behind it.
What intrigued him even more was the Third Miss Xiao, who had also been plotted against that day.
"Where is Miss Xiao San?" Thinking of the woman who nimbly jumped out of the window and swam away from Lotus Lake that day, although the time spent with her was very short, Qin Ji still felt that her words and actions were somewhat incongruous, but this incongruity gave him a strange sense of familiarity.
“Miss Xiao is faking illness; otherwise, there’s nothing unusual. I vaguely overheard some of the reasons why Miss Xiao wants to break off the engagement, but… I didn’t hear them very clearly.” Wei Sa’s tone was unusually hesitant.
The mother and daughter were whispering in bed late at night, and they were being very discreet to avoid being overheard by the maid on night watch. So even with Wei Sa's hearing, he couldn't hear everything.
But unfortunately, he overheard something incredibly awkward, and his response was absolutely disastrous. Noticing that his lord was looking up at him, Wei Sa steadied himself and repeated what he had heard.
"At first, Miss Xiao said it was a Bodhisattva appearing in her dream to warn that the Qin family was not a good match for her. There was a part where they spoke in extremely low voices, and I only heard scattered words like 'Liang family' from the government office. They seemed to be talking about grain prices, or perhaps the new prefect Liang family. I couldn't tell which one they were talking about. After that..."
Taking a subtle breath, Wei Sa forced herself to utter the last words: "Afterwards, they raised their voices slightly, so I heard them quite clearly. Miss Xiao said she had investigated privately and found that because the master is impotent, she would never marry him."
As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head deeply, pretending that he was a chair or a pillar in the room.
Upon hearing this reason, a scene that hadn't appeared in many years suddenly surfaced in my mind...
Wei Sa, who was looking down, didn't see that, in a certain instant, Qin Ji's eyes, which usually held a gentle smile, turned extremely dangerous.
But that look was fleeting.
Blinking his eyes, which had been dazzled by the light, Qin Ji fixed his gaze on Wei Sa, who seemed to wish he could disappear, and smiled helplessly.
Although he did indeed dislike matters between men and women for certain reasons, he never expected it to be associated with the word "impossible." However, such trivial matters were not his focus, and Wei Sa really didn't need to be so concerned.
He was more concerned about the vague term "liang jia," because whether it referred to grain prices or the Liang family, it was highly suspicious.
Some time ago, grain prices did fluctuate due to the flooding of the Fengjiang River. However, prices rose and fell quickly in the Jiangzuo area, leaving little time for speculation. It would be difficult for a young lady from a secluded household to seize such a time-sensitive opportunity.
As for the Liang family, isn't it strange that a young girl would suddenly mention a family that has no connection to her own family and has never appeared in her life before during a private conversation with her mother?
Strangely, it seemed as if she already knew some things in advance.
"Investigate thoroughly whether the mother and daughter have made any unusual profits during this period of sharp rise and fall in grain prices. Have someone keep an eye on this Miss Xiao, and focus on whether she has any unusual interest in the Liang family, the soon-to-be-appointed prefect."
“Investigate Miss Xiao again.”
For some inexplicable reason, Qin Ji's mind drifted back to the Third Miss. His intuition told him that something was amiss with this seemingly innocent victim. Since that was the case, he figured he might as well investigate.
After all, he didn't want to marry a scheming and treacherous person in the future.
That's right, Qin Ji has decided to go along with Miss Xiao's idea of changing her marriage partner, since he is busy with other matters and has no interest in causing himself any more trouble.
The investigation into the Xiao family was temporarily concluded. Qin Ji took out a letter and was about to instruct Wei Sa to deliver it when he heard a series of disordered footsteps approaching from afar.
Wei Sa disappeared without a sound, and a middle-aged fat man with a pale face, no beard, and a round face staggered into the room with a look of panic on his face. He didn't even have time to wipe the sweat from his head and face before he knelt down in front of Qin Ji.
"Young Master, something terrible has happened. There's a disturbance in the west backyard... The Master requests your presence there."
Qin Ji clenched his fist under the table, the veins throbbing, then relaxed. His face was filled with anxiety and worry, and without hesitation, he got up and walked out after hearing the message.
......
In the main courtyard of the Xiao family, the eldest wife sighed and placed a stack of papers in front of Xiao Yan Hui: "I knew this best room would be chosen."
This stack of papers is the shop information that Master Xiao mentioned earlier.
A note from the author:
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