Su Qingyu had her period that day and was feeling unwell. She didn't go to Qingyuan Residence to pay her respects that morning, but stayed in bed with her hot water bottle.
Feicui came in and reported, "Madam, the third cousin is here and wants to see you."
When Su Qingyu heard that Lin Wuchen was back, she had to get up even though she was not feeling well.
Feicui was afraid that she would catch a cold, so she covered her whole body tightly and also prepared a hand warmer for her.
After thinking it over, I decided to call for a warm sedan chair. Although it wasn't far, it was freezing cold and I would be freezing even if I walked there.
When Su Qingyu entered, Shen Zhixiu and Lin Wuchen were sitting around the desk, looking at the map on it.
Lin Wuchen said, "Going north from Guangping Town is the smoothest and most peaceful route to the Northern Frontier. But they turned east from Guangping Town and went up Black Tiger Mountain."
"I suspect that Princess Yongjia wants to temporarily hide this batch of food and military supplies. As for what she plans to do next, you, Elder Shen, will have to investigate."
Su Qingyu walked closer and looked at the point on the map that Lin Wuchen was pointing to.
"Isn't this the Longhu Village in Yunwu Mountain?" Su Qingyu blurted out.
Lin Wuchen was stunned. "Cousin, you know about Longhu Village? How did you know?"
Su Qingyu then realized that she had said the wrong thing. In her previous life, a batch of goods from the Shen family was robbed by the Longhu Village. Because Lin Wuchen and the leader of the Longhu Village were sworn brothers, he took her to get the goods back.
But she has never been there in this life.
"You mentioned it to me once before, have you forgotten?" Su Qingyu said casually.
Lin Wuchen thought for a moment, "Did I mention that? I really forgot. But this Black Tiger Mountain was also where the Dragon Tiger Village was stationed before. Later, the leader felt that the terrain on the mountain was not spacious enough, so he moved to the current location."
He glanced at Shen Zhixiu and said, "I came back just to ask you, can I rob this food?"
Su Qingyu was taking the tea brought in by Wenzhu and handing it to the two of them.
When I heard Lin Wuchen's words, my wrist almost shook, but fortunately I managed to hold it steady in the end.
The word "劫" is really inconsistent with my third cousin's usual extraordinary temperament.
But Su Qingyu also knew that Lin Wuchen was not as harmless as he appeared. Of the young masters of the Lin family, he was the most ruthless and the most hard-hearted.
Shen Zhixiu thought for a moment and then asked casually, "How do you want to rob me?"
Lin Wuchen pointed to the location of Black Tiger Mountain on the map and said, "Under here, is actually where the Dragon Tiger Village hides things. There is also a secret passage."
"If I plan it well, I can replace their food and fodder without making a fuss."
Chen Ping brought many people, but there were also many people available from Longhu Village and the Lin family. With the cover of the secret passage, it was not difficult to replace the grain and grass bit by bit.
They were stationed on the mountain, and the guards must have been tight on the outside but loose on the inside, which was just convenient for them to act.
Shen Zhixiu raised his eyebrows slightly, "You mean, you can get the food and grass, but you can't let the other party know that you got the food and grass?"
This is not an easy task, far less simple than simply robbing someone.
Lin Wuchen nodded, "We'll do our best, and it's not impossible. It's easy and convenient to just rob them, but I'm afraid the Li family will target Longhu Village."
He couldn't let his brother be harmed because of his cousin's affairs.
Shen Zhixiu's bony fingers slid across the location of Black Tiger Mountain on the map.
"Wait until they report that their food supplies have been robbed before you take action."
Lin Wuchen nodded, "I'll wait for your news."
Shen Zhixiu added, "Find a way to get the food and fodder we have. With this batch of food and fodder, we won't have to worry about fighting in the northern border this winter."
As for the Liaodong war, the Marquis of Loyalty will take care of it. Song Hongshen will never be short of supplies.
In December, not only was there continuous heavy snow in Beijing, but the weather was also getting colder day by day.
If the weather was good in previous years, people could still go to the mountains outside Beijing to get some firewood. Firewood was damp in winter, but it was enough to keep people warm.
But this year the mountain was blocked by heavy snow, and people were stuck in the snow before they could find firewood.
The money that Su Shunci and Lin Wuchen earned in the past two months made everyone in the capital jealous.
Lin Wanyin had purchased cotton worth 500,000 taels of silver, part of which was the best long-staple cotton from the northwest. This type of cotton was expensive, but it was warmer and lighter than ordinary cotton.
Su Shunci asked several Jiangnan brocade merchants she knew to draw her many Jiangnan clothing patterns, none of which were available in Beijing. She then found craftsmen in Beijing to refine these patterns, adding long-staple cotton to create a variety of warm and beautiful jackets and skirts.
The price of cotton in the capital skyrocketed, but Su Shunci didn't sell a single pound of cotton. She set up a separate section in her shop to sell these new-style jackets and skirts.
Although the price is a bit higher than usual, these noble ladies can afford it.
Su Shunci's shop became one of the best-performing shops in Beijing.
The other one is Lin Wuchen's charcoal shop. The silver bone charcoal sold in limited quantities every day causes a long queue in front of the shop.
After Shen Zhixiu returned home that day, he went to see Su Qingyu first.
Su Qingyu was in the small study planning for the New Year celebrations at home. She was a little surprised to see Shen Zhixiu coming back so early today.
During this period, the borders were raging, and these important officials of the imperial court were naturally busy from dawn to dusk. Every day or two, reports of the border battles were sent to the capital. It was common for the emperor to summon his officials at night.
"Why are you here so early today, Third Master?" Su Qingyu asked casually.
Shen Zhixiu sat down opposite Su Qingyu and said with an inexplicable look, "Someone set a trap for your husband today."
Su Qingyu was using an abacus, and she could have done two things at once. But after hearing what Shen Zhixiu said, the beads in her hand became messy.
She pushed the abacus aside and asked, "What's going on? Who dug a hole for you? How big is the hole?"
Shen Zhixiu laughed when he heard this, "Today's morning court will begin to discuss disaster relief in the capital."
"As for the person to lead disaster relief efforts, several people strongly recommended me. The reason was that I had made significant contributions to disaster relief efforts during the Northwest earthquake this spring."
"It's nothing, it's part of my job. Then, someone brought up the border war and suggested that the court spend as little money as possible on disaster relief, saying it should be saved for the war."
Su Qingyu's expression suddenly became strange, and she asked, "What did the emperor say?"
"Although the Emperor hasn't issued a death order, he still hopes that I can accomplish this. It would be best if we could provide disaster relief without spending money from the national treasury."
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