“He lives in Liuling Mountain, which is right in Xiangzhou. He is a reclusive master. I have met him a few times.”
"So that's how it is." No wonder Shen Junbai had no memory; it turns out he had already gone into seclusion.
He Qi Xie looked at her and said, "Whenever you want to go, I can take you."
Qiao Qiu shook her head, "I'm afraid it won't be possible for at least half a month."
"Okay, there's no rush. We can go another time." He Qixie understood that he still had many things to do.
Half a day later, the carriage procession arrived at Xiangzhou City.
Qiao Qiu immediately went to the yamen to report the matter to the authorities. Bandits like this needed to be dealt with.
The yamen (government office) readily accepted the case, but whether or not the bandits would be eradicated was another matter entirely.
Qiao Qiu didn't care, as long as they accepted the case.
Back at the Shen residence, Qiao Qiu arranged everything she had brought back and personally kept accounts and records.
Having nothing better to do, He Qixie learned that Qiao Qiu had brought back several children to teach martial arts, so he went over to personally teach them.
A month later, Qiao Qiu finally settled down in Xiangzhou.
Although she didn't have much property in Xiangzhou, and the Shen family's tens of millions of assets in Shuzhou had left her with only five million taels of silver, it was still a considerable amount of wealth for Qiao Qiu.
You should know that if this amount of money were given to ordinary people, it would be enough for them to live on for generations.
However, Qiao Qiu wouldn't settle for a life of leisure in this world. She said she wanted to learn how to do business, and she was determined to do it.
To do business, you have to start with a makeover. Qiao Qiu claimed that her face had been disfigured, and then brazenly put on a half-face mask—in business, eating and drinking are necessary, so the mouth has to be 'shown'.
To make people believe her, Qiao Qiu followed Shen Junbai's father's example and put an unsightly scar around her eye. When someone didn't believe her and insisted on removing her mask, the scar would be revealed.
Over time, everyone came to know that Shen Junbai, the most handsome young master of Xiangzhou and Shuzhou, had been disfigured.
Many girls can't accept this reality, but they still swoon when they see her wearing a mask. After all, covering her face is like draping a veil of mystery, which makes her charm stand out even more.
In the previous world, Qiao Qiu had been in a high position for many years, which gave her an aura of authority yet approachability that made people trust her. Coupled with Shen Junbai's business acumen and her honed eloquence, she quickly fooled those old foxes in the business world with a mix of truth and deception.
Three years later, the Shen family once again became the richest family in Xiangzhou City.
Meanwhile, everyone in Xiangzhou City, whose wealth had increased dramatically, was marveling at Shen Junbai's extraordinary abilities. What did a temporary downfall matter? What did one person's success matter? A person who could drive the development of the entire city was the true leader.
Yes, Qiao Qiu promoted the commercial development of Xiangzhou City, created countless new professions, provided employment opportunities for the people, freed them from worries about making a living, and significantly improved their living standards.
The current prosperity of Xiangzhou City has surpassed that of Shuzhou. Although it still lags behind the top ten cities in the Southern Chu Kingdom, the people of Xiangzhou believe that with the powerful Shen Junbai in charge, surpassing these major cities is only a matter of time.
Qiao Qiu's outstanding contributions earned the attention of the prefect—especially after he reported his achievements, which even impressed the emperor, who said he wanted to meet Shen Junbai.
In an attempt to curry favor with Qiao Qiu, the prefect dug up the case she had filed at the yamen three years ago and reported it to the imperial court to suppress bandits.
This matter received attention from higher authorities, who immediately dispatched a troop to wipe out the bandits.
Qiao Qiu wasn't too surprised when she learned about this, after all, things were different now.
In the past two years, those bandits have caused her no end of trouble because of their sixth leader. He Qixie usually goes back to pick up escorts for a period of time each month, and only stays with her for a maximum of half a month. If it weren't for the fact that she had won over some martial arts masters, He Qixie alone definitely wouldn't have been able to defeat them.
The news of the imperial court's suppression of bandits in Qiaoqiu quickly spread to everyone, especially since the suppression had been delayed for so long, the reasons for which were intriguing.
Qiao Qiu, however, went to the yamen to thank the prefect for this matter. Her demeanor was completely devoid of arrogance; she remained as humble and polite as ever.
The emperor's mission to suppress the bandits was merely a test of her character. Seeing that she was not arrogant at all, he became even more curious about her. That very month, he arranged for her to travel incognito to Xiangzhou, but very few people knew about this.
Qiao Qiu, who was far away in Xiangzhou, knew even less about it.
Of course, she knew, but she didn't have time to care. Because three years had passed, her mourning period was over, and she was ready to get married and have children.
Although everyone knows Shen Junbai has a scar on his face, his charisma is captivating enough, not to mention he's the richest man in Xiangzhou, and even government officials give him special treatment. Such a figure, still unmarried, is incredibly desirable. Naturally, many people are envious of the position beside him.
Qiao Qiu was extremely busy. Whenever she went out, a large number of matchmakers would swarm around her, vying to introduce her to girls. Qiao Qiu was so annoyed that she simply handed over all her work to her trusted confidants, while she herself put on makeup and slipped out of the Shen residence.
Once they reached a safe place and changed back into their own clothes, Qiao Qiu, who was used to wearing white, felt a little awkward wearing other colors. So she changed her outer garment into a sleeveless sky-blue robe. Her mask was replaced with an extremely long silver veil hat, which covered her entire upper body.
This is a world with a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the martial arts world), and there is never a shortage of江湖 people wearing this kind of hat on the streets, so she is not particularly conspicuous.
Finally, I can relax a little.
Qiao Qiu felt that she might have injured her meridians, as she hadn't grown even a centimeter taller in the past three years. Furthermore, the tendons in her hands and feet, which were injured, still caused her excruciating pain whenever she used martial arts, without any relief. The reason for this was truly perplexing.
Over the course of three years, He Qixie also took her to see the reclusive divine physician of Liuling Mountain. The divine physician examined her repeatedly but could not find anything wrong with her.
Qiao Qiu felt that if she wanted to know the truth, she would have to ask the ring after she died.
Given their current cooperative relationship, the ring wouldn't hide much from her; she wanted to see what kind of reasonable 'explanation' it would give her.
He Qixie asked her to meet him at the pavilion in Xiangtan Lake today, but she didn't know what he was up to.
In these three years, He Qixie has also changed. He increasingly likes to use brotherhood as an excuse to take advantage of her in various ways, but he just won't admit his feelings for her.
How come Qiao Qiu never noticed before that this guy was actually quite the repressed pervert?
The silver veil slightly obstructed her view, but fortunately she could still see the road clearly. Xiangtan Lake wasn't far, and she quickly left the crowd and walked onto the bridge over Xiangtan Lake.
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