Because the situation at court was still unclear, and because gold needed to be transported along the way, Yun Chang decided not to bring Xu Changhuan and Fu Bao back to the capital this time. He was worried that his wife and children might be in danger, and staying at home was what he felt most at ease about.
At the same time, he decided to ask the Crimson Flame Martial Arts School's bodyguard team for an escort.
The gold bars were packed into thirty chests and transported in ten carriages, with three chests per carriage. Each gold bar weighed ten taels, so each chest contained thirty bars, weighing a total of three hundred taels. Therefore, the three chests would weigh nine hundred taels.
Ten cartloads contained nine thousand taels of gold. Another thousand taels were kept in the officials' carriages in secret. So, on the surface, nine thousand taels of gold were sent to the capital, but only a few people in charge knew that it was actually ten thousand taels of gold.
This was to prevent anyone from causing trouble. There were three people in the know, including Yun Chang. So, for safety reasons, there were a total of thirteen carriages on the way back to the capital.
There were three boxes of gold bars on the carriage. Because the contents of the carriage were quite heavy, the carriage itself was made of very sturdy materials and could bear a weight of up to a thousand catties.
So there were also some cotton sacks on top, packing the whole vehicle so that you couldn't tell what was underneath.
It was covered with tung oil cloth for rain protection, as this was the rainy season.
While others might not know how powerful the Luo family is, Yun Chang does. The people in charge are all cultivators, and with their escort, he can worry less.
Yun Chang told Li Mai and Zhou Quan about the plan, and the two nodded. With Chi Yan's bodyguards accompanying them, they felt at ease.
In the past two years, Chiyan has gradually gotten back on track. And surprisingly, under the leadership of Li Mai and Zhou Quan, they have actually started making money, and life has become much better.
They also trained some skilled fighters for their own bodyguard team.
The entire martial arts school now has more than 100 martial arts students. Those who can join the bodyguard team are selected and tested through multiple rounds of selection. The top three are selected each year.
Therefore, the annual assessment competition at Chiyan Martial Arts School is extremely rigorous, and the students take it very seriously.
Seeing Chi Yan's current achievements, Jin Shi was even happier about his decision back then. The result was the best. He had people protecting him, his former brothers all had jobs and money to earn, and their families were all doing well. Although he was no longer the leader, it didn't matter. He was doing it all for the good of everyone. If he couldn't provide a good life for others, then he should step down.
After Yun Chang and Chi Yan finalized this mission, Jin Shi also requested to go. He had been in Qing Shi Town for over ten years and had never left. Now he planned to go out and see the world.
The principal agreed, and he even told Zhou Quan in advance that he should just listen to the prince.
Jinshi agreed and happily went back to prepare.
Approaching thirty, he had no intention of getting married, but was focused on taking good care of his brothers. He was a loyal and righteous man, and Zhou Quan thought highly of him.
While Yun Chang was making plans, Li Mai and Xu Changhuan's incense shop was also busy, having received their first batch of orders.
In the past few days, Xiangfang's first batch of products has been produced. Li Mai has not yet been fully marketed; they are accumulating stock first so that their own family can try it out.
Besides the Caiyi Pavilion, the Pei family also runs a cosmetics business, making them rivals to the Xu family. However, the Xu family's cosmetics business has now been handed over to their daughter and is now the business of the Zhou family's second master.
Pei Jing knew that in the future, Master Zhou's rouge shop would definitely sell Ruyi Fragrance Shop's perfumes and such, and he wanted to sell them too!
Fortunately, Master Zhou's wife is currently in confinement after childbirth, so she probably hasn't discussed this deal with her master yet. He has already told Li Mai that the Pei family wants to sell.
Li Mai had actually discussed this with Xu Yue long ago. Xu Yue's shop would sell it in the future, and Li Mai would also supply other shops. Each shop has its own customer base. The more people buy from them, the more people will know about their products and the faster they can be promoted.
Therefore, Li Mai readily agreed to come to Pei Jing, which made him happy for a while. He didn't intend to monopolize it; selling a batch first was to gain an advantage.
He bought a batch of goods and tried selling them in his own shop. Unexpectedly, within a few days, the perfume liquid and perfume balm became a hit.
After discussing it with his father, he placed another order with Ruyi Incense Shop for the two best-selling items.
Since there was business to be done, Li Mai naturally wanted to do it, so she let Xu Changhe take on the order and start producing and stocking up for Pei's Rouge Shop.
While she was busy, Lu Qian sent someone over, and Zhou Tao started the operation.
This day was June 26th.
Li Mai rushed over to take care of her. She and the two midwives endured three hours in the delivery room. Zhou Tao, on the verge of death from the ordeal, gave birth to her and Lu Qian's first child, Lu Zhaonian.
Zhou Tao nearly lost her life giving birth to this child, but it was only because Li Mai was there that she received the best things, protected her with spiritual power, and kept her alive with spiritual liquid. Otherwise, if it had been anyone else, this childbirth might have resulted in the deaths of both mother and child.
When the Lu family heard about the difficult childbirth, they cried uncontrollably. Lu Qian even knelt outside the delivery room, sobbing and begging Li Mai that he didn't want the child anymore, as long as Zhou Tao was alright.
The Zhou brothers watched Lu Qian like this, sighing helplessly, their eyes filled with tears. She was their beloved younger sister, and naturally they didn't want anything to happen to her.
Zhou Quan was alright; he trusted Li Mai, but he felt that his younger sister was going to suffer.
Li Mai was worried that Zhao Shi wouldn't be able to handle it, so she asked Madam Lu to accompany her to another courtyard to wait. Otherwise, if she fainted outside, Zhou Tao's situation would be even worse.
The baby was born in the evening, and it was quite big, weighing seven pounds and eight ounces.
Zhou Tao was thin, with small hips and a narrow pelvis, so giving birth to her was truly a nightmare.
When Zhou Tao gave birth, Li Mai used spiritual liquid on her to save her life. After giving birth, she stopped using all spiritual liquid and herbs. She didn't dare to give her any more tonics, fearing that she wouldn't be able to withstand the postpartum hemorrhage. She could only slowly regulate her body.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that the mother and child were safe, but upon hearing Li Mai's next words, they all became anxious again.
Lu Qian told Li Mai not to worry, he would definitely help Zhou Tao recover her health. Li Mai told him to start the treatment three days later, and not to do so within three days, otherwise she would suffer from postpartum hemorrhage. Lu Qian agreed.
Li Mai, who had been busy all afternoon, had just started eating at the Lu family's dining table when someone from the mansion rushed in, saying that the Second Madam had also started her journey.
Li Mai couldn't eat anymore, so she left Zhao Shi to stay with Zhou Tao. It was still a dangerous time for her, and Zhao Shi had to keep an eye on things to prevent any mishaps.
Li Mai quickly led the midwives back to the Zhou residence.
There are only a few midwives in town. These past few days, other families have been having babies and have hired two of them. These two are the two that her family usually uses.
Li Mai and Zhou Lin went back to check on Xu Yue's condition first. The midwives were still busy with Zhou Tao's follow-up matters. Zhou Quan would pick them up later.
Inside the carriage, Zhou Lin's face was somewhat pale. Thinking of the danger Zhou Tao had faced that afternoon, he was still a little frightened. And thinking of his wife's imminent delivery, his lips trembled slightly. "Sister-in-law, Yueyue..."
"Don't worry, Yueyue is having her second child. Her situation is different from Xiaotao's. Xiaotao has narrow hips and a narrow pelvis, so she suffered more during childbirth. Yueyue won't have that problem," Li Mai comforted him, then leaned against the carriage to rest.
Although Xu Yue has a great figure and is slim, her hips are not narrow, which makes it easier for her to give birth.
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