Three days later, Qingyan and Yin welcomed Prince Gong Changning in Zhili. When they saw the travel-worn man, Qingyan burst out laughing.
Accompanying Chang Ning was Prince Gong's primary wife, who also had an excellent relationship with Xiao Guai.
"You brats, you two have caused such a big mess." Chang Ning poked each of them. These two little ones had made him travel thousands of miles. Originally, he and his wife had agreed to spend the Dragon Boat Festival at the mansion.
Qingyan watched as Prince Gong's primary wife poked Changning's waist, signaling him to shut up, as Yin began to exhale cold air.
Chang Ning smiled and quickly looked at Yin.
"Sixth Uncle, are you planning to get Father Emperor to say you're unreliable?" Yin was annoyed. He and Xiao Guai had really gone to great lengths to calm the disaster victims down.
"Along the way, I noticed that the stream was different from usual. There were no dead fish or anything like that, and no disaster victims were eating those things." Chang Ning found it strange. Usually, the disaster victims would definitely eat those fish.
In the vast disaster relief tent area, there were not many idle people. Basically, the elderly were looking after the young children, and the children who were able to do some chores were all busy. Yin even changed into a doctor's cotton uniform. If Kangxi saw him, he certainly wouldn't recognize him.
"Sixth Uncle, why don't you change into Fourth Uncle's clothes first? These fancy everyday clothes will be so dirty in less than two hours!" Yin couldn't help but complain as he looked at Chang Ning's clothes.
Qingyan stood obediently behind Yin. Changning had to admit that Kangxi had found Yin a good wife.
"Sixth Prince, please come with me to change your clothes first. Your Highness, you should change your clothes too." Qingyan looked at the First Lady's clothes and felt a headache coming on. She didn't have clothes that big.
"Little darling, your sixth aunt has brought clothes. I'm not as flamboyant as your sixth uncle!" Changning's primary wife was Geng Jingzhong's granddaughter. During the suppression of the Three Feudatories, Geng's father and his servants helped Kangxi obtain a lot of information. In the end, they were killed by Geng Jingzhong.
From then on, Changning and his wife got along even better. Both of them were orphans and depended on each other for survival.
"You, you, you... how dare you criticize me in front of the two children!" Chang Ning liked Qing Yan; her eyes were clear and insightful, unlike the other concubines in the palace.
"Yes, so what if they criticize you?" Madam Geng snorted and told Shishu to bring out all the clothes.
Chang Ning shook his head helplessly. Ever since the two of them had talked things out, Geng's speaking style had changed quite a bit, which really put him at ease.
Changning's tent was to the right of Yin's main tent. Qingyan led Gengshi inside and showed her the setup. It was clear that Qingyan had put a lot of effort into it.
"Little darling, thank you!" After her biological father passed away, Princess Consort of Prince Gong was often looked at differently by others.
Qingyan was the first person to treat her fairly after meeting her. She looked up and sized up Gengshi, whose complexion was not very good. Among her sisters-in-law, her family was the most impoverished.
Wu Yingxiong and Wu Shilin were arranged by Emperor Kangxi to fake their deaths so that they could reunite with Princess Jianning.
Geng's headdress was quite worn, but her clothes were made of very fine material. Chang Ning was also careless and did not notice the difference in Geng's headdress.
"Sixth Aunt, your clothes are excellent, but I don't have any suitable clothes for you here!" Qingyan noticed that Madam Geng was a little reserved, so she quickly stepped forward and said.
"Little darling, this is what your sixth uncle brought me when he went on his business." Madam Geng smiled shyly. Since her father passed away, her maternal family had disowned her. Apart from her dowry, she had no extra income. The huge royal mansion lived solely on Chang Ning's salary.
"Sixth Aunt, my sisters-in-law and I are planning to open a teahouse exclusively for women in the capital. Would you like to join us?" Qingyan's idea had been formed long ago. If it weren't for the sudden disaster relief, she probably would have already arranged for someone to look at the shop.
Geng's eyes lit up. These were all the private savings of the primary wives of each family. If they made any money, it would be theirs too.
“Great! This will give us another source of income in our business,” Mrs. Geng quickly agreed.
Within the circle of wealthy women, Qingyan's business acumen was widely praised. Because of the strong preference for sons in her maternal family, when Yingenjueluo Shi married, half of the dowry money given to her by her clan was withheld by her mother and given to her brothers.
This incident became a typical example of gossip among many upper-class ladies.
"My sister-in-law also invested in Mei'ai, a subsidiary of Linglang Pavilion, which specializes in custom-made jewelry." Qingyan will not release the shares of Linglang Pavilion; they belong only to the Ulanara Mansion.
When the time is right, Mei Ai will directly separate from Linglang Pavilion.
"Really?!" Geng exclaimed in surprise. It was already quite good that Qingyan was willing to give up the most profitable portion.
Qingyan nodded. Gengshi went to the inner chamber first and changed her clothes with the help of Shishu. When she came out, the disaster victims outside started working enthusiastically, following what Yin and Qingyan had said.
Those disaster victims, who were able to support their families in the village, were even more desperate and worked even faster, as if they were building relief tents for their own families.
"Little Darling, are you really not going to give those people any money for disaster relief?" When Geng came over, she heard Changning mention that Kangxi had been concerned about Yinzhi's disaster relief efforts.
Changning was the most resilient among the princes, and Geng's rescue was related to Changning's actions.
"That would mean we'd have to meet and pay taxes for several years in a row." Qingyan said, happily sipping her cool tea.
The road to disaster relief was long and arduous. Changning was very optimistic about Yin's actions. To avoid any attacks on Yin, Kangxi sent Fuquan and others to other princes' homes so that outsiders would not have any reason to think too much.
At this moment, Chang Ning was directing the recording of grain supplies with Yin. Some of the people who were laying the foundation kept glancing at Chang Ning out of the corner of their eyes. The people who came today must be of very high status. The man standing with the Fourth Master was obviously very respectful to him.
"Fourth Prince, are you really sure you don't want to change it?" Yin had already exchanged the copper coins, and several guards were specifically assigned to watch over them.
“No change, Sixth Uncle. Don’t you think these people are more motivated than the ones we hire from the county town?” Yinwei said. These people are also much faster, and they ask for one-third less pay.
Chang Ning had to admit that Yin was quick-witted. After listening to the guards' reports, he had to admit that Yin had grown up and understood that he could no longer rely on brute force. Instead, he had taken a different path from others.
Yin looked up and saw children digging a pit by the stream, which, according to Qingyan, was to bury the fish carcasses.
"Fourth brother, this is..." Chang Ning rarely saw such well-behaved disaster victims. It was strange that the children weren't eating the dead fish. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
