Five years ago, thanks to his older sister's marriage to a branch manager of the Qi family, a royal merchant family, Lin Qingyuan was able to obtain the Qi family's route through the grasslands in advance every year and receive the gems ahead of time.
The Qi family's gemstones were sent to the palace, but Lin Qingyuan opened the Ruzhu Pavilion instead.
Several shops located in the south and Beijing have long been making a fortune.
As for the eldest son's desire to invest in Ruzhu Pavilion... Lin Qingyuan scoffed.
The elder brother, who "diligently" managed the family business, was used to "buying" prime shops with money.
Since he used his third uncle's power to invest in his Ruzhu Pavilion, he could only ask for money.
Okay, but I'll start with 50,000 taels of silver!
I just need to find a reason to stay abroad for two months.
His gaze turned towards Tianxiang Tower: that Manager Song was really good, just what he wanted.
If there were enough time, I could still use my true feelings, but now...
A slight smile appeared on Lin Qingyuan's lips. Women are nothing compared to money.
As soon as Song Liyun returned to Suijin Town, she encountered Chun Tao, who was strolling around with her child.
She was looking around at a courtyard with an air of fascination, completely unaware that Song Liyun had walked up to her.
Not only her, but also many other people were gathered outside the courtyard.
"Sister Chuntao, what are you looking at?" Song Liyun frowned and glanced at the courtyard a few times.
Outside the courtyard stood a large locust tree. It was late August, and its leaves were still green, casting a somewhat gloomy shadow over the gate.
"Ah! It's Li Yun who's back."
Chun Tao was startled by Song Liyun's sudden voice. When she saw it was her, she covered her mouth and giggled, "Liyun, come and see the show. She's cried a few times today."
"What's going on now?" Xue Zhuang lives in that courtyard. He's a prominent figure in Suijin Town now, so why is he being watched like this?
Perhaps it was because of a happy engagement in her family, Song Liyun suddenly felt herself becoming gossipy, her mind, which used to only think about life and death, now filled with a sense of everyday life.
With something interesting to watch, she wasn't in a hurry to leave. She untied the reins of the chrysanthemum-green horse, took a piece of sugar cake from her bag and stuffed it into the horse's mouth, patted its back and said, "Go back by yourself!"
Juqingma raised its head and galloped off towards Baolinju outside the town.
Song Liyun then placed a piece of candy in the hand of the child Chun Tao was holding, and the child immediately opened his mouth and smiled, revealing four white teeth.
Upon hearing Song Liyun ask what had happened, Chun Tao immediately felt like she had found an outlet for her anger and recounted everything that had happened that day.
It turns out that today's troubles originated from what those displaced women said.
On that day, Magistrate Jiang specially arranged for ten eligible young women from the displaced population of Suijinwei to marry.
Lin Tao and Song Liyun both knew this was a difficult task. They sent the person to the guild hall, notified Luo Baihu, and then left.
The Broken Gold Guild Hall only had tables and chairs; there was no place to accommodate these women.
Fortunately, there were still some vacant courtyards left by the garrison for military households, and the weather wasn't cold yet, so they simply opened up a courtyard to make do for a few days and then assigned people to those meritorious soldiers to start their families.
These girls are all human beings. Although they are to be married to soldiers, Commander Luo cannot just give them to anyone. He must choose among them.
Since the girls had just arrived, they couldn't cook, so Xue Zhuang's family took care of their meals for the time being.
Originally, there was nothing wrong, but for some reason, Sister-in-law Xu told Xu Yan'er that these women were all concubines for Xue Zhuang, while she was also seducing Xue Zhuang with sweet words and even took off her clothes and pounced on him.
At this point, Chun Tao, a woman who had given birth to two children, began to stammer.
Especially since Song Liyun was still a girl who hadn't been engaged, she couldn't bring herself to ask for a marriage proposal.
Seeing Chun Tao blushing, Song Liyun's curiosity was piqued: how did such a secret matter become known to everyone?
Before Chun Tao could speak, the Xue family's courtyard gate was blown open, and Xue Zhuang, with his hair disheveled and clothes in disarray, slammed Xu's sister-in-law heavily to the ground.
He hit her hard, and the woman, whose face was already red and swollen, was thrown face-first into the mud, immediately lying on the ground and wailing.
Xiao Bao ran out of the yard crying and hugged his mother's neck, screaming at Xue Zhuang: "You're a bad person, I'll kill you when I grow up."
Sister-in-law Xu was so frightened that she quickly covered her son's mouth: "Don't say it, don't say it!"
Xue Zhuang glared angrily at Xiao Bao, then lashed out with his leather whip, the sharp sound of it cutting through the air startling everyone around him. "Hey! That's just a child!"
"What can a child understand? Why get angry with a child!"
Xiao Bao and his mother screamed and covered their heads in terror!
Unexpectedly, Xue Zhuang pulled back his leather whip, the tip of which swept through the air and landed on the ground beside him, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Get out of here right now! If you ever dare to set foot in Broken Gold Town again, I'll break your legs!"
"Xue Fu, you two take this mother and child away and tell the Xu family to keep this slut in check."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man walked out from the side, next to a mule cart. The man grabbed Sister-in-law Xu and Xiao Bao and threw them into the bare mule cart.
Sister-in-law Xu grabbed the carriage and shouted into the yard, "Yan'er, Yan'er, I just wanted to help you. Your brother used to love you so much, you have to have a conscience!"
No one answered in the courtyard.
The driver slapped him, saying, "Master Xue told you to shut up." His attitude was arrogant and domineering, showing no regard for the fact that this was Xue Zhuang's relative.
Song Liyun pointed at the departing mule cart and said, "Sister Chuntao, why does that person look so unfamiliar?"
Song Liyun had met all the men in the town of Suijin. Although she might not be able to recall their names, she would at least remember their appearances.
Chun Tao glanced at them and whispered, "Those are the servants Xue Zhuang bought a few days ago. They're a family. I heard they only cost ten taels of silver, which is cheap."
Song Liyun raised an eyebrow. She only knew that refugees had come to Suijin Town, but she didn't know that there were already people buying and selling in the town.
She could actually buy people, but as a modern person, she is still used to hiring them.
As Chuntao watched Xu's sister-in-law being sent away, she couldn't help but spit out: "This sister-in-law is too bold. She seduced her brother-in-law in broad daylight. If Xu Yan'er hadn't come out crying and talking, everyone might have been fooled by her."
"Did Xu Yan'er tell you?" Song Liyun thought of Xu Yan'er's inability to hide her thoughts. If her sister-in-law had anything to say, she would really have made it all out.
Chun Tao covered her mouth and chuckled, "If Xue Gui hadn't stopped her in time, Xu Yan'er would have run to the market and started crying and making a scene."
Song Liyun felt a chill run down her spine. The market in Suijin Town was still quite lively. If Xu Yan'er caused a scene, Xue Zhuang would definitely get a beating from Luo Baihu.
"Tell me, what is Xu Yan'er thinking? Instead of quietly investigating whether her sister-in-law is having an affair with a man, she makes a scene based on hearsay. If there really is something going on and she makes such a fuss, how can this family continue to live together?"
Song Liyun shook her head. What a fool she was going to do. No one could guess where she was going to explode.
Actually, the rumors circulating outside were a misunderstanding of Xu Yan'er. Having had a previous confrontation with Song Liyun on the street, she understood some things and didn't speak recklessly.
This time, it was Xu's sister-in-law who started making a fuss.
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