Xie Yushu had just driven her donkey cart out of the manor and into Tai'an Prefecture when she saw Xie Tianqi and Xie Baotian hurrying in her direction!
She called out from a distance
"Sister, sister, I've finally found you!"
Xie Tianqi and Xie Baotian were panting heavily from running.
"What do you want? Something happened at home!"
Xie Tianqi took a breath and hurriedly said
"My brother-in-law has been arrested! Xiao Jinyu has been taken away too!"
"What's going on! He's a cripple, just staying at home, why are they arresting him and his son?"
Xie Baotian has also recovered.
"Six days ago, no, let's say seven days ago, a man who claimed to be a blacksmith and two soldiers went to your house together. I heard from people in your village that the three of them were only inside for about fifteen minutes when they left with Xiao Yi and Xiao Jinyu and never came back!"
Those two soldiers were said to be fierce and menacing, carrying gleaming knives. They looked at anyone as if they wanted to devour them, and no one dared to ask them any questions.
They've been gone for two days and haven't come back. When Haitang went to see Old Madam and Old Man Xiao, they chased her away, saying that Xiao Yi's crime had nothing to do with them and that Haitang should stay away from them.
The little girl had no other choice but to go to Xiejia Village to find us.
I went to your village to inquire, and Xiao Yi left without saying anything. He just told Haitang to listen to you and follow you, without saying what he was going to do, when he would come back, or anything about your village chief, clan elders, or neighbors.
There are all sorts of rumors circulating in your village now. Some say that Xiao Yi committed a crime outside and went into hiding, but now he's been arrested. Others say that Xiao Yi abducted the blacksmith's wife, and Xiao Jinyu is the blacksmith's wife's daughter. Now the blacksmith's wife has come looking for him and filed a lawsuit against him. Adultery is punishable by exile, so they say Xiao Yi has definitely been exiled.
Others say that Xiao Yi didn't actually join the army all those years ago; he became a bandit. The blacksmith came to identify him, and the murder weapon was confiscated. They say it was two large axes, hidden in a black cloth bag.
I asked Tianqi and the Liu brothers to inquire, but they weren't in the Tai'an Prefecture prison either. What should we do?
After hearing this, Xie Yushu had a rough idea of what was going on. The blacksmith was probably Li Daniu from Jinyang City. The black cloth covering his head wasn't a large axe, but rather his Xuan Tie spear and short knife. As for the two soldiers, they were probably his former comrades. She didn't think he was a criminal, so it was probably something from his past.
However, Xie Yushu didn't know what he had done before. But since he was able to take Xiao Jinyu with him, it shouldn't be too dangerous. If it were dangerous, given his temperament, he should have hidden Xiao Jinyu away first.
Having thought things through, Xie Yushu wasn't too worried anymore, but she didn't tell Xie Baotian that Xiao Yi seemed to be hiding something from her. She only said that she might know the blacksmith, that he was from Jinyang City and was Xiao Yi's buddy, so he shouldn't be in any danger.
Xie Baotian was relieved to hear this. Xie Yushu planned to let Xie Baotian go back first, while she went to Li Daniu's blacksmith shop in Jinyang to see if he was there or if she could find out anything.
Seeing that Qu Xiaodie wasn't there and Xie Yushu was alone, Xie Baotian was worried and wanted to go back with her.
Xie Yushu thought it wouldn't make a difference to take half a day, so she agreed.
The two wanted to head straight to Jinyang City, but Xie Tianqi said, "It's almost noon. Let's go to his place for lunch first, and then take a boat. It's faster by water than by donkey cart."
Xie Tianqi asked curiously on the way
"Sister, when did you buy another estate? You didn't even tell us! Dad came looking for you, saying I found you some work, but I haven't seen you at all. We thought you were lost!"
Xie Baotian also scolded Xie Yushu for leaving for more than a month without telling her family. Xie Yushu explained somewhat embarrassedly.
"This is my private property, a way out for myself. I was afraid that if I told anyone, word would leak out and Old Madam Xiao would make trouble for Xiao Yuanhang again, so I didn't tell anyone!"
Now that you know, please keep it a secret for me for now.
Old Man Xiao sighed
"That's true. There are no secrets that stay hidden forever. It's better not to tell. Your mother-in-law would love to sell you all to make her youngest son richer. Sigh!"
But it was indeed my oversight not to tell you.
Xie Baotian waved his hand to indicate that he didn't care anymore.
Xie Yushu pointed behind her
"Go east for about twenty miles from here, and you'll find a valley. The land isn't great; it's mostly mountainous with only a small portion being flat. It's cheap, about three or four taels of silver per mu, for a total of fifty mu."
It's not finished yet; there are only simple houses where the workers live. Once it's repaired, we'll set up rooms for you. You can come and stay for a few days when you have free time to relax. But you have to keep this a secret for now.
"Don't worry, I'll sew your mouth back on!"
Xie Tianqi gestured with her mouth as she spoke.
Xie Baotian nodded, indicating that he understood.
When they arrived at Xie Tianqi's place, Xie Tianming and the Liu brothers had just finished their official duties. The group ate a bowl of noodles together. Now that they had established themselves in Tai'an Prefecture, Xie Yushu asked them what their next plans were.
Liu Qiang arrived
"This place is well-connected, with many merchants coming and going. This is only because Tai'an Prefecture suffered from drought in the past two years, which reduced the number of merchants. Presumably, things will recover next year, and the flow of customers will be even greater. If you were to open a food shop here, it would be very easy to start one!"
Xie Tianqi also said, "Brother Liu, we've been discussing opening a shop these past few days! We just don't know what to buy."
Xie Yushu said
“I see there aren’t many shops here, and some of the stalls are even vacant. Why don’t you buy one of the stalls and build your own shop?”
As for what to sell? This place is full of merchants coming and going, or laborers carrying goods. They can easily buy some tea and snacks, steamed buns and mantou.
It requires little capital and is easy to learn.
Xie Tianqi sighed.
"Of course we want to buy our own shop, but we don't have the money! We've worked in the government office for three months in total, and even with all of us combined, we can't scrape together five taels of silver. Sister, could you lend us some?"
Xie Baotian tapped Xie Tianqi on the head.
"Your sister just bought the mountain land and needs to hire people to clear it. She doesn't have any money to lend you! Don't even think about your sister's little bit of money!"
Xie Baotian assumed that Xie Yushu had used the 100 taels of silver Han Zhongyu had given her to buy the land, and guessed that she wouldn't have much left after buying the villa.
Xie Yushu said
"I earned another fifty taels from treating patients in Jinyang last time, and I still have some left. I can give you some help. How much do you need?"
She didn't tell Xie Baotian and the others the full amount; she only gave them the amount she was willing to pay.
Money is the root of trouble. Everyone has selfish desires. Who knows if Xie Tianqi will change? What if he finds out that he has a lot of money and squanders it recklessly in the city?
Besides, she wants to train Xie Tianqi to become successful and support her! She can't let money spoil her!
"The land here is expensive, thirty taels of silver per mu. Others who buy it have to pay the government ten taels of silver as a commercial tax, but we locals can pay less, only five taels."
Liu Qiang continued...
“If we build shops, we don’t need to buy an acre at all. Half an acre is enough. We can build three large shops in the front, three dormitories in the backyard, two side rooms on each side, and two east and west wing rooms in the open space in the front, back and middle. It’s enough for us to live in or for hiring workers.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com