"Dad! I think my sister is the smartest person in our family."
Lin Zihan said to Lin Weiming with utmost solemnity.
Lin Weiming was preparing fillings in the kitchen when he heard what his third son said. He raised an eyebrow and said with great surprise, "What, you only just found out now?"
That tone, as if he'd seen a fool, made Lin Zihan want to cry even more.
However, he still forced himself to tell Lin Weiming his thoughts, "So, Dad, I think it's better to hand over such an important matter as our family's rice shop to my sister! She'll definitely be able to run the business well, and then more people will be able to have enough to eat!"
Lin Weiming stared at Lin Zihan for a while, then suddenly burst into laughter.
Surprisingly, his third son is actually kind of cute!
He even tried to shift the blame onto his younger sister.
Hearing Lin Weiming laughing loudly from the kitchen, Lin Wanyue assumed there was something delicious to eat and ran over to join in the fun.
So Lin Weiming naturally told Lin Wanyue about Lin Zihan's plan to transfer all the Lu family's business—now renamed Lin Family Rice Shop—to Lin Wanyue.
Lin Wanyue: "..."
Lin Wanyue immediately complained to her father, Lin Weiming: "Dad, Third Brother made a lot of mistakes in the accounts last night. You have to make sure he gets all the accounts right today."
Lin Zihan pouted, looking utterly wronged, yet dared not cry.
"Hahaha!" Lin Weiming laughed loudly, shamelessly.
Xuefu and Liu Junlan heard Lin Weiming's laughter from outside the courtyard and quickly came over to ask what was going on.
Lin Zihan saw his mother and immediately rushed over, hugging Xuefu's leg and wailing, "Mom, I don't want to do the accounts anymore! I made a mistake again, and Dad is laughing at me. Mom, I'm still young, I don't know how to manage accounts at all! I'll study hard from now on, please don't make me manage the accounts anymore..."
Seeing her son crying so miserably, Xuefu couldn't help but hug him and comfort him, saying, "Alright, alright, you're all grown up now, stop crying."
Lin Zihan sobbed and wiped away his tears, then whispered to his mother, "Mother, can I not go anymore?"
"No," Xuefu replied crisply.
"Why? Mother, I don't want to go anymore. I want to stay home and study hard... I promise I will study hard from now on, just like my older brother. Please don't make me do the accounting."
"And the shopkeeper said that not only do I need to be good at accounting, but I also need to be able to tell the difference between each item so that I won't be cheated. That's too difficult! There are more than a dozen or twenty kinds of rice in the rice shop alone, and the prices are different. How am I supposed to remember them all?" Lin Zihan was about to cry again.
Xuefu felt a little soft-hearted, but she also felt that what Lin Weiming had said before was not wrong.
The children in the family are all talented, but the third child is the only one who is not yet married.
Although it's not necessary for him to become a big businessman in the future—his family isn't short of money now—he still hopes Lin Zihan can practice more.
Even if you don't have aspirations in this area, you shouldn't give up so easily.
Moreover, the old manager they hired had actually praised Lin Zihan for having some talent, as he was very fast at calculating accounts.
However, as their family's life gets better and better, they are more likely to develop a spoiled attitude.
Liu Junlan thought so too, and nodded to Xue Fu.
So, having failed to win over Lin Zihan with his million-dollar fortune, he could only continue his arduous daily studies, and gradually, he even got used to it.
...
The Lin family has been enjoying immense success lately.
The emperor's and Qi Sichen's favor is obvious to all, otherwise how could the Lu family rice shop, worth millions, be given away to the Lin family so easily?
Moreover, another powerful figure in the imperial court, Lin Yanping, always found various excuses to send gifts to the Lin family.
According to reliable sources, the neighbors living near the Lin family's home, who are known for their sharp tongues and keen eyes, Lin Yanping would stay at the Lin family's house for several hours each time he visited, and on several occasions he would not return until almost mealtime.
It is evident that he had an excellent relationship with the Lin family.
Actually, this news is quite reliable.
Lin Yanping has been visiting Lin Wanyue's family almost every day these days. Each time he comes, he brings some small gifts and also mentions things in the palace.
The palace has been calm lately, and nothing seems to have happened, but there's still no clue about the person behind it all.
Now, some time has passed since Qi Yuan's birthday banquet. With Qi Sichen's approval, the imperial concubines in the palace held two religious ceremonies in the palace to ward off evil and disaster.
Both of these religious ceremonies were held at renowned Taoist temples in the capital, and their uplifting effect was quite remarkable.
However, some timid people still felt that there were still some small disturbances somewhere, and they were afraid that there were ghosts that had not been completely exorcised. But they couldn't figure it out, so they could only feel annoyed.
The rest were all normal.
Qi Sichen didn't have much trust in these women in the harem to begin with, especially since Liu Shuhua had lived among them before, which made him even more suspicious that the person behind the scenes was hiding among these seemingly harmless and delicate women.
He remained outwardly calm, but secretly he had already increased his manpower and placed everyone living in the Spring and Autumn Pavilion under strict surveillance.
Even the slightest movement of a fly or a mouse was meticulously recorded.
However, there was still nothing suspicious about it.
These imperial concubines lived in the Spring and Autumn Pavilion. Apart from occasionally attending banquets to maintain the royal image, they had practically nothing else to do. They were generally quite well-behaved, but they always liked to get together and chat, gossip, speak ill of others, and sow discord.
Apart from that, there weren't many activities or anything unusual.
After listening to Lin Yanping's words, Lin Wanyue remained silent for a while before saying, "This person has always hidden in the shadows for so many years without revealing much of a trace, so he must be very well hidden."
“Of course. If we hadn’t met you, His Majesty and the Regent would probably never have imagined that there was such a thing as metaphysics involved.” Lin Yanping didn’t pretend to be the old prime minister when he was talking to his daughter, nor did he show the same respect to the emperor and Qi Sichen.
Lin Wanyue continued, "Since Liu Shuhua has such abilities, I reckon she must be one of that person's right-hand men. Now that we've suddenly cut off his arm, he'll definitely need to recuperate for a while, and he probably won't make any rash moves in the short term. That's because that person is too cautious, which is why he's been able to remain patient for so many years."
After all, even Qi Sichen probably didn't expect Liu Shuhua to have such powerful abilities. If Lin Wanyue hadn't been there to stop her, and she had directly made a move at the banquet, probably few guards would have been able to stop her.
But it was precisely because the person behind the scenes was too patient that the emperor lived under his nose for so many years without making a move.
These days, they are even less likely to make a move.
Lin Yanping nodded and said, "But this will make it even harder for us to find him."
Lin Wanyue smiled, already having made up her mind.
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