116 (Completed)
"My lord, you must work harder."
After the Shatuo Kingdom was destroyed, the sword hanging over everyone's heads was finally cut down, and Xiao Pingchuan's Black Flag Army became the most terrifying and mysterious force among the Eastern countries.
With powerful muskets, cannons, and explosives at his disposal, he conquered the Shatuo capital with fewer than 100,000 troops in three days and slaughtered the entire Shatuo royal family.
For a time, the surrounding small countries were all in danger and submitted to the Great Liang in order to protect themselves.
To intimidate all sides, Emperor Xingwu personally appointed the Black Flag Army as a special guard force independent of the state army and the central army, stationed permanently in Jinzhou. General Xiao Pingchuan, the General Who Guards the North, was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Zhenbei, still with Jinzhou as his fief, making him the only marquis in Daliang to simultaneously possess both an army and a fief.
At that time, Jinzhou was already the richest prefecture in the country, absorbing at least one-fifth of the population. Cotton clothing workshops, flour workshops, soap workshops, and various other workshops gathered from all over Daliang made Ningyuan, the prefecture capital, famous throughout the world.
It is said that the taxes paid by the ancient clan in a single year are enough to fill half of the national treasury.
"We need to find someone to take over the iron mine and firearms workshop at Laomaoling as soon as possible," Yan Lin said. "Now that the trade routes outside the pass are open, I need to go out and do what I want to do."
Shen Suqin sat opposite him, her face falling upon hearing this. "You're always thinking about running away. How much can Jinzhou not tolerate you?"
“Oh, just let him go. It’s not like he’s never coming back. Besides, porcelain and tea are easy to trade, like picking up money. Why not let him go?” Su Yubai said.
"Don't think I don't know, you want to come along too. You two really want to dump all this stuff in Jinzhou on me? No way!"
“What do you mean by leaving everything to you? The managers of each workshop are doing a good job. Apart from checking the ledgers and reconciling accounts, what else do we need you to do?” Su Yubai tried his best to persuade her. “Besides, isn’t that kid Liu Zimu here too? Your general is back as well. With two big shots overseeing things for you, no one will dare to cause trouble.”
"I'll only go once, follow the goods and come back with the goods, I absolutely won't stay any longer, I swear."
Shen Suqin said aggrievedly, "Look at them." She turned to look at Xiao Pingchuan.
At this moment, the group sat under the grape trellis in the Shen family's courtyard. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the ground. When the wind blew, the light dappled and swayed, making it somewhat dazzling.
Xiao Pingchuan poured her some tea and said, "I don't care about your affairs. If you really don't want them to leave the pass, I'll withhold their exit documents and see what happens."
Shen Suqin raised her chin slightly: "Did you hear that? You can't leave without my nod."
Yan Lin: "Why don't you go out of the pass and take a look? The customs and culture outside are very different from those in Daliang, and it's quite interesting."
Xiao Pingchuan narrowed his eyes instantly, becoming alert.
Shen Suqin was indeed tempted.
She had originally wanted to leave seclusion, but for various reasons she couldn't. Now, encouraged by Yan Lin, her mind was suddenly set on something.
So, she smiled and looked at Su Yubai: "Shall we discuss this?"
Su Yubai knew what she wanted to say, so he crossed his arms and said cautiously, "You go first."
“One person, one trip, let’s take turns.”
"Hmm...it's not impossible, but I have to be the first one there."
“Deal.” Shen Suqin nodded. “I will let Liu Zimu take over Old Cat Ridge. It originally belonged to the imperial court, so it is appropriate for him to take over.”
“Okay, then I’ll get ready to hand it over. Whoever wants to come along, pack your own things,” Yan Lin said.
As night fell, the bed curtains swayed, and Xiao Pingchuan held the agate pendant from Shen Suqin's ear between his lips, polishing it until it became smooth and translucent. The air inside the tent was thick with heat, and strands of hair clung to her neck with sweat. Xiao Pingchuan thrust in suddenly, rubbing against her, and asked in a low, hoarse voice, "Do you really want to leave seclusion?"
Shen Suqin murmured, "I want to, I want to... um..." Tears rolled down her cheeks, wetting her collarbone, only to be licked away heavily.
"Want to? Want to walk alone?" Xiao Pingchuan hugged her tightly from behind, which almost brought tears to Shen Suqin's eyes again.
"I don't want to think about it anymore."
"Don't want to anymore?" Xiao Pingchuan put his fingers into her mouth, stirred for a moment, and then said, "This little mouth of yours is good at lying, so you'd better not talk."
"Ah... Jin, Jin'an."
"It's no use calling me anything now, Mr. Shen. You have zero credibility with me. You won't be sleeping tonight."
As she finished speaking, the bed curtains swayed violently, and Shen Suqin's fair and slender hand fell limply to the edge of the bed. In an instant, it was grabbed back by a large hand covered with blue veins.
Half a month later, Yan Lin came out of seclusion, and Su Yubai followed him with a beaming smile.
Shen Suqin came to see him off and said sourly, "Be careful not to strain your back."
Su Yubai laughed heartily and said with a big belly, "I will bring you back rare treasures, just wait."
"Go, go, go quickly, stop bothering me."
Yan Lin mounted his horse and said to Xiao Pingchuan, "My lord, I'm entrusting Zhaozhao to you."
Xiao Pingchuan clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Have a safe journey."
After seeing the people off, Shen Suqin still had to rush back to check the account books. With so many businesses, just flipping through the account books would take a long time.
"His Majesty recently sent word that after the autumn harvest, the equal-field system will be officially implemented nationwide, and the tax system will also be implemented at the same time."
"Why is he telling you this? Now that the Northern Border is backing him up, the noble families don't dare to stop him from doing whatever he wants, nor can they stop him."
“That’s what I meant too, so I refused when he asked me to go to the capital to oversee things for him. He’s always trying to get me to do things for free; he’s really not being polite.”
Xiao Pingchuan asked calmly, "His Majesty still hasn't taken a concubine? Didn't he say he intended to let your elder sister enter the palace?"
"Who knows? The authorities have been pressuring him for years. They finally relented, but who knows what problems might arise?"
"Didn't you ask?"
Shen Suqin gave him a strange look: "What does this have to do with me? Why would I ask this? She did write to me the other day saying she wanted to come to Ningyuan for a few days, and I agreed."
Who wants to come and stay for a while?
"Shen Suqiu".
"oh."
Shen Suqin narrowed her eyes and said unhappily, "Why are you so concerned about her?"
She suspected the two of having an affair back then.
Xiao Pingchuan: "I wasn't concerned, I was just asking casually."
"real?"
"real."
A few days later, Shen Suqiu indeed arrived.
She didn't bring any personal maids, only a few guards.
Shen Suqin arranged for her to stay in a side courtyard of the Shen residence and even prepared a family banquet to welcome her.
Her grudges with Shen Suqiu were buried with the passing of Shen's parents. Princess Changtai also passed away the year before last, reportedly due to long-standing resentment, and died in a nunnery, alone with no one by her side.
"You should rest for the next couple of days. Once you've rested, I'll take you for a stroll around Guzongfang," Shen Suqin said to her after the welcoming banquet.
"good."
The ancient ancestral ward is now dozens of times larger than Ningyuan City, and you have to take a horse-drawn carriage to walk around it.
Looking at the wide street, the orderly workshops, and the pedestrians coming and going, Shen Suqiu sighed, "I never imagined that you could achieve this all by yourself."
"You're wrong. I couldn't have done it all by myself. I have a lot of people helping me, and that's what makes them so great."
Shen Suqiu nodded. "I'm so envious, you know?"
Shen Suqin remained silent.
"You're so carefree and easygoing, it seems like nothing can faze you. I'd like to know, so far, is there anything you've found difficult?"
“There are many things, like what to eat tonight.” Shen Suqin smiled. “Don’t think too much. Just do what you want to do, and you can worry about it later. I heard you refused to enter the palace?”
"Um."
"Why?"
"It was just another deal of his. He wanted someone in the harem to silence the officials in the court, but he didn't really want to find a woman to marry, so he came to me."
"A fake marriage?"
"I guess so."
"Hmm, he does know how to scheme."
Shen Suqiu looked into the distance, "Who can argue with that?"
"So you came to the North to hide from him?"
"That's part of the reason, but my main reason is that I wanted to see the famous Guzongfang."
"Okay, get out of the car, I'll take you inside for a walk."
Shen Suqiu stayed in the northern border until winter before returning. By then, the trade routes outside the pass had begun to show results, and Shen's Treasure Shop began to sell tin pots and various spices imported from outside the pass.
Su Yubai broke his promise; he didn't return with the first batch of goods. Instead, he had a great time playing in Yuezhi with Yan Lin and Ju Tao.
At the end of the year, Shen Suqin audited the accounts by herself, including those of Xingyuan Restaurant, Guzongfang, and the Black Flag Army. She didn't sleep for several days in a row. There were too many accounts; they piled up and almost filled half a room.
Finally, when she was too busy to handle everything, she had no choice but to ask Liu Zimu to help.
"You calculate the cotton-padded clothing workshop first. I want to see how well Su Yubai manages the Su family business," Shen Suqin said.
The cotton-padded clothing workshop was a compensation she gave to the Su family, and she hasn't really taken care of it in recent years.
“I glanced at it, and it’s very profitable,” Liu Zimu said. “It’s a pity you didn’t take it back and do it yourself. You let him make so much money for nothing.”
"Kid, you can never earn enough money. Do you want to work me to death?" Shen Suqin said weakly, leaning back in her chair.
Am I small?
"What?"
"Kid, am I young? I'm already twenty-four, I'm not young anywhere."
Shen Suqin: "..."
She suspected someone had said something inappropriate, but seeing his upright expression, she thought she was overthinking it.
"Not young? That depends on who you're compared to." Xiao Pingchuan came in to deliver some snacks and suddenly interjected, "Compared to me, you're still young. Oh, I mean, age."
Liu Zimu gave a forced smile, "I'm getting old. In a few years, I won't be able to keep up. I'm talking about age."
Shen Suqin looked around and saw that the two were about to fight, so he said, "If you two are really bored, go outside and have a fight. Don't get in the way here."
“No need,” Xiao Pingchuan said. “I’m afraid I’ll cripple him with one punch. Let’s have some snacks. Didn’t you say you were hungry?”
Shen Suqin nodded.
Xiao Pingchuan picked up a piece and fed it to her. Shen Suqin took a bite without hesitation and tentatively asked, "Did you two have a fight?"
"No, how could I have quarreled with the Marquis?" Liu Zimou's face was grim. "Let's stop here for today. I'll come back tomorrow when I have time."
"No need to see me off," Xiao Pingchuan said.
Shen Suqin opened her mouth and looked at Xiao Pingchuan: "Was he angry just now?"
Xiao Pingchuan lowered his head and kissed her, saying, "Why bother with him? Speaking of which, since you're so tired, why don't you find someone to share the burden?"
"So that's why I brought Liu Zimu here."
“I mean,” Xiao Pingchuan leaned down and whispered, “have a child, raise him, and then leave all the work to him. I’ll take you out of the pass and we can go wherever we want, from north to south.”
Shen Suqin thought about it and realized that it might not be a bad idea.
“Then you’ll have to work harder, my lord,” she said, tilting her head back and smiling.
"I will."
--over--
[Author's Note]
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