Chapter 486 : Imperial Envoys (1)

The autumn rain pattered down and landed on the eaves, creating curtains of water and adding to the unique scenery.

Yuxi stood at the door, looked out at the rain outside and muttered, “This rain came just in time.” After the rain, the wheat could be sown. If the weather were favourable next year, it would be a bountiful year for her.

Mama Qu asked, “Madam, will there be any problems with you buying so much land at once?” She only discovered that Yuxi had bought more than 20,000 mu1 of land after Yuxi had sent Han Dong and some other stewards to organise the ploughing. With the more than 3,000 mu1 that Yuxi had purchased earlier, her mistress had nearly 30,000 mu1 of land, which was a staggering amount. Those powerful families in the capital probably had this amount of land. And their land was definitely not piled up together like Madam’s.

Yuxi smiled. “Don’t worry, there will be no problem.” She was also aware of everyone’s concerns. But if she didn’t take this opportunity to acquire these fields and wanted to buy such good land again, she would have to wait until **********. So, despite the criticism, she still decided to purchase these properties. As long as Yun Qing’s position was stable, her properties would be safe.🦊

How could Mama Qu be relieved? But looking at Yuxi’s calm demeanour, she knew that anything she said would be useless, so she stopped talking.

Yuxi turned her head to order a maid to call Master Man and Master Fish over. When they arrived, she asked them, “I want you to go to Xinping City. Are you willing?” Although Fuji3 Restaurant in Yu City made money, it was not very profitable in comparison. In the past, because Yuxi was unfamiliar with Xinping City and at odds with the Xu family, she was afraid they would cause trouble if she opened a restaurant there, so she gave up. Now that she no longer had this worry, she naturally couldn’t stop profiting from her money.

Master Man replied, “I’ll listen to Madam’s instructions.” It was certainly good to be able to go to Xinping City, which was much safer than Yu City. The battle at the beginning of the year had scared him.

Master Yu said, “Madam, I want to stay in Yu City. Otherwise, if Master Man and I leave, the Fuji3 Restaurant will have no chef.” Despite being the restaurant’s chefs, Master Man and Master Yu had different temperaments and didn’t quite get along. That was why Master Yu did not want to go to Xinping City, even though Xinping City had better conditions than Yu City. Besides, he was doing this to repay a favour, not to make money, so he preferred to stay in Yu City.

Yuxi nodded her head. “Master Man, you will travel to Xinping City in half a month, so take good care of your disciples during this time.” The two masters were currently surrounded by apprentices who were learning from them. However, there was an old saying that teaching the disciple would starve the master4. Yuxi also did not expect Master Man to teach his unique skills to his apprentices either, but he had to hold up his end of the bargain at least.

Master Man quickly agreed.

Not long after the two masters left, Yuxi heard Zhao Huan asking for an audience. She was a little confused as to what Zhao Huan was doing at her door at this time. “Tell him to wait in the side hall.”

Knowing that Zhao Huan had come to deliver the silver, Yuxi smiled and asked, “Isn’t the dividend due at the end of the year? Why are you sending it over now?” It was unclear what the Zhao family meant by this action.

Zhao Huan replied with a smile: “My father heard that Qingming Hall was about to start classes, and he was afraid that Madam didn’t have enough money on hand, so he asked me to send the money over first.”

Yuxi was no fool. Who would believe that? She was afraid that the Zhaos knew that she had bought all the Xu family’s properties, and they were worried that she didn’t have enough money, so they sent her the money early. Yuxi had to say that the Zhao family’s people were very discerning. It was easy to make people have a favourable impression of them with just this point alone. However, this time, Yuxi was really short of money, so she didn’t push it away and said, “Eldest Master Zhao is very kind. My hands are tight lately. It would be impolite of me to decline this.”

Hearing this, Zijin walked over, took the envelope from Zhao Huan’s hand, and handed it to Yuxi. Yuxi didn’t look at it either. She casually placed it on the table beside her and asked, “How is the Zhao family’s business these days?” The Zhao family had many businesses in Xinping City, including a pharmacy, a medical centre, and other shops.

Zhao Huan nodded his head. “Thanks to General and Madam’s blessings, business is going well.” After a pause, Zhao Huan said, “Madam, we plan to open a silk shop in Yu City. I wonder if Madam would be interested in investing in it?”

Yuxi shook her head. “No need.” In Yucheng, apart from the wives of officials, no one else was willing to buy silk and satin. Since the silk shop didn’t make any money, there was no need for her to invest. Of course, even if it did make money, she still wouldn’t do it. She could easily be tripped up if she even wanted to invest in small businesses.

Shiliu walked in from outside and said to Yuxi: “Madam, the Chief Steward is waiting outside and said that he has something important to report back to Madam.”

Yuxi nodded and quickly said, “Let the Chief Steward in.” For Han Ji to say that he had something important to report, it was most likely that there was news from the capital. Seeing this scene, Zhao Huan hurriedly interrupted, “Since Madam has something to do, this Zhao will take his leave and return home.” He walked out and greeted Han Ji when he saw him outside.

Once Han Ji entered the room, he held out a letter with both hands and said, “Madam, this is an urgent letter from the Lord Duke.” Han Jianming’s letters were all marked. Han Ji could tell at a glance whether it was ordinary or urgent.

Yuxi quickly took the letter and opened it when her face immediately darkened. She instructed, “Immediately send someone to invite the General back and tell him I have something to look for him.” The Imperial Court had even sent an Imperial Envoy to thoroughly investigate the Xu family’s affairs, which was beyond Yuxi’s expectations.

After Zijin delivered the news and returned to the inner courtyard, she noticed Yuxi’s heavy face and asked hastily: “Madam, what dirty trick has the capital come up with now?” The so-called important officials of the Imperial Court in the capital only knew how to bicker all day, not even caring that ordinary people couldn’t make a living.

Yuxi told her about the Crown Prince’s appointment of the Imperial Envoy. “The imperial envoy who will come here this time is surely not just here for the Xu family’s affairs. In all likelihood, they are targeting us, husband and wife.” Fortunately, she had received the news in advance and was able to prepare. Otherwise, if they were caught off guard, someone would undoubtedly take advantage of them.

Zijin snorted coldly and said, “Since the Imperial Envoys dare to come, let them come. If they dare to do anything, they won’t be able to return safely.”

Yuxi shook her head. “We can’t be tearing our faces off5 with the Imperial Court just yet. We have to deal with these Imperial Envoys properly.” She didn’t care if the Imperial Envoys came, but what worried her was that the Song family might use this opportunity to make trouble, so they had to take countermeasures.

Zijin felt depressed as she lamented, “Madam, when will we no longer have to endure such oppressive days?” Before Madam married, she had endured all the hardships in the state residence, and now she had to tolerate even more while living outside. Madam had put up with so much that Zijin didn’t know when these days would end.

Yuxi raised her head, looked at the mist outside the window, and said softly: “Five years at the most. After five years, you no longer need to look at people with discretion.”

With a puzzled look, Zijin asked, “Madam, why is it that after five years, we no longer need to look at people with discretion? Madam, will something particular happen then?” Of course, she was happy that Madam would no longer have to live a suffocating life. But Yuxi’s tone of such certainty made Zijin feel strange.🤔

Yuxi did not answer her question but said, “You will know when the time comes.” But first, she had to accumulate enough capital before that.

Yun Qing arrived home half a shichen7 later, and he asked Yuxi as soon as he saw her, “What happened?” Yun Qing had rushed back immediately after receiving the news.

Yuxi replied, “When the Song and Yu families heard that you had led your troops to attack the Xu family, they unanimously recommended a thorough investigation into the Xu family’s affairs. The Crown Prince couldn’t dissuade them and had to send Imperial Envoys to investigate this matter.” The only fortunate thing was that these Imperial Envoys were not from the Yu or the Song families. However, that didn’t guarantee that the Song or Yu families wouldn’t bribe the Imperial Envoys along the way.

Yun Qing coldly asked, “While we wait for them to finish their thorough investigation, where will we get the money to pay the Wu family’s final payment?” After ordering so many things, they could only pay half of the money! When the time came to collect the things, if they could not pay the rest, there would be no place for them to show their faces. The shame was only secondary. What he feared was that it would affect their business. In the future, the Wu family would surely demand payment before delivering any goods to them.

Yuxi felt that this was indeed a problem, but the bigger problem was yet to come: “I’m afraid the Imperial Envoys will come over and check your accounts, so you must be careful.” Seeing Yun Qing’s nonchalant expression, Yuxi added, “If they deliberately pick faults, they can always pick a bone out of the egg8. You still have to be prepared; otherwise, you will suffer.”

Yun Qing nodded. “I will discuss this matter with Mr Xia later.”

Yuxi felt stifled when she heard this, so she advised, “He Rui, you cannot completely rely on Mr Xia in all military matters.” It was not that Mr Xia was bad, but she felt that relying too much on others would make them feel as if someone was constantly holding their elbows9.

Yun Qing said unconcernedly, “Those who are able should do more10. Mr Xia is so talented. It would be a pity if we didn’t make full use of his talent.” Yun Qing was most impatient regarding matters of common concern, so most of these were left to Mr Xia to handle and a small portion to Mr Chen.

Yuxi felt that this was not a good sign, but there was no point in discussing it any further. “Just sort out the accounts, and there is nothing to be afraid of when the Imperial Envoys investigate the rest.” Yun Qing had only been in office for half a year, and what had happened before had nothing to do with him. He only needed to take care of his half-year’s affairs, and then he would have nothing to fear.

At this point, Yuxi’s expression suddenly changed as she added: “He Rui, if the Imperial Envoys want to check the accounts, they might even check the much older accounts. He Rui, there must be problems with those accounts, which must be dealt with. Otherwise, Marshal Qin’s lifelong reputation will be ruined.” If one had to say who Yuxi admired the most, it was Marshal Qin. She didn’t want Marshal Qin to suffer from a bad reputation after putting his heart and soul into Yu City.

Yun Qing hadn’t thought of that, and his face instantly changed after hearing Yuxi’s words.

Yuxi said, “Don’t worry. Go and talk to Mr Xia. I think he will have a solution.” She believed that after Mr Xia knew about this, he would be more worried than Yun Qing.

Yun Qing nodded his head. “I’ll go now.” After saying that, he turned around and left.

When Mr Xia heard that the Imperial Envoys were coming to inspect Yu City’s accounts, his face immediately changed. However, Mr Xia soon regained his composure. “This matter is not difficult to deal with.” As long as they burned all the account books, the Imperial Envoys could not find anything.🤔

Yun Qing nodded. “Let’s use this method.”😌