"Song Jingche!"
"Zhu Yan!"
Qi Huan's urgent voice echoed through the empty courtyard, but there was no response.
The doors and windows were all locked from the inside, tightly shut.
How on earth did Song Jingche and Zhu Yan manage to leave?
Unable to find them, she leaned against the latticed door, catching her breath for a moment.
A gentle breeze caressed her cheeks, drying the fine beads of sweat on her forehead.
She casually tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and began to think rationally about where Song Jingche might have gone.
The news of the border's fall had been relayed to Taosu by Zhu Yan, so Song Jingche must know about it too.
Though Song Jingche appeared to be confined to Qingfeng Court, he was actually very well-informed.
Perhaps he was already on his way to pursue the elder Song.
Qi Huan's heart settled a bit. She gathered some people, boarded a carriage, and headed towards the palace gates to gather information.
On the way, she lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and was surprised to see the City Guard questioning people house by house.
Fragments of conversation drifted into the carriage, piecing together an important piece of news.
The officials who had planned to petition at the palace gates had all been abducted!
Their whereabouts were unknown.
This had happened right on the street, practically dancing on the face of the City Guard, an act of extreme audacity.
Qi Huan suspected this was Song Jingche's handiwork.
Could it be that because Song Jingche couldn't find the elder Song's carriage, he simply abducted everyone?
Regardless of whether it was Song Jingche behind the interception or not, at least the elder Song and the others were likely safe.
If whoever was behind this wanted them dead, they could have simply let them go to the palace gates to meet their doom.
There was no need to go to such lengths to stop them.
Qi Huan felt temporarily relieved. Instead of continuing to search aimlessly, she called out to the carriage driver:
"Change of plans, let's go to Mingyu Tea House."
After entering a private room on the second floor, she waited for a long time before Xiu Yuan finally arrived.
"It's been quite busy today, I apologize for keeping you waiting. Oh, right, His Highness has a letter for me to pass on to you."
Qi Huan took the envelope, removed the letter, and unfolded it to read.
...It turned out to be a letter in English.
There were even a few words she didn't recognize at all.
But it wasn't a big problem, she could skip over them for now.
She'd look them up in an English-Chinese dictionary when she got back.
In the letter, Li Shuchen told her not to worry about the Song father and son, as he had made arrangements.
He also asked her to leave a door open at night.
The most recognizable sentence in the entire letter was at the end—
I miss you.
After reading it, Qi Huan folded the letter with a sweet smile, put it back in the envelope, and tucked it into her sleeve.
Her original purpose for this visit had been to deliver the gunpowder formula. After reading the letter, she suddenly changed her mind.
It would be more appropriate to hand it to Ashu personally when she saw him at night.
Setting that matter aside, she began to inquire about the progress of the shop renovations.
Xiu Yuan poured a cup of tea and respectfully pushed it towards her with both hands, then began to report his achievements in detail.
"The small hermit hides in the wilderness, the great hermit hides in the city. I've arranged for the printing factory to be in Daoyi Alley in the west of the city, away from prying eyes."
"Everyone involved has signed a contract of indenture. Rest assured, miss, the key technology will not be leaked. Currently, the printing factory can produce a large batch of books daily, meeting both quality and quantity requirements. The renovation of the bookstore is also nearing completion."
"Once the carpenters finish building all the bookshelves and the smell dissipates, we should be able to open for business after the Lantern Festival. It's located on Academy Street, the fifth shop on the south side, called Universal Beneficence Bookstore. We welcome you to visit when the time comes."
After speaking, Xiu Yuan brought over a few sample books that had been printed and handed them to Qi Huan.
After casually flipping through a few pages, Qi Huan nodded with satisfaction and asked about the pricing.
"As per your instructions, we've privately visited quite a few bookstores. After comparison, we've tentatively set our prices about 20% lower than theirs. Our books don't require extra payment for scribes, they're printed quickly, and the cost is low. Even under these circumstances, we still have a good profit margin."
Qi Huan's fingertips caressed the book, and a faint smile rippled in her bright almond eyes.
"I'll leave the bookstore matters to you, sir. When other bookstores' business becomes dismal, you can send people to negotiate wholesale deals with them. We can make money together and spread knowledge together."
"By the way, how's the progress on the restaurant and clothing shop?"
Hearing her question, Xiu Yuan refilled her tea and continued, "The restaurant is located on Vermilion Bird Street, not far from Jinyu Building. The people who frequent this area are either wealthy or powerful."
"The hot pot and spicy stir-fry dishes you make are priced on the high end, so based on our target customers, I've acquired a restaurant on this street."
"We'll dig the cellar when it gets warmer in spring. At that time, I'll fill it with ice blocks as you requested, to keep the ingredients fresh."
"The main selling points of our hot pot and spicy stir-fry are their unique and novel flavors. So the recipe is particularly important. The staff in the restaurant have all been carefully selected by me, so please rest assured."
Mentioning the restaurant suddenly brought to Xiu Yuan's mind a sun-tanned, bright face.
She said she was an old acquaintance of Miss Qi.
"Miss Qi, do you remember a girl named Chun Zhi?"
Qi Huan thought for a moment, the name sounded familiar.
After a while, she remembered that Chun Zhi was the girl who wanted to help her dig a hole to bury a corpse outside Yunzhou.
At that time, she had rescued Chun Zhi from human traffickers.
When Chun Zhi returned home, her parents considered her "unclean" and scolded her, saying it would be better for her to die than to live and bring shame to the family.
Chun Zhi resolutely signed an indenture contract with Yange, gave the money to her parents, and severed all ties of gratitude and affection from then on.
Beijing needed staff, so she was transferred there.
Because she often cooked at home before, she was deft and quick, so she was selected for the restaurant and trained as a cook.
"Chun Zhi is a good girl."
And a girl with a hard life.
Qi Huan entrusted Xiu Yuan: "Within reasonable bounds, please take extra care of her."
"Certainly!"
After agreeing with a nod, Xiu Yuan asked her to wait a moment while he went to the back courtyard to fetch a small jar of pickled vegetables.
"Chun Zhi said she has no other skills. Apart from working hard, this bit of culinary skill is all she can offer to repay you. She asked me to give you this jar of pickles for you to enjoy as a side dish."
"I've already checked it in advance, there's no poison. Would you like to take it back and try it?"
Qi Huan's eyes were full of joy as she happily accepted Chun Zhi's kind gesture.
"Of course! Please thank Chun Zhi for me, sir."
Xiu Yuan brought a food box and put the jar inside, then said, "Besides Chun Zhi, there's another girl who is also an acquaintance of yours from Yunzhou."
"Her name is Yuan Yuan, she's extremely good at embroidery, and signed an indenture contract around the same time as Chun Zhi. I've arranged for her to work in the clothing shop, and she's now in charge of making robes."
"The clothing shop is located on Huayu Street, named 'Flower Visage Pavilion', taken from the phrase 'flowers inspire thoughts of garments, clouds inspire thoughts of appearance', and also implying 'flower-like countenance and moon-like face'."
"The first floor mainly sells ready-made clothes, while the second floor has private rooms set up, not only for custom-made luxurious clothes but also to promote the underwear you mentioned."
Xiu Yuan had spoken too much at once and his mouth was dry. He drank cup after cup of tea.
Taking the opportunity to fetch Yuan Yuan's gift, he secretly slipped away to use the toilet.
After washing his hands and using some fragrance, he returned to the private room with the package.
"Miss Qi, these are some handkerchiefs that Yuan Yuan embroidered for you. She said she didn't know your clothing size, so she could only embroider some small items for you for now."
Qi Huan accepted them with a smile: "Please thank Yuan Yuan for me again, sir."
Now, she had a food box on her left and a package on her right, full of gifts.
Qi Huan looked left and right, the smile at the corners of her lips growing deeper and deeper.
Meeting people who know how to repay kindness is both lucky and joyful.
Carrying this pleasant mood, she asked about the last matter: "Have the farms and houses been purchased?"
"In response to Miss Qi, these are the deeds for the farms, detailing the locations of each farm."
Xiu Yuan brought out a wooden box and opened it to show her.
"Under each deed is a piece of paper where I've drawn each farm and briefly noted the basic situation of the tenant farmers, as well as the farm's annual yield, main crops, whether there are ponds or mountains behind, and so on. Please take a look."
When Qi Huan saw the detailed farm distribution maps and the dense annotations, she couldn't help but sigh inwardly: the people Ashu had chosen for her were all very capable.
After discussing the business, Xiu Yuan invited her to go see the house they had bought to use as a warehouse.
"For safety reasons, His Highness ordered the tunnel from the tea house to be extended, connecting it to this residence. You can first go to the tea house, then use the tunnel to get here. His Highness said that rare and valuable goods are being transported out of the residence, so it might be under surveillance."
"You should use the tunnel to come here, to avoid being discovered and encountering danger."
Despite his busy schedule, Li Shuchen had arranged everything for her with great care.
With such a husband, what more could one ask for?
After entering the tunnel, Qi Huan was stunned by the sight before her eyes.
She had expected the tunnel to be damp and dark, but to her surprise, it was as bright as day.
Luminous pearls were arranged in heart shapes, densely covering the walls on both sides of the tunnel.
The soft, glowing light of the pearls clustered together, shimmering brilliantly. The walls full of heart-shaped luminous pearls were the most tender expression of his love for her.
Suddenly, Qi Huan felt an urgent desire to see him.
