Ji Qianxue wasn’t surprised. If Chen Fan couldn’t handle even a single Lin Family, she would be too disappointed.
However, Ji Qianxue was also very curious.
Chen Fan currently had no one to rely on, while the Lin Family was large and influential, deeply rooted in Jinling City. How could Chen Fan alone claim that the Lin Family’s fate was already sealed?
“So, what do you plan to do?” Ji Qianxue asked.
“Well, there’s no rush! Let’s focus on recovering from the injury first!” Chen Fan said with a smile.
“Perfect timing. I have some matters to attend to and will be away for a while. When I return, I’d love to see how Brother Chen takes down the Lin Family!” Hua Qiancheng said.
“Away for a while? I wonder…”
Chen Fan wanted to ask more, but Ji Qianxue didn’t give him the chance. Before he could finish, she smiled and said, “Brother Chen, I’m about to leave. Aren’t you going to write a poem to bid me farewell?”
“Well…”
Since Ji Qianxue didn’t want to elaborate, Chen Fan didn’t mind. After a brief thought, he spoke directly:
“The Yuan River flows to Wugang, yet parting brings no sorrow to the heart.
Green hills share the same clouds and rain, and the bright moon has never been two lands apart.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Qianxue’s eyes lifted slightly. “Excellent poem! Truly excellent!”
“What a line—‘Green hills share the same clouds and rain, and the bright moon has never been two lands apart.’ Brother Chen, focus on recovering. When I return, I must share a hearty drink with you, or I’ll feel something is missing!”
“Agreed! When the time comes, I’ll personally host a banquet to welcome you back, Brother Hua,” Chen Fan said.
“Then I’ll trouble you, Brother Chen. Farewell!”
With that, Ji Qianxue cupped her hands in a salute toward Chen Fan.
Chen Fan didn’t try to keep her. He escorted Ji Qianxue outside the door and watched as Hua Qiancheng boarded the carriage and disappeared from sight before returning to the courtyard.
In the courtyard, the twenty shadow guards brought by Ji Qianxue needed no instructions and immediately took up their guard positions.
Chen Fan wanted to talk to them, to probe for information and find out who Hua Qiancheng really was.
But they were highly disciplined and refused to speak to Chen Fan.
Apart from their leader saying they could be dispatched at will, they didn’t utter another word.
This only made Chen Fan more curious about Hua Qiancheng’s identity.
What kind of person could command such loyal guards?
However, with these guards, he no longer had to worry about his safety.
Instead, he could focus on how to deal with the Lin Family.
Thinking this, Chen Fan suddenly looked at Xiao Ke and Xiao Ai and said, “Xiao Ke, Xiao Ai, your young master is injured now. Can you help him with something?”
“Young Master, what is it?” Xiao Ke and Xiao Ai both asked, looking puzzled.
“Take that one million taels and go to the various Xiangji to buy up all the grain in the surrounding areas, okay? I’ll have ten guards accompany you!” Chen Fan said.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ke and Xiao Ai were both astonished. “Young Master! You want us to go? We…”
“It’s fine! Your young master believes in you!”
“And there’s no need to rush. Take your time. Buy as much as you can, but remember one thing: keep a low profile. Or spend some money to have the grain transporters disguise themselves as merchants, escorts, or the like, and have them all delivered here,” Chen Fan said gently.
“But we’ve never…” Xiao Ke and Xiao Ai were still somewhat worried. After all, they had only ever been maids before. Matters of business frightened them; they were afraid they wouldn’t do well.
“Don’t be afraid. There’s a first time for everything. Go ahead and do it boldly. Young Master believes in you. And if you make mistakes, Young Master won’t blame you. Just treat it as practice!” Chen Fan said gently.
Hearing this, although the two were still very worried, they couldn’t say anything more.
However, Chen Fan truly believed in them.
After all, ever since he bought them, Chen Fan had taught them a great deal of knowledge. They were simply lacking in confidence.
As long as they were given opportunities to gain experience, they would certainly not be lacking.
And indeed, as Chen Fan had anticipated, they did quite well—in fact, one could say they did excellently.
As days passed, large quantities of grain, disguised as building materials like timber, were transported into his courtyard every day.
In just seven days, the two had purchased a hundred thousand catties of grain and stored it in his courtyard, filling every room to the brim.
But this was only the limit of Chen Fan’s courtyard, not the limit of the two young girls.
The two girls directly bought many houses in the towns around Jinling City to serve as granaries. They also took it upon themselves to promise the local farmers that they would purchase grain at the current high prices for the next three years. Additionally, with the high salaries they offered, they directly hired local farmers to help guard the granaries.
Their reasoning was to join the broad masses of the people in overthrowing the oppression of the Lin Family and reestablishing a normal grain purchasing system.
The farmers around Jinling had long suffered under the Lin Family, and with the two girls being wealthy and generous, they all responded enthusiastically.
Chen Fan was very pleased. He had known all along that these two girls could do it.
However, Chen Fan was not idle either. With so much grain, he could naturally begin his distillery plan.
Brewing liquor was the simplest and most feasible industry he could think of at the moment.
In this world and era, people still only drank fermented yellow wine, which was bland in taste, around ten degrees in alcohol content, and often mixed with grain residue.
It could in no way compare to distilled liquor.
After spending a few days, Chen Fan personally designed and built a distillery in the backyard of the residence.
He hired a few honest and reliable farmers as workers and directly began the distillery plan.
As days passed, distilled liquor that did not belong to this era was continuously produced in Chen Fan’s distillery.
Moreover, thanks to the guards left by Ji Qianxue, Chen Fan no longer encountered any life-threatening dangers.
But at this time, in the Lin Family, Lin Sanqian’s face was dark and grim.
It had been a full month, and they still hadn’t managed to kill Chen Fan.
As a result, Chen Guogong was growing impatient, repeatedly questioning why he couldn’t even kill a profligate!
“Master! Why don’t we just let the Duke handle it himself?
The guards around Chen Fan are too powerful; each one is at least a seventh or eighth realm expert. They’re simply beyond our ability to kill!
In the past few days, trying to kill Chen Fan, almost all the experts in our mansion have been killed or injured!” the Lin Family steward said helplessly.
“Let the Duke handle it? Do you think that’s possible?”
Lin Sanqian snapped angrily, but in his heart, he was deeply puzzled.
Chen Fan was just a profligate who had been expelled from the family by Chen Guogong. Where did he find so many experts?
Moreover, even Leng Hanshuang, a powerhouse at the Ninth Realm Peak, had actually failed.
Could it be that someone was secretly helping Chen Fan?
Lin Sanqian pondered this, then coldly declared, “Spare no cost—hire assassins from the jianghu!”
“Yes, Family Head!” the steward replied with a helpless expression.
But just then, Lin Feng rushed in, looking panicked. “Father! Father! It’s terrible! Something terrible has happened!”
Seeing Lin Feng, Lin Sanqian’s expression darkened even further. If it weren’t for Lin Feng provoking Chen Fan, how would the Lin Family have offended him? Not only had they lost over a million, but they had also brought trouble upon themselves.
Thus, looking at Lin Feng, he felt a mix of frustration and disappointment, speaking impatiently, “What now? What else has happened?”
“Father! Someone—I don’t know who—has bought up all the grain around Jiangnan!” Lin Feng said.
Hearing this, Lin Sanqian suddenly stood up. “What?”
“What did you say? All the grain around Jiangnan has been bought up?”