Reminded by Granny Wang, Madam Wei remembered that Jiang Lanyue had quietly emptied her family’s coffers. Almost without hesitation, she immediately agreed.
“Send a few more guards with her, and have the steward prepare the carriage. I’ll go myself!”
Picking up her cane, Madam Wei’s sharp and malicious face revealed her true intentions. This time, she was determined to teach Jiang Lanyue a lesson.
Hearing the commotion outside the mansion, Wei Wan’er arrived at Ciyuan with a heavy heart.
She had heard that shopkeepers from various households were coming to collect debts. Yesterday, she had purchased a considerable amount of fabric and jewelry, estimated to be worth a hundred taels, all of which were still unpaid.
Worried that she had caused the trouble, Wei Wan’er came to investigate.
As soon as she stepped into the Ciyuan, she saw Granny Wang storm in with five or six guards. After Granny Wang greeted her, Wei Wan’er asked in confusion, “Granny Wang, what are you doing here?”
“Miss…” Granny Wang was about to explain when she was interrupted by Wei’s mother, who came out of the room: “Wan’er, what brings you here?”
Wei Wan’er stiffened slightly, a hint of guilt flashing in her eyes: “I heard that shopkeepers who come to collect debts have arrived outside. Mother, why hasn’t the steward settled their accounts and sent them away yet?”
In the past, shopkeepers had come to collect debts before, and when the steward couldn’t get the money, her sister-in-law would use her own dowry to help out. She had never been surrounded by people all morning.
Mother Wei spat and cursed, “I don’t know what your brother did yesterday, he owes the restaurant a thousand taels of silver, and now the manager is blocking the way demanding the money!”
“Wanwan, go back and stay here, don’t go out. I need to take Granny Wang to the estate first to ask Jiang for the money to cover this huge debt.”
“A thousand taels?” Wei Wan’er gasped, but felt a slight relief; thankfully, it wasn’t people from the cloth shop or jewelry store coming to collect the debt.
“That’s no small amount, Mother, let’s go find my sister-in-law together!”
Once they saw Jiang Lanyue, they could get some silver from her to buy rouge; in a few days, she wanted to go to Hanshan Temple with Xianglan to admire the chrysanthemums.
Mother Wei readily agreed. Jiang had always favored Wanwan; with her there, getting the silver back would be much easier.
At the estate in the suburbs.
Jiang Lanyue’s eyelids twitched; she had a bad feeling. After thinking for a moment, she took the large denomination silver note in her hand and prepared to go into the city.
Before leaving, she earnestly instructed Uncle Zhong and his wife to guard the gate, then took Shanhu and boarded a carriage to enter the city.
Living off their savings was not a sustainable solution; having decided to sell perfumes and spices, it was time to set up the shop.
Before the divorce, Wei Chi claimed he would leave with nothing, but in reality, their shared assets were minimal. Wei Chi had always considered money worthless and particularly despised merchants who valued profit over commitment and were tainted by greed.
To improve her in-laws’ lives, and also to save face for Wei Chi among his classmates, Jiang Lanyue opened a bookstore. Knowing the bookstore belonged to the Wei family, her classmates often took advantage of her without paying.
Even with her skillful management, she still lost three or four hundred taels of silver annually.
She planned to close the bookstore and convert it into a spice shop, not because she didn’t want to sell and buy a new one, but because prime locations in the capital were incredibly rare.
This particular shop was one she had painstakingly acquired from a wealthy merchant.
“Madam, we’ve arrived at Wenxinzhai.”
Jiang Lanyue snapped out of her thoughts and boarded the carriage belonging to Shanhu’s subordinate.
She looked up at the three characters of Wenxinzhai, their strokes powerful yet subtly sharp, exuding the elegance of a refined scholar.
It was Wei Chi’s handwriting.
His calligraphy reflected his character; although Wei Chi was heartless, his handsome appearance was extremely deceptive.
From afar, they could see the Wenxinzhai manager frowning as he worked on his abacus, unaware that Jiang Lanyue and her companion were approaching.
“Manager Qian, how have you been lately?”
Manager Qian paused, looked up, and upon recognizing the newcomers, his surprise turned to joy: “Madam has arrived! Please come in quickly. Xiao Si, come and watch the shop.” Manager Qian waved, and the busy shop assistants responded, taking the manager’s place, while another organized books on the shelves.
At this moment, the bookstore had only a few scattered customers; business was dismal, and without even checking the accounts, it was clear that this month would be another loss.
Shopkeeper Qian brought out tea that she usually couldn’t bear to drink, and Jiang Lanyue took a small sip; it was aged tea.
Glancing inadvertently at the wrinkles on Shopkeeper Qian’s face, Jiang Lanyue sighed inwardly. In her past life, she had been secretly detained by Shen Jiaxue and cut off from the outside world.
By the time she regained her freedom, her dowry had already been laundered into the Wei family’s property.
Shopkeeper Qian was part of her dowry given to her by her maternal grandmother before her death. He was an honest and upright man. After regaining her freedom, she specifically inquired about Shopkeeper Qian’s family and learned that they had long been sold by Shen Jiaxue, their fate unknown.
Later, she tricked Wei Chi into giving her some money to keep her company, and used this money to search all the way to Shopkeeper Qian’s only surviving daughter in a brothel.
Unfortunately, by then, she was nearing the end of her life and could only spend all the money to redeem her.
Qian Duoduo was a grateful child; she took meticulous care of Jiang Lanyue when she was seriously ill and helped bury her after her death.
Jiang Lanyue was overwhelmed with emotion, and recalling her past life still made her heart ache. The suffering she had endured in her past life, those people would repay double in this life.
“Miss, I presume to presume, but even if you criticize me, I must offer some advice.” The news of Wei Tanhua’s success in the imperial examination and his subsequent divorce from his wife has been the talk of the town these past few days. After the incident, Manager Qian went to the Wei residence but was beaten and driven away.
Left with no other option, he hired beggars from the city to keep an eye on her, but with no news, Manager Qian was even considering reporting her to the authorities.
Fortunately, the young lady herself came to him.
Manager Qian looked at Jiang Lanyue with heartache and pity, sincerely advising, “Miss, I know you have deep feelings for your husband, but he…alas, why don’t you let go of the past and live your own life?”
The latter part of Manager Qian’s advice lacked conviction; everyone had witnessed the depth of Jiang Lanyue’s feelings for Wei Chi.
Jiang Lanyue’s hand, which was caressing her teacup, paused slightly. A deep sadness welled up in her heart as she silently mourned her past sacrifices.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too late to turn back. She could consider these past years as feeding the dogs; she would avenge the grudges of her past life.
“No, Uncle Qian, I’ve come to ask for your help. I’d like to borrow someone from you.”
The change in address startled Manager Qian, who quickly rose to his feet and pledged his loyalty: “Miss, please feel free to ask. There’s no need for you to call me ‘Uncle’.”
The master’s kindness to servants was a virtue, but they couldn’t take advantage of it and lose their sense of propriety.
Jiang Lanyue didn’t want to argue about the form of address and said calmly, “I remember Uncle Qian has a clever little daughter? You probably know my situation. Now I’m living alone, and I have very few people I can use. Therefore, I’d like to ask her to come and help me.”
“I do have a little daughter at home. She just turned thirteen this year, and I’m about to report to Miss to give her a job.”
The Qian family was hereditary servants brought from her maternal grandmother’s family. This lineage had been passed down for three generations to Uncle Qian. The children of hereditary servants were expected to work for their masters when they reached a certain age.
Unless the master freed them from slavery, they couldn’t make a living on their own. In her previous life, Jiang Lanyue ha d planned to free Uncle Qian’s children from slavery after Wei Chi passed the imperial examination.
Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. She could barely take care of herself, so how could she help others?
Uncle Qian understood Jiang Lanyue’s meaning: the young lady wanted to keep Duoduo by her side and groom her as a confidante.
Being able to gain favor with the main family was a promising future!