The Song family had once been without money or power. Their initial rise to prominence came when the current Master Song married Miss Zhao, whose family was a wealthy and well-known household in the region. The most famous part of the dowry was the three thousand mu of fertile farmland that came with Miss Zhao.
Miss Zhao was the late-born daughter of the Zhao family. Less than two years after marrying into the Song family, she died in childbirth. Shortly after hearing this news, her parents, unable to bear the grief, also passed away one after another.
Thus, the Song family grew wealthy on the dowry left by the former Madam Zhao. With the help of the Niohuru family afterward, their fortunes improved year by year. But the Song family's true rise to prominence came half a year later.
The Niohuru family had somehow made the acquaintance of a monk who could glimpse the will of heaven and know a thing or two of what was to come.
Following his advice, the Song family had been quietly purchasing grain over the past two years, investing most of their assets into it. At the time, Song Xilou had no idea what was going on, but having been reborn, she now understood many things.
Half a year later, a flood would strike the Jiangnan region, affecting over thirty counties, with hundreds of thousands of crops lost entirely. The Song family had stockpiled a vast amount of grain, and when prices soared, they sold it at an exorbitant profit.
That was the true reason for the Song family's rise. Song Xilou sat in the carriage, thinking: "I know where the grain is stored, but how can I transport it out without anyone knowing?"
She rubbed the handkerchief in her hands and muttered to herself. Nanny Wu chuckled upon hearing this: "I can't make out what Miss is muttering about, but this handkerchief of yours is truly beautifully embroidered."
Nanny Wu tentatively advised: "But for a young lady, embroidering flowers and plants would look much nicer. What's the meaning of embroidering a bamboo stalk?"
Song Xilou looked at the handkerchief in her hand, which had a straight bamboo stalk embroidered on it, and smiled lightly: "Nanny, bamboo is much prettier." After all, there was someone who was especially fond of it.
Nanny Wu wanted to persuade her further, but then felt the carriage lurch violently. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and grabbed hold of the carriage frame.
"What's going on?" Nanny Wu lifted the curtain and stepped out. The young servant driving the carriage was new and kept bowing and scraping: "I don't know… she, she suddenly rushed out."
Song Xilou slightly raised her eyes and saw the servant's trembling hand pointing at a person lying on the ground. Dressed in tattered clothes, the figure appeared to be a young woman.
Bored, she was about to let down the curtain and tell the driver to continue on, but then she caught sight of the carriage stopped across the way and froze. A carriage with a dark blue coarse cloth curtain was the most ordinary sight in the capital, but what surprised Song Xilou was the person driving it.
The young driver was thin and slight, but his eyes were sharp and keen. Song Xilou recognized him—he was always following behind the Fourth Prince, the young apprentice of Su Peisheng, Xiao Anzi.
If that was the case, then the person sitting inside the carriage was likely the Fourth Prince himself?
Song Xilou clenched her hands and stepped down from the carriage: "Nanny, go see how that young lady is doing."
Song Xilou wore a thin veil over her face and was dressed in Hanfu. Her appearance drew quite a few gazes. She was small and delicate, as if unable to bear so many eyes upon her, and stood hesitantly in place, not daring to approach.
Xiao Anzi, the carriage driver, saw this and muttered quietly: "That beggar is clearly lying on the ground to swindle money. This young lady is truly timid."
The person inside the carriage rubbed his brow and turned away in boredom, but then caught a glimpse of ears so red they seemed to drip blood in the sunlight: She is indeed timid.
"Nanny." A voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz spoke up, delicate hands twisting helplessly: "I don't know how badly she's hurt. We should take her to a medical clinic."
Nanny Wu always obeyed her young lady's words. Together with the young servant, she lifted the person who had fainted beside the carriage. Song Xilou followed behind, wanting to help but not knowing how, her hands moving back and forth without knowing where to place them.
Those who saw this sighed: Her temperament is far too soft.
"Master, the road is clear."
"Let's go." The person inside the carriage let down the curtain and said in a low voice.
Xiao Anzi cracked the whip, and the two carriages passed each other. The wind blew open the curtain, and one could see the person standing there with half her ears turned red, along with the faint scent of lotus seeds drifting on the breeze.
Song Xilou sat in the carriage while Nanny Wu supported the filthy person, feeding her water.
She turned her head and said coolly: "Stop pretending. Get off at the next intersection." Nanny Wu was startled, then watched as the person who had been unconscious in her arms sat up.
"Miss, she's fine now."
"She was never hurt in the first place." Song Xilou looked at the person across from her, whose entire face was black with dirt, obscuring her features: "What do you want? Money?"
The person opposite was probably shameless—caught red-handed without a hint of embarrassment, round eyes looking straight at her as she said: "Then what do you want?" Lying on the ground earlier, she had seen that this young lady's act was no worse than her own.
"That's none of your business." Song Xilou lifted the curtain slightly and saw that the carriage had reached another street. "Get off."
The other person's gaze was too cold. She wanted to stay and linger, but one look from her made her immediately lose her nerve. She muttered: "Fine, I'll get off." No need to be so fierce about it.
She got out of the carriage reluctantly, having thought she'd run into a wealthy patron, only to find he was surprisingly stingy.
"Catch." A voice came from behind her. She turned around and instinctively caught something, only to find a silver ingot in her arms: "This…"
"There may be many wealthy people in the capital, but there are even more dangerous ones." Song Xilou lowered his head and looked into her eyes: "Don't deceive people again next time."
Closing the window, Song Xilou called out: "Let's go."
The person behind clutched the silver ingot tightly in her hand, watching the carriage disappear into the distance before stamping her foot in frustration.
The carriage stopped at a famous street in the capital, where the exquisite clothing pavilion and jewelry towers favored by young ladies were located. Song Xilou got off the carriage and gave the driver a string of coins: "I'm going to browse around with Nanny Wu. Go find a teahouse and rest for a while."
The driver was thrilled to receive a string of coins for nothing. After he left, Song Xilou said to Nanny Wu: "Nanny, go inside and pick out some clothes for me. I'll come back in a bit."
Nanny Wu knew that the young lady had been different since she woke up. Though she didn't know what the young lady was up to, she still nodded: "Alright, miss. I'll wait for you to come back."
Song Xilou turned and headed instead to the alley behind the street, where the Yingge Pavilion was located.
The Yingge Pavilion had become the top establishment in the area over the past few years, growing bigger and bigger. But Song Xilou was heading to the back of the Yingge Pavilion, where there was a teahouse—also a hidden warehouse the Song family used to store grain.
The teahouse was small, with just one shopkeeper and two assistants inside. Song Xilou gathered a group of beggars and gave each one ten copper coins: "Three coppers to go in and have tea, the rest is yours to keep."
Once the Song family teahouse was filled with customers, Song Xilou quietly slipped to the back. The warehouse door was sealed tight. Song Xilou took the hairpin from her hair and inserted it in, fiddling with it for a moment before the lock opened.
This skill was something she'd learned in her previous life. Thinking of the person who had taught her lock-picking, Song Xilou's hand gripping the hairpin tightened.
To avoid drawing attention, Master Song had kept the large stockpile of grain hidden here without anyone knowing except his most trusted confidants. When Song Xilou walked in, all she saw were densely packed sacks, messily piled up to fill the entire room.
This was probably the Song family's entire wealth from the past two years. Song Xilou touched a sack of grain beside her and thought: "If only I could take all of this away."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than all the grain in the room vanished. Song Xilou was startled—what was going on?
But before she could think it through, she heard faint footsteps outside the door. Turning her head to listen carefully, the footsteps were slowly drawing closer.
The room was now completely empty, not even a place to hide. The sudden disappearance of the grain was not part of her plan. Just as she was frowning in distress, not knowing what to do, she turned and spotted a sealed window.
Song Xilou hurried over and used all her strength to pry the window open.
The footsteps outside were getting closer. Song Xilou closed her eyes and leaped, tumbling over the window: Today's events were far too unexpected.
Hiding in the hollow beneath the windowsill, Song Xilou was still wondering where all the grain in that room had gone—how could it have vanished into thin air like that?
The person who came was indeed there to inspect the grain. Seeing the lock open, he was shocked and had a bad feeling. Pushing the door open, he saw that all the grain in the room was gone. The shopkeeper's voice trembled: "This… what happened?"
Earlier, a beggar in the shop had let it slip that someone had paid them to come. The shopkeeper had sensed something was wrong and rushed over, only to find the grain had indeed been tampered with.
"How could it all be gone in just a moment?" How was he supposed to explain this to the master now?
Hiding in the hollow, Song Xilou thought to herself: "I'd like to know too—how did everything disappear in just a moment?"
The shopkeeper collapsed to the ground crying, but noticed a handkerchief by the door. Picking it up, he saw a straight green bamboo embroidered on it. The embroidery was exquisite, making the bamboo look upright and full of spirit.
"This must have been left by the grain thief." Scrambling up from the ground, the shopkeeper ran out the door clutching the handkerchief.
Song Xilou waited until he had been gone for a while before getting up. Brushing the dirt off her clothes, she peered back through the window: empty, nothing at all.
"What on earth is going on? A whole room of grain vanishing into thin air."
She muttered as she walked, but felt an itch deep in her palm. Song Xilou instinctively sensed the small green sprout, but this time, besides feeling the sprout's emotions, she also saw a large empty space.
That ethereal empty space was piled high with grain.
This—had all the grain from that room just gone into her palm?
Even after returning to the manor, Song Xilou still felt this was too fantastical to be real. What exactly was this little sprout in her palm?
She grabbed its leaf: "What are you, exactly?"
"Chirp chirp…"
"Chirp chirp chirp…"
Little Green Bud wrapped its now plumper leaves around her finger, short and chubby as it tried to climb up: "Chirp—."