Zhao Chengyu’s fingertips lightly brushed the surface of the jade hairpin. Its texture was delicate, its quality warm and smooth—clearly something that had been kept close to the body for years.
His eyes darkened slightly.
What was she planning to do that she would even sell such a cherished personal item?
Or… did she simply not care about these worldly possessions?
Whichever it was, it made his heart ache faintly with a dull pain.
“Did she… truly intend to sell everything?” Zhao Chengyu’s voice was light, betraying no emotion.
The shopkeeper quickly nodded. “Yes, Shen Gongzi was firm in her stance. She didn’t want to pawn the items, only cash. I didn’t dare disobey, so I exchanged them at the highest price.”
Zhao Chengyu fell silent for a moment, then slowly closed the brocade box and securely placed it by his side.
“Record the silver at the original price in the public account,” he instructed calmly. “As for these pieces of jewelry, you need not concern yourself with them any longer. Hand them all over to me.”
The shopkeeper was taken aback but immediately bowed. “Yes, Young Master.”
“You may leave.”
After the shopkeeper withdrew, Zhao Chengyu was left alone in the study.
He reopened the brocade box and quietly gazed at the jewelry inside. After a long while, he let out a soft sigh.
Her nature was so stubborn, her pride ingrained to the bone. She would never accept his gifts without reason.
Yet these items were clearly the only keepsakes she had left.
Once sold, there would truly be nothing left.
Zhao Chengyu gently rubbed the jade hairpin with his fingertips, a faint trace of heartache flickering in his eyes.
“Ah Shen…”
He whispered the name, his voice so soft only he could hear it.
“You’re a woman. You could have avoided such hardship, you could have sought my help. But you refused. Do you know how much it pains me to see you like this?”
Zhao Chengyu didn’t understand why this heartache had come upon him so fiercely.
Initially, he had saved her only because of her breathtaking beauty, but now…
In the end, he was just a mundane man!
Yet now, it seemed everything had changed.
The more he interacted with her, the more deeply he was drawn.
The more reluctant he became to stay too far from her.
…
Shen Miao took the silver and immediately plunged into Jiangnan’s largest grain market.
For several days in a row, she operated discreetly, buying up grain from every grain shop she encountered and taking over every granary she found.
Whenever old grain and stale rice were sold on the market, she snapped them all up, hoarding them almost frantically.
Every time she entered a grain shop, a similar conversation ensued.
“Are you truly buying everything, Gongzi? My warehouse still has rice stored for two years,” the grain shop owner said, rubbing his hands together, both surprised and suspicious, thinking he had encountered a fool with too much money.
Shen Miao lightly tapped the counter with her fingertips, her gaze steady. “Thirty percent of the market price, all of it goes to me. Sign the contract now.”
“But the flood season is just a few days away!” the owner couldn’t help but remind her. “Every year when the flood season arrives, grain prices only fall, never rise. This year’s rainfall is especially heavy. Hoarding grain is highly likely to cause it to mold or spoil, Gongzi, you…”
“I have my plans,” Shen Miao interrupted him, her tone leaving no room for argument. “Sign it.”
The owner secretly rejoiced, thinking she was an out-of-town novice with more money than sense.
Immediately, he beamed and fetched brush and ink, happily putting his signature to the contract.
Zi An, standing beside her, wanted to speak up several times, but seeing her resolute expression, he didn’t dare say a word.
Within three days, news of Shen Miao’s frenzied grain hoarding exploded among Jiangnan’s grain merchants.
At the Wangjiang Teahouse beside the grain market, several wealthy grain merchants gathered around a table.
Waving their folding fans, they pointed and commented on the scene below, their tones filled with mockery and disdain.
“Have you heard? Recently, a mysterious buyer has emerged, wearing a half silver mask, buying up every grain in sight—even old rice stored for two or three years isn’t spared!”
“Exactly! I think it’s some family’s prodigal son, with too much money burning a hole in his pocket! Buying grain at this time is like throwing silver into the water, isn’t it?”
“The flood season is right around the corner. Once the grain gets damp and moldy, it’ll be worthless! Yet here he is, desperately hoarding it, just waiting to lose his entire fortune!”
A grain shop owner who had just sold his old rice leaned in, lowering his voice with a scornful laugh: “I think he’s truly mad. Everyone knows this year’s rainfall is unusual—whoever hoards grain will be stuck with it. Only this fool dares to take it on.”
“Just wait and see. In a few days, he’ll be crying and selling it off at a loss. Then we can buy it cheap and make a hefty profit!”
Someone’s eyes gleamed as he whispered a scheme: “What if we join forces to drive down the price? Make him think grain prices will keep falling, so he panics and sells. Then we can scoop it up cheap!”
They exchanged knowing smiles, their eyes filled with calculation.
From street corners to alleyways, from taverns to teahouses, everywhere was filled with mockery and gossip about this mysterious buyer.
Everyone was waiting to see him lose everything and become the laughingstock of the entire city.
Some grain merchants had even secretly allied, ready to seize the opportunity to mock him and swallow up the grain in his hands.
…
All this information reached Zhao Chengyu’s ears through the reports of his shadow guards.
The corners of his lips curled into a faint smile, his eyes filled with complete trust and certainty—
She always knew what she was doing. Every step she took was calculated.
He turned to the shadow guard Zi Yu beside him, his tone calm yet leaving no room for doubt: “Go back and tell Zi An that from now on, whatever Shen Gongzi asks you to do, you do it. Just give it your all, and don’t ask any unnecessary questions.”
Zi Yu, who had served by his side for many years and earned his deep trust, bowed: “Yes, I take my leave.”
“Hmm.”
Zhao Chengyu walked slowly to the window, gazing at the gloomy sky outside as if he could see through the layers of clouds.
He murmured softly to himself, with a hint of amusement yet tinged with deep thought: “Are you hoarding grain because of the rain?”
But in Jiangnan, the flood season always arrives at this time.
This was common knowledge, something she couldn’t possibly not understand.
So why go to such great lengths, planning so far ahead?
Or perhaps…
His thoughts shifted, and he gently shook his head, dismissing his own shallow assumption.
Given her previous accurate “predictions,” coupled with today’s decisive actions, her ambitions surely went beyond just grain.
“Someone.”
At his low voice, a dark figure instantly leaped out from the shadows, bowing to receive orders: “Young Master.”
“Have the steward come see me immediately.” Zhao Chengyu’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he instructed, “Also, while Zi An is away, you will stay and serve by my side.”
“Yes.” The shadow guard Zi Cheng bowed and withdrew.
In no time, the steward, Uncle Zhou, hurried over.
A loyal servant of the Zhao Mansion for generations, he understood the young master’s thoughts best and knew his place perfectly.
“Young Master, you summoned me?”
Zhao Chengyu turned around, his gaze resting on him, his tone plain yet carrying a trace of unmistakable scrutiny: “Uncle Zhou, does the mansion have enough stored grain to feed everyone for a month?”
The steward was slightly taken aback, unsure why the young master suddenly asked this.
Thinking the fluctuations in grain prices outside had unsettled him, he quickly bowed and replied with certainty: “Young Master, rest assured. The mansion’s grain reserves are plentiful. Even at the current rate of consumption, we could last half a year without any issue.”
“That’s good.”
Having received a definite answer, Zhao Chengyu said no more, merely waving his hand dismissively. “You may leave.”