Jiang Xingjian smiled and lowered his head to fiddle with the abacus on his own.

Lin Jiayue was dissatisfied with his attitude and slapped her hand down on the abacus beads with a sharp sound. Jiang Xingjian’s brows furrowed slightly, but in the end he didn’t lose his temper.

“I said I have a way to open sources of income for the marquis estate. You don’t believe me?”

Stirred to a competitive spirit by Jiang Xingjian’s indifferent manner, Lin Jiayue said, “I have at least… managed several shops. I do have some experience. I won’t say I’m better than others, but compared to a sheltered young lady of the inner quarters who never steps beyond her gate, I should be considerably more capable.”

Jiang Xingjian took a deep breath: “Never mention such words again in the future. It is absolutely improper for women to show their faces in public, much less involve themselves in commercial matters.”

“Why can’t women involve themselves in commercial matters? From the Su River all the way to the capital, we saw plenty of women walking about outside. Aren’t there many old women selling cheese curds and cosmetics on the streets?”

“Daughters of aristocratic families are different from commoners. You need only remember this one point.”

Seeing he was impatient with debating these rules with her, Lin Jiayue pursed her lips. But catching Jiang Xingjian’s gaze, she suddenly recalled how Nanny Li had struck her with the rhinoceros horn ruler for “making faces.”

Lin Jiayue felt inexplicably irritated, playing with the charcoal stick in her hand. Finally unable to restrain herself, she spoke: “Actually, I really do have a very good idea that could make the marquis estate earn large sums of money.”

“The marquis estate could open a pleasure house, then gather and collect beautiful women from across the realm. I could help make them famous, making all the men in the capital eagerly pursue them, spending fortunes for just one glimpse.”

“A pleasure house wouldn’t just earn money—it could also gather much intelligence. After all, such places are filled with a mix of people, with countless high officials and lowly servants coming and going. This way, all major and minor affairs in the capital, all gossip and anecdotes, could be grasped in the marquis estate’s hands. By then, even selling this information could make the marquis estate earn abundant profits.”

“Of course, the marquis estate’s pleasure house would need to position itself elegantly, and couldn’t allow just anyone to…”

“Enough.”

Jiang Xingjian slammed his hand on the table, veins bulging prominently on his forehead.

Lin Jiayue blinked, looking completely innocent: “What’s wrong?”

“All of you, leave first.”

Xieyi and Ling Yun in the room withdrew one after another, the shock and disdain on their faces not yet faded as they left.

Jiang Xingjian pressed his brow, his face full of vexation.

“Do you even know what you’re saying?”

“What… what’s wrong?”

With her status, wasn’t running a pleasure house quite normal? Why was Jiang Xingjian reacting so strongly?

“To exchange flesh for the marquis estate’s glory and wealth—I would rather the marquis estate collapse tomorrow. Such words worse than pigs or rats—never mention them again.”

Lin Jiayue’s face flushed red: “I didn’t say to have those women engage in the flesh trade. I only said we could establish such a venue to give capital officials a place to relax, where they could ordinarily listen to songs and watch performances…”

Jiang Xingjian only felt his head aching terribly: “As a woman, you open your mouth with ‘pleasure house’ and close it with ‘flesh trade.’ How exactly did Nanny Li teach you proper conduct?”

“Such a business that damages moral virtue, you…”

The brush in his hand gripped tighter and tighter. At this moment, Jiang Xingjian suddenly understood why his grandmother and mother had some criticisms of Lin Jiayue.

In the past, he had only thought her excessively lively. Though she didn’t know proper conduct, her thoughts were pure, simple and kind. Those somewhat intimate gestures weren’t born of frivolous wantonness, but only from being moved emotionally without self-awareness.

But today, hearing her speak so decisively about opening a pleasure house, Jiang Xingjian realized she lacked character.

Jiang Xingjian’s jaw tightened. After a long while, he finally uttered, “Wealth and rank obtained through unrighteousness are to me as floating clouds,” and didn’t speak again.

Lin Jiayue refused to accept this, explaining over and over that she didn’t mean for the women to engage in the flesh trade.

Annoyed by her pestering, Jiang Xingjian said, “In the previous dynasty, officials patronizing courtesans became common practice. Government officials indulged in pleasure-seeking, causing court discipline to slacken. Therefore, in our dynasty, all pleasure houses are state-run, and the women within are all female relatives from families of serious criminals.”

“Our dynasty’s laws explicitly prohibit officials from visiting prostitutes. At any public or private banquet, seeking singing girls to pour wine carries a punishment of two years imprisonment and eighty strokes of the rod. Officials who sleep with prostitutes commit a crime second only to murder. Even if pardoned, they are dismissed from office without possibility of reinstatement.”

“Your words about ‘all major and minor affairs, all gossip and anecdotes could be grasped in the marquis estate’s hands’—do you know that if even half a word of this were to leak out, tomorrow the marquis estate would be charged with treason and rebellion?”

“Secretly investigating and spying, examining improper and unlawful conduct of officials in all government offices large and small, and listening to rumors—these are the exclusive duties of the Eastern Depot. For the marquis estate to overstep its bounds now—what does it intend to do?”

“Lin Jiayue, before you speak recklessly, can you consider the safety of the nearly one thousand people in the marquis estate?”

Jiang Xingjian’s face was livid, surging anger suppressed in his chest with nowhere to vent.

“I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t understand.”

“I only saw others doing this, so I thought I could…”

“These next few days I’ll have Huai Su come teach you what can be said and what cannot. You’re still ill—recuperating should be your priority.”

Having said this, Jiang Xingjian swept his sleeves and left.

Lin Jiayue choked out with tears: “I really didn’t mean to. I only wanted to help you.”

Jiang Xingjian’s steps paused, but he didn’t stop at all.

He walked all the way to the main courtyard of Lanting. Heng Zhi and Heng Wu were airing books in the garden. Seeing him approach, both lowered their heads in unison, as if they hadn’t seen him at all.

Though treated this way by the maidservants, for some reason, the moment Jiang Xingjian entered the main courtyard, most of that pent-up frustration in his heart dissipated.

After brief consideration, he lifted his foot and walked inside.

Song Wan was reading in the study, with a plate of red bean pastries at hand. Jiang Xingjian only saw that the topmost piece was missing a small, neat semicircle—she must have sampled it lightly earlier.

He coughed lightly, driving away that subtle trace of unease.

“Does husband have some matter?”

Song Wan put down her book and rose, yielding the study’s main seat.

“Nothing in particular.”

Seeing his solemn expression, clearly somewhat displeased, though he didn’t say so, Song Wan had no intention of pressing further.

Having brewed tea and placed it beside Jiang Xingjian’s hand, Song Wan had just prepared to find some other task when she heard him say, “There is something I wish to ask you.”

“Estate matters?”

She turned back and sat down, but not beside him.

Jiang Xingjian clenched his fist slightly, saying in a low voice, “Someone suggested the marquis estate open sources of income, engage in some business ventures.”

“Only this?”

“Yes.”

“If it were only this, you wouldn’t have such a reaction. Could it be that the business venture that person proposed was rather improper?”

Jiang Xingjian didn’t answer her.

He only looked at Song Wan and felt all the anxiety and turmoil in his heart washed completely clean. Jiang Xingjian suddenly wanted to know—if it were her, how would she view this matter of opening sources of income?

“If I were to ask you, what sort of business ventures should the marquis estate pursue?”

Song Wan pondered briefly, then after a moment said, “Where virtue resides, the world gravitates toward it. I believe profit is the same.”

“If one wishes to engage in business ventures with long-term benefits, they cannot escape the trades of sparing people from death, resolving people’s difficulties, rescuing people from distress, and relieving people’s urgent needs.”

Hearing these words, Jiang Xingjian’s heart trembled.

He thought—a woman’s character should indeed be thus.