Song Wan lowered her eyes: “Wan’er understands.”

Jiang Xingjian’s heart relaxed, truly fearing that Song Wan would actually abandon the estate’s affairs entirely and hand everything over to Lin Jiayue.

With the matter of household management settled, apart from Song Wan, only Lin Jiayue was dissatisfied with this outcome.

She had many ideas in her mind. If she was merely helping Song Wan, wouldn’t all the credit in the future be attributed to Song Wan?

After thinking it over briefly, Lin Jiayue lost interest, but fortunately she knew she couldn’t be too hasty. She could only take it step by step, calculating carefully and proceeding slowly.

Thinking that in just a few days she had risen from lowly concubine to noble concubine, Lin Jiayue smiled with satisfaction, her eyes full of delight.

“The estate is busy, so Wan’er will take her leave first.”

After paying respects to Old Madam Jiang and Madam Jiang, Song Wan withdrew from Fuhe Hall. Lin Jiayue watched her retreating figure with a slight smile, preparing to follow but was grabbed by Jiang Xingjian.

When the two left Fuhe Hall, Lin Jiayue blinked: “Why are you holding me back?”

“The estate’s affairs all follow established procedures. Normally you needn’t worry about much, but the shops outside the estate require your careful attention.”

Jiang Xingjian held Lin Jiayue back, his face grave: “The capital bestowed by Imperial Consort Jiang must ensure steady profits without losses. Do you understand the importance of this?”

“Don’t worry, how could I not know?”

Lin Jiayue raised her eyebrows with a smile, holding onto Jiang Xingjian’s arm with great confidence: “I’ve already thought about what to do.”

“Do you know whose money in this world is easiest to earn?”

“Women and children. So I want to open a cosmetics shop with women’s clothing and jewelry of all kinds available inside. The silver will surely flow in like water.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xingjian relaxed somewhat: “As long as you have a plan, if you need me to allocate one or two stewards from the estate’s accounting office for you.”

“That would be good.”

Though she also wanted to grasp the marquis estate’s authority, Imperial Consort Jiang’s assignment was far more important than the marquis estate, so Lin Jiayue devoted all her energy to the business outside the estate.

Song Wan was happy that she wasn’t hovering around her, continuing to handle the estate’s various affairs as before.

“Miss…”

Nanny Zhao had just returned from the outer courtyard. Today she had gone to see the wife of the steward from Song Wan’s dowry estate.

Though a woman married, she always had some fields, estates, and shops in her dowry that needed managing, so naturally there were stewards and women servants walking about outside handling these matters.

“Nanny has returned?”

Nanny Zhao assented, then leaned forward to whisper: “Miss, Embroidered Smoke Pavilion bought that shop you hung under the young master’s name some days ago.”

“How much silver?”

Nanny Zhao said: “Twelve thousand taels.”

“I don’t know what’s happened in the capital recently. Ever since Miss had the young master purchase shops, shop fronts in the capital suddenly became scarce. Originally four or five thousand taels could buy a decent one, but now you can’t even enter the main streets.”

“There are others buying shop fronts?”

“Yes, we couldn’t find out who, only that the master behind them is surnamed Xiao.”

Song Wan frowned slightly, unable for the moment to think of which household in the capital was surnamed Xiao.

Since she couldn’t think of it, she let it go. She took the box Nanny Zhao handed her and casually looked through the banknotes inside. Besides the ten-odd thousand taels from selling the shop, there was also income from the estate—altogether totaling just over thirteen thousand taels.

“Didn’t I say to send this silver to elder brother?”

“The young master said to let Miss keep it yourself.”

“The young master also said…”

Nanny Zhao paused slightly: “The young master told Miss not to do such things in the future, as it will damage your relationship with your husband.”

Song Wan smiled faintly and said nothing.

She pulled out her dowry inventory and tapped lightly on the three shops newly purchased in recent days: “Which one was sold?”

“The one in the south of the city.”

“How could it have increased so much in only half a month?”

This shop had only cost her over four thousand taels, yet in just over ten days it had tripled in value—truly strange.

Nanny Zhao said: “According to Auntie Lang, the steward surnamed Xiao, the day after Miss began buying shops, spread word that he wanted to purchase shop fronts in the capital at high prices. That shop in your dowry has now risen to six or seven thousand taels. Who knows which family inadvertently helped Miss.”

“Originally when Miss was quietly buying shops, people were already speculating that shop prices would rise. When this Master Xiao made a great clamor about wanting to buy at high prices, one thing led to another and those who had shops in hand didn’t dare sell, fearing the government had some new plan.”

“Now all the capital is saying that shops will greatly increase in value in the future. If the young master hadn’t seen that continued increases would be beyond what the marquis estate could afford, he wouldn’t have agreed to sell.”

Hearing this, Song Wan couldn’t help but laugh: “Elder brother is considerate of me.”

Nanny Zhao sighed: “As soon as the young master heard it was Concubine Lin wanting to buy a shop for business, he was furious, which is why he…”

Seeing the chaos in the marquis estate, Nanny Zhao also had a bellyful of anger. If Jiang Xingjian weren’t too bullying, she wouldn’t have had Miss take this risky move.

“If people knew this shop came from Miss’s hands, I fear it would stir up other troubles.”

“It won’t.”

She trusted her elder brother.

Having earned eight thousand taels in just half a month, Song Wan was truly in good spirits. She gathered up the banknotes: “Send this silver to elder brother and tell him I have another matter to trouble him with.”

“Additionally, aside from the dowry shops originally given by the estate, sell all the others purchased while prices are high now.”

“Won’t Miss wait for the shop prices to rise further?”

Song Wan held her brush, pondering briefly before shaking her head: “If one truly wanted to buy shops, they wouldn’t announce it so openly and loudly. This person seems to be deliberately helping me.”

“Since it’s uncertain and I have no ability to manage so many shop fronts, better to sell them off early.”

Nanny Zhao thought about it and felt what her Miss said made sense. She nodded, organized all the documents properly, and carried the box out.

Heng Zhi was grinding ink on the side, calculating quietly: “Imperial Consort Jiang gave Concubine Lin five thousand taels of silver, and the marquis estate only has twenty to thirty thousand taels that can be used. How could the young master agree to spend so much silver for Concubine Lin to buy a shop? Just one shop front costs this much—can this business even expand?”

Song Wan said: “This shop must be bought whether she likes it or not. Whether Lin Jiayue’s business can bring in gold daily as she claims is yet unknown, but the shop’s value won’t change. Once Jiang Xingjian buys this shop, he will certainly present it to Imperial Consort Jiang in the future.”

“If Lin Jiayue can earn silver, all is well. If she can’t, this will be Lin Jiayue’s life-buying money.”

Hearing this, Heng Zhi felt a bellyful of frustration.

Her Miss exhausted herself helping the marquis estate save thirty to fifty taels of small change, yet Jiang Xingjian spent lavishly to clean up Lin Jiayue’s mess and pave her way forward—how could this not infuriate people?

“Miss…”

“Hm?”

Song Wan looked up to see Heng Zhi’s eyes bright and shining: “Concubine Lin wants to open a cosmetics shop, right? Why doesn’t Miss also open a cosmetics shop and prevent her from doing business in the capital? Since she dares to boast so wildly, she should also taste the bitter fruit of overpromising.”

Hearing this, Song Wan smiled: “Silly Heng Zhi, why go to such trouble?”