Truly worthy of the fabulously wealthy Zhao Changyu—he had great expertise in preserving wealth. The treasures inside were all stored remarkably well.

The remaining five large jars were also excavated. Like the first five, there was one jar of gold cakes, three jars of silver, and one jar of jewels.

Because they were well-sealed, they looked as lustrous and bright as if freshly made, bringing joy to the heart of everyone who saw them.

Ji Yuan had already adopted a calm demeanor, but Yu Sheng and the others who had just arrived were staring in stunned disbelief.

Equally stunned was Uncle Yi, who had guarded the residence for many years and never knew the back garden concealed such things.

After confirming nothing remained below, Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand. “Fill all the soil back in. This is an excellent spot—let’s find a few peach trees to plant. In a couple years we can come pick peaches to eat.”

Uncle Yi agreed in a daze.

The jars were carried to the front courtyard, where Ting He led servants to bring out a roll of hemp cloth and spread it on the ground. The gold cakes and silver ingots from the jars were taken out one by one and placed on the cloth.

Zhao Hanzhang asked Ji Yuan: “Mister Ji, is this money enough?”

Ji Yuan was silent for a moment before saying: “For my part it’s definitely enough, but I don’t know if it’s enough for Zhao Zinian’s end.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “There will always be ways to make it enough. Now you can spread this news far and wide—tell the world that I, Zhao Hanzhang, am not short of money. Whoever has goods, just send them to Yuzhou!”

Ji Yuan’s eyes sparkled brilliantly as he finally grasped what Zhao Hanzhang intended to do. He bowed and said: “Yes!”

Zhao Hanzhang’s lips curved up in pleasure. She waved her hand at everyone and said: “Find some chests and pack everything. We’ll return to Xiping tomorrow.”

She generously waved her hand and, taking Fu Tinghan with her, went to the Shangcai manor.

This place was full of life and completely different from the first time she had seen it. Because there were brick kilns here, a glazed workshop, and workshops making soap and other things, with many visiting merchants coming and going, plus the manor’s tenant farmers, long-term workers, and household troops, the manor had set aside an area as a marketplace.

At first it was an open-air market. Later Zhao Tong felt it was shabby and built a wooden shelter there as a tea pavilion specifically for passing merchants and market-goers to rest.

By now, several brick buildings had been erected there. The tea pavilion remained, but a restaurant had been added, along with an inn and tavern, and a Treasure Pavilion.

That’s right—there was also a Treasure Pavilion here, specifically displaying glazed products, soap, and the like for visiting merchants to select and place orders.

Zhao Hanzhang and her party’s horses entered the manor. The people working on both sides immediately looked up. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, they froze for a moment before immediately dropping their shovels and running toward the manor, shouting as they ran: “The Miss has returned, the Miss has returned—”

People browsing the market immediately looked up. Some had never seen Zhao Hanzhang since coming to the manor, but they heard her name every day and knew their current stable life was thanks to her. In their excitement, they dropped what they were holding and ran toward the manor entrance.

Some vendors even abandoned their stalls entirely and ran along with everyone else.

Seeing the buildings drawing near, Zhao Hanzhang slowed her horse to avoid hitting anyone.

But before she reached the separate courtyard, a large crowd came running toward her. Though this was her own manor, Zhao Hanzhang still placed her hand on the longsword at her horse’s side.

Fu Tinghan was also startled and asked: “Has your manor been occupied?”

How had she not heard about this?

As she hesitated, Hu Zhi, who had heard the news and was nearby, came running first, excitedly waving at Zhao Hanzhang from afar: “Miss, Miss!”

Zhao Hanzhang relaxed slightly. This voice didn’t sound like rebellion.

The manor folk also followed Hu Zhi rushing to the front of her horse. Everyone looked up with shining eyes at Zhao Hanzhang on horseback. This was their Miss—truly heroic and spirited!

Someone got so excited their knees buckled and they knelt on the ground, raising both hands in a bow: “Greetings, Miss!”

With one person kneeling, others followed suit in a wave, kneeling down. Their voices weren’t synchronized, calling out separately: “Greetings, Miss!”

Zhao Hanzhang’s mouth fell slightly open as she watched. She reached out to calm her slightly startled horse, then dismounted and stepped forward to help up those kneeling in front, showing a smile on her face as she raised her hand: “Please rise quickly. What are you all doing?”

Everyone answered in a babble: “I was setting up my stall when I heard Miss had returned. I thought I should come greet you, so I came!”

“I was composting when I also heard Miss had returned…”

“I was browsing the market. Miss, I arrived in March this year and haven’t met you before. This humble one must bow again to thank Miss for the grace of shelter and life.”

“Miss, Miss, I came in October, barely a month ago. I fled my homeland because of the Xiongnu’s southern invasion. Thank you, Miss, for the grace of life.”

“Me too!”

“Same here…”

Everyone responded in a babble, then knelt in another wave. This time much more orderly, everyone raised their hands toward Zhao Hanzhang and bowed down.

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile widened, though her eyes couldn’t help filling with tears. She held them back from falling and stepped forward to support those halfway through their bows. After opening her mouth, her throat felt dry, so she paused a good while before saying: “Good. Since you’ve come, then settle down well. In these times, surviving is not easy. Since we’ve survived, we must strive to continue living and live even better!”

Everyone responded in unison, looking at Zhao Hanzhang with faces full of admiration.

Seeing they were unwilling to leave, Zhao Hanzhang simply tossed her reins to Ting He and turned back to smile at Fu Tinghan on horseback: “Shall we browse the market too?”

Fu Tinghan nodded, dismounted, and walked alongside her.

Only then did everyone notice Fu Tinghan and asked one after another: “Is this Young Master Fu?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded with a smile.

Everyone cupped their hands in salute and called out: “Young Master!”

Fu Tinghan bowed in return and walked together with Zhao Hanzhang. The crowd immediately parted to make way as everyone surrounded Zhao Hanzhang toward the market.

The market sold everything, mostly various household items. The currency used here was mostly copper coins, but bartering was also accepted.

Especially cloth and similar items counted as hard currency.

Zhao Hanzhang looked around and saw a stall with two large baskets of eggs. Greatly surprised, she asked: “So many eggs! Which vendor owns this stall?”

“Me, me, me…” Someone squeezed forward forcefully from the back of the crowd. He was one of those who had abandoned their stall to run see Zhao Hanzhang. Facing Zhao Hanzhang, he cheerfully asked: “Miss, would you like to eat eggs? I’ll gather a basket for you.”

As he spoke, he was about to reach out…

Zhao Hanzhang quickly stopped him, smiling: “I don’t need any. I’m just curious—how many chickens are you raising?”

Was there already large-scale chicken farming in the manor?

“These aren’t all from me alone. They’re from seven or eight households in our hamlet pooled together,” the vendor explained. “Miss showed great kindness in allowing us to raise chickens in the fields, so every household raised quite a few. These eggs were saved by each household for about ten days. They were busy, so they all entrusted me to bring them to the market to sell.”