Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 446 People Around Me

Guo Xiong wanted to establish a firm foothold on the Bian River first, so he could put everything else aside for the time being. That's why he was the first to come out of the meditation room.

Then there's Tang Xing.

Before Tang Xing left, Xie Yuyan, fearing that he might not understand her personality and might be hesitant in his actions, instructed her again: "The methods I mentioned for selecting people can be modified appropriately, but you must not leave any future troubles for yourself."

Those who ventured into the mountains—who knows who might have blood on their hands? They weren't innocent civilians, and while there were no criminal records, it wasn't unusable. Even those who sold smuggled salt had to evade local bandits; without courage, survival would have been difficult.

As long as Tang Xing can weigh the pros and cons in this regard, he can get past this hurdle.

As for not leaving any future troubles for himself, it means that everything must be under his control, and he should only do what he is capable of. If problems arise, he must bear the consequences.

Tang Xing nodded: "I understand."

After Tang Xing left, Yang Xiaoshan looked at Xie Yuyan and asked, "What should we do next?"

Xie Yuyan said, "We need to take care of things at Ciyun Temple. Prepare the blue bricks and wood you need. Once the craftsmen from Daming Prefecture arrive, we will start repairing the stove immediately."

Yang Xiaoshan and his group were already very familiar with Bianjing, so doing these things was second nature to them.

“There’s one more thing,” Xie Yuyan said, looking at Yang Xiaoshan, “send a message home to find some women who are willing to come to Bianjing to dye cloth.”

Xie Yuyan's instructions were simple and without much explanation, leaving it entirely to Yang Xiaoshan and the others to figure out for themselves.

Yang Xiaoshan nodded: "Understood."

When I came out of the meditation room, Yang Dong was already waiting outside.

Yang Xiaoshan said, "There's nothing else going on here for now. Go back to Daming Prefecture immediately, find Minghui's aunt, and tell her that Madam is going to open a dyeing workshop in Bianjing. Ask her to find some people in the clan and water shops."

At this point, he thought for a moment and said, "Tang Xing and Chen Rong want to recruit some men into the caravan. If any of these men have female relatives who can work, they should bring them along as well."

Yang Dong asked, "What if outsiders want to come?"

“Not to mention those from the neighborhoods, we can also bring some from the village associations,” Yang Xiaoshan said, “but we need to control the number of people, and there should be fewer unfamiliar faces.”

If a woman is going to do business, she can't go wrong. She needs someone willing to work hard to lead the way, and she also needs more novices to follow along. Over time, the novices will naturally become her own people.

Those men who would travel with caravans in the future would face dangers, and they would feel more at ease if their families were properly taken care of.

Yang Dong said, "I'll go back and pack my things, and we'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."

……

After arranging everything in the meditation room, Xie Yuyan could finally rest.

Madam Yu brought over some vegetarian snacks: "My lady, please have something to eat. You'll lose your appetite if you stay hungry for too long."

Xie Yuyan took the pastry, ate a piece, and drank half a cup of tea, which put Madam Yu at ease.

Xie Yuyan leaned against the soft cushion to rest, and drifted off to sleep, vaguely hearing someone talking to Mother Yu.

"Just fell asleep? Have you eaten anything?"

“I brought some vegetarian food, which I’m keeping warm on the clay stove.”

Then there was a rustling sound in the room, and then silence returned.

When Xie Yuyan woke up again, he opened his eyes and saw the soft light on the desk, and then Wang Yan, who was handling official documents at the desk.

Xie Yuyan didn't rush to get up, but silently watched him as he continued writing, handling these official documents with ease. Occasionally, he would encounter a difficult problem and need to think it over. "Are you hungry?" A smile appeared on Wang Yan's lips.

Caught red-handed, Xie Yuyan was a man of action and didn't try to avoid eye contact.

Wang Yan raised his eyes and looked at her: "I wanted to let you watch for a while longer, but I was afraid you would get hungry, so I'll serve you your meal first."

These words made Xie Yuyan blush slightly. Even the Empress Dowager wouldn't have such thoughts about having Minister Wang serve her.

Wang Yan stood up to serve the food: "The meditation room is very nice, a bit bigger than the one at Baode Temple in Daming Prefecture, but... it would be even better if we didn't eat vegetarian food."

Xie Yuyan couldn't help but smile as well: "Don't let Master Zhiyuan hear these words, otherwise he won't be able to sleep well at night."

After resting for a while, Xie Yuyan felt much better, her lips became rosier, and she looked radiant, making it hard to look away.

Wang Yan really wanted to reach out and touch her... but he was afraid that what was in front of him was the bright moon in the water, so he only intentionally touched her fingertips when handing her the things.

"Have another bowl of soup."

If he could, he wanted to make sure she ate something every day, even when he was looking at the accounts, and hand her a bowl of cheese, so that he could slowly improve her health.

Yu's mother packed up the food box and took it out.

Wang Yan then poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Xie Yuyan. Now that there were no more obstacles or hindrances, he was finally able to hold her hand in his palm.

“The Prince of Huai’s visit to Baode Temple today is not to see the relic box,” Wang Yan said. “He may have some suspicions about the case of the demon cult.”

"His suspicions only grew stronger after he saw you."

Xie Yuyan could tell that when the Prince of Huai handed her the waist token, he was already scrutinizing her.

Wang Yan said with certainty, "He said to the Empress that he had seen Xie Erniang. Although Xie Erniang covered her face at the time, her eyes were visible."

"Your eyebrows and eyes look similar to Xie Wenjing's at first glance, but in fact they are quite different. You should be able to tell them apart at a glance."

Xie Yuyan nodded, knowing that Prince Huai was a man of deep thoughts. Now that Prince Qin had ascended the throne, he had made Jiang Zhenru his empress, but had not posthumously honored Prince Huai's mother. As a result, Prince Huai's status as the eldest son of the legitimate wife was somewhat illegitimate. But no matter how much Jiang Zhenru and her son struggled, Prince Huai ultimately sat on the dragon throne.

When she got married, the Prince of Huai had already passed away, and his eldest son succeeded to the throne. However, the eldest son did not reign for more than a few years before he fell seriously ill and had to entrust the throne to his younger brother.

She married this official. Originally, the dragon throne had nothing to do with him, but because her elder brother was ill and had no children, she was put on the throne.

"What are you thinking about?"

Wang Yan's voice came through.

Xie Yuyan said, "I think this is a good thing. Anyway, the game is started, and the more people on the chessboard, the better. Both Xie Shumi and I need to set up our own pieces. If there are too few pieces, we won't be able to make any moves."

The larger the game, the more people are involved.

She couldn't fight Xie Shumi alone, so she had to bring in more people.

No matter what happened, Xie Yuyan always remained calm and composed, managing everything with ease. He admired her, but also felt a little worried.

I'm afraid she'll go too far, too fast, and forget that there are people around her.

But he wouldn't try to restrain her; he would simply follow in her footsteps, making sure he could catch her safely and steadily each time.

Romance scenes are still a must.