Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 78: Add more fire

Xie Yuyan returned home and handed the land deed to Zhang Shi to look at.

Zhang's eyes widened: "This was sent by Master Xie?"

Zhang still remembered Xie Qiye; it was Xie Qiye who came to the Yang family to escort the bride. Xie Qiye was quite good-looking, but unfortunately, he had dark circles under his eyes at a young age, and his face was pale and unsightly. He looked very thin, and you could smell the alcohol on him from afar.

"That Xie Qi... doesn't seem like a good person. Could there be something fishy about these land deeds?"

Seventh Master Xie walked unsteadily, looking every bit the spendthrift young master, making it difficult for Zhang to feel any affection for him.

Xie Yuyan said, "The land deed is genuine, and the approval document issued by the imperial court is also true."

"Then what does he mean?" Zhang asked. "Why is he giving you these?"

Xie Yuyan looked at Yang Qin: "Do you remember what I asked you to tell him?"

Yang Qin nodded. After his sister-in-law "came back to life," both the Yang and Xie families were drawn into the case of trafficking people.

His sister-in-law told him that members of the Xie family would definitely ask him for information. If he encountered them, he should not believe anything they said, because they were just unlucky people who had no say in the matter.

Yang Qin said, "It was Master Xie who came to find me, and I told him what he said."

Seeing that Zhang's expression was still blank, Yang Qin explained, "What you mean is that the person who is pushed out to take the blame when something happens will definitely not be well received in the Xie family."

"I had Qin Ge say those things, firstly to remind Master Xie not to harm others without benefiting himself and get involved in my struggle with the Xie family, and secondly to try to find an ally for myself."

Whether it succeeds or not, Xie Yuyan doesn't care. It's like randomly dropping a seed; if it sprouts, there will be an extra harvest.

“Now Master Xie has come looking for me,” Xie Yuyan said, “wanting to join forces with me to deal with the Xie family.”

Zhang asked, "How...how did you figure that out?"

Xie Yuyan said, "Our lotus root charcoal is sold so cheaply because crushed coal is worthless. Although we now have Sanhe Village, the coal in Sanhe Village will eventually run out. If we want to do lotus root charcoal business for a long time, we need to hold several coal mines to ensure it."

"If the Xie family wants to deal with us, they will compete with us for the coal mines near Daming Prefecture."

"Now that Master Xie has bought the coal mine ahead of time behind the back of the Xie family and delivered it to me, he has gained the initiative for us, and all the Xie family's schemes are useless."

Zhang finally understood that Master Xie's intentions were truly good.

However, Xie Yuyan never expected that Seventh Master Xie would help at this time, and this was not part of her plan.

Now that things have changed, she needs to make some careful plans so as not to waste this land.

Previously, she was worried that the Xie family would not act according to her wishes, but now with the help of Seventh Master Xie, she will achieve her goal faster and make a fortune from it.

Xie Yuyan's gaze fell on the land deed again.

Decades later, the Liang Dynasty began large-scale coal mining. As one of the four capitals, Daming Prefecture had two coal mines set up by the imperial court. One was located in Sanhe Village, and the other was ten miles outside the north city. It was this land deed that Xie Qi had delivered.

This land could be used as a hook to lure the Xie family into a trap.

If they plan it out well, she and Master Xie can make a lot of money from it.

Xie Yuyan handed the land deed and mining documents to Zhang Shi: "Mother, please keep them safe for now. I will ask you for them again when we need them later."

Xie Yuyan looked at Yang Qin: "When you have time, go and find Seventh Master Xie and tell him that I want 70% of the money earned from selling the land in the future, and he gets 30%."

Yang Qin blinked: "Would he agree?"

“Yes,” Xie Yuyan said, “besides this 30%, he also has the entire Xie family of Daming Prefecture.”

The fact that Master Xie was able to buy the land in advance shows that he is smart. Such a person will definitely agree to her conditions, and she doesn't need to wait for his response. Anyway, the land deed is in her hands, and whether she sells the land or keeps it for herself is up to her.

Master Xie handed over the land deed with both hands precisely because he was afraid she wouldn't believe it, which shows that in his heart, making money wasn't as important as scheming against the Xie family. Now it's just a matter of how to stir things up and make the land's value rise even higher.

Yang Qin sensed something: "Sister-in-law, doesn't this piece of land given by Master Xie have any coal?"

“Yes,” Xie Yuyan said, “there is a lot of coal on this land, even more than in Sanhe Village.”

Yang Qin asked, "Then why sell it?"

“Because there is too much coal underground,” Xie Yuyan said, “even ten Xie families couldn’t swallow it all.”

This is why she didn't plan to buy the land; no matter how much money she invested, she was destined to lose it all.

The Xie family was a prominent merchant family in Daming Prefecture. Xie Yuyan was short of money and ultimately had to borrow from the Xie family.

“Madam,” Madam Yang announced as she entered, “Fang Fangzheng and Granny Li have arrived.”

They wanted to open a morning and evening market in front of the Imperial Camp. The documents were taken to the government office by Fang Fangzheng. Now that Fang Fangzheng has come to their door, it should mean that the government office has approved it.

The government office agreed so quickly; Wang Yan must have intervened.

We can't let Lord Wang's good intentions go to waste; their morning and evening markets should be opened soon.

……

"What do you think she wants to do?" Yang Mingjing asked, his eyes red as he looked at the document in his hand.

They just opened a water shop, then started selling lotus root charcoal; before things had even calmed down, this happened again...

Fang Fang stroked his beard, his face full of admiration: "Your sixth brother's daughter-in-law is truly remarkable. Not only does she help you manage the household affairs, but she also does things for the neighborhood."

"You owe most of your fame to her."

"Now it's all good. Not only has she made money herself, but she's also leading the people of Yong'anfang to do business together. The county government has already issued a document allowing Yong'anfang to open morning and evening markets on Yuyingqian Street."

As Fang Fang spoke, a smile appeared on his face. He turned around and took a banner from Granny Li's hand, then unfolded it in front of Yang Mingjing.

"I, as the head of the neighborhood committee, couldn't help much, so I did this."

Yang Mingjing looked over and saw the words "Yong'an Township Fair" written on the signboard. Then Fang Fangzheng took out a five-tael silver ingot and handed it to Yang Mingjing.

"This is just a small token of my appreciation, intended to help supplement the preparations for the morning and evening markets in Yong'anfang."

Yang Mingjing held the silver, feeling a burning pain in his palm. Under Fang Fangzheng's gaze, he could only force a smile and bow to Fang Fangzheng, saying, "I... I'll go find Sixth Brother's daughter-in-law and ask her if there's anything else I can help with. Don't worry, Fangzheng, the morning and evening market will definitely be well taken care of."

Fang Fang nodded in satisfaction and patted Yang Mingjing on the shoulder: "When the market opens, let's go together. I heard there are many foods that I've never seen before... I'd love to try them."

Yang Mingjing bowed and saw Fang Fangzheng out the gate. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he saw a group of more than twenty people coming towards them. Some were carrying clay stoves, some were carrying earthenware pots, and some were pushing carts and carrying bolts of cloth...

Grandma Li, who was standing nearby, said, "We're setting up the stall the day after tomorrow, so we'd like to ask you, Madam, to take a look again."

Yang Mingjing felt dizzy. Was there going to be a lot of official documents to fill out on his high stack of papers?

Who's going tomorrow?
Should servants accompany us?
What are the opening and closing times of the market?

After just a little thought, he had a splitting headache.

He watched as the crowd passed right in front of him.

"Wait a minute," Yang Mingjing said, "explain this to me..."

(End of this chapter)