Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 543 I am Xue Pan, the Imperial Merchant~
"It's just that... it's just that we're not selling the estate."

Inside Rongxi Hall, Grandmother Jia was utterly astonished. "How could the Emperor be so furious?"

The room was filled with men and women, young and old, but no one could answer her question.

The maids and nannies need not say more; they have no right to interrupt here.

The girls behind the screen were also reluctant to speak, and most of them didn't know what had happened.

Of those who were truly qualified to speak, Jia Lian naturally dared not utter a word in front of Jia She.

Because of the previous incident involving public funds, Wang Xifeng has become much more low-key.

Da Bao, on the other hand, looked completely indifferent, his mind solely focused on going behind the screen.

Li Wan was a widow who only wanted to raise her son well and wouldn't meddle in other people's business.

Madam Xing is a complete idiot; she doesn't understand anything at all.

However, her husband, Jia She, bluntly complained, "I told you, we shouldn't have submitted that memorial."

"They were doing so well, with money and a chance for promotion!"

"Now look what happened, all our efforts have been in vain."

He was genuinely opposed, because he had received benefits from it.

"Shut up!"

Grandmother Jia had little patience for her good-for-nothing son, and a single rebuke silenced him.

"The Jia family is a noble family!"

Grandmother Jia, slamming her hand on the table, reiterated this point: "The four great families are of one mind, and each noble family supports the other."

"This is the foundation of the Jia family; it must not be abandoned under any circumstances."

That's not wrong, but the problem is that the Jia family's subconscious actions had already offended various nobles.

They may not have realized it themselves, but their actions had already amounted to their allegiance to the emperor.

After realizing his mistake, he tried to reintegrate into the circle of nobles.

As a result, he offended the emperor severely.

The current situation is that the emperor hates the Jia family, and although the nobles outwardly accept them back, they have lost the trust they once had.

In other words.

Caught between a rock and a hard place~
"Master Zheng," Grandmother Jia said, looking at Jia Zheng. "What do you want to say?"

Although Jia Zheng was the son of Jia Mu, the hierarchy in noble families was very strict, and even Jia Mu addressed him as "Master".

"Mother."

In formal settings, Jia Zheng would then address his mother as "This matter, perhaps..."

"Probably~"

"Maybe~"

He stammered for ages, but couldn't get a single word out.

Jia Zheng was a master of philosophical discourse.

But he was completely clueless when it came to analyzing such a mysterious struggle.

To put it bluntly, the men in the Jia family were out of work at this time.

The problem is the lack of capable and visionary men.

If Jia Zhu were alive today, having spent many years in officialdom, he would likely be able to glean some insights.

Jia Zhen of the East Mansion could also see this clearly. He was the one who had secretly cooperated with various noble families before, but he was dead.

Jia Jing could also do that, but he became a Taoist priest and cultivated the ruthless path.

His son died, and he didn't even come back to see him.

The rest were all misfits.

Madam Wang remained silent, sitting upright in her chair like a Buddha statue.

But inside, a storm was raging, almost bursting forth.

She wished she could get up right now and slap Grandmother Jia a few times!
She had previously strongly opposed Jia Zheng submitting his memorial to the throne.

Now that they have offended the emperor, their eldest daughter's life in the palace will surely be difficult.

The path that Baoyu took to become the emperor's brother-in-law was also fraught with difficulties.

But there was nothing they could do; under the strict rules of etiquette, the old lady of the Rongguo Mansion was the most powerful.

She had made up her mind, and no amount of persuasion could change it.

Seeing that no one in the room was speaking, Grandmother Jia was so angry that her liver trembled.

It's all rubbish!

I took a sip of ginseng tea and caught my breath.

Grandmother Jia asked Yuanyang, who was standing beside her, "Has Yu'er not returned yet?"

At this time, there were two Yu'er in the Rongguo Mansion.

One is Jia Baoyu, who captivated countless maids, and the other is Lin Daiyu.

At this moment, Da Bao was sitting next to Grandmother Jia, peeking out and trying to go behind the screen to play with the sisters and girls.

Then the question she asked must have been about Lin Daiyu.

"Replying to the old lady~"

Yuanyang bowed and replied, "Miss Lin has not returned yet; she said she would not return until the end of the You hour."

"It's too late, it's already dark." Grandmother Jia shook her head repeatedly. "What's the point of having anything to do with someone who's divorced?"

"Go quickly and bring Yu'er back."

Her gaze swept over everyone in the hall. "These fools won't get anything out of me. It's only my Yu'er who is smart and sensible."

Undoubtedly, this statement was very offensive.

In her anger, Grandmother Jia inadvertently stirred up a wave of hatred for Lin Daiyu.

Of course, at this moment, Lin Daiyu had no fear whatsoever.

"Yes~"

Yuanyang responded and walked outside.

As we were leaving, we heard the magistrate yelling, "The Ministry of Revenue wants us to return the money we paid for the redemption."

"But we've already spent all the money, where are we going to find more?"

The second master then added, "This money was used to build the villa for the family visit, not for our private expenses."

"How about we explain this to the imperial court?"

Upon hearing this, Yuanyang had already lifted the curtain and come outside.

The corridor was filled with all sorts of birdcages, chirping and chattering noisily.

A group of young maids gathered together, chatting and laughing, completely unaware of the storm that was brewing in the Rongguo Mansion.

He summoned a maid and asked her to inform the stables to send out a carriage.

As Yuanyang walked towards the side gate, she was thinking to herself.

'Why bother building a villa for visiting relatives? Even if you throw away hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, you'll only be laying the foundation.'

Everyone, from top to bottom, inside and out, is reaching out to make money.

'Once the money's in your pocket, how could you possibly take it out?' 'The Jia family, alas…'

Lin Daiyu went out of the mansion to visit a friend.

The friend she visited was Qin Keqing, who had already divorced Jia Rong and was living separately.

He said he was visiting a friend, but in reality, he was taking the opportunity to go out and play with Lin Dao in broad daylight.

I used to go out mostly at night, and although I was with my senior brother, I always felt like something was missing.

Nowadays, you can go out during the day, put on makeup and change clothes, go shopping and sightseeing, burn incense at temples, etc., which is extremely interesting.

Qin Keqing also took the initiative to cover for her, showing the attitude of a good best friend.

As for why Lin Daiyu was able to go out to visit friends, it's because in the original story, she lost her father, and guardianship fell into the hands of the Rongguo Mansion.

In that case, one must naturally abide by the rules of the Rongguo Mansion. As a young lady from a wealthy family, one should not leave the inner quarters.

But it's different now.

Lin Daiyu's guardianship was still in Lin Ruhai's hands; her status in the Rongguo Mansion was that of a guest.

Since she was a guest, the Rongguo Mansion couldn't completely control her.

Whether it's Lin Daiyu going out to visit friends or going to the Lin family's residence in the capital, it's all fine.

As for Lin Daiyu's property, that's even less of a concern for the Rongguo Mansion.

This shows how important it was for Lin Dao to cure Lin Ruhai in rewriting Lin Daiyu's fate.

"Senior brother."

Lin Daiyu, now dressed in commoner's clothes, happily took Lin Dao's arm and asked, "I heard that temple is very efficacious, why don't you go in?"

"Temple? Hmph."

Lin Dao smiled and shook his head. "I won't go into places that harbor filth and corruption."

The ancient temple, with its thousand-year history, has produced an abbot who is greedy and lustful.

As the saying goes, all crows are black, so are all temples, big and small, any better? Is it just that ancient temple, with its tree hollowed out by insects, that's the only one?
How can it be!

Lin Dao's decision not to blow up the temple where Lin Daiyu offered incense was already a way of suppressing his anger.

Let him go in and offer incense.
Asking someone to do something they can't understand.
Seeing that her senior brother had little interest in discussing the temple, the clever Lin Daiyu immediately stopped talking about the topic.

Instead, he took Lin Dao to the famous Women's Street in the East City.

The official name of Ladies' Street is Iron Tree Sloping Street, named after the iron trees planted in front of the street.

This not-so-long street is lined with shops selling cosmetics, silk fabrics, and imported women's products.

Therefore, the people in the capital called this place Women's Street.

Over time, the original name was rarely mentioned anymore.

I've heard so much about Lin Daiyu, but this is my first time visiting her.

Actually, more than ten years before that, when I was a child, Jia Min took me shopping.

After that, her life consisted only of the high courtyard walls.

"Senior brother, look~ this is pearl powder from Nanpu~"

"Senior brother, look! This silk is soft and brightly colored; it must be Lu silk!"

"Look, senior brother!"

Under normal circumstances, women from ordinary families would rarely appear here.

After all, this place is equivalent to a luxury boutique in later times.

Those who have no money won't even come here for a casual stroll.

Moreover, the shopkeepers usually do not serve women.

This time was different. Although she was made up to conceal her beauty, Lin Daiyu's natural beauty could not be hidden by clothing and makeup.

With such a beautiful woman entering the store, the shopkeeper ignored her appearance and greeted her warmly.

Therefore, beauty does indeed have its uses.

Moreover, Lin Daiyu could tell the origin of things at a glance.

This greatly surprised the shop owner.

Future generations of young women will still be able to access information about high-end products from luxury stores through the internet.

But in this era without the internet, we can only rely on our knowledge and experience.

Although Lin Ruhai was only a seventh-rank official, the Lin family had been marquises for four generations and had been a wealthy and powerful family for a century.

The Rongguo Mansion was also a place of wealth and honor. Living in such a place year after year, Lin Daiyu's discerning eye was naturally quite sharp.

As for Lin Dao, who accompanied him shopping, he had absolutely no interest in these things.

Whenever Lin Daiyu happily introduced him, he would only have one response.

"Wrap it up and pay!"

They only care about taking out money and don't care about anything else, not even uttering a few words of nonsense.

Such a bold and unrestrained Lin Dao would definitely be the favorite of young ladies in the modern world.

If I could get close to him, I would go on a shopping spree.

Even if it means needing to cleanse the intestines afterwards, they have no complaints.

Before he had even walked halfway through the Women's Street, Lin Dao's hands were already full of things he could no longer carry.

Lin Daiyu, who was enjoying shopping with her senior brother, also very considerately suggested that it was time to go home since she was tired.

This was supposed to be a great date.

However, when the two returned to Qin Keqing's courtyard and were about to take a carriage back to Rongguo Mansion, they were stopped by someone.

"I never imagined there would be such a beauty in the capital?"

The newcomer had a face as white as powder and was dressed in brocade.

He wore a hat with the six elements unified, and a flower was stuck in it.

His appearance was alright, but his protruding belly and obviously lewd face were off-putting.

"My beauty~"

"Come with me, and I'll let you live a life of luxury!"

Lin Daiyu frowned slightly and took a step back to hide behind Lin Dao.

The newcomer, upon seeing Lin Dao, asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Fu Qing."

"Fu Qing?" the newcomer exclaimed instinctively. "That's a strange name."

Lin Dao laughed.

"Hey~"

"Son~ Daddy's here."

The man was furious. "How dare you take advantage of me?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"I am Xue Pan, the Imperial Merchant!"

(End of this chapter)