After marrying the fierce god, her handsome young husband was pampered to the extreme.

Lin Er honestly removed the phoenix crown from her newlywed husband without making any other unnecessary movements.

That's a bit too honest.

Xia Ying raised an eyebrow and softened her voice, calling softly, "Yun Qing."

"Um."

Xia Ying patted the bed next to her. "Sit."

Lin Er sat properly next to his young husband.

Xia Ying said, "Stand up."

Lin Er did as instructed.

Xia Ying immediately understood. So the man was... really drunk?

No petty tricks involved?

Xia Yingchao waved to him, "What are you standing for? Sit back down."

Lin Er had no temper at all and completely obeyed his husband's arrangements.

"Lin Yunqing!"

"I am here."

Xia Ying's eyes darted around as she asked, "How many lovers did you have in the past?"

Lin Er tilted his head, pretending to think, "What kind of lover?"

"How many people have you told them you wanted to marry him?"

Lin Er said decisively, "Yingying!"

Xia Ying chuckled to herself, then thought the man must be faking being drunk, otherwise how could he say such sweet things?

He slowly moved closer to the man. "So, do you like Yingying?"

Lin Er said decisively, "I like it."

Xia Ying was feeling very happy when suddenly the man pinched her cheek and kissed her.

He responded awkwardly, his eyes slightly closed, his hands unconsciously encircling the man.

Therefore, she naturally missed the fleeting glint of light in the man's eyes.

-----------------

After returning to Yunzhou, the two became even more affectionate.

Newlyweds, Lin Er couldn't pretend at all in front of outsiders and wanted to stick to her husband every day.

Men often go through a clingy phase after marriage, and Xia Ying was no exception, wishing she could be with her husband every moment.

The two were busy running the business during the day, and spent their evenings cuddling together in their room.

The son-in-law of the Xia family can finally sleep in the same room as his husband. With a proper title, he can hold his head higher in the mansion than before.

The two were very close, so naturally they wouldn't hide it from Han Jinhuan.

At first, Han Jinhuan was suspicious, worried that Lin Er might be taking Xia Ying's fake relationship too seriously.

After talking with Lin Er a few times, I learned that Lin Er planned to ruin Xia Ying's businesses so that I could take them away from Xia Ying.

At first, he didn't believe it, but after several of Xia Ying's shops in Yunzhou Prefecture ran into problems, he began to trust Lin Er again.

At the end of the year, when the accounts were settled, it turned out that the Xia family's businesses had lost tens of thousands of taels of silver under Xia Ying's management, and several shops had gone bankrupt.

This made Han Jin extremely happy.

The weaker Xia Ying is, the less power he has, and the more his son will gain in the future.

In addition, Han Jinhuan learned from Lin Er that Xia Ying had secretly sold several shops in order to prevent the clan members from discovering the book losses.

So when Lin Er suggested that they take the opportunity to buy back all the failed shops, Han Jinhuan did so without hesitation.

Reporting Xia Ying's poor business practices to the clan members would certainly force Xia Ying to spit out some of her profits.

However, after the meat was divided among the clan members, there was naturally not much left in Han Jinhuan's hands.

If he takes the opportunity to buy the shop and proceeds step by step, he will eventually be able to devour Xia Ying completely.

Moreover, this could be considered a handle, which his son could use to force Xia Ying to step down when he inherits the family business.

As a result, the clansmen could not find any faults in the year-end accounts.

Han Jinhuan was aware of the situation, but she wouldn't reveal the truth.

However, Han Jinhuan was not good at business, and the people he sent to manage the shops were all sycophants with no real skills.

Lin Er was worried that Han Jinhuan would realize what was happening, so he secretly did a lot of things to help him maintain the business.

The imperial court also dispatched officials to conduct a secret investigation, and the Wu family fell from power overnight.

After the peace was restored in Yanjiang, Yingqinglou's merchant fleet also officially formed, raising its flags.

Merchant ships, taking advantage of the three major rivers and countless tributaries that traverse the territory of Dayin, have business dealings with Yingqinglou in the areas of Mingzhou, Huaizhou, Yunzhou, and Jiangzhou.

And the Xia family's business was quietly replaced by Yingqinglou.

Originally, Yingqinglou was just an obscure general store that was often closed, and it didn't seem like a legitimate business at all.

One day, the people of Yunzhou suddenly discovered that a restaurant and inn called Yingqinglou had opened in front of their homes.

This restaurant brings together cuisines from all over the world at reasonable prices. After its business became booming, it even opened branches in other counties.

Lin Ershou also runs a considerable cloth business, but fearing that his success would attract unwanted attention, he only uses the name Yingqinglou for his restaurants and general stores.

As for other shops like Xiaowan Cloth Shop and Xiaohua Candied Fruit, those names were just something Xia Ying came up with randomly when she was flipping through the book.

Furthermore, Han Jinhuan obtained partial operating rights to the shops, and seeing that the shops were still profitable, he became bolder.

Moreover, in comparison, Xia Ying loses money almost all year round.

Han Jinhuan naturally accepted all the shops that Xia Ying had secretly sold.

Two years later, Han Jinhuan controlled almost 90% of the Xia family's shop businesses in Yunzhou.

Xia Ying knew it was time to leave.

At this time, Xia Ci'en was not yet of age, but he was already quite large and had a big head and ears, looking like a small mountain when he stood there.

Han Jinhuan, a man from a brothel, had little education and became arrogant and deaf to others once he gained power.

Therefore, the son he raised only knew how to be domineering and act recklessly.

Taking advantage of the year-end, Xia Ying took the initiative to hand over the family head token, which symbolized the power to manage the family, to Han Jinhuan, ostensibly to give it to her younger brother.

Han Jinhuan never expected that Xia Ying would hand over the family head token so early.

If Xia Ying hadn't been the only one present when his father died, the power to manage the family would never have fallen into the hands of a mere boy like him.

After thinking it over carefully, he could roughly guess why Xia Ying had handed over the power to manage the family so early.

Xia Ying is useless; the family business has lost too much money in the years he's been in charge.

His current assets are simply not enough to last until the end of the year, at which point his relatives will definitely find out.

He handed over his family business at this time simply to pass on this hot potato to him.

Han Jinhuan was secretly pleased with herself and accepted the power to manage the family almost without any doubt.

Xia Ying's explanation to her relatives was also very high-sounding, saying that the family business was meant to be inherited by her son, and now that her younger brother was old enough, it was time for him to take over the family business.

Many members of the clan were already dissatisfied with a single son managing the household.

Now that he has voluntarily handed it over, it's a good thing for everyone.

Han Jinhuan was extremely pleased with herself, feeling that she had defeated Xia Ying's stepfather and Xia Ying herself.

Xia Ying suddenly produced a gift list.

This was a copy that Lin Er had someone make; the real gift list is still in Han Jinhuan's room.

"Han, now that I have handed over the power to manage the household to you, could you please return my father's dowry to me?"

Han Jinhuan was extremely shocked. The gift list detailed all of Xia Ying's father's dowry.

He didn't want to give it to her, but Xia Ying suddenly leaned down and whispered something in his ear.