To Cuihuan's surprise, early the next morning, Aunt Ruan squeezed onto the bed and bitterly recounted the tragic experience of how Luo Xunlong had once tried to sell the precious sword, which had enraged his mother to death. Cuihuan's eyes welled up with tears as she listened, and in the end, she somehow and rather bewilderedly agreed to help Luo Xunlong keep his family heirloom.
With that, Aunt Ruan left contentedly.
Wei Dongling was overjoyed. Lying on the bed, she called out softly and sweetly, "Auntie!" This made Cuihuan blush instantly.
While the Listening Wind Tower was in preparation for its grand opening, all the uncles and elders were extremely busy.
Lin Baiwan thought the previous feng shui layout was not good. He didn't know where he found a feng shui master from a corner street and had the layout slightly adjusted. He also had two stone lions placed at the entrance.
After half a day of hard work, the eight sets of tables and chairs on the first floor for receiving guests and the three private rooms on the second floor were all neatly arranged.
Uncle Li and Lin Baiwan inspected the place round and round, nodding in satisfaction.
Wei Dongling was worried, fearing that the business might not be good enough to support so many people.
Lin Baiwan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, girl. After we pick up Old Master Su, we'll focus on business. Whether the teahouse business is good or not doesn't really matter."
So, the Listening Wind Tower teahouse opened in full swing.
Early in the morning, the neighbors all came to show their support. Amid the joyous sound of firecrackers, they watched as the red cloth on the lintel was slowly removed. To everyone's surprise, the name of the teahouse remained unchanged.
The ugly and fat son of the Yang family from the Changyun Cloth Store also came. He bowed to Aunt Ruan and Cuihuan at the entrance to offer his congratulations and presented a gift.
Just as Cuihuan was curtsying in return, she looked up and saw Luo Xunlong standing in front of her like an angry rooster, glaring menacingly at the young Master Yang.
Cuihuan whispered to Aunt Ruan, "What's wrong with Brother Long?"
Aunt Ruan glanced at Luo Xunlong's jealous look and spat, "Who knows what's gotten into him? Ignore him!"
Cuihuan: ...
Wei Dongling dressed neatly and limped downstairs.
Yu Zixi didn't come himself, but he sent his servant with a group of his friends, the well - known playboys in the capital, to show their support. Lin Baiwan quickly had them led in to drink tea and have snacks, treating them with great hospitality.
Wei Dongling asked Aunt Ruan in surprise, "Where's Uncle Li? Why haven't I seen him?"
Aunt Ruan replied in a low voice, "Early this morning, Lord Shen sent someone to take him into the palace!"
Wei Dongling felt a jolt of panic and said anxiously, "Why didn't they call me?"
Aunt Ruan comforted her, "You wouldn't be able to help even if you went. Just wait patiently."
Wei Dongling thought it made sense, but she couldn't calm down. Her right eyelid kept twitching.
Looking up, she saw Pin Hao walking in. He didn't even glance at her. After hearing that Uncle Li wasn't there, he said some polite words of congratulations on behalf of the Cloud Prince, presented a gift, and then turned around and left without even taking a sip of tea.
Lin Baiwan quickly told Aunt Ruan to chase after him and stuffed two jars of excellent pre - Qingming Longjing tea into his hands. He also gave Pin Hao a red envelope.
Not long after, the guard of Lord Rong, whom they had saved on the Qixi Festival, came with gifts. He bowed to Wei Dongling with a beaming smile to express his gratitude and had someone carry in eight thousand taels of silver as a congratulatory gift, which amazed everyone.
Lin Baiwan quickly declined, saying, "We can't accept such a generous gift!"
The guard quickly bowed and said, "Our lord is extremely grateful to Miss Wei for saving his life. He's really swamped with official business today and can't come in person. Please, shopkeeper and Miss Wei, forgive him!"
Wei Dongling's eyes lit up at the sight of the money. She curtsied to express her thanks and happily accepted it.
Aunt Ruan quickly invited the men in to drink tea and gave them red envelopes one by one. When she came back to write down the gift money in the ledger, she asked Wei Dongling, "Which lord sent this gift?"
Wei Dongling hesitated and said, "I only know he's a Lord Rong. I don't know his official position."
Aunt Ruan gave her a disdainful look and then turned to attend to the servants of Lord Rong who were drinking tea. When she came back, she wrote in the ledger: Lord Rong, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, congratulates with eight thousand taels of silver.
Wei Dongling: Aunt Ruan is amazing!
Just as she was marveling at Aunt Ruan's excellent social skills, she saw Lord Qi squeezing through the crowd.
Wei Dongling felt a pang of soreness in her eyes. Limping forward, she said in surprise, "Uncle, why are you here?"
Lord Qi looked Wei Dongling up and down and forced a smile, saying, "I've been wanting to come and see you for a long time, but I've been too busy. Dongling, you've lost some weight!"
These words made Wei Dongling's eyes well up with tears.
Cuihuan quickly stepped forward and pulled her, saying, "Quickly invite Uncle Qi in to sit down. What are you standing at the door for?"
Wei Dongling nodded and invited Lord Qi in to take a seat. She told Cuihuan to bring a pot of good tea and personally poured a cup for Lord Qi.
Lord Qi looked at her face and asked, "Are you getting used to living here? Is your injury getting better?"
Wei Dongling quickly nodded and said with a soft smile, "I'm doing fine. Please don't worry, Uncle!"
Looking at Wei Dongling's thin figure, Lord Qi felt a twinge of pain in his heart. He took out a stack of silver notes from his robe and handed them to her. Wei Dongling waved her hands repeatedly and refused to accept them.
Lord Qi quickly called out, "This is a congratulatory gift! You must accept it."
Helpless, Wei Dongling had Cuihuan take it.
Wei Dongling had so much to say, but she was afraid that it would make people sad. So she just reported that she was safe and told Lord Qi to take good care of himself.
After sitting for a while, Lord Qi got up to leave. Wei Dongling couldn't persuade him to stay, so she walked him to the door and waved goodbye.
When Lord Qi turned around and left, his figure looked so lonely and desolate that it made her feel extremely sad.
At noon, they invited all the neighbors to have a meal, and it was a joyous and lively occasion.
As night was approaching, Uncle Li came back quietly through the back door with Lord Shen. When Wei Dongling heard the news, she quickly went to the second floor to serve tea.
When she entered the room, she saw that both Lord Shen and Uncle Li looked rather gloomy. Wei Dongling asked tremblingly, "Was today not very smooth?"
Lord Shen nodded helplessly and said, "Indeed. In the court, the Crown Prince accused the Zhao Mansion of embezzling disaster - relief funds, raising private troops, privately building prisons, privately smelting iron ore in the Xingshan Tea Plantation and selling it to the Xiliang Kingdom. Lord Zhao flatly denied all these charges."
Wei Dongling was extremely shocked and asked, "With physical evidence, it should be easy to find out the truth. How can the Zhao family deny it?"
Lord Shen frowned and sighed, "His Majesty has assigned imperial envoys and the Ministry of War to go to Xingshan for investigation. However, there was a heavy rain in Xingshan a few days ago, which caused most of the tea plantation to collapse. I'm afraid they won't be able to find out anything..."
Wei Dongling remembered what Jingzhe had said last time that the underground prison in the horse - training ground had been demolished. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly asked, "Doesn't the Crown Prince have an account book of the Liaocheng Tea Store? It clearly records that the daily extra income comes from the Xuyang Winery in Liaocheng. The behind - the - scenes boss of this winery is exactly that Xiliang Prince!"
Lord Shen frowned and said, "Lord Zhao flatly denied it and clearly stated that at the end of last month, the Liaocheng Tea Store had closed for business rectification due to poor management. All the accounts have been fetched and presented in front of the palace. There are indeed no discrepancies."
Wei Dongling was heart - broken and anxious. She said, "Could it be that someone leaked the news and the Zhao family destroyed the evidence overnight and also falsified the accounts? Has the government thoroughly investigated the Xuyang Winery?"
Then she thought that the Xuyang Winery was even more strictly guarded. Since the Zhao Mansion had already received the news, it was very likely that the winery had also made arrangements in advance!