"Snow's falling!"
The surprised voice of a young maid rang out in the yard. Shen Qing got off Ji Junye and opened the window a crack. Sure enough, she saw glistening snowflakes drifting down from the sky.
They were small, and this was the first snow of the year.
A gust of cold wind blew in, making Shen Qing shiver involuntarily. Ji Junye walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Seeing this, he reached out to close the window.
"Don't close it. I want to look outside," Shen Qing said.
She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd watched the snow like this. In her past life, during so many winters, she'd been alone. She'd either been troubled by all the trivial matters of the Marquis Mansion or worried about Xu Chenghui's poor health.
Although there was a charcoal brazier burning in the room, she still felt cold.
"What's wrong?"
Ji Junye saw Shen Qing staring blankly out of the window. He didn't understand what was so interesting about this little bit of snow.
"Nothing. I just think this winter is quite warm," Shen Qing said out of the blue. Ji Junye nodded. This winter had indeed come a bit later than usual. At this time last year, it had already snowed heavily.
Shen Qing vaguely remembered that in her past life, it hadn't been very cold in the capital that winter. However, the border regions had been extremely cold, and the military supplies had been insufficient. Many soldiers had suffered from the cold and fallen ill.
That time, Ji Junye hadn't mobilized the Shen Family Army. Taking advantage of the weak defense of the border troops, the Northern Rong people had looted a great deal of things and harmed many common people.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing lost the mood to watch the snow. She turned to look at Ji Junye.
"Aye, are the grain and military supplies at the border still sufficient?"
Ji Junye immediately guessed what she was worried about. "The grain and cotton-padded clothes have already been distributed, but with the Shen Family Army and the border troops combined, the quantity might be..."
"During the previous emperor's reign, the Great Jing Dynasty had been either at war or suffering from natural disasters for years. The national treasury has long been short of silver," he added.
Not only was Shen Qing worried, but he was too.
If they hadn't recently confiscated the properties of several families, they wouldn't even have had the silver to make cotton-padded clothes for the soldiers. Xing Shu had been restless recently, and this silver had to be reserved for emergencies.
Shen Qing fell silent. She knew the national treasury was poor, but she hadn't realized it was this poor.
Shen Qing motioned for him to let go of her, then walked to the dressing table and took out a small locked box.
"There's some money I've saved in here. It's for donating to make cotton-padded clothes for the soldiers at the border," Shen Qing said as she used the key to open the box. Inside were all silver notes, ranging from ten thousand taels to a hundred taels. Scattered together, there were actually more than a hundred thousand taels.
Ji Junye pushed the box back to her. "This is too much. As the New Year is approaching, there are many places where silver is needed. You should keep it for yourself."
No matter how poor the national treasury was, he wouldn't use his woman's money.
Shen Qing pursed her lips and smiled, then pushed the box back to him. "It's not much. These are all the silver I've saved and don't need for the time being. I haven't touched the silver needed for various transactions. And this isn't my dowry either."
"And," Shen Qing took out a land deed. It was the land deed of the Fuyang County tea garden. She whispered something in Ji Junye's ear.
Ji Junye was stunned. He knew she was rich, but he hadn't realized she was this rich.
He almost took the land deed with a trembling hand.
This was a silver mine! If what she said was true and the tea in the tea garden had all been affected and tasted better, he didn't dare to imagine how much silver there was underground!
Actually, Shen Qing didn't know exactly how much silver was in the silver mine in the tea garden, but it should be a considerable amount. According to Xu Yanchi, in her past life, when the King of Jin rebelled, half of the military supplies had come from this silver mine.
It should be enough for the soldiers to have a good winter.
"I only found out about the silver mine under the tea garden by chance. This tea garden originally belonged to the Marquis Mansion. Xu Yanchi gave it to me in order to ask me to do something for him. But if he knew there was a mine underground, he'd probably regret it to death," Shen Qing said with a sly smile. Ji Junye couldn't help but curl his lips.
"Then we should definitely let him know," he said.
Shen Qing gave him a reproachful look. He was determined to make Xu Yanchi angry to death...
But they were both equally wicked.
However, Ji Junye returned the land deed of the tea garden to her.
Shen Qing was puzzled.
"I'll secretly send people to investigate and mine it, but on the surface, this tea garden still has to be yours. And the silver can't flow into the national treasury from me," he explained.
Shen Qing looked at him. "You mean..."
"I'll send people to mine and smelt it, but I can't be the one in charge of the pretext, storage, and transportation of the silver."
The target would be too big. Ji Huaiyan was missing, and Xing Shu was eyeing them covetously. At this critical moment, the news that he suddenly had money couldn't be spread.
So on the surface, the owner of the tea garden still had to be Shen Qing.
Shen Qing nodded and took the land deed back and put it away properly. Anyway, she hadn't intended to take the silver mine for herself. The real valuable thing was the silver mine. It didn't matter if she kept the tea garden.
"Qingqing, thank you," Ji Junye hugged Shen Qing tightly. "On behalf of all the soldiers guarding the border, I thank you."
"I just want to do something for the soldiers," Shen Qing said.
For her, the Shen Family Army was not only her grandfather's subordinates but also her relatives.
They were risking their lives on the front line. How could they be allowed to go hungry and cold?
Ji Junye took the silver and didn't stay any longer. He went back to make arrangements.
The previous preparations had been made without considering the availability of silver. Now that they had silver, the previous plans definitely couldn't be used.
However, if they were to go to war with Xing Shu, and with the King of Jin... these might not be enough at all.
As soon as Ji Junye left, Shen Qing called Yingxiu in. "How much grain have Yang Qing and the others managed to buy and store in the south of the Yangtze River with the money in their hands as I told them before?"
Yingxiu replied, "The warehouses you mentioned are almost full."
"Keep storing more," Shen Qing ordered.
The south of the Yangtze River was one of the largest granaries in the Jing State. Now, while the King of Jin hadn't returned to the south of the Yangtze River, they could still store some more. If they waited until the King of Jin returned and cut off the grain supply from the south of the Yangtze River, their situation would be even more difficult when they went to war with Xing Shu.
"Yes," Yingxiu answered.
Although Yingxiu didn't know why her young lady wanted to store so much grain, she believed that her young lady never did anything without a plan.
Not long after Yingxiu left, a young maid came in to report. "Madam, the heir of the Duke Protector is here."
Shen Yan is here?
"Quickly invite him in."
"Sister!"
Shen Yan had grown a lot taller and stronger recently due to good nutrition and martial arts training. He no longer looked as pale and thin as when she first met him.
"Why did you come at this time?" Shen Qing asked.
Shen Yan said, "Old Chen asked me to bring you your lessons from this period."
The smile on Shen Qing's face froze slightly. She had taken a leave during the autumn hunt, and she didn't know how many lessons had piled up by now.
"Old Chen was really worried when he heard you hadn't come back. He was in a bad mood during that time and was dissatisfied with everything," Shen Yan continued.
He had scolded almost everyone in the Sanguzhai. During that time, none of the senior brothers dared to show up in front of him. Only Shen Yan had been there, so he had received the most scolding.
The scene of the old man flying into a rage appeared in Shen Qing's mind. She sighed. "I didn't go to report my safety after I came back. I'll go and apologize to Master in a few days when I can go out."
At this point, Shen Yan's eyes sparkled as he looked at Shen Qing's belly. "Sister, are you really pregnant?"