After a whole day of looking around, apart from a rather impractical idea about the inn, there was no clue at all regarding the other two shops.
When Li Wanming returned to Luoxuexuan, she flopped face - down onto the bed.
Xiao Jingnan carried in a pot of hot water from the small kitchen. He brewed a cup of tea for Li Wanming and brought it to her. "Come, have some water. This is the newly - made tea by Qinglan. It's called Spring Gully Cold Mist."
Now, Chuntao mainly stayed at the old store of the Li Family Liquor Shop. Li Wanming had made her the manager of the old store, and Chuntao was doing a great job. As a result, she didn't have time to serve Li Wanming.
With no one around to pour tea and water, Li Wanming and Xiao Jingnan had to do these things themselves.
Fortunately, neither of them was afraid of hardship. Taking care of themselves now, they didn't feel it was a bad thing.
Li Wanming sat up, took a sip of the tea, smacked her lips, and immediately felt the refreshing fragrance filling her mouth. Most of her fatigue vanished.
"I didn't expect Qinglan to be so good at making tea. And now we have a use for the leftovers from our brewing. It's killing two birds with one stone. If she wants to in the future, we can open a teahouse for her."
Xiao Jingnan smiled. "That's not necessary. I think Qinglan really likes Zhaoyu Academy. She manages the academy in an orderly way. Let her be the dean there. What we need to do now is to work with Qinglan to save Zhaoyu."
He took the teacup from Li Wanming's hand and asked, "Do you have any ideas about these three shops?"
Li Wanming said, "I've thought about it. The business of the paper - making shop is obvious. As long as we can find a skilled craftsman for funeral objects, we can turn things around. But this kind of business is inauspicious, so it's probably very difficult to find a suitable person. On the contrary, the inn might be easier."
She motioned for Xiao Jingnan to pour her another cup of tea and continued, "The rumor that the inn is haunted has been around for two years. I'm afraid it can't be dispelled in a short time. I was thinking, why don't we just go with the flow and make the haunted thing a feature here? Open a haunted mansion inn?"
"A haunted mansion inn?"
Xiao Jingnan's eyebrows twitched slightly. He pondered for a long time before saying, "I know my wife has always had great ideas and is different from ordinary people, but I didn't expect you to have such an idea..."
Li Wanming glared at him impatiently. "What I'm most worried about now is the pawnshop. Opening a pawnshop requires a large amount of money and experienced people. We don't have either money or the right person... Hey, what did you mean this morning when you said borrowing money by our own ability?"
Xiao Jingnan smiled and was about to answer when Zifu's voice came from outside the door. "Cousin, cousin - in - law, Aunt is here to say goodbye to you!"
The "Aunt" she mentioned was, of course, the Princess of Ning.
In the past two months, Qinglan, Caiwei, Chuntao, Lu Ping, and Wu Yao had all been busy with their careers outside. All the housework had fallen on Zifu, Aunt Song, and Sister Liu. They were really overwhelmed, which forced Nanny Yu and Uncle Zhong, the middle - level managers, to do some basic work.
With a shortage of manpower and a lot of things to do, they couldn't serve the Prince and Princess of Ning closely anymore.
So, the Prince and Princess of Ning were also forced to "do things by themselves".
The Prince of Ning was okay. He was easy - going and had served in the army for several years, so he didn't care about these things.
But the Princess of Ning was different.
She had grown up in the Cheng Family in Langya. She was a real delicate young lady who never did any rough work.
When Caiwei and Qinglan were around before, she could still have a bowl of bird's nest every day. Now, there was even no one to stew chicken soup for her!
The Princess of Ning had been living in Pingkangfang for the past two months. Looking at the cold and deserted mansion and the needlework in her hand, she would suddenly have a real feeling that her family had been exterminated...
What was even more憋屈 was that the academy was now a bottomless pit. All the money earned from the liquor shop had to be used to subsidize the academy first. Li Wanming and her husband were short of money, and there was no extra money to buy maids for her. She was also too embarrassed to ask.
So, after enduring for two months, the Princess of Ning finally couldn't bear it anymore.
She found Xiao Jingnan and said that she had been away for long enough and wanted to "return" to her hometown, Langya.
Xiao Jingnan guessed the reason behind it from her expression.
He also felt a bit guilty, deeply regretting that he had ignored his mother in the past two months. After discussing with Li Wanming, he agreed to send his parents "back to Langya".
The Prince of Ning had no objection. They originally planned to tell the truth after Xiao Jingnan's birthday and then return to the Prince of Ning's Mansion happily as a family.
They just didn't expect that this daughter - in - law was so stubborn. Her aversion to the noble families was deep - rooted, and their son was so timid that he still dared not tell the truth. So they had to continue acting...
"Go back? It's good to go back. It's time to go back."
The Prince of Ning stroked his beard, his face looking a bit solemn. "Although there are fewer people coming to visit Pingkangfang after General Feng said hello, our identities have become an open secret among the noble families. If we stay in Pingkangfang any longer, it may reach the ears of the Empress Dowager Kang sooner or later."
Xiao Jingnan asked, "Father, how long do we still need to hide it from the Empress Dowager?"
"If we can keep it a secret, it's best to keep it until Wanming's name is on the jade roster of our mansion."
The Prince of Ning's voice became even deeper. "Our Prince of Ning's Mansion has always been neutral in the struggle between those two women. The Empress Dowager has been dissatisfied for a long time. But she has never pressured me because she knows it's difficult for you to get married and have an heir."
"Yes." Xiao Jingnan said, "That's also the reason why I exchanged the interests of the business firm to ask the Princess Royal to keep the secret."
The Prince of Ning reminded him, "That woman is too crazy. Dealing with her is like seeking the skin from a tiger. You must be careful."
"Son knows. Father, please rest assured."
The Prince of Ning stood by the window, feeling a bit emotional. "When we first came here, we thought we would only stay for a few days. Unexpectedly, we've stayed for more than a year."
He pointed to the sparse vegetable leaves and bean seedlings in the yard and said to Xiao Jingnan, "Uncle Zhong's skill in growing vegetables hasn't improved at all. After growing them for so long, they still look so sickly."
Xiao Jingnan laughed. "Father, don't mention this anymore. Uncle Zhong always looks so hateful whenever he talks about this. He said that he had been smart and capable all his life, but unexpectedly, he would stumble on these few acres of vegetable fields. Lu Ping told me that Uncle Zhong plans to set aside a piece of land in Shuyu Courtyard to grow loofahs after we return to the mansion."
"Let him spare that land!" The Prince of Ning waved his hand repeatedly and laughed. "If he plants there for two years, it will really be barren!"
The Princess of Ning was very happy to hear that everyone agreed to return to the mansion. She only took one day to pack her things and couldn't wait to go home.
However, Li Wanming was considerate and asked them to buy some special products of the capital to take to their relatives in Langya, which delayed them for another two days.
When the Princess of Ning heard that the carriage for the return journey was ready, she was extremely excited. She couldn't wait for someone to call Li Wanming and Xiao Jingnan to come and see her off. Instead, she came here herself to say goodbye to her son and daughter - in - law.
All the etiquettes and rules didn't matter to her now. Going home was the most important thing...
"Mother, are you all packed?"
Li Wanming stood up.
The Princess of Ning beamed. "All done! The things you asked Lu Ping and Wu Yao to buy for me are also loaded on the carriage. I just came here to say a few words to you. I'll leave soon."
Li Wanming said, "I've asked Chuntao to prepare the carriage. We'll send Father - in - law and Mother - in - law out of the city later."
"No, no! We can go by ourselves. You don't need to see us off!"
The Princess of Ning was scared into a cold sweat.
See them off out of the city?
Definitely not!
What if Li Wanming insisted on seeing them off for ten miles and sent them all the way outside Banshi Mountain? Would she be able to get home before dark today?
The Princess of Ning quickly changed the topic. "I heard you talking about the shops before I came in. Have you encountered any trouble?"
When Li Wanming heard her mention it, she thought of her troubles again and said, "We want to buy a pawnshop, but we don't have a suitable grand appraiser..."
"What's a grand appraiser?"
The Princess of Ning was a bit curious because the name sounded strange.
She had lived in luxury since childhood, never having to worry about food and clothing. She had never been in contact with the pawnshop business, so of course, she didn't know that the manager of a pawnshop was called an appraiser.
"The grand appraiser is the chief manager of a pawnshop. He's the backbone of the pawnshop. He has the final say on all matters such as appraising goods, setting prices, and deciding whether to accept them or not. So, the grand appraiser in a pawnshop must have a very high appreciation ability for gold, stones, jade, antiques, and cultural relics..."
Xiao Jingnan explained with a smile, but he suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech. He stared at his mother without blinking.
After a long time, he said slowly, "Now, I've found a good candidate."