The next day, the case of Rongchang Embroidery Workshop was reopened for retrial. Although Shen Yuning was restricted from leaving the capital, she was still allowed to move around within the city. She couldn't stay idle. First, she strolled around the nearby streets, selected several storefronts suitable for opening an embroidery workshop, and calculated the expenses for starting the business.
Shen Fugui followed her, but he was extremely anxious. At such a critical moment, the case was still unclear, and they didn't even know if the embroidery workshop could continue. Yet Yuning was still looking for storefronts?
Shen Yuning seemed unaffected by the situation. After a few days of wandering, she finally selected three stores. However, when it came to the design and decoration, Shen Fugui noticed that it wasn't in line with the usual pattern of an embroidery workshop.
Shen Fugui had been puzzled for a long time. Finally, when accompanying his sister out one day, he couldn't help but ask, "Isn't it inappropriate to decorate the embroidery workshop in this way?"
Shen Yuning looked up at him and smiled. "These three stores aren't for an embroidery workshop. After all, in the capital, there's no need for me to popularize the law."
Shen Fugui was confused for a moment. "Then what kind of stores do you plan to open?"
There was a glint in Shen Yuning's eyes. "The capital is different from the small town we used to live in. The expenses in the small town were relatively low. But look, just renting a house for a year in the capital is equivalent to our expenses for three years of moving around, not to mention food and other daily necessities. Our embroidery workshops seem to be all over many places in the Great Zhou, but the business is large, and we have a lot of people to support. The money we earn in a year is not even as much as the regular silver given to me by the emperor. If I don't come up with some ways to make money, I'll surely sit idle until all our resources are exhausted."
Shen Fugui nodded, but his depression deepened. His sister was a kind person who cared about the people, but such a good person was framed, and even her own business was at stake.
Shen Yuning didn't stay depressed with her brother. She happily got off the carriage and went into a store selling curios.
The young man at the entrance of the curio store, who sized up customers according to their appearance, pretended not to see Shen Yuning and her brother because their clothes looked ordinary. He even turned up his nose in disdain.
Shen Fugui was very nervous. He knew about curio stores. Any small item inside was extremely valuable. Just now, Yuning had said that the current expenses were high. Why did she enter a curio store all of a sudden? Could it be that the stores she planned to open were curio stores?
When Shen Yuning entered the store, the shopkeeper didn't judge people by their appearance. He greeted her with a faint smile and nodded. "What kind of items are you interested in, miss?"
"Just looking around."
On the first floor, there were large items such as vases and treasure cabinets. Shen Yuning looked at them carefully and occasionally discussed the origin of these items with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper was impressed by the young woman's extraordinary knowledge and articulate speech. He couldn't help but sigh that one should never judge a book by its cover. If this young lady hadn't seen a lot, how could she have known about the treasure cabinets from the previous dynasty? She could even tell that the jade plate that was presented as a tribute more than a hundred years ago had a flaw and was later covered with patterns.
After looking around for a while, Shen Yuning seemed a bit uninterested. She leaned over to look at the small items in the counter.
The shopkeeper had been keeping an eye on Shen Yuning's gaze. Seeing that there was no sign of amazement in her eyes but rather a hint of disappointment, he couldn't help but tremble inside.
He stepped forward with a smile. "It seems that you're an expert, miss. We have even better items on the second floor. I'll have someone lead you there."
Shen Yuning nodded. "Thank you very much."
She told Shen Fugui to wait there and then lifted her skirt and followed a ten - year - old maid up the stairs.
The decoration on the second floor was much better than that on the first floor. As soon as Shen Yuning stepped forward, she met three ladies who were chattering and discussing a string of Buddhist beads.
One of the ladies looked up and saw Shen Yuning. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly came forward. "You're Sister Yuning."
Shen Yuning nodded with a smile and saluted them. "How are you, ladies?"
The lady in front was the eldest daughter of the Chen family. Seeing her polite and somewhat distant words, she couldn't help but sigh. The Chen and Xue families were family friends. In their childhood, this close female friend was now worlds apart from them.
Shen Yuning noticed that the other two ladies behind seemed to be a bit critical of her, but she didn't mind. She smiled and explained, "I haven't been in the capital for many years, so I don't know which families you ladies have married into. If my address is inappropriate, please don't blame me."
The lady with a round face who looked rather simple - minded forced a smile and pushed the two in front. "Sisters, my child must be waiting impatiently to go home. Are you leaving?"
Madam Chen knew what her two friends meant. They didn't want to associate with the woman in front. Although they had been close in childhood, and now Shen Yuning had been granted the title of a rural lady, after all, they were noble ladies in the capital, while she was just a country girl.
But Madam Chen was nostalgic. She smiled at her two friends. "You go ahead if you have something to do. I rarely see Yuning. I'll talk to her for a while."
Madam Chen took Shen Yuning to a teahouse next door and explained that she was now the eldest daughter - in - law of the Han family.
Shen Yuning couldn't help but burst out laughing. The Han family was a military family. Once at a poetry - appreciation gathering in their childhood, the eldest son of the Han family couldn't out - argue them and was so angry that he wanted to smash the wall with the hilt of his knife to vent his anger. But he accidentally slipped and hit Madam Chen. For many years after that, there had been rumors in the capital that the eldest son of the Han family was the kind of person who even beat women.
She never thought that these two would end up as an affectionate couple.
Seeing that Shen Yuning hadn't tied up her hair in the style of a married woman, Madam Chen knew that she was still unmarried. She quickly asked, "You're not young anymore. Are you engaged?"
Shen Yuning shook her head. "I'm sure you've heard a bit about my situation. I've been focused on running my business these years, which has delayed my marriage."
Madam Chen sighed. "Speaking of your Xue family... It seems that the feng shui of the Xue family is not good. The marriages of the two eldest daughters of the Xue family have been called off. I didn't expect the same for you... Alas..."
Shen Yuning frowned. She had already learned from the Xue heir that Xue Yuxin's marriage had been called off. But the marriage between Xiaorou and the Cheng family was specially arranged by her grandmother. Why would it also be called off?
Grandma Xue knew the nature of the couple from the second branch of the Xue family back then. She was afraid that they would interfere in her marriage, so she had arranged the marriage with the Cheng family early on. The Cheng family was just a family of literati. Their family background wasn't particularly prominent, but Grandma Xue and the old lady of the Cheng family were old friends. She also knew that the Cheng family had a profound heritage and was a reliable family, so she had chosen this marriage for her.
Since the Cheng family was reliable, there was no reason for them to renege on the marriage just because the bride had changed from her to Xiaorou, right?
Madam Chen whispered, "You know about Xue Yujiao's marriage. It was the Cheng family that Grandma Xue arranged for you back then. Although it was a bit of a downgrade, it would have been a pity if you had married into that family. But we all know where Xue Yujiao grew up. In fact, the Cheng family was at a disadvantage."
Xue Yujiao was Xiaorou's current name in the Xue family. Shen Yuning frowned and said nothing.
Madam Chen continued, "But Xue Yujiao is arrogant. Especially at a banquet, when she saw the Heir Tang and learned that he was Xue Yuxin's fiancé, she caused a ruckus. She said that the family was biased. They had arranged for Xue Yuxin to marry into a noble family, the heir of the Duke's Mansion, while for her, they had arranged a 'wild boy' from the countryside..."
Shen Yuning still didn't say a word. These were exactly the words Xiaorou would say. Although the Cheng family was from outside the capital, they had been in the capital for many years. They had a profound heritage and had once been very noble. She had met the young master of the Cheng family. He was gentle and polite, not particularly outstanding but definitely not bad. In Xiaorou's mouth, he had become a 'wild boy'.
But Xue Yuxin was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis's Mansion, while Xiaorou was just a younger daughter. Not to mention, Xue Yuxin was the direct daughter of the marquis, while Xiaorou was just a niece. How could she have the nerve to think that she should marry into a better family than Xue Yuxin?
"She made such a big fuss that everyone knew about it. Your grandmother was so angry that she locked her up. Even so, the Cheng family didn't call off the marriage. But she secretly found a few hooligans to kidnap Xue Yuxin. She was kidnapped for a full three hours..."
Shen Yuning's eyelids twitched. She looked up in disbelief. "Did she harm Eldest Sister?"
Madam Chen knew that Shen Yuning had a good relationship with this elder sister from a different branch when she was in the Xue family. She nodded. "Yes. Poor Yuxin was used to being carefree. How could she have guessed that she would be harmed by her own younger sister? This incident caused quite a stir in the capital for several days. Later, Grandma Xue simply took the initiative to call off both marriages."
Shen Yuning clenched her fists tightly. No wonder the Xue heir had been vague when talking to her. It turned out that there were such twists and turns. Xiaorou was so foolish. If the eldest sister in the family married into a noble family, it would do her no harm at all. But if a daughter in the family lost her virtue, the reputations of the other daughters would also be affected.
Madam Chen reached out and held her hand. She was stunned again. The delicate young lady who used to live in comfort now had thick calluses on her hands, which were even rougher than those of the maids beside her. She couldn't help but feel心疼. Thinking of the bad rumors about Lady Shen in the capital, she felt even more depressed.
Before, she might have had a bit of doubt about whether Yuning had gone bad after going to the countryside. But now, seeing her old friend, there was not a single bit of doubt left. Although the current Yuning was much more rough - looking than before, she was clearly still that stubborn and strong little girl.
Madam Chen reluctantly said a few words of comfort. Then a nanny came in and said that it was getting late. She was afraid that the young miss at home would be impatient waiting for her mother.
Shen Yuning quickly stood up and took out a delicate purse from her sleeve. "I didn't know you already had a child. It's my fault that I didn't prepare a gift. I don't have anything special with me now. This purse was embroidered by myself. I just brought it today. I'll give it to the young miss."
Madam Chen took the purse and thanked her, but they were at a loss for words. They were no longer the same as before.
After leaving the teahouse, Shen Yuning's heart felt heavy. If she could, she really wanted to ignore the worldly rumors and go to the Xue family to have a good talk with Xue Yuxin.