Zhao Luoning was completely unaware that Ji Shisu had taken a new concubine.
At this moment, she was whole - heartedly dealing with the crisis of the tea house.
Since her elder brother had been deceived into selling fake tea before, she urgently needed to find a way to regain the lost reputation.
In the past two days, she had been contacting buyers to buy back the fake tea at a high price and preparing a tea - tasting banquet. She was extremely busy.
When she returned from the tea mountain, Feixing had been waiting for a long time.
"Miss, this letter is from Caixue."
Feixing handed the letter in his hand to Zhao Luoning.
Zhao Luoning took the letter and saw that it was written by Ji Shisu.
"What does Ji Shisu want to write to me for?"
It had only been a few days since she left the Ji Mansion, and she would be back in three days. What couldn't be said face - to - face but had to be written in a letter?
Ji Shisu didn't mention anything important in the letter. He just said that Zhao Luoning had been very hard - working since she got married into the Ji family. After her fasting period ended, he would pick her up and let her go back to the Zhao family to rest for a while.
Go back to the Zhao family? Was that really rest?
Ji Shisu was probably using concern as a pretext to take revenge on her.
"What on earth is Ji Shisu up to recently?"
Feixing looked at Zhao Luoning blankly, indicating that he didn't know either.
"Forget it. It's really hard to guess what you men are thinking."
Feixing, who was innocently involved: "..."
Zhao Luoning gave up trying to figure out Ji Shisu's thoughts.
She would cross the bridge when she came to it. Let it be.
Ji Shisu received Zhao Luoning's reply soon after.
It was just one word.
Okay.
Ji Shisu immediately felt that his good intentions had been in vain.
He just saw that her birthday was approaching and wanted to accompany her back to the Zhao family to celebrate it with her relatives.
But she had simply dismissed him with one word without even saying thank you.
Seeing Ji Shisu so frustrated, Yuchi joked with a smile, "Why don't you just let your wife go back alone, my lord? Otherwise, you'll just get angry if you accompany her back."
"No."
He wanted to accompany Zhao Luoning back not only to celebrate her birthday but also to get to know her better.
Yuchi watched his master getting angry and struggling. He covered his mouth and snickered.
His master was completely smitten with his wife.
Maybe Ji Shisu himself hadn't even noticed it.
Now he was thinking about his wife all the time. He rarely even mentioned the woman from that night in Tianxiang Tower.
Ji Shisu still noticed Yuchi's snickering. He threw a wooden stick over. Yuchi winced in pain and then put away the joke and got down to business.
"My lord, I've already had that Granny Xu brought to the other courtyard. When do you have time to meet her? But her mind is not normal. I don't know if we can still question her."
"Wasn't it said that Granny Xu was in the Zhao family's estate? How did you get her out?"
"Maybe the Zhao family thought it was a waste of food to keep a crazy old woman. They gave Granny Xu a few taels of silver and drove her out. I happened to be looking for Granny Xu that day. Seeing the situation, I brought her back."
"Is it really that coincidental?" Ji Shisu always felt something was wrong. It was as if someone had sent Granny Xu to him.
"Forget it. First, find a doctor to treat her madness. I'll go and see her when I'm free. Also, keep a close eye on the news from the Zhao family."
Yuchi nodded in obedience. Just as he was about to go down to handle it, he took two steps and then suddenly felt something was wrong.
Although the second master said that he just wanted to know more about the second young mistress, he seemed to be overly concerned about every detail.
A bad premonition suddenly flashed through Yuchi's mind. He couldn't help but tentatively ask his doubts.
"My lord, are you going to tell the second young mistress about your plans?"
Ji Shisu didn't answer.
His reaction scared Yuchi.
"My lord, if this matter is not handled properly, it will bring about a disaster. We can't afford the slightest mistake. If you really let the second young mistress know, what if she messes things up..."
"After the uprising, someone has to lead all the female relatives of the Ji family. Do you expect the old matriarch to go to battle?"
"But... my lord... the second young mistress..."
"Yuchi, stop talking. I know what I'm doing."
In fact, not only Yuchi but even he himself would have thought he was crazy if it had been in the past.
But the days of getting along had told Ji Shisu that Zhao Luoning was worthy of his trust.
She could manage such a big family as the Ji family. She had been able to turn danger into safety several times. Her handling ability was highly praised by everyone in the mansion and had successfully attracted Ji Shisu's attention.
At first, he really just wanted to know more about her by investigating her.
But gradually, he had the idea of fighting side by side with her.
Maybe she would be a good comrade - in - arms.
Of course, Yuchi's worry was completely unnecessary.
He had come this far and naturally wouldn't act impulsively.
He wouldn't act rashly until he had thoroughly investigated Zhao Luoning's background.
He placed high hopes on Zhao Luoning.
He hoped that Zhao Luoning wouldn't let him down.
Far away at the Zhao family's tea house, Zhao Luoning, who was discussing the details of the tea - tasting banquet with several stewards, suddenly sneezed very inappropriately.
Everyone immediately became nervous.
"Second young master, are you okay?"
"Second young master, you should take care of your health."
"Second young master, I'll go and prepare ginger tea for you right away!"
...
Now Zhao Luoning was the life - saving straw in everyone's eyes. As long as she was a little unwell, everyone would be on tenterhooks. They were afraid that the second young master would relapse and have to go to recuperate again, leaving the big tea - house business to the eldest young master.
Zhao Luoning was both amused and annoyed by them.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
After repeatedly confirming that Zhao Luoning had just sneezed and was okay, everyone finally calmed down and continued to discuss the details of the tea - tasting banquet.
"The Ji family's tea house has sent people and their new tea of this season. Several other big tea houses have also joined the tea - tasting banquet. They will bring many new customers. The old customers who left before have all come back. They have started to place orders with us for this tea - tasting banquet. It seems that we've turned misfortune into good fortune this time. We should have more orders this year than last year."
"We only aim to regain our reputation, not to increase orders. The other tea houses are helping us. We should be grateful and recommend their tea more."
Seeing that the situation had improved just a few days after the second young master came back, everyone was happy and agreed cheerfully.
"Yes."
"By the way, second young master, there's a man who has been trying to see you."
"See me? Who is he?"
"Mr. Sima Yi, the eldest son of the Sima family."
"The Sima family?"
Zhao Luoning had heard of them.
The Sima family was a prominent family in the north. It was said that they intended to cooperate with southern merchants to open up north - south trade.
As soon as this news came out, many merchants had been eager to get in touch with the Sima family.
But Zhao Luoning remembered that she had never approached the Sima family.
Zhao Luoning didn't like dealing with these big families. Cooperating with them was like making a deal with a tiger. She wouldn't get much benefit.
Of course, since the person had come to the door, she naturally wouldn't refuse.
"The guest should be welcome. Find a time to meet him."
Before Zhao Luoning's words fell, someone rushed over and reported, "It's bad. It's bad. Something has happened. The eldest young master... he has been arrested by the government!"
"What?!"
Zhao Luoning suddenly stood up from the chair. Without caring about the others, she rushed out of the door.