The Crown Prince Chases His Wife
Chapter 29 Token (1/2)
At the Princess Mansion in the Xishan.
Qin Yan sat behind the desk, playing with a green jade carved lying deer writing brush between the white slender fingers of her right hand, while her left hand gently flipped through the stacks of light cloud-colored paper letters on the desk.
These letters were the regular reports from the heads of trading establishments in various prefectures, as well as information from various places, including Gu City spies.
Except for the Gu City reports, Ji Nanfeng received all the other letters. He first browsed them, sorted them out, and then reported the summary to Qin Yan. If there was any particularly important information, then he would submit it to Qin Yan to read in person before making a decision.
Gu City’s information was originally sent directly to the Taizi Mansion but was sent back by the Taizi Mansion.
The person from the Taizi Mansion was Song Zhi. He said that His Highness Taizi meant that because Princess of Zhaoren was more familiar with Gu City and the situation at the mountain pass of Northwest, so His Highness Taizi let Princess of Zhaoren receive the information on Gu City, read it first, and then send the original information, including Princess of Zhaoren’s opinion, to the Taizi Mansion.
Therefore, after Qin Yan returned to the capital, her official duties weren’t much reduced.
Qin Yan had been used to handling a lot of affairs for many years, and she could flip through the reports extremely quickly.
In the time of a cup of tea, Qin Yan finished browsing. She raised her head and moved her neck gently, then looked at Ji Nanfeng who was standing opposite the desk.
“Mister Ji, how was the stargazing last night?”
Since Qin Yan began to handle official duties, Ji Nanfeng had been waiting opposite Qin Yan, which was also a common practice.
Ji Nanfeng had just been looking at Qin Yan, who was concentrating behind the desk, and every subtle movement of hers, every scowl and frown, was seen by his eyes and remembered in his heart. Their master, no matter where she was or what she was doing, was so beautiful…
When Qin Yan spoke suddenly, Ji Nanfeng almost didn’t regain his senses for a moment. He quickly calmed down his mind and tried his best to hide his secret thoughts. He must not let Qin Yan find out, otherwise, he might even be deprived of the right to stay by her side.
Fortunately, Qin Yan had never been sensitive when it came to matters between men and women.
Ji Nanfeng said, “Last night, the stars were dark, and the starlight was unclear. The grain harvest may be poor this autumn.”
Qin Yan frowned slightly.
It was not necessarily accurate to watch the sky on the night of the Double Seven Festival to see the harvest of that year. However, in the past few years ago, the celestial phenomena were bright at night on the Double Seven Festival, and the grain also had a bumper harvest that year.
The food issue was of great importance and should not be taken lightly.
Qin Yan’s voice was cold and spoke indifferently.
“Notify each of the grain business establishments of the prefectures that there is no need to wait for the autumn harvest. On the premise of stabilizing grain prices, we will start buying grain now, and the old grains will also be purchased, just in case. Order the heads of the prefectures to check the granaries in various places frequently and beware of catching fire.”
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Qin Yan had some bad premonitions in her heart. If there was a real shortage of grain, the grain business establishments would hoard the grains to drive up the price of grains to make huge profits. If the people were short of food, there would be more refugees and even turmoil.
This situation was only in Great Xia, but outside the mountain pass, the wolves were lurking around, and all countries were eyeing covetously. It had only been a few years since the truce and the Great Xia could take a breather, as well as the Turks and Xirong. Thus, this couldn’t be underestimated.
There was a lot of rain this spring and summer, and the only hope was that there would be no more floods, otherwise it would make things worse.
“Let the spies in Gu City be more vigilant and stare at Xirong and Turks.”
——
Qin Yan picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and said, “What happened after the trading establishment entered the capital?”
Ji Nanfeng didn’t need Qin Yan to ask more, he knew what his master wanted to know, and he said, “Everything is going smoothly. The businesses of the bank and the pawnshop has begun to make progress. Similar to the situation in the prefectures, the bank has a high reputation in the upper capital. The merchants and even officials prefer to deposit and borrow in Yu Qingfeng.”
“Wen Luo did a good job of what we told him. At the same time, he is also planning and expanding his own business. He is indeed a business genius. Before in Gu City, we almost overlook his talent.
“Song Mei’s shops were surrounded by Wen Luo, and it’s almost out of breath.”
After Ji Nanfeng finished speaking, he waited for Qin Yan to make the next arrangement.
Qin Yan put down the teacup and asked, “Can you find out how many properties they have?”
Ji Nanfeng continued, “Their properties are mainly in the upper capital, and they also have some in Yangzhou, but it’s not worth mentioning.”
“Except for the shops on the two streets of the West City and East City in the upper capital, which were originally under Madam’s name, and the two villages in the southern suburbs. Over the years, they have acquired several new shops in the South City and a village in the western suburbs.”
Hearing this, Qin Yan chuckled lightly.
“Not bad, Prime Minister Qin’s family property is quite rich, so it’s no wonder that Qin Nian can charter a pleasure boat to tour around the lake.”
After Prime Minister Qin entered the capital and bought the house in those days, he collected the dowry gifts for her mother with great difficulty. And those dowry gifts were also brought back to the Prime Minister Qin Mansion by her mother along with the dowry to supplement their household. Oh, now they had flourished.
“Yesterday, Qin Nian’s pleasure boat collided with the prince, the princess, and His Highness Taizi. If she didn’t have the spare money to charter a boat to tour the lake, we wouldn’t be troubled yesterday. We reluctantly helped Prime Minister Qin eliminate his secret worries.”
“Mister Ji, go ahead and make arrangements. Whether it’s the shops in the West City, East City, or South City, the village in the southern suburbs, the village in the western suburbs, or their properties in the upper capital, they don’t need to keep it in their hands anymore, so as not to cause them any worries.”
Ji Nanfeng took the order and said again, “Master, since Yu Qingfeng entered the capital, several waves of people have been checking us.”
“No problem. In the capital, what can be hidden under the feet of the Emperor? Let’s just do our own business openly.” Qin Yan’s tone was light.
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“Mister Ji, go ahead and do it without hesitating.”
Ji Nanfeng took the order and left.
——
Qin Yan took a sip of tea and recalled what happened yesterday. She frowned and said to Shen Ying, who was beside her, “Ask Uncle Huai to come over.”
Not long after, Shen Huai came in.
“Master.” Shen Huai saluted.
Qin Yan nodded and asked, “Uncle Huai, did my mother exchange tokens with Princess of Anyang back then?”
When Shen Huai heard the words, he knew that his master was talking about the token of engagement. When he first returned to the capital, he heard the rumor in the capital that the Shizi of Marquis of Yongding Mansion broke his marriage contract. Shen Huai found the token at that time and was ready.
“Master, that’s a white dragon-shaped jade pendant and it’s in the warehouse now. Do you want me to take it?” Shen Huai asked.
“No need. Uncle Huai, send it back to Shizi Xie of Marquis of Yongding Mansion on my behalf.” Qin Yan’s tone was slightly cold.
Shen Huai withdrew after taking the order and sighed in his heart. They used to be a lovely young couple but were destined to be separated.