Chapter 20 : The Zhao Family’s Mansion Destroyed Our Shop!

Xue Qingyin brought Du Hongxue, oh, the young general, to the mountains and forests behind the estate.

They were walking ahead.

The rest of the people quietly followed, not daring to even breathe.

Only Mrs. Xue seemed a bit more at ease.

“The place is indeed spacious, but the horses you keep here are quite poor,” Du Hongxue blurted out.

The stable manager lowered his head, thinking to himself that private horses couldn’t compare with military ones.

Xue Qingyin didn’t think too much and asked, “What’s wrong with them?”

Du Hongxue frowned, “Everything’s wrong… Look at their coats, so messy and dry. When was the last time their hooves were trimmed? Their backs are crooked, and they’re too thin… With horses in this state, what use are they?”

After saying this, Du Hongxue suddenly realized he might have offended Xue Qingyin and awkwardly smiled at her.

“Mother, what are our horses here for?” Xue Qingyin asked Mrs. Xue.

Mrs. Xue’s expression wasn’t great either. She replied, “They are for selling, of course.”

She called the manager over and asked how many horses had been sold in recent years.

The manager stammered, “It takes time for the foals to grow into what they are now… Good breeding stallions aren’t easy to find either. Gradually, we’ve only been left with a mix of good and bad.” He paused before saying with a sorrowful expression, “We haven’t sold a single one.”

But having a stable sounds impressive!

The manager thought, isn’t that enough?

Du Hongxue couldn’t stand it and blurted out again, “With horses like these… you could raise them with your feet. It’s a miracle if they sell.”

The manager hung his head, not daring to speak.

His expression was like his whole family had perished.

Xue Qingyin asked, “Then how can we raise good horses?”

“Well… I can’t say. In our Xuanwu army, we have a stable manager who specializes in breeding horses,” the manager replied.

Xue Qingyin smiled brightly, “Thank you, I understand now.”

Du Hongxue heard her laughter and was charmed. She was so open-hearted and graceful.

He turned his head, almost uncontrollably blushing.

Du Hongxue was about to return to report. Xue Qingyin walked him down the mountain.

As they passed a cluster of camellias, Xue Qingyin casually picked a few and handed them to Du Hongxue.

Du Hongxue stood there, stiff, not knowing what to do. For a moment, he even forgot how to walk.

“Please take these to King Xuan,” Xue Qingyin said.

“…Oh, yes. Okay.” Du Hongxue clumsily held the flowers.

So it was for the prince, huh.

Xue Qingyin then asked, “Can I invite King Xuan to visit?”

Du Hongxue hesitated, “It’s possible… but no one can really invite the prince.”

Xue Qingyin decided to give it a try.

Anyway, she couldn’t leave these assets to He Songning! He Songning was too fickle and ruthless!

“I want to invite… no, our estate wants to invite King Xuan to come, enjoy the flowers, race horses, and there’s even a hot spring further up,” she said, recalling this from her memory. She wasn’t sure if the hot spring had been abandoned.

Du Hongxue could only reply, “I will report to His Highness.”

But whether he would come or not was another story.

Xue Qingyin nodded.

She had tried, now whatever happens next… let it be.

After sending Du Hongxue off, Mrs. Xue began dealing with the people at the estate.

Xue Qingyin didn’t want to do such things, so she lazily sat behind and snacked on sunflower seeds.

But to the eyes of the others on the estate, it was a different matter…

This young lady had, with just a few words, established a connection with the young general of the Xuanwu army, daring to ask for money, and even inviting King Xuan to visit.

And now, she sat there, casually eating seeds.

Her calmness showed her composure and deep strategy!

Even Jin Xiang couldn’t help but look at Xue Qingyin with higher regard.

This young lady… she was truly hard to figure out.

Meanwhile, Du Hongxue stiffly carried the flowers back to the camp. Upon seeing someone, he immediately asked, “Has His Highness returned to the city?”

The person replied, “Not yet.” Then, teasingly, they added, “Didn’t the steward go to find horses? Why are you picking flowers instead?”

Du Hongxue ignored him and hurried to the main tent.

Before long, he ran straight into King Xuan and the deputy commander.

King Xuan’s eyes immediately fell on the flowers in Du Hongxue’s hands.

He felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

But then, he dismissed it as absurd…

However, this absurdity was shattered the next moment by Du Hongxue.

Du Hongxue hurried up to him and bowed, “Your Highness, I met the young lady from the Xue family at the estate. She asked me to bring these to you.”

After speaking, Du Hongxue felt a bit nervous.

Such things seemed useless in a military camp. He was afraid the prince would reprimand him for doing unnecessary things.

The deputy commander, however, showed interest and asked, “Oh? The Xue family’s young lady? I’m still thinking about that kite she made. Is she visiting the estate for fun? She must be well by now.”

But King Xuan suddenly spoke, “She’s not fully recovered.”

The deputy commander was taken aback, “What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“It’s an old ailment, easy to flare up,” King Xuan said casually.

The deputy commander was puzzled.

Wait… how did His Highness know so much?

The deputy commander had no idea that King Xuan had already met Xue Qingyin in the palace.

By now, Du Hongxue’s arms were getting sore from holding the flowers. Of course, it was mainly because of the intense pressure coming from King Xuan.

He couldn’t help but cautiously speak, “Your Highness, about the flowers…”

Only King Xuan himself knew these were the thank-you gift she had mentioned last time.

King Xuan’s expression didn’t change. In a neutral tone, he said, “Take them.”

A young eunuch quickly stepped forward to take them.

“And, that estate is owned by Miss Xue. She said that if anyone wants to race horses at their stable, it will cost 500 taels of silver.”

The deputy commander couldn’t help but murmur, “Seems like the young lady doesn’t have any interest in His Highness? If it were another young lady, she would have been eager to invite His Highness to race horses herself.”

“Also!” Du Hongxue continued.

The deputy commander couldn’t help but laugh, “Can you stop talking all at once?”

Du Hongxue ignored him and, with great caution, said, “Miss Xue wants to invite His Highness to visit the estate…”

“The young lady’s thoughts are really hard to read,” the deputy commander summarized after a long pause.

“And His Highness’s opinion…”

“The money should be paid.”

“Yes, I think so too. Maintaining people on the estate, there are costs. We can’t be those who take advantage of others.”

“Let’s go.”

“Are you going back to the city now?”

“To the estate.”

Half an incense stick later…

King Xuan arrived at the estate.

But Xue Qingyin was already gone.

The manager was almost in a panic, trembling as he stammered, “The young lady said… she needed to return to the silk shop to check something…”

No one had expected King Xuan to actually come!

What should they do now?

He had never seen such an important person in his life!

Let alone hosting such a distinguished guest!

King Xuan looked at Du Hongxue without a trace of emotion.

Du Hongxue awkwardly said, “I… I forgot to tell you when to invite you…”

King Xuan lowered his eyes, “Ye Wei, you take over here.”

The young man called “Ye Wei” responded.

The manager and others were now completely frightened.

Take over here?

Was the Xuanwu army really going to settle scores with them?

…

Xue Qingyin sat in the carriage, holding a cup of chrysanthemum tea.

There was a small red clay stove in front of her, releasing warm steam.

Ah, eating too many sunflower seeds.

Getting overheated.

Madam Xue talked to her: “You are too bold today, don’t talk like this next time.” “By the way, you didn’t behave like this when you entered the palace that day?” Xue Qingyin blinked: “What are you thinking, mother? If I acted arrogantly, could I still come back?” Madam Xue thought so too, and couldn’t help laughing: “My Qingyin is a well-behaved and smart child…”
As they were talking, the carriage stopped.

“What happened?” Mrs. Xue asked.

Sweat oozed out of Jin Xiang’s forehead, which had been wiped clean.

He couldn’t help cursing.

What kind of shitty luck did he have today?

Jin Xiang looked at the closed door with countless marks on it, and squeezed out a voice from his throat: “It seems that the silk shop… was robbed!”

“What?!” Mrs. Xue rolled up the curtain and jumped down.

Jin Xiang also hurried forward to knock on the door.

Mrs. Xue was angry and anxious: “Where did the robbers come from under the feet of the emperor?”

Jin Xiang couldn’t figure it out.

Fortunately, the door was opened at this time, and a head popped out.

The man was overjoyed when he saw Jin Xiang: “Manager Jin, you are finally here! Where is the eldest son? Is the eldest son here? Something happened! Today, people from the Zhaoguogong Mansion came and smashed our shop!”