That day, he didn’t dare mention his leg injury again.

Enduring the pain, he accompanied his mother in mourning, smashed the ritual pot for his father, and sent him to his burial.

After everything was over, he even forgot about his injured leg, because from that day on, his mother never cried again.

She remained gentle and soft-spoken every day, but when he and his younger brother caused trouble, she never got angry anymore—just calmly said, “I understand.”

It felt as if he and his brother had both been abandoned by their parents on the same day.

He only had his younger brother left.

So, he wanted to join the military, to follow in his father’s footsteps, to make his mother look at him just once.

But he never expected his younger sister to see right through him.

Family? Could he still have one?

Zhao Chenxi withdrew from his thoughts and looked up. When he saw who was standing at the door, his body stiffened.

Shi Hui stood at the doorway, still looking as gentle as ever, but he couldn’t feel a trace of motherly love from her.

Zhao Chenxi suddenly let go of his hand, regaining his usual composure, and respectfully greeted:

“Mother.”

Shi Hui walked in and sat where Lin Yuxin had just been.

She looked at her eldest son, who was still standing, and said calmly:

“Sit down. Let’s have a mother-and-son talk.”

…

After sending away her fourth uncle, Lin Yuxin saw that everything at the Zhao residence was more or less settled, so she prepared to leave.

But before she left, she visited Zhao Shijie’s study.

No one knew what the grandfather and granddaughter discussed.

However, when Lin Yuxin left, she took two people with her.

The next day, Zhao Shijie entered the palace to meet the emperor.

When he left the palace, he selected a hundred soldiers from his existing Zhao Army and, along with a few young men from the Zhao family, began a secret training program.

This was the beginning of the Zhao family’s special forces unit, laying the foundation for the future Zhao Army—but that was a story for another time.

By the time Lin Yuxin returned home, the sky had already darkened.

She didn’t go to see her mother but simply had a maid inform her, “I’m back.”

Then, she went straight to her courtyard, ate a little, comforted Xiao Hao, and returned to her room.

She mixed some celestial dew with water and drank it in a few gulps before collapsing into bed.

She was simply too exhausted, and this night, she slept soundly.

The next morning, after breakfast, she headed out straight for Cuiya Pavilion.

“Uncle Jin, I’m here!”

As soon as Lin Yuxin walked in, she saw Su Qianjin at the counter, calculating accounts, and greeted him.

“Yuxin, you’re here! The blueprint…?”

When Su Qianjin saw Lin Yuxin, his eyes lit up with excitement, and he eagerly asked.

“Of course, I brought it! Shall we talk inside?”

Lin Yuxin raised an eyebrow, pointing to the back with a smile.

“Yes, yes! Let’s go inside and talk!”

Hearing that she had brought the blueprint, Su Qianjin couldn’t wait any longer and hurriedly led Lin Yuxin to the back courtyard.

When Lin Yuxin entered the study from last time, she sat down unceremoniously and curiously asked:

“Uncle Jin, what happened to your shopkeeper? I didn’t see him this time.”

She hadn’t noticed that sneaky shopkeeper from before.

“Oh, him? I fired him. His hands weren’t exactly clean.”

As soon as Su Qianjin mentioned the shopkeeper, he was filled with rage. Fortunately, he had overheard Lin Yuxin’s thoughts and investigated ahead of time.

He hadn’t even realized that the woman he shared a bed with was a venomous snake—she had instructed the shopkeeper to poison him and was even having an affair with his sworn brother!

Yesterday, when he set up a trap to catch them in the act, he happened to overhear the woman plotting to take all his wealth so she and his “brother” could live happily ever after.

To hell with their “happily ever after”! He felt utterly betrayed.

In his fury, he divorced the woman, stripped her of her clothes, and threw her out.

As for his “brother,” someone he had once trusted with his life, he had him flogged a hundred times, destroyed his manhood, and then tossed him to the woman—leaving them to fend for themselves.

So today, seeing Lin Yuxin again, he was unusually enthusiastic, as if she were his savior.

“Fired? Then that means he won’t have the chance to poison him anymore? That should keep Uncle Jin safe from being poisoned. Didn’t expect Uncle Jin to be quite sharp, noticing this so soon.”

“But having a woman like that at home is too dangerous. What if she tries something else? How do I warn Uncle Jin? I’m afraid he won’t believe me. Besides, I’m about to leave the capital. I don’t want to come back and have to find a new business partner!”

Lin Yuxin was surprised to hear that the shopkeeper had been fired.

She hadn’t expected Su Qianjin to be this sharp.

But thinking about the woman still in his house, she started to worry.

She looked at Su Qianjin hesitantly.

Su Qianjin, hearing Lin Yuxin’s inner thoughts, found it amusing.

She didn’t know that he had already handled everything and was still worried about him.

His heart felt warm—though their relationship was purely for business, she gave him the warmth of family.

“Yuxin, you don’t know how miserable my life has been these past few days! My wife actually cheated on me, and I caught her in the act! My fate is so tragic—why did this have to happen to me?”

“I couldn’t take it, so I divorced her, stripped her, and threw her out. The man got a hundred lashes and was ruined. But I’m still angry! Why is my life so unfortunate?”

Su Qianjin didn’t want Lin Yuxin to worry, so he exaggerated his misery while indirectly telling her what had happened.

In the end, he even managed to sound genuinely pitiful, with tears welling up in his eyes.

Lin Yuxin was dumbfounded. What do you do when a grown man starts tearfully complaining to you?

“This… Uncle Jin crying actually has a bit of that delicate, shy vibe. But he said he caught her cheating? His wife was exposed? Their fate may be tragic, but they totally deserved it for being so evil!”

Lin Yuxin felt no sympathy at all. She tried to comfort Su Qianjin:

“Uncle Jin, don’t cry. There are plenty of good women in the world. You can always find another one. Out with the old, in with the new, right?”

Her words made Su Qianjin freeze. His tears stopped instantly, and he said seriously:

“Forget women for now—I just want to focus on making money. Let’s talk about your blueprints. Take them out.”

His sudden change in demeanor left Lin Yuxin stunned. Uncle Jin was truly a character!

Shaking off her thoughts, she pulled out a stack of blueprints and started discussing the clothing designs with Su Qianjin.

After an intense discussion lasting over an hour, Su Qianjin grew more and more excited, as if he could see money falling into his lap.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuxin had already finished an entire pot of tea.

Finally, they finalized the product line for Cuiya Pavilion’s future business.

“Uncle Jin, I’ll be leaving now. I’ll leave everything to you. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

Lin Yuxin put down her teacup, stood up, and said her goodbyes.

“Got it, leave it to me! I won’t let you lose a single coin! Be safe out there. Here, take this—if you ever need silver, just take this to any Su family gold shop, and you can exchange it.”

Su Qianjin handed her a jade pendant.

He didn’t know what she was going out to do, but having money always helped.