After rebirth, I married the emperor's uncle and overthrew my ex-husband's kingdom

Li paused while picking up the food and looked up at her. "What's the matter?"

"My husband recently got a batch of cotton and linen cloth. I want my second aunt to go back and talk to the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion to accept the batch from my husband this year."

"Why did Yu Zhao start a linen business out of nowhere?" Li frowned. "If you don't concentrate on studying and getting a good degree, how can you be a businessman in the long run?"

"The Yu family has been spending more than they earn these years. A few years ago, my uncle learned to gamble and lost a lot of money. The family sold off their property to make ends meet."

Bai Qingshuang put down her chopsticks and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "Right now, we can only rely on our daughter's dowry to barely cover the expenses of the family. If we don't find a way to earn some money, we won't be able to live like this!"

"Is there such a thing?!"

Everyone at the table put down their chopsticks and looked at her in shock.

Yongning Hou frowned, "How much silver did your uncle lose?"

The Yu family is one of the most prominent and wealthy families in Qinzhou. When they first came to propose marriage, the betrothal gift was 10% more than that of ordinary families. How come in just a few years, they have fallen to the point where they have to rely on their daughter-in-law's dowry to survive?

"I lost two hundred thousand taels."

"Two hundred thousand taels!" Bai Zhenzhen exclaimed, "Is your brother-in-law stupid? He actually lost so much silver!"

Li felt something was wrong. "The Yu family is a wealthy family in Qinzhou. Although two hundred thousand silver coins would be a big loss, it shouldn't be the case that they have to rely on their daughter-in-law to supplement the dowry to make ends meet, right?"

"The Yu family only looks good, but they have been living beyond their means, and are now short of money."

Speaking of this, Bai Qingshuang looked at Yongning Hou with a hint of resentment in her eyes.

At first, she had developed feelings for the second son of Taizhong Doctor Wei, but he forcibly separated them because he looked down on the Wei family, which had no real power and no wealthy family background.

The Yu family appears to be glamorous, but underneath the glamour they are in a dilemma of being stretched thin.

Bai Zhengnan glanced at his father who was keeping silent and looking down at Bai Qingshuang with red eyes. He sighed, "You came back too late. Second Uncle and Second Aunt have already divorced."

"Divorced?"

Bai Qingshuang paused in her sobbing voice, and her eyes widened in disbelief, "Second Aunt is the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, is Second Uncle crazy?!"

Li and Bai Qingyu looked at each other and lowered their heads tacitly.

If they had known that the eldest girl would come back to ask the Lu family for help, they should not have caused trouble so early and forced the two to divorce.

Everyone was silent. Bai Qingshuang said to herself, "Even if we are divorced, the affection we had over the years is still there. Besides, we still have Youyou and Luochuan."

Xiao Qiang looked around at everyone and explained, "Youyou and Luochuan have already followed Lu back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, and my second uncle severed ties with Youyou a few days ago. These two things are not good."

Bai Qingshuang couldn't believe what she heard. "Why did Second Uncle want to divorce Second Aunt? And why did he cut off his relationship with Youyou?"

"It's a long story," Li picked up her chopsticks, "Let's eat first, we'll talk about it later."

"Mom, my second uncle and second aunt have divorced, but we still have friendship with them. Besides, dad is still their uncle, and this blood relationship can never be erased."

Bai Qingshuang kept pestering her, and Bai Zhenzhen looked at her helplessly, "Big sister, our eldest house and the Lu family have already fallen out, so you should find another way to deal with the cotton and linen cloth in my brother-in-law's hands."

"What happened between you and Second Aunt?"

Bai Qingshuang was dumbfounded.

Lu was a carefree person with a broad mind, and never bothered about trivial matters. If Lu was angry, it must have involved Youyou or Luochuan.

Bai Qingyu was annoyed by the questions, slammed his chopsticks on the table, and said coldly: "Don't ask, how much cotton and linen cloth does Yu Zhao have on hand, I will collect it for you!"

Bai Qingshuang looked at the faces of the people and knew that things might be getting ugly. She drooped her shoulders weakly and told them the truth, "There are 50,000 horses in total, 400 coins per horse, which means 20,000 taels of silver."

"Twenty thousand taels?"

Bai Qingyu's temples were throbbing and he felt a breath stuck in his chest.

Li exclaimed, "Why do you have those cotton and linen cloths in your hands? It's the rainy season in March now, and they might get damp and moldy."

She also owns a cloth shop, where the cloth has to be stored carefully, otherwise if it gets moldy she will have to sell it at a low price, resulting in a huge loss.

"The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion purchases at least 30,000 pieces of cotton cloth every year, and this is only 50,000 pieces. How can it be too much?"

Bai Qingshuang complained, "If you and Second Aunt hadn't fallen out, the Duke's Mansion would have definitely accepted all of this batch of cloth. You can easily make five thousand taels of silver by reselling it, what a great thing."

“Can you earn that much?”

Li glanced at Bai Qingyu and began to think about how to ask Lu for help.

Bai Qingshuang was panicking and looked at Li crying, "Mother, this is all my dowry. If this batch of goods cannot be sold, I will be penniless!"

"Is there no other way?"

Li had a terrible headache and had no appetite, so she simply put down her chopsticks.

"If it was a hundred or a thousand pieces, it would be fine. But who can consume so much cotton and linen except the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion?"

"I will go to see Mrs. Lu tomorrow and see if I can get her to help me out of our past friendship."

Twenty thousand taels of silver is not a small amount of money, and for the sake of her daughter, Li had to temporarily lose her face.

Early in the morning, she brought people and gifts to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

When the doorman saw that it was someone from the Yongning Marquis's Mansion, his face immediately turned cold. "Today is the day for our Young Master Luochuan to take the imperial examination. Our eldest and youngest ladies sent our Young Master to the examination room. Madam Marquis, please come another day."

"Look at me, how could I have forgotten this!"

Li slapped his forehead and quickly whispered to someone to go to Zhiwei Study to buy a set of four treasures of the study and a Wenchang brush.

After Bai Youyou and Lu sent Bai Luochuan to the examination room, they returned home together.

At the door, Li looked eagerly and finally saw their figures.

After being exposed to the sun for a full hour, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief and immediately walked over.

Lu and Bai Youyou were very surprised to see her.

"Sister-in-law, Youyou."

Lu got off the carriage and squinted at her, "Madam Yongning, who are you calling?"

Li smiled awkwardly, "We have been sisters-in-law for so many years that we forgot to change our words for a moment."

She just called her sister-in-law on purpose just now to see Lu's reaction. Now it seems that she will not get any good result today.

But for the sake of her daughter, she gritted her teeth and said, "Today is the day when Luochuan will take part in the scientific examination. I came here specially to see him off, but I didn't expect to miss it."

"You come to see my son off?" Mrs. Lu glanced at her and snorted coldly, "What are you thinking of, a weasel wishing a happy new year to a chicken?"