The abandoned concubine who transmigrated woke up shouting "Long live the widow!"

County Princess's Mansion

Princess Kangping finished decorating her new mansion in just three days. Although the mansion was not large, it was complete in every way. Apart from having fewer courtyards than the Imperial Princess's mansion, it had everything else, including pavilions, rockeries, bridges, and flowing water. Now that it was winter, the lake was frozen over, even though the water level was low.

The county princess's mansion was also in the north of the city, but it wasn't as close to the palace as the three princes' mansions; however, it was quite close to the Ningguo Duke's mansion.

The Princess of Kangping was not short of money, so she first bought more than 50 servants. With money and manpower, the work would naturally be done quickly.

"Ping'er, have all the invitations been sent out?" Princess Xuanhui walked into the dining hall with the help of her nanny.

Princess Kangping saw her grandmother and hurried over to help her up. "Grandmother, don't worry! Ping'er also organized such banquets when she was in Qingzhou. Everything was prepared well, and the invitations were sent out as you instructed!"

"That's good! That's good! Don't be too fixated on it. What if you meet someone you like better among the young men from noble families tomorrow? After all, Mu Chen is already married, and the principal wife of a noble family is no less than the concubine of a prince!"

“Grandmother, don’t worry! Ping’er will definitely listen to you!” Princess Kangpin replied softly.

"Hmm! My Ping'er is the most obedient, sensible and capable. Look how well this mansion has been decorated in just a few days!" Princess Xuanhui praised, looking at the green plants placed against the wall of the dining hall.

"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Grandmother! Ping'er can't even learn a tenth of what you've taught me!"

Princess Xuanhui held Princess Kangping's hand and chuckled.

The next morning, before Jingxue could even take Jingze to the academy, Lixia arrived, saying she had bought a shop on North Street, not far from Qin Jing's grain shop. It used to be a grain shop, but the owner decided to sell it because business was bad.

"Have all the formalities been completed?" Jingxue asked.

"Hmm! I finished my business a bit late yesterday, so I didn't come to the manor. I forgot that today is the day the young master goes to the academy!" Li Xia regretted it a little; she should have come last night.

"Oh! That's alright. I'll take Jingze to the academy first, and then I'll go with you to take a look!" After Jingxue finished speaking, she and Lixia went to Jingze's room.

An'an and Jingze were already dressed, and the nanny was still giving them some instructions.

"Elder sister, are you still taking us to the academy today?" Jingze asked when he saw Lixia arrive, assuming that Jingxue wouldn't be taking him.

Jingxue smiled and patted his shoulder, "Xiaoze going to school is such an important event, how could your older sister not go to see you off? Go see him off! How is it? Is everything packed?"

Upon hearing his elder sister's words, Jingze's face immediately lit up with a smile. "Yes! Everything is ready. I've remembered what you told me last night: study hard, get along well with my classmates, stay away from bad classmates, don't cause trouble but don't be afraid of trouble either, and when someone threatens my life, I'll abandon all moral constraints and defend myself with all my might! If I really can't win, I'll run away!"

Everyone in the room was amused by Jingze's last sentence.

Jingxue gave her younger brother a thumbs up, "Xiaoze is awesome!"

Turning to An'an, she said, "An'an, you too! I didn't tell you all this before, but you must remember that your own safety is the most important thing!"

An'an nodded, "Sister, I'll remember!"

"Alright! Let's go!" Jingxue waved her hand and led the group out of the house.

On the carriage, Jingxue checked the household registration that Jingze had brought again, and told the guards outside that after completing the enrollment procedures, they should go to find Headmaster Lu and give him the note she had written for him.

Jingxue plans to send a shadow guard into the academy to protect Jingze and An'an. The mastermind behind the murder of Jingzhiyuan has not yet been found, and Jingxue is really worried about Jingze, after all, he is too young!

The reason she sent the shadow guard was to avoid attracting too much attention. She believed that Lu Zijing would not disagree, after all, she was also one of the partners of the academy. For Jingze's safety, she had to use connections.

The journey wasn't far to begin with, and they arrived in no time. Jingxue didn't get out of the carriage. Watching the shadow guards lead the two children out, Jingxue waved to them and then lowered the carriage curtain.

"Let's go! Follow Lixia's carriage!" Jingxue said to the other shadow guard driving the carriage.

"Yes, miss!"

Because the northern part of the city is mostly inhabited by royal families, it is relatively quiet. There are no brothels, restaurants, or gambling dens on this street.

The most common shops were jewelry stores, silk shops, and money shops.

The shops on this street are all two-story buildings, which look much more upscale. When they arrived at the shop that Li Xia bought, Jing Xue got off the carriage, and Li Xia opened the door on the first floor.

“Miss, the original owner of this shop wanted 800 taels, but I negotiated it down to 720 taels. That's just right. The silver you left in the storeroom is enough, which is why I didn't go to your residence yesterday!”

"It's not expensive, but can a grain shop really make that much money?" Jingxue didn't understand.

"Miss, you don't know, this grain shop only sells refined rice and refined flour. You see, which ordinary family always eats refined rice? Even noodles are something that ordinary people can't afford. The coarse flour from wheat can't be rolled into noodles at all; it can only be used to make pancakes and steamed buns."

Li Xia continued, "The quantity of refined rice and flour produced is small, and the price is high. Now that the grain shops on our West Street, plus the grain shop owned by Prince Qin, have opened one after another, with the influx of good products, this shop basically has no business. I heard from the shopkeeper that his master is going to open a grain shop in another prefecture!"

"Oh!"

The two went up to the second floor. The original counters and other items in the shop had been removed, leaving it empty. Jingxue looked at the walls and doors and windows, and they were all in good condition.

This shop also has a courtyard at the back, and a total of six rooms, one of which is a kitchen.

After looking at everything, the two returned to the first floor in front.

“Lixia, this shop is for selling vegetables and fruits. All the rooms need to be repainted, the counters and shelves need to be custom-made, and all the necessary items need to be added to the back yard, including pots and pans, beds and quilts. I guess there are no idle people in the shops in the capital! Send the workers to the estate and have Steward Yuan bring back ten people!” Jingxue said, looking at the roof.

“Yes, Miss!” Li Xia replied respectfully.

"You can manage this place for now. Once Manager Wang of the cloth shop is free, hand it over to him. By the way, did Manager Wang dislike you for taking Peng Qingqing there? I'm afraid he's overthinking it!" Jingxue asked with some concern.

Li Xia replied with a smile, "Miss, you are so kind. We are all servants. What could he be unhappy about? How could servants have any objections to the master's arrangements!"

Jingxue sighed helplessly, thinking that Lixia was a servant born into a family and had been raised to obey her master above all else, completely lacking her own thoughts and opinions. But she also understood that this was the reality of this era, and it couldn't be changed. So, she stopped dwelling on it and began to arrange things for the shop.

Before leaving, Jingxue gave Lixia 200 taels of silver to handle the renovation of the shop, and instructed her to name the shop "Li's Fruit and Vegetable Shop" and to order a signboard.

Li Xia nodded in agreement, indicating that she would definitely handle the matter well.