High-class maid

Song Wenyang looked at Wu Xunzhi's mother, who had come to pick her up. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her face showed obvious worry. Looking at herself, alone, she saw a stark contrast.

"Look how haggard you look. Go home quickly. I've made some chicken soup to help you recover," she said with concern as she draped a coat over Wu Xunzhi.

"Mother, it's alright. Don't you know my health condition?" Wu Xunzhi waved his hand dismissively, then said apologetically to Song Wenyang.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Brother Song. I'm going home with my mother now. We'll celebrate with drinks another day after the results are announced!"

Song Wenyang nodded and said with a smile, "Go ahead, see you when the results are posted."

The two parted ways at the entrance of the Zigong Academy. While others were greeted by someone, he was all alone.

"Where is Uncle He? Why didn't Uncle He come? No, I have to go see him." Song Wenyang felt something was amiss. Given how much Uncle He cared about him, he should have been waiting for him at the entrance of the examination hall long ago.

"This must be Young Master Song?" Song Wenyang had only taken two steps when a man in fine clothes stepped forward and asked. People around also looked over when they heard the voice, as if waiting for Song Wenyang's answer.

"Indeed, who are you?" Song Wenyang did not recognize this person and was very puzzled.

"I am Master Shi's steward. Our master has heard that Young Master Song is very knowledgeable and would like to invite you to a simple meal," the steward said with a smile.

It turned out that some capable officials in the capital already knew that Song Wenyang was valued by the palace. Rather than waiting until the results were announced to curry favor, they decided to befriend him now.

"So he is Young Master Song. He is indeed a handsome man."

"Yes, I've heard that his writing is exceptional; all the examiners are reviewing his papers every night."

"Then his inclusion on the list is a sure thing. How does Master Shi have such excellent information?"

When the voices of the crowd reached Song Wenyang's ears, he remained calm and composed, showing no surprise whatsoever.

"I am honored by your high regard, Lord Shi, but I still need to return to my residence. Perhaps I should come another day?"

"Young master, your father is also in my residence. Please come with me quickly," the steward said with a smile.

Having no other choice, Song Wenyang had to go with him. His nominal father was at the Shi residence, and if he didn't go, he would be ungrateful.

Some servants, seeing this, hurriedly returned to their mansions to report to their masters. Everyone else was trying to curry favor with this young master Song, and their own masters couldn't be left behind.

"Father, Mother, your daughter wants to start a business." At the dinner table, Shen Xing'er said, expressing her decision after thinking about it for some time.

"Okay, whatever you want to do, I'll support you."

Surprisingly, Madam Wang did not object, and Shen Kun nodded in agreement.

“Doing business is fine, but we signed a three-year contract with someone else for the shop we bought, so we can’t just kick them out.”

"Don't you object to your daughter showing her face in public?" Shen Xing'er asked in surprise, touched by her words.

Although the Qin Dynasty was not so strict with women, and women's status was not so low, those who did business were generally married women. There were also unmarried women like her who opened businesses, but they were very few and far between.

“I’ve figured things out these days. Instead of letting you stay at home doing nothing, why don’t you go out and try your luck? Your parents will protect you.” Wang said gently, looking at her daughter.

When Shen Xing'er was a child, she looked like Shen Kun, but now she looks more and more like Wang Shi. When Wang Shi looks at her, she seems to see herself when she was young. She suffered a lot of grievances when she was young, and she does not want her daughter to follow in her footsteps.

"Father, do you think so too? But if your daughter goes into business, I'm afraid the scholars will look down on her," Shen Xing'er said worriedly.

"Hmph, I hate these hypocritical scholars the most. They complain about the stench of money while trying to find ways to make money. They're so hypocritical. Just do it without worry, your parents will back you up!" Shen Kun said.

Shen Xing'er was moved to tears. She was still six months away from turning fourteen. Rather than spending her days doing nothing, she should start a business that she liked.

Even if Brother Song's family doesn't approve of her in the future, she'll at least have a backup plan.

Unbeknownst to Song Wenyang, Shen Xing'er had already envisioned the outcome of being abandoned by him. Since women were barred from taking the imperial examinations, she would have to rely solely on her limited connections and wealth to climb the ladder to the top, ideally becoming the richest woman in the world!

"I wonder what kind of business my daughter wants to do?" Shen Kun asked, looking at Shen Xing'er, who always had her own ideas.

"My daughter's only skill is in designing embroidery. I want to open an embroidery shop, and even if I only sell the designs I draw, the style must be unique in the capital."

When discussing things she likes, Shen Xing'er speaks eloquently, dispelling the gloom of the past few days.

“Okay, but your embroidery…” Wang reminded her softly.

It's no wonder she was disappointed; her daughter's embroidery was really something else. Last time, Xing'er embroidered a pair of mandarin ducks, but she mistook them for ducks, and Xing'er ignored her for several days.

Shen Xing'er blushed and said

“Mother, can’t you give your daughter some face? I may not know how to embroider, but I can hire someone!” Shen Xing’er said.

"But hiring so early, isn't that a bit too much investment? After all, we don't know how the business will go yet." Wang had never thought about starting a business, so she was always afraid of losing money.

"Oh dear, Xing'er doesn't know how to embroider. You're making her draw flower patterns and embroider at the same time. How can she manage? If you're going to hire someone, then hire someone. With so much money, can't you even afford to pay the workers' monthly wages?"

Shen Kun now grants his daughter's every wish, for no other reason than that the division of the family had been a huge blow to him. He suddenly realized that he only had so many relatives in the world, so he doted on Shen Xing'er as much as possible.

"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more, otherwise you'll all say I'm worrying unnecessarily. In that case, what can Father and Mother do?" Wang Shi quickly figured it out and asked Shen Xing'er.

“Why don’t we look at shops first? Renting a shop isn’t cost-effective. Our daughter wants to buy one. The first shop we bought was too big and not suitable for an embroidery business,” Shen Xing’er said.

“Alright, Father will go see Pang Bo this afternoon,” Shen Kun said.

Now, his family has become a regular customer of Pang Bo, and both sides know each other's character, so Shen Kun decided to continue to seek him out.

"I'll leave the shop-finding to my parents. I've saved up some flower patterns these days, and I can modify them at home," Shen Xing'er said.

She would draw several more flower patterns every month, hoping to open a shop one day. She never expected that day to come so soon.

She decided that the shop's style would be luxurious, in line with the characteristics of Beijing, so she had to make some modifications to the patterns.

"Okay, you guys eat, I'll go now!" Shen Kun couldn't eat anymore either, so he put down his chopsticks and headed out.