Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The time spent together was always too short. Even though Zhou Luo was now the emperor, he could not keep Master Shen and Madam Shen in the palace overnight, as this was against etiquette.

Watching their carriage depart, Zhou Luo asked Xia Yu in a muffled voice.

"Sister, one day you will leave me too, won't you?"

"Luo'er, your sister will wait until you grow up and other people who love you appear in your life before leaving."

"Yes, sister keeps her word. You must always stay with Luo'er, and even if you have a brother-in-law in the future, you can't abandon Luo'er."

Xia Yu, who had initially felt sorry for Zhou Luo, rolled her eyes in exasperation upon hearing his last words. "Here he goes again."

Shen Jingheng took a month's leave before returning to court. No one knew what had happened during that time; people in the capital were saying that the Jiang and Shen families had fallen out, but no one could say for sure what the specifics were.

Xia Yu had no time to deal with the lawsuit between the two families. She was investigating the events that had occurred in the palace and had already made some progress. Although she wasn't entirely certain, she was about 70-80% sure, and was just waiting for that person to reappear, pretending to be a ghost.

Because of Jiang Xue's matter, Empress Dowager Jiang was quite depressed for a while and never mentioned the late emperor's dream again. But in the last two days, she started having Zhou Luo dine with her again, implying that her sister's son was pitiful now that he had no mother to take care of him, and that she wanted to remarry for Grand Tutor Shen.

Zhou Luo didn't understand why the Empress Dowager was telling her about Grand Tutor Shen remarrying. She was no longer a member of the Shen family, and whether or not he wanted to remarry was entirely up to him. Did the Empress Dowager want her to issue an edict to grant Grand Tutor Shen a marriage?

Zhou Luo, unable to understand, turned to Xia Yu and confided in her. Hearing Zhou Luo's words, Xia Yu was also puzzled by Empress Dowager Jiang's intentions. Did she intend to send another daughter from the Jiang family to the Shen family as a second wife for Lord Shen? Xia Yu thought of the romance novels she had read in her past life, where the older sister died, and the younger sister married into the family, allowing the aunt to wholeheartedly care for the child left behind by the previous husband. It has to be said, Xia Yu was right. The Shen family truly did harbor this intention.

In order to find out Empress Dowager Jiang's true intentions, Xia Yu wrote a letter and sent it to the Shen residence, inviting Madam Shen to Zhenxiu Pavilion to taste their newly served pastries.

Mrs. Shen was recently very troubled by the Jiang family's affairs, so she gladly accepted Xia Yu's invitation.

The waiter at Zhenxiu Pavilion warmly led Xia Yu to a private room upstairs, where Madam Shen had already arrived and was waiting for her.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xia Yu got straight to the point.

“Aunt, recently Empress Dowager Jiang has been calling Luo’er over and saying things in a cryptic way, which Luo’er and I don’t quite understand. We can’t figure out what the Empress Dowager is trying to do, so we can only ask you for help, Aunt.”

Upon hearing that Xia Yu had come for this matter, Madam Shen sighed.

“I’ve been troubled by this matter for the past few days. Xiaxia, how can there be such heartless parents in this world? Heng’er’s wife has only been gone for a little over a month, and the Jiang family has already sent someone to say that they want to marry off another daughter of theirs to Heng’er as his second wife so that they can take good care of the child Jiang Xue left behind. Our family hasn’t even thought about this yet, but they’ve already started making plans after their daughter has died.”

Hearing Madam Shen say this, Xia Yu paused for a moment, realizing that Madam Shen had indeed guessed correctly. This was truly absurd; who said that people in ancient times were conservative? In her opinion, this was quite daring.

"Does Aunt Shen disagree with the Jiang family's actions?"

"Of course. Putting aside how Jiang behaved in the Shen family before, just looking at the way the Shen family acts, I absolutely cannot let Heng'er marry a girl from the Jiang family again." As she spoke, Madam Shen was still furious. She picked up a cup of tea and drank it down in one gulp, trying to extinguish the fire burning in her chest.

"After hearing what you said, Aunt, I roughly understand what Empress Dowager Jiang in the palace meant. Perhaps seeing your firm attitude, she wants to start with Luo'er and get the Emperor to grant Lord Shen a marriage, then you will have nothing to say."

"Hmph, they're really dreaming. For the sake of the Jiang family's interests, they've even abandoned all sense of shame. I've truly never seen such a shameless family..." Madam Shen couldn't bear to hear the word 'Jiang' anymore, and couldn't help but burst into a tirade.

"How dare you! Who's inside, daring to insult the Jiang family? Do you have a death wish? Get out here right now and let grandpa see which reckless bastard is this..."

The two were talking inside when they heard a man's voice shouting and cursing outside the door. At first, they didn't realize the man was cursing them until they heard the words "our Jiang family." They then realized that they had been speaking a little too loudly, and the Jiang family members outside had overheard them.

Nineteen and Da Niu, who were guarding the door, looked at the纨绔 (wan ku, a spoiled, dissolute young man) in front of them, who was standing with his hands on his hips and cursing, as if they were looking at a pile of stinking dog excrement. Their eyes were full of disdain and contempt. That纨绔 was a illegitimate son of the Jiang family, and his concubine was a favorite. Therefore, he had a lot of influence with his father. Although he was born out of wedlock, he was still surrounded by many people who flattered him.

"Young Master Jiang, I don't think that guy inside dares to come out. Hearing of your illustrious reputation, he's probably trembling in fear right now!" a lackey flattered him.

"Hmph, if I don't teach them a lesson today, they won't know who I am. Get out here and kowtow to me a few times in front of everyone, and I'll spare your lives. Otherwise, hehe..." He didn't finish his sentence, only letting out two lewd laughs, but everyone knew what that meant.

They all burst into laughter. Xia Yu didn't want to pay him any attention, but after hearing his last two lewd laughs, she couldn't stand it anymore. A bunch of scum.

She yanked open the door to the private room, and before the swearing playboy could react, Xia Yu kicked him away. They were on the second floor, and the playboy flew through the air like a tattered sack, tracing a perfect arc before landing with a 'thud' on a table in the downstairs hall where guests were eating.

The table didn't smash to pieces like it did on TV; instead, it steadily caught the playboy's body.

"Ah...it hurts!" The playboy curled up on the table like a shrimp, ignoring the vegetable oil and soup stains on his newly made clothes.

"Young master... young master..."

"Young Master Jiang..." The group of纨绔 (wan ku, a term for spoiled young masters) and servants who followed him saw him like this and shouted as they rushed downstairs.

From the moment that spoiled brat started cursing upstairs, the people eating downstairs had been watching them. Those whose food had been smashed witnessed Jiang the spoiled brat fly down from upstairs and land on their tables. Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene before them. Those still holding their chopsticks looked first at the upstairs, then at the people at their tables, unsure who to seek compensation from for their losses.

"I apologize for disturbing your meal. All your expenses today will be charged to my account as a small token of my remorse." She then looked at the counter and said to the shopkeeper...

“All losses in the store will be recorded in my account.”