Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The starkly different fates of the two princes, the Prince of Huainan and the Prince of Ding'an, deeply shocked the heir apparent of the Prince of Dingbei, whose father had been dead for several days. However, fearing the court would be the first to punish him, the heir apparent had not reported the Prince's death to the court. Now that the other two princes had met their fates, if he did not express his opinion, the court's army would be pointing its swords at them next.

Zhou Baihui, the heir apparent of the Prince of Dingbei, was not a particularly intelligent person. If it weren't for his mother, he might not have become the heir apparent. The fates of the other two princes not only spurred Zhou Baihui on, but also his brothers. Many urged Zhou Baihui to quickly assemble a large army to prepare for the possibility of the imperial court launching an attack at any time.

Although Zhou Baihui was dull-witted, he had a shrewd mother. Knowing that her illegitimate sons harbored ill intentions, the Princess Consort of Dingbei quickly made a decision after weighing the pros and cons. Following the example of the Prince of Huainan, she supported the imperial decree to abolish the feudal system.

Everything that happened at the Dingbei Prince's residence was thoroughly investigated by the spies sent by Shen Jingheng and reported back to the capital. The report that Xia Yu and Zhou Luo were discussing was the memorial from the Dingbei Prince's heir requesting the abolition of his fiefdom.

The rebellion of the Prince of Ding'an was quelled with remarkable ease thanks to Xia Yu's seemingly unlimited grain reserves. Simultaneously, the imperial court successfully abolished the feudal system. Of the three feudal princes, only the Prince of Ding'an and his family were confined to a manor outside the capital. The other two retained their original honors and wealth, but their ambition to remain as local rulers was no longer possible. The court established various levels of government offices in the feudal territories, strengthening central authority. From then on, there were no more feudal princes within the Great Huai territory, and the court's power reached its zenith since the establishment of the Great Huai regime.

Several neighboring countries, which had previously been quite unruly, were extremely wary of the newly enthroned Zhou Luo, seeing how swiftly and decisively Da Huai had dealt with several vassal kings, and considered him exceptionally capable. However, after much investigation, they learned of the existence of the Princess Zhenguo. Upon hearing her deeds, almost everyone retained a degree of awe towards her. Those who had initially hoped to profit from the war within Da Huai's borders became considerably more subdued.

Some ambitious individuals even considered abducting the powerful Princess Zhenguo, who could conjure up grain, to serve them. Unfortunately for them, Xia Yu's current status was extraordinary, and she wasn't someone anyone could easily target. The first to lay a hand on Xia Yu was the Western Xia Kingdom, their actions incurring the wrath of all the people of Da Huai. Consequently, soldiers who had been spared from the planned withdrawal of vassal states were all deployed to the border between Western Xia and Da Huai. In just ten days, the Da Huai army, led by Murong Fu, captured the Western Xia royal court.

Although the King of Western Xia surrendered, the court of Da Huai remained furious about their actions. Zhou Luo personally issued an edict ordering the princes and princesses of Western Xia to be escorted to the capital and raised by Da Huai. Western Xia would only need to pay annual support fees. When the King of Western Xia grew old and needed an heir, Da Huai would naturally select a suitable candidate and send them back to the Western Xia court—the same strategy they had used against Japan. Furthermore, they declared to surrounding countries that anyone who dared to harm the Princess Zhenguo would be an enemy of Da Huai, and any further actions by Western Xia would be met with annihilation by Da Huai.

Having learned from the example of Western Xia, those who still harbored designs on Xia Yu silently withdrew their claws, lying low and fearing that Da Huai might take a dislike to them and find some excuse to attack. Da Huai now had a unified regime, a strong and well-equipped army, and most importantly, no shortage of food; they could start a war whenever they wanted. Now, let alone actively provoking Da Huai, even if they were to provoke them, they had to turn a blind eye.

Princess Xia Yu, who had no royal blood whatsoever with the emperor, enjoyed a reputation that surpassed even imperial power. What was grain? In this era, grain was life itself! Yet the princess could conjure grain out of thin air using her magical powers. For this alone, she was a goddess in the eyes of the people of Da Huai. Almost everyone believed that as long as the princess was in charge, Da Huai was awe-inspiring and unassailable.

With external threats eliminated and internal troubles resolved, Dahuai is now a scene of peace, prosperity, and happiness.

The leaves turned yellow and then green again, and the three-year mourning period for the late emperor has finally passed. Xia Yu is now a seventeen-year-old young woman.

Although these past few years have been a period of national mourning, Lady Liu has never stopped arranging marriages for her daughter. However, Xia Yu's prestige in Da Huai has become so high in recent years that people have overlooked the fact that she is actually a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl. At first, some people wanted to marry the princess, but after the events of the abolition of the feudal lords and the Western Xia Kingdom, those men gave up their desire to marry her, and their respect for her outweighed their admiration.

It was precisely because of this that the eldest princess's two younger sisters, Qiuyu and Dongyu, became the most sought-after noble ladies in the capital. Consequently, since arriving in the capital, Lady Li had no opportunity to return to her hometown. To provide her daughters with a sufficient dowry, Lady Li did two things during her two years in the capital: attend banquets to find suitable husbands and purchase land, shops, and houses.

With nothing to do in the capital, Zhang Youyin used the first shop that Li had bought to start his own business. Under Xia Yu's guidance, he opened the capital's first home textile shop. Similar to modern home textile shops, it mainly sold bed sheets, duvet covers, and quilts. The silk and down quilts were the most sought-after items by the wealthy families of the capital. These were things they had never seen before. However, the Zhang family shop had a limited supply of silk and down quilts; aside from having ready-made stock to show customers in the first year, they only accepted pre-orders from the second year onwards.

For a long time in the capital, the most discussed topic at gatherings of ladies and young women was whether they had down quilts and silk quilts from the Zhang family shop.

Duvet covers were a new invention in this era; no one had ever imagined putting a cover over their quilts. They used to simply sew the quilt cover and lining together, stuffing cotton in the middle, and then take it apart to wash it each year when it got hot. But the way the duvet covers were used, as displayed at Zhang's shop, was very appealing. This way, they could easily remove the covers to wash, dry them, and then put them back on. Moreover, Zhang's shop's four-piece bedding sets were exceptionally beautiful, attracting wealthy ladies who rushed to buy them as if money were no object.

The advent of duvet covers wasn't just popular with the wealthy; ordinary women also loved them. It's well known that taking apart, washing, and sewing back the bedding every year is an incredibly tedious and tiring task. Unlike other manual labor, which men can help with, this was entirely the women of the household's responsibility. Now, with a duvet cover, the quilts no longer need to be taken apart and washed annually; only the duvet cover needs to be removed and washed.

To cater to everyone's needs, Zhang Youyin's shop not only offers complete four-piece sets made of silk, but also individual sheets, duvet covers, and pillowcases made of ordinary cotton. Customers can choose according to their needs and budget.

Because the items in the shop were indeed appealing, and with Princess Xia Yu, his niece, endorsing it, Zhang Youyin's shop became an instant hit in the capital, making him so rich he could count silver every day. Although others quickly followed suit and opened similar shops, Zhang Youyin's shop was always able to innovate and introduce new designs. Therefore, everyone in the capital knew that if you wanted to buy the latest styles, you had to go to Zhang's shop.