Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Mother" Shen Jingheng bowed to Madam Shen.

"You came quite quickly. I had just sat down and hadn't even finished my tea when you arrived," Madam Shen teased her son.

Seeing his mother's reaction, Shen Jingheng finally felt relieved. He casually found a chair, sat down, picked up the tea brought by the maid, and slowly sipped it.

Seeing his expression, Madam Shen was rather surprised and asked him...

"Oh, since you were in such a hurry to get here, why aren't you in a hurry now? You didn't even ask, you just sat down and drank tea."

"Hehe, Madam, you don't understand our son, but our son understands you very well!" Master Shen chuckled and continued his wife's words.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Madam Shen asked, puzzled.

"If the Zhang family hadn't agreed to the marriage, would you still be so beaming right now?" Master Shen explained.

"Oh, I'm just so happy! I wanted to keep a straight face and tease Heng'er, but I couldn't suppress my smile. When I explained my purpose today, Sister Liu agreed without hesitation. It seems they are quite satisfied with our Heng'er." After saying this, she glanced at her son who was drinking tea, and continued...

"Never mind, I must prepare this betrothal gift properly this time. We're marrying Xiaxia as a second wife, which is already a great injustice to her. I must make the betrothal gift very generous. Master, you should also send some capable people out to look for one. I must prepare a betrothal gift for Xiaxia that will make everyone in the capital envious." Madam Shen clapped her hands and said firmly.

Meanwhile, at the Marquis's residence, although Xia Yu had already come to terms with it, she was still startled when her mother returned and announced that the marriage had been arranged and the betrothal gifts had been exchanged. Wasn't discussing marriage in ancient times usually so complicated? How come it was so simple for her? Her mother had just mentioned it, and less than an hour later, her marriage was already settled. Was her mother really that efficient?

Seeing her strong reaction and the fact that her expression didn't seem joyful, Madam Liu asked curiously...

"Aren't you in love with Lord Shen? Since you both love each other, what's so difficult about this marriage?"

"When did I say I loved him?" Xia Yu didn't understand why her mother would have such a thought.

Madam Liu blinked and thought for a moment, then realized, yes, her daughter had indeed never said that.

"Then what were you laughing about when you were thinking about something just now?"

"I..." Xia Yu was speechless. Did she have to tell her mother the whole conversation they had a few days ago? That would be too much trouble.

Seeing her like this, Madam Liu had an "I knew it" look on her face. She must have been thinking of Lord Shen when she was secretly laughing just now. But Madam Liu also wanted to sigh. Her child had really grown up. Now she didn't even tell her what was on her mind.

With her daughter's marriage settled, a great weight was finally lifted from Liu's heart. Now only Changyun remained. However, Grand Tutor Li had previously stipulated that Changyun was not allowed to arrange a marriage before passing the imperial examination, lest romantic feelings cloud his judgment and interfere with his studies. Grand Tutor Li hadn't allowed Changyun to participate in the last autumn imperial examination, saying the time wasn't right. There was still over a year until the next examination. Grand Tutor Li had taken Changyun and Xingche on another study tour, and their whereabouts were now unknown.

However, once the news of the Emperor's bestowal of marriage upon the eldest princess arrives, they should rush back to attend the wedding. Thinking this, Lady Liu put Changyun's matter out of her mind and focused on preparing Xia Yu's dowry.

During their years in the capital, they had acquired several shops in the city and three or four estates in the suburbs. Thanks to Xia Yu, the estates produced excellent goods. During festivals, they would send out the estate's produce as gifts, and to their surprise, people would come back specifically to buy more after tasting it. Seeing how popular their estate's products were, Zhang Youtie simply set aside a slightly larger shop specifically to sell the estate's produce.

The shop was an instant hit with officials and wealthy families upon opening. Initially, this was simply to curry favor with the Princess and the Marquis of Dingguo. However, they soon discovered that the fruits and vegetables grown on the Marquis of Dingguo's estate were far superior to those from their own. As a result, a strange phenomenon emerged in the capital: the fruits and vegetables grown on the estates of wealthy families were only for their servants, while the masters purchased their food from the Zhang family's shop. Many families even signed long-term supply contracts with the Zhang family.

Especially the palm-sized prawns, you have to pre-order to get some, otherwise no matter how much money you offer, you can't buy them without the Zhang family's voucher.

Seeing how well the Zhang family's shop was doing, some people became envious. They questioned how the shrimp grew so big. But the shrimp were raised on the estate of the Marquis of Dingguo. If you doubt how the shrimp grew so big, you might as well ask the Marquis of Dingguo.

With just one sentence, the envious person swallowed all their resentment. Now everyone knows that the Zhang family, the Marquis of Dingguo, is the most powerful and influential family in the capital. How powerful? You can only describe them as incredibly powerful. They're already so powerful; if you dare to provoke them, aren't you just asking for trouble? The Zhang family doesn't even need to say a word; plenty of people will be eager to curry favor and help them deal with you.

So, although the Zhang family's expenses in the capital had increased considerably in recent years, not only had everyone been promoted, but their business had also flourished, and their wealth was now substantial. Madam Liu planned to use two-thirds of their savings to prepare a dowry for her daughter.

But some things can't be bought with money. For example, making furniture takes time. I bought quite a bit of wood before, but due to my social status at the time, it's no longer suitable for use now. I need to send someone out to buy more as soon as possible.

After telling Zhang Youtie about the matter, Zhang Youtie said

"I've already sent someone out with silver to buy wood, so you don't need to worry about the furniture."

"Huh? When did you send someone over? How come I didn't know?" Liu asked, very puzzled. The two of them were together every day, and she had never heard him mention this before.

“She left before the Lunar New Year. Now that our daughter is a princess, the wood we bought before is no longer up to standard. I’ve been keeping this in mind. Last year, I figured I had to arrange a marriage for my daughter after the national mourning period, so I sent someone to do it. A few days ago, I received a letter saying that everything was ready and it’s probably on its way.”

"And you don't need to worry about the furniture maker, I've already found one. He'll be coming back on the ship this time. Just get the dimensions of the Shen family's house," Zhang Youtie said, wiping his feet.

"Okay, I understand." Liu nodded in response, then lay down on the bed and began to think about what else she needed to prepare for her daughter. In fact, Aunt Ma had already made a list, but she still needed to go through it in her mind to make sure she didn't forget anything.