Expelled from the Duke's mansion, the fake heiress is richer than a country.

It's simple.

The news of the Duke's mansion producing a fake daughter caused a stir in the surrounding towns of Tongcheng. Even without the female assassin making a specific inquiry, people were already talking about it with great interest.

As he listened to her story, the prince's disdain was evident on his face.

"Fool, fool! Luckily, Xiao Wang inherited his title through ancestral blessings, becoming a duke from a different surname. Otherwise, Father Emperor could have punished him for the crime of confusing the royal bloodline!"

Suddenly, a thought struck him. He stared at his subordinate and asked, "You just said that the real and fake heiresses are at odds, and that the real heiresses want to kill the fake one?"

"Yes."

The female assassin shared a few bits of gossip she'd overheard while infiltrating Tongcheng. This real heiress, both in public and in private, was arrogant and domineering, making no attempt to conceal her true intentions.

The prince pondered for a moment, his fingers, adorned with a jade thumb ring, unconsciously tapping lightly on the armrest of his chair.

A moment later, the corners of his mouth turned up, revealing an evil smile.

"In that case, you should return to Tongcheng and help the real heiress get rid of the fake one!"

Seeing the female assassin's slightly bewildered expression, he slowly said, "Father has always wanted to reduce the power of the princes. That old bastard Xiao Wang is so cautious that Father has never been able to find any fault with him."

He touched his chin.

"If the real daughter kills the fake daughter, I can go to the censor and impeach the Duke's mansion! They have failed to manage their household properly and allowed their daughter to prey on the people... Let's see how Xiao Wang tries to justify himself then?"

She not only vented her anger at the fake heiress who ruined her plans, but also relieved her father's worries. Her father will recognize her abilities more in the future.

Thinking of this, the prince felt smug.

"My master is wise."

The female assassin took the opportunity to praise her.

The prince gave her a disdainful look: "Don't fail again this time! There are plenty of people who can replace you."

"My subordinate understands."

The female assassin lowered her head deeply.

The snow in the capital was heavier than in the small mountain village. After a night, I opened the door to find the outside world covered in a blanket of white, with snowflakes still gently falling from the sky.

The three members of the Yu family witnessed the yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture collecting and cleaning up several frozen beggar corpses along the street, piling them into a cart and taking them away.

On such a cold day, this scene sent chills down their spines.

If they don't work hard to earn money, will their families and descendants also end up in the same situation? But they had no choice but to brave the bitter cold and wander around the capital, inquiring about the situation.

Because Yu Wanran had only heard rumors, she didn't know the cloth merchant's name or the name of his shop. There were hundreds of cloth shops of all sizes in the capital, so finding him was like finding a needle in a haystack.

After wandering aimlessly around the streets all day, Yu Wanran had no choice but to find a gossip at a teahouse the next day. She paid him some money to help her search.

When the gossip heard about the vague scope of her search, he shook his head repeatedly: "Girl, which cloth merchant doesn't want to buy new goods? The information you've given is too vague to find anything!"

Yu Wanran thought for a moment.

"This cloth merchant owns his own dyeing workshop, so can we remove some of the dyes?"

After asking around, I realized this did indeed filter out most of them, and I started to show interest in taking the job: "What other useful information can you provide?"

Yu Wanran recalled for a moment: "This cloth merchant must have had a very powerful market competitor."

In the past, two cloth merchants were locked in a fierce battle. One of them accidentally discovered a red herb, extracted its juice as a dye, and narrowly defeated the other, subsequently annexing his rival's business.

It caused quite a stir at the time, teaching Yu Wanran, who had only been in the business for a short time, a lesson. It turned out that commerce was indeed like a battlefield, so cruel and bloody.

The informant pondered for a moment, then held up three fingers: "Five taels of silver in total. Pay a deposit of three hundred cash first. Come back to me after noon."

There was too much information to collect, so he also had to mobilize his downline to help search. This price is reasonable.

Yu Wenbin almost jumped up: "You want to charge five taels of silver just for finding someone?"

Even if prices are high in Beijing, they don't have to be this outrageous!

The gossipmonger, with his narrow, dark eyes, said, "Kid, go ask around outside. This price is already very cheap for me! If you don't want to pay, get out of here and let the next person in. I'm busy."

Yu Wanran quickly pulled her elder brother aside, counted out three hundred coins, and placed them on the table in front of the informant: "Then I'll trouble you, sir. I'll come back this afternoon to hear more news."

As they walked out of the teahouse with their sullen father and brother, Yu Man hesitated and said, "Ranran, land in the capital is incredibly valuable, and the fees are indeed expensive. But can't we just go and inquire ourselves?"

He and his wife didn't get five taels of silver when they separated from their family. But since coming to the capital, the silver has been flowing out of his daughter's hands one after another. Although he had no right to interfere with how his daughter spent the money, this... was indeed a bit too laissez-faire!

“Father, you can’t catch a wolf without risking your cub. We outsiders don’t have time to slowly search in the capital. Business opportunities are fleeting. For this kind of thing, we have to ask the local bigwigs for help.”

Yu Wanran remained patient and explained to her family.

"Just treat it as an investment that will eventually make you money, isn't that enough?"

Yu Man and his son reluctantly listened. However, they'd probably hesitate to spend money next time. After all, they believed money was earned through frugality. They simply couldn't accept Yu Wanran's extravagant spending.

Yu Wanran wasn't in a hurry. Changing deeply ingrained family values ​​is a long and gradual process. As long as they could refrain from interfering with her actions, that was fine.

Taking advantage of the time they had, the three of them strolled around the capital, planning to buy some gifts to take home. After coming all this way, it would be a shame not to get some local specialties.

After much deliberation, Yu Man bought a box of pastries, which the shopkeeper said would last for two months. Yu Wenbin, who had no savings, peered curiously at the shops lining both sides of the street, showing interest in everything.

Yu Wanran immediately took out her money and bought her family members a set of well-fitting cotton shirts to wear when it got warmer in the spring. Yu Cuicui and her family of three also received one.

In addition, she bought her little niece a silver longevity lock and a silk and cotton tiger doll. It's no wonder she favors Xiao Xiang; precocious and well-behaved children always evoke a bit more affection.

Yu Man kept muttering, "Why buy such nice things for a child!"

Yu Wanran let it go in one ear and out the other.

Yu Wenbin, standing to the side, felt ashamed. As a husband and father, he hadn't given the mother and daughter a single blade of grass in all these years.

However, considering the profit-sharing plan proposed by my third sister, if I can make money on this business trip and earn a few taels of silver, I should be able to buy things for my family, right?

In the afternoon, the three returned to the teahouse after having a bowl of noodle soup. Upon seeing them, the informant handed them a folded piece of paper. Yu Wanran was about to take it when the informant put it back.

"There are twelve cloth shops that match your description. They also operate dye houses and have rival competitors."

Yu Wanran understood immediately and paid the remaining balance to the other party.

The gossip chuckled and placed the piece of paper in her hand: "The address is all on it, and I've even noted down the general situation of the employer. You got your five taels of silver well spent, didn't you?"