Transmigration: I, the Dragon Overlord, start by protecting my beautiful bride!

"My lord, my lord, what are you thinking about?" Long Aotian was lost in thought, and Jiang Beichuan had to nudge his shoulder.

"Oh, what did you just say?" Long Aotian came to his senses and looked at Jiang Beichuan.

"I wanted to ask you, if the emperor really consumed that poisonous herb, then what would become of the world..."

“What does this have to do with us?” Long Aotian said. “Beichuan, think about what you should think about, and don’t think about what you shouldn’t think about. Everything has its own cause and effect.”

"Well, alright." Seeing that Long Aotian didn't react, Jiang Beichuan had no choice but to give up.

Actually, he wanted to ask Long Aotian about the matter of going to Huayi Mansion in Jingcheng, which he had mentioned a while ago.

At this critical juncture, it's clear to anyone with eyes to see that the Prime Minister's faction, with its abundant wealth, is definitely going to win over the Crown Prince's faction.

If they were to go to Jingcheng at this time and join the Huayi Mansion to serve them, they might just have a chance to rise to great heights...

"By the way, Luo Qianxun said you were injured, so you should rest at home for the next few days. You don't need to go to the Zhenye Division for now." Before leaving, Jiang Beichuan said to Long Aotian, "Please stay home and keep your sister-in-law company these next few days, sir."

Upon hearing this, Long Aotian blushed and his mind wandered to things he shouldn't have.

"Beichuan, you're leaving already? Aren't you going to stay and have dinner before you go?" In the courtyard, Shen Juanxin, dressed in plain clothes, looked at Jiang Beichuan as he left and asked.

"No, sister-in-law, the area can't be left unattended." Jiang Beichuan said this as he pushed open the door and left the courtyard.

Shen Quanxin didn't say much, but simply carried the freshly heated food into the house.

"Eat it while it's hot."

"Hmm, hiss..."

Long Aotian had just picked up his rice bowl and was about to take a bite when he aggravated the wound on his back, causing him to wince in pain.

Shen Juanxin saw this and felt very sorry for him. She silently took the bowl and chopsticks and fed him herself.

Long Aotian smiled happily and opened his mouth in perfect cooperation.

"How is it? Does it suit your taste?"

"I love anything you make, my wife!"

Shen Juanxin blushed and said coquettishly, "Pah, it seems you really do frequent brothels. You can come up with all sorts of sweet talk to deceive women so easily."

"How could this be words to deceive my wife?" Long Aotian hurriedly said, "My words are not sweet talk. If I, Shen Congxin, have said even a single lie to my wife, may I be struck by lightning!"

"Here we go again." Seeing this, Shen Juanxin quickly covered his mouth. "I told you, you're not allowed to make such a heavy oath."

"I was afraid you wouldn't believe me..."

Are you that scared?

"Of course!" Long Aotian said decisively, "I..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know how to begin. He couldn't very well tell her about another part of his life, could he? That would probably make her think he was crazy...

"what?"

"Nothing..." Long Aotian couldn't answer, so he quickly changed the subject, "By the way, where did I see Xiaohuatou and Xi'er? Where did they go?"

“Xi’er said she didn’t like living here, so she went back to the boat to stay.” Shen Juanxin continued to feed Long Aotian silently. “As for the little rascal, he also went back to take care of his sister.”

Long Aotian nodded, "Yes, they are both good children..."

But Shen Juanxin didn't answer, because he knew that Xi'er wasn't uncomfortable living here, but rather that if she stayed here, she would have to live with Shen Juanxin, and she would have nothing to do all day, so she felt very uncomfortable. That's why she moved back to the boat...

After a moment, he suddenly said, "By the way, my wife. I see you're very good at sewing. How about we open a clothing shop? We can have Xi'er and Xiao Huatou help you. What do you think?"

Having learned his lesson from the last time, Long Aotian discovered that in this world, having power alone is not enough; one must also have money to live a comfortable life.

Although having power is equivalent to having money, you can't expect a corrupt official like Lin Boguang to do illegal things or extort protection money from the people.

Back when he was still Long Aotian, he made a solemn vow that if he ever entered officialdom, he would eliminate all the corrupt officials. Even if he couldn't do that much, he would never associate with them!

"This idea is good, but does our family have that much money?" Shen Juanxin was both happy and worried when she heard Long Aotian's suggestion.

"How much money do you need to open a clothing shop?" Long Aotian didn't know anything about this business, so he could only ask Shen Juanxin.

"Renting a shop, including the cost of buying fabric and hiring staff, would cost at least two hundred taels a year, right?" Shen Juanxin replied after doing some mental calculations.

Her calculations were actually an underestimate. Qianzhou City was in the Central Plains, with thriving maritime trade and a constant stream of merchants. Renting a shop was a minor matter; acquiring materials that would satisfy all the passing merchants would cost even more than renting a shop, not less...

"Hiss..." Long Aotian gasped upon hearing this, and said, "We can hire Xi'er and Xiaohuatou as helpers. I've done Xi'er a favor, so I won't pay her wages at first, just provide her with food and lodging. She won't complain. As for Xiaohuatou, I can pay him a little, since he has a younger sister. But if I play the victim with him and let him stay at the shop, we can not only save some money, but also have him help me mind the shop. It's a win-win situation!"

As he said this, the unscrupulous boss's true colors were completely exposed...

"Pah, you rascal, you're full of bad intentions." Shen Juanxin laughed and scolded from the side, "Xi'er is family, so she should be even more clear about the accounts. The little rascal already has a pitiful background and a younger sister, so you shouldn't be so harsh on them."

"Well, this..." Long Aotian thought to himself, this is considered harsh? Back then, to make a living, he had no choice but to work as a dog for his boss, doing 007 for a few months. What was that? If he hadn't finally woken up and stopped being exploited by his boss, he'd probably be over three meters old by now...

“That’s true, but as you said yourself, my wife, Xi’er is family. Since we’re family, it’s okay to give her less money in the early stages before we’ve made any. We can always compensate her more later when we’re more successful.” Long Aotian pondered for a moment, deciding to use modern thinking to persuade his wife, Shen Juanxin, a woman from a noble family who couldn’t bring herself to be harsh on others. “As for that little rascal, you also said he has a tragic past. If we hadn’t given him this opportunity, he would probably still be homeless and begging on the streets. What do you say, my wife?”

“Hmm, what you say makes sense. Then… let’s do it your way.” Shen Juanxin understood Long Aotian’s predicament; after all, how much money they could come up with to open a shop was still a problem.

Long Aotian nodded, and subconsciously raised his hand to pat her head as if petting a kitten.

"Husband, what... what are you doing?" Shen Juanxin stared blankly at Long Aotian, quite surprised.

At this moment, Long Aotian suddenly remembered that in this world, there would be no such intimate caressing between men and women.

"This..." Long Aotian was a little unsure how to answer, so he immediately made up a story: "This is a way of expressing affection. In my hometown, only elders do this kind of intimate gesture with children or lovers."

Shen Juanxin truly did not know Shen Congxin's background. After all, although he had been in contact with his father, he had only exchanged a few words with her.

"Is that so..." Shen Juanxin's ears turned bright red when she heard Long Aotian say that.

In this dynasty, people did not express their feelings very directly.

Especially for a noblewoman like Shen Juanxin, saying "forever" to the person she loves is already very touching, enough to make her feel she can spend her whole life with them...

"You should eat first." After an awkward silence, Shen Juanxin spoke first.

"Okay." For some reason, Long Aotian's face was now flushed, just like when he was falling in love for the first time.

Thinking back to those days of extravagance and debauchery, back then, every day the woman around him was different, and they all idolized Long Aotian… his money. They would cuddle up to him in their most revealing clothes, rubbing against him, and he could do whatever he wanted to them…

Even among those girls, there were some who were beautiful and had engaged in more ambiguous relationships; they could indeed provide great physical pleasure. But in Long Aotian's eyes, none of them were as good as Shen Juanxin personally feeding him at this moment…