Repeatedly broken branches

Chaoyang Kingdom is in the east. You must keep going east and pass through the eastern border to reach Chaoyang Kingdom smoothly.

The scenery along the way was beautiful, but she was uncertain. Why? Why didn't Yu Yanjing come to find her after he woke up? Why? What did she mean to him?

A joke?

Or is it just a pastime?

He was an emperor, and he had all kinds of women. It's impossible for an emperor to be devoted to one woman. For example, Yin Fu'an only had Xia Yunxu before, but later, until the end, his harem had become so large.

His harem was so large that many of his concubines were unnamed.

Let's start with Ruo'er, who used to be in power. She hasn't seen Yin Fu'an for a long time now, not even a year, and she's already been bored with by him.

What about Xiao Mu?

In her past life, she was fortunate to have a smattering of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Now, even if she were to learn them, she wouldn't be as skilled as those who had been learning them since childhood.

But why should she learn it? Isn't she just herself?

If Yu Yanjing truly only treats her as a joke when she goes to Chaoyang Kingdom, she will return his sword and bracelet to him and then leave gracefully.

She's already wasted so much time, why should she be sad because of a man? Life is only a few decades long.

Isn't it the same to not have a partner?

Why do you have to be with a man? Isn't it good to be alone? At least you won't be anxious every day because you're afraid he'll change his mind.

They chatted and laughed along the way, taking breaks now and then, and eventually arrived in Chaoyang Kingdom.

But how can she see Yu Yanjing now?

He was of noble birth and lived in a remote palace.

Xiao Mu used part of her dowry, which she brought from Jiuguang, to first buy a house in the city, and then added a lot of furniture and daily necessities.

She needed to earn money while simultaneously looking for opportunities to get closer to Yu Yanjing. She couldn't very well bring her dozens of chests of gold, silver, jewelry, land deeds, and property deeds here; they'd be conspicuous on the road and attract bandits, not to mention she trusted Zhou Tingxi.

They have reconciled and are now close friends, after all, they have a friendship of more than ten years.

On the second day after Xiao Mu arrived in Chaoyang Kingdom, Zhou Tingxi announced to the world that he had divorced Princess Xia Yunxu of the previous dynasty, but he said that they were closer than family.

It caused a great uproar in the city.

Madam Xue assumed that Zhou Tingxi must have been messing around outside again, which made Xia Yunzhi unable to stand it anymore and thus propose a divorce.

Now she's kicked Zhou Tingxi out again.

Zhou Tingxi had no intention of explaining. Anyway, he was about to go to the desert and probably would never see Xia Yunzhi again in this lifetime. Why should he care what others said?

At the training ground.

Zhou Tingxi sat on the grass, looking up at the gloomy sky. He thought, "If only it would rain right now, then even if I cried, I could tell myself it was rain."

He was once extremely confident, believing that women, like military power, were his to keep if he wanted to. As long as he refused to hand them over, they were his.

But he was wrong. Military power is inanimate, but women are alive. They must be treated with care and cherished. She is not a cold, impersonal military token.

Wei Hao stood there blankly for a long time, and after much deliberation, he finally spoke, "General, the house over in the desert has been settled, but... should we still plant the tuberose?"

Tuberose cannot be grown in the desert. Zhou Tingxi knew she liked it, so he had Wei Hao dig up several cartloads of soil from Linyue and carefully transport it to the desert.

He wanted Xia Yunzhi to be able to see a yard full of tuberoses even in the desert.

“Why not plant? Can’t I just plant it for myself?” Zhou Tingxi said with a wry smile.

Wei Hao was taken aback for a moment, then said, "General, Miss Lümei is outside."

Zhou Tingxi waved his hand and said expressionlessly, "I won't see you."

……

Green Plum paced back and forth at the door. When she saw Wei Hao come out, she hurriedly stepped forward and asked anxiously, "Well, is the general willing to see me?"

Wei Hao frowned and shook his head. "The general has been looking downcast lately. He won't see anyone and just stays at the training ground. We're going to the desert in half a month, but we haven't prepared anything yet."

Zhou Tingxi had to arrange everything for his entourage, including people and belongings. Yin Fu'an was only responsible for sending a few incompetent leaders to cause trouble for him. They couldn't help at all and only made things worse.

Green Plum said with a forced smile, "I also want to go, mainly to take care of the general. Without his wife, how can a grown man take care of himself? He doesn't have a personal maid either, so it will be very inconvenient for him."

Wei Hao nodded, then shook his head, and said helplessly, "The general didn't bring any female relatives this time, only a squad of personal guards, and Zhen Xun and I."

Zhou Tingxi had no female relatives. Ever since he met Xia Yunzhi, he had no maids to serve him. He had to take care of himself in the desert.

She never even served Green Plum.

She suddenly felt resentment towards Princess Heyang. Was there any better man in the world than Zhou Tingxi? She had hurt him so badly.

……

Ruan Cifeng is skilled in medicine, which happens to be the weakest link in Chaoyang Kingdom. It's a real waste of this place's terrain. The terrain here is very high, and the cliffs are covered with precious medicinal herbs, but no one has been able to harvest them.

It takes a long time to walk around here before you can see a clinic, and the doctor is a barefoot doctor who only knows the basics.

Xiao Mu seemed to see a business opportunity. She thought about buying a few shops on the street, opening a clinic, a teahouse, and a place for wealthy ladies and socialites to relax. But she didn't know where to start.

Women's money is the easiest to earn.

However, she doesn't know much. Xiao Shao is very good at embroidery, Ruan Cifeng can cultivate all kinds of flowers and plants, and Xiao Mu can make some simple cosmetics and jewelry. Also, Ruan Cifeng can carve, so Xiao Mu can draw a picture and have him carve it. So, she can try setting up a stall first.

Xiao Mu rented three shops in a prime location. One is a pharmacy, which is currently under renovation. The second is temporarily a teahouse. She hasn't decided what to do with the third yet, but if selling these trinkets at a stall is a good business, she might consider opening it.

She first wholesaled a large quantity of low-grade raw stones at low prices from Wuyang, a city known for its abundant production of jade, crystal, agate, and other raw materials. Then she transported a small portion of precious white jade and gemstones from Jiuguang. She made more of the cheap and low-cost stones first and less of the expensive ones, so that she wouldn't lose too much money.

Xiao Mu drew several different sketches overnight, which Ruan Cifeng then processed and sculpted. She bought a batch of materials for making silk flowers, as she wanted to make silk flowers and hairpins herself.

If these measures are effective, then we will consider hiring more people.

Everything went so smoothly because she had her dowry. If she hadn't, starting from scratch, everything would have been much more difficult.

For a whole week, Xiao Mu was busy preparing for the opening of the pharmacy, the teahouse, and her own stall. She was so busy that she didn't go to sleep until almost dawn. The next day, she had many things to finalize, so she barely slept and was yawning all day long.

Ruan Cifeng gave her a small pill and told her to chew it to refresh herself.

After eating it, Xiao Mu felt a minty taste in her mouth. The reason it was refreshing was because it contained mint and other herbs that could excite people. However, this would be good for those scholars who were preparing for exams. When they were tired and sleepy, taking one would definitely dispel their drowsiness immediately.

This is another business opportunity.

While busy with the opening of the business, she also had to inquire about Yu Yanjing's whereabouts. Everyone around her said that since Yu Yanjing disappeared and returned to the palace, there had been no news of him. The palace was heavily guarded, and it was several times more difficult to enter the palace than before. Moreover, she was neither an official nor a noblewoman, so how could she enter the palace?

He must have been killed by the guards outside before he even got inside, who mistook him for a spy.

He needed to expand his business, but he didn't even have a concubine, making it even more difficult to do business in the palace.

……

Wei Lan was puzzled as to why her master insisted on coming to Jiuguang. He would go out early every morning and not return until late at night. He would leave full of hope in the morning and return dejected in the evening.

This continued for five days.

Yu Yanjing suddenly said, "Go back to Chaoyang. Jiuguang is not a place for me to stay. I will not come here again."

He was frustrated. Shen Ruoxuan said that the woman was at Jiuguang, but he had spent the last few days exploring almost the entire capital city and still hadn't seen the woman who haunted his dreams.

Even my memories are blank.

A few days ago, he still had some vague memories of a woman's figure, always fleeting, running freely along the palace walls, like a kite with a broken string, gradually disappearing from his memory.

The palace? Impossible. He could never enter the palace.

His identity was special. Even if he had any contact with Hisamitsu, it would be through an envoy. He could never enter the palace, let alone know any of the women there. The number of women he knew could be counted on one hand: Wei Lan, Shen Shanshan, and Rou Rou.

Lai Jiuguang was a mistake. He probably won't be able to find the woman in his dreams. Perhaps Yin Shewu is with her, or perhaps there is no such woman at all, just a figment of his imagination in his midnight dreams.

But all of this felt so incredibly real.

He's an emperor; he could have any woman he wanted, so why was he so fixated on this one?

But the more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became. It seemed that this woman was very important to him and he did not want to easily erase her from his heart, but everything about her seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist.

Wei Lan and Rou Rou had no choice but to pack their things and prepare to return to Chaoyang, as instructed by Yu Yanjing.

……

Ruan Cifeng's clinic has already opened. In the past few days, the local people simply did not believe in Ruan Cifeng and his fellow outsiders, nor did they believe in their medical skills.

Xiao Mu then had Ruan Cifeng hang a notice at the door offering free medical consultations and medicine to the residents for three days, without charging a single penny.

Sure enough, who doesn't like free things? As soon as they heard it was free, everyone eagerly rolled up their sleeves and asked Ruan Cifeng to take their pulse.

The first patient said she had a chronic chest pain. The previous doctor said she had blood stasis in her chest. She had also suffered an internal injury at that time, so she believed it and went home to drink a lot of medicine to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. As a result, although she no longer had pain every day, the pain would come every now and then and it was even more unbearable, so painful that she could not get out of bed to work.

Ruan Cifeng diagnosed that there was no blood stasis, but rather that the person's daily worries, overwork, and frequent extreme joy and sorrow had damaged her heart meridian. He prescribed some calming Chinese medicine for her, and within five days, her chest pain would be gone.

The woman said, "There's nothing I can do. My husband loves to gamble and drink, and my children are disobedient. They're always out playing around and running around, and they're not going to get married. How can I not worry about them?"

Ruan Cifeng smiled and said, "Health is the most important thing. Don't worry about their affairs."

And remember to adjust your mindset, so that you are neither too happy nor too sad, and let things go in one ear and out the other. As long as you don't take it to heart and don't get angry at yourself, you won't have any major problems.

The woman went back and took the medicine for a few days, then stayed at her parents' home for a few days. Sure enough, her chest pain never returned. She spread the word that a miracle doctor had come from Chaoyang Kingdom and cured her chest pain that she had suffered for many years.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew about this woman's heart ailment, which had caused her to be pale in recent years. But now, seeing her with a rosy complexion and smiling at her neighbors, one has no choice but to believe in the existence of a miracle doctor.

Ruan Cifeng's clinic was so popular that the doorstep was practically worn out.

His medical skills are praised by everyone, and he has more and more repeat customers.

……

The teahouse opened soon after. Unlike those places that looked down on people, anyone with money to eat and drink tea could enter. Regardless of status, everyone was treated the same. The waiters and cooks were not allowed to look down on customers and had to provide smiling service. Otherwise, their wages would be deducted. Customers could report such behavior, and if the report was true, their wages would be deducted. The employees here had to have a good attitude and be enthusiastic towards customers. There was a five-day trial period. If Xiao Mu was satisfied, she could stay. If not, she would leave with her five days' wages.

The main principle here is to treat everyone equally. Advances in wages are possible, but the reason for the advance must be explained. Wages will not be delayed and will be paid on time on the first day of each month.

So before the official opening, Xiao Mu had already been in trial operation for a few days, eliminating a batch of workers who came to try out the job, and keeping one cook, one kitchen helper, and three others responsible for washing dishes and serving food. Xiao Shao was the manager in charge of the accounts, and naturally felt more at ease with the money in the hands of his own people.

The opening day was well received, after all, the chef came from the Northern Territory and had previously served as the royal chef in the Snow Kingdom. The former emperor, who was Yu Yanjing's maternal grandfather, really liked his cooking skills, but after he abdicated, Yu Yanjing's uncle dismissed the chef from the palace.

There was no other way; the cook had to come back.

He can cook dishes from the four major countries of Hisamitsu, Asahi, Ringetsu, and Yukiyu. He can cook any dish that can be named, so he has a lot of customers.

In addition, the service here is better than other places. Everyone has a smile on their face and will not look down on people or give them a bad attitude just because they are dressed in rags. What kind of person wouldn't like to eat here?

The teahouse is for drinking tea on the first floor and for eating on the second floor. If you eat here and make a purchase, you can go to the first floor to drink tea for free for half an hour.

Therefore, many officials come here to discuss matters. Private rooms can also be set up here, so there is no fear that important matters will be overheard.

With the teahouse and clinic managed by Ruan Cifeng, Xiao Mu focused on her general store. She wanted to sell everything, but unfortunately, her skills weren't up to par.

……

Before the shop officially opens, Xiao Mu plans to set up a stall to attract customers. Everyone who buys jewelry here will receive a gift, depending on the price of their purchase. If they only buy a simple hairpin, the gift will be a silk flower. If they buy five or six items, they can have a custom-made gift delivered directly to their residence. Private customization is also available. Customers can bring the items and materials they want and tell Xiao Mu the design to place a private order. If they don't have the materials, the shop can help them purchase them, but there will be extra charges for travel expenses and materials.

On the first day of setting up the stall, there were quite a few customers. The main customers were Xiao Mu's hairpins, bracelets, and all kinds of jewelry, which were very cheap and beautiful. She also gave away free gifts, and many girls came to buy them.

The next day, they started selling items that were slightly more expensive, but the workmanship and color matching were exquisite. Many young ladies, wives, and young women, as well as palace ladies, came to buy them.

On the third day, they started accepting orders. The customers were mostly women from wealthy families, as well as many people from the palace. Although they could deliver goods inside, the only places they could go were the residences of the female officials. They were escorted by someone, and they had to leave after delivering the goods, so going to other places was not a realistic option.

As the number of orders increased, Xiao Mu became busier and busier. Sometimes she didn't even have time to think about Yu Yanjing. She would draw until midnight every day, and as soon as she opened her eyes the next day, she would deliver the orders she had finished the previous afternoon to people's houses one by one. In the afternoon, she would start making more orders, and in the evening, she would draw again. Xiao Mu wished she had three heads and six arms.

After a month, the clinic didn't make much profit after deducting costs. No wonder, since the consultation fees here are lower than elsewhere, and they charge ordinary people their hard-earned money. But at least they didn't lose money; in fact, they made a profit. The original intention of opening a clinic was not to make money.

The teahouse business was good. After deducting the cost and labor costs, the profit was more than five times the cost. In addition, the labor costs were quite high, so what was left was the profit, which was not a small amount. Many people could not earn this much in their entire lives, and Xiao Mu was content with it.

Xiao Mu's general store is doing the best business. Women's money? Just a few compliments and they'll buy it. Besides, Xiao Mu makes all her jewelry by hand. From drawing the design to making the product, she does it all by herself. She doesn't take on too many orders at once because she's afraid that if she takes on too many, she won't be able to keep up with the time and the quality will be rough. So now, wealthy women in Chaoyang come to her store to buy jewelry, and even people from other cities come to buy from her. Xiao Mu's brand is growing bigger and bigger.