The Lucky Heiress

Soon after, Wei Yichen took out the letter written by Xiu Fengyuanfrom his bosom: “It is inappropriate for a lady to correspond with another man through letters. Today, this letter is from Xiu asking why you are resisting the marriage between our families. After reading it, you don’t need to reply directly. If you have any thoughts, just tell your elder brother and I will pass along your message to Xiu.”

Wei Ruo looked at Wei Yichen’s serious and solemn expression and asked, “Will you really help me deliver my message, brother? Even if I want to break off this engagement?”

“As long as it’s not too outrageous, I will deliver it for you and will never go against your wishes.” Wei Yichen promised.

Wei Ruo didn’t respond, but just stared at Wei Yichen.

Wei Yichen felt Wei Ruo’s distrust towards him. He was somewhat disappointed and felt helpless, so he added: “The reputation of the Wei Family should be upheld by the men in the family. We should never rely on the marriage of a woman to consolidate it.”

In this aspect, Wei Yichen was deeply influenced by his father, Wei Mingting. He believed that his sisters should grow up adored and lead a comfortable life.

Wei Ruo said, “Then, I will have to trouble you, elder brother.”

Then she took the letter from Wei Yichen’s hand and opened it in front of him.

The content was quite simple, without any inappropriate expressions. The whole letter was expressing: politely asking Wei Ruo if she was dissatisfied with him or the Xiu Family, or if there were any misunderstandings; he hoped they could communicate in a timely manner to avoid further misunderstanding.

To avoid unnecessary trouble if the letter fell into the wrong hands, the letter did not have a signature or a salutation.

After finishing reading, Wei Ruo gave the letter back to Wei Yichen and said, “Please tell Young Master Xiu that I don’t have any dissatisfaction with him or the Xiu Family. I just know myself. I am not suitable to become the main wife of the family. Furthermore, Young Master Xiu is going to have a government official career in the future, and I, who has always done what she pleases in the countryside since childhood, am not suited to be a virtuous helper. Nor can I withstand the constraints of such a life.”

“Alright, I understand. I will deliver your message to Young Master Xiu.”

Wei Yichen nodded and then stopped hindering Wei Ruo, watching her walk towards Tingsong Garden.

Not until Wei Ruo disappeared did Wei Yichen withdraw his gaze.

Today, Wei Yichen felt much more relaxed as he had taken care of two things that weighed on his mind.

On his way back, Wei Yichen ran into Wei Yilin, who was standing at the corner, watching Wei Yichen with his small eyes.

“Were you watching me and your elder sister all this time?” Wei Yichen asked.

“Yes.” Wei Yilin nodded, “I wouldn’t want to see you two fighting again.”

“That won’t happen. I lost control last time because our father was critically ill. I was impetuous and accidentally hurt your elder sister. Such incidents should be avoided in the future, and should not be repeated.”

Wei Yilin nodded heavily: “That’s good.”

Wei Yichen laughed and could not help but touch Wei Yilin’s head: “You have become much more sensible, and even care about the affairs between your elder sister and me.”

“I have always been sensible. I hope everyone will be fine, even though I didn’t like my elder sister before, and felt that Sister Wanwan was upset because of her. But after spending time together, I found her not that repelling, and kind of pitiful. Plus, she is part of our family, as men of the family, we should protect our women.”

“Hmm.” Wei Yichen, touching Wei Yilin’s head, said, “Your elder brother is going to spend less time at home and father has to stay in the military camp often, so you will have to take care of home.”

“Don’t worry, elder brother, leave it to me!” Wei Yilin said, beating his chest.

The brothers returned to their respective courtyards while talking.

###

After returning to Tingsong Garden, Xiumei asked Wei Ruo: “Miss, is what the eldest young master said true? Will he really help you reject the marriage with the Xiu Family? Madam has been very keen on this marriage. Look at the movement in the mansion these days. I’m afraid, they…”

“Whether or not it’s true doesn’t matter, it won’t affect my plans. If they really push me, I could do anything. There’s a saying, ‘the barefooted is not afraid of those wearing shoes.’ As long as I am not afraid of ruining my reputation, I hold the initiative.”

The premise for Mrs Yun to meddle in Wei Ruo’s marriage is that Wei Ruo cares about her own reputation and wants to marry a suitable partner in the future. As long as Wei Ruo is determined, then the initiative is in her hands.

Of course, Wei Ruo also knows that she still needs to have some restraint in this matter and can’t go too far.

If she goes too far, the Wei Family may have her commit suicide to preserve the family’s reputation. In that case, she really has no way to argue.

Wei Ruo returned to her room and began looking at the account books. Recently, the number of books has been quite large. Apart from her nanny and Manager Yu being able to help her process some part of it, for the rest, Wei Ruo needs to verify it herself personally.

Xiumei couldn’t help much in this aspect. Whenever Wei Ruo worked late nights checking the accounts, Xiumei could only make some ginseng tea and snacks for Wei Ruo, accompanying her dutifully by the side.

Currently, the business that Wei Ruo is handling, apart from the grain shop which had shut down temporarily, the other shops were still running as usual. The business performance was not as good as before, but they were all still making money.

Especially the white liquor product, the income greatly exceeded Wei Ruo’s expectations. Every day two barrels of wine were sold for a stable 98 taels of silver (50 from the brine-flavored shops, 48 from Zuixian Residence).

In terms of Four Treasure House, paper is still in high demand. The people in the capital who could afford this paper were noble students who are willing to spend a lot of money on the matter of studying. Even if the current situation is poor, it does not affect these noble students’ daily expense.

There has been a decrease in the sales of pen, ink, inkstone, and ink slab. That’s why, last time, Wei Ruo made Four Treasure House hold an event using the Tibetan layman’s ink treasure as a prize along with a year’s paper supply, attracting a wide range of writers to enhance sales and remove some inventory.

The next time they purchase goods, she will slightly reduce the purchase of pen, ink, inkstone, and ink slab to avoid squeezing too much inventory.

Because pen, ink, inkstone, and ink slabs are all imported from other places. Once inventory is squeezed, it is extremely unfavorable for her.

The brine-flavored shop’s sales have not changed much. There should have been a slight decline in sales during this period, but the popularity of thyme boosted the sale of brine-flavored products. In comparison to the previous sales, it’s not much different.

Over at Zuixian Residence, the supply of seasoning has remained the same recently. Wei Ruo guessed the reason could be similar to the brine-flavored shop. Probably, the launch of thyme increased customer flow, offsetting the decline in customers caused by the recent economic downturn.

Regarding the mushroom cultivation industry in Xingshan County, the first half of this year saw quite a lot of expansion. Especially after the wave of cold weather, Wei Ruo increased the investment in mushroom cultivation. Recently, almost all the caves suitable for growing mushrooms near the west of Xingshan County were bought by her..