In March, the sea breeze in Danzhou was very gentle, and the scent of spring took over the entire stage. Unknown little yellow flowers bloomed all over the mountains, and every household used their petals to make tea. As they drank, they chatted with their neighbors outside their homes. So walking on the streets of Danzhou, one could always smell the faint fragrance of the flowers. It was not overpowering, but pure, and made one feel very peaceful.
At night, it was when the spring rain often came. Following the light wind into the night, it silently moistened the land. It covered the black eaves of Danzhou and the stone pavement of the streets with a hazy layer of water.
The light rain fell softly on the canvas outside the grocery store. It did not make much noise, but it washed away the thin layer of dust, making the store look a lot more lively. But the grocery store was not open that day. Fan Xian informed the Countess, and then sneaked into the store, peeling peanuts and drinking wine with Wu Zhu.
The people in the Count's manor should have known that he liked to come to the grocery store, but they all thought that the young master was just greedy for the wine that the blind man brewed himself. On one hand, it was because Fan Xian really liked wine, and on the other hand, he needed a better excuse. Although he could not completely avoid the eyes of others when interacting with Wu Zhu, he still had to be careful.
The kitchen knife rested on the chopping board. The cutting board was dry, and there were no scraps on the blade. It looked like it had not been used for a long time.
The sound of cracking peanut shells rang out. Fan Xian tossed one into his mouth and slowly chewed it until the dried fruit was completely chewed into a fragrant paste. Only then did he pick up a small porcelain cup the size of three fingers in front of him, bring it to his lips, and drink it down with a slurp.
Today, he was not drinking yellow wine, but tribute wine from the capital. The alcohol content was a little high, and Fan Xian felt like he was drinking Wuliangye.
He was not in a hurry to ask questions, because he knew that Wu Zhu was a very simple person, and would not make him wait for long.
Wu Zhu did not sit across from him. Instead, he held a bowl of yellow wine and sat in a dark corner of the room. His voice faintly rang out.
"The young lady's surname is Ye, and her name is Ye Qingmei. I'm her servant. Many years ago, Miss and I left home … "
"Ye Qingmei …" This was the first time Fan Xian had heard his mother's name. Inexplicably, his heart felt warm. He smiled and drank another cup of wine. Tactfully, he did not ask where his home was. If Wu Zhu was willing to tell him, he would certainly tell him.
"We lived in Dongyi for a few years. The young lady was born clever and understood everything. She also had a merciful heart. Thus, from the age of 15, she began to do business in Dongyi. Because she was too young, she could only hide behind the scenes and have the shopkeeper pretend to be the owner. "
Fan Xian's hand holding the wine cup paused in mid-air. He couldn't resist asking, "What does doing business have to do with benevolence?" He wasn't curious as to why his mother was born smart or why she was able to start a business and make money at the age of 15. After all these years, he had long guessed that his mother wasn't someone who could be judged by common sense.
Wu Zhu replied in a cold voice, "Because the young lady pitied the suffering of the world, she liked to do good deeds. When Dongyi was flooded, the young lady was the one who opened most of the porridge shops. If you want to do good deeds, you must have money, so the young lady began to think of ways to make money."
Fan Xian nodded, agreeing with this logic.
"Business was good. Gradually, people began to realize that the owner behind the shop was the young lady. Some of them began to plot against her, but I killed them all."
Wu Zhu spoke calmly, but Fan Xian knew that the situation at the time must have been very tense. If Wu Zhu said business was good, then it must have been very good. As the saying goes, treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime. For a fifteen-year-old girl to have such a large family fortune, it could easily incite the ambitions of the world's unscrupulous people. But when he thought of the fact that there was a powerful bodyguard for his mother, Fan Xian's heart, which had been raised for no reason, calmed down.
He suddenly thought of something and frowned. "My mother's surname is Ye. Could it be that the business you opened back then belonged to the Ye family?"
"Yes."
"The Ye family!" Fan Xian's face was full of surprise. "I've heard that name before. Legend has it that a dozen years ago, the Ye family was the number one business in the world. I didn't know it was my mother's business."
"I didn't know how big the Ye family's business was," Wu Zhu said calmly. "That wasn't part of my job scope. The young lady thought I had killed too many people, so she ended her business in Dongyi and came to the Kingdom of Qing to live in the capital. "
Fan Xian didn't think things were that simple. After selling her business in Dongyi and coming to the Kingdom of Qing, she had to have a good reason to do so.
Wu Zhu continued. "After the young lady came to the capital, she started her business again, and she did very well. Later on, she met a few people, including Count Sinan. Everyone seemed to listen to her, and according to her ideas, prepared to do some things and change some things. This created a conflict of interest with the nobles of the Kingdom of Qing. "
Wu Zhu paused. "One time, the Kingdom of Qing was at war with the west, and the capital's defenses were weak. Coincidentally, something big happened. I wasn't in the capital, and the young lady could rely on had some problems … The young lady was killed by the nobles. When I rushed back to Taiping Courtyard, I only saved you, and then carried you to Danzhou. "
Fan Xian knew this very well, and he also knew that those "enemies" had been killed ten years ago. The person who was in charge of revenge must have had something to do with his father and the Overwatch Council.
The long silence made the sound of rain outside the grocery store particularly clear.
"That's it?" Fan Xian asked, frowning. Could his mother's life be summed up in just a few words? What business did she do that could make all the nobles of the Kingdom of Qing go after her? Why did the famous Overwatch Council teacher Fei Jie seem so respectful whenever his mother was mentioned?
"Basically … it's all over." Wu Zhu chose his words carefully.
Fan Xian sighed, confirming that Wu Zhu really wasn't a good storyteller. A bitter smile appeared on his handsome face, knowing that he had to ask the questions himself.
"What business did my mother do?"
"Luxury goods, military equipment, ships, food. Basically, anything that made money."
Wu Zhu answered casually, but Fan Xian was startled by the name. His two lives' worth of experience made him understand that people who could do this kind of business usually had a powerful background. His mother was an orphan, and yet she had built her business from scratch to such a frightening degree.
"What happened to the business after my mother died?" This was what Fan Xian was most interested in. After all, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Qing, he should have been the sole heir to this enormous inheritance.
"Later, I heard that the Ye family's business was all taken over by the Kingdom of Qing's treasury."
Fan Xian shook his head with a bitter smile. So it had become the business of the royal family. He immediately abandoned the absurd idea of going to court to collect the family's inheritance. Instead, he smiled and said, "The name Ye Qingmei must have been very eye-catching. I heard that when my mother entered the capital, she beat up the commander of the capital garrison."
The oil lamp in the room flickered. Hearing Fan Xian's words, Wu Zhu seemed to remember something from the past. The corners of his mouth twitched in a strange way, revealing the trace of a gentle smile.
Fan Xian's wrist froze, and the small porcelain cup fell to the square table, rolling around. In his heart, he shouted, "He smiled … He actually smiled!"
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