After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

Chapter 237 What's wrong with having a mountain of silver!

Madam Du naturally didn't pay much attention to Lord Cui's current predicament; she had come to discuss important matters with Wanqing.

Madam Du glanced at Granny Wang, who then brought over a wooden box.

"Wanqing, our cloth shop's business is indeed much better than before."

"Especially the new weaving method in your drawings, the cloth produced is both fast and of high quality."

“It used to take a weaver almost a month to weave a piece of cloth, but now it can be woven in just a few days. I still find it amazing when I think about it now.”

"I never imagined that such a thing existed in the world. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I definitely wouldn't have believed it."

As Du Wei spoke, she opened the wooden box.

“Wanqing, look, because of the reputation of our Du Family Cloth Shop and the high praise for our fabrics, many cloth merchants from other places have come to us.”

Du Wei took out a list from the box, which recorded the cloth merchants she had visited in recent days.

"Look, there are not only cloth merchants from Jiangnan, but also those from Kyoto."

"Originally, the Du family didn't have the strength to do business across the country, but now it seems they can."

"I wonder, Wanqing, what do you think about this?"

Du Wei now treats Wanqing like a treasure, and asks Bai Wanqing for advice on everything.

Bai Wanqing took the list handed over by Madam Du and looked at it carefully.

She identified a group of well-known and reputable fabric merchants and suggested, "Aunt Du, why don't we cooperate with these fabric merchants?"

Du Wei looked at the families circled on the list; most of them were small, humble households.

Bai Wanqing didn't draw any of the larger cloth merchants.

"Wanqing, why do we only cooperate with small cloth merchants? Why don't we cooperate with the big cloth shops in places like Jiangnan, Kyoto, and Yunxi?"

Du Wei's thinking was naturally reasonable; after all, cooperating with several large merchants meant that Du Family Cloth Shop's business could soon sweep across the country.

Because these fabric shops are all very powerful entities in the local area.

Bai Wanqing shook her head slightly, "That's not appropriate."

Du Wei sat upright, listening attentively.

"Whether it's the Fang family in Jiangnan or the Wang family in the capital, they only came here to test our strength."

"They must think we've struck gold and silver and are spending money on this because they can keep supplying such cheap fabrics."

"Their coming together to take the cloth was naturally intended to bring down the Du family."

Du Wei nodded, "But these people aren't stupid. Sooner or later they'll find out where the Du family got all this cloth, right?"

Bai Wanqing raised her eyes and looked at Du Wei.

Madam Du quickly waved her hand, "No, I didn't mean that our Du family would spread this news. This is the lifeblood of the Du family. The weavers who weave for the Du family have all signed a contract with the family for life, so they would never dare to say anything about this."

Bai Wanqing nodded slightly, "Aunt Du, isn't that settled?"

Du Wei didn't understand, "What's knotted?"

“Aunt Du, these big cloth shops don’t really want to do business with us.”

"They've come here simply to investigate the mystery behind this."

"Then what do we do? Even if we try to hide it from the future, we won't be able to."

Bai Wanqing agreed with Du Wei's point: "You can't hide it forever, but you can hide it for a while."

Bai Wanqing gently tapped the other small cloth merchants' names on the list. "Aunt Du, as long as we capture these cloth merchants and cooperate with them, we can form a force together first."

“Look at the Shao family in Kyoto. Although their cloth shop is not large, it has a powerful background.”

"They had fought with the Wang family for a long time before. If the Wang family's cloth shop hadn't opened early and had a good reputation, the Wang family would definitely have been swallowed up by the Shao family."

"The Shao family is exactly missing such an opportunity right now."

"And that opportunity is us."

"And the Zhang family of Jiangnan."

Bai Wanqing explained each household in great detail, clearly stating which family could be utilized and which could not be cooperated with, and why. Du Wei admired Bai Wanqing even more after listening to her explanation.

Du Wei couldn't help but ask, "Wanqing, Lin Yunche is just a local official in Huaizhou, how could he know so much information?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Du Wei realized that her question was somewhat inappropriate.

They're all in officialdom, so they naturally have their own channels for obtaining information. How could she be the one asking around?

Du Wei twitched her lips, almost slapping herself in the face.

Bai Wanqing smiled and said, "Aunt Du, this has nothing to do with my husband."

Du Wei was taken aback, but secretly she breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the information didn't come from official circles, otherwise it would have been a serious taboo.

Bai Wanqing continued, "These were all told to me by a friend."

Du Wei didn't dare to ask what kind of friend it was this time, and quickly lowered her head to drink her tea.

Then, the two discussed the specific prices offered to the fabric shops, and Du Wei didn't leave the Lin family until very late.

As soon as I got home, I saw Du Huan and Fu Rong strolling in the yard.

Du Huan could tell at a glance that his aunt was in a good mood today. "Auntie, what's making you so happy?"

Madam Du looked at the hibiscus in front of her and smiled even more brightly.

"Furong, winter is coming soon, you should add more jewelry and clothes."

"Tomorrow, have Baoyue come to see Granny Wang and have her select a few good pieces of material from my private treasury. She can take whichever one she likes."

Du Huan opened his mouth in surprise. Although his aunt was usually very generous to them, she didn't easily give away the things in her private treasury. They were all made of the finest materials, which his aunt had obtained from weavers all over the country.

Many of them are priceless; you can't buy them even if you have the money.

Du Huan nudged Furong's arm. "Then hurry up and thank your aunt."

Furong bowed obediently, "Thank you, Auntie."

Du Wei dared not let Furong bow to her; she smiled and raised her hand to let Furong excuse herself.

"Furong, you are truly a lucky star for our Du family!"

Furong looked completely bewildered, and Du Huan finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Auntie, what happened? What made you so happy?"

"Our Du family will be rolling in gold and silver in the future!"

Du Huan was slightly taken aback. "Our Du family already has quite a bit of money. Is it possible to earn even more?"

Mrs. Du said with a smile, "That's right! More."

"This is all thanks to your older sister."

“We wanted to share our profits with her before, but she refused to accept them.”

"But our Du family must not forget our kindness."

Du Wei put away her smile and continued seriously, "Especially since you also have Furong."

"If your eldest sister really encounters anything in the future, our Du family cannot avoid it."

Du Huan nodded, "Of course we can't avoid it."

"Even if they take all of the Du family's money, the Du family will accept it."

Du Wei shared the same idea, but as the saying goes, the bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow against it. Du Wei had already decided that she would gather all the members of the Du family together tomorrow and incorporate this rule into the Du family's ancestral precepts.

“Aunt, you want to put it in the family rules, even if the other members of the Du family will not agree.”

Du Wei naturally knew what the other members of the Du family were thinking.

"If this rule cannot be established, then we have no need for this silver mountain."

What is gained through betrayal and treachery will eventually be lost.

The next day, Du Wei used this confidence to persuade everyone in the Du family and forcefully wrote the condition that the Du family, namely Wanqing, belonged to the Du family into the family rules.

In the following month, the Du family's business expanded rapidly, truly venturing beyond Huaizhou City and acquiring a mountain of silver.

Inside Beifeng City, Zhuang Qi was kneeling on the ground, waiting for the Prince of Huai to give instructions.

Since the Fang family was driven out of Huaizhou City by the Du family, the Fang family has sent a lot of money to make up for the deficit of the Prince of Huai.

However, for the Prince of Huai to maintain his army, that amount of money was merely a drop in the ocean.

"Mr. Zhuang, your judgment this time is not very good!"

"The Fang family didn't even have any roots in Huaizhou City, but the Du family has stood out from the crowd."

"We have suffered heavy losses."

Zhuang Qi smiled slightly, "Your Highness, it's the Fang family that's useless."

"However, we don't really need to wait any longer. Cao Zhe and Ma Yu have already arrived in the Northern Dynasty after some inquiries."

"Now, as long as we spread the word and catch Lin Yunche red-handed, we can eliminate the Lin family and the Bai family as well."

"Then the Du family, which will rise with the help of the Lin and Bai families, will be yours, Your Highness. Wouldn't that be killing three birds with one stone?"

The reason why the Prince of Huai has allowed the Lin and Bai families to remain in power for so long is precisely because he has been waiting for this day.

"Mr. Zhuang! Mr. Zhuang, among all my advisors, you are the one who understands me best!"

"Even if I tell them clearly, they still can't figure out what I'm thinking."

Zhuang Qi bowed his head and knelt down, "Your Highness is right. How could I dare to speculate on Your Highness's thoughts? It's just that the Fang family is useless, and I really have no other choice."

"Now, after hearing what Your Highness said, I realize that this was a scheme Your Highness had set up long ago."

"I only realized this now; I am far less insightful than Your Highness."

The Prince of Huai snorted coldly, naturally disbelieving Zhuang Qi's self-deprecation; this Zhuang Qi was a complete old fox.

"Alright! I understand! I didn't mean to blame you."

"But now is not the time. Our opportunity will come when Lin Yunche actually meets Lin Sishu."

"You'd better have your people over there keep a close eye on things."

Zhuang Qi bowed his head and agreed.

"As for the money, let the Fang family continue to support us."

"Just say it was me who said it."

"Yes!" Zhuang Qi replied.

After Zhuang Qi withdrew, a bodyguard suddenly appeared beside the Prince of Huai and handed him a note.

The Prince of Huai opened the note, and the words "The Prince of Huai is plotting a rebellion, and Cheng Kailin is investigating" were clearly visible on the paper.

"Cheng Kailin?" Prince Huai gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes, saying, "Find him! Tell everyone to find him for me."

"We must give this Lord Cheng a proper welcome."

The assassins obeyed and descended the steps. The Prince of Huai twirled the jade thumb ring on his hand and leisurely spoke:

"Nephew Emperor, let's see who has the last laugh this time!"

(End of this chapter)