Chapter 037: Fairy Godmother

When You Fangyin heard the name “You Yue” from Jiang Xuening’s mouth, her first reaction was surprise, wondering how she could guess so accurately. But this surprise quickly turned into fear—

Her benefactor had already helped her too much.

She didn’t want to cause any more trouble for her benefactor.

Especially since this person was her difficult-to-deal-with sister, You Yue, who had said many unpleasant things when she returned yesterday…

She absolutely couldn’t let the Second Miss know!

She slowly pulled her hand back from Jiang Xuening’s grasp and stammered, “No, my injury has nothing to do with my second sister. It’s all my own carelessness. This little injury is nothing, it will heal in a few days.”

Jiang Xuening leaned back on the pillow, watching her.

Her gaze, usually gentle, became unusually sharp. She slowly said, “I just asked if your second sister had returned, I didn’t say your injury was caused by her. Why are you so quick to defend her?”

You Fangyin realized she had given herself away in her panic. She was never good at lying, especially not to her savior. Embarrassed, she stammered, “Because Fangyin knows the Second Miss is truly kind to me, I was afraid you might misunderstand and have a conflict with my second sister. After all, I heard that both you and my second sister are companion readers for the princess in the palace, and you’ll see each other often. You should get along well. My second sister is quite formidable…”

Formidable?

The “formidable” sister who didn’t dare to argue back when pushed into a fish tank?

Jiang Xuening smirked inwardly, her eyes flickering. She suddenly asked, “Are you afraid that if I intervene, I’ll offend your sister and have a hard time in the palace?”

You Fangyin was stunned, then slowly lowered her head after a long pause and said, “Yes.”

Jiang Xuening was silent.

You Fangyin, fearing she was angry or upset, hurriedly explained, “My second sister is very favored by our father and stepmother at home, and she has a bad temper. I heard that even the Young Master Yan from the Yongyi Marquis Mansion and Prince Linzi attended the Chongyang Banquet, and her painting was chosen as the best by the princess. She must be very liked by the princess. If, if because of this misunderstanding, there is a conflict between you and my second sister, Fangyin really can’t bear to think about it…”

Jiang Xuening almost laughed out loud.

This girl really didn’t understand the situation. She clearly saw You Yue as the most terrifying and formidable person in her life, afraid that Jiang Xuening would be bullied by You Yue, so she was enduring everything and being submissive.

A living doormat.

It was indeed a bit infuriating to watch.

But she genuinely wanted to protect her, preferring to endure the grievance herself rather than let her know that it was You Yue who was acting tyrannically in the mansion, fearing it would implicate her.

Jiang Xuening and You Yue already had plenty of grudges, so this was just another one. At this moment, Jiang Xuening’s slender fingers lightly tapped the edge of the table, slowly tracing a circle, and suddenly a plan formed in her mind.

Her previously raised eyebrows slowly lowered.

She sighed softly, as if recalling something unbearable, and a trace of genuine bitterness appeared at the corner of her mouth: “That’s right, your second sister is very favored by the princess, very formidable…”

You Fangyin, who had been nervous about Jiang Xuening provoking You Yue, felt a pang of anxiety when she saw her suddenly become dejected and blurted out, “Did she, did she bully you, Second Miss?”

Jiang Xuening leaned on the table, burying her head.

One hand, visible to You Fangyin, slowly clenched, and she said, “Just the night before last, while we were still in the mansion, we were talking about a minister from the previous dynasty. I was speaking, and I don’t know which word angered her, but she called me over. I went, but who would have thought, she suddenly attacked me, so fiercely, she…”

At this point, her voice choked with emotion.

She couldn’t continue.

Heaven knows she hadn’t acted in a long time and almost laughed just now.

She kept her head down, not letting You Fangyin see her expression, and quickly wiped the corner of her eye, which had no tears at all.

Tang’er and Lian’er exchanged glances: Wasn’t our young lady’s delicate demeanor a bit off?

She didn’t finish her sentence, but the effect was even better than if she had.

It left endless imagination—

What exactly did You Yue do to her?

You Fangyin’s mind was suddenly filled with this question. She remembered the day Jiang Xuening saved her from a desperate situation in the You Mansion, remembered her crying yet gently hugging her yesterday, and also remembered what Jiang Xuening had said that day.

She still dared not forget those words.

To save her, the Second Miss gave up her greatest support in life.

But now her second sister was not only bullying her but also bullying the Second Miss!

Her fingers, hanging by her side and hidden in her sleeves, quietly clenched!

You Fangyin’s eyes suddenly turned red.

Her body was trembling slightly, but this trembling was completely different from before: previously, it was out of fear, but now, although the fear had not dissipated, it was mixed with a surge of inexplicable anger.

Jiang Xuening then raised her head, turned her eyes to look at her, and smiled.

The brighter the smile, the more piercing it was to You Fangyin.

Jiang Xuening reached out to pull her to sit down, her eyes filled with deep amusement, but she spoke softly to comfort her: “Ah, it’s all my fault for bringing this up. After all, someone like me, who is not favored at home and not liked by anyone important in the palace, naturally can’t compare to your second sister. I must have unknowingly offended her in some way. In the palace, who doesn’t suffer grievances? I’ll just endure it; it’s only for half a year.”

You Fangyin sat down, but her eyes were lowered, and her body was even more tense than before.

Jiang Xuening then sent Tang’er and Lian’er out and said lightly, “Look at me, I was so focused on your injury that I forgot to talk about the important matter. You now have quite a bit of money and can barely be considered a small merchant. I heard that recently, for over a month, there has been a salt field owner from Sichuan, named Ren Weizhi, who has been trying to raise money to continue developing his family’s salt field. Many people know that their salt field has been boiling salt for over a hundred years, and the underground brine has long been exhausted. So even though this young Master Ren said he was willing to share future profits from the salt field based on the proportion of investment, no one was willing to invest. But this young Master Ren also said he invented a new tool that could reach deeper into the salt well…”

In the Great Qian Dynasty, most famous salt fields were in the south.

But the Ziliujing area in Sichuan was an exception.

It could be considered the largest salt field outside the coastal areas!

People drilled wells in certain places, and brine would gush out from the wells. The underground heat in Sichuan allowed them to boil the brine near the salt wells, evaporate, filter, and finally produce salt.

The salt produced this way was called “well salt.”

Sichuan’s well salt was famous and sold throughout the country, leading to the emergence of hundreds of private salt fields in Ziliujing, which the court couldn’t control.

Ren Weizhi’s family had been running their salt field for three generations, and it was now in his hands as the fourth generation.

But how could a well withstand over a hundred years of exploitation?

Sichuan’s salt wells were all “large shallow wells,” which could only be dug so deep. At most, they could be widened to extract more brine. But as the brine was extracted, its level would gradually drop, eventually falling below the depth of the well, making it impossible to extract more brine.

The salt well would become a “waste well.”

The salt field would also decline. Ren Weizhi took over such a salt field that was on the verge of decline. The long-term workers left, and the large family business collapsed.

Faced with such pressure in a desperate situation, it was hard to accept.

So, for the next two years, he squandered gold and silver, drank to drown his sorrows, and sat crying in the empty salt field, which had nothing but waste wells.

But one day, he accidentally knocked over a wine jar.

He pressed down on it without thinking.

The ground was hard soil, and as he pressed down, the shards of the wine jar slowly embedded into the soil.

In that moment, a flash of inspiration struck him amidst his despair and darkness!

Ren Weizhi suddenly stopped drinking, didn’t even leave the house, and spent his days studying various construction books. He spent three whole months researching and drawing several complex blueprints.

But by then, he had no money left.

Few people around him were willing to lend him money.

Ren Weizhi had to go to the capital to seek help from a friend of his father’s. This friend treated him well and was willing to lend him a small amount of money, but when it came to lending thousands or tens of thousands of taels, he made all sorts of excuses.

After two months of struggling in the capital, Ren Weizhi became disheartened.

Worried about the salt field at home, he had no choice but to spread the news among other salt merchants in the capital that he had developed a new tool to extract brine from “waste wells,” hoping to raise money by promising future profits from the salt field.

This new tool was the famous “Zhuotong Well.”

In her previous life, Jiang Xuening heard this story in the palace when Shen Jie summoned officials from Sichuan. By then, Ren Weizhi had been dead for three years, having hanged himself at his family’s salt field.

He did manage to raise some money from the capital.

After much effort in Sichuan, he created the “Zhuotong Well.” But he was unlucky. On the first night of testing the Zhuotong Well, it reached deeper into the salt well and hit underground gas. There were lanterns with open flames outside, and the gas ignited, causing a fire.

The entire salt field was destroyed.

The first Zhuotong Well, made of bamboo, also collapsed in the fire.

Worse still, several long-term workers died in the fire.

The merchants who had lent him money almost immediately demanded repayment.

Ren Weizhi was at the end of his rope.

The salt field was gone, the Zhuotong Well was gone, and he had to compensate for the workers’ deaths and repay the merchants’ investments. Desperate, he sold his ancestral home. On the day he cleared all his debts, he hanged himself on the remains of the Zhuotong Well at the salt field, ending his troubled life.

Three months after his death, the blueprints left in the box were discovered;

Four months after his death, the second Zhuotong Well was built, successfully drilling a deep well over twenty zhang (about 66 meters) underground, extracting brine that had been unreachable, hidden twenty zhang deep in the “waste well”;

A year after his death, the Zhuotong Well had become an essential tool for extracting brine from “small deep wells” in the Ziliujing salt field;

Three years after his death, every salt field in Ziliujing had his portrait displayed!

In other words, the Zhuotong Well invented by Ren Weizhi was fully capable of extracting brine from deep underground. He was just unlucky and couldn’t survive the most difficult period.

Jiang Xuening remembered that in her previous life, when You Fangyin talked about her journey from rags to riches, she lamented missing this great opportunity because she didn’t know Ren Weizhi was raising funds in the capital.

She also mentioned things like “drilling technology” and “natural gas.”

These strange terms were beyond Jiang Xuening’s understanding.

But she knew the ins and outs of this matter and understood the many twists and turns involved.

“To accomplish something is never easy. You may experience many desperate moments, but only by persevering can you find a way out,” Jiang Xuening said, giving You Fangyin a meaningful story. “Since Ren Weizhi dared to borrow so much money and claimed he could extract brine from ‘waste wells,’ the Zhuotong Well must be usable. If he had enough money to seize the opportunity, buy up the ‘waste wells’ that other salt fields didn’t want, and use the Zhuotong Well to extract brine and make salt, who knows what great business he could have built.”

You Fangyin was a bit confused about the brine extraction and salt-making process.

But that didn’t stop her from understanding the key point in Jiang Xuening’s words.

That is—

Ren Weizhi was a capable person. If she invested in him, even though there might be significant losses along the way, as long as she persevered, she could open up a new world!

Jiang Xuening knew she had grasped the crucial part, and with a slight shift in her gaze, she thought of You Yue and reminded You Fangyin with a worried look, “You must know, it wasn’t easy for me to get this information, so don’t go around spreading it. This time is different from the last. Last time, it was just selling silk, but this time, it will be a tough process. If something goes wrong, you might lose all your money. This is a long-term business, and the hardships in between are not something everyone can endure. If someone impulsive finds out and invests, only to lose everything, wouldn’t that be harming them?”

You Fangyin’s clenched fists didn’t relax. Hearing Jiang Xuening’s words, a crazy idea suddenly popped into her mind.

But she didn’t say it out loud.

She seemed to be thinking about something, slowly nodded, and said, “Fangyin will remember.”

Jiang Xuening said, “I’ve given you all the advice I can. You’ve been out long enough today, and with such a formidable sister at home, I dare not keep you any longer. I’ll see you out.”

You Fangyin stood up and saluted.

Jiang Xuening put on her embroidered shoes and escorted her to the door. Before parting, she handed her a bottle of medicine: “This is for your injury. Apply it well, and it will heal quickly.”

You Fangyin almost burst into tears: “You are so kind to me.”

Jiang Xuening inwardly called her a fool but patted her head and said, “Since you know I’m good to you, be good to yourself. By the way, don’t let your second sister know about the money you made last time. Otherwise, who knows how she’ll pry into your ‘money-making methods.’ She bullies me in the palace, and I’ll endure it no matter what. But you’re in the mansion, and I’m really afraid something bad might happen to you under her hand. I know you want to protect me, but don’t let any conflict arise between us because of me…”

Tang’er and Lian’er were standing outside, listening to the conversation. The words sounded very familiar: weren’t these the same words You Fangyin had just said? The Second Miss had almost repeated them verbatim!

You Fangyin, however, didn’t notice this at all. Hearing her words, her body trembled, her eyes reddened, and she bowed her head even lower, softly responding, “Yes.”

Only then did Jiang Xuening appear relieved and had someone escort her out of the mansion.

You Fangyin exited through the side door, and the carriage was still waiting outside.

The driver, who had been dozing off, perked up when he saw her come out and quickly asked, “Miss, where to now?”

You Fangyin stood on the steps, holding the small bottle of medicine, and looked for a long time.

Her face was expressionless.

A surge of anger welled up inside her. She tightened her grip on the bottle and said, word by word, “To Qingyuan Earl’s Mansion.”

*

As soon as You Fangyin left, the pitiful and delicate demeanor Jiang Xuening had shown earlier vanished completely.

She hummed lightly and clapped her hands in satisfaction.

The speed at which she changed her expression left Tang’er and Lian’er dumbfounded!

Changing a naturally timid person’s behavior isn’t easy.

But it’s not impossible.

In her previous life, Jiang Xuening had the skill to charm men effortlessly. Now, she was just using those skills to charm women, and the effect was just as immediate.

Although she wanted to teach You Fangyin how to do business and make more money, her situation in the Earl’s Mansion was too poor to focus on these things.

To deal with external troubles, one must first settle internal affairs.

If the situation in the inner courtyard wasn’t resolved, she couldn’t be at ease doing business.

You Yue was narrow-minded and ruthless. Let’s see if this foolish girl, You Fangyin, would surprise her again.

Lian’er still hadn’t figured out what had just happened, feeling dizzy: “Miss, she, you, just now…”

Jiang Xuening didn’t want to explain and simply said, “It’s getting late. Go check if the carriage is ready; we should be leaving.”

Lian’er had no choice but to stop asking questions.

She sent someone to check the carriage.

Meanwhile, a servant hurriedly brought a basket of fresh pears, full of joy, saying, “Second Miss! These are from Lord Zhou of the Jinyiwei in Zhou Mansion on Xiejie Alley. They were just brought from Anhui, freshly picked Dangshan crispy pears, just awarded from above, specially sent for you to taste.”

There were twelve or thirteen pears in the basket.

Each one looked soft yellow, plump, and fresh.

Jiang Xuening’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this report.

Awarded from above.

That meant Zhou Yinzhi had already secured the position of Qianhu.

If that was the case…

Yan Lin might not come this evening.

Tang’er saw her unresponsive for a while and cautiously asked, “Miss?”

Jiang Xuening came back to her senses and said, “It’s just a basket of pears, put it down.”

After speaking, she lowered her eyes and walked back into the room, sitting quietly.

After a while, Lian’er returned and said, “The carriage is ready. But you don’t look well, Miss. Are we still going to Cengxiao Tower today?”

Jiang Xuening blinked and said, “Let’s go.”

Just in case.