Xiao Rui did everything that should be done, and made an appointment with Xie Huizhi that he would send someone to see the shop in a few days, and asked Xie Huizhi to help inquire about the suitable shops in the county in advance, so he left Huyin County on the third day.

According to his agreement with Xie Huizhi and the results of the discussion with Xie Mulin in the letter, he would ask his subordinates to buy the shop as soon as possible around the New Year.

At this time, there will be some businesses in Huyin County who have had a hard time in the New Year and have been affected by the floods, so they have to close their business and transfer their shops. If you buy it after the New Year, I'm afraid that others will preempt it, so it's more cost-effective to start before the year. Anyway, it is a shop that is bought, not rented, and there is no situation where you will suffer a loss if you give an extra month or two of rent.

The shop is in hand, and the follow-up purchase does not have to be too rushed. The New Year is approaching, and the merchants who do business and sell goods also have to take a holiday break. Xie Huizhi promised that when he visited relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, he would try his best to help find out some relevant news. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Xiao Rui's men arrived, and he took them to buy goods.

As soon as the first lunar month passes, at the beginning of spring, Xiao Rui can load the purchased goods onto the ship and set off. Because of his small capital, even if he added Xie Huizhi's share, it was still a small business, and he didn't have to get a boat by himself. The Xie family has a north-south grocery business, and has recently added a new ship, which can rent out a space to Xiao Rui, and the rent does not have to be discounted. However, the Xie family does not suffer a loss, in the Jiangnan territory, in addition to Xie Pu's name, they can also ask Xiao Rui to play the banner of Jinshanwei and Pingwang Town's Thousand Households, so as to avoid being embarrassed by those officials along the road who are interested in the Cao family and the prince, and save a lot of money. And when the ship arrives at the boundary of Beiping, Xie Pu's name can come in handy, and it will be Xiao Rui's turn to follow.

Of course, if Xiao Rui can play the banner of Yanwangfu, it will be the Xie family's light on him.

With the people of the Xie family's caravan taking the first trip to business, Xiao Rui's people can also figure out the process, and whether they continue to follow the Xie family in the future or start a new business by themselves, they will also have confidence in their hearts.

If it weren't for Xiao Rui's two-percent stake in Xie Hui, the shopkeepers of the Xie family would not have been so enthusiastic and active in helping.

Xie Huizhi specially emptied his pockets for this purpose, prepared a few generous gifts, and prepared to give them when the shopkeeper returned to Huyin for the New Year. Shopkeeper Mao gave a big favor, of course he had to show something.

As for the money invested in Xiao Rui, he is not worried, because not only is the second sister Xie Mulin willing to borrow money, but even the two brothers Xie Xianzhi and Xie Jinzhi who heard the news are also willing to sponsor one or two, and his mother-in-law Wen is planning to give him a big red envelope during the Chinese New Year, rewarding him for being much more sensible this year, being able to study honestly, and helping the family, instead of continuing to fool around outside.

The elders of the sect, as well as the second uncle and grandmother of the second room, Song, all said after hearing the news that as long as Xie Huizhi can make progress in his studies in the coming year, for example, when he takes the county exam next year, he will also follow his brothers and get some results, they will not be stingy with rewards. Since he is short of silver, then it is better to reward him with silver when the time comes.

Xie Huizhi calculated the bonuses promised by the elders, and there were dozens of taels together, he had grown so big, and he hadn't had so much pocket money in hand, and he was very excited. It's just that as soon as he turned his head, he remembered that these bonuses were conditional, and if he didn't meet the conditions, he didn't want to get his hands on them, and he suddenly became entangled again.

Just when Xie Hui was in pain and happy, Xie Yinghui sent a letter from the capital again. This time, it was not the Xie family who came with the letter, but the shopkeeper Mao and Liu who returned to Huyin's hometown for the New Year.

The letter contained bad news. After being ill for more than half a year, Duchess Chengen finally returned to heaven and returned to the West.

This also means that the Cao family's Chengenhou Mansion and several other concubines will all start to keep filial piety for three years. Pingnan Bofu was originally in the filial piety period, at most, it was just a few more months of filial piety, and the impact was not too big. But Xie Yinghui scolded her once beloved aunt and cousin in her letter very angrily, because during the serious illness of Duchess Chengen, Mrs. Ping Nanbo, Cao Wenheng and Cao Wenfeng's mother and son never appeared, and kept saying that they went to the temple on the outskirts of Beijing to pray for the old man.

Cao Wenheng also took his entourage with great interest and rode a horse to hunt in the mountains and forests, having a great time. The subordinates around him ignored the villagers passing by, and an old man avoided it a little slowly, and was pushed to the ground by his subordinates, rolling in the cold muddy water. An imperial historian happened to pass by, and he was very angry when he saw this, and he reported to the court, and the emperor immediately ordered Cao Wenheng to be reprimanded. Cao Wenheng's title has not yet arrived, but I am afraid that it will be more troublesome in the future.

It is still unknown whether their mother and son will regret this, but the Cao family has lost face because of this. The emperor took the fact that some relatives and friends of the Cao family accused Cheng Enhou and his wife of not letting them meet the Duchess of Cheng En some time ago, and took out the ugly things that the Cao family had done in several houses, and also sent a message to Empress Cao, saying how the Cao family acted absurdly, and ordered her to restrain and admonish her mother's relatives.

The will was issued in front of Lin Zhaoyi, Xiao Guifei, Qiao Meiren and other concubines, Queen Cao is the strongest person, she has lost such a big face, and she will soon face the difficult situation that all her relatives have to worry about filial piety, and I don't know what it feels like to be in my heart.

However, Xie Yinghui couldn't care about Queen Cao's thoughts anymore. She personally sent her grandmother away, participated in the funeral of the Duchess Chengen, and watched the mourning hall for three days, witnessing the ugly face of the Cao family after Ding Wei, who had no respect for the dead elders, but was full of complaints. They have no intention of doing a good job for Duchess Chengen, except for when someone comes to the door to mourn, they only pose as a mourner, and other times it is just a false story.

They couldn't even eat vegetarian meals three times a day, Xie Yinghui saw with her own eyes that Cheng Enhou asked for an extra pot of liquor for dinner because of the cold weather, and Mrs. Cheng Enhou ate fish and meat very fragrantly, and stewed ginseng and chicken soup for her children. As for the other side branches, not to mention, there is an aunt of the Shu branch, who is still wearing a red fox fur skirt under her filial piety clothes, saying that it is cold-proof.

There are only a few big girls and servants who have waited for the old man, and Xie Yinghui, who goes back and forth every day, is really sad and crying there. Cao Wenyan, a cousin who has been sick for a few months, is slightly stronger than the rest of the Cao family in terms of rules and etiquette, but she is not really sad, and she is still in a picky mood when she eats.

Xie Yinghui's heart was completely cold. She wanted to scold those shameless elders and cousins, but she didn't dare, because she didn't have the confidence.

Her mother, Cao Shuqing, had already received a letter from her eldest brother Cheng Enhou, but she clearly refused to return to Beijing to serve the sick and mourn. Xie Yinghui didn't hear how the messenger repaid Cheng Enhou, but listening to Mrs. Cheng Enhou's cynicism, it seemed that her mother was busy organizing the wedding, and she planned to marry Fang Wenshan before her mother died, so as not to wait another three years.

Her mother is so uncompetitive, what face does Xie Yinghui have to accuse her uncles and aunts of being unfilial? She could only hold on to her breath, intending to kneel in front of her grandmother's spirit until the first seven, then return to the Xie family's mansion and live behind closed doors.

When the Duchess Cheng'en officially went out for the funeral, she went to see her grandmother off for the last time, but she did not plan to go to the door of the Cao family again. After the spring of next year, she will return to her hometown in Huyin with her sister Xie Yingrong. The messy things of the Cao family have nothing to do with her from now on.