CHAPTER 237: CHAPTER 234 HUMAN HEART

The depot in Chen Family Village caused a big stir in Xingzhou, and Cui He was mingling with the crowd to see what was happening.

When Miss Xie spoke, not a single person in the depot would interrupt, and everyone followed her orders.

At first glance, it seemed surprising, but upon careful thought, it made perfect sense. In such a major event, Miss Xie’s courage to stand at the forefront and protect everyone was enough to make people believe in her.

The embroidery workshop was in turmoil, but Xie Liangchen remained calm and unhurried. She not only refuted the women from the workshop but also explained the benefits of the thread tassels from Chen Family Village to everyone.

Chen Family Village not only sold thread tassels, but the strings tied to the tassels were dyed with medicinal materials. People who heard about this couldn’t help but associate Chen Family Village with medicinal materials.

After all, anyone would be curious about someone willing to use medicinal materials for dyeing. To achieve this, one must be familiar with medicinal materials and have a sufficient supply.

Is there really such a village in Zhenzhou? How many medicinal materials must they have to dare to do such a thing?

Creating three grades of thread tassels, and preparing the strings with such care, how could their medicinal materials be inferior?

No wonder they could make finished medicine and achieve great feats in treating epidemics.

Once people become curious, they want to inquire more during their leisure time. Thus, word spreads, and even those who previously didn’t know about the thread tassels would want to see if the differences among the three grades of Chen Family Village’s thread tassels are as Xie Liangchen described.

The top-grade thread tassel made with internal wool, does it really feel smooth and soft to the touch? Clothing made from such thread would surely be warm and comfortable.

This was not Cui He’s own thoughts but what he heard from onlookers while mingling with the crowd.

Today, Miss Xie not only made people aware of wool-spun thread tassels but also paved the way for Chen Family Village to sell medicine in Xingzhou, and she appropriately handled the issue with the embroidery workshop.

Truly impressive.

The Miss Xie, whom Chen Family Village relied on, wore plain coarse cloth garments, looking just like an ordinary farmer’s daughter-in-law from Chen Family Village.

No, immediately, Cui He realized he had misunderstood. The people at the Xingzhou depot weren’t all from Chen Family Village; they were from several villages in Zhenzhou.

Cui He wanted very much to inquire more about Miss Xie, to see what else she had done.

It wasn’t until the depot of Chen Family Village closed that Cui He returned to the courtyard.

Nanny Liu was sitting in the main room waiting for him.

Upon seeing Cui He, Nanny Liu immediately said, "You’ve been keeping a close watch on that depot."

Cui He said, "Yes."

Nanny Liu took a long breath: "These days, you’ll have to work harder. Keep a close eye on that Xie Liangchen, find out exactly when she leaves the depot each day, how many people accompany her, and whether anyone is protecting her secretly."

Hearing this, Cui He was startled. Getting such details, are they planning to harm Xie Liangchen?

Cui He hesitated to speak.

Nanny Liu said, "What’s wrong? Is there something you don’t understand?"

Cui He said, "No, it’s just that what kind of background does Miss Xie have to be valued by the Commandery Princess like this?"

"Valued is not quite right," Nanny Liu said, "She’s merely a farmer’s wife. How could she catch the Commandery Princess’s eye? It’s because of the person behind her, Song Xian.

Chen Family Village seems to have done a lot, but in fact, it’s all directed by Song Xian behind the scenes. It’s all a show for the people of Zhenzhou. Song Xian wants to vie for the position of Military Governor, so he’s using Chen Family Village to create momentum."

Seeing Cui He’s contemplative look, Nanny Liu furrowed her brow: "What are you thinking about?"

Cui He made up his mind and said, "I heard that Song Xian has some skills. He achieved quite a few victories in the North. If he could support the Commandery Princess, wouldn’t that be..."

Nanny Liu interrupted Cui He with displeasure: "Some people may look good on the surface, but in reality, they’re more cunning than anyone behind the scenes."

Cui He immediately lowered his head: "I shouldn’t have said that."

Nanny Liu said, "You shouldn’t even think about it. Think about the Prince Guangyang of the past, and look at the current Commandery Princess... At such a young age, she shoulders several prefectures. You should have no distractions."

Cui He dared not say anything more.

Nanny Liu said, "Those matters have been arranged by the Commandery Princess, you just need to act according to her instructions."

After Nanny Liu left, Cui He sat in the room, pondering. When did he start having second thoughts about the Commandery Princess’s actions? Perhaps it was after he went to the territory to find Old General Zhang.

Old General Zhang said, Princess Jiahui is not the bloodline left by Prince Guangyang, nor can she replace him.

Old General Zhang refused to believe in Princess Jiahui, simply telling him: "If it were Prince Guangyang, he wouldn’t act like this at all. She doesn’t have a trace of Prince Guangyang."

Thinking of the death warriors and Princess Jiahui’s scheming, Cui He suddenly understood the meaning behind Old General Zhang’s words. But now, what could he do?

Persuade the Commandery Princess? Would she even listen to him?

...

Early in the morning, Xie Liangchen had set the matters of the depot in order.

"As long as they are our thread tassels, if someone returns them, we’ll give them the Silver Coin," Xie Liangchen said.

Mrs. Ge looked at the mule cart outside the depot: "But the Silver Coin..."

"It’s enough," Xie Liangchen said. "When I came from the village, my grandmother and second uncle gave me all the Silver Coin left in the village."

Mrs. Ge thought about the village’s situation and couldn’t help but sigh deeply: "I don’t know who’s causing trouble behind the scenes. Clearly, we’re in the right. Why, after some reckless talk, do people actually come to return their goods?"

Xie Liangchen smiled and said, "It’s not that our thread tassels aren’t good. Some people just have no choice. Once this matter passes, our tassels will still sell, and everyone will know that when Chen Family Village gives their word, they keep it. In the future, when they buy goods from Chen Family Village, they won’t have doubts."

Mrs. Ge nodded: "I know, this is what Mr. Dongli said about testing jade for three days."

Xie Liangchen smiled and nodded. Since Chen Family Village set up a clan school, not only the children in the village learned to read and write, but the adults also learned a lot from constant exposure.

Just as Xie Liangchen was about to look at the accounts, she saw Liu Erniang walking quickly over and whispering, "Liangchen, the Second Steward of the embroidery shop is here."

Xie Liangchen asked, "What for?" The government office hadn’t summoned them to court yet.

Liu Erniang said, "The Second Steward said she has something to say to you. She’s at the back gate. She seems afraid of being seen."

Xie Liangchen thought for a moment and said, "Take her to the main room in the back courtyard, and we’ll go there together."

Xie Liangchen and Mrs. Ge went to the main room to wait, and a moment later, Liu Erniang brought in a woman in her thirties or forties.

Upon seeing Xie Liangchen, the woman bowed and said, "Miss Xie, I’ve come today to apologize to you."

Xie Liangchen saw the Second Manager hesitating to speak and said calmly, "There’s no need for that, who’s right and wrong will be judged by the government office."

The woman’s face turned even uglier upon hearing this. She pressed her lips together and finally said, "There’s more to this matter. I’m willing to help you find evidence, only hoping that the punishment from the government office will be lenient."

Xie Liangchen said nothing, and the woman continued, "Before Miss Jin came to the Chen Family Village depot, an embroideress from the workshop told me that Miss Jin asked her to use poor-quality thread tassels to make woolen goods. The embroideress feared that Miss Jin would damage the workshop’s reputation and came to me for advice. I also confronted Miss Jin, and she repeatedly assured me that the woolen goods were not intended for sale, so I let it go. I didn’t expect Miss Jin had such intentions."

Hearing the woman’s words, Mrs. Ge’s face showed joy. If the woman and that embroideress would testify for them, Chen Family Village wouldn’t have to bear those accusations, and no one would return the goods anymore.

Xie Liangchen looked at the Second Steward, "Are you willing to testify in the government office?"

The Second Steward nodded, "But Miss Jin sent that informant embroideress home, so I need you to go with me to find her."