Chapter 41: Chapter 43: It Depends on My Willingness Chapter 41: Chapter 43: It Depends on My Willingness Qin Liuxi left the residence nearly empty-handed, but upon her return, she brought back several large cases; one was filled with the consultation fee in silver, another from Changsheng Hall contained the Jade Skin Flowers encased in a jade box, and the last one held Phoenix Spirit Flowers.
Qi Huang saw her come back and went forward to greet her, smiling as he said: “Miss seems to have had quite the successful trip this time.”
Qin Liuxi’s eyes curved into a smile: “You can tell?”
“Of course, your smile is almost reaching your ears,” Qi Huang chided with a laugh.
Qin Liuxi entered the room and said: “The Qian family has been rather decent, managing to obtain two merits, and Landlord Qian is generous too, giving the two thousand taels of silver as consultation fee without a second thought.”
As Qi Huang poured water, he said: “In my opinion, Miss should have charged more, two thousand taels is too little for him.”
With merits already involved, could the matter be trivial?
Accepting the tea from him, Qin Liuxi saw Chen Pi place the items on the table and then said: “Take half of this consultation fee and have someone deliver it to the temple.”
“Oh, Miss is being quite proactive this time, the temple master must be overjoyed,” Qi Huang remarked.
Qin Liuxi caressed the chest and sighed: “Can I afford not to be proactive? With the Five Disadvantages and Three Deficiencies looming over, if I embezzle even a bit, it will come to pass immediately, faster than anyone. Why should I suffer such a curse?”
She even suspected that the Heavens were deliberately making things difficult for her. There were others in the world devoted to cultivation; everyone cultivated, so why were they so strict with her? Just because she lacked ambition?
Qi Huang divided the silver and said: “That’s exactly it. With Miss not being lazy, how much silver can’t you earn?”
“Hmm,” Qin Liuxi looked at the silver and said: “You keep the rest for now. Later on, tell Uncle Li to use this silver to purchase all the necessities for autumn and winter, whether it’s grain, cloth, medicines, oh, and silver charcoal. Now is different from before, with so many more people in our household, we need to prepare a substantial amount of these supplies.”
“Miss, isn’t it Madam’s responsibility to take charge of the household? Shouldn’t these funds be allocated from there?” Qi Huang asked.
Qin Liuxi replied: “Her side doesn’t have much silver to spare, there are uses for it everywhere, and it’s not enough. The autumn in Li City is short, winter comes quickly, and we have many people to look after. If we don’t prepare their winter clothes early enough, illnesses from the cold will be a real trouble.”
“They might start to take advantage of your kindness.”
Qin Liuxi huffed: “If that’s the case, it’s up to me whether I want to give them that opportunity, whether I want to part with the silver.”
Qi Huang thought to himself, this made sense; his mistress has always been firm with her decisions.
When she’s willing, she doesn’t care about the cost, but when she’s unwilling, she’d rather throw it into the Li River than give it to you.
Qin Liuxi continued with her instructions: “This Landlord Qian also does business; they have stores, and Qianji’s Trading Company on East Ping Street is theirs. Have Uncle Li go there to purchase cloth and such; he should be able to get some quality goods. It’s all been arranged.”
Qi Huang heard something off and said: “Miss, the way you’re giving a series of orders sounds like you’re planning to travel far.”
Qin Liuxi’s smile widened: “I really can’t keep anything from you.”
“Where to? For how many days? I’ll pack for you.”
“Ningzhou Prefecture,” Qin Liuxi stated: “How many days I’ll be away is difficult to say just yet, and you know the journey to Ningzhou is long. Just pack two sets of spare clothes, nothing else is needed.”
She has always traveled with light luggage, which Qi Huang was aware of, so he agreed.
“Also, you don’t need to accompany me this time; Chen Pi will suffice.”
Qi Huang frowned: “How could that be alright? Chen Pi is rather rough around the edges; he can’t tend to you properly. I should go with you.”