Time flies, three years passed in a flash.
Over these three years, Rong Yan’s business empire had expanded significantly, focusing primarily on food as its main commodity.
However, now there was no need to take goods from the Space Supermarket anymore.
Throughout these years, she purchased a lot of farmland in various locations, all devoted to growing grains and vegetables.
And due to the high-yield farming techniques she provided, crop production per acre increased by more than tenfold.
That was enough to supply all the major shops, eliminating the risk of drawing from the space.
As for other goods, Rong Yan stopped retrieving them from that space as well... meaning there was no longer any need to take that risk.
Therefore, her grain and rice shops were now self-sufficient, no longer dependent on the space as a cheat. This also meant she no longer had to fret over finding places to release the grains from the space. For original chapters go to novel_fіre.net
It made her supply source untraceable.
Over the years, many had been covertly investigating her supply sources.
But she carefully chose each drop-off location, avoiding the risks, thus never letting anyone find out.
Initially, the delivery point was a large cellar in a manor she had bought, so she used the cellar as a cover from the start.
Now, just the output from her farmlands... was enough to keep the shops stocked.
She was now earning more money than the wealthiest man in Jiangnan.
Thus, in terms of her career, she was successful.
The only source of anxiety was her marriage.
After all, she was now eighteen and would be nineteen in three months.
In an ancient society where early marriages were common... her situation was indeed peculiar. She became a topic of criticism... almost drowning in others’ spittle.
But who could blame her? She was formidable and beautiful.
It was always others who were unworthy of her, never the other way around.
However, unknown to outsiders... the current Emperor’s affection was for her!
Three years had passed since the new Emperor ascended the throne, and despite the ministers’ kneeling pleas for him to select concubines, the Emperor had constantly refused.
This resulted in the harem being without concubines for three years.
Furthermore, Qin Ye was quite ruthless with those palace maids who sought to climb onto the dragon bed.
Since the punishment to serve as a warning to others was too severe, no one dared to try their luck after that.
As for the ministers who wished to send their daughters into the palace... Qin Ye was straightforwardly brutal with his harsh words, leaving those ministers figuratively skinless.
Even with further recommendations from the ministers, Qin Ye didn’t care. After all, they neglected their public duties to meddle in his private matters, which irritated him greatly.
A year, two years... three years, the ministers tried everything, yet they couldn’t sway the Emperor to change his decision.
If they pushed the matter too urgently, it might even impact their own government careers.
There was nothing they could do.
After all, their eagerness to fill the harem was driven by the desire to send their own daughters to become imperial consorts.
If fortunate, they might bear a son... who could say they wouldn’t aspire to the throne?
Everything was for the benefit of their clans, for their own glory and wealth.
But the Emperor was like a celibate monk, impermeable like oil and salt... what could they do?
Privately, they could only comfort themselves with speculations that the Emperor’s aversion to the harem... was surely unfounded.
Of course, such words were neither spoken aloud nor followed by other actions, especially since the Emperor was still young.
Even if the Emperor was impotent, it would have to be reconsidered after a few more years.
And those princes who had been relegated to leisurely positions... once they learned of the Emperor’s possible impotence, they started to get restless again.
After all, if the Emperor had no sons, they, his brothers, could possibly ascend to the throne. The Qin dynasty couldn’t end without a direct heir; it had to be carried on by the Qin bloodline, not fall into other surnames.
At this time, a caravan was departing from the border, their convoy slowly heading towards Beijing...