Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 192
Chapter 192 - Bringing Xie Shiwei Back
Yun Chu carefully examined all the plots of land Chen Deju had selected. Just by looking at the blueprints, it was impossible to tell them apart.
The next morning, she rode in her carriage to the outskirts of the capital to inspect the plots individually. They were all barren, low-grade plots available at very cheap prices. For such a vast expanse of land, the highest price was only one thousand taels of silver.
She chose a sloping plot with an open view, plenty of space, mountains, and a water source, offering a particularly scenic view. A rough blueprint had already taken shape in her mind.
"Uncle Chen, please finalize the land deeds as soon as possible," Yun Chu said with great satisfaction. "Within ten days at most, I will have someone deliver the blueprints."
Chen Deju nodded, "Understood, Madam."
"Duoxi," Yun Chu called out.
Duoxi stepped forward with a bow, "Madam, this servant is here."
"Uncle Chen, Duoxi is a clever child. If you need any manpower, feel free to order him around," Yun Chu said with a smile. "I've started so many projects at once and troubled Uncle Chen greatly. I'll do my best to find a few more people to be your right-hand men."
First came the icehouse, followed by the opening of the hot spring estate, right after which Uncle Chen was tasked with pulling strings to commission shipbuilding, and now he had to oversee the construction of the shelter. Uncle Chen was truly swamped.
"Madam honors this old servant too much with these words," Chen Deju lowered his head and said. "Tingshuang and Jiuer handle the matters of the hot spring estate, leaving this old servant with little to do there. Shipbuilding is also well underway, requiring only to wait for the vessels to be completed. Right now, there is only the matter of the shelter on my hands, and with Duoxi here to help in the future, how could this old servant possibly be overburdened?"
Yun Chu kept all of Chen Deju's hard work in mind.
Regardless of what she offered him, Chen Deju would never accept it, so she intended to repay him through the future of his descendants.
On the way back, Yun Chu deliberately lifted the carriage curtains to observe the situation on the streets. Even on the busiest streets of the capital, one could spot quite a few children begging.
The weather was growing colder by the day. Without a shelter, these children might not survive the coming winter.
She needed to finish the design blueprints as quickly as possible, hire a large crew of workers at a high price to get the buildings up, and finalize the finer details as construction progressed...
"Head to the slave agency."
Yun Chu genuinely lacked manpower under her command.
The people she currently employed were still dowry servants brought over from the Yun family, and she needed to cultivate a few loyal attendants of her own.
When the carriage arrived at the agency, she stepped down and walked inside. Seeing her demeanor, the agency staff immediately recognized her as a genuine, wealthy buyer and brought out their newest batch of candidates.
A dozen or so children stood in a row before Yun Chu. The oldest was no more than twenty, while the youngest was a mere three or four years old.
Yun Chu already had plenty of maidservants, who were suited for inner courtyard duties, but her only errand boy for the outer courtyard was Duoxi. Therefore, she purchased eight boys at a total cost of thirty taels of silver, acquiring eight deeds of sale.
"Qiutong, take these seven to the courtyard over there and get them settled first," she said, looking toward the slightly older child standing at the end. "You, come with me to a place."
She would have those seven trained first before sending them to assist Uncle Chen.
As for this one...
Back at the agency, she had already noticed that this child was sharper than the others and knew how to present himself.
She simply needed clever people to handle her affairs.
The carriage arrived at the alley in the western district of the city, and Yun Chu led the boy to knock on the door of Xie Shiwei's residence.
Seeing Yun Chu arrive, Xie Shiwei was overjoyed and called out loudly, "Mother."
"Wei'er, this is a pageboy I bought for you. He will serve you from now on," Yun Chu said, gesturing for the person behind her to step forward. "Give him a name."
The boy immediately stepped forward and bowed, "This servant pays his respects to the Young Master. Please bestow a name upon me, Young Master!"
Xie Shiwei was stunned.
Ever since he made his mistake and was sent away by his father, he had never had anyone to wait upon him.
Living alone in this courtyard, he had to tend the fire, chop firewood, and cook meals by himself. Never had he imagined that his mother would arrange for someone to serve him once again.
A complex wave of emotions washed over him.
"What are you standing around in a daze for?" Yun Chu smiled. "Don't you know how to choose a name? Shall I do it instead?"
I
Xie Shiwei immediately nodded, "Then I must trouble Mother."
Yun Chu looked at the slightly nervous boy, "The slave dealer said your past life was full of unspeakable bitterness, but you will never suffer like that again. Let's call you Ganlai, how does that sound?"
Ganlai immediately dropped to his knees, "Ganlai thanks Madam for the name. From this day forward, I swear utmost loyalty to Madam and the Young Master. If I ever betray my masters, may heaven strike me down—"
Yun Chu pulled him to his feet, "Go inside the house and pack your things; we are preparing to return."
Xie Shiwei lowered his head and asked, "Am I really going back?"
Yun Chu smiled and led him onto the carriage, which then proceeded slowly toward the Xie residence.
They arrived shortly. Xie Shiwei stepped down from the carriage and gazed at the gates of the Xie residence, a surreal, hollow feeling gripping his heart.
Qiutong stepped up the steps, pushed open the heavy gates, and walked inside. Seeing the desolate state of the courtyard, Xie Shiwei felt a sudden wave of melancholy wash over him. So the Xie family had truly fallen.
"Go pay your respects to your grandmother first."
Yun Chu led Xie Shiwei toward Madam Yuan's courtyard.
Madam Yuan was currently feeding rice paste to Xie Shikang. Feeding milk to Xie Shikang was already a struggle, let alone solid rice paste. He wailed miserably without swallowing a single bite.
Just as Madam Yuan was growing frantic with worry, she raised her head and saw a familiar figure walking in.
It wasn't that she didn't recognize her own grandson, but Xie Shiwei's transformation was simply too drastic. He had grown alarmingly thin with prominent cheekbones, making him look like a completely different person.
"Grandmother!"
It wasn't until Xie Shiwei spoke that Madam Yuan realized she hadn't mistaken him.
"Wei'er?" She hurriedly handed Kang'er over to the nearby elderly servant and stumbled forward, "Is it really Wei'er?"
"From now on, Wei'er shall be known as Xie Wei, a child from the collateral branch of the Xie family's ancestral home in Jizhou," Yun Chu announced. "Everyone in the household must keep this story straight to avoid any leaks that could result in Wei'er being arrested by the authorities."
When the Old Madam passed away previously, some meddlesome person had reported the matter to the magistrate, and an official record had been filed, making Xie Shiwei an officially wanted suspect.
Aware of the gravity of the situation, Madam Yuan immediately instructed a servant to summon everyone in the Xie family.
When Xie Shi'an arrived, his face remained devoid of any surprise, because he had already known since yesterday that his mother would eventually bring Xie Shiwei back.
Even so, he managed to display a perfectly calibrated expression of pleasant astonishment, "Shi'an—I thought you... It is truly wonderful that you could come back! Wonderful!"
Xie Shi'an looked at his own flesh-and-blood brother. He truly envied this older brother, and he also hated this brother for reducing him to a cripple... But right now, the two brothers only had each other left. No matter how deep the hatred in his heart, he had no choice but to suppress it and push it aside.
He spoke up, "Yes, I am back. My elder brother and I will work together to prop the Xie family back up."
"Good, this is simply wonderful!" Madam Yuan wept tears of joy. After so many misfortunes had struck the Xie family, this could finally be considered a major cause for celebration. She looked toward the two concubines and said, "From now on, Wei'er is a child from a collateral branch of the Xie clan. Everyone must guard their tongues, and you two, Yun'er and Xianer, should remind them as well. What the Xie family needs right now is for the entire household to pull together with one mind so we can weather this crisis. Do you all understand?"
Jiang Yiniang nodded immediately.
Tingyu, however, felt somewhat conflicted. Their days were already stretched thin, and feeding yet another mouth would push them to the brink of starvation.
Yet she also knew that Xie Shiwei's return could, to some extent, assist Xie Shi'an, and paying off the imperial court's debt sooner was the most sensible course of action.
For the sake of the greater picture, her Yun'er would simply have to suffer a bit of grievance.
Mid-thought, Tingyu noticed an unfamiliar person standing behind Xie Shi'an and asked with a puzzled frown, "Who is this?”