The carriage quickly stopped at the entrance of the Jinxiu Pavilion as the three of them chatted.
Upon seeing a familiar carriage arrive at the entrance, Shi Zhenghe became as excited as a child and ran out of the shop to greet Leng Ruoli.
“Consort, you’re back!” Shi Zhenghe scratched his head and said with a face full of smiles.
“I’ve been back for two days, and today I finally have time to come and see you all.”
Leng Ruoli, along with Xing’er and Ling’er, alighted from the carriage and smiled faintly. The corners of her lips curved into a beautiful arc, like a spring breeze brushing against everyone’s hearts.
“Consort, you’ve been away from the capital for several months, and the employees here have missed you dearly,” Shi Zhenghe said truthfully.
“I miss everyone very much too,” Leng Ruoli replied with a gentle smile.
Afterward, Leng Ruoli and her group slowly entered the shop. The employees in Leng Ruoli’s shop saw her walk in and put down their work, flocking towards Leng Ruoli.
“Consort, you’re finally back, we’ve all missed you,” Niu Hua said with a chuckle.
“Yes! Consort, we all miss you very much,” Nie Caidie chimed in.
“Aren’t I back now?”
Leng Ruoli laughed heartily.
“I heard that the business has been very good in the past few months. You must be exhausted, right?”
“Consort, we’re not afraid of being tired! If you hadn’t given us this job, we’d still be playing in the mud in the countryside, and we certainly wouldn’t be able to live like this now,” Niu Cui said gratefully.
“As long as everyone works hard, our lives will get better and better in the future,” Leng Ruoli encouraged everyone.
“Consort, don’t worry, we will definitely work hard,” Shi Zhenghe and Niu Cui replied affirmatively.
“How do you find that large mansion you’re living in now? Is everyone comfortable?” Leng Ruoli suddenly remembered this matter.
“Consort, how could we not be comfortable living in such a good mansion? We wouldn’t have dared to dream of it before. It would have been great just to have our own thatched cottage to live in,” Niu Cui replied with a giggle.
“Yes! Consort, we are all living very well,” Nie Caidie seconded.
Hearing their words, Leng Ruoli was immediately relieved.
Subsequently, Shi Zhenghe took out an account book and handed it to her.
“Consort, this is the account book the shop has kept for half a year, along with the fourteen thousand taels of profit. I’ve recorded every single coin on it clearly. Please take a look,” Shi Zhenghe said with a smile.
“Have the employees’ wages been paid?” Leng Ruoli took the fourteen thousand taels of silver notes and looked at them, but did not count them.
“They have all been paid. And according to your request, those who met the turnover also received bonuses,” Shi Zhenghe replied solemnly.
Hearing this, Leng Ruoli nodded in approval.
“That’s good! We must never mistreat our employees.”
Immediately, Leng Ruoli put the silver notes into her sleeve pocket and then transferred them into her spatial treasury.
Next, Leng Ruoli strolled around the shop and noticed that two employees were missing.
“Zhenghe, why don’t I see Mei Yuer and the cook (Mu Ziyi’s mother)?” Leng Ruoli asked curiously.
“Consort, Yue’er was feeling a bit unwell today and took a day off. As for the cook, she hasn’t come to work for three days. I went to her home and found that she wasn’t there either. Her son isn’t attending the nearby academy either. I don’t know where they’ve gone,” Shi Zhenghe sighed.
“Zhenghe, can you take me to the cook’s home to take a look?” Leng Ruoli said after some thought.
“Alright!” Shi Zhenghe replied readily.
After he arranged matters in the shop, Leng Ruoli, along with Xing’er and Ling’er, got into the carriage. Shi Zhenghe and the coachman sat outside to give directions.
After about half an incense stick’s worth of time, Leng Ruoli’s carriage passed through two alleys and arrived at the village where the cook lived.
The environment of this village was truly poor. The villagers lived in two-room thatched huts, with feces and smelly water pits everywhere on the ground.
Leng Ruoli’s carriage could only drive to the village entrance, so the group had to get off the carriage and walk into the village. The villagers, seeing several men and women dressed in extraordinary attire arriving, all ran out to look at Leng Ruoli and the others with curiosity.
Some young men even whistled lewdly, but Leng Ruoli ignored them, instead quickening her pace behind Shi Zhenghe towards the cook’s home.
After walking for a few minutes, Leng Ruoli and the others finally arrived at the cook’s home. The cook’s house was a detached courtyard with a thatched roof, surrounded by a wall made of straw mixed with mud, about one person high.
The group arrived outside the cook’s courtyard and knocked on the courtyard gate. They knocked for a long time, but no one came to open the door. Leng Ruoli had no choice but to use her lightness skill to fly into the cook’s courtyard.
As soon as she landed, a volley of cold arrows, made of sharpened bamboo, shot out from the thatched house. There was a strong smell of blood in the courtyard, and even obvious dried bloodstains could be seen on the ground.
“Mu Ziyi’s mother, it’s me! I am Leng Ruoli, the owner of Jinxiu Pavilion. I know you are still inside. I have no ill intentions in coming today; I just want to see what has happened to you,” Leng Ruoli said in a calm and peaceful tone.
Afterward, Leng Ruoli stood still for a moment, then cautiously walked towards the entrance of the thatched house.
This action made the two young maids and Shi Zhenghe outside the courtyard break out in a cold sweat.
“Consort, the arrows have no eyes! Please don’t go near the entrance,” Xing’er and Ling’er shouted nervously.
“It’s alright, you all stay here, I’ll go in and take a look,” Leng Ruoli instructed.
After Leng Ruoli announced her identity, no more cold arrows were fired from the house. She walked to the doorway and gently pushed open the door. Leng Ruoli saw that the room was completely dark. Because the light outside was very strong, her eyes were met with darkness as she entered.
She stood at the doorway for a while before her eyes adapted to the darkness inside. She blinked a few times, then opened her apricot eyes to scan the bare and simple room. She found a small boy, only a few years old, crouching in the corner, curled up in fear. Lying quietly on the makeshift bed beside him was the cook (Mu Ziyi’s mother), whose clothes were stained with dried blood.
At that moment, the cook’s face was turned away from Leng Ruoli, so Leng Ruoli could not tell if she was dead or alive.
“Young master, what happened to your mother?” Leng Ruoli asked with a worried expression.
The little boy opened a pair of large eyes that Leng Ruoli found familiar, looking at her warily without speaking. Leng Ruoli then asked again, “Young master, I am your mother’s employer, and I will not harm you. Can you tell me what happened in your home?”
The little boy looked at Leng Ruoli carefully and, confirming that she would not harm him, replied with a choked voice, “Pretty sister, my mother is injured. She has been sleeping for a day and a night, and I am scared.”
Hearing this, Leng Ruoli’s brows immediately furrowed.
“Don’t be afraid, sister will help you take a look at her.”