"Heaven is watching what you’re doing, dare you swear on Chun Wang that you didn’t instigate the kidnapper to abduct the four children of my family?"

Tong Huaqiong stared intently at Granny Luo.

Swearing on Chun Wang, Granny Luo suddenly deflated.

She wouldn’t dare swear on her grandson, she couldn’t even think about it.

Granny Luo lay on the ground, closing her eyes and pretending to be dead. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Anyway, Tong Huaqiong was only speculating, she had no evidence.

As long as the government hasn’t convicted her, no one can impose private punishment on her.

"Granny Luo, I’m warning you, if you dare to target anyone in my family again, I’ll make you pay." Tong Huaqiong stomped hard on Granny Luo.

Chun Wang hid behind a tree, watching his grandmother’s embarrassed state under Tong Huaqiong’s feet, not daring to step forward.

Now the whole village knew that the disappearance of the four Gu Family children was due to Granny Luo’s collusion with the kidnapper.

The villagers had an unspoken consensus, no matter how adults clash, they wouldn’t target each other’s descendants.

So this incident touched the villagers’ bottom line, as everyone had children, and if someone started this, how could anyone ensure their bloodline wouldn’t be cut off in the future?

Tong Huaqiong released her foot, and Granny Luo scurried home under the reproach of the crowd.

She didn’t dare to leave her home for several days.

As the first lunar month drew to a close, Mr. Lu brought Lu Zhaoyang and others to Tong Huaqiong’s house to discuss the marriage between the Huang and Lu families.

Regarding the Gu Family’s loss of children on the fifteenth of the first month, Mr. Lu felt deeply remorseful, and for the first time in his life, he gave Lu Zhaoyang a few whacks.

If it weren’t for the kidnapper being caught in one sweep, Mr. Lu would have insisted Lu Zhaoyang come to Qinghe Bay to apologize with sincerity.

The marriage between Lu Zhaoyang and Huang Jingshan was set for the eighteenth of February.

After their marriage, Huang Jingshan and Lu Zhaoyang would depart together for Shengjing for the exams.

Of course, the Huang Family was reluctant to part with their daughter, but they considered that Huang Jingshan wouldn’t need to serve her parents-in-law morning and evening; at the Lu Family, she would be the mistress.

And Shengjing also had the Lu Family’s residence, so there was no worry about living conditions upon reaching the Capital.

Moreover, in this era where the husband’s status brings glory to the wife, Huang Jingshan following Lu Zhaoyang to the Capital was the choice everyone favored.

This time Mr. Lu came to Qinghe Bay to deliver a thousand taels of silver to Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong exclaimed at the high profits of the maritime Silk Road, as her initial capital was just under five hundred taels, yet she gained double.

Of course, with the unpredictable seas, one might not always make money.

Ships were easy to build, but the routes weren’t easy to navigate. It’s said that some merchants confidently built large ships and sailed out, only to hit a reef and sink, never daring to venture to sea again.

That’s why, due to the difficult and risky routes, one profitable venture earns a lot.

Otherwise, why would Mr. Lu be the most sought-after merchant in Ning City, with everyone interested in maritime trade seeking his port?

Mr. Lu’s ships would usually return before the year-end and set sail again in February.

This time, the merchant ship returned in the first lunar month, so Mr. Lu planned to prepare the next ship after his grandson’s wedding.

Naturally, Tong Huaqiong gained another opportunity to invest.

This time, she involved Gu Baishuang in the investment.

Initially, Nie Mingyuan wasn’t satisfied with giving the silver to his mother-in-law and investing in her name. His ideal was for the Nie family to establish relations with the Lu Family by investing under his name, separate from his mother-in-law.

Moreover, in Nie Mingyuan’s plan, merely investing was far from satisfying his ambition.

He aimed to gain Mr. Lu’s trust step by step, and once profits were made, he wanted to charter a ship and venture out on Mr. Lu’s route.

He believed Mr. Lu would eventually retire, and knowing that Lu Zhaoyang, the Lu family’s only male descendant, wasn’t interested in commerce but in pursuing a career in the Capital, he hoped to replace the Lu Family as Ning City’s top maritime merchant.

If Lu Zhaoyang wanted the Lu family’s ships to continue making money, he’d have to protect him in his official capacity.

But his mother-in-law, Tong Huaqiong, was slippery. No matter how he visited, she wouldn’t budge. When asked, she said it was already a major effort for Mr. Lu to accept her as an investor, and it was impossible for the Nie family to be accepted as separate investors.

"You’re well aware how my stepmother is, always like this, won’t act without assurance. Now you’re eager to invest solo in the Lu family, she’s afraid you’ll forget her once you make money. This time, we’ll invest under her name, give her thirty percent of the profits, and she’ll naturally relent once she sees the silver."

"We can’t achieve success in one go, we must proceed step by step. Besides, even if we could invest separately now, Mr. Lu would do it only out of respect for mother-in-law, not because he truly trusts us. We want to leverage mother-in-law to gain the Lu family’s complete trust, it’s not just about this one deal, there will be many opportunities in the future."

Nie Mingyuan, like an ant on a hot pan, couldn’t resist the enormous profits from the South Sea. After much persuasion from Gu Baishuang, he finally agreed to invest together with his mother-in-law, Tong Huaqiong.

In the month of February, as the spring breeze cut like scissors, Gu Baishuang brought the silver Nie Mingyuan invested to Qinghe Bay.

Not just silver, Nie Mingyuan also ordered a batch of porcelain.

With Nie Mingyuan’s familiarity and keen eye for porcelain, Tong Huaqiong believed this batch could earn a good profit.

Gu Baishuang and Tong Huaqiong exchanged smiles, both well aware; Nie Mingyuan was now aboard her and Gu Baishuang’s ship, and getting off wouldn’t be easy.

The abduction of Man Er and the other children on the fifteenth of the first month further solidified Gu Baishuang’s determination to manage the Nie family’s silver business.

If it weren’t for that incident, she wouldn’t have fully seen through the intentions of the two stepsons and daughters-in-law.

It turns out, in their hearts, Gu Baishuang was always a competitor.

The two stepsons even suspected that the kidnapper had demanded a ransom from the Nie family because Gu Baishuang and the kidnapper were acting out a play together, just to pocket the Nie family’s money for herself.

Who knows what the stepsons said to Nie Mingyuan, he even started to suspect the matter.

Gu Baishuang was disheartened.

Once disheartened, her heart hardened.

"This is the investment agreement."

Tong Huaqiong handed a contract written in black ink on white paper to Gu Baishuang, who couldn’t read. She invited Mr. Su, who had been frequenting Qinghe Bay since he took a break, to interpret the agreement for Gu Baishuang.

Gu Baishuang was startled, feeling somewhat uneasy. Her first thought was whether she had done something to make her stepmother distrust her; otherwise, she couldn’t understand why stepmother would ask her to sign an agreement.

Tong Huaqiong noticed Gu Baishuang’s concerns and said, "Don’t overthink. Business must be clear-cut. Even between brothers and mothers and sons, accounts should be clear. It’s not just you, even when Dashi and Yue Er work for me, I sign profit-sharing agreements with them. This is yours, check if there’s any issue, if not, leave your fingerprint. We agreed, if this venture earns money, we’ll split it 30-70, if it loses, Nie Mingyuan’s investment and goods are his misfortune, I won’t cover any losses."

After Tong Huaqiong’s explanation, Gu Baishuang realized her stepmother wasn’t targeting her, so she asked Mr. Su to read the agreement.

After Mr. Su explained, Gu Baishuang found no objections and, under Mr. Su’s witness, she placed her fingerprint on it.

At the moment she left her fingerprint, Gu Baishuang’s eyes became moist.

It was the first time she had been treated with such seriousness.