Chapter 3

Only when Wei Yichen stepped into his room, did he release his tense nerves a bit. He can't totally relax, he needs to decide what his next step will be. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

He cooled his head and collected his thoughts. He'll have to take external help to get out of this situation. So who'll it be? This is a very important question. He'll try and contact his maternal family. It's been a long time since they saw each other.

There's still about a month to go before the hunting competition. He called Shi Yu. When Shi Yu entered he examined Wei Yichen's face carefully. And noticed that his face was a lot more serious and colder than usual. He has never before seen Wei Yichen like this. He tactfully closed the door and approached to ask what his task was.

Wei Yichen gestured for Shi Yu to sit, implying it was going to be a very important discussion.

" A'Yu I know the letter my mother has left for me."Shi Yu's face showed his astonishment as it was a very secretive letter and it was only supposed to be known to Wei Yichen when he reached a bit of a mature age.

He waited for Shi Yu to digest the information and spoke further. "Don't ask how I know it. I understand now that there's an underlying scheme going on. Which is what I need you to investigate later. I'll give you more details about it later, but first, give me the letter."

He wanted to carefully read that letter and savor the rare warmth of his mother. He felt like he was too sloppy when he read it the last time.

Shi Yu took in the words and reacted. " Master, I will hand the letter to you right away. But.."

"What?"

" There's an account book as well, left by Madam. It was supposed to be given to you when you started to understand the matters of the back courtyard or before your marriage. I have kept it safe all these years and I think it's time for you to have it."

It was Wei Yichen's turn to be surprised. He didn't know his mother had anything like that.

Shi Yu went to fetch things accordingly. And Wei Yichen thought about how he didn't have any mention of this book in his last life.

It was understandable maybe, as he was pretty naïve at that time. Not like he has developed any sort of next-level understanding of people or anything, but he at least understood what kind of situation he is in currently. And if not taken action against, can turn deadly.

His thinking was interrupted by the light knock and Shi Yu came in holding a basket. Wei Yichen was dubious at first but understood the purpose of disguise the next moment. As there were many unrelated people in the courtyard.

Shi Yu took out the letter first and handed it to his master respectfully.

Wei Yichen took it and read it carefully. The more he read the redder the corners of his eyes became. Shi Yu had put the book near Wei Yichen and left at the right time.

At the end of the letter he burst out crying. Now he understood how precious this worry, care, and affection was to him and she was probably the only one with those emotions towards him, in all of his lifetime.

She passed away when he was very young. About six or seven. Hence he didn't have many memories of her. But the ones that were there, were the fondest of all.

That was the only time he was really happy and his mother was happy. Even if she was later rejected by Wei Huan, she still went on with a smile on her face and not a word of complaint. Her son was the only light in her life in her last days.

And Wei Yichen spent all the days before his mother's departure by her bedside. He also went to ask for his father to visit her many times and.... he did not come.

On the basis that he was very busy. So busy that he couldn't even see his dying wife one last time. This was also a big grievance in Wei Yichen's heart. Which led to further longing distance between the father and son.

Wei Yichen let his emotions drift for a while. When the last trace of red disappeared from the corners of his eyes, he got up and picked up the book left by his mother.

The more he looked at them the bigger his eyes became.

There were deeds and papers of shopfronts in and out of the capital. There was an address highlighted for when he decides to contact the people managing all these properties. It was noted that only shopfronts in the capital were in use and others were not in use since his mother fell ill. And the managers seemed to be old as well.

Ji Jiahui, his mother, arranged for two managers altogether for them to keep each other in check. And they were trusted subordinates of his mother in her writing so, it didn't seem that big of a deal either.

They are supposed to give accounts to Wei Yichen after he decides to manage them himself. So this can be a very good source of money for his next journey. And a good capital to get himself out. He'll still need some external support. He'll contact his maternal family as soon as possible.

Wei Yichen started thinking about how to use those shopfronts. How about opening inns? They can be without much initial capital after re-decorations and can do good business not just in the capital but outside as well.

So he'll open the inns, after some initial arrangement. He needs to clean his courtyard of unrelated people first, then meet up with those managers. Which he hopes goes well.

This business will be a pillar of support for him in the actual world and also help build his confidants. But he'll need to take into consideration his family. Who'll do more harm than good...

Inns inside the capital are not needed much and the market is pretty full as well. He'll open one in the capital and other empty shop fronts outside the capital can also be used as inns. They might need expansion but he can manage it through the money he can get from currently running shops.

All three of the shops in the capital are of clothing. They don't seem to be very popular. But all these years of money won't be a small amount either. He'll need to check the characters of these people, even though they were selected by his mother, time can really change people.

He decided to check them out in the next three days. He'll need to sort some people in the courtyard with the help of Shi Yu to keep only good and loyal ones. And then only can he be rest assured and do other important business.

Otherwise, he'll be just putting information his mother has hidden all these years, in front of Song Yuhua's face. Even if they are bound to know this, he intends to let them know when he has actual control over these shops. He won't let any of this 'family' interfere anymore.

He worked on the plan till noon and was so engrossed in it that he forgot the timing of lunch. He was reminded of it by Shi Yu and went out after carefully placing his things. He reminded himself that, however much he didn't like them, he couldn't be too obvious about it in their face. At least for now.

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