Rebirth of the Exclusive Herbalist

Su Qingqi was so overjoyed that she forgot about the two servants she had left behind at the Su residence—Minghong and Nanny Feng.

Although they weren’t as important to her as Minglan, they were still Madam’s people. They had been assigned to her side unwillingly and had hoped for a chance to move to the Marquis’s residence. Instead, they had been abandoned by her for over two months.

The two of them were quite unhappy with Su Qingqi for leaving them behind.

“Nanny Feng, should we continue to serve the third miss as before now that she’s back?” Minghong asked quietly, her face showing some displeasure.

Although Nanny Feng was also unhappy, she still maintained her professional demeanor. She felt that their short time with the third miss, and not being trusted, was understandable. She glared at Minghong.

“Of course, we should, and we need to be thorough about it. Otherwise, if Madam finds out, she’ll have our skins.”

Minghong was reluctant and thought about finding someone to put in a good word with Madam, hoping to be transferred to another master. She felt that following the third miss had no future.

She had originally thought the person the third miss was marrying would be of the same status as the governor, but it turned out to be a short-lived marquis. There was no hope in that.

It would be better to find a better opportunity elsewhere.

Even being assigned to the second young master’s side would be better.

Nanny Feng quickly saw through Minghong’s scheming and sternly warned her, “Minghong, the third miss’s status is different now. You’d better keep those thoughts to yourself!”

Seeing Nanny Feng’s stern expression, Minghong could only bite her lip and nod, keeping her own thoughts to herself.

Nurse Feng shook her head inwardly, thinking, “Young people really are naive!”

Within less than a tea time, the carriage from the Wuchang Marquis’s residence arrived at the Su residence, where the steward welcomed the three young mistresses inside.

It was only when Su Qingqi saw Minghong and Nanny Feng coming to greet her that she remembered them. She wondered if they would be dissatisfied with her as their mistress.

Deciding to have Minglan keep an eye on and assess them, Su Qingqi bid farewell to her elder brother and second sister before returning to her own room. The room was well-managed, with the windows open and no incense burning.

Su Qingqi nodded in satisfaction. With Minglan watching silently, she flopped onto the large bed and rolled around, noticing the faint floral fragrance on the bedding.

After rolling around a couple of times, Su Qingqi suddenly remembered her dowry was still in the residence and quickly asked Minglan, who was sorting her clothes.

“Minglan, bring me the list of my dowry.”

Minglan, upon hearing this, put down the clothes she was handling and soon retrieved a locked redwood box from a fragrant wooden chest in the inner room. After unlocking it with a key, she took out the dowry list from among the piles of silver notes.

Su Qingqi took the list and examined it closely.

She had quite a bit of personal property. The silver notes alone amounted to six hundred thousand. Su Qingqi couldn’t help but gasp, finally getting a clear picture of just how wealthy the Su family was, as her second sister had mentioned.

Even as an unfavored illegitimate daughter, she had a dowry of six hundred thousand taels of silver.

In addition, there were shops, estates, and a large estate in the suburbs of the capital, which was a gift from her brother-in-law—something she had earned herself.

Especially the shops—she owned four in the capital: a grain store, a general store, a fabric shop, and a tea house. She still didn’t know how these shops were faring.

She had gone to the Wuchang Marquis’s residence the day after arriving in the capital and hadn’t had a chance to take over or meet with the stewards of her shops. With no staff of her own, only Minglan was with her.

As for Nanny Feng and Minghong, she didn’t trust them. The Wuchang Marquis’s residence also had restrictions on going out, and the power center was separated from the wealthy residential area by a large city gate. Su Qingqi hadn’t had a chance to check on the shops’ operations.

While staying at the Su residence, she needed to quickly understand the specific conditions of the shops and estates in her dowry.

She sighed, feeling the lack of manpower.

“Miss, what are you worried about?” Minglan asked, noticing her mistress sighing after sorting out the luggage.

“Minglan, who do you think is more reliable, Nanny Feng or Minghong?” Su Qingqi thought for a moment and decided to choose one of them to help with errands.

Minglan recalled the opinions of other servants about them and replied, “Miss, I think Nanny Feng is more reliable.”

“Then it will be Nanny Feng,” Su Qingqi decided immediately.

After receiving the third miss’s instructions, Nanny Feng hurried over and was pleasantly surprised when told to check on the operations of the four shops in the dowry.

She knew her opportunity had come and took her task seriously.

Unlike Minghong, who was shallow, Nanny Feng knew that as a servant, it was best not to betray her master without special circumstances, especially since they were family-born servants of the governor.

Nanny Feng’s actions quickly reached Su Qinghan and Su Zhijin. Worried that his sister might be misled, Su Zhijin had someone investigate. Upon learning that Su Qinghan had begun managing her dowry shops, he sent a servant to ask Su Qingqi if she needed help.

Su Qingqi was delighted that her elder brother offered assistance and, of course, accepted. Given how many shops were under her elder brother’s management, he wouldn’t covet her four shops.

With the steward talent and their contracts sent by her elder brother, Su Qingqi could finally rest easy.

Nanny Feng made trips back and forth for three days and finally got a clear picture of the shops’ conditions, bringing back the stewards’ account books.

As Su Qingqi flipped through the account books and listened to Nanny Feng’s report on the four shops, Minglan made tea for both Su Qingqi and Nanny Feng and stood by, listening.

“Nanny Feng, you say the grain store isn’t large and mainly serves common people, but according to the accounts, it makes quite a lot—at least four to five hundred taels a month,” Su Qingqi was somewhat shocked.

There were many grain stores in the capital, and she had thought selling grain wouldn’t be very profitable.

Nanny Feng was surprised by the third miss’s ability to read the account books and immediately noticed the monthly earnings of the grain store. Though surprised, she was pleased that the third miss was capable. She quickly explained, “Miss, in the capital, nobles have their own estates and don’t buy grain. Large grain stores are rarely visited by common people. So, a smaller grain store like yours is actually advantageous. Although it sells cheaper grain, more people come, and the earnings are still considerable.”

Su Qingqi understood, realizing that the Su family’s commercial acumen was evident. She, as someone from the modern world, felt inadequate in comparison.

Because she had to hide her identity as a time traveler, she couldn’t turn her dowry shops into specialized stores for women’s products like her second sister had done—selling various cosmetics made from natural herbs with special effects. It was likely her second sister had a lot of beauty recipes in her golden fingers.

“In that case, let’s stock up on more grain. Store the new grain from the estate, but also keep some in the grain store to sell, regardless of whether it sells or not.” Su Qingqi thought that in ancient times, survival depended on food, so stocking up on grain would be reassuring.

Nanny Feng nodded, noting the third miss’s instructions, and continued reporting on the conditions of the remaining three shops.

Su Qingqi quickly sorted out all the account books and was speechless for a while. She hadn’t expected any of her dowry shops to be running at a loss. The most profitable was the tea house, which earned at least one to two thousand taels a month, not including the various festivals. Business was especially booming with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching.

Knowing that the source of the tea was from the Su family’s own tea gardens, Su Qingqi was not surprised. The Su family had several large tea gardens and was never short of both ordinary and premium tea leaves. It was no wonder the business was so good.

The least profitable was the fabric shop, as there were too many fabric shops in the capital. Her shop sold only common fabrics, earning money from common people rather than silk.

The general store earned at least one to two hundred taels a month.

With the income from these four shops, Su Qingqi felt that her future life would be quite comfortable. As for the various expenses and social obligations after marriage, she had Lord Chu.

Meanwhile, Lord Chu, whom Su Qingqi was thinking of, was in his study, receiving reports about her every move, including what she ate daily, what clothes she wore, when she ate, used the restroom, slept, and more…

It was quite terrifying!

If Su Qingqi knew, she would certainly think of Lord Chu as a creepy, obsessive person!