Chapter 597: Chapter 597: Financial Freedom

Once the door was closed, only Qin Yao and Liu Fei were left inside the room.

Liu Fei motioned for Qin Yao to sit for a moment, then got up to bring a wooden box from the bedside.

The key to the box hung around his neck. He took out three keys, unlocking one layer of the box after another. Only when the last layer was unlocked did he take out a wooden box, placing it in front of Qin Yao. His excitement was barely concealed as he said, "Sister-in-law, open it."

Qin Yao had a vague guess about what it was, but couldn’t help gasping when she saw the contents of the wooden box.

A thick stack of money notes.

Yes, they were not silver notes, but money notes, similar to the ancient Jiaozi Qin Yao knew of, representing large denominations of paper money with values of fifty taels, one hundred taels, five hundred taels, and one thousand taels.

This type of paper currency had been in existence for some years in this era, peaking in the previous dynasty. During chaotic times when noble families were divided, the monetary system went completely haywire, causing the money notes to be discontinued.

Now, eight years after the founding of Sheng Country, they had finally come back into use.

These were safer than carrying a large amount of silver, and more convenient than exchanging silver notes.

The box Liu Fei brought contained a total of twenty thousand taels!

Liu Fei did not miss Qin Yao’s slight gasp; even though he had already seen and personally brought this sum back, seeing it again made his heart race with excitement.

Having so much money so easily in hand felt surreal, like a dream.

On his journey back home from the Capital, Liu Fei spent his time in a daze, finally finding some grounding upon seeing Qin Yao today, adding a dose of reality to it all.

"Sister-in-law, it’s yours; I visited Manager Song yesterday, and the part of it belonging to the firm has already been handed over to Steward Song."

"During this time in the Capital, when the exclusive shop opened and the new Lady’s Box hit the shelves, it sold out in less than two days. The shopkeeper later set purchasing restrictions to stabilize the situation."

"This time, Fulong Trading Company brought three hundred spring Lady’s Boxes to the Capital, all sold out, with two hundred more on order. At the cautious pace of our stationery factory, it’d probably take until midyear to fulfill them all."

Thinking of the scene on the first day of the exclusive shop’s opening made Liu Fei’s heart race even now, "All the esteemed young ladies of the Capital came, not only young noblewomen but even the County Master and Commandery Princess. With so many people that day, there were inevitably some oversights; the shop’s maids were cautious and didn’t dare breathe too hard for fear of offending anyone..."

Thankfully, no major mistakes occurred, ensuring a smooth opening.

"Sister-in-law, as you previously advised, we set up a free tea room in the store for customers to rest while waiting. Even though we’re currently out of stock, many young ladies still arrange to meet at our tea room. Customers who bought two or more Lady’s Boxes enjoy complimentary refreshments. It seems to be a hit, with quite a few customers visiting daily despite the lack of stock..."

The stationery factory’s development team had created several new styles, more compact and made with more expensive materials, which could be handheld or slung across the body, crafted with precision akin to heirloom pieces.

Given the overwhelming demand for the first batch of spring Lady’s Boxes, Qin Yao was very confident about the new arrivals.

She had already instructed Liu Zhong to keep an eye on various leather merchants for procurement and had sent Song Yu to find skilled artisans familiar with leather crafting. Once everything was ready, the first leather bag could be launched.

When the time comes, she’d be able to travel with a portable bag instead of a cumbersome wooden box or a fragile cloth bundle.

Qin Yao looked at the money notes in the wooden box again. After deducting a third as the endorsement fee for the Princess Mansion, there were thirteen thousand three hundred taels left.

If no one in the family got into trouble, it would be considered financial freedom.

"Fourth, you’ll be responsible for the exclusive shop in the Capital from now on." Qin Yao was always generous with her subordinates. Under Liu Fei’s surprised gaze, she picked out a one-thousand tael money note from the box and handed it to him.

Liu Fei was overwhelmed with surprise, "Sister-in-law, this is too much, I can’t take it..."

Qin Yao looked at him steadily, "Don’t rush to refuse; this is a one-time reward, mainly for successfully delivering the endorsement fee to the Princess Mansion on behalf of the Liu Family Village Stationery Factory."

"The affairs in the Capital, including the delivery of the endorsement fee, will be your responsibility from now on, do you understand?"

Qin Yao took out the portion meant for the Princess from the box and handed it to Liu Fei.

Liu Fei opened his mouth to speak but eventually chose to remain silent, keeping the money safe. Looking at the thousand taels that were his, he felt a deep sense of accomplishment—it was the first one thousand taels he’d earned on his own merit.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Liu Fei quickly put away the money notes, then pulled out a grayish fabric bag, handing it back to Qin Yao with respect.

He had succeeded in delivering the money to the Princess Mansion, thanks to the contents of this fabric bag that his sister-in-law had given him. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Qin Yao took it, peeked inside to confirm the Token from Mu Ling was intact, and nodded as she smiled, placing it back in the wooden box before carrying both away.

Before opening the door, Qin Yao suddenly asked, "Before you left the Capital, did you hear any news about Mr. Gongliang?"

Liu Fei shook his head, "No."

But young people always think quickly; he immediately asked what Qin Yao wanted to know, ready to find out next time he went to the Capital.

"No news is fine." Qin Yao waved, admonishing him not to act rashly to please her, "Don’t go looking into it yourself. If things go south, there’ll be no escape!"

"Just take care of yourself and the exclusive shop."

Seeing her serious expression, Liu Fei quickly agreed; after all, his sister-in-law’s advice was always reliable.

However, just after Qin Yao had finished instructing him, Liu Fei was pulled aside by Liu Ji right after stepping out, to hear the same question.

"No news of the mister and nothing from Prime Minister Qi’s household either? A prominent scholar returning to the Capital is huge news, surely there’s some talk?" Liu Ji couldn’t believe Liu Fei had heard nothing and kept pressing him.

Liu Fei, unable to fend him off, yanked away, "Let me think, let me think..."

Liu Ji huffed, crossing his arms as he waited, "Think quickly!"

Liu Fei stood on his toes, looking around, hoping to find his sister-in-law, Liu Ji’s nemesis, to come save him.

Unfortunately, Qin Yao, with so much money in hand, had already taken the children home to hide it.

Without rescue and cornered by this brute, Liu Fei was almost in tears.

"Third Brother, really, nothing. During my time in the Capital, I only heard officials grumbling behind the scenes about the Princess being ruthless and vengeful. I really didn’t hear anything about Mr. Gongliang or Young Master Qi."

Liu Ji, curious, raised an eyebrow, "How is the Princess ruthless and vengeful?"

"Something about persecuting loyal ministers, not sparing them even when they’re crippled, or things like that."

Since she was the ’spokesperson’ for their Lady’s Box, Liu Fei wasn’t interested in such rumor-mongering.

Seeing Liu Ji lost in thought, Liu Fei took the chance to slip away.