Chapter 9

Jiang Lingyu looked at the accounts until late into the night.

She had no choice but to do this. Jiang Lingyu felt as if she had suddenly received a big house, but before she could rejoice, she discovered that it was surrounded by wind, chilling her to the bone.

If she continued living like this, who knows when she might fall ill.

She calmly optimized the assets in her hands.

There were too many servants in the prince’s mansion, so the excess people were sent to work in the fields on the estate.

Except for a few favorite villas, all the vacation resorts and temporary palaces that had already been built were converted into courtyards that could be rented out.

They could be rented separately or as a whole, with discounts for long-term rentals.

If someone wanted to hold an event in the courtyard, the prince’s mansion could even provide royal chefs, though that would come at a high price.

As for whether there would be business, Jiang Lingyu wasn’t worried.

After all, those palaces and resorts were originally built by the previous owner at great expense. With the reputation of the previous owner as a prince, who wouldn’t want to try living where a prince had lived and eating what a prince usually ate?

It seemed that it wouldn’t be long before there would be a nice income.

Jiang Lingyu’s advisors were not just eating for free. Before long, they had come up with several proposals targeting temples. After synthesizing them, Jiang Lingyu also got quite a few ideas.

For example, some popular temples would charge admission fees, and the temples also set up some special projects, such as wishing pools, animal release pools, and specially hired chefs to make and sell vegetarian dishes…

Fortunately, the autumn harvest was coming soon. This year’s harvest should be good, and they should be able to collect about 200,000 taels in taxes. This way, they would only owe a little over 200,000 taels.

Jiang Lingyu also reorganized the resources of the shops in her hands.

For instance, simply adding a stage to a tea house would allow people to drink tea as usual while watching performances, and at the same time, they could sell pastries from her pastry shops.

The tailor shop could be changed into a tailor and ready-made clothing store, with models in the store to promote sales.

And so on and so forth, making money however they could.

Although these tactics had been overused on Earth, the fact that they could be repeatedly used meant they must be effective.

Moreover, this wasn’t Earth after all, so these methods would surely bring in a considerable amount of business.

However, Jiang Lingyu knew that in the short term, these measures were far from enough. Due to the geological conditions, Guiqian’s specialty products were actually various precious medicinal herbs.

These were needed by both frontline soldiers and ordinary people.

But because of the difficult trade routes in Guiqian, many herbs could only be consumed internally in Guiqian and couldn’t fetch a good price.

Some medicines even spoiled right before their eyes because they couldn’t be properly handled and couldn’t be sold in time.

If the trade routes could be opened up, everything else would be easier to handle.

Jiang Lingyu’s gaze fell on the three characters “Shi Fengtian” written on the paper.

It seemed she needed to find time to meet this young marquis.

At this moment, Xiao Shunzi came in carrying a cup.

“My lord, it’s cold at night. Why don’t you drink something and rest early?”

Jiang Lingyu asked with some surprise at the familiar scent, “Ginger tea?”

Xiao Shunzi nodded with a smile, “Yes, the weather is getting cold, drinking some ginger tea to warm the stomach is just right.”

Jiang Lingyu took the ginger tea, its warm breath hitting her face, causing her to momentarily lose focus.

Jiang Lingyu took a small sip of the ginger tea… although it was the taste of ginger tea, it wasn’t quite the same as in her memory.

In Jiang Lingyu’s mind, a pair of deep fox-like eyes filled with too many indescribable emotions softly called out:

“Yu Yi?”

As a prince, Jiang Lingyu had special shadow guards to protect her safety.

They had no names, only titles, all starting with Jiang Lingyu’s character “Yu”, called Yu Yi, Yu Er, Yu San, Yu Si.

Yu Yi had the highest martial arts skills, and so on in that order.

Previously, it was Yu Yi who protected Jiang Lingyu.

As soon as Jiang Lingyu’s voice fell, a shadow guard emerged from the shadows, kneeling and saluting:

“Greetings, my lord.”

Jiang Lingyu looked at the shadow guard before her, clearly a woman’s figure, and asked with some confusion:

“Aren’t you Yu Er?”

Although the shadow guard’s attitude was respectful, she spoke very coldly:

“According to the rules of shadow guards, if the previous guard is no longer here, the next guard in line will take over their title.”

Jiang Lingyu’s pupils shook, her voice unconsciously rising a notch:

“What do you mean the previous guard is no longer here? Where did Yu Yi go?!”

“Yu Yi previously failed to protect the lord, causing the lord to be injured. Now, after punishment, he is in the interrogation room…”

According to the rules, if one hasn’t died after three days without food or water, they would come to ask the lord for further punishment instructions.

But based on past experience, no shadow guard had ever been able to endure such punishment for three days…

Before Yu Er could finish speaking, she saw that the lord had already stood up and was running outside, heading towards the interrogation room?

A flicker of curiosity and confusion passed through Yu Er’s originally calm and unperturbed eyes, eventually turning into silence as she concealed her form and followed behind the lord.

Jiang Lingyu knew all too well why Yu Yi had failed to protect her.

Back then, Huo Zhengfu felt that having shadow guards around the original owner was really affecting their romantic moments, so the original owner told the shadow guards to protect from afar.

Yesterday’s incident happened so suddenly, it would have been a miracle if the shadow guards had arrived in time to protect her.

Thinking of the inhumane punishments for shadow guards, Jiang Lingyu’s footsteps quickened even more.

The interrogation room was in a corner of the prince’s mansion’s prison. As soon as she stepped in, she felt a cold aura emanating from inside.

Jiang Lingyu’s body involuntarily shivered, but this didn’t slow her actions at all, instead making her move even faster than before.

However, when she reached the door of the interrogation room, she suddenly stopped.

Jiang Lingyu lightly bit her lip, her hands loosening and tightening several times before she took a deep breath and pushed open the large door of the interrogation room.

As the door opened, a biting cold wind mixed with the smell of blood hit her face.

In the center of the interrogation room hung a masked man, with a pool of half-dried blood gathered beneath his feet.

His clothes had long been torn to shreds during the torture, not to mention the flesh underneath.

His entire body looked like a chessboard made of white jade, except the squares were formed by crisscrossing bloodstains.

The hazy moonlight shone on his face, and even though he was still wearing a face cover, it made his complexion as pale as snow, as beautiful as a demon.

Such a previously strong person now looked like a fragile snowman, not knowing when the sun would rise and melt him away.

Jiang Lingyu didn’t even know how she walked to the man’s front. Her hand, trembling slightly, gently touched the man’s chest, feeling the warmth and faint beating transmitted from his body.

Jiang Lingyu didn’t know what expression she had at that moment. She only knew that when she turned around, before she could say anything, Xiao Shunzi had already hurriedly called for the royal physician.

Yu Yi was also released, falling softly into Jiang Lingyu’s arms.

Yu Yi had long since fallen into unconsciousness, only letting out a faint groan of discomfort as his already stiff body was suddenly lowered.

But this groan seemed to only make half a syllable before being swallowed back by the man in her arms.

The unconscious man allowed Jiang Lingyu to support him as he half-lay on the ground. Although his brows were tightly furrowed, he no longer made any sound.

Jiang Lingyu didn’t dare to move the injured person recklessly, she could only ask in a deep voice:

“Why hasn’t the royal physician arrived yet?”

Seeing the lord’s eyes as dark as the bottom of an abyss, Xiao Shunzi hurriedly said, “Someone has already been sent to fetch him, he’ll be here… he’ll be here soon!”

The interrogation room was too cold, so before long, several braziers, candles, soft cushions… and water were brought in.

Jiang Lingyu looked at the warm water in her hand, then at the mask on the pale face of the person in her arms. After a moment’s hesitation, she said in a low voice:

“Excuse me.”

Jiang Lingyu’s hand covered Yu Yi’s mask, holding her breath as she carefully lifted it.

What met her eyes was that all-too-familiar face, a perfect example of an unapproachable, ascetic handsome man.

Jiang Lingyu didn’t know what expression she had at that moment. Later, she learned that after Xiao Shunzi saw her expression when she removed Yu Yi’s veil, he directly ordered the guards to carry the royal physician running to the interrogation room.

They arrived in just a moment.

After examining Yu Yi, the royal physician carefully glanced at Jiang Lingyu.

Jiang Lingyu impatiently said, “If you have something to say, just say it directly.”

The royal physician organized his words and said, “This gentleman’s inner strength is profound. Normally, a hundred or so lashes would be nothing to him, but the red-tailed whip is different.

The red-tailed whip infuses inner strength into the whip and then strikes the body. As it strikes, the inner strength enters the meridians along with the whip and collides everywhere. The whip injures the skin and flesh, while the colliding inner strength injures the meridians and internal organs. Moreover, this gentleman has been injured for a day and a night without effective treatment. I’m afraid…”

Jiang Lingyu stopped the royal physician from continuing, looking directly into his eyes and speaking extremely calmly:

“I want to save him.”

Although her words were as calm as could be, each word left no room for negotiation.

The royal physician was shocked by the undercurrent in Jiang Lingyu’s eyes and hurriedly said:

“He can be saved, but to do so, we must first disperse this gentleman’s inner strength. Only then can we stop the chaotic flow of true qi in his body and proceed with treatment.”

Jiang Lingyu’s arms tightened around Yu Yi as she asked:

“After dispersing his inner strength, will there be any impact on his body?”

The royal physician shook his head and said, “Not only will there be no impact, but if properly cared for, it might even turn misfortune into blessing. Although this gentleman’s inner strength is profound, the martial arts he practiced in his early years were all quick-success, fierce techniques. While they allow for rapid progress, they are extremely damaging to the body. Add to that the numerous hidden injuries left from past battles, dispersing his inner strength now would actually allow for careful recuperation.”

The darkness in Jiang Lingyu’s eyes dissipated somewhat, and she asked gently:

“Will dispersing his inner strength… be painful for him?”

Hearing this question, the royal physician was puzzled. How could there be no suffering in healing injuries?

But for the lord to ask such a question for a mere shadow guard…

This gentleman must be highly valued by the lord… it seems his future prospects are limitless.

Thinking of this, the royal physician’s attitude became even more cautious as he answered:

“The inner strength has been with the gentleman for many years, so naturally, there will be some suffering. But no matter how much suffering, it’s far better than the current chaotic state of his true qi.”

Hearing this, Jiang Lingyu’s eyes darkened again. She looked deeply at Yu Yi and said:

“… Then let’s proceed with the treatment.”

After inquiring if it was alright to move the injured person, Xiao Shunzi respectfully asked:

“My lord, where… should we arrange for Yu gongzi to stay?”

Without hesitation, Jiang Lingyu said, “Just arrange for him to stay in my sleeping chambers.”

Xiao Shunzi: ???

Royal Physician: …

Others: …

Jiang Lingyu coughed lightly and explained, “My sleeping chambers are larger, more convenient for the royal physician to work.”

Xiao Shunzi: … Alright then, you’re the lord, whatever you say goes.

The people around were very tactful, keeping their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, not saying a word more.

However, when carrying Yu Yi, their movements were so delicate and careful.

After arriving at the sleeping chambers, Jiang Lingyu quietly watched as the professional medical practitioners washed Yu Yi’s body, treated his wounds, dispersed his inner strength, and administered medicine.

By the time this series of procedures was completed, the sky was already showing signs of dawn.

Jiang Lingyu, who had already dealt with affairs for a day, hadn’t noticed the passage of time at all. Instead, only after everything had been properly handled did she open her mouth to ask:

“How is his condition now?”

The royal physician patiently explained, “Yu gongzi’s body is better than this humble one had imagined. His injuries have now stabilized, my lord need not worry.”

“When will he wake up? Will he be hungry?”

“Rest assured, my lord. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Yu gongzi will regain consciousness tomorrow. At that time, he can have some light food.”

After that, the royal physician gave some more precautions before withdrawing with everyone else.

Jiang Lingyu looked at the man lying quietly beside her and fell into deep thought.

Logically speaking, if there was an original owner in this world who looked like her, then having a Yu Yi who looked exactly like Yang Da Secretary was not at all surprising.

But the sense of familiarity emanating from him seemed to be shouting to every cell in her body that he was Yang Da Secretary.

However, if he really was Yang Da Secretary, why did he have no memory of her? Even more absurd, why did he willingly accept punishment instead of running away when he failed his task?

Jiang Lingyu didn’t know if she was having an illusion because of his face that was identical to Yang Da Secretary’s, but anyway, she felt at ease seeing that he was fine.

Extremely tired, Jiang Lingyu finally closed her eyes peacefully and entered a sweet dream.