Chapter 14 — Wu Yang Flower – Jade Snow Palace

I started eating well again, and at night I was able to sleep peacefully, no longer being pulled into the dream of the cold snowy night, nor seeing Tieu Quyet's painful and desperate face. All the old stories are like one long nightmare. Now, the dream has awakened. We should also start again. Half a month later, we returned to Giang Nam, to my Thanh Nguyet Cu. This place is still the same as before, with a small bridge and flowing water, a pavilion and a pavilion, it is a world-class place that I built with my own hands, and is also the most peaceful landing place of my life. I disbanded most of the subordinates. I only kept Xuan Hoa, Uncle Chung and a few closest confidants, and the rest were dispersed. After that, I brought all the documents about the Jiangnan salt transport business and handed them over to Uncle Chung. I looked at him and slowly said: "Uncle Zhong, from today, you are the head of Jiangnan's fortune." Uncle Chung was stunned, his face changed rapidly, then without saying a word he knelt down in front of me.

“Master, this is absolutely impossible!” “This career is in exchange for people using their lives, how dare this old slave even dream!”

I quickly walked over and helped him up.

“Uncle Zhong, you have been with me for ten years, nominally a subordinate, but in my heart, you have long been a relative.”

"When I leave this business to my uncle, I can truly feel secure."

I turned my head to look out the window at the lake, the surface of the water was as smooth as a mirror, the setting sun spread a layer of gentle light. My voice is very quiet, but extremely clear:

“I'm tired.”

“Really tired.”

"For the past ten years, I have lived like a general, always in a state of preparation for battle, step by step calculating people's hearts, every step of the way, scheming for benefits. I have gained money, gained power, but at the same time I have lost many things."

I paused for a moment, then continued:

"I don't want to continue living like that anymore. I want to live for myself just once."

“Like a normal Jiangnan woman, reading books, enjoying tea, admiring flowers, and peacefully spending the rest of her life.”

Uncle Chung looked at me, his eyes were cloudy because of the past years, and his tears were rolling down uncontrollably. He understood that I was not just moved by emotion, but even more so, he understood how much I had to pay to get to this day. Finally, he knelt down and bowed his head vigorously.

“The old slave obeys.”

"Master, rest assured, as long as this old slave still has one breath left, he will definitely take care of this inheritance and protect you for the rest of your life."

I burst out laughing. For the first time in many years, I laughed from the bottom of my heart. That night, I had a very long dream. In the dream, there is no Tieu Quyet, no Lieu Nhu Yen, no capital city, no prison. Only the smoke of Giang Nam's rain floated lazily through the tiled roof. Only I stood in the middle of that thin mist, quiet and relieved. In the dream, I said to myself: Tham Thanh Nguyet. Welcome home. You are free now. The rain in Giang Nam is always like that, soft and persistent, like thin silk threads that cannot be stopped, falling from the sky, wrapping around the eaves, then quietly seeping into the depths of people's hearts. I stay in Thanh Nguyet Cu. The days that followed were so quiet that they were quieter than the thin rain outside the window. We no longer look at trade reports, no longer care about the price of gold or rice going up or down. My life, it seems As if there were only three simple things left: reading books, drinking tea and sitting quietly watching the rain fall. Xuan Hoa looked at me, smiled many times and told me I had changed. She said, the decisive and punishing Attorney General of the past seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a leisurely person, carefree to the point of being somewhat lazy. I just smiled. Isn't that very good? That was the life I spent ten years in exchange for. Uncle Chung still comes from time to time to inform me of some trivial matters in the merchant guild. I just listened quietly, didn't ask anything else, and didn't make any decisions. The plans of the past seem to have followed me out of the capital, buried behind that cold palace wall. Until one day, he brought news from the capital. He said, the place is chaotic. Even more chaotic than when we left. Although rice prices were forced down by the royal court, the people's panic never dissipated. This time it's not because of the rice, but because of the salt. On the market, salt suddenly became scarce, and salt almost disappeared overnight. Many common people fell ill due to lack of salt, so the court was in chaos. The emperor at court was furious. But every spearhead ultimately points towards one person. Tieu Quyet. The story of him handing over the rights to the fortune-telling business was leaked to an unknown person, shocking the whole dynasty.