Chapter 169

Chapter 169

On the day before New Year's Eve, all shops in the capital closed their books.

Su Yu summoned Xie Yixin to the palace to report on the financial performance of various shops this year.

After the New Year, Xie Yixin would turn nineteen, which was considered an advanced age for an unmarried woman in Great Qi. However, over the past two years, she had gradually taken on a semi-public role overseeing the shops for the emperor. Almost the entire capital knew that she was managing these establishments for the emperor.

Therefore, everyone was watching to see if the emperor would take her into the harem. Some even speculated that, given the emperor's focus on wealth, would Xie Second Sister only be welcomed into the palace after earning a certain amount of silver?

As a result, after Xie Yixin ended her engagement with the Pei family, no one came forward to propose marriage.

Xie Yixin's parents were initially anxious and even asked Xie Yiguan to gauge the emperor's intentions. However, Xie Yiguan's ambiguous tone made them hesitant to marry off Xie Yixin easily.

Xie Yixin, on the other hand, was quite content with the situation.

Yuan Ran saw Xie Yixin for the first time. He examined her from head to toe, suddenly feeling a sense of inferiority. The woman before him exuded a purity that neither he nor Yuan Ling had, and she had the right to stand openly by Su Yu's side.

He could only stand there, helplessly watching as darkness consumed his heart.

Su Yu looked at Yuan Ran casually, noticing that he immediately lowered his head and stopped looking at her. She sat back in her rocking chair, rocking gently as she listened to Xie Yixin's report.

Over the past few years, Great Qi's economy had been recovering, and the shop businesses in the capital had been thriving.

Xie Yixin first honed her skills at Jinmeng Pavilion, and later, Su Yu handed over other shops to her. She became increasingly adept, generating nearly a million taels of silver for Su Yu every year.

In addition to business matters, Xie Yixin also presented Su Yu with a banknote, her expression somewhat grave: "Your Majesty, this banknote was given by a customer at Piaoxiangju. The person has been detained by me."

Su Yu took the banknote and realized it was counterfeit.

From the very beginning, Su Yu's primary concern when establishing a bank was the appearance of counterfeit banknotes. To prevent forgery, she used royal-specialized paper for the banknotes and designed three seals: one for the watermark, one for the amount, and one for the final signature. The writing on the banknotes was also specially designed by Xie Yiguan, with each character's ending stroke differing from ordinary characters.

The counterfeit banknote in her hand now had incorrectly imprinted seals and characters, so Xie Yixin could immediately recognize it as fake. However, the paper was correct—it was royal-specialized paper.

Su Yu tapped the paper and actually smiled, straightening up from her rocking chair. "Does the person behind this think I'm too stupid, or that I am too idle?"

Xie Yixin: "..." How was she supposed to answer that?

She glanced at the emperor, who didn't seem angry, but she couldn't quite read her mood.

Then she saw the emperor stand up from the rocking chair, open the door, and let the cold wind rush in.

Su Yu stood in the cold wind for a while, looking at the snow-covered scenery outside. Another year had passed, and she realized she had spent four years in this world unnoticed. She reached out and scooped up a handful of snow.

"Your Majesty, be careful not to catch a cold," Yuan Ran stepped forward and said softly.

"Damn it! Am I someone with so little to do that I can't even enjoy the New Year properly?" Su Yu cursed fiercely, childishly rolling the snow in her hand into a ball and throwing it hard at a stone pillar outside.

Feeling unsatisfied, she made several more snowballs and threw them one after another.

Xie Yixin, Yuan Ran: "..." Was the emperor venting her anger?

Yuan Ran quickly helped Su Yu make two more snowballs and handed them to her.

After throwing them, Su Yu said to him, "That's enough."

She brushed the snow off her clothes, closed the door, and calmly said, "A Ran, go and summon the Censor-in-Chief to the palace."

Censor-in-Chief Cheng Heyuan arrived promptly.

Su Yu wasted no time and handed the counterfeit banknote directly to Cheng Heyuan, "This is counterfeit, but it’s printed on genuine royal tribute paper. I’m entrusting this matter to you to investigate."

This matter shouldn’t have fallen to Cheng Heyuan; it should have been handed over to the Dali Temple or the Capital Prefecture. However, Su Yu had thought it through. Whoever got their hands on royal tribute paper wasn’t some small fry, and the deeper they dug, the more people would be implicated. The Dali Temple Minister and the Capital Prefecture Magistrate were veteran officials—they’d investigate, but they’d likely stop short of digging too deep.

That’s why she wanted someone like Cheng Heyuan—someone without powerful connections but stubborn and hell-bent on getting results. Regarding the counterfeit currency case, no matter who was involved behind the scenes, she wanted to get to the bottom of it and wouldn’t show any mercy once the truth was uncovered, setting an example for all.

After all, banknotes were like paper money in her world. If counterfeit money isn’t stopped, it’ll spread like wildfire, and once counterfeiting becomes rampant, it will mark the beginning of economic collapse.

Cheng Heyuan didn’t hesitate at all and immediately knelt down to accept the task.

Su Yu glanced at his slight frame and pointed to Yuan Ran, "Yuan Ran knows a bit of martial arts. He’ll stick with you and help with the investigation."

Cheng Heyuan, a civil official who climbed the ranks through the exams, wasn’t too fond of eunuchs. When he heard Su Yu was assigning Yuan Ran to him, he frowned hard, biting back what he wanted to say.

Su Yu ignored his expression and smiled at Yuan Ran, "Yuan Ran, keep him safe. Don’t let him get killed."

"Your Majesty, I’m right here!" Cheng Heyuan exclaimed inwardly.

Yuan Ran hesitated for a moment. Though Su Yu smiled, her eyes were dead serious—she was really handing him a big responsibility. "Your Majesty, rest assured! I will not fail your trust!"

He suddenly remembered overseeing the craftsmen and hesitated slightly.

Su Yu saw through him at a glance and said directly, "The furnace project can wait until you get back."

In fact, the large iron-smelting furnace needed to be built outdoors. With this freezing weather, it’s not the best time to build the furnace, so it was just as well to wait until Yuan Ran assisted Cheng Heyuan in investigating the counterfeit currency case before continuing to oversee the iron-smelting furnace.

Su Yu’s eyes darted around. This way, Yuan Ran would be quite busy, but being busy meant he wouldn’t have time to overthink, and even less time to feel inferior.

Yuan Ran didn’t know that Su Yu had already arranged everything for him. When Su Yu told him to wait for his return, he was deeply touched. The bitterness that Xie Yixin’s purity had stirred in him now felt like it was placed in warm plum wine, warm and sweet, making him slightly intoxicated.

Xie Yixin, on the other hand, thoughtfully observed everything. She left the palace and went home, just in time to meet Xie Yiguan, who was off duty. She asked Xie Yiguan, "Brother, I have two things to ask you."

Xie Yiguan glanced at her and, from her attire and the direction of her carriage, deduced that she had come from Su Yu.

He said, "Follow me."

He took Xie Yixin to his study, removing his outer cloak as he asked, "What is it?"

Xie Yixin did not hide the counterfeit currency matter from Xie Yiguan.

She recounted the entire story, "So why did His Majesty suddenly start throwing snowballs?"

Xie Yiguan answered without hesitation, "It seems His Majesty was indeed angry, but he couldn’t bear to damage anything in the imperial study, so he threw snowballs to vent his anger without causing any damage."

He smiled, "With this incident, His Majesty’s spring break will probably be busy again."

Xie Yixin: "..." Brother knows His Majesty so well, but why does his smile seem almost doting?

She then brought up Yuan Ran's matter, "His Majesty seems to be entrusting great responsibilities to Yuan, the Inner Regular Attendant."

In fact, she was worried about this matter. Yuan Ran was a eunuch, and eunuchs getting involved in politics was not a good thing.

Xie Yiguan was nonchalant, "Yuan, the Inner Regular Attendant, is different from ordinary eunuchs. He is resilient, observant, and knows martial arts. It’s no surprise His Majesty values him."

Xie Yixin seemed not to expect Xie Yiguan to say this. She opened her mouth and, after a while, made a sound, "I feel like Brother has changed."

"Changed?" Xie Yiguan smiled, "It’s more like these years by His Majesty’s side have made me more open-minded."

Because of Su Yu, he began to re-examine the prestigious families he once saw as enemies and the civil officials he thought were the pillars of the state. In the end, he realized that Su Yu was right. Whether it was the prestigious families or the civil officials, they were all the same. Once civil officials gained power, they could easily become the next prestigious families.

So Su Yu never intended to completely eradicate the prestigious families from the outset. She united those who could be united and dealt with those who were disobedient. This approach was equally applicable to the civil officials.

Xie Yiguan glanced at him, noticing his expression turn serious, seemingly gentle but actually stern, saying, "During the spring holiday, you should stay at home and not go anywhere. The counterfeit banknote issue is likely to implicate many people, and there will certainly be many who want to probe information from you."

Xie Yixin shot him a glare, "What kind of person does Brother think I am? I haven't uttered a word about the Emperor's affairs that should remain confidential."

She then rolled her eyes, "Instead, Brother, you should think carefully. With Cui Xingjian still in power and now another Inner Regular Attendant, Yuan, how will Brother vie for favor?"

Xie Yiguan: "...We are all servants of the Emperor. It's beneficial to have more people serving the Emperor. What is there to vie for? You're always so carefree."

"I, too, am serving the Emperor!" Xie Yixin retorted indignantly, "I heard that the Inner Regular Attendant, Yuan, has a sister who is now with General Gao. I plan to meet this Sister Yuan during the spring holiday."

"Why do you wish to meet Sister Yuan?" Xie Yiguan asked, puzzled, as he saw no connection between Xie Yixin and Yuan Ling.

Xie Yixin said seriously, "Naturally, to know your enemy and yourself is to be invincible in a hundred battles. I need to thoroughly understand Sister Yuan to ascertain if my standing with the Emperor will be compromised."

Xie Yiguan: "...What standing do you have with the Emperor? I was unaware."

Xie Yixin glanced at him sideways and snorted, "I am different from Brother."

Xie Yiguan: "...Her standing with the Emperor wasn't achieved without trading my information."

"A lady of the Xie family does not concede defeat lightly," Xie Yixin said with full fighting spirit.

Xie Yiguan looked at her, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and felt it was too much to watch.

The next day was New Year's Eve.

Xie Yiguan, the Minister of Rites, got up early to enter the palace to see the Emperor.

Cui Xuan was already there.

Xie Yiguan could see a hint of joy on his usually stern face.

Cui Xuan glanced at him lightly, "The fake banknote from Xie Second Sister was not brought out earlier or later, but now it has caused the Inner Regular Attendant Yuan to not even spend the New Year in the capital."

Xie Yiguan lowered his eyes. Cui Xuan's words seemed to suggest that Xie Yixin was acting under his instructions, deliberately sending Yuan Ran away during the New Year. Was he such a person?

He smiled, "Premier Cui, I really don't understand what you're saying."

Su Yu in the room was already very accustomed to their back-and-forth. She curled up in the quilt for a while before quickly getting out, dressing neatly, and opening the door.

Xie Yiguan entered before Cui Xuan, smiling, "Today is New Year's Eve, and it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites to dress the Emperor in ceremonial robes."

He then turned to Cui Xuan and said, "Premier Cui, please feel free."

He was not vying for favor, merely discharging his duty.