Chapter 781: One Good Thing After Another

"Good child, if not for you, your Aunt Lin would have been in danger," Mrs. Lin said,

and then gave Man Er a Jade Qilin as a token of gratitude.

After releasing Man Er’s hand, Mrs. Lin thanked Su Qing again and presented her with a red gold head ornament.

"You are my daughter’s lifesaver, and I want to thank you, but I don’t know how. A moment ago, Manager Tong suggested that you might say what you want." Mrs. Lin said to Su Qing.

Su Qing looked at Tong Huaqiong, and suddenly her eyes reddened.

Such an opportunity, instead of seeking benefits from the Lin Family, the employer gave it to her.

The employer had always kept her wish in mind and seized every chance to fulfill it.

"Su Qing, go ahead, if Mrs. Lin can help you, that would be wonderful," Tong Huaqiong urged.

With a thud, Su Qing knelt down beside Mrs. Lin and said, "I want to reinvestigate my brother’s case."

Mrs. Lin asked puzzledly, "Your brother?"

"My brother is Su Zhen, and he was involved in the military corruption case years ago..."

Su Qing cried as she told how her brother was implicated in the military corruption case that shocked the court.

Her brother was just a small official in the Ministry of War back then, with no money handled.

After the incident, he was implicated because he had no background.

Su Qing grew up with her brother, depending on each other. After the incident, her sister-in-law, trying to prove her brother’s innocence, ran into a pillar in the Ministry of Justice, losing her life and the child in her womb.

Later, the Su Family’s property was confiscated, her brother was exiled, and Su Qing was sold.

She always wanted to clear her brother’s name.

But it was as hard as reaching the sky by herself.

Tong Huaqiong knew about her situation, initially hoping the Mighty General or Lu Zhaoyang could help clear the case.

However, when the corruption case occurred, the Mighty General was at the border, and Lu Zhaoyang is now with the Ministry of Revenue; they couldn’t intervene in the past case.

Right now, the only one who could interfere with this case is Mrs. Lin’s nephew, the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice, whom Miss Lin secretly admired.

This Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice from the Marquis Luochang Mansion stands backed by the Marquis Luochang Mansion and his maternal family’s Marquis Dingshen Mansion, and fears no one. Recently, he has been reopening the military corruption case from back then.

Tong Huaqiong learned about this from Huang Jingshan.

Thinking of Su Qing’s sole wish to reinvestigate her brother’s case, it’s like someone offering a pillow when she needs it, so she quickly urged Su Qing to seize the chance to plead with Mrs. Lin.

Su Qing cried as she spoke, raising her hand and swearing, "Madam, my brother is absolutely innocent. I’ve heard Mr. Gao is not only upright but also capable. If my brother really is corrupt, he won’t escape Mr. Gao’s eyes. I don’t ask for Mr. Gao to favor my brother, I only ask Mr. Gao to look at my brother Su Zhen’s documents. With Mr. Gao’s discerning eye, he will surely see my brother’s innocence."

The Mr. Gao in Su Qing’s words is Mrs. Lin’s nephew, the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Years ago, the case involved so many people, it was impossible to review all at once or finish the investigation overnight.

Her brother, being a minor official, would definitely not be prioritized in the review.

Su Qing only prayed for the Ministry of Justice to review her brother’s documents sooner.

She hoped to reunite with her brother soon.

Her brother had a high spirit, and when he learned in prison that his sister-in-law and their unborn child were gone, he would have taken his own life if not for Su Qing.

Before going to Lingnan, he was seriously ill, and Su Qing thought he wouldn’t make it to Lingnan and would die on the way.

After her brother was exiled, Su Qing was sold, and the siblings lost contact.

After coming to Tong Huaqiong, Tong Huaqiong entrusted Mr. Lu, who had business in Lingnan, to inquire about his whereabouts.

Years passed, and just when Su Qing had almost lost hope, Mr. Lu wrote to Lu Zhaozhao last month, bringing news of Su Qing’s brother.

Su Qing’s brother was still alive.

However, he was gravely ill in Lingnan. The Lu Family’s shopkeeper in Lingnan found a doctor to treat him and secretly gave money to pay for his care.

Her brother had been hanging on, thinking his sister must have suffered greatly as an orphan and was no longer alive after he was sent to Lingnan. During his recent serious illness, he wanted to die.

Upon learning Su Qing was still alive, her brother began cooperating with the doctor by taking medicine. When Mr. Lu wrote to Lu Zhaozhao, Su Qing’s brother had mostly recovered, and he had sent a letter to Su Qing.

After hearing about Su Qing’s brother’s ordeal, Mrs. Lin said to Su Qing, "Don’t worry, I will ask my nephew to retrieve your brother’s documents. If your brother is innocent, I will ensure that you reunite with him as soon as possible."

With Mrs. Lin’s promise, Su Qing knew there was a chance for her brother’s case to turn around.

Su Qing kowtowed in gratitude and was helped up by Mrs. Lin.

...

Winter comes early in Shengjing.

It felt like just the day before it was still deep autumn, and overnight, the leaves had all fallen, and the bone-chilling wind brought winter with it.

Tong Huaqiong’s cotton cloth, due to its high quality and affordable price, was selling explosively in Shengjing.

Every day when Jufu Supermarket presented the cotton cloth sales amount to Tong Huaqiong, she felt as if she was lying on a pile of silver, laughing.

Shengjing, being the capital, truly is a trendsetter.

As cotton cloth became popular in Shengjing, the trend of wearing cotton clothes quickly spread throughout Dasheng.

Gu Dashu and He Chao rushed to send a caravan loaded with cotton cloth and general merchandise to the border before the winter snow arrived, where the Tong Family’s Store had already taken shape.

The Weaving Workshop at Qinghe Bay, under the leadership of Song Qiaoniang and Gu Xue, produced batches of cotton cloth and shipped them out from Qinghe Bay.

But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, so Tong Huaqiong decided to set up a weaving workshop in Shengjing as well.

There are even more skilled tailors in Shengjing than in Qinghe Bay, and upon hearing the news, many came to apply.

Meanwhile, the first batch of castrated piglets was getting ready to enter the pens at Tong Pandi’s pig farm.

Tong Pandi initially worried about finding someone to geld the pigs after Master Tan left Pingchuan County.

Tong Huaqiong said surely they could find a master who could geld pigs even at the Emperor’s feet in Shengjing.

In truth, there were no pig-gelding masters in Shengjing, only masters specializing in castrating eunuchs. Initially, one might think it easy to invite them to geld pigs, but they acted haughtily, saying how could a knife used on humans be defiled by the stench of pigs? What if it got back to the eunuchs serving in the palace, wouldn’t they be looked down upon?

Tong Huaqiong was amused by these masters’ false pretenses and turned to the Grand Prince.

The Grand Prince dispatched the best masters to geld the piglets at the pig farm.

Thinking that in half a year, the pork market in Shengjing would be monopolized by her, and her family business would expand further, Tong Huaqiong couldn’t help but be excited.

Besides expanding the business, the Gu Family now had three important matters.

The first was the wedding preparation for Gu Taohua.

Following Su Chengmin’s intention, the plan was to marry Gu Taohua before the year’s end, but Gu Taohua wanted to spend New Year with her family, then marry in the spring.

After all, it was their first New Year in Shengjing, and she wanted to spend it with her mother and family.

Besides, the time before the year-end was too short; her elder brother and Gu Xue couldn’t rush back in time from home.

Everyone she cared about must be together for her wedding to see her off properly.

The second thing is Lu Zhaozhao’s pregnancy; Lu Zhaozhao had been pregnant for five months, with the due date set for March of the following year.

The third matter is Gu Jingzhe’s upcoming imperial exam; Gu Jingzhe swore to pass, studying tirelessly from morning until night.

Tong Huaqiong calculated that her family would have three joyous events coming in the spring of the next year.

People often say that good things come in pairs, but for her family, it’s one joy after another.