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Chapter 161
Lu XuanNing lowered his head, cleared his throat a few times, and was about to say "I..." when Li Xia kissed him on the face. Lu XuanNing froze completely, staring blankly at Li Xia.
"Going to watch the opera," Li Xia said as she left, without looking back at Lu XuanNing. Lu XuanNing noticed a hint of fluster in Li Xia's departing footsteps. He touched the spot where she had kissed him and smiled sweetly.
Mrs. Lu knew that Old Madam Lu loved watching opera, so she had specially set up a stage and invited an opera troupe to perform. She sat on one side of the Old Madam to watch the opera, with Xu Xinyue on the other side.
Li Xia approached and saw the Chang'an Princess beckoning her over. Li Xia went to sit between Li Xin and the Chang'an Princess. The two examined Li Xia from left and right, naturally noticing the jade bracelet on her wrist.
"Eating and watching opera," Li Xia spoke first, before the other two could say anything. ƒreewebɳovel.com
The high-pitched opera singing did not attract the young people's attention. Soon, the Chang'an Princess couldn't help but address the other two as "Elder Sisters."
Seeing that Old Madam Lu, Mrs. Lu, and the others at the front were engrossed in the opera and not paying attention to them, Li Xin led the other two away. The adults at the front could see their little movements but chose not to say anything.
Arriving at Li Xin's Fuqing Courtyard, Li Xin and Chang'an looked at Li Xia.
"Alright, I'll tell you," Li Xia surrendered and briefly explained.
"If only Brother Hui could treat me like that," Chang'an felt that Li Hui always treated her like a child.
Li Xia looked Chang'an up and down and said, "You need to grow up a bit more." Chang'an still looked young.
"Elder Sister Xia, how did you grow such a good figure?" Chang'an greatly envied Li Xia's tall, curvaceous figure. Unlike herself, who at 13 looked like she was 8 or 9.
"Can't help it, I'm naturally beautiful," Li Xia said with a smug expression. Not just Chang'an, even Li Xin couldn't resist the urge to tickle her. The two exchanged a glance and pounced on Li Xia to tickle her. The three girls tumbled about in a playful tussle.
Outside the door, the maids kept watch from a distance, not allowing any outsiders to enter.
In the evening, Li Xia went to the Tian Yi Pavilion to find Zhou Heng and inquire about the musical theater troupe. Watching the opera today had reminded her of the musical theater troupe she had forgotten about.
Zhou Heng told Li Xia about the situation with the musical theater troupe. The troupe had been established by Fourth Miss Lu and the Fourth Prince. After they had a falling out, the troupe split into two factions. One faction followed the Fourth Prince, while the other, led by Mei Saniang, followed Fourth Miss Lu and allied with the Third Prince.
After the two died, both factions were absorbed by the Third Prince, who continued the musical theater performances. However, without Fourth Miss Lu's creativity, and with the establishment of other musical theater troupes drawing away talent, the troupe was now in decline.
Knowing there wasn't much more to learn, Li Xia stopped asking about it.
Zhou Heng handed Li Xia a box, saying, "Your coming-of-age gift."
Li Xia took it and opened it. Inside was a medicine box. "What medicine is this?" Li Xia's special ability had temporarily stopped, so she didn't need to take medicine.
"It's a newly improved scar removal ointment."
"For my coming-of-age gift, why are you giving me Lu XuanNing's scar removal ointment?" Li Xia didn't understand why Zhou Heng would give her this.
"I originally wanted to give you this," Zhou Heng took out another box, but considering Li Xia's young age, he hadn't given it to her.
"What's this?"
Zhou Heng explained, and Li Xia looked at him incredulously.
"This is an item for intimacy between men and women, and it's selling very well," Zhou Heng had an expression that suggested Li Xia didn't know its value.
"You're saying this thing is selling particularly well?" Li Xia said, looking at the medicine box on the table.
"Yes, it's a great money-maker. I developed it in collaboration with Xiao Changyou," Zhou Heng was very pleased with his collaboration with Xiao Changyou.
"How did you two come up with the idea to research this?"
Faced with Li Xia's curiosity, Zhou Heng was somewhat reluctant to answer. After a good while, he finally gave in under Li Xia's gaze. It was mainly to make money.
After the reforms at the Tian Yi Pavilion, expenses increased while income decreased, and they were clearly spending more than they earned. Zhou Heng wanted to make money to supplement their income. Xiao Changyou suggested researching this, and the original prescription came from the palace.
The two worked on improving it, replacing some of the expensive medicinal ingredients to lower the cost of raw materials. They collaborated with brothels and cosmetics shops to sell these products.
Brothels were also good places to gather information, and the product sold extremely well. All the financial gaps at the Tian Yi Pavilion were filled, and the brothels even developed quite a few intelligence personnel. It was a win-win situation.
"If you were short on money, why didn't you tell me?"
"I decided to take over the Tian Yi Pavilion, so how could I come to you for everything?" Besides, Li Xia could help him temporarily, but not forever. Moreover, he couldn't bring himself to ask Li Xia for money.
"And why did Xiao Changyou want to do this? And why not sell it in pharmacies?" Xiao Changyou wasn't short on money.
Zhou Heng cleared his throat, "Xiao Changyou has taken a liking to Qiu Ling."
"What did you say?" Li Xia's voice changed. Someone dared to set their sights on her person.
"Qiu Ling is a year older than you, and you're already engaged. It's normal for her to have one or two admirers," Zhou Heng's words made Li Xia sit back down.
"Continue," she said.
Zhou Heng went on. Because of intelligence work, Qiu Ling came to the Tian Yi Pavilion frequently, increasing her chances of meeting Xiao Changyou. At some point, Xiao Changyou began to care for Qiu Ling. He originally wanted to take Qiu Ling as a concubine, but Zhou Heng, who saw through this, slapped some sense into him and forbade Xiao Changyou from coming to the Tian Yi Pavilion.
Unable to let go of Qiu Ling, Xiao Changyou privately went to find her and confessed his feelings. Qiu Ling, focused on Li Xia's instructions, found Xiao Changyou's affection for her bewildering.
Qiu Ling's rejection and Zhou Heng's strictness made Xiao Changyou feel uncomfortable. He simply told his family that he wanted to marry Qiu Ling as his wife. Marrying a maid as a wife - his family didn't agree, but Xiao Changyou became even more determined.
He had a falling out with his family and was kicked out. The young master who had never worried about money before now realized its importance. Unable to return home, he swallowed his pride and apologized to Zhou Heng. Knowing Zhou Heng's predicament, he proposed the money-making scheme.
"So for this, you sold out Qiu Ling?" Li Xia said, clenching her fist. The crackling sound from her fingers made Zhou Heng take a step back. "How could I possibly do that?" He had simply stopped opposing Xiao Changyou's pursuit of Qiu Ling.
"Zhou Heng, my hand is itching. Spar with me for a few rounds."
Knowing he couldn't escape, Zhou Heng put in his utmost effort but was still beaten black and blue by Li Xia. Having vented her displeasure, Li Xia left the Tian Yi Pavilion.
On her way back to Qingyue Street, Li Xia also reflected on her own negligence. Of the four "Qiu" girls, except for Qiu Chan who was a year younger than her, the other three were all older. The oldest, Qiu Shui, was already 18. As their mistress, she needed to start considering their futures.
Returning from paying respects at the Wild Goose Pavilion early in the morning, Li Xia called the four Qius into the room. "You four, stop what you're doing for a moment. I have something to discuss with you."
The four Qius paused their work and approached Li Xia, waiting for her to speak.
Li Xia wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject, so she cleared her throat a couple of times. freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Miss, is your throat bothering you? Mrs. Wu made some autumn pear syrup yesterday. I'll go prepare some for you," said Qiu Kui as she rose to make the pear drink.
After drinking the pear water, Li Xia decided it was best to be direct. "The four of you have reached the age for marriage arrangements. Do you have any thoughts on this?"