21: Guanyin Slave wants to participate

"Husband, why don't you open a martial arts school or a literary academy?"

After catching Zhao Guanyin in the bedroom and sharing some tenderness, Xiao Qingyuan directly brought up the matter.

"Husband, you see, to form a guard, the most important things are two points: talent and resources."

"Talent needs to be carefully selected, cultivated, and trained from a young age, which certainly cannot be rushed."

Zhao Guanyin could tell that Xiao Qingyuan was already tempted, as it was evident from his relationship with his younger aunt.

Xiao Qingyuan was willing to help.

He asked her for advice, also wanting to identify any shortcomings, so she thought for a moment and said:

"The importance of talent even surpasses that of resources."

"Some people have extraordinary Martial Dao Aptitude; they only need a small amount of resources, and their Realm can advance by leaps and bounds. My husband can buy some spiritual rice to tide them over."

"The method is to secretly assign martial artists to the surrounding villages, recruiting half-grown children under the guise of hiring servants, and teaching them basic martial arts for free."

"This way, in as short as two months, or as long as three to five months, those with good talent can be screened out."

"Here, martial arts schools, orphanages, and academies can all serve as talent screening bases."

"The initial investment does not need to be very much."

Xiao Qingyuan nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

At the same time, he had to admit that Zhao Guanyin's idea was more stable.

He immediately nodded in agreement and pulled Zhao Guanyin into his arms.

"My wife's thoughts are more thorough. Investing so much all at once might not necessarily lead to success."

"Establishing orphanages, martial arts schools, and academies."

"These things are not conspicuous among Immortals, and in the eyes of the Wei Kingdom court, they are good political achievements."

"Nothing will go wrong."

Seeing Xiao Qingyuan nod, Zhao Guanyin smiled slyly and spoke again:

"It's good if I can help my husband. But since my husband attaches such importance to this matter..."

"Guanyin Nu has already reached the Innate Realm, and she also wants to participate and share my husband's worries."

"You're interested in this?" Xiao Qingyuan was stunned to hear this: "And you've already reached Innate? So fast?"

Xiao Qingyuan checked and found that it was indeed true.

Although for Mortals, every Spirit Stone is a Heaven And Earth Treasure, a great medicine for the Martial Dao.

But to Cultivate to the Innate Realm in less than a month, even with a generous estimate, was too exaggerated.

This made Xiao Qingyuan have to marvel at the terror of the spiritual body.

Even if Zhao Guanyin only had a pair of spiritual eyes, her Cultivation speed in the Martial Dao was more than a hundred times that of ordinary people.

So he hesitated and said, "That's a small matter, whether it succeeds or not doesn't matter, but your body is important..."

Zhao Guanyin, hearing this, proactively sat up from his embrace, looked into his eyes, and said earnestly:

"Husband, rest assured. Your concubine will only offer suggestions and do some things to pass the time. I will certainly protect our child."

Xiao Qingyuan nodded upon hearing this.

"That is indeed possible."

Then, with a wave of his hand: "Then go ahead and do it boldly! Your husband will fully support you from behind, just treat it as a game!"

...The next morning.

When A'Da arrived with the silver notes at a crowded shop, on whose wall was written the slogan "No unprovoked assault on customers," he was astonished and stood rooted to the spot.

"So the famous Qingxuan Department Store is actually the Master's private property. Hiss..."

It was no wonder A'Da was surprised.

It was well known that Qingxuan Department Store, backed by Immortals, quickly captured the market with novel items like toothbrushes, towels, perfumes, mirrors, soap, and strong liquor.

Moreover, Qingxuan Department Store offered good quality and low prices, known to everyone in Qingxuan Town.

Over the years, it had already become a regional landmark of Qingxuan Town.

Merchants came and went in an endless stream.

Yet, no one knew who the owner behind it was.

This made his impression of his Master change again and again, suddenly feeling a sense of looking up to a towering mountain.

No wonder the Master is an Immortal?

Just a casual move from him is beyond what any Mortal in the world can compare to.

Even in business, it is the same.

The next moment, he became excited again!

He Xiongda... no! He A'Da, from today onwards, would be the Master's most loyal servant!

"Hey, you there! Toothpaste, toothbrush, enamel mug, strong liquor, white sugar, snowflake salt! What do you want? Hurry up, don't block the line for the people behind."

The sudden scolding made A'Da's face flush.

He turned his head and saw his emotions quickly dissipate, his anger completely gone.

He saw a young girl in a green uniform with braided pigtails staring at him with an annoyed expression.

A'Da took two steps back, his voice a little stuttering: "...Where's your shopkeeper?"

"The shopkeeper doesn't sell!"

"Huh?" The girl was clearly a bit confused, and only a second later did she react, awkwardly saying, "What do you need the shopkeeper for?"

A'Da quickly took out the paper deposit slip he was holding.

Outside silver notes couldn't be used here.

At least not in Qingxuan Town.

What he held was actually an internal silver note from Xiao Qingyuan's businesses.

It was originally created for Xiao Qingyuan's personal convenience.

Later, it evolved into internal circulation and mutual exchange among the various shopkeepers under his command.

It was convenient, to say the least.

The most important purpose was to prevent embezzlement.

The girl looked at it, then sized A'Da up and down.

Then, without another word, she turned and ran towards the backyard.

From afar, she shouted: "Daddy, Daddy!"

"What's wrong, Xiao Hong?"

"The person to withdraw silver is here, come out quickly and see!"

"The person to withdraw silver?"

The middle-aged shopkeeper muttered to himself, "It's not the end of the month, who would come now?"

Seeing A'Da, he became even more suspicious.

"Who is your shopkeeper? I haven't seen you before!"

A'Da didn't see the girl, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He immediately cupped his fists and said, "My name is A'Da, and I am Seventeenth Master's man."

"Seventeenth Master? Which Seventeenth Master?"

However, the middle-aged shopkeeper took the silver note and, upon seeing the name written on it, was so startled that he stumbled.

On it were three grand characters written in a majestic Dragon and Phoenix style—Xiao Qingyuan!

"You are... you are..."

Seeing the shopkeeper's drastically changed expression, A'Da nodded.

A moment later.

Looking at A'Da, who was carrying a large iron chest weighing about three hundred catties and containing five thousand taels of silver, yet still moving nimbly, the shopkeeper took a while to recover his senses.

Damn it, he had been a shopkeeper for so many years.

This was the first time he had received a note personally written by the owner.

Thinking of this, he trembled with excitement.

This handwriting, this charm... worthy of an Immortal's personal script!

Shouldn't this be enshrined as a family heirloom?

And why did he only write it for him?

Isn't this a clear sign of "being favored by the Emperor"?

The shopkeeper was cackling with joy in his heart.

He should have a big drink!

Suddenly, he called a clerk: "You go, call Old Li, Old Lu, Old Kong, and call Old Ding too! Just say that I, Old Sun, am hosting a banquet at Xiangmanlou today and have good news to share with all my brothers."

No sooner had the words fallen than, before the clerk could even leave, the next second, a waiter quickly ran in through the door, shouting: "Mr. Sun, I happened to run into you! My shopkeeper Li has booked a banquet at Xiangmanlou and asks you to grace us with your presence, to share his joy!"

Soon after, Shopkeeper Lu from Tongyuan Inn, Shopkeeper Kong from Qingyuan Wine Workshop, and even Shopkeeper Ding from Xiangmanlou all sent people over.

The message was the same.

They all had good news to share and had set up banquets at Xiangmanlou.

Shopkeeper Sun exchanged glances with the clerk upon hearing this.

His excitement quickly faded, replaced by a wry smile.

The owner, the owner... has all the cash been allocated?

What is he planning to do...?