Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 530 - 529

Chapter 530: 529

Du Yijin wept for a while, before lifting her head, wiping her tears, and shaking her head: "My elder brother still needs to pursue his ambitions, how can he leave the Imperial Capital."

"Then let father take leave and accompany you!" Du Zhongkai suggested.

Du Yijin shook her head: "I’m fine now, there’s no need for you to worry about me. I won’t attempt suicide by hanging myself again."

Upon hearing these words, Du Chun’an and Du Zhongkai exchanged glances; both saw disbelief in the other’s eyes.

Du Yijin knew she couldn’t persuade them immediately, so she decided not to elaborate further and to prove herself through actions.

At this moment, the doctor arrived. This doctor had been serving the Du Mansion for many years due to the presence of a sickly young master in the Du household. He had naturally heard some of the rumors about Du Yijin and sympathized with her.

Seeing the strangling marks on Du Yijin’s neck, he felt sorry for her. Her reputation had been tarnished beyond repair—no wonder such a strong woman had lost the will to live.

After the examination, the doctor left behind a jar of ointment for treating bruises before taking his leave.

Soon, the news of Du Yijin being humiliated and nearly dying from a suicide attempt circulated among the populace.

People are generally sympathetic towards the weak. Soon, everyone started to criticize the Gu household, comparing them to ruthless wolves. Not only did they bring ruin to their own family, but they also brought disaster to Mr. Du’s family and even drove Miss Du to her death.

Xiao’er’s family also heard about the incident. Mrs. Liu became furious upon hearing the news: "This is not something a human would do; they are worse than beasts!"

"Fortunately, she was saved in time." Mrs. Liu Lin sighed.

"Miss Du was driven to suicide by the unruly rumors spread by others. It was not her disgrace, but the disgrace of her father and brother."

Xiao’er was somewhat worried about Du Yijin. Therefore, she went to the Du Mansion early the next morning to take her to the groundbreaking ceremony of the spa resort in the suburbs.

Influenced by Mrs. Liu’s words, Xiao’er developed an interest and decided to secretly observe any sparks that might fly between Jingrui and Du Yijin, so she invited Jingrui to accompany them.

As Du Chun’an was worried about his daughter, he also tagged along.

Jingrui and Du Chun’an rode their horses, while Xiao’er and Du Yijin sat in the carriage.

Xiao’er noticed that Du Yijin was wearing a high-collared dress, but she could still faintly see the bruises on her neck.

Xiao’er handed her a jar of ointment: "Miss Du, this is a bruise ointment from my family’s pharmacy. It is effective, you should use it. Keep the rest for occasions when you accidentally bruise yourself."

Du Yijin blushed slightly at these words. She touched her neck: "Would County Lady Rui’an think me weak?"

Xiao’er shook her head: "The world is just too harsh on women."

Was it such a big deal to accidentally see someone’s underwear? It was too much to slander a girl’s reputation for such a trivial matter.

With a single sentence, Xiao’er voiced the infinite grievances in Du Yijin’s heart.

Although she had done nothing wrong, the world looked down upon her.

"But we don’t live for the world, we live for ourselves, for those who love us, and for those we love. Living a brilliant life is the most important thing no matter what others say or think. After all, they are just irrelevant people to us." Xiao’er continued.

"What would County Lady Rui’an do in this situation?" In her eyes, Xiao’er was an extraordinary woman, and she was curious about how she would react.

"Me? I’ve got martial arts skills. I would have made the offender impotent right there on the spot, then I would strive to amass silver, become wealthy, and keep him away. I would parade my wealth and opulence in front of him until he turns green with envy and drops dead." Xiao’er thought for a while before responding.

Not having experienced such a situation, she truly didn’t know how she would react. However, if she were in Du Yijin’s shoes, the disgraced cousin wouldn’t even dare to come near her, let alone see her underwear.

Becoming wealthy was easier said than done. Du Yijin gave a bitter smile: "My stepmother won’t stand idle."

Du Yijin had also stopped referring to Mrs. Gu as mother.

"You’re already saying it’s your stepmother, what does it have to do with you? If she wants to meddle, let her earn money and meddle herself! Your Du family has done all they can, no one could say otherwise and even the speech officials wouldn’t dare to criticize."

Indeed, they had done all they could do, she didn’t intend to get involved in the matter anymore! Du Yijin thought to herself.

They chatted intermittently about various things, Xiao’er, aware of her lack of counseling skills, decided to discuss some ways to make money.

Women with something to do wouldn’t brood or fall into melancholia.

Xiao’er shared her new business idea.

"Large scale cultivation of walnuts?" Du Yijin was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.

Why did Lady Rui’an mention that green walnuts would become popular in one or two years?

Xaio’er then explained her rationale behind the idea of large-scale cultivation of wild walnuts for huge profits.

This idea originated from Prince An whose health was deteriorating. The imperial doctor suggested he hold a pair of walnuts in his hand and play with them whenever he had the time for health benefits.

However, over time, these ordinary walnuts turned translucent and shiny, becoming a beautiful piece of art.

Prince An was hooked. His son also picked up walnuts’ playing.

After Prince An returned to the Imperial Capital, he was almost inseparable from his walnuts. He had a pair of lion-headed walnuts that he had played with for years. These walnuts had become a marvelous deep red color and looked quite beautiful – having substantial collection value.

Even the emperor was awestruck when he saw them and wished to hold them. However, Prince An was reluctant to part with them.

The emperor was jealous! It was only a pair of walnuts after all, what was there to treasure? He could also play with it! After a few years of play, he refused to believe that he would not have a pair as good as that owned by Prince An!

So he ordered someone to find green walnuts for him. But it wasn’t the season for green walnuts.

Shangguan Xuanyi informed Xiao’er of the incident. Xiao’er had no shortage of green walnuts in her space, but she couldn’t just bring them out casually as she didn’t want to attract the emperor’s attention.

Nevertheless, she smelled a business opportunity in this incident.

The crown prince of Prince An also had a pair of walnuts that he’d been playing with for two years.

Many scholars began to follow suit, even Jingrui and Jinghao wanted to join in, but they lacked green walnuts.

Many students in the academy also wanted to play with walnuts.

She could already foresee the numerous people who would be ordered to find wild green walnuts in the mountains come July or August.

"Since there are wild ones available in the mountains, will we be able to sell the ones we grow?"

"We will harvest the wild ones in advance, but the yield of wild walnuts is uncertain, not all green walnuts will grow into attractive, collectible ones. Perhaps only one pair in ten would be worth keeping. In such a case, there would be a massive demand-supply gap for green walnuts, and prices would skyrocket, leading to a seller’s market."

Upon hearing this, Du Yijin understood. She continued,

"So, those who cannot purchase them this year will desire them even more the next year. The walnuts that we plant this year will be ready for harvest next year and will likely fetch a high price!" Du Yijin said excitedly.