Chapter 1579: Chapter 1586: Zhao Gui’s Determination (2)
He not only ventured into the bicycle business but also established a down processing factory, utilizing the down jackets he collected from the countryside to create numerous down coats, pants, quilts, and cushions—all prepared to sell big during the winter season.
Liu Xi’s goal was clear: he wanted to become the wealthiest man in the Great Jin Nation!
Cai Wei decided to help him fulfill his ambition. She had already freed him from his slave status, allowing him to become a freeman. With more free time, he had greater development opportunities. Besides selling bicycles and down jackets, the rascal even planned to open a furniture store to sell modern furniture.
Cai Wei herself had once entertained such an idea, but ultimately abandoned it due to her busy schedule. Now, it was Liu Xi’s gain. Currently, after attending daily classes at the Women’s College, Liu Xi would inspect the bicycle factory, then the down processing factory. The rest of his time was split evenly between practicing martial arts with Huan Qiu and designing furniture. He was just waiting to unveil his designs, hoping to take the Capital by storm!
Cai Wei rode outside the city, collected her horse back into Space, and entered Space herself. She soaked in a hot spring, then retired to her boudoir to sleep.
To make up time, she planned to travel through the entire night and likely throughout tomorrow as well. Thus, she needed to recharge with sufficient sleep beforehand!
She slept until nightfall, and upon waking, she summoned the white-furred tiger. Riding it, she dashed northward with haste…
Given the tiger’s speed, it couldn’t reach Northern Ridge’s Royal City in a single night. However, pressed for time, Cai Wei decided she would continue traveling through the day tomorrow. To prevent the white tiger from startling the locals in Northern Ridge, she resolved to have Brother Ying scout the path tomorrow, ensuring they traversed unpopulated areas. This would save a day’s worth of time, allowing her to begin her return journey by tomorrow night!
…
The night deepened, the bright moon hung high, its rays pouring down like a flowing stream, bathing the majestic and grand Xianbei Palace. At this hour, most of the palace’s inhabitants had already retired for the night, yet Zhao Gui remained fully adorned, sitting inside the palace, staring at the door outside, waiting in vain.
Months had passed since her marriage into Xianbei, yet her life was far from ideal. As the Empress, she lived neither in the splendor nor glory she had imagined but instead found herself in abject misery. Any imperial concubine within the harem could bully her as they pleased.
She had never expected the coveted back seat she had obtained would turn out like this. Had she known beforehand, she would’ve preferred remaining in Great Jin, casually marrying some son-in-law rather than enduring neglect and mistreatment here!
Helan Qi had already learned that Zhao Gui wasn’t a legitimate princess. Disappointed and resentful, he was incensed that the Emperor of Great Jin hadn’t sent his legitimate sister over, clearly harboring hostility toward him. What’s more, he suspected the Emperor might send his witch of a wife to infiltrate the Xianbei Palace and assassinate him at any moment!
Frightened yet furious, he vented all his anger on Zhao Gui. Though he didn’t dare kill her in his wrath (after all, she still held the status of a princess granted personally by Nangong Yi), he never allowed her a single day of comfort.
From the moment she entered the palace, she was assigned to reside in a palace once occupied by Queen Jia—a palace that, while lavish and opulent, had been used by Queen Jia to cultivate dark arts.
Queen Jia’s dark art was called “Elemental Female War Tactic,” a method of extracting and absorbing a man’s vitality to replenish a woman’s energies, aiding her in reversing aging and achieving eternal youth.
It was precisely due to her cultivation of this technique that Queen Jia permitted Helan Xue’s mother to remain with Helan Qi. Otherwise, Helan Qi wouldn’t have dared to approach any other woman.
However, since Queen Jia simultaneously practiced several other dark arts, her vitality-extraction technique hadn’t produced the desired results. Nonetheless, this palace had still claimed the lives of many young, strong men.