The Lucky Heiress

Chapter 403: Trapped Halfway in Snowy Weather_1

Tingsong Garden.

Wei Ruo received a silver note worth three hundred taels delivered to her by a man from Tongde Hall.

With the substantial amount of silver now in her possession, Wei Ruo was in high spirits.

Together with the newly obtained fifteen hundred acres of land, Wei Ruo’s mood was more than just good.

All that now remained was for Wei Mingting to consent to her marriage with Zhao Xun.

Wei Ruo knew that Wei Mingting had recently sent men to investigate the situation in the Zhao family and Zhao Xun’s health.

Wei Ruo wasn’t concerned about this, because Zhao Xun’s health had indeed improved significantly. He had risktfully participated in the imperial examination while still unwell, but his survival showed that his health had genuinely improved considerably.

Now Wei Ruo had acquired quite a bit of farmland, shops, and silver reserves, and her marital affairs were also making progress.

Everything was evolving in the direction Wei Ruo hoped for.

“Miss, now we have the money to open new shops and buy new houses,” a servant commented.

“I want to use this silver to buy some shops in the provincial capital,” said Wei Ruo.

“Didn’t you already buy some shops through the nanny, miss?” Xiumei asked, puzzled.

“You’re right, the shops for opening my own businesses have already been purchased. The shops I plan to buy now are not for operating myself, but for renting them out to earn rental income,” said Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo had recently received rewards and experienced good harvests on her land, and her various businesses had also made profits, resulting in an increase in her cash reserves.

Wei Ruo liked to use money to make money, so she considered becoming a landlord.

By taking advantage of the provincial capital’s bad economy, she could buy a batch of storefronts at low prices. Once the disaster passed, the value of the shops in the provincial capital would inevitably rise. By that time, whether she decided to resell them or rent them out, she’d make a good profit.

“Collecting rent is good; we’ll have silver to take every month!” Xiumei said, her face filled with anticipation.

“In a few days, I’ll have to find a way to make a trip to the provincial capital and handle this matter personally. I can also deal with the affairs of Fengting Villa at the same time,” Wei Ruo planned.

Wei Ruo had planned things well. By finding an excuse to stay in the provincial capital for a while, she could not only handle business matters efficiently but also have some leisure time.

Speaking of it, the last time she went to the provincial capital was with her second brother. She didn’t know where he was or how he was doing, and how the matter that concerned him was progressing.

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The next day, Wei Ruo left home under the pretext of visiting Madam Yuan and working on the reclaimed land.

Although she said she would stay at the Yuan Residence for a short time, she actually headed for the provincial capital.

It wasn’t until half a month later that she returned.

Originally, she could have arrived in Taizhou prefecture that night. However, it started snowing heavily and, in just half a day, thick snow had accumulated on the roads.

Snow blanketed the city, obstructing all roads leading to the city.

The wheels of the carriages got stuck in the snow, unable to continue their journeys. Wei Ruo’s carriage returning was thus forced to stop outside the city.

“Miss, what should we do? We can’t move,” Xiumei tried to push the carriage out, but failed.

“Meimei, let’s not rush to get on the road. The snow is still falling and is becoming thicker. Even if we get the carriage out of here, we will still be unable to travel due to the snow ahead,” Wei Ruo analysed.

“So, what should we do?” Xiumei asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry, we have everything we need. Even if we have to stay on the roadside for a few days, there won’t be any problems,” Wei Ruo reassured her.

“Miss, you make sense! I forgot about that in my haste!” Xiumei said, her face brightening up with understanding.

“First, let’s clear the snow around the carriage, and then construct a tent,” Wei Ruo proposed, planning to set up camp on the spot and wait for the snowstorm to pass before making further plans.

“OK.”

Wei Ruo and Xiumei first changed their clothes. In the morning they had been dressed warmly enough in autumn clothes, but now they needed to wrap themselves in thick winter gear.

After changing, the two of them began their work, sweeping the accumulated snow around their carriage.

The carriage that Wei Ruo was riding in was newly purchased by herself.

Because Wei Ruo had to travel frequently and using the Wei family’s carriage was inconvenient, she found it reasonable to buy her own carriage, especially since everyone in the Wei family knew she could afford it.

This was a more spacious carriage than the two that the Wei family had initially owned, and the four walls of the carriage were fitted with insulation pads to keep out the cold and wind, making it extremely comfortable. It was also spacious enough for Wei Ruo and Xiumei to spend the night.

The two of them first cleared an empty space around the carriage.

Xiumei trudged through the snow to a nearby bamboo grove and cut off a bundle of bamboo.

Then, Wei Ruo ingeniously brought a piece of cloth, and they used the bamboo and the cloth to set up a simple tent.

The tent was a bit larger than the carriage and could not only shield the carriage but also leave a small open space.

Next, Wei Ruo brought a brazier and some charcoal, and started a fire on the open space next to the carriage. Although doing so was somewhat wasteful, the heat generated by the brazier could, to a certain extent, prevent the snow from accumulating on top of the tent.

Otherwise, with the heavy snowfall, a thick layer of snow would accumulate in no time, easily causing the tent to collapse under its weight.

Beside the brazier, Wei Ruo lit another stove, placed a pot on it and started boiling water.

Since they couldn’t get going for a while, they had to solve their food issue on the spot.

Although they had plenty of dry food in the carriage, Wei Ruo preferred hot meals in this icy cold weather.

While the water was boiling, Wei Ruo brought some hay for the two horses to eat.

While Wei Ruo and Xiumei were busy, a group of people appeared in the distance.

Wei Yichen, Xiu Fengyuan, and Lu Yuhong were initially riding horses back to the city from Anzhou Academy, but because the snow was too thick, they were forced to dismount.

After walking a bit further, even moving on foot became difficult, as the snow had reached their knees. It was not only arduous but also dangerous to continue on the journey, for both horses and humans, under these conditions.

However, staying where they were was also very dangerous. Nobody knew how long this snowstorm would last, and while they had silver coins on them, they had no food. If they just stayed there, they would risk freezing or starving to death.

Just when they didn’t know what what to do and were both hungry and cold, they saw a tent not far away, and also noticed the fire and smoke billowing from beneath it.

They all looked surprised and puzzled.

How could there be a tent by the road during such a snowstorm?

After a while, someone with sharp eyes recognized the busy figure.

“Brother Yichen, doesn’t that appear to be your older sister?”

Hearing this, both Wei Yichen and Xiu Fengyuan turned their gazes toward the tent and as they ascertained that the figure was indeed Wei Ruo, their expressions changed.

At the same time, Wei Ruo, who was busy with her work, noticed their group in the distance.

Upon careful observation, she realized that they were the students from Anzhou Academy.

“What are they doing here?” Wei Ruo wondered.

Instead of staying safely inside the academy, why were these scholars out here in such a heavy snowstorm?

As she pondered, the group started walking towards them.

There were six people in all: Wei Yichen, Xiu Fengyuan, Lu Yuhong, Yuan Wangyuan who was from a side branch of the Yuan family, the second son of the Liu family which was a large established family in Taizhou prefecture, Liu Yu, and a student from a poor family named Gao Wentian.

When the six men got closer and saw the situation on Wei Ruo’s side, they couldn’t help being increasingly astonished and curious.