Chapter 521 - 515_1
Zhao Erhu handed the silver note to Lin Yue and kept two million taels for himself, not because he didn’t trust Lin Yue, but because business dealings usually require spending some silver coin, and purchasing goods also needed money. He couldn’t always ask for money from his wife’s hand whenever he needed to buy something.
"Wife, I’ll leave all the household finances to you, and I’ll just keep these two hundred thousand taels," Zhao Erhu said, wary that his young wife might overthink it, he even made a point to explain what he would use the silver for, "This year’s journey overseas went quite smoothly, and I’m definitely going back next year. I will use it to buy goods on regular days."
Seeing Zhao Erhu’s behavior, Lin Yue felt that she had trained this man quite well. She nodded in satisfaction, put away the silver note and reassured him, "Don’t worry, I understand. Not to mention buying goods, it’s not right for a grown man like you to be without some silver on him; I won’t overthink it."
"Wife, I also brought back a lot of things. Just wait, I’ll have someone bring them into the room," Zhao Erhu said as he went out to give a few orders. Soon, a servant carried in several big chests. The chests were so large and undoubtedly heavy, moving them around was quite a hassle. But since it was snowing outside, and the weather was so cold, Zhao Erhu didn’t want Lin Yue to step outside, preferring to bring the contents into the house, a diversion for her. Otherwise, his little wife might become bored and surely pester him to go out.
In this way, the little wife had something to occupy herself with. Just rummaging through the contents of these big chests could keep her busy for days, and by then, New Year’s Eve was almost upon them. The issue of his wife wanting to go out would be resolved, and she wouldn’t have to cling to him, which would keep him from relenting to her demands due to a lack of willpower. Zhao Erhu thought to himself, feeling quite satisfied that he had managed to distract his little wife.
Right then, Lin Yue was indeed drawn to the large chests that Zhao Erhu had someone bring in. "Zhao Erhu, didn’t you have Brother Xinglin bring things back? Why are there still so many items? Did you bring them from the foreign tribe?"
"There are still several large chests in the storeroom. These are the ones that I thought you might like, specially picked out. The ones Brother Xinglin brought back were only a part of them. Some goods were not sorted properly at the time, and some were mixed with goods from Capital City, so only those were brought back. Moreover, I also brought you a gift. Take a look and see if you like it," Zhao Erhu said as he placed a white lacquered European-style exquisite box in front of Lin Yue.
Lin Yue looked at the three-tiered box and opened one layer. Inside were two sets of extremely delicate jewelry, different from the gold and silver styles of the Great Zhou Dynasty, crafted by combining gold, silver, and gemstones in intricate designs. Even someone like Lin Yue, who usually didn’t fuss over jewelry, was captivated by these pieces and liked them very much.
"These are truly beautiful. I’m afraid even the entire Great Zhou Dynasty could not find craftsmen with such exquisite skills," Lin Yue said. This wasn’t a casual remark. When she went to the Capital City, she had trouble finding a jeweler to make a few designs she had created because her designs were too complicated. In the end, even Princess Yongle had the Imperial Household Department’s craftsmen take a look at her designs, but the resulting pieces failed to satisfy her. The expertise of setting gemstones, as seen in one of her designs, was exactly the skill she sought.