After deducting the cost of beating down the people, there are still about a thousand or two taels left.

  Nowadays, the annual salary of a seventh-grade official is only 98 stones, which is equivalent to about 49 taels of silver. The two houses have more than a thousand taels of silver each year, which is naturally considered a lot.

  But compared to the Xie estate, this amount of silver is really not worth mentioning.

  Xie's family became wealthy through business, although they didn't have any land or estates. In recent years, not only did they have shops in Hejian and the capital, but also a tea garden of their own in Jiangnan. Xie Wan hadn't been there before, but from his parents' conversations, he heard that it was at least over 1,000 mu (about 165 acres) in size. By rough estimate, the annual income should be around tens of thousands of taels of silver.

  Xie Wan's purpose in reincarnating was not just to make Wang Shi her target, that would be a waste of this opportunity to be reborn as a human.

  Wang was just one of her enemies, and even if she were to bring her down, there would still be Xie Hong and Xie Rong - especially Xie Rong, who would be the backbone of the entire Xie family in the future. He played a crucial role in transforming the Xie family from landlords to imperial nobles, and for a very long time in his past life, he was the core of the entire Xie family as well as its relatives and side branches.

  Xie Rong was born with a natural talent, it is said that on the first day after birth, his vision could focus, at nine months old he could walk, at one year old he could say more than ten pairs of tongue twisters, at two years old he could read complete Tang poems, at eight years old he could write couplets, and then at ten years old he passed the Imperial Examination as a Xiucai. After that, for several years, although he studied hard without making any noise, he waited until he was eighteen to take the Provincial Examination, and twenty-seven to take the Imperial Examination. However, his academic performance has been very stable so far, and he has never made any mistakes in front of any examiner.

  This is absolutely a cautious and habitual person who leaves room for retreat.

  Xie Wan only saw Xie Rong twice in her impression. The first time was on New Year's Eve, when he squatted on the ground to watch Xie Yun set off fireworks. His smiling face was gentle and soft, with a bright light shining in his eyes as he gazed at the fireworks, like the morning star that flashed by in that season.

  He didn't see Xie Wan at the time, but later at the reunion dinner, his father asked her to call him "Third Uncle". At that moment, the smile on his face had already been reined in a lot, and he was no longer the gentle-faced father, but an ordinary refined scholar.

  Later, in the capital, Xie Wan was a female teacher at Li Jun's house when he was already serving as the Minister of Revenue. One day, she received an invitation from Li Jun and went to his mansion with Hanlin Academy scholar Zhu Qingfang to admire chrysanthemums. From behind the curtain in the side hall, she saw that among the scholars, he still had that smiling and taciturn demeanor, but those increasingly sharp and bright eyes made him easily become the center of attention.

  Not long after, a rebellion broke out in Guangxi due to drought. Guangxi Governor Du Qishan led the army to suppress it, but he died before achieving victory, and the war spread to Yunnan and Guizhou. The emperor was worried and fell ill, and Grand Councilor Ji Zhong recommended Zhang Zhi-chuan to take over as governor of Guangxi, and appointed Minister of Revenue Shi Rong as a special envoy to go together to comfort the victims.

  In the same year, in November, Zhang Zhi-chuan joined forces with Yunnan Governor Zheng Yi and drove the rebel army back to Guangxi within half a year. The leader of the Righteous Army, Tong Guan, cut his throat on the battlefield. The remaining soldiers either escaped overseas, followed Tong Guan, fought to the death, or fled to Sichuan, Huguang and other places with the intention of instigating large-scale uprisings.

  Zhang Zhi-chuan was worried and anxious, while Xie Rong took out silver to comfort the people, promising not to kill those who surrendered their arms. He also submitted a memorial to the palace, suggesting that corrupt officials be executed and grain be distributed to comfort the victims of the disaster. The emperor adopted his suggestion and immediately ordered neighboring provinces to open their granaries and distribute grain to provide relief. However, before the grain could even reach halfway, it was snatched up by fleeing refugees who had escaped.

  The refugees on the spot could not wait for food and relief money, and began to riot. Xie Rong immediately sent someone to take a letter back to Qinghe to ask Xie Qigong for help.

  Xie Qigong immediately released Yang's grain depot in Nanwa Village, and overnight, he had 30,000 catties of grain loaded. He also used two shops owned by the Yangs in Qingyuan Prefecture as compensation and invited the most famous escort agency, Zhenyuan Escort Agency, to personally escort the shipment, which finally arrived safely in Guangxi within the agreed-upon time limit.

  These were originally the industries of the second house, and Xie Qigong would not be heartbroken for his beloved third son. The refugees received food, and then the court's relief grain arrived, and they immediately accepted the amnesty. Xie Rong made great achievements before Zhang Zhikang, was replaced and appointed as the governor of Guangxi, and the next year, the academician of the Imperial Academy, He Zhiyuan, died, and the emperor appointed Xie Rong to replace him in the cabinet.

  If Xie Wan came to comment on Xie Rong, then he was a lurking eagle, who could hold his breath and wait for the opportunity to strike, and when the target appeared, he would let go and seize it. His vision was in the vast sky, under the heavens, he absolutely wasn't a role like that of the Wang family!

  So her goal is not just Wang's family, but the entire Xie manor including Xie Rong.

  Perhaps in Xie Rong's eyes, even Xie Wan and Xie Lang have not yet entered his vision, not qualified to be his opponent. Maybe even the property of the second house that Wang Shi can't let go of is not worth mentioning in his eyes.

  But even so, his previous life was able to take advantage of the Wen Guangxi uprising and get a high-ranking official position, finally squeezing into the cabinet, still relying on Yang's three million kilograms of grain in Nan Ya Zhuang.

  In the end, Wang was able to get rid of her in the capital's old mansion by having a maid hand her a few pieces of silver like alms to a beggar, relying on Xie Rong's official power, and Xie Rong's rise to high position still relied on the wealth of the Xie family.

  Xie Teng was originally the eldest son of the Xie family, and the entire family's property, even if not all belonged to the second house, at least should have taken the lion's share. In their previous life, the second house not only didn't get half of the family property, but Wang Shi and her children actually took over all the assets in their hands and used them to benefit their own descendants! This tone, how can people swallow it?

  If they don't take care of the Xie family's property first, Xie Rong may still have a chance to enter the emperor's line of sight according to her original trajectory; if Xie Rong becomes a high-ranking official in the end, then she will only be able to keep this property in her hands and cannot retrieve those properties that should belong to the second house, let alone clear her father's name.

  Before all this can be accomplished, the first prerequisite is to have money, more money than the Xie manor! Only by winning them fundamentally can we possibly control the situation from now on.

  Xie Wan felt more and more that the burden on her shoulders was getting heavier.

  She pushed open the window in the corridor facing the sky well and saw Yu Fang walking into the room from the hallway.

  "Miss, Big Miss and Second Miss have come to see you."

  Xie Wan took a moment to react.

  The elder sister is Xie Rong's eldest daughter, Xie Wei, and the younger sister is Xie Hong's eldest daughter, Xie Qi. One is eleven years old and the other is nine years old. Xie Qi has a somewhat cold and proud personality, and Xie Wan hasn't had much contact with her. As for Xie Wei, because Huang Shi has been bedridden with illness these days, she hasn't gone out or socialized. Why have these two come to see her today?

  She was still immersed in the information about Xie Rong just now, and for a while, she couldn't adjust her mood to entertain guests.

  "Just say I'm not comfortable——"

  Just as they were talking, a string of clear and crisp laughter came from the other end of the hall, followed by two half-grown girls wearing pink and yellow embroidered jackets with dark patterns walking in arm-in-arm.

  "I knew you'd say that, Third Sister! You still don't believe me!"

  On the left, Xie Wei's melon-seed-shaped face smiled faintly as she gazed at Xie Wan inside the window. Her eyebrows and eyes were beautiful, with a spirit similar to that of Xie Rong, already showing a few hints of a maiden's demeanor. On the right, Xie Qi's face also had a smile, but it looked much more forced, "I don't know if Third Sister is really so difficult to serve."

  Xie Wan didn't know what kind of tricks the two were up to, so she could only smile and walk out.

  "It's so gloomy and dark today, it looks like it's going to rain, how did you all come here?"

  Xie Wei rolled her eyes at Xie Qi and laughed: "You wouldn't believe me if I said I missed you. It's just that earlier when we were talking to Madam, everyone mentioned that in two days' time, Madame Ren of Nanyuan County is going to celebrate her birthday, and our family will also go to congratulate her. Madam asked us to come see what Sanmei was doing, and whether or not she would like to go to the Ren residence together."

  Nanyuan County was where Uncle's family lived, and if it were any other time, Xie Wan would have liked to go. But the Ren family... Ah, who do you think the Ren family is? The third son of the Ren family was none other than the person who had a marriage contract with Xie Wan in her past life!

  This marriage was initiated by the Ren family, who approached Uncle with a proposal. At that time, the Ren and Qi families had interactions, and Mr. Ren somehow heard that Xie Wan would make a suitable daughter-in-law for their family, so they proposed the match to Uncle. Uncle had met the third young master before and reportedly thought he was talented and handsome, so he agreed. However, less than five years later, after Uncle resigned from his official position, Xie Zhuo only managed to pass the imperial examination as a low-ranking scholar, and the Ren family used the excuse that their eight characters were not compatible to call off the engagement.

  For this, Auntie was so angry that she almost fought with Madame Ren. Afterwards, whenever they met on the road, they would deliberately take a detour to avoid each other.

  Xie Wan had never even seen this third young master before, but to let her enter their family's door was something that would never happen in a lifetime.

  "It's hard for you to come over." Xie Wan let Yu Xue have some tea, then said: "I also wanted to go with my sisters, but brother said that I'm still in mourning, so I temporarily can't attend these banquets. Otherwise, outsiders will say that the Xie family doesn't know their place."

  Xie Wei nodded after listening, "What you said is right. Father has written to us several times, teaching us not to forget etiquette and rules, lest we ruin our reputation. It can be seen that San Meimei is very sensible. However, everyone knows that you fainted due to the passing of your parents, if it's just a walk, it should be okay to clear your mind."

  "It's fine if little sister doesn't go, let's just stop persuading her." Xie Qi stared at Xie Wan's face and stopped Xie Yu without hesitation.

  Xie Wei furrowed her brow.

  Xie Wan smiled faintly and turned to Xie Wei, saying: "Since Third Uncle has instructed us so earnestly, it can be seen that this etiquette is extremely important. My father used to say that Third Uncle was a true gentleman, with a nature as sincere as the sun, and with utmost benevolence and filial piety. Now that Father is no longer here, I should still listen to Third Uncle's words."

  Xie Wei was annoyed at Xie Qi, but when she heard Xie Wan's praise for her father, her face also lit up with joy. She pulled Xie Wan's hand and said: "We sisters are not many, you usually stay in this big courtyard, it's so boring! I see that you haven't been out of the house since you returned to the mansion these days, this won't do. If you're bored, come to Fengfengyuan to find me. Father set up a swing for me, let's play on the swing!"

  Xie Wan smiled and nodded: "Definitely. It's time to go and pay respects to Third Aunt."