The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 536 - 535 Seemingly fragile, quite ambitious (first update)

Chapter 536: 535 Seemingly fragile, quite ambitious (first update)

Li Rui and his wife learned from Li Xianyun’s letter that Yelu Yan allowed her to leave the palace to do things she enjoyed, such as running her workshop, Drying Room, including the Ice Porridge Shop and pastry shops, which were all mentioned in the letter, but seeing is believing.

Looking at such large-scale workshops and Drying Room, and seeing so many well-organized workers busy at work, Li Rui and Qiu Qianyun grew even more approving of Yelu Yan.

No emperor throughout history had ever allowed one of his consorts to frequently leave and enter the Imperial Palace, to engage in activities she liked, but Yelu Yan had made it possible.

It was clear to see just how much he doted on Li Xianyun.

Li Shaojun had always greatly admired Yelu Yan, who was skilled in martial arts; now, he developed even greater respect for his brother-in-law.

Li Xianyi, being young and preoccupied with eating and drinking, also understood that her brother-in-law was very good to her older sister.

When Li Xianyun first proposed the marriage alliance with Khitan, Li Rui and his wife had strongly opposed it.

Li Shaojun and Li Xianyun also tried to persuade them in every possible way.

But Li Xianyun convinced her family with just one sentence.

She looked at Li Rui and Qiu Qianyun, and said in an extremely calm yet firm voice, "Father, Mother, a tree dies when moved, but a person thrives on change. I want to take a chance; there might be a glimmer of hope."

After that, Li Rui and Qiu Qianyun said no more, but an air of gloom seemed to envelope Prince’s Mansion.

During the days when Li Xianyun was married to Khitan, her family was very worried, but fortunately, Li Xianyun’s choice turned out to be right.

The Li Family Members were truly happy for Li Xianyun from the bottom of their hearts.

Li Xianyun then took everyone to East Market and West Market to see the pastry shops, dried fruit shops, and milk tea shops.

Each shop was thriving with a long line of customers waiting outside.

Initially, Li Xianyun had planned to not get directly involved in the newly opened pastry and dried fruit shops.

However, these two shops sold the same items as Ruyi Square, making it difficult to disassociate them from her, so she no longer avoided the connection.

The two new shops and the Ice Porridge Shop in East Market were all named after Ruyi Square.

The style, color, and size of the signboards were the same as that of Ruyi Square, with just smaller fonts beside the big characters for ’Ruyi Square’, indicating ’Pastry Shop’, ’Dried Fruit Shop’, and ’Milk Tea Shop’ for differentiation.

These four shops covered the same type of food, with each shop mainly focusing on one category.

In managing Ruyi Square, Ali had accumulated a wealth of experience. Li Xianyun had him arrange regular meetings for the managers of the four shops, so they could exchange experiences and learn from each other.

Each shop manager had independent authority to make decisions; when in doubt, they could report directly to Li Xianyun.

This prevented corruption resulting from concentration of power and ensured that the four shops did not operate in a disjointed manner.

Furthermore, Li Xianyun had long-term plans for Ruyi Square in her mind.

After stabilizing its business in Shangjing, she planned to open branches of Ruyi Square in some of the main neighboring towns.

She intended to slowly expand the business of Ruyi Square, creating a large industry chain across the whole of Khitan.

As the industry grew larger, she could also develop it in even more distant directions.

Although Li Xianyun appeared delicate, she had great ambition.

Ji Shi Tang (Relief Hall or Hall of Healing) was a process of consolidation; by the time of Ruyi Square, she had accumulated extensive experience.

One does not need much to build a business—focusing deeply and extensively on one area is the way to achieve great success.

Li Xianyun took the Li Family Members for a tour around the four Ruyi Square shops, buying some pastries and treating everyone to a cup of hot, sweet milk tea.

This is the rule at Ruyi Square, even Ruyi Square’s own people cannot casually take treats from the shop; they need to pay for them just like the customers outside.

Li Xianyun had made it clear long ago, business is business, and personal favors are personal favors. These two must be distinctly separated to avoid management chaos.

Li Xianyun specifically bought three more servings of pastries and milk tea, to take to Yaduo, Tia, and Yelu Yan.

At 11 AM, Li Xianyun, accompanied by a group of people, came to Songhe Tower intending to have a meal. Afterwards, she planned to stroll around West Market to do some shopping, then visit Tia at Xuanyi Pavilion in the evening.

In the daytime, Xuanyi Pavilion was at its busiest, and a visit would only disturb Tia from treating patients.

During these days, Li Xianyun first went to West Mountain’s hot springs with Yelu Yan, then she was kidnapped by Murong Ce for quite some days, and the journey back from the border had also been delayed for quite some time.

All this while, Xuanyi Pavilion had been under Tia’s management.

Li Xianyun felt she owed Tia a great deal and planned to make it up to her later.

The dishes had not yet been served, and Li Xianyun was chatting with Li Rui and Qiu Qianyun.

Li Shaojun and Li Xianyi were standing by the window, admiring the surrounding scenery.

Everything in Khitan was fresh and novel to them, broadening their horizons.

When in Chang’an, the Li family members always tread carefully; they had never been as relaxed as they were now, and this was all thanks to Li Xianyun.

Standing on the high balcony and leaning on the rail to look afar, the scenery of Shangjing was fully in view.

The crisscrossing streets, the shops that provided everything one could need, the neatly arranged residences, the varying heights of the magnates’ houses laid out in an orderly manner, as well as the bustling crowd and the constant flow of carriages and horses all demonstrated the prosperity of Shangjing.

People from the Central Plains always considered Khitan a land of barbarians who lived primitively. They believed that Khitan was backward in politics, culture, and even economically.

Indeed, it was once so, but since Yelu Yan came of age and gradually took control of the military, under his leadership, Khitan’s military strength leaped forward, emerging from among the neighboring countries to become the most militarily powerful nation.

Military power often determines a country’s diplomatic standing, and as such, Khitan’s voice became increasingly weighty in its diplomatic relations with other nations.

Those countries that were hostile to Khitan also became frightened by Yelu Yan; the mention of his name sent shivers down their spines.

Yelu Yan’s forceful tactics were applied not just in military affairs but also in governance.

During the years of his administration, Khitan’s government became increasingly upright and the economy underwent seismic changes.

Were it not for the winter disaster last year, Khitan’s economy would have already surpassed that of Houliang and Houtang.

Li Shaojun had been casually enjoying the view when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure and excitedly called into the room, "Sister, come here quickly and look."

Thinking something had happened, Li Xianyun steadied Li Rui and Qiu Qianyun while getting up and walking to the window.

Following the direction Li Shaojun pointed, she looked far into the distance and saw Yelu Yan riding along the street accompanied by five or six guards.

There were people and carriages coming and going on both sides of the street, so their pace was not fast.

Yelu Yan’s robust body rose and fell with the motion of the horse; he was handsome and noble, imposing and awe-inspiring, causing passersby to stop in their tracks and watch.

Yelu Yan, having finished his official duties, went out of the palace to look for Li Xianyun.

He had placed many Hidden Guards around Li Xianyun, and every so often, the Hidden Guards would report back to him.

Yelu Yan knew Li Xianyun’s whereabouts like the back of his hand; his ability to track her down was not surprising at all.

Riding on his tall horse, he spotted from afar Li Shaojun and Li Xianyi who stood on the fifth-floor balcony of Songhe Tower looking around. He was thinking to himself that if only Li Xianyun would come out and stand there as well, he could see her earlier.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, he saw Li Xianyun grace walking out.