Qin Yunuan was nested in Leng Changxi’s arms, surrounded by his love and tenderness. She nodded in response and seemed to speak unintentionally, “I heard that my Grand sister would marry next month on the nineteenth.”
Leng Changxi responded slowly, “I will send them a great gift.”
The two hugged for a while. Then Qingzhu, the maid who worked for Princess Ning, came again with gifts of all kinds.
“The caterpillar fungus from West Xia is to build up the health of the Third Young Master. The Tianshan snow lotus of North Di is for Third Young Madam….” Qingzhu pointed at each object and introduced it to Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi.
“This is something even better,” Qingzhu said with a smile, “The Lapsang souchong from Mountain Mao in the regions south of the River. It is said that only a dozen pounds are produced a year. The princess doesn’t like tea, but she knows that Third Young Madam loves it. So she delivered them all. Though it’s just one catty, we bought it with thousands of gold.”
Qin Yunuan appeared to rejoice, saying to Qingzhu happily, “Then you have to thank her for me first. I will go and thank her in person tomorrow.”
Qingzhu smiled and nodded, “Third Young Madam, you are really kind.”
Qin Yunuan’s expression turned from innocent joy to a faint worry when all the people in this yard were gone.
“What’s the matter?” Leng Changxi only glanced at these gifts. He knew Princess Ning’s temper. As long as Princess Ning thought of someone as her own, she naturally wanted to share everything with him or her. It was her simple and lovely character that had always been attracting Prince Ning, and that the old princess had been quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law.
“I have heard the name of Lapsang souchong, and I have drunk some.” Qin Yunuan singled out the pot of tea sealed with ceramics and let Maner transport the rest into the room. “It grows in the deep mountains, and the tea trees are wild. It is indeed very difficult to collect. But I have never heard that the Lapsang souchong could be that outrageously expensive. I have heard from the young master of the Shen family that the most expensive Lapsang souchong was about twenty or thirty pounds of gold a catty. Did you hear what Qingzhu said? Princess Ning bought these for a thousand, I am worried….”
“Are you worried that my mother was deceived by the people underneath?” Leng Changxi hit the mark with a single sentence.
Qin Yunuan nodded. She said after thinking deeply, “But I saw mother today, and not like what other people say, I don’t think she could be easily fooled. I think that our mother probably knew that the people under her hands had greedy habits. It was just that she couldn’t find the reason to investigate all of them. After all, it involves the cost of the entire Prince Ning’s Mansion. If my guess was right, she gave me those three shops to create a reason for the investigation. The exercise she mentioned might not necessarily be about my business ability, but to find out if I could manage the situation, or do I have the courage to do so.”
Qin Yunuan finished thoughtfully, turning her head to look at Leng Changxi. She seemed to be asking for his opinion, but Leng Changxi always kept an ambiguous smile. The two people looked at each other for a long time, and finally, Qin Yunuan could not bear it. She lifted her tiny fist and hammered it into Leng Changxi’s shoulders. Her tone was tender, “Talk. Do I have any reason?”
Leng Changxi smiled, hugging his little hedgehog. He began to guide her gently, “Do you know what this means?”
Qin Yunuan shook her head.
The smile lingered on the corner of Leng Changxi’s mouth. He nibbled Qin Yunuan’s ear, “Since my mother has left it to you, she meant that in the future, Prince Ning’s Mansion would be yours.”
Qin Yunuan was surprised and subconsciously wanted to break free from Leng Changxi’s arms but was still tightly held.
“Don’t be afraid, and don’t be nervous,” Leng Changxi was very calm because he had expected such an ending, “Those events before had proved that my mother had good vision. She didn’t misread you. You are capable of this. As for the concubines in the East House and the Second Old Master in West House, you don’t need to worry about them. You’ve got me, what are you still afraid of?”
“Huh.” Qin Yunuan lowered her head and responded sweetly. But then she felt that nothing could help express how deeply she was touched inside, so she raised his head again, gently pecked at Leng Changxi ‘s beautiful and perfect chin, and immediately dropped her head.
“You are mine now, but still so shy. I’m afraid I will be joked by our children in the future.” Leng Changxi stroked Qin Yunuan’s head lovingly.
“In this case, I want to go to the shops in the east of the city tomorrow.”
Leng Changxi nodded and kissed her on the cheek again, “Well, you must let Leng Shuang accompany you.”
Early the next morning, an unpretentious carriage drove out of Prince Ning’s Mansion and went east along the Que’er Street towards the three shops under the name of Prince Ning’s Mansion. However, it didn’t stop at the shop entrance but stayed in a small teahouse opposite.
A lady got out of the carriage. Every movement of her could reveal her elegance and nobility. There were still few people in the teahouse in the morning, and the running waiter had his chin squinted on the table napping. Hearing that somebody entered, he raised his head and was shocked by the extravagance of this lady.
Having ordered some simple refreshments, Qin Yunuan sat by the window on the second floor and looked at the three shops that had just opened for business. Beside her was three businessmen. She picked them out yesterday from the Golden Butterfly Embroidery House. They were the three most capable managers.
One was from Jingzhou. He was tall, sturdy, and the most sophisticated of all. But he was also steadfast and had done a lot for the Golden Butterfly Embroidery House to expand its business in Jingzhou.
The other two managers were local in the Royal City. The younger one was only in his early twenties. There was a scar on his face, making him looked fierce, but he was often praised by the guys in the shop. Finally, there was the oldest and most experienced manager. Hadn’t this manager reminded Qin Yunuan in advance before the flood in the southeast a while ago, Qin Yunuan would also have lost money like many merchants.
These three managers were the elites of the Golden Butterfly Embroidery House. Now Qin Yunuan had gathered them not simply for tea.
“Big boss, what should we do?” The scarred manager asked.
“Each of you is responsible for one shop,” Qin Yunuan gave a sideways glance at the draper, the jewelry shop, and the rice shop on the opposite side. Since she had made her mind up to investigate, she should check it carefully. “Watch out for three major issues. The flow of people, purchases and shipments, and the status of the shop assistants.”
If Qin Yunuan was right, people said that those three shops were losing money, but they have started to make profits since Princess Ning took over. It was by no means so simple. These three shops were in the prime location of the Royal City. The people under Princess Ning’s hands might have concealed a lot of profits. If Qin Yunuan hadn’t checked in advance, the shops would be in a mess when she took over.
The three managers were slightly stunned. Then they all nodded their heads. They weren’t convinced of this woman as the shop’s owner, but after a long time, they knew that this daughter of a concubine, who was now an Infanta, was a very intelligent person. And they were very lucky to work under her hands.
As time passed, the sun was burning outside, and it was almost noon. Although it was cooler inside the tea house, the three managers were sweaty. They had maintained a highly concentrated state of mind, using their professional judgment to keep records of their respectively responsible shop’s business situations.
“Okay.” Qin Yunuan stopped the three managers. “Show it to me.”
After reading the records of the three people, Qin Yunuan’s eyes were filled up with confidence. She nodded, it was as she had expected, “The business of these three shops was surprisingly good, they are all catching up with our embroidery house.”
Having read all the records, it was about the time. Qin Yunuan got up and helped the hair bun, “It was about the time. We should also visit the managers of these three shops.”Read latest chapters at L istnovel.com
The number of buyers started to decrease at noon. When Qin Yunuan appeared elegantly in the first draper, The manager at the counter stared straight at her and started his business talk with her familiarly.
“Madam, do you want clothes for yourself or your husband? Recently we have purchased a lot of good materials from the silk and water towns in the regions south of the River. Would you like to come in and see?”
Qin Yunuan gave him a sideways glance, “The silk from the Silk Town Baling City south of the River is indeed the best, but a bolt of cloth costs thousands of golds. With the profit you earned on your account books, how could you have purchased a batch?”
The manager became nervous. Though his tone was still respectful, he was more cautious and conservative, “Oh, don’t say that, Madam. Our draper had been in business on East Street for several years, and our excellency was recognized. We would never use bad satin to fool our customers. You are too worried about it. Do you want me to show you some?”
“There’s no need,” Qin Yunuan said faintly, “I know that your silk materials are real. That only shows your account books are faked.”
The manager’s shrewd eyes blinked, and he snorted coldly, “It seemed that you didn’t come for the clothes. Everything you said was about our account books. If you have anything to say, say it.”
At this time, a little assistant recognized the scarred manager behind Qin Yunuan. He reminded his manager, “Hey, wasn’t that the major manager of the Golden Butterfly Embroidery House?”
“Yeah, it turned out that you came to mess around.” The business of Golden Butterfly Embroidery House was getting bigger and bigger nowadays, and it would inevitably have oppressed these small shops.
The manager looked to the Qin Yunuan once again, his eyes already filled with anger, “Madam, you are from the Golden Butterfly Embroidery House. Don’t blame me for speaking bluntly. We don’t want to deal with anyone from the Golden Butterfly Embroidery House.” After his words, he gathered several tall and strong men to drive away Qin Yunuan and her group of people.
“Don’t you take another step forward!” Leng Shuang guarded Qin Yunuan in time. Just looking at the posture, they knew she had been trained in martial arts.
Still, Qin Yunuan smiled gently, facing the draper manager, “Do you know who I am?”……
