Chapter 67

It is not easy to travel to the frontier. A forced march would take several months. If they followed a caravan, it would take more than a year on the road.

It's impossible to come back after such a long journey. It will take at least three to five years for you to come back.

If something happens to trip you up, the journey back home will be a long time coming.

"You want to abandon us and go on a journey of freedom alone?"

"I just can't bear to leave my sister."

Zhang Yunniang sat down beside someone, leaning on their shoulder, feeling down. "Half a month ago, we agreed that I would spend every birthday with her. Who knew that in just half a month, she would be gone."

"As long as you're alive, you can always see me if you want to." Lanzhi patted her head to comfort her, her eyes filled with loneliness. She looked up at the sky, her longing turning into mist, filling her pupils.

Before the sadness took shape, a burst of screaming disturbed people's interest.

"Oh, stop touching me, stop touching me, I'm almost turning into a dandelion!"

Zhang Yunniang shook her head and screamed.

Lanzhi looked back at her, her whole head was covered with fur, looking very festive.

The climate is dry, and I touched my head too much, which caused static electricity, and my whole head felt like it was struck by lightning.

With a "pop", Lanzhi burst into laughter, but the sadness disappeared in an instant before it could fully develop.

She held the person's head and blew air on it, imitating the act of blowing a dandelion.

Zhang Yunniang also cooperated by shaking her hair, pretending that the crown hair had been blown off.

Now, Lanzhi was no longer comfortable leaving the person alone in the mansion.

Being alone, it's inevitable that you will have wild thoughts. If he really runs away with someone, you won't even have anywhere to cry.

When Jun Qingmo returned home, Lanzhi was waiting for him at the door of the study.

"Hello, sir."

"Let's go in and talk."

Lanzhi looked at his back. He was no longer the same man he had been in that small courtyard. His luxurious demeanor was becoming more and more like his former self.

But it is very different from before.

He used to be gentle and peaceful, and seemed easy to get along with, but after actually getting to know him, one could clearly feel his alienation and indifference.

He is now indifferent and distant, and seems difficult to get along with, but after actually getting to know him, you can clearly feel his closeness and enthusiasm.

"Sir, please review last month's income account book. The newly introduced gift promotion is doing well, and profits have increased by nearly 30%."

They cooperated with a well-known jewelry store in Kyoto and specially customized a batch of jewelry as gifts. The gifts required accumulating points by participating in various activities.

These activities include free and paid ones, cultural and martial ones, competitions and solo activities, as well as various free performances.

There are a variety of activities. Those who are quiet can choose music, chess, calligraphy, painting, riddles and poetry. Those who are not good at literature can choose ring toss and pitch pot, etc.

Whether you are from the upper class or the lower class, you can find the activities you want to play here.

Shuyuxuan occupies a very large area, taking up an entire city block, and the street in the middle has been officially renamed Shuyu Street.

This place is like an isolated country of women, where women can play freely and have fun.

When you are tired of walking around, you can sit on the side of the road without worrying about the secular requirements of elegance and propriety.

They set up many shops inside, selling everything from food, drinks and accommodation.

Therefore, as long as we can keep people here, there are plenty of places to recover the money.

In order to retain people, Zhang Yunniang proposed an activity where participants could win valuable jewelry for free to attract more people.

When doing business, what you need is popularity.

If you want to attract people, you have to be willing to spend money. If you spend too much and the gifts are too low, it will not be effective.

Points are accumulated in stages, and the higher the points, the more valuable the prize.

Many common women do not have many decent pieces of jewelry, so they are naturally very willing to earn points through recreational activities and redeem prizes.

Shuyuxuan is a consumption place for women, so naturally, all the workers here are women.

At one time, a large number of jobs were provided, solving the survival problems of many women.

Women have always been in an exploited position in the family. They are verbally abused at best and beaten at worst.

Nowadays, women can earn money and their contribution to the family has increased, thus their status in the family has been significantly improved.

Jun Qingmo's respect for women is evident in every aspect. He knew Zhang Yunniang had some ideas about this, so he incorporated her suggestions and divided the salary structure into multiple aspects, including base salary, commission, bonus, allowance, and subsidy.

The more they give, the more attentive and obedient the people below will be. Some even treat this place as their home.

Those desperate women no longer have to sell themselves to brothels to survive.

The sound of the baby tower outside Beijing gradually died down.

Shuyuxuan not only provides women with a means of survival in this cannibalistic world, but also potentially provides those baby girls who have not yet grown up with a chance to survive.

In addition, they also adopted many orphans and gradually built up their own power.

As long as 20% of the profits are taken out, a lot of people's hearts can be won, not to mention that they are willing to take out 40%.

Since Shuyuxuan opened, there were some people who wanted to do bad things at first, but they used the name of Kangle Earl's Mansion to keep things peaceful for a while.

Later, some people wanted to get a piece of the pie and tried to do something bad.

But after their fame spread, they were no longer afraid. The powerful and wealthy families came here frequently, and this place could provide them with enough emotional value. There were occasional troublemakers, but there were also people who came to help spontaneously. Those who wanted to do bad things secretly gradually gave up their thoughts.

Jun Qingmo and the others can now collect the money with peace of mind.

The situation in the capital has become stable. Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, a prosperous place, and a rare place for business.

Furthermore, the issue of reducing the power of the feudal lords will eventually be put on the agenda, and they need to make arrangements early.

"When will you leave for Jiangnan?"

"Yunniang hasn't had anything important to do lately, so why not let her go to Jiangnan? She's been staying in Kyoto and hasn't been anywhere else. The opening of this branch is a great opportunity for her to go on a trip."

"No." Jun Qingmo shook his head and refused.

"Why?"

"The capital is very busy. If you leave, Shuyuxuan will need someone to keep an eye on it, so she has to stay and help. Lan Qi'er can handle things on her own now, so you can take her with you to help you."

Lanzhi rolled her eyes secretly and said, "Master, do you believe this?"

Even if she and Lan Qier are not in Kyoto, isn't Liu Yindi still there?

The two of them were born smart, and after training, they can now stand on their own.

Besides, Zhang Yunniang does not manage the affairs of Shuyuxuan, so even if she took over temporarily, she really couldn't help much.

Besides, wasn't it you, the master, who was afraid that she would be tired, so you found all kinds of excuses to pester her and didn't let her participate too much in management?

Well, this statement is a bit exaggerated, because Zhang Yunniang didn't want to participate at all, so she didn't take the initiative to take it on. He was just going along with it.

"Just let her go out and play for a while. She'll be back in two or three months."

"Don't worry, I don't agree."

Jun Qingmo threw the account book onto the desk with a firm attitude, indicating that there was no room for negotiation on this matter.

"coward."

"I am. What's wrong?" Jun Qingmo looked up at her. "If I let her go, what if she gets lost? What should I do? Yunniang wants to go out and play, I can find a chance to take her. There are so many outstanding people in the world outside. Who am I, Jun Qingmo? There is no way I can let her leave my side for a long time."

"She won't get lost as long as I'm here." Lanzhi explained patiently. She felt uneasy if she didn't go to Jiangnan in person, but she was not used to leaving Zhang Yunniang in the capital.

The two get along like real sisters, and have basically never been apart until now.

Zhang Yunniang has a kind of magical power. As long as she is by your side, she will make you feel inexplicably at ease without you having to do anything.

No matter how big the trouble is or how distressing the matter is, just chatting with her will make her feel better and relieve her worries.

She doesn't give you any big truths, just say "It's no big deal, at worst you'll just have your neck cut off". Her nonchalant attitude subtly changes your emotions, allowing you to focus more on solving the problem itself.

"You? If you wanted to kidnap her, you wouldn't even need to prepare some candy and let her hang out with you for a few months. You're dreaming. It's absolutely impossible."

Jun Qingmo felt bitter in his heart. He not only had to guard against men, but also women.

It’s not difficult to guard against men, as Zhang Yunniang herself doesn’t have any feelings for anyone.

But Zhang Yunniang loved beautiful women, and when she saw a beautiful woman, she would stare at her with shining eyes.

He was confident that he was also a beauty, but Zhang Yunniang was only interested in women.

She has a criminal record and has always favored girls over boys.

Let her go out with Lanzhi alone for a few months? He wasn't that stupid. It would be fine if they flirted with each other on a normal day, but in front of her, the worst that could happen was annoyance.

If he wasn't around, and the two of them ran away together, it would be the end of him.

"You keep guarding against us, but you don't even give her a legitimate status? If one day she wants to leave on her own, what will you do?"

"Is it me who doesn't want to give it to her? Do I dare? I still want her to give me a status." Jun Qingmo lowered his head, his eyes fell on the desk in front of him, his eyes were wandering, his hands were clenched into fists, and his fingers were randomly grabbing his palms.

"If you don't dare, there will always be someone who dares."

"Oh, in this capital, who dares to compete with me for people?" He who has power and influence speaks with confidence.

"So what if you have power? If she wants to leave with someone, can you stop her?"

"Who does she want to go with?" Jun Qingmo narrowed his eyes and his heart skipped a beat.

"Amina is going back to the frontier. She jokingly said she'd go with me. I'm just reminding you that things can be unpredictable, so be on your own."

Lanzhi left after saying this.

Jun Qingmo couldn't calm down for a long time.

Now he is the emperor's new favorite and has great power, but only he himself knows that in front of Zhang Yunniang, he will always be a paper tiger.

At first, he just thought that Zhang Yunniang didn't like them. Well, he felt a little sad and upset, but there was still hope.

Later, he discovered that Zhang Yunniang really didn't care about love at all. Well, he could despair.

After Wei Yijun expressed his feelings, she kept avoiding him and didn't give him any chance to contact.

He was afraid that if he revealed his feelings, Zhang Yunniang would leave him.

He held the imperial decree granting marriage from the emperor, but he never dared to take it out.

He carefully hid his thoughts, fearing that Zhang Yunniang would turn around and leave if she noticed anything.

If we can stay together like this until we grow old, it is not impossible even if he has no official status.

Lanzhi was right. Without a formal status, there would be no worries. Zhang Yunniang could leave whenever she wanted.

He is no longer safe.