Chapter 13 Don't Underestimate the Ancients

After several encounters, Ling Wei finally glimpsed Su Jingyu's true abilities.

She hid in the princess's residence, but in reality, she controlled the princess's enormous treasury.

In her hands, several dying shops were brought back to life and rejuvenated with astonishing vitality.

She has an extremely keen business sense.

Inspired by modern ideas, Du Qianqian opened a jewelry shop in Beijing to test the waters. Her various marketing tactics created a sensation, and everyone found them novel.

When the long-established "Linglang Pavilion" was nearly driven to bankruptcy by the pressure, it was Su Jingyu who secretly intervened.

After her romantic affair with the princess over a hairpin, Linglang Pavilion's reputation soared instantly, and the shop was revived.

That wasn't enough. Su Jingyu conducted multiple on-site investigations, quickly dismantling and analyzing Du Qianqian's shop, and reached the following conclusions:

The layout, the style of pearls and jade, the etiquette for receiving guests, and some novel sales strategies.

In terms of pearl and jade styles, Du Qianqian's initial few "hot-selling" designs were indeed eye-catching, but she did not innovate afterward, so there is nothing to fear.

She disassembled and improved the rest, applying them not only to the jewelry shop but also to the princess's teahouse, silk shop, and other businesses.

The "Tingfengxuan" teahouse where they now work is a success story.

In summer, they offer special iced cheese and snow drinks. The elegant rooms on the second floor are quiet and secluded, each a small pavilion. There are also storytellers who carefully craft familiar lyrics, and the "refined conversation gatherings" held regularly in the lobby, attracting a large number of literati and scholars, making the business very prosperous.

Du Qianqian originally planned to start with a jewelry shop, and then open a pastry shop and a clothing shop one after another, to realize the business empire dream that every time-traveling woman must have.

But before she could make her jewelry shop a success, all kinds of shops in the capital city seemed to have their meridians opened up, changing her as if she had returned to a commercial complex in an ancient town.

She was at a loss for what to do, and even suspected that there were time travelers among them.

Soon, Du Qianqian lost interest in running the business, left the shop to the manager, and went to conspire with the Second Prince Xiao Heng to develop a "hot spring resort".

The system states that the ancients simply lacked advanced technology, not that they lacked the capacity for learning.

Compared to Du Qianqian, who is mediocre and incompetent, Su Jingyu is more like a true time-traveling woman, who is very successful in business.

Meanwhile, the dramatic prince consort was traveling around Jiangnan with the princess, expanding their business empire.

This is something Ling Wei only learned after she became one of her own.

Ling Wei put down the heavy book "Zhao Yin Law Commentary" in her hand, looked at Su Jingyu who was working on the abacus with a clattering sound, and tentatively asked, "Du Qianqian sometimes has brilliant ideas, do you have any thoughts on that..."

The abacus stopped abruptly. Su Jingyu looked up, sighed helplessly, and looked at us like we were idiots: "Do we have a brain disease?"

Du Qianqian is a person with impure thoughts, ambitious and eager for success, and has an unusual fondness for men.

Recruiting her would be like inviting a wolf into the house, inviting trouble upon ourselves.

She looked at Ling Wei with sincere eyes again, "Besides, the princess said that she had schemed against you in such a way. If we were to recruit her again, wouldn't that break your heart? The princess's residence would not do such a thing as betraying its own people."

Upon hearing this, Ling Wei let out a soft cry and hugged Su Jingyu's waist.

Even though she knew these words were meant for her to hear, to increase her loyalty, she was genuinely touched!

Su Jingyu felt ticklish from being rubbed by her, and patted her back with a smile.

In her opinion, ten Du Qianqians couldn't compare to one Ling Wei.

This girl's learning ability is terrifying. The books the princess prepared were originally intended for her to guide her.

To everyone's surprise, she had memorized most of the books in a short period of time.

Knowing she had a photographic memory, it wasn't surprising, but her ability to synthesize information and answer questions often left us speechless, forcing us to urgently seek out a more experienced female tutor for her.

The more time she spent with Ling Wei, the more alarmed she became.

She seems to have an innate ability to unravel complex information and get straight to the heart of the matter.

Whether it's the power struggles among princes in the imperial court, the rise and fall of various factions, or the governance and sentiments of the people in the local areas, she can always analyze the pros and cons incisively. Although some of her insights may sound a bit naive, they are very forward-looking and, with careful refinement, could become excellent viewpoints.

Take, for example, the time when she shifted the blame to the princess's residence; the factions of the second and third princes were already at loggerheads.

Because Tang Wen has become a sister, the heir of the Marquis's mansion has been replaced, Madam Tang is now at odds with the Sheng family, and Tang Wen has become extremely sinister after waking up.

Because of Du Qianqian's connection with the Second Prince, he stopped trying to frame Du Qianqian and instead demanded that the Sheng family marry Sheng Mingshu to them.

The Sheng family was not about to retaliate so openly.

Ling Wei suggested spreading rumors to make the Sheng family misunderstand that the Second Prince was deliberately inactive because of Du Qianqian.

They initially did not approve of this approach, believing that the Second Prince was very likely to abandon Du Qianqian to appease the Sheng family.

But Ling Wei was certain that the Second Prince would protect Du Qianqian at the expense of the Sheng family.

As she had predicted, the Second Prince's allegiance was in jeopardy.

Ling Wei's confidence stemmed from the fact that the second prince had seen the benefits of the transmigrated woman's wildly imaginative ideas.

Du Qianqian's jewelry shop and resort have shown the Second Prince their potential, and he is now very excited about them.

The man who was almost driven to ruin by gunpowder-related "pillow talk" was a gambler.

A gambler's mentality is that once you bet, you bet everything. Du Qianqian is the person he's betting everything on now, so why would he give her up?

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Ling Wei's gaze inadvertently swept across the wooden window, and she happened to catch a glimpse of a group of people appearing in the street scene below.

Tingfengxuan is located in a bustling area, directly opposite the largest brothel in the capital, "Zuimengge".

Du Qianqian, dressed in men's clothing, walked excitedly in the middle, backwards, with her hands behind her back, saying something coquettishly to the Second Prince Xiao Yu, whose face was dark, with a blissful expression.

A few words drifted up: "...Little Fish Brother, don't be angry! The hibiscus cake from Drunken Dream Pavilion is truly amazing! And those ladies, tsk tsk, so supple, so sweet-voiced, so fragrant, each with their own unique charm, such a feast for the eyes!"

Her innocent yet infatuated appearance made Xiao Yu's face darken further, clearly indicating that he was filled with jealousy.

The group then turned and entered Tingfeng Mingxuan.

Ling Wei looked at Su Jingyu with a helpless expression: "It seems that a proper teahouse gathering is about to become a stage for some people to perform on."

Su Jingyu raised an eyebrow: "Hmm?"

Ling Wei opened the small window of the private room, gesturing for her to come and see. Sure enough, a moment later, a noisy argument could be heard downstairs.

It turned out that a young lady who admired Xiao Yu bumped into Du Qianqian and her group at the stairwell. She was furious when she saw that Du Qianqian was dressed as a man and had just come out of a brothel.

Du Qianqian was accompanied by a tall, masked man, with only his sharp, cold eyes, like those of a hawk, visible.

He showed no warmth when looking at others, but only when he turned to Du Qianqian did he reveal a trace of warmth. It was Mu Han, the assassin from the martial arts world whom she had "picked up".

Xiao Yu was handsome and came from a prominent family, making him more favored by noble ladies than the somewhat mediocre Third Prince.

Therefore, noble ladies kept coming up one after another, becoming stepping stones for Du Qianqian to "slap her face".

The stepping stone was pointing at Du Qianqian and scolding her: "Du Qianqian! How can you dress as a man and go in such a filthy place? What kind of behavior is this! It's one thing to be shameless yourself, but you also corrupt... others! You have utterly disgraced us women!"