Chapter 135 Miss, who are you humming at?

Xiao Pingfeng nodded.

He added, "Old Man Hu has been taken into custody by Miss Taoye. She asked you what to do with him."

Qingling asked, "In your opinion, what would you do?"

Xiao Pingfeng gave Qing Ling a deep look: "I will spare her life."

According to the bandits' modus operandi, anyone who threatens their safety or betrays them faces certain death.

Even though Xiao Pingfeng had received an education, his hands were stained with blood.

This world forces people to be ruthless.

If you're not ruthless, you can't survive.

“This old man Hu is a notorious gambler. If he betrays us once, he will do it again. Besides, this incident has already attracted attention from the outside world. If he is used again, he will be able to extract more information.”

Qingling seemed lost in thought, slowly stroking the smooth armrest of the chair.

"If it's just killing, it will still attract attention..."

Old Hu was an old acquaintance in the village, and if he suddenly disappeared, people would definitely ask about it.

She then asked, "What did Steward Lin say?"

Xiao Pingfeng said, "Manager Lin said that the young lady should make the decision, and he will not interfere."

Yao Qingling: "..."

Was this a remark made out of spite, or did it mean something else entirely?

Xiao Pingfeng added, "Manager Lin has other things to do; I've seen him coming and going a lot lately."

Yao Qingling was stunned and didn't say anything.

Xiao Pingfeng looked at her: "Miss?"

Yao Qingling waved her hand: "Go down."

As Xiao Pingfeng turned around, Qingling called him back, telling him to keep a close watch on the people in the shop and prevent any more trouble; and to help Taoye at the manor, so that she wouldn't be frightened by the people there.

Xiao Pingfeng nodded silently and gazed at her quietly.

Yao Qingling: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Is there anything else you wish to instruct me on, Miss?"

"That's all, you can go now."

Xiao Pingfeng left, and Yao Qingling rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

She felt the pressure of leading these individuals to build their future.

But what is Lin Shiyuan busy with?

He lost hope in her, left Hui Ba Fang, and went to make a living elsewhere.

Or is it that the imperial court intends to reinstate him?

Yao Qingling thought about things haphazardly for a while, but it was just her own random thoughts.

Anyway, he's leaving... let's go that way.

She snorted.

Lou Yue brought in tea and snacks: "Miss, who are you humming about?"

"I didn't swear at anyone." Qingling ate a piece of jujube paste pastry, glanced at Lou Yue, and said, "This pastry is really delicious. I didn't know you were such a good cook!"

Lou Yue smiled and said, "It's just that I like to eat. It's just that we don't have a small kitchen in our courtyard, otherwise, Miss could have gotten even fatter than she is now."

"Never mind then." Qingling glanced at the pastry in her hand. Louyue said, "Miss, have you noticed that our shop's revenue has been lower than last month?"

Qingling nodded.

She looks at the ledgers, so naturally she can tell.

You can see the changes simply by looking at the customers coming in and out of the store, without even looking at the accounts.

However, newly opened shops usually fall into two categories: First, if the shop is deserted on the first day of opening, it will be extremely difficult for the shop to operate in the future. Many shop owners offer big discounts on the first day of business, even if they don't make a profit, they still want to make a name for themselves.

Another scenario is that the store is packed with customers when it opens, but then it will face a decrease in customers later.

Yao Qingling's "Gathering from All Directions" is an example of this.

Qingling said, "You can't expect customers to come to the store to buy things every day, can you?"

Lou Yue shook her head: "There's also a general store in the East Market, and it's much bigger than ours."

Yao Qingling closed the ledger: "They opened a shop in the East Market too?"

But that's not surprising.

Even in the entire capital city, Hui Ba Fang is not the only shop selling goods from both the north and south.

There are many similar stores of all sizes, but each store has different sourcing channels and sells a variety of goods.

Hui Ba Fang simply sells a wide variety of products and caters to both the powerful and the common people.

“East Market…” Qingling held the account book, the corner of the book gently tapping the table. “East Market is mostly inhabited by powerful and wealthy families, no wonder I feel that there are fewer managers coming to the shop lately.”

The East Market is quite far from the main street and is mostly occupied by the villas of the powerful and wealthy. However, those people love to compete with each other and do not like ordinary people to go to that area. I heard that there are even gatekeepers who will drive away any vendors who set up stalls at the gate.

Lou Yue nodded: "Yes, wealthy customers are generous, and our shop sold quite a lot of top-quality goods recently. But lately, Manager Liu has become much more cautious in accepting goods."

Qingling asked, "Have you gone to see that shop? Who is the owner?"

Lou Yue said, "Xia Chan went and hasn't returned yet. I'll ask her about it in a bit."

Qingling nodded, and Xia Chan returned in the late afternoon.

"I didn't see the shop owner; the manager over there is the head manager. I guess some powerful person was jealous of how much money we made, so they opened a shop to try and get a piece of the pie."

Putting everything else aside, those who are not short of money can easily buy an entire street with a little silver; opening a shop is nothing to them.

Xia Chan said angrily, "Luckily, they're not on the same street as us, otherwise, they would have stolen even more customers."

She saw several familiar faces enter the "Golden Hall" restaurant.

"Which noble family owns it? Can you find out?" When Yao Qingling thought about East Street, the first place that came to mind was the Hengwu Villa of the Duke of Shen.

Could it be the property of the Duke of Shen?

If it were from the Shen family, Qingling wouldn't be afraid.

She's afraid of powerful figures she can't afford to offend; they can take from her, but she can't take from them.

Xia Chan took a sip of water and shook her head: "I think I was recognized. The people in that shop were very wary of me. Next time I'll have to go with a stranger."

Qing Ling smiled faintly: "It's not necessarily possible to find out about unfamiliar faces."

Which of these businesses in the capital doesn't have some powerful backer?

Those with connections and backgrounds are not afraid of being bullied, and they won't bother arguing with small businesses over trivial profits.

"As long as they don't bother me, I'll ignore them for now and focus on my own business," Qingling said.

Xia Chan and Lou Yue nodded. Xia Chan thought of something and said, "Sheng Dahe sent word that Miss should go to Pingqing Wharf tomorrow morning."

Qingling: "Hmm, Sheng Dahe... We haven't heard from him for so long, he must have found the cargo hold."

"If you have money, just buy it. Why bother calling a prostitute?" Lou Yue muttered.

The dock was a chaotic place, with lots of people, goods, and vehicles, and the ground was slippery. She was worried that Yao Qingling would get hurt.

“Sheng Dahe mentioned it to me before, so I’m going to take a look and also talk to him about some things.”

Returning to the Marquis's residence, we entered through the side gate as usual; it was already late.

Xia Chan changed Qing Ling's clothes, and before they even had dinner, Xia Chan started grumbling again: "Miss still has to go to Dan Gui Courtyard to pay her respects to the Lady of the Marquis."

She suddenly burst out laughing as if she had just thought of something.

These past few days, Yao Qingling has been reflecting on her actions every morning and evening.

Marquis Zhongyong held a noble title, but his official rank was low, so he didn't need to attend the morning court. Therefore, Madam Ma didn't suffer the same hardships as other noble ladies, as she didn't need to get up early to serve the Marquis. Yao Qingling said that there were many things to do at the shop, so she got up at the same time as those attending the morning court every day and went to Dan Gui Courtyard to pay her respects.

Yao Ying and Ma were still asleep, but they were woken up every day.

On the surface, Ma's family seemed to have gained an advantage, but in reality, it was almost like they were being tortured.

"...I heard that the Marquis lost his temper and scolded the Marquis's wife, saying that she was talking about some stupid rules and that she was being nosy."

Qing Ling had anticipated this.

My uncle, who had never experienced hardship and was used to a life of luxury, couldn't bear to get up earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs every day.

He moved to sleep with his concubine.

Although Ms. Ma felt aggrieved, she had no choice but to endure it for the sake of her reputation.

Qingling didn't let her go.

She first went to the Dan Gui Courtyard to greet Madam Ma, then went to the concubine's courtyard to pay her respects, determined to wake Yao Ying up.

How could Yao Ying not harbor resentment?