Old Lady Lu reached out and took her dragon-headed cane, slammed it down, and said, "Good job! I should have gone after them first. They smashed the shop and now it's on my head! If they don't learn the importance of the situation, they'll think we, the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion, are easy to bully!"
There were already a lot of people gathered at the gate. Those inside were people who had joined Shuangxi Tea House and Haoyunlai stores and were demanding a refund, while those outside were people who were filled with righteous indignation and demanded that Pingyang Hou return his money.
This scene was even more dramatic than the previous one when they went to collect the debt from Wu Ziya.
No, it seems like there have been several debt collection attempts before.
Old Madam Lu was confused, but she only knew that ever since Qin Wan left the Lu family, the family had been in constant turmoil.
She looked at these people and said in a deep voice, "I am the old lady of the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion! Who does our mansion owe money to? Why is it owed, and who owes it! Tell me everything!"
"I owe money to the national treasury!"
"Yes! Return the 100,000 taels of silver to the national treasury!"
Old Madam Lu knew this, but she didn’t know that Lu Yan hadn’t even returned the money yet!
Old Lady Lu swayed, looked at them, and asked, "Why does our Lu family owe the national treasury one hundred thousand taels of silver? It's because my grandson has been guarding the border for eight years! When the drums of war sound, it's not just the lives of the soldiers on the border that are on fire, but also the silver!"
"Silver is piled up like a mountain and filled with seawater. The accounts don't add up. We, the Marquis' Mansion, will admit it! We didn't know the people well enough and didn't keep the accounts clear! So we still want this silver! But one hundred thousand taels is not a small amount! We need to raise the money!"
The people suddenly fell silent. Everyone knows that war is the most expensive thing.
But soon, someone in the crowd murmured:
"Isn't it corruption?"
"Corruption will allow the Pingyang Marquis to continue to hold office? That doesn't make sense, does it?"
"That's right, corruption will lead to beheading!"
The people who were urging the debt to be repaid shut up after hearing these words.
The person who joined the shop earlier came forward and said:
"We're here to claim the money we earned from joining the shop!"
Old Lady Lu was puzzled: "Franchise? What is franchising? What store?"
"Call your Madam Bai out and we'll find out!"
Old Lady Lu's face darkened. "It's Bai again! Call Bai back to me!"
Old Lady Lu looked at the merchants again and softened her voice, "It's hot. It's not good for your health to be out here in the sun. Come in and have a cup of tea. It'll cool you down for two yuan, and then we can chat slowly, okay?"
In fact, most of these merchants are ordinary people who have to grit their teeth and scrape together money to do this business.
The merchant who spent five hundred taels of silver to buy the shop was no match for the behemoth Pingyang Marquis Mansion.
How dare they come in?
“We’re not going!”
"You people in the deep courtyard, what did you do to us? No one outside knows!"
"Right! We won't go in because we're afraid you'll harm us!"
Old Lady Lu was seeing stars. What a bunch of unruly people!
She pointed at them with a shaking finger and said angrily, "Okay, okay, then you guys just stay outside in the sun! Let's go!"
Old Lady Lu returned to the main hall and asked someone to bring in ice to cool down the room.
In the end, they only brought a basin of ice.
The weather is hot, and Old Lady Lu is very angry about this matter. How can this basin of ice be enough?
She snatched the fan from the maid's hand and fanned herself vigorously: "Bring two more basins of ice!"
The old lady was very embarrassed: "We don't have much ice at home. If we use too much today, there will be nothing left in a few days."
Ever since Wu Ziya returned to her parents' home, Old Lady Lu took back her housekeeping power.
Initially, Qi Jing and Lu Linglin were jointly in charge of the household. Later, when Lu Lingjiao got married and Qi Jing gave birth to a child, the household chores fell on Old Lady Lu herself.
However, her health has always been poor, and the people who take care of this matter are basically the old nanny and Lu Linglin beside her, as well as several maids who help.
Old Lady Lu hadn't looked at the account book for a long time: "Didn't your family store ice last year?"
The old nanny shook her head: "I don't know. Last year, Madam Wu was in charge."
"That shouldn't be the case. Send someone to ask." Old Lady Lu didn't believe it at all. Wu Ziya was a young lady from a wealthy family, so how could she not know that ice was needed in winter? If Bai Wanyi was the head of the family, then it was natural for her not to know.
Soon, the housekeeper from the mansion came and found out that they had stockpiled ice, but most of it had been taken away by Bai Wanyi, who said that the shop needed it.
Old Lady Lu was so angry that her heart felt blocked. She pointed outside and asked, "Ask me, ask me, is she here?"
The old nanny was about to go out to ask someone when she saw Bai Wanyi coming back with Chu Yun. She quickly said, "Here they come."
Old Lady Lu slammed the table and said, "Tell me about it!"
As soon as Bai Wanyi entered the room, she was met with the anger of Old Lady Lu. She was used to it, so she bent her knees slightly as a greeting, then sat aside and began to talk about what joining the franchise was all about.
Chu Yun presented the account book at the right time and gave it to Old Lady Lu to read: "This is the account of the franchise store."
Bai Wan was an expert at accounting, so Old Lady Lu naturally couldn't tell anything. In particular, the wages of the workers hired and who did the work were all recorded clearly.
Old Lady Lu was puzzled: "Wasn't your milk tea shop very profitable last year? Why is it failing now?"
Bai Wanyi sighed and said, "It's been exceptionally hot this year. Piaoxiangju and Yuchuan Tea both have iced drinks, but ours is the only one that's still at room temperature. I'm using my own ice to keep Shuangxi Teahouse's main branch running, so it's understandable that their shop can't survive. But don't worry, grandma, I'll figure it out."
Old Lady Lu said coldly, "You'd better get rid of it! It's ridiculous to have people surrounding the gate!"
After saying this, Old Lady Lu brought up the matter of Lu Yan's debt: "What's going on with the 100,000 taels of silver that Yan'er owes? Why hasn't he paid it back yet?"
It would be fine if this wasn’t mentioned, but when it was mentioned, Bai Wanyi got angry!
She had finally earned some money, but Lu Yan wanted to take it all back!
Her eyes immediately turned red. "It's not easy for me to make money. All of this requires capital. Several milk tea shops and dim sum shops are not profitable. The glass shop has closed down. I lost so much money at the beginning. You know that too."
Old Lady Lu wouldn't be fooled by her: "When Yan'er moved the silver from your yard, it should have been all gone, right? You actually still have some money to open a shop outside, which shows that you still have some money."
Bai Wanyi's breath caught, and then he cried even harder: "I was taken to the Ministry of Works by His Majesty to work before the New Year was even over. I thought I would be rewarded, but who knew that I didn't see a penny, not even a verbal commendation. The money I use for business is all borrowed from others. Life is not easy in the mansion, and I have to find a way to increase income and reduce expenditure!"
"So, how much silver do you have for Yan'er?"
Old Lady Lu didn't buy her tricks at all and went straight to the point.
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