Shen Qingyu agreed to Princess Handan's purchase request, then calmly reminded her, "Five thousand taels of silver. Does the princess intend to give silver or silver notes?"
Princess Han Dan: "..."
Who would go shopping with five thousand taels of silver?!
She had no choice but to wait there, just like Li Jiaoyue, while her maid went home to fetch the silver.
Before long, Li Jiaoyue's guards brought the silver. Li Jiaoyue told the guards to load the box onto the carriage and left first.
Princess Handan's money, however, did not arrive for a long time.
Shen Qingyu didn't have the patience to wait that long: "I wonder how far the princess's house is from here?"
Princess Handan felt very embarrassed: her house was much closer than Li Jiaoyue's!
But why haven't they arrived yet?
Could it be that my parents don't agree?
The thought of her mother's shrewd and calculating nature made her panic: if her mother disagreed, she would be utterly humiliated!
Fortunately, the maid finally returned, but she brought with her the steward of the manor.
Princess Handan's face darkened the moment she saw the steward.
Mother doesn't trust me!
When Li Jiaoyue asked for money, her family handed it over to the guards without hesitation.
When I asked for money to buy the same items for the same amount, my family had the steward personally deliver them to me.
That's so embarrassing.
However, since things had come to this point, she couldn't vent her anger on the steward in front of outsiders, so she could only suppress her anger and ask, "Did you bring the money?"
The steward, though all smiles, spoke rather bluntly: "Your Highness, the silver has arrived. Madam summoned me to inquire what it is and whether I may take a look. Your Highness is still young..."
Shen Qingyu smiled and glanced at the butler: "It's only right to inspect the goods before buying them. Take a look."
So I pushed the small box on the table over.
The housekeeper opened the box and was quite impressed to see the handmade soap with the "Bright Moon Rising Over the Sea" design: "This is soap?"
Shen Qingyu nodded: "Yes. The effects are the same as the goat milk skin-nourishing soap, but it looks better."
A hint of disdain flashed in the steward's eyes: "That's just soap. Five taels of silver for a bar of soap? Princess Qingyu is quite the shrewd businesswoman!"
Shen Qingyu understood: This is about bargaining?!
But... I'm not going to serve you.
So Shen Qingyu nodded seriously: "That's right, I also think this thing is too expensive and impractical."
The butler was stunned for a moment: How... how did you steal my lines?
Before the butler could say anything, Shen Qingyu smiled and pushed the small box in front of Princess Handan: "Consider this bar of soap a gift from me to the princess."
"If the housekeeper wants a more practical bar of soap, why not wait until next time? In a few days, some cheaper soap will be delivered; you can buy such a large bar for just a few hundred coins."
As Shen Qingyu spoke, she picked up her teacup.
The butler froze: "!!!"
Princess Handan glared at the steward: Oh no, we've lost face in the entire Qi Kingdom!
Everyone says their parents are stingy and shrewd, even haggling over the price of a bar of soap.
However, Princess Handan couldn't show her anger, so she had to suppress her anger, bid farewell to Shen Qingyu, and turn to go home.
Shen Qingyu stopped her, handed her the small wooden box on the table, and went next door to get five more, making a total of six handmade soaps.
When Shen Qingyu presented the handmade soap to Princess Handan, she said sincerely, "Princess Handan, this is just a small token of my appreciation. Please don't be shy. You can use it to wash your hands and play with it when you get home."
Princess Handan was both embarrassed and reluctant to refuse, but in the end she accepted, practically fleeing from the Sifang Pavilion.
Lady Yue was dumbfounded when she saw the handmade soap "Rising Moon Over the Sea" that her daughter brought back.
It's just a bar of soap, why make it so exquisite?
If the production is truly extremely limited, supplying only a very small number of aristocratic families, then five taels of silver is nothing...
But she had already sent the steward with money to try and bargain, so why did Princess Qingyu refuse outright without a word?
Which business deal wasn't negotiated?
Besides, with so much silver, isn't it normal to haggle over the price?
She was furious and couldn't help but glare at Princess Handan: "Such an expensive item, and you didn't even try to bargain first, just asking for a thousand yuan?"
Princess Handan felt wronged: "Li Jiaoyue didn't even haggle. She gave me a full five thousand taels of silver and took a thousand pieces of this handmade soap. How could I haggle? Is it because our family is inferior to Li Jiaoyue's family?"
Lady Yue: "...No wonder."
Selling it to Li Jiaoyue would cost five thousand taels of silver for a thousand pieces of handmade soap. If she sold it to herself, the price would immediately be lower, which would be tantamount to offending Li Jiaoyue and the General's Mansion behind her.
I wouldn't do that myself.
But if that's the case, won't I be able to get a discount if I buy it later?
Lady Yue was also angry that Li Jiaoyue was disrupting the market.
The thousand coins that Li Jiaoyue bought back were immediately divided into different sizes and sent to her close relatives and friends.
Because of the handmade soap's exceptional appearance and practicality, all the friends who were on good terms with her expressed their gratitude and gave her many return gifts, the value of which was only increasing. Moreover, they repeatedly invited Li Jiaoyue to their homes to participate in a flower appreciation and poetry gathering next time.
The general's wife was so happy she could hardly contain herself: "Oh my, if I had known that these handmade soaps would make them all think more highly of Yue'er, I would have bought another thousand!"
Li Jiaoyue, however, showed little interest: "Mother, please! I really have no interest in those poetry gatherings and flower appreciation parties."
"Don't you need to arrange a marriage? If you don't let people see how good you are, how will those young masters from noble families know how good you are?" The general's wife immediately turned dark.
Li Jiaoyue: "...Then how about I hold a martial arts contest to find a husband?"
"I asked you to arrange a marriage, not to recruit troops to fight! What are you going to do, compete in martial arts?"
Li Jiaoyue raised her chin flippantly: "Then why don't you find someone who talks like a scholar all day long? Aren't you afraid I'll get angry and just beat him to a pulp?"
General's wife: "..."
After Li Jiaoyue left the courtyard, the general's wife asked the nanny beside her with a worried expression, "What do you think we should do about this girl?"
The old woman thought for a moment and said, "Then how about we find a junior officer under the general?"
The general's wife glared at the old woman: "Do you want her to continue living the life I have, waking up in terror every night?"
When a man goes out to fight, his wife stays at home unable to sleep at night, always worried that she will wake up one morning to find herself a widow.
It was precisely because she had suffered such hardship that the general's wife wanted to find a scholar for her precious daughter, so that she wouldn't have to worry about dying on the battlefield.
Judging from her daughter's expression, she looked down on that weak scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken.
The general's wife suddenly felt a jolt in her eyelids and asked the old nanny in surprise, "Tell me, does that brat have a crush on someone?"
The old woman was also startled, and stammered, "No...no way, right? Who...has the young lady taken a fancy to? A young general in the army? A son of a military family?"
"Madam, Princess Fangyi has arrived." The maidservant ran in to deliver the message, and just as she finished speaking, cheerful laughter rang out from outside the door.
"Aunt? I'm here!" A petite and slender woman walked in with light steps.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
