Chapter 284 Management (Part 1)

Eleventh Lady saw it clearly, but remained calm and found an opportunity to leave the hall.

Grandma Luo Si was waiting under the eaves.

The two went to the water pavilion.

"What's wrong?" Eleventh Lady asked her softly.

Fourth Grandma Luo smiled and said, "I heard from you last time that Fifth Aunt and you didn't make a deal. So I wanted to ask Eleventh Aunt. If there is a chance in the future, will Eleventh Aunt still do business with Fifth Aunt?"

Eleventh Lady didn't know why she asked this question, so she tactfully emphasized her attitude again: "The Marquis is now at home with nothing to do, so I can't get involved in such business."

Grandma Luo smiled and said, "I'm just asking." Then she took Shiyi Niang's arm and wanted to go back to the main room together.

But that smile seemed forced.

Although they had not met much, Shiyi Niang felt that Luo Si Niang was not the kind of person who would make up stories without any basis. She did not move, but instead pulled Luo Si Niang's hand and said frankly: "As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. If you have any questions, please tell us and we can discuss it."

Fourth Grandma Luo hesitated for a while, then whispered, "Fifth Auntie invited your fourth brother to do business with her."

Eleventh Lady thought of her previous question and frowned slightly.

"You also know your fourth brother. When he was so important, he didn't even consult me. He insisted that I give him fifty taels of silver to coax him. After the fifth aunt's full month, he and the fifth aunt will go to Xuantong. He also promised me that I would make a lot of money and bring back five thousand taels of silver." Fourth grandmother Luo looked a little solemn. "I heard something wrong, so I asked him in detail what the business was. He said that you were the first to do it, and the fifth aunt helped to run errands. It was General Fan's way to exchange food for salt." At this point, she glanced at Eleventh Lady, "But I heard you say last time that it's not good to interfere in this matter... I'm afraid you changed your mind at the last minute, so I came to ask."

It turns out you haven't given up yet!

When Shiyi Niang thought of the extravagance of Wu Niang's child's third-day baptism ceremony, she couldn't help but suspect that Qian Ming had already followed Fan Weigang's path under his own name.

If that was the case, why didn't Xu Lingyi mention it? Was it because he couldn't say anything in front of him? Or was Qian Ming's business small and within Xu Lingyi's tolerance range?

She couldn't help but get angry.

Even if Wu Niang doesn't know how powerful it is, don't you Qian Ming know it?

Eleventh Lady couldn't criticize Qian Ming in front of Fourth Lady Luo, so she suppressed her displeasure and said with a smile, "I was wondering why you invited Chunxilou's chef Bao Wai to prepare the baby's third-day bath. It turns out you made a lot of money!"

Seeing that she neither said it was true nor false, thinking of her previous attitude, she had something in her heart and her face flushed with anger. She simply said, "You don't know. After you left for the third-day bath that day, Fifth Aunt took the eldest sister-in-law to talk privately for a long time. After returning, the eldest sister-in-law asked Mother Hang to bring two hundred taels of silver to Fifth Aunt. I asked Xinglin and was told that Fifth Aunt said that the money in her hand was used in business and she was temporarily unable to make ends meet, so she borrowed some money from the eldest sister-in-law. She would pay it back at the end of the year. I was puzzled at the time. Fifth Aunt is a shrewd person. What kind of business would she invest all her money in? . Later, the fifth aunt called your fourth brother over again, saying that she wanted to do business together. I paid attention to it and asked someone to inquire. It turned out that fifty taels of silver was just enough for two people to go back and forth to Xuantong Mansion." Speaking of this, she was so angry that she trembled, "Speaking of which, your fourth brother is the weakest among you sisters, and he and she are born of the same mother... I haven't slept well these past few days, and I dreamed that I was too worried!" Her eyes turned red.

Eleventh Lady was shocked.

Although the dowry given by the first wife was not much, it was not shabby. It has only been two years, why do I have to borrow money to live? Could it be that I have misunderstood? Wu Niang's money was actually spent on daily expenses, so Qian Ming wanted to go to Xuantong?

Thoughts kept coming to her mind, and she couldn't help but ask, "Fourth sister-in-law, please explain clearly. What is going on?"

Things have come to this point, and Fourth Grandma Luo no longer wants to help Fifth Niang hide the secret.

She whispered, "You also know that Fifth Aunt had a premature birth. In fact, she didn't fall down, but Fifth Aunt was about to give birth, but the family had no money. In a fit of anger, she had an argument with Fifth Aunt. Fifth Aunt said that Fifth Aunt was "unreasonable", slammed the curtain and left, and didn't come back for two days.

The fifth aunt was ashamed and angry, and threatened to jump into the river... That's why the child was born prematurely." As she spoke, she sighed softly, "Ziyuan saw that things were not going well, so she came to ask the third aunt for help. The third aunt was afraid that people would find out and laugh at her, so she took out the eighty taels of silver from the bottom of the box and asked me to bring it to the fifth aunt... Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have to pawn it."

"How could this happen?" Eleventh Lady couldn't help but cry out, "Fifth Sister is also a smart person, and she is about to give birth, why would she let Fifth Aunt make such a fuss?"

"Who says it's not!" Grandma Luo smiled bitterly, "Fifth Aunt has a lot of social engagements. When she eats at Chunxi, she has to keep the bill; when she buys things at Duobao Pavilion, the servants deliver the goods... Can Fifth Aunt still say she has no money when the stewards come home to settle the bill? Or can she let those stewards and Fifth Aunt go to pay for it? In that case, how can Fifth Aunt still be respectable? Not to mention the social engagements with classmates. They are all debts, and she has to pay for them no matter how hard she tries. One by one, there is nothing Fifth Aunt can do no matter how strong she is!"

Eleventh Lady felt mixed emotions after hearing this and didn't know what to say.

"Fortunately, although Fifth Aunt is in trouble, it is only temporary - Fifth Aunt is a man of honor after all, and it will be fine when she passes the imperial examination and takes up a post one day.

Seeing this, the Fourth Mistress of the Luo Family turned around and comforted Eleventh Lady, "As for the business, don't worry, Eleventh Lady. Now that I know what you mean, your Fourth Brother will definitely tell him to give up. As for Fifth Lady, I will also help persuade her."

Now that even his own brother has plotted against him, I'm afraid it's no use trying to persuade him.

Eleventh Lady secretly sighed, and was afraid that Fourth Lady and Luo Zhensheng would argue about this matter. She said, "Fourth Brother, Sister-in-law should keep quiet. Why don't I talk to Big Brother and let Big Brother persuade Fourth Brother. This will save Sister-in-law from being embarrassed."

Grandma Luo Si was very surprised to hear this.

Eleventh Lady did not mention asking Grandmother Luo to talk to Luo Zhenxing, but decided to talk to Luo Zhenxing herself, which was clearly to save her own face. Thinking about it carefully, Luo Zhenxing and Luo Zhensheng were brothers after all, and it was indeed more convincing for her to persuade Luo Zhensheng than for herself. She could not help but show gratitude: "Then I'll leave it to Eleventh Lady."

"There's no need to be so polite between us, aunt and sister-in-law."

Both of them returned to the main house in a depressed mood.

Early the next morning, Shiyi Niang sent Zhen Jie'er away and sent someone to write a letter to Luo Zhenxing.

Luo Zhenxing came during his lunch break just like last time.

Eleventh Lady asked someone to prepare four dishes and a soup to entertain him. Then she told him the reason for calling him: "... After thinking about it, I can only ask my eldest brother to come!"

After hearing this, Luo Zhenxing frowned and said, "Don't worry, I will persuade Zichun there." He did not mention Luo Zhensheng.

However, after resolving the issue with Qian Ming, given Luo Zhensheng's character, he would not have the courage to make such a deal even if he wanted to.

Shiyi Niang breathed a sigh of relief and personally poured Luo Zhenxing another cup of tea.

Luo Zhenxing told her about Yuanniang's business: "Even if you don't look for me, I want to look for you. Lu Changgui told me a few days ago that after hearing that the court was going to lift the ban on sea trade, many big merchants went south and opened branches in Quanzhou and Guangzhou. He wanted to ask you if you wanted to go south as well?"

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised. She had only heard two days ago that Wang Jiubao had submitted a ten-thousand-word letter, so how come some merchants were heading south?

"I don't really understand this kind of thing either." She considered, "Should I ask the Marquis what he thinks?"

Luo Zhenxing listened and groaned, "Since you haven't heard anything, I'll go and ask the Marquis what he thinks!"

Eleventh Lady thought this was a good idea and called Amber in: "Just tell him that the uncle is here and ask him to come back!"

Amber responded and left.

Eleventh Lady asked about the invitation: "...is there any news?"

Luo Zhenxing said, "I was afraid that I couldn't invite him. So I sent Mother Hang's son to see Master Liuge and asked him to write a letter to Mr. Zhao's uncle." Then he asked about Brother Zhue's situation, "How is he now?"

"He used to go to school happily after getting up and having breakfast every morning. Now he starts to dawdle when getting up and even drags his feet when eating breakfast." Eleventh Lady said helplessly, "It's obvious that he doesn't want to go to school."

Luo Zhenxing couldn't help but feel anxious after hearing this, and started talking about his schooling experiences as a child.

When they were almost at the upper hall, Amber didn't turn back. Eleventh Lady was surprised: "She would turn back even if she went to West Street!"

Just when I was about to look for Mother Song, Amber came back and said, "Madam, Uncle, the Marquis is in Shaohua Courtyard talking to the Second Madam. He asked Uncle to wait a moment."

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

Why did Xu Lingyi suddenly go to Shaohuayuan?

Luo Zhenxing couldn't wait any longer, so he stood up and said, "Then I'll come back another day!"

Eleventh Lady endured the confusion in her heart and sent her brother out. She turned around and asked Amber: "Is the Madam also in Shaohua Courtyard?"

"The Madam is not here." Amber said, "I heard from Linbo that at noon, Manager Zhao from the Huichu Office came to report to the Marquis, and the Marquis went to Shaohua Courtyard after hearing the news."

Did the Xiang family really encounter some difficulties?

As she was thinking, she saw Xu Lingyi rushing over.

"Where's Zhenxing?" he asked, "Has he left?" He then complained, "Why didn't you let him wait for me for a while?"

"Brother, it's time to go to the restaurant." Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "Say you'll come back another day!"

Xu Lingyi nodded and went into the inner room with Shiyi Niang.

"What does Zhenxing want to talk to me about?"

Eleventh Lady told Lu Changgui what he meant.

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see!"

Eleventh Lady asked him about his visit to the Second Madam: "...but what happened to the Xiang family?"

"After you said that the other day, I asked someone to find out." Xu Lingyi sat on the big kang by the window. "The Xiang family not only has no financial difficulties, but has been getting better and better over the years. It's just that when Mr. Xiang was alive, he didn't care much about these mundane matters. Those old houses were not well repaired, and they were all dilapidated when they came to Mr. Xiang. The money to repair the houses is not much different from the money to build a new yard. Mrs. Xiang wanted to sell a few houses and keep a few. Use the money from the sale of the houses to renovate the remaining yards. Not only does it not have to take out a large sum of money again, but it can also save some manpower to look after the house. Because it is the ancestral house, Mr. Xiang asked Mrs. Xiang to ask the second sister-in-law to see if there is any special meaning that needs to be kept."

"What does the second sister-in-law say?" Eleventh Lady did not expect that things were completely different from what she imagined.