Chapter 190 Cooperation
This piece of warm jade is really big, about 50 centimeters long and 30 centimeters wide, like a pillow. It is a whole piece of mutton fat white jade, and it feels very smooth and warm to the touch, with an extremely comfortable feel.
Ning Xuan fell in love with the warm jade at first sight. She planned to keep it for herself, so she could look at it from time to time to soothe her eyes, and also use it as a pillow or to hug while sleeping.
Besides the warm jade, there were also very luxurious ornaments this time, including a crown full of kingfisher feathers, and hairpins and hair ornaments with very intricate craftsmanship but very beautiful. They were exquisite and beautiful, worthy of being royal products.
Recently, Wang Shulan's transactions mainly involve restocking goods for her antique shop. She has been in the capital for some time now. Although she is a county princess and is not restricted in her freedom, such as being confined to her fiefdom and not being allowed to return to the capital without being summoned, she still has shops in the prefectural city.
In addition, the county mansion bestowed by the emperor was also located in Xuzhou Prefecture, so she still planned to go back.
However, before going back, she wanted to finalize the matter of the skincare store.
It just so happens that the Empress summoned her to the palace again today, and she plans to bring up this matter with the Empress.
"What? You want me to go into business with you?" Murong Yanran was so surprised by Wang Shulan's suggestion that she forgot to refer to herself.
Wang Shulan nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty, please don't refuse yet. You know how effective my skincare products are. Of course, I'm only using the top-of-the-line ones for you. I also have other types of products, such as moisturizing and whitening ones. This business is sure to be profitable."
“But I am the Empress…” Murong Yanran knew the effects of these products. She herself had experienced great results from using them. Recently, the Emperor had been visiting her more than just on the first and fifteenth of the month. Moreover, unlike before when they would just sit under the covers and chat, he was now being overly enthusiastic, which she found somewhat overwhelming. However, she did not want to push away this sweet burden.
Because she also used the shower gel and body lotion given to her by Wang Shulan to care for her entire body's skin, not only is her facial skin very delicate, but every inch of her skin on her body makes the emperor linger. The empress is quite proud of herself.
The problem was that whenever the emperor came to visit her, her subordinates would start nagging and saying that as the mother of the nation, she should set a good example and remind the emperor to treat everyone equally. She found this very annoying.
The title of Empress is both an honor and a shackle.
Wang Shulan knew Murong Yanran's concerns, but she had already thought of an excuse: "But Your Majesty, there is no law in this dynasty that prohibits female relatives of officials or the Empress from engaging in business. On the contrary, whether they are commoners or officials and nobles, their female relatives will have various properties under their names to support the family's expenses."
"Your Majesty, our Great Jin Dynasty needs a lot of money for everything from reducing taxes for the people to building infrastructure and providing disaster relief. As the mother of the nation, wouldn't it be a relief for His Majesty if you could find legitimate ways to earn money?"
Murong Yanran had already taken action, but she was still somewhat worried that her actions would be criticized.
“Actually, Your Majesty, you don’t need to announce to the world that you are involved in this business. You can send someone you trust to cooperate with me in her name, but they should not interfere with the operation of the shop. They only need to distribute shares periodically.” Wang Shulan could see that Murong Yanran was already very interested, so she directly revealed her plan.
In fact, she never expected the Empress to cooperate with her directly in her name. She just wanted to propose a more difficult one first, and then propose a simpler one later, so that the other party would be more likely to accept it.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the Empress felt there was no problem.
“If I don’t have to put in any effort or money, I can just take a 10% share,” Murong Yanran said. She knew perfectly well that she was getting the money for free. Wang Shulan just wanted to get her involved, but she didn’t mind.
“Your Majesty, I certainly can’t offer you a ten percent share. Although you don’t contribute money or effort, your participation is essential for the stability of my business. After all, while I am a county princess, there are many people in the Great Jin Dynasty with higher status than me. If they covet my business and try to take it away, I certainly won’t be able to protect it on my own.”
"Your Majesty, I'll give you 20% of the shares, pure profit. Is that alright with you? And I'll cover the operating costs of the shop; I'll take 80%."
Although Murong Yanran also liked money, she wasn't the type to take it by force. She originally wanted to decline again and only ask for 10%, but Wang Shulan pushed her back. In the end, the two reached a 20/80 split and signed a written agreement.
The Empress directly affixed her personal seal.
As for the people sent by the Empress, she planned to choose her own mother from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion as the person who would be involved on the surface. The person who would actually show up at the store to intimidate others would be her sister-in-law from her maternal family. Both of them were first-rank noblewomen, and their status was respectable. Moreover, unless they were stupid, they would not dare to go against the Empress's maternal family.
In this way, Wang Shulan gained the Empress's trust through her recent interactions with her, and also found a super powerful backer for her to open a skincare and beauty store in the Da Jin Dynasty, a highly profitable business.
Because her powerful backer was in Shangjing, and there were far more noble ladies in Shangjing than in Xuzhou Prefecture, Wang Shulan planned to open her first shop in Shangjing. Once the shop in Shangjing was on track, she would return to Xuzhou Prefecture.
However, she felt that she might move to the capital in the future because she had once gone to the palace invisibly out of curiosity. She found that the closer she got to the palace, the more she felt a strange energy entering her body along with the spiritual energy when she cultivated. Although it was not much, it was very helpful to her cultivation.
However, the business in Xuzhou Prefecture couldn't be abandoned so easily. Fortunately, Brother Wu, who had fled the famine with her, was still reliable and capable. The goods she had recently traded with Ning Xuan were directly transported back to Xuzhou Prefecture by merchant caravans, and then Brother Wu was left to oversee them there.
Wu Ge was already very grateful to Wang Shulan for her trust and reliance, and now that Wang Shulan had become the county magistrate, he dared not harbor any disloyal thoughts. Therefore, he trusted Wang Shulan quite well.
Ning Xuan knew that Wang Shulan was going to open a shop in the capital of the Great Jin Dynasty, but she still had business in her base in Xuzhou Prefecture, so she quickly came up with a good idea.
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