Chapter 375: The Situation of the Scumbag Dad’s Family]
When Chen Meixin heard this, she felt a little chilled.
In the past, Xiao Yunqi was a prince. After the crown prince's rebellion, he was highly regarded by the emperor. He was in the limelight and had the potential to be a future emperor. At that time, she was humble and submissive, and accommodated him in everything. This was her job as a concubine, so she could still tolerate it.
But now everyone has been demoted to a commoner and exiled thousands of miles away. Why on earth would he, a grown man, not only fail to protect his wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law along the way, but also order her to serve him at will?
However, although she was not happy about it, Chen Meixin did not dare to contradict Xiao Yunqi for the moment. She just looked at the heavy rain outside and said timidly: "It's raining heavily, and we don't have an umbrella or anything. Let's wait until the rain stops before going..."
Before he finished speaking, with a "Pa!" sound, Xiao Yunqi suddenly stepped forward and slapped Shen Meixin in the face, causing her to stagger and even hit her head against the wall, breaking the skin!
"Bitch! What I say is what I mean. Who asked you to make excuses? It's obvious that because I'm in such a desperate situation, even you look down on me! I advise you to leave as soon as possible. If you anger me, don't blame me for not considering our relationship as husband and wife and selling you to a brothel!"
Ever since he was exiled, the prince who was once high and mighty has been arbitrarily whipped and humiliated by officials and even fellow exiled prisoners. He just ran into a snag at Qin Mengyue again, and his face and dignity were completely destroyed. Therefore, he was filled with resentment and now vented it all on Chen Meixin!
Chen Meixin covered her cheeks and stared at Xiao Yunqi in shock and anger.
She has been spoiled by Shen Shi'an since she was a child. Even Shen Fenghe, the legitimate daughter, is not as good as her. How could she have suffered such humiliation?
Now, not only is she suffering hardships on the road to exile, but even her husband, the only person she can rely on, beats her and treats her like a maid. How can she not feel hatred and resentment in her heart?
Shen Shi'an and Yang Cuicui heard the noise and hurried in.
As soon as she came in, she saw Shen Meixin fell to the ground with a bruised forehead. Yang Cuicui hurried over to help her up and asked, "What...what happened? Why did you get so angry for no reason? Meixin, did you offend His Highness?"
When Chen Meixin saw her parents come in, she couldn't help crying in grievance: "Mom, how did I provoke him? He bullied me!"
Shen Shian's face turned pale, and he said patiently: "Your Highness, we have fallen to such a state now, no one is happy. It's not good for you, a grown man, to take your anger out on your wife, right?"
Although he was exiled, Xiao Yunqi still acted like the Prince Rui along the way, and Shen Shian had long been impatient with him.
If he hadn't held on to the hope that one day the emperor would pardon Xiao Yunqi and recall him to the palace, he would have turned against him long ago.
Seeing that Shen Shi'an dared to teach him a lesson, Xiao Yunqi became even more furious: "Shen Shi'an, don't think I don't know. Before, in front of the Queen, you deliberately showed your goodwill. It was obvious that you wanted to kick me away and cling to her yourself, right? Who in the court doesn't know how much the emperor hates the prince? What's more, the prince is dead. You want to cling to the Queen and your daughter, the 'Crown Princess', and turn things around? It's simply a foolish dream! Although I am now in a desperate situation, I will definitely have a chance to make a comeback in the future. I advise you to think carefully about who you should follow to have a bright future!"
Shen Shi'an's expression grew even more stern. After a long pause, he sighed and said, "Your Highness has misunderstood. I am wholeheartedly loyal to Your Highness, otherwise I would not have married Mei Xin to Your Highness, right? Mei Xin, it must be you who offended Your Highness. Why don't you apologize to Your Highness?"
Chen Meixin widened her eyes in shock: "Dad!"
"Just apologize when I tell you to! Don't you even listen to your father?"
Chen Mei felt extremely aggrieved, but in the end she had no choice but to apologize timidly.
Xiao Yunqi said coldly, "It's enough that you know you're wrong. Why don't you go to the village to ask for herbs, food, and bedding? Do you want to freeze me to death?"
Chen Meixin looked at Shen Shian for help: "Dad, it's dark now. I... I'm a woman, how can I show my face in public? Let's wait until tomorrow morning..."
Before he could finish his words, Xiao Yunqi slapped him again: "You just said you knew you were wrong, and now you're trying to be lazy and quibble? It's inconvenient for you as a woman? Then let your parents go! Do you really want me to go myself?"
Shen Shi'an's face was extremely ugly, but he finally endured it and said to Yang Cuicui: "Mei Xin is a young lady and it's not easy for her to show up in public. You go and find the village chief's wife. We will be people of this village from now on, and the village chief will have to take care of these things."
As a scholar who once held the position of Prime Minister, he naturally could not do such a thing as asking for help from others. Only Yang Cuicui could be used by him.
After hearing this, Yang Cuicui was not willing to do so, but she did not dare to refute. She had to find a tattered umbrella from the house, opened it, and walked to the village chief's house in the dark.
It was Village Chief Wu who opened the door. When he saw that it was a woman, he quickly called his wife and hid in the yard.
Being woken up in the middle of the night, Madam Wu was both angry and amused. She had already seen a good show at the door of Shen Fenghe's house before, and had also heard that Yang Cuicui was originally from a brothel, so her tone was filled with a bit of contempt:
"Isn't this Madam Yang? Why are you knocking on the door so late at night? What's going on?"
Yang Cuicui glanced at Village Chief Wu in the yard with practiced eyes, showing the usual flirtatious charm of women in the entertainment industry, and then said:
"Madam Wu, you have seen what happened today. Our family is in misfortune. My master gave birth to an ungrateful person. Seeing that my parents and sister were in trouble, not only did he not help, but he also beat them... My master, my brother-in-law and his daughter were all injured and couldn't sleep due to the pain, so I wanted to ask if there is a doctor in this village who could give us some medicine. In addition, we are new here, and there is no bedding or food in the house, and it is leaking, so I wanted to see if Madam Wu's family could lend us some food, bedding, etc."
Mrs. Wu had just seen her looking at her man with that kind of foxy look, and she was furious and couldn't help but sneer:
"Madam Yang, it's not that I don't want to help you, but you've seen the situation in this village. Every country family lives in poverty, unlike you who were exiled from the capital. You were used to fine clothes and delicious food before, and you think a few steamed buns and a bed are worthless. If we want to buy these, we have to save money for at least half a year. I think you should go back and think of other ways. As for the doctor, the best doctor in the village is Madam Shen, but I'm afraid she won't be able to help you. If you want to find another doctor, you have to go to the neighboring village, and no matter what, you have to go early tomorrow morning. You in the capital may be popular for a woman to knock on other people's doors in the middle of the night, but if any woman here does that, she will probably be beaten to death by the men in her family."
No matter how dumb Yang Cuicui was, she could tell that this was a mockery of her. However, she was used to being in romantic places, so she didn't take it to heart. On the contrary, she hadn't asked for anything, and she would definitely be scolded if she went back. So she had to continue shamelessly saying, "Sister, I was also ordered by my man to come here. If I go back empty-handed, I will definitely be scolded. But anything will be fine."
Mrs. Wu's face darkened when she was called "Big Sister". She immediately said, "Don't call me that casually. Who is your sister?"
But seeing her like this, in order to get rid of her, he finally said, "If you really want it, I have some clean dry straw at home. I originally planned to use it to pad the pigpen when the weather clears up. You can take it as a temporary favor. I don't have any more!"
When Yang Cuicui heard that she was going to pad the pigpen, she was a little angry, but thinking that it was better than going back empty-handed, she had no choice but to agree.
Anyway, in the countryside, there are people who use straw as bedding.
Seeing that there was only some straw, Xiao Yunqi and Shen Shi'an both looked pale, but there was no other way for the moment, so they just made do for the night.
The next morning, the news that Yang Cuicui, a woman, knocked on the village chief's door late at night spread throughout the village.
This wasn't something that Mrs. Wu said. She was afraid that others would say something nonsense when a woman who used to work in a brothel came to her house late at night. But it was seen by someone who got up at night.
Shen Fenghe naturally heard about this, but she was not surprised.
Judging from Shen Shian's vision, he can favor a woman like Yang Cuicui and even favor his concubine over his wife. It can be seen that he is the same kind of person.
Moreover, asking a woman to do these things in the middle of the night is incredibly despicable.
However, these have nothing to do with her.
After breakfast, Chen Fenghe and Qin Mengyue said they wanted to go to the mountains to pick some wild vegetables, and then went out.
In early spring, the snow on the shady sides of the mountain has not completely melted, but many plants have already quietly emerged.
Chen Fenghe picked some shepherd's purse, bracken, mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms. There were also spring bamboo shoots sprouting on the mountain, so she dug some of them too.
Of course, meat dishes were also indispensable, so she didn't bother to catch them herself. She directly took out a wild rabbit, a wild pheasant, and a sea bass weighing more than two kilograms from the space.
Walking further into the mountains, she stumbled upon Chinese toon trees and goji berries. The tips of the branches were covered in vibrant red buds, and Chen Fenghe plucked them without hesitation. Goji berries are also a popular springtime ingredient; the tender green buds, simply stir-fried with oil and salt, are a delicacy.
After a while, the small bamboo basket on his back was half full. Chen Fenghe did not buy anything more, but went straight into the space, changed his appearance and clothes, and went to the town.
The Gu's Horse and Carriage Company in the town was managed by Manager Zheng, and the coachmen and clerks were all trustworthy, so the business quickly got on track.
In addition, last time they delivered pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and other goods to the taverns in Youzhou City, the major taverns and restaurants in Youzhou City saw that the meat products were reasonably priced and asked where they were bought. Chen Fenghe instructed the shopkeeper Zheng to also take on the responsibility of receiving orders. If anyone wanted to order livestock, poultry and other meat ingredients, they would accept them all, agree on a delivery date, and have the carriage and horse company deliver them on time.
Chen Fenghe also personally designed flags specifically for the carriage and horse company, and had a flag hoisted on each carriage.
At first, Shopkeeper Zheng was skeptical. He said, "Boss, these flags and such are only displayed by escort agencies. The escort agents in the escort agencies are all skilled in martial arts. Raising the escort flags tells the outlaws along the way that this is a well-known escort agency and not to be messed with. Besides, the ones that can display such a show are usually the big ones, and the goods they transport are generally not too valuable. As for small escort agencies or those transporting valuable goods, they try to be as low-key as possible on the road. Otherwise, if they are targeted by robbers, they will cry bitterly! Our carriage and horse company is not famous, and we don't have skilled escort agents to escort the carriages. If we display such a show, won't we just be a target for nothing and tell them that we are being taken advantage of?"
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Manager Zheng, your concerns are not without reason. However, I also have my considerations. Just do as I say. If you really encounter bandits who block the road and rob people, don't panic. No matter whether you have goods or silver with you, hand it all over. I tell everyone to focus on saving their own lives. As for the lost silver and goods, I will never pursue it or withhold your wages to force you to pay."
Seeing that Shen Fenghe had made up her mind, Manager Zheng had no choice but to agree.
I don't know if it's because of the effect of the flag, but in the past month, in addition to Chen Fenghe's own business of selling pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and other goods, many businesses in nearby villages and towns, and even Youzhou City, that want to transport goods have come to him.
Therefore, compared with the previous situation when Manager Zheng was the boss and the business was deserted and business was bleak, it can be said that business is booming now.
When Chen Fenghe arrived at the store, Manager Zheng immediately came to greet her, handed her the account book, and showed it to her. He smiled excitedly and said, "Boss, I really didn't expect this business to be so good. In just one month, after deducting the costs of paying everyone's wages, feeding the horses, mules, and oxen, and repairing the mule carts and carriages, we've already made a profit of two hundred taels of silver."
As Shopkeeper Zheng spoke, he couldn't help but feel a slight regret rising in his heart.
If he had known that the carriage and horse business was so profitable, why would he have sold the shop...
However, on second thought, the main reason why the carriage and horse business is so booming is because Mr. Gu has other jobs to take care of the business.
This business, of course, is selling pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc. to merchants in Youzhou City.
Eighty percent of this month's business is the owner's own business.
The remaining 20% came in the second half of the month, because the carriage and horse company had two trips between the town and Youzhou City on the official road almost every day, and there were flags on each vehicle for promotion, so business commissioned from outside came to the door.
If he didn't sell the shop and continued to run it himself, where would he get those big orders for transporting pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc.?
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