Dongqin came with fifty people.
Five horse-drawn carriages were used, loaded with fruits that could be found in the Baiyue City area, as well as novelties from overseas brought by ships docked in Baiyue City.
Hidden beneath the fruit was a box filled with silver notes.
Dongqin was extremely careful in his work, and his silver deposits were spread out across various banks, both large and small.
"My lord, the number of foreign ships docking in Baiyue City is increasing, and several trading centers have been established, including horse markets, jewelry wholesale markets, spice wholesale markets..."
Those banknotes were all commissions or management fees, and also included a portion of the sales revenue.
"Baiyue City currently maintains an army of 1,500 men, and the income from various centers has a surplus of 3 million strings of cash, all of which have been brought to the master."
"The silver from the sale of grain has all been converted into silver notes, totaling six million strings of cash. The grain stockpiled before the disaster still has a surplus of one hundred thousand shi."
Dongqin gave all nine million strings of silver notes to Xie Zhaozhao.
The ledger was also brought along.
"I will stay in Kyoto for the next few days. Master, please check the accounts first. Once the accounts are clear, I will return."
Xie Zhaozhao asked, "Do you have any other plans for the next few days in Kyoto?"
Dong Qin shook his head: "No, I'm just here to deliver the silver notes."
"That's perfect, I have something I need you to do."
She had been planning to take revenge on Guan Yingying and Gu Chengyan.
Publishing poems and lyrics cuts off their path to currying favor.
By opening the Silk Road, their dream of a commercial empire was shattered.
The two's good fortune of profiting from national disasters in their previous lives was forcefully thwarted, and they even lost half of Xie Xiangxiang's dowry.
They arranged for someone to guide Xie Xinghe to question Gu Yuebai's identity in public, thus cutting off Gu Yuebai's path to education in all academies and permanently blocking his qualification to enter the Imperial Academy.
But that crazy woman, Guan Yingying, has brought in the panacea again!
Although her original target was the Crown Prince, who can guarantee she won't harm others? Hasn't she already set her sights on Emperor Hui again? Hasn't she already reached into his pocket?
Guan Yingying hates the rich, officials, and beautiful women... She hates everything she doesn't have. How can she guard against thieves every day?
This kind of person can no longer be allowed to roam freely outside; she should be placed under complete confinement.
I wouldn't trust anyone else to handle this matter, but Dong Qin is the most reliable person to get things done.
......
On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, an elderly couple, with a five- or six-year-old child, pulled a cart to visit relatives at the Xie residence.
The cart had several baskets filled with purple radishes and cucumbers grown in their own fields, as well as two large carp caught in the river.
The doorman couldn't recognize who it was at first glance.
“We are Madam Xie’s uncles,” Qu Yuning said. “We’ve come to visit the Old Madam.”
The gatekeeper suddenly remembered: "Aren't you the great-uncle who bet on Prince Gu at the Peony Poetry Festival and lost his entire fortune?"
Qu Yuning said embarrassedly, "It was me. I almost squandered my granddaughter's dowry that time. It was thanks to Madam Xie and Miss Xie that I was saved."
Mrs. Qu also said ingratiatingly, "We would like to kowtow to the old lady. We heard that the third young lady is going to be the crown prince's concubine, so we have come to offer our congratulations."
The gatekeeper dared not delay and hurriedly went to report to the old lady. It took the old lady a while to remember who Qu Yuning was.
"Oh, is he the one who jumped out from the roadside and startled me? Let them in, and take them to the Xu family's courtyard first."
Madam Xie's Wutong Garden is always bustling with people, so she really doesn't have time to see Qu Yuning and his wife.
The gatekeeper first delivered the local products that Qu Yuning had brought to the public hall, and then took them to the Xu family's courtyard.
Qu Yuning and her husband were a little nervous, looking at their niece with some unease. This was the mistress of the Xie family!
“Niece…I had nothing to do during the New Year, so I came to see you.” Qu’s wife, a country girl, was very nervous when she saw Xu Shi. She nudged the child next to her and said, “Gouzi, call her cousin.”
It was Gouzi's first time visiting the Xie family mansion. He was very nervous, clutching the hem of his clothes and shrinking behind his grandmother, stammering, "Cousin, cousin."
Madam Xu casually gestured for someone to offer her a seat and said to her maid, Duo'er, "Go and fetch some fruit."
Duo'er gave Gouzi some fruit, and Gouzi hurriedly stuffed it into his pocket. Duo'er then gave Gouzi a purse containing two small silver coins.
The dog only wanted to eat fruit, so it stuffed the purse into Qu's wife's hand.
Madam Xu did not know what they were doing there. Madam Xie the Second and Madam Xie the Third were both legitimate daughters of officials in the capital. Their families were all officials, while her mother was a concubine and her maternal uncles were all peasants from the countryside.
She was afraid that if the second and third wives saw her poor relatives, they would remember that she was a concubine's daughter in her maternal family.
They couldn't wait to get rid of Qu Yuning and his wife immediately.
Seeing her like this, Qu Yuning became much calmer, but thinking of what the woman from the village had told them, she didn't care about Xu's attitude.
"Has the Second Miss been married into the Marquis's mansion for half a year now?" Qu Yuning asked.
Xu immediately became alert.
"Uncle, Xiangxiang is now the heir apparent of the Pingyang Marquis's mansion. Married daughters have to be mindful of their mother-in-law's feelings in their husband's family. If you have anything to say, please tell me." He couldn't let them harass his daughter.
Qu Yuning didn't respond to her question, but continued to ask, "I heard that the Third Miss has been bestowed the title of Crown Prince's concubine? The Third Miss looks very fortunate."
Madam Xu thought to herself: You farmers don't actually think you can curry favor with the royal family, do you? Country folk can't even see their own worth, always trying to get involved in every good thing, without even knowing their place!
She was about to offer some blunt advice when she heard Duo'er report, "Madam, the Third Miss has arrived."
When Xie Tingting heard that Qu Yuning and his wife had come to her house, saying they were visiting relatives, she thought they were just there to freeload.
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