Soon, the carriage slowly stopped at the city gate.
Qi Moli got off the carriage first, then reached out to help Si Jinxing down.
She looked around and found that twenty or thirty ragged people had gathered at the city gate.
Upon closer inspection, although those people were dressed in rags, their faces were clean, but the soles of their shoes were mostly worn out...
Qing Chan asked several passersby in succession, then returned to Si Jinxing and said:
"Princess, these people live in Tong County. They said it rained for several days before the autumn harvest, and their crops were completely destroyed. That's why they had to travel such a long distance to come to Jianzhou in search of a living."
Upon hearing this, Si Jinxing looked at Qi Moli and said:
"I remembered that my grandmother and three aunts had told me that on their way back to Beijing, they encountered rainy days in Huaibei and Huainan, causing the water level to rise sharply, so they had to take a horse-drawn carriage instead.
So, that place is suffering from flooding?"
Qi Moli glanced at the city gate and saw two gatekeepers waving their hands to drive away the villagers.
His face darkened slightly, and he said:
"Xing, this matter is of great importance. I have to go to the palace now. Please return home and I will come to find you when I have time."
After he finished speaking, he worriedly warned Qingchan, "Protect your master!"
Qing Chan had always respected Qi Moli. Upon hearing this, he quickly bowed and replied, "Yes!"
Qi Moli looked at Si Jinxing again and told her to go back home quickly. Then he turned around and walked to the soldiers guarding the city, took their horses, and galloped away. Mo Yun followed.
Seeing this, the coachman Bai Xi shouted to the princess to get on the carriage and go into the city quickly, but he saw her looking at the crowd at the foot of the city wall.
Wu Zhong, the captain of the city gate, also saw Si Jinxing at this time.
A few days ago, I listened to what Princess Mo Ying said.
He took one tael of silver and bought a fallen horse from Minister Zhou, and then sold it for sixty taels of silver!
Wu Zhong walked over quickly, bowed and said:
"Greetings, Princess. Here is the fifty-nine taels of silver I earned from selling the horse last time."
Seeing him hand over a large purse, Si Jingxing couldn't help but laugh:
"Why, you still carry it with you?"
Wu Zhong scratched the back of his head when he heard this, smiled innocently, and said:
"I dare not send it to the princess's residence. I can only carry it with me every day. When I meet the princess one day, I can return the silver to her."
Si Jinxing smiled and said:
"You earned this money because you trusted me. You can keep it for yourself."
After she finished speaking, she pointed to a few villagers not far away and asked, "Why don't you let these people enter the city?"
Wu Zhong was holding the money bag, not knowing whether to refuse or put it away. When he heard the princess' question, he looked towards those people and said,
"It was okay the first two days, we only let one or two into the city, but the number has increased over the past two days.
Seeing that the situation is becoming increasingly serious, I have reported it to the court, but have not received any instructions."
Si Jinxing nodded. These people were not coming to the capital to look for relatives, nor were they coming to the capital to do business. If they suddenly poured into the city, the most feared thing would be causing unrest in the capital.
Si Jinxing frowned slightly. What she was most worried about was whether there would be a large number of disaster victims heading towards Jianzhou?
She glanced at the villagers at the foot of the city wall again, and saw a man taking a dry and hard pancake, tearing it into three pieces and sharing them with his two children and wife.
He himself waved his hands, as if to say that he was not hungry.
If it wasn't true that life was impossible in their hometown, who would be willing to leave their hometown with their wife and children and suffer the contempt of others?
At Qingchan's urging, she got on the carriage, but not to return to the general's mansion. Instead, she asked Bai Xi to drive the carriage to Yaxu Lao on Longxing Street.
The carriage was moving on the street. Si Jinxing lifted the window curtain and looked carefully at the corner of the street.
Sure enough, I occasionally saw a few people wearing tattered clothes, but they did not look like ordinary beggars.
When the carriage arrived at Yaxu Lao, Si Jinxing saw a little girl squatting outside the door of Yaxu Lao, looking inside pitifully, hoping that someone would bring her some food.
It seemed that she was not very good at begging. She didn't even open her mouth to ask for money, and she was not like those beggars who walked into the door to beg.
In the lobby of Yaxu Lao, Pei Qingzhu was talking to Manager Fang. When he saw her get off the carriage, he hurried out to greet her.
"Master, I heard that you are celebrating your birthday today. How come you still have time to come over?"
Si Jinxing smiled and said, "You are quite well-informed."
Pei Qingzhu let her in and followed her upstairs, smiling:
"I've been discussing the opening of a new shop with Miss Yan Fei from the boss's house recently, so naturally I need to find out more about the boss's affairs."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Shopkeeper Fang and said with a smile:
"My two brothers were appreciated by our boss and got good jobs under him.
I don't have anything good to give to my boss, so I'll just settle the bill with him today."
After several people entered the second-floor conference room and sat down, Manager Fang held up an account book and placed it in front of Si Jinxing, saying proudly:
"Boss, our Yaxu Lao has only been open for six days. Take a look at the revenue. Are you satisfied?"
Si Jinxing didn't want to spoil their fun. He quickly scanned the half of the account book, staring at the last page for a long time before looking up and asking:
"The net profit for the six days is one thousand eight hundred and thirty taels?"
She thought that Yaxu Lao could make money, but she didn't expect that in just a few days, she could earn back the two thousand taels of silver she had invested in the shop in the early stage!
Pei Qingzhu and Manager Fang smiled even more deeply upon seeing their boss's reaction.
Shopkeeper Fang admired:
"I've been a shopkeeper for many years, and I've never seen a shop recoup its costs so quickly!
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