Chapter 210 Preparing to Burn Down the Zhou Family's Land
Inside the Yu residence, Master Yu was doing the accounts when he noticed that the recent income had decreased significantly. He turned to the steward beside him and asked, "What happened? Why has our rice shop's business dropped by more than half?"
The steward lowered his head and said, "Recently, a Zhou family rice shop opened in Cheng'an County. People from several nearby counties have come to buy rice from them, which has taken away a lot of our business."
Master Yu was furious. "Didn't I tell you to put Zhou's rice in every rice shop?"
The butler looked up and asked, "You mean those inferior rice grains?"
Master Yu nodded and said, "Who cares what kind of rice it is? Just label it Zhou Family Fragrant Rice. It doesn't matter what those people eat."
The butler bowed his head and said, "Master, I did as you said, but business has still plummeted."
Actually, the Yu family's business was getting worse and worse, not entirely because of Du Wanchun's new rice shop. Their rice shop divided rice into three, six, and nine grades, and the prices were different.
Ordinary people can only buy the cheapest, second-grade rice. Now, Zhou's fragrant rice is cheap and of good quality, so naturally more people are willing to come to Zhou's to buy rice.
Master Yu frowned, paced around the room a few times, then turned to the steward and asked, "Do you know where the owner of this Zhou family rice shop is from?"
The steward slowly said, "They are from Changliu Village in Cheng'an County. I heard they own their own land and grow their own rice."
Master Yu's eyes lit up and he said, "Today, send a few men to Changliu Village and burn all the rice in their fields. Let's see what they can sell then."
The butler was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and said somewhat reluctantly, "Master, wouldn't this be inappropriate?"
Master Yu said seriously, "If there's anything wrong, just do as I say."
The butler lowered his head and said, "Master... wouldn't this be too outrageous?"
Master Yu glared at him, "If you're not willing to do it, I'll find someone else to do it later!"
Left with no other choice, the butler could only reply, "Yes, sir, I'll take care of it right away."
Upon hearing this, Master Yu's expression softened considerably.
The butler turned and hurriedly left.
Inside the market of Qingzhou Prefecture, Zhou Ruiyuan led Du Wanchun to a pastry shop, which offered the latest and most fashionable pastries from Qingzhou Prefecture.
Seeing that Du Wanchun liked the food, Zhou Ruiyuan bought most of the shop.
By the time the group returned to their home in Changliu Village, it was already evening.
Du Wanchun distributed the pastries she bought to Aunt Zhou, Aunt Wang, Granny Zhuang, and Little Sister Xu.
Xu Xiaomei couldn't bear to eat them, so she saved the snacks to bring to her older sister at home in a few days.
Late at night, Zhou Ruiyuan and Du Wanchun were both awake because of the Yu family's rice shop.
Du Wanchun said, "Why don't we tell Prefect Zheng about this and let him handle it?"
Zhou Ruiyuan's gaze darkened slightly, and after a moment of deep thought, he said, "If Prefect Zheng was involved in this matter, then Lord Yu will definitely suspect our origins."
As he spoke, he pulled Du Wanchun into his arms, saying, "Don't worry, I'll find a way to handle this."
Du Wanchun pressed her face against his chest, looked out the window, her eyes sharpened, and the corners of her mouth slightly raised.
As night deepened, the Yu family sent five or six people to secretly arrive at Changliu Village.
This matter was originally entrusted to Steward Yu, but Steward Yu couldn't bear to do it, so Master Yu found the servants in the mansion and ordered them to set fire to the Zhou family's house.
They jumped off the carriage with kerosene and torches and secretly approached the vicinity of Zhoujiatian.
The head servant asked his underling, "Where is the Zhou family's land?"
The younger brother pointed behind the woods, "That whole area is it!"
The head servant looked up and saw a patch of lush green rice seedlings behind the woods.
He was overjoyed and said, "Great! Let's go set it on fire!"
Since the fields are not easy to burn now, they also brought some dry straw with them.
The lead servant had just walked toward the field when he suddenly lost his balance and fell heavily forward, rolling directly into the mud.
He was shocked and quickly got up, wiped his face and said, "What bad luck, I can even trip and fall while walking."
The other servants helped him up. "Don't rush, there's no one around at night, we can walk slowly."
The head servant frowned, pulled his henchman beside him, and said, "You go first."
The younger brother quickly replied, "Okay, follow me."
The group walked carefully forward and eventually arrived at the edge of the field.
The head servant was overjoyed and wiped the mud off his face again. "Quickly, spread out the straw and pour kerosene on it!"
"Yes!" the group responded, preparing to start gathering straw.
Just then, the servant at the front suddenly pointed ahead and shouted, "Look!"
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