With this sum of money, Zhao Qingyi could quickly expand her business empire.
Several workshops were opened, some specializing in purchasing wool, recruiting female workers to spin yarn, and others specializing in knitting various sweaters.
There are people who specialize in buying fur to make shoes and bags.
Considering the windproof properties of fur, Zhao Qingyi also developed a leather garment manufacturing business.
Because of the long hours of sunshine in Mogao County, the fruits have an extremely high sugar content. Large quantities of dried fruit and preserves are produced from this.
Zhao Qingyi can make money with the escort agency, and Wang Huaijing can also collect taxes on the side.
Although the tax is paid by his own daughter-in-law, it is reasonable.
Herdsmen and farmers in the city and countryside can also make money.
Mogao County is rapidly rising at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The Zhao family is preparing to attend a banquet at Wang Guangzong's house.
Wang Guangzong, following the caravan from Wangyue Tower, finally returned to Wufang Town.
Even though he had been appointed to an official post, Wang Guangzong did not want to hold a grand banquet, considering that he also had a group of troublesome relatives.
After all, he had to go to Linrou County to take up his post in three days.
This time, Zhao Qingyan and her sister did not attend the Wang family's celebration banquet; Huang Shi attended with her two daughters-in-law.
Zhao Qianci and the other men went together.
After all, they had a teacher-student relationship before, and later became relatives.
The Wang family was packed with guests that day, including many local gentry and Wang Guangzong's former classmates.
Not everyone has the chance to pass the imperial examinations or become a Jinshi.
Therefore, Wang Guangzong's classmates all came to him to learn from his teachings and, incidentally, to see if they could borrow the notes of the Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).
This might be beneficial for his future imperial examinations.
However, upon arriving, he discovered that his former classmates were now able to chat and laugh with the county magistrate, which made him realize the gap between himself and his former classmates.
Because of the incident her niece caused at the Zhao family's banquet last time, Madam Wang still felt a little embarrassed when she saw the Zhao family members.
Looking behind the three women of the Zhao family, he was somewhat disappointed not to see the Zhao family girls.
It seems the Zhao family is somewhat annoyed with their niece.
There must be some reason why the girls in the family aren't allowed to come over.
Lady Wang recently spent a lot of money to bring in a nanny from the palace.
I learned a lot of rules from them, including how to conduct myself, and I benefited greatly from it.
Therefore, although he was disappointed, he did not show it on his face.
The women of the Zhao family were still warmly welcomed to take their seats.
The seating arrangement today is rather interesting. Usually when Madam Wang visits her own home, she is seated at the main table, next to the county magistrate's wife, as a sign of respect.
Upon arriving at the Wang family's house today, I was surprisingly seated at a different table.
Apart from Madam Qiu, everyone else at the main table was clearly wealthy and powerful.
She was dressed in fine silk and satin, and was followed by maids and servants.
Those who knew them came to a banquet, but those who didn't might have thought they were there to challenge each other to a fight, all vying for attention.
There are hardly any prominent people in Wufang Town, so it can be basically concluded that those sitting at the main table must be wealthy households.
The Zhao family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law clearly saw that the woman felt unworthy to sit at the head table.
It seems that his family's status as a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) is no longer comparable to that of a Jinshi (a scholar who passed the highest level of the imperial examinations).
Understanding is one thing, feeling uncomfortable is another.
If not Wang Niangzi, then her own son-in-law should also be blamed.
The mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law sat together side by side.
The woman at the table who was helping to greet the guests was Wang Niangzi's sister-in-law, namely Wang Zhongshu's wife, Madam Ji.
Last time, when her daughter was sent home by her sister-in-law, her sister-in-law said some unpleasant things, which made Madam Ji very unhappy.
Upon learning the identities of the Zhao family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, this Ji woman hatched a scheme.
The guests at this table are not as well-off as those at the head table.
They were at most a moderately wealthy family, and naturally, no one in their family had passed the imperial examinations.
When Yun Fengqiao returned home, he described the banquet at the Zhao family's house as being held outdoors, saying that the food smelled bad and didn't taste good.
Including the clothes worn by the women of the Zhao family, it's unknown how they obtained them or where they came from.
Anyway, there's nothing good to listen to.
Madam Ji completely trusted her daughter and was puzzled as to why her sister-in-law was so angry. Wasn't it just because someone in the family was a scholar?
There are plenty of scholars in the Divine Dragon Kingdom. What's so special about them? Many of them didn't even earn their living by digging in the soil.
It sounds nice, but in reality, their family life was incredibly poor.
To avoid overshadowing the guests, the Zhao family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law wore plain-colored silk clothes today.
Because of its well-fitting cut, it doesn't even have any embroidery.
After all, if flowers were embroidered on this kind of clothing, it would be superfluous.
A solid gold hairpin was inserted into Huang's hair.
She wore a hollowed-out gold bracelet that Zhao Qingyan had given her. Wang Caixia and Tian Xiaolan both wore jade hairpins and jade bracelets.
This outfit looks very simple and understated, and the jade pieces chosen are all of the "floating flower" variety.
At first glance, it doesn't seem particularly valuable; someone unfamiliar with the subject might mistake it for something worthless.
Naturally, those wealthy ladies had good judgment.
Putting everything else aside, the openwork gold bracelet that Ms. Huang wore was not cheap.
The bracelet's value lies not in the gold itself, but in its openwork craftsmanship and the twelve gemstones set in it.
Once all the dishes were served, Madam Ji began to show off her skills.
"Ladies, let me introduce myself first. My surname is Ji, and my husband's surname is Yun. I am the elder sister-in-law of Magistrate Wang's wife."
"It is an honor to attend Magistrate Wang's victory celebration banquet today. Let us first have a drink to congratulate Magistrate Wang on his smooth career and continuous promotion."
Historically, women rarely drank alcohol at banquets, let alone raised their glasses.
It's just that someone brought it up, and I couldn't very well not follow suit.
After drinking, Ji started nagging again and wouldn't let anyone eat.
Apart from the Zhao family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who remained largely unchanged, the other ladies complained bitterly. They were not good drinkers to begin with, and the Wang family had prepared strong liquor.
Not eating any vegetables is simply not enough to suppress the effects of the alcohol.
The Zhao family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had eaten before leaving home, worried they might get hungry at the banquet and eat too much, which wouldn't look good.
Huang, in particular, had a slightly smaller appetite than Zhao Qingyan.
"I don't know what everyone's tastes are. Today's meal was specially ordered by my sister-in-law from Wangyue Tower."
I heard that Wangyue Tower is closed today because they're hosting a banquet for my sister-in-law's family.
After saying that, he covered his face with his sleeve and chuckled.
If the Zhao family hadn't known that the owner of Wangyue Tower was coming today to take stock of the accounts, and that both the manager and the accountant had to report to each other, they would have believed the Ji family's lies.
"Everyone, please taste it and see how it is. If it doesn't satisfy you, I'll go to the kitchen and ask them to make some improvements."
These three must be my sister-in-law's in-laws, right?
I heard that your family held a celebration banquet a while ago. I wonder which of your sons passed the imperial examination?
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