"Aunt Huyang, please take a seat!"
Gu Jiu greeted Princess Huyang in the flower hall of the east courtyard.
Princess Huyang looked around curiously. It was her first time in the East Courtyard.
She looked at Gu Jiu and said, "I've done it for you. Fu Ya has woken up and is in better spirits than anyone else. I guarantee she can live for another 20 to 30 years. Isn't it time for you to fulfill your promise?"
Gu Jiu smiled and nodded, "Aunt, have some tea. I will naturally fulfill my promise to you."
She personally poured tea for Princess Huyang and handed the cup to her.
Hu Yang pushed the teacup away and said, "I'm not in a hurry to drink tea. Let's talk about money first."
Gu Jiu put down the teapot and said, "Okay! I was just about to talk to my aunt about money. Is the Li family familiar to you?"
"Which Li family are you referring to?" Princess Huyang asked with a raised eyebrow.
Gu Jiu pursed his lips and smiled, "Of course it's the Li family of Li Zhaoyi."
"Wrong, wrong, tomorrow you must change your address to Consort Li De. I have received news that His Majesty has decided to confer the title of Consort De on Li Zhaoyi. Humph, using her beauty to please others, I really don't know why she was given the title of Consort De."
Princess Huyang was clearly very dissatisfied with Li Zhaoyi. Her tone and eyes revealed one thing: disdain. She deeply disdained Li Zhaoyi.
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "It's only a matter of time before Li Zhaoyi is crowned as a concubine. Aunt Huyang doesn't need to be angry."
"How could I be angry? My father dotes on that woman so much that he's forgotten about us, his children. It's truly absurd."
"Auntie, have some tea!"
Gu Jiu took the opportunity to place the teacup in front of Princess Huyang.
Princess Huyang picked up the teacup and took a sip, and most of the cup was gone.
Gu Jiu picked up the teapot and refilled the teacup with water. "Aunt doesn't like the Li family. Many people don't like the Li family. Even I hate the Li family. The Li family relied on Li Zhaoyi's favor to make a fortune in the past two years. I don't know how many people have been ruined by the Li family."
Princess Huyang raised her eyebrows. "Why, you want to be the first to file a complaint against the Li family before the Emperor? It's useless. The memorials impeaching the Li family father and son this year alone are enough to fill several large baskets. What use is it? Not only were the Li family father and son not dismissed from office, they were promoted instead. Everything depends on the Emperor's will. Do you understand?"
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "Thank you for your advice, aunt. But I plan to file a complaint. I have an opportunity that will make the Li family bleed. I wonder if you are interested, aunt?"
Princess Huyang stared at Gu Jiu suspiciously, "Are you trying to get me to be the first to do this? I'm telling you, I won't do anything that doesn't benefit me."
Who said Hu Yang is a fool? Stand up.
Look at how smart and capable Huyang is at this moment, how can he be stupid?
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "Aunt, you misunderstood. I'm grateful to you for awakening Princess Fuya, and I want to repay you. We all hate Li Zhaoyi and the Li family, so here's an opportunity to make them bleed and make a killing. Is aunt interested?"
"Is there money to be made?" Everything else is not the point. The point is that there is money to be made.
Gu Jiu nodded, "Of course there is money to be made. If there is no money to be made, I will definitely not say a word."
"Then tell me, how do you make money?"
"Aunt, have you ever heard of Zhenbaozhai..."
Gu Jiu used his eloquence to successfully fool Princess Huyang.
Bang!
Princess Huyang slammed her hand on the table, "Is it really as profitable as you say?"
"I still didn't say more, for fear of frightening my aunt."
Princess Huyang smiled so hard that her teeth were visible. "Anything can scare me, but money won't. I'll follow your lead on this one."
Gu Jiu pretended to be surprised and asked, "Really? Auntie, have you thought it through?"
"Of course."
"Then what should I pay you?"
"No need to pay. This is my investment. Five thousand taels, I'm putting it all into this business. You said you'd give me dividends at the end of the year. If you don't give me dividends at the end of the year, I'm going to destroy your shop."
Gu Jiu smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, aunt, I will definitely give you dividends at the end of the year."
Princess Huyang left the palace happily without taking a penny from Gu Jiu.
When she got on the carriage, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
Why did she come to the palace today?
She came to ask for money, but she didn't get a penny. Instead, she gave the money to Gu Jiu. What kind of real estate business is this?
Hu Yang patted his head and asked the maid beside him, "Do you think I have been fooled?"
"I don't understand, I don't know. I only know that there will be dividends at the end of the year, and the princess will get a large sum of money."
Princess Huyang frowned, "Can the share be five thousand taels?"
"I think so. Didn't Madam Zhao guarantee double the profit?"
"Then she should give me 10,000 taels including principal and interest at the end of the year, right?"
The maid only nodded.
Princess Huyang reminded her, "You must remember this for me. You must not forget it, understand?"
She always felt a little uneasy and wondered if she had been fooled.
But it is written in black and white, and Gu Jiu cannot deny his debt.
…
The east courtyard of the palace.
Qingmei laughed out loud, "I was still worried about where to get the five thousand taels. The money in Zhenbaozhai was all reserved for Rongxin, Huang Zhuo and others to go to Jiangnan for expenses. I didn't expect that with just a few words from Madam, five thousand taels were saved and Princess Huyang was successfully sent away."
Gu Jiu chuckled softly and said, "Strictly speaking, the payment has only been postponed. By the end of the year, the five thousand taels of silver will still have to be given to Princess Huyang."
"It's good to be able to postpone it for half a year. Money is really tight when we need to withdraw 5,000 taels at this time."
The newly appointed eunuch Ma Xiaoliu came back from outside.
Bring back a silver note worth one thousand taels.
"Madam, this was given by the second master of the Su family. After reading the letter Madam wrote to them, the second master and the cousin agreed to invest without a second thought. They both said that if Madam said that building a house could make money, then it would definitely make money. They took out all their cash and said that if Madam needed more money, they would pool their money and give Madam another 1,000 taels."
Gu Jiu accepted the one thousand taels given by the Su family as development funds for the Yuhua Lane renovation project.
She wrote an agreement and asked Ma Xiaoliu to deliver it to the Su family.
"Tell them that one thousand taels is enough, and there is no need to raise additional money."
"I'll send it to the Su family right away."
Gu Jiu is absolutely sure that he will make money from the Yuhua Lane renovation project.
With such a lucrative project, she naturally didn't forget her brother Gu Ting, nor did she forget the Su family. She wrote to them separately, asking them to contribute money, and if the business was successful, they would just share the profits.
Gu Ting and Su Zheng didn't even think about the possible risks involved. When they saw that it was Gu Jiu who wanted money for business, they gave him as much money as he had without saying a word.
They all firmly believed that any business that Gu Jiu wanted to do was successful.
Gujiu is also raising funds internally.
Erzhuang was the most enthusiastic and took out all his wife's money, which was a total of 500 taels. He also wrote to Dazhuang, asking him to seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and send money quickly as Gu Jiu was leading everyone to make a fortune.
Qingmei, Qingzhu, Xiaocui, and Wang Yi all took out their own private money to invest.
Nanny Fang was hesitant at first, but was finally persuaded by Qingmei and took out some money as well. However, she didn't take much, only fifty taels.
Gu Jiu was very straightforward. "Fifty taels is fifty taels, and it also counts as a share for Madam Fang. After the house is sold, I will divide the money among everyone."
Gu Jiu originally thought that it would be an internal fundraising effort, and at most he could raise one thousand and two taels of silver.
As a result, Dazhuang and Du Cunli gave her a surprise.
Da Zhuang and Gui Ma, mother and son, pooled their money and sent five hundred taels.
Du Cunli alone contributed three thousand taels. Five hundred taels was his year-end bonus, and the rest was his funeral allowance. Having spent so many years in the palace, he had certainly saved up some personal savings.
Gu Jiu joked, "Madam Fang, Eunuch Du is richer than you."
Nanny Fang didn't care. "He should be richer than me. Back then, I also had over a thousand taels of silver for my coffin, but unfortunately, my brother wasn't up to the task and squandered it all. To be honest, Madam, Eunuch Du only managed to save a little over two thousand taels of silver for his coffin. Considering his status and position back then, it was far too little. I guess during those years of exile, all his money was taken away by others."
She raised five or six thousand taels of silver internally, plus the roughly three thousand taels she could withdraw from the shop, bringing the total to nine thousand taels. She was still two or three thousand taels short of the starting capital.
Gu Jiu thought for a moment and said, "Qingmei, please ask the Fourth Madam for me. I have a profitable business now. Would she like to invest in a share? The minimum investment should be one thousand taels."
Qingmei was surprised, "Madam, are you really going to drag the Fourth Madam into this business?"
Gu Jiu chuckled softly, "The Fourth Madam isn't like that, but the Xiao family behind her is very powerful. And the Fourth Young Master has so many cronies, maybe they can come in handy."
Just like Princess Huyang, although Princess Huyang is a troublemaker, if used well, the troublemaker can also play a big role.
Later, Gu Jiu was ready to use Princess Huyang as a troublemaker to have a good fight with the Li family.
She asked the Li family to steal her business, and dared to open a jewelry store across from Zhenbaozhai, and copied everything from Zhenbaozhai. They copied the business model and the jewelry styles. How shameless!
She would not be able to get rid of the anger in her heart unless she destroyed the Li family's business.
Qingmei asked, "If the Fourth Madam asks what the business is, how should I answer?"
"Just tell her about the house repair business."
Qingmei took the order and left.
Nanny Fang guessed, "Madam asked Qingmei to say it was a house renovation business. I guess the Fourth Madam might not agree."
Gu Jiu didn't care. "It doesn't matter if you don't agree. There are still Sister Mei and Sister Pei, and even Big Sister. I have already written to them, and I believe they will not miss this rare opportunity to make money."
As expected, when Xiao Qin'er heard about the house repair business, she had no interest at all.
Qingmei was sent away with just a few words.
Afterwards, she complained to the maid about Gu Jiu, "My sister-in-law must be so poor that she actually came to me for alms. Do you really think I'm a fool? She spent a thousand taels of silver in vain, but in the end, not even a splash was made. I don't know what she was thinking. She actually went to repair houses. I haven't seen many people making a lot of money repairing houses."
"Madam is right. From what I see, the eldest young master hasn't returned home for a long time, and the eldest lady is worried, so she wants to get more money."
Xiao Qin'er sneered, "When His Majesty arranged the marriage, I heard people say that my eldest sister-in-law has been in poor health since she was a child and has always been a sickly person.
During the New Year holiday, the eldest son stayed at the mansion for a month, but there was no sign of pregnancy. I guess her health is just not good for fertility, just like my second sister-in-law.
She kept saying that there was nothing wrong with her health. Humph, it was obvious that she bribed the imperial physician to cover up for her.
Just wait and see. If she remains silent this year, the palace will definitely not sit idly by.
The Concubine Shu will definitely give the eldest son a beauty. When that happens, I want to see if my sister-in-law can still smile."
If the east is dark, the west will be bright.
Gu Jiu personally handed the opportunity to make money to Xiao Qin'er, but Xiao Qin'er refused to seize it.
But others seized this opportunity.
Pei Yun was so generous that she sent someone to deliver 5,000 taels of silver to Gu Jiu. She also told him not to forget to bring her along if there was any profitable business in the future.
Gu Mei was also very decisive and sent someone to deliver two thousand taels.
She also persuaded Gu Qi, Gu Ying and others to invest.
Gu Qi and Gu Ying probably gave one thousand taels each out of consideration for Gu Mei's sake.
Gu Zhen was hesitant, but didn't want to offend Gu Jiu, so he sent someone to deliver 500 taels.
The total amount here is already nine thousand five hundred taels, far exceeding Gu Jiu's original budget.
I don’t know where Ouyang Fu got the information from. Maybe Xiao Qin’er told her about it on purpose.
In short, Ouyang Fu was in the other courtyard, and she actually sent someone to deliver one thousand taels.
He also sent someone to tell her, "Sister-in-law wants to do business. My power is limited. I only have one thousand taels. I hope you won't despise me."
Of course Gu Jiu didn't mind.
Whether it is one tael or one thousand taels, she welcomes it.
At first, she was still worried about not having enough start-up capital, and she would probably have to use the working capital in the shop if she was forced to do so.
At the beginning, when she planned to raise funds, she didn't have too much hope and thought it would be good to get seven or eight thousand taels.
However, the funds ultimately raised far exceeded her budget.
This is what character is.
Nothing is more valuable than character and credit.
The original plan was to have a starting capital of around 11,000 taels, which was just enough to start the project.
The amount of money she now has in her hands far exceeds 11,000 taels.
In other words, apart from the five thousand taels nominally given to Princess Huyang, she could start real estate projects worth tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of taels without spending a penny.
Moreover, she holds the majority of the shares, a full 55%.
The remaining 45% of the shares are distributed to others.
What is making money out of nothing? This is making money out of nothing.
Gu Jiu laughed. Was she going to start a financial crisis in ancient times?
After laughing, she started planning the project.
If you want to increase the value of the properties in Yuhua Lane, in addition to renovation, the most important thing is the planned pier.
She must find a way to get the planned dock location.
She already has a goal.
Another day, she would bring generous gifts and visit the Shaofu Household Manager.
Just when Gu Jiu was busy with her real estate development business, someone came to her house and offered her money.
The one who came back this time was Gu Yan.
"Second sister needs money, why didn't you tell me? You let Gu Ting participate, but refused to tell me, do you think we are too poor? But even if I am poor, at least I am richer than Gu Ting."
Gu Jiu was stunned at first, then burst into laughter.
"Sixth brother, please sit down. You misunderstood. You are a family man now, how can I rashly let you invest in the company? Business has its ups and downs. If there is a loss, my sister-in-law will blame me."
Gu Cheng slowly shook his head. "Your sister-in-law is a generous person. When she learned you needed money, she urged me to go. Today I brought a thousand taels of silver, most of which is her dowry. Don't think it's too little."
"No, no, no, how could I possibly think it's too little? I'm so grateful! I just told everyone I had a business that might make money, and I didn't expect everyone to support me so much."
Gu Jiu was very surprised and moved.
She didn't expect that Mrs. Hu was so generous and actually gave her money on her own initiative.
Is her character really that good?
Gu Cheng laughed, "Second sister may not know yet, but now everyone knows that Zhenbaozhai is opened by you. Zhenbaozhai has a unique business model that many jewelry shops can't imitate. Your sister-in-law also had a jewelry shop as part of her dowry, so she knows your business very well and admires you very much.
She also said that although she didn't know exactly what her second sister's business project was, it was definitely excellent. "Since her second sister is willing to help us make money together, how could we be so ungrateful as to not turn this opportunity away?"
Gu Jiu was filled with admiration, thinking that Hu was the truly insightful person.
She and Hu had never communicated with each other, and it was really amazing that Hu made such a judgment based solely on Zhenbaozhai.
Gu Cheng had good taste and married a good wife. Mrs. Hu was definitely a good wife.
"Congratulations to Sixth Brother for marrying a good wife."
Gu Cheng's eyebrows and eyes showed joy, "Your sister-in-law is a very independent person. I feel relieved to have her take care of the inner courtyard."
Gu Jiu was curious, "Is the inner courtyard being managed by my sister-in-law now?"
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