Chapter 102: Have to Face
Seeing that he had expressed his opinion, other merchants were unwilling to fall behind, so they also gritted their teeth and quoted huge amounts.
When the country faces a serious crisis, these businessmen cannot go to the battlefield to fight, so they have to contribute money and manpower, and they cannot give less.
If he was stingy with the money and made the governor unhappy, he would be quickly accused of a false crime and become a pauper overnight.
Mu Xingci looked at these merchants with an expression as if they were cutting their flesh, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
There was no other way. Having fought wars with two countries in succession, the imperial court was under great pressure, so he could only squeeze these merchants.
Today he is not only collecting military pay in Qizhou City, he will also go to other prefectures and states to continue collecting military pay next time. When the military pay is almost raised, it will be time for him to declare war on the Dazhao Kingdom.
While he was planning his ambitious business, Yun Wansheng was a little nervous as he watched the merchants stand up and sign up one by one.
The presence of this man made her afraid to show up on her own initiative. She was afraid that once she opened her mouth and gave her name, this dog marquis would notice her.
Although they have no relationship now and she doesn't need to be afraid of him, she just doesn't want to meet this man. If possible, she doesn't want to see him for the rest of her life.
Just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard the butler in front of me ask, "Is there anyone else who hasn't signed up?"
He asked twice in a row but no one answered him. Yun Wansheng was just trying to get away with it, pretending that she was one of the women in the harem and didn't need to get involved in this matter. There were so many women in the harem anyway, so who would notice her?
She had a good idea here, but Li Meiying stood up across from her, her eyes flashing with ill intentions: "Butler Wang, there is still a female merchant who has not signed up!"
Upon hearing this, Butler Wang's face darkened: "Who is it?" He called out twice but no one answered. The female merchant was too disrespectful to the Governor's Mansion.
Li Meiying looked righteous and looked at the little woman at the end opposite.
"Yun Wansheng, how could you do something so inappropriate at this time of national crisis? Are you so quiet just for a little money?"
After making the report with some pride, she looked at the handsome and elegant general of the Zhenjun Army with a flattering look. Sure enough, she saw that the man was staring at the tactless woman with a sharp gaze.
Yun Wansheng knew that she couldn't pretend anymore, so she could only stand up and look at the housekeeper.
"I'm sorry, Steward Wang. This is my first time attending a banquet like this. I was so nervous I didn't know what to do, so I didn't know when it was my turn. For the sake of Shun Shang's unification, I'm willing to donate 15,000 taels of silver as support."
"So that's how it is. No problem, as long as you're willing. Tell me your shop and your name."
Butler Wang naturally knew that this was the woman's excuse, but now that she had paid the money, he didn't bother with her.
"My name is Yun Wansheng. I run a Boyang shop and a workshop in the east of the city." Yun Wansheng said truthfully, never looking at Weiyuan Hou who had been staring at her.
Mu Xingci looked at the woman not far away, with a kind of greed in his eyes that he was unaware of.
He just looked at her quietly, but she never looked at him, as if she didn't know him. This made him feel a little depressed and uncomfortable.
The banquet continued, and Butler Wang arranged for three young ladies from official families to perform on stage, because there were also several generals attending the banquet. This arrangement was to show respect for their military service, to show that the civil officials had not forgotten the contributions of their military officers and valued them.
The official lady's performance was truly extraordinary. Her graceful dance was incomparable to those of the singing girls. There was no trace of worldly airs in her dance. It was full of elegant and difficult moves that made everyone cheer.
The first two young ladies danced and sang, both of which won the guests' praise. The last to appear was Miss Li from the prime minister's family.
I saw her sitting in the middle of the hall holding a pipa, and then she announced the title of the song and started playing. At first, she played very well, but the second half was obviously out of tune, which made some people laugh out loud.
Li Meiying heard the laughing voices and her face was filled with shame and anger. At this time, the frequent pain in her wrist made her play a few wrong tunes, which caused some people to laugh again.
The mockery of the crowd made her eyes flash with resentment. She immediately stopped, stood up, took a few steps forward and looked at the head of the family: "General, please make the decision for me!"
As she said this, she covered her face with a handkerchief and cried softly, but she did not forget to look at the general of the Zhenjun army with pitiful eyes.
Her crying startled everyone. Gu Feicheng looked at the young lady from the official family in confusion: "Miss Li, why do you say that?"
"Sir, the reason I play the pipa out of tune is because my wrist is injured. The day before yesterday, I took my maid out shopping. I heard that Boyang lamps are very beautiful, so I decided to go and take a look.
When I got there, I saw that the lamps in the shop were really beautiful. The owner, Yun Wansheng, was also there. She treated me warmly and strongly recommended a lamp to me.
Seeing that she was sincere, I bought that lamp. But after paying, I found that the lamp was broken. I asked her to return it to me, but she immediately changed her attitude and said that I broke it and refused to return it to me.
At first I didn’t want to reveal my identity, for fear that people would think I was abusing my power, which would also be bad for my father’s reputation.
Unexpectedly, my tolerance made her even more aggressive. Seeing that I insisted on returning the goods and not leaving, she wanted to push me out. But when she pushed me, I tripped over the threshold and sprained my wrist. The pain made me turn pale.
Seeing this, Yun Wansheng not only didn't help me up, but also said that I wanted to blackmail her and had me driven away. I was afraid of embarrassing my father by getting involved with them, so I swallowed my anger and went home injured.
I thought the injury would heal after two days of rest and I wouldn't be late for the performance for the generals. However, halfway through the performance, my wrist was still very painful, so I made many mistakes.
"Commander-in-Chief, it's nothing for me to be wronged, but Yun Wansheng, as a businessman, is so arrogant and bullying. I don't know who she relies on to gain power. How can we allow such a person to run rampant in Qizhou City?"
Li Meiying finished speaking indignantly and pointed angrily at Yun Wansheng in the corner.
It's all this woman's fault that I'm in such a disgrace today. I have to find someone to take the blame for my misfortune, so that my embarrassment can be excused.
Yun Wansheng never expected that the blame would come from the sky. Why did Miss Li wrongly accuse her? If her behavior was confirmed, wouldn't she be expelled from Qizhou City?
"Yun Wansheng, stand up for me!" Upon hearing this, Gu Feicheng naturally thought that it was the woman's fault.
Yun Wansheng suppressed her panic, walked a few steps to the front of the hall, and then bowed: "General, that's not the case. She wasn't injured in my shop at all. She got hurt the day before yesterday...!" Before she could finish her explanation, Li Meiying interrupted her.
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