Zhixia suppressed the joy in her heart, and suddenly a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Miss Gu is right, but I suddenly remembered that Shopkeeper Chen seemed to have just sent the shop's account books to the palace yesterday."
The smile on Gu Yanran's face froze instantly.
"What did you say?"
Could it be that those goods were really tributes?
How could this be possible? She had checked and found that the Chu family was clearly a small merchant family in Jiangnan City. How could they be qualified to supply goods to the palace?
"Oh, I heard that the goods have been registered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Do you think the palace will send someone to check it out this time?"
Gu Yanran was stunned for a moment, then sneered: "What a clever girl you are! With the Chu family's meager assets, are you qualified to supply goods to the palace? Do you really think that I am a three-year-old child who can be fooled?"
Zhixia put away her smile and looked at her with sympathy, "Just think of it as me fooling you."
After Zhixia finished speaking, she slammed the gate shut, completely blocking Gu Yanran from view.
Gu Yanran stood there, feeling like she had hit a soft nail, like she had punched cotton.
She came here specially, but she didn't even see Chu Qingniang. Just when she was about to go forward to check, a maid came to report: "Madam, it's bad, someone from the palace is here to urge the goods!"
Gu Yanran was horrified and quickly rushed to the maid who reported the news: "What?"
Is it really provided by the emperor?
Gu Yanran's face turned pale instantly. "Please tell me clearly, what kind of people are coming from the palace? What goods are you urging?"
The maidservant was so frightened that she kept talking: "Yes, it was the eunuch from the weaving bureau who came with his guards and said that the batch of brocade was for the Queen Mother's birthday gift."
Gu Yanran's legs went weak and she almost fell down on the spot.
"Hurry, tell someone to contact the supplier and get the goods out within three days." Gu Yanran said in a trembling voice, trying to maintain her dignity.
Before leaving, she deliberately looked back at the room where Chu Qingniang was with an angry expression.
"Humph! Don't be so proud. It's just a batch of goods. With the influence of my Gu family, it won't be affected."
Chu Qingniang never showed up, and Zhixia smiled with a look of gloating.
After Gu Yanran left, Zhixia trotted over to Chu Qingniang and said with a smile, "Miss, those people from the Weaving Bureau came really quickly!"
We just contacted Manager Chen and his team yesterday, and they arrived today. This is quite efficient.
Chu Qingniang took her hand and wrote a word on the chessboard, calmly and confidently, "Notify Pei Yuan, and it's up to him from now on."
When Zhixia heard this, she was instantly excited, "Great! This time, I must make this couple regret their whole lives!"
…
On the other hand, Gu Yanran personally met with the people from the Weaving Bureau, and after much persuasion and even a large sum of money, they reluctantly agreed to extend the deadline by another three days.
If the goods cannot be delivered on time within three days at most, she will have to pay a penalty of several thousand taels of silver.
Gu Yanran forced a smile as she sent the eunuch from the weaving bureau away, then turned around and slumped in her chair.
"Madam..." The trusted nanny's hands were shaking as she held the account book, "If we can't deliver the goods within three days, we will have to pay more than a few thousand taels of silver."
That batch of brocade was to be used in the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. If anything went wrong, it might even implicate Prime Minister Gu.
"Shut up!" Gu Yanran interrupted harshly, gritting her teeth and saying, "Go! Bring us the list of all the silk merchants in Jiangnan!"
"At worst, I'll pay double the price." She didn't believe that she couldn't produce a batch of brocade in three days.
However, after one day, all the servants who were sent out returned empty-handed. The suppliers who used to be on good terms with the Chu family either said that they had insufficient stock or simply refused to meet with them. The strangest thing was that those merchants who had never dealt with the Chu family shook their heads when they heard that it was the Qi Mansion that wanted goods.
Now, Gu Yanran finally realized that something was wrong!
It all seemed like someone was secretly controlling it.
There was no other way, Gu Yanran could only tell Qi Che the news, hoping that he could persuade the government in Jiangnan to help think of a way to get those suppliers to give in and continue supplying the shop.
But Qi Che frowned subconsciously and said, "I'm afraid this matter is a bit tricky."
"The Jiangnan business route is complicated. When Qingniang was running her business in the past, she relied on her connections and reputation to slowly build up her business."
He didn't know how to do business. When Chu Qingniang was in charge of the Qi Mansion, she never made him have any trouble with money.
Unexpectedly, Gu Yanran got into trouble just as she took over the affairs of the mansion.
When Gu Yanran heard him calling her "Qingniang" affectionately, she felt like a fire was burning in her chest.
But she knew that now was not the time to worry about these things. "Husband." She softened her voice and her eyes began to redden. "I was also anxious and angry. Who would have thought that those merchants were so snobbish. As soon as they saw that their master had changed, they deliberately made things difficult..."
"Now we just need to let the government officials put pressure on them. As long as we have the raw materials, I will definitely make it within three days..."
"Madam!" Qi Che pulled back his hand, his tone slightly cold: "Do you know why those merchants would rather offend the Prime Minister's Mansion than supply goods?"
He raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Yilan Garden. "Because the Chu family's business route has never been built by official pressure."
But it’s faith!
Gu Yanran's face turned pale, tears welled up in her eyes: "Husband, you, are you blaming me?"
Qi Che was silent for a moment, raised his hand and rubbed his brow, and finally softened his tone: "Forget it, I'll go see the governor tomorrow and talk about it!"
The next day, after hearing the purpose of Qi Che's visit, Governor Zhao Caifu stroked his beard with a smile, his shrewd eyes flashing.
"Master Qi," Zhao Caifu sighed, "this merchant business, after all, is still your family business."
"I have a way to have the best of both worlds."
Qi Che's eyes flickered slightly, "I'd like to hear the details!"
"Since Lingzheng has taken over the power of the household, she should be allowed to have some experience. As for Mrs. Chu, as the saying goes, a couple quarrels, but they make up at the foot of the bed. In my opinion, Mrs. Chu is just holding a grudge. Sir Qi might as well put down his status and give her some words of persuasion. Women, after all, just want to be loved by their husbands and have children in the future. Sir, why not go to Mrs. Chu's yard tonight? After all, they are husband and wife..."
In his last sentence, Zhao Caifu made a face, hinting at something.
Qi Che understood and suddenly realized something, as if he had been enlightened in an instant!
Yes!
How could he have overlooked this? He had never thought about it before. If he could make Qingniang pregnant with his child, would she still be obsessed with divorce?
Thinking of this, Qi Che's eyes seemed to be lit up, and instantly burst out with vitality and vigor.
He stood up and bowed deeply to Zhao Caifu, "Master Zhao's words today have enlightened me. Qi Che would like to thank you for your advice."
Zhao Caifu nodded with satisfaction, and gave Qi Che a helping hand, "Ah, Master Qi, you are too polite. We are colleagues, and we are from the same village. It's a bit formal to say these things. I just hope that when you are successful in the future, you will remember me, haha."
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