Many people in Yuan'an were dissatisfied with the emperor's decree to grant marriage to Zhou Qiongyue and Prince Fu'an.
After all, with such a good and wealthy son-in-law right here, who wouldn't want to grab one of their own? But before they could even make a move, he was taken away directly. Who could be happy?
But the person who was the most unhappy was Xie Zixin. She was the type of person who didn't want Zhou Qiongyue to have anything to do with the second prince, nor did she want Zhou Qiongyue to have a good life.
So Xie Zixin was holding back her anger, hoping to have a chance to sow discord between Zhou Qiongyue and Prince Fu'an.
She just doesn't believe that there is a man who doesn't mind his future wife and likes someone else in his heart!
Xie Zixin firmly believed that Zhou Qiongyue liked the Second Prince, otherwise in her previous life she would not have chosen to be the Second Prince's concubine and enter his backyard.
As for the current changes, Xie Zixin did not think that Zhou Qiongyue had changed her heart, but rather that she had to make a compromise. After all, with her blocking the way, the Second Prince would not be able to see her.
If Zhou Qiongyue knew what Xie Zixin was thinking, she would probably just want to scold him, "You are so confident!"
But Zhou Qiongyue didn't care about what others thought. As long as she got the benefits, it was fine. Ever since she got engaged to Prince Fu'an, the prince had been coming to the mansion more frequently.
At first, Marquis Cheng'en and the Crown Prince thought that the prince's status was noble, so every time Yuan Bohua came to the Marquis' Mansion, they would show up to accompany him.
But it wasn't long before the Marquis of Cheng'en and the Crown Prince gave up on this idea. This guy was dying to live in their house. He wouldn't come every day, but he would definitely come every two or three days.
Things were often sent, from expensive and beautiful ornaments to fresh food, Yuan Bohua would send them to Zhou Qiongyue to try.
Anyway, it didn't take long for Yuan Bohua to completely win the satisfaction of his future mother-in-law. Jin now treated Yuan Bohua not just like her own son, but also treated him almost as well as her own son.
Time passed slowly, and Zhou Qiongyue's small jewelry shop finally earned more than 10,000 taels of silver thanks to her endless new designs and marketing methods.
She was short of money, and the more she needed it, the more she couldn't keep it. She wanted to use the money to start a small business. So recently, she brought people to Man Yuan'an to look after the shop.
Because she had too little money, Zhou Qiongyue didn't consider the inner city anymore. She basically only looked at small shops near the outer city.
She just wanted to earn some money quietly and not make a big fuss about it, mainly because she didn't have the money to get involved in those industries that made a fortune.
So she wanted to open a small grocery store at the junction of the inner and outer cities, selling some strange and unique things, as well as some of the daily necessities of the people.
Although this kind of shop didn't make a fortune every day, and it didn't even seem to make much money, Zhou Qiongyue felt it was still very profitable. If she could find some goods from other places to sell along with it later on, she could make even more money.
If she has connections and opportunities later on, she would like to form her own caravan and travel back and forth to resell goods, so that she can make money without losing money.
In order to find a suitable and cheap shop like this, Zhou Qiongyue has been traveling around the outer city with her people for more than ten days.
Originally, she didn't need to personally take action on this matter, but Zhou Qiongyue was bored at home! In the end, she really did find one.
Near the north gate of the inner city, I found a small shop. It was a little small, but the yard behind it was quite large, with a well and several side rooms.
This shop used to be a cloth business, but now that the business has grown, they're moving to the inner city, so they want to sell it.
Even though the owner wanted 12,000 yuan, Zhou Qiongyue's ideal price was 9,000 yuan. Although she had 12,000 yuan, she still had to save some money to buy people and goods.
She didn't plan to hire someone with money, she decided to buy it directly. She didn't have any hard feelings about it, of course it was better to use her own people.
Moreover, she considered herself a good hostess. Those people were going to be bought by someone anyway, so it was fate that she could buy them.
In fact, the fate of those who were not bought was really miserable. Those who could be sold these days were all good citizens who could not make a living or whose homes were confiscated and sold.
Finally, after some bargaining between Gulan and the other party, the deal was concluded at 9,500 yuan. Gulan didn't care why the young lady wanted to buy this shabby-looking shop. Since the young lady wanted it, she would help her get it done.
They both went to the government office to exchange the land deeds and pay the taxes. Once everything was settled, Gulan came forward and handed over the banknotes. Each party also wished the other business prosperity. It was a harmonious and friendly business relationship.
After Zhou Qiongyue bought the shop, she took Gulan and others straight to Guanya. Since she had bought the shop, she had to buy people as well.
Zhou Qiongyue thought that since she had already come out, she might as well prepare everything at once! After that, someone would take care of the shop, and she would have her hands free to do other things.
As soon as the official saw Zhou Qiongyue, they knew a distinguished client had arrived. Just by looking at her attire, they knew she was a distinguished person. Some things require not only money but also power and status.
These people often deal with people, so they do have some good eyesight.
So as soon as Zhou Qiongyue entered, someone came forward and warmly welcomed her in. After a while, Zhou Qiongyue calmly sat on a chair and drank tea.
Although Zhou Qiongyue was very curious about this place because it was her first time, she sat there calmly without looking around. She didn't want to give the impression that she was easy to take advantage of.
Gulan stood nearby and ordered with great authority, "Bring up all the tactful and sensible people here so we can see them!"
Someone responded immediately, and soon Zhou Qiongyue saw more than 20 people coming in. The matchmaker asked them to introduce themselves first.
Zhou Qiongyue understood after hearing this: these people were either former housekeepers or had previously managed shops. There were many reasons for being sold, some were implicated by their masters, and some made mistakes and were sold out by their masters.
Zhou Qiongyue took a liking to the two people, so she pointed at them and said, "You two, tell me more in detail."
The two people whose names were called immediately stepped forward and saluted with joy, "Hello, Miss!"
So the two men introduced themselves respectively, one was called Yu Hai and the other was called Luo Yong.
Yu Hai used to manage a shop for a high-ranking official, whose family had been confiscated during the assassination attempt. He hadn't been sold yet because he wanted to move in with his family of three, but his wife and son were ill and unable to work.
Most of the owners didn't believe his ability was worth sacrificing two useless people. Zhou Qiongyue didn't care about this and asked him some questions about the management of the shop.
Zhou Qiongyue was quite satisfied with Yu Hai.
As for Luo Yong and Zhou Qiongyue, they were a little hesitant.
Luo Yong was alone, and his master's family said he was driven out because he made a mistake. He said that his master's family had taken a fancy to his daughter and wanted her as a concubine, but he, his wife, and his daughter disagreed, so he was sold off. During this time, both his daughter and his wife were gone.
The reason he was able to stay for so long was not because no one was interested in him, but mainly because he was also very picky about the host family.
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