A week passed, and Lanqin devised different marketing strategies every day, resulting in a steady increase in the daily revenue of Daqing Hot Pot Restaurant. Every day, Lady Zhaojia would take Lady Qi to inspect the restaurant, staying late to discuss the different problems encountered each day with the three managers. Lady Qi was initially reserved, but seeing Lady Zhaojia's encouragement to observe and speak more, she gradually joined in.
Lanqin instructed Cui Niang to bring Li Chuang into the mansion. She taught him some marketing methods for the hot pot restaurant and then appointed him as the restaurant's marketing manager. Li Chuang was quick-witted and literate, so he quickly got the hang of it. Zhao Jia Shi respected him greatly and gave him an office on the second floor, paying him fifteen taels of silver a month. This was the highest salary in the restaurant that month, almost equivalent to that of a Hanlin Academy clerk. Li Chuang was very satisfied, seemingly having suddenly found his center of attention. Cui Niang's mood lightened considerably. Because Li Da Niang saw that her son finally had something to do and didn't have to stay cooped up at home all day, her attitude towards Cui Niang naturally improved a lot.
"Cui Niang, I want to go out. Tell the stables to prepare the horses!" Lan Qin had finished her breakfast and felt full of energy, so she immediately wanted to go out. Anyway, Fourth Master didn't restrict her much now, so she could go out almost every day under the pretext of going to a hot pot restaurant.
"Master, the Fourth Prince sent word this morning that he has hired a renowned tutor for the Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince, and has reopened a school in the front courtyard for the three of them," Cui Niang said hurriedly.
Lanqin, who had been all smiles, immediately slumped upon hearing the news and exclaimed, "Why didn't he tell me beforehand?"
“You’ve been so busy these past few days that you haven’t even paid attention to the Prince when he came. How could he possibly have time to talk to you?” said Cui Niang.
“Aunt Cui, I’m busy with the marketing plan for the hot pot restaurant! Alright, let him go then. Hongli isn’t young anymore, he’s almost three years old,” Lanqin said. She didn’t want Hongli to have contact with Hongshi and Hongsheng, but then she thought that they were brothers after all, and it was impossible to completely isolate them.
"Master, we should find a 'haha bead' for the Fourth Prince, so that he can have a companion when he's with him," Cui Niang reminded him.
Lanqin thought of Hongzhou, who was also three years old. But was it possible that he would never see Hongli again? Could Hongzhou not go to the school?
"Cui Niang, Hongzhou should go to school too. We can't keep hiding that child away!" Lanqin couldn't help but say. Actually, she didn't believe in fate. They were the closest twin brothers, and now they were separated and couldn't see each other because of some prophecy. It was simply unbelievable.
"But will the prince agree?" Cui Niang asked.
“Talk to him today. Hongzhou can’t be raised like this. Have Yuxiao go to Geng’s place and talk to her. Tell her that Hongzhou can’t be kept hidden away like this and should go to school,” Lanqin said. Hongzhou is already three years old, and she has only seen him a few times. It’s not about anything else, but she feels that this is too unfair to Hongzhou.
Seeing that Lanqin was speaking seriously, Cui Niang quickly agreed.
"I'm going out again today. I want to stroll around the bustling streets of Beijing so I can help develop new branches," Lanqin said.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiao, following Cui Niang's orders, went to the courtyard where Geng Shi lived to convey Lan Qin's message.
Since Madam Geng took in Hongzhou, she rarely left the courtyard, and Hongzhou was also kept in captivity.
Yu Xiao stood at the courtyard gate, waiting for the old woman inside to deliver a message. She heard the sounds of children laughing and playing coming from inside the courtyard; their sweet, childlike voices made her want to go in and see what was going on.
It turned out that Hongzhou was playing a game of "eagle catching chicks" with a group of maids in the courtyard. Little Hongzhou was a bit chubby, even slightly fatter than Hongli, but shorter than him. He was playing the role of a chick, while the maids, one after another, played the role of the mother hen and a group of chicks.
Hongzhou ran back and forth, trying to catch the little chick at the very back of the line.
Madam Geng was sitting in the main room doing embroidery. After hearing Lülan's report, she stopped what she was doing for a long time.
"Didn't they say they couldn't meet? What's going on here?" Geng was stunned for a long time before she finally said this.
“My lady, Yu Xiao said these are the Prince’s words. Now that the princes are getting old, we’ve specially hired renowned teachers and opened a school for them. I think our Fifth Prince should indeed go out too. We can’t keep him locked up in this little courtyard all the time,” said Lü Lan.
"But, but I'm afraid that Consort Lanqin will see Hongzhou too often, so I want to take him back." Madam Geng knew that she had been living in seclusion for the past two or three years because she didn't want Lanqin to take Hongzhou back one day. If she really wanted him, she knew she couldn't resist, so she tried to appear in front of her as little as possible and forbade Hongzhou from leaving the courtyard, the excuse being to ensure Hongzhou's safe growth.
“Your Highness, I think that if the concubine really wants the Fifth Prince back, there’s no need for this. She could just talk to the Prince. There’s no need for this,” said Green Orchid.
"But why would she suddenly suggest that Hongzhou go to school?" Madam Geng was still pondering Lanqin's meaning. In fact, Lanqin didn't mean anything by it at all; Madam Geng was overthinking it.
"Why don't we let Yuxiao come in and talk?" said Lülan.
"Hmm, let her in!" Madam Geng seemed to realize that she should meet the maid who delivered the message.
Yu Xiao followed the old woman into the courtyard. She looked at Hong Zhou from afar and saw that the little guy was having so much fun that he couldn't stop playing.
"This servant greets Lady Geng!" Yu Xiao entered Lady Geng's room and bowed to her.
"Get up quickly. The concubine sent you here, do you have anything to say?" Geng asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Your Highness, His Highness has sent the Second Prince, Third Prince, Fourth Prince, and several other princes to the front courtyard to attend school. Our concubine thought that the Fifth Prince is now three years old and shouldn't stay indoors all the time, so she sent me to tell Your Highness that the Fifth Prince should also attend school."
Hearing this, Madam Geng roughly understood and said to Lülan, "Help me see Miss Yuxiao out. I know about this."
Yu Xiao didn't understand what Geng Shi meant by that. What did she mean by "I understand"? Should she go or not?
"Princess, how should I report back?" Yu Xiao was determined to get to the bottom of it; she couldn't just go back with such ambiguous statements.
Madam Geng was momentarily speechless at the question, and she felt a little uncomfortable because the Fourth Prince hadn't mentioned Hongzhou; it was Lanqin who brought it up herself. She wanted to see Lanqin to see if she could change her mind.
"I'm going back to see the concubine, you can go back now," said Madam Geng, as she was going to talk to Lanqin about Hongzhou's matter.
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