Chapter 361 362. All Losses
As expected, Old Lady Ning frowned immediately, "Where did you get this information from? Is it accurate?"
"Although Shangjing is a big city, the official whereabouts of two funerals in a row can be easily found out by asking around. If you don't believe it, mother, you can take people to inquire yourself," Fang Yuan sighed.
"I'm not saying that I want to stop my husband from taking a concubine, but there are many decent women in the world, so there's no need to marry a widow like this.
Besides, if my husband gets promoted in a few years, marrying a widow like this will become a stain on him, mother, please think about it yourself!"
After Fang Yuan finished speaking, she turned and left the main room. She had to go back and think carefully. If she couldn't stop the widow Niu from entering the house, she would have to find a way to protect herself and her child.
Old Mrs. Ning called a maid to serve her, and quickly left home, leaning on a cane.
At night, after the family finished their meal, she left Ning Yuchen alone.
"Did you know that the girl from the Xiao family is a widow?"
"Yes," Ning Yuchen didn't think this matter could be kept secret any longer, "I know."
"And she's a newly widowed woman in mourning?"
“…”
Without hearing her son's answer, Mrs. Ning felt a surge of anger rising up, "How dare you marry such an unfaithful and unfilial woman? Go and cancel this marriage now."
"I can't retreat," Ning Yuchen felt uncomfortable in his heart. He originally wanted to plot against Gu Wenheng and wait to laugh at him, but now he found himself in a dilemma.
"Why can't I withdraw? She's just a lowly concubine. We won't take her in." I thought she was marrying a noble lady, but I didn't expect it to be a complicated relationship. "She's the concubine's daughter of a seventh-rank county magistrate, and she's a widow. She's not worthy of my son."
"But her elder sister is the wife of the third young master of the Huang family, and the incident happened in the Huang Mansion. Minister Huang and the others all know about it. If I regret it now, not only will I offend the entire Huang Mansion, but I will also be known as a traitor."
"What should we do then?" The old lady was no longer as happy as before. She just wanted to get rid of this matter as soon as possible.
"Now we can only bring him in first, otherwise my son will be isolated in the officialdom in the future." Ning Yuchen was afraid that the old lady would make a fuss again, so he made the matter more serious.
"Then I am still the boss in this room, right?"
"Of course." The old lady gave in, allowing Ning Yuchen to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Don't touch the rooms of these two children. After all, they are just concubines. How can they be better than legitimate sons and daughters?
Also, go and discuss this with the Huang family. I won't pursue her status as a newly widowed woman, but she cannot enter the family as a noble concubine, so just treat her as a lowly concubine."
"The Huang family will definitely not agree to this." Ning Yuchen didn't even dare to mention that the other party had previously demanded the position of equal wife, and it was he who argued for it and only let her be demoted to the position of concubine.
"Then go tell them that there are no auspicious days these days, and wait until next year to welcome her home."
In the old lady's opinion, this widow was in deep mourning, and if the funeral rites were not completed before the 100th day, she would have to observe the three years of deep mourning.
Who would still remember her as a young widow after three years? By then, she could just give her some silver coins and get rid of her.
Ning Yuchen wanted to refute, but the old lady pushed him out the door and said, "You will handle this matter tomorrow."
Ning Yuchen, "..."
&
Jin Qianqian gave a full amount of money this time, adding layer after layer. If the seller was still not satisfied, she would continue to add more money. Several brokers had already helped her find designated stores.
She brought in a batch of goods to the cosmetics shop, which was a limited supply of freshly produced handmade soaps, and the shop immediately became crowded with customers.
She posted a call for submissions at the door of a bookstore, soliciting creative manuscripts for a fee, which immediately attracted scholars and writers.
In the grocery store, she hired craftsmen during this period to produce toys day and night and put them in front of the door. How could these parents with children move their feet?
…
By the end of the month, Qingzhu and the others were holding the account book, grinning from ear to ear. This lady did nothing, but when she took action, it was a big deal. In just one month, she had already made back half of her investment.
The mother and daughter of the Xiao family stared at the account book, unable to believe it.
"What's going on with you guys? Have you all been sitting there playing for the whole month?
Two coppers a day, you have the nerve to put it in the account book."
Tian Lanfang was about to slam the table, but the anger in her tone made all the shopkeepers hang their heads.
"This is too outrageous, Manager Liu, can you tell me what's going on? Nothing has happened in this cosmetics shop in the past month, so how come it is still losing money?" The account book in Xiao Shiyu's hand was for the most profitable dowry shop in her hands.
At the end of this month, I still have to pay for my wages.
"Madam, it's actually the newly opened shop across from us. They have a way to get the newly released handmade soap, but they don't sell it directly to the public. Instead, they bundle it together. If you buy a certain amount of cosmetics, they will give you handmade soap for free. Many people go there."
Xiao Shiyu had watched her mother and uncle do business since she was a child, and she immediately noticed the loopholes in it. "It's not like there are no customers at all. There must be some who buy some cosmetics, right?"
Shopkeeper Liu said with a bitter face, "That's the problem. Our rival said we can register. Even if we have to collect that much money within a year, they will still give it to us."
Don't underestimate these things. If you accumulate them once or twice, you can still exchange them for handmade soap once or twice a year. If she were in their place, she would definitely be tempted by this opportunity to get a bargain.
"What about this bookstore?" Tian Lanfen also stared at the shopkeeper, "Didn't they sell even a single piece of paper?"
There are so many scholars in the capital, and the monthly consumption of paper cannot be underestimated. But it would be too much of an exaggeration not to do this business. "Is there a store across the street? Also giving away things?"
Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper actually nodded and said, "Indeed, they opened the same shop, but they didn't give away anything, but were soliciting essays. Those scholars took the paper, ink, brush and inkstone from there in order to make themselves familiar and sell their essays in the future."
"Yes, ma'am. In my shop, they put all the toys in a conspicuous place at the door, and they also gave away toys for every purchase. These people went crazy and all rushed to the store opposite."
"And my cloth shop..."
The more they listened, the more solemn the mother and daughter's expressions became. No matter how dumb they were, they knew that they were being targeted.
"Mom, I know who it is?" Xiao Shiyu gritted her teeth and said, "Apart from the man surnamed Jin, there is no one else who can give away handmade soap."
Now everyone knows that Gu Jin owns a soap workshop and is designated as an imperial merchant. Only she has the financial resources to do all this.
"What does she want to do? Even if we wanted her husband to take a concubine before, didn't it fail?" Tian Lanfen felt a little stuffy in her chest. For the sake of that concubine's daughter, she really got herself into trouble this time.
"She must have held a grudge against me. I didn't expect her to be so jealous that she would turn against us. She should go find the real culprit!"
(End of this chapter)
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