Three days later, in the early morning, Qingyan had just finished breakfast in his room and was about to continue whiling away the time on the chaise lounge when Yinze hurriedly entered, a faint smile on his face.
"Little darling, I'll take you shopping!" Qingyan had been cooped up in her room for days, and given her usual temper, she would have already started making a fuss.
If he hadn't repeatedly emphasized that he would definitely have taken her out for a stroll.
As time passed, her patience was wearing thin. Fortunately, he was about to take her out; otherwise, he would have definitely taken advantage of Yin's absence to escape with Su Lan and the Ulanara brothers.
"Really?!" Qingyan put down the storybook in her hand and looked at the fourth person in surprise.
Is what he said true?
Previously, Ms. Si said it would take a few more days, but she was planning to skip home and go out to play today.
"Let's go!" Yin glanced at Qingyan's clothes. The blue casual clothes didn't look fancy, like those of a young mistress in an ordinary family.
She wore a headdress he had personally designed, light and exquisite, with gold leaves pinned to her jet-black hair.
"Okay!" Qingyan took out a blue purse from the dressing table and put another purse on his belt. Inside were some small silver and copper coins that she had specially exchanged before leaving the capital.
They had made quite a few jokes when they went to Dashilan. On her first trip out, she brought only small amounts of silver, thinking that the small vendors would be able to exchange them for copper coins. In the end, she was very disappointed. When she saw something she liked, she had to ask her servants to exchange it for copper coins before she could buy it.
He tossed the purse in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips. He had finally learned his lesson.
Actually, he had quite a few copper coins in his purse, afraid that she wouldn't enjoy her shopping.
The people here live even harder lives, and those small change are completely useless to them.
In the past few days, he took Su Peisheng to the streets to find out what was going on, and even the Yuelai Inn had been charged heavy taxes.
"Sisi, did you go to Yuelai Inn?" The innkeeper of Yuelai Inn quietly approached her and told her that Yin had gone there ahead of time, and that the jade pendant specially made for him was being used for the first time.
He nodded and said, "Since we couldn't check on the business operations of other shops, we went directly to Yuelai Inn."
This time, he didn't even go to Minsheng Pharmacy and Fulaishun. These two places were supposed to be working for the benefit of the royal family and the people, but now they were deserted and hardly anyone came.
"What about Minsheng Pharmacy?" Qingyan asked, puzzled.
The Imperial Household Department has only recently taken over the Minsheng Pharmacy, so they should still be able to find out the truth.
He gave a cold laugh. Xiao Guai was staying in the capital and had no idea about the situation outside the capital. In fact, apart from the stores in the capital that followed Xiao Guai's reforms, all the stores outside the capital ignored the orders issued by the higher authorities.
“They haven’t implemented any reforms!” he muttered under his breath.
She paused, realizing that all her efforts had been in vain.
The people in the Imperial Household Department were indeed deceiving Emperor Kangxi. After she took over the Minsheng Pharmacy again, all her actions were restricted. Sometimes, as soon as she mentioned that she wanted to reduce prices, the other party would use various excuses to say that the pharmacy was losing money.
Low profit, high volume!
In the minds of imperial merchants, the phrase "small profits but quick turnover" is a curse.
They would raise the price each time, keeping the rest for themselves after paying the national treasury.
"Fourth, how often are the imperial merchants assessed?" She remembered that the Xue family in Dream of the Red Chamber was the emperor's family, and it was said that Cao Xueqin based his work on the rise and fall of the Cao family.
So, the Cao family must have had relatives by marriage with imperial merchants. No wonder the Jiangnan region has always been monopolized by the direct descendants of the Cao family.
“It should be three years.” Yin glanced at Qingyan; he didn’t care much about business matters.
Since returning, he had learned his lesson and had been keeping a close eye on things. He discovered that many of the servants in the Imperial Household Department were involved with the imperial merchants.
There were many kinship ties, so he specifically dispatched members of the Blood Droplets to investigate, preparing to uncover every connection.
"Fourth Brother, it's been a while. Yuelai Inn, Linglong Pavilion, and this place aren't imperial merchants, but they've dealt with those people and mentioned some unspoken rules within the imperial merchants' circle. Besides the silver that has to be handed over to the national treasury, as long as the price is raised, the rest will be theirs." Qingyan said softly as she walked side by side with Yin.
Saito and Eshuohou were at the top of the stairs on the first floor.
They guessed that if Yin didn't take Xiao Guai out, the little girl would sneak out on her own.
Early in the morning, they quickly finished their work and waited here. As soon as Xiao Guai appeared, they would follow her out.
Tu Lichen waited by Yin's side. If there was a tricky situation, it was better for the Dragon Guard to step in than for the New Army to do so.
"Little darling, getting ready to go out?" Seto smiled, seeing his little sister's happy face, and his heart finally settled down.
As time went by, they worried that Yin would be unable to complete the task assigned to him by Kangxi, and at that time, Xiao Guai's companionship would be attacked by the censors.
"Yes, brothers-in-law, come along too." Yin noticed their worry, but just smiled. These two brothers-in-law had finally finished their work with the new army and could now stay by her side. He couldn't leave any leverage for them to take her away.
"Fourth Master, if you're busy, we can accompany our sister out," Saito said with a smile.
Since she got married, the three siblings have never gone shopping together. In the past, she was often taken around by her two brothers dressed up as boys.
Many people believe that the Ulanara family has a third master.
"No need!" Yin held Xiao Guai's hand tightly; his wife could keep him company herself.
"Ah Hun, are you all done with your work?" Qingyan asked, blinking her eyes.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
