Along with Elder Master Duan and Madam Duan, their faces had both frozen in the moment.
Eunuch Lin gathered up the Imperial Edict with a smile: "What’s wrong with Young Master Duan? Come to receive the edict quickly."
Duan Lan clenched his fists and knelt motionless. Elder Master Duan hurriedly stepped forward to receive the edict, laughing awkwardly: "This young lad is probably so overjoyed he’s become silly. Eunuch Lin, you’ve gone to the trouble of personally delivering this from the palace, would you come inside for a cup of tea first?"
But Eunuch Lin waved his hand: "Nevermind, I must hurry back to serve the Emperor, I don’t have time to loiter outside the palace. I should take my leave now."
"Safe travels, Eunuch Lin." Elder Master Duan wiped the sweat from his forehead, then hurriedly went to see him off.
After Eunuch Lin had left, Duan Lan remained kneeling on the ground, completely motionless. His face was even paler, and his tightly pursed lips betrayed the anger he was suppressing.
Madam Duan understood her son better than anyone, she noticed his emotional disarray and waved everyone else in the mansion away.
The courtyard was finally empty, leaving only Duan Lan.
Madam Duan stepped forward, helped him up, and reluctantly said, "Lan’er, this time it’s not that I’m unwilling to help you, it’s just that this is the will of heaven and we have no choice."
Duan Lan gritted his teeth: "Heaven’s will? There is no such thing in this world."
"You’re wrong. The will of the Emperor is the will of heaven," said Madam Duan in a deep voice.
Duan Lan quickly replied: "We can request the Emperor to revoke his decree. After all, he only issued the edict because he knew our two families had an arranged marriage. If he knew we had originally planned to break the marriage contract, he probably wouldn’t have issued such a marriage edict."
Madam Duan shook her head: "But the Imperial Edict has been issued, it cannot be withdrawn. There is no precedent to revoke an Imperial Edict, to do so is to disrespect the Emperor, and bring severe punishment upon oneself."
"But..."
"Lan’er, you must understand, this is an Imperial Edict, not child’s play. If Imperial Edicts could be easily withdrawn, wouldn’t it undermine the dignity of the Emperor’s words? Once the edict is given, it cannot be changed. Especially now, as the New Emperor has just taken the throne and his rule is not yet stable, it is a crucial time for him to establish his authority. To withdraw his own decree at such a time, where would his imperial prestige be?" said Madam Duan earnestly.
Duan Lan’s face grew even paler, and he lowered his head in frustration.
Madam Duan sighed softly, patted his shoulder, and said, "Lan’er, it’s just a matter of marrying a wife. If you really don’t like her, just let her live in the house. In the future, if you meet someone you genuinely wish to marry, you can take another concubine. I won’t object. But now that the Imperial Edict has been issued, there is no turning back. Even if you disregard your own wellbeing, won’t you consider the lives of our whole family? Defying an edict and showing disrespect is a major crime punishable by extermination of the whole clan!"
Duan Lan punched the stone table in frustration, but ultimately he couldn’t find any words to refute.
——
Some time had passed since Qinghe’s shop had opened. Business thrived, and the shop assistants, under Ji Xinhe’s tutelage, became increasingly proficient in sales techniques. Over the past few days, Ji Xinhe let them manage the shop on their own, and they did a decent job.
"It seems that I can leave the shop to you in a few days. You are learning quickly and becoming more adept and flexible at dealing with customers," said Ji Xinhe with a smile.
The shop now had five shop assistants, all of whom were the most astute among the house servants in her family’s courtyard. They weren’t needed at home, so it was more convenient for them to work in the shop.
"It’s all thanks to you, miss. If you hadn’t taken the time to teach us, we wouldn’t have learned so quickly. In the future, you rest more often. Let us handle the business," said one.
The talking shop assistant’s name was Jixiang. He had lost his parents at a young age and was sold into servitude, where he changed hands multiple times. He had never experienced good days until a stroke of luck brought him into Ji Xinhe’s service, where he finally experienced some stability. Thus, he appreciated Ji Xinhe more than the others and was the most diligent. Those who have suffered much value what they have the most.
Ji Xinhe smiled and said, "I always intended to hand over the shop to you. But let me explain some things first before I do so."
"Please go ahead, miss."
"Selling goods in the shop is actually all about passion. If you lack the drive, then you naturally won’t succeed."
"Rest assured, miss. We will do our jobs with all our might!"
Ji Xinhe smiled and said, "Working for me, you still feel like you are working for others. How can that compare to the passion of working for yourself? So, starting from today, I want to implement a commission system for your wages. That is, the more you sell, the more money you can earn. For example, we sell canned oranges at the shop at a price of three cash per jin. If you sell one jin, you get a commission of one cash. If you sell fifty jin, then your wage for today is fifty cash! What do you think?"
The five shop assistants looked at one another. Then they calculated with their fingers, looking flabbergasted in the end "So, you mean that in a month we can make... one to two liang of silver?!"
You see, even the best shops in the capital pay the assistants only three to five cash silver a month. But here, if you perform well, you can earn one to two liang of silver! That’s an incredibly high earning.
"That’s if you can sell fifty jin a day. If you can’t sell that much, then it’s a different story. Therefore, we adopt the commission system, allowing those who work harder to earn more and those who work negligently to earn less. You all are working for yourselves, earning your own money, so you must work hard."
"Thank you, miss!" the shop assistants said, full of enthusiasm and excitement.
"Alright, back to work. I have to make a trip to the workshop". Having set the rules here, Ji Xinhe felt much more relaxed and comfortably left the management of the shop to them.
Otherwise, she’d work herself to death running around all day.
With the shop on the right track, Ji Xinhe’s mood lightened considerably. The workshop isn’t far from the shop, to begin with, she had intentionally chosen a shop close to the workshop to conveniently restock the goods.
She could walk to the workshop without having to hire a horse carriage.
Walking leisurely among the bustling crowd on the street, Ji Xinhe heard a coachman’s loud voice from the front, "Make way, make way, everyone move aside."
A horse carriage was rushing towards her. Ji Xinhe instinctively moved aside, but as she looked up, she saw a carriage window curtain being blown by the wind.
Ji Xinhe’s eyes flashed. Was it someone from the Wang Family?
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