After Old Madam Xiao and Xiao Yan left, Chu Mingzhu angrily smashed several teacups. Her trusted maid, Tao Hong, only called the kneeling maids outside to come in and clean up after she finished smashing them. She also scolded them a few times, telling them to keep a close watch on the house and not to let just anyone into the princess's room.
The young girl quickly apologized, packed her things, and left.
Logically speaking, when a master punishes a disciple by making them kneel, they should be allowed to stand up only after a certain period of time.
However, the Marquis of Anle's mansion doesn't have enough replacement maids to serve now. The maids who sweep the outer courtyard can't easily come in. Chu Mingzhu's original two head maids were Taohong and Lvliu, and Lvliu was even sold by those guards.
One of the second-class maids was the one who was just punished by kneeling, and the other was off duty and went back to rest. Of the four maids who did menial tasks, two were working, and the other two were assigned to Old Madam Xiao and her daughter.
With this arrangement, Chu Mingzhu is no longer sufficient. Although Consort Chu appears prominent, the palace is expensive in every aspect. In the past, her family was prosperous and would send money to the palace from time to time, so she lived a very comfortable life. Now, she is struggling to take care of herself, let alone Chu Mingzhu. It would be good enough if she could look after her in important matters.
If Chu Wei and his wife were still alive, Xiao Yan wouldn't need to get involved; her mother would have had those two rascals thrown out of the mansion!
But now, without her parents to back her up, in order to leave a good impression on Xiao Yi, she actually has to deal with this kind of scoundrel and down-and-out, and she doesn't dare to punish the little girl too much.
Chu Mingzhu once again felt the contrast between her past and present, and she buried her face in her hands on the table and cried again.
Tao Hong was also upset, but there was nothing she could do. They had no other income and relied entirely on the salaries of the princess and the Marquis of Anle to make a living. But with that meager salary, they couldn't support such a large household, and the princess would occasionally need to buy new clothes and jewelry. They simply couldn't afford to support any more people!
Even so, Chu Mingzhu still received Chu Jinyu's salary, and with the addition of bonuses from Consort Chu during festivals, Chu Mingzhu was able to maintain her dignity as a princess.
Green Willow has not returned. The wet nurse took leave to visit her daughter who had suffered for several years in place of Chu Mingzhu in the Xin Zhe Ku. Now, only Peach Blossom is left to talk to.
After Chu Mingzhu finished crying, Tao Hong stepped forward to fix her makeup. Chu Mingzhu then recounted how Xie Yushu had been made into glass, becoming a coveted item among the powerful and wealthy of the capital, and even being listed as a royal merchant by the Emperor, expressing her indignation.
"You know, she's just a country girl, and a divorced woman at that. How come she gets all the good things in the world?"
If Xiao Yi comes back and finds out how capable she is, will he...?
Chu Mingzhu simply couldn't bring herself to say the words, "You don't want me anymore."
However, as her personal maid, Tao Hong could guess the gist of it even if she didn't say it aloud, so she comforted her.
"No, General Xiao is a man of great loyalty and integrity. The old general was kind to him, not only teaching him martial arts but also nurturing him. He will not forget this kindness."
Otherwise, they wouldn't have given up their official positions to rescue the young marquis and hide him in the mountains.
Master, you and he are childhood sweethearts and fellow disciples, how could he forget you for some country girl or some kind of glass?
If you relax and take good care of yourself, no matter how capable or successful that village girl is, she can't compare to you.
People always say that heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman, but no one ever says a hero needs a money pouch!
Tao Hong's words reassured Chu Mingzhu somewhat. She thought it made sense; even if Xie Yushu became a royal merchant, she was no longer Xiao Yi's wife. Since she couldn't kill Xie Yushu, she might as well raise herself to be beautiful and leave that country bumpkin far behind. Xiao Yi would naturally not give her another glance.
Having finally regained some confidence, Chu Mingzhu returned to normal. While looking through the rouge and powder in her dressing box, wondering if she should change to a more beautiful makeup, she asked Tao Hong to send someone to Tai'an Prefecture to see what was going on with Xiao Yuanhang's case and to inquire about the situation of Green Willow and the other eight people.
The group heading to Tai'an Prefecture was not limited to the Fifth Prince and Chu Mingzhu. During the first month of the lunar year, everyone was visiting each other's residences, and everyone who needed to know knew what was going on. Several other imperial merchants also got wind of the news. After all, anyone with a brain knows that glass is a money-making machine, and they all want to see if they can get a share of the pie from this glass that has suddenly become famous in the capital.
Tai'an Prefecture
Xie Yushu was unaware that several groups of people from the capital had been sent to probe her background, and even less aware that she was now the newly crowned fifth-ranked imperial merchant of the Great Qi Dynasty.
Of course, he was also the poorest of the imperial merchants!
There's no other reason than that the other four imperial merchants had accumulated their wealth over generations, and had won the imperial merchant title by donating countless amounts of gold and silver to the national treasury. Any one of them could be a figure who could shake the earth with a single stomp in their hometown!
Only she, with a stroke of genius, donated several cartloads of glass, and became a royal merchant. With the emperor himself investing, no one else dared to make any secret plans. They could only send people out to brave the wind and snow to see if they could get a share of the scraps.
Although she could guess that the glass would be popular and sell well as soon as it appeared, she didn't dare to think about becoming a royal merchant. She knew her own limitations, which is why she sent the glass to the palace to curry favor first.
But she dared not imagine that the Emperor would openly and blatantly support her.
Of course, not only did she not dare to think about it, but Han Zhongyu did not dare to think about it either, because throughout history, there has never been an emperor personally spending his own money to do business with a peasant girl to replenish the national treasury!
(Emperor Qingyuan: Hasn't there always been such a business of picking up money from sacks throughout history? They were just unlucky, is it my fault?)
So their biggest idea was that Emperor Qingyuan would be overjoyed to see the glass and reward Xie Yushu with several thousand taels of silver. Well, given Emperor Qingyuan's stingy nature, three thousand taels was the most he could give.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
