late June.
In a post station near the border of Lin'an.
There was a sudden rainstorm this afternoon, and it didn't stop from the evening until the night. People coming from the south and north are not able to hurry, so they can only stay here to rest. There are more people and more topics to talk about. ... With the "da-da" sound of raindrops hitting the ground or the eaves outside, what they talked about the most was the matter of the horse merchant in the Western Regions.
"Jinling was really lively not long ago. I heard that not only did the imperial court send officials, but even the imperial merchants and the presidents of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Chambers of Commerce also followed."
"So lively?"
Some people wondered, "Could it be that there are some rare treasures over there waiting for them to fight?"
"It's not a rare treasure, but it's even rarer than that treasure." The middle-aged man who spoke first smiled and sold off. When everyone else turned their attention, he stroked his long beard and asked with a smile. : "Have you heard earlier that the horse merchant from the Western Regions is looking for someone to cooperate?"
"Of course I heard it."
Someone reacted: "Oh, yes, the horse merchant from the Western Regions heard that his ancestral home was in Jinling, could it be..." Seeing that the old god was there, the others were anxious, and hurriedly urged: "How, how, finally spend Who's home?"
Someone said: "The court has come forward, naturally it is with the court."
Some people also retorted: "Not necessarily, I heard that the horse merchant has a very strong position in the Western Regions, if he really wants to cooperate with our court, the Western Regions royal family will come forward directly and hand over a document to the palace, why is it so troublesome? "
After guessing for a long time, I didn't know what the result was, and someone urged the middle-aged man, "Oh, you can say it quickly, don't sell it."
The man smiled, but he didn't give a shit anymore. The people around him poured him a glass of wine, smacking it twice, and then said, "You all guessed wrong, that Boss Han picked the Defeng store in Lin'an. ."
"Defeng Firm?"
Someone said: "Which industry is this, how come I have never heard of it."
Many of the inn are businessmen who have traveled from south to north. They all know about the business names that can be named in Da Zhou. Dazed, obviously not clear.
However, there was an elderly man who pondered for a while and said, "Did you mean the Shen family in Lin'an?"
"Lin'an Shen family?"
The younger generation was a little stunned, "I didn't know there were people like this in Lin'an."
The middle-aged man who started at the beginning smiled and cupped his hands with the old gentleman, and replied, "The old gentleman is right, it's the Lin'an Shen family." He walked over with the jug and poured it for the old gentleman himself. Drinking a glass of wine, "But I'm not very familiar with this Shen family, but it is up to the old gentleman to help us solve our doubts."
The old gentleman smiled, but he didn't refuse. After drinking a sip of hot wine, he said, "You are still young, it's normal not to know Lin'an Defeng."
"But a few decades ago, this Defeng business was not only in Lin'an, but also very famous in the whole Da Zhou." Against the background of the candlelight, the old gentleman's eyes were filled with a bit of nostalgia, "The Shen family The ancestors are all doing business in Lin'an, and the old lady of the Shen family was the chairman of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce."
"The Jiangsu-Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce under his leadership was not only a developed business, but every firm kept in mind 'integrity' and 'benevolence and righteousness', so at that time, the business in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was well-known throughout the country."
"It's not like now for those petty profits, you drive me, I drive you, for fear that others will rob my business."
Speaking of this, the old gentleman's face brought some sneer.
"What happened next?" Someone asked anxiously, "What happened to Defeng later? Why is there no news at all now."
"Afterwards—"
Accompanied by the sound of the rain, the old gentleman's voice seemed a little dull, "After the death of Mrs. Shen, his only son did not want to do business, so he chose to go to Beijing for a scientific examination. Later, all the descendants of the Shen family went to the capital. Leaving some side branches, they are all masters who don’t care about petty profits.”
When it came to the end, the old man's voice was also a little hoarse, as if he couldn't bear such a grand situation to decline, or lamented that the foundation laid down by the predecessors has now been destroyed in this way.
"Speaking like this, I have some impressions of the Shen family." Someone answered, "In the sixteenth year of the Qing Jubilee, the imperial censor, Shen Hanshi, was reprimanded by the present son and deprived of his official position. Later, his son Shen Shao High School was the champion... If I remember That's right, the right and left deputy imperial envoys of the prefectural court are the same Shen Xiaoxianggong."
The old man nodded and sighed, "It's the Shen family."
Knowing that this is the Shen family, many people suddenly realized, "If I talk about these two Shen Xianggong, I also have some impressions, that Shen Daxianggong accused His Majesty because of his scapegoating minister Liu Shu, he is also a tough man. Temper, take off the official hat in front of the civil servants and hundreds of officials, get thirty slaps, and then die of illness when I go back, and I heard that when I died, I still refused to close my eyes."
"At that time, everyone thought that the Shen family was going to fall. I didn't expect that his son was the top scholar in high school, and was appointed by His Majesty. Now he is in the prefectural court, which is a rare event."
Because of this, no one spoke in the inn for a long time.
Even the man and woman sitting in the far corner stopped eating. Gu Wuyou, who was wearing a hood, looked at Li Qinyuan, who was pursing his eyebrows and pursing his lips. He was worried and put down his chopsticks and shook his hand.
Li Qinyuan regained his senses, glanced at her with a smile, and shook her hand back, "It's okay."
"Hey, weren't you talking about the Defeng business and the horse business in the Western Regions? Why did you go so far? Since the Shen family is no longer engaged in business, why did Defeng fall into the eyes of that horse business?"
The middle-aged man laughed, "Your news is still a little late."
"A few months ago, the grandson of the Shen family came to Lin'an to take charge of Defeng again. He is also a powerful person. He cleaned Defeng in a few months and discussed cooperation with the boss Lu of the silk and satin factory in Shaoxing. Once I got into the eyes of that Boss Han again, I'm afraid it won't be long before this day in Lin'an will change."
…
After Yu Hou, everyone was lamenting the new owner of Defeng.
And Gu Wuyou, who was sitting in the corner, listened to their praise of Li Qinyuan. He couldn't help propping up his chin and bending his eyebrows. On the contrary, Li Qinyuan, the party concerned, did not change his face. Seeing Gu Wuyou finished eating, he smiled and said to her. : "Let's go up."
"it is good."
Gu Wuyou smiled and nodded, letting Li Qinyuan hold her hand and go upstairs.
When the two passed through the hall, many people turned their attention to them, and their eyes couldn't help showing surprises. It was not until they left that they continued to talk about it downstairs.
the next day.
The two finally arrived in Lin'an.
Fang Shou asked outside: "Master, do you want to go home first, or go back to the business first?"
Li Qinyuan glanced at Gu Wuyou in his arms, and when she saw her eyes wide open, he asked her what she meant, "Go home first?"
"Go to the store." Gu Wuyou slept all the way, his voice was a little hoarse, he covered his small mouth and yawned before saying, "You haven't been back for so long, there must be a lot of things waiting for you to deal with."
"it is good."
Li Qinyuan nodded and said to Fang Shou, "Go to the store."
"Yes." Fang Shou replied softly, and drove the carriage in the direction of the store.
After a few quarters of an hour, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the store. As soon as Xu Yong was about to go out, he was startled when he saw Fang Shou. When he recovered, he immediately greeted him and said happily, "The owner is back?"
Li Qinyuan lifted the curtain of the carriage, glanced at Xu Yong, and smiled, "Well, I'm back." As he said, he led Gu Wuyou out of the carriage, and when Xu Yong finished salute to them, he asked him, "What about the business? Like? You wrote about the cooperation before, right?"
"No."
Xu Yong smiled and said: "You don't know, since your cooperation with Boss Lu and Boss Han has been decided, I don't know how many people want to cooperate with us now, by the way..." He followed Li Qinyuan's footsteps and said while walking, "The Lin'an Chamber of Commerce sent you a message, saying that it was waiting for you to come back and wanted to invite you to dinner."
"Oh?"
Li Qinyuan was a little surprised, "The post from the Chamber of Commerce personally?"
Xu Yong smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid it won't be long before someone comes to invite you."
Earlier, Zhuang Zixin invited him to eat a few meals secretly for the sake of his daughter, but it was always in the name of personal. It seems that this cooperation really made these people unable to sit still...
When the guys from the firm saw them coming back, they were also pleasantly surprised: "Master, Madam, are you back?"
Li Qinyuan nodded.
Gu Wuyou is now immune to these titles, and this meeting nodded to them with a smile.
Just as they were on the second floor, before they finished drinking a cup of tea, someone came in from outside, holding a post from the Chamber of Commerce, saying that someone had just sent it, Xu Yong took the post and asked what Li Qinyuan meant, "The owner , do you see?"
Li Qinyuan took the gilded post and smiled, "Their news is well-informed."
He casually threw the post on the table and continued to peel lychees for the people around him. He said in a lazy tone, "Let's meet then."
The banquet with the Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for the second day.
This time, Li Qinyuan didn't take Gu Wuyou, leaving Lin Qing and others to protect her, so he went to the banquet alone.
Gu Wuyou stayed at the store by himself and looked at the ledger.
Except for Li Qinyuan, only two executives, Xu Yong and Cong Yu, are qualified to read the account books of the firm. At first, when Li Qinyuan said this, both Xu and Cong were a little surprised. Which firm would let women read these accounts, don't If you say that you are not married, you are married, and you have never been married.
But in the end it was the owner's arrangement, and they didn't dare to say anything.
Although Gu Wuyou doesn't know how to do business, she has been in charge of the house for a few years in her previous life, and she has been in charge of internal affairs for a few years. She is very good at reading account books. Today, she just finished reading a few account books, thinking of asking Lin Qing to help her. go buy some food.
On such a hot day, she was too lazy to go out.
Someone outside came to report, "Madam, the lady from President Zhuang's family is here, saying she wants to see you."
When she heard the name just now, she was a little stunned. When she thought about the last meeting in Yuxianglou, she realized it. After a little pondering, she said, "Is she here to buy something, or to talk?"
The man replied, "I didn't mean to buy anything when I saw her."
"Then invite her to sit next door." Gu Wuyou said while packing the account book, and instructed, "Make a pot of the tea I brought from Jinling yesterday, and then bring some cakes and bring them up."
"Yes."
After walking away, Gu Wuyou was not in a hurry to go out, but was busy with all the things at hand, and then went to the next door wearing a hat. People had already arrived, dressed in exquisite and luxurious clothes, holding a round fan, bored. Looking around, there were two maids behind him, looking full of style.
Hearing the sound, Zhuang Ru looked over.
When a woman sees a woman, the first thing she must look at is her face, but Gu Wuyou's face is completely blocked, and no gap is exposed. Top ingredients.
Shark silk yarn as thin as a cicada's wings is worth a few dozen gold.
Li Qinyuan was really willing.
Zhuang Ru felt sour and jealous, and the fan in her hand hit harder.
It was a guest from afar, and it was her own place. Although she didn't know her intentions, Gu Wuyou still politely called out, "Miss Zhuang."
"Humph." Zhuang Ru was too polite to pretend, sitting on the chair without calling anyone, and after waiting for someone to sit down, she asked bluntly, "I heard that you have been with Li Lang for the past few months. ?"
Gu Wuyou nodded.
She looked at the ledger in the morning, she would be hungry by now, and glanced at Zhuang Ru, "If Miss Zhuang doesn't mind, I will eat something first." She talked about it, but in fact she just said casually, When she was so hungry, she didn't care about others, and after she finished speaking, she ate the cake by herself.
Seeing her like this, Zhuang Ru became even more angry, and slandered: vulgar.
I don't know why Li Qinyuan fell in love with such a woman? After thinking about the face that Jinghong glanced at that day, I think I figured it out again. I guess I still look at the face.
Watching Gu Wuyou eating piece after piece of cake, she wanted to ridicule her, but she was very elegant when she was eating, more poised than the official ladies she had seen before, mocking her in her mouth. I can't say anything, so I can only say: "Li Lang will not marry you."
"Um?"
Gu Wuyou was stunned for a moment, stopped eating pastries, and looked up at her from under the hood.
"Don't you know what his identity is?" Zhuang Ru sneered: "He is the direct son of the Duke of Wei, do you really think that you will marry your identity?"
"And now that Li Lang is famous for thousands of miles, even the princess and the princess can marry. With your status..." She glanced up and down, and said, "Even if you are a concubine, you are not qualified."
What is her identity
Gu Wuyou looked at her blankly, not quite understanding what she meant.
"Even me," Zhuang Ru raised her chin and said very proudly, "the daughter of the chairman of the Lin'an Chamber of Commerce, I guess she can only be a concubine by his side, you..." She shook the fan in her hand and said with a face mockingly, "You, while he still likes it, make more money, lest you be abandoned in the future, and you won't even be able to get any money."
"Cough..."
Gu Wuyou couldn't help it, she coughed lightly, she whispered "I'm sorry", took a sip of the tea on the side, then looked at Zhuang Ru and asked, "Then what do you think about it now? To be his concubine?"
Zhuang Ru pouted and continued to fan, "He's not the only cash cow in the Duke of Wei's mansion. He, Li Qinyuan, doesn't look down on me, so I don't want to rush to look for it."
Although she likes power and status, and Li Qinyuan's face...
But there is not only one Li Qinyuan in this world.
"Then why did you come to find me today?" Gu Wuyou was really confused.
She originally thought that Miss Zhuang was under the banner of letting her leave Li Qinyuan, but now, that's not what she meant.
Zhuang Ru was choked by her, and the fan in her hand stopped. After a while, she continued to shake it, and said angrily, "What do you care about me?" She couldn't tell herself, it was probably I was unconvinced and mixed with some jealousy, so when I knew she was back, I couldn't help coming to her side to talk.
Now being asked directly like this, I don't know what to say.
Taking a look at Gu Wuyou, she opened her mouth, but she couldn't say a word, as if she was slapped in the face, the fan in her hand slapped even harder, she stood up directly and rushed behind her. The two maids said angrily, "Cuihong, Liulu, go home!"
After speaking, he didn't look at Wuyou, and went out directly.
Gu Wuyou looked at her figure and shook his head amusingly.
Lin Qing walked in after watching the person leave, frowned and asked, "Madam, are you alright?"
"It's alright." Gu Wuyou smiled, thinking that Miss Zhuang was quite interesting, and instructed, "Help me order some food, it's hot outside, so I won't go out."
"Yes!"
the next few months.
Gu Wuyou accompanies Li Qinyuan to stay in Lin'an, and occasionally goes to other places, she also accompanies others, the one-year deadline has not yet expired, but because of the cooperation with Han Jin, the capital handed over a letter. When they came over, the two planned to put Defeng's business under the control of Xu Yong and Cong Yu for the time being, and they returned to Beijing first.
Right now, Defeng's business is also booming.
Even if Li Qinyuan is not in charge, with the years of experience of Xu and Cong, it can be solved.
When they came, the willows were Yiyi, but when they left, the osmanthus flowers all over the city were blooming. Lin Qing was checking the team to see if there was anything missing. Li Qinyuan ordered Xu and Cong from the side, while Gu Wuyou... She was following Zhuang Ru was talking.
Funny to say.
She and Zhuang Ru obviously didn't have much to deal with at first, especially Zhuang Ru. Every time she saw her, she was carrying a gun and a stick, but when she went out and was ridiculed by several people, this Zhuang Da, who always looked down on her, was unpleasant. Instead, the lady helped her scold those people back.
After that time, she and Zhuang Ru met several times.
"I told you before that I asked you to get more money, but you are so stupid that you won't listen. Now, when you go to the capital, you can wait for those people to mock you." Zhuang Ru looked at Gu Wuyou, Cynical, there are some who hate that iron is not steel.
Gu Wuyou smiled.
She knew that Zhuang Ru had misunderstood her identity, but there were some things that would be difficult to tell her, so she could only let her misunderstand, "I will entertain you when you have time to come to the capital in the future."
"It's the same as being a mistress of the house."
Zhuang Ru pouted, but didn't say anything. Instead, she glanced in Li Qinyuan's direction and pulled the person aside, "Since you insist on following people, you should give birth to a child as soon as possible. If you have a child, you will always have a child. Not to be kicked out.”
"What, what?"
Gu Wuyou stammered, his face flushed red.
Zhuang Ru looked at her strangely, "It's not normal. When you have a child, you have a foundation. Even if he doesn't like you in the future, you still have someone to rely on."
"I, we..." Gu Wuyou felt that her two lives had been in vain for decades. In front of a seventeen-year-old girl, she blushed because of these things. She stammered and wanted to deny it. , and could not speak.
"What are you talking about again?"
Li Qinyuan's voice came from behind, followed by someone holding her wrist. The man guarded her firmly behind him and looked at Zhuang Ru with a calm face.
Zhuang Ru used to be greedy for his face and power, so he thought he was good at everything, but now that he figured it out, he felt that this person was not good from head to toe, except for his face, which was not bad, just his temper, tsk, she just I don't want to wait... This will say angrily: "What do you care about me?" After that, he didn't pay any attention to Li Qinyuan, just glanced at the person behind him, "Hey, remember what I said, I'm leaving."
Said to leave.
"Wait." Gu Wuyou called her.
"Why?" Zhuang Ru stopped, but his face was still not very good.
"You are waiting for me here." Gu Wuyou said to Li Qinyuan, then took Zhuang Ru's hand and walked a little further, and when there was no one around, did he say, "Thank you for what you said to me, I It's all in my mind."
Zhuang Ru glanced at her in surprise, and said indifferently, "I just see you as pitiful, don't think about it too much."
Gu Wuyou smiled and didn't refute her hard mouth and soft heart. He looked at people and said, "Actually, you don't need to marry those aristocratic families, you are good-looking and have money in your family, rather than go to those noble families as a waiter. Concubine, it is better to find someone you like and marry, with your ability, you will definitely be able to find a man who puts you first in everything."
After she said this, she stopped talking, waved at the person, and planned to leave.
"Hey."
Zhuang Ru stopped behind her and saw Gu Wuyou turned her head, Feng Feng carried her gauze curtain, revealing her shocked face, "Actually..." She looked at Gu Wuyou and said, " Li Qinyuan is still very good to you, you, come on."
Gu Wuyou rolled his eyes under the hood, "Okay."
She smiled and nodded at the person, waved her hand again, and then ran in the direction of Li Qinyuan.