Ouyang Fu and the second son packed up their luggage and went to live in another courtyard outside the city.
For the time being, Gu Jiu will take care of her errands.
Concubine Shen was quite worried, and ran to Gu Jiu to chatter.
"Second madam only goes out for a month or so, and during this month, the eldest madam has to work hard to take care of her. What the rules were in the past, the eldest madam Xiao Guicao followed suit, and there is no need to change them."
Gu Jiu smiled, "The side concubine is worried that I have changed the rules of the second sibling?"
"Oh, the eldest lady misunderstood. I didn't mean that, I was worried that the eldest lady was tired. You just keep an eye on the accounts, and the other things will be taken care of by the woman in charge."
Gu Jiu looked at her with a half-smile, "Don't worry, concubine, I'm just taking care of you for a month, I'm not free enough to meddle in other people's affairs."
Concubine Shen smiled, "Ma'am really knows how to joke."
Gu Jiu is really busy.
On the northwest side, they finally handed over last year's account book.
The racecourse is responsible for its own profit and loss, and there is no need for Gu Jiu to continue to deposit money into it, but there is no extra money to hand over.
When Gu Jiu opened the racecourse, he had prepared for five years. It is planned to build the racecourse in five years. This year is the fourth year, and it has only been two and a half years, so she is not in a hurry.
Wool weaving works well. But because of the military orders, all the proceeds from wool weaving have to be invested in expanding operations, so there is no money to send to Gu Jiu for the time being.
Only for the ready-made clothing sales, 10,000 taels of silver were barely taken out, and sent to Gu Jiu together with the ledger.
Qingmei, Qingzhu and other maids have been holding their abacus every day for the past few days.
Military orders seem to be highly profitable, but the human cost is also high. After removing all kinds of costs, only about 20% of the net profit is left.
For a military supply order of 200,000 sets, the profit is only about 30,000 to 40,000 taels, and it has to be put into reproduction.
Part of this net profit will be divided into year-end bonuses for the employees. Part of the rest is put into reproduction, and only a small amount of profit can be used for dividends.
Gu Jiu looked at the ledger, the ready-made garment business can only make money by selling a large amount. It is unrealistic to want to get rich from this business.
To be honest, the profit of the ready-made clothing business is not even comparable to the fraction of Zhenbaozhai.
Zhenbaozhai sells a set of head and face jewelry, and the profit is not doubled, so it doesn't bother to pay attention to it.
Therefore, Gu Jiu must seize the time to open up the trade route in the south of the Yangtze River.
When the business in the south of the Yangtze River picks up, the northwest trade line can continue to invest funds and expand its scale.
Wool garments are not profitable, but Gu Jiu does not intend to give up.
Basic necessities of life, food, housing, and transportation are inseparable from these four things.
Clothing even ranks in front of food, which shows that keeping warm is the first need, and being full is the second need.
People can endure hunger for a long time, but they cannot endure cold for a long time. Because they were all frozen to death.
Account inventory is clear, the next step is dividends.
Pei Yun took 40% of the shares, and the 12,000 shares were divided into 4,000 taels.
Gu Jiu sent a letter to Nanny Fang. Mother Fang took the letter, ledger and money to Pei Yun.
As a partner, the accounts must be clear, and where every sum of money is spent must be well documented and must not be vague.
Only in this way can the business last for a long time.
She also plans to continue the wool business with Pei Yun for a long time, so she must be honest.
It can be said that Pei Yun received the money by accident.
She didn't expect that the money invested at the beginning, it took only more than two years to actually get thousands of taels of dividends.
Looking at the ledger, the profits on the ledger are very gratifying. However, because it needs to be invested in expanding operations, most of the profits cannot be used for dividends.
She read the letter Gu Jiu wrote to her again, which contained detailed business ideas and various ideas.
Pei Yun smiled, and said to Nanny Fang: "Sister Xiaojiu is too alien. When I invested the money, I said that I would not participate in the management. In matters of management, it is up to Sister Xiaojiu to decide. She does things. I can trust it."
Nanny Fang said: "My wife said that thanks to Mrs. Shizi's respect, she is willing to do business with her. Naturally, the accounts must be clear and clear, and no falsification should be made. The business idea should also be informed to Mrs. Shizi in time. You can't let Mrs. Shizi invest money but don't have anything. I don’t know. If we want to do long-term business, we must establish rules from the very beginning. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a circle without rules.”
Pei Yun smiled and said: "Sister Xiaojiu thinks farther than I do. You reply to her for me. I have no objection in terms of business. I will do it according to her ideas. I will definitely support it. I have received the account book and there is no problem. This She has been worrying about everything for so many years, and she will continue to work hard for her in the future. If there is something I can help, tell her not to be polite to me."
Nanny Fang brought Pei Yun's words to Gu Jiu.
Gu Jiu rejoiced, "I chose to cooperate with Sister Pei, and I made the right choice."
It was also thanks to Pei Yun that he was able to receive the military order.
Mother Fang said: "The servant girl looks at Mrs. Shizi's food and drink, and seems to be pregnant. It's just that the month is still young and she hasn't announced anything yet."
"Really? Sister Pei is really pregnant, so I have to congratulate her. But she didn't say anything, and I think it's not been three months yet. You can prepare the presents first, and wait until she's three months old. Send the gift."
Qingmei smiled and said: "Madam, don't worry, I will keep this matter in mind."
…
After the Shangsi Festival, Gu Yue kept the filial piety for Zhao Erlang, and the one-year period was completed.
Mrs. Xie arranged the manpower early on, and when the day came, he personally took the man to Haixibo Mansion.
Mrs. Haisiebo didn't stop her either, "This is a cut book, and the dowry will be taken away. From now on, our two families will return to each other, and the road will return to the road, and it will be irrelevant."
Xie accepted the inscription, "Madam is straightforward. Yue'er, why not thank Madam quickly. Madam didn't make things difficult for you, so you should be grateful, you know?"
Gu Yue bowed to thank her, and said emotionally: "From now on, I can't be filial in front of my mother-in-law, so I ask my mother-in-law to forgive me."
Mrs. Haicibo waved her hand, "Don't call me Madam mother-in-law. From now on, you can marry freely and have nothing to do with our Haicibo Mansion. I also don't want to hear that you are showing yourself as Haicibo's daughter-in-law outside. Mrs. Ben will be very upset."
Gu Yue looked embarrassed, looking miserable and helpless.
Mrs. Xie coughed lightly, "Madam is right, from now on my family Yue'er will have nothing to do with Haixibo Mansion. Please also ask Madam to take out my family's Yue'er's dowry list for comparison, lest we take more things, or less something."
Mrs. Hai Xibo snorted twice, "What kind of family does Mrs. Gu think of our Earl's Mansion? Could it be that we are greedy for your daughter's dowry?"
Mrs. Xie laughed loudly, "Madam misunderstood, the Earl's Mansion is so rich, so naturally it wouldn't be greedy for our family's Yueer's dowry. But there must be some servants with dirty hands and feet, right?"
Mrs. Hai Xibo sneered, and ordered the maid beside her, "Go, find out the dowry list of the Second Young Mistress, and compare them one by one. If there is any missing or too many, we must investigate to the end."
"The servant obeys."
After taking the dowry list, Mrs. Xie led the people to move the dowry.
Gu Yue followed her, pale and uneasy.
Mrs. Xie encouraged her, "What are you afraid of? With me here, I will definitely tell you a happy marriage. When the time comes, I will add a little dowry to you, so that you can marry in a good manner."
"Thank you mother. The daughter is worried about causing trouble for her mother."
Mrs. Xie said indifferently: "Did you cause me little trouble these years? In short, this trouble is not bad.
In half a month, your sixth brother is going to get married, your father spread invitations widely, and there will be many children from aristocratic families visiting the mansion.
I will take a closer look for you, those classmates of your sixth brother are also excellent. If you pass the imperial examination, you have a promising future. "
Gu Yue forced a smile, at present, she does not want to marry. At least she doesn't want to marry until she finds the right one.
And Xie Mao's side is also a problem.
Putao came in from the outside, and while everyone was busy, she quietly moved to Gu Yue's side.
"Reporting to Young Mistress, Master Xie Maobiao has sent a message that everything is ready. Tell Young Madam to follow the original plan."
Gu Yue nodded, waved her hand, and told Putao to back down.
Putao was anxious, but did not dare to say a word.
Gu Yue's threat still lingered in his ears.
Gu Yue's dowry was not much, but it lacked a lot of decorations.
Xie was going to make a fuss, but Gu Yue stopped her, "I forgot to tell my mother that when my husband was still there, he broke a lot of porcelain vases, but they were not recorded in the account book."
"It's simply absurd. The loss of so many items should be compensated by the Haixibo Mansion."
"Mother, one thing more is worse than one thing less, forget it."
"You, it's because you are too weak that you will be bullied by everyone in the Haixibo House."
If Gu Shan heard this, she would absolutely disagree.
A femme fatale woman like Gu Yue is also called weak, but what is a really weak woman called? Like she was almost set on fire by Gu Yue, so what? Does it deserve it
Fortunately, Gu Shan didn't come with her today, otherwise she would have died of anger.
Eccentric people seem to never be able to change their eccentricity. Either focus on this, or focus on that.
This point is vividly reflected in Xie Shi.
A bowl of water, Xie will never be fair.
Either she favored Gu Yue, or when she was dissatisfied with Gu Yue, she began to favor Gu Shan. When Gu Yue admitted his mistake and became a good child, she began to favor Gu Yue again.
After repeating this over and over again, the result was that both Gu Yue and Gu Shan felt resentment in their hearts.
It is human nature to hate anyone who competes with him, even if this person is his own sister.
Gu Yue resented Gu Shan for stealing her favor, and resented Xie Shi for abandoning her coldly.
Gu Shan also resented that Gu Yue got married, but because of the dead man, she had to go back to her mother's house to snatch her favor.
Both sisters felt resentment in their hearts, but Mrs. Xie thought that she had done her best and fulfilled her responsibilities as a mother.
Mrs. Xie didn't know that it was because of her so-called fulfillment of responsibility that the two sisters turned against each other and regarded each other as enemies.
Xie bluffed and ordered his servants to clean up the dowry and take it away. Even if it was a piece of rag, he would not leave it to Haicibo Mansion.
After working all day, he finally returned to the Gu residence with his dowry.
When Master Gu saw Gu Yue, his expression was calm, "Since you're back, follow the rules in the mansion. You should grow up after going through so many things, don't let your father down again."
"A daughter always remembers her father's teachings."
Master Gu waved his hand, signaling Gu Yue to back down.
Gu Teng's attitude towards her was quite warm.
"Third sister, if you have any embarrassing things, just tell me, and I will help you."
"Thank you Sixth Brother, won't it delay your study?"
"If I'm not in the mansion, you can find the eighth brother. The eighth brother will help you."
Gu Yue wondered: "I'm afraid that my eighth brother will hate me."
"Dear siblings, there is no next day's revenge."
"I see, thank you Sixth Brother."
After two years, Gu Yue returned to the Gu Mansion and lived in a familiar courtyard.
Even the decorations in the house are exactly the same as before the wedding.
It's just that the house is still the same house, but the person is not the same person as before.
Back then, she was proud and arrogant, and regarded Zhao Erlang as her lifelong support.
Now, her heart is as cold as iron, she sees through everything, and only lives by herself.
It was a long night, and the sky never dawned. Gu Yue tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
When the day was bright, she fell into a deep sleep.
Early in the morning, she went to the Furong Courtyard to greet Mrs. Xie.
She and Gu Shan met at the gate of the courtyard.
Gu Shan looked at her and blessed her body, "Did Third Sister sleep well last night?"
"Very good, thank you fourth sister for your concern."
"Third sister, please be polite."
The two sisters were at odds with each other, but they wanted to pretend to be in harmony and walked into the Furong Courtyard together.
Mrs. Xie rubbed her brows, "I just got a piece of news that Haixibo's mansion ran out of water last night. I heard that the counting house was burned down and people died."
Gu Yue's heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to remain calm.
Gu Shan looked at Gu Yue immediately, "As soon as the third sister left, Haixibo's mansion was flooded, what a coincidence."
Gu Yue ignored Gu Shan, she asked worriedly: "Is the situation serious? How many people died? Who died?"
Mrs. Xie shook her head, "I also just got the news, it seems that the cashier is dead. The specific situation will not be known until your father comes back at night."
Gu Yue breathed a sigh of relief.
It's good that the cashier is dead.
Xie Mao didn't lie to him.
Gu Yue suppressed the joy in his heart, and chatted about family affairs as usual.
However, the maid Putao's palms were sweating cold, all because of fear.
The news of the flood in Haixibo Mansion spread throughout the capital.
As soon as Gu Jiu heard about Haixibo Mansion, he paid attention to it.
She ordered people to go out to inquire about the news.
Haixibo Mansion suddenly flooded in the middle of the night last night, which was very strange.
What's even weirder is that the place where the water flows turned out to be the accounting room with the strictest fire protection, and a Mr. accountant died.
"Everyone in the capital is talking about it. I'm afraid it will not be easy for Haixibo's mansion to escape this time." Bai Zhong said with a bow.
Gu Jiu asked, "How much has Haixibo Mansion lost?"
"I haven't found out the exact amount. I only heard that many ledgers were burned, and tens of thousands of taels of bank notes were burned. This time, Haixibo Mansion suffered heavy losses."
"Are you sure it's tens of thousands?"
Bai Zhong nodded, "I asked the servants in Haixibo's mansion through my relationship, and it was true that tens of thousands of taels of silver bills were burned. The account books for the second half of last year and this year's account books were all burned. A big suspicion, some people said that the accountant was greedy for money, and when he learned about the Dongchuang incident, he committed suicide in fear of crime, and burned the account book with him."
Gu Jiu laughed after hearing this.
She waved her hand, telling Bai Zhong to stare at Hai Xibo's mansion.
When the people left, Gu Jiu laughed mockingly, "My third younger sister has a lot of tricks, I can't do without admiration for her."
Qingmei was taken aback, "Ma'am, what do you mean, the third aunt set the fire?"
Gu Jiu sneered, "Of course it wasn't Gu Yue who set the fire on. She had already returned to Gu's residence yesterday. But the fire in Haixibo's residence must have something to do with Gu Yue."
Gu Jiu didn't have any evidence to prove her inference, but she just knew that this matter was related to Gu Yue.
When she heard that the Haixibo mansion was on fire, Gu Yue was the first thing she thought of.
Gu Yue is retaliating, but also reaping benefits.
As for the dead accountant, they were either murdered to silence them, or they were scapegoats.
In short, the counting room is definitely not clean, and it must have something to do with Gu Yue.
For the past year, Gu Yue has been a widow in Haixibo Mansion. No one pays special attention to a widow, people ignore widows subconsciously.
In a year's time, it shouldn't be difficult to buy a counting house with Gu Yue's means.
Gu Jiu sighed, Gu Yue is really capable of tossing around. And now that Gu Yue has learned to forbear, the lethality is more than ten times that of the past.
"According to my wife's speculation, Grandma Sangu should have accomplices."
Gu Jiu smiled, "She naturally has accomplices."
It's just that Gu Jiu couldn't guess who Gu Yue's accomplice was.
From Zhao Erlang's death to last night's leak in the accountant of Haixibo's mansion, these series of events were clearly planned through meditation.
With careful planning and strong action, he was able to escape unscathed afterwards and clear Gu Yue's suspicion by the way. Such a person is not simple, and he is definitely not an idle person.
Gu Jiu was too curious about who the person behind Gu Yue was.
She wants to find this person.