Beautiful step by step

Chapter 180

The Ban family's other courtyard in Xuzhou is not big, and the small courtyard of Sanjin is hidden among layers of green trees.The first entrance is the study room, with lush pines and cypresses planted in front of the yard; the servants trimmed the pines and cypresses into a beautiful shape, which is evergreen in all seasons to welcome guests; the two entrances at the back are the courtyards used for daily life, and there are plum forests planted on both sides of the Qingshiban road , and under the window sill of the bedroom on the right are kumquats that have just been replaced in winter.

When Wei Wei came, the plum blossoms had already fallen, but a few pots of kumquats were blooming there, and small oranges hung on the lush leaves like red lanterns. There was a faint fresh smell of oranges in the air. Fatigue from running around has also been reduced by three points.

Because of this, she specially changed a big red seal to the steward who led the way, and the steward of the Ban family was not a person who has eyes for money, so he quickly shook his head when he saw this.

"Madam's kindness, my little heart appreciates it. However, Madam is a distinguished guest who came from afar, so we have to treat you kindly no matter what."

Seeing that the steward's face was full of sincerity and there was no trace of hypocrisy, Wei Wei had no choice but to take back the red envelope.

"Before I came, Mrs. Wen Shihou also told me about you. She said in words that you have been guarding the ancestral property for the Ban family in other places for a long time. It is quite hard. Today we take the liberty to disturb you. It is quite impolite. I see the steward's clothes are exposed. For the celebration, there must be a girl in the family who will get married soon, so I used a pair of earrings as makeup."

After speaking, Wei Wei ordered the accompanying maid to go to her cage to get a pair of opal earrings.

The Western Regions were already rich in jewelry, and before she married, Yan Heng had already had business dealings with several foreign merchants in the mutual market.He collected the gemstones they had transported all the way and sent them to Tongyuan Trading Company in the capital.

Tongyuan Commercial House has many skilled craftsmen, and the best gemstones are carved here into pieces of ingenious jewelry, which are placed in carved boxes of precious wood and sold to noble ladies in the capital at extremely high prices.

However, in just a few processes, the profit has increased by hundreds or thousands of times.

Although the bulk of the money was taken by Tongyuan Trading Company, taking only a small part of it was enough for Yan Heng to accumulate a rich net worth.Especially after he was promoted to acting commander, Shopkeeper Qian, who had been struggling to find a backer, took the initiative to increase his share.Giving up such a large part of the profit is to get Yan Heng's protection at the critical moment.

Seeing the sudden increase in the amount of money in the accounts that year, Wei Wei sighed inwardly.No wonder everyone loves to be an official. With power, can money go far?
However, she is rarely hypocritical in this matter. She feels that since both of her husband and wife have business acumen, they can earn enough money with their own efforts, so why take the risk of being filial to the lower class?
Except for Mrs. Qian who was a partner in the front, no matter which merchants in Liangzhou City came to her door, she didn't even see anyone, and she just asked Gu Yu to pass on a message to them: Da Yue has the king's law, as long as you do business according to your duties, when the time comes The government will make decisions for you.

I don't know when she became very prestigious in Liangzhou City.If this goes on, most merchants will easily believe it.

And she has lived up to the trust of these people. Her own rice shop has always sold only the best rice, never mixed with water or sand, and did not deliberately drive up prices.Moreover, the people who run the business are all carefully selected by Patriarch Yan, who are smart and will not bully others.Even if one of them occasionally takes advantage of Yan Heng's official position to be domineering, she doesn't need to say anything, the patriarch Yan will take care of that person first.In this way, her rice shop gets along very well with other shops on the same street.

Doing business on the same street, the merchants looked at what other houses had, and quickly learned from the gourd.Wei Wei didn't care, she was even happy for others to learn from her.

After two years like this, Liangzhou's business is thriving, and both shop decoration and service quality are much better than before.

Prosperity in business brings stable taxation. Just last year, Yan Heng took the initiative to report to the court to reduce the military salary allocated by the Ministry of Households to the northwest.Although the reduction is not much, this is the first time in the history that the Northwest Army does not require additional food and pay when there is no disarmament.This alone is enough to refresh Yan Heng's favorability in Emperor Qinglong's heart.

The money shopkeeper who went to Liangzhou to buy jewelry in person, after witnessing the great changes in Liangzhou in the past two years, is even more convinced that Yan Heng has thick thighs.So he proposed a more generous share, and Wei Wei, who was not short of money at all, followed the practice and still did not accept it.

After understanding what she meant, Shopkeeper Qian took back the extra [-]% of the profit, and started the business in a down-to-earth manner.

Even so, this time Wei Wei will take some jewelry, and the money shopkeeper will no longer be like three years ago, asking her for a small piece of Western mercury mirror if she really wants money.Not only did he personally make up a priceless half-length mirror, but he also personally recommended to her a batch of rewards commonly used by dignitaries in Beijing.

Considering that Jiangnan will definitely have to socialize this time, Wei Wei brought some with him.This opal earring is one of the most inconspicuous ones.

"I wanted to bother the steward for a while, but it's just a coincidence. This pendant is right for me to add makeup to your girl."

This time the steward didn't refuse again, and after bowing and thanking her, he had a higher opinion of Madam Yan.

He is a small steward, and his own girl has no time to get married in another courtyard, so there is no festive atmosphere of marriage in this courtyard.It's just that the other party made a decision yesterday that the clothes he was wearing were dyed red inside and out.I changed the outer robe in a hurry today, but I still wear the inner jacket, and the cuffs and neckline will show some color when I walk.

She didn't expect such a trivial thing to be seen by her.

Originally, he planned to entertain distinguished guests well, but with this level of understanding, he was even more careful.

The steward's attitude affected everyone in the courtyard. The maids who stayed in the other courtyard finished their work and gathered in the servant's room behind the third entrance to discuss who came.

"I heard that they are distinguished guests from Beijing. I just met them when I went to the front to refill tea. The two nobles really look like they walked out of the painting. They are a match made in heaven."

"Jingzhong? Could it be someone from the Hou Mansion?"

"This is the other courtyard of the Hou Mansion, and those who can come and live must be people from the Hou Mansion."

"Except for the Hou Mansion, what other family can raise such an exquisite character. The lady is not only good-looking, but also very gentle. She even smiled at me when I was refilling the tea. That smile alone made me feel at ease."

Surrounded by the edge of the kang, the maids and mother-in-law were chattering.The Ban family is very well educated, even the servants in the other courtyard didn't say anything vulgar this time.

Through a curtain, the melon-faced servant girl looked at the tea on the stove, her eyes were a little red.Beside her, a round-faced servant girl in red looked at her worriedly.

"Yunjin, don't worry too much. Although the Sun family dominates the city, they can't ignore the king's law. I just decided that I will have a lot of money, why don't we redeem your sister with money first? The contract of sale is not a contract." The death contract, so that the money can be solved."

Wiping her eyes, Yun Jin showed a grateful smile to the round-faced servant girl.

"Xing Yu, I know you have good intentions. The contract of living can be solved, but the old man of the Sun family is the sky in Xuzhou, so he has the final say on how to solve it? I should have accepted my fate, but the Sun family The old man still looks the same. Who doesn’t know that he never spoiled women for more than half a year, and when he got excited, he let the old grandma abuse him. I can’t count the straw mats brought out of the back door of his house in two hands over the years. Worry about Yunxiu."

"Hey," Xing Yu said with a frowning face, "I didn't say that, your parents are too partial. In order to marry your brother a wife who can use it, they sold your sisters. You are okay, the people in the other courtyard Not bad; but on the side of the Sun family, the grand master of the Sun family bought a girl under ten years old in the northwest that year. On the day he entered the city, he escaped from the carriage covered in blood, and was chased by the Sun family and beaten to death in the street. Yes. Half of the people in Xuzhou City have seen this, and from then on, ordinary people would not dare to send someone to the Sun family."

Tears welled up again in Yunjin's eyes: "Father and mother can't do anything about it, besides signing the deed of life, they also want us to come to a rich family to learn some knowledge, and wait two years to go back and find a good family."

"You still speak for them at this time!"

Xing Yu hated iron for being weak, but she had the best relationship with Yun Jin among the maids in other courtyards, and she really wanted to help her at this moment.

A voice came from outside the curtain, and Xing Yu had an idea.

"Aren't you afraid that the Sun family won't get rid of the deed, I have a solution."

"What way?" Yun Jin's eyes raised a look of expectation.

"Did you hear what they said outside? The nobleman from the capital lives in the second entrance in front of us. Where is the capital? At the foot of the emperor! The Sun family is tyrannical in Xuzhou City, but they never dare to bully us. On the head, I guess he must be afraid of our masters above. I heard from them that the lord and wife are very friendly people, if we say it, maybe the nobleman will be willing to help?"

"This... really works?" Yun Jin's eyes grew stronger and stronger.

"If you don't try it, how will you know if it will work? My father told me before I came here that the lady gave me a pair of earrings when she heard that I was going to get married. It's reasonable for us to go and thank you in person."

The quilts in the other courtyard are all freshly dried, not to mention soft when lying on them, and you can still smell the warmth of the sun when you sink into them.Wrapped in it, Wei Wei took a nap, exhausted, and woke up refreshed, and then listened to the message from the servant, and the girl in charge came to thank her.

"What about the adults?"

The maid brought by Mother Wei said respectfully: "My lord went out after Madam fell asleep, and said he would be back in two hours at most."

Hearing that Yan Heng was not there, there was no need to try to avoid suspicion, and Wei Wei called someone in after washing up a bit.

"Your name is Xingyu?"

After the two maids declared themselves, Wei Wei looked at the one in red.This is the housekeeper's girl?The round apple face looks very festive.

"Yes, when I named it, my father always dreamed of good wine in Xinghua Village in the south of the Yangtze River, and I was born on the day of Guyu, so I chose this name."

Apple's face was flushed, and his voice was exceptionally loud. His grace and generosity could easily make people feel good about him.

"The most capable maidservant by my side is Gu Yu. Speaking of which, we are also predestined. Xing Yu, why did you come to see me today?"

As soon as the two entered the door, Wei Wei saw that they had another purpose.It's not that her eyes are so sharp, but that the maid named Yunjin next to her almost shows her desire to ask for others on her face.

She never liked to beat around the bush, so she would ask directly when she was in a good mood.

(End of this chapter)