Traveling through ancient times: daily life on the run

Chapter 337 Want to open up the Muzhou market

When Duke Anguo heard what the second branch of the Bai family said, he became furious.

The Bai family's butler was so scared that his old arms and legs were shaking, but it seemed to have no effect, and the shaking seemed to get worse.

In the hall, his youngest son Yu Xianzhi and Deng Miaowen were both kneeling on the ground. Deng Miaowen had tears in her eyes, and she seemed to be full of grievances, looking very pitiful.

Duke Anguo was well aware of the pros and cons. The Bai family had paid over a million taels of silver to the Anguo Mansion annually over the past few years. Besides the money, several fine houses and prime farmland in the capital were all given to them, either openly or covertly. This time, the Bai family's second branch was in trouble. If he didn't help, the Bai family would retaliate, accusing the Anguo Mansion of accepting their bribes, which would only cause trouble for the Empress. If he helped, the case was clearly a serious one. Furthermore, with His Royal Highness Prince Ning involved, it would sooner or later alert the Emperor, causing further trouble.

After much thought, Duke Anguo could only think of a more cruel method, which was to find someone to secretly kill off the second branch of the Bai family.

Thinking of this, he comforted his daughter-in-law Deng: "I will think of a way to deal with this matter. You and Xuanzhi go back to your room first."

"Thank you, father. I'm sorry for being unfilial and causing you worry."

Yu Yanzhi stood up first, then helped his wife up and comforted her: "Father said he would help your sister, and he will definitely help. Don't worry."

"Well, thank you for worrying about me, husband."

After seeing Deng off and returning to his room, Yu Xianzhi went to the main hall again and asked his father: "Dad, have you thought about how to solve this problem? Without the financial support of the Bai family, the expenses for my sister and our mansion would be huge. Besides, you promised me to marry Qian'er..."

"You bastard! Your sister is already in a state of panic. How can I dare to go to her and plead for your wife's stupid sister? Your concubine needs to be put off for now. Don't anger the Deng family. How can we get the money?"

"Dad, how many did the Bai family's butler bring this time? I saw several carriages full of them."

"..."

*

It is said that Qin Bingrui sent the Fang family back to Liangzhou, while Bai Lingyi and Fang stayed in Muzhou for the time being waiting for the final judgment.

Zhu Jinyou bought another big house in Muzhou.

Qin Luohong and the Bai family's mother and son are temporarily staying in the mansion.

Xia Liang and Yan Xuan followed Qin Bingrui to send the Fang family back to Liangzhou, and by the way, they went to pick up the "Flying Tigers" and their lackeys to come to Muzhou.

Muzhou City is only five or six days' journey from the capital, and Eunuch Yao was too lazy to urge them. After all, they were already at the feet of the emperor, and they couldn't escape.

A year ago, Luo Yu had only stayed in Qingshui Village outside Muzhou City. Thinking about it, time passed in a flash.

She wanted to take advantage of her free time to go for a stroll.

Zhu Jinyou said that he had nothing to do and could accompany her for a walk.

Song Si: You haven't even finished reading half of the files on that table. Is that okay?

Muzhou City is not as elegant as Liangzhou City's scholars and writers, nor as open as Tanzhou's people, and it cannot compare with Jiangzhou's prosperity. Muzhou gives Luo Yu the feeling that it is particularly deep, and there are too many politeness and tediousness between people.

Maybe this is because it is too close to the capital!

Luo Yu took a walk around and found that there were not many snack shops on the road, but there were many jewelry shops. The Bai family basically monopolized several of the most prosperous streets and were involved in almost all walks of life.

When Luo Yu stood in front of the largest spice shop, Zhu Jinyou asked her: "Do you want to buy some spices? Come on, I'll take you there. There's no spice here that I don't know."

Luo Yu shook his head: "No, I'm just wondering if this business is particularly profitable."

Zhu Jinyou was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

She thinks about making money all the time.

"It's not good for a girl to only make money and not spend it."

Luo Yu pulled out a lipstick decorated with wood grain from his shoulder bag and said with a smile, "I can also make this special and refreshing scent, and it has many uses."

"What are you doing?"

"Lip balm moisturizes the lips."

Zhu Jinyou smiled and said jokingly: "No wonder I say that sometimes when I look at your lips, they look like they are covered with lard..."

Luo Yu: ...

"nice."

Luo Yu gave a bitter smile and said, "This business will definitely be good. If we can make a scented soap for bathing, a lipstick for lips, a face cream for face, or a shampoo for hair, they will all smell good and many people will definitely like it."

Zhu Jinyou couldn't help but move closer to her, sniffing at her head: "I was wondering why there was a faint fragrance on your hair, different from the fragrance of incense."

Luo Yu was speechless. He was really disgusting now. She hadn't washed her hair for several days.

After walking for a while, they came to a street not far from the east gate. The relatively prosperous street here was much quieter, or rather, the pedestrians on the street were obviously dressed much more shabbily.

The East Market is full of shops selling firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, most of which sell the things that the common people need most.

Until Luo Yu's eyes fell on a carpenter's shop.

She saw two familiar figures.

Uncle Gong and Brother Liu from Qingshui Village. Brother Liu is sitting in a bamboo wheelchair weaving bamboo, while Uncle Gong is looking down to pick up something.

Zhu Jinyou touched Luo Yu's head with his hand.

"What's the matter? Are you interested in some woodworking products? Or are you interested in two carpenters and want to recruit them to make furniture in Wangzhou?"

Luo Yu ignored him, stepped to the door of the shop, and called out: "Uncle Gong, Brother Liu?"

Uncle Gong and Brother Liu both looked up.

It took them a while to react when they saw the familiar yet unfamiliar face.

"Miss Zhou?"

"Yes, it's me."

Luo Yu was just happily trying to reminisce with them, but he didn't expect their faces to turn black.

Luo Yu looked back and saw that it was Zhu Jinyou and Song Si who were standing in front of someone else's shop, blocking most of the light.

Uncle Gong and Brother Liu had never seen such a nobleman dressed so gorgeously. Could he be here to cause trouble? The two were so scared that they didn't dare to say a word.

Luo Yu took a step back, tugged at Zhu Jinyou's robe, and whispered, "Stand outside. You're scaring people."

Zhu Jinyou took a few steps back, muttering, "How could this scare people?"

"Because you don't look like a good person!"

"..."

Uncle Gong stood up, his face full of shame. They were just two rich young men, how could he be scared? The young man in front was quite good-looking, but the one behind had a green face and looked murderous. Uncle Gong thought they were here to collect protection money again.

He moved out a few chairs and called Luo Yu: "Miss Zhou, come in and sit down."

"Uncle Gong, you and Brother Liu opened a carpentry shop. How is business?"

Luo Yu walked around the shop. All the creative wooden products that she had taught Uncle Gong were on display. The craftsmanship and the shapes were much better than Luo Yu had imagined.

"Business started out pretty well. Our bamboo wheelchairs were the best sellers. Children's walkers, scooters, and shopping carts were all selling incredibly well..."

Luo Yu stood up and found a wooden chair that could be opened. It didn't take up much space, but it was not painted and the color was not beautiful enough.

She waved her hand and called Zhu Jinyou over.

"Try sitting on it and see if it's stable. Will it pinch your butt?"

Zhu Jinyou paused. In his impression, only Miss Qin could say such words.

Luo Yu didn't care whether he was amazed or not. He pulled his sleeve and motioned him to sit on it.

After Zhu Jinyou sat down, he found that the thin wooden chair was actually quite stable.

"The chairs are nice, Mr. Zhu, do you have any other suggestions?"

"It would be better if it were a softer seat."

Luo Yu's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled, and he kept praising him for enjoying life.

Brother Liu was not good at speaking and just stared at the nobleman in front of him in a daze. He could not believe that Sister Zhou at that time could actually know such a big shot. Just by looking at her rich dress and noble temperament, he knew that she was not on the same level as ordinary people like them.

Luo Yu sat down next to Brother Liu, looked at the bamboo wheelchair he was weaving, and asked him with a smile: "Brother Liu, are Sister Chunhua and Jing'er okay?"

Brother Liu nodded quickly, hesitating and unable to say a word: "Okay, they are all good, very good."

Uncle Gong brought a few cups of tea from the back room and politely handed them to the three guests.

Zhu Jinyou took the cup with both hands and nodded politely. Song Si followed his master's politeness.

Luo Yu wanted to laugh.

"Uncle Gong, you said business was good at the beginning. Is it bad now?"

"It's not that it's hard to do, it's mainly because some people saw how much we were making and started to imitate our woodworking, so it's true that our sales aren't as good as before."

Brother Liu lowered his head and said, "Our wheelchairs used to be the best sellers, but then a family of merchants from the south came in and specialized in selling all sorts of creative home furnishings. They opened a furniture showroom in the west of the city. I heard the wheelchairs there are made of the finest wood..."

"Is it called Fang's Furniture City?"

Uncle Gong was curious: "Does the girl know?"

Luo Yu smiled, stood up and said, "In the next day, I think someone will come to talk to you. If Brother Liu and Uncle Gong trust me, then just agree to it."

Although he was confused, Uncle Gong still nodded seriously.

Before leaving, Luo Yu reminded him: "Uncle Gong, you can try to make the woodworking more colorful, especially for children's toys, so that they will have attractive features."

Zhu Jinyou whispered in her ear: "That foldable wooden chair is really nice. It's much more comfortable to sit on than the small stool that Miss Qin brought."

Luo Yu blinked and smiled at him: "Zhu Jinyou, the Bai family is almost declining now. Should we open up the market in Muzhou City?"

"..."