Zhu Youning is not so arrogant that she feels that she is now qualified to participate in such a summary meeting. Not to mention that Old Lady Zhu cares a little about her, let's just say that with her age and qualifications, she will definitely not be able to go up to meet the chief steward of the Zhu family's various industries.

Zhu Youning followed the little girl who reported the news to the house, and was speculating about the reason for the incident all the way.

When he walked to the courtyard where the front hall of the outer courtyard was located, when the little servant went in to reply, Zhu Youning had already thought of several possibilities, and preliminarily thought about how to deal with each possibility when it happened.

After a while, the little girl came out with a smile, saluted Zhu Youning respectfully, and said, "The old lady said that you should come in." ”

"Thank you." Zhu Youning smiled slightly, and glanced at Bailing behind him when he went up the steps.

Bai Ling cleverly grabbed a handful of copper coins from his purse and stuffed them into the little guy, and said with a smile: "Thank you for this little brother, my girl invites you to eat and drink." ”

The little guy was satisfied and politely retreated.

And Zhu Youning has bypassed the newly replaced Meilan, Zhuju and Four Gentlemen folding screen, and came to the front hall.

Most of the people sitting in the front hall today are the Zhu family's own family or the side branch with heads and faces at first glance, except for Mrs. Zhu, the other three old ladies and the elders of the side branch are there, and there is no one who is the same generation as her.

Since it is the summary meeting of the chief steward, it is enough to show that most of the managers of the Zhu family's various industries are surnamed Zhu.

Zhu Youning, an eight-year-old girl, is too small in this group of elders.

"I've seen my grandfather, I've seen all the great stewards." Zhu Youning saluted.

All eyes fell on her, with inquiry and scrutiny, and obvious contempt.

Old lady Zhu beckoned gently, "Fu Ya'er is here, come and stand behind me." ”

Zhu Youning breathed a sigh of relief, answered yes, and quickly stood not far behind Old Lady Zhu, hiding himself in the shadows, trying to weaken his sense of existence.

Old lady Zhu said: "Now that everyone is here, let's start." ”

Zhu Youning stood quietly with low eyebrows, carefully observing the content of the meeting of these chief stewards, and at the same time silently observing, recognizing what industries the Zhu family was involved in and who the chief stewards of each industry were.

"In short, in the past two days, our family's business has been getting smoother and smoother, and some things that can be left and right were quickly agreed upon after our family was selected as the imperial businessman." The fourth old lady smiled happily.

The third old lady smiled and said: "So this time I was selected as an imperial businessman, although the business of coarse cloth and muslin cloth may not bring much income, but the positive impact is huge. ”

"With the title of Imperial Merchant, the credibility of the Zhu family's business has increased, which is really gratifying."

……

The crowd was gossiping, and everyone was rejoicing.

Zhu Youning lowered her eyes and couldn't help but smack her tongue secretly, she only thought that the selection of the imperial merchant would inevitably be plated with a layer of gold, but she didn't expect that the benefits would be greater than expected.

Old Lady Zhu nodded again and again with satisfaction, and said with a gentle smile: "This will also be thanks to our muslin cloth being favored by Mr. Gao." ”

When he received the invitation to the Imperial Chamber of Commerce that day, the letter from Mr. Gao clearly mentioned the reason for the selection of the Zhu family, and everyone present knew about it.

As soon as Mrs. Zhu's words came out, everyone's eyes fell on Zhu Youning.

Zhu Youning was quite uncomfortable being stared at for a moment, but she still stood calmly, without revealing her thoughts at all.

Old lady Zhu smiled as if she had eyes behind her back: "Since there has been progress in various industries, then we will continue to follow the original code of conduct next month." ”

"Yes." Everyone stood up, and they all responded.

Old lady Zhu still sat lazily in the first place, waved his hand and said, "There is one more serious thing next." Second, come on. ”

Zhu Huazhang, the second master who was named, stood up, saluted to everyone, and then said loudly: "Something has happened in Hangzhou in the past two days. Everyone here still remembers the son of Yan Sui in Guangzhou Mansion, right? ”

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and they all turned their heads and nodded to indicate that they remembered.

Zhu Huazhang said: "Prince Yan Sui got three kinds of business at the Imperial Merchants Conference this time, silk, garment manufacturing and medicinal herb business. It is no accident that he can get these three businesses, after verification, since last year, he has been active in Hangzhou, integrated many small shops, and gradually expanded himself, this time to enter the eyes of Mr. Gao. ”

The second old lady sneered when she heard this, and said: "It's not that the old man is too talkative, this Yan Gongzi is young, but he is too arrogant, obviously he is from Guangzhou Mansion, and he doesn't do business in front of his own door, but he came to our Hangzhou Mansion to visit." Is there no businessman in Hangzhou? This time, he really let him rob three deals, but he robbed us of the quota in Hangzhou Mansion. ”

"What the second uncle said makes sense." Zhu Huazhang said with a smile, "We are far away in Fuyang, and we all have such feelings, let alone those rich businessmen and giants in Hangzhou?" So this time, Yan Gongzi is in trouble. ”

"Oh? What is it? The second old lady asked with interest.

Zhu Huazhang said: "Just after the old lady set off to return to Fuyang, the Cheng family in Hangzhou made a move, and those who originally promised to do raw silk and embroidery business with Yan Gongzi all regretted it. ”

"Really? That's a lot of fun. The fourth old lady laughed when he heard this, "What is the imperial merchant?" To do things for the saint, it is necessary to both quality and completion on schedule, if the order cannot be completed within the time limit, then it is a crime of deception! ”

"I don't think things will necessarily go to the point of cutting off the head, but this time the blow to Yan Gongzi is not big, there is no raw silk, and there is a lack of workers and embroiderers, so he can only continue to look for sources and workers elsewhere. The time and money spent would be far greater than expected. If you can't change the price you offer, you will have to add money to it, and then you will not have to pay for death? ”

After the third old lady analyzed, everyone nodded.

Especially the fourth master of the fourth room, he laughed mockingly, and said: "At the beginning, that kid was simply arrogant, he spent a lot of money for a prostitute at the song and dance conference, and he actually fought with our Zhu family on the boundary of Fuyang, and now even if he loses everything, it will be retribution." ”

He was on the painting boat at the time, and finally got on the bar with Yan Sui, and the Zhu family, who was also harmed, donated a large amount of silver to the yamen in one go, this matter started from the fourth master, and there were many people pointing and poking behind him, and the fourth master didn't feel that he was wrong, so he remembered the grudge on Yan Sui's body.

Some of the people were silent, and some of them were silent, and some of them echoed each other.

Zhu Youning listened to the heads and faces of the Zhu family, and they were actually gloating about the bad luck of a person who had no interests to entangle with the Zhu family, and became more and more suspicious of the character of the Zhu family.

Yan Sui didn't force the fourth master to spend a lot of money first, and then said that he donated that sum of silver, and he was also compensated by Cai Xiancheng, although Li Luo had an accident in Fuyang, didn't the reception also fall on the Zhu family, what else did they have to be dissatisfied with?

The fourth old lady asked with great interest: "It seems that Yan Sui's actions in Hangzhou have angered the Cheng family?" ”

Zhu Huazhang nodded with a smile and said: "What the fourth uncle said is that there are only a few dishes in total, and he snatched three dishes at once when he was trapped, our family only undertakes coarse cloth and muslin cloth, and after hanging the brand of the imperial merchant, they have all received so many benefits, so Yan Sui has undertaken three dishes, and he still doesn't make a lot of fame and fortune?" The more he earned, the more unconvinced the Cheng family became, and naturally he wanted to stumble. ”

"But I heard that something happened to the Cheng family, their second son died of illness on the way to exile, their old lady was hemiplegic at first, and then the whole person was paralyzed, and now she is just hanging on her breath, why did the eldest lady of the Cheng family not only recruit a husband, but also have the mind to fight with others? Sure enough, isn't the woman who joined the rose different? ”

When everyone listened, they all looked at Zhu Youning again, because she was also a Rose person.

Zhu Youning didn't want to attract firepower inexplicably, so he lowered his eyes and didn't speak.

Old lady Zhu said at this time: "Actually, the Cheng family stumbled on Yan Gongzi behind his back, and the most important thing was not in the source of raw silk, but in a few of the embroideries. ”

"Oh?" The third old lady asked, "Big brother, what's going on?" ”

When Old Lady Zhu heard this, she looked at Zhu Huazhang again.

Zhu Huazhang got up and said: "That's the case, our family got the exact news, in this order for Yan Sui, some of the embroidery needs to use the 'Wang family knitting needle', but this Wang family knitting needle is the original creation of Wang Sanniang, and the embroidery workshop where Wang Sanniang is located has been acquired by the Cheng family." ”

When the crowd heard this, they couldn't help but be in an uproar.

Someone was surprised: "Why is there a royal order for the royal family?" ”

Zhu Youning has heard of the Wang family's knitting needle, which is said to be an embroidery method created by the embroiderer named Wang Sanniang, which is known for its bright colors and complicated stitches.

Xu is people's aesthetics are different, Wang Sanniang proudly created her own knitting needle, she thinks it is very good, but the embroidery shown is not recognized by the public.

Zhu Youning once saw the finished product of the Wang family's knitting needle, the dazzling color and uneven embroidery, as well as the abstraction of the composition, which has a bit of the meaning of modern abstract painting, but it does not conform to the aesthetic mainstream of this era.

"Maybe it's the royal family, who has taken a fancy to this kind of stitching. But the Wang family only knows how to knit needles, and now that Wang Sanniang is a member of the Cheng family, where will she take over Yan Sui's business? When the time comes, if the person surnamed Yan can't hand over the order, it will be a big crime of deception, and maybe he will be beheaded directly! The fourth old man said excitedly.

When everyone heard this, they all followed a discussion.

Old lady Zhu coughed lightly when she saw the rise of what everyone said. Seeing that everyone was silent and surrendered their eyes to themselves, Old Lady Zhu said: "Actually, there is really a person in Fuyang who can knit needles in the Wang family." ”

"What?" The crowd was amazed.

Old lady Zhu said, "Second child, you tell everyone." ”

"Yes." Zhu Huazhang said, "This Wang Sanniang has a female apprentice, named Zhenniang, who turned out to be our Baihui Garment Workshop, but everyone also knows that Baihui Garment Workshop has been cashed out two years earlier because it is always at a loss, but now the big shopkeeper of Baihui Garment Workshop is still the original huge shopkeeper, and he is very familiar with our family." ”

Speaking of this, Zhu Huazhang said very seriously: "The huge shopkeeper came to tell me yesterday that the Cheng family came to a young lady a while ago, saying that she wanted to ask him for that Zhen Niang, and the huge shopkeeper did not respond immediately. ”

"So, we have someone in our hands who can knit needles from the Wang family?"

"Aren't we holding that kid's life in our hands?"

"The Cheng family is determined to kill him with all his might, if he wants to pass the test, he can only find a way to find a replacement, otherwise he can't pay the order, and he can only be sentenced to a big crime of bullying the king. If Yan Sui didn't know, it wouldn't matter, as long as he knew the news, he would definitely come to Zhenniang. ”

……

Old Lady Zhu listened to everyone's discussions, and said in a deep voice: "What do you think should be done with this matter?" ”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Old Lady Zhu continued: "Now, it's time for our family to stand in line. Either stand at Cheng's house, or stand at Yansui. The Cheng family and our family have a disagreement, because of the things they put on, and because of the roses. The eldest lady of the Cheng family should have a bad feeling towards our family, and I don't know how they will retaliate. Therefore, we may not be good in the team of the Cheng family. ”

"If it is the team standing in Yansui, it is obvious that it will completely offend the Cheng family, and the gains will outweigh the losses." The second old lady added.

Everyone whispered again.

Finally, Zhu Huazhang stood up and said: "Dad, we can tell Yan Sui about the existence of Zhen Niang, and take the opportunity to knock him hard, but even if it is a knock, that bit of silver is nothing to us, and it is difficult to say whether Yan Sui will retaliate against us after he recovers."

"So I think we should send Zhen Niang directly to the Cheng family. In this way, the surname Yan will only be guilty of defrauding the king. When the time comes, he will be dead, and he will not have the strength to take revenge on our family, and we can at least not offend the Cheng family. ”

Zhu Huazhang's words have been praised by those present.

Old Lady Zhu also nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. Yan Gongzi's means, he should not be unheard of Zhen Niang's affairs, he will definitely come to Fuyang, we actually have the opportunity to make a lot of money on him, and at the same time give Zhen Niang to the Cheng family. ”

Zhu Youning couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard this.

The most poisonous and damaging is Mrs. Zhu.

This is planning to turn Yan Sui upside down and make him a lot of money, but he still won't give it to anyone! They made up their minds that Yan Sui would definitely die, so they were unscrupulous.

But this group of people is too short-sighted!

If she chooses this matter, she will give Zhenniang directly to Yan Sui. Yan Sui is so young, he has such a skill, at first glance, it is not a thing in the pool, when he is in trouble, he will be grateful, maybe he will pull an ally, even if he is not an ally, he will not make an enemy. Anyway, the Cheng family has already married Liangzi, so it is possible to exchange for a powerful ally at the cost of a small embroidery girl, which is the most cost-effective result.

But the Zhu family's eyes were only on money.

Zhu Youning pursed her lips, she was not qualified to speak on this occasion, so she had to keep silent.

Seeing that the matter was almost discussed, Old Lady Zhu ordered to wait for Yan Sui to come and act according to the plan, and then said, "There is one more thing today." He turned back to Zhu Youning and said, "Nine girls, come here." ”

When Zhu Youning heard this, he obediently approached.

Old lady Zhu said: "I plan to arrange for nine girls to enter the family to study and cultivate good students, what do you think?" ”