The Imperial Decree Arrives

Fourth Concubine didn't come to see Gu Wanning, but Second Concubine came first.

"Do you want to go home again?" Gu Wanning tossed the remaining radishes to Little Flower and asked in a low voice.

The Second Concubine nodded repeatedly.

"Not this time." Gu Wanning towards the house with her chin. "I'm afraid the Marquis will go too."

"What is he going to do?" The Second Concubine blurted out, then quickly covered her mouth.

Wasn't her tone of disdain a bit too undisguised?

This is not good, not good.

"I said maybe... but be careful anyway. If the Marquis doesn't go, I'll let you leave early and come back late. Just say I sent you to buy something, but you have to go to the temple with me."

Xu Weibei is easy to talk to, but you can't always push your luck.

Gu Wanning's current principle is to coexist peacefully and wait it out, mind her own business and not cover for others.

"Alright, alright," the Second Concubine quickly replied, "I'll do whatever you say, Madam. Actually, it's not that I absolutely have to go back, it's just that there's a big business deal coming up recently, and I'm afraid my brother can't handle it on his own."

"You can't keep clinging to him forever; he has to learn to grow on his own."

"Hmm, he's not bad," the Second Concubine said. "It's just that this time, that general store you always go to is looking for a partner. My family's business isn't that big, but I'd like to give it a try. If we can get on their good side, we can make a fortune..."

"Looking for someone to collaborate with? Collaborate on what?" Gu Wanning asked curiously.

"Horse trading."

"Hmm? Does the imperial court allow this?"

"The imperial court did not prohibit this, probably because there was a shortage of horses in the Central Plains, and they hoped that everyone would use their own resources to import horses from the Western Regions. However, all horses had to be reported to the imperial court."

To prevent anyone from amassing troops and raising horses with ill intentions.

"Baoji, they really can eat anything!" Gu Wanning said enviously and jealously. "Do you know what their background is?"

"This servant doesn't know, it's very mysterious, and no one dares to mess with it. Some even guess," the Second Concubine pointed her finger towards the sky, "That it belongs to someone else."

"No way..."

"Nothing is impossible. Who would complain about having too much money? That person is no exception."

"If that's the case, then the Marquis's Fifty Thousand Taels of silver was a roundabout way of giving that person a gift."

"Maybe it really is true. Otherwise, why would it cause such a big fuss, only to end up with nothing happening? But these are just rumors; let's not speculate on what actually happened."

"Hmm. But I don't understand, since Baoji's business is so big, why do they need to find partners? Can't they handle this business themselves?"

"I can't eat," said the Second Concubine. "Madam, horses are very expensive, and this time, Baoji wants to buy tens of thousands. Think about it, even if they aren't the best horses, they'll still cost three or four hundred taels of silver each, which is three or four million taels of silver..."

"Why do I feel like Baoji could actually produce it?"

"Take it out, and then how will we do business?" the Second Concubine laughed. "Besides, what I said was quite conservative; it might require even more money."

The entire national treasury's annual revenue was only 60 million taels of silver.

Gu Wanning: 1,200 alpacas... that's not enough. If everyone in the world only gets one hair, that's not enough.

The owner behind this general store has quite the appetite.

It's one thing to do business in the Central Plains, but to dare to travel to the complex Northwest region and do business there, aren't they afraid of losing everything?

The Second Concubine said that her family wasn't wealthy and might not have the opportunity, but the point was to get involved.

Gu Wanning agreed to her request.

The next morning, no sooner had Xu Weibei Fourth Concubine came and pulled back Gu Wanning's covers. "Madam, get up! Get up quickly!"

Gu Wanning, who was grumpy when she woke up, grabbed a pillow and threw it at her, yelling, "Get out!"

"Hehe, hurry up, it's not easy to get a day off, this time is so precious." She came over to help Gu Wanning get dressed.

Gu Wanning: "No, no, no, I can do it myself. I can't take your strong hands!"

She looked down and saw that her wrist was indeed a little red from where he had gripped it.

The Fourth Concubine then went to the other concubines' homes, knocking on each of their doors and harassing them.

So before dawn, the Marquis's Residence's carriage had already set off.

Gu Wanning rode in the first carriage with her First Concubine and Fourth Concubine, while her Second Concubine and Third Concubine rode in the second carriage.

Gu Wanning lifted the curtain and looked at the few pedestrians outside, unable to help but glare at her Fourth Concubine.

Fourth Concubine ignored her, pretending not to see her, and stuck her head out to look around, asking, "Whose house is this?"

She heard the sound of horses' hooves and saw a woman riding a horse, with several maids also on horseback. She clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Sister, you are so dashing!"

Gu Wanning looked out as well, and was surprised to find that it was someone she knew!

It turned out to be Lü Fuyi, whom I had bumped into last time.

Lü Fuyi also saw her, nodded slightly to her, and then quickly rode past her, his hooves kicking up clouds of dust.

Gu Wanning lowered the curtain and said to her First Concubine, "It's Miss Lü, whom we met last time."

The First Concubine nodded without saying a word.

The group soon arrived at Yuhong Temple.

Welcome, Madam.

As soon as Gu Wanning got out of the car, she saw a large monk leading several people to greet her, which surprised her.

She didn't have anyone greet her.

Did the Marquis's Residence even notify them of her arrival beforehand?

Being the steward of Marquis's Residence isn't easy.

"Madam, please follow this humble monk inside."

Gu Wanning looked at the other people queuing up to open the mountain gate and felt their gazes, which made her feel a little shy.

Ugh, it looks like I've already paid for this. Sorry about that.

(Xu Weibei: Didi, card swiped)

Chapter 91 Imperial Edict Arrives

Gu Wanning and her group entered ahead of time, surrounded by onlookers.

"Is this alright?" Gu Wanning secretly asked her Third Concubine, who was the only one who, relatively speaking, understood all the rules and regulations.

Third Concubine smiled and said, "Madam, please rest assured. Whenever the Grand Princess comes, the Marquis always sends someone to inform her in advance."