Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 529 Everyone performs their duties
Upon hearing Liu Zhi's words, Yang Xiaoshan quickly replied, "Madam said that you have had a long journey and need to rest for a few days after you arrive. We will take care of you here, so there is no need to rush."

“I’ve been resting ever since I got on the boat,” Liu Zhi said. “I don’t feel tired at all. Since I’m here to help, I should do whatever I can.”

Liu Zhi was unclear about the current situation, but he could understand anything related to contracts.

After saying that, Liu Zhi pulled one of his disciples over and said, "He's having a fit of boat sickness. Let him go and pay his respects to the lady of the house, and then he can rest for now."

The disciple wanted to speak, but Liu Zhi silenced him with a look: "You can tell Madam about our affairs in Daming Prefecture."

Liu Zhi said nothing more and followed the lawyer from the Dong family bookstore.

Chen Shangjun asked Yang Xiaoshan in a low voice, "If you need manpower, we'll go and make arrangements too."

Among the Yang family, Yang Minghui's wife, Chen Shangjun, was one of the first to follow Xie Da Niangzi. They were from a collateral branch of the family, and when the second branch was in charge of the household, they did odd jobs in the clan, no different from servants. When Xie Yuyan took charge of the family affairs, she and several of her sisters-in-law from the clan went to live with him first.

Xie Yuyan opened a water shop selling lotus root charcoal, and she and several of her sisters-in-law went to manage it. Apart from Mama Yu, Xie Yuyan trusted her the most. After Xie Yuyan came to Bianjing, she continued to manage the water shop's business and also helped with the household affairs and porcelain kiln, and her reputation in the clan grew higher and higher.

In the past, everyone only knew that she married into the Yang family and called her Madam Yang. Now that they know her name, they should call her Madam Chen.

Chen Shangjun came with these dozen or so women because she was worried that Madam Yang wouldn't have any trustworthy helpers in Bianjing. She didn't expect to get any response from Yang Xiaoshan. She said this to find out the current situation. Seeing Yang Xiaoshan hesitate, she knew that they must be useful.

However, she did not immediately catch up with Liu Zhi and the others. Instead, she selected a few people to go inside first to pay their respects to Xie Yuyan, as they were to follow the instructions of the eldest daughter-in-law.

Chen Shangjun entered the courtyard and happened to run into Sun Changchun leading his security team out.

After meeting, the two groups nodded to each other.

Sun Changchun always repays kindness. Since he was saved by Madam Xie and was eating her food, he naturally had to do some work. Knowing that there were many people and eyes at the South City Wharf, he always led people to patrol and guard the area.

When Chen Shangjun saw these people, he sensed they were extraordinary, possessing a ruthless air. The eldest daughter-in-law instructed Tang Xing to return to Daming Prefecture to reorganize the caravan. Tang Xing selected many men for training, and while those men looked somewhat imposing, they paled in comparison to these newcomers.

Well, one is a real tiger, and the other is a paper tiger.

Thinking of this, Chen Shangjun's gaze changed. The fact that Madam was able to gather these people around her meant that she must have gone through something extremely dangerous before.

Some things are interconnected.

In Daming Prefecture, in order to find someone who went from street to street selling hot water, the eldest daughter-in-law specially set a low price of one copper coin for two buckets, but on the condition that they come to collect water every day.

The rules you set will attract the kind of people you attract.

Having not seen Madam for a long time, if you want to know what she has been up to, just look at how many people are around her, and you can guess a thing or two.

Mother Yu led Chen Shangjun into the main room.

Chen Shangjun entered first and bowed to Xie Yuyan. Upon seeing the lady, many thoughts vanished from Chen Shangjun's mind, and he rediscovered the sense of security he felt when he was with the lady in Daming Prefecture.

"Long time no see," Xie Yuyan said with a smile. "How is everything at home?"

“Good,” Chen Shangjun said. “We’ve added five more water shops, and our clay stoves are selling well too. We originally thought that we would make fewer clay stoves as the weather gets warmer, but these days, more and more merchants are ordering clay stoves. It must be because our clay stoves have a good reputation and the word is spreading further and further.”

Xie Yuyan nodded. The clay stove could not only be used for heating, but also for cooking and heating water. Now that Bianjing had started using coal, people were no longer afraid that coal was "poisonous". In addition, she had joined forces with merchants who owned coal mines to produce Buddhist charcoal in advance, so when the people wanted to buy it, they would have the goods on hand. So everything would fall into place naturally.

That's why she shared the recipe for making Buddhist charcoal. How much Buddhist charcoal could she sell by herself? To truly promote the use of charcoal, more people need to engage in this business and make a living from it.

“Our clan is doing well,” Chen Shangjun said, “Yong’an Ward is peaceful.”

After saying this, Chen Shangjun mentioned the porcelain shop: "When I came in, I saw a lot of people following the lawyer to the porcelain shop. If they are short of manpower, I will take some people over to help out."

The women she selected from the Yang clan were all capable of managing affairs; they could not only help with miscellaneous tasks but also deliver messages back and forth.

Xie Yuyan nodded: "Let's send a few people over. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask Yang Hong."

Chen Shangjun responded and quickly walked out.

Seeing this, Xie Yuyan smiled. When you come to an unfamiliar place, everyone adapts in a different way. Some people need to rest, while others feel more at ease when they are assigned tasks early.

As for the remaining women, Feng Qiaoniang would make arrangements for them. In the future, these women would all be going to the dyeing workshop with Feng Qiaoniang, so that they could get to know each other early on and work together better later.

There were quite a few people from Daming Prefecture, so everyone had a place to go.

……

Xie Chengxin and the Prince of Huai stood in the crowd and saw all of this.

The Prince of Huai said in a low voice, "The people of Daming Prefecture have great faith in Madam Xie. They came all the way from so far away and immediately took on their duties. This alone shows Madam Xie's status in their hearts."

Being willing and being driven are different.

The Prince of Huai paused here, then said, "For a woman to achieve this in just a few months is truly remarkable. What do you think, Eldest Brother? What do you think of Lady Xie?"

Xie Chengxin wanted to say something, his mouth moved but he didn't make a sound. Just as he was about to say something casually to brush it off, he heard the Prince of Huai mutter to himself.

"For some reason, I feel that Madam Xie looks familiar, as if I have seen her somewhere before, but I can't remember where."

Xie Chengxin's breath hitched, and he froze on the spot, his heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of his chest, fearing that the Prince of Huai would say next: "I remember now, she is the Xie Erniang I have met before."

If the Prince of Huai discovers the truth, their family will be in deep trouble.

Fortunately, the Prince of Huai did not continue speaking.

"Young Master," Prince Huai looked at Xie Chengxin strangely, "what's wrong with you? Why do you look so pale?"

"No, no," Xie Chengxin said, his voice trembling slightly. "It's probably because there are too many people, and it's too crowded to breathe. Let's... leave now!"

He feared that if Prince Huai saw Lady Xie again... every extra glance would bring more danger. Perhaps because he seemed too eager, Xie Chengxin noticed a hint of suspicion flash across Prince Huai's face.

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