She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

Kezhou has had a good harvest in the trade in recent years, barely able to maintain the tax revenue and the operation of the three regions. Merchants gradually gained some status in Kezhou.

However, Hengqi died too suddenly, and some wealthy merchants only recognized Hengqi and no one else. After the death of the old Marquis of Zhao, several big heads of the family were ready to make a move, and it seemed that they were not willing to easily submit to the prince's control.

To put it bluntly, they don't want to pay. They also want to monopolize their respective industries in the local area, and then form a chamber of commerce, which will only communicate between a few big shopkeepers and completely hollow out the finances of Kezhou.

By then, no matter whether the prince succeeds to the throne smoothly and he has the final say, or the court sends a new supervisor, he will have to beg from them if he has no money.

If you discuss some conditions at this time, and threaten to recommend your son or son-in-law to add some people to the provincial government, you will become rich and powerful in no time, and the insurmountable threshold between officials and businessmen may also be broken.

However, if you find a weak target, this method might work. Ah-yi thought of the day when they first met and how they killed everyone in the forest without any reason, and could only say that Heng-chi was a stone in the toilet, and this simple trick would definitely not be able to defeat him.

If you ask around in the city now, it’s only been a few days, who still remembers who General Zhao is?
Today, Hengzhi invited several big managers to a banquet, saying that they were going to have fun, but in fact, they probably wanted to renegotiate the previous taxes.

If the big merchants can pay taxes honestly, the small merchants below can follow suit. After checking the accounts for a few days, it seems that he is really short of money, otherwise why would he, with his status, condescend to treat merchants to a meal.

Da Chong has never believed that merchants and noble families should be on an equal footing.

When Ah'ao thought about it, she felt that her submission for five taels of silver was nothing.

As for money, if you lose it, you can't live. Those who are strong enough to stand up again have reincarnated and made a comeback, but Ah'an cherishes her life and doesn't have such a noble character.

Obviously Hengzhi didn't have it either.

Just thinking of Hengzhi's expression at that time, A'ao couldn't help but squint her eyes again.

"I was planning to ask Yunli to go, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

These words sounded noble and upright, but they made me feel uncomfortable. Could he really do that to me? Ah'ao sneered. She kept calling me "Princess" but she didn't know how to behave.

But this cover-up was ultimately not completed.

The most prosperous street in Kezhou City is East Street. Flower restaurants, theaters, and where traveling merchants stay are all on East Street.

The shops here have nice facades, are of appropriate size and neatly laid out, and even the structures of the buildings have been specially reinforced and repaired, making them very sturdy.

It’s not like the old Marquis Zhao had never done anything good.

A sudden quarrel broke out ahead and stopped the carriage.

Hengzhi sat steadily in the carriage while the driver outside opened the door and reported the situation.

To be on the safe side today, Yun Cheng and his men waited beside the designated restaurant and did not follow.

"My Lord, there is a shopkeeper in front with several servants, pushing a woman."

As they were talking, the crying voice outside reached their ears, "Everyone, please do something! I'm just a widow and I just wanted to do some decent business but they pushed me to the ground! It's unfair! They bully me because I don't have a man in my family! Ah, wuwuwuwuwu..."

Ah'ao suddenly pushed open the window next to her.

"What's going on?" Hengzhi couldn't help but ask as the two men sat on either side of the carriage.

The person sitting in the middle of the road, pounding the ground and crying loudly was actually Mrs. Zhou, whom I hadn’t seen for just a few days!

"Don't come out." Ah'ao warned Hengqi, who had not yet figured out the situation, and quickly got off the carriage.

Seeing that the princess was blocking him with great dignity, Hengzhi stayed in the car and did not get out. In this area, she would never suffer any loss.

Mrs. Zhou had cried at several funerals before, and her voice was very high-pitched. I slapped her several times but she ignored me.

It was not until Ah'ao said, "Mrs. Zhou! It's me!" that she stopped talking.

"A'er?" After looking her up and down, Mrs. Zhou couldn't believe her eyes.

Standing behind him was A'an, who had taken off her mourning clothes and was wearing a dress made of soft fabric, with her black hair tied up high. She looked as bright and beautiful as a new willow in early spring.

She even thought that the day A'an was taken away by Prince Zhaohou was the last time they would see each other in this life.

"Get up first." Ah'ao quickly helped Mrs. Zhou up and patted the dirt off her clothes.

It really attracts people's attention on the street.

After inquiring about the whole story, I found out why Mrs. Zhou was pushed.

Zhou's wife had listened to her and wanted to open a shop in the city to do business, so she negotiated with the shopkeeper Yang and paid a deposit. But when Yang found out that she wanted to open a paper-making shop, he became furious and said it was bad luck.

Not only did she not want to rent it, but she was also asked to pay ten taels of silver as so-called exorcism money.

This was all Mrs. Zhou's savings, so she was reluctant to pay it all to the unreasonable shopkeeper, and the two started arguing.

When Manager Yang saw that Mrs. Zhou was a single woman, he ordered a few servants to come together, with a bit of bullying intent.

"Our East Street is a bright and open place. Who would dare to come here with those paper figures and horses? If you want to make money from the underworld, you have to go to a remote place outside the city where there are no people! This shrew's noise scared away many of my customers. If she doesn't compensate me today, we'll go to see Manager Liu!"

He wanted to move closer and push them, but the driver behind him, probably receiving instructions from Hengqi, quickly whipped his horse whip to block Ah-yi and the other two. The driver was tall and strong, and the several skinny servants combined were no match for him.

There were a lot of people gathered around, and they were talking a lot at the moment.

There are roughly two opinions. One is that the paper-making shop is indeed unlucky, and the other is that Shopkeeper Yang really deserves a beating.

Hengzhi fiddled with the tassels hanging from the curtain and listened quietly in the car.

The voice was neither hurried nor slow, with a slightly raised pitch, and soon it reached my ears.

"I've never seen a family that never holds a funeral, nor have I seen a family that never buys paper flowers for a funeral." Ah'an leaned in front of Mrs. Zhou and straightened her back. "Of course the shopkeeper's family is doing business like a god, and they have the blessing of becoming a god. There are not many people in the family, so naturally there are not many ghosts. How can they visit graves during the Qingming Festival and the Zhongyuan Festival like we do?"

The prince in the car curled his lips.

A'ao dared to confront the emperor and even quarrel in the street. Her demeanor was truly that of a princess of the late emperor.

Xue Ping really doesn't know anything.

"You can choose not to rent, but what's the logic of extorting money from people? You can't take money with you when you die. Why don't you leave some money for running errands and go to the city to make a coffin so that you can run faster? I wonder how much discount the Taoist priest that the shopkeeper invited today to exorcise evil spirits can give you?"

There was even a smile on her face, but it was hard to tell how sincere it was. Perhaps because they had never seen a girl so bold and so harsh, everyone sitting in the restaurant and inn tilted their heads to join in the fun.

To be honest, if she hadn't been really angry, and thought about the fact that she had Hengzhi as her backer, she would have dragged Mrs. Zhou away while there were so many people around.

As for taking advantage of one's power to bully others, she deserves the word today.

Money is important, but not as important as life. This truth is engraved in Ah'an's bones.

"Where did you come from, you shrew? You were born without a father and raised by your mother! How dare you speak like that in the street!"

Unexpectedly, the one who couldn't stand it anymore turned out to be Mrs. Zhou.

When the shopkeeper criticized Ah'an, she rolled up her sleeves and pointed at his forehead, "How dare you talk to my sister like that! It's not shameful for me to make money by making paper figures. If you think you are right, let's go to the provincial court today and see what you have done! Look at yourself. A bronze mirror is not more expensive than a coffin. Buy one and look at yourself!"

Obviously, what Mrs. Zhou said was more satisfying, and some people even applauded.

As soon as the words of going to court were mentioned, many people began to agree.

"Yes, if it doesn't work, then we can go to court and seek justice. How can you bully a widow?"

Shopkeeper Yang's heart began to beat fast.

Not to mention that he didn't do things in a decent way, the manager Liu he mentioned was taken care of by Yin Shi, and he had been instructed to take care of all matters that would not be brought to court, otherwise he would have to wish him good luck.

Most people would just give the money after being threatened or intimidated.

I thought that this was a single widow with a friendly face, so it would be easier to make money from her, but I didn't expect that a helper would appear halfway.

He took a careful look at the carriage. Even though it was low-key and without any decorations, it was indeed affordable for a wealthy family.

If you are really sued in court, you will have to hire a lawyer to write a lawsuit, which will cost money.

After weighing these two factors, I felt it was not worth it.

Seeing that he was not in the right, Manager Yang's beard was twisted with anger. He snorted and locked the door with his servants and ran away without even saying a harsh word.

"Are you running away now?" Ah'ao and Mrs. Zhou looked at each other, feeling awkward and stopped.

Unlike the other districts, East Street was mostly populated by pedestrians, who simply watched the excitement. But when people left, the excitement faded, and soon the street returned to normal.

A'ao turned her head to look at the carriage, her hands unconsciously twisting the ribbon on her skirt.

What a coincidence that I have met Mrs. Zhou, so I might as well discuss opening a shop with her.

This is important.

I thought about it and decided to find an excuse to cancel the banquet in Hengzhi.

Ever since he heard someone bring up "Manager Liu", Hengzhi has been calculating in his mind.

I also heard Jiufu Siyin mention it twice when checking the accounts.

A few years ago, merchants wrote to the emperor and proposed self-management to reduce the pressure on the state government's patrol. This seemingly absurd proposal was agreed by the old Zhaohou. It has been implemented until now, and it is difficult to make any changes.

Hengzhi was young at that time and did not care about the political affairs of Kezhou, but he knew something about this matter.

The incident Si Yin described happened in the fifth year of the previous emperor's reign, when he was still in school. When he returned to the mansion during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he discovered that there was a strange woman in the backyard and an exquisite stone ornament at the entrance of the main hall.

Less than a year later, my mother passed away.

But now he is in charge of Kezhou, so those who lived well in the past can no longer expect to live well now.

Seeing that Ah'ao didn't come up for a long time, Hengzhi knocked on the wall of the car twice with his fingers.

The figure quickly came closer, and Hengqi said to her through the door, "Take your sister-in-law Zhou back and find a place to live. Can you find the way?"

What she said was a little beyond A'ao's expectations. Is he so considerate?
"Can you go by yourself?"

The voice came out unclearly, nonchalantly, "It's just drinking, what's the big deal?"

Isn't this a bit of bragging? If it's not a difficult task, then what did you mean by calling me in the first place?
"But." Seeing that the words were not finished, Ah-yi leaned over again. Heng-qi looked at the shadow behind the translucent silk cotton paper, which was approaching and then far away, and felt a little better. "You must not run away. I have already invited the person who wrote the storybook."

Almost immediately, A'ao remembered the threats Hengqi had made to her on the path beside the farmland that day.

This person is so childish.

"Please go away."

I don’t know if she heard Hengzhi’s mocking voice, but A’ao watched the carriage leave.

Mrs. Zhou watched from the side for a long time before finally getting the chance.

She walked over quickly and took Ah's arm, looking at him ambiguously, "Who is that person in the carriage?"

From what Hengzhi said just now, he wanted her to take Mrs. Zhou to her private residence.

However, Cui Yi was not such a tactless person. Even if they had a makeshift marriage, they were not close friends.

It would be better to book a good room for Mrs. Zhou at the inn so that she can live comfortably.

"Say something!" Mrs. Zhou was anxious.

The sun was about to set, and today was a good day. The rays of light fell on Ah-yi's face, and she couldn't help but sigh. "This is a long story."

"Keep your story short!"

Ah-yi: “…”

Do you dare to listen to me, my dear sister?　
(End of this chapter)