Too high to reach

Chapter 193 Hitchhiking
Hongyan got the medicine from the pharmacy and delivered it directly to Granny Zhao's house.

"The Empress said she hadn't seen you come over, so she had Hongyan deliver it; otherwise, it would have been past the New Year."

Granny Zhao took the large bag. "I've been packing things for Yongle these past few days. It's cold and harsh there, and it's almost the New Year, so it's hard to arrange for someone to go and pack first. Sigh, I've been so stressed and have so many things to do lately."

"Yes... these are all wrapped in oiled paper, just in case they get caught in snow or rain on the way. This is the prescription... these medicines were all obtained from the old doctor Your Highness consulted; they cover a variety of medicines," Hongyan explained.

Looking at the list, Granny Zhao sighed with emotion, "I did prepare some things too, Your Highness is so thoughtful..."

"Yes, he's always either working or thinking. He looks so tired at such a young age."

"With her like this, I can rest easy. You know, our family isn't as glamorous as it seems on the surface; there's so much to fight for and do. I'm not asking her to help the prince, but she needs to stand on her own two feet!"

"How is Consort Feng doing?" Zhao Mama hadn't gone to the Prince's residence to handle Mo Yi's affairs, because she wanted to observe Mo Yi's adaptation in a natural way.

Furthermore... in his interactions with Feng Liniang, he prematurely exposed potential problems...

"Consort Feng showed Her Majesty the rules of the household, and Her Majesty looked at them with some doubt. But she didn't say anything..."

"Actually, I was the one who proposed these rules," Zhao Mama smiled. "At that time, the Prince had just established his residence and wasn't engaged yet. The reason for setting these rules was to maintain control. Now that the Empress is gone, there will be no further support for the Prince besides the dowry he's left with."

Although the Zhao family can offer some assistance, as you know, supporting the Zhao family army in such a lavish manner requires spending money like water... Therefore, I worry that the future princess who marries into the family won't be able to manage such a household. Sure enough, Princess Zhou..." Granny Zhao smiled bitterly.

"She has absolutely no concept of spending money. These rules really do constrain her. This is also one of the ways Consort Feng suppresses her..."

"The prince has subsidized her, and she has also touched her own dowry. Alas! Now it seems... about Mo Yi..." Granny Zhao thought for a while: "Let's see how she wants to resolve this matter, and how Feng Liniang will respond."

"Granny, why don't you tell the Prince to let the Princess manage the household?" Hongyan asked.

Granny Zhao shook her head. "Feng Liniang has managed the household for many years without any major mistakes, and she's even given birth to a son. The Prince treats her with respect. This is the Prince's family matter, and unless it affects important matters, I shouldn't interfere too much. Besides, even if it were handed over to the Princess now, she might not be able to handle it. Moreover, she has big business to do outside!"

The two of them laughed...

……

Aunt Yun is capable and hardworking. She only ate a simple meal at noon and then kept working.

Looking at the progress, Mo Yi was certain that the project would be completed today, so she simply sent someone to the Ji family to fetch people.

It's all done in one day, saving me the trouble of running around again.

Thinking that he hadn't seen Mo Yuan for a while, he went downstairs to look for her.

But then they discovered that Zhang Debao was also there...

Why is he here? !
Upon asking, it turned out to be quite a coincidence. Zhang Debao had been passing by and recognized the carriage parked in front of Qizhenlou. He craned his neck to look inside and saw Mo Yuan sitting there, with a shop assistant introducing the merchandise to her.

So he hurriedly ran in.

Only then did he realize that the building belonged to the Princess Consort.

Now that he knew, how could he remain indifferent? So, under the pretext of wanting to give gifts to his parents for the New Year, he asked Mo Yuan to help him choose two jade items. Then, under the guise of thanking Mo Yuan for her help, he chose a jade bracelet as a gift for her…

He signed the bill in large sums and then asked the shop assistant to go to his house to settle the account.

Mo Yuan, beaming with delight, admiring herself while wearing the bracelet, then turned to whisper in Mo Yi's ear, who was frowning, "The clients I brought in spent so much money, shouldn't you give me a cut?"

As they were chatting, the eldest sister and the youngest brother of the Ji family arrived... Both of them were dressed neatly, their expressions filled with trepidation and anticipation.

"Come upstairs!"

Yunniang is finished.

Everyone took their ledgers and began settling their accounts.

Ji Dahua and her sisters had been working for so long, and she was already feeling very anxious. With the New Year approaching, she was just hoping nothing would go wrong when it came time to settle the accounts.

The youngest member of the Ji family had learned this process before, so he sat quietly and checked the documents.

Finally, Mo Yi pointed to the few that had been picked out as faulty, "According to our agreement, those who did these things wrong will have their pay docked."

Not only did they lose money on labor, but they also had to deduct material costs.

The eldest sister of the Ji family was both distressed and anxious, and stammered, "Master, this is just a minor ailment, it's nothing serious, right..." Mo Yi asked the youngest brother of the Ji family, "Do you think so too?"

Seeing his older sister's expression, Ji Xiaodi felt a pang of sympathy, but he shook his head. "These few really didn't do well, we accept it!"

“Little brother…” Ji Dahua was anxious and helpless.

“The purpose of deducting money is not to teach you that you must do your work with care. If you don’t do it well, you will not only not earn money, but you will also lose money.” Mo Yi turned to Aunt Yun and instructed, “Cut these few in front of them.”

This pained Ji Dahua greatly… “Oh, don’t cut it! It won’t affect its use! Back in my hometown, even the things rich people use aren’t as good as this! They could sell for a lot…”

“I’m not making that money.” Mo Yi’s face turned cold. “Besides, this time, my shop hasn’t opened yet, so the impact isn’t too great. If it opens, the shop and the employees are counting on this batch of work… If it’s done badly, it will directly affect the business, and that won’t just be a matter of losing money on materials. It’s very possible that all your work will be for nothing, or even that you’ll lose your entire savings and face lawsuits! All of this is stipulated in our contract…”

"Huh?" Ji Dahua then remembered that her younger brother had mentioned it... but she had forgotten.

"Big sister... now you've got it, right? You'd better do it right from now on!"

Mo Yi felt that the youngest brother of the Ji family was of good character. At such a young age, he was much better than Mo Bao, who only knew how to study and eat. "Ji Da Hua, if you can remember who did these things, you can pin the blame on that person when you go home and settle accounts."

"We do know who did it. Let's discuss it when we get back..."

Mo Yi thought for a moment, "Here, you have to consider the situation. If the work wasn't done well, you have to see if it was due to carelessness and wishful thinking, or if the skill was simply lacking. Could it be cheating, or even dishonest intent? It's not obvious now, but as time goes on and the money accumulates, there will definitely be those who want to take advantage of everyone and get paid without contributing anything."
Therefore, different measures should be taken depending on the specific circumstances.

"It's truly beyond saving. Even if they're sisters, we can't use them anymore. Ji Dahua, the Ji family's good days are just around the corner, and yet one or two people have ruined them." Mo Yi thought to herself, "I really hadn't thought of this kind of precaution before. I need to add it..."

Ji Dahua and her younger brother exchanged a glance.

"Here's some silver for you, count it."

The sight of gleaming silver coins dazzled Ji Dahua. Before, they only worked a day and received a pitifully small number of copper coins. This time, however, they were paid according to the amount of work done!

This was the most silver coins Ji Dahua had ever seen in her entire life. "Thank you, Miss Master..." Tears welled up in her eyes.

The youngest member of the Ji family carefully counted, checked, and put away the items. He then bowed deeply to Mo Yi and everyone present to express his gratitude.

"And here are ten taels of silver... these are New Year's money for you all, one tael for each of the eight sisters, and two taels for little brother Ji."

Ji Yunqiu's face was flushed, and she bowed to Mo Yi again.

Shopkeeper Zhao also liked this clean-cut and mature-looking young man quite a bit, and gave him a set of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Mo Yi also had someone buy several packets of peanuts, melon seeds, and rock sugar for them to take back with them.

Song Jiafu joked from the side, "Only two people came? It's already dark. With so much silver and stuff, you'd better be careful on the road."

"My sister and brother-in-law are still outside..." Ji Xiaodi said shyly, and the two of them thanked him profusely before leaving with bags and packages.

As soon as they stepped outside, several people surrounded them, their heads huddled together, and then gasps of surprise rang out.

You take one bag, I take one bag, and the whole family happily goes home.

……

The shop assistant from Qizhenlou Restaurant arrived at the Zhang family's residence, the residence of the Marquis of Zhongyong.

Two jade carvings, a bill...

Uncle Zhongyong laughed, "My son has finally grown up and become sensible. Not only does he know how to make a living, but he also knows how to be filial to us!" He pretended not to see the bill...

Mrs. Zhang was quite pleased. She opened the package, held the items in her hands, and looked at them with great satisfaction. "The things from Qizhenlou are very good. These two pieces are also well chosen. Hey, have you noticed? My son has excellent taste." Little did she know how much she would regret saying those words in the future.

How could it not be good? Mo Yuan helped her choose it...

Then, when it came time to pay, Mrs. Zhang took a look at the bill and exclaimed, "Aren't there three items? There's also... a bracelet..."

The shop assistant grinned sheepishly, "Replying to Madam, Young Master Zhang has kept that bracelet..."

The couple looked at each other, their faces filled with surprise and delight...

I have some family matters to attend to, so only one chapter today. Sorry.

(End of this chapter)