Wanjin Lady

Chapter 164 Contract

Yuan Yidao caught a glimpse of the similarities between Yuan Qi and his first wife, and a wave of disgust welled up in his heart. "You two, mother and son, are truly alike! Each one as vicious as the other! Don't think I don't know. Now that Liu Lang is dead, the happiest ones are you and your son!"

Yuan Yidao dislikes Madam Jia.

Firstly, Madam Jia's family was powerful, having mediated several times when the winery's business was in crisis. Yuan Yidao was already unhappy that a man of honor had to rely on his wife's family for support. Furthermore, he was often told by his eldest sister to respect the Jia family, which only made Yuan Yidao rebellious and made him dislike the Jia family even more.

Secondly, Jia's appearance was not very good, and her temperament was dull, especially in bed. She was even more unromantic than the enlightenment books he had read! She was far less capable than the delicate Concubine Chun in being submissive and accommodating to his favor.

Seeing her son being scolded, Jia immediately stood behind Yuan Qi like a hen protecting her chicks, "Master, you are truly heartless for saying this! You may mistreat me on a daily basis, but this son is your own! As a father, you are heartbroken that Liu Lang is dead, but as a brother, is Yuan Qi as heartless as a plant? If others hear you say such things, how will Wu Lang live his life in the future?"

Second Auntie quickly came to break up the fight, "Sixth Brother is dead, we are all heartbroken, Third Brother...don't say anything angry that will hurt Fifth Brother's heart."

After all, it was a charity cemetery, and there were people from the county government outside, so the people from the third house did not quarrel in the end.

Cheng Yunzhang bowed, "We, the closest relatives, are the ones who are most hurt by what happened to our sixth cousin. But no matter how sad we are, we still have to do what needs to be done. Fifth brother's reminder is not without reason. In this weather... the body will rot quickly. Dealing with it sooner... will also save our sixth cousin's body from suffering."

Cheng Yunzhang's words carried weight, and Yuan Yidao calmed down considerably, though tears streamed down his face as he spoke. However, he had never been a decisive person, and he tentatively looked at Cheng Yunzhang, "How about... we take him back to the ancestral home to hold the funeral?"

Logically speaking, this is the Yuan family's business.

Although the two families are inseparable, Cheng Yunzhang's surname is "Cheng" after all.

Furthermore, he knew that his Third Uncle was... quite confused. If he took the lead now and did anything that didn't meet his Third Uncle's liking, he would inevitably be blamed later.

It was the second aunt who made the quick decision, "If we take it back, it'll just be a pile of rotting flesh! We can't let Liu Lang suffer! We might as well burn it right here, bring the ashes back, and then hold a grand funeral."

Now that things have come to this, there is no other way.

Although it is autumn now, it will take at least half a month to drag the corpse back to Bozhou. I am afraid that it will turn into a pool of corpse water and maggots by the time we pull it back!

Yuan Yidao and Concubine Chun hugged each other and cried heart-wrenchingly. Jia, who was standing beside them, cried for a while but couldn't squeeze out any tears. Then she thought that Yuan Liulang was dead and Concubine Chun had no hope for the rest of her life and could only let her be controlled by her. When her mood improved... she couldn't cry anymore and simply walked out.

It was not convenient to keep the body in the charity cemetery. Yuan Yidao was too sad to handle the funeral, so Yuan Qi arranged for people to carry the coffin.

Finding a quiet moment, Jia grabbed her son's hand and asked anxiously, lowering her voice, "This matter... is yours..."

No wonder Jia was suspicious.

It’s really... the timing of Yuan Jing’s death is too clever.

It happened that she wrote a letter to Yuan Qi about Concubine Chun's promotion to the position of legitimate wife, and Yuan Jing was brutally murdered.

"It wasn't me." As if guessing his mother's thoughts, Yuan Qi denied it flatly, "But no matter who it was, he solved a disaster for us and is our benefactor."

"Amitabha." Jia bowed toward heaven with a pious expression. "Then we can only blame him for his bad luck. This sin cannot be attributed to my son."

Jia's eyes turned sinister, "From now on... I wonder how that Concubine Chun can get away with it!"

Since the whole family was unable to take care of things, Yuan Qi was naturally too busy to get away. When Zhou the accountant came looking for him, the servants happened to be carrying Yuan Jing's coffin back.

Keeping his distance from the public, Accountant Zhou told Yuan Qi about Yuan Jing's fight with the Wen family and the contract they signed. Yuan Qi sneered, "I never thought this loser... actually managed to get his hands on the contract for the Wen family's winery."

In this way, wouldn't it be all good for him?

With the contract in hand, the acquisition of the Wen family's distillery is just around the corner. "Where's the contract?"

Accountant Zhou hesitated, "The contract was always with Yuan Liulang... Unexpectedly... he had an accident... Now no one knows where the contract is."

Yuan Qi looked surprised.

So after all this talk, you only know that the duck is cooked, but you don’t know that the duck is no longer on the chopping board?

Yuan Qi glanced around the courtyard and asked, "Have you searched the front and back of this house?"

"I sent someone to sweep the place early in the morning. I also sneaked in a few times at night and searched Liu Lang's room thoroughly, but I didn't find the contract." Accountant Zhou felt annoyed when he thought about it. "I guess... Liu Lang took the contract away."

But no one expected that Yuan Liulang would never return, and neither he nor the contract existed in the world.

How could they acquire the winery without the winery purchase and sale contract signed with Wen Wan?

Although three thousand five hundred taels of silver is a considerable expense, the winery is indeed worth the price. In the meantime, it helps Yuan Qi get rid of the troublesome Yuan Jing. This business is a good deal no matter how you look at it!

But I can’t find the contract…this is a mess!

"What about the Wen family? I heard their son-in-law died, and the family is in turmoil. Is there any way to fish in troubled waters and get the Wen family's contract out?"

Accountant Zhou looked embarrassed. "It's hard to say. From what I've observed, although Wen Wan is a woman, she's very capable. She previously defeated Liu Lang. I'm afraid she... won't make any mistakes and wait for us to exploit them."

"Let's try first. Isn't his family going to hold a funeral? Then send one or two smart people over to see if there's any chance."

Yuan Qi wasn't about to let his prize fly away. After a moment's thought, he said, "The Wen family's winery is in a prime location. We can start making wine right away after we take it over, without delaying the imperial tribute. It might even make our new Jinjiangchun wine taste even better. I'm determined to get it."

Accountant Zhou bowed repeatedly, "That's true. But now you have to go back to Bozhou to deal with Sixth Master's funeral... It will take at least a month to go back and forth, and I'm worried that something unexpected will happen to the Wen family again."

What Accountant Zhou said makes sense.

Yuan Jing died, and as the next head of the third branch, he had to step forward both publicly and privately.

Otherwise... you will be criticized for your whole life.

"Does the Wen family still owe Xinlong Bank one thousand taels of silver?"

Accountant Zhou's eyes lit up. "Including the principal and interest...it's at least 1,200 taels."

Yuan Qi's face was expressionless, "It's almost time to pay back the loan, right?"

"That's all it takes these few days!"

"The Wen family doesn't have much money in their account now?"

When it comes to the rival's account books, Zhou the accountant is very knowledgeable and has obviously studied them a lot.

"The bulk of the money was taken away by his accountant, Shi Jinquan. The last time we liquidated the warehouse, we only collected a few hundred taels. Add to that the expenses for buying grain... I'm afraid there's very little cash left on the books!"

(End of this chapter)