Shuse Jinjia

Back in the courtyard where Aunt Shen lived, Zhu Feng returned. Xie Zhaotang stared at his retreating figure for a while before turning and entering the courtyard.

"Thump..."

A small pebble landed at her feet. She looked up and saw a person standing in the woods opposite.

"Has the pharmaceutical company's articles of association been finalized?" Huo Beiyu asked, afraid of startling her.

"Young Master? Please wait a moment, I'll go get it for you!"

It was completely dark, and Xie Zhaotang could only see his silhouette, not his face.

But she was already familiar with the voice, so she answered and went inside to get what she had written.

She only took the first few pages and then left.

Huo Beiyu had already reached the door, took the paper, and said, "I'll take it back and look at it. Wait for me in the woods at this time tomorrow, and we'll discuss it again."

He turned and left after saying that.

Xie Zhaotang hesitated, knowing that Madam Xu was the mastermind behind the dog-releasing incident, and that she no longer wanted to cooperate with Duan Chengyu in opening the pharmaceutical factory.

But this business has a bright future. Their combination is already a powerful alliance, and no other partner could possibly achieve better results.

Forget it, I'll talk to Huo Beiyu about it tomorrow. I hope Duan Chengyu can keep public and private matters separate and not bring personal grudges into it, otherwise she'll have to stop providing the prescriptions later.

……

Yiweixuan.

When Duan Chengyu arrived after receiving Huo Beiyu's notification, Huo Beiyu had already ordered a pot of tea and was drinking it by himself.

As soon as Duan Chengyu entered, he smiled and said, "Little girl, you've already compiled the pharmaceutical factory's articles of association? So fast! Let me see them. If they're good, I'll send the manager to prepare them today."

There was something written by Xie Zhaotang on the table.

Duan Chengyu reached out to take it without ceremony, but Huo Beiyu stopped him.

"Wait a minute, I have something to tell you. You need to express your opinion before we continue."

Duan Chengyu sat down opposite him, somewhat puzzled: "What's the matter that you're taking so seriously?"

Huo Beiyu then told Duan Chengyu about Lord Yuan's account of the case of Aunt Shen being bitten by a dog.

Finally, he said, "Madam Xu is your fiancée Pei Yun's aunt. If Granny Qiao is whipped, the Xu and Pei families may resent Xie Zhaotang. Your fiancée may plead for her, and she might also hate Xie Zhaotang."

"Cheng Yu, what will your stance be then?"

Seeing Huo Beiyu's expressionless face, Duan Chengyu knew that he was asking seriously. He didn't rush to answer and frowned in thought.

After a long pause, he said, "Without Madam Xu's instigation, how dare Granny Qiao order the farmers to release dogs and injure people! The Pei family is trying to pin the blame on Granny Qiao!"

"Pei Yun is a reasonable and educated woman; she would never show favoritism to such a wicked servant!"

Huo Beiyu curled his lips and reminded her, "Do you remember when Pei Yu and Pei Yun made things difficult for Xie Zhaotang at Hexi Garden last time? I don't believe you can't see that they were humiliating Xie Zhaotang for not being good enough for Xu Muyuan."

Duan Chengyu blushed slightly and chuckled awkwardly, "That was just a momentary outburst. Pei Yun explained it to me, saying that Madam Xu had instructed them to warn Xie Zhaotang. She later realized that she had gone too far in making things difficult for Xie Zhaotang and was even thinking of finding an opportunity to apologize to her!"

Huo Beiyu said in a deep voice, "Cheng Yu, once our three-person pharmaceutical factory starts construction, we will be partners. To put it bluntly, if the two of us want to bully Xie Zhaotang and not give her a share of the profits, she can only suffer in silence and be manipulated by us."

"You and I are friends, you should know me, I wouldn't do that to her. But I can't let things slide, you have to give me a guarantee that no matter how much the Pei and Xu families cause trouble, what's due to Xie Zhaotang will be given to her without any impact!"

Duan Chengyu immediately said seriously, "Beiyu, although I am not a businessman, I know the principle of integrity. I will never make things difficult for Xie Zhaotang just because the Pei family and the Xu family have prejudices against Xie Zhaotang."

"They are them, and the Duan family is the Duan family. My grandfather would never allow me to aid and abet evil and bully others."

Huo Beiyu nodded, then handed the charter written by Xie Zhaotang to Duan Chengyu and praised it.

"This little girl is quite good at hiding her talents. Take a good look at her; her plans are very well written and not just empty talk."

Duan Chengyu took it and examined it carefully.

After reading it, he went back and looked at it carefully again, finally agreeing, "You're right, the little girl has a lot of ideas... It seems like it's not finished. Is it because she didn't have time to finish, or is she keeping it from us?"

Huo Beiyu smiled and said, "You noticed too?"

"I think she's keeping her distance from us; the dog-releasing incident scared her..."

Huo Beiyu also told Duan Chengyu the inside story of the bee incident, which made Duan Chengyu feel horrified.

Xu Muyuan alone has caused Xie Zhaotang to suffer one misfortune after another. If he were to join forces with the Xu and Pei families, how could Xie Zhaotang not be afraid?

Huo Beiyu's cautious inquiry into his stance stemmed from his pity for the little girl.

"How about I have my grandfather talk to Old Madam Pei about this, and ask her to warn Madam Xu to stop causing trouble for the little girl?"

Since they would be partners in the future, Duan Chengyu wanted to help Xie Zhaotang.

He was familiar with Huo Beiyu and Madam Pei, but as a junior, it was not appropriate for him to persuade the elders.

Huo Beiyu thought for a moment and nodded: "That's fine. If the old man intervenes, Madam Pei will take it seriously. We need to build the pharmaceutical factory as soon as possible. If Madam Xu keeps causing trouble for Xie Zhaotang, it will also delay our progress."

The two discussed the specifics of the operation, but Huo Beiyu had other matters to attend to and left first.

Duan Chengyu returned to Prince Chen's residence and happened to meet his mother and younger sister Duan You, who both seemed very happy.

Duan Chengyu asked curiously, "Mother, what good thing happened that makes you so happy?"

Madam Duan smiled and said, "Business at Juxiangzhai has improved. We adjusted the sweetness of the lotus seed paste and poria cocos cake as Fourth Miss suggested, and many customers have come back to buy them these past few days. Also, Fourth Miss said that we could use the new products as free gifts, and we did so, and the response has been very good."

"Cheng Yu, I was just thinking of having your sister send an invitation to the Xie family, inviting the Fourth Miss to our home for a proper discussion."

Upon hearing this, Duan Chengyu laughed and said, "She probably won't be able to come to our house these next few days. If you want to see her, go to Baohua Village!"

As he walked, he told Madam Duan and Duan You about Aunt Shen being bitten by a dog. Finally, not wanting his mother and sister to misunderstand that Xie Zhaotang was clinging to Xu Muyuan, he also told them the inside story of the bee incident.

Madam Duan's face darkened. As women of the inner quarters, how could she not know that Granny Qiao had been pushed out to take the blame?

Xie Zhaotang is already avoiding Xu Muyuan, yet the Xu family is still letting their dogs bite based on mere rumors. That's going too far.

Duan You got goosebumps listening to this: "When I heard that Fourth Miss was stung by a swarm of bees, I thought it was because she was greedy and caused trouble. I never imagined that she was actually harmed by someone... Fourth Miss is so pitiful..."

"If Fourth Sister hadn't been out of Baohua Village this time, she wouldn't have escaped even if the mad dog had come..."

Duan Chengyu sighed, "The harm shouldn't extend to family members. The Xu family went too far in trying to warn Xie Zhaotang. I heard from Beiyu that Xie Zhaotang's five-year-old sister was also present at the time. If it weren't for Aunt Shen protecting her, her sister might have been bitten to death..."

"Mother, I'm going to find Grandfather and ask him to persuade Madam Pei to stop targeting Xie Zhaotang! Hehe, Mother, Xie Zhaotang is practically your partner now, why don't you come with me?"

Madam Duan rolled her eyes at him and said, "You can handle the complaint yourself! Youyou, go find the steward and prepare some gifts. We'll go to Baohua Village after lunch. Oh, and get the contract sorted out too. We can talk to the Fourth Miss about future cooperation."

Duan You nodded and left.