Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2607 Atonement for Crimes 70.0
"Kidnapping?"

After everyone finished speaking in unison, they exchanged glances and looked at Boss Luan.

"This is wrong!"

"Fifth General, something's not right?"

“Nothing’s right.” Ying Wu brandished the whip in his hand, looking at Boss Luan with suspicion. He thought for a moment and said, “If I remember correctly, you told us before that the elders in the Empress Dowager’s family supported her business and agreed with her decisions. They didn’t look down on her because she was young, right? I thought at the time that her elders were very open-minded. They saw her talent in business and didn’t suppress her or anything. But now you’re saying that because she’s doing well in business and holds a lot of power in the family, these elders are dissatisfied and that’s why they colluded with outsiders to kidnap her. Isn’t that contradictory?” He narrowed his eyes, looking at Boss Luan. “Which of your statements is true and which is false?”

"Actually, there is no contradiction at all. It's just different choices at different times and under different circumstances." Jin Miaomiao sneered. "Humans are never satisfied. The so-called dissatisfaction is just wanting more than before and wanting to give less than before."

"Lord Jin is wise; those words hit the nail on the head." Boss Luan nodded to Jin Miaomiao, then looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian. "You gentlemen should also feel the same way, right?"

“Whether it’s business or anything else, profit is the ultimate pursuit.” Xue Ruitian sighed. “Even those small, humble families would fight at the Jingzhao Prefecture government office over the eldest son’s family getting an extra piece of meat, the third son’s family getting an extra egg, and the second son getting nothing.” He nodded. “I know a little about the Empress Dowager’s family. They started as ordinary merchants. The Empress Dowager’s grandfather was…” He winked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, and seeing them nod, he continued, “There were three brothers: the Empress Dowager’s father, her eldest uncle, and her other uncle. Her eldest uncle didn’t live locally; he went elsewhere to do business and rarely came home. His relationship with the family seemed strained. He wasn’t seen when the Empress Dowager went to the palace for her investiture. Her uncle…” She looked at Xue Ruitian, “was the one who kidnapped her?”

“No.” Boss Luan shook his head gently. “She was kidnapped by her widowed aunt.”

"She has an aunt?"

"Yes, that's what Master Falian said. He had a very good relationship with the Empress Dowager's family and knew them quite well." Boss Luan sighed. "According to Master Falian, they can share hardships, but not prosperity. In fact, this is true for any merchant family. When the family business is difficult or simple, with only one or two shops, the whole family can work together, focusing all their energy on how to do well and how to expand and strengthen the business. But once the family business is good, and the types of business increase, and the number of shops grows from one or two to seven or eight, or even more, then petty thoughts begin to emerge. Not to mention competitors smearing each other, even family members will do this." He took a sip of tea, looked at everyone helplessly, and continued, "Shop owners insult and slander each other, afraid that the other party's business will be better than theirs."

"That's not right!" Shadow Five looked confused. "Isn't that his own business? If the business is good, the family can be good too!"

“Fifth General, you don’t do business, you wouldn’t understand.” Boss Luan thought for a moment, then looked at everyone. “This kind of thing is a bit complicated to explain, so let’s not waste time, shall we?” “It’s not complicated at all, it’s just a matter of a sentence.” Jin Miaomiao spread her hands towards Ying Wuyi. “Take Boss Luan as an example. He sells Forget-Me-Not Powder to the Ning family and Bie Xiaoyao Pills to the Liu family. It’s all his business, but the products are different. So the Ning family and the Liu family will attack each other and slander each other. If the other family’s business is bad, they may not get Boss Luan’s favor, and he may be able to steal their business.” She looked at Boss Luan and said, “Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“Lord Jin is right, that’s exactly what I mean.” Boss Luan nodded. “Besides her own branch of the family, the Empress Dowager also gave several shops to my uncle and aunt. Originally, her grandfather didn’t want her aunt to get involved, but she went against everyone’s wishes and wanted to give her aunt a means of livelihood. Although it’s not much, only two shops, if her aunt is honest and upright, she can live out her days in peace.”

"Isn't this great?" Shadow Five found a stool and sat down in front of Boss Luan. "Her aunt isn't satisfied with only having two shops and wants more?"

“Yes!” Boss Luan nodded. “Because her younger brother, who is also the Empress Dowager’s uncle, got four of them, she was envious. But it wasn’t from the beginning that she felt it was unfair. It was after she got the shops and ran them for two years with good profits every year that she started to get cocky. She thought that doing business was nothing special. If her niece could do it, and her two younger brothers could do it, then she could too.”

"So, you're not satisfied with only having two and want more?"

"Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant; it's always been like this." Shen Cha took a sip of tea, sighed softly, and said, "She doesn't know that her business is doing well because she has the backing of her family, the shopkeeper, and the employees, not because she is truly capable or talented."

"The General is wise, that's exactly right." Boss Luan nodded. "She knew that the managers and employees of the two shops under her control didn't listen to her much, so she tried every means to dismiss them and replace them with her so-called confidants. Her confidants are quite capable, at least in terms of running the shops, they're not bad, the profits haven't decreased significantly, and occasionally they even increase. As a result, she felt even more confident in her ability to judge people and her business acumen, so she proposed to the Empress Dowager that she wanted to match the number of shops her uncle's family owned, four shops in total. At first, the Empress Dowager kindly advised her, saying that if she could double the profits of the two shops, she would consider it."

"Isn't this just a delaying tactic? Did she really take it seriously?"

"Yes, and then she started to steal business by any means necessary. And her target was very clear: her own younger brother, the Empress Dowager's uncle." Boss Luan revealed a cold smile. "When Master Falian talked about it, he expressed great dissatisfaction and contempt for this aunt. He said that even if his own parents and brothers and sisters were not so friendly and loving to him, he never thought of harming them. Anyone who would harm their own relatives is not a good person."

"Heh, it's quite funny to hear such words coming from his mouth." Jin Miaomiao waved her hand lightly when she saw Boss Luan looking at her. "That's not important. Continue telling me what this aunt did to make Master Falian give such an evaluation."

"She hired several groups of people to splash filth in front of my uncle's four shops in the middle of the night," Boss Luan thought for a long time before finally finding a relatively suitable word to describe it: "splashing filth."