The heavens set sail from the courtyard

The sign of Li Ji Teahouse was taken down and replaced with a new one.

The mother and daughter of the Li family stood under the new sign, smiling like flowers and looking extremely happy.

Today is the day that Li’s shop reopened. The former Li’s Teahouse has become a thing of the past, replaced by a shop called “Sifuzhai”.

The name of this store was given by Mrs. Li, and the five daughters of the Li family were very confused.

"Mom, why is it called Sifuzhai? There are five of us sisters, plus you, so it should be called Liufuzhai!" Li Fuhui asked puzzled.

Madam Li looked at the new sign and said with deep emotion: "It's not the right time yet."

Li Shouhua knew that his mother was thinking of her only son Faner who was washed away by the flood.

The name Sifuzhai should imply four unmarried daughters. Only when all the daughters have found their husbands and the son is found, can the shop be called "Liufuzhai".

Mrs. Li quickly calmed down and asked her daughters to go back to their rooms while she went out to show up and solicit business.

The newly opened Sifuzhai not only does tea business, but also sells exquisite jewelry and even literati calligraphy and paintings.

Selling rouge and jewelry is to increase female customers, and selling literati calligraphy and paintings is not for making money, but to increase the status of Sifuzhai and provide a place for literati to drink tea and chat.

This idea was proposed by Wang Gang to Li Shouhua. He said that the imperial examination was approaching and the city of Bianjing would welcome many candidates to take the exam. Those people were not very interested in places like restaurants and instead preferred quiet and elegant places.

Sifuzhai also holds a small poetry appreciation meeting every month, which can attract another wave of popularity. Most importantly, it does not constitute competition with Panlou across the street.

For this reason, Chai An from Pan Lou came over to congratulate on the opening day of Sifuzhai.

Also coming along was, of course, Madam Li's second son-in-law, Fan Lianghan.

Recently, Li Fuhui has been keeping Fan Lianghan under strict control. Previously, Chai An wanted to find a concubine for his cousin to suppress the arrogance of the Li sisters. However, Sanniang Li Kangning took advantage of the situation and found a down-and-out young lady from a noble family, and almost made the Fan family a mess.

The Fan family was just a merchant family. If outsiders knew that they had taken a poor young lady from an aristocratic family as a concubine, they would probably not be able to stay in Bian Jing.

The four levels of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are not just talk. The reputation of the gentry is much more important than that of a small merchant.

Fan's father and mother almost beat Fan Lianghan to death.

Afterwards, Chai An found out that the poor young lady from the aristocratic family was specially hired by Fan Kangning to trick Fan Lianghan, but there was nothing he could do.

From then on, Fan Lianghan became completely honest. Even if Li Fuhui told him to go east, he would never go west.

Instead, Chai An and the third daughter Li Kangning developed feelings for each other. After a few moves, they won and lost alternately. Even Mrs. Li could see that her third daughter treated Chai An differently.

Madam Li was very impressed with Chai An's family background. Although the Chai family was much richer than the Li family, they were both from merchant families. Although there was a gap between the rich and the poor, they were equal in class. If they could become in-laws, that would be perfect.

Instead, it was the marriage with the Wang family that made Li Shouhua so worried that he couldn't sleep the whole day.

Wang Kang really wanted a girl from the Li family to marry into the Wang family, but there was no news from old man Wang in Yangzhou, which made Mrs. Li wait anxiously.

Fortunately, Wang Kang was extremely kind to Madam Li and treated her like her own sister. She was also very nice to the girls in the Li family and sometimes even asked Madam Li to bring some gifts home for her daughters.

Madam Li also suggested to Wang Kang that her youngest daughter Li Leshan should marry into the Wang family instead of Li Shouhua, but Wang Kang did not dare to make the decision and could only wait for news from Yangzhou.

After Sifuzhai opened, business was booming and its diversified business strategy was a great success. The store was crowded with customers every day, and its business was comparable to Panlou across the street.

Although Sifuzhai did not sell wine, its profits were far less than those of Panlou, but it was still a famous shop in Bianjing, and the mother and daughter of the Li family had completely established themselves in Bianjing. At the same time, the reputation of the Li sisters spread, attracting many suitors.

One of the people who proposed marriage was Yang Xian.

That day, Yang Xian suddenly came to Sifuzhai with a lot of gifts, and arrogantly drove the original guests out.

Madam Li knew that the visitor had ill intentions, so she had no choice but to go forward to meet him.

"Mr. Yang, didn't we pay Yang Jiulang for his medicine? Why are you here again?"

"I, Yang Xian, am not here to cause trouble today, but to ask for marriage. I heard that your daughter, the Li family, is beautiful and intelligent. It just so happens that my family is in need of a concubine to warm my bed."

Madam Li was horrified and asked, "What? You want my daughter to be a concubine!?"

Yang Xian said in a bad tone: "If you don't want to be my concubine, do you want to be my legitimate wife? For a daughter of the Li family to be able to enter the Yang Mansion, being my concubine is marrying up."

Madam Li was so angry when she heard this, she knew that Yang Xian came here to disgust her on purpose.

Although the Li family is far inferior to the Yang family, Madam Li would never let her daughter become someone's concubine.

In the Song Dynasty, wife and concubine were two completely different concepts. A wife enjoyed the same status as her husband's family and even had the right to divorce.

Being a concubine is different. Not only does one have a low status, equivalent to that of a servant, but one also has no human rights. The husband and the wife have the right to sell concubines, and there is even a "trend of changing concubines" in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.

The so-called concubine exchange means that if an official has beautiful concubines in his home, they can be exchanged and enjoyed in turn until they are old and ugly, and then sold off.

Children born to concubines have no status in the family because their blood relationship cannot be confirmed. Even if the legitimate son of the family is extinct, they have no chance to inherit the family property.

In short, most concubines do not have a good ending.

Madam Li loves her daughter and would never push her into the fire.

"Mr. Yang, please go back! My daughter would rather marry a farmer than be someone's concubine." Madam Li immediately rejected Yang Xian.

Yang Xian said with a gloomy face: "There is no woman I, Yang Xian, want to marry that I haven't been able to marry yet. If you don't accept my toast, I will go to the palace to ask my sister for an order. Then the girls from your Li family will have to marry. Maybe all four girls from the Li family will have to become concubines in my Yang family."

"You, you are forcing me to marry you." Madam Li said angrily, "I can file a complaint with the Kaifeng government."

Yang Xian said calmly: "Go ahead and file a complaint! Anyway, I came to ask for marriage according to the rules and gave enough gifts. Even if the case is brought to the government, who can punish me?"

Madam Li said angrily: "I just don't believe that there is no law in the Song Dynasty. You can ask for my hand in marriage, but I can refuse."

Yang Xian laughed loudly and said, "No one in the whole Bianjing city dares to marry a woman that I, Yang Xian, cannot marry. Even if the girl from the Li family pays for herself, she cannot find a husband.

If you want Wang Gang to take the lead, you are making a wrong calculation. Kaifeng Prefecture has no control over marriage matters.

If Wang Gang dares to help the Li family, I will find someone to sue him for abusing his power for personal gain tomorrow and strip him of his official uniform."

Madam Li's lips trembled with anger, but Yang Xian had people put boxes of betrothal gifts into Sifuzhai, and then laughed and said: "Mother-in-law, please accept the betrothal gifts quickly, and wait for the auspicious day to send your daughter to my Yang family in a grand manner!

I, Yang Xian, am not picky. Any daughter will do. It all depends on which one my mother-in-law is willing to give up!"

After saying that, Yang Xian left arrogantly. The disgusted Li almost fainted. The four sisters of the Li family rushed out and supported their mother. (End of this chapter)