Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

I was distracted.

What did the third son-in-law just say?

Hey, you're thinking too far ahead!
Thursday, Shun quickly pieced together what he had heard.
His third son-in-law must be praising the Gao family, but I wonder who in the Gao family he's praising.

"Old Madam Gao is indeed Old Madam Gao. She was able to open a grain shop called Yunkelai as soon as she married into the Gao family and gained the power of the head lady."

During this period, wherever travelers came, grain shops were immediately set up to supply them with their daily grains and cereals. Who could have imagined that she had made this move so early on?

So it was praising Old Madam Gao. Zhou Sishun finally found the answer. But what was the third son-in-law drawing on the square table with the tea?

"Are these Yunkelai outlets from various parts of our province?" He shook his head as soon as he asked, "There aren't that many Yunkelai outlets in our province."

Gu Wenxuan naturally understood the meaning of Zhou Sishun's so-called "dots," which were water droplets he deliberately made with his hand, "from the cloud guests of the entire northern land."

This circle shows Yunkelai's locations in various parts of our province. Aren't the rest of the locations quite few? That's right, there are only this many locations in other places.

If I remember correctly, in our province, isn't it only in the prefectural city and Dingzhou prefecture area that almost every county has a Yunkelai branch?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Sishun craned his neck to take another look at the spot his third son-in-law was pointing to. "That's right, it's probably because it's close to their Gaojia Village."

Gu Wenxuan did not deny it, "That should be one reason. Among the various estates of our family, the ones in Qingyang County are the most numerous."

Let me tell you something else interesting. Apparently, it was Uncle Changqing who told me this, but I don't know if he mentioned it to you.

Zhou Sishun rolled his eyes at his son-in-law, who was trying to keep him in suspense, and then, holding his grandson in his arms, decisively sat back down in his original seat while telling his grandson that his old man was itching for a beating.

Yuan Ge'er said he didn't understand. He only knew that it was so much fun for his grandpa to stand up and sit down all the time. He was so happy that he couldn't stop drooling.

Gu Wenxuan heard this and laughed heartily, just like his son. Unfortunately, his father-in-law had already raised his right foot, so he dared not tease him any further.

"There is a Yunkelai in every county town around Dingzhou Prefecture. Uncle Changqing said that originally there was only one Yunkelai in Dingzhou Prefecture."

Later, around the time Madam Gao entered the household and gave birth to the eldest son, Old Madam Gao handed over the management of Yun Ke Lai to her, the eldest daughter-in-law.

At that time, Yunkelai had only opened five or six stores. When Madam Gao took over Yunkelai, perhaps because Madam Gao's family background was no worse than hers, it put pressure on her.

She added her own share, along with the profits from the five or six Yunkelai stores, and in less than a year, she opened a Yunkelai store in every county under the jurisdiction of the prefecture.

After she sent people to select locations in various counties of Dingzhou Prefecture to open their businesses, less than three months after opening, troubles began to arise one after another in the counties of Dingzhou Prefecture.

Whether it was a customer getting a stomachache or an ordered ingredient not being delivered on time, Madam Gao could initially resolve such troubles by asking her family for help.

Perhaps at that time, Madam Gao wanted to test what kind of help Madam Gao's family could provide, or perhaps she wanted to use her eldest daughter-in-law to test the reactions of all parties.

Madam Gao pretended to be deaf and dumb. Even when the head steward came to report to her, she told him to just listen to Madam Gao.

But what kind of place is Dingzhou Prefecture? Even if the Liang State Duke's Mansion falls and Zhoujia Village disappears, it is still not a territory that the Gao family, together with their in-laws, can dominate.

Therefore, Madam Gao's family could not hold on for long, and Madam Gao finally confessed to Old Madam Gao. It was at that time that Old Madam Gao asked her aunt for help.

For some unknown reason, the aunt still instructed Madam Gao to personally visit the Wen residence and invite Madam Wen to go to Zhoujia Village to pay respects to the Lady of Liang.

That is, the gentleman's grandmother. She passed away early, before the Liang State Duke's Mansion collapsed. "Strangely, even though she passed away, her posthumous title was not revoked. So it can be said that the most unruly people are the emperors. The Liang State Duke's Mansion has already fallen, but the late emperor did not revoke the ranks of several of the female members of the family. I don't know what he was thinking."

"That is, after the worship ceremony in Zhoujia Village, no one from the counties of Dingzhou Prefecture, including other places, dared to cause trouble."

But it was also around that time that Yunkelai in Gaofu stopped opening branches so aggressively, which is why I wanted to tell you why Yunkelai has the most branches in these two places.

Zhou Sishun clicked his tongue in surprise and patted his restless grandson, "So it's hard to say who owes whom more. Your aunt has helped her a lot."

Absolutely!

Gu Wenxuan nodded in agreement.

"It was around that time that the power of Dingzhou Wharf was controlled by the Wen family. Apart from restaurants and teahouses, the Gao family didn't even have a single grain shop in the Dingzhou area."

So you've already marked out the territory?

Thursday, Shun nodded slowly.

He seemed to understand why his elder brother and his wife wanted to maintain a distant relationship with the Gao family; it wasn't just because they were afraid of being seen as part of a faction and thus being resented.

"Have you told Sanya about these things?"

Gu Wenxuan knew what he meant. Besides, since he had already said it, there was no need to hide it. "It's no use. She still feels that she owes Old Madam Gao a great debt of gratitude."

Thursday, Shun thought so too.

Just look at how his third daughter treats her Uncle Changgen and his wife, and you'll know.

"However, I'm not praising my wife, but no matter how kind she is, she can't hide her wickedness. She wouldn't interfere in things like the matter of Master Gao."

"Yes, what's most precious about my Sanya is her upright character. Don't be fooled by how many people she helped at the Gao family before; who among them was punished for making a mistake?"

At this point, Zhou Sishun shook his head and laughed, "Even if you offered her the greatest benefit, she wouldn't pay any attention to it, let alone help put in a good word for her with Old Madam Gao."

If something like Master Gao's official business were to break the law, no matter how much kindness Madam Gao had shown him, she would never go against her conscience to speak well of him.

It was only because Old Madam Gao kept asking her to ask her uncle to intercede on her behalf that my Sanya would always pretend to be stupid, since she couldn't refuse.

listen!
Your father is still your father, right?
I know perfectly well when you're pretending to be stupid.

"As for Master Gao, I'm not worried that Sanya will make a mistake. At most, she'll just feel that pretending to be stupid is unfair to Madam Gao, so she'll spend a lot of money to show her respect."

high!
You've seen right through your third daughter!

“Indeed, the Wen family—” If Zhou Sishun hadn’t been holding his grandson, he would have just scratched his head. “Back then, the Wen family controlled the Dingzhou docks, and I’m afraid they are even more powerful now.”

Your Uncle Wen has already taken a liking to Dajiang, and we're not going to form a marriage alliance with the Wen family. The son of the Wen family who was adopted by Grand Tutor Wen seems to be getting along quite well with the Third Master of the Gao family.

If your uncle can't lend a hand with Master Gao's side, I'm afraid both families will be unhappy. Will they then unite against your teacher? (End of Chapter)