I'm already a concubine, who wants to fight with you?

Chapter 145 Why bother?
In Qiong Yu Garden, Xiao Shirong was furious.

The old lady took charge and not only kicked out Mother Tang and her daughter, but also replaced all of Xiao Shirong's personal maids.

Xiao Shirong originally wanted to call servants from the Xiao family in Fanyang so that he could have easier control, but the old lady did not allow it.

Everyone in her courtyard had been replaced, and she no longer had any confidants she could trust. Even the head maid had become Su Lu.

Su Lu was originally a close confidant of the old lady. She was a house slave brought from the Ji family in Zhongshan. She grew up in the Ji family since childhood. At least in this mansion, her status was much higher than that of an ordinary maid.

On the surface, she was here to serve Xiao Shirong, but in reality, she was instructed by the old lady to restrict him in every way.

Xiao Shirong also understood this, so he made things difficult for Su Lu at every turn.

Su Lu is gentle and patient. She always takes things lightly and ignores Xiao Shirong's provocations.

Xiao Shirong was furious, but for a moment she could do nothing about Su Lu.

The Pei Mansion was still in turmoil with open and covert struggles, and Xie Fei on the farm was also getting busier.

In order to open a shop, Chen Dafa and others worked hard outside every day. Finally, before the end of the first month of the lunar year, they completed all the paperwork and rented a shop on the corner of the street.

The women in the village are all busy in the shop, doing some embroidery, sewing, and washing work, doing everything.

Xie Fei invested some money and took Fu Yu to stroll around the store on a sunny afternoon.

The shop is not big, but it is neat and clean, and the women are busy inside.

Xie Fei picked up a piece of embroidery. It was made by Shui Huaiyu. The stitches were fine and even, and the pattern was lifelike.

"Mrs. Shui's kung fu is still as perfect as ever, but why is there no business in this shop?"

Shui Huaiyu set up the embroidery frame and was working on a new embroidery. Upon hearing this, she smiled and said, "This shop has just opened and the location is not good, so naturally there are not many people coming. However, Madam Zou and the others have all gone out to solicit business."

"Oh? How do you do that?"

"Go to rouge shops, wine shops, teahouses, clothing shops, etc. If you see a woman dressed in bright clothes, go up and talk to her." Shui Huaiyu said this, embarrassedly: "I don't like talking to strangers, so I can only guard the shop."

"Everyone does their job, that's good." Xie Fei knew that she didn't have to worry about the shop anymore.

Fu Yu looked at it for a long time and wondered, "Mrs. Shui, what on earth is this shop? Is it an embroidery workshop, a fabric store, or something else?"

She saw embroidery, ready-made clothes, fabrics, and some miscellaneous items. It seemed that the small shop sold everything.

Shui Huaiyu twisted the needle and thought for a long time before she said uncertainly: "It should be considered as an embroidery workshop, right?"

In fact, this was also Madam Zou’s idea.

Madam Zou said that just selling embroidery products would not bring in enough customers.

It is better to sell everything. If the embroidery cannot be sold, there will always be people who buy ready-made clothes. If the ready-made clothes cannot be sold, there will always be people who are interested in the fabrics.

No matter how bad the situation is, I can always do some mending for others and earn a few pennies.

So in the end, the shop became a hodgepodge.

Xie Fei was very excited and said, "Fu Yu and I will go to other stores to see what they are selling."

She also has a share in this shop privately, so she is very concerned about the income and expenditure.

Immediately, the master and servant went out and wandered around the various shops.

Since it is in the capital city, there are quite a few ready-made clothing shops, but most of them are custom tailors, mainly using currently popular patterns and fabrics, which attracts the women in the capital to stop and watch.

There are also cloth shops that sell cloth, do sewing, embroidery, and ready-made clothes, not just focusing on one single business.

Xie Fei walked around for more than an hour, and the more he walked, the more disappointed he became.

"Although Lady Shui's embroidery is indeed exquisite, it is really not competitive."

Fu Yu's legs and feet ached from walking so she sat on the stone steps by the street and rubbed her ankles. "Girl, what do you mean by uncompetitive?"

Xie Fei was too lazy to explain, and said, "Let's go to West City for a walk."

Fu Yu sighed helplessly and had to stand up again.

As soon as I turned into Qing Street, I saw a funeral procession coming towards me. There were white prayer flags along the way, countless yellow papers fluttering in the wind, and the sound of suona was mournful and sad.

Fu Yu said "bad luck" and took Xie Fei to the shop next door to avoid a head-on confrontation with the funeral procession.

Xie Fei saw that the team was so powerful and asked, "Whose family died?"

Fu Yu said, "During the Lantern Festival, wasn't it said that an enemy spy took a noble family member hostage in order to escape from the city? The noble family member was shot dead by the city guards, and the family went to the emperor to ask for justice, so the body was sealed in an ice coffin and was not buried until today."

"Who is this noble concubine?" Since her family members could complain about their grievances to the emperor, she must be of high status.

Fu Yu thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be from the Wang family of Qishan."

"Ah? Princess?"

"That's not the case. She should be one of the daughters-in-law of King Qishan."

The King of Qishan was also a famous and meritorious official who had made great contributions to Dajing. He was also related to the royal family and had great prestige in the court and among the people.

The defenders shot his daughter-in-law to death, and it was impossible for them to let it go, both morally and logically.

Xie Fei asked curiously: "How did His Majesty appease him?"

Fu Yu shook his head, "I can't find out about that."

Xie Fei said faintly: "It's really hard to get rid of it."

She didn't have a good impression of the emperor. Even though she had never seen him, it didn't stop her from disliking him.

If the emperor hadn't been so petty, she wouldn't have been married to Pei Yuan, that playboy.

Thinking about the three words "King of Qishan" again, Xie Fei felt like he had heard them somewhere before. He couldn't remember them for a long time, so he just let it go.

Little did they know that all the nobles in the capital had gathered at the palace because of the funeral of the Qishan Wang family.

As the wife of the Pei family, Xiao Shirong also came in place of the old lady, and Ban Sihui also came with her.

After burning incense in the mourning hall, the two went out together.

Looking at the people crying all over the yard, Ban Sihui felt bitter.

"Sister Song is also pitiful. She has only been with the Second Young Master for more than a decade, and she has encountered such a thing. Her four children are still young. Without their mother, how will they live in the future?"

Ban Sihui felt even more depressed when she thought of herself.

Xiao Shirong sneered, "She gave birth to so many children and worked so hard for her husband, but what did she get? When her body was still frozen in the ice coffin, her husband had already made a big fuss to promote his favorite concubine to be his legal wife."

If the prince hadn't suppressed it, wouldn't this matter have become a laughing stock and the people would have talked about it with relish?
Ban Sihui was surprised and asked, "You mean to say that the second young master actually wanted to make his concubine his first wife despite the fact that his first wife had just died?"

Xiao Shirong said coldly: "So, why bother?"

Song, the wife of the second son of the Wang family in Qishan, is also a well-behaved lady.

She had an average appearance and figure, but she came from a good family and had a good personality. Although the old prince and his wife and the people in the mansion liked her, the second young master did not love her.

In order to win back her husband's heart, Song worked diligently and meticulously, keeping everything in good order.

While she urged her husband to make progress, took care of the household chores, and managed the concubines, she kept giving birth.

Over the past ten years, she gave birth to several children, and excluding those who died in infancy, there are still four children left.

(End of this chapter)