Joy of Life: Starting by clinging to the eldest princess's coattails!

Located west of Suzhou city, on the shore of Taihu Lake.

A lakeside courtyard stands quietly by the water, with white walls, black tiles, and upturned eaves.

The plaque above the gate reads "Linhu Xiaozhu" (Lakeside Retreat), the characters in which are delicate and graceful, as if written by a woman.

This courtyard has been empty for two years.

Nowadays.

The door was pushed open again.

Wu Feng stood at the doorway, looking inside.

The courtyard is small, but very exquisite.

The bluestone path winds from the doorway to the front of the house, with some flowers and plants planted on both sides. Although it is not well maintained, you can still see its original elegance.

Ye Songnian followed behind him, his expression somewhat complicated:

"This courtyard... was Miss's residence in Suzhou back then. She would stay here occasionally when she came to Suzhou to inspect the three major districts."

Wu Feng stepped inside.

Cross the front yard and push open the door to the main house.

The room was simply furnished with a round table, a few chairs, and some books on a bookshelf against the wall.

There was no dust on the table, indicating that someone cleans it regularly.

The window was open, and the lake breeze, carrying moisture, blew in, gently stirring the gauze curtains by the window.

Wu Feng walked around the house and then went to the backyard.

The backyard faces the lake directly, and a small pavilion has been built there, extending into the water.

The pavilion is furnished with stone tables and benches, and sitting there, you can enjoy a wide view of the lake.

The lake shimmered in the afternoon sun, and several fishing boats could be seen in the distance.

"The scenery is nice," Wu Feng said.

Ye Songnian followed behind him and replied softly, "Miss used to love sitting here and looking at the lake."

Wu Feng sat down on the stone bench in the pavilion and pointed to the opposite side: "Manager, please sit."

Ye Songnian hesitated for a moment, but still sat down.

A gentle lake breeze was blowing, carrying a moist scent.

Wu Feng looked at the lake before him and slowly spoke:

"Manager, Ye Qingmei is dead. Although the three major pharmacies and Qingyutang are now under the Princess's command, and others will no longer target you, this is only temporary. Do you understand?"

Ye Songnian raised his head, a look of confusion on his face: "Lord Wu, could it be... that someone dares to oppose the Princess?"

He really didn't understand.

He was among Ye Qingmei's earliest students and was deeply influenced by her egalitarian ideals.

But the eldest princess is a member of the royal family.

The royals had a profound influence on these commoners.

He didn't believe anyone would dare target the eldest princess.

Wu Feng turned his head and looked at Ye Songnian with a calm expression.

"Because the Eldest Princess doesn't yet have the same influence as Ye Qingmei," Wu Feng said. "To this world, Ye Qingmei is special. In the Qing Kingdom, perhaps no one dares to oppose the Eldest Princess now, but who will be qualified in the future? The Qing Kingdom's royal family isn't just the Eldest Princess, and besides, this world isn't just about the Qing Kingdom."

Ye Songnian opened his mouth, looked at Wu Feng, and was very shocked.

Looking at Wu Feng's current appearance, he seemed to see Ye Qingmei.

The two of them speak in such a similar way.

Now he roughly understands why some of his employers cooperate with Wu Feng and make them obey him.

"I understand," Ye Songnian said earnestly. "Lord Wu, please just tell us what you need us to do."

A smile appeared on Wu Feng's face.

"I plan to take half of the products from the three major workshops and let other families, or even other countries, sell them," he said, announcing his decision.

Upon hearing this, Ye Songnian understood Wu Feng's plan.

"Master Wu, do you mean... to let other families or even other countries share the burden with us?" Ye Songnian asked.

"You guessed right." Wu Feng snapped his fingers. "But this matter still needs some careful planning."

"Lord Wu, please speak." Ye Songnian sat up straight.

Wu Feng continued:

"The first thing is to use Qingyutang to spread this message to wherever you can."

"It is said that Qingyutang will prepare to give up half of the products from its three workshops to one or more companies for sale."

"Qingyutang will hold an auction for its sales rights in the capital of Qing Kingdom in two months."

"An auction?" Ye Songnian's eyes lit up. "I understand! Lord Wu, leave this to me. Qingyutang will handle it well."

Wu Feng nodded in satisfaction, a smile spreading across his face.

Sure enough, the managers of Qingyutang were born to be beasts of burden.

"Okay," Wu Feng said. "I'll stay in Suzhou for about another half a month. You all make good arrangements during this time. If there's anything you can't handle, come find me."

"I understand, Lord Wu," Ye Songnian said solemnly.

Soon, Ye Songnian left the lakeside cottage.

Wu Feng settled down in the courtyard.

The fact that people have moved into this courtyard again after several years has attracted a lot of attention in Suzhou.

The Ming, Cui, Su, and Gu families are still investigating why the three major pharmacies and Qingyutang surrendered to the Eldest Princess so quickly.

Meanwhile, in the prefectural government office, Xie Yu in his study seemed to have thought of something.

The reason why Ye Songnian and the others made up their minds so quickly must be related to Ye Qingmei.

Only Ye Qingmei could make the three major pharmacies and Qingyutang bow down to the Princess so readily.

Thinking of this, he opened the box he had received the day before yesterday, inside which were neatly stacked two hundred thousand taels of silver notes.

It seems that Ye Qingmei had other plans before her death, so the 200,000 taels of silver seem to be useless now.

however

The shock of the three major pharmacies and Qingyutang bowing to the princess so quickly had not yet subsided when another piece of news the next day directly ignited the major families in Suzhou.

Qingyutang announced that it will relinquish half of the sales rights for its three main product lines.

The remaining half of the sale rights will be auctioned off in two months in Kyoto!

This news caused another uproar in Suzhou.

Upon hearing the news, Old Madam Ming stopped twirling her prayer beads.

"An auction?" She narrowed her eyes. "Is the Princess trying to... muddy the waters? Or is she trying to win someone over?"

Old Master Cui paced back and forth in his study: "Half of the sales rights... If we can get our hands on them, the Cui family will never have to worry again."

The Su and Gu families also got involved.

The heads of the two families met again. This time, they didn't talk about how to fight against Qingyutang, but how to join forces to win the auction.

All of this is temporarily irrelevant to Wu Feng.

All he had to do was contact Li Yunrui and tell her his plans.

In the study of Linhu Xiaozhu, Wu Feng spread out a sheet of paper and dipped his brush in ink.

"To Your Highness..." he wrote at the beginning.

The pen glides across the paper, meticulously outlining the auction plan.

Finally, he wrote:

"...This auction will not only be open to the powerful families of Qing Kingdom, but also to families from other countries. We can make good use of this right to sell. After all, the decision of who wins the bid will be in our hands."

After he finished writing, he blew on the ink to dry it and folded the letter neatly.

He hoped that Li Yunrui would understand what he meant.

Wu Feng smiled and handed the letter to Shu Ying: "Send it back to Kyoto as quickly as possible."

"Yes." Shuying took the letter and turned to leave.

Outside the window, the surface of Taihu Lake shimmered with golden light under the setting sun.

Wu Feng walked to the window and looked at the expansive lake view.

The matter in Suzhou is almost over.

Once the people sent by the eldest princess arrive, he can return to the capital.

Thinking of Li Yunrui, Wu Feng unconsciously touched his hand...

He sighed softly.