Chapter 2574 - 2548: Poaching the Deal

Bai Erlang was picking cherries to eat. Upon hearing the conversation, he paused for a moment and said, "Princess Danyang? I think I know her..."

Everyone turned to look at him. Zhou Man said, "Princess Danyang also sent gifts when you and Mingda got married."

Bai Shan added, "Prince Consort Xue has been in the capital these past two years, you should have seen her in the palace."

At family banquets and similar events, the princesses usually attend with the royal family in the capital.

Bai Erlang scratched his head, "I mean, I think I saw Princess Danyang in that miscellaneous bookstore, talking about the princess and the prince consort’s matters."

Of course, he didn’t really remember Princess Danyang herself, as there are just too many relatives in the Imperial Family, not to mention the emperor’s sons and daughters, and those of the previous emperor.

Princess Changyu’s eyes brightened and she got excited, "I know this, I know! Isn’t it written about Aunt Danyang not wanting to be seated with Uncle at the beginning of her marriage?"

Bai Erlang nodded repeatedly, his eyes sparkling too, "Yes, that’s exactly the case, but I don’t know why it’s not in His Majesty’s Daily Records, instead it’s tucked away in the miscellaneous books, just a few pages."

When Mingda arrived, they were deep in conversation, and she couldn’t help but laugh, asking, "What are you all talking about?"

Bai Erlang: "We’re talking about Princess Danyang."

The previous emperor had many daughters, a total of nineteen; of course, not all of them are still alive now.

But the reason Bai Erlang knew this aunt among many princesses was because she appeared in the miscellaneous bookstore.

However, the things recorded in the miscellaneous bookstore could never be as exciting as the gossip Changyu heard in the palace, so she quietly shared her tidbits in a lowered voice.

Since it wasn’t considered a bad thing, everyone perked up their ears to listen.

"Aunt Danyang was pretty, had good skills, and thought highly of herself. Uncle was actually not bad, just relatively inferior compared to the other uncles," Changyu said, "Uncle came from a family of military officers and has merits himself, but compared to the other uncles, he was still a bit lacking."

You can tell by their accomplishments.

Of course, that wasn’t the main point according to Changyu, "Uncle Xue just looked too plain."

If he were more handsome, she thought Aunt Danyang wouldn’t mind.

Wei Yu couldn’t help but turn his head to look at her.

Changyu noticed and said, "Don’t look at me. You’re better looking than Uncle and have talent..."

Her father is Wei Zhi, otherwise she wouldn’t be so willing.

Wei Yu didn’t know what to feel, but he felt somewhat sweet, suppressing the happiness in his heart, he said calmly, "Don’t talk nonsense."

In front of everyone, not embarrassed?

Changyu ignored him and continued whispering with them, "Uncle Xue looked too plain, and at the time, someone told the Emperor that Uncle Xue was too rustic. Aunt got furious when she heard and didn’t want to be seated with him even more."

The princess didn’t share a bed with the prince consort for several months after marriage and didn’t want to be seated together, leading to all sorts of rumors spreading out, eventually reaching the palace and naturally to the emperor’s ears.

The Emperor couldn’t help but laugh out loud when he heard his sister sulking with her husband over such a matter. After laughing for a while, he simply invited all the brothers-in-law to the palace, as well as his sisters.

The Emperor, with the prince consorts, tested their skills. Regardless of their dexterity, the Emperor bested all the brothers-in-law and sister’s husbands. Then, when playing against Prince Consort Xue, the Emperor deliberately lost to him, praising him highly in front of everyone.

The Emperor drank with him at the banquet, played pitch-pot with him, and included him in conversations, making Prince Consort Xue the focal point among the prince consorts.

Princess Danyang’s heart was eased, and on their way back, they got along well. For more than twenty years now, the couple’s relationship has remained strong.

Even though Prince Consort Xue hasn’t had many opportunities to go on expeditions, his official rank can no longer compare to the other prince consorts, but the couple continued to live happily, getting more harmonious with time, turning this into a delightful tale. The palace no longer quite blocks out such small tales.

Manbao pondered for a moment and asked, "Does Princess Danyang like food?"

"She should," Changyu said, "Is there anyone in the world who dislikes food?"

Food is one of the most important matters in a person’s lifetime.

No one could argue against this, as none present could claim to dislike food. Even Wei Yu, who practices moderation, had to agree, "Food is the heaven for the people."

With pride, Changyu raised her chin and told Mingda, "At this rate, your street’s shops won’t take long to be fully rented out. Things will surely get bustling then."

Mingda wasn’t as optimistic, shaking her head, "It’s just uncles and aunts seeing my difficulties and helping me out. The people they bring probably won’t be a lot. I’d prefer to rent to merchants."

Because they truly conduct business, racking their brains to attract customers.

Manbao strongly agreed, nodding, "They won’t be very anxious to open, we can’t be sure how long it’ll take for renovation and attracting guests, especially since they’ve occupied good locations."

Some want to help Mingda, thinking her shops in New City are hard to rent, so they stepped in to rent one or two as a token gesture, but others are looking for a bargain.

Since Zhou Man argued with Censor Chen at the imperial court for Princess Changyu, people knew New City’s population wasn’t large, and Princess Changyu even personally opened a Treasure Pavilion for Princess Mingda to attract population.

Many felt with two princesses vouching for it, future business in New City wouldn’t be small, so they sent people to rent houses, yet he rented them but didn’t use them himself, instead wanting to rent them out again.

Mingda only felt puzzled when checking accounts, thinking these people rented too many shops.

After Bai Er accompanied her for inspection, he discovered these shops hadn’t begun renovation, yet some brought merchants to see them, as if they were inspecting them, which made him angry. He told Mingda, "They’re trying to sub-rent them."

Mingda was puzzled, "And then?"

"Then there might be problems with our stewards." He said, "Why aren’t the merchants looking for our stewards to rent directly, instead of renting second-hand from these people? Could their rent be cheaper than ours?"

That’s impossible. If it’s cheaper, they would be adding money to the deal, and for what reason?

Recalling how Mingda mentioned last time the steward wanted to bully Zhou Man, Bai Erlang said unhappily, "Let’s replace him now."

Bai Erlang’s pillow talk was quite effective, so Mingda thought it over seriously, nodding after a moment, "Alright, but who do we replace him with?"

Previously she didn’t replace because she didn’t have suitable people to use. Unlike Zhou Man, who has all these brothers, she can focus on one area and her brothers and nephews will help coordinate. When calculated like this, Manbao has more manpower than her.

After thinking, Bai Erlang said, "Dismiss him and select someone from the Imperial Manor. If that doesn’t work, we’ll give orders one step at a time. Anyway, we only manage one Imperial Manor now. The most important thing is figuring out how to attract those merchants who want to rent shops from those people."

Yes, Bai Erlang wants to directly attract people but can’t make it too obvious, otherwise it wouldn’t be good for Mingda’s reputation if it spread.

Mingda was also contemplating, but the couple couldn’t come up with a good solution all night.

The next day when they entered the palace, they happened to run into Bai Shan and Manbao, who were also heading in for duty. Bai Shan said upon hearing about it, "Just post a notice."

Manbao’s eyes lit up, "Have someone write two large notices, one at the street’s head, one at the street’s end. Merchants wanting to rent shops will naturally come and find us without you needing to snatch them away yourself."

Bai Erlang, who initially intended to quietly send people to intercept, had his eyes brightened.