Volume 1 Chapter 124 Kicking the Dog

  This magpie is happy only when she looks like a resentful woman all day long.

  Zhen Shi Niang gave her a white eye, "It's just two compromises, I didn't plan to move back to the General's Mansion, what's there to be afraid of." Having recognized a dry mother and obtained a fifth-grade edict, Zhen Shi Niang's tone was indeed much more sufficient than before, "He got angry and didn't come here, it's actually quite quiet."

  This is also what Zhen Shining truly wishes for, as long as Shen Zhongjie sends the alimony on time every month, he doesn't need to come and report to her.

  "Madam!" Jiayu's tone was greatly dissatisfied, "......you can't keep fooling around with the general like this." Hearing Qiuju say that they had already slept together, and now she was still saying such sulky words, wasn't it just going back to five years ago when the two of them were constantly at odds, stubbornly fighting each other to the death?

  Shen Zhong's weakness has always been that he can't handle strong women, only gentle ones. As the saying goes, "use softness to overcome strength". Since their reunion, his wife had been doing a great job of being gentle and considerate. But after going on a trip to Beijing, she changed?

  This is not a good phenomenon.

  Five years ago, the two were like fire and water, and the scene where they hated each other so much that they almost tore off the roof was flashing before her eyes again. The more she thought about it, the more worried she became. Ji Kuai called out to her once more, "Miss!"

  The pregnant woman was the largest, and when she saw the magpie, her eyes turned red. Zhen Shining surrendered, "I know." She changed the subject, "... I think this house in Linggu Town is not bad. The water quality of Linggu is famous all over the world, and the transportation is convenient. The three-entry courtyard is more than enough to make a pharmaceutical factory, especially with 300 mu of good land, which is just right for planting medicinal materials." She handed the list to the magpie to look at.

  In ancient times, there were no banks and no social security, only land could support the elderly. In the future, even if the pharmaceutical factory doesn't make money, with these 300 hectares of good land collecting rent every month, Jian Wu and Jian Wen won't starve to death.

  She started from scratch, and shouldn't have expanded her business too quickly, but with limited time and Old Lady Xiao as her backing, Zhen Shiniang decided to take a gamble!

  The list was delivered yesterday, and Xī Què had already taken a look. Upon hearing this, she couldn't help but pause for a moment, "......Líng Gǔ is too far away, over 30 miles from Wú Tóng Town. It would take at least two to three hours for the mistress to make a trip." She shook her head again after taking the list, "Besides, the price is too high, 2,800 taels of silver, where would the mistress get that much money?"

  "I was thinking of setting up the factory in Wutong Town, but if I really think about it, everyone here knows me and Li Zhanggui. Once the big medicine factory is set up, it will soon be discovered that I am the behind-the-scenes boss... Pointing to the list, "Linggu is between Wutong Town and Shangjing, more than 40 miles away from Shangjing City. In the future, transporting medicines will also save us a lot of silver."

  Don't look at the occasional hiring of a horse cart for not much money, but once it's on a large scale, the cost of transporting these medicines is also a considerable daily expense. Mainly, after her pills became famous, they were not from Wutong Town, and ordinary people would not easily associate her with the medicine factory.

  The magpie was not giving up, "... is Mr. Li willing to put down the medicine business and go with you to Linggu Town?" When delivering the bill, Mrs. Li had already shown her intention of following Zhen Shiniang with Xi Que.

  They also calculated that the 200,000 yuan contract was just the beginning. With a famous and powerful general as their backer, Zhen Shiniang's pharmaceutical factory would surely grow bigger and bigger. Before long, even an ordinary purchasing agent in the factory would earn more than Rui Xiang Medicine Shop. Moreover, since Zhen Shiniang had taken him under her wing, he was now a member of the General's household. Just look at how arrogant Gu Mai was; they wouldn't let such a good opportunity slip away.

  "Once Jianji Agar stopped, Rui Xiang's business also plummeted... Zhen Shiniang smiled confidently, "Li Zhuang can mark this location as a priority for me, it means he already has plans to abandon Rui Xiang and go to Linggu Town to manage the medicine factory for me, we don't have to worry too much about this..."

  It's also true, so the magpie just nodded.

  "Where did you get so much silver from, madam?"

  28,000 taels is no small amount.

  And that's just buying a factory building, opening a pharmaceutical factory also needs to buy equipment, medicines and other daily working capital, without investing thousands or hundreds of thousands, it can't be turned around.

  After calculating like this, they really chose the house in Linggu Town, and they had to have at least three or four thousand taels of silver as a down payment.

  This amount is an astronomical figure for them at present!

  Zhen Shiniang's eyes fell on the jewelry box in Qiuju's hand, and Jiuyue snatched it away from behind her back. "This is a headdress that General gave you, don't even think about it!" After being conferred with the fifth rank of nobility, Zhen Shiniang would be summoned to the palace more often, and if she couldn't bring out decent jewelry at that time, Shen Zhongjie would find out that they had pawned them, and he would surely flay them alive.

  "Two thousand eight hundred taels of silver, just this branch of red gold inlaid with blue gemstone peacock opening screen dot green is enough, right?..." Zhen Shi Niang muttered reluctantly, her tone suddenly changed, "If not, then so be it. During the New Year's festival, General gave me six hundred taels, plus what I've saved this year, I also have seven or eight hundred taels in my hands..." She looked at Xi Que, "The medicine market is about to open soon, let Li Zhuanggui take Autumn Orchid to sell those medicinal materials sent by Xiao Lao Furen as soon as the medicine market opens. At least they can be sold for one thousand eight hundred taels."

  "Those medicines are for the lady to nourish her body!" As soon as the words were spoken, thinking that Zhen Shiniang would not remember the debt, Jixiao nodded in agreement, "It's just like this for now." Whispering softly, "Even if we sell everything, it won't be enough, still short by a lot." Secretly vowing, "Next time I must hide the jewelry box well, absolutely cannot let Zhen Shiniang find it and pawn it again."

  Just then, Dong Ju came in and replied, "...Liu Ma has arrived."

  Liu's mother?

  Zhen Shi Niang looked up in doubt.

  "This is the third time they've come, and all the slaves we want are ready. However, the mistress isn't here, so the servant didn't dare to make a decision." Xīquè smiled as she explained, "I think what she means is that she's afraid you'll change your mind, which is why they're rushing over so urgently..."

  Zhen Shining suddenly remembered that the maidservant at her ancestral home had not yet been bought, so she thought for a moment and instructed Dongju, "Just say I'm resting, let her bring people over early tomorrow morning." She also said, "Ji Huifeng is back, have him go find Wen Ge and Wu Ge to pick them up." Earlier, Shen Zhongshuo had suddenly arrived, so Jiliu specially had Li Changhai lead them out to hide, and they hadn't been seen for four days. Zhen Shining really missed her son.

  Qiu Ju got up and said, "The big black horse of Ma Dabo's family has just foaled, they must have gone somewhere, I'll go find them."

  Jian Wu liked these large livestock and had long been muttering that Ma Dabo's horse was going to foal.

  ……

  That Shen Zhongge stayed outside the city for a night, and the next morning he lingered for a long time outside the Taihe Hall before being summoned by the Emperor to be scolded and dismissed.

  Xiao Yu Zheng was talking to the little eunuch when he saw him come out with a dark face. Without guessing, Xiao Yu also knew that he had been scolded by Wan Sui. With a good mood, he invited: "Want to go have a drink together at noon?" He could mobilize troops to search for Zhen Shi Niang in the capital city like casting a net, which shows that he really put Zhen Shi Niang in his heart. This made Xiao Yu genuinely happy for Zhen Shi Niang.

  The smile at the bottom of her eyes unconsciously enlarged circle by circle.

  The sight of Shen Zhong's eyes was particularly piercing, and the black lines on his forehead instantly increased by a few more.

  "Where has the general gone for the past two days, so that I can find him?" The little eunuch didn't know Shen Zhongjie's whereabouts and saw him. He quickly stepped forward and saluted, "The hunting dog you wanted was sent over the day before yesterday, it's a rare wolf-like breed from the north, would you like to take a look at it, Your Majesty?"

  That day, Xun Shi Niang told the story of the wolf disaster in the north, and Shen Zhongjie suddenly realized that he wanted to conquer Yan Qi. His troops also had to domesticate a batch of giant hunting dogs, so he presented his idea to Wan Sui, but unexpectedly, Wan Sui really took it as a matter.

  Following the little eunuch's gaze, Shen Zhongjie only then noticed that the little eunuch was holding a huge wolf dog in his hand.

  It was half a person tall, with a body of dark grey, and two pointed ears standing upright at the back of its head. At first glance, it seemed to be a ferocious large grey wolf. A pair of dark brown eyes emitted a faint, eerie glow. It stared intently at Shen Zhongjie, perhaps provoked by the invisible aura he was emitting. As soon as Shen Zhongjie looked over, the wolf's grey fur stood on end, and its nose let out a low, menacing growl.

  How dare you bully him!

  Just been scolded by Wan Si, now seeing the wolf dog not going to bite Xiao Yu's treacherous face. Instead, it rushed towards him with all its might, Shen Zhong Ge's anger soared as he saw the wolf dog charging towards him and lifted his leg for a kick.

  With a loud thud, the half-man-high wolf dog was kicked out one zhang far, fell to the ground with a thud, struggled for a moment, and then stopped moving.

  The little eunuch held out his hands, stupidly staring at his own palms that had been pulled by the dog chain until they were bloody, with his mouth open but making no sound.

  Is it just going to be kicked to death like this?

  It all happened in an instant, and by the time Xiao Yu came to his senses, he found that the dog had been kicked to death. When he looked up again, Shen Zhongge had already walked several feet away, disappearing outside the vermilion gate of Taihe Hall.

  "...It was a breed dog that the Imperial Household Department spent 1,000 taels of silver to buy from the northern pasture!" Xiao Yu muttered.

  ……

  The General's Mansion.

  Several young maids were gathered around, chattering and admiring the ruby-red coral silver hairpin that the old lady had just rewarded.

  "How beautiful!" Hong Sang stroked the crystal clear red coral on her hairpin, "It's said that among corals, red is the most precious."

  A hint of pride appeared on Hong Lian's face, "Thousand-year-old coral, ten-thousand-year-old red, Old Madam said that this hairpin is a Shen family heirloom."

  She drove away Zhen Shining, she made the first achievement, Old Madam had already shown her intention to promote her, Shen Zhongge spent more than half a month in Haoran House every month, compared to the days he spent in the five concubines' houses, if he was really promoted, Shen Zhongge would spend more than half of his time with her every month, once she got pregnant... and gave birth to the eldest son of the General's Mansion...

  By then, she was even more radiant than Chu Xinyi!

  Imagining Chu Xinyi speaking to her with a humble and obedient expression, Hong Lian couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  A particularly sharp thorn fell into Hong Sang's ear, and a hint of gloom flashed in her eyes, but it was instantly covered up, revealing an innocent face. "As soon as the lady entered the mansion, she shared a room with the general, and I think the general seems to like the lady very much."

  Poured a basin of cold water without leaving any trace.

  At first, she and Hong Shu were both brought into the mansion before Shen Zhong's triumphant return. When they were purchased, the matchmaker revealed that they were intended as concubines. Unfortunately, after entering the mansion for more than half a year, Shen Zhong didn't even give them a proper glance. Considering herself superior to Chu Xinyi, Hong Shu couldn't bear it and tried to seduce Shen Zhong when he was drunk. As a result, she was driven out of the mansion the next day.

  The old lady then handed over the red lantern beside her, neither in appearance nor temperament was comparable to Hong Zhu. Hong Sang absolutely did not believe that Hong Dian's luck would be better than Hong Zhu's, just because she had gained the favor of the old lady, the general would take her in and from then on rise to become a phoenix.

  "The general has been living with his wife for five years, but he was still driven out of the house! Hong Lian sneered, "Even if the general likes it again, what can be done if the old lady doesn't like it?" Her tone was sharp, "Since ancient times, there has never been a son who could overpower his mother!" She also said, "In the third year of Guangdi's reign, Empress Yongshou was abolished by Guangdi because she didn't get along with Empress Dowager. Even in the imperial family, it was like this, let alone among ordinary people!"

  Thinking about it, yes indeed, Hong Sang bit her lip.