Traveling through ancient times, the empress insisted on having a child with me

In Yunfu Ji's office, Ling Chuan was happily checking the accounts.

Yunfu Ji has a daily revenue of several hundred taels of silver. Although the profit is not large, it is stable and does not require much worry.

The business at Liulitang is also booming. Although there are not many orders, the profits are high.

The only one is the shop called "Running Errands" which is still losing money so far.

This errand running business has set up five large points and a dozen small points in the capital city. There are more than 500 people doing errands. The wages and rent alone cost several thousand taels of silver every month.

Cao Huanchun complained: "I'm afraid this deal is going to be a loss."

Ling Chuan pointed to the income and expenditure in the account book and said, "Isn't this a revenue of several hundred taels of silver a month? It shows that there is still business."

Cao Huanchun said sadly, "Why don't you look at the expenditure? The monthly wages and rent cost several thousand taels, and the income is only 10% of the expenditure. This is clearly a bottomless pit."

Ling Chuan lowered his voice and said, "That's not how it's calculated. For our business, the most important thing is to have eyes and ears all over the city."

Cao Huanchun's mouth twitched: "So what you mean is that we will continue to lose money like this?"

Ling Chuan raised his eyebrows: "It's okay if we lose money. We can afford it."

He added, "You've worked in the East Factory before, so just treat this business as the East Factory. You don't have to worry about the money."

Cao Huanchun opened his mouth and paused for a moment before saying, "Okay, then I understand."

Ling Chuan opened the last account book, which recorded the accounts of the multiple purchases of sugar using the 200,000 taels of silver given by Lu Xi. The date, price, and amount of sugar purchased were all recorded clearly.

Ling Chuan was too lazy to read it and turned directly to the last page. He saw the total amount of sugar written on it, which was 1,107 kilograms.

"Have you spent all the two hundred thousand?"

Cao Huanchun nodded, Ling Chuan gave him a thumbs up, then picked up the abacus beside him and started to play with it.

But he had only dialed a few times when Lao Cao at the side interrupted him: "Three hundred and three was the price yesterday, and it has increased again today, with the highest being three hundred and forty-five taels of silver, with a total value of more than three hundred and eighty thousand taels of silver."

"Okay, good job."

Ling Chuan stood up with a smile on his face: "Looking at it this way, my previous estimate of 500 taels was still too low."

Ling Chuan closed the account book and pushed it back to Cao Huanchun, but Cao Huanchun didn't take it at all: "You should keep this yourself. The price of sugar that cost ten taels of silver has risen to more than three hundred taels. I'm so scared every day that I can't sleep well."

Ling Chuan curled his lips and said, "As for that, I've already said it before, this is just a game of passing the flower. I'm the one passing the flower, and I'm also the one beating the drum. I'll stop when I say so, why are you panicking?"

Cao Huanchun pointed to the yard and said, "That more than 1,000 kilograms of white sugar is worth 300,000 or 400,000 taels of silver, and the white and brown sugar produced in Jilong Mountain add up to more than 10,000 kilograms. How can I not be panicked? If the news about Jilong Mountain leaks out, you won't be able to play the game of passing the parcel any more."

Ling Chuan's face suddenly turned serious: "This is a big deal. You have to keep a close eye on it. The Jilongshan yard is of great importance. Besides sugar, there are other things."

"Anything else? Anything else?"

Ling Chuan waved his hand: "Anyway, it's very important. Let me tell you this, everything in that yard on Jilong Mountain is strategic materials. Once it falls into the hands of the enemy, it will be a crime of treason."

Cao Huanchun was shocked: "Then you'd better talk to the young lady and ask her to assign some soldiers to guard you so that nothing will go wrong."

"Let the young lady mobilize some... soldiers?"

Ling Chuan had a puzzled look on his face, and Cao Huanchun suddenly realized that he seemed to have let something slip.

Didn’t Ling Chuan guess before that Madam Li was the Queen Mother?

Cao Huanchun's mind raced as he quickly reviewed the conversation between the two yesterday. He realized that he had made a preconceived notion, so he quickly tried to make amends: "The young lady is a member of the royal family after all. There is still a way."

Ling Chuan was full of suspicion, but he couldn't find any flaws, so he simply said, "Okay, you can help me pass the message... It's better to let her come, and it would be even better if we can meet at Jilong Mountain."

Cao Huanchun breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, I'll tell the lady later."

"By the way, you said yesterday that Liu Quan comes every day to ask for sugar, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Just wait. Liu Quan will definitely come before noon."

Ling Chuan looked up at the sky and said, "That won't do. We have to leave him alone for a few more days. On the first day of the new year, we'll go."

Cao Huanchun asked curiously, "Where are you going now?"

"Let's go to Pearl Bridge. Didn't Mrs. Li come to urge us yesterday? I just happened to be free."

Watching Ling Chuan leave the house, Cao Huanchun felt like crying but had no tears. He didn't know whether he had leaked the emperor's secrets, so he could only hurry into the palace to find the emperor.

In fact, when Lu Xi heard that Ling Chuan had returned to Beijing, she wanted to find him as soon as possible, but she had never found the time. The empress dowager talked about it again yesterday, and Lu Xi missed him even more. If the empress dowager had not been watching her closely, she would have wanted to leave the palace to find Ling Chuan last night.

So when Cao Huanchun came into the palace, Lu Xi's irritability of the past two days was swept away.

Cao Huanchun briefly talked about what Ling Chuan had done from yesterday till now. Lu Xi listened to this chronicle with great interest. Finally, when he heard that Ling Chuan had asked him to meet at Jilong Mountain, he immediately decided to leave the palace to keep the appointment.

Cao Huanchun quickly stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, Young Master Ling is probably at Pearl Bridge right now. The Queen Mother is waiting for Ling Chuan to make a decision about the Shengshi Liuli. She wants to hold an opening ceremony."

Lu Xi was stunned for a moment. His mother was too cunning. She usually kept an eye on him, and when she rarely left the palace, she started to keep an eye on Ling Chuan.

Ling Chuan didn't expect that after being scolded by Mrs. Li yesterday, he would encounter the same thing again today.

However, Lingchuan's mentality was very different from yesterday.

Yesterday, Ling Chuan felt that the person he least wanted to see was Mrs. Li, but now he looked at Mrs. Li as if she were an elder of his girlfriend's family.

"Oh, Madam Li, you're here too. I should have brought some snacks with me." Ling Chuan walked into Shengshi Liuli's shop with a smile on his face. "I'm afraid Madam Li hasn't eaten yet at this hour. How about we have a meal together?"

Mrs. Li was frightened by Ling Chuan's sudden enthusiasm. When she met Ling Chuan in the past, although Ling Chuan appeared polite on the surface, she could see that he was just going through the motions.

But today is different. Ling Chuan's enthusiasm doesn't seem to be fake.

Madam Li rolled her eyes around and didn't respond to Ling Chuan's question: "You are diligent. Didn't I tell you to take a few days' rest yesterday?"

"Oh, Mrs. Li's matter is of course the top priority. I had a good rest last night. You see, I am full of energy."

Ling Chuan was tanned this time, no longer the gentle and handsome man he used to be, but with his slightly flattering smile, he looked quite cheerful.

As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. With Ling Chuan's enthusiasm, Mrs. Li's expression was not so stiff. "I'm not going to eat. Tell me, what kind of opening ceremony do you plan to prepare for my Shengshi Liuli?"