I don't want to be the favorite concubine of this palace anymore

The shopkeeper asked politely, "May I know your young master's name? Which family is he from?"

An Muxi couldn't possibly tell anyone about herself, so she just responded, "The young master doesn't like to show up in public, so it's inconvenient to tell the shopkeeper. If the shopkeeper thinks the painting book is okay, we can discuss the profit sharing. If not, I'll look for another company."

How could the manager let her go to another house? He quickly said, "Little brother, you can call me Manager Sun. How about this? I will give you two shares of this painting book. What do you think?"

An Muxi opened her mouth in surprise: "Only 20%? That's it?"

Manager Sun knew at a glance that she was not knowledgeable, and explained: "Little brother, you don't know, 20% is already considered high. For ordinary books or picture books, we usually give 10% at the beginning."

"Your young master only provided a pattern, but our bookstore needs to find someone to make rubbings, which requires a lot of paper and ink. We also have to pay for the store's cost, rent, manpower and material resources. So 20% is already pretty good."

An Muxi realized that she had been thinking of a 50-50 split before, but it seemed that this was no longer possible. However, the 20% was too low. She had to negotiate a higher commission.

"Could it be that Shopkeeper Sun thinks I am not knowledgeable and deliberately keeps the price so low?"

"Although the store has invested a lot of manpower and resources, I am confident that our sketchbook will sell well and bring a lot of revenue to your store. If you are so insincere, then I can only find someone who is sincere to talk to you."

When Shopkeeper Sun saw that this servant had some brains and could bargain, he thought for a moment and said, "How about this? I'll give you another 10%, how about 30%? This is the highest commission I can give."

An Muxi thought about it for a while and asked, "I wonder what price Manager Sun plans to set?"

Shopkeeper Sun thought for a moment and said, "For the time being, I think the price of three taels of silver per copy is more appropriate."

Generally, the people who read the picture books were the children of officials, and the imperial capital was not short of officials. So three taels of silver was not too expensive.

An Muxi calculated in her mind that 3% of 900 taels of silver per book would be 1 wen, which was nearly tael of silver per book. This deal was good.

"Okay, then I'll take 30% of the commission. My young master said he would let me come to the bookstore once a week, and I'll create a new sketchbook every week and bring it over. The commission will also be settled once a week. I'll be responsible for taking it away, okay?"

She didn't want to calculate the commission once a month, but she really couldn't stand it in the palace any longer.

Manager Sun quickly agreed, and the two quickly signed a cooperation agreement.

When the shopkeeper saw An Muxi's signed name, his mouth twitched.

"This name?"

An Muxi chuckled: "Don't worry, shopkeeper. Lao Wang next door is our young master's pen name. He doesn't want to reveal his real name. This does not hinder our cooperation."

Shopkeeper Sun thought to himself that it seemed that this Young Master Wang was quite low-key and did a good job of keeping secrets.

The two happily discussed the cooperation matters, and then they heard a customer entering the store.

An Muxi followed Shopkeeper Sun downstairs and saw Uncle Zhang coming to see her with his servant.

He quickly said goodbye to Manager Sun, then went out and got on the carriage at the door.

At this time, Shopkeeper Sun restrained his smile, went up to the second floor again, came behind a screen and said respectfully to the person inside: "Master, this is the painting book that the servant just brought, please take a look."

The man inside was reading a book. When he heard what Manager Sun said, he looked up and took the three picture books.

He looked down at the title and was stunned: "The Domineering Prince Falls in Love with Me"? He looked at the two titles behind it and laughed inwardly.

It's really courageous of someone to write a picture book on this subject.

He opened a book and started reading. Although the characters looked a little childish, they were very vivid and the content was very novel, a subject he had never seen before.

Moreover, this picture book is completely different from the previously popular storybooks. The previous ones had both text and illustrations, but this one basically outlines the character's behavior in each painting, and then uses a few sentences to explain the content.

What he doesn’t know is that this is actually a modern comic.

It’s not a loss for Manager Sun to give 30%, maybe this picture book will really sell well.

However, he did not open the bookstore for the purpose of making money, but just for personal interest and hobby. He basically left the management of the business to his subordinates.

Shopkeeper Sun stood aside feeling a little uneasy. Today was the first time in all these years that he gave a 30% share. He wondered if his master would be unhappy.

After a cup of tea, the man raised his head and said to Shopkeeper Sun: "Just do as you agreed with him. But the title of the book needs to be changed."

Shopkeeper Sun asked quickly, "I don't know how to change it appropriately?"

"Let's change the title of the book and the prince in the book to the prince. The prince seems to be disrespectful to the royal family. If someone reports him, he will be in trouble."

"Yes, I understand."

After receiving the master's instructions, Shopkeeper Sun immediately started to make arrangements.

On the other side, An Muxi got on Uncle Zhang's carriage and prepared to return to the palace. Uncle Zhang sighed all the way, and An Muxi couldn't help feeling a little strange.

I asked, "Uncle Zhang, what's wrong with you? Did something happen to you? Why are you sighing all the time?"

Uncle Zhang sighed again and said, "I'm sorry to hear that. My youngest son is seriously ill. I just went back to give him some medicine. We asked a doctor to see him, but he hasn't gotten any better. I'm worried that he won't make it through this year."

An Muxi finally understood the whole story. She hesitated for a moment and said to Uncle Zhang, "Uncle Zhang, my ancestors were doctors, and I know a little bit of medical skills. If you trust me, you can take me to see your child."

Uncle Zhang didn't expect that An Muxi actually knew medicine. No wonder she had asked him to bring some herbs. He looked at the sun and it was not too late, so he nodded and agreed.

"Thank you very much, Miss An. I really have no other choice. I have consulted several doctors but there is no improvement."

Uncle Zhang drove the carriage to a door in a small alley. This might be where the poor people in the imperial capital lived, and the houses were rather dilapidated.

Uncle Zhang asked the servant to watch the carriage at the door, pushed open the small wooden door, and took An Muxi inside.

It was a very small courtyard with three houses. After entering the main house in the middle, Uncle Zhang took An Muxi to the inner room. Before they got close, they heard a child coughing.

An Muxi walked forward and took a look. She saw a middle-aged woman sitting in front of the bed with a sad face. She turned around and saw her husband coming back with a servant.

Curiously asked, "Why are you back again?"

Uncle Zhang said, "I'll bring a doctor to see my son again."

He didn't dare to reveal An Muxi's identity. He could only say this.

The lady sighed helplessly, obviously not holding out any hope, but she still stood up and gave up her seat.

An Muxi walked forward and took a look at the thin boy lying on the bed. He looked less than 10 years old, had a sallow face, and kept coughing.

She probably had some idea in her mind, so she felt the child's pulse and looked at his tongue and throat.

This is the result of a child suffering from bronchitis and then a weak spleen and stomach. Long-term malnutrition has caused the body to become increasingly weak.

It looks like if I don’t get treatment I won’t survive this year.

This is a very easy to treat disease in modern times, but in ancient times it could indeed be fatal, especially for families with poor financial conditions, as it cost a lot of money to see a doctor.

An Muxi asked Uncle Zhang to find a pen and paper, wrote a list, and gave it to him, asking him to get the medicine according to the list, and then boil the medicine according to the written dosage, drink it 3 times a day, for 5 consecutive days. Wait until next week when she comes out to come and see.

Uncle Zhang didn't know why he felt that An Muxi was quite reliable, so he ran out to get the medicine. He gave the medicine to his wife, and when he saw that it was getting late, he and An Muxi hurriedly got on the carriage back to the palace.