Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

This was the first time Li Yu heard of the Summer Banquet. Before today, she had never heard of this banquet.

So she asked with a puzzled look on her face: "What kind of banquet is this? Was it organized by a noble in the palace?"

She actually didn't know. Nanny Tian was surprised and immediately explained, "This was organized by the Concubine Shu in the palace. The Concubine Shu saw that the Queen organized the ladies of the capital to visit the palace every year, so she followed the Queen's example and organized a summer banquet."

The summer banquet is held on the fifth day of July every year. Not only the daughters of officials but also young unmarried men from various families will attend.

It can be considered an alternative blind date party.

"On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Chengjiang will be closed off, and ordinary people will not be allowed to enter. Only the families of officials above the seventh rank in the capital can enter." Nanny Tian said, "If Boss Li wants to go, he must prepare clothes and jewelry in advance."

When Li Yu heard the word "if", he asked, "Can I not go?"

"Of course you can, but..." Nanny Tian suddenly lowered her voice, "Basically everyone will go. Concubine Shu is stingy and holds grudges, so she will have people write down the names of everyone who goes to the banquet.

If you don't go, she will think you did it on purpose and then cause trouble for you from other places. So every year, although many people don't want to go, they still go."

Li Yu: “…”

Aunt Tian said, "Boss Li can find some expensive materials with less bright colors to make clothes. When the banquet comes, you can just find an inconspicuous place to stay until the banquet is over.

Chengjiang is very big, as long as you don't go near Concubine Shu, you will be fine."

Li Yu: "Will the princess go this year?"

Nanny Tian said, "The Concubine Shu didn't have any requirements for the Princess, so the Princess only went there once. I didn't hear that she was going this year."

Li Yu: “…”

Nanny Tian: "If Mr. Li really doesn't want to go, you can find an excuse and say that you were with the princess that day. But Han Zhuangyuan will not be able to escape unless the emperor summons Han Zhuangyuan to the palace that day."

Li Yu: “…” No matter how much you say, you can’t escape.

Then go for it.

Although Concubine Shu is not an easy person to get along with, she is a widow and has been investigated by Concubine Shu before, so it is likely that Concubine Shu will not set her sights on her.

*

After finishing his work at noon, Li Yu left the hot pot restaurant and went to the barbecue restaurant. Seeing that everyone was doing things in an orderly manner, he took Han Xiaomei to the cloth shop on the street to buy cloth to make clothes.

Most of the summer clothes they have now were made last year and cannot keep up with the preferences of people in Beijing, so they have to buy new ones.

Li Yu stood in the cloth shop and picked and chose. Finally, he chose a smoky blue cloth for himself and a pink cloth for Han Xiaomei.

Both pieces of cloth are considered silk, but they are not particularly good silks. They are moderately priced and can be made into clothes that will not look shabby or too eye-catching when worn outside.

The cloth shop provided custom-made services. After Li Yu bought the material, she immediately asked someone to measure it for them, and then paid a deposit to have the clothes made according to the fashionable style.

The clothes took about three days to be made. After Li Yu discussed the time to pick up the clothes with the manager of the cloth shop, he took Han Xiaomei away.

She didn't plan to buy any jewelry. The last time she went to the palace, Princess Jianing gave her a lot of jewelry, and the East Palace also gave her some. She could just find one or two hairpins to wear when the time comes.

*

Inside the No. 1 Scholar’s ​​Mansion.

Han Zheng was reading the book Mr. Su gave him in the house, Lu Xuan was practicing sword in the yard, and Si'er was watching a few men building a shed in the cross-yard.

The men were all locals from Beijing, and as they chatted, they began to talk about the situation next door.

"Everyone says that the feng shui next door is bad, but I have heard a story that is different from the rumors in the capital."

"what?"

"I heard that several people from the Ling family were killed by Boss Ling."

A man was shocked. "I have met Boss Ling. Although he is a businessman, he is extremely kind and filial. How could he harm others? Where did you hear this nonsense? Don't tell anyone. You will be punished for ruining his reputation."

The man who spoke rolled his eyes and said, "I was just saying it casually. Only a few of us know about it. If you don't tell anyone, no one outside will know about it. Besides, don't you find it strange? There are so many people in the Ling family, why did the boss Ling's wife and children die, while the concubine and the concubine's son were fine."

The other men looked at each other.

Finally, someone said, "It's really strange, but it may be that Boss Ling has done a lot of good deeds and has good karma, so nothing happened."

"I agree with you. Besides, it wasn't just Boss Ling's wife and children who died, but also his mother. No matter how crazy Boss Ling is, he couldn't have killed his mother."

"You have a point."

"In fact, the government has investigated the affairs of the Ling family. If Boss Ling is really the murderer, how could the government let him go? Let's not talk about it anymore and get to work. This is the residence of the new number one scholar. It's rare for us to come here to work, so we can just take advantage of the good fortune."

Beside them, Si'er secretly memorized the conversation between the few people in his mind.

*

When Li Yu got home in the evening, Si'er told Li Yu what he had heard.

Li Yu handed him a sesame cake and said, "Just listen to what's happening next door. After all, it's not our business. Don't worry about it, lest you accidentally cause trouble for yourself."

Si Er: "I understand. Sister Li."

Li Yu smiled at him.

After dinner, she took a lamp and went to the small courtyard to see the construction of the stable.

The shed was built against the wall between the two courtyards. Because Li Yu planned to make three of the sides with blue bricks, he built it half a meter high.

Li Yu took a look and saw that there was no problem, so he got some grass for the horse tied to the side and then went back to the house to rest.

*

The next day, Li Yu sold hundreds of packages of dried roses that he had packed in the past few days in barbecue restaurants and hot pot restaurants as planned.

Each shop has fifty packages, each package contains eight dried roses, each dried rose costs fifty cents, and a package costs four hundred cents.

First come first served, no restocking after sold out.

This was the most expensive item in the two shops, and many people were amazed when they heard the price.

Li Yu heard everyone shouting and didn't say much.

There were no dried roses for sale in the capital now. If they were sold cheaply, it would be unfair to her to transport them all the way here. Moreover, if they were sold too cheaply, the dignitaries in the capital might not be willing to buy them.

The dried roses were displayed for the entire morning, but the two stores together only sold a dozen bags.

Before opening in the afternoon, Li Yu found a few cups, put a dried rose in one of the cups, and placed it on the counter.

In addition, every table will receive a cup of rose tea for every purchase over 200 Wen.

Once this method was implemented, dried roses sold very quickly. Within just fifteen minutes of opening in the afternoon, more than a hundred packages of roses were sold out.

If there is anything else they want to buy, Li Yu will ask them to come back tomorrow.

Seeing that the counter was empty, those people had no choice but to leave.

*

For several days in a row, Li Yu's dried roses were sold out within a quarter of an hour after opening every day.

All the young ladies in the capital want to buy this.

Some tried twice but still couldn't buy it, so they gave the money to Li Yu in advance as a reservation.

Li Yu did not offend these people. After receiving them, he packed them up separately the next day.

In this busyness, time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the fifth day of July, and the summer banquet was here.