Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Although Da Bing might break his teeth, Ling Yue would not be so foolish as to irresponsibly give up such a good thing.

"Qingzhi, there are so many things I don't understand, and your business philosophy is so advanced. I'm really afraid that I won't be able to do well."

Ling Yue looked at her earnestly and said,

"In the early stages, I'll have to trouble you to teach me and guide me for a while. Please."

"This is natural. There's no need to ask for help. Helping you is also helping myself."

Ye Qingzhi smiled and handed her the book that she had prepared long ago.

"Take it back and read it. I have written down basically everything you need to learn."

"Even the martial arts secrets are ready. It feels like you have been planning this for a long time."

Ling Yue took the book and raised her eyebrows.

"It didn't take long. I finished it in the past two days." Ye Qingzhi patted Ling Yue's shoulder, pretending to be serious and entrusted him with an important task.

"Young lady, the burden of making these royal golden chickens continue to lay golden eggs will need to be shouldered by you from now on!"

Ling Yue,...

I feel more and more like I'm on a pirate ship.

-

Two days later, Ling Yue brought Princess Duan to see Ye Qingzhi.

When Ye Qingzhi heard the servant's message, she was a little confused. She didn't know what Princess Duan wanted to do with her, as the two of them had no connection at all.

If there was any, it was Princess Duan who picked on her and used bad words against her at the palace banquet last year, so their relationship cannot be said to be a pleasant one.

If Princess Duan wants to interfere in the affairs of the royal estate, she doesn't have to come to me. There are other people she can ask, and I don't make the decision.

"Please ask them to come in." Ye Qingzhi was puzzled and told Ruyi to go outside to greet them and asked Chunyu to prepare tea.

When she saw Ling Yue and Princess Duan come in, Ye Qingzhi stood up and greeted them with a smile.

Before she could get close and say anything polite, Princess Duan bowed to her.

"Concubine Ye, I am sorry to bother you by coming here uninvited today."

Although Ye Qingzhi is only the prince's concubine, everyone knows that the prince favors her alone. Now the emperor also values ​​her, so her status is not low.

Moreover, Princess Duan came this time to ask for help. She did not dare to act arrogantly at all and kept a very humble attitude. She took the initiative to greet Ye Qingzhi as soon as she entered the door.

Ye Qingzhi smiled and helped Princess Duan up, then pulled her to the table and asked her to sit down.

"Princess, why are you so polite? Come and sit down. Ling Yue, you sit down too. You've walked all the way. Have some tea to moisten your throats."

Seeing Ye Qingzhi being so warm and polite, Princess Duan felt a little relieved. She smiled and said thank you.

Ye Qingzhi gave Ling Yue a look, asking her what was going on and asking her to give her a brief summary of what happened.

"Qingzhi, the Fourth Princess found out that I had taken over the Royal Manor, so she came to me and said that she also wanted to learn how to run the business.

The Fourth Princess also said that some of the businesses in Prince Duan's Mansion were making little profit, or even losing money, and that Prince Duan's Mansion was unable to make ends meet. If this continued, she would have to use her own dowry to make up for it. "

Ling Yue blinked at Ye Qingzhi, revealing a helpless look, and explained,

"Sihuang's sister-in-law is in trouble, and I can't just sit there and watch. However, I just took over this area, and I know a lot, so I had no choice but to bring her to you."

After hearing this, Ye Qingzhi's mind was full of questions and complaints. She looked at Princess Duan and said directly,

"Princess, I am a straightforward person and I don't like to beat around the bush. I will ask you bluntly, are you really in trouble, or do you want to interfere in the affairs of the manor through this method?"

When Princess Duan heard this, she immediately said with a bitter face,

"I am really in trouble. I don't want to interfere in the affairs of the manor. You should also know the character of Prince Duan. No one is more noble than him.

Even if you beg him to run these businesses, he won't do it. I don't have the heart to fight for this."

Ling Yue nodded, indicating that she agreed with Princess Duan's words, and that was why she brought Princess Duan here.

The best way to neutralize a potential opponent is to pull her onto your boat and turn her into your helper.

Since Princess Duan came to him on her own initiative, Ling Yue took her with him to listen to Ye Qingzhi's class, to trick her, no, to improve herself.

"Even if the palace's business is not well managed, there is still a fixed income from the farm, the prince's salary, the taxes on his fiefdom, and some tributes from his subordinates. All of these add up to a considerable amount of money."

Ye Qingzhi said,

"Why would you use the princess's dowry to make up for it? If I tell anyone about this, no one would believe it."

"Wow...or else I'd say my life is miserable and miserable. Everyone thinks I'm a princess and I'm very glorious, but who knows the sadness inside!"

When Princess Duan heard this, her defenses broke down and she started crying.

Ye Qingzhi,...

Okay, let’s get to the pain point.

The princess has such a high status, but she cried and complained. It can only be that Prince Duan is really not good enough.

Prince Duan is the fourth prince and holds an idle position in the Ministry of Clan Affairs, handling trivial matters of clan members and basically not involved in major court affairs.

Prince Duan followed the gentle path of a scholar. He liked to pretend to be cultured in his daily life. He enjoyed poetry gatherings, tea parties, flower appreciation parties, etc. He also liked to write poems and paint to express his feelings.

These are just basic information, and Ye Qingzhi's understanding of Prince Duan ends here.

Then, Princess Duan's crying revealed to Ye Qingzhi the gentle and elegant mask of Prince Duan, and she saw what kind of prodigal son he was inside.

Yes, the image of Prince Duan in public was that of a gentleman who was graceful, well-versed in poetry and literature, and courteous to others. He was the type of man who was very popular among noble ladies.

But in reality, he was just like a castle in the air, a rich and idle prince who looked fancy on the outside but was actually a complete bunch of crap.

Prince Duan was fond of poetry gatherings and tea parties, and often used his own money to organize various banquets, calling friends and inviting many students to recite poems and compose couplets, and even to hold prizes.

A banquet like this would be very expensive in itself, and there would also have to be prizes for those who are good at writing poetry, which is another big expense.

In short, it's a waste.

Even though Prince Duan is a prince, his money doesn't come from the wind, so he can't spend as much as he wants.

In order to ease the economic pressure on the palace, Princess Duan took the initiative to marry two concubines to Prince Duan, both of whom were from merchant families and had money.

The intention was obvious, which was to ask the families of these two concubines to give filial piety money. As long as they could give birth to a boy or a girl, they could be promoted to concubines.

However, Prince Duan was a noble man who only loved elegant things. He did not like concubines who came from merchant families, despising them for being vulgar and money-minded, and he did not favor them.

His favorite concubine, Xiao, was a woman from a noble and scholarly family.

Concubine Xiao is proficient in poetry, songs, calligraphy and painting, and she always says that she hates menial affairs and the smell of money the most.

Every day she either enjoys incense and tea, reads books and paints, or plays the zither. She is simply Prince Duan's soul mate.

Prince Duan doted on her very much, and he spent money to get her all kinds of precious incense, tribute tea, and rare copies of paintings that Concubine Xiao liked.

Princess Duan also felt aggrieved and had to endure all kinds of things when facing her.

One can imagine how upset Princess Duan is to have these two prodigal sons of bitches living in this palace.

As a result, the expenses of Prince Duan's Mansion became increasingly stretched, and Princess Duan wanted to ban some of Concubine Xiao's extravagant expenses, which made Prince Duan so angry that he had a big quarrel with her.

Princess Duan told Prince Duan that there was no money left in the palace. Prince Duan not only did not believe it, he also felt greatly insulted.

He is a prince, how could he not have money? !

Prince Duan immediately accused his wife of embezzling his money and misappropriating his salary, farms, and income from the royal property.

Princess Duan was so angry that she almost fainted. She threw the account book to Prince Duan and asked him to check it himself.

But Prince Duan didn't even look at it, and said that those in charge were all Princess Duan's people, and they had already colluded with each other to fool him.

Princess Duan went back to her parents' home in anger and cried, but her parents gave her money instead and asked her to fix the hole and stop quarreling with the prince.

Princess Duan couldn't stand it anymore!

She used her mother's family's money to support two prodigal sons, Prince Duan and Concubine Xiao. She might as well die.

"Wow, wow, wow... I, I really can't stand it anymore. If this happens, it will be embarrassing. But if it continues like this, how can I have enough money to fill the hole?"

Princess Duan said while crying.