Harem Daily Life

Hua Yurong led her people out. A new ship of cloth had arrived from the south in the past few days. She went to the dock first to take a look and watched the people unload the goods before returning to the shop.

As soon as the shopkeeper saw the young master, he came forward and said, "Miss, I have arranged everything you asked me to do. We have surveyed all of the Han Prince's properties in the capital. Two shops are doing very well, three are so-so, and three others are probably about to go out of business. As you instructed, we have already set up locations around these shops, and we are just waiting to reach an agreement with the original owners before we can buy them."

Hua Yurong was very satisfied. She looked at the list and price list handed over by the shopkeeper, nodded and said, "Keep this a secret from my father. I will pay for all the money myself. I will take over the shop as quickly as possible. Whatever business the Han Prince's Mansion does, we will do. We will crush them at all costs."

Hua Yurong lacked the ability and strength to do anything else, but she was very confident in doing business. Previously, Jing Yuwei had made things difficult for her at every turn, and she wasn't one to swallow her anger; she was determined to get her revenge.

In the backyard of the Han Prince's mansion, Steward Zhang, who was in charge of the business, stood trembling in front of Princess Han with a worried look on his face.

“Your Highness, we don’t have many shops in the capital. In terms of scale and layout, we can’t compare with the local merchants. Perhaps… we should close down those loss-making shops as soon as possible and transfer them to others. Maybe we can still make some money from rent.”

Looking at the dismal figures, Princess Han frowned: "Is it because the manager we hired is bad at business? Otherwise, why are other businesses doing so well while ours are failing?" Princess Han was heartbroken. The shop had such a large investment, and it went bankrupt in less than a year. The losses were quite painful.

Manager Zhang shook his head and said, "The managers we found back then all had many years of experience and were definitely the best. However, nowadays, there are so many shops in the capital that it's really difficult for us to survive. If these two loss-making shops don't close down, the longer they stay open, the more we will lose."

After a long while, Princess Han sighed: "Fine, then close it down. Write a document and rent it out. That location has a lot of foot traffic. If we can't make a business here ourselves, renting it out shouldn't be a problem."

Manager Zhang nodded, then boldly added, "Last month's wages haven't been fully paid out yet. Some employees haven't received their pay and have quit since starting work this year, blocking the shop demanding their wages. I was thinking, why don't we just pay them all out to avoid making a big fuss and becoming a laughingstock?"

Princess Han gave him a cold look: "The shop's business is so bad, they haven't even made any money, and you still want wages? Humph, I'm already being lenient by not blaming them, and you still expect to pay them in full? No way."

Steward Zhang swallowed hard and said earnestly, "The wages aren't much, just two hundred taels of silver. How about the princess gives them some more, so they don't go around ruining the reputation of the palace if they don't get paid?"

Seeing that Princess Han still wouldn't budge, Steward Zhang had no choice but to come up with a compromise: "How about we give her 80%?"

Saving the Prince's Mansion forty taels of silver is enough, isn't it?

"Seventy percent?"

"We need at least 50%, otherwise if things really escalate, it'll cost much more to settle things!"

"Alright, then we'll give them 50%. Tell them to keep their mouths shut. If they go around spreading rumors, don't blame the Han Prince's Mansion for being impolite."

Manager Zhang said "Yes" and then left.

The shop assistant who came along complained, "The only reason someone like that works for a boss is because they have some power. Otherwise, who would want to work for them? They'd work themselves to the bone and still not get paid. Bah, a few dozen taels of silver is just enough for two meals."

Manager Zhang waved his hand: "Stop talking, hurry back and distribute wages. Every penny counts, it's better than nothing."

The shop assistant scratched his head: "Manager, I...I won't be coming tomorrow. I've found a new job near our shop, a newly opened one. The wages are clearly written in black and white, and it's paid monthly."

Manager Zhang blinked: "Then... has the new employer found a manager yet? If not a manager, an accountant will do. Could you ask him for me?"

Within a few days, the shops of the Prince Han's residence were in an uproar. The shop assistants complained that they hadn't received their wages after working hard for several months, and they all went to the government to report it to the authorities. The Princess Han searched everywhere for Manager Zhang, but Manager Zhang said that he couldn't do anything about it and only paid half of the wages. The shop assistants were dissatisfied and also handed over their resignation letters, saying that he was quitting.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The Prefect of the Capital has sent someone to inquire about the payment of wages," the steward of the Prince of Han's residence rushed in to report.

The King of Han was displeased: "You even withheld a few dozen taels of silver?"

Princess Han's face paled: "It's because the shop has been losing money that I... that I came up with a compromise. Your Highness, I was only thinking of the Prince's mansion!"

King Han was exasperated and said to the steward, "Go open the accounting office and make up for all the outstanding debts. It's not worth saving a few dozen taels of silver. What were you thinking?"

Princess Han had a bitter pill to swallow, so she could only say, "Your Highness, please don't look down on these few dozen taels. A few dozen taels here and a few dozen taels there, in the end, they add up to hundreds or thousands of taels. Right now we're not in Yanzhou, and prices in the capital are high, so we're a bit short on money. If we don't save, how will we support our whole family?"

Jing Yuwei sat to the side, looking at her newly painted nails: "With so many industries in Yanzhou, the annual income of over 100,000 taels of silver is not enough for Mother's expenses, is it? Is Mother spending the money elsewhere? Otherwise, it's hard to understand why she is so frugal."

Jing Yuwei's words made Princess Han so angry that she almost slapped her a few times.

"Second Miss, have you ever calculated how much you spend every day? Just the cost of dressing up for seeing Prince Jin these past few days alone has amounted to several thousand taels. Hmph, if Your Highness also thinks I'm not good at managing this household, then Your Highness may find someone else."

Princess Han turned her head away, her breathing heaving, clearly furious.

The King of Han's face was also filled with anger. He glanced at Jing Yuwei and asked, "As for Prince Jin, do you still have any confidence in taking him down?"

If that doesn't work, find another target as soon as possible.

The King of Han has limited patience and has wasted too much energy and money on He Jin'an.

Jing Yuwei lowered her head, looking somewhat resentful: "I've written him several letters, but they've all disappeared without a trace. No matter how I express my feelings, he ignores me. Maybe... maybe Father should use some medicine. As long as we're together, I won't worry about him going back on his word."

Princess Han seemed deaf to his words, and stood up, saying, "Your Highness and the Second Miss are discussing matters, so I'll take my leave." Although Princess Han loved money and was stingy, she would not participate in anything involving forced sexual intercourse, as she considered it degrading.

After the Queen Consort left, the King of Han finally relented.

"There's a polo match in a few days, you'll come with me then." At the polo match, the young masters of various families will compete, and He Jin'an, as the representative of the royal family, will naturally attend. We'll find a way to drug him, make it a fait accompli, and then bring a group of people to catch him in the act. Even if Prince Jin had ten mouths, he wouldn't be able to deny it.

Jing Yuwei's eyes were dark, and she chuckled inwardly.

He Jin'an, aren't you avoiding me? When you're under the influence of aphrodisiacs and I'm the only one by your side, I'll see how you manage to push me away!