No, I was just a concubine, how did I become the queen?

Xuanwu Lake is actually a royal garden, and in order to avoid the name of Emperor Kangxi, it was renamed Yuanwu Lake and is generally not open to the public.

The fact that the Wang family can hold a flower-viewing banquet here shows how high their status in Jinling is.

The reason why the Fourth Master was given a post by his family was because of his fake identity, which was that he was a relative of the Fucha family.

No matter how powerful they are, the Wang family is still Han people and a member of the Han army flag. They still have to give some face to the relatives of the Fucha family.

And it’s just a post, it’s okay if it can show goodwill to Fu Cha.

The carriage entered the garden, and when Lin Mingyan got off, a little maid came to lead the way.

A pretty maid, dressed in blue top and white bottom, had a smile on her face and led them inside in a graceful and elegant manner.

Such a high-quality maid can even compare with the palace maids.

Lin Mingyan and the other two were not important guests of the Wang family, but they had such maids to serve them. It was simply astonishing.

Lin Mingyan asked tentatively, "Young lady, you are such a talented person, but you are serving the lady at home?"

Could it be that the Wang family noticed their identities and hired someone to keep an eye on them?

The little maid smiled generously: "Madam, you are joking. I am just a third-class maid in the mansion. How can I compare with the sisters around the eldest lady at home?"

"You're too modest~~" Lin Mingyan was stunned for a moment, but still praised him sincerely.

The Fourth Master was listening on the side, but he felt that the Wang family was really too rich.

A third-class maid would always be dressed in the finest clothes, and even from the way she spoke she might be literate.

How much financial resources are needed to afford such slaves?

After asking for a while, Lin Mingyan began to look at the scenery of Xuanwu Lake seriously.

I have always stayed in the capital before, and this is the first time I have experienced the graceful scenery of Jiangnan.

And although this garden did not belong to the Wang family, they just borrowed it to hold a flower banquet, but the decoration was magnificent.

These arrangements were all sent by the Wang family, and it is said that it took more than a month to complete.

Someone nearby was praising them, and the maids serving them puffed out their chests with pride, with confident smiles on their faces.

The Wang family is truly extremely wealthy.

When they arrived, Lin Mingyan and the Fourth Master separated, and he went to the men's side.

Lin Mingyan sat next to the lady and chatted. She had been pampered for many years and her temperament was naturally noble.

Although she is hiding her identity now and the clothes she wears are not top-notch, it cannot conceal her temperament.

A local lady came to talk to her, and when she heard that she was from the capital, there was a little more respect in her eyes.

The Wu family lady spoke softly and was very cute: "Mrs. Lin, are you here to do the sweet potato business as well?"

Her family is from Fujian and she came to Jinling for business.

Lin Mingyan nodded: "Yes, there are many mountains here and the temperature is suitable for growing sweet potatoes."

"The imperial court has been promoting sweet potatoes for several years, so we thought business here would be good."

Madam Wu agreed, "Then you've come to the right place. The entire Jiangnan region's sweet potato business is controlled by the Wang family."

"My family member gave quite a lot of gifts to be able to attend today's flower viewing banquet."

Lin Mingyan heard something unusual. What did it mean that the entire sweet potato business in the Jiangnan region was in the hands of the Wang family?

After all, sweet potatoes are used to fill the stomachs of the poor, and the price cannot be raised, so few people choose to sell them.

In other words, even if you can make some money by processing sweet potatoes into vermicelli, you won’t make much if the scale is not large enough.

It’s fine for small businessmen to make a profit from the price difference, but why would the Wang family get involved?

But she remained calm and followed Mrs. Wu's words, "Yes, who doesn't want to make some money?"

Madam Wu did not treat her with disdain just because they were in the same line of work.

She was very open-minded. The sweet potato market in Jiangnan was so big. Her family wanted to take the goods back to Fujian, while the other party wanted to go to Beijing, so there was not much conflict.

It would be possible to get closer to each other, and if the two of them work together, they might be able to take in more.

Otherwise, the Chen family in Fujian will take more goods, which will not be good for the Wu family, right?

Thinking of this, she became more friendly to Lin Mingyan and let out a lot of information while speaking.

Lin Mingyan learned a little bit that the farmers in Jinling would actually sell all their sweet potatoes during the autumn harvest every year!

how can that be possible?

Even if she had never been a farmer, she knew that farmers would never sell cheap food as long as they could make a living.

In other words, for some unknown reason, the people of Jinling are almost unable to make a living!

She pretended to be innocent and asked, "Sister Wu, why have the farmers in Jinling sold all their sweet potatoes?"

Mrs. Wu treated her as her sister and almost blurted out: "I was forced to do it..."

Before she finished speaking, she reacted and changed her words: "Oh, sister, don't worry about it. Anyway, you know that the Wang family is powerful."

"They have a way to take all the sweet potatoes here, and we can buy them at a slightly higher price. Both sides will make money..."

When Lin Mingyan heard this, her heart skipped a beat.

The Wang family can control almost all the sweet potatoes in Jiangnan. The difference in price between the two makes them rich enough to rival a country.

Then the sweet potatoes she promoted really became a powerful tool for these wealthy families to exploit the common people.

With such speculation, she had no interest in enjoying the flowers afterwards.

I just wanted to go back quickly and discuss this matter with the Fourth Master.

She didn't even have time to look at the extravagant display of the three wives and a dozen daughters of the Wang family.

I finally waited until the banquet was over, and the maid brought me a gift in the morning.

"Mrs. Lin, please have a safe trip," she smiled and sent her out.

When Lin Mingyan met the Fourth Master again, they looked at each other and saw suspicion in each other's eyes.

After getting on the carriage and leaving Xuanwu Lake, neither of them spoke for a long time.

Lin Mingyan came to her senses and told Rendong to open the box of return gift. Inside were two Suzhou embroidered handkerchiefs with peony flowers embroidered with gold thread.

Such a luxurious handkerchief was actually a return gift from the Wang family to an ordinary guest.

"Huh! What a generous gesture!" The Fourth Master also threw out a box containing two pieces of fine Hui ink.

Lin Mingyan said coldly, "These two return gifts are worth a hundred taels of silver each. There are at least fifty families attending the flower viewing banquet today. The Wang family will have to spend five thousand taels just on the return gifts."

"Not to mention today's decorations, drinks, and meals, all of which are extremely expensive. This Wang family is truly more extravagant and wealthy than the imperial palace."

The Fourth Master was furious: "If it weren't for sucking the blood and sweat of the people, who could afford such extravagance and waste?"