The girl traveled through another world and forced the prince to take the imperial examination

The next day, Zhou Da received a letter from the second son of the Ning family, inviting him to Shenghua Garden for tea.

Zhou Da and Su Qingyan were both worried after reading the letter. They knew that this was the Hongmen Banquet, but they didn't expect it to come so soon.

Su Qingyan: "They must be here for the coal."

Zhou Da also felt that it was the coal that made the Ning family interested. A small Jinyuhe Embroidery Workshop was not enough to fill the gaps in the Ning family's teeth!

Recently, honeycomb coal has been selling like hot cakes in the capital. It is not only popular among the aristocracy, but even some ordinary people who don’t have heating stoves are following the trend to buy coal.

The honeycomb briquettes workshop had posted notices saying the smoke was poisonous and could be fatal if inhaled in large quantities. It must be used with a stove, and those without a stove were prohibited from buying coal.

But even after reminding them like this, there are still people queuing up to buy coal, because some wine shops, teahouses and distilleries have also found that this coal is very useful. It is not only resistant to burning at extremely high temperatures, but also saves trouble and time.

After hearing this, Mu Qingcheng told Zhou Da that places like restaurants and wineries can use coal slag, and they can be used by making slight modifications to the stove.

This pushed coal prices to a new high. The entire Jiangzhou prefecture was in a coal-burning frenzy, and anyone who could burn coal was a boast. Not to mention a heating stove, which was extremely hard to come by. Even blacksmiths working at full capacity couldn't finish the job, and orders were already booked into next year.

Some people also started reselling coal on the black market. A piece of honeycomb coal cost five cents when it came out of the workshop, but it could be sold for twenty or thirty cents on the black market.

To save face, some wealthy families, unable to snatch coal from the workshops, would buy it on the black market. There were also some shadowy forces secretly trying to find out the source of the coal.

When Zhang Tianbao was delivering coal, there were always people following his convoy. Some of them were caught, but some still refused to give up.

Even Su Qingyan began to get scared, as the coal craze had reached an uncontrollable level.

The more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen. The Ning family finally took action against them.

Shenghua Garden is located outside the south gate of Jiangzhou Prefecture. The scenery here is beautiful and pleasant. Many wealthy families in Jiangzhou Prefecture like to build manors here. The Ning family’s Shenghua Garden is the largest and most exquisite garden in this area.

Shenghua Garden is built next to the water. From a distance, it looks like a jade-like building standing on the water. The fleeting light and shadows are like a dream and a fairyland.

As Jin Yuhe's only male master, Zhou Da had to take the lead in this dangerous matter. He was led in through a side door and into the front garden hall.

In the hall, twenty or thirty sturdy men, each with a broadsword hanging from their waists, sat in the middle, a nobleman wearing a golden crown and a white snow fox fur coat.

Zhou Da scoffed inwardly at the sight of this situation. Those twenty or thirty people were just show-offs. However, the one in the middle was a bit more difficult to deal with.

Ning Haokun, the second son of the Ning family, is the most difficult scoundrel in Jiangzhou City.

Ning Haokun was wearing a white fur coat worth thousands of gold. The heavy coat didn't make him look majestic, but instead made people feel that the clothes were stolen. He crossed his legs arrogantly and threw a "contract" to Zhou Da.

Zhou Da was so angry he nearly tore it up on the spot. The contract stipulated that Jin Yuhe voluntarily cooperate with the Ning family, rename the Jin Yuhe embroidery workshop Yu Mei Pavilion, and that all of Jin Yuhe's designs would be sold under the Ning family's business, with no other shops allowed to sell them privately. Once under the Ning family's control, Jin Yuhe would be required to produce ten new designs every month. Failure to do so would constitute a breach of contract, punishable by a fine of one thousand taels.

Zhou Da was furious when he saw this. Why didn't they just rob them? Haha! This was even more cruel than robbing money. They were treating them like slaves of the Ning family.

Zhou Da suppressed his anger, but at the same time he was a little confused because the Ning family did not mention the coal.

"It is truly an honor that the Second Young Master thinks highly of our Jin Yuhe Embroidery Workshop."

"Hmph!" Ning Haokun snorted coldly, "You're smart, so sign it now! Go back and close the Jin Yuhe Embroidery Workshop, and quickly send all the new designs to Yu Mei Pavilion. From now on, you'll be part of our Ning family, and we won't treat you unfairly. Work hard, and maybe we'll even give you some extra dividends at the end of the year."

"Oh! Then how much is the dividend, Second Young Master?"

Ning Haokun looked at Zhou Da with a sarcastic look: "The New Year is coming soon, and you guys can't give too much dividends just yet. At least a hundred or eighty taels of silver, right?"

Zhou Da was so angry that he laughed after hearing this. Their Jin Yuhe’s daily sales volume was one thousand taels. They were so bold to say that.

"Then I have to thank Second Young Master Ning."

"Hmph! Hurry up and sign! Don't delay me from drinking." Ning Hao Kun was impatient. Such a small fry was not worthy of his appearance. His mother was really wasting her talent.

Zhou Da said calmly, "However, Second Young Master is too impatient. Even if I agree, it will be useless. I am just a small shareholder, and it will be useless if I sign."

Ning Haokun slammed his hand on the table. "You're kidding me! Why don't you open your dog eyes and see who I am?"

The thirty guards behind him drew their swords at the same time, pointing the tips of their swords at Zhou Da.

Zhou Da was not in a hurry. He just crumpled up the humiliating contract, threw it on the ground and stepped on it.

Ha! This is a naked provocation. Anyone who dares to provoke the second son of the Ning family in Jiangzhou City has been reincarnated.

Ning Haokun had a bad temper. He pointed at Zhou Da with a shaking finger and said, "Chop him into eight pieces and throw him into the river to feed the fish."

The thirty or so people behind him were all excited. They had done this many times. Usually, as soon as they unsheathed their swords, the other party would be frightened to the point of peeing or fainting.

Zhou Da suddenly seemed like a different person. He put away his smile, and his clothes moved without wind. The moment he raised his eyes, a bone-chilling coldness struck the people opposite him.

The room was completely silent, and even Ning Hao Kun shivered from the cold.

"What are you still standing there for? Come on."

After Ning Haokun's roar, the guards all reacted. What were they afraid of? There were so many of them. Come on, let's attack together!

More than thirty people swung their swords at Zhou Da together. Zhou Da gathered all his internal strength, flew into the air, and his body spun around, creating a gust of wind.

Dozens of people simultaneously felt their feet lose stability and were pushed back by the strong wind. Just as they were frantically trying to figure out what to do, Zhou Da didn't let them breathe. He kicked the oncoming person in the chest, sending him flying and crashing into a group of people.

Zhou Da leaped lightly toward them, landing his feet on the fallen man's stomach, causing him to spurt blood. A dozen people were stunned, but before they could even scream, Zhou Da swung his fists with lightning speed, swinging left and right, leaving afterimages. The guards, their eyes wide open, couldn't see a single blow.

After a quarter of an hour, Ning Haokun was the only one left among the thirty or so guards who could stand up.

Ning Haokun was terrified. He had never known what fear was in his entire life. Only in front of his father could he experience what fear felt like.

Today, when he faced Zhou Da, he finally knew what true terror was.

"Hey, you, don't hit me. I, I, I... I just want to invite you for tea."

"Tea?"

Zhou Da approached step by step, and he was furious when he thought of the contract. This shitty Ning family really pissed him off.

They were doing business well and hadn't offended anyone. Why did the Ning family come to steal their business?

Even if he was exposed today, he would still beat him up. He wanted to see what the Ning family could do to him. At worst, if he couldn't stay in Jiangzhou anymore, he could just move to another place.

Thinking of this, Zhou Da took a few steps forward, grabbed Ning Haokun's expensive fur coat, and beat him in the face left and right, beating him so hard that he didn't even recognize his parents.

There was a lively fight going on in the flower hall, and outside the flower hall there was a group of people hiding behind the rockery watching the fun.

"Master, are we really not going to take action? Will the Second Master be beaten to death?"

Ning Haochen stood tall beside the rockery, watching everything indifferently.

"You're asking for death, you deserve it if you're beaten to death!"

Ever since he saw Madam Ning's maid last night, he knew that Madam Ning would definitely stop him from seeing Zhou Da and then send Ning Hao Kun to steal his credit.

Therefore, he arranged people in advance to rescue Zhou Da in times of crisis. In this way, Zhou Da would owe him a favor, and their future cooperation discussions would be much smoother.

What he didn't expect was that he didn't even need to take action. With his skills, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage even if more than 30 people came.

What he wants to know most now is where this person comes from.