Noble Lady

"Send an army to punish the culprit?" Zheng Duoqi was a little surprised.

Xue Chenyu glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Mr. Zheng, didn't you find out clearly before you came? The Datong Trading Company, which has branches in every prefecture in Dasheng, is the property of my mother, the wife of the Marquis of Wu'an."

"In other words, this wealthiest property in the world belongs to my Wu'an Marquis Mansion."

"And I, with a single word, can decide the fate of businesses in the Jiangnan provinces, not to mention that you are only responsible for the private school funded by the Datong Company. If I want to stop it, it's just a matter of a word."

The expression on Zheng Duoqi's face changed rapidly, from surprise to shock, and finally to disbelief.

“…How is this possible?”

Humph.

Xue Chenyu sneered, "I'll just assume that you didn't know about this beforehand, so you dared to wait for me to come for so long, yet you still put off doing things and stayed in the Longsheng Inn to enjoy yourself."

"More than a month, Mr. Zheng, you've been here for a whole month, but you haven't done any real work at all."

Zheng Duoqi argued, "Miss Xue, how can you say I didn't do anything? Can you only judge a person's actions based on appearances?"

"To judge a person's behavior, isn't it enough to look at his daily diet and daily life? Do we need to analyze his social connections in depth to count? Zheng Duoqi, I'm saving your face, not aimlessly."

Although Zheng Duoqi did not hold an official position, he had made great achievements. Moreover, because of his talent, he was always praised by everyone wherever he went. How could he have suffered such humiliation?

Being humiliated in front of him by a girl who was not even half his age was something he couldn't swallow.

"Ms. Xue, I respect you as a daughter of the Marquis of Wu'an, so I'm being so polite to you. Please speak with more respect!"

Xue Chenyu sneered at this and said, "Do you think that just because you live in a low-income family, you can pretend to be frugal and cover up your inaction?"

"You've been here for over a month, and you haven't even completed the most basic task of choosing a site for a private school. Now you have to level the ground and build it. Students will start attending next spring. Where are you going to find a private school in just two or three months?"

"I..." Zheng Duoqi was finally speechless.

Xue Chenyu, however, would not give him face. "If you can't even handle such a small matter, you are either incompetent or you are deliberately delaying time."

"But from what I heard from Mr. Lu, you, Zheng Duoqi, are extremely talented and have a way of doing things. You are definitely not incompetent, so you did it on purpose!"

Having said that, Xue Chenyu also stood up.

"Although Datong Trading Company is quite profitable, every penny earned is the result of the hard work of everyone in the company. We must use it wisely and never support useless people."

The implication is, "You're eating and drinking for free here, so I won't indulge you."

Xue Chenyu continued, "Since you, Zheng Duoqi, are not competent to be the supervisor of the private school in Haicheng County, I will naturally write a letter to Mr. Lu and ask him to find another reliable person to take over."

"Aren't you afraid of offending my teacher by doing this and getting him to blame you?"

Xue Chenyu sneered and said, "Confucius had three thousand disciples and taught everyone. Mr. Lu was also like that in the past, so he had students all over the world."

"Even Mr. Lu himself can't guarantee that all his students are good."

"How can you blame the occasional bad guy on the gentleman?"

"You!" Zheng Duoqi's face turned green with anger.

"Yuzhu." Xue Chenyu waved, and Yuzhu came forward. "Miss, what can I do for you?"

Xue Chenyu then ordered, "Go tell Datong Trading Company that starting today... oh no, let's be generous, starting tomorrow, all of Mr. Zheng's expenses in Haicheng County will no longer be covered by the company."

As she spoke, she looked at the two paintings of "Plum" and "Bamboo" on the wall. Both were masterpieces from the previous dynasty. Although they were imitations, each one was priceless.

"Mr. Zheng is able to carry such an expensive painting with him, so I guess he can afford the hotel fee."

After saying that, he walked out the door.

Zheng Duoqi was so choked that he couldn't say a word in front of her.

After Xue Chenyu left the room, she finally recovered and shouted at the door in frustration, "How unreasonable! You scoundrel!"

At this time, Xue Chenyu had already gone downstairs and walked to the counter.

"I'm sorry, Manager Huang, but starting tomorrow, your inn may lose its only guest. Zheng Duoqi won't be able to afford the hotel bill starting tomorrow."

Shopkeeper Huang: “???”

"But it doesn't matter. If Manager Huang doesn't have any attachments, you can sell the inn to me. You can still stay here and continue to be the manager."

"Apart from having my name written on the deed, I won't interfere with any other business matters. How about that?"

Shopkeeper Huang: “Uh…”

He seemed to understand what the girl said, but when put together, he seemed to not understand. In this day and age, is there anyone who wants to buy his inn?

He was trapped here because the famine broke out so suddenly that he had no time to change his property.

"Manager Huang, there's no need to rush to answer me. If you've made up your mind, you can come to the county yamen to find me anytime. My last name is Xue. Just tell the yamen runners, and they'll naturally inform you."

Although Manager Huang didn't understand what was going on, he still nodded.

Xue Chenyu nodded slightly, then took Yuzhu and Xia He into the carriage and drove away.

A moment later, Zheng Duoqi came down from the stairs in a rage.

"What about Xue?"

Shopkeeper Huang pointed to the door and said, "He's gone."

Zheng Duoqi was very angry just now, but now because of what Manager Huang said, he seemed to be deflated and walked upstairs dejectedly.

"Mr. Zheng, Miss Xue said you won't be staying at the hotel starting tomorrow. Is that true?"

Zheng Duoqi's back froze and he wanted to curse.

……

at the same time.

Escort Leader Yao and Captain Fan also led the caravan and the escort agency staff to the Haicheng County branch of Datong Trading Company.

More than a dozen people, armed with knives, walked into the store so brazenly, scaring the accountant and errand boy inside, who hurriedly called out for Manager Zhao.

Shopkeeper Zhao is the shopkeeper of the Haicheng County branch of Datong Trading Company and is also an important figure in the local business world.

In a moment, Manager Zhao came down surrounded by a group of servants and guards.

"I wonder who broke into my Datong Trading Company?"

Yao Biaotou and the caravan's captain, Fan Wei, exchanged glances. Fan Wei stepped forward and said, "It's me."

"We've always been responsible for the flow of goods from Lingnan to Shengjing. Those departing from Lingnan go to Shengjing to settle their payments, and those departing from Shengjing go to Lingnan to settle their payments, right?"

Shopkeeper Zhao nodded, then realized what was happening. "What did you bring from Shengjing?"

Fan Wei didn't waste any time and showed him the invoice. "This is the invoice issued by the head office when we left Shengjing. It also has the seal of the Haicheng County branch. According to the regulations, do you have to pay me for the goods?"

"That's right, where is that thing?" asked Manager Zhao.

In fact, he was on the verge of losing his temper.

Fan Wei angrily said, "How should I know? You guys have already taken the things, but you haven't sent the money for so long. That's why I came to ask for it."

"And the brothers from the Mighty Escort Agency. All the way south, the roads were filled with refugees and bandits. We relied entirely on the brothers from the Mighty Escort Agency for escort. They risked their lives to do this, so the bounty shouldn't be less."

Shopkeeper Zhao couldn't hold back any longer after hearing him talk to himself. "You're so unreasonable! You haven't even delivered the goods yet, yet you're asking us for money. You even have the nerve to ask for a reward! You're so shameless!"

"What do you mean? We agreed that the money would be paid once the goods were delivered here. It's clearly written in the contract. Are you guys going to deny it?!"

"You asked me for something right away. Isn't this the seal of your Haicheng County branch?"

"I thought business was all done in an honest way, but I didn't expect there would be such a shameless person like you. You're even refusing to pay us back for the money we risked our lives to earn!"

Fan Wei became increasingly agitated as he spoke, shouting, "Brothers, he wants to swallow up the money we worked so hard to earn. Do you agree?!"

"No, of course not!"

The brothers from the caravan and the escort agency were all excited. Fan Wei and escort leader Yao looked at each other, and then they both started smashing things.