The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

The eldest son of the Lu family, or rather Lu Bing, has left.

After learning Lu Bing's identity, Zhou Chu felt he needed to rethink his future path.

The Jiajing Emperor was cruel and ungrateful throughout his life; almost everyone he employed met a bad end.

Except one person.

Lu Bing.

Lu Bing was known as the top Jinyiwei (Imperial Bodyguard) of the Ming Dynasty, enjoying countless honors and favors.

If there was anyone whom the Jiajing Emperor never suspected, it was Lu Bing.

With this relationship in place, Zhou Chu was able to put many of his previous ideas into practice.

"Brother, our eldest brother is gone."

When Mu Yunjin returned to the study, she saw Zhou Chu writing something and couldn't help but show a look of heartache.

In recent years, my second brother has been busy from morning till night every day, without a moment of rest.

Other people's children are still at the age where they are playful.

The second brother, however, never let his guard down for a moment, because of himself and because of the Lu family.

Mu Yunjin is now eight years old, and although she is only eight, she has grown into a very beautiful young woman.

She's a real beauty.

Under the tutelage of Zhou Chu and the old man, his talent and learning far surpassed that of countless noble ladies.

Even many of the so-called talented men in the capital are not as good as her.

He has the air of a young prodigy.

It's just that Zhou Chu kept her name hidden in order to protect her.

Strangely enough, she, a girl, was exceptionally good at studying military strategy.

His talent in painting far surpasses that of Zhou Chu.

Painting and military strategy, two completely unrelated things, both appeared in her.

Zhou Chu frowned as he looked at the lotus seed soup that Mu Yunjin was holding.

"Why are you doing these cooking things again? Didn't I tell you to stay away from the kitchen?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Yunjin placed the lotus seed soup in front of Zhou Chu and then hugged Zhou Chu's arm affectionately.

"Oh dear, I just saw that you were working too hard, brother."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu put down his pen with a headache and drank a few mouthfuls of lotus seed soup.

"From now on, let Xianglan and the others do these things. Girls should stay away from the kitchen. First, it's a waste of time and energy, and second, staying in the kitchen for too long will make you darker from the smoke and fire."

Xianglan was one of the maids Zhou Chu bought.

In the early years, Yun Gui Fang earned at least 30,000 taels of silver per month.

Later, Shen Qing simply bought up several shops in the surrounding area and connected them up, instantly making the shops in Yun Gui Fang several times larger.

With enough shops available, Zhou Chu simply separated Yun Gui Fang.

It is divided into a regular section and a rare section.

Zhou Chu did not rashly add business items just because the shop expanded.

Their main business is still fabrics and clothing.

Shen Qing did suggest adding a jewelry shop.

Zhou Chu rejected him.

Without sufficient backing, having an insatiable appetite will only bring trouble.

The expansion of Yun Gui Fang is already the limit that they can achieve under their current circumstances.

Even so, it was only because of Zhou Chu's relationships with a group of noble ladies.

No one will cause trouble for Zhou Chu.

However, if Zhou Chu's business becomes too large or his reach too far, someone will definitely make a move.

As long as the benefits are sufficient, even if those daughters of officials and nobles want to get involved, their families will stop them.

Ultimately, Zhou Chu was still a rootless duckweed.

It may look intimidating on the surface, but in reality, it's like walking on thin ice, extremely cautious.

They were terrified that one wrong step would lead to utter ruin.

Nowadays, Yun Gui Fang's monthly profit is about 50,000 taels.

This was the result of Zhou Chu intentionally pushing things down.

In this way, Zhou Chu could receive about 30,000 taels of silver each month.

Over the course of three years, Zhou Chu had saved up five or six hundred thousand taels of silver.

They dared not flaunt this money.

Whether it's Zhou Chu or Shen Qing, on the surface, they all seem to be selling their cloth cheaply, losing money to gain publicity.

On many occasions, Shen Qing would even deliberately borrow money from other familiar shops to purchase goods.

The purpose is to create the illusion that they are not making money.

Three years ago, Shen Qing's father was arrested by the authorities and beaten for favoring his concubine over his wife, and he almost lost his life.

Favoring a concubine over one's wife is already a violation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, their family affairs have become too big a fuss, so the government can't turn a blind eye to it.

After being beaten, Shen Qing's father's body, which had already been weakened by alcohol and sex, completely collapsed, and he died not long after.

The concubines fought over the family property and divided the family property.

The Yun Gui Fang luxury goods section has now become a trend among Beijing's elite ladies.

The styles of the clothes inside are updated every few days.

To this end, Zhou Chu specially invited many top-notch seamstresses and taught them how to design clothing styles.

The ordinary cloth in Yun Gui Fang is cheaper than in other shops.

Yun Gui Fang is the most popular place for ordinary people.

However, ordinary cloth has low costs, so even if all the profit is made, it won't earn much money.

The real money is made in the premium section targeting wealthy ladies.

Yun Gui Fang has a wide variety of styles, good fabrics, and prices that are much higher than other shops.

At first, when Zhou Chu asked Shen Qing to adjust the prices of fabrics and clothes in the rare items section to be almost twice as high as those in other shops, Shen Qing was extremely puzzled.

"You need to understand the minds of these noble ladies. They compete on who dresses better and more expensively. No matter how good your clothes are, if they only cost two or three hundred taels a piece, they will be embarrassed to wear them out. They will think they are cheap goods."

"On the contrary, these noble ladies like expensive things, the more expensive the better, because the more expensive it is, the more it represents their status."

Zhou Chu spoke eloquently.

This statement was like a revelation to Shen Qing.

Nowadays, Yun Gui Fang is booming, and has almost become a benchmark in the capital.

Even though Zhou Chu tried his best to press down, he felt like he couldn't quite hold on.

However, Zhou Chu had already prepared a contingency plan.

The next morning, Zhou Chu sent someone to invite Sun Jiaojiao, Chu Li, and others to his home.

By this time, Zhou Chu had already returned the original courtyard and bought back the house that originally belonged to the Lu family.

"Weighing Instruments, is there something you need from us?"

Sun Jiaojiao was the first to arrive.

Compared to three years ago, she has a more charming look and is less arrogant.

Sun Jiaojiao got married a year ago.

Although she had feelings for Zhou Chuxin, she knew that there was no future for them.

First of all, they are not a good match.

Secondly, Sun Jiaojiao felt that she was not good enough for Zhou Chu.

She could sense that Zhou Chu didn't like her.

Although Sun Jiaojiao is married, she has become increasingly obedient to Zhou Chu over the years.

It's just that outsiders don't know it.

Sun Jiaojiao's husband's family was a fifth-rank official, a lucrative position, so they had no shortage of food, clothing, or other necessities.

"Let's wait for Ruoxi and the others. We'll talk about it when she arrives."

Ruoxi is Chu Li's courtesy name.

Chu Li, a talented woman, is seventeen years old but has never married.

As a talented woman, Chu Li had visited Zhou Chu frequently over the past three years after witnessing his talent.

He became increasingly obsessed with Zhou Chu.

In Chu Li's eyes, those so-called talented men in the capital were no match for Zhou Chu at all.

If she hadn't met Zhou Chu, she could have forced herself to get married.

Now, however, he can no longer hide it from his own heart.

Although Zhou Chu was aware of her feelings, he never responded.

There was even a period when he deliberately distanced himself from her.

This saddened her for a while.

It wasn't until Sun Jiaojiao went to persuade her that she finally understood.

“Given your status and his status, if you insist on marrying him, you will only harm him. Your father will not let Hengqi off the hook.”

Chu Li then realized the truth and from then on, she almost never sought out Zhou Chu in private again.

She would only visit Zhou Chu at Yun Gui Fang every few days to ease her longing.

Zhou Chu was also extremely troubled by Chu Li's feelings, but he didn't have any good solutions and could only hope that she would figure it out herself.

To say I have absolutely no good feelings towards him would be a lie.

But it was just a slight liking.

Therefore, Zhou Chu has been deliberately distancing himself from Chu Li.

But it had little effect.

Zhou Chu simply gave up, thinking, "Whatever."

Over the past three years, Zhou Chu has grown increasingly handsome.

Soon, Chu Li and two other noble ladies arrived.

The four of them have always had the best relationship with Zhou Chu.

The highest-ranking among them was the daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was a third-rank official.

“I’m planning to open a restaurant and I want each of you to contribute some money. You each take 20% and I take 20%. It’s a kind of fate that we’ve known each other for so many years.”

As soon as Zhou Chu said this, the eyes of the others lit up.

Apart from Chu Li, the others have all gotten married.

Given their social status, the families they married into were naturally of extremely high social standing.

Only after getting married did I realize how important it is for a woman to have money.

In your husband's family, money gives you a voice.

They could even directly take charge of the central administration.

They were well aware of Zhou Chu's earning power.

Sun Jiaojiao and the others had made similar suggestions before, wanting to open a shop with Zhou Chu.

But Zhou Chu simply didn't have the energy for that back then.

Shen Qing is now basically managing Yun Gui Fang, and Zhou Chu has gradually withdrawn from it.

Time will naturally come.

In the capital, if you were to ask which businesses were the most profitable, one would be brothels and the other would be high-end restaurants.

After all, the capital city is full of high-ranking officials and nobles.