Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Seeing Xiao Lan's serious expression and the way she had been patting her chest, Jiang Xiuzhi thought something had happened and quickly asked with concern: "What's wrong, Lanlan? Are you feeling unwell?"

Xiao Lan quickly said, "Aunt, I'm perfectly fine." After saying that, she took Jiang Xiuzhi's hand and continued, "Aunt, you went to Yuzhou when I was born, so you should know about the legend of the Phoenix Fate."

"Oh dear, my little darling, this is not something you can just say. Before, when your eldest uncle was drinking with some people, he got drunk and accidentally said it. Your maternal grandfather chased your eldest uncle all over the yard with a stick and beat him. He also said that if anyone dares to say this again, he will beat them to death." Jiang Xiuzhi said as she tried to cover Xiao Lan's mouth.

"Aunt, Grandfather forbids us from telling outsiders. You're family, and besides, this is very important." As she spoke, she pulled away Jiang Xiuzhi's hand, which was trying to cover her mouth. These past few days, Xiao Lan had prepared some skincare products for Jiang Xiuzhi and Wu Yuyu to try. Jiang Xiuzhi especially liked the smell of the hand cream, applying a thick layer to her hands. If she were to put it on her mouth, her mouth would be full of hand cream. Although the product wasn't poisonous, she certainly didn't want to eat it.

“Aunt, we all know that the picture appeared over my Xiao residence. If my father had inherited the title, it would have been fine, but he was only a fifth-rank local official at the time. If certain people in the capital found out, I don’t know who would be in my life.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiuzhi gently patted Xiao Lan's back and said, "You've had a hard time, my good child. Don't worry, your aunt won't tell anyone. I haven't even told your uncle."

Xiao Lan smiled and said: Aunt, of course I am at ease. You know that at that time, in order to protect me, my mother found a storyteller overnight and made up seven or eight versions, so there were many rumors in the streets. But in fact, there are still some people who know the truth, especially that girl who went to the capital through the favor of the Imperial Concubine in Wuxi Prefecture.

You mean Ye Lanyi?

“Yes, it’s inevitable that we’ll run into her when we go to the capital. Her family was originally just a small merchant in Xiwu Prefecture, but she gained the favor of that person in the palace and became a royal merchant. Although she’s not qualified to enter the Imperial Academy, that person in the palace likes her, and she might get an imperial decree to enter Minglu. She might even become my classmate.” Xiao Lan said, talking about her mother-in-law from her previous life. She was too lazy to even call her a concubine, and directly referred to her as that person in the palace.

"Lanlan, I get the feeling you really dislike this Consort Ye," Jiang Xiuzhi thought to herself. She had never even met Consort Ye, so her little niece should know even less about her. Why did she seem to dislike this consort so much? Could it be because of Ye Lanyi?

"No, Aunt, don't be suspicious. Let me finish. You must protect me well this time when we go to the capital. I don't want to get involved with those two people. One is a concubine, and the other is her precious niece. So, when it comes to business, don't let anyone know that I'm behind it. On the surface, it's my mother and you doing it together. That way, it will be perfectly reasonable for me to be in the shop. It's best not to tell Uncle about this either, to avoid causing trouble."

"Alright, alright, you're so thoughtful. Don't worry, your aunt will definitely protect you well when we get to the capital." Jiang Xiuzhi said, then pulled Xiao Lan into her arms.

"Since Auntie is so happy, how about I tell you a little secret?" Xiao Lan looked up at Jiang Xiuzhi.

"What little secret?" Jiang Xiuzhi asked with a loving expression.

"Young Master Lan" Xiao Lan got up from Jiang Xiuzhi's arms, faced her, and pointed to himself, "me."

"What? Young Master Lan? That Young Master Lan who is so good at writing poetry, what happened to him?" Jiang Xiuzhi didn't react at first.

"I said I am Young Master Lan." Xiao Lan looked at Jiang Xiuzhi's blank expression and repeated: I said I am Young Master Lan, and that collection of poems was written by me.

Jiang Xiuzhi took a while to recover: "You're Young Master Lan, but wasn't that poetry collection published two years ago? You were only fourteen then!" Jiang Xiuzhi couldn't believe it. Her sister had given birth to some amazing child, publishing a poetry collection at fourteen and becoming famous throughout Yuzhou City. Her own daughter was also fourteen this year, and she could only climb trees, even breaking her leg. It was truly infuriating to compare oneself to others.

"Although I'm only fourteen and can only write poetry, I have my mother. She found someone to publish my poetry collection, and the printing was done separately, so no one knows it was my mother who published it, and no one knows I'm Young Master Lan. Even my father and older brother don't know this, so Aunt, please don't let it slip."

"I know, but your mother is such a miser, so stingy. She only issued 500 copies of that poetry collection, and I heard it's hard to find. She didn't even bother to print more. It's such a waste of your talent."

"Aunt, do you know how much that poetry collection costs?" Xiao Lan smiled.

"I don't know. The copy of mine was sent to the capital by your mother through someone. It's a famous work by a great Confucian scholar of our time, and the most expensive copy only sells for one or two taels of silver. Yours wouldn't be one or two taels of silver too, would it? Sigh, they printed too few copies, and they'll lose a lot of money. In the end, you're just too young, or your mother is too stingy."

"It's not my poetry collection that's one or two taels of silver a copy. I sold a hundred copies in the first batch, at ten taels a copy. But I'm a conscientious merchant. Those copies were made of fine silk paper, so they would probably cost three cents a copy."

"So expensive, and people still come here?" Jiang Xiuzhi clicked her tongue in amazement.

"Yes, because when it was released, they promised that if anyone felt the book wasn't worth the price within two days, they could return it without damage and have their ten taels of silver refunded. And if anyone could improve the poems, as long as they were better than the originals, they would be paid a thousand gold pieces per word!" Jiang Xiuzhi became even more excited after hearing her niece's explanation.

"You only sold this for a thousand taels, and you dare to offer a thousand taels for each word of the revised poem? Does your mother let you act so recklessly?" Xiao Lan looked at Jiang Xiuzhi and slowly said, "Aunt, don't worry. Look at me, I'm perfectly fine. I dare to make such a boast because I'm confident that no one can change my poems. (Xiao Lan thought to himself, these are all masterpieces that will be remembered for generations. If they could be changed, they could even be on the list of those who study nine years of education.) If I didn't promise a thousand taels for each word, why would those talented scholars be willing to spend ten taels of silver to buy the poetry collection of an unknown nobody like me? In fact, most of the people who bought the poetry collection were drawn by the promise of a thousand taels for each word. But after two days, no one dared to change the poems, and no one returned the poetry collection. So, from then on, Young Master Lan became famous in Xiwu Prefecture."

"And then what happened?" Jiang Xiuzhi pressed.

"On the third day, I distributed another hundred copies, but they were thirty taels each. First come, first served, and they sold out in less than an hour. I made three thousand taels from this batch."

"Starting on the afternoon of the fourth day, I will distribute fifty books every three hours, but in a different way. The starting price is ten taels of gold, and the highest bidder wins. If you do not want to bid, you can get a poetry collection with Young Master Lan's private seal for thirty taels of gold. With this private seal, you can have priority to purchase Young Master Lan's second poetry collection three years later. Only two spots will be available each time. There are not enough spots for everyone. The other poetry collections will be sold for at least fifty taels of gold each."

"How much money did you make in the end?" Jiang Xiuzhi was amazed. Good heavens, they sold a book for thirty gold coins. This young master Lan is indeed remarkable. No, now it's my niece who's remarkable.

“After deducting costs, I probably made a profit of nearly 22,000 taels. But you know my mother, I wrote the poem and came up with the idea, but the money went into her pocket. If I need money, I still have to ask her for it.” Xiao Lan said helplessly, spreading her hands.

“Aunt, I’m telling you this so you can understand that sometimes you can’t do business by looking at the immediate results. Even if Young Master Lan’s poetry collection were sold like those of the great scholars from aristocratic families, selling for one or two taels of silver, it would take me forever to sell more than 20,000 copies, and the investment would be huge. But these five hundred copies are rare commodities, and I earned more than 20,000 taels in just ten days. Now I have both money and fame. So, as long as you cooperate with me after we return to the capital, you can earn at least a year’s salary as Uncle in a month.”

"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say," Jiang Xiuzhi said, her eyes almost squinting into slits with laughter.

Xiao Lan sighed, no wonder so many modern entrepreneurs are in poor health; motivating employees is a mentally taxing job. She decided to hurry back and eat something good to replenish her energy; if all went well, Cui Sumu should be coming to see her tomorrow.