She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

"Third Master Kong, what do you mean by this? I was the one who negotiated the deal with the young master first!" Manager Liu retorted defiantly.

Boss Kong is the third son in the Kong family, named Kong Minghui, and is known as Third Master Kong.

"Haha, Manager Liu, when it comes to business, you have to follow the principle of first come, first served. If you really cared, you wouldn't have come so late," Master Kong laughed.

Manager Liu was filled with regret.

In fact, half a month ago, Zhu Linyuan had told him that the honey that Prefect Lu had given to the Emperor during the New Year had received high praise from the Emperor.

Zhu Linyuan reminded him to keep an eye on Shen Man's honey, and to buy it as soon as it was shipped out, as it would definitely fetch a good price.

But Manager Liu was certain that there would be no other buyers for Lanxiang's honey besides him, so he didn't take the matter to heart.

He knew about the Kong family's last visit to Xiaoyao Village to buy silk, and today he saw the Kong family's carriage coming this way again.

He sent someone to inquire, only to find out they had come to collect honey. He hurriedly ordered a carriage to give chase. Unfortunately, he was too late.

Manager Liu gritted his teeth. He knew he had made a mistake this time, but he didn't want to give up just like that.

He turned to Shen Man, smiling obsequiously, and said, "Young Master, we've cooperated many times before. Could you make an exception this time and sell the honey to me? I'm willing to offer a higher price than Master Kong!"

Upon hearing this, Master Kong quickly said, "Hey, young master, we made a deal, you can't go back on your word!"

Shen Man thought about it for a moment and finally decided to keep her promise. She said to Manager Liu, "Manager Liu, I'm so sorry, we have already agreed to sell the honey to Boss Kong. One must be honest. But if I have any more honey in the future, I will definitely give you priority."

Manager Liu nodded helplessly, and could only watch as Master Kong left with the honey.

Manager Liu was frustrated after his wasted trip and decided to complain about the mother and daughter to Zhu Linyuan when he got back.

Manager Liu stormed back to the Zhu family and told Zhu Linyuan what had happened, embellishing the story.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Linyuan frowned. "Those two, mother and daughter, don't seem like cunning people."

"Sir, don't be fooled by their appearance. It must be because they wanted me to accept their wild silkworm silk that time, and I refused, so they've been holding a grudge ever since."

"Such a thing exists? I've never heard you mention it before?" Zhu Linyuan asked Manager Liu with a puzzled look.

"It was just recently. Their wild silkworm silk was not only ugly in color, but also hard in texture. If we bought it, we definitely wouldn't be able to sell it, so I didn't tell you."

"I see. But the Kong family got their hands on the honey this time. How am I supposed to explain this to Lord Lu? Am I supposed to go and buy it from that Kong Laosan?"

Zhu Linyuan recalled that a few days ago when he went to the prefectural city to see his son, he happened to meet the prefect, Lu Yuan.

He was implying that he wanted me to send him another batch of wild honey.

The Zhu and Kong families were both wealthy households in Qiufeng Town, and they had been business rivals for generations.

“Sir, there are other beekeeping families around here besides them. Let’s go to another place and buy some more to send to Prefect Lu.”

"I'm leaving this matter to you. If you don't handle it well, don't come back to see me!"

Manager Liu readily agreed, but inwardly he wondered where to find wild honey in such a short time.

The next day, Manager Liu inquired everywhere about where to find wild honey, but to no avail.

As time went by, Manager Liu still hadn't found any wild honey.

Zhu Linyuan was furious when he saw that there was still no news from Steward Liu. He gave him three days to find wild honey or he would be kicked out of the Zhu family.

Left with no other option, Steward Liu secretly went to the Kong family to request an audience with Third Master Kong.

He stood nervously at the door of the Kong family's house and gently knocked on the door knocker. After a short while, the door opened, and a servant poked his head out.

"I need to talk to your Master Kong about something," Steward Liu said in a low voice.

The servant looked Steward Liu up and down, frowned, but still went in to report.

After a while, a servant came out and said, "Our Third Master invites you in. Please come with me!"

Manager Liu followed the servant into the house and saw Master Kong sitting in a chair drinking tea.

He quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Third Master Kong, I have come today to ask you for a favor."

Master Kong put down his teacup, looked at Steward Liu, and said with a smile, "My Kong family and the Zhu family have always kept to themselves. What do you need from me? Does your master know?"

Manager Liu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Third Master Kong, could you transfer some of the wild honey you bought in Xiaoyao Village the other day to me? I'm willing to pay a high price for it."

Upon hearing this, Master Kong understood. It turned out that Steward Liu had come to his door because of the honey.

He picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and said calmly, "I've already agreed to sell this batch of honey to someone else."

Manager Liu pleaded urgently, "Third Master Kong, please, I really need this batch of honey urgently. Name your price, I'll pay any amount."

Master Kong shook his head and said, "It's not about the money. I've already promised someone, and I won't go back on my word. You should try to find another way."

"Master Kong, I'm kneeling before you. Please, for the sake of our fellow villagers, help me out!" Manager Liu said, kneeling down in front of Master Kong with a thud.

"Get up! What are you doing? How much do you want?"

"One hundred jin!"

After a moment of silence, Master Kong sighed and said, "Fine, fine, we're all from the same town, we'll run into each other all the time... I can give you a hundred catties of honey, but the price will be three taels of silver per catty."

Manager Liu nodded repeatedly, his face full of flattery and obsequiousness, "Thank you, Master Kong, thank you, Master Kong, three taels it is!"

Three taels of silver per catty is not cheap, but Manager Liu didn't care about the price in order to keep his job.

Master Kong nodded in satisfaction, then instructed his servants to weigh out one hundred catties of honey for Steward Liu. After receiving the money, Master Kong had someone see Steward Liu out.

Steward Liu returned to the Zhu family with the honey, and as soon as he saw Zhu Linyuan, he boasted, "Master, I finally got the honey you wanted back!"

Zhu Linyuan looked at the golden, thick honey before him, which was exactly the same as the one he had bought from Lanxiang's house last time. He took a spoon from the servant and tasted it. Sure enough, it tasted sweet and mellow; it was indeed top-quality honey. His expression finally softened.

He glanced at Steward Liu and noticed that he was covered in mud and looked rather disheveled. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "How did you get into such a mess?"

Manager Liu quickly explained, "Sir, I went through a lot of trouble to find this honey, which is why it turned out this way. But as long as you are satisfied, I feel it's all worth it!"

However, at this moment, a piece of news quickly spread throughout the town: the Zhu family's steward, Liu, had actually knelt down before the Kong family's Third Master Kong!