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

Zhu Linyuan's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened; he hadn't expected Steward Liu to dare deceive him like this.

"That idiot Liu Sheng! I'm so sorry you've been wronged. From now on, the Zhu family will buy all your silk and honey, and the price will definitely satisfy you."

"We'll talk about the future later. Master Zhu, we need to hurry up the mountain to gather herbs, so farewell!"

After saying this, Shen Man pulled Lanxiang up the mountain behind the village, never looking back at Zhu Linyuan again.

As Zhu Linyuan watched them leave, he became even more certain that everything they had said was true.

He sighed, got into the carriage, and turned to leave the village.

In order not to wrongly accuse Manager Liu, he went back and called over the shop assistants to verify the information with them again.

He asked with a grim expression, "I'm asking you, didn't a mother and daughter come looking for Manager Liu a while ago?"

The men exchanged glances, then nodded and said, "Yes, sir, that's true. The mother and daughter came several times, seemingly asking Steward Liu for a favor. But the last time they left, the woman looked very downcast and almost tripped over the threshold."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Linyuan felt a surge of anger.

It turned out that Shen Man's words were true; Manager Liu really did do something so inconsistent, hurting the feelings of the mother and daughter.

No wonder they were unwilling to sell their honey to him anymore; the reason was quite surprising!

He slammed his fist on the table in anger: "That Liu Sheng! How dare he do such a thing behind my back!"

Seeing this, the men all lowered their heads and dared not speak.

Zhu Linyuan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Go and call Liu Sheng here. I want to question him in person!"

A short while later, Liu Sheng arrived in front of Zhu Linyuan. Looking at Zhu Linyuan's serious expression, he felt somewhat uneasy.

"Liu Sheng, I ask you, how did you treat Lanxiang and her daughter when they came to you to ask about silkworms? How can you be so fickle and go back on your word? Where does that leave the reputation of the Zhu family?" Zhu Linyuan asked with a stern face.

Manager Liu stammered and tried to explain, but under Zhu Linyuan's sharp gaze, he finally bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

"Master, I was wrong. I shouldn't have kept it from you and made the decision on my own. But the quality of their silk is indeed not as good as the Geng family's..."

"You've been by my side for so many years, don't you know that wild silkworm silk and domestic silkworm silk are two completely different things? How can you compare them? Do you know that your behavior has not only hurt Lanxiang and her daughter, but also damaged the reputation of our Zhu family!" Zhu Linyuan shouted angrily.

Liu Sheng nodded repeatedly, "Master is right. I was confused for a moment, and I will never do it again."

"The future? Do you think you have a future? Your performance these days has been extremely disappointing. From today onwards, you will return to the manor. I will have the steward arrange some other work for you. Let someone else take over the steward's position!" Zhu Linyuan said coldly.

"Please, sir! I have a family to support. Without this job, we'll all starve... Please have mercy! I promise I'll never do it again! Tomorrow, I'll prepare generous gifts and personally go to Xiaoyao Village to apologize to Lanxiang and her daughter!"

"Just this once, you've ruined the Zhu family's century-old reputation. If there's a next time, I really can't imagine what the consequences will be. I don't dare gamble. You may leave!" Zhu Linyuan said resolutely.

Upon hearing this, Liu Sheng's face instantly drained of color, turning deathly pale. A deep sense of despair welled up inside him, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He gritted his teeth, suppressing his inner resentment, and silently turned and left.

Zhu Linyuan watched his departing figure, sighing with emotion.

In fact, given the mistakes he made, he should have been sold off. However, considering that he had worked for the Zhu family for many years and had a family there, he was only given a different job.

However, the money earned in a year from the position of manager of a trading company is much more than that from other jobs, so how could Liu Sheng understand his good intentions?

After Liu Sheng left, he asked his servants to prepare some gifts, planning to visit Xiaoyao Village again the next day to apologize to Lanxiang and her daughter, hoping to salvage the Zhu family's reputation.

The next day, Zhu Linyuan arrived at Lanxiang's house with generous gifts.

Upon seeing Zhu Linyuan, Shen Man asked in an annoyed tone, "Master Zhu, what brings you here again?"

"I have come here today specifically to apologize to you. The matter of silkworms was a decision that Liu Sheng made without my knowledge, and I was unaware of it."

Zhu Linyuan said sincerely, "It was indeed my fault for not disciplining you properly this time, which caused you harm. I hope you can forgive me. Please accept these small gifts as my apology."

Lanxiang quickly waved her hand, "Master Zhu, this is unacceptable, we cannot accept this gift."

Zhu Linyuan insisted on giving it to them, saying, "If you don't accept it, it means you're still angry with me."

Lanxiang looked at Shen Man with some difficulty.

Seeing this, Shen Man had no choice but to accept the gifts. "Master Zhu, we'll accept the gifts and let's consider this matter over."

Zhu Linyuan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. If you have any business matters in the future, you can just go to the Zhu family to find me. Liu Sheng is no longer the manager of my Zhu family business."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhu Linyuan boarded the carriage and returned to Qiufeng Town.

Lanxiang looked at the gifts on the table, her heart filled with mixed emotions, and sighed, "This Master Zhu is indeed an honest man..."

"Mother, don't you find it strange that Master Zhu would personally come to investigate our sale of honey to the Kong family? Their business is so large, a mere hundred catties of honey shouldn't be a big deal for them. Could something have happened?"

"I don't know. Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange. We're going to town tomorrow to deliver medicine to Doctor Yu, so we can ask them about it!"

The next morning, Lanxiang and her daughter set off for town early.

Upon arriving at Yu's clinic, they handed the asarum they had collected to Doctor Yu. Then they inquired about the Zhu family.

After listening to Shen Man's words, Doctor Yu thought for a moment and replied, "Oh, a big thing happened to the Zhu family recently. Their steward actually went to the Kong family and knelt down to Master Kong."

You may not know this, but the Zhu and Kong families, though both wealthy households in town, have never had any dealings with each other. This incident immediately caused a huge uproar in the town.

However, this morning, the Zhu family posted a notice explaining the matter. It stated that the steward kneeling before Master Kong was purely his personal act and had nothing to do with the rest of the Zhu family.

"Oh, I didn't know that happened!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Man was shocked. She never expected that she would get involved in the conflict between the two major families in Qiufeng Town just by selling honey.