Rejected Beauty Practices the Villain Play
Chapter 70 Universal Celebration

Chapter 70: Chapter 70 Universal Celebration

Elder Lin repeatedly reminded the Crown Prince to restrain the Imperial Uncle, for a family with such a disgraceful uncle would tarnish the Crown Prince’s reputation. The Crown Prince indeed assigned people to manage him, but Lv Guojiu would behave for a few days before reverting to his old ways. Every time he stirred up trouble, it was the Crown Prince who cleaned up the mess. Now that he has suddenly died in the streets, it is cause for celebration.

Nuanyang chuckled, "Linlang Pavilion has been offering a 30% discount on all jewelry and clothing for the past three days. Madam and several of the aunts have gone out shopping. Linlang Pavilion is overwhelmingly busy with business, and the whole street has markdowns. It’s clear how much Lv Guojiu had angered and alienated people."

Xie Xun paused his hand while cleaning his gun, "Isn’t that street mostly Feng Family property?"

Nuanyang grinned, "Yes, that’s right."

Xie Xun smiled faintly. Fengyu had suffered greatly in the palace, and now that Lv Guojiu is dead, she didn’t even set off firecrackers to celebrate. A three-day markdown is considered restrained.

"Was it really sudden death?" Xie Xun inserted his silver spear back into the weapon rack. "The Duke Ning and his wife are both over sixty and still healthy. Lv Guojiu is not yet thirty, and he’s never been heard of having any serious illness."

"The Empress is protecting the body, and the forensic doctors can’t examine it. From the outside, there are no signs of poisoning or injury; he truly appears to have died suddenly," Feiying remarked. "Li Pengfei, Zhang Boxin, and others wrote defense statements, claiming they fought with him but left while Lv Guojiu was still alive and vigorous, so it had nothing to do with them. Both sides are deadlocked."

Nuanyang asked, "Master, should we investigate this?"

Xie Xun raised his eyebrows and casually replied, "Are you feeling idle?"

Though it seemed like a casual remark, Nuanyang dared not act rashly. The death of Lv Guojiu, whether it was murder or an accident, had nothing to do with them. There was no need to tread muddy waters. Xie Xun, now 18 years old, had once mastered both literature and martial arts. Elder Lin didn’t want him idling at home and wasting away and had recently been looking for a suitable appointment for him.

The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue were both out of the question; important positions could not be touched. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Criminal Justice were both decent options. Xie Xun had been pretending to be a useless person in the Capital for two years and, now at 18 years old, it was time to find him a position. However, he didn’t like penal work or investigations; he preferred joining the Kyoto Capital Guard.

Yanyang’s frontier forces included the Northern Iron Cavalry, led by Marquis Zhenbei, and Marshal Fang’s 100,000 Southern Border army stationed in Jiangnan, which were Yanyang’s primary border defenses.

The Capital City’s garrison forces included 20,000 Forbidden Army soldiers stationed within the Capital. They were divided into four camps led by Lin Cheng, loyal to Emperor Jianming and the Crown Prince, and constituted the main force defending the Capital.

The Fang Family and Xie Family had no chance of gaining control over the Forbidden Army. There was also the 10,000-strong Kyoto Guard, essentially a patrol battalion primarily responsible for maintaining public order in the Capital. Its soldiers were scattered, mostly commoners, unruly and hard to manage. The current commander was Li Pengfei’s father, Commander Li.

In addition to the Forbidden Army and Kyoto Guard, there was also the Imperial Army, composed of 20,000 soldiers. It was led by Chen Mo and answered solely to Emperor Jianming, able to disregard even the Crown Prince’s orders. Within the Imperial Army, 5,000 soldiers formed the elite Jinyi Guard responsible for gathering intelligence and eliminating traitorous officials for the emperor.

Elder Lin had spoken with Xie Xun about this: both the Imperial Army and Forbidden Army were impossible. If he wanted to lead troops, it would only be those unruly commoner soldiers of the Kyoto Guard, a rabble hard to manage and crude.

Xie Xun disdained the Kyoto Guard, whose combat capability was even inferior to Marquis Zhenbei’s private soldiers. On ordinary days, they caused plenty of trouble under the guise of maintaining public order, yet three successive commanders had failed to manage them properly.

Li Pengfei, Zhang Boxin, Cai Wensen, Zhou Liyu, and others brawled with Lv Guojiu on the street for an hour while the Kyoto Guard behaved like invisible men, standing by and watching. These Kyoto Guard soldiers who bullied vendors and extorted fees in the streets were aggressive toward civilians, but when faced with a brawl among nobility, they avoided involvement like the plague. They didn’t dare to mediate, let alone enforce public order.

When the matter reached the emperor, Lv Guojiu’s sudden death shocked everyone. Due to the inactivity of the Kyoto Guard and Li Pengfei’s role as the main combatant in the brawl, Emperor Jianming was furious and dismissed Commander Li.

Minister Li of the Ministry of Justice, who was closely related to the Li Family, took leave to avoid conflicts of interest. The case was handed to Vice Minister Chen Qing, a man of humble origins known for his upright nature, making him the best choice to oversee the investigation.

In Baofeng Bank, Fengyu was meeting with shopkeepers; aside from Manager Zhou of Wangjiang Restaurant, all the shopkeepers from the Capital were gathered.

The shopkeeper of Baofeng Bank and the casino were brothers, both surnamed Wang. The two were part of Su Yuejiao’s dowry and were trained by Su Ming from childhood. They were now in their forties, and their children were already working in the bank and casino. Lady Thirteen of Mudan Building and Manager Wen of Linlang Pavilion were sisters who had been close acquaintances of Fengyu for many years. After Fengyu’s arrival in Shangjing, they reunited by chance and were entrusted with the management of Mudan Building and Linlang Pavilion.

The Wang brothers were Su Family servants, while the Wen sisters were diehard loyalists to Fengyu. Apart from these four, the shopkeepers overseeing the granary, fabric store, and tea house were all reporting this year’s revenue and discussing plans for the coming year.

A young girl, dressed in an orange short jacket and a hundred-flower skirt, lounged idly on a tiger-skin-lined warm couch, resting her chin dejectedly as she closed her eyes for a moment’s reprieve. Sunlight warmed her gentle features, peaceful as a tranquil scene of ages past. The shopkeepers spoke with utmost care about their duties, and although Fengyu seemed relaxed with her eyes closed, her attendants knew she was listening keenly.

Chunlu was seated beside her taking notes, swiftly calculating figures in the account books. Once the shopkeepers finished reporting, silence fell. Fengyu opened her eyes as Qiuxiang approached with a serving of milk tea, which Fengyu delicately sipped.

"The price of grain has returned to the levels of early this year. After next year’s autumn harvest, reduce the price by another ten percent and purchase the surplus grain from the villagers. Cotton production has decreased, and winter is the season for major clothing stores and noble households to restock. Raise the price moderately, Linlang Pavilion will follow suit. Everyone has worked hard this year. Each shop will receive a 10% bonus to be distributed among yourselves," Fengyu said calmly. Her directions were always broad suggestions, leaving the details unspoken.

The shopkeeper of the granary asked, "Miss, we’ve already stockpiled a lot of grain this year. It’s enough to replenish next year. If it’s a bumper year, won’t we be stuck with the excess?"

"We won’t be stuck," Fengyu thought silently. The young marquis would just come and raid her granary again. "Allocate thirty percent of the funds to stockpiling. The weather is particularly harsh this year, with snow disasters in the Capital for three consecutive years. This year likely won’t be any different; ensure sufficient preparation of medicine, padded jackets, and grain."

This was a routine for Fengyu every year, and she never sold essential goods at high prices to ordinary families. Though this Third Miss was ruthless in many matters, she could be profoundly compassionate in others.

"Understood!"

The shopkeepers began formulating joint sales plans based on their respective stores’ strengths. A few years ago, each store operated independently, but after Fengyu took over, she often implemented bundled sales strategies. For instance, spending a certain amount at the fabric store would earn discounts at Linlang Pavilion, or a purchase quantity would earn free goods — all highly effective strategies.

Fengyu listened quietly, occasionally offering advice. After more than an hour, the shopkeepers’ discussion neared its conclusion. Manager Wang asked, "Miss, we’ve been running discount sales since Lv Guojiu’s death, and our stores have been overwhelmed with customers. Could this spark dissatisfaction with Duke Ning?"