My Naive Ginseng Spirit Wife and My Cultured, Scheming, Delicate Husband

chapter 24

Ye Jiao stopped the ox cart, lifted the curtain and was about to get off.

Old Madam Liu straightened up slightly and reached out to support her: "Second Young Madam, is there anything you want to buy? I'll go get it for you. You just rest in the cart."

Ye Jiao just shook her head, said nothing, stepped on the footrest and jumped off the cart, her movements exceptionally agile.

Old Madam Liu got down after her, told the coachman to wait properly and not go far, then turned her head and saw Ye Jiao had already walked into a shop.

The old woman could not read many characters, but looking at the two pieces of clothing hung outside as display, she knew it was a clothing store.

She hurried in, walked beside Ye Jiao, but did not speak.

Ye Jiao looked around from side to side, as if searching for something.

The shopkeeper was sharp-eyed. Anyone who runs a business outside needs good eyesight. He could tell at a glance that Ye Jiao was a lady from a wealthy family.

Needless to say, just that hairpin on her head was enough to show her status.

He immediately put on a big smile and came forward, cupping his hands and said: "Madam, are you here to get new clothes ready for winter? Though our shop is not big, our craft has been passed down from ancestors. We have been in this business for generations. Both knitting and embroidery are top-notch, I guarantee you will be satisfied."

Ye Jiao did not catch much of this long speech. After all, she did not come to pick something for herself, so she said directly: "I want to see fur robes."

Fur robes? That's a big order coming to the door!

The shopkeeper was extremely enthusiastic. He trotted over to lift the curtain, showing the fur robe styles inside: "Madam, take a look. These are all the most fashionable styles right now. Even the young ladies and madams in the capital wear these."

But Ye Jiao did not even look at them, she shook her head gently: "I am not buying this for myself, I am buying it for my husband."

Hearing this, Old Madam Liu looked at Ye Jiao in surprise.

It was not that she doubted the relationship between Qi Yun and his wife, but she was used to Mrs. Fang's temper of getting everything for herself, spending all her money on her own things. It was so new to see a wife who went out shopping to buy clothes for her husband that Old Madam Liu felt it was fresh.

The shopkeeper kept his smile unchanged. He was in business, so auspicious words rolled off his tongue one after another: "One look and you can tell madam is a virtuous woman. What a lucky man got to marry you." He kept walking, lifted the curtain on the other side, and inside a row of men's fur robes were neatly placed.

It was just the beginning of winter, all kinds of winter clothes were selling well.

Now the court vigorously promoted trade, and common people had extra money in hand. Winter clothes are not easy for ordinary families to make by themselves, so more people come to buy them, and the clothing store prepares more stock.

But the shopkeeper was used to sizing up customers. When ordinary people come, he introduces thick heavy robes. When rich people come in, he introduces the more expensive brocade robes and cloaks.

But fur robes are not often displayed. First, the fur on them is not easy to take care of. If it gets dusty or damaged, the robe will be hard to sell. Second, fur robes are not cheap. Ordinary people can not necessarily buy a good one even saving for a year. Even rich families only buy one to wear for ten years, so they do not put them out when no one usually asks.

Now seeing Ye Jiao specifically ask for one by name, the shopkeeper's face was beaming with joy, and he introduced them one by one.

In the end, a black fur robe was chosen. It felt extremely good to the touch. Ye Jiao wrapped it around herself to try it on, felt it was very warm, and it was big enough, so Qi Yun would definitely fit into it.

Seeing that she liked it, Old Madam Liu asked the shopkeeper: "How much for this fur robe?"

The shopkeeper smiled brightly and held out three fingers: "Three taels of silver. This is already sold at a cheap price. If it doesn't fit, our shop will help alter it for free if you need it smaller."

Three taels of silver is three strings of coins, which is three thousand copper coins altogether. Ordinary people definitely can not save that much in a year.

But Ye Jiao had spare money on hand, and could afford three taels.

But Old Madam Liu leaned close to Ye Jiao's ear and asked softly: "Second Young Madam, should I go negotiate the price with him?"

The idea of negotiating a price was also something Ye Jiao heard for the first time.

Fortunately, the biggest advantage of little ginseng was listening to advice. She nodded when she heard this, and watched Old Madam Liu go negotiate with the shopkeeper with curious eyes.

Although Old Madam Liu usually keeps a low profile in front of the employer and does not like to show off, she is always decisive and brisk when doing things.

Usually the things in this shop are a bit more expensive than outside, the price is inflated. Even though the court controls prices, who wouldn't want to earn more when doing business outside?

One could tell from how glib the shopkeeper was just now that he was a shrewd man. Old Madam Liu would never believe that three taels of silver was the real price.

But negotiating price is also a kind of skill. You can not slam down and press the price to death right at the start, nor can you let the other party see that you really want to buy and will not leave empty-handed. It's all this truth and falsehood going back and forth. One says I don't want it anymore, the other says I can't sell it for that price. But in the end, it all comes down to who breaks first, which made little ginseng look on with astonishment.

In the end, the deal closed at one tael and eight qian. When this price came out, Ye Jiao looked at Old Madam Liu with admiration in her eyes.

Bringing Mother Liu out was the right choice, what a money saver!

Old Madam Liu just smiled modestly and quietly walked back behind Ye Jiao.

Although the shopkeeper had the price cut by almost half, and put on a sad face on purpose, he did not feel too bad in his heart. He thought that even at this price, he still made a profit.

But Ye Jiao paid with a small silver ingot, so the shopkeeper needed to go to the back to weigh it, give change and enter it into the account, which was a whole process.

Ye Jiao and Old Madam Liu were invited to the side room to drink tea. When Old Madam Liu saw they served top-quality Longjing, she felt regret in her heart. It was most likely that she had not pressed the price hard enough just now. But she did not show it on her face. She had already got praise from Second Young Madam, there was no need to dig a hole for herself.

Ye Jiao held the tea cup, did not drink, just held it in her hand to warm herself.

At this moment, two people walked in from outside. Dressed like commoner scholars, they looked like students from the academy. It was not the shopkeeper that went to receive them, but the shop assistant.

The two chatted and looked around, Ye Jiao did not pay attention, but at this moment, two gong sounds suddenly came from outside the window.

The gong sound was loud, it was impossible not to notice.

After the gong sound, a loud shout came: "Great victory at the border! The Emperor is overjoyed! Grant a general amnesty to the whole nation, reduce taxes by twenty percent!" Then two more gong strikes, repeated the previous sentence, each shout louder than the last!

The scholars who were just chatting immediately stopped looking at clothes, ran out to watch the excitement. The shopkeeper who was originally counting money actually trotted out to the door, held his breath and listened carefully. When he heard it clearly, he actually fell to his knees with a thud, shouting "The Emperor's heavenly grace is vast!" at the top of his lungs!

This left Ye Jiao dumbfounded. She subconsciously reached out and grabbed Old Madam Liu's wrist.

Old Madam Liu immediately said in a low voice: "Second Young Madam don't panic. What the shopkeeper is thanking is not the heavenly grace, it's the last four words."

For ordinary common people, the emperor is far away. Although a great victory at the border is happy, that joy is still a bit distant. Except for those who have family members serving in the military who will sincerely thank heaven, most people actually care more about the final benefit.

A general amnesty to the whole nation, reduce taxes by twenty percent.

For people doing business, if you can get a twenty percent tax cut, you can naturally get much more profit. What the shopkeeper knelt for was not any heavenly grace, it was the gleaming silver.

After hearing Old Madam Liu's explanation, a smile appeared on Ye Jiao's face too.

Her own husband is also in business. This is indeed a happy event, she has to go back and tell her husband the good news later.

But Ye Jiao vaguely remembered that the eldest son of the Ye family had gone out for military service many years ago and had not returned. She just did not know where he went. If he also went to the border, after this great victory, she did not know whether Ye Dalang could still come back alive.

Ye Jiao thought carefully amidst the sound of the gong, but in the end she could not recall any information about Ye Dalang being outside in her memory.

After the yamen runner carrying the copper gong walked away, the shopkeeper got up, patted the dirt off his legs, and went back to give Ye Jiao her change happily.

Two strings of change copper coins were placed on the tray. When the shopkeeper saw them out the door, he could not stop saying a string of auspicious words, hoping this madam would come back to his shop as a returning customer in the future.

Ye Jiao carried the cloth bag wrapped around the fur robe and went out, got on the ox cart. She did not stop again this time, and went all the way back to the Qi family without stopping.

When Ye Jiao arrived at the Qi family, Qi Yun was sitting in the study, frowning slightly as he read the letter sent by Steward Song via the shop assistant.

Qi Yun knew who the people that came to cause trouble were. He had made arrangements early, and the people he hired for the shop were all trained fighters. Before, some people thought it was not worth spending so much money to hire them, but this time Qi Yun successfully shut everyone up, the fact told everyone that the money was indeed not wasted.

It was just that Qi Yun did not expect his arrangement would come in handy so early. I'm afraid he would have to hire these skilled men to stay long-term from now on. When a business grows, there will always be some matters to settle.

But when Qi Yun saw Steward Song's praise of Ye Jiao at the end of the letter, he could not help but smile in his heart.

He knew his own wife best, she was the most simple person. Although what she said was misunderstood by Steward Song as something else, Qi Yun thought Ye Jiao's original intention was just to throw those people out, that was all.

But Qi Yun did not plan to tell Steward Song the truth. He would rather his subordinates respect Ye Jiao. Even if it is a misunderstanding this time, it is fine. Only when subordinates have enough respect will they obey orders.

Qi Yun picked up his brush and wrote a reply to Steward Song, handed it to the shop assistant to send back, then heard Tie Zi come in and say: "Second Young Master, Second Young Madam is back."

Qi Yun, who had just had a serious face, suddenly broke into a smile, wrapped the thick robe around himself, and walked quickly out the door with Tie Zi.

As usual, Tie Zi sent Qi Yun to the courtyard and left. Qi Yun walked through the courtyard, gently pushed open the door, and a wave of warm air hit his face. The room was already warm as spring.

Usually the charcoal fire is put out when no one is in the house, to avoid accidents. The fact that it is warm now means someone came back earlier than him.

Qi Yun lived many years alone. He thought he was used to being by himself, but after marrying Jiaoniang, the man found that he was actually just an ordinary person.

He likes warmth, he likes life, he likes having someone with him.

Even just the feeling of having someone waiting when you come back into the room can make him stand at the door and sigh for a long time.

He closed the door tightly, locked the cold air outside, put the hand warmer he was holding on the table, and then saw a basket and a cloth bag placed on the table.

When he went out today, Qi Yun told Ye Jiao to bring money. He guessed these were the things Jiaoniang bought back.

Qi Yun did not go to look at them carefully. Instead, he went to the charcoal stove first to warm his hands, warmed his whole body up, and then walked into the inner room.

Ye Jiao was arranging the screen. She heard footsteps behind her, turned her head and saw Qi Yun.

Little ginseng smiled when she saw Qi Yun, ran over and pulled his hand, with eagerness in her eyes: "Husband, I have good news to tell you!"

Qi Yun curved the corners of his mouth: "What good news?"

Ye Jiao immediately told Qi Yun about the gong beating on the street.

In fact, Qi Yun had already heard from the shop assistant just now. A great victory at the border is a big happy event, but the tax cut is also directly related to Qi Yun.

He had just listed a series of regulations in the study. A twenty percent tax reduction is no small amount. It coincides with the restart of the shops under Qi Yun's management, this twenty percent savings can do a lot of things.

But now after hearing Ye Jiao's words, Qi Yun pretended he did not know anything just now, and said with a smile: "This is really a good thing. The shop opened today, and we also get to meet the court's great victory. Double happiness. The pigeon soup tonight is not enough, later ask someone to cook two eggs to celebrate."

Ye Jiao followed with a line: "I don't want boiled eggs, I want scrambled eggs."

Qi Yun pinched her earlobe, turned his head and called Xiao Su to the window, and said: "Go tell the small kitchen to scramble two eggs. As for the chicken soup..."

Xiao Su's heart suddenly lifted.

The little girl never forgot the look in Qi Yun's eyes when he looked at her little black chicken before, how he could not wait to stew it.

She had a premonition that if they really drank chicken soup, it must be her little black in the pot!

Little Black's tail feathers have not even grown out yet!

Ye Jiao shook Qi Yun's hand: "We already have pigeon soup, we don't need chicken soup."

Qi Yun smiled, his voice sounded very gentle: "Okay, whatever you say." The man looked up again and said to Xiao Su outside the window, "Then add a sugar pancake. When there is happy news, we should eat something sweet."

Xiao Su let out a sigh of relief. She was glad she saved a chicken life for her little Black. She thought to herself, although Second Young Master is very scary, Second Young Madam is beautiful and kind, completely different from Second Young Master. She likes Second Young Madam the most.

Ye Jiao whispered: "Husband, I also want magnolia slices."

Qi Yun immediately added another sentence: "Tell the small kitchen to add a dish of magnolia slices too."

Xiao Su agreed one by one, memorized it firmly in her heart, and only trotted to the small kitchen to pass the message when there was no more movement inside.

Ye Jiao was looking forward to dinner, but little ginseng had not forgotten what she had not finished just now.

Letting go of the hand holding Qi Yun, Ye Jiao smiled at him and said: "Can husband help me bring the basket from the table here?"

It was rare for Ye Jiao to ask Qi Yun to do something for her. When the man heard this, he immediately went out obediently to get the basket for her.

But he did not notice that when he put down the hand warmer just now, he pressed a corner of the basket's cover cloth. When he picked it up, the cloth on the basket was pulled off. Qi Yun lowered his head and saw the petals packed inside.

These petals were all carefully selected by Mrs. Dong, they were extremely fragrant. Just lifting the cloth could already smell the dense faint fragrance.

But Qi Yun did not know what the petals were for, so he asked: "Jiaoniang, what do you need a whole basket of petals for?"

Unexpectedly, just after Qi Yun turned around with the basket, he saw Ye Jiao standing in the inner room had already taken off her padded jacket, and was untying the sash of her skirt, her voice clear: "To take a bath."