Du Yuejiao felt relieved when she saw that everyone was calmed down. Now that the guild hall was complete, all that was left was a little training. During the training period, she would arrange for people to spread the news of the guild hall’s opening so that it would not be deserted when it opened.

Thinking of the many things that were still to come, Du Yuejiao could not help but scold the young master. He was really too annoying for her to handle all these things alone…

PS: There are so many things to do that it is difficult to guarantee the update speed, but I will try my best.

Another thing is that the pace of the book will be faster and the main chapters will be entered as soon as possible.

Chapter 43: Selling sheep’s heads and selling dog meat

The hot summer has passed and the cool autumn has arrived.

During this period, there was nothing major happening in the capital. The only thing was that a new “brothel” had been built in the capital, named “Heaven on Earth”, which was taken from the phrase “The palaces under heaven have fallen into the human world”.

The girls there were all talented in writing, even the maids who served tea and water were literate. The girl Qingxi in particular was elegant and graceful, with a quick mind. She posted a red paper notice that read “Waiting for your poetry and essays”. For a while, all the literati and young men in the capital went there to take a look, hoping to get close to her under the pretext of discussing poetry and essays.

Some even spent hundreds of taels of silver just to catch a glimpse of her beauty.

“Heaven on Earth”, Qianyueju, this is where Du Yuejiao stays.

Inside the room, the air was filled with the aroma of incense. Shui Rong was sitting comfortably in front of the table. Opposite him was the charming Du Yuejiao.

Although it is autumn, Du Yuejiao is still dressed coolly and eye-catchingly.

Du Yuejiao propped her white chin with her hand, looked at Shui Rong with bright eyes, and said in a playful tone: “Young Master, our guild hall is doing a booming business, making a fortune every day. Young Master has made a lot of money, so what reward should you give to me?”

Since its opening, “Heaven on Earth” has been doing booming business, with a constant stream of young men coming in and out, and a surplus of revenue every day. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is making a fortune.

Shui Rong took a sip of the fragrant tea, looked at the beautiful woman with a charming smile, and rolled his eyes without hesitation, saying calmly: “Miss Du, didn’t I promise you a share of the profit at the end of the year? What else do you want to give me?”

According to the current trend, the dividends at the end of the year will surely be considerable. This dividend is already at the highest level, but Du Yuejiao still wants more. She is so greedy. She really wants to empty him out!

Du Yuejiao smiled with her hands covering her mouth when she heard that. She could hear Shui Rong’s dissatisfaction, but she was not worried.

Because she knew that the young man was broad-minded and would not care about trivial matters, and she was not greedy, she just liked the equal dialogue with the young man in front of her, which gave her an inexplicable joy.

If it were someone else, it would be impossible, not even if it was Feng Ziying, who was like a close friend.

So he smiled and said, “Dividends are dividends, what does it have to do with rewards? Young Master has never intervened in the affairs of this guild hall, big or small, I have been in charge of everything by myself, so it’s not okay to ask for some tea money?”

Shui Rong remained silent upon hearing this. To be honest, this “Heaven on Earth” was indeed run by Du Yuejiao alone, and Shui Rong seldom paid attention to it. However, that cannot be said.

“Miss Du, let’s be honest. It’s true that you are the only one who manages the daily affairs of the guild hall, but I am not doing nothing. I arrange everything, including the money and the manpower.”

Providing money and manpower is the foundation of the guild. In addition, Shui Rong also provides security. Apart from other things, the so-called competitors are enemies. Do you really think they will just sit there and watch? It was Shui Rong who asked Feng Ziying to solve it.

So if we really think about it, it wouldn’t be a problem for “Heaven on Earth” without Du Yuejiao, but it would be very difficult without Shui Rong.

As he spoke, Shui Rong looked at Du Yuejiao and raised his eyebrows, saying, “And the idea of ​​the red paper notice was also my idea. If not, how could the guild hall become popular in such a short time?”

It was Shui Rong who suggested asking Qingxi to hand over a red paper notice with the words “Poetry and Essay Waiting for Instructions”.

When a new store opens, the first thing to do is to promote it properly. Men understand men, and those who come to the club want to play under the moonlight and flowers. Therefore, Shui Rong imitated the famous Tang Dynasty prostitute Yu Xuanji and posted red paper notices to attract the handsome men in Beijing in a short time.

Talking about this, Du Yuejiao couldn’t help wanting to laugh. The smile on her beautiful face became more and more intense, and her bright eyes almost narrowed into crescents, and she was afraid that she couldn’t hide the heaviness.

I only heard her jokingly say, “I thought the young master was of good character, but I didn’t expect him to come up with such a crooked idea of ​​selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton.”

Shui Rong refuted after hearing this, after all, his idea was indeed a bit crooked.

Although Qing Xi posted red paper notices, she did not use her beauty to seduce men. She was just using this as a pretext to attract customers. As long as she gave those playboys room for fantasy, they would be willing to spend a fortune. By establishing herself as a top star, she could achieve the so-called star effect, and make the name of “Heaven on Earth” famous. Then, relying on the high-quality services of the club, she could occupy a place in the capital.

How should I put it? It’s not about character, it’s just misleading, just like those anchors who play the edge ball, as soon as they expose a little bit of white, gifts will fly all over the screen.

Doing business, what’s the point of making a lot of money by following the rules? Besides, as long as you can really win the heart of a beautiful woman, that’s your ability, Shui Rong won’t interfere, and he didn’t cheat anyone.

Shui Rong asked Du Yuejiao to seek Qing Xi’s opinion on this matter. Since she did not refuse, he would naturally go with the flow. If she refused, he would recommend someone else.

However, if it were someone else, it would be difficult to achieve such an effect. After all, Qing Xi was the most outstanding one among this group of women in terms of both appearance and talent. Moreover, she was not pretentious, unlike others who could not let go of the so-called official style.

Although “Heaven on Earth” is a place for pleasure, different from a brothel, in the eyes of others, it is still a brothel. The difference is that there is no sexual transaction inside. In short, it is more appropriate to say that it is an alienated version of a brothel.

After all, men won’t buy into just the pleasantness of the character, so it is necessary to have some gray areas.

Seeing Shui Rong remained silent, Du Yuejiao’s eyes narrowed slightly, holding the teacup with her delicate hands, and said with some meaning: “Wolves eat meat, I’m afraid Qingxi will suffer. Young master, you don’t know how many wealthy gentry have offered to buy Qingxi a combing cage, and the price has reached 40,000 taels.”

Shui Rong raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and reminded, “Miss Du, the guild hall prohibits the trade of flesh and blood. If Miss Qingxi is interested, then let her redeem herself.”

Forty thousand taels of silver was indeed an incredibly high price. He really was spending a fortune on a beautiful woman without any stinginess at all.

But Shui Rong is not someone who has never seen the world, so he would not sell his underwear for a huge sum of money. It is fine to redeem a girl’s freedom if both parties are in love with each other, as that is the fate of a prostitute, but to hell with combing cages and the like!

Just skirt the edge, and don’t do anything that is impossible to get into. Once this gap is opened, it will be difficult to manage in the future.

Du Yuejiao’s eyes flickered with a hint of light when she heard that, and her eyes looked at Shui Rong even brighter. Apart from anything else, Shui Rong’s attitude towards this daughter of a prostitute was far superior to that of others, which made ripples gradually form in her heart.

Pursing her lips, Du Yuejiao responded, “Don’t worry, young master. I am a law-abiding person and will never do anything reckless. Qingxi said before that she would not think of redeeming herself. I have rejected all those people. However, if this continues, those who wake up will probably cause trouble.”

Shui Rong didn’t take it seriously and said calmly, “Miss Du taught her the skill of dancing with long sleeves. What loss can she suffer? If someone messes up, just beat them out.”

When it comes to getting along with men, Du Yuejiao is the best that Shui Rong has ever seen. She can get the upper hand with her eyes, but don’t think too much about her body, because this little girl is very slippery.

Long before asking Qingxi to issue the red paper notice, Du Yuejiao had already started training Qingxi quickly. Even if she couldn’t master it thoroughly, at least learning 50% of it would be enough. After all, it was up to Qingxi to decide whether her writing was satisfactory or not.

As for using force, the club has some strong men like security guards to take action. If anything goes wrong, Shui Rong will take the responsibility.

Moreover, Du Yuejiao was overly worried. “Heaven on Earth” was a high-end place, and those who came were either dignitaries or wealthy businessmen. People like them were very shameless, and basically no one would force their way in. In the end, they would only be embarrassed themselves. Even if they did, they would use money to attack.

Du Yuejiao nodded slightly when she heard that. With Shui Rong’s words, she didn’t need to worry too much. But when she heard Shui Rong say that she was good at dancing and couldn’t afford to suffer any loss, she looked at Shui Rong with her bright eyes, leaned forward, and said in a slightly charming tone, “Young Master said that I couldn’t afford to suffer any loss, but since I met you, I have suffered a lot.”

Shui Rong couldn’t help but lower his eyes slightly, revealing a tiny gap in the tightly wrapped ravine, and a faint blush seemed to appear.

What does this little bitch mean? What does it imply?

Du Yuejiao noticed where Shui Rong was looking at, and a barely noticeable amount of rouge appeared on her jade cheeks. However, she was not timid. She stretched out her hand to lift the black hair on her forehead and said jokingly, “Why, I am so busy every day, and this is not a disadvantage?”

Shui Rong’s mouth twitched when he heard this. So this is what the little girl meant. He thought it was just a hint. He felt a little disappointed for no reason. If it wasn’t a hint, why did she act like this?

Shui Rong hesitated for a moment and decided not to flirt with the little girl. He said, “Miss Sao Du, please withdraw 50,000 taels of silver from my account. I have something important to do.”

I was not careful for a moment and almost said what was in my heart. But Shui Rong was right. Du Yujiao was indeed like that. She was so frivolous that it made people feel itchy.

Man, this is good…

Du Yuejiao didn’t say anything after hearing this. Shui Rong was the boss, so it wasn’t a big problem to withdraw the banknotes. So she ordered someone to go down and prepare. But she was curious about what the young master meant by the unfinished words he had said before. Was it a slip of the tongue?

Not long after, the banknotes were delivered, a total of 50,000 taels. This “Heaven on Earth” was making a fortune every day. It had been open for several months now. The amount on the account included the remaining 50,000 taels that Shui Rong had paid to Du Yuejiao, as well as the income from this period of time. Even if 50,000 taels were withdrawn, it would not affect the business. This was the charm of a den of brothel.

After collecting the banknotes, Shui Rong said, “Miss Du, please put these fifty thousand taels in your account and add them to the general ledger at the end of the year.”

The silver in the account of “Heaven on Earth” is not interest silver, but total silver, which includes the sisters’ watercolor money, Du Yuejiao’s dividends and the regular silver of maids and servants. If the accounts are not kept, the general ledger will be wrong at the end of the year.

Shui Rong withdrew the banknote for an important matter. Now the six-month period agreed with King Zhongshun has come to an end, and he has to go to the Ministry of Revenue to settle the account. As long as he borrows and repays, it will not be difficult to borrow again.

As for the general ledger, it can be included in the account at the end of the year. It’s nothing more than Shui Rong losing 50,000 taels of profit. From the current income, it is enough to deduct it and it is not a big problem.

Du Yuejiao didn’t say much after hearing this. She knew Shui Rong’s character well and knew he would not take advantage of her.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Shui Rong stood up and said, “Miss Du, I have something else to do, so I’ll leave first.”

Du Yuejiao couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Shui Rong leave. This young man always came back to talk about serious business, and when the work was done, he would leave without staying any longer. He was truly heartless.

Chapter 44 There is no such thing as a free lunch

Imperial city, Ministry of Revenue.

Shui Rong had learned from previous experience, so he naturally arrived at the Ministry of Revenue with ease.

At this time, Prince Zhongshun was still buried in his thoughts. When he saw Shui Rong coming, he greeted him warmly. He did not show any demeanor of a prince at all. Instead, his words and actions were cordial, like a brother.

The two of them sat down in the compartment. Shui Rong did not exchange pleasantries. He placed the banknote on the table and said bluntly, “Cousin, the six-month period has expired. I came to the Ministry of Revenue to settle the account.”

The accounts of Prince Beijing’s Mansion were Shui Rong’s accounts, so Shui Rong had no intention of withdrawing money from the palace’s accounts. It would be easier to just write off the outstanding debt.

Prince Zhongshun looked at the banknotes on the table and felt relieved. Although there was an agreement at the beginning, Prince Zhongshun was still unsure. When he borrowed money, everything was agreed, but when it was time to pay it back, there were all kinds of excuses to shirk. Apart from other things, the issue of the Ministry of Revenue owing money was exactly the same.

The matter of money is not a problem. The key is Shui Rong’s attitude. Settling the account according to the agreement at this time undoubtedly shows Shui Rong’s attitude, which is what makes him feel at ease.

“Little Sixteen, I heard that your guild hall is packed with guests and earning a fortune every day. I thought it was just a joke, but now it seems that it is true!”

Only a few months after opening, “Heaven on Earth” was able to pay off its 50,000 taels of debt. This guild hall was indeed a profitable business.

Shui Rong chuckled upon hearing this. He was not surprised that King Zhongshun knew about “Heaven on Earth”. Now, “Heaven on Earth” was quite famous in Beijing, and the money Shui Rong used to open the business was borrowed from him. The girls in the business were all from the Jiaofangsi. As long as he was interested, it was not surprising that King Zhongshun knew about it.

So Shui Rong replied modestly: “It’s just a temporary novelty, it just happened to be the right time. After this period, I’m afraid the business will be in trouble.”

The opening of a new store and the quality of the girls inside will naturally attract customers. When the heat dies down, customers will not be so crazy, and the business will not be dismal. Girls with both talent and beauty will not have to worry about being pursued by men.

Prince Zhongshun laughed, his eyes changed slightly, and reminded: “Little Sixteen, since you and I are brothers, I still need to remind you of something. Remember you said that the guild hall would not do business like a brothel, but you… don’t mean what you say!”

Shui Rong understood what King Zhongshun said. What he said was nothing more than Qingxi’s red paper notice. This behavior was no different from a brothel. As a royal noble, doing such a dirty thing would be disgraced if it was leaked by someone with ulterior motives.

Thinking of this, Shui Rong did not hesitate to tell King Zhongshun about the matter of selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton.

Prince Zhongshun couldn’t help but laugh after hearing this. He looked at Shui Rong’s expression and didn’t know whether he found it funny or infuriating. He joked and said helplessly, “No wonder my brother said you have the potential to be a profiteer. Now it seems that my brother has a sharp eye.”

Shui Rong’s eyes paused when he heard this. A dishonest businessman is good, he won’t cause any trouble, so Shui Rong didn’t investigate it, and instead said self-deprecatingly: “I am not well-educated, so I can only think of some crooked ideas that are not presentable.”

Prince Zhongshun raised his eyes to glance at Shui Rong, his eyes flickering. He groaned, pushed the banknotes on the table back, and said with a smile: “The Ministry of Revenue has not yet reached the settlement time, so Xiao Shiliu does not need to be so anxious about the settlement.”

Shui Rong raised his eyebrows when he heard this. “It’s not time to settle the accounts yet.” What does this mean? He came to close the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts. This is not a good thing. Why did King Zhongshun shirk his responsibilities?

There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Shui Rong couldn’t help but have a bad feeling in his heart.

“Cousin, I’m already here, do you think I should make a wasted trip? I have to settle the account anyway, so I might as well do it today.”

Regardless of the reason, let’s settle the account first. This way, the rest of the matter will have nothing to do with him.

Prince Zhongshun calmly put down the teacup in his hand and said helplessly, “Little Sixteen, I’ll be frank with you. His Majesty intends to have the Ministry of Revenue collect the silver owed by the Ministry of Revenue at the end of the year. It’s less than a month or two, so it will be easier to cancel it all at once. And we’ll need your help then, so you can’t refuse.”

Shui Rong’s mouth twitched slightly when he heard this, and he sighed, “Cousin, why bother to torment me.”

At the end of the year, the capital city was in turmoil again as the Ministry of Revenue had to collect the silver it owed.

It’s just that Prince Zhongshun asked him to settle the debt together and also to help. He intended to use Prince Beijing’s Mansion as a benchmark. If Prince Beijing’s Mansion took the lead in paying the debts, there would always be those who followed suit among the rest, such as the old subordinates of Prince Beijing’s Mansion.

As the saying goes, a snake cannot survive without a head. As the current Prince of Beijing, those old subordinates will naturally turn to Shui Rong and seek shelter.

Upon hearing this, King Zhongshun rolled his eyes at Shui Rong and scolded him with a smile, “I just asked you to respond a little, what’s the big deal? When you came to borrow money, I never said it would be troublesome.”

Shui Rong was speechless after hearing this. When he asked King Zhongshun for help, the other party did not refuse. Now that he was asked to help out, it was really hard to refuse.

As expected, there is no free lunch in the world.

Shui Rong thought about it for a while, and then said, “Cousin, if they come looking for me, all I can do is to persuade them with reason and emotion. As for the rest, I can’t do anything else.”